El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has announced that the Central American country will be the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

“In the short term, this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy, and in the medium and long term, we hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction,” he said in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami, Florida in the US on Sunday, adding he plans to introduce legislation next week for that purpose.

In a series of Twitter posts, the 39-year-old president, who recent polls show is backed by more than 90% of Salvadorans, said Bitcoin could help boost the economy.

“Financial inclusion is not only a moral imperative but also a way to grow the country’s economy, providing access to credit, savings, investment and secure transactions,” he said. “We hope that this decision will be just the beginning in providing a space where some of the leading innovators can reimagine the future of finance.”

Some 70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a bank account and works in the informal economy, he said, adding it would facilitate faster transfers for $6 billion of remittances a year. He did not offer much detail, however, on how Bitcoin will coexist with El Salvador's official currency, the US dollar.

Bukele also announced on Twitter that his government will give “immediate permanent residence to crypto entrepreneurs.”

The idea has surprised many because although Bitcoin is legal to own in most countries, it has never been designated as legal tender.

The right-wing leader, who has been in power since 2019, has been heavily criticized for making authoritarian decisions. On May 3 this year, he fired five Supreme Court justices after the Salvadoran judiciary ruled that the president’s use of emergency powers during the pandemic was unconstitutional. On Twitter, Bukele defended the firings as “getting our house in order.” ​​​​​​​/aa

Recent months have seen more and more attacks by “Israeli” forces on journalists covering events in occupied East Jerusalem. 

Most recently, “Israeli” police arrested Givara al-Budeiri of Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera and Palestinian activist Muna al-Kurd.

The tension began in the region at the end of April with Israeli forces’ raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The tension escalated into violence in the occupied West Bank and the areas inhabited by Israeli Arabs, and soon turned into an Israeli military operation against the blockaded Gaza Strip.

“Israeli” forces have targeted journalists who have long been closely monitoring the violent events in the region. Media workers were hit with plastic bullets, tear-gassed, and even detained.

“Israeli” attacks targeting Gaza for 11 days ended with a cease-fire on May 21.

A statement by Palestine's Information Ministry said journalists in Jerusalem were subjected to violence 35 times this May alone.   

April 23

Rajai al-Khatib, a Palestinian cameraman working for a Jordanian TV channel, was shot in the foot with a rubber bullet while covering events around Damascus Gate in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem. 

May 7

Four freelance photojournalists – Ata Awaisat, Salih az-Zegari, Bera Ebu Rauz, and Abdulgafur Zagir – were injured when Israeli forces attacked worshipers in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

May 8

Anadolu Agency Middle East News Editor Turgut Alp Boyraz, Anadolu Agency’s photojournalist Mustafa AlKharouf, and the agency’s cameraman Fayez Abu Rumaila were injured in an Israeli police raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.  

May 10

Rubber bullets and sound bombs used by Israeli forces hit journalists covering fanatical Jewish groups’ attempt to raid Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On May 10, when Anadolu Agency photojournalist Mustafa AlKharouf was shot in the chest for the second time with a rubber bullet, other journalists suffering “Israeli” attacks included freelance photojournalist Iyad at-Tawil, Rami al-Khatib from Jordan’s state TV, local Mean TV's Misa Abu Ghazale, and journalists from other local media outlets Hiba Makkiye, Amir al-Khatib, Ali ad-Devani, Liva Abu Armile, Esid Amarine, and Muhammad Samrin.  

May 18

When Latifah Abdul Latiff, a Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera, was trying to record the detention of a child and a young person during protests in occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli police attacked her and took her headscarf off.

Journalist Rama Yousef, working for the Jordan’s TV channel Al-Ghad, was covering a protest in front of the Damascus Gate when he was shot in the foot by “Israeli” police with a rubber bullet.  

May 27

Palestine’s Al-Qafiyah television reporter Ziynet al-Halawani and cameraman Wahbi Mekkiye were detained by the “Israeli” police while they were following a protest in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in support of the Palestinians.

Mekkiye was beaten up and injured when he was detained by the “Israeli” police. The journalists were released five days later.  

June 5

The “Israeli” police attacked an Al Jazeera team covering a sit-in in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in support of Palestinians being forcibly removed from their homes.

“Israeli” police detained Al Jazeera TV channel correspondent Givara al-Budeiri for a few hours, and released her with a ban on her entry in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood for 15 days.

“Israeli” police also assaulted Al Jazeera cameraman Nabil Mazzawi and broke his camera.  

June 6

Palestinian activist and journalist Muna al-Kurd, 23, and her brother Muhammad, who tried to tell the world about the wrongdoings and use of excessive force by “Israel”, were detained in a raid on their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Al-Kurd was later released.

Palestinian activists, including al-Kurd and her brother Muhammad, launched a campaign on Twitter with the #SaveSheikhJarrah hashtag to make the world aware of what has been happening in Sheikh Jarrah.

Al Jazeera reporter Najwan Simri got his leg injured the same day as “Israeli” forces dispersed demonstrations in East Jerusalem./agencies

Turkey’s AK Party expects Europe to take concrete steps to prevent violence against asylum seekers, many of whom are drowning at sea, said a party spokesman on Monday.

"European democracies are sinking in the Mediterranean," Omer Celik told reporters in the capital Ankara after a meeting of the AK Party's Central Executive Board.

Referring to the high-tech sound bombs deployed by Greece to deter asylum seekers, Celik said these bombs are louder than an airplane flying close by, and that medical reports found that people who come into contact with them suffer injuries.

"Why is Greece doing this? So that no migrant comes to their border. They talk about protecting Europe's borders to legitimize this,” he said, adding: “And then you talk about European values.”

"While our president gives them information, documents, and videos about the Greek Coast Guard's actions in sinking the migrant boats, they still claim they do not know about it," he added, referring to evidence Turkey has given European Union bodies about the abuse and mistreatment at the border.

In March 2020, after Turkey stopped trying to block asylum seekers from reaching Greece’s border by land, Greek border guards wounded thousands of asylum seekers and killed several.

The harsh Greek reaction to the asylum seekers included blast bombs, rubber bullets and live ammunition, and tear gas.

Human rights groups have also documented hundreds of cases of asylum seekers being robbed, abused, and stripped by Greek forces along the land border, or being forcibly pushed back in boats along coastal borders, in cooperation with Frontex, the EU border agency.

'Netanyahu’s bad era’

Celik said they would not interfere in the internal affairs of another state, but that the era of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a bad one.

"It is a bad period both for the two-state solution and for the more and more illegal settlements that the EU considers illegitimate, it was a bad period in terms of rising violence, an extremely ugly and bad period in terms of rising provocations, and the most recent disrespect towards Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem," he said.

Saying that all these acts of violence greatly damaged the future of everyone and prospects for peace, Celik said that the Netanyahu era was also a bad period in terms of corruption, instability, violence and sabotaging the two-state solution.

Referring to ongoing efforts by a coalition of Israeli parties to oust Netanyahu, Celik said they hope that whoever succeeds him will take a more prudent approach to all these issues, especially a two-state solution./aa

Greece on Monday announced that applications for asylum filed by individuals in Turkey will no longer be accepted. 

"Turkey is designated a safe country for asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia," said a joint decision by the Greek Foreign Ministry as well as the Migration and Asylum Ministry.

Arguing that Turkey meets all conditions for living conditions and human rights of certain categories of applicants for international protection, the Greek decision said applicants whose origin is from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Somalia are not considered to be in any danger in Turkey due to their race, religion, citizenship, or political beliefs.

On the decision, Greek Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarachi said: "The designation of Turkey as a safe third country is an important step in tackling illegal migration flows and the criminal activity of smuggling networks."

Turkey has 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.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those escaping war and persecution.

More than 265,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Interior Ministry./aa

Wild sheep wandered through deserted business districts in England. Lions lounged on once-busy roadways in Africa.

But if you thought the environment clawed its way back to health during the coronavirus pandemic shut-downs, scientists on Monday provided a reality check: the dip in global greenhouse gas emissions during the heart of the shutdowns, while dramatic, was only a blip.

2020 saw the highest release of atmospheric carbon dioxide since measurements began 63 years ago.

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report that levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide peaked in May at nearly 419 parts per million.

The NOAA says those are levels not seen since around 3.6 million years ago, a period known as the Mid-Pliocene Warm Era, when the sea level was about 78 feet higher than today.

The shutdowns offered temporary relief; scientists say carbon emissions dropped by anywhere from 5.8 to 7 percent. Scientists at the International Energy Agency say that is the largest annual percentage decline since World War Two, and it was fueled by a dramatic decline in the demand for oil and coal.

But the human activity -- fossil-fuel burning -- that leads to carbon emissions, came roaring back by the end of 2020 and the Paris-based IEA says global energy demand is now set to surpass 2019 levels.

More consumers and corporations are taking notice: Amazon is vowing to reach at least 50% net carbon zero by 2030. And Delta Airlines is pledging one billion dollars to become the first carbon neutral airline.

It is a welcome, if belated, move, according to the NOAA.

"It's going to take a deliberate focus on reducing fossil fuel emissions to near zero," Colm Sweeny of the NOAA's Global Monitoring Lab said in April. "Even then, we'll need to look for ways to further remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere."/aa

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved on Monday a controversial new drug to treat Alzheimer’s Disease, the first in nearly 20 years.

Aducanumab, also known as Aduhelm, attempts to fight the disease in its early stages by targeting amyloid beta plaques in the brain to slow the disease's progression.

The FDA's decision to grant what is known as Accelerated Approval comes after its own external experts concluded last year that there is insufficient evidence to support the drug's effectiveness.

The health agency recognized the fact multiple times in announcing its decision, saying "the data included in the applicant’s submission were highly complex and left residual uncertainties regarding clinical benefit."

"There has been considerable public debate on whether Aduhelm should be approved. As is often the case when it comes to interpreting scientific data, the expert community has offered differing perspectives," the FDA said in a statement.

"At the end of the day, we followed our usual course of action when making regulatory decisions in situations where the data are not straightforward," it added.

It said drugmaker Biogen must conduct "post-approval studies to verify the anticipated clinical benefit," noting the FDA "has regulatory procedures in place that could lead to removing the drug from the market."

The Alzheimer's Association non-profit lauded the FDA's decision to grant approval, saying "we celebrate today’s historic decision."

"This approval is a victory for people living with Alzheimer's and their families," association president Harry Johns said in a statement./aa