NATO on Friday announced the suspension of all support to Afghan authorities and called for "adherence to international norms and standards on human rights and international humanitarian law in all circumstances."

Meeting to discuss "the grave events in Afghanistan," the foreign ministers of the NATO member countries released a joint statement urging the authorities in the war-torn country to "respect and facilitate" the safe and orderly departure of "our citizens, partner country nationals, and at-risk Afghans."

The ministers also vowed to maintain "close operational coordination" throughout the evacuation efforts at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

"We call on all parties in Afghanistan to work in good faith to establish an inclusive and representative government, including with the meaningful participation of women and minority groups," the statement said.

It went on to urge authorities "to safeguard the human rights of all Afghans, particularly women, children, and minorities" in the country.

Upholding the rule of law and allowing unhindered humanitarian access are also among Afghanistan's international obligations, the ministers noted.

Expressing “deep concerns about reports of serious human rights violations and abuses across Afghanistan,” NATO demanded “an immediate end to the violence” and adherence to the international humanitarian law in all circumstances in the statement.

The organization further called on those in power to ensure the eradication of terrorism from Afghan territories. “We will not allow any terrorists to threaten us. We will remain committed to fighting terrorism with determination, resolve, and in solidarity,” it remarked.

The ministers voiced their support for the civil society actors playing a meaningful role in Afghan society and underlined that the citizens “deserve to live in safety, security and dignity” while building on their past achievements in politics, the economy, and society.

“We will continue to promote the stable, prosperous Afghanistan that the Afghan people deserve and address the critical questions facing Afghanistan and the region … including through our cooperation with regional and international partners, such as the European Union and United Nations,” the joint statement said./aa

India on Friday granted emergency use authorization to the “world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19,” an official statement said.

According to the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology, Zydus Cadila, an Indian pharmaceutical company was granted approval for its three-dose ZyCoV-D vaccine.

Apart from the adult population, the vaccine can also be administered to adolescents in the 12-18 age group.

The ministry said the vaccine “produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response, which plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance.”

“The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring,” it said, adding that it has been developed in partnership with the Indian government’s Department of Biotechnology.

Interim results from Phase-III clinical trials involving over 28,000 volunteers showed a primary efficacy of 66.6%, the ministry said, adding that this was the largest COVID-19 vaccine trial so far in India.

India has now six vaccines approved for use in the country. Zydus Cadila's vaccine is the second homegrown jab after Covaxin, which was manufactured by pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech.

As of Friday morning, over 570 million vaccine doses had been administered in India, according to Health Ministry figures.

The country’s infection count swelled by 36,571 over the last day to cross 32.3 million, while 540 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 433,589./agencies

Wildfires continue raging in eastern Russia with 128 blazes in 20 regions of particular concern, the country's Federal Agency for Forestry said on Friday.

The wildfires have spread over an area of more than 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres), with over 7,000 firefighters and personnel deployed along with 1,283 units of equipment and 27 aircraft, it said in a statement on its official website.

Authorities declared a state of emergency in six regions due to the fire threat, as well as a specific fire protection regime in 59 others.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the government on Aug.14, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "The scale and the character of natural disasters in some areas are absolutely unprecedented."

He also noted that climate change leads to fast-spreading wildfires due to drought and strong winds in Siberia and the Far East./aa

Four retired generals handed life sentences for their roles in Turkey’s 1997 military coup were sent to a penal institution in the capital Ankara on Thursday. 

Cevat Temel Ozkaynak, Erol Ozkasnak, Fevzi Turkeri, and Yildirim Turker were transferred to the facility a day after an order by the Ankara 5th High Criminal Court.

They were among 14 defendants whose life sentences for the Feb. 28, 1997 coup, known as Turkey’s postmodern coup in Turkey, were upheld by the Court of Appeals on July 9 this year.

In a landmark decision in 2018, a Turkish court sentenced 21 high-level officials to life in prison for their roles in the 1997 coup that deposed the government of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan./aa

Turkey will resume face-to-face learning five days a week beginning Sept. 6, the nation’s education minister said Thursday. 

Mahmut Ozer said the country wants to continue full-time face-to-face learning unless health conditions dictate otherwise.

"Education in schools will be carried out without reducing class hours while being committed to the entire existing curriculum," said Ozer.

He said the vaccination rate for teachers who received at least one dose of a two-shot vaccine is 80.34% as of Wednesday, and the rate is 69.73% for a second jab.

Ozer also said vaccinations will not be mandatory but necessary measures will be taken by the Health Ministry.

School administrations will provide masks to students and school personnel free of charge in case anyone needs them.

Turkey has administered more than 87 million COVID-19 vaccine doses since launching a mass immunization campaign in January.

According to the Health Ministry, the country confirmed 19,320 new infections and 216 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while as many as 14,743 more patients recovered.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that PCR tests, which will be mandatory for unvaccinated teachers, staff, and university students when academic activities resume Sept. 6, will be conducted for free at public hospitals.

Since December 2019, the pandemic has claimed more than 4.39 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with an excess of 209.67 million cases reported worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University,/aa

The European Union needs to “resolutely protect” its borders to avoid a repeat of the 2015 migrant crisis, Croatia’s interior minister said on Thursday.

Addressing a news conference in the capital Zagreb, Davor Bozinovic expressed concerns over the developments in Afghanistan and the migration crisis on the Belarusian border.

He said Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland were affected the most by Belarus’ attitude.

“The EU should resolutely protect its external borders. At our meeting with the EU interior ministers yesterday, we agreed that the scenario in 2015, when immigrants were camped on the borders of European countries, should not be repeated. Because this is not a solution for the EU or for the countries from where the immigrants come,” he said.

Bozinovic said the attitude of Afghanistan’s new administration – the Taliban – towards vulnerable groups, especially women and girls, was “worrying.”

“The EU continues to work through the United Nations to help these people. Immigrants coming from conflict environments need our help, especially from countries close to these regions. We should not confuse these migration waves with migrations made for financial reasons,” the Croatian minister said.  

‘Turkey will support EU in Afghanistan, Syria’

Bozinovic said Turkey has helped Europe a lot in preventing the illegal entry of migrants.

“Turkey will support the EU in Afghanistan as well as in Syria. Turkey is a partner of the EU and should remain so,” he said.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan after capturing the capital Kabul on Aug. 15.

The group, which was removed from power after US-led foreign forces occupied Afghanistan in 2001, is now in the process of establishing a government./aa