YANGON (REUTERS, AFP) - Myanmar on Wednesday (March 24) freed more than 600 people detained in anti-junta protests, a senior prison official told AFP.
“We released 360 men and 268 women from Insein prison today,” a senior official from the jail told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Myanmar activists plan more anti-coup protests, including a silent strike with many businesses due to close and calls for people to stay home, a day after a seven-year-old girl was killed in her home when security forces opened fire during a crackdown in Mandalay.
Pro-democracy protesters also held more candle-lit vigils overnight including in a district of the commercial capital Yangon and in Thahton in Mon state.
The vigils came after staff at a funeral service in Mandalay told Reuters on Tuesday that a seven-year-old girl had died of bullet wounds in the city - the youngest victim so far in a bloody crackdown of opposition to the Feb 1 coup.
Soldiers shot at her father but hit the girl who was sitting on his lap inside their home, her sister told the Myanmar Now media outlet. Two men were also killed in the district, it said.
The military had no immediate comment on the incident.
In what has now often become a deadly game of cat and mouse with security forces during street protests, pro-democracy activists switched tactics and planned to hold a silent strike on Wednesday.
"No going out, no shops, no working. All shut down. Just for one day," illustrator and activist Nobel Aung told Reuters.
Social media posts and media indicated a range of businesses from ride-hailers to pharmacies planned to close.
The junta has faced international condemnation for staging the coup that halted Myanmar's slow transition to democracy and for its lethal suppression of the protests that followed.
It has tried to justify the takeover by saying that a Nov 8 election won by Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was fraudulent - an accusation that the electoral commission has rejected.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Tuesday that 164 protesters had been killed and expressed sadness at the deaths, a day after the European Union and the United States imposed more sanctions on groups or individuals linked to the coup.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group says at least 275 people have been killed in the security forces' crackdown.
He said strikes as well as hospitals not fully operating had caused deaths, including from Covid-19, calling them "undutiful and unethical".
Opponents of military rule have regularly called for strikes and also a civil disobedience campaign, including among civil servants, that has paralysed parts of the economy.
The junta spokesman also accused the media of "fake news" and fanning unrest and said reporters could be prosecuted if they were in contact with the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, as the remnants of Ms Suu Kyi's government is known.
The military has declared the group an illegal organisation and said membership is punishable by death.
He also gave details that he said showed how the NLD had created hundreds or even thousands of extra ballots by inventing voters, including in Ms Suu Kyi's own constituency.
The NLD has denied making any attempt to rig the election.
Also shown at the junta news conference was video testimony of former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein saying he visited Ms Suu Kyi multiple times and gave her money "whenever needed".
Ms Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign to bring democratic civilian rule to Myanmar, has been in detention since the coup and faces charges that her lawyer says have been cooked up to discredit her.
The ousted leader was due to appear for a court hearing via video conferencing on Wednesday after a previous hearing had to be adjourned due to Internet problems.
However Wednesday's hearing was postponed to April 1, an aide to her lawyer said, marking the second successive postponement in her case.
Ms Suu Kyi who was arrested the same day the military seized power in Myanmar on Feb 1, faces charges that include illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus protocols. The military has also accused her of bribery in two recent televised news conferences.
YANGON (REUTERS, AFP) - Myanmar on Wednesday (March 24) freed more than 600 people detained in anti-junta protests, a senior prison official told AFP.
“We released 360 men and 268 women from Insein prison today,” a senior official from the jail told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Myanmar activists plan more anti-coup protests, including a silent strike with many businesses due to close and calls for people to stay home, a day after a seven-year-old girl was killed in her home when security forces opened fire during a crackdown in Mandalay.
Pro-democracy protesters also held more candle-lit vigils overnight including in a district of the commercial capital Yangon and in Thahton in Mon state.
The vigils came after staff at a funeral service in Mandalay told Reuters on Tuesday that a seven-year-old girl had died of bullet wounds in the city - the youngest victim so far in a bloody crackdown of opposition to the Feb 1 coup.
Soldiers shot at her father but hit the girl who was sitting on his lap inside their home, her sister told the Myanmar Now media outlet. Two men were also killed in the district, it said.
The military had no immediate comment on the incident.
In what has now often become a deadly game of cat and mouse with security forces during street protests, pro-democracy activists switched tactics and planned to hold a silent strike on Wednesday.
"No going out, no shops, no working. All shut down. Just for one day," illustrator and activist Nobel Aung told Reuters.
Social media posts and media indicated a range of businesses from ride-hailers to pharmacies planned to close.
The junta has faced international condemnation for staging the coup that halted Myanmar's slow transition to democracy and for its lethal suppression of the protests that followed.
It has tried to justify the takeover by saying that a Nov 8 election won by Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was fraudulent - an accusation that the electoral commission has rejected.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said on Tuesday that 164 protesters had been killed and expressed sadness at the deaths, a day after the European Union and the United States imposed more sanctions on groups or individuals linked to the coup.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group says at least 275 people have been killed in the security forces' crackdown.
He said strikes as well as hospitals not fully operating had caused deaths, including from Covid-19, calling them "undutiful and unethical".
Opponents of military rule have regularly called for strikes and also a civil disobedience campaign, including among civil servants, that has paralysed parts of the economy.
The junta spokesman also accused the media of "fake news" and fanning unrest and said reporters could be prosecuted if they were in contact with the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, as the remnants of Ms Suu Kyi's government is known.
The military has declared the group an illegal organisation and said membership is punishable by death.
He also gave details that he said showed how the NLD had created hundreds or even thousands of extra ballots by inventing voters, including in Ms Suu Kyi's own constituency.
The NLD has denied making any attempt to rig the election.
Also shown at the junta news conference was video testimony of former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein saying he visited Ms Suu Kyi multiple times and gave her money "whenever needed".
Ms Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her campaign to bring democratic civilian rule to Myanmar, has been in detention since the coup and faces charges that her lawyer says have been cooked up to discredit her.
The ousted leader was due to appear for a court hearing via video conferencing on Wednesday after a previous hearing had to be adjourned due to Internet problems.
However Wednesday's hearing was postponed to April 1, an aide to her lawyer said, marking the second successive postponement in her case.
Ms Suu Kyi who was arrested the same day the military seized power in Myanmar on Feb 1, faces charges that include illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus protocols. The military has also accused her of bribery in two recent televised news conferences.
DUBAI: A giant container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal after a gust of wind blew it off course, the vessel's operator said on Wednesday (Mar 24), bringing marine traffic to a halt along one of the world's busiest trade routes.
Traffic on the narrow waterway dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula stopped on Tuesday after the MV Ever Given got stuck.
The MV Ever Given is a 400m-long and 59m-wide Panama-flagged container ship, with its owner listed in Japan.
Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp, which is leasing the vessel under a time charter, said the shipowner informed it that the ship "was suspected of being hit by a sudden strong wind, causing the hull to deviate from waterway and accidentally hit the bottom and run aground".
"The company has urged the shipowner to report the cause of the incident and has been in discussions with relevant parties including the canal management authority to assist the ship as soon as possible."
Screengrab from MarineTraffic.com of the Ever Given cargo ship stuck in the Suez Canal.
The Ever Given's bow was touching the canal's eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against its western wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com.
"Tug boats are currently trying to re-float the vessel," Leth Agencies, which provides crossing services to clients using the canal, said on Twitter.
TRAFFIC JAM OF VESSELS
Bloomberg reported the incident had caused a build-up of more than 100 ships seeking to transit the canal.
Instagram user Julianne Cona posted a photo of the grounded ship from the Maersk Denver, now also stuck behind the Ever Given.
"Ship in front of us ran aground while going through the canal and is now stuck sideways," she wrote. "Looks like we might be here for a little bit."
More than 150 years old, the Suez Canal is one of the world's most important trade routes, providing passage for 10 per cent of all international maritime trade.
Nearly 19,000 ships passed through it last year with a total tonnage of 1.17 billion, according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
Map of the Suez Canal locating a huge container ship causing a traffic jam of vessels in both directions since Mar 23, 2021. (Image: AFP)
Canal authorities could not be immediately reached early on Wednesday. The ship appeared to be stuck about 6km north of the southerly mouth of the canal near the city of Suez.
Cargo ships and oil tankers appeared to be lining up at the southern end of the Suez Canal, waiting to be able to pass through the waterway to the Mediterranean Sea, according to MarineTraffic data.
Screengrab from MarineTraffic.com showing cargo ships and oil tankers appearing to line up at the southern end of the Suez Canal.
A United Nations database listed the Ever Given as being owned by Shoei Kisen KK, a ship-leasing firm based in Imabari, Japan. The firm could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday. The ship had listed its destination as Rotterdam in the Netherlands prior to getting stuck in the canal.
Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo being shipping from East to West. Around 10 per cent of the world's trade flows through the waterway and it remains one of Egypt's top foreign currency earners.
In 2015, the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi completed a major expansion of the canal, allowing it to accommodate the world’s largest vessels.
Egyptian authorities are yet to comment on the incident.
BOULDER, Colorado (REUTERS) - Police on Tuesday (March 23) identified the 21-year-old suspect accused of killing 10 people - including a policeman – in a hail of bullets at a Colorado supermarket, marking the United States’ second mass shooting in a week and adding to the state’s tragic history of deadly massacres.
The suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa of Arvada, Colorado, stormed the King Soopers outlet in Boulder armed with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle and a handgun and wearing a tactical vest, all of which were recovered after Monday’s shooting, according to an arrest affidavit filed by police.
The affidavit also said law enforcement databases show Alissa purchased a Ruger AR-556 pistol, a weapon that resembles a semi-automatic rifle and has a 30-round capacity, on March 16, six days before the shooting.
His sister-in-law told police on Monday evening that Alissa had been “playing with” a firearm she described as resembling a “machine gun” two days before the attack, upsetting family members, the affidavit said.
Alissa was released from a hospital, where he was treated for a leg wound suffered in an exchange of gunfire with responding police, and transported to county jail on Tuesday afternoon to await an initial court appearance on murder and other charges.
Authorities said they were confident he acted alone, though they did not offer any details on what might have motivated him to open fire at the store, which is about 45km north-west of Denver.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa poses for a county jail booking photo in Boulder, Colorado, on March 23, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS/BOULDER POLICE DEPARTMENT
“It would be premature for us to draw any conclusions at this time,” Michael Schneider, the agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Denver, said at a news briefing.
The 10 victims range in age from 20 to 65 and include Eric Talley, an 11-year veteran of the Boulder police force who was among the first officers on the scene. Talley, 51, was the father of seven children and had recently been looking for a less dangerous job, according to a statement released by his father.
Police identified the nine other victims as Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
Monday’s attack, which began around 2.40pm, sent terrified shoppers and employees fleeing for safety amid the sound of gunfire.
Witnesses told police the shooter killed a man in his vehicle outside the store before gunning down a man in the parking lot, standing over him and firing multiple times, and then entering the store to continue the rampage.
When apprehended, Alissa did not answer questions but asked to speak with his mother, according to the affidavit.
Colorado has been the site of some of the most shocking episodes of gun violence in US history, including the 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora and the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School near Littleton.
“My heart aches today, and I think all of ours does, as Coloradans, as Americans, for this senseless tragedy and loss of life,” Governor Jared Polis said.
Shoppers are evacuated from the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, on March 22, 2021. PHOTO: AFP
The two mass shootings are likely to intensify pressure on Democratic President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign pledge to enact tougher gun limits. But legislation to ban assault-style weapons and tighten background checks have stalled amid Republican opposition in Congress.
“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone another hour, to take common-sense steps that will save lives in the future,” Biden said at the White House on Tuesday. “This is not and should not be a partisan issue.”
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leaders in Congress, said on Tuesday that the violence underscored the need for stricter gun laws.
Biden also ordered US flags to fly at half-staff in honor of the victims; they had just been raised at sunset on Monday after having been lowered following the Atlanta killings.
Details of suspect’s life emerging
Details about Alissa were slowly emerging on Tuesday. He is a naturalised US citizen from Syria, according to two US law enforcement officials briefed on the matter.
Ali Aliwi Alissa, the alleged shooter’s 34-year-old brother, told The Daily Beast that his sibling was anti-social and paranoid.
Alissa has had at least two previous run-ins with the law, according to an Arvada Police Department spokesman, who said there were criminal reports for a third-degree assault in 2017 and for criminal mischief in 2018. The details of those incidents were not immediately available, and it was not clear whether Alissa had ever been convicted of an offence.
He graduated from Arvada West High School in May 2018, according to Cameron Bell, a spokeswoman for the school district. Records show he was on the wrestling team for two seasons, she said.
An archived Facebook page that appeared to belong to Alissa said he was interested in computer science and kickboxing. The page, which uses the name Ahmad Al Issa, features a picture of a young man in a wrestling match who resembles the suspect’s mug shot.
People being escorted out of the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, on March 22, 2021. PHOTO: AFP
Witnesses described a chaotic and frightening scene inside the store during Monday’s attack.
Ryan Borowski, 37, went in looking for something to satisfy a sugar craving. He had picked out a 12-pack of soda and a bag of chips when he heard shots ring out, sending him scurrying for the store’s back exit.
“It was pretty terrifying,” he said. “Fastest fire drill I’ve ever been in.”
