Guterres: It is necessary to preserve the religious identity of the Uyghurs

New York: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed, Monday, the need for the Muslim Uighur minority in the "East Turkistan" region to preserve its culture and pride in its religious identity.

This came in a video speech during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which will continue for two days, with the participation of representatives of UN member states and civil organizations.

"I recently returned from a visit to China, and I expressed to the officials there my expectation that they will allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle Bachelet) to visit the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (East Turkestan)," Guterres said.

"Minorities in this region and everywhere must be able to retain their culture and religious identity, while contributing to society as a whole," he added.

Since 1949, China has controlled the territory of East Turkestan, which is the home of the Muslim Uyghur Turks, and has committed grave human rights violations against them, according to documented international reports.

Beijing never allows any UN visit to the region aimed at investigating the conditions of the Uighur minority, despite repeated requests from the United Nations.

Official statistics indicate that there are 30 million Muslims in China, including 23 million Uighurs, while unofficial reports say that the number of Muslims is about 100 million out of about 1.4 billion people.

In his speech, the Secretary-General also urged the authorities in Myanmar, Afghanistan and Ethiopia to “protect minorities and respect the equal rights of all their people.”

Regarding the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Guterres said: "We know the inevitable result of wars, civilian casualties, the spread of hunger, poverty and massive economic disruption."

"I have consistently called for an end to the offensive and a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy, and in the meantime, the (UN) Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine continues its mission," he added.

He continued, "The dismal irony is that such conflicts are often rooted in the denial of human rights, discrimination against minorities and inequality."

At dawn on Thursday, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry reactions from several countries and calls for tougher sanctions against Moscow.(Anatolia)

Japanese businessman donates $8.7 million to Ukraine - (Tweet)

Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani

TOKYO: Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani announced that he is providing one billion Japanese yen (about $8.7 million) in aid to the Ukrainian government.

In a tweet on "Twitter", Mikitani, who owns the "Rakuten" e-commerce company, indicated that he had sent a telegram to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky .

"When I saw the Ukrainian People's Championship, I thought to do something for Ukraine," the Japanese businessman said.(Anatolia)

Oil prices above $100 again as the Eastern European crisis escalates

Istanbul: Crude oil prices rose at the start of weekly trading, Monday, due to escalating geopolitical and security concerns in Eastern Europe, between Russia and Western-backed Ukraine.

On Saturday night, additional sanctions were imposed that included the Russian Central Bank, the removal of some of the country's lenders from the Swift global payments system, and other economic sanctions.

The sanctions adopted by countries, most notably the United States, Britain and the European Union, include freezing the assets of President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and dozens of banks and financial institutions.

At the time (06:22 GMT), the price of spot contracts for Brent oil rose by 8 percent to $ 103.2 a barrel, while the prices of futures contracts for May delivery rose by 5.98 percent to $ 100 a barrel.

In the same direction, the prices of US West Texas Intermediate crude futures, for April delivery, rose 5.7 percent, or $5.16, to $96.74 a barrel.

Spot gold prices jumped by more than $22 an ounce, to record in the morning trading today, $1912.1, an increase of 1.12 percent.(Anatolia)