Civilians taking shelter in camps along the frontier between Turkey and northwestern Syria fear Russian efforts to shut down the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, which is of vital importance for civilians in the region. 

Millions of civilians fleeing attacks by the Bashar al Assad regime and its supporters, are worried about the risk of starvation after Russian attempts to block aid entering the area through Bab al-Hawa, in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Muhammad Ramadan, who fled to Tih camp following regime attacks on his village in southern Idlib province, said that Syrians wanted to live in safety like other human beings in other parts of the world.

"Closing the border gate, which is the life-blood of civilians, means starving civilians. People live safely in tents. We have something to eat with the aid we receive," he said.

People in the area rely on the relief coming through Bab al-Hawa, Ramadan said. "Before we migrated, we used to live in our homes in peace and security. The Assad regime and Russia could not kill us with their guns, planes and artillery, but they want to kill us by closing the humanitarian aid doors."

Bab al-Hawa is the last remaining passage through which cross-border aid can reach Syria's last opposition-held territory, Idlib.

Another resident of Tih, Jamal al-Dairi, said Iran, Russia and the Assad regime massacred people and forced them to migrate and live in tents.

Dairi emphasized that Russia wants to close the Cilvegozu Border Gate -- the Turkish side of Bab al-Hawa. He said: "They couldn't kill the people with warplanes. They want to strangle 4.5 million civilians by closing the border gate."

Calling on the UN to stop the gate's closure, he emphasized that with no alternative, civilians in Idlib would be cut off from medicine and food.

Muhhane Ismael, who fled from the countryside of Hama further south and took shelter in the camp, said: "Russia wants civilians starve to death, as if it wasn't enough to kill them by plane."

"Civilians rely first on Allah and then on the humanitarian aid coming from the border. How will people live and how will they be treated when the doors are closed?," Ismael asked.

Haisam Gajar, who took shelter in the camp, said that if the border gate is closed, civilians living in the tents will face starvation in an effective death sentence.

"We live in a mountainous area, we have no land to work on. We did not come here arbitrarily," he said.

Gajar went on to say: "Russia made a habit of starving and forcibly displacing civilians. The world should not abandon civilians."

"Rather than going to the areas controlled by the Assad regime, we prefer to struggle in the harsh living conditions in the summer and winter."

Humanitarian aid has reached millions since 2014 through the UN Security Council-authorized cross-border mechanism in Idlib, which is home to thousands of internally-displaced people who have taken refuge there.

By 2020, international humanitarian aid such as food, medicine and medical supplies were sent through four border crossings.

The number of crossings was first reduced to two upon Russia's veto and objections. In 2020, Russia only authorized Bab al-Hawa to be kept open for another year.

Dozens of non-governmental organizations operating in Syria voiced an appeal on Thursday opposing the closure of Bab al-Hawa between Turkey and Syria, the last lifeline for more than 4 million Syrians.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced during Syria's decade-long conflict, according to UN estimates./aa

The foreign ministers of G20 countries voiced deep concern over food insecurity in the world, according to a declaration released after a meeting in Italy on Tuesday.

"We express deep concern for the state of food insecurity across the world," said the G20 declaration after a meeting between foreign affairs and development ministers, UN agencies and other partners in Italy's southern town of Matera.

The parties adopted the declaration on food security, nutrition and food systems, along with a call to action amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they convened "to contribute to strengthening international efforts to contain the effects of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods and to build forward better."

It highlighted that the number of people affected by hunger globally has been increasing since 2014, and that the world was not on track to end malnutrition, which is among the 2030 aims of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

"With current trends, the number of people affected by hunger would exceed 840 million by 2030," the statement read.

It noted that poverty alleviation, food security, and sustainable food systems are key to ending hunger, as well as encouraging social cohesion and community development.

They are also essential to reduce socio-economic inequalities both between and within countries, to develop human capital, to advance gender equality and empower young people, and to promote overall inclusive economic growth and sustainable development, it added.

Among its advice to countries, the declaration urged effective action to empower women and young people in both rural and urban settings, while also enhancing social-protection measures and programs.

It called on countries to boost catalytic investments for food security, nutrition, sustainable food systems and territorial development.

"Accelerating the adaptation of agriculture and food systems to climate change," and "promoting a science-based holistic One Health approach," was also advised in the document.

"We commit to strengthen our collective efforts to implement this call to a global mobilization," the declaration added.

The G20 is the international forum that brings together the world's major economies. Its members account for more than 80% of world GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the world's population./aa

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 

Only when the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots is accepted, negotiations on the island’s future can start, eventually leading to a successful result, said the Turkish Cypriot president on Tuesday.

The Turkish Cypriots would prefer the present conditions rather than risk their future by accepting the Greek Cypriot administration as sole owner of the island, Ersin Tatar told Turkish News Agency-Cyprus (TAK).

The Greek Cypriot administration believes that the Turkish Cypriots must accept the terms and conditions dictated to them, but they will not, he added.

Stressing that he does not believe in a federal solution for the Cyprus issue, Tatar said he instead favors an agreement through negotiation, calling this policy realistic and rightful.

On his meeting last week with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, he said that they successfully informed the whole world about the reality on Cyprus, namely that it has two separate nations and states.

On claims in the Greek Cypriot press that the UN secretary-general might include the words “self-governing regions” in a Cyprus report to be submitted to the Security Council this July, Tatar said this would amount to a sub-governance model.

There are two separate states on the island, and since only within this context can there be a solution, our state should be accepted, he added.

Cyprus has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.

The Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, became a member of the European Union in 2004, although that year most Greek Cypriots rejected a UN settlement plan in a referendum envisaging a reunited Cyprus joining the EU./aa

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (aa)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that he is concerned by grave violations in Jammu and Kashmir and asked the Indian government to end the use of shotgun pellets against children.

"I call upon the government to take preventive measures to protect children, including by ending the use of pellets against children, ensuring that children are not associated in any way to security forces, and endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration and the Vancouver Principles," he said in the UN Report on Children 2021.

The report noted that four children were detained by Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir for alleged association with armed groups.

"A total of 39 children (33 boys, 6 girls) were killed (9) and maimed (30) by pellet guns (11) and torture (2) by unidentified perpetrators (13) (including resulting from explosive remnants of war (7), crossfire between unidentified armed groups and Indian security forces (3), crossfire between unidentified armed groups, and grenade attacks (3)), Indian security forces (13), and crossfire and shelling across the line of control (13). The United Nations verified the use of seven schools by Indian security forces for four months. Schools were vacated by the end of 2020," it said.

"I am alarmed at the detention and torture of children and concerned by the military use of schools," Guterres noted.

The UN chief said he welcomed the positive engagement of the government with his special representative to implement national preventive and accountability measures for all grave violations.

"I urge the (Indian) Government to ensure that children are detained as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, and to prevent all forms of ill-treatment in detention," he said. "I also urge the (Indian) Government to ensure the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, to address the use of children for illegal activities and the situation of detained children.”

Indian paramilitary forces and police have extensively used shotgun pellets to subdue pro-freedom protesters, most of whom often are young men and teens.

During mass uprisings in 2016, more than 1,100 people were partially or fully blinded, in what was characterized by many as the "world's first mass blinding."

Many victims are children, some as young as 19-month-old Heeba, who was injured while sitting in her mother's lap in November 2018 in a southern Kashmir village. ​​​​​​​

Disputed territory

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, New Delhi and Islamabad have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965, and 1971 – two of them concerning Kashmir.

Also, at the Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire took effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting Indian rule for independence, or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989.

The number of people killed from last week's partial collapse of a Florida condominium building rose to 10 on Monday as search and rescue squads found another body in the sprawling debris field.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters that 151 people remain missing with 135 others accounted for following Thursday's early-morning collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida.

"The search and rescue operation continues," Cava said. "There’s going to be a thorough and full investigation of what led to this tragic event."

No one has been pulled from the rubble alive since the search began on Thursday.

Over 80 rescuers are on site sifting through concrete and metal that spilled below ground in to a parking garage. Heavy equipment, including a crane, has been brought on site to help remove larger pieces of debris.

Families of the missing have been bused to the area to observe the rescue operation.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Chief Alan Cominsky said his teams are struggling with a "very challenging, very difficult situation" as they sift through rubble that continues to shift four days after the initial collapse, requiring meticulous work from personnel.

"We're talking about pulverized concrete. We're talking about steel," assistant fire chief Raide Jadallah said. "Every time there's an action there's a reaction."

A rescuer on Sunday tumbled 25 feet (and 7.6 meters) down the debris mound as family members who were present at the site looked on, Jadallah said.

"It's not an issue of we can just attach a couple cords to a concrete boulder and lift it and call it a day. We're digging through again rubbles of concrete the size of basketballs, the size of baseballs, and then and only then in combination with the safety of the personnel, and of course, considering the victims themselves, it's going to take time," he added./aa

The Channel Island of Jersey has agreed to a three-month extension to post-Brexit fishing transition arrangements, allowing French vessels to continue to fish in its waters until September, the government announced in a statement. 

The statement follows weeks of tussle between the UK, France and the European Union over the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) under which the UK had blocked access for French trawlers to fish between six and 12 nautical miles from the British coast and granted licenses to only 22 of the 120 French boats seeking permission to fish.

French Maritime Minister Annick Girardin, who along with the EU had requested an extension to the transitional arrangements, which are scheduled to come to an end on June 30, welcomed the decision.

“Jersey has finally accepted the 3-month extension of the provisional licenses! A breath of fresh air for our fishermen,” she said in a tweet.

According to the revised transitional arrangements, French trawlers will be allowed to continue to fish in Jersey waters until the end of September. Annick said France will push to continue to protect the rights of the fishing community and ensure that they can continue their activity beyond Sept. 30.

Jersey’s Minister for External Relations, Ian Gorst, said the government is offering this extension to the amnesty period to allow the continuation of discussions.

“The relationship with France is hugely important to Jersey in so many ways. We know aspects of that relationship have been difficult recently but want to ensure we work through the issues, fulfilling the terms of the TCA and ensuring the sustainability of fishing in our waters,” he said in a statement.

The dispute over the fishing deal had threatened to derail relations between France and the Channel Island. France had warned of retaliatory measures against the UK if it failed to fully enforce the fishing agreement, and cut off the electricity supply to Jersey after the UK introduced new conditions in the fishing agreement over access to its waters./aa

Nigeria will ban travelers coming from some African countries due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19 there. 

In a statement, Boss Mustapha, the secretary to the government and chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, said some countries face a fast-surging third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and this caused concern.

Mustapha said that as part of the coronavirus measures, no one will be accepted from South Africa, Zambia, Rwanda, Namibia and Uganda.

He added that Abuja has extended the travel ban for Turkey, Brazil and India for four weeks.

So far, the most populous African country has reported 167,467 infections, 2,119 deaths and 163,949 recoveries./aa