Senegalese President Macky Sall urged his country to get vaccinated to avoid serious illness from the coronavirus, media reports said Friday. 

"The trend of new contaminations is increasing," he said late Thursday.

Sall’s remarks were made during an economic tour following the announcement of an increase in new infections made by the Ministry of Health and Social Action.

"We must go and get vaccinated. The vaccines are there. We have vaccines. We must go and take the vaccines. With the vaccine, even if you get sick, the form will not be serious because the body will be immune," he said, according to the Senegal News Agency.

He also called on Senegalese to be cautious and vigilant by respecting protective measures.

“In a context of circulation of variants and the effects that this could cause for the management of the pandemic, we urge the population to strictly respect the barrier measures," the Pasteur Institute said Thursday.

The Nigerian and British variants have been discovered in 95 cases analyzed on outgoing travelers from April to May, according to the French NGO.

It said the Beta variant from South Africa and the Indian variant were detected in two cases from foreign travelers.

The Ministry of Health reported 42,259 positive cases on Friday, of which 40,767 have recovered. A total of 1,158 deaths were registered and 333 are in treatment. While 486,606 vaccinations have been performed, there have been "no imported cases at the country's gateways.”

The increase in infections is in line with the African context reported Thursday by the World Health Organization./aa

The Palestinian government canceled a deal on Friday to receive coronavirus vaccine doses from “Israel” because the doses appeared to have expired and did not meet the technical criteria of the Health Ministry. 

After examination of "the first batch of the Pfizer vaccines ... it was found that they don't conform to the specifications contained in the agreement," said government spokesperson Ibrahim Melhem at a news conference. "Accordingly, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh instructed the Minister of Health to cancel the agreement.”

“Israel” sent the first batch of 90,000 doses of 1 million earlier Friday to the Palestinian Authority under a deal in which the Palestinian Authority would give back the doses to “Israel” from its purchased quantity from Pfizer scheduled to be received in September or October.

In a statement to the official WAFA news agency, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said the government contracted with Pfizer to purchase 4 million doses but the company would not be able to start delivering before October or November.

Al-Kaila added that to meet the urgent need, Pfizer suggested that the Palestinian Authority takes excess stock of doses from Israel.

Melhem added that the government would wait for the delivery directly from Pfizer in batches as agreed between the Palestinian Authority and the company./agencies

Qatari and Kuwaiti top diplomats discussed the innovative mediation in a panel at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in southern Turkey on Friday. 

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, met during a panel moderated by Turkish Madrid Ambassador Burak Akcapar at the NEST Convention Center.

In his speech, Al Thani said the nature of conflicts is evolving and becoming more complex and diverse nowadays.

Noting that the conflict in cyberspace has increased, Al Thani emphasized that there is no mediation framework for such conflicts and that the concept of mediation needs to be developed more.

He said that with the development of technology, new mediation areas have emerged.

The basis of mediation is "to touch people," to establish contact between humans and to understand each other, he said, adding that building trust is the most important element in the mediation process.

He went on to say that many countries are qualified to assume the role of mediator, and that "a suitable mediator" must be found based on the conflict and its subject.

Pointing out that the mediator should be fast and agile, Al Thani said it is also important to choose a country that has a command of the regional dynamics as a mediator. 

Afghanistan conflict

Speaking on the conflict in Afghanistan, he said that not much progress has been achieved.

Recalling that the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan will be completed in September and the timing is critical, Al Thani said there is "no consensus" on what the future of Afghanistan will look like.

The US army withdrawal is currently set to be finished by Sept. 11.

He said the first goal there is to achieve a cease-fire between the government and the Taliban.

Al Thani underlined that Qatar wants to hold an Istanbul meeting between world leaders, adding that this has not yet happened due to "complexities," and that the meeting could be a "step forward."  

'Parties should trust, respect mediator'

Al-Sabah said mediation is a concept that changes its shape.

Emphasizing the importance of reliability and transparency in mediation, Al-Sabah touched on the experiences his country gained from the Gulf crisis.

He highlighted that Kuwait knows and observes that new conflicts may arise in the "vacuum" created by the absence of international law and the UN Charter and its requirements.

When asked about his views on the conflict in Yemen, Al-Sabah said that Yemen is going through a very tragic situation.

He said that some elements, unfortunately, were "really stubborn" in Yemen's conflict and they thought of their interests rather than the interests of their nation.

"Therefore, we see that this conflict still continues. Whenever we cease to abide by international law and cease to depend on the references of international law, then anything is possible. Many efforts are currently being made to bring this conflict to an end. We should appreciate that too," he said.

Yemen has been ravaged by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government worsened the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 30 million people which account for 80% of the population, needing humanitarian assistance and protection.

Asked about the risks of being a mediator, Al-Sabah said it is like "swimming in very dangerous waters" and trying to be neutral, which is not easy.

He also emphasized that in mediation, parties should be willing, trust and respect the mediator, and participate in the mediator's efforts toward a solution./aa

India’s Supreme Court on Friday said that three student activists who were recently granted bail by the high court will remain out of jail.

The Delhi police had approached the apex court challenging the bail, but it refused to stay the order and issued notices to the three accused.

Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha were arrested last May under the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), which allows authorities to detain individuals for breach of national security.

While granting bail on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court said that “the line between the constitutionally guaranteed right to protest and terrorist activity seems to be getting somewhat blurred. If this mindset gains traction, it would be a sad day for democracy.”

However, a two-member bench also said that the High Court order should not be treated as a precedent until the matter is finally decided.

The court said the case could have "pan-India ramifications" due to the way the new law has been interpreted.

Narwal and Kalita are students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), known for its left-leaning politics. Tanha is a student at Jamia Millia Islamia, a Muslim-dominated university in the capital. They were arrested by the Delhi police for alleged violence.

Communal riots in northeast Delhi in February 2020 killed over 53 people, mostly Muslims, and injured over 250./aa

Turkish security forces have rescued 50 asylum seekers who were pushed back by Greek authorities, Turkey’s National Defense Ministry said on Friday.

In a Twitter post, the ministry said: "50 irregular migrants who had been maltreated and kept without food & water after their stuff were taken, were illegally tried to be deported to Turkey by Greek personnel. The immigrants were saved on the Meric River where they were left."

The tweet also included video footage of the asylum seekers describing the ill-treatment they were subjected to.

Turkey and human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece’s illegal practice of pushing back asylum seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children./aa

Bangladesh urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to help resolve the Rohingya crisis, saying deteriorating political situation in Myanmar is hampering the peaceful repatriation of refugees.

Bangladesh is currently hosting about 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in camps in the southeast coast of Cox’s Bazar. Uncertainty looms over their repatriation to Rakhine state following a military coup in Myanmar on Feb. 1.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, who is on an official visit to the US, said: “It is frustrating that many influential countries have enhanced their economic and business relations with Myanmar while publicly decrying the human rights violations there.”

Momen made the call while holding a bilateral meeting with the secretary general at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday, reported state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) on Friday.

The minister also urged the UN chief to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines become accessible to all.

The UN head appreciated Dhaka’s humanitarian gesture in providing shelter to the Rohingya people.

“The world will not forget Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting the largest refugee camps of the world,” he added.

The minister also briefed the UN chief about the facilities on the Bhashan Char island and stressed the importance of UN’s operations there.

Bangladesh recently relocated about 20,000 Rohingya refugees, and is set move 80,000 more to the island in the coming months.

Momen later held a meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, and discussed the current political situation in Myanmar and its impact on the repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017./aa

Turkish security forces nabbed a senior PKK terrorist along the Iranian border, a local authority said on Friday.

Terrorist Islam Biliz, code-named Siyar Erzurum, who was on the grey category of the Interior Ministry’s wanted list, was captured in an operation on Turkey-Iran border near Armenia, said a statement issued by the governor's office in the eastern Erzurum province.

The terrorist was operating in the countryside of Erzurum's Karayazi district and in Iran, the statement added.

The operation was carried out jointly by the National Intelligence Organization and gendarmerie forces.

It was determined that Biliz joined the PKK/KCK in 2015 and took "attack/sabotage training" in the terror group's camps in northern Iraq.

Turkey's wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange, and gray.

The PKK terror group often hides out in northern Iraq, just across Turkey's southern border, to plot terror attacks in Turkey.

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 over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants./aa

The UN World Food Program (WFP) warned Friday that the number of people teetering on the brink of famine has risen from 34 million projected at the beginning of the year to 41 million as of June.

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri told journalists at the UN in Geneva that the world is no longer moving towards Zero Hunger.

More than 270 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure or at high risk in 2021.

"WFP's latest Global Operational Response Plan finds that famine, driven by conflict and fueled by climate shocks and the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 could soon become a reality for millions of people," said Phiri.

"Without immediate emergency food assistance, they too face starvation as the slightest shock will push them over the cliff into famine."

This year, some 584,000 people will likely face famine-like conditions in Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan, and Yemen.

Nigeria and Burkina Faso are also of particular concern because they have had pockets of people in the top level of measuring hunger known as IPC 5 or the catastrophe zone in recent months.

"We are extremely concerned about the world's most vulnerable people as food prices continue to rise globally," said Phiri.

He said WFP is undertaking the most extensive operation in its history, targeting 139 million people this year.

WFP needs $5B in 2021

The agency foresees significant scale-ups across areas of concern such as Ethiopia, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.

To do this, WFP needs $5 billion in 2021 to avert famine and meet the urgent food and nutrition needs of those people most at risk.

"The price of doing nothing is exponentially higher. The $5 billion for famine mitigation is approximately one-third of WFP's total resourcing needs of $15 billion for 2021," said Phiri.

"Famine also has a long-term economic impact, from lost productivity to spiking health care costs - not to mention the incalculable cost of losing the human potential of whole generations and crippling a nation's future," he added.

He noted that WFP received record funding from donors last year.

"But the situation in 2021 is not business as usual. It is getting worse. And while overall we have not registered, diminished contributions from donors, the needs outstrip the available resources."

WFP warned that significant funding shortfalls across East and Southern Africa, as well as the Middle East, have forced ration cuts upon some of the world's most vulnerable people who rely on WFP food to survive.

In East Africa alone, almost three-quarters of refugees have had their rations cut by up to 50%.

"Significant funding shortages for the Syria Regional Refugee Response mean 242,000 refugees in Jordan may be cut off from assistance at the end of August unless more funding is received," Phiri said./aa

The Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) in its latest report claimed that 70 of the 500 cases of gender-based violence, including rape, was committed against girls under 18 years of age.

As a joint investigation by the UN and Ethiopian human rights bodies continues, Ethiopia admitted that 25 soldiers suspected of involvement in rape cases were being court martialed.

On Nov. 3 last year, the now defunct Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) launched attacks against the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Forces stationed in the northernmost region of Tigray, killing and maiming soldiers and looting sizable military hardware.

On Nov. 4, the Horn of Africa country launched a sweeping law enforcement operation against the TPLF forces.

More than seven months into the conflict, sporadic fighting is still being reported in a few places in the region where more than a million people are reported to have been displaced, while more than 60,000 people fled to neighboring Sudan.

“The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC] shows that over 350,000 people are already facing catastrophic conditions,” OCHA said, adding that since the Northern Ethiopia response plan on May 1, over 2.3 million people out of the targeted 5.2 million were reached with food aid.

It said: “Partners [humanitarian] continue to access previously hard-to-reach areas, particularly remote rural areas, mapping dozens of locations with unexploded ordnances and remnants of war.”

The Ethiopian government earlier said it provided humanitarian assistance to more than 3.4 million people in coordination with partners and the contribution from the international humanitarian partners amounted to 35% of the total assistance provided./aa