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Helmut Jahn, a prominent German architect who designed an Illinois state government building and worked on the design of the FBI headquarters in Washington, was killed in a bicycle accident outside Chicago. Jahn, 81, was struck Saturday afternoon while riding north on a village street in Campton Hills, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of Chicago. Jahn failed to stop at a stop sign at an intersection and was struck by the two vehicles, headed in opposite directions, Campton Hills Police Chief Steven Miller said in a news release. Jahn was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Authorities say the driver of one of the vehicles that struck Jahn was taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. A profile posted on the website of his firm, Jahn, says he was born in Germany in 1940 and graduated from Technische Hochschule in Munich. He moved to Chicago in 1966 to study under legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a creator of modernist architecture, at the Illinois Institute of Technology.  Jahn’s professional career began in 1967 when he joined CF Murphy Associates, which later became Murphy/Jahn. He worked on several major projects, including Chicago’s McCormick Place and the United Airlines terminal at O’Hare International Airport, which includes a walkway famous for its colorful lighting. He also had a hand in the design of the J Edgar Hoover Building, the FBI headquarters in Washington.  Jahn’s work internationally includes the Sony Center in Berlin and the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.  “Helmut had an exceptional career both for its length and for the consistent quality of the work,” Reed Kroloff, dean of the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture, told the Chicago Tribune on Sunday. “At his height, he was one of the most influential architects in the world. Not only formally, but technically. He engaged early on with building-skin technologies that were very advanced. He created buildings of every variety.” One of his more controversial buildings was the James R. Thompson Building, a glass-sheathed, Illinois government office building in Chicago’s Loop that opened in 1985. It was put up for sale last week. State officials say the 17-story building is a drain on state finances because it is inefficient to operate and in need of hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs. Jahn taught at the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
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A landslide at an artisanal gold mine has killed at least 15 people in northeastern Guinea, the government said on Sunday. The disaster took place on Saturday in remote Siguiri province, 800 km (500 miles) from the capital Conakry. The zone holds some of the West African country’s largest gold reserves.In a statement the government said it had launched an investigation.The bodies of those killed have been recovered and two women were among the casualties, a local resident said by phone, speaking on condition of anonymity.The artisanal gold mines of Siguiri are notoriously dangerous with diggers working in narrow shafts without much protection. 
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  Russia showed off its military might with parades across the country on Sunday to commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. President Vladimir Putin reviewed the main Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square, featuring some 12,000 troops, nearly 200 pieces of military hardware, and aircraft and helicopter flyovers. Putin watched the display with Soviet war veterans from a review platform. Since coming to power two decades ago, Putin has sought either as president or prime minister to restore symbols of the Soviet and Russian past to boost patriotism. Russian President Putin takes part in a commemoration ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Victory Day, in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2021. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via Reuters)Putin, during his address on the 76th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, vowed that Russia will defend its national interests and denounced what he asserted was the return of “Russophobia.” “We will firmly defend our national interests to ensure the safety of our people,” Putin said. This year’s parade comes as the ruling United Russia party faces parliamentary elections in September, with polls showing declining support for the pro-Kremlin party to 27 percent. 
 
Russia’s relations with the West have also nosedived over everything from the fate of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny to the conflict in Ukraine. 
 
In recent weeks, the United States and Russia have expelled each other’s diplomats in a series of retaliatory moves, while Moscow and EU member states been involved in similar tit-for-tat diplomatic disputes. 
 
The military parades come after Russia recently deployed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine and in annexed Crimea. The buildup prompted alarm in Western capitals over Moscow’s intentions amid an uptick in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in the country’s east. 
 
Russia has since withdrawn most of the troops but left behind some military equipment and continues to conduct naval exercises in the Black Sea. 
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The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet said Saturday that the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey had seized an illicit shipment of weapons from a stateless dhow in international waters of the North Arabian Sea on Thursday and Friday.”The cache of weapons included dozens of advanced Russian-made anti-tank guided missiles, thousands of Chinese Type 56 assault rifles, and hundreds of PKM machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launchers. Other weapon components included advanced optical sights,” the Bahrain-based fleet said in a statement.It added that the materiel was in U.S. custody awaiting final disposition, while the source and intended destination of the materiel were under investigation.”After all illicit cargo was removed, the dhow was assessed for seaworthiness, and after questioning, its crew was provided food and water before being released,” the statement said.
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India reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day Saturday, and a more contagious variant is partly to blame, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said.In an interview Saturday with AFP, Soumya Swaminathan warned that “the epidemiological features that we see in India today do indicate that it’s an extremely rapidly spreading variant.”Swaminathan said the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was clearly a contributing factor to the catastrophe in India, her homeland.”There have been many accelerators that are fed into this,” the 62-year-old pediatrician and clinical scientist said, stressing that “a more rapidly spreading virus is one of them.” She added, however, that large gatherings and a lapse in mask-wearing also played a role.The B.1.617 variant was first discovered in India last October. The U.S. and Britain consider it a “variant of concern,” which indicates it is more dangerous than the original virus.The number of cases and deaths are horrifying on their own, but Swaminathan said the additional danger was the increasing likelihood of variants that could outwit vaccines.”Variants which accumulate a lot of mutations may ultimately become resistant to the current vaccines that we have,” she warned.India’s health ministry Saturday reported more than 401,000 new COVID-19 infections and nearly 4,200 deaths in the previous 24-hour period, although public health experts believed the actual numbers were likely much higher.Lockdowns spreadingMore of India’s states imposed stringent lockdown measures in the absence of a national lockdown plan.FILE – Relatives mourn next to the body of a loved one who died of COVID-19, outside a mortuary in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, India, May 5, 2021.The southern state of Tamil Nadu said it would shift from a partial to a full lockdown after neighboring Karnataka state extended a full lockdown Friday.India’s main opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday to implement a national lockdown, accelerate the vaccination campaign and increase tracking of the virus and its mutations.“Allowing the uncontrollable spread of the virus in our country will be devastating not only for our people but also for the rest of the world,” Gandhi said to Modi in a letter.EU summit, criticism of USOn the second day of a European Union summit in Portugal on Saturday, the EU approved a contract extension with Pfizer-BioNTech to provide up to 1.8 billion additional doses of its vaccine through 2023.Pfizer-BioNTech has already provided the EU with 600 million doses, as required in the initial contract.Also at the EU summit, the U.S. faced mounting criticism from EU leaders about U.S. President Joe Biden’s surprise endorsement earlier this week of lifting COVID-19 vaccine patents to make more doses available to poorer countries.European Council President Charles Michel speaks during a media conference at an EU summit in Porto, Portugal, May 8, 2021.“We don’t think, in the short term, that it’s the magic bullet,” said EU Council President Charles Michel.Michel and other EU leaders said the U.S. should instead start boosting U.S. vaccine exports to have maximum impact on the global pandemic.“I’m very clearly urging the U.S. to put an end to the ban on exports of vaccines and on components of vaccines that are preventing them being produced,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.The U.S., like Britain, has limited exports of domestically developed vaccines so it can vaccinate its population first. The EU has become the world’s leading vaccine provider, distributing about 200 million doses to the 27-nation bloc and roughly an equal number to nearly 90 countries around the world.Pope Francis said he supported the temporary suspension of vaccine patents, according to news reports. He added that market forces, as they relate to the vaccines, must not predominate.WHO approves Sinopharm vaccineThe World Health Organization on Friday approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed in China for emergency use worldwide.The vaccine, from China’s state-owned drugmaker, Sinopharm, is the first vaccine manufactured by a non-Western country to be endorsed by WHO.FILE – Empty Sinopharm vaccine vials sit in a cup during a priority COVID-19 vaccination campaign of health workers at a public hospital in Lima, Peru, Feb. 10, 2021.WHO’s decision allowed the Sinopharm vaccine to be included in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX, an initiative to distribute vaccines to mainly low-income countries.North American numbersIn Washington, the White House COVID-19 Response Team said Friday that its focus was on meeting Biden’s new goal of fully vaccinating 160 million Americans by July 4, as infections, hospitalizations and deaths continued to decline.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of Saturday, 151,315,505 people had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 112,626,771 had been fully vaccinated.At the team’s briefing, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said that to help meet Biden’s goal, the government would make walk-up, no-appointment shots available at 20,000 pharmacies around the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also be shipping vaccines from high-volume vaccination centers around the country to smaller community-based sites, where they are more in demand.The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed nearly 3.3 million lives around the world, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. has suffered the most deaths, with more than 581,000. Brazil is second with more than 421,000 deaths, followed by India, with more than 238,200 deaths.There have been more than 157 million global infections, according to Johns Hopkins. The U.S. has the most, with more than 32.7 million, followed by India, with nearly 21.9 million infections, and Brazil, with more than 15 million.
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On a visit to Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reassured leaders there that the United States will support Kyiv against what he termed “reckless and aggressive” Russian actions but stopped short of announcing increased military aid. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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Palestinians and Israeli settlers hurled rocks and chairs at each other in a tense east Jerusalem neighborhood on Thursday before Israeli police moved in to separate them, arresting at least seven people.The violence broke out in Sheikh Jarrah, where dozens of Palestinians are at risk of being evicted following a long legal battle with Jewish settlers trying to acquire property in the neighborhood, which is just north of Jerusalem’s Old City.Pro-Palestinian protesters have been meeting for nightly iftars — the meal held after breaking the daylong fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — at long tables set up outside. On Thursday, settlers set up a table and awning across the street. They were joined by Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of a far-right party with roots in a violent anti-Arab extremist group.Video circulating online later showed protesters on both sides hurling rocks and chairs at each other, and Palestinians tearing down the awning, before Israeli police moved in. There were no reports of serious injuries.”Police and border police are operating to prevent friction between the sides,” the police said in a statement. “At this stage, the event is under control.” It said seven people were arrested for disturbing the peace and attacking police.Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, along with the West Bank and Gaza, and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state and consider east Jerusalem their capital.East Jerusalem includes some of the holiest sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and its fate is among the most divisive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.In recent weeks, Palestinian protesters have also clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem over restrictions on outdoor gatherings during Ramadan. 
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India has opened its immunization drive to all adults as it reels under a catastrophic second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But a shortage of vaccines in the country often called a vaccine powerhouse means inoculating a significant part of the 1.4 billion population is still a distant goal. Anjana Pasricha has a report. 
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President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to officially recognize the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. Shake Avoyan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.Camera: Shake Avoyan.
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Issues in the News moderator Kim Lewis discusses with Dan Raviv, columnist for Newsday and Steve Redisch, VOA executive editor the highlights of President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress, the FBI raid of former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, the latest on COVID-19 vaccines as infection rates and deaths surge in India, and the controversial new report by Human Rights Watch that accuses Israel of apartheid and persecution of Palestinians.
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Australians stuck in India could face up to five years in jail if they breach a COVID-19 travel ban to return home starting early next week. Australia has stopped all direct flights from India in a bid to cut coronavirus cases in its hotel quarantine system.
 
This is thought to be the first time Australians have been banned from traveling to their own country with the threat of civil penalties and up to five years in prison against people who attempt to make it home despite regulations. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the restriction will take effect Monday.
 
Starting then, Australian nationals and permanent residents will not be allowed in if they have visited India in the past two weeks.
 
To enforce the restriction, the government is taking the travel ban a bit further. Any of Australia’s citizens caught breaching the ban could face a fine of up to $50,000. They could also face prison under changes made to Australia’s biosecurity laws.  
 
In the capital, Canberra, the government said the drastic measures were necessary because of what it has described as the “unmanageable” number of citizens arriving in Australia with COVID-19.  
 
The federal government defended the decision, saying that it is about public safety. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia’s political leaders have decided that a cautious approach is needed.
 
“When [the] national cabinet met, they received the most up-to-date briefing from our chief medical officers and their advice is that we need to put in place these secure measures with respect to people coming from India to Australia. So, they are temporary, they will be reviewed on the 15th of May, but they are designed, based on the medical advice, to keep Australians safe,” Frydenberg said.
 
An estimated 9,000 Australians are stranded in India, critics say, and the Australian government is abandoning them as the pandemic reaches beyond what observers have called a “catastrophe.”  
 
Direct flights between the two nations have been suspended by authorities in Canberra. It has emerged, however, that some passengers — including high-profile cases such as cricketers leaving the Indian Premier League early — have managed to circumvent the ban and reach Australia via Qatar, according to news reports. That loophole will now close beginning Monday.  
 
Australia shut its borders to foreign nationals more than a year ago as part of a strict coronavirus strategy.  
 
Australian citizens and permanent residents, apart from those who have been in India in the past two weeks, are allowed to return, but they face two weeks in mandatory hotel quarantine when they arrive. Quotas apply, though, and thousands of people have been unable to get home.  
 
Australia has managed to contain community transmission of the coronavirus. All reported cases — 21 in total — in the past day were detected in hotel quarantine.
 
Australia has recorded 29,801 COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. Nine hundred ten people have died, according to official government figures.  
 
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President Mahmoud Abbas announced early Friday that the first Palestinian elections in 15 years would be delayed, citing a dispute with Israel in calling off a legislative vote in which his fractured Fatah party was expected to suffer another embarrassing defeat to the Hamas militant group.Hamas slammed the move as a “coup.” But the indefinite postponement will be quietly welcomed by Israel and Western countries, which view the Islamic militant group as a terrorist organization and are concerned about its growing strength.For ordinary Palestinians, the delay leaves a long-entrenched political leadership in place that has failed to advance their hopes for statehood, heal the bitter rift between Fatah and Hamas, or lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip, and that is seen as increasingly corrupt and authoritarian. Presidential elections planned for July also appeared to be on hold.Abbas insisted elections could not be held without the full participation of Palestinians in east Jerusalem. Israel has yet to say whether it will allow voting by mail there as in past elections and has enforced a ban on Palestinian Authority activities, including campaign events.”Faced with this difficult situation, we decided to postpone the date of holding legislative elections until the participation of Jerusalem and its people in these elections is guaranteed,” Abbas said. “There will be no concession on Jerusalem and no concession on our people in Jerusalem exercising their democratic rights.”The fate of east Jerusalem, home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is one of the most sensitive issues in the decadeslong Israeli-Palestinian conflict.But delaying the elections over Jerusalem could also be seen as a pretext, because only a small number of voters in the city would actually require Israel’s permission. Abbas’ rivals had suggested workarounds so as not to give Israel an effective veto over elections.Abbas said the Palestinian Authority has repeatedly sought assurances from Israel and has called on the European Union to exert pressure, to no avail. He said the authority had received a letter from Israel on Thursday saying it could not take a position on the elections because it does not yet have a government following its own elections last month — the fourth in two years.Hamas criticizes decisionHamas had been expected to perform well in the May 22 parliamentary elections because of widening divisions within Fatah, which split into three rival lists. The militant group condemned the delay, saying the decision “doesn’t agree with the national consensus and popular support and is a coup.”FILE – Masked Hamas militants wave their national flags during a protest in Gaza City, Feb. 21, 2020. Hamas on April 29, 2021, criticized the postponement of Palestinian legislative elections.Prior to the announcement, Hamas had issued a statement saying the Palestinians should explore ways of “forcing the elections in Jerusalem without the permission of or coordination with the occupation.”Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in east Jerusalem but has expressed concern about Hamas’ growing strength. Israel and Western countries would likely boycott any Palestinian government that includes the group. The day after U.S. President Joe Biden exhorted Americans to “prove that democracy still works” in an address to Congress, his State Department distanced itself from the Palestinian vote.”The exercise of democratic elections is a matter for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian leadership to determine,” spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington. “We believe in an inclusive political process.”Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized internationally and views the entire city as its capital, barring the Palestinian Authority from operating there. The Palestinians consider east Jerusalem their capital.According to interim peace agreements reached in the 1990s — which Hamas rejected — 6,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem submit their ballots through Israeli post offices. The other 150,000 can vote with or without Israel’s permission.Fatah says the elections cannot be held without Israel’s express permission for east Jerusalem residents to vote. Its opponents have called for creative solutions, such as setting up ballot boxes in schools or religious sites.But Abbas appeared to rule that out, joking that the Palestinians would not vote in “the Hungarian Embassy.”The dispute has taken on greater import since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, as Muslim protesters have clashed with Israeli police over restrictions on gatherings.Opportunity lostThe elections, and a presidential vote planned for July 31, offered a rare opportunity for the Palestinians to empower a new leadership and potentially chart a different course in their long, stalled struggle for independence.Abbas, 85, and his inner circle of Fatah figures, now in their 60s and 70s, have dominated the Palestinian Authority for nearly two decades and have made little effort to empower a new generation of leaders.The last elections, held in 2006 with international support and Israeli cooperation, saw Hamas win a landslide victory after campaigning as a scrappy underdog untainted by corruption. That sparked an internal crisis culminating in Hamas’ seizure of Gaza the following year, which confined Abbas’ authority to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Hamas’ popularity has fallen in the years since, as conditions in Gaza have steadily deteriorated. But it has remained unified and disciplined even as Fatah has split into three rival parliamentary lists.Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and has fought three wars with it since seizing control of Gaza. It has also carried out scores of attacks over the past three decades that have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians.
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The United States, which has sent emergency aid to India, wants to quickly help the country increase its oxygen capacity to treat patients suffering from COVID-19, a U.S. official said Thursday.A first military plane loaded with equipment, including nearly 1 million rapid screening tests and 100,000 N95 masks, arrived early Friday in New Delhi. The shipment is part of a more than $100 million support plan, according to the White House.The priority “is to try to meet some of their immediate needs to deal with the serious challenges they face in their hospitals,” said Jeremy Konyndyk of the U.S. Agency for International Development.”We also need to help them address some of the underlying challenges, on the volume of oxygen the country can produce,” he told AFP.The United States is discussing with India how to develop its oxygen supply chain, including using technologies to convert industrial-grade oxygen into medical oxygen and improving its transport.Washington has also promised to help India by providing it with vaccines. But according to Konyndyk, for a country of more than a billion people facing skyrocketing cases, that is more of a medium-term measure.”Right now, there just aren’t enough vaccines in the world and not the ability to deliver them quickly enough to control this kind of outbreak,” he said.The United States announced Monday that it will provide other countries with 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not authorized for use in the U.S.Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is sending equipment to India to produce more than 20 million doses of Covishield, a cheaper version of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed in India.Biden has been criticized by those who believe he should have shared vaccine doses with the rest of the world more quickly. 
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In his first 100 days as president of the United States, Joe Biden has governed less like a chief executive whose party is clinging to the barest of majorities in the House and Senate, and more like a transformative figure with a broad public mandate for societal change.  In an address to a pandemic-diminished joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, he took a further step in his effort to remake the relationship between the federal government and the American people with a $1.8 trillion proposal to expand Americans’ access to education, provide financial support to families with children, guarantee paid family and medical leave for workers, and reduce healthcare costs.  Speaking to a socially distanced audience in the House chamber, where more seats were empty than were occupied, Biden described “a once-in-a-generation investment in our families – in our children” that would help the United States in the competition with the rest of the world to “win the 21st century.”   Biden’s plans, while they poll well with the general public, are still remarkably ambitious in a country where political divisions often trump even voters’ professed policy preferences. President Joe Biden turns from the podium after speaking to a joint session of Congress, April 28, 2021, in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.American Families Plan The proposal Biden outlined on Wednesday, called the American Families Plan, is the latest move by his administration to substantially transform the relationship between the federal government and the American people. It would be paid for by increasing tax revenue through rate hikes and stepped-up enforcement targeting wealthy tax evaders. Tonight, I introduced the American Families Plan — an ambitious, once-in-a-generation investment to rebuild the middle class and invest in America’s future. Learn more: U.S. Senator Scott speaks with reporters as he transits the subway system beneath the U.S. Capitol in Washington‘Even More Taxing, Even More Spending’ Republicans in Congress immediately tied the new proposal to the administration’s previous efforts, noting their combined $6 trillion price tag and expansion of the federal government’s role in American life.“Tonight, we also heard about a so-called ‘Family Plan’ – even more taxing, even more spending, to put Washington even more in the middle of your life, from the cradle to college,” said Sen. Tim Scott, the South Carolina Republican who delivered his party’s official rebuttal to the president’s remarks.   “The beauty of the American Dream is that families get to define it for themselves,” said Scott. “We should be expanding opportunities and options for all families, not throwing money at certain issues because Democrats think they know best.”Broad Changes Proposed The change in access to education is the most wide-ranging element in the American Families Plan, theoretically making two years of prekindergarten instruction and two years of community college available to all Americans free of charge. The plan would also extend some of the financial support to families put in place by the American Rescue Plan, a bill passed earlier this year in response to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Among other things, that bill provided families with refundable tax credits of between $3,000 and $3,600 per child paid out on a monthly basis.It would also guarantee that, for children up to the age of 5, American families pay no more than 7% of their annual income for child care, and would guarantee up to 12 weeks of paid medical and family leave for workers.FILE – The headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Washington is seen in this file photo, Apr. 13, 2014.Paid for with Tax Revenue The proposal would cost $1.8 trillion in total, with approximately $1 trillion in direct spending, and an additional $800 billion in targeted tax relief. However, the Biden administration insists that the plan would be paid for by changes to the administration of tax laws, and would deliver large economic benefits to the nation as well.  The administration projects that an investment of $80 billion in the Internal Revenue Service’s enforcement capabilities will generate some $700 billion in increased tax revenue in the coming decade. Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Institute in Washington, called the increased funding for the IRS, which has been critically underfunded over the past decade, “a good investment.” However, she said, “The question is whether it will get back as much money as the president has claimed it will. It’s hard to say at this point because we don’t have enough information.” Jesse Oni contributed to this report  
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Myanmar remains on the path to an expanded, nationwide civil war unless there is a coordinated response from all parties concerned, according to experts.Since February’s coup, large waves of Myanmar’s population have opposed the takeover, with street protests and strikes against the military.In response, the armed forces have detained thousands of people, including National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, while hundreds of protesters and bystanders have been killed.Myanmar has seen three major revolts against the armed forces since 1988, but in its ethnic states, conflict has been rampant for more than 70 years.“Armed Forces Day” in the country recently saw one of the bloodiest days since the coup, leaving at least 100 dead. But days later on March 31, the army promised a one-month cease-fire. Humanitarian groups in the country’s ethnic states, however, have reported that military attacks are continuing, which have killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands.’No Cease-fire’ in Myanmar’s Ethnic Minority States, According to Humanitarian GroupFree Burma Rangers also say thousands displaced by airstrikes, ground attacks in violation of junta-declared cease-fireIn a bid to solve the crisis, an emergency high-level summit commenced last week between ASEAN leaders. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a 10-member union and political regional group promoting economic and security cooperation.A conclusion to the meeting saw a five-point consensus agreed upon that includes the immediate cessation of violence, dialogue for a peaceful solution, meditation and humanitarian assistance provided by ASEAN, and a visit by the union’s special envoy to Myanmar to all parties concerned.But protesters in Myanmar have vented their opposition to the five-point plan. Nyinyi Lwin, a political analyst, insisted the proposal must involve Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), ethnic minorities and the Rohingya people.“The ASEAN resolution of a five-point road map may change the political landscape if it is supported by the people of Myanmar,” Nyinyi Lwin told VOA.Nyinyi Lwin, now based in Washington, and the chief editor of Arakan News, a Myanmar news site, added: “The people do not trust ASEAN leadership. … As long as people doubt ASEAN, the civil war is still on the grounds.”First open election in 2015Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was governed under military rule until 2011. In 2015, the NLD won the country’s first open democratic election.But the Myanmar military contested the results of last November’s general elections, claiming unsubstantiated electoral fraud. On February 1, the military, also known as Tatmadaw, took control of the country.As anti-coup protests commenced, the junta deployed armored vehicles and fired live ammunition at demonstrators. Martial law and daily internet shutdowns have also been implemented.The pro-democracy campaign, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), has seen thousands of professionals go on strike against the military regime.In April, the NUG was formed, claiming to be the legitimate government of Myanmar, existing in parallel with the junta, officially the State Administrative Council.The recent summit in Jakarta came after the United Nations said that Myanmar’s strife could become on par with the conflict in Syria.Key differenceJosh Kurlantzick, a fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent think tank in New York, said international action is the key difference between Myanmar and Syria.“I don’t see it as exactly similar to Syria,” he told VOA. “I think Myanmar could, indeed, have a wider civil war, one that stretches across the country and involves not just the ethnic armed organizations but areas of armed resistance in central Myanmar, in Burman, or Bamar-dominated Myanmar.The Syrian civil war began in 2011 when pro-democracy demonstrations calling for the removal of the Syrian government met with a violent response from the Syrian army. This sparked an armed rebellion by opposition forces and rebel groups. Foreign intervention also has been rife, with the U.S, Russia, and Iran all involved. More than 500,000 people have been killed or are believed to be missing, with millions as either refugees or internally displaced, according to a BBC report.“There are parallels, in terms of Myanmar potentially becoming a failed state, leading to massive refugee outflows, civil conflict, but I don’t think there are real analogies in the international involvement angle in a Myanmar civil conflict,” Kurlantzick added.Analysts say Russia is increasing arms sales to the Myanmar military, however, and it is standing by the junta.Russia Seen Advancing SE Asian Ambitions Through Myanmar GeneralsEthnic rebels back protestersPolitical analyst Aung Thu Nyein said it’s difficult to see direct international intervention from neighboring countries, as ASEAN “has no history of intervening in the affairs of its members.” But he admitted Myanmar could be buffeted as it finds itself in the “middle of a storm” amid sustained tensions between the U.S. and China.“The civil-military relation is the worst ever in Myanmar history, and people not only have lost trust in the military, but they also hate it,” he said. “The animosity will not be dying down soon, and as I said, it could lead to limited violence, spiraling downward to a failed state. I said an implosion, rather than an explosion, because the CPRH [parallel civilian government] and the opposition government have little opportunity to receive external aid,” he added.
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America’s re-engagement with the world coincides with a weird new era: that of virtual diplomacy. Since the pandemic made travel unsafe, world leaders have taken their diplomacy digital, opening up new possibilities for engagement — but also, new concerns about fairness and transparency, and the occasional awkward moment. VOA’s Anita Powell follows this story — virtually, of course — and reports from Johannesburg.Camera: Zaheer Cassim/Nike Ching (cellphone video)   
Producer: Jon Spier 
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India’s coronavirus death toll has topped the 200,000 mark as it continues to be mired in a catastrophic surge of the disease.  The Health Ministry reported 3,293 deaths Wednesday, a new single-day record for fatalities, pushing India’s total death toll to 201,187.  The South Asian nation also set a new single-day record for new confirmed infections with 360,960, taking its overall cases to nearly 18 million.   Indian Capital’s Grim Battle with 2nd Virus Wave Wreaks Havoc Across City Sick family members are desperately seeking medical help for those more severely ill at home or are frantically racing to locate scarce drugs and oxygen cylindersThe second wave of the coronavirus has pushed India’s health care system to the brink of collapse, with hospitals crammed with so many coronavirus patients that authorities have been forced to convert train cars into COVID-19 isolation wards, while an acute shortage of oxygen continues to aggravate the already desperate situation.  Many parks and parking lots have been converted into makeshift crematories that are working day and night to burn dead bodies.  The international community has begun shipping critical medical supplies to India, including personal protective equipment, ventilators and oxygen concentrators, which collect atmospheric air and convert it into pure oxygen, along with treatments, diagnostic tests and raw materials needed to manufacture vaccine. The latest global COVID-19 figures from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center show 148.7 million confirmed infections, including 3.1 million deaths. The U.S. leads the world in both categories with 32.1 million total confirmed cases and 573,381 deaths. In other developments, a preliminary study in Britain shows that a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus by nearly half. Researchers at Public Health England found that people who were infected at least three weeks after being inoculated with a single dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines were between 38 and 49 percent less likely to spread it to people in their households.   British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the study “further reinforces that vaccines are the best way out of this pandemic as they protect you and they may prevent you from unknowingly infecting someone in your household.” Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, said Tuesday that an oral antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 could be available for public use by the end of 2021.  During an interview on cable television channel CNBC, Bourla said the U.S.-based drugmaker has begun a clinical trial of a drug that will be given to patients at the onset of the illness, with the aim of keeping them from being hospitalized. 
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