VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Policemen stand next to the bodies buried in shallow graves on the banks of Ganges river in Prayagraj, India, on May 15, 2021. (Photo: AP/Rajesh Kumar Singh) - 

Police are reaching out to villagers in northern India to investigate the recovery of bodies buried in shallow sand graves or washing up on the Ganges River banks, prompting speculation on social media that they were the remains of COVID-19 victims.

In jeeps and boats, the police used portable loudspeakers with microphones asking people not to dispose of the bodies in rivers. "We are here to help you perform the last rites,” police said.On Friday, rains exposed the cloth coverings of bodies buried in shallow sand graves on the riverbank in Prayagraj, a city in Uttar Pradesh state.

Navneet Sehgal, a state government spokesman, on Sunday denied local media reports that more than 1,000 corpses of COVID-19 victims had been recovered from rivers in the past two weeks. “I bet these bodies have nothing to do with COVID-19,” he said.

He said some villagers did not cremate their dead, as is customary, due to a Hindu tradition during some periods of religious significance and disposed of them in rivers or digging graves on riverbanks.

KP Singh, a senior police officer, said authorities had earmarked a cremation ground for those who died of COVID-19 on the Prayagraj riverbank and the police were no longer allowing any burials on the riverfront.

Sehgal state authorities have found “a small number” of bodies on the riverbanks, he said, but did not give a figure.

Ramesh Kumar Singh, a member of Bondhu Mahal Samiti, a philanthropic organisation that helps cremate bodies, said the number of deaths is very high in rural areas, and poor people have been disposing of the bodies in the river because of the exorbitant cost of performing the last rites and shortage of woods. The cremation cost has tripled up to 15,000 rupees (US$210).

Health authorities last week retrieved 71 bodies that washed up on the Ganges River bank in neighbouring Bihar state.

Authorities performed post mortems but said they could not confirm the cause of death due to decomposition.

A dozen corpses were also found last week buried in sand at two locations on the riverbank in Unnao district, 40km southwest of Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh state capital. District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said an investigation is underway to identify the cause of deaths.

India’s two big states, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with nearly 358 million people in total, are among the worst hit in the surge sweeping through the country with devastating death tolls. Hapless villagers have been rushing the sick to nearby towns and cities for treatment, many of them dying on the way, victims of India's crumbling health care.

After hitting record highs for weeks, the number of new cases was stabilising, said Dr VK Paul, a government health expert.

The Health Ministry on Sunday reported 311,170 confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, down from 326,098 on Saturday.

It also reported 4,077 additional deaths, taking the total fatalities to 270,284. Both figures are almost certainly a vast undercount, experts say//CNA

A woman receives a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination program for Green Zone Tourism in Sanur, Bali, Indonesia, Mar 23, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Nyimas Laula) - 

Indonesia is temporarily halting the distribution of one batch of AstraZeneca vaccine to run tests for sterility and toxicity following reports of adverse effects after immunisations, the health ministry said on Sunday (May 16).

The batch consists of 448,480 vaccine doses that arrived in the country last month, part of a delivery of more than 3.85 million doses.

Indonesia's health minister said last month that the schedule for about 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine faced delays.

Health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told a parliamentary hearing that Indonesia would receive 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine via a bilateral deal in 2021, instead of the 50 million doses initially agreed.

The remaining 30 million doses were due to be shipped by the second quarter of 2022, he said.

Indonesia is also slated to receive 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in phases via the COVAX global-vaccine alliance scheme, though Budi said Indian export restrictions would delay shipments in April//CNA

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards in central London AFP/Tolga Akmen - 

Thousands of protesters marched in support of Palestinians on Saturday (May 15) in major European cities including London, Berlin, Madrid and Paris, as the worst violence in years raged between Israel and militants in Gaza.

In London, several thousand protesters carrying placards reading "Stop Bombing Gaza" and chanting "Free Palestine" converged on Marble Arch, near the British capital's Hyde Park, to march towards the Israeli embassy.Packed crowds stretched all along Kensington's High Street where the embassy is located.

Organisers claimed as many as 100,000 people had gathered for the demonstration though London police said they were unable to confirm any figure.

"The group is spread across a large area which makes it impossible to count them," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.

"Officers are engaging with a group of people who have gathered for a demonstration in central London this afternoon," the police said in a separate statement, adding that a plan was in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.

"This time is different. This time we will not be denied any more. We are united. We have had enough of oppression," Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zomlot told the demonstrators.

"Today we are saying enough, enough with the complicity," he added.

A shop owner and residents wear protective face masks, to protect themselves from the coronavirus (COVID-19), while buying groceries at a market in Taipei, Taiwan, March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang - 

Taiwan's economic prospects are bright and growth this year will come in as expected as long as the COVID-19 situation can be brought under control quickly, the government said on Sunday (May 16), adding that the impact of a recent spike in cases was limited.

Export-dependent Taiwan raised its coronavirus alert level in the capital, Taipei, and the surrounding city on Saturday, imposing two weeks of restrictions that will shut many venues and limit gatherings after a rise in community transmissions.

The profits of listed companies have increased significantly over last year, and export orders are also performing well, it added.

The current pandemic situation is having a short-term impact on consumers, but as long as infections can be controlled soon, added to a proposed NT$210 billion (US$7.51 billion) in government spending support, expectations for 2021 economic growth can be maintained, it said.

The Cabinet proposed the new spending on Thursday, though it still needs parliamentary approval.

The sudden rise in domestic cases last week spooked Taiwan's stock market.

Su urged all departments to keep a close watch on market developments and "take necessary steps for the normal operation of financial institutions and order and stability of the stock and foreign exchange markets", the Cabinet added.

Taiwan's economy grew at its fastest pace in more than a decade in the first three months of 2021 as the "work from home" boom sparked strong global demand for the island's hi-tech exports.