Violence returns after morning of peaceful protests in Myanmar
Company expansions, development projects save more than 6,000 jobs
YANGON, Myanmar — At least two people protesting last month’s military coup were reported shot and killed by security forces Tuesday after a morning of peaceful marches in parts of Myanmar.
Security forces have killed scores of their countrymen in recent days, and the U.N. has put the nationwide death toll at 149 since the Feb. 1 coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
The independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said 183 people have been killed since the coup.
Violence was reported Tuesday in the biggest city, Yangon, where casualties have been the highest.
U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said at least 11 people were killed Monday, adding to 57 deaths over the weekend. While there were many more reports of killings, it was unable to corroborate them.
Dead Sea Scrolls find: Israeli archaeologists on Tuesday announced the discovery of dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments bearing a biblical text found in a desert cave and believed hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome nearly 1,900 years ago.
The fragments of parchment bear lines of Greek text from the books of Zechariah and Nahum and have been dated around the first century based on the writing style, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority. They are the first new scrolls found in archaeological excavations in the desert south of Jerusalem in 60 years.
Prince Philip back home: Britain’s Prince Philip returned to Windsor Castle on Tuesday, following a month in the hospital during which he was treated for an infection and underwent a heart procedure.
Philip, 99, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London on Feb. 16, where he was treated for an infection.
NKorea warns US: In North Korea’s first comments directed at the Biden administration, Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister on Tuesday warned the United States to “refrain from causing a stink” if it wants to “sleep in peace” for the next four years.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement was issued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Asia to talk with U.S. allies Japan and South Korea about North Korea and other regional issues.
China adds 5th vaccine: China has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, one that was developed by the head of its Center for Disease Control, adding a fifth shot to its arsenal.
It is the fifth coronavirus vaccine approved in China and the fourth to be given emergency use approval. Three of those given emergency approval have since been approved for general use. All were developed by Chinese companies.
In a year of economic upheaval, 41 major business expansion or new development projects happened in 2020, resulting in the creation or retention of 6,078 jobs, according to Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., which released that information Tuesday during its annual meeting.
LVEDC also released its 36-page annual report online to coincide with the meeting, which took place virtually due the pandemic.
Don Cunningham, LVEDC president and CEO, acknowledged it has been a tale of two economies since the coronavirus pandemic began more than one year ago.
He said that the region’s service economy of restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues closed or operated at reduced capacity in 2020, while online retailers, manufacturers, food and beverage producers, health care and more boomed, with some reaching sales growth of 30%.
Likewise, Cunningham said, unemployment rose in restaurants and hospitality, as industrial employers struggled to find workers, even with jobs advertised at $20-plus per hour for low-skilled, new hires.
“The whirlwind of economic headwinds and tailwinds has lifted some, deflated others, and held many in place,” Cunningham said.
“The dust has yet to settle. If there’s any certainty, it’s that economic life will forever be changed.”
But LVEDC’s meeting mostly sought to impart a message of triumph amid the COVID turbulence. Cunningham held a remote, roundtable with executives from one of the growing business sectors: life sciences. He said 2020 marked the highest employment in the sector over the last two decades, with 6,300 workers earning an average annual wage of $94,000.
The executives, Kyle Flanigan of Allentown’s U.S. Specialty Formulations; Sam Niedbala, founder & CEO of CryoConcepts; and Salvatore J. Salamone, founder & CEO of Saladax Biomedical, both of Bethlehem, touted the Valley’s virtues.
“We scoured the country looking for a variety of places to locate [our] facility,” said Flanigan, whose company plans to hire 100 people. “Really we narrowed it down to two, and the Lehigh Valley was one of them.”
Cunningham recognized several incoming or outgoing LVEDC board members, including Jane P. Long of the Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba law firm, outgoing chairperson, while Ed Dougherty of Lehigh Valley Health Network was introduced as the new chairperson.
LVEDC officials also highlighted various economic development initiatives during the hourlong event, including the “Made Possible in Lehigh Valley” marketing campaign and a “Talent Supply Initiative.”
LVEDC had a 2020 operating budget of nearly $2.7 million, about half from a hotel tax and private sector contributions, though Cunningham noted that the hotel tax plummeted due to a pandemic-related drop in guests.
The agency receives income from grants, fees and $155,000 in taxpayer money from Lehigh and Northampton counties. The counties also provided LVEDC with $475,000 in CARES Act funding: $300,000 from Lehigh, and $175,000 from Northampton, and LVEDC was aided by a $329,500 Paycheck Protection Program loan.
LVEDC canceled last year’s meeting due to COVID. Service Electric Cable Television broadcast the event, and LVEDC said the meeting will be available on its Facebook page and YouTube channel.