3 protesters killed in Myanmar
Three demonstrators were killed in Myanmar on Monday, witnesses said, while shops, factories and banks were closed in the main city Yangon in protests against last month’s military coup. Security forces were also deployed at hospitals and universities, state media said.
Two of the victims died of gunshot wounds to the head in the northern town of Myitkyina, the witnesses said. It was not immediately clear who fired on the protesters although both police and the military were at the scene.
Photos posted on Facebook showed the bodies of two men lying on the street. Witnesses said they were taking part in a protest against the coup when police fired stun grenades and tear gas. Several people were then hit by gunfire from nearby buildings.
One witness, who said he helped move the bodies, said two people were shot in the head and died on the spot. Three people were wounded.
“How inhumane to kill unarmed civilians,” said the witness, a 20-year-old man.
“We must have our right to protest peacefully.”
At least one person was killed and two injured during a protest in the town of Phyar Pon in the Irrawaddy Delta, a political activist and local media said. Police and military have killed more than 50 people to quell the daily demonstrations and strikes against the February 1 coup, according to the United Nations.
A military spokesman did not respond to calls asking for comment on the latest incidents. Police in Myitkyina and Phyar Pon also did not respond to calls.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army overthrew the elected government of longtime democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi and detained her and other political figures.
The generals say they acted because an election in November which saw Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy (NLD) secure a big victory was marred by fraud - a claim rejected by the electoral commission.
They have promised to hold another election, without giving a date. In the meantime, security forces have cracked down hard on widespread pro-democracy protests in a country that has a history of military rule and crushing of dissent.
Millions of English children and teenagers headed back to school on Monday for the first time in two months, having endured their second extended stretch of home learning because of a strict national lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19.
The reopening of English schools to all pupils is the first step in a four-stage government plan to ease the lockdown while trying to prevent a new surge in infections after a devastating winter wave that severely strained hospitals.
Since the start of the pandemic, Britain has recorded 124,500 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, the fifth highest official death toll in the world and the worst in Europe.
For adults in England, the lockdown remains in force, with social contact severely restricted, people under orders to stay at home except for essential reasons, most shops closed, and cafes and restaurants able to offer only takeaway or delivery.
“Getting all schools back has been our priority and the first step of our roadmap back to normality,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter.
The reopening of schools is a huge relief to millions of parents who have spent months juggling work and full-time childcare.
Primary school pupils return to their classrooms and playgrounds with some Covid rules, such as not being able to socialise with children outside a strictly defined “bubble”, staggered arrivals and departures, and frequent handwashing.
For secondary schools and their pupils, the requirements are more onerous. Teenagers are being mass-tested for Covid — a logistical headache for schools — and are required to wear face coverings in class.
Despite these restrictions, the near-consensus among parents, teachers, child psychologists, social workers and broader society is that getting children back into schools is urgent for their mental health, education and life chances.
Most pupils had missed out on more than three months of school in the spring and early summer of 2020, when Britain was under its first strict national Covid lockdown.
In that first shutdown, as in the recent one, only children considered vulnerable or those whose parents are classified as “key workers” by the government were allowed to go to school.