World News

Thousands in western Myanmar flee as army plans operations–VIDEO

Published

2 years ago

June 29, 2020

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Less than a four-hour flight from Thailand, people began fleeing from Rathedaung Township and making their way to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar since Saturday.

Thousands of villagers have fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after a local administrator warned dozens of village leaders that the army planned “clearance operations” against insurgents, a lawmaker, and a humanitarian group said.

The warning to the village leaders came in a letter written on Wednesday, which was confirmed by Reuters and verified by a state government minister, Colonel Min Than.

The letter, signed by the administrator of Rathedaung township, Aung Myint Thein, told village leaders he had been informed the operations were planned in the township’s Kyauktan village and nearby areas suspected of harboring insurgents.

The letter does not specify where the order came from, but Min Than, Rakhine state’s border affairs and security minister, told Reuters it was an instruction from his border affairs ministry, one of three Myanmar government ministries controlled by the army.

The United Nations said in a statement on Sunday it was concerned by intense fighting in Kyauktan, including reports people were trapped and houses damaged. It called on all parties to “respect international humanitarian law, fulfil their responsibilities and take urgent measures to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure”.

On Saturday, the British, Australian, US and Canadian embassies in Myanmar said they were “deeply concerned by the reports of the Myanmar Military’s clearance operations along the Kyauktan village tract” and “the worsening humanitarian and security situation across the region.”

“We are aware of the historic impacts of such operations disproportionately affecting civilians,” the statement said. It called on “all armed actors to exercise restraint while in areas inhabited by local communities, some of whom may not, by no fault of their own, be able to seek refuge elsewhere.”

In anticipation of the new operation, Min Than said 80 people had fled Kyauktan to elsewhere in Rathedaung township and that the army had prepared shelter and food.

Zaw Zaw Htun, the secretary of the Rakhine Ethnic Congress, a humanitarian group, said at least 1,700 had fled to the neighboring Ponnagyun township.

Another 1,400 are sheltering in a nearby village and are in dire need of food and other supplies, said regional parliamentarian Oo Than Naing from Rathedaung township.

Journalists are barred from most of Rakhine state, and the government has imposed an internet shutdown on most of the region, making information difficult to verify.

Source: Thousands in western Myanmar flee as army plans operations: monitors

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World News

Greater Manila Region Returns to Lockdown as COVID-19 Surges–VIDEO

Published

2 years ago

August 3, 2020

Udon News

Greater Manila Region Returns to Lockdown as COVID-19 Surges Millions of people in Manila and nearby cities. Filipino citizens will see their movements restricted again, starting Tuesday, after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered that the Philippine capital region be placed back under a COVID-19 lockdown as the number of confirmed cases surged past 100,000 over the weekend.

Source: Greater Manila Region Returns to Lockdown as COVID-19 Surges

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World News

Indian serial killer confesses to over 50 killings

Published

2 years ago

August 3, 2020

Udon News

India still remains in shock days later after hearing about Devender Sharma, a serial killer who was recently arrested again after he had escaped for 6 months while under parole. He ended up confessing to killing at least 50 taxi drivers before throwing them into a crocodile-infested river.

After spending 16 years of his life sentence in prison, the 62-year-old former doctor was given 20-day parole in January but never returned, according to Indian police.

But police finally caught up with the wanted fugitive, Mr. Devender Sharma age 62 and former Indian doctor from Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested on Wednesday, July 29th while hiding out in a Suburb of New Delhi. He was living with his newlywed widow who he had married during the 6 months he went awol. He later told police he had no intention of ever returning to prison.

Mr. Sharma holds a bachelor’s degree in Rachawiharn and opened a clinic back in ’84 in Rajasthan. Almost 10 years later he invested 1,100,000 rupees (almost 460,000 baht) to be a gas distributor. But would later suffer financial problems in 1995.

That’s when he chose the life of crime to make ends meet and in the early 2000’s he became a fake gas dealer in Uttar Pradesh where he was first arrested. Later he would move again to the neighboring town of Rajasthan where he would open up his second clinic up until 2003.

Sharma has a long rap sheet including numerous cases of kidnapping and the murder of taxi drivers from Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad and other NCR between 2002-2004. However, the court has only sentenced 7 cases to life imprisonment after he was caught red-handed killing a driver in Aligarh in 2004.

According to Delhi police, Sharma was eager to go into great detail about his criminal past. In fact, when police asked Mr. Sharma how many taxi drivers he had killed, he answered that he lost count after killing 50 or so. But the police expect Sharma may have been involved in the murder of more than 100 bodies due to lawsuits in many areas.

Mr. Sharma described how he would hire taxis to take him to isolated areas and kill his victims before removing their kidneys. After the removal process who would then toss his victims into the Hazara Canal, which is home to crocodiles. He would later admit to at least 125 illegal kidney transplants which earned him $7000 to $10000 USD a pop. He was making a killing!

Sharma added, that after he and his accomplices would pose as passengers, and dump the bodies he would then turn around and sell the taxi cabs between $250 to $300 USD at illegal auto markets in Uttar Pradesh. They were usually sold for parts so they couldn’t trace them to their deceased owners. In most cases, the bodies were not recovered while family members still wonder where their loved ones have gone.

Mr. Sharma should be facing his execution shortly with no chance at parole over again.

Sources:

https://www.khaosod.co.th/around-the-world-news/news_4630782?read_meta=%7B%22label%22%3A%22articlepage_number1%22%2C%22group%22%3A%22NA%22%7D

Hindustantimes

https://www.khaosod.co.th

written and translated by: Gerald Winik

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World News

Thai Rock Restaurant owners in Sydney become victims of cyber-bullying after 2nd coronavirus outbreak-VIDEO

Published

2 years ago

August 1, 2020

Udon News

Thai Rock Covid-19 victims **

The owner of two Thai restaurants in Sydney, Australia, which are linked to more than 100 cases of Covid-19 infected, say they are afraid to leave their home after receiving hate letters from others.

Stephanie and David Boyd own the Thai rock restaurant in Potts Point and Vetland Park where 101 new strains of the coronavirus have emerged.

Most recently, the couple came out for an interview with the media saying that they really don’t know why there are so many new cases and believe they are not the source. The shop owner says he uses all safety measures to prevent any spread of the virus.

After an investigation, both owners recently learned that the virus did in fact spread from inside the store after one employee tested positive for COVID-19 after having a runny nose.

But prior to one of their employees testing positive, all their employees were ordered to undergo a medical examination and both restaurants are regularly disinfected to guarantee a safe eating environment.

In addition, Mr. Boyd also said that they check the temperature of all employees before entering their shift and handwashing gel is provided at each table which has a distance of 1.5 meters. On top of that, they ask customers to fill in their personal details before using the service. So it is understandable why both restaurant owners are confused as to how the infection sparked from within their two restaurants after enforcing so many safety measures for their guests and staff.

They believe that the numerous accusations are nothing but rumors and the couple has become a target of hate on social media while the cases of infected people steadily increase.

The couple added, “It’s not fair!, We understand that people are alarmed by the virus, and we understand that people feel the need to blame someone…but we shouldn’t be condemned, we are victims too.”

Ever since the story went public, the restaurant’s Facebook page became littered with false accusations. Neocitizens stated that both restaurants didn’t comply with social spacing measures and the staff refuses to quarantine themselves.

“We were so scared that we couldn’t dare go out,” the husband said.

Source:

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