WASHINGTON – New York City is in the midst of an “unprecedented event” as smoke from raging wildfires in Canada envelopes the US’s largest city, Mayor Eric Adams warned on Wednesday.
Adams urged New Yorkers to “take precautions” as they go about their daily lives after the air quality index hit 218 on Tuesday night before moderating slightly to 174 in the Bronx on Wednesday morning.
All five of the city’s boroughs are under air quality advisories, and the city is calling on all residents to limit their exposure to the outdoors and vulnerable people to remain indoors.
“This is not the day to train for a marathon or to do an outside event with your children. Stay inside, close windows and doors, and use air purifiers if you have them,” Adams said.
“If you are older or have heart or breathing problems or are an older adult, you should remain inside. And if you must go outdoors, wear high-quality masks, such as a K-95.”
Schools remain open, but all outdoor activities have been cancelled.
Images captured by Anadolu videographers and photographers show the city blanketed by an orangish haze, with typically prominent major landmarks such as the Empire State Building barely visible.
The city’s iconic skyline can barely be made out amid the gloomy conditions.
Canada has been battling wildfires since the beginning of May, with more than 400 still active, according to Canadian authorities.
Over half of the infernos are burning out of control as the US sends additional support to quell the blazes, including more than 600 firefighters and water bombers.
Around 9.4 million acres of land have burned and more than 20,000 people have been evacuated. (Anadolu)

TRENTON, Canada – Air quality alerts continued Thursday for most of Canada as smoke from hundreds of wildfires blanketed the country.
Millions of Canadians have been told to stay indoors, and forecasts for the most populated area in Toronto and the region predict the smoke will increase through the end of the week.
As of Wednesday, 414 wildfires were burning, including 239 out of control. That’s up from 211 wildfires reported at the end of May.
Thousands of firefighters from around the world, including from the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Africa are battling the fires.
Wildfire season begins in early May as protective snow melts and lightning strikes and careless campfires ignite tinder-dry forests that cover much of the country.
Fires in northern Quebec forced more than 11,400 people from their homes on Wednesday and more evacuation orders are expected to be issued soon, officials said. About 155 fires have been reported.
Premier Francois Legault said Wednesday that fires burning in the northern and western areas of the province will mean those evacuated will not be able to return to their homes until next week.
In British Columbia on the west coast, the second-largest wildfire in provincial history covered 310,805 hectares as of Thursday morning. About 80 wildfires were reported.
Moving eastward across the country, wildfires are still burning in Alberta – about 70 currently – and Saskatchewan but have lessened from peaks in May.
In Ontario, Environment Canada rated the air quality in the Canadian capital of Ottawa to be the worst in the country on Wednesday.
In Nova Scotia on the east coast, about 16,500 people were evacuated at the peak of a wildfire that threatened the capital city of Halifax and more than 150 homes were consumed.
Between March 1 and June 5, it is estimated that 2,214 fires have consumed 38,000 sq.km., making this year on track to be the worst in Canadian history. (Anadolu)

Manila —The U.S. Peace Corps recently partnered with local health officials and the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) ReachHealth project to vaccinate more than 10,600 Filipinos at mass vaccination clinics in Quezon City and Caloocan City.

Amid the Omicron surge in January and February, doctors and nurses from the U.S. Peace Corps helped fill critical healthcare worker shortages and meet vaccine demand by volunteering two days a week during this two-month period. This was the first phase of a larger, nationwide effort to help protect the Filipino people against COVID-19 by increasing the vaccination rate, now at 71 percent (with two doses).

In February, the U.S. Peace Corps’ medical team was able to screen and vaccinate adolescents at mass vaccine clinics for those aged 12-17. In total, more than 2,700 patients aged 5-17 were given the vaccine. Together with the Department of Health and USAID, the U.S. Peace Corps will continue to provide medical professionals and other support staff to conduct pediatric vaccine clinics for children aged 5-11 in the National Capital Region, other parts of Luzon, and the Visayas.

“The U.S. Peace Corps is pleased to team up with the Philippine government and USAID to support this critical, nationwide effort to protect the Filipino people and get children safely back to school in person,” said U.S. Peace Corps Country Director Jenner Edelman in her recent visit to a mass vaccine clinic in Quezon City.

In the absence of American volunteers due to the ongoing pandemic, the U.S. Peace Corps is devoting all available resources, including its medical professionals who would otherwise be caring for American volunteers, to supporting Philippine and U.S. government partners in overcoming COVID-19 in the Philippines.

USAID’s health and humanitarian assistance supports the Philippine government in implementing internationally recognized prevention, control, and response strategies to protect Filipinos—including the most vulnerable—against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

To date, USAID has provided $34.5 million in aid to improve the national and local responses through risk communication, laboratory strengthening, contact tracing, isolation, critical care management, logistics management, training, and acceleration of vaccine coverage.

The U.S. Peace Corps is the U.S. government’s premier volunteer organization and has supported Filipino communities across the country for more than 60 years. Over 9,300 American volunteers have served as co-teachers, youth development facilitators, environmental experts, or filled other roles requested by host communities over the decades.

ISTANBUL – The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations said Sunday they will continue to take steps if Russia does not stop its “war of aggression” against Ukraine.

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US held a video conference chaired by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and also attended by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
According to a statement after the meeting, they condemned “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, enabled by Belarus.”

“The G7 have brought forward massive and coordinated sanctions, including on Belarus as it facilitates the Russian assault,” the statement said.
They called on Russia to “immediately stop the ongoing assault.”

“Russia will be held responsible for any damage its military aggression inflicts on Ukraine and its population as well as on internationals and their property,” it added.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has entered its fifth day, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops are heading toward the capital, Kyiv.

The intervention was met by an outcry from the international community, with the European Union, UK and US implementing a range of economic sanctions against the Kremlin.

Russia has been further isolated as its airlines have been banned from traveling in European airspace and a number of its banks have been kicked out of the SWIFT international banking system. (Anadolu)

WASHINGTON – The US will maintain its support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing assault on the eastern European nation, US President Joe Biden told Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday.

Biden discussed Washington’s “continued backing for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression,” as well as “sustained” shipments of “security assistance, economic support, and humanitarian aid,” the White House said in a readout of a telephone call between the two leaders.

“The leaders discussed how the United States, along with Allies and partners, is working to hold Russia accountable, including by imposing sanctions that are already having an impact on the Russian economy,” it said. “The leaders discussed Russia’s escalation of attacks on sites used by civilians in Ukraine, including today’s bombing near Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial.”

Zelenskyy separately said on Twitter that “anti-Russian sanctions and defense assistance to Ukraine was discussed” during his discussion with Biden, whom he thanked for the US’ support.

“We must stop the aggressor as soon as possible,” he added.

Since Russian began its war on Ukraine last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, Canada, Japan, and the US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Moscow.

At least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.
About 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the international body said Tuesday. (Anadolu)

ANKARA – The Russia-Ukraine crisis, which began about eight years ago, has taken on new dimensions following Moscow’s controversial recognition of the independence of separatist regions in the country’s east.

In a speech late Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the recognition of the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, while also questioning Ukraine’s sovereignty and accusing the West of ignoring Moscow’s core security concerns.

He later ordered the deployment of Russian troops to “maintain peace” in the breakaway regions.

Putin’s moves have been widely condemned as serious violations of international law, with Western countries threatening harsh new sanctions.

Viktor Yanukovych’s decision

Russia had a falling out with Ukraine after the former Soviet republic grew closer to the European Union.

In 2013, pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s fourth president, announced that he would suspend the EU Association Agreement to prevent the country from turning to the West. This move marked the beginning of a deep crisis in the country’s political history.

For months, thousands of protesters gathered in Kyiv’s Independence Square to protest Yanukovic’s decision. Clashes erupted from time to time between protestors, with pro-Russians also taking to the streets.

When the protests escalated out of control, Yanukovich fled to Russia.

Ukraine is separated geographically between Europe and Russia, and so are the people, who are divided into two camps – pro-Russian and pro-Western.

Later, tensions expanded to Crimea and the eastern Donbas region bordering Russia. The Crimean Parliament decided to hold a referendum that would allow Russia to annex Crimea, but international observers called the vote illegitimate.

Despite the protests of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians, Russia illegally annexed Crimea following the controversial referendum on March 16, 2014.

The invasion of Crimea by Russian soldiers triggered regional and international condemnation.

Separatists control over eastern Ukraine

Pro-Russian separatists also claim control of eastern Ukraine, including the Donbas region, which they have illegally controlled for the past eight years.

In February 2014, pro-Russian separatists attacked pro-government troops in the Donetsk and Luhansk (Donbas) regions. The two regions are densely populated by people of Russian origin.

According to Kyiv, the separatists received a significant number of weapons and ammunition from Russia.

Separatists in Donbas claimed two so-called states, the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic,” through a so-called referendum on May 11, 2014.

Between September 2014 and February 2015, Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany, collectively known as the Normandy Quartet, signed the Minsk Protocol, which effectively halted troop advances and greatly lowered tensions.

However, the agreements could not be implemented, and the confrontations devolved into trench warfare between thousands of soldiers.

Volodymyr Zelensky, a former actor and comedian, was elected president of Ukraine by a large majority of votes in April 2019, with the promise of reintegrating the Donbas region into the country.

In December 2019, the Paris Summit in the Normandy format was held for the first time in three years. During the summit, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France stressed a complete cease-fire and adherence to the Minsk agreements.

The summit did not stop the clashes, but Russia, Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) later agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire beginning on July 27, 2020, which was maintained until 2021.

However, Russia’s military buildup on the Ukrainian border last year escalated the armed conflict in the Donbas region once again.

The US and its European allies warned that Russia was preparing to again invade Ukraine by amassing over 100,000 troops and heavy weaponry in and around the country’s eastern regions.

Russia, on the other hand, dismissed all such statements, claiming that it was not preparing for an invasion and accusing Western countries of undermining its security by expanding NATO to its borders.

In 2014, Moscow began supporting separatist forces in eastern Ukraine against the central government. The conflict has taken nearly 15,000 lives, according to the UN. (Anadolu)