World
Myanmar leader shops for support, weapons in Moscow
![Myanmar leader shops for support, weapons in Moscow Myanmar leader shops for support, weapons in Moscow](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/000_326Z66X.jpg?resize=1200,630)
With each regimes more and more remoted on the world stage, Myanmar’s high common has been in Moscow to satisfy senior officers from Russia’s defence ministry, pledging deeper navy ties and cooperation on nuclear vitality.
“They frankly exchanged views on additional promotion of present pleasant relations and military-technological cooperation,” Myanmar state media reported, following a gathering between Senior Normal Min Aung Hlaing and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu.
Russia has emerged as one of the necessary backers of Myanmar’s navy, which seized energy in a coup in February 2021, regardless of a 2020 election victory by Aung San Suu Kyi’s Nationwide League for Democracy. The brand new regime has little worldwide legitimacy and has struggled to regulate a rustic that erupted first in mass protests after which armed resistance towards its rule.
Even Russia has averted giving formal recognition to the navy as the federal government of Myanmar, agreeing to permit the ambassador appointed by the overthrown authorities to maintain his seat on the United Nations. And whereas Min Aung Hlaing has made a number of journeys to Russia because the coup, he has not been granted a much-coveted viewers with President Vladimir Putin.
However whilst many Western nations have imposed sanctions on the navy, its leaders and enterprise pursuits, Russia and China have continued arming the regime, even because it turns its weapons by itself civilians, killing greater than 2,000 individuals in lower than 18 months.
“The Putin regime is aiding and abetting the Myanmar navy’s struggle crimes and crimes towards humanity, which it’s committing every day with whole impunity,” mentioned Khin Ohmar, chairperson of human rights organisation Progressive Voice.
Probably the most essential items of help has been to the regime’s air pressure, whose commander can also be a part of the delegation in Russia. The navy is going through fierce resistance from newly shaped anti-coup armed teams, often called the Folks’s Defence Forces (PDF), in addition to extra established ethnic armed organisations, which have fought for political autonomy for many years.
Whereas these allied teams have shocked many analysts with their battlefield victories because the coup, none has warplanes, so the navy’s air dominance provides it a definite benefit.
Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based safety analyst, says the “navy’s present counterinsurgency marketing campaign depends critically on Russian and Soviet-era air frames” for assaults, provide strains, evacuations and troop transport.
“With no dependable provide of spare elements, air-launched munitions not produced in-country, and a few coaching help, the air pressure would quickly be in deep trouble,” he added.
Civilians pressured out
The UN says some 700,000 individuals have been pressured from their houses on account of the preventing because the coup, with Min Aung Hlaing vowing to “annihilate” the navy’s opponents.
Earlier this month, native media outlet The Irrawaddy reported that two of six promised Russian Su-30 fighter jets arrived secretly in Myanmar in March.
On Thursday, Radio Free Asia reported that navy helicopters opened fireplace in Tabayin township in Sagaing area, a PDF stronghold, forcing 4,000 civilians to flee from 15 villages.
In a current report, Amnesty Worldwide mentioned it documented eight air strikes concentrating on villages and a camp for internally displaced individuals between January and March of this 12 months in Kayah and Karen states, the place outstanding ethnic armed teams function.
“In virtually all documented assaults, solely civilians seem to have been current,” the report mentioned.
Amnesty says the navy has used Russian MiG-29s and Yak-130s, and Chinese language F-7s and Ok-8s.
“Indiscriminate air strikes are a key tactic of the illegitimate junta, because it wages a nationwide marketing campaign of terror. The junta makes use of Russian fighter jets and helicopter gunships to assault the individuals of Myanmar and raze complete communities,” mentioned Ohmar, accusing Russia of profiteering from atrocities.
Davis says Russia “has been the primary beneficiary” of the navy’s efforts to keep away from over-reliance on China “significantly by way of gross sales of navy aviation”. He mentioned this sample of diversification started greater than a decade in the past.
“For the reason that coup, perennial suspicions over rising Chinese language ambitions in Myanmar within the higher echelons of a now embattled navy have solely gone to underscore the advantages, political, navy and financial, of a better relationship with Russia,” he mentioned.
The Myanmar navy additionally brought on a stir by claiming Min Aung Hlaing mentioned the “peaceable use of nuclear vitality” throughout a gathering on his journey with Rosatom, Russia’s state-run nuclear vitality company, which additionally oversees nuclear weapons.
However Guillaume de Langre, a Myanmar vitality professional and former authorities adviser, dismisses talks of nuclear vitality as unrealistic.
“Myanmar doesn’t have a single nuclear scientist. So, both Russia is keen to construct and function energy crops and the complete provide chain, from gas to waste, or Myanmar has to spend the following decade coaching nuclear scientists,” he mentioned.
De Langre additionally argues the coup “put the ability sector on a freeway to chapter” and the navy regime “doesn’t have a lot credibility as a purchaser or as guarantor of the safety of infrastructure tasks”.
ASEAN defence assembly
Min Aung Hlaing’s week-long go to – state media reported he returned to Yangon on Saturday evening – comes at a time when the navy finds itself more and more remoted, and with Russia going through a global backlash over its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The Myanmar navy regime, recognized formally because the State Administration Council (SAC), on Wednesday expelled the UK’s high diplomat after he refused to current credentials to Min Aung Hlaing and sought to downgrade his standing from ambassador to cost d’affaires advert interim.
The UK’s defence attaché for Myanmar tweeted that the regime was shifting “additional into the diplomatic wilderness”.
1/2 My time in Myanmar involves an abrupt finish at this time. Unhappy & sorry to have been pressured by the junta to depart however glad we didn’t cave to strain to legitimise their brutal coup #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
— Pete Vowles (@PeteVowles) July 13, 2022
Even the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), lengthy recognized for its coverage of not interfering in inner affairs, has given the SAC the chilly shoulder, refusing to permit Min Aung Hlaing or his overseas minister to attend high-level summits after the regime’s failure to make progress on a collectively agreed five-point plan to deal with the disaster.
However some want to see extra motion, together with the exclusion of the regime’s defence minister, who has been allowed to proceed attending ASEAN gatherings.
This month’s ASEAN counterterrorism assembly is to be co-hosted by Russia and Myanmar and can begin in Moscow on July 20.
“It’s absurd that ASEAN is permitting the aggressor Russia and the terrorist Myanmar navy to co-chair a counterterrorism assembly, which is able to solely gas their deplorable acts of terror,” Ohmar mentioned, urging democratic nations to boycott the occasion.
Australia and New Zealand have already pulled out of the assembly, however Japan, South Korea and the US haven’t but made their choices public, regardless of all three imposing sanctions on Moscow.
Myanmar’s navy is prone to politicise the assembly.
Throughout a earlier digital assembly in December, the navy included a session accusing its political opponents of “terrorism”, in accordance with emails from Australia’s Division of Defence, which have been obtained in a freedom of data request by campaigning group Justice for Myanmar.
“I urge their governments to … withdraw from that assembly and all future conferences with the Myanmar navy junta,” Ohmar mentioned.
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World
Federal investigators start probe of bus crash in Mississippi that killed 7, injured dozens more
BOVINA, Miss. (AP) — Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday were at the scene of a bus crash in Mississippi that killed seven people and injured dozens of others.
They plan to look at how well the tires were maintained, NTSB member Todd Inman said at a news conference late Saturday. The NTSB previously said the crash was caused by tire failure.
The 2018 Volvo bus was traveling westbound on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County early Saturday morning when it left the roadway and overturned, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. No other vehicle was involved.
Six people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene and another died at a hospital, according to a highway patrol news release. Thirty-six people were taken by ambulance to hospitals.
The highway patrol did not immediately have an update on their conditions Sunday.
The dead included a 6-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, according to Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey. They were identified by their mother. Authorities were working to identify the other victims, he said.
The bus was traveling from Atlanta to Dallas with 41 passengers and two drivers, the highway patrol said.
Inman said the NTSB will also look at the carrier’s safety record and protections for bus occupants.
The bus was operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos. A woman who answered the phone at its Laredo, Texas, office said it was aware of the crash, but she didn’t answer questions or provide her name.
The transit company says it has 20 years of experience providing cross-border trips between 100 destinations in Mexico and the U.S. Its website promotes “a modern fleet of buses that receive daily maintenance,” and offers “trips with a special price for workers.”
World
American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF
![American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/hersh.png)
Hamas terrorists killed six hostages Saturday, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, as Israel Defense Forces closed in for a rescue attempt in the tunnels deep below Gaza’s Rafah.
Goldberg-Polin’s family confirmed his death early Sunday. His body was one of six recovered on Saturday. The IDF revealed that Hamas killed the hostages, who had been held for nearly 11 months, just as they were on the brink of freedom.
“According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish State. He lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. His body was recovered Saturday in the tunnels under Rafah, along with Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.
DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL MUST ‘WIDEN THE GOALS’ OF WAR TO RETURN RESIDENTS TO THE NORTH
Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin has been confirmed dead. (Israel’s Minister of Defense)
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, “He who murders abductees – does not want a deal. We are in a difficult day. The heart of the entire nation was torn.”
“Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the core by the terrible cold-blooded murder of six of our abductees.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he “embrace[s] their families with all my heart, and apologize[s] for failing to bring them home safely.”
A dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, Goldberg-Polin immigrated to Israel with his family in 2008 at the age of seven, according to a statement from his family. He leaves behind his parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, and his two sisters.
Goldberg-Polin’s family and friends traveled the world demanding his release and met with world leaders, including officials in the Biden administration.
President Biden said he is “devastated and outraged” by the news of Goldberg-Polin’s death.
“It is as tragic as it is reprehensible,” he said. “Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”
Vice President Harris, also the Democratic nominee for president, said her prayers are with Goldberg-Polin’s loved ones as they mourn his loss.
“Hamas is an evil terrorist organization,” Harris said. “With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages, and these murders, Hamas’ depravity is evident and horrifying.”
ISRAEL KILLS PALESTINIAN COMMANDER MUHAMMAD JABER ‘ABU SHUJAA’ AS FIGHTING INTENSIFIES: IDF
![Hersh Goldberg-Polin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/polin.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. (IDF)
“The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel — and American citizens in Israel — must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza,” she added. “The Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’ rule for nearly two decades.”
“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah,” IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”
Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
World
Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes
![Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/AFP__20240901__36F32UL__v1__Preview__PalestinianIsraelConflictHealth-1725178114.jpg?resize=1200%2C630)
Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies on Sunday began a vaccination drive against polio in the Gaza Strip, hoping to prevent an outbreak in the territory ravaged by nearly 11 months of Israeli bombardment.
Authorities plan to vaccinate children in central Gaza until Wednesday before moving to the more devastated northern and southern parts of the Strip, aiming to inoculate about 640,000 children. On Saturday, a few children were vaccinated before the formal start of the campaign.
“This is the first few hours of the first phase of a massive campaign, one of the most complex in the world,” said Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency.
“Today is test time for parties to the conflict to respect these area pauses to allow the UNRWA teams and other medical workers to reach children with these very precious two drops. It’s a race against time,” Touma told the Reuters news agency.
Israel and Hamas, which have so far failed to conclude a deal to end the war, said they would cooperate to allow the campaign to succeed.
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Israel has agreed to limited pauses in its military operations to facilitate the campaign. There were initial reports of Israeli strikes in central Gaza early on Sunday, but it was not immediately known if anyone was killed or wounded.
Hospitals in Deir el-Balah and Nuseirat confirmed that the campaign had begun on Sunday. Israel said on Saturday that the vaccination programme would continue through September 9 and last eight hours a day.
The vaccinations will be held at some 160 sites across the territory, including medical centres and schools. Children below 10 years of age will receive two drops of oral polio vaccine in two rounds, the second to be administered four weeks after the first.
Gaza recently reported its first polio case in 25 years – a 10-month-old boy, now paralysed in the leg. The WHO says the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but are not showing symptoms.
Most affected children do not experience symptoms and those who do usually recover in a week or so, the UN health agency said. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. When polio causes paralysis, it is usually permanent. The disease can be fatal if the paralysis affects breathing muscles.
The vaccination campaign faces a host of challenges, from ongoing war to devastated roads and hospitals shut down by the war. About 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, with hundreds of thousands crammed into squalid tent camps.
Health officials have expressed alarm about disease outbreaks as rubbish piles up and the bombing of critical infrastructure has sent putrid water flowing through the streets. Widespread hunger has left people even more vulnerable to illness.
“We escaped death with our children and fled from place to place for the sake of our children, and now we have these diseases,” said Wafaa Obaid, who brought her three children to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah for vaccination.
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