Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny went on hunger-strike on Wednesday, protesting the conditions of his imprisonment.

Navalny demanded a full medical examination, saying he had back and leg pain that developed during his transportation to a prison colony.

His lawyers claim a prison doctor only gave him painkillers.

He has also complained of numerous reprimands and regular night checks in the colony where he was put on a preventive "prone to escape" list.

In 2014, Navalny was convicted of fraud and embezzlement, but his two-and-a-half-year sentence was suspended and replaced with six-year probation, required to report to police twice a month.

He was arrested in the Russian capital upon his return in January from Germany, where he had received treatment after alleged poisoning by Russian agents last year./aa

The EU’s drug regulatory agency said Wednesday that it has found no specific risk factors, including age, for the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, but also noted that it's carrying out further analysis.

“At present the review has not identified any specific risk factors, such as age, gender or a previous medical history of clotting disorders, for these very rare events,” the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement.

A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but it is possible and further analysis is continuing, it added.

The agency urged vaccinated people to be aware of the slim chance of these very rare types of blood clots occurring.

“EMA continues to work with the national authorities in the EU Member States to ensure that suspected cases of unusual blood clots are reported,” it added.

On March 18, the EMA said the benefits of the vaccine in combating the COVID-19 continue to outweigh the risk of side effects.

The World Health Organization also said it believes the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine "outweigh its risks" and recommended that jabs go on while safety assessments continue./aa

The Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB will build 6,000 houses for the needy in Idlib, Syria as part of an aid project.

The delegation, consisting of DITIB head Kazim Turkmen, board members and association heads, examined the work carried out by the Turkey's Diyanet Foundation in the Azaz and Idlib regions of Syria.

After delivering the charity and zakat donations, or mandatory alms, of the benefactors to the families living in the orphanages in the region, the delegation also visited five orphanages built by the Diyanet Foundation, the cultural center providing education in Turkish, English and Arabic, the charity bazaar established to meet the clothing needs of the families in need, a religious high school under construction, as well as the youth center and library in the region.

Turkmen said they came to Idlib to see the houses under construction being built by DITIB with the contributions of the charitable people, adding that they undertook the construction of 6,000 houses on behalf of Germany-based DITIB associations and charitable community.

"We will also undertake the construction of mosques and schools in the residential area," he added.

He underlined that they will continue to support maintenance and repair works and meet educational needs of the 22-classroom primary school, which was built in Azaz by the Cologne DITIB regional union in 2018, where 1,800 students receive education.

He also said that the maintenance costs of the youth center and Quran teaching courses in Azaz will be covered by the Cologne Youth Association./agencies

Turkey is currently hosting more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, the country's interior minister said Wednesday.

"The number of Syrians under temporary protection in our country is 3,664,873," Suleyman Soylu said, addressing immigration officials in the northwestern Balikesir province at an annual evaluation meeting.

The number of foreigners in Turkey with a residence or work permit currently stands at 1,032,348, Soylu noted.

Criticizing the West, he said they are busy managing the pandemic crisis, but ignoring the migration crisis.

"Not only originating from Syria, but there is a migration issue also in Africa, the Middle East, and South America," he added.

He noted that Turkey is the country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world.

"We have not determined our migration policy based on economic or political motives," said Soylu, noting that the country made its migration policy based on a "2,200-year-old state mind" as well as its civilization’s values, and beliefs.

Soylu underlined that in 2019, some 103,858 deportation proceedings were conducted in Turkey, with 41,379 in 2020 despite the pandemic, and the number of deportation proceedings since the beginning of this year stands at 22,115.

Also, Soylu said that while 454,662 irregular migrants were held in 2019 in Turkey, this number dropped to 122,302 last year due to the pandemic.

​​​​​​​He noted that as of March 24 this year, 22,115 irregular migrants have been held by Turkish security forces.

"We want to warn Europe from here again, this Frontex organization [EU border agency] has been engraved in your history as a black mark, as another exploitative behavior in your history," he said.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum seekers who want to cross to Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.

Turkey hosts nearly 4 million refugees, more than any other country in the world./aa

The UN on Wednesday dispatched 64 more trucks with humanitarian aid to Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.

The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey’s southern Hatay province.

The aid will be distributed among people in Idlib and its surrounding areas.

Syria has been ravaged by a civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

According to UN estimates, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced.

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia.

The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings that the Assad regime and its allies have frequently violated./aa

Police arrested nine suspects for their alleged links to the far-left DHKP-C terror group in western Turkey on Wednesday, according to security sources.

The suspects were arrested in the Aegean Izmir province during an operation of the anti-terror and intelligence units, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Police are searching for the suspect who has not yet been detained.

Earlier, arrest warrants were issued for 10 suspects accused of accommodating DHKP-C terrorists in their residences, recruiting people for the terror group, and proving financial support.

The DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey, including a 2013 attack on the US Embassy in Ankara, which martyred a Turkish security guard.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU./aa

Police arrested nine suspects for their alleged links to the far-left DHKP-C terror group in western Turkey on Wednesday, according to security sources.

The suspects were arrested in the Aegean Izmir province during an operation of the anti-terror and intelligence units, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Police are searching for the suspect who has not yet been detained.

Earlier, arrest warrants were issued for 10 suspects accused of accommodating DHKP-C terrorists in their residences, recruiting people for the terror group, and proving financial support.

The DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey, including a 2013 attack on the US Embassy in Ankara, which martyred a Turkish security guard.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU./aa

Zimbabwe on Tuesday received 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine made by the Chinese firm Sinovac.

Last month, Zimbabwe received its first batch of 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by the Chinese government.

Deputy Health Minister John Mangwiro said that with the new batch, "we are moving forward and we will speed up the vaccination program."

By Monday this week, about 69,751 Zimbabweans had been vaccinated, a sharp rise from the 43,295 people who had been received at least one jab on Monday last week.

This week on Monday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa led a government delegation that received more than 35,000 doses of the Covaxin shot donated by the Indian government.

To date, Zimbabwe has recorded 36,839 coronavirus cases with 1,520 deaths./aa

The Biden administration axed on Tuesday a conservative human rights hierarchy established by former US President Donald Trump's administration that was met with heavy criticism from rights groups.

In announcing the overhaul, Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintained everyone is "entitled to" universal human rights, regardless of "where they’re born, what they believe, whom they love, or any other characteristic."

"Human rights are also co-equal. There is no hierarchy that makes some rights more important than others," he told reporters as he rolled out the US's 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights.

"Past unbalanced statements that suggest such a hierarchy, including those offered by a recently disbanded State Department advisory committee do not represent a guiding document of this administration. At my confirmation hearing I promised the Biden-Harris administration would repudiate those unbalanced views. We do so decisively today," he added.

Blinken was referring to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's controversial Commission on Unalienable Rights, which sought to elevate religious freedoms and property rights while diminishing others, including LGBTQ and reproductive rights.

The commission, which was spearheaded by anti-abortion advocate Mary Ann Glendon, released its final report in August and was immediately hit with searing criticism from rights groups.

Repudiating the commission's findings, Blinken said human rights are "inter-dependent."

"If you can’t assembly peacefully how can you organize a union or an opposition party, or exercise your freedom of religion, or belief?” he asked rhetorically.

This year's human rights report, which analyzed country-specific developments in 2020, determined "that the trend lines on human rights continue to move in the wrong direction" worldwide, Blinken said.

"We see it in the genocide of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang," he said. "And in the executions, forced disappearances and tortures committed by the Syrian regime, as well as its ongoing attacks on schools, on markets, on hospitals."