Bangladesh’s coastal regions bore the brunt of Cyclone Yaas, with tens of thousands of people left homeless and hundreds of homes, roads, crops and fish farms destroyed. 

Around 2,570 homes alone on the southeast coast of Cox's Bazar district were damaged, the district administration said Thursday.

But Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char island were not seriously affected due to precautionary measures by the government and support from UN agencies, said officials.

More than 150,000 people became stranded, 20 kilometers (12 miles) of embankment areas were damaged and over 3,000 hectares of shrimp enclosures were flooded and hundreds of homes damaged due to the effects of the cyclone on the coastal southwestern district of Satkhira.

The cyclone battered Bangladesh on Wednesday, affecting at least 27 subdistricts of nine southern coastal districts, according to the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry.

“Embankments around villages were damaged due to Cyclone Yaas. Hundreds of homes and crops were submerged in saltwater while roads and communication infrastructure have been destroyed,” Bachchu Shekh, a resident of the affected coastal area, told Anadolu Agency.

“Overflowing tides were strengthened by surrounding rivers and entered localities Thursday due to the cyclone. We were submerged and affected with untold suffering here in the coastal regions,” he added.

“Some shelters were destroyed at refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. However, no major destruction or any casualties have been reported so far at the refugee camps. We are yet to assess the losses and damage and will hold a meeting to determine those,” Mohammad Shamsud Douza of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission told Anadolu Agency.

People affected in these areas have been trying to repair the damaged embankments, dams and roads to save livelihoods and belongings while the government assured that it will extend all-out support.

Shrimp enclosures and coastal forests including mangroves and the Sundarbans were also affected by the cyclone, while four deer were also found dead. Official committees have been formed to determine the losses and damage in the country.

In Cox's Bazar, local authorities and aid agencies are responding as needed in the Rohingya refugee camps amid reports of damage to shelters, latrines and water points due to bad weather in the past few days, said Syed Md Tafhim, national communications officer at the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) for the Rohingya response in Cox’s Bazar.

According to an incident report of the ISCG on May 26, six toilets and six water points were partially damaged while 75 shelters were destroyed, but no cases of dead or missing were reported in the 32 refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar./aa

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey was one of the rare countries where negative growth did not occur and its economy grew by 1.8% in 2020, said Auguste Tano Kouame, the World Bank country director for Turkey.

"This is actually a very important growth rate for large economies,” Kouame stressed during an introductory meeting of the 5th series of the Turkey Economic Monitoring Report published by the World Bank.

He said that the report includes evaluations on the Turkish economy and suggestions for strong and inclusive growth in the future.

"Many countries have been grappling with the effects of this crisis. The global economy shrank by 4.3% last year, if you exclude China, we are talking about a 5% shrinkage," he said.

The pandemic has increased poverty all over the world, he said, adding: “We think that in 2020, nearly 100 million people in the world fell into extreme poverty.”

Sharing the main findings of the report, David Knight, a senior economist at World Bank Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Unit said: "Although Turkey was seriously affected by the pandemic, the overall economic performance of Turkey was very good throughout 2020. It grew by 1.8% in real terms."

In fact, Turkey was the fastest growing country among the G20 countries as of last year, he noted, adding the growth is expected to be 5% this year.

He stated that the fiscal situation of Turkey was relatively good in the past year and that the budget deficit was 3.5%, pointing out Turkey's budget deficit was much lower compared to many other countries.

Noting that the World Bank expects inflation to be 15.5% this year, Knight said: "We expect the current potential growth to realize 4.5% per year in 2022 and 2023, in the light of current data."

He also emphasized that Turkey has a competitive advantage in realizing the green transformation, saying that measures have been taken that can play a very positive role on assets and balance sheets in order to ensure a timely and effective recovery in Turkey./aa

Turkey on Thursday criticized German authorities for their support to a controversial interfaith dialogue project in Berlin, which included the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 coup attempt in the country.

“Despite all the objections of Turkey and the Turkish and Muslim community in Germany, the "House of One" project, in which the FETO terrorist organization was included and whose foundation was laid in Berlin today, does not serve to bring three religions together, on the contrary, it serves to divide them and to legitimize and support a terrorist organization,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The foundation stone-laying ceremony for the “House of One” project – a shared house of prayer for Muslims, Christians and Jews – was held in Berlin on Thursday.

The ministry said that house of worship would not have any value and meaning for Turks and Muslims living in Germany, “as long as FETO, which destroys and exploits the religion of Islam with its dark agenda and does not represent the Muslims in Germany,” is involved.

It called on Germany to “return from this grave mistake” soon and to ensure that the true representatives of the Muslims will be included in the project instead of the terrorist organization.

“In fact, the basic expectation of the Turkish and Muslim community in Germany is in this direction,” the ministry said.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.

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

Turkish security forces nabbed at least seven suspects with links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) on Thursday as they tried to illegally flee to Greece, according to the National Defense Ministry.

It said on Twitter that border guards arrested the suspects in northwestern Edirne province’s Ipsala district, near the Greek border.

The suspects were later identified as members of the FETO terror group and referred to a local gendarmerie center, it added.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.

Turkey also 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

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday adopted a resolution that includes the urgent establishment of an international independent investigation commission to probe Israel's human rights violations.

The special session of the council, which was called to discuss the "serious human rights situation" in the occupied Palestinian territories, ended with the adoption of the resolution put forward by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) coordinator, Pakistan, and the Palestinian state.

The council "decides to urgently establish an ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry, to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, to investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in “Israel”,” said the resolution.

The commission will investigate "all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity," it added.

The resolution calls on all states, international agencies, and other donors to urgently mobilize humanitarian support for the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

It urges them "to address their prevailing needs, and calls upon “Israel”, the occupying power, to ensure the unimpeded delivery of that humanitarian assistance."

The resolution was adopted by 24 votes, with 9 countries voting no and 14 abstaining.

Countries that voted no included Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Malawi, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay, arguing that this would be an unprecedented ongoing investigation.

Ibrahim Khraishi, Palestinian representative at the UN in Geneva, said: “It's a good step towards reaching in some way, the justice for the Palestinian people and to go through this fact-finding commission of inquiry.

“I think that it will establish a new mechanism of monitoring of the “Israeli” occupying power inside “Israel” and West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

“This is an ongoing mechanism; it will not be renewed until the end of the occupation.”

Venezuela's representative strongly condemned “Israel” for "crimes against humanity that amount to genocide."

Meirav Eilon Shahar, “Israel's” ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said after the session, "Hamas will not be held accountable for its war crimes and will not be the focus of this investigation."

After the vote, the US mission in Geneva put out a statement saying, "The United States deeply regrets today's decision by the Human Rights Council to establish an open-ended Commission of Inquiry into the recent violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The actions of the Human Rights Council today do not contribute to peace. They will not help bring about lasting solutions to the challenges in the region, nor provide greater dignity, freedom, or prosperity for either Palestinians or Israelis," it added./aa

“Israel’s” most recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territories of the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem have not only stirred mass demonstrations on the streets of the UK but also within its schools.

Pro-Palestinian protests erupted in a number of schools across the UK in response to the “Israeli” attacks on Palestinian worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and compound as well as airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

Students, however, have faced repercussions from school authorities with one headteacher labelling the Palestinian flag a “call to arms” and a “symbol” of antisemitism. Such remarks and comments have attracted anger and rebuke and questions are being asked as to why children are being punished for expressing their thoughts.

“The problem is by using a symbol such as the Palestinian flag, that message is lost because for some people, they see that flag and they feel threatened, they feel unsafe and they worry and for other people that flag is seen as a call to arms and seen as a message of support for antisemitism and for being anti-Jewish and it was never meant to be like that in the first place,” Mike Roper, headteacher of Allerton Grange school, said in an online message.

Roper later apologized for his inflammatory remarks, arguing that it was never his intention to upset students and the community at large. The head teacher is to meet with the students’ representative body to discuss what action can be taken to address the grievances at large.

The school itself will work with international organizations and charities and assist them in their campaigns in the Middle East and hold a panel for both students and teachers on the conflict in Palestine.

“I am deeply sorry that a particular example I used in that mixed assemble, referring to the Palestinian flag, has caused such upset within the community. That was never my intention. The full message shared with students last week praised our students’ passion for their views and beliefs. It set out how we want to work through the issues highlighted with our students in an informed and respectful way,” Roper said in his letter of apology.

The incident at Allerton Grange is one such example as students from Birmingham, Manchester, Rochdale and London have faced similar hostile reactions. At Clapton Girls’ Academy in east London, teachers had removed posters and displays of Palestine and its struggle following a protest by students who staged a sit-in in the school and chanted “Free Palestine.”

Authorities at Loreto College in Manchester closed down the school after 200 students had planned a demonstration. Despite its closure, the students and local residents gathered outside the college’s gates and waved Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and chants.

In Older Hill, Rochdale, a secret audio recording shows a teacher reprimanding a seventh grade student for expressing his support and sympathy for the Palestinian children murdered by Israeli forces.

In the audio recording, the teacher denied that “babies and children” were being killed by Israeli air raids. The teacher accused the student of having “racist views” and told him to “take them somewhere else,” arguing that “everybody is entitled to their own opinion … but not in school.”

An Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Palestinian resistance groups and “Israel” came into effect in the Gaza Strip on May 21, putting an end to 11 days of fighting.

At least 254 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, and more than 1,900 others injured in “Israeli” attacks on the Gaza Strip, while 31 more were killed by “Israeli” forces in the occupied West Bank, according to official Palestinian figures.

Thirteen “Israelis” also died in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip./aa

There is insufficient evidence to properly assess the origins of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said on Thursday.