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Argentina makes official its exit from the Lima Group

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Saying the group’s actions to isolate Venezuela in order to bring a peaceful resolution to the country’s crisis have led to nothing, the government of Alberto Fernadez has formally taken his country out of the Lima Group, a South and Central American group of nations plus Canada formed to address issues of hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, crime and mortality that have befallen Venezuela in the economic and political crisis that began under ex-president Hugo Chavez over a decade ago.

The exit was effective March 24, said a press release by the country’s Foreign Relations office. “Argentina will continue to maintain its commitment to stability in the region, and will seek to direct peaceful, democratic solutions that are respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of each State,” it concluded.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Court hearing for Aung San Suu Kyi postponed

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YANGON, Myanmar – The remote court hearing of Aung San Suu Kyi case was postponed until April 1 due to the inconvenience posed by the current condition of internet service in the country.

She was arrested after the Feb. 1 coup for illegal export and import.

Since early February, anti-coup protesters have taken streets and of several cities in Myanmar and there have been casualties when the protesters were met by security forces. At present, the total death toll across the country has reached 270, according to a local source.

In 2012, the Myanmar military convinced Suu Kyi to participate in the parliamentary by-election even though she initially refused to enter the election under the 2008 constitution drawn up by the military.

By Htay Win
Photo credit Tazar San

Myanmar military releases detainees from Insein prison

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YANGON, Myanmar – The Myanmar military released 628 detainees from Insein prison Feb. 14, while people were conducting a nationwide silent strike, closing shops and businesses and staying at home.

The detainees were taken to police stations on public buses, and released to go to their homes.

Since early February, the military has arrested politicians, journalists and protesters. According to a local source, the military arrested 2682 people and 2302 people were prosecuted after the military coup.

Even though the military has released some detainees, it still holds some key players of the NLD party.

By Htay Win
Photo credit VOM

Red Cross: Violence, killings, and disappearances on the rise in Colombia, affecting civilians

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At least five continuing armed conflicts are driving a resurgence of cases of disappearances, killings, sexual attacks, attacks on healthcare workers and facilities, as well as a rise in the number of people being killed or injured by explosive devices in 2020, reports the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, in findings released this week in Bogota.

Colombia has a long history of violence. More than 120,000 people have disappeared in the country in the last 60 years. In the guerilla war with FARC leftist rebels, more than 260,000 people were killed and millions displaced. The report notes 389 people were killed by explosive devices in 2020, the highest since 2016 when the country government signed a peace deal with FARC.

“In 2020, the consequences of the conflict saw an upsurge, especially compared with 2016,” said the ICRC. “Unfortunately, it is the civilian population that is paying the price of this upsurge.”

By Milan Sime Martinic

UN: 34 million people in more than 20 countries at risk of starvation

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From Afghanistan to Venezuela and Mozambique to Mali acute hunger is projected to rise steeply in many world regions, but especially heavily in Africa, says the World Hunger Hotspots report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, released this week. “Over 34 million people are grappling with emergency levels of acute hunger (IPC4)– meaning they are one step away from starvation - across the world,” says FAO.

South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Yemen, and parts of Northern Nigeria are reported as the most precarious but acute hunger is set to soar in over 20 countries, warns the report, though 16m Yemenis and 7m South Sudanese are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity by June.

Conflict, violence, the Covid pandemic, climate extremes, la Niña-driven weather, Desert Locust outbreaks, and increasingly constrained access in some countries are listed by FAO as the factors driving the crisis.

The risk of famine conditions is driven by already highly vulnerable populations, severe malnutrition, rising displacement, and the deteriorating economic situation, says FAO, reporting that a combination of humanitarian food assistance, cash, and emergency livelihood interventions is urgently necessary.

By Milan Sime Martinic

India turning to the Americas for oil, aiming to cut reliance on Middle East

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The world’s third-largest oil importer is diversifying oil imports away from the Middle East and is buying crude from North and South America, according to various reports. A first cargo of Brazil’s grade Tupi was booked by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., reported Bloomberg.

State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, have also placed a recent order from Guyana, reported Reuters noting that in February the United States became India’s second-largest crude supplier, bumping Saudi Arabia, and just behind Iraq.

By Milan Sime Martinic

El Salvador is giving a free computer to 100% of public sector students and teachers, aiming to bridge ‘digital divide’

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An investment of $450m began making its way into the hands of students and teachers in the Central American nation in late February. The first batch was delivered directly to students in a ceremony headed by the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, who pointed out the investment in education is equal to the investment in 3 new airports.

“The computers come with Windows 10, Google Classroom, and free internet, also included is certification in the English language for final year high school students,” explained Bukele. “The goal is for students to have the necessary tools for a transformative education.”

By Milan Sime Martinic

GA employer pays employee’s last paycheck in 90k pennies dumped on driveway

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A 500-lb pile of oil-covered pennies is how Andreas Flaten of Fayetville said he received his last paycheck from A OK Walker Motorworks, after contacting the Georgia Department of Labor for help in getting paid for a job he left in November 2020.

Flaten told a local TV station that he has been sitting nights cleaning the pennies with soap, vinegar, and water.

The US Treasury, however, says that there is “no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services.”

Others who have tried to settle debts with large numbers of pennies have been charged with disorderly conduct. A Utah man was fined $140 for paying a $25 bill with 14lbs of pennies in 2011.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Container ship shuts down Suez Canal after running aground

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A 200k-lb ship suffered a blackout and wrecked along one of the most congested trade waterways in the world Tuesday, blocking traffic in a canal that carries 12% of the global trade volume. Bloomberg reports some 106 ships in wait for the grounded ship to be refloated. On average some 50 ships and 3.2m tons pass through Suez each day.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh catch fire

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YANGON, Myanmar – Three Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh caught fire beginning from camp No.8(W) at 4:30 PM, causing 1000 dwellings to burn down.

The people from the camps were evacuated to a safer place. The fire brigade department from Cox’s Bazar, Ramu, Tekkanat and Okiya areas worked to extinguish the huge fire.

Currently, the number of the wounded and dead is not known.

In recent years, thousands of Rohingya people from Rakhine state fled to neighboring Bangladesh because successive Myanmar governments failed to fulfill the rights of the ethnic people according to international law after Myanmar was liberated from British colonial rule.

As Myanmar’s government signed the 1960 declaration of the United Nation General Assembly, ethnic people have a right to autonomy or self-determination or independence.

By Htay Win
Photo credit Narinzara

Sentencing memorandum in US case says Honduran president ‘played a leadership role in a violent, state-sponsored drug trafficking conspiracy’

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A pre-sentence report submitted by US Attorneys against Tony Hernández, brother of current Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, describes the president participating firsthand in his brother’s cocaine smuggling ring and taking bribes.

The president’s brother was convicted of trafficking “multi-ton loads of cocaine” through Honduras by plane, boat, and helicopter and using government forces to secure drug shipments.

A statement by US Attorney Audrey Strauss says the convicted Hernandez is a “ruthless, powerful, and murderous cocaine trafficker” who “facilitated the shipment of large loads of cocaine by bribing Juan Orlando Hernández.”

According to transcripts from trial closing arguments, US Attorneys charged that the defendant paid bribes to the president as recently as 2019,.and that the president “did not only want the cash, he wanted access to the defendant’s cocaine.”

It is unusual for US prosecutors to name sitting heads of government in criminal cases, but the president is named directly 58 times in court documents.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Interpol disrupts Uruguay-Spain sex-trafficking highway but Montevideo remains a busy hub to Europe

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Six simultaneous raids in both countries resulted in several arrests in both jurisdictions and the conclusion by authorities that the small South American country is still a large source of origin, transit, and destination of women trafficked to Europe.

Uruguay’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a press release that the Interpol operation liberated four women and dismantled what it qualified as “an important human trafficking network.”

Three residencies in Montevideo yielded three arrests. Two raids in the city of Guadalajara, and one at an estate in Alcalá de Henares, a suburb of Madrid, in Spain yielded another five arrests. Seven of the eight arrested were of Uruguayan nationality and four were women. The group lured women in difficult financial situations with offers of well-paying job offers, only to force them into street and club prostitution in Europe under precarious conditions, said the announcement.

Structural inequalities and discrimination, says a report by Uruguayan NGO El Paso, are the main factors that make women in the country vulnerable to victimization. The country’s location on the Atlantic Coast naval corridors makes it ideal for international human traffickers, according to a report by Interpol. Around 17% of Uruguay’s trafficking victims leave the country, mostly bound for Spain and Italy, reported El Paso.

By Milan Sime Martinic