The US Treasury Department said Wednesday it designated eight Mexican nationals as narcotics traffickers under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, also known as Kingpin Act.

The agency said the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela, based in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

He is a Sinaloa Cartel plaza boss overseeing a major drug trafficking corridor in Mexico and is responsible for smuggling tons of illicit drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, into the US, it said.

It claimed he provides financial, technological support and goods or services for narcotics trafficking activities of the Sinaloa Cartel, while he reports directly to the cartel's leader, Zambada Garcia, who was identified as a narcotics trafficker under the Kingpin Act in 2002.

"Treasury’s action against Sergio Valenzuela Valenzuela demonstrates OFAC’s commitment to targeting high-level Sinaloa Cartel operatives, particularly those who traffic or facilitate the delivery of synthetic opioids to the United States," OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said in a statement.

Seven others were sanctioned for providing material assistance to Valenzuela Valenzuela, and two Mexican entities were designated by OFAC./aa

A top aide of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday morning, according to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.

At least 10 bullets struck the car of Serhiy Shefir, a longtime friend of Zelenskiy, near the village of Lisnyky outside the capital, Kyiv, according to the ministry.

"Fortunately, the president's first aide was left unharmed. We can say that the intentions of the criminals were quite serious," Ihor Klymenko, the head of the National Police of Ukraine told reporters.

The driver of the car is wounded and admitted to the hospital.

The Interior Ministry said that a special police operation is underway to arrest the culprits behind the attack./aa

The European Union on Wednesday welcomed Turkey’s plan to ratify Paris Agreement on climate change next month.

"Very welcome step that Turkey is ready to ratify the #ParisAgreement on climate," Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s executive vice president for the European Green Deal, said on Twitter.

Praising Turkey’s plan to submit the Paris climate pact to the parliament for approval, Timmermans also shared his hope for Turkey to announce its first nationally determined contributions following the ratification.

"Around the world momentum keeps gathering for more ambitious climate action. In this race to zero we are all partners; we all inhabit the same planet," he added.

In his address at the UN General Assembly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey plans to submit the Paris Climate Agreement for approval to its parliament next month under the country's national determination contribution statement and in conformity with positive steps to be taken.

Last week, Turkey’s Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum and Timmermans also discussed various issues, including the Paris Climate Agreement, zero-emission, reduction of carbon emissions, and the European Green Deal./aa

Bosnia and Herzegovina's Croat member of the presidency said on Wednesday that climate change and global warming crisis has already been here to be responded.

Zeljko Komsic's remarks came in his address at the general debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

According to Komsic, the warnings set out in the 2018 special report and repeated in this year’s report suggest that their activities to fight global warming and climate change are generally not yielding the results that need to be achieved by 2050.

"Climate change has long been not a matter of warning in the scientific community but a crisis situation that is already there. Responding to climate change will cost us a lot, but it will cost even more if we do not take the need to accelerate climate change mitigation seriously," he added.

Komsic noted that it is one of the most important issues today, which is closely related to sustainable development goals as a global need.

"Climate change and global warming, which is visible but also scientifically proven by the work of the International Panel on Climate Change, are a key issue that also limits the course of sustainable development," Komsic explained.

He said Bosnia and Herzegovina has about %40 of green capacity for electricity generation.

The expected gradual shut down of thermal power plants and most of the mines in the next 25-30 years will cause a shortage of electricity that can hardly be replaced in a timely fashion by the green energy capacity, while preserving rivers and ecological biodiversity in accordance with international norms, said Komsic.

The 76th session of the General Assembly opened last week, and the high-level General Debate began on Tuesday, with the attendance of some 130 heads of state and government./aa

Eruptions from a volcanic grew in intensity Wednesday on the island of La Palma that has forced more than 6,000 people to be evacuated on the Canary Islands off southwest Spain.

The Cumbre Vieja on one of the smallest islands in the region with active volcanic geography.

Local government sources said the average height of the lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano has reached 6 meters since becoming active Sept. 19 and between 6,000 - 9,000 tons of sulfur dioxide has been emitted daily.

Lava advancing toward the sea has burned 320 houses and property damage in the past four has topped €400 million ($471 million). A total of 400 hectares (988 acres) of land, including 300 hectares (741 acres) of banana trees, have been lost.

Roads on the island have been closed for a week and education was suspended in four districts because they are located on the route of the lava.

The military emergency response has assisted with aid and is controlling operations with 30 vehicles and 67 personnel.

The Institute for Volcanic Studies of the Canary Islands said eruptions are expected to continue for 24 to 84 days.

Experts said lava advanced an average of 700 meters (2,000 feet) per day and it might take two weeks to reach the sea. They warned that when it hits the sea it could cause a risk to residents with a chemical reaction that could crease gas and severe eruptions./agencies

Turkish Coast Guard units rescued hundreds of irregular migrants on Tuesday after they were pushed back into the country’s territorial waters by Greek officials. 

A total of 158 migrants were rescued off Didim and Kusadasi districts of Aydin province when the coast guard learned they were struggling on rubber and lifeboats.

Three suspected human traffickers were arrested and the irregular migrants were referred to the provincial migration center.

In Izmir province, the Coast Guard Command was briefed about the presence of 56 irregular migrants pushed backed by Greece off Cesme and Dikili districts as well as 19 others in Seferihisar district.

The migrants were rescued by Turkey units and taken to the local migration office./aa  

Turkey and Indonesia further strengthened their cooperation in aerospace on Tuesday after a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at the Teknofest 2021 in the Turkish metropolitan Istanbul. 

Aerospace Indonesia, locally known as PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI), and Turkish Aerospace signed the MoU to “cooperate in N219 aircraft production extension, modernization and life extension of Turkish CN235 aircraft fleet,” the Indonesian Embassy in Ankara said in a statement.

The two sides will cooperate in engineering support of Turkish Aerospace’s development project and the N245 joint development and production.

“The MoU (will) improve and strengthen the cooperative relationship that has existed between PTDI and Turkish Aerospace, especially in terms of the N219 aircraft and the modernization of the Turkish CN235 aircraft,” the statement added.

Noting cooperation between PTDI and Turkish companies, the embassy said Indonesia has collaborated with Turkey’s Aselsan defense company in 2000 for the installation of signal intelligence and intelligent communication systems on the CN235 Turkish Air Force aircraft.

“In the Teknofest 2021, PTDI is again showcasing its flagship products and services to expand markets and increase sales, especially for the CN235-220 and N219 aircraft,” the statement added.

The six-day TEKNOFEST at Ataturk Airport, which began Tuesday, will continue until Sunday.

Founded in 1976, PTDI is one of the indigenous aerospace companies in Asia with core competencies in aircraft design, development and test, aircraft structure manufacturing, aircraft production, and aircraft services for both civilian and military, the embassy said./aa

The investment dispute resolution arm of the World Bank has ruled in favor of Turkey in a case filed by a puppet company of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) – the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey – Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund announced Tuesday.

The World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) issued the ruling in favor of Turkey and against the FETO dummy company, said a statement by the fund.

In the case, Cascade Investments NV (Cascade), a FETO dummy company, claimed to own 99.94% of the shares of Turkey’s Cihan Media Distribution and had sought €126 million ($148 million) in compensation

But the investment dispute center rejected the claim by FETO terror group members, also denying the compensation claim.

The dummy company which filed the claim against Turkey was established by members of the Belgian Turkish Businessmen's Association (BETIAD) in Belgium.

For years the group has played an important role in financing the FETO terrorist group.

Nine members of BETIAD established the dummy company, the statement added.

The fund’s statement added that in the arbitration case, a Sept. 20 decision rejected the baseless allegations made by the FETO terror group members.

"The claims systematically voiced by FETO (terror group) in the international arena and the arbitration cases demanding compensation have been proven to be groundless and unlawful," it added.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 wounded.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary./aa

President Xi Jinping on Tuesday put a stop to building new coal-fired power projects outside of China. 

“We need to improve global environmental governance, actively respond to climate change and create a community of life for man and nature,” Xi told the 76th session of UN General Assembly via video link from Beijing.

“This requires tremendous hard work,” he said. “China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy."

Urging the world to take lessons from science on the coronavirus pandemic, he said Beijing will provide more vaccines to the world and international assistance and China will send 2 billion doses by the end of this year.

Characterizing vaccines as a “global public good,” Xi said priority should be to “ensure the fair and equitable distribution of vaccines globally.”

“We may employ such means as debt suspension and development aid to help developing countries, particularly vulnerable ones facing exceptional difficulties, with emphasis on addressing unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries,” he said.

Xi proposed what he called a Global Development Initiative and told the General Assembly that China has pledged an additional $3 billion in international assistance in the next three years to support developing countries in responding to the pandemic and promoting economic and social recovery.

He encouraged putting “development high” on the agenda of the international community and policymakers and urged fostering global development partnerships.

He singled out military interventions in foreign lands. “They bring nothing,” Xi said, adding that the differences and problems between countries should be solved through dialogue and respect.

“One country’s success is not the failure of another country,” he said.

“We need to pursue dialogue over conflict and inclusiveness over exclusiveness,” he said, adding, “China will never bully another nor seek hegemony.”/aa

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called vaccine nationalism a "disgrace for humanity" Tuesday and urged global cooperation to combat COVID-19. 

"At a time when millions of people have lost their lives and tens of millions of people are suffering in the grip of the virus, it is a disgrace for humanity that vaccine nationalism is still being carried on through different methods," Erdogan said in his address at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

The president said that during this pandemic, the solidarity test did not go well for humanity.

"Especially the underdeveloped countries and poor segments of society were literally left to their fate in the face of the pandemic," he said.

The president said the pandemic, which has sickened nearly 230 million people and killed more than 4.7 million others since December 2019, can only be overcome through international cooperation and solidarity.

"It is not possible for any country to survive safely on its own before all countries are free from this pandemic. We hope that the will which shall be displayed at the General Assembly will constitute a turning point in understanding this truth," he added.

Turkovac

The Turkish president also said that Turkey dispatched medical aid to 159 countries and 12 international organizations during the pandemic and announced that Ankara will distribute it to other countries.

"I would like to inform that we will offer in the near future our national vaccine, Turkovac, to the benefit of all humanity, together with our nation," he said.

According to Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, the Turkovac jab is at a stage where authorities are preparing to apply for emergency use approval.

“If approved, we will start mass production in October,” Koca said on Sept. 9, adding two facilities are now ready for manufacturing./agencies