World

Thailand Sends Aid To War-Torn Myanmar, But Critics Say It Will Only Help Junta

Published

2 months ago

2024-03-25

Mae Sot, Thailand — Thailand delivered its first consignment of humanitarian aid to war-torn Myanmar on Monday, which officials hope will be a continued effort to alleviate the condition of millions of people uprooted by the conflict.

However, critics argue that the relief will only help those in areas controlled by the Myanmar military, giving them a propaganda boost while leaving the great majority of displaced people in contested areas without access to assistance.

Myanmar is embroiled in a national armed conflict that began in February 2021, when the army deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected administration and crushed huge nonviolent protesters demanding a return to democracy. The conflict has uprooted millions of people and devastated the economy.

Thailand Sends Aid To War-Torn Myanmar, But Critics Say It Will Only Help Junta

Thailand transported 10 trucks from the northern province of Tak across the border, delivering roughly 4,000 bundles of aid to three towns in Kayin State, also known as Karen State. The aid will be handed to approximately 20,000 displaced persons.

The shipments contained:

Help is valued at approximately 5 million baht ($138,000).
Primarily food.
Quick beverages.
Other necessities such as toiletries.

According to UN agencies, more than 2.8 million people in Myanmar have been displaced, the majority of them as a result of conflict that erupted following the army’s takeover. They claim 18.6 million people, including 6 million children, require humanitarian assistance.

Carl Skau, Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations World Food Programme, stated earlier this month that one out of every four displaced people faces extreme food insecurity.

The Thai Red Cross is leading the initiative for what has been dubbed a humanitarian corridor, with funds from Thailand’s Foreign Ministry and logistical help from the army, which has traditionally played a significant part in border activities.

Thailand and Myanmar’s Kayin State officials attended a send-off ceremony by Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. The Red Cross of Myanmar will coordinate the humanitarian delivery.

Drivers from Myanmar drove the trucks across the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which spans the Moei River on the border.

“That corridor puts humanitarian aid in the hands of the junta because it goes into the hands of the junta-controlled Myanmar Red Cross,” Tom Andrews, the United Nations independent human rights specialist on Myanmar, said last week.

“So we know that the junta weaponizes these resources, including humanitarian aid, and uses them to their military strategic advantage. The truth is that the junta is to blame for the dire need for humanitarian relief.”

Thailand Sends Aid To War-Torn Myanmar, But Critics Say It Will Only Help Junta

Andrews stated that the places in severe need are “conflict zones in which the junta has no influence or control whatsoever.” So they are the topics we should concentrate on.”

Large regions of the country, particularly along the border, are now contested or held by anti-military resistance forces, including pro-democracy fighters associated with armed ethnic minority organizations that have been fighting for greater autonomy over decades.

According to Thai officials, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management will monitor the distribution process to ensure its fairness and equality.

Following the event, Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak stated that the relief is likely to be delivered to the three towns on the same day, and Myanmar will provide images to confirm delivery.

“I’d like to highlight that this humanitarian help is unrelated to Myanmar’s politics or hostilities. “I believe that people should prioritize the interests of the Myanmar people,” he remarked. “Of course, if the initiative today is carried out smoothly and meets the objectives that we set, Thailand as a neighbor will see how we can expand the help to other areas.”

Thailand began the humanitarian corridor project in January, with cooperation from Myanmar and other ASEAN states, at an ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Laos.

Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara stated that ASEAN must vigorously seek to execute what it refers to as the Five-Points Consensus, which was reached just a few months after the army took over in 2021.

The accord called for an immediate cessation of violence, talks among all relevant parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, humanitarian relief through ASEAN channels, and the special envoy’s visit to Myanmar to meet with all concerned parties.

Thailand Sends Aid To War-Torn Myanmar, But Critics Say It Will Only Help Junta

However, although originally agreeing to the consensus, Myanmar’s generals failed to act on it, leaving ASEAN appearing weak.

Dulyapak Preecharush, a Southeast Asia Studies professor at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, said the aid project is a good start for Thailand, which has been “quiet and inactive” about Myanmar.

“The readiness of Thailand to deliver the aid is not an issue, but when the aid is delivered to Myanmar, it will face obstacles from violent fighting and different stakeholders who will have their gains and losses.”

Sihasak stated that Thailand expects the aid to be given equitably and honestly and that its distribution will contribute to the peace process in Myanmar by creating a “good atmosphere” for the country.

SOURCE – (AP)

World

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

Published

14 hours ago

2024-05-12

Kiara Grace

AP News - VOR News Image

MONTREAL — Lionel Messi played the entire game despite a first-half injury scare, Benjamin Cremaschi broke a tie in the 59th minute, and Inter Miami rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Montreal 3-2 on Saturday night, its fifth consecutive Major League Soccer victory.

Luis Suarez scored his 11th goal of the season for Inter Miami, while Matías Rojas scored from a free kick. Montreal (3-5-3) got goals from Jules-Anthony Vilsaint and Bryce Duke.

AP – VOR News Image

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

Inter Miami (8-2-3) extended its unbeaten record to seven games (5-0-2) despite Lionel failing to score or assist for the first time in nine MLS appearances this season. Inter Miami is 7-0-2 in those nine games, with one loss coming against Montreal in March when Lionel did not participate.

Playing in Canada for the first time, Lionel abandoned the game late in the first half due to a problem with his left knee caused by defender George Campbell’s foul. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s best player collapsed immediately, clutching his knee and moaning in agony.

Inter Miami’s medical personnel entered the field to treat Messi, who stood up after around two minutes and headed to the Miami sideline. He was not subbed out, allowing him to return moments later.

AP – VOR News Image

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

And for some reason, the match shifted at that moment.

Inter Miami was behind 2-0 when Messi was injured; when he returned, the score was 2-1, and it was tied moments later. Rojas scored on a free kick that Messi would normally take to put Inter Miami up, and Suarez added a goal from a corner kick late in the first-half stoppage time.

Suarez became the third player in MLS history to score 11 goals in his first 800 minutes of the season, following Mamadou Diallo (11 in 2000) and Ola Kamara (11 in 2021).

The game-winning goal occurred when Rojas threw a ball into open space, and Cremaschi ran it down. Then, he made a second attempt to nudge the ball just clear of two defenders and into the net for a 3-2 advantage. Messi had two final-minute chances to extend the lead, which he missed narrowly.

AP – VOR News Image

Messi Plays Through A Scare, Inter Miami Rallies Past Montreal 3-2 For Fifth Straight Win

Inter Miami was met by hundreds of fans when it arrived at its hotel Friday night, and Montreal, thanks in part to Messi’s signing with Major League Soccer last summer, sold out its 15,000 season tickets for the first time since joining in 2012. Messi has scored in 31 nations.

The match drew an announced sellout crowd of 19,619 spectators, including one dressed in a Messi tracksuit and sporting a goat mask in tribute to Messi’s status as the Greatest of All Time.

SOURCE – (AP)

World

Taizhou Zoo in China Slammed Over Panda Dogs

Published

2 days ago

2024-05-10

Geoff Thomas

A zoo in China has been accused of attempting to trick visitors over dog pandas by dyeing two dogs black and white to resemble panda bears. Videos circulating on Chinese social media show the two “panda dogs” at an exhibit at Taizhou Zoo, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, which opened on May 1.

Though the dog pandas are designed to resemble pandas, which are unique to China and an iconic symbol of the country, their swinging tails reveal their identity.

Zoo administrators claimed Chinese state media that they were Chow Chows, a fluffy dog breed native to northern China, painted black and white to resemble gigantic pandas, and that they had explicitly sold them as “panda dogs” without making any misleading claims.

The dogs are still at the zoo, officials told NBC News by phone on Friday, and the number of people visiting them is “at a normal level.”

Despite the fact that the zoo does not have real pandas, state media and others have attacked it for misleading visitors and mistreating the dogs.

“It is not funny at all to dye Chow Chow dogs to attract tourists,” one Weibo user said. “Their fragile skin and naturally thick coats make them susceptible to skin diseases.”

Zoo administrators defended the exhibit, claiming that the dogs were unharmed.

“Normal people dye their hair,” a spokesman told NBC News. “Dogs can also dye their hair. It is the same as hair.

In 2019, a dog cafe in the southern province of Sichuan prompted animal rights issues with its six Chow Chows that had also been dyed to resemble bears.

In 2020, in the same province, a “panda” walked by a woman in a viral video was discovered to be a dyed Chow Chow.

Other Chinese zoos have also been accused of keeping phony animals, usually dogs disguised as wolves or African cats.

After a video showing one of its Malayan sun bears standing like a person went viral in July, a zoo in the eastern province of Zhejiang denied that the bears were humanoid.

Experts refuted the story, and the zoo stated that a person wearing a fur suit would not be able to tolerate such hot summer conditions.

Science

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

Published

3 days ago

2024-05-10

Kiara Grace

CAPE Florida’s Cape Coral — This weekend, a very powerful solar storm approaching Earth may cause communications outages and cause the northern lights to appear in the United States.

For the first time in almost 20 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geomagnetic storm watch. The entire weekend is under scrutiny, beginning on Friday.

VOR News Image

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

According to NOAA, the sun started to create powerful solar flares on Wednesday, which led to five plasma explosions that might have disrupted Earth’s power infrastructures and satellites in orbit. A coronal mass ejection, or eruption, can produce billions of tons of solar plasma.

The flares appear to be connected to a sunspot that is 16 times the diameter of Earth, which is why NOAA is classifying this as an uncommon occurrence. In 2003, a strong geomagnetic storm destroyed power transformers in South Africa and knocked out power in Sweden.

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Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

According to NOAA, the most recent storm may cause northern lights as far south as Alabama and Northern California in the United States.

An amazing natural occurrence is the aurora borealis, sometimes known as the northern lights. The night sky in Earth’s polar regions is home to these vibrant, dancing lights. When charged solar particles clash with atmospheric gasses, these lights are created.

VOR News Image

Strong Solar Storm Could Disrupt Communications And Produce Northern Lights In US

Though the lights are usually observed in green, pink, and violet hues, they can occasionally be seen in other colors as well. Countless people travel to locations like Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia every year to see this amazing show in person since it is such a stunning sight.

SOURCE – (AP)