YANGON: Myanmar security forces fired rifle grenades at protesters in a town near Yangon on Friday (Apr 9), killing more than 80 people, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group and a domestic news outlet said.
Details of the death toll in the town of Bago, 90km northeast of Yangon, were not initially available because security forces piled up bodies in the Zeyar Muni pagoda compound and cordoned off the area, according to witnesses and domestic media outlets.
The AAPP and Myanmar Now news outlet said on Saturday that 82 people were killed during the protest against the Feb 1 military coup in the country. Firing started before dawn on Friday and continued into the afternoon, Myanmar Now said.
"It is like genocide," the news outlet quoted a protest organiser called Ye Htut as saying. "They are shooting at every shadow."
Many residents of the town have fled, according to accounts on social media.
A spokesman for Myanmar's military junta could not be reached on Saturday.
AAPP, which has maintained a daily tally of protesters killed and arrested by security forces, has previously said 618 people have died since the coup.
That figure is disputed by the military, which says it staged the coup because a November 2020 election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party was rigged. The election commission has dismissed the assertion.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told a news conference on Friday in the capital, Naypyitaw, that the military had recorded 248 civilian deaths and 16 police deaths, and said no automatic weapons had been used by security forces.
An alliance of ethnic armies in Myanmar that has opposed the junta's crackdown attacked a police station in the east on Saturday and at least 10 policemen were killed, domestic media said.
The police station at Naungmon in Shan state was attacked early in the morning by fighters from an alliance that includes the Arakan Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, the media reported.
Shan News said at least 10 policemen were killed, while the Shwe Phee Myay news outlet put the death toll at 14.
Myanmar's military rulers said on Friday that protests against its rule were dwindling because people wanted peace, and that it would hold elections within two years.
Ousted Myanmar lawmakers urged the United Nations Security Council on Friday to take action against the military.
"Our people are ready to pay any cost to get back their rights and freedom," said Zin Mar Aung, who has been appointed acting foreign minister for a group of ousted lawmakers. She urged council members to apply both direct and indirect pressure on the junta.
"Myanmar stands at the brink of state failure, of state collapse," Richard Horsey, a senior adviser on Myanmar with the International Crisis Group, told the informal UN meeting, the first public discussion of Myanmar by council members.
NEW DELHI: India's daily coronavirus cases on Saturday (Apr 10) rose by a record for the fifth time this week and deaths surged to the highest in more than five months, with hospitals and crematoriums overflowing in parts of the country.
New cases in the world's second-most populous country have totalled the most of anywhere in the world over the last two weeks. India's overall tally of 13.21 million is the third-highest globally, just shy of Brazil and below the worst affected country, the United States.
The second surge in infections, which has spread much more rapidly than the first one that peaked in September, has forced many states to impose fresh curbs but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to impose a national lockdown given the high economic costs.
Authorities in Maharashtra, the Indian state with the highest cases, have ordered a weekend lockdown that will end early on Monday. Mega cities such as Mumbai, the country's financial centre and Maharashtra's capital, and the national capital of New Delhi have also imposed nightly curfews until the end of April.
India reported 145,384 new COVID-19 cases and 794 deaths, the Health Ministry reported.
Despite that, Prime Minister Modi again addressed an election rally crowded with thousands of people, many without masks, in the eastern state of West Bengal.
The government has blamed the resurgence mainly on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as businesses across the country have reopened since February, only to be partially shut again to control the current surge.
"Mass gatherings for elections and religious events have accelerated COVID, for which all of us are responsible to some extent," Sonia Gandhi, the chief of the main opposition Congress party, said in a statement.
In Mumbai, hundreds of poor migrant workers crammed onto trains this week to flee, potentially risking a wider outbreak in smaller towns and villages.
The railways department called it a usual rush this time of year for people to harvest crops back home and celebrate festivals.
VACCINE SHORTAGE
Many states have complained of a vaccine shortage though immunisations are currently restricted to only about 400 million of India's 1.35 billion people.
The health minister said on Thursday the government had more than 43 million doses in stock or in the pipeline, which may be enough for only about 10 days going by the immunisation trend.
India, the world's biggest maker of vaccines, has so far administered 97.5 million doses, using the AstraZeneca shot and another developed at home by Bharat Biotech.
Arvinder Singh Soin, a surgeon and leading liver transplant specialist, is one of many top Indian medical authorities that have criticised the government for its slow approach to approving other vaccines by insisting on the need for local trials for shots formulated abroad.
"We need to immediately facilitate the approval of the next lot of vaccines," Soin said on Twitter. "Insistence on bridging trials data not relevant anymore given the situation. Millions have had these all over the world."
The country breached the 100,000 mark for the first time on Monday. Only the United States has reported more cases in a day since the pandemic began over a year ago.
India's total deaths have now swelled to 168,436, health ministry data showed, though it has one of the lowest fatality rates, partly attributed to its relatively younger population.
Still, crematoriums have been overwhelmed in some Indian cities.
In Surat in the western state of Gujarat, officials were seeking additional crematorium workers to handle the overflow. It has dropped a plan to rope in teachers after online criticism.
In the northern city of Lucknow, distraught relatives had to wait for hours to perform the last rites of their family members in the area's only electric crematorium, said its officer-in-charge Mohammad Wasimuddin.
In Hinduism, the religion for the majority of Indians, cremation is the traditional method for dealing with the physical body after death.
NEW DELHI: India reported a record 145,384 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday (Apr 10) and the highest number of deaths in more than five months, as it grapples with an overwhelming second wave of infections that has forced the state of Maharashtra to impose a weekend lockdown.
Deaths rose by 794 to a total of 168,436, health ministry data showed.
India's overall case load has swelled to 13.21 million, the third-highest globally, behind the United States and Brazil. India has reported the most number of cases in the world in the past week, breaching the 100,000 mark for the first time on Monday and four times after that.
The government blames the resurgence mainly on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as businesses have nearly fully reopened since February, only to be partially shut again to control the current surge.
Maharashtra, the Indian state with the most cases, has already shut down restaurants, malls and places of worship and barred the movement of most people to control the outbreak that has threatened to overrun medical facilities and created vaccine shortages, officials said. Its weekend lockdown will end on early Monday.
In India's financial capital Mumbai, hundreds of poor migrant workers crammed onto trains this week to flee the city, potentially risking a wider outbreak in smaller towns and villages.
The railways department denied people were fleeing cities because of the surge, calling it a usual rush this time of year because of holidays and as workers move to harvest crops.
Many states, meanwhile, have complained of a shortage of vaccines.
MUMBAI: Fresh lockdowns and curfews were imposed on tens of millions of people from India to Argentina on Saturday (Apr 10), as COVID-19 infections surged again and vaccine roll-outs were hampered by shortages and scares over side effects.
In India, the worst-hit state of Maharashtra was running out of vaccines as the health system buckled under the weight of the contagion, which has killed 2.9 million people worldwide.
Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and spectators at cricket matches, the world's second-most populous nation has added more than a million new infections since late March.
Every weekend from Saturday until the end of April, Maharashtra's 125 million people will be confined to their homes unless travelling or shopping for food or medicine.
"I'm not for the lockdown at all but I don't think the government has any other choice," media professional Neha Tyagi, 27, told AFP in Maharashtra's megacity Mumbai.
"This lockdown could have been totally avoided if people would take the virus seriously."
The crisis is being exacerbated by a shortage of vaccines.
India has so far inoculated 94 million of its 1.3 billion people, but The Times of India reported on Friday that states on average had just over five days of stock left, citing health ministry data, with some regions already grappling with severe shortages.
Stay-at-home orders were also set to come into force for the eight million inhabitants of Bogota, as the Colombian capital battled a third wave of infections, adding to curfews already covering seven million across four other major cities.
Elsewhere in South America, Argentina entered a night-time curfew on Friday, running from midnight to 6am every day until Apr 30.
It will be in force in the country's highest-risk areas, mainly urban centres, where bars and restaurants will close at 11pm.
Both Argentina and Colombia have recorded about 2.5 million coronavirus cases, numbers surpassed only by Brazil in the region.
All of France is subject to restrictions of some form, while the German government's attempts to curb movement and commerce have been stymied by several states refusing to go along with the proposals.
Now Berlin is changing the rules to centralise power, adjustments likely to usher in night-time curfews and some school closures in especially hard-hit areas.
But some countries were in the process of opening up.
Italy was set to end lockdowns from next week for Lombardy, the epicentre of its coronavirus pandemic, and several other regions with improving contagion statistics.
Neighbouring Slovenia announced it would ease coronavirus restrictions and suspend a six-month-long curfew starting Monday.
SHAKY ROLL-OUTS
As in India, Europe's stuttering vaccine roll-out faced multiple hurdles Friday as EU regulators said they were reviewing side effects of the Johnson & Johnson shot and France further limited its use of the AstraZeneca jab.
France has repeatedly changed the rules on AstraZeneca's vaccine, first over doubts about its efficacy, then over fears that it could be linked to blood clots.
On Friday, it did so again, with Health Minister Olivier Veran saying under-55s who had been given a first shot with AstraZeneca would be given a different vaccine for their second dose.
But shortly after he spoke, the World Health Organization said there was "no adequate data" to support switching COVID-19 vaccines between doses.
As for the J&J shot, the European Medicines Agency said four "serious cases" of unusual blood clots had been reported - one of them fatal - with the vaccine, which uses similar technology to the AstraZeneca one.
The US Food and Drug Administration said it had found no causal link between the jab and clots, but noted "a few individuals" in the country had clots and low levels of platelets in the blood after receiving the vaccine, and its investigation was continuing.
Both jabs are approved for use in the European Union but the J&J vaccine has not yet been rolled out, and various EU countries have stopped or limited the use of AstraZeneca.
An AstraZeneca spokesman said half of its vaccine shipments to the EU would be delayed this week.
In the United States, deliveries of the J&J vaccine were set to drop off sharply next week, US health authorities warned on Friday.
And in badly-hit Brazil, the Senate said it would open an inquiry into the government's handling of the pandemic, as President Jair Bolsonaro continued to resist lockdown measures even with COVID-19 deaths at new records.
Yet Rio de Janeiro on Friday was reversing restrictions in place for two weeks, reopening restaurants and bars, though the city's famed beaches remained closed.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sparks flew as Yip Yoke Lin, 74, held the Chinese chef knife she was sharpening at a 30-degree angle off the bench grinder.
After running the blade a few times with the grinder, she tested her work by gingerly running her thumb along the edge.
“This is the ‘rough’ portion. Once it’s satisfactory, then I’ll put it on the workbench and whet the blade with those sharpening stones,” she said.
Her elder sister, Yip Ah Moy, 84, bent from age, was already doing the same thing with another customer’s knife, drawing the blade across the stone in smooth motions from the handle end of the blade to the tip.
Yip Ah Moy, 84, hunches over her workbench to work on a kitchen knife. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
Occasionally, Yip Ah Moy would stop and dip her sharpening stone in a bucket of water placed next to her bench to wash away the swarf (waste material) and re-lubricate her stone.
In the background, trendy music played in the cafes and open-concept food court at REXKL’s ground floor, a former cinema turned arts and culture hub along Jalan Sultan in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown area.
Occasionally, curious visitors would wander over to the Yip sisters’ corner to watch them work, while some dropped by to hand over one or a few kitchen knives for them to sharpen.
The tool sharpening business was started by the sisters’ father back in the late 1940s in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, along Petaling Street.
In fact, Yip Ah Moy recalled that her father first set up shop in front of the Fung Wong Chinese confectionery maker, a Petaling Street institution which has lasted for four generations.
Yip Ah Moy said the business had always been based around the Petaling Street area, and they recently moved into REXKL when the new proprietors allowed them a small space to continue their craft.
They also operate out of a morning market in Cheras.
“Our customers did not just come from the nearby shops, but also from other parts of the town looking for us to sharpen their tools,” she said.
Yip Yoke Lin (left) hands over sharpened knives, which have been wrapped in newspaper, to a customer. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
Some were running food businesses, while others were tailors and cobblers.
“Even people who cut the smoked rubber sheets last time, they’d come to look for us as well,” said Yip Yoke Lin.
Learning the craft was a matter of trial and error for the sisters.
“We learned from our father,” said Yip Ah Moy, adding that she began sharpening knives alongside their late father in her late teens.
“How did we learn? He would pass us a simple knife to sharpen. After that, he would test how well we had sharpened the blade by cutting some items.”
“If it didn’t cut well, or we had to push to cut through, like kitchen knives, then that means we didn’t sharpen it properly,” Yip Ah Moy added.
The Yips’ work set-up is simple - the bench grinder and a workbench each, where a small plank is propped at a slanted angle, with a small catch to hold the sharpening stone in place.
Each sister has her own work process.
The Yip sisters' work set-up is simple, with sharpening stones propped at an angle and a bucket of water to dunk the stones in to get rid of the swarf (waste material from sharpening the blades). (Photo: Vincent Tan)
Yip Ah Moy prefers to immerse her sharpening stones in the water to lubricate them and wash off the swarf, while Yip Yoke Lin scoops up water with her hand and drips it over the blade she is polishing every once in a while.
“The electric bench grinder is the newest piece of equipment. We also used bench grinders in the past, but those were pedal-powered which you had to sit on,” Yip Yoke Lin said.
Feast or famine would be the appropriate description for the Yips' sharpening business.
“Business is never certain. Sometimes, we can sit the whole day and get no customers. And then you have days like today, we’ve been working non-stop since we opened up at 2pm,” she said.
At one point, Yip Ah Moy finally took a break from work to tuck into her lunch - a packet of chee cheong fun (rice noodle rolls), with her sister helping to pour the packet of chilli sauce all over the dish.
A couple of kitchen knives lie waiting to be worked on, alongside a sharpening stone and the Yip sisters' tool box at REX KL. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
After completing an order, each knife would be individually wrapped in newspaper and either lady would write the job’s price with a marker.
“Prices depend on the size of the knives or the tool like scissors. We can do knives from RM10 (US$2.43) to RM15, especially for the bigger, heavier knives.
“Scissors, too, up to RM15 for the large ones which tailors use,” she said.
While there were now fewer people making or ordering tailor-made clothes, Yip Yoke Lin said weeks in the run-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and Hari Raya Aidilfitri were busy for them.
“Many tailors are sending their scissors for sharpening as our Malay compatriots get ready for the fasting month and Hari Raya after,” she said.
Yip Yoke Lin says sharpening scissors is a little more difficult compared to kitchen blades. The sisters often get repeat business from tailors and other craft stores to sharpen. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
While the sign on one pillar states that the Yip sisters work at REXKL on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, they usually come to their Jalan Sultan spot whenever there is demand for their services.
“Otherwise, we usually work at the morning market in Cheras, and whenever people call us up because they have implements to sharpen,” Yip Yoke Lin said.
The two ladies said their children did not take up the family business, and they understood their choice.
“It’s a pity, but you can’t raise a family with a spouse and two children on the money you earn from this line. It’s a sunset job.”
Yip Yoke Lin runs a finger along the edge of a Chinese chef's knife to check her grinding, before doing finer work with the sharpening stones on the workbench. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
“For us, we do it to keep busy, and also to earn our spending money,” Yip Yoke Lin explained.
They also had to compete with the home sharpening kits.
“Those work well enough if you just need a knife to prepare your ingredients, so the owners don’t need to look for someone to sharpen their knives,” Yip Ah Moy remarked.
A long-time customer hands over money for his kitchen knives, which the Yip sisters have finished sharpening at their weekend space in REX KL. (Photo: Vincent Tan)
“Then at the same time, there are also people who just buy new knives after their current one goes dull!” she laughed.
“But actually, there are still people who do this for a living, younger than us, but they work on higher-end, more expensive blades, so the fees are also much higher,” the younger Yip sister added.
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday (Apr 9) led the nation's condolences to Queen Elizabeth II on the death of her husband Prince Philip, acclaiming his "extraordinary life and work".
Johnson said the Duke of Edinburgh "earned the affection of generations" at home, in the Commonwealth and across the world after serving in the Royal Navy and then over decades as Britain's longest-serving royal consort.
Soon after the announcement of his death, people began to line up outside Buckingham Palace to see the official death notice that had been attached to the gate. The flag at the palace, the queen’s residence in London, was lowered to half-staff.
"We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the prime minister said outside 10 Downing Street.
He added despite his many achievements, the consort would be best remembered for his "steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen".
"Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life," Johnson said.
The Union Flag hangs at half-staff as members of staff attach an announcement, regarding the death of Britain's Prince Philip, to the fence of Buckingham Palace in London on Friday, Apr 9, 2021. (Photo: AP/Matt Dunham)
Leaders from across the UK and political spectrum joined Johnson in an outpouring of tributes to Philip, who Buckingham Palace said died peacefully at Windsor Castle early Friday, and sympathy for the queen.
Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, was among the first to offer his condolences, noting Philip’s long record of public service, first as a naval officer during World War II, then during more than 70 years of marriage to the queen.
“He will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the Queen,” Starmer said in a statement.
“For more than seven decades, he has been at her side. Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability and hope, even as the world around them changed - most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.”
Former prime minister Tony Blair said Philip "will naturally be most recognised as a remarkable and steadfast support to the Queen over so many years.
"However, he should also be remembered and celebrated in his own right as a man of foresight, determination and courage," he added.
The heads of the UK's devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all publicly sent their condolences to the monarch, with Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford saying he had "served the crown with selfless devotion".
London mayor Sadiq Khan called Philip an "extraordinary man" noting he had fought "for the freedoms we hold dear today" during World War II.
"I know I can say on behalf of all Londoners that we will forever be grateful for the contribution His Royal Highness made to our city and our country," he said.
The British Army tweeted: "It is with deep sorrow that we received the news of the death of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh."
Meanwhile, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said he was praying God would comfort the queen, who is the head of the Church of England.
Praising Philip for providing "an outstanding example of Christian service", he said he leaves behind an "enormous" legacy, including the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme for young people, and charitable and conservation work.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, added he was praying for the royal family and "the repose of the soul" of the duke "at this moment of sadness and loss.
"How much we will miss Prince Philip's presence and character, so full of life and vigour," he said.
Condolences were also expressed by leaders in Ireland, where in 2011 the queen and Philip paid the first royal state visit for a century following generations of enmity with Britain.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin led the international reaction, adding "our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom at this time".
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the "exemplary life" of Prince Philip and sent his condolences to the Queen in a tweet from his official account on Friday.
"I wish to express my sincere condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Family and the British people upon the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip who lived an exemplary life defined by bravery, a sense of duty and commitment to the youth and the environment," he said.
LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday (Apr 9) led the nation's condolences to Queen Elizabeth II on the death of her husband Prince Philip, acclaiming his "extraordinary life and work".
Johnson said the Duke of Edinburgh "earned the affection of generations" at home, in the Commonwealth and across the world after serving in the Royal Navy and then over decades as Britain's longest-serving royal consort.
Soon after the announcement of his death, people began to line up outside Buckingham Palace to see the official death notice that had been attached to the gate. The flag at the palace, the queen’s residence in London, was lowered to half-staff.
"We give thanks, as a nation and a kingdom, for the extraordinary life and work of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh," the prime minister said outside 10 Downing Street.
He added despite his many achievements, the consort would be best remembered for his "steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen".
"Like the expert carriage driver that he was, he helped to steer the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life," Johnson said.
The Union Flag hangs at half-staff as members of staff attach an announcement, regarding the death of Britain's Prince Philip, to the fence of Buckingham Palace in London on Friday, Apr 9, 2021. (Photo: AP/Matt Dunham)
Leaders from across the UK and political spectrum joined Johnson in an outpouring of tributes to Philip, who Buckingham Palace said died peacefully at Windsor Castle early Friday, and sympathy for the queen.
Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, was among the first to offer his condolences, noting Philip’s long record of public service, first as a naval officer during World War II, then during more than 70 years of marriage to the queen.
“He will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the Queen,” Starmer said in a statement.
“For more than seven decades, he has been at her side. Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability and hope, even as the world around them changed - most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.”
Former prime minister Tony Blair said Philip "will naturally be most recognised as a remarkable and steadfast support to the Queen over so many years.
"However, he should also be remembered and celebrated in his own right as a man of foresight, determination and courage," he added.
The heads of the UK's devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all publicly sent their condolences to the monarch, with Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford saying he had "served the crown with selfless devotion".
London mayor Sadiq Khan called Philip an "extraordinary man" noting he had fought "for the freedoms we hold dear today" during World War II.
"I know I can say on behalf of all Londoners that we will forever be grateful for the contribution His Royal Highness made to our city and our country," he said.
The British Army tweeted: "It is with deep sorrow that we received the news of the death of His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh."
Meanwhile, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said he was praying God would comfort the queen, who is the head of the Church of England.
Praising Philip for providing "an outstanding example of Christian service", he said he leaves behind an "enormous" legacy, including the Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme for young people, and charitable and conservation work.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, added he was praying for the royal family and "the repose of the soul" of the duke "at this moment of sadness and loss.
"How much we will miss Prince Philip's presence and character, so full of life and vigour," he said.
Condolences were also expressed by leaders in Ireland, where in 2011 the queen and Philip paid the first royal state visit for a century following generations of enmity with Britain.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin led the international reaction, adding "our thoughts and prayers are with Queen Elizabeth and the people of the United Kingdom at this time".
