Civilians in Syria who were forcibly displaced by the Bashar al-Assad regime and its supporters were deprived of hospital services after international aid groups cut their assistance to 18 hospitals in and around the northwestern province of Idlib.

As the civil war continues to rage in its 11th year, hundreds of hospitals have been attacked by the regime and its backers.

Hundreds of health workers lost their lives in these attacks, while many health centers became inoperable after international support for the organizations providing healthcare was cut off.

In Idlib, tens of thousands of civilians are now deprived of hospital services, as the province suffers from shortage of healthcare facilities and drugs.

Meanwhile, healthcare workers and locals stress the need for international assistance to resume for hospitals to reopen and treatment to continue.

Calls on aid organizations

Ahmet Abu Hussein, who was displaced by regime attacks on the district of Maarat al-Numan in southern Idlib, told Anadolu Agency that many people are suffering in poverty and that they did not have money to seek private medical care or even purchase the medicine they need.

Calling on aid organizations that have halted financial support to hospitals in Idlib, Abu Hussein underlined the need to speak out and to consider the situation of forcibly displaced civilians.

"The weather is cold. Hospitals are closing as if the suffering of people living in tents amid the difficult winter conditions is not enough," he added.

Fatma Hariri, who was also displaced from Maarat al-Numan, said she had no means to go to a private hospital and does not know what to do.

"We lost everything we had ... I hope the hospitals start receiving support again," she noted.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Salem Abdane, Idlib's health director, said that international aid organizations had cut their financial and logistics support for 18 hospitals in the province and warned that the health care was at risk of collapse.

The Assad regime and Russia have targeted health facilities a total of 753 times since the start of the civil war in Syria, according to the Syrian Human Rights Network (SNHR)./aa

British counter terrorism police arrested two individuals on Thursday in an ongoing investigation into an attack that took place at a Synagogue in Texas earlier in the week, a statement from Manchester police said.

"Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West continue to support US authorities with their investigation into the events in Texas," the statement said, referring to the incident dubbed the Texas synagogue siege.

It added: "As a result of this ongoing investigation, two men have been arrested this morning in Birmingham and Manchester. They remain in custody for questioning."

Two men were arrested on Thursday morning in Birmingham and Manchester, according to the Greater Manchester Police.

Earlier this week, two teenagers were arrested in the same region but later released without any charges.

Four people, including a rabbi, were held by a gunman, British national Malik Faisal Akram, who entered the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville during a religious service.

After hours of standoff with law enforcement, all hostages were freed, the police said, adding that the captor was killed in a shooting incident.

British counter terrorism police are co-investigating the possible links to the incident alongside US investigators./aa

A former Guantanamo detainee says he will sue the British government for canceling his passport three times, without any legal grounds.

Moazzam Begg, who was held in the infamous US prison located in Cuba for three years, says his passport was first revoked in 2013.

“And for eight years, I challenged them (Home Office) trying to get it back,” Begg told Anadolu Agency.

He said that in September 2021, “they issued a passport and I was very happy that I got my passport eventually after all this time,” only to see it would be revoked again in three weeks' time.

“Strangely enough the letter that they that they sent me was addressed to somebody else in the country up in the north of England, dated 2017… and when I searched the name of the person who this was issued to, it seemed that he had been convicted for passport fraud," he said. “So this was it showed that the government responded really in a knee jerk response.”

Begg’s lawyers have put the Home Office and Passport Office on notice of legal action, but received no reply. The legal team will file an application for judicial review within days, Begg said.

The former inmate, who was detained in Pakistan and taken to Guantanamo, and released without any terror charges after two years, said the reason of the revocation can be his trips to Syria in 2012 and 2013.

“When I went to Syria in 2012, 2013, this was long before ISIS (Daesh) came as an organization,” Begg explained.

“And one of the reasons why I was travelling there was to meet with people who have been conditioned as part of the torture program run by the United States of America and Britain.”

He said he met people in Syria as part of an investigation he was conducting to unravel human rights violations and war crimes by the US and UK forces.

Begg said British “security services met me before I left to that trip to Syria, and they said in front of my lawyer and in front of their own lawyer, who (were) both present that this will not be illegal and it's okay for you to go.”

“So for them to try to prosecute me for this clearly shows it was a politically motivated prosecution and they failed in that prosecution. And the police then actually said Moazzam Begg is innocent for them.”

He added that the continuation of harassment is “vindictiveness and a great deal of incompetence,” adding that he has never had a conviction in the UK.

“I've been held in three military prison camps," he said. “I've been arrested under counterterrorism laws three times, and I've had my passport revoked three times. I've never been convicted of any crime. And I've never had my day in court. So this shows you the level of which this these measures are actually operating outside of the law.”

Begg added that he could not see his daughter’s wedding party as he was stripped of his passport, and once he gets his document back he would go to Turkey where the newlyweds are living./agencies

The German police are investigating 12,000 suspected bogus vaccination certificates in the country, local media reported Wednesday.

The German News Agency said an investigation has been launched after fraud related to the 3G (vaccination, testing and recovery) requirement increased in many areas with 12,000 vaccination certificates forged in various states.

It was stated the fraud is widespread on the messaging application Telegram and these certificates can be obtained for €200-300 ($227-340).

It is not possible for the law enforcement agencies to determine the actual number of fake vaccine documents in circulation at the moment, the agency said.

The contract of Markus Anfang, the coach of Werder Bremen, a German second football league team, was terminated and an investigation was launched after it was revealed that he had used a fake vaccination certificate.

The German government has stepped up its vaccination campaign and is planning to administer booster shots to all adults over 18 years of age within a few weeks to curb the spread of the omicron variant of coronavirus.

Some 72.8% of the population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and nearly 47.6% of them have also received their booster shots as of Tuesday, according to official data./aa

The World Health Organization (WHO) agreed Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic still constitutes “an extraordinary event" following the 10th meeting of its Emergency Committee. 

In a statement, the international health organization said the virus "continues to adversely affect the health of populations around the world, poses a risk of international spread and interference with international traffic, and requires a coordinated international response."

Listing temporary recommendations to nations, the WHO advised to continue using "evidence-informed public health and social measures, therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines" to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

While advising to "take a risk-based approach to mass gathering events by evaluating, mitigating and communicating risks," the WHO once again called on states to "to have at least 70% of all countries’ populations vaccinated by the start of July 2022."

Noting the enhancing of COVID-19 surveillance as one of the critical actions to take, the statement said countries "should strengthen systems to collect and publicly share indicators to monitor the burden of COVID-19, such as hospitalization rates, severe disease and excess mortality. "

It further urged countries to ensure that there is "sufficient surge capacity for critical SARS-CoV-2 clinical care and post COVID-19 condition."

"States parties should enhance access to health for all by strengthening health and social systems to cope with the impacts of the pandemic, especially on children," the statement added.

With the surge in reports of omicron variant cases, many countries initially applied bans to several African states.

In that context, the WHO called on states to "lift or ease international traffic bans."

"The failure of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of the omicron variant to limit the international spread of omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time," it noted.

On vaccination against COVID-19, the WHO urged states to "recognize all vaccines that have received WHO Emergency Use Listing and all heterologous vaccine combinations" as per Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) recommendations.

It also advised to "conduct epidemiological investigations of SARS-CoV-2 transmission at the human-animal interface and targeted surveillance on potential animal hosts and reservoirs."/agencies

French lawmakers have voted in favor of an amendment prohibiting the wearing of veils at sporting events, resulting in the exclusion of Muslim female athletes from competitive field sports.

During a discussion on the sports bill in the Senate, the upper house of parliament, lawmakers adopted an amendment late Tuesday that aims to prohibit the wearing of veils in competitions organized by the country’s sporting federations in order to maintain “neutrality” on a sports field.

Some 160 lawmakers voted in favor and 143 against, amending the bill concerning democratizing sport and securing the conditions of those exercising professional sport to include the following text: the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols is prohibited for participation in sports events and sports competitions organized by sports federations and affiliated associations.

The objective behind introducing this change in the bill, lawmakers said, was due to the legal ambiguity on the wearing of religious symbols. They felt that even though it is a marginal issue, it was necessary for the state to clearly define the rules. 

“If the wearing of the veil is not explicitly prohibited, we could see the emergence of community sports clubs promoting certain religious symbols. In addition, the veil represents in many cases a major risk for the safety of practitioners,” the text said.

Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu expressed her dissent over this particular amendment, which she reminded lawmakers was against the spirit secularism guaranteed by the republic. 

“Sport is first and foremost a way to bond. Preventing and fighting against discrimination linked to homophobia, sexism or disability in sport means advancing the whole of society,” she later said on Twitter, without mentioning the ban on veils.

Officials of the National Association of Students in Sciences and Techniques of Physical and Sporting Activities denounced the amendment, which could risk excluding Muslim females from participating in professional sports as well as preventing the younger generation from choosing competitive sports. 

“Laicite (secularism) guarantees believers and non-believers the same right to freedom of expression of their beliefs. This measure goes against secularism,” Maelle Nizan, vice president of the student body, said on Twitter.

Leila Alem, in charge of sports affairs, underlined that the state must practice the neutrality principle and not individuals. 

“A deplorable measure that undermines the values of sport: inclusion and cohesion,” she added.

Earlier, the Senate had voted for the same amendment prohibiting the wearing of the veil during a sports competition during the bill reinforcing the respect of the principles of the republic or the so-called anti-separatism bill. The said amendment was ruled out from the final text adopted by parliament. 

The changes made in the sports bill by the Senate will once again be up for discussion with the National Assembly before they become law. 

With France set to host the 2024 Olympics and presidential elections due in April, legalizing the veil ban could be appalling for the optics./agencies

The US envoy to the UN urged “Israel” on Wednesday to refrain from evictions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.  

Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at a UN Security Council briefing that “Israel” and Palestine should abstain from unilateral steps for progress, which she said would exacerbate tensions and undermine a two-state solution.

"That includes annexations of territory, settlement activity, demolitions, and evictions – like what we saw in Sheikh Jarrah – incitement to violence, and providing compensation for individuals imprisoned for acts of terrorism," she said.

Her remarks came after “Israeli” forces earlier in the day demolished a Palestinian’s home that is at the center of an anti-expulsion campaign in East Jerusalem

“Israeli” police went to the home of the Salhiyeh family before dawn, assaulted its occupants and demolished the house after a forced evacuation, family's lawyer Walid Tayeh told Anadolu Agency.

The Salhiyeh family said they had been living in the home since 1948 after they were expelled from the Ein Karen neighborhood in West Jerusalem.​​​​​​​/agencies

Around 8.3 million people, including women and children, need humanitarian support in northeast Nigeria, which has been affected by 12 years of terrorist attacks, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Wednesday. 

There is no sign that the protracted violence in the region, which has been orchestrated by the Boko Haram terrorist group, will subside, OCHA said in a tweet.

"After 12 years, the crisis in northeast #Nigeria shows no sign of abating," it said.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said the need for urgent humanitarian assistance prompted him to lead a team of aid workers Wednesday from the UN and its partners to Borno State, the heartland of the violence.

"Our partnership for support is something which we do out of duty and responsibility within this case," he said in Borno’s capital Maiduguri.

Boko Haram, which seeks to carve out a territory in northern states, has claimed responsibility for most of the violent attacks in the area.​​​​​​​

An estimated 3 million civilians have been displaced since 2009 when the violence started./agencies

Three lions and two pumas were confirmed to be afflicted with the coronavirus, according to a recent study in South Africa.

Researchers from the University of Pretoria began investigating the lions and pumas at an unnamed private zoo in Johannesburg after the lions showed respiratory problems, runny noses, and a dry cough.

They discovered that COVID-19 was transmitted to the animals by zookeepers, some of whom were asymptomatic.

The research, titled SARS-CoV-2 Reverse Zoonoses to Pumas and Lions, South Africa, also revealed that all three lions were infected with the Delta variant, whereas one of the pumas was infected during the first wave of the pandemic but was not genetically analyzed.

"It is also equally important to assess the risk of subsequent transmission between animals and prolonged shedding that may give rise to new variants," it added./aa

The University of Michigan announced Wednesday that it reached a $490 million settlement with more than 1,000 people who alleged a former athletics team doctor sexually abused them.

The sexual misconduct dates to the 1970s and is focused on Robert Anderson, whom about 1,050 claimants said molested them during physical examinations, some of which were required to participate in team athletics. Survivors include two-time Super Bowl champion Dwight Hicks and Andy Hrovat, a world-class wrestler who competed in the 2008 Olympics.

Anderson, the disgraced athletic physician, died in 2008 after working for the school from 1966 to 2003.

The agreement is subject to approval by the university's Board of Regents as well as at least 98% of claimants and a US court.

Of the total $490 million settlement, $460 would be made available to claimants while $30 million would be reserved for future victims who step forward, the school said in a statement.

It added that the university will have no role in the distribution of the settlement, saying that will be determined by claimants and their attorneys.

“We hope this settlement will begin the healing process for survivors,” said Jordan Acker, the chair of the Board of Regents. “At the same time, the work that began two years ago, when the first brave survivors came forward, will continue.”

Anderson was never prosecuted for any wrongdoing and the school announced in 2020 that it was investigating the former physician. It asked victims to come forward following a then-secret probe that had spanned more than a year, according to the New York Times.

More than 100 survivors came forward in the two weeks after the university made its public appeal./agencies