US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he is intent on sending coronavirus vaccines to India as that country grapples with an unprecedented surge in cases.

The announcement comes after the US said it would release its stockpile of 60 million AstraZeneca vaccines for intentional distribution following safety inspections by health authorities.

The doses represent the entire US stock of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, which has not yet been granted emergency use approval in the country as the US rolls out other vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson and Johnson.

Biden did not specify which vaccines he is considering to send, but said he discussed with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “when we’ll be able to send actual vaccines to India, which would be my intention to do.”

“The problem is right now we have to make sure we have other vaccines like Novavax and others coming on probably, and I think we’ll be in a position to share vaccines as well as know-how with other countries who are in real need,” he told reporters at the White House.

“That’s the hope and expectation, and I might add when we were in a bind at the very beginning India helped us,” he added, alluding to India’s aid that was pivotal during the early days of the US outbreak.

In the interim, Biden said the US is sending mechanical parts India needs to build a vaccine, as well as therapeutics like Remdesivir to help the Indian health care system cope with the virus surge.

India’s caseload rose to more than 17 million and its death toll is approaching 200,000 as it registered record-breaking infection totals for five straight days. There were more than 323,000 cases alone on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The dramatic increase in cases has prompted shortages of oxygen, hospital beds and life-saving drugs.

The country received its first emergency medical supplies from abroad on Tuesday with the UK shipment consisting of 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators./aa

At least 166 people with suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, were arrested in countrywide raids, authorities said Monday. 

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul issued arrest warrants for 258 suspects, including 216 active duty military personnel, as part of a probe into the terror group’s infiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces.

The suspects were found to be involved in intra-organizational communication via payphones or fixed lines through confessions.

The 166 suspects were arrested in Istanbul-based operations conducted simultaneously in 66 cities across Turkey as well as in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Efforts are underway to arrest the remaining suspects.

Meanwhile, an operation against the infiltration of FETO in the Turkish Armed Forces has been launched to arrest 532 suspects across Turkey, a security source said Monday.

Later in the day, Turkey arrested 400 of the 532 suspects, sources said.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in which 251 people were martyred 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

Yemeni Doctors in Diaspora (YDD) called Monday for emergency aid to save Yemen’s health care sector after dozens of medical personnel lost their lives due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

A total of 153 health care workers have died due to the pandemic since the beginning of 2020, YDD said in a Facebook post.

YDD called on the international community, international and regional organizations and local authorities to take urgent action to provide health care workers in the country with coronavirus vaccines.

The Yemeni health system is on the verge of collapse amid a surge in coronavirus-related deaths, it warned.

In Yemen, the virus tally stands at 6,137 cases, including 1,187 fatalities, according to the latest data by the National Committee for the Fight Against the Coronavirus.

A total of 2,546 patients have won the battle against the virus to date./aa

Nigerian security forces have arrested 40 armed gang members during operations in the southern state of Edo. 

In a statement, George Edem, the commandant of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps in Edo, said a significant amount of ammunition belonging to the gangs was also seized in the operations in the state capital Benin.

Those caught will be referred to court, he added.

A conflict that started in 2008 between cattle herdsmen and farmers has turned into kidnapping attempts and robbery since 2015.

Last year, more than 3,000 people lost their lives in the country due to armed clashes between various gangs.

As part of Operation Puff Adder conducted between April and July last year, a total of 2,504 gang members were captured and 207 people who were kidnapped for ransom were rescued./aa

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) distributed food and hygiene packs Monday to families in Kenya’s capital. 

In a statement, TIKA said it provided food packages and hygiene kits to 415 families and orphans in Biafra estate in Nairobi.

On Sunday, TIKA announced plans to distribute 36 tons of food aid to 1,200 families and orphan children who live in the slums of the capital within a month.

On April 24, TIKA provided food packages and hygiene kits for Ramadan to 215 families in the Kariobangi South area of Nairobi, including at facilities that rescue orphaned and abandoned children.

TIKA has in the past assisted Kenya in different areas, including poverty reduction programs, help in the health sector and agricultural productivity aid./aa

Legal Center Lesvos, a non-profit organization providing legal assistance to migrants in Greece, has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against Greece on charges of illegal pushbacks by the Hellenic Coast Guard. 

According to Legal Center Lesvos, testimonials have been collected from 11 survivors who were part of a group of 180-200 migrants trying to flee to Italy.

The group, which included 40 children and a pregnant woman, were reported to have been violently pushed back into waters near the Turkish coast.

The report said their boat fell into distress at sea on Oct. 20, 2020 near Crete Island in southern Greece.

After alerting Greek authorities, multiple vessels of the Hellenic Coast Guard accompanied by a search and rescue vessel escorted the boats towards Greek waters, where they were left for over five hours without food and water, the report said.

Video footage has been recorded showing migrants being forcibly transported into two Hellenic Coast Guard vessels and then abandoned in rafts near the Turkish coast.

Legal Center Lesvos argues that Greece has had five similar complaints that violate several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In addition, it said they possess evidence of migrants being met with violence, humiliation and torture from Greek authorities and ultimately abandoned at sea.

Several human rights groups including Legal Center Lesvos have highlighted the illegal acts committed by Greek authorities which according to the center are part of an ongoing and systematic practice, while Greek authorities continue to deny these allegations./aa

Turkey rescued 250 asylum seekers Monday in the Aegean Sea who were pushed back by Greek coastal authorities into Turkish territorial waters, according to security officials. 

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued eight asylum seekers off the coast of Marmaris district in southwestern Mugla province.

Another 44 asylum seekers were rescued in a plastic boat off the coast of northwestern Canakkale province.

In a separate operation, Turkey rescued 61 asylum seekers off the coast of northwestern Balikesir province while they were attempting to reach Lesbos Island in a plastic boat.

Meanwhile, in three different operations, a total of 137 asylum seekers were rescued by Turkish coastal authorities off the coast of western Izmir province.

After a tip that there was a group of asylum seekers in three rubber boats off Denizkoy in Dikili district, a Coast Guard Command boat was dispatched to the area.

Some 86 asylum seekers in rubber dinghies were brought ashore.

Another 23 asylum seekers in a rubber boat which was pushed back by Greek Coast Guard teams were rescued off Aslan Cape in Foca County.

Coast Guard command teams also disembarked 28 asylum seekers in a rubber boat off Cape Karaabdullah in Cesme district.

The asylum seekers, including women and children, were taken to the provincial migration authority after routine checks.

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 fleeing war and persecution./aa

Leaders of political parties in North Macedonia condemned US President Joe Biden's recent remarks on the events of 1915. 

Turkish National Unity Movement (TMBH) President Erdogan Sarac said Biden’s "genocide" statement is a lie and slander because it was incompatible with the facts.

He said that such a statement is never acceptable from a country that is an ally within NATO.

"We have no pages to be ashamed of in our history. The justice, rights and laws of our past cannot be discussed. The president of the US wants to distort the facts. He implies that he is right because he is strong. Our national and moral character says that ‘the righteous are strong.’ Whatever the conditions are, we are always with what we call [our] ‘homeland,’ the Republic of Turkey," said Sarac.

He added that they also condemn the print and visual media in Macedonia taking sides with the US.

Beycan Ilyas, chairman of the Democratic Party of Turks (TDP), said on social media that he strongly condemned Biden's calling the events of 1915 a "genocide.”

"I also remind them what they did to the Native Americans and slaves,” said Beycan.

On Saturday, Biden called the events of 1915 a "genocide," breaking with a long-held tradition by American presidents of refraining from using the term.

A Malaysian non-governmental organization also condemned Biden's remarks.

“Western countries remain silent on the genocide that Israel continues to carry out in Palestine and India in Kashmir," said Azmi Abdul Hamid, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organization (MAPIM), adding the Indian army “has killed about 600,000 Kashmiris” since 1947 and Israel has “displaced millions of Palestinians.”

He dubbed Biden’s remarks an “interference in Turkey’s internal affairs.”

Turkish stance on 1915 events

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as "genocide," describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

In 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Turkey’s then-prime minister and now president – expressed his condolences to the descendants of Armenians who lost their lives in the events of 1915./aa