Naypyidaw, Mar 16,2021: Twenty people died and over 60 injured in Myanmar on Monday as security forces cracked down on unceasing anti-coup demonstrations across the country, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said.
The deaths were confirmed in the cities of Yangon, Mandalay, Bago, Monywa and others, Sputnik reported, citing the statement of AAPP.
According to the watchdog, a total of 183 people have died in clashes with the security forces as of Monday.
“As of confirmed AAPP documentation 20 civilians have already been shot and further confirmation of the fallen heroes across Burma is continuing. AAPP has also documented the killing of ordinary people not even participating in the protests,” AAPP said in the statement.
Meanwhile, the number of arrested is said to exceed 2,100 people, which is the number of those who have been officially charged, meaning the actual number of arrested is may be much larger, according to the AAPP.
The watchdog also updated its death toll for Sunday, from 38 to 74 fatalities.
On February 1, Myanmar’s military overthrew the civilian government and declared a year-long state of emergency. The military arrested State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint over electoral fraud, and later on charges of violating COVID-19 restrictions.
Mass protests against the military rule continue for already the sixth week in Myanmar. Over 70 per cent of government employees have now joined the civil disobedience movement.
Tensions between the protesters and the police appear to be rising as officers turn to more brutal tactics. Aside from tear gas and water cannons, the police began using combat weapons in late February.
Tehran, Iran,Mar 15,2021: Iran has told the United Nations that claims of its role in attacks on United States interests in Iraq are “completely baseless and lacking legal credibility”.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the country’s UN envoy Majid Takht-Ravanchi “decisively” rejected claims that Iran-backed paramilitary forces were behind recent attacks against the US.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has not had any involvement, directly or indirectly, in any armed attacks by any entities or individuals against the United States in Iraq,” he wrote, according to parts of the letter’s text published by state-run IRNA news on Monday.
Last month, several rockets hit a military base inside the airport in Erbil, northern Iraq, which killed one foreign civilian contractor and wounded at least nine others, including an American soldier.
Foreign troops deployed as part of the US-led coalition that helped Iraq fight the ISIL (ISIS) armed group since 2014 are stationed at the site.
A shadowy group calling itself Awliya al-Dam – or the Guardians of the Blood – claimed responsibility for the attack and said it would continue to target “occupation” American forces in Iraq.
Several other rocket attacks were launched against US interests in Iraq in the following weeks.
Most recently, several rockets landed in the Ain al-Asad base in early March.
In January 2020, shortly after the US assassinated Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired more than a dozen rockets at the base in an attack that bore no casualties.
Biden orders military operation
In response to the recent attacks, US President Joe Biden launched the first military operation of his administration, ordering an air attack on facilities in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq, which the US said are used by Iran-backed militias.
The air attack, which Biden said was “proportionate” and aimed at creating “deterrence”, killed 22 people, according to war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In his letter, Iran’s envoy to the UN condemned the air attack, calling it “illegal”.
The US attacks amount to a “violation of the sovereignty of the region’s countries and a clear symbol of the gross violation of international rights and the UN Charter”, Takht-Ravanchi said.
The representative also said the US moves only destabilise the region further and serve to advance the interests of “terrorist groups”.
He requested the letter be formally recognised as a UN Security Council document.
In late February, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, in Tehran that the recent rocket attacks against US positions in Iraq are “suspicious” and the perpetrators must be identified.
The regional conflicts have escalated as Iran and the US continue to be at a standstill over restoring Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), March 15,2021: A heavy dust storm hits Mongolia over the weekend, leaving six people killed, including one child, and over 80 people missing, media reported on Monday.
According to the CGTN news broadcaster, Mongolia’s emergency department received reports of 548 missing people in total during the weekend, 467 of whom were found. Five herdsmen and one child were killed by the storm, the broadcaster said. The rescue operation is still ongoing for the remaining 81 people.
Earlier on Monday, a Sputnik correspondent reported that a yellow alert has been issued in Beijing as the dust storm originating in Mongolia hit China’s capital. It resulted in major traffic disruptions in the city with visibility limited to less than 1,000 meters (0.6 miles). The authorities recommended that all outdoor activities be cancelled.
Due to low visibility, over 400 flights have been cancelled in Beijing, the Global Times reported.
New Delhi, Mar 15,2021: Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said in Rajya Sabha that the probe into the Chamoli disaster in Uttarakhand has not been concluded yet, but it appeared to occur due to a glacial burst which brought a huge amount of water and debris along with it.
Replying to a question during the ‘Question Hour’, Mr Javadekar said that whether it happened due to the construction of a power plant in the upper reaches is yet to be confirmed and six institutes have been studying the impact of climate change on glaciers.
“Retreating of glaciers happen. This is a kind of natural phenomenon and is also aggravated by climate change. No new project has been sanctioned in the upper-Ganga region,” Mr Javadekar said.
Responding to the deputy leader of Opposition Anand Shrma on the use of dynamites by the companies which result in huge loss of tree cover not only in Uttarakhand, the Environment Minister said that it true that Himalayas are still a young mountain range but “Whether dynamite is to be used or not is a highly technical issue. A high-level team is looking into it. We ensure that forest tree cover is not cut beyond what is permissible. They have to plant 10-fold trees in the given landscape,” he added.
“Climate change is not an area-specific problem. It is a problem of the entire globe. The funds promised in 2009 were Rs 100 billion dollars per year for developing countries. It is more than 1 trillion dollars now. Funds are not coming in the way they should. Financial and technological support is basic to mitigating the impact of climate change,” Mr Javadekar informed the House.
Denying the comment of Shiv Sena Member Priyanka Chaturvedi that the government was in denial mode on climate change, Mr Javadekar said, “I never said that unseasonal rain and climate change are not linked. I said that not every change can be linked to climate change. I had a meeting with the corporates. They are also working hard to fight climate change by planting more and more trees”.
Responding to the question of the former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh if the capacity or supply target of solar energy has been achieved, he said that the nation will have 40 percent of our energy capacity met by 2030 through solar energy.
Brasilia [Brazil], March 13 ,2021: Brazil comes now second in terms of the number of the confirmed coronavirus cases while the death toll from COVID-19 in the country has surpassed 275,000 people, the national Ministry of Health said.
Over the past 24 hours, the Latin American country has registered 85,663 new COVID-19 cases, with the total number has reached 11,363,389. India, which previously came second, has recorded 11,308,846 coronavirus cases. The United States is the worst-hit nation with more than 29.32 million COVID-19 patients.
Within the same period of time, the death toll from the coronavirus in Brazil has increased by 2,216 to 275,105 people.
Rome, Mar 13,2021: Italian authorities announced on Friday that shops, restaurants and schools will be closed across the country on Monday, as PM Mario Draghi warned of a “new wave” of the coronavirus outbreak.
For three days over Easter, April 3-5, there will be a total shutdown across the country.
Italy, which one year ago imposed one of the first national lockdowns and was one of the worst affected countries from the coronavirus in the world is once again struggling to contain the rapid spread of infections.
The country has reported more than 100,000 COVID-related deaths, Europe’s second highest tally after the UK.
Like the rest of the European Union Italy’s vaccination campaign has been hit by delays in the delivery of the vaccines.
Last week the government in Rome blocked the export of 250,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia in a bid to address shortfalls of vaccines.
Washington[US], March 12,2021: As Taipei continues to remain at the forefront of the escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, Taiwan could be the first potential target of Chinese military aggression in the next five to 10 years, a top U.S. military commander said.
According to Focus Taiwan, Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, made the comments in response to questions from Republican lawmaker Scott DesJarlais during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on national security challenges on Wednesday, including what he considers to be the most likely target of Chinese aggression or military action in the next 5 to 10 years.
“Given what they’ve said both publicly and over time, and certainly during the tenure of Chairman Xi Jinping, I would say Taiwan is the first,” Davidson said.
On Tuesday, the commander said that Beijing’s threats toward Taiwan could manifest in the next six years as China seeks to supplant the U.S. leadership role in the international order.
Focus Taiwan further reported that the US Commander was also asked to express his views on how cross-Taiwan Strait relations have evolved over the past three years during his tenure as commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
He responded that China’s revocation of its “one country, two systems” approach in Hong Kong alarmed Taiwan to an extent that during Taiwan’s 2019 legislative elections, both the Democratic Progressive Party and the Kuomintang had to voice their opposition to the “one country, two systems” approach.
“So it has steeled, I think, Taiwan’s status in the region and I think all other nations in the region as well have noticed a very pernicious approach that China took to Hong Kong and that has put a chill on many relationships as well,” Davidson said.
David F. Helvey, acting assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, said the future of the U.S. is inextricably linked to that of the Indo-Pacific region.
“As our department’s priority theater, we’re committed to upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific region where all nations, large and small, are secure in their sovereignty, can pursue economic opportunity and resolve disputes without coercion, and can exercise the freedoms of navigation over flight, consistent with an open and stable international order,” Helvey explained.
The White House on Monday said that Washington will continue to contribute to Taiwan’s self-defence capabilities.
“Our position on Taiwan remains clear. We will stand with friends and allies to advanced our shared prosperity, security and values. And in the Indo-Pacific region, we maintain our long-standing commitment,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a press briefing.
“We maintain our long-standing commitments as outlined in the three communicates, the Taiwan Relations Act and the six assurances. We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability. So our position remains the same,” she added.
Sputnik citing an official reported that a State Department bilateral fact sheet stated the US and Taiwan enjoy an unofficial relationship, but Washington does not support the Island’s independence.
A 1979 pact with China switched US diplomatic recognition to Beijing, although The Taiwan Relations Act, passed by Congress in that same year, allows Washington to support the island’s defensive capabilities.
Deeming one-China policy as outdated and counter-productive, recently two United States congressmen have introduced a resolution calling for the US government to resume formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
The bill, US Congress House Concurrent Resolution 21, was sponsored by US House representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry on February 26, Focus Taiwan reported. The resolution called US government to scrap the one-China policy.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing.
Taiwan returned to the forefront of US-China tensions last weekend when Beijing sent more than two dozen warplanes into the self-governing island’s air defence identification zone in a 48-hour period.
While the frequency of such drills has increased in recent years, the timing and the composition of the latest formations — mostly fighter jets and bombers — appeared intended to send a message to the new administration in Washington, reported CNN.
New Delhi, Mar 12,2021: The BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) leads
held their first meeting under India’s Chairship from March 9-11.
The theme of BRICS this year is -“BRICS@15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus’.
India, under its Chairship in 2021, presented the calendar of events for BRICS CGETI 2021, which included the priority areas for deliverables, schedule and scope of the MSME roundtable conference workshop on Services Statistics, and the BRICS Trade Fair.
This was followed by a series of presentations, scheduled in separate sessions, made by the concerned Departments of the Government of India on the proposed deliverables during India’s Chairship under the BRICS CGETI track, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement here on Friday.
The deliverables proposed are on Action plan based on the document ‘Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership 2025’ adopted during Russian Presidency in 2020, BRICS Cooperation on Multilateral Trading system including cooperation for the TRIPS Waiver proposal at WTO; Framework for Consumer Protection in E-Commerce; Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) Resolution Mechanism; Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) Working Mechanism; Co-operation framework for protection of Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge; BRICS Framework on Co-operation in Professional Services.
Each of these sessions was followed by detailed feedback sessions.
The BRICS partners appreciated the activities planned by India, being timely and relevant in the
current context and expressed their support for working together on the various initiatives proposed by India.
From now on till September, inter sessional deliberations will be carried out to reach a consensus amongst the BRICS countries. The BRICS officers tasked with CGETI would continue the work for the 27th official level CGETI meeting, scheduled to be held in June.