Six In The Morning Thursday 4 March 2021

 

Myanmar coup: 'Everything will be OK' teenage protester mourned

Crowds gathered in Mandalay on Thursday for the funeral of a 19-year-old woman who was shot dead during Myanmar's anti-coup protests a day earlier.

Kyal Sin, known as Angel, was wearing a T-shirt with the phrase "Everything will be OK" when she died.

Tributes have flooded in on social media, with many calling her a "hero".

Since the 1 February military coup, Myanmar has been gripped by protests demanding the release of detained elected leaders.

Iran and IAEA clear potential roadblock to talks with US on nuclear deal

European nations to shelve censure motion after agreement to hold technical meetings

Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Thu 4 Mar 2021 14.27 GMT

A potential roadblock to talks between Iran and the US on the future of the nuclear deal has been cleared after the UN nuclear inspectorate said it had won Iran’s agreement to return to Tehran to hold focused talks on doubts over the veracity of the country’s previous declarations about its nuclear sites.

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran and IAEA inspectors had been talking past each other, with Iran failing to provide credible answers to the inspectorate’s questions. He said he had decided “we either continue with this merry-go-round or try something else”.

He said Iran had now agreed to take part in direct, focused technical meetings at the beginning of April, with the aim for inspectors of reporting back to an IAEA board meeting in June.

Greek ‘pushbacks’ brought to European court after child refugees ‘towed out to sea and abandoned in raft’

Exclusive: ‘These pushbacks are used to send a message to future would-be asylum seekers that they shouldn’t attempt to exercise their rights’, lawyer claims

Vincent Wood@wood_vincent

Two child asylum seekers were removed from a refugee camp in Greece by officials, taken out to sea on a coastguard vessel and left alone to drift on a motor-less rubber dinghy until they found land, a legal complaint against Athens lodged in the European Court of Human Rights has alleged.

Turkish authorities found two afghan teenagers, aged 15 and 16, paddling with their hands near Kusadasi on the Turkish coast on 9 September after the alleged ‘pushback’ - the practice of forcibly turning those seeking asylum away from the border.

Their case marks the latest report of asylum seekers who have come ashore in search of sanctuary only to be allegedly placed back into boats and left adrift in the sea.

New Zealand: Tsunami warning lifted after powerful quake

Residents near the epicenter were asked to keep away from the coast after the 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off New Zealand's North Island.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.3 struck off the northeastern coast of New Zealand early on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, triggering tsunami warnings from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC).

The center later withdrew the tsunami warning, saying the threat had passed, but urged residents to stay alert.

UN: Ethiopian, Eritrean troops behind possible ‘war crimes’

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said multiple parties to the conflict are possible perpetrators of sexual violence and killings.

The UN rights chief says that her office has corroborated grave violations that could amount to “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including by Eritrean troops.

Michelle Bachelet stressed in a statement on Thursday the urgent need for an independent investigation into the situation in Tigray, which has been rocked by months of fighting.

Italy blocks export of Covid-19 vaccine doses to Australia, using EU powers for the first time

By Nicola Ruotolo, James Frater and Zamira Rahim, CNN

Updated 1642 GMT (0042 HKT) March 4, 2021

Italy has invoked European Union powers to block the export of 250,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Australia, in a dramatic escalation of a dispute between the EU and drug giant AstraZeneca. The country's move marks the first time the powers have been used.

Italy used the powers to prevent AstraZeneca from exporting 250,000 doses on Thursday, a spokesperson for Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told CNN on Thursday.

Paola Ansuini said Italy and the European Commission had agreed on the action. The move was first reported by the Financial Times.