21-09-2022

WEdNESdAy, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
7
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to swap 200 prisoners in one of the largest exchanges of the sevenmonth
war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US television.
Photo : Internet
Russia, Ukraine agree to swap
200 prisoners: Erdogan
ISTANBUL : Russia and Ukraine have
agreed to swap 200 prisoners in one of
the largest exchanges of the sevenmonth
war, Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan told US television.
Erdogan made the announcement
after talks last week with Russian
President Vladimir Putin on the
sidelines of a regional summit in
Uzbekistan.
Erdogan did not provide full details
about the swap, calling the people
being exchanged "hostages" and not
saying how many there were from each
side.
"Two hundred hostages will be
exchanged upon agreement between
the parties. I think a significant step will
Zimbabwe growth
to drop by half in
2022: IMF
HARARE : Zimbabwe's
economic growth is projected to
slump to around half of last
year's levels due to growing
fiscal instability and a drop in
agricultural output, the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) said Monday.
"After rising to about seven
percent in 2021, real GDP
growth is expected to decline to
about three-and-half percent in
2022" Dhaneshwar Ghura,
head of a visiting IMF team,
said in a statement.
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be taken forward," Erdogan told PBS
television late Monday.
NATO member Turkey has tried to
stay neutral in the conflict, supplying
combat drones to Kyiv and shying away
from Western-led sanctions against
Moscow.
Erdogan said he had the
"impression" that Putin was willing to
end the war.
"We had very extensive discussions
and he is actually showing me that he is
willing to end this as soon as possible,"
Erdogan said.
"That was my impression because the
way things are going right now are
quite problematic."
Erdogan said Russia's return of
captured lands would be an important
part of any lasting truce.
"If peace is going to be established in
Ukraine, of course returning the land
that was invaded will become
important," he said.
Asked repeatedly if Putin should be
held responsible for invading Ukraine,
Erdogan said there was no benefit in
taking sides.
"We are not going to defend a single
leader. Instead, we have to look for a
solution that will satisfy all the parties
involved."
Erdogan has repeatedly tried to bring
Putin and Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky together in
Turkey for truce talks.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed to support countries
hardest hit by the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine as she headed
to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Photo : Internet
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Germany stresses
Ukraine global impact
before UN summit
BERLIN : German Foreign
Minister Annalena Baerbock
vowed to support countries
hardest hit by the fallout from
Russia's invasion of Ukraine
as she headed to the UN
General Assembly on
Tuesday.
"The brutality of Russia's
war of aggression and its
threat to the peace order in
Europe have not blinded us to
the fact that its dramatic
effects are also clearly being
felt in many other regions of
the world," Baerbock said.
"We are not only
responsible for Europe, but
together for the whole world,"
she said.Some 150 leaders
from around the world will
gather in New York from
Tuesday for the United
Nations' massive annual
summit, returning in person
after two years of pandemic
restrictions and video
One person dying of
hunger every four
seconds: NGOs
GENEVA : One person is
estimated to be dying of
hunger every four seconds,
over 200 NGOs warned
Tuesday, urging decisive
international action to
"end the spiralling global
hunger crisis".
In an open letter
addressing world leaders
gathering in New York for
the United Nations
General Assembly, 238
organisations from 75
countries, including
Oxfam, Save the Children
and Plan International
expressed outrage at
skyrocketing hunger levels.
"A staggering 345 million
people are now
experiencing acute hunger,
a number that has more
than doubled since 2019,"
they said in a statement.
"Despite promises from
world leaders to never
allow famine again in the
21st century, famine is
once more imminent in
Somalia. Around the
world, 50 million people
are on the brink of
starvation in 45 countries,"
they said.
Pointing out that as
many as 19,700 people are
estimated to be dying of
hunger every day, the
NGOs said that this
translates to one person
dying of hunger every four
seconds.
"It is abysmal that with
all the technology in
agriculture and harvesting
techniques today we are
still talking about famine
in the 21st century,"
Mohanna Ahmed Ali
Eljabaly from the Yemen
Family Care Association,
one of the letter's
signatories, said in the
statement.
"This is not about one
country or one continent
and hunger never only has
one cause. This is about the
injustice of the whole of
humanity," he said.
"We must not wait a
moment longer to focus
both on providing
immediate lifesaving food
and longer-term support
so people can take charge
of their futures and
provide for themselves and
their families."
addresses.
The leaders should take the
opportunity to "focus on the
issues and concerns of our
partners in Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Arab world",
Baerbock said.
The focus will also be on
"how the horrific crimes
committed in the name of
Russia in Ukraine can be dealt
with and prosecuted", she
added.
"We stand firmly by
Ukraine and we will continue
to support it-with everything it
needs-so that the war and the
immeasurable suffering of the
people in Ukraine come to an
end."German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz is due to speak in New
York on Tuesday, along with
Brazilian President Jair
Bolsonaro, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida.
Four feared dead after
typhoon hits Japan
TOKYO : Two people were confirmed dead and another two
were found "without vital signs" after Typhoon Nanmadol
slammed into Japan over the weekend, a government
spokesman said Tuesday.
The storm system made landfall by the southwestern city of
Kagoshima on Sunday night, and dumped heavy rain across
the Kyushu region before moving along the west coast.
By Tuesday morning, it was downgraded to an
extratropical cyclone as it crossed to the northeastern coast
and headed out to sea.
The storm toppled trees, smashed windows and dumped a
month's worth of rain in a 24-hour period on parts of
Miyazaki prefecture, where the two deaths were confirmed.
Government spokesman Hirozaku Matsuno said another
two people had been found "without vital signs," a term often
used in Japan before a death has been officially certified by a
coroner.
Palestinian Authority arrest raid
sparks West Bank clashes
NABLUS, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES :
A rare operation by the Palestinian Authority
security forces to arrest a Hamas member
sparked clashes in the West Bank city of
Nablus on Tuesday, multiple sources said.
There were reports that a bystander, 53-
year-old Firas Yaish, was killed in the
crossfire but the Palestinian health ministry
had not yet confirmed the death. A tweet,
purportedly from Yaish's cousin Kawther,
said it was "mourning" Firas's death.
Unrest persisted through the morning,
with hundreds of youths hurling rocks at PA
armoured vehicles and the sound of gunfire
ringing out across the city centre, AFP
correspondents reported.
Hamas, historic rivals of the secular Fatah
movement that controls the PA, condemned
the arrest of 30-year-old Musaab Shtayyeh,
calling it a "kidnapping... a national crime"
A rare operation by the Palestinian Authority security forces to arrest a
Hamas member sparked clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus on
Tuesday, multiple sources said.
Photo : Internet
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and a "stain" on the PA's image.
It demanded the immediate release of
Shtayyeh and Ameed Tbaileh, who was
arrested with him, and blasted the PA for
keeping up security coordination with Israel.
"The authority has positioned itself as an
exclusive agent of the occupation (Israel) in
the face of our Palestinian people," the
statement said.
While Palestinian president Mahmud
Abbas's forces maintain security ties with
Israel, which has occupied the West Bank
since 1967, PA raids targeting Hamas
members are not common.
Fatah and Hamas have made various
reconciliation attempts in recent years but
relations remain tense. Hamas has
controlled Gaza since 2007, when it ousted
PA forces from the coastal enclave in deadly
street battles.
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