Category: General

Senate Republicans blocked on Friday the creation of an independent bipartisan panel to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol carried out by former US President Donald Trump’s supporters.

The 54-35 procedural vote fell six votes short of the 60-vote threshold to advance the bill in the chamber after it cleared the House of Representatives earlier in May.

Trump, who called the insurrectionists “great patriots” during the insurrection, warned his fellow Republicans that the panel was a “Democrat trap.” Friday’s vote signals his continuing hold over the party even after he lost November’s national election by over 7 million votes.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The creativity of a 14-year old Yemeni boy, has perplexed social media platforms and news outlets across the world.

Sitting at his home, located in the impoverished Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Musheer al-Hazmi uses pencils, watercolors, scissors, and cardboard boxes to create designs and simulations like an ace architect.

“All this started when I was 10. I used to save my allowances to secure the tools needed for the simulations and designs. My daily concern was how that money would suffice the costs of glue, colors, and cardboard boxes,” Musheer al-Hazmi told Anadolu Agency.

“The good news that I was able to get the cardboard boxes free from the markets scattered in our neighborhood in the capital Sanaa,” said the child, gifted with architectural genius.

Using his flight of imagination, the teenager has designed the construction of the city’s telecommunication company, main hospital, along with other premises in different places of the war-torn country.

The war in Yemen has devasted the country’s education system. But Musheer says he is determined to pursue education and study architecture.

According to UNICEF, more than 2.2 million children continue to be out-of-school in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict in 2014.

Musheer’s acumen has made him a trending star in the Arab region, thanks to many Arab and international media outlets.

“Having taken part in these shows and programs, I am happy to see that people are believing in my talent,” said the whiz kid.

-Help comes from businessman

In a video message posted on his Twitter account, Palestinian-Canadian businessman Omar Ayesh has pledged to sponsor Musheer to help him to procure tools required for his designs.

“It made me glad to see my voice being heard via these media platforms. My dream, thus, became true thanks to a Palestinian-Canadian businessman who believed in me and decided to sponsor me,” said the gifted teenager.

Ayesh, chairman of Nobles Holding, has also promised to finance a full scholarship to Musheer to allow him to pursue education in any international university that will also include housing expenses for his family, who are currently languishing, like millions of others, in the impoverished Yemen.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ayesh, who is based in Washington said he had seen Musheer and his works on BBC TV.

“I felt that I have to do something for this gifted child. We the businessmen have a responsibility towards the gifted students not only in our nations but everywhere,” he said.

The Palestinian-Canadian businessman said he will try to help and identify other child prodigies as well.

“Musheer should not be the last. I am about to establish a platform linking the gifted and businessmen together, to raise support for them, mainly for the ones living in the war-torn countries of Yemen, Syria, and Palestine,” he added.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the conflict in Yemen has so far claimed over 233,000 lives.

According to UNICEF, the increased vulnerability of children and women to exploitation, violence, abuse, child labor, domestic and gender-based violence, and child marriage remains a major problem in Yemen and continues to affect progress on outcomes for children.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Two more PKK terrorists have surrendered thanks to persuasion efforts by Turkey’s security forces, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

The terrorists joined the PKK in 2010 and 2015 and were active in Iraq and Syria, the ministry said in a statement.

They escaped from the terror group following persuasion efforts by Turkish gendarmerie and police teams, and surrendered to security forces after entering Turkey, the statement added.

The number of terrorists to have laid down arms through persuasion efforts this year now stands at 73.

Offenders in Turkey linked to terrorist groups who surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Assimi Goita, the vice-president of the transition and junta leader is in charge of the transition since he released Bah N’Daw, the president of the transition, and Moctar Ouane, the prime minister, after three days of detention and their resignation.

Unhappy with the appointment of a new transitional government without his consultation and accusing “sabotage” of the transition Goita, who initiated the 2020 coup, forcibly transported the transition leaders to the Kati military base on Monday.

Ouane and N’Daw resigned Wednesday hours after the vice president announced he had put them “out of their prerogatives.”

“Following a crisis of several months at the national level, including strikes and various demonstrations by social and political actors, the government led by Mr. Moctar Ouane has shown itself incapable of constituting a reliable interlocutor, likely to mobilize the confidence of social partners,” he said in a statement read on national television by Baba Cissé, his adviser.

But with a power grab in a country in transition since a previous coup, the situation is “very complicated” and “unstable” for a country that should be at the forefront of securing the Sahel region against terrorism, Régis Hounkpe, a pan-African geopolitologist, told Anadolu Agency.

Domestically, Malians are divided over the circumstances. Some criticize the actions of the military and think they should be on the front lines against terrorism instead of discussing ministerial posts, while others are convinced that Goita’s action is “to help the country regain its dignity.”

“Malians don’t need a coup” or “more crises,” according to Malian political actor Brehima Diakite.

“It’s just a matter of redressing the situation and moving the transition forward,” according to Issa Kaou Djim, a member of the National Transitional Council who spoke to Anadolu Agency.

– Suspensions and targeted sanctions

The detention of the transitional authorities before their release followed a wave of condemnations and threats of sanctions against not only the junta but the entire country from the African and international community.

In a statement following its Peace and Security Council on Thursday, the African Union (AU) called on “the elements of the army that committed this illegal act to return unconditionally to their barracks and to refrain from interfering in the political process in Mali.”

AU is also considering sanctions against its West African member and “the suspension of Mali’s participation in all AU activities until the return to the agreed Charter and transition roadmap.”

After an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday evening, the UN Security Council condemned the arrests and demanded that the initial timetable for the transition with “civilian authorities” be respected.

According to the UN, “the reckless action taken” by the junta risks weakening the mobilization of the international community in favor of Mali.

On this occasion, the United States, which since the overthrow of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita had limited its annual budgetary aid to the Malian government, decided to suspend its security assistance to the Malian army.

The country is also considering “targeted measures against political and military leaders who impede Mali’s transition to civilian-led democratic governance,” said a statement from the US Embassy in Mali.

However, these measures are “double-edged” as they “also hit the Malian population” and risk “internal tensions and even feed a feeling of rejection from Mali’s partners,” said Jean Herve Jezekel, an expert from the International Crisis Group (ICG) in a recent interview published by the conflict management group.

In Mali, “the transition is taking its normal course,” Assimi Goita recently assured.

Local media report that he considers himself the new president of the republic, citing diplomatic sources. On Thursday, he met with the secretaries-general of ministerial departments. The objective was “to ensure the continuity of the state and the management of current affairs,” said Malijet, a local online media.

The transitional leader recalled the sense of duty and asked for continuity of public action, according to Dr. Yaya Gologo, secretary-general of the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service, quoted by the same source.

He added that this type of meeting is not unprecedented because after the coup of 2020, “the secretaries-general had been received by the same Colonel Assimi Goita, who had given them his guidance in relation to the conduct of this transition period.”

Meanwhile, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has announced an extraordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government this Sunday, May 30, 2021, in Accra (Ghana). It will be “exclusively devoted to the ongoing political situation in Mali.”

For the ICG, “international actors should continue to reject the confiscation of power by the military” and “put pressure on the country to return to civilian rule that is not hostage to it.”

The organization also believes that “repeated crises are undermining the credibility of the Malian state,” “giving space to jihadists and other armed groups,” but also undermining confidence in the Algiers Agreement.

Source: Anadolu Agency

On the eve of World Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, several women from sub-Saharan Africa spoke to Anadolu Agency about the sanitary solutions they have created to protect women’s health and empower them.

In her room, Veronique Kouoh, a Cameroonian woman in her fifties, arranges pieces of cloth that she recycles every month for her period.

“Since we were children, she has done it — like our grandmother and our mother. I have never seen her buy disposable pads and yet I am not comfortable with this method,” said her sister, Louise Kouoh.

Even though she does not use cloth, she adds pieces of cotton and toilet paper on top of her pads every month.

“It’s not easy because I have to buy a lot of paper and cotton and change several times a day,” she said.

The use of fabric is, according to Emilie Kyedrebeogo from Burkina Faso, an ancestral practice that she perpetuates to help young girls who miss school because they have no pads. But also in memory of her difficult childhood with painful periods.

She does this through Palobde, her ecological sanitary napkin business. Like many women on the continent, the main raw materials of her business are pure cotton, local waterproof fabric, free of chemicals and with a lifespan of almost three years.

In Burkina Faso, she employs nearly 60 women who have made it possible to manufacture more than 36,000 washable and reusable pads purchased by NGOs and women’s associations. She reported that in four years she has processed nearly 15 tons of cotton, contributing to the value chain in her country and to the provision of employment for women.

After attending a training course on menstrual hygiene management, the young Togolese Elsa M’bena Mba, based in Lome, realized that industrial sanitary towels “were not at all of good quality” and decided to start manufacturing them in a way that was more respectful of women’s health, she told Anadolu Agency.

According to the young consultant and gender specialist, those ecologic pads were not initially welcomed by Togolese women.

“They were afraid of the cleaning issue and hesitated because it is a local product and they are used to foreign products, yet they do not know what they are made of,” she added.

– Fighting for gender equality

Beyond intimate hygiene, M’bena Ba wants to lead a real fight for gender equality through her business and awareness campaigns.

“We cannot hope and claim to achieve equality if girls and women still experience menstruation as an ordeal and in precariousness. This limits their social evolution compared to men,” she said.

In Senegal, French-Senegalese social entrepreneur Marina Gning is also committed to menstrual hygiene through ApiAfrique, a company she co-founded. She was inspired by discussions with Senegalese women who spoke about the hardships they experience during their menstrual periods.

“It is a taboo for them. They don’t dare to talk about it and yet they have great difficulties that they have to express by talking,” she reported.

Gning said that she “favors raw materials that are respectful of nature and without health consequences”. She wants “women to look forward to their periods without embarrassment or taboo.”

“Having your period means understanding what is going on in your body and adapting your life to your menstrual cycle. Women are not comfortable with their periods because since childhood they are taught that it is impure. So they are afraid and yet being comfortable with your period is also a path to personal development,” she explained.

For her, the use of washable pads is a better solution than disposables made of chemical materials and whose components are not disclosed.

“It is a major problem not knowing what we put on our genitals every day of our lives,” said the entrepreneur.

– Environmental hazard

According to her, disposable pads also pollute the environment because they take hundreds of years to degrade.

“Africa does not have the means to manage waste properly. When these products are buried or burnt they are polluting. When they are exposed in the wild, animals eat them and human beings eat those animals. This is really problematic,” she said.

Through the production of eco-friendly sanitary pads, Gning also wants to encourage women’s autonomy, as she finds that buying pads every month is not at all economical.

“But buying products that last up to three years is economical and they are made by women in Senegal. So jobs are created and female independence is promoted,” she concluded.

In Cameroon, Kmerpad, Olivia Mvondo’s company, has already distributed more than 300,000 washable sanitary towels since 2012. This, “in rural areas, urban areas and in areas of humanitarian conflict with the support of international NGOs such as United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF),” she reported.

For her, it is important to fight against global warming by favoring ecological products. She created her company by observing the taboos and difficulties of women around menstruation.

According to the United Nations, one in ten girls in sub-Saharan Africa do not attend school during their menstrual cycle, which is estimated to be 20% of school time lost in a year.

Source: Anadolu Agency

High rates of malnutrition can lead to a loss in gross domestic product (GDP) of as much as 4%-5%, according to an assistant representative in Turkey for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“The impact of nutrition on economic growth would appear to operate directly, through nutrition’s effect on labor productivity, as well as indirectly, through improvements in life expectancy,” said Aysegul Selisik, speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency ahead of World Hunger Day.

Depending on the empirical specification that is chosen, the point estimates imply that inadequate nutrition is responsible for a shortfall of between 0.23 and 4.7 percentage points in the annual growth rate of GDP per capita worldwide, she stressed.

Selisik suggested that achieving food security will not only improve human welfare considerably but also substantially increase the rate of economic growth.

As hunger is an issue of socioeconomic factors as well as agricultural production or availability, COVID-19 worsened the situation in the world.

“The magnitude and severity of food crises worsened in 2020 as protracted conflict, the economic fallout of COVID‑19 and weather extremes exacerbated pre-existing fragilities,” Selisik said.

At least 155 million people in 55 countries and territories were in crisis or worse in 2020, a rise of around 20 million year-on-year, she said.

The COVID-19 pandemic will see more than a quarter of a billion people suffering acute hunger by the end of the year, according to new figures from the World Food Program (WFP).

The latest numbers indicate that the lives and livelihoods of 265 million people in low and middle-income countries will be under severe threat unless swift action is taken to tackle the pandemic.

Citing the latest estimations, Selisik said some 690 million people or 8.9% of the world population struggle with hunger.

The figure is up by 10 million in one year and by nearly 60 million in five years, she added.

The number of people affected by severe food insecurity — another measure that approximates hunger — shows a similar upward trend.

“In 2019, close to 750 million – or nearly one in 10 people in the world – were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity,” Selisik said, adding an estimated 2 billion people in the world did not have regular access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food in 2019.

“Hunger is no longer an issue of insufficient global supplies but mainly of a lack of access to the means to produce or purchase food, and every year, the world loses or wastes about a third of the food it produces,” she said.

Touting the sustainable development goals of the UN, Selisik said the world will likely fail to achieve zero hunger by 2030 despite enough food produced around the world.

If recent trends continue, the number of people affected by hunger will surpass 840 million by 2030, she stressed.

Meanwhile, the world is not on track to achieve the targets for child obesity, Selisik noted.

“According to current estimates, in 2019, 21.3% (144.0 million) of children under 5 years of age were stunted, 6.9% (47.0 million) wasted, and 5.6% (38.3 million) overweight,” she said.

Besides hunger, adult obesity is on the rise in all regions as healthy diets are unaffordable to many people, especially the poor, Selisik pointed out.

Turkey is in a lucky position in terms of agriculture and food production with diverse product design and established distribution channels, she noted.

“For example, an indicator of food insecurity, ‘prevalence of undernourishment,’ has always been under 2.5% since the inception of the measure,” Selisik said.

Citing the latest FAO data, she said 32.1% of the adult population is obese in Turkey, meaning that one out of three adults is obese, which is a serious nutritional status, especially considering the related non-communicable diseases like diabetes or cardiovascular problems.

Source: Anadolu Agency

With 193 more deaths on Friday, Indonesia’s coronavirus-related fatalities reached 50,100, according to official data.

Data by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force showed the province with the highest fatalities was East Java with 11,270 deaths, followed by Central Java with 9,133 and Jakarta with 7,134 deaths.

Meanwhile, 5,862 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday took the tally to over 1.8 million cases.

The number of recoveries rose to over 1.6 million, after 5,370 more patients won the battle against the virus.

The country’s Health Ministry noted that there has been a 38% increase in new cases in the past week, while fatalities have also increased by 2.7%.

*Writing by Maria Elisa Hospita from Anadolu Agency’s Indonesian language services

Source: Anadolu Agency