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March
U.N. rights expert says Myanmar death toll hits 70, seeks sanctions
Written by Nur YasminMar. 11 - The United Nations human rights investigator on Myanmar said on Thursday the military junta had “murdered” at least 70 people since its Feb. 1 coup, committing killings, torture and persecution that may constitute crimes against humanity.
More than half of those killed were under the age of 25, Thomas Andrews told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
More than 2,000 people have been unlawfully detained since the military seized power and the violence against protesters is steadily increasing, he said.
“The country of Myanmar is being controlled by a murderous, illegal regime,” said Andrews.
“There is extensive video evidence of security forces viciously beating protesters, medics, and bystanders,” he said. “There is shocking video of the aftermath of attacks, including fatal gunshot wounds to the heads of protesters, and video of soldiers dragging or carrying away the dead bodies of their victims.”
Chan Aye, permanent secretary of Myanmar’s foreign affairs ministry, said that authorities have been focused on maintaining law and order.
“The authorities have been exercising utmost restraint to deal with violent protests,” he said.
In the debate, the United States urged all countries to “press the military to refrain from violence against peaceful protesters and restore power to the democratically-elected government”.
China and Russia - which have close ties to Myanmar’s military - called for steps toward reconciliation, while also upholding the principle of non-interference in internal affairs.
Andrews, a former member of the U.S. Congress, speaking by video message from Washington, D.C., said that basic rights to freedom of expression and assembly were being denied in Myanmar.
He called for imposing multilateral sanctions on the junta leaders and on the military-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, whose revenues from natural gas projects were set to reach $1 billion this year.
“Sanctions will only be truly effective if they are unified and coordinated,” Andrews said. (Reuters)
March
Pfizer vaccine production on the rise as pandemic hits one-year mark
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE will exceed their original global target for COVID-19 vaccines by as much as 20% this year, producing 2.3 billion to 2.4 billion doses, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on Thursday.
The companies also released real-world data from Israel earlier on Thursday showing their vaccine was 94% effective in preventing asymptomatic infections, suggesting it could significantly reduce virus transmission.
“These are stunning numbers that are giving us a clear indication that liberation is coming,” Bourla said in an interview on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a pandemic. “It is a testament to the power of science, and the power of human ingenuity.”
More than 2.7 million people around the world have died from COVID-19 so far.
Bourla said that by the fourth quarter of this year, Pfizer and BioNTech will reach a 3 billion dose a year production run rate, and should be able to produce that much next year.
The companies will clearly exceed their original target of 2 billion doses in 2021, he said.
Pfizer has said it expects revenue of at least $15 billion from its half of the vaccine sales this year.
Middle-income countries will pay around half the price as high income countries for their doses, and low income countries will get the vaccine at cost, Bourla said.
Pfizer expects to meet its commitment of supplying 120 million coronavirus vaccine doses to the U.S. government by the end of March. That would require them to deliver another 60 million doses over the next three weeks.
“Those have already been manufactured” and are currently being tested for quality, he said.
“Unless a batch (of vaccine) fails, we will be able to provide them. Our track record is that our batches don’t fail,” he said.
Pfizer’s German partner BioNTech began developing the vaccine last January and the U.S. drugmaker signed on in early March as the health crisis accelerated. Their vaccine received its first regulatory authorizations in December.
In the United States, the vaccine is authorized for use in people aged 16 or older. Bourla said the company plans to submit data for children aged 12 to 16 very soon.
He said his assumption was that the vaccine should be authorized for that age range by the fall, adding that data on children aged 5 to 11 can be expected by year-end. (Reuters)
March
COVID-19 situation in Paris region very worrying, minister says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - The COVID-19 situation in greater Paris is “especially worrying” and the government will take extra restrictive measures there if the pandemic continues at its current pace, France’s health minister said on Thursday.
While new infections are not growing exponentially, the numbers taken into intensive care have reached a new 3-1/2-months high nationally, close to 4,000, as France faces more dangerous variants.
“At this moment we can say that the variants are more contagious and more dangerous and they now represent more than two thirds of infections in France”, Olivier Veran said.
He said a new patient went into intensive care in the greater Paris region every 12 minutes, adding he did not know when the current peak of the epidemic would be reached there.
France has imposed local weekend lockdowns, on top of a national 6 p.m. curfew, in northern and southern parts of the country. But the government has so far resisted such measures for greater Paris.
In the Paris region, the number of people in ICU units is now close to 1,100 and could reach 1,500 by the end of March if the current trend continues, Veran said, adding that level would be “critical” for the area’s hospital system.
NO ASTRAZENECA SUSPENSION
“We will take all necessary measures if the spread of the pandemic maintains its current rhythm”, he said.
France hopes its vaccination drive will enable it to avoid new restrictive measures. Reacting to some European countries suspending the AstraZeneca shot, Veran said France saw no reason to follow suit.
After the health ministry briefing ended, an official announced that foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian would self-isolate after coming into contact with a family member who had tested positive.
The number of new cases in France went up by 27,166 on Thursday, to 3.99 million, the world’s sixth highest total, versus 30,303 on Wednesday and 25,279 a week ago.
The seven-day moving average of daily new infections stands at 22,105, topping 22,000 for the first time since Nov. 22.
There were 265 new deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the total to 89,830, the seventh-highest in the world, versus a seven-day moving average of 285.
The health ministry also reported that 4.54 million people, or 8.7% of the adult population, had received a first vaccine and 2.16 million had also received a second shot, for a total of nearly 6.71 million injections.
The government aims to vaccinate 10 million people by mid-April, 20 million by mid-May and 30 million by the summer. (Reuters)
March
South Korea extends use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to people aged 65 and over
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - South Korea will authorise the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for people aged 65 years and older, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday, a move that will allow the country to ramp up its immunisation drive.
The country has been rolling out the vaccine since the last week of February, beginning with the elderly and health workers, but had excluded more than 370,000 over-65s in nursing homes citing a lack of clinical trial data on the age group.
Real-world data from Britain has now shown AstraZeneca and Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccines are both more than 80% effective in preventing hospitalisations in over-80s after one shot.
“Vaccination had been postponed to those aged 65 and over due to lack of evidence to determine the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but recently, data to prove its efficacy for the elderly has been released in the UK,” Chung told a government meeting.
South Korea would begin inoculating 376,000 patients and staff aged 65 and older in nursing hospitals and other facilities this month, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) official Kwon Jun-wook said at a briefing.
Kwon said he expected that age group, which has seen the majority of reported deaths, to reach herd immunity levels by the end of September.
Health authorities had also included around 20,000 flight attendants in the list for second-quarter vaccine recipients, as they were vulnerable to more transmissible variants and were exempt from self-quarantine.
South Korea has so far reported a total of 257 new virus variants, including 154 cases of the variant first identified in Britain and 21 of the variant discovered in South Africa, according to the KDCA.
Another 7 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would be rolled out from the last week of May, with 7 million of Pfizer’s product by June. The KDCA is in talks with Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to import their vaccines in the second quarter.
The KDCA said 500,635 people had received a first dose of AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines as of Wednesday. South Korea reported 465 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 94,198 infections, with 1,652 deaths. (Reuters)
March
China diplomats to meet U.S. officials in Alaska - Chinese foreign ministry
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - Chinese diplomats will meet with U.S. officials in Alaska on March 18 and 19, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Wang Yi, will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, “at the invitation of the United States”, said the spokesman Zhao Lijian.
China hopes the United States can move relations back onto a “healthy and stable” track, view relations objectively and rationally, forsake Cold War mentality and a zero-sum mindset, and to respect China’s sovereignty, Zhao said. (Reuters)
March
Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees take holy plunge in Ganges
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees plunged into India’s Ganges river on Thursday as the country kicked off one of the world’s largest religious festivals, even as officials reported the biggest spike in coronavirus cases for three months.
Hindu ascetics known as Naga sadhus, many naked apart from a coating of ash and carrying swords or tridents, led the bathers at the Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, in the northern town of Haridwar.
All participants at this year’s event, that runs until the end of April, are required to present a negative coronavirus test result before being allowed into the festival grounds, authorities said. But there was little evidence of social distancing in place on Thursday as bathers jostled at the riverbank.
Devout Hindus believe bathing in the waters of the Ganges absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
More than 22,000 people had bathed in the holy river by 0800 local time (0230 GMT), police overseeing the festival told Reuters partner ANI, a number that was expected to rise significantly throughout the day.
Authorities said that more than 100 million people attended the festival in 2019, the last time it was held, a figure that most expect will be lower this year.
After an almost three-month lockdown last year that was one of the world’s harshest, India has relaxed almost all restrictions on movement since a peak in cases in September, including reopening vast stadiums for cricket matches, one of the country’s national obsessions.
However, India’s COVID-19 cases numbers are again surging, putting it among the top five countries reporting the most daily new infections.
Officials reported 22,854 new infections on Thursday, the highest in nearly three months, taking the country’s total to 11.3 million. Deaths rose by 126 to 158,189, health ministry data showed. (Reuters)
March
Seven killed in Myanmar protests; army accused of using battle tactics
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - Seven people were killed when security forces opened fire on anti-junta protests in Myanmar on Thursday, witnesses and local media said, as rights group Amnesty International accused the military of adopting battle tactics against demonstrators.
Six people were killed in the central town of Myaing when forces fired on a protest, one man who took part in the demonstration and helped carry bodies to hospital, told Reuters by telephone. A health worker there confirmed all six deaths.
“We protested peacefully,” the 31-year-old man said. “I couldn’t believe they did it.”
One person was killed in the North Dagon district of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, domestic media said. Photographs posted on Facebook showed a man lying prone on the street, bleeding from a head wound.
Before Thursday’s deaths, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group has said more than 60 protesters have been killed and about 2,000 people detained by security forces since the Feb. 1 coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
Amnesty International accused the army of using lethal force against protesters and said many killings documented amounted to extrajudicial executions.
“These are not the actions of overwhelmed, individual officers making poor decisions,” said Joanne Mariner, Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International.
“These are unrepentant commanders already implicated in crimes against humanity, deploying their troops and murderous methods in the open.”
A junta spokesman declined to give an immediate comment, but said there would be a news conference held by the military’s council in the capital Naypyitaw at 2 pm. (0730 GMT) on Thursday.
The junta has previously said it is acting with utmost restraint in handling what it describes as demonstrations by “riotous protesters” whom it accuses of attacking police and harming national security and stability.
Protests were also staged in half a dozen other towns, according to Facebook posts.
Overnight, people defied a curfew to hold several more candle lit vigils in parts of Yangon and also in Myingyan, south west of the second city of Mandalay.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday condemned violence against protesters and urged the army to show restraint, but failed to denounce the military takeover as a coup or threaten further action due to opposition from China and Russia.
U.S. SANCTIONS GENERAL’S CHILDREN
State media said the junta had removed Arakan Army (AA) insurgents from its list of terrorist groups because the faction has stopped attacks and in order to help establish peace across the country.
The move comes at a time the army is struggling to contain daily protests against the coup.
The AA is fighting for greater autonomy in the western Rakhine state and had become one of the most formidable forces in challenging an army that has been fighting various ethnic wars for seven decades.
In a bid to increase pressure on the military as it continues its crackdown, the U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on two children of military leader Min Aung Hlaing and six companies they control.
In New York, the United Nations Security Council condemned violence against peaceful protesters and called for the military to “exercise utmost restraint”.
But language that would have condemned the coup and threatened possible further action was removed from the British-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped the Security Council statement would push the military to realize it “is absolutely essential” that all prisoners are released and that the results of a November election are respected.
The army has justified the coup by saying that the election, won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, was marred by fraud - an assertion rejected by the electoral commission. The junta has promised a new election within a year, but has not set a date. (Reuters)
March
China's parliament moves to overhaul Hong Kong's electoral system
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - South Korea will authorise the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for people aged 65 years and older, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday, a move that will allow the country to ramp up its immunisation drive.
The measures are part of Beijing’s efforts to consolidate its increasingly authoritarian grip over the global financial hub, following the imposition of a sweeping national security law in June, which critics see as a tool to crush dissent.
Beijing is responding to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019, which it saw as a threat to China’s national security. Since then, most high-profile democratic politicians and activists have been sent to jail or are in self-exile.
The changes virtually eliminate any possibility of the opposition affecting the outcome of elections in the former British colony, whose return to Chinese rule in 1997 came with a promise of a high degree of autonomy.
The blanket requirement for “patriotism” raises the risk that politicians will start competing over who is more loyal to Beijing, rather than who has the better ideas for how the city should be governed, analysts say.
The measures will alter the size and composition of Hong Kong’s legislature and an electoral committee selecting the chief executive in favour of pro-Beijing figures.
The committee will also be given powers to select many city legislators. A new mechanism will be set up to vet candidates and screen election winners’ behaviour to make sure only those seen as patriots rule Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Secretary for Mainland and Constitutional Affairs Erick Tsang has defined patriotism as “holistic love” for China, including the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.
Beijing had promised universal suffrage as an ultimate goal for Hong Kong in its mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
Critics say the changes to the electoral system move Hong Kong towards the opposite direction, leaving the democratic opposition with the most limited space it has ever had since the 1997 handover, if any at all.
It is not clear what shape any future opposition could take and how its message could comply with loyalty requirements. (Reuters)
March
World powers ignoring North Korea crimes against humanity amid nuclear programme focus: U.N. expert
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 11 - World powers bear responsibility for ignoring crimes against humanity that may still be perpetrated by authorities in North Korea amid a focus on its nuclear programme, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Wednesday.
Tomas Ojea-Quintana urged the U.N. Security Council to refer grave violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.
He voiced concern at reports of severe punishments imposed for breaking COVID-19 lockdown measures, including alleged orders to “shoot on sight” anyone trying to cross the border.
“Crimes against humanity may be ongoing,” Ojea-Quintana told the U.N. Human Rights Council.
He had received information confirming the findings of a landmark 2014 U.N. Commission of Inquiry on extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, rape, forced abortion, sexual violence, political persecution and “the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation” in the isolated country.
“The urgency to stop violations of such a scale, gravity and nature cannot take a back seat to national interests or geopolitical interests,” Ojea-Quintana told the Geneva forum.
This was not justifiable under the U.N. Charter, he said, adding: “I believe that the Security Council bears responsibility for its inaction against the continuation of crimes against humanity in the DPR Korea.”
Ojea-Quintana presented his latest report, issued last week, which said that drastic measures taken by North Korea to contain the novel coronavirus have exacerbated abuses and economic hardship for its citizens, including reports of starvation.
“We are concerned about increasing reports of starvation, imprisonment and summary executions,” U.S. charge d’affaires Mark Cassayre told the council.
Australia’s deputy ambassador, Jeffrey Roach, said that North Korea’s top priority should be improving the lives of its citizens. “Instead, the regime’s focus remains on developing weapons of mass destruction and the vehicles for delivering them,” he said.
North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva did not respond to Reuters’ queries for comment. Pyongyang does not recognise the U.N. investigator’s mandate and boycotted Wednesday’s debate.
It has previously rejected U.N. allegations of crimes against humanity. (Reuters)
March
'Ticket to recovery': Australia to offer subsidised flights to support tourism
Written by Nur Yasmin
Mar. 10 - Australia will subsidise 800,000 domestic flights, help its two main airlines and offer cheap loans to small tourism operators as part of A$1.2 billion ($921 million) package to revive the travel sector, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say on Thursday.
Tourism is one of Australia’s biggest industries, worth more than A$60 billion and employing about 5% of the country’s workforce. But the sector was crippled when the country shut its international borders in March 2020 to curtail the spread of COVID-19 - leaving tens of thousands of people on the country’s wage-subsidy scheme.
Seeking to prop up the industry when the subsidy scheme ends this month, Morrison will pledge another stimulus package for the travel sector, according to extracts of an announcement seen by Reuters.
Morrison will say Australia will subsidise the flights of 800,000 domestic flights between Apr. 1 and July 31 while its international borders remain closed. It will pay 50% of the cost of flying to 13 destinations, he will say. Airlines have agreed to provide additional flights to those places.
“This is our ticket to recovery - 800,000 half-price air fares to get Australians travelling,” Morrison will say.
The premier will also say that his government will provide financial support to Qantas and Virgin Airways between Apr. 1 and Oct. 31 - when international flights are expected to resume.
Morrison did not disclose the scale of the funds, which will be used to keep 8,600 workers employed, planes in “flight-ready condition” and international passenger services at a pre-pandemic levels.
Australia will also offer loans of up to A$5 million to tourism businesses such as tour companies, with two-year repayment holidays, the prime minister will say.
“We need Australians to do their patriotic duty and book a holiday this year,” trade minister Dan Tehan will say. (Reuters)