HEY KENNEY & MOE YOU LISTENING

USA
In shift, oil industry group backs federal price on carbon

By MATTHEW DALY and MATTHEW BROWN

AP March 25, 2021

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FILE - This Sunday, April 10, 2011 picture shows a rig and supply vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, off the cost of Louisiana. Thirteen states sued the Biden administration Wednesday, March 24, 2021 to end a suspension of new oil and gas leases on federal land and water and to reschedule canceled sales of offshore leases in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska waters and western states. The Republican-leaning states, led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, seek a court order ending the moratorium imposed after Democratic President Joe Biden signed executive orders on climate change on Jan. 27. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The oil and gas industry’s top lobbying group on Thursday endorsed a federal price on carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming, a reversal of longstanding policy that comes as the Biden administration has pledged dramatic steps to address climate change.

The American Petroleum Institute, whose members include ExxonMobil, Chevron and other oil giants, announced the shift ahead of a virtual forum Thursday by the Interior Department as it launches a months-long review of the government’s oil and gas sales.

API also called for fast-tracking commercial deployment of long-sought technology to capture and store carbon emissions, as well as federal regulation of methane emissions from new and existing oil and gas wells, after strongly resisting such regulations proposed by the Obama administration.

“Confronting the challenge of climate change and building a lower-carbon future will require a combination of government policies, industry initiatives and continuous innovation,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said in a statement.

The reversal comes as President Joe Biden has made tackling climate change a top priority, moving in his first days in office to suspend oil and gas lease sales from federal lands and waters and cancelling the contentious Keystone XL oil sands pipeline from Canada.

Biden said during the campaign he supports “an enforcement mechanism” that targets carbon pollution, and the White House has left open use of a carbon tax to help lower U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has spoken in favor of the idea, telling the Senate Finance Committee, “We cannot solve the climate crisis without effective carbon pricing.”

While industry critics expressed suspicions over the sincerity of the move, Sommers emphasized that oil companies want “market-based solutions” such as a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade policy, rather than “heavy-handed government regulation.″ The oil industry played a key role in the defeat of proposed cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate a decade ago, and its endorsement of a carbon price and other federal action marks a turnaround after years of opposition to federal legislation to address climate change.

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Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Thursday kicked off a broad review of the government’s oil and gas program that could lead to a long-term ban on leases or other steps to discourage drilling and reduce emissions.

Industry representatives and Republican lawmakers have sharply criticized the leasing suspension and warn that widespread job losses are likely in energy-producing states should it become permanent.

2012

BIDEN'S $US3Tr INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN

In a leaky underwater rail tunnel, workers race against time
By DAVID PORTER'

AP

3/26/2021

PHOTOS 1 of 16
Amtrak workers perform tunnel repairs to a partially flooded train track bed, Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Weehawken, N.J. With a new rail tunnel into New York years away at best, Amtrak is embarking on an aggressive and expensive program to fix a 110-year-old tunnel in the interim. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

WEEHAWKEN, N.J. (AP) — Seven stories below street level on the edge of the Hudson River, a race against time is being waged, foot by painstaking foot.

At stake is the health of a crucial component of the New York region’s aging and overburdened mass transit ecosystem: the North River rail tunnel, a 110-year-old tube that carries multitudes of commuters to and from Manhattan, including Amtrak trains on the busy corridor between Boston and Washington.

With a new tunnel potentially a decade away due to funding questions, Amtrak has embarked on an aggressive and expensive program to fix the most pressing problems in the leaking, crumbing tunnel before they become intractable and force an extended shutdown.

On a recent Saturday morning, workers used heavy machinery to clear away chunks of the tunnel floor after rails and wooden ties had been removed.

The goal was to get at a small pond’s worth of standing water that can degrade the tracks and wreak havoc on the tunnel’s electrical systems, sapping power or sending a false signal that a train is on the tracks.

Over a weekend, about 400 feet of track and 360 tons of ballast — the bed of rocks on which the track rests on — would be removed and replaced, and millions of gallons of water pumped out. Crews are also injecting a sealant into the walls and ceiling.




“You never stop all the leaks; it’s just a matter of keeping the water moving,” said David Pittman, Amtrak’s director of facilities and tunnels. “It’s like playing whack-a-mole. It’s never going to stop.”

Officials have estimated the rehabilitation work in the roughly three-mile span could cost as much as $150 million or more.

“If we had a new tunnel we wouldn’t be spending anything on it,” Amtrak Chairman Anthony Coscia said. “The real cost is, what is it going to take to take a 110-year-old piece of infrastructure and make it last for another seven years and not just make it hobble by, but make it highly reliable? The price tag for that is, in some sense, whatever it takes.”

For Amtrak, which already has to rely on a Civil War-era rail tunnel in Baltimore and other infrastructure built in the early 20th century, building a second tunnel into New York, at a cost now estimated at $10 billion, is considered a top priority.

“We’re at the point where we know, as a nation, that our assets were formed at a certain point to where they’re all kind of reaching end-of-life at the same time,” Pittman said.

 “So it’s all coming due.”

The challenge is multi-layered. The work, mostly protecting the tunnel from the destructive effects of water leaking in, requires the shutdown of one tube on weekends and must be finished before the Monday morning commute. On a broader scale, it must keep the tunnel operating reliably for years until a new tunnel is built and the old one can be closed for a complete overhaul.

The signs of age are everywhere.

Three-foot-wide bench walls that jut out from the tunnel’s pockmarked walls are the original 1910 concrete and are chipped and crumbling, with metal plates covering some of the worst spots. These are the only ways for workers to get down onto the tracks. Some of the wiring and other fixtures date back 80 years.

Inside the bench walls is a network of cables that includes the 12,000-volt lines that power the entire tunnel — and that can bring trains to a standstill if they malfunction.

That has happened more frequently since Superstorm Sandy inundated the tunnel in 2012, as the normal incursion of groundwater into the tunnel now activates saltwater deposits that can eat away at the concrete.

A 2019 study found that on average, rail travelers between New Jersey and New York experienced delays of at least five hours more than once per month in the previous five years, and that about three-quarters of the delays were caused by problems in the tunnel.

Against that backdrop, a funding dispute between local lawmakers and the administration for former President Donald Trump stalled the new tunnel project for four years.

Supporters received good news Thursday, however, when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg indicated he would advance final environmental approval by June, a key landmark that will enable engineering, design work and land acquisition to proceed while funding is secured.

“The Biden administration recognizes how critical this project is to our regional and national economy, and that is a change as welcome as flowers in spring,” said New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who met with fellow Democrat Buttigieg in December to urge him to support the project.

In the meantime, it will be up to the repair crews to keep the trains running.

APOPHIS
NASA gives all clear: Earth safe from asteroid for 100 years
By MARCIA DUNN
3/26/2021

THIS IS THE PHOTO THAT STARTED IT ALL...

WE SAW IT COMMUNALLY

 LIKE WE DID GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH....

AND EARTH DAY WAS BORN 2 YEARS LATER

This May 18, 1969 photo made available by NASA shows Earth from 36,000 nautical miles away as photographed from the Apollo 10 spacecraft during its trans-lunar journey toward the moon. In March 2021, the U.S. space agency announced that new telescope observations have ruled out any chance of the asteroid Apophis colliding with Earth in 2068. (NASA via AP)


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Whew, now here’s some good cosmic news: NASA has given Earth the all clear for the next century from a particularly menacing asteroid.

The space agency announced this week that new telescope observations have ruled out any chance of Apophis smacking Earth in 2068.

That’s the same 1,100-foot (340-meter) space rock that was supposed to come frighteningly close in 2029 and again in 2036. NASA ruled out any chance of a strike during those two close approaches a while ago. But a potential 2068 collision still loomed.

First detected in 2004, Apophis is now officially off NASA’s asteroid “risk list.”

“A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore, and our calculations don’t show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years,” Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said in a statement Friday.

Scientists were able to refine Apophis’ orbit around the sun thanks to radar observations earlier this month, when the asteroid passed within 10.6 million miles (17 million kilometers).

Apophis will come within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) on April 13, 2029, enabling astronomers to get a good look.

“When I started working with asteroids after college, Apophis was the poster child for hazardous asteroids,” Farnocchia said. “There’s a certain sense of satisfaction to see it removed from the risk list.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Oregon State sues AP to stifle request in volleyball case

By EDDIE PELLS

AP

3/26/2021

Oregon State University leaders are suing to block disclosure of details about an investigation of abuse allegations in their volleyball program, even as they tout a refreshed mission for transparency following their president’s resignation over the handling of sexual-misconduct cases at another school.

The school’s trustees accepted F. King Alexander’s resignation this week after details came to light about the way his former school, LSU, mishandled sexual-misconduct cases during his tenure.

The Associated Press sought records after its own reporting uncovered complaints from more than a dozen people close to or formerly part of current Oregon State volleyball coach Mark Barnard’s program. Three players have considered suicide during his time there.

During open meetings to discuss Alexander’s future, Oregon State’s trustees apologized to their community and promised a new push for transparency and accountability when it came to protecting students on campus.

Meanwhile, in the volleyball case, the school is pressing forward with a lawsuit against The AP to prevent disclosing details about an internal investigation of the team and Barnard, who critics say has been running an emotionally exploitative program. At least a dozen players have quit or transferred over the span of the last five years.

The coach was accused of threatening not to renew scholarships as a way of motivating players to perform better. He pitted them against each other, including asking team leaders to identify weak links on the roster in efforts to ostracize them from the team, accusers say.

The university, through spokesman Steve Clark, has disputed that a harsh environment led team members to contemplate suicide. He said Oregon State clearly communicates its scholarship offers and honors its commitments to athletes.

Clark, who did not respond to an email seeking answers for this story, said “appropriate action was taken” by athletic director Scott Barnes after an investigation conducted by the school’s Equal Opportunity and Access office, but did not elaborate.

Shortly after publishing the second part of its series last November, the AP sought information and documentation about that investigation through open-records requests. Oregon State issued a blanket denial of the initial request, and after AP won an appeal to the local district attorney’s office, the university sued the news-gathering agency in state court to prevent from having to disclose anything. A hearing in that case is set for June 25.

“This denial is just a continuation of them trying to manipulate the process from the very beginning,” said Rick Lee, a former OSU basketball player who has been critical of the administration’s handling of the volleyball case. “It warrants punitive punishment, and not just for the coach. It makes no sense that they’ll open their mouth for one individual (Alexander) but stay absolutely silent in this situation.”

Among the documents AP seeks are those related to a complaint by one player that triggered the investigation into possible violations of OSU policy with regard to bullying and retaliation against members of the volleyball team. It was completed last May and no conclusions were made public, or offered to the family of the player who made the complaint.

Across the country, LSU was facing its own reckoning over its handling of sexual-misconduct cases, most of which occurred years before trouble in Oregon State’s volleyball program erupted. The key connection between the issues was the man in charge at each campus when the problems were made public: Alexander.

He was president of LSU from 2013-19, then came to Oregon State in 2020. When Oregon State’s board of trustees was confronted with the full picture of Alexander’s responses to the crises at LSU, it opted for a soul cleansing that ended with the president’s resignation and multiple statements from the trustees vowing to do a better job.

“A lot of times thing are swept under the rug,” said Lamar Hurd, a former OSU basketball player who is now on the school’s board, as he choked back tears while speaking in an open meeting Tuesday. “I want you to know that we don’t do that here. That won’t be done.”

Hurd, who vowed Oregon State would “get it right” as it moves forward, did not respond to a message left on his cell phone by AP.

At least two parents of former Oregon State volleyball players used the public hearings about Alexander’s future to ask questions about whether the volleyball issues were being considered. One said she had asked for a meeting with Alexander to discuss the volleyball program but was turned down, told the investigation into the program was closed. The trustees did not address those issues.

Nor have they responded to two emails from the AP seeking comment for this story, the second of which was also sent to the spokesman, Clark. One of the questions was about whether the board or Alexander had approved the lawsuit against AP.

“I’m guessing there’s something in those records that they don’t want out,” said Dorina Waiters, whose daughter, Kyla, left Oregon State after a year on the volleyball team triggered depression that led to suicidal thoughts.

Plan made to refloat ship blocking Suez Canal using tide

By SAMY MAGDY

today

PHOTOS 1 of 13
This satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows the cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, Friday, March 26, 2021. A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels Friday outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship that is stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupting global shipping. (©Maxar Technologies via AP)

SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — The company that owns the giant container ship stuck sideways across the Suez Canal said an attempt will be made to refloat the vessel by taking advantage of tidal movements later Saturday.

The Ever Given, owned by Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, got wedged Tuesday in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

At a news conference Friday night at company headquarters in Imabari, western Japan, Shoei Kisen President Yukito Higaki said 10 tugboats were deployed and workers were dredging the banks and sea floor near the vessel’s bow to try to get it afloat again as the high tide starts to go out.

“We apologize for blocking the traffic and causing the tremendous trouble and worry to many people, including the involved parties,” he said.

Shoei Kisen said in a statement Saturday that the company has considered removing its containers to get the weight off the vessel, but it is a very difficult operation, physically speaking. The company said it may still consider that option if the ongoing refloating efforts fail.

A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specializing in salvaging, was working with the canal authority using tugboats and a specialized suction dredger at the port side of the cargo ship’s bow. Egyptian authorities have prohibited media access to the site.

“It’s a complex technical operation” that will require several attempts to free the vessel, Lt. Gen. Osama Rabei, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said in a statement.

Attempts earlier Friday to free it failed, said Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of the Ever Given.

The Suez Canal Authority has said it welcomed international assistance. The White House said it has offered to help Egypt reopen the canal. “We have equipment and capacity that most countries don’t have and we’re seeing what we can do and what help we can be,” U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters.

An initial investigation showed the vessel ran aground due to strong winds and ruled out mechanical or engine failure, the company said. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, had previously said the ship had experienced a power blackout, but it did not elaborate.

Bernhard Schulte said two canal pilots had been aboard when the ship got stuck. Such an arrangement is customary, but the ship’s captain retains ultimate authority over the vessel, according to experts.

A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels Friday outside the Suez Canal and some vessels began changing course. More than 100 ships were still en route to the waterway, according to the data firm Refinitiv.

Apparently anticipating long delays, the owners of the stuck vessel diverted a sister ship, the Ever Greet, to head around Africa instead, according to satellite data.

Others also are being diverted. The liquid natural gas carrier Pan Americas changed course in the mid-Atlantic, now aiming south to go around the southern tip of Africa, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com.

About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is particularly crucial for transporting oil. The closure also could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

Oil markets are absorbing the disruption for now, analyst Toril Bosoni said.

“Oil inventories have been coming down but they are still relatively ample,” she told The Associated Press, adding that she believes the impact might be more pronounced in the tanker sector than in the oil industry.

“We are not losing any oil supply but it will tie up tankers for longer if they have to go around” the tip of Africa, she said, which is roughly an additional two-week trip.

At the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki said the U.S. does see “some potential impacts on energy markets from the role of the Suez Canal as a key bidirectional transit route for oil. ... We’re going to continue to monitor market conditions and we’ll respond appropriately if necessary, but it is something we’re watching closely.”

International companies are preparing for the effect that the canal’s blockage will have on supply chains that rely on precise deliveries of goods. Singapore’s Minister of Transport Ong Ye Kung said the country’s port should expect disruptions.

“Should that happen, some draw down on inventories will become necessary,” he said on Facebook.

The backlog of vessels could stress European ports and the international supply of containers, already strained by the coronavirus pandemic, according to IHS Markit, a business research group. It said 49 container ships were scheduled to pass through the canal in the week since the Ever Given became lodged.

The delay could also result in huge insurance claims by companies, according to Marcus Baker, global head of Marine & Cargo at the insurance broker Marsh, with a ship like the Ever Given usually covered at between $100 million to $200 million.

Capt. Nick Sloane, a maritime salvage expert who led the high-profile effort to salvage the cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012 told The Associated Press that freeing the cargo ship could take up to a week in the best-case scenario and warned of possible structural problems on the vessel as it remains wedged. That’s if dredging works. If it doesn’t, he estimated that an operation that involved removing the ship’s cargo could take weeks, as it would require 300 barges to carry the ships some 20,000 containers.

Satellite and photos distributed by the canal authority show Ever Given’s bow touching the eastern wall, while its stern appeared lodged against the western wall.

The Ever Given was involved in an accident in northern Germany in 2019, when it ran into a small ferry moored on the Elbe River in Hamburg. No passengers were on the ferry at the time and there were no injuries, but it was seriously damaged.

Hamburg prosecutors opened an investigation of the Ever Given’s captain and pilot on suspicion of endangering shipping traffic, but shelved it in 2020 for lack of evidence, spokeswoman Liddy Oechtering told The Associated Press.

Oechtering also could not say what the investigation had determined the cause of the crash was, but officials at the time suggested that strong winds may have blown the slow moving cargo ship into the ferry.

—-

Associated Press writers David Rising in Berlin, Pan Pylas in London, Nancy Benac in Washington, Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed.

___

The pronoun used for Toril Bosoni has been corrected.

Suez Canal remains blocked amid efforts to free stuck vessel
By SAMY MAGDY

25 minutes ago

This satellite image provided by The European Space Agency on Friday, March 26, 2021, shows on the left, routine maritime traffic in the Suez Canal with vessels on March 21, 2021 and on the right, maritime traffic backed up on the canal on March 25. A maritime traffic jam grew to more than 200 vessels outside the Suez Canal and others began changing course as dredgers worked frantically to free a giant container ship that has been stuck sideways in the waterway and disrupted global shipping. (ESA via AP)


SUEZ, Egypt (AP) — A giant container ship remained stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for a fifth day Saturday, as authorities prepared to make new attempts to free the vessel and reopen a crucial east-west waterway for global shipping.

The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow canal that runs between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.

The massive vessel got stuck in a single-lane stretch of the canal, about six kilometers (3.7 miles) north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez.

Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, the technical manager of the Ever Given, said an attempt Friday to free it failed. Plans were in the works to pump water from interior spaces of the vessel, and two more tugs should arrive by Sunday to join others already trying to move the massive ship, it said.

An official at the Suez Canal Authority said they were planning to make at least two attempts Saturday to free the vessel when the high tide goes down. He said the timing depends on the tide.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists.

At least 10 tugboats were deployed to assist in refloating the vessel, according to Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, which owns the container ship.

Shoei Kisen President Yukito Higaki told a news conference at company headquarters in Imabari in western Japan that 10 tugboats were deployed and workers were dredging the banks and sea floor near the vessel’s bow to try to get it afloat again as the high tide starts to go out.

Shoei Kisen said in a statement Saturday the company was considering removing containers to lighten the vessel if refloating efforts fail, but that would be a difficult operation.

The White House said it has offered to help Egypt reopen the canal. “We have equipment and capacity that most countries don’t have and we’re seeing what we can do and what help we can be,” President Joe Biden told reporters Friday.

A maritime traffic jam grew to around 280 vessels Saturday outside the Suez Canal, according to canal service provider Leth Agencies.

Some vessels began changing course and dozens of ships were still en route to the waterway, according to the data firm Refinitiv.

A prolonged closure of the crucial waterway would cause delays in the global shipment chain. About 10% of world trade flows through the canal, which is particularly crucial for transporting oil. The closure could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the Middle East.

Apparently anticipating long delays, the owners of the stuck vessel diverted a sister ship, the Ever Greet, on a course around Africa instead, according to satellite data.

Others also are being diverted. The liquid natural gas carrier Pan Americas changed course in the mid-Atlantic, now aiming south to go around the southern tip of Africa, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com

BURMA
Protests in Myanmar as junta chief marks Armed Forces Day


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Military personnel participate in a parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Saturday, March 27, 2021. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s junta, on Saturday used the occasion of the country’s Armed Forces Day to try to justify the overthrow of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, as protesters marked the holiday by calling for even bigger demonstrations. (AP Photo)

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s junta on Saturday used the occasion of the country’s Armed Forces Day to try to justify the overthrow of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, as protesters marked the holiday by calling for even bigger demonstrations.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing did not directly refer to the nationwide protests that show no signs of stopping. In a nationally televised speech before thousands of soldiers at a massive parade ground at the capital Naypyitaw, he referred only to “terrorism which can be harmful to state tranquility and social security,” and called it unacceptable.

People in cities and towns around Myanmar marked the public holiday by again demonstrating against the Feb. 1 coup. In several locations, security forces sought to disperse them forcefully, as has become standard practice, Reports on social media, not immediately verified, said several demonstrators were shot dead Saturday morning.

The toll of protesters confirmed killed in Myanmar since last month’s takeover has reached 328, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a group that documents deaths and arrests.

It has cautioned that its tally includes only verified cases, with the actual number of casualties “likely much higher.” It said eight people were killed Friday.

The protesters refer to the holiday by its original name, Resistance Day, which marks the beginning of a revolt against Japanese occupation in World War 2. This year’s event was seen as a flashpoint, with protesters threatening to double down on their public opposition to the coup with more and bigger demonstrations.

State television MRTV on Friday night showed an announcement urging young people — who have been at the forefront of the protests and prominent among the casualties — to learn a lesson from those killed already about the danger of being shot in the head or back.

The warning was taken as an explicit threat because a great number of the fatalities among the protesters have come from being shot in the head, suggesting they have been targeted for death. The announcement suggested that some young people were taking part in protesting as if it was a game, and urged their parents and friends to talk them out of participating.

In recent days the junta has portrayed the demonstrators as the ones perpetrating violence for their sporadic use of petrol bombs. In contrast, security forces have used live ammunition daily for weeks against overwhelmingly unarmed and peaceful crowds.

In his lengthy speech, Min Aung Hlaing accused Suu Kyi’s elected government of failing to investigate irregularities in the last polls, and repeated that his government would hold “a free and fair election” and hand over power afterward. He gave no details.

The military has claimed there were irregularities in the voting rolls for last November’s election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won in a landslide.

The junta detained Suu Kyi on the day it took power, and continues to hold her on minor criminal charges while investigating allegations of corruption against her that her supporters dismiss as politically motivated.

BURMA
Myanmar protest deaths reach 320 as US, UK, impose sanctions

3/26/2021

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An anti-coup student protester is welcomed home with flowers by the residents of her neighborhood after being released from jail, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo)

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The toll of protesters confirmed killed in Myanmar since last month’s military takeover has reached 320, a group that verifies details of deaths and arrests announced Friday.

Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said its tally includes only documented cases, with the actual number of casualties “likely much higher.” It said 11 people were killed Thursday, when it also managed to verify 23 deaths that occurred previously.

Myanmar news agencies, including the Democratic Voice of Burma and Mizzima, reported that three more people had been shot dead by security forces in the city of Myeik in southern Myanmar. Video posted on Mizzima TV’s YouTube channel showed protesters risking getting hit by gunfire to carry the bloody body of one young man who the report said had later died.

Social media posts, many including photos of bodies, indicated that as many as seven people may have been killed in various cities by nightfall on Friday. Those reports could not immediately be confirmed.

The Assistance Association described a typical deadly confrontation Thursday in Taunggyi, in Shan state in eastern Myanmar, when “the junta used live ammunition, trying to create a combat zone of residential areas, resulting in four civilians shot and killed, one dead body was dragged away, some other civilians were injured.

“Moreover, junta forces raided houses and violently arrested youths and civilians, thereafter destroying motorcycles, cars and barricades. They stormed streets unprovoked, shouted obscenities and vandalized property.”

State television MRTV on Friday night showed an announcement urging young people — who have been at the forefront of the protests and prominent among the casualties — to learn a lesson from those killed already about the danger of being shot in the head or back.

The warning was taken as an explicit threat because a great number of the fatalities among the protesters have come from being shot in the head, suggesting they have been targeted for death. The announcement suggested that some young people were taking part in protesting as if it was a game, and urged their parents and friends to talk them out of participating.

The association said as of Thursday, 2,981 people had been arrested, charged or sentenced in the crackdown since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Most, including Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, remain detained.

MRTV reported that 322 detainees were released Friday from Insein Prison, describing them as being accused of breaking a public order law by having “demonstrated violently.” On Wednesday, more than 600 others were freed from the same prison, also without being formally charged by a court.

The army’s seizure of power halted the Southeast Asian nation’s move toward democracy that began when Suu Kyi’s party took office in 2016 for its first term, after more than five decades of military rule.

At about 4 a.m. Friday, unidentified people tossed firebombs at the headquarters of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party in Yangon, but nearby residents managed to put out the fire before it could cause any major damage.

The movement against the junta and its takeover received a major boost Thursday when the United States and Britain announced tough sanctions against two military-owned conglomerates with vast holdings in many sectors.

The U.S. Treasury Department said its action against Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited and Myanmar Economic Corporation Limited targets the army’s control of large parts of the country’s economy, “which is a vital financial lifeline for the military junta.”

The sanctions against the two companies and their holdings block access to any property they control in the United States and effectively bars any U.S. person or company from conducting any sort of business with them, including supplying them with funds or providing goods or services.

Myanmar’s homegrown Civil Disobedience Movement against military rule is targeting the economy in order to make it difficult for the junta to govern. It has advocated work stoppages by state enterprise workers, bank closures and disinvestment by foreign companies.

Myanmar’s economy is already battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which surged there in the second half of last year.

The World Bank, in a Asia-wide review released Friday, forecast that Myanmar’s economy will contract by 10% in 2021 after growing a meager 1.7% in 2020 and 6.8% in 2019.

The Civil Disobedience Movement, or CDM, which was founded largely by medical workers, has drawn plaudits for its strategy, including a nomination for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize by six social science professors at the University of Oslo in Norway.

“Our nomination is a recognition of this anti-coup resistance that is working for peace and democracy through non-violent means,” said their nomination letter.

Speaking for the six, Professor Kristian Stokke told The Associated Press their hope is that “the Peace Prize nomination will generate further international recognition and support for the movement and its peaceful aims and means.”

A leading member of the CDM, who asked not to be identified out of fear for his safety, said the nomination “reiterates the need for the junta ... to refrain from any type of violence and peacefully and immediately transfer the power to the democratically elected leaders of the nation.”

Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 for leading a nonviolent struggle against a previous military dictatorship.

Yanghee Lee, the former independent U.N. expert for human rights in Myanmar, applauded the nomination of the CDM with a tweet that read: “Absolutely fantastic. Absolutely appropriate. Absolutely worthy.”

BURMA

Wanted Myanmar Activist Says People 'Expecting' Nationwide Civil War

By Tommy Walker
March 26, 2021 06:19 PM


This handout photo taken and released by Dawei Watch on March 26, 2021, shows people trying to help a fellow protester shot by security forces during a demonstration against the military coup, in Myeik, Myanmar.

TAIPEI - The military coup in Myanmar is nearly two months old, but the armed forces, also known as the Tatmadaw, are continuing their violent pushback against anti-coup demonstrators.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma, thousands have been detained and hundreds killed.

The junta government, officially the State Administrative Council, has also imposed widespread internet shutdowns that have hampered protesters' online communications, a key method for organizing demonstrations.

Several pro-democracy activists speaking out against the coup have been forced into hiding to avoid harsh repercussions.

Moe Thway, one of the activists who protested against a controversial copper mine project, gives thumbs-up sign from police truck as he leaves a township court with other activists on Nov 22, 2013, in Yangon Myanmar.

Moe Thway is a veteran activist and co-founder of Generation Wave, a pro-democracy movement that was created following the 2007 Saffron Revolution, the last time major demonstrations were held against military rule in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.

The 40-year-old is no stranger to Myanmar authorities. He told VOA he’d faced more than 20 criminal cases for his activism in the past and had served two stints in jail.

“The first one was in 2012 for nine days," he said. "In 2013 I was sentenced after facing one of them trials, I was sentenced for one month.”

He is now one of the hundreds of activists wanted by Myanmar authorities following a crackdown on the latest demonstrations.

“I’m on the warrant list issued by the military council," he said. "They accuse me [of] building the network to run the Civil Disobedient Movement together with the other students and youth. They accuse me as kind of vocal person for all civil society.”

Those who have joined the Civil Disobedient Movement (CDM) are usually Myanmar professionals, such as health workers and lawyers, who have refused to work under military rule. The movement has recently been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, according to reports.

But in comparison to what Thway faces today, his previous stints in jail may seem relatively short. He told VOA he was wanted for violating section 505(B) of Myanmar's penal code, which can carry a prison sentence for inciting public unrest.

“Up to seven years in jail, maybe more than that," he said. "The charge isn’t really important because if they arrest, if they caught anyone, they can add any charge ... high treason or whatever.”

But Thway admitted that the prospect of facing jail again was different this time because of the military’s brutal crackdown.

“We’ve heard a lot of news they’ve tortured the [detainees], activists and people these days," he said. "Some are tortured and interrogated because they want information from them, and to [link them to pro-democracy groups].

"And some are tortured for no reason," said Thway. “People were killed after [being] captured.”

Despite the risks, Thway said he's determined to evade capture and continue resisting the coup, echoing concerns of fellow prominent activists such as Maung Saungkha and Thinzar Shunlei Li, who've both said the movement would suffer if they were captured.

“The reason why we are hiding is to continue the movement,” said Thway.

Demonstrators display flags during a protest in Launglone,

 Dawei district, Myanmar on March 26, 2021. (Dawei Watch/Reuters)

After gaining independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar has spent most of its modern history under military rule.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy had led the country since its first open democratic election in 2015, but Myanmar's military contested last November's election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, largely without evidence.

On February 1, they removed the NLD government, detaining Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

The military has since deployed armored vehicles and fired live ammunition to suppress protests, while martial law has been imposed in townships across the country.

In response to the coup, ousted NLD lawmakers formed the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which refuses to recognize the new regime.

Thway is hopeful a three-pronged, anti-coup resistance — sustained protests backed by the CDM and the CRPH movements — can prevail.

“We are hoping and expecting there might be another form of government," he said. "Also, the CRPH and the acting government are already discussing the new federal constitution. That is very important.”

The Myanmar Now news service recently reported that a proposed draft constitution that would collate all opposition parties into a formal coalition is nearing completion.

“We need unity among the different ethnicities in the country," Thway told VOA. "At the same time, the political leaders are saying if we have a legitimate government, we need a legitimate army, officials to protect the people.”

Spanning seven decades, conflict in Myanmar has already been the world’s longest ongoing civil war, with a series of insurgencies largely arising from ethnic-based hostilities.

And Thway admits two governments battling for power would lead to a nationwide conflict but believes people are prepared for the worst.

“This could be a very intensified second wave and a bigger civil war than before. In this case, most of the people are expecting that," he said.

“Many parts of the country will be in chaos. I don’t think we can win the coup and have normal activities," he added. "There could be an economic crisis, [or] other crises like food and humanitarian crises.

“The revolution is already for 70 days," he said. "[Ethnic groups] know how to survive. We have to learn from that.”

BURMA

Police in Myeik shoot protesters from stolen ambulances during killing spree

The ambulances belong to the local fire department and police detained four firefighters who were attempting to rescue injured people

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 26, 2021

Soldiers detain two protesters with rope in Myeik on March 26 (Supplied)

Police stole two ambulances during a killing spree in Myeik on Friday and drove through the southeastern coastal town shooting people, witnesses told Myanmar Now.

“There were two in the front and two armed policemen in uniform,” said one witness. “They were just shooting people in the street.” At least four people died and another 10 were injured in the attack, while at least 35 were detained.

Solidiers_in_ambulances.Jpeg


The attack began after anti-coup protesters gathered in the town. The four who died were 32-year-old Khin Khin Soe, 19-year-old Min Myat Paing, and Myo Aung and Than Chaung, who were in their 30s.

Khin Khin Soe, a resident of Aung Mingalar ward, was shot in the chest while Min Myat Paing, who lived in the town’s Sanchaung ward, was shot in the back. Than Chaung, who is also known as Arkar Oo, was shot in the head.

Residents recovered the bodies of Min Myat Paing and Khin Khin Soe but the other two bodies were taken by soldiers.

The police stole the ambulances from firefighters who were driving them to rescue injured people. They arrested four of the firefighters, a local resident who is close to the fire department told Myanmar Now.

“The firemen took the ambulances to go and carry injured protestors. The soldiers and police then arrested the firemen and used their ambulances,” the resident said.

The chief of a platoon in the Myeik fire department was among those who were arrested, he said, adding that he himself was now on the run in fear of arrest.

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Soldiers also rode around the city on motorbikes shooting people, a protester said.

A photo that circulated on social media showed soldiers walking behind two young protesters who had their hands bound behind their backs. One of the soldiers held a length of rope that was lashed to the detainees, in what appeared to be an attempt to degrade and humiliate them.

Video footage showed police kicking people and beating them with batons as they were loaded into a prison truck. Another video showed soldiers throwing what appeared to be a dead body into the back of a military truck.