Day: June 4, 2023

US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed the debt ceiling bill into law, aimed at preventing a potential default crisis.

“I just signed into law a bipartisan budget agreement that prevents a first-ever default while reducing the deficit, safeguarding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and fulfilling our scared obligation to our veterans,” Biden said on Twitter.

The decision to raise the debt limit ensures that the federal government avoids the risk of running short on cash and facing the serious consequences of defaulting on its obligations.

Without congressional action to raise or suspend the debt limit by next week, the Treasury could face a shortage of resources, making it challenging or impossible to meet its financial commitments.

However, negotiations at the end of May led to an agreement on the debt limit, culminating in the introduction of the Financial Responsibility Bill to Congress.

The bill got overwhelming support in the House of Representatives, passing by a 314-117 vote.

The Senate voted 63-36 to approve the legislation.

The bill suspends the $31.4 trillion cap on the federal government’s borrowing limit through January 2

25 – notably, past the next US presidential and congressional elections.

The debt limit was hit in January, after which the Treasury Department took steps to ensure that the US continued to pay its bills, but next week, those accounting tricks were due to run short.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Supporters of the terrorist group PKK/YPG on Sunday held a demonstration in Sweden targeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden’s NATO membership bid.

The PKK/YPG supporters gathered at Norra Bantorget Square in the capital Stockholm demanding that a new anti-terrorism law that came into effect on June 1 be overturned.

Accusing the Swedish parliament of bowing down to President Erdogan and claiming that the law was specifically tailored for him, the terrorist sympathizers called for the government to resign.

Carrying pieces of cloth symbolizing the PKK/YPG and displaying posters of the terrorist group’s leader Abdullah Ocalan, the supporters chanted slogans against Erdogan for hours.

Under police escort, the terrorist group supporters marched for about three-and-a-half hours until they reached the Swedish parliament.

Approximately 1,

people took part in the protest, and the police temporarily closed the roads along the march route to ensure that they could proceed without any hindrance.

Although Trkiye approved Finland’s NATO membership after it applied with Sweden, it is waiting for Stockholm to abide by a trilateral memorandum signed last June in Madrid to address Ankara’s security concerns.

Sweden passed an anti-terror law last November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm’s bid to join NATO. The new law, effective as of June 1, allows authorities to prosecute individuals who support terrorist groups.

Turkish officials have said they hope the law bans shows of support for terrorist groups like the PKK, just as Sweden would not all allow Daesh/ISIS supporters to march in support of that terrorist group.

Several foreign ministers have said they hope Trkiye will approve Sweden’s bid ahead of a NATO summit set for next month in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Trkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Trkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 4

people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the terrorist group’s Syrian branch.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The chief of NATO on Sunday expressed gratitude to Trkiye’s support in sending reinforcements to Kosovo during a meeting in Istanbul with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the nation’s president.

Speaking to reporters following the closed-door meeting with Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Palace, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “I thank Trkiye for sending reinforcements to northern Kosovo following the recent unrest” in the region.

Stoltenberg also stressed the importance of Trkiye’s strong support for war-battered Ukraine, including spearheading reaching the Black Sea grain deal and making sure it continues.

On Saturday Stoltenberg attended Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony and took the opportunity to congratulate him on his reelection last Sunday and the high voter turnout.

During their meeting, the two leaders also discussed important matters set to be discussed in July at NATO’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Among the topics are NATO’s unwavering support to Ukraine, the reinforcement of deterrence and defense measures, and the significance of NATO’s presence in Kosovo, he added.

Stoltenberg also highlighted Trkiye’s significant contributions and its role in ensuring peace and security in the region.

In Kosovo last week, at least 3

soldiers of the NATO-led international peacekeeping mission were injured in clashes with protesting Serbs.

Tensions have gripped Kosovo, with protesters and security forces clashing in the country’s northern Serb-dominated municipalities over the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

Preparations have started for transferring a Turkish military unit to Kosovo by Sunday or Monday, the National Defense Ministry said this weekend.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Famous singer Dua Lipa criticized British government officials’ comments on migrants, slamming them as “shortsighted and small-minded.”

Lipa, a Grammy-winning performer who was born to Kosovar-Albanian parents, expressed the personal “hurt” caused by the way the government has discussed Albanians and called for a greater sense of empathy.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lipa warned such rhetoric has a negative impact.

She stressed that she has always believed London to be a melting pot of diverse cultures, which is an integral part of the city’s identity.

“So when you hear the government talk about Albanians, for example, it hurts. It’s shortsighted and small-minded, but it’s the way a lot of people think,” she said.

“No matter how we try to change the rhetoric, there will always be those who think, ‘Immigrants are coming into the country and taking jobs’.’

But, she added: ‘Immigrants who have come here have earned their keep by working incredibly hard. There needs to be more empathy, because people don’t leave their country unless they have to out of necessity, out of fear for their family.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman last October singled out “Albanian criminals” during a debate in the House of Commons, referring to what she called an “invasion” of Britain through small boats crossing the English Channel.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has also expressed strong disapproval of the “extremely disgraceful” targeting of Albanians by government ministers, with particular emphasis on Braverman.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Egypt said on Sunday that navigation at the Suez Canal has returned to normal after towing away an oil tanker that broke down and briefly disrupted traffic in the global waterway.

In a statement, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said the Malta-flagged SEAVIGOUR tanker broke down after suffering an engine failure at the 12 km mark of the canal.

SCA chairman Admiral Osama Rabie said the vessel was part of the north convoy, which transits the canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.

He said tugboats were deployed to tow the 274-metre-long, 48-metre-wide tanker, allowing transit in the vital waterway to return to normal.

Rabie said the tanker, which was heading from Russia to China with a tonnage of 82,

tons, will resume its trip after its crew fixes the malfunction.

The Suez Canal is a strategic waterway that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and is considered a main source for foreign currency to Egypt.

Last month, Egyptian authorities refloated a bulk carrier that had been stranded for several hours in the waterway.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

Source: Anadolu Agency

The UK has sent back hundreds of migrants under a “gold-standard” deal with Albania, the British immigration minister said on Sunday.

Robert Jenrick told SkyNews that a significant number of these individuals have either absconded or remain in hostels.

The influx of over 12,

Albanian migrants who arrived in the UK via the English Channel last year prompted the government to establish an agreement with Albania in an effort to curb this figure.

Jenrick previously referred to the agreement as a “gold-standard” deal that has resulted in “thousands of Albanian illegal migrants being returned home” and a significant reduction in the number of people crossing from Albania.

In April, the government made an announcement that over 1,

Albanian nationals had been repatriated since December.

The UK and Albania also reached a deal last month that will see hundreds of Albanian prisoners to be returned in exchange for British help to modernize the Albanian prison system.

The arrangement involves the transfer of 2

Albanian citizens incarcerated in prisons in England and Wales, who are serving sentences of four years or more.

Source: Anadolu Agency