Suu Kyi's party wins absolute majority in Myanmar polls amidst criticism by rights group

News Network
November 13, 2020

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Yangon, Nov 13: Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling party secured an absolute majority in Myanmar's election, official results showed Friday, in a poll disputed by the military-aligned opposition and criticised by rights groups.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) had already declared a landslide victory based on its own tallies, prompting street celebrations by supporters.

But official figures were still being returned five days after the ballot, only the second such polls since the nation emerged from outright military rule in 2011.

Results announced by the election commission Friday showed the NLD had won 346 seats -- more than 50 percent of parliament, even taking into account the quarter of seats reserved for the military under the constitution.

The party is on track to improve on its landslide win in 2015, despite widespread disillusion in many ethnic-minority areas.

"People clearly realised the need for the NLD to get enough votes to form a government on their own," NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told AFP, adding this would help "minimise political conflict".

The military-aligned opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has been trounced across the country, winning just 25 seats by Friday.

The party alleges the vote was neither free nor fair and is demanding that the Union Election Commission (UEC) step down and polls be re-run.

Yangon-based analyst Khin Zaw Win warned the coming months will be messy, adding the situation was a consequence of the UEC being filled with "yes-men and incompetents".

Under the constitution, the government appoints all commission members.

But even if some results were overturned, "the NLD landslide is so large that they wouldn't alter the overall outcome", said Richard Horsey from the International Crisis Group.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already tweeted his congratulations to Suu Kyi, writing he looked forward to strengthening the neighbours' "traditional bonds of friendship".

Observers have widely concluded that voting took place smoothly on the day, despite forecasts of a low turnout due to a recent surge of coronavirus cases.

But they condemned what they described as the election commission's lack of transparency and its cancellation of the polls across many ethnic minority areas -- ostensibly for security reasons.

The move left 1.5 million voters disenfranchised and sparked grievances in already restive areas that the playing field had been tilted in favour of the NLD.

Some will conclude the electoral process does not work for them and choose "political insurrection or insurgency instead", warned Horsey.

Rights groups have also condemned the vote, which left virtually all Rohingya Muslims disenfranchised, either languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps or stripped of citizenship in Myanmar.

Even though Suu Kyi's international reputation was badly hurt over the Rohingya crisis -- for which the country now faces charges of genocide -- she remains widely revered within Myanmar.

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News Network
November 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 7,2024

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In a significant gesture towards a smooth transition, President Joe Biden invited President-elect Donald Trump to the White House to discuss the transfer of power, following a pledge from Vice President Kamala Harris to uphold a peaceful handover.

Vice President Harris, in a heartfelt address last night, publicly acknowledged Trump’s victory and assured her full commitment to a respectful and orderly shift in governance. "Our allegiance is not to any individual but to the Constitution itself," Harris emphasized, highlighting the need for national unity and respect for democratic processes.

Reports from The Washington Post reveal that Trump’s team is already hard at work on transition plans, actively considering candidates for key Cabinet positions. For Treasury Secretary, billionaire investor John Paulson and economic strategist Scott Bessent are in the running, while Senator Marco Rubio and former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell are top contenders for Secretary of State.

Additionally, the Trump camp is eyeing influential figures for strategic roles. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and former primary rival Vivek Ramaswamy are rumored to be cabinet-bound, with Senator Tom Cotton potentially taking on the role of Defense Secretary. The highest priority, however, is securing a Chief of Staff, with Trump advisor Susie Wiles and Brooke Rollins among the frontrunners for this critical post.

Trump's campaign has reportedly conducted a rigorous vetting process, aimed at bringing loyalists into his administration to ensure alignment with his goals. Campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that personnel selections would be announced soon, while Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung confirmed that White House transition talks are imminent.

Adding to the intrigue, there are whispers that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might take on a prominent role in restructuring health and food safety agencies. Known for his controversial views on vaccines, Kennedy’s potential appointment is already sparking debates across the political spectrum.

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News Network
November 7,2024

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Mangaluru, Nov 7: In the quiet village of Tippunagar, Loretto Padavu, a heartbreaking accident claimed the life of three-year-old Aashika on Wednesday, leaving a family and community shattered.

Aashika, the beloved daughter of Unais from Pattanabailu near Farangipet, was simply enjoying a carefree moment, playing outside her grandmother’s house. It was then that an unimaginable tragedy struck: a parked goods tempo, owned by her uncle, unexpectedly rolled backward, trapping the innocent child beneath its wheels.

Despite her family’s desperate rush to get her to the hospital, little Aashika’s injuries proved too severe, and she was declared dead upon arrival. Her passing has cast a deep shadow over the close-knit community, who grieve alongside her family for the life taken too soon.

The Bantwal traffic police have registered a case and are investigating the incident, while the community mourns the loss of a precious young soul who had only just begun to experience life’s wonder.
 

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