mostly from florida it's just so exciting like you don't even believe it you know it's like a fairy tale almost it's amazing that we're very grateful all this is a far cry from previous super bowls were host cities reap huge economic benefits last year's game in miami generated more than $500000000.00 for the local economy tampa's mess says the goal is to have funds arrive healthy and leave healthy umask mandates now in place but health experts warn there could be a spike in covert 1000 cases following the game the super bowl was never going to be canceled all anyone can do is make the best and hopefully the safest of a bad situation gallacher al-jazeera miami florida. hello again the headlines on al-jazeera rescue efforts are underway in ins yasser part of the head of a and those certain lapsed officials fear up to 117 people are dead including those

who were working at sea power plants when flash floods hit both sites elizabeth cohen has more from receipt casts in the foothills of the himalayas. the rescue workers said they are going to be working throughout the night at the moment they say that there are 30 people believed to be trapped in a tunnel and that rescue operations are proving difficult because they believe a lot of people are trapped under. a lot of debris now local media are reporting that at least 8 bodies have been recovered so far but the state leaders said around 125 people are missing we know that hundreds of homes have been washed away tens of thousands of people have risked violence under arrest so protests to me and more these are been the largest demonstrations yet against last monday's military coup. holes have opened in ecuador's presidential election voters will choose between 16 presidential candidates as well as elect 137 lawmakers to

fill the national assembly the country suffering a severe economic and political crisis. african leaders have wrapped up their virtual african union summit the pandemic dominated the meeting leaders also discuss political and humanitarian issues including border disputes and those who are displaced a new case of the ebola virus has been detected in the eastern democratic republic of congo more than 2000 people died in a major outbreak from 28000 to 2020 political factions in haiti are split over when the new president is set to take office the current president says he still has another year in power the opposition says his term ends on sunday there are fears that antigovernment protests could escalate if i'm always refuses to step down. at the top of the hour after inside story.

anger grows against the man mars military coup as protests spread foreign companies are under pressure to cut ties with the army's vast business empire but will withdrawing investments be enough to bring back civilian rule this is inside story . hello and welcome to the program. threats of arrest and internet shutdowns have not deter people from denouncing last week's military coup in me and more in fact protests have now spread to several cities tens of thousands of people rallied for

a 2nd day in myanmar's largest city yangon they want the army generals to release. and restore her democratically elected government she's been charged with violating import export laws something her supporters say is an excuse to keep her detained the military has disrupted access to social media to stop people organizing the demonstrations now there's growing pressure on international companies to cut ties with me and more to put pressure on the coup leaders the military has extensive business interests that it operates to dozens of companies a u.n. fact finding mission in 2100 found these covered everything from construction to pharmaceuticals and tourism and much of the revenue from these businesses goes directly to the top coup leaders and their families. japan's brewing giant kiran is ending a joint venture with a company linked to the military the firm says it's deeply concerned by the coup adding it decided to invest in 2015 to help me and more is democratic reforms local businesses are worried that more international firms will leave the of the oldest

waddled in the world it is difficult to work on that and an elected government creates major problems when investment international business will have problems coming into the country the market is very narrow in me and it will be harder for foreign firms to work he is put on the sanctions if they will leave me a ma to maintain the image so the cuba affects how business is misspent foreign investments i alright let's bring in our guests in bangkok debbie stothard founder and coordinator of burma a network of asean organizations working to support human rights and democracy in myanmar in london ronan li a visiting scholar at queen mary university of london and author of me and mars we're going to genocide in the cab illinois therapy associate professor at the department of world languages and cultures at northern illinois university a warm welcome to you all debbie let me start with you today now that curan has cut

ties with m e h l that's the conglomerate with ties to me and mars military do we expect that more companies or at least more foreign companies are going to be doing the same. i think any company that so understanding its obligations for human rights due diligence should cut its ties with any military owned companies the military these military companies are notorious for some of the worst human rights violations including wide scale then grabbing in the country and it's time that the retiree's didn't make human rights violations a profitable business running could you tell us a little bit more about me and more economic cold ings public company this is this conglomerate with ties to me and more is military what do we know about its ties to the military and also its ownership structure. well ties the military are

incredibly close the military has. worked for 6 decades to pilfer money from ordinary. people they've constructed a rock wide range of companies and there's hundreds of the of business interests in me and ma that are controlled are owned and directed by me and mas military and any national company that does business with them is helping to put money into the pocket of me and my trade and importantly to put money into the pocket of the hangers on the crime and he's associated with military leaders family members and other people who have managed to become rich through their connections with the military and this is had an effect of retarding other economic growth that me and i are it means that that businesses that are not connected with the military have had as a result struggled and that needs to change therapy in 2019 united nations investigators

warned global companies that were doing business with this conglomerate m e h l that they were aiding the military and that they were at high risk of contributing to human rights abuses in myanmar what was the response from businesses at the time. well it goes hand in hand with the changes right so the international communities all the businesses think that we have to liberate democracy and right that. businesses sutton's reflect that thinking that full you know the political system and the economist systems will trickle down that trickle down business approach doesn't work. so this is what is going on so but i would like to emphasize that you know the military holden's and also the companies that do not you know. but refutations as

much as you know the key ran like this so we have no tele no we have now already to actually these 2 companies that global companies could have immediate impact in on what is going on inside their country right to so. already do many more than a quarter of b. and profit in 2019 and the same for tell you know they make over $800000000.00 so these companies also rethink you know they were to ban internet and they bought to their military request so we tend to overlook these but they can have immediate impact the movements inside the country call the wall to bear witness to what is going on and you know they know that a serious crime is going to be committed and these telecommunications are such and the light of on the was so when we talk about sanctions and business especially

amit we have to look into these groups really really. big companies that have actually good reputations around goals so i mean they know we have you know you know you know constantly on what display on the united states is planning new sanctions on myanmar but it's unclear how effective these will be the u.s. isn't even among its top 5 trading partner. me and more is more reliant on china than any other country so far the chinese government has only noted what took place and called for stability thailand is also an important partner it's the 2nd biggest market for me and mars goods the thai deputy prime minister has called the military takeover an internal affair others like india japan and south korea could be essential to put pressure on the coup leaders debbie let me ask you it's all very well for japanese companies like here in to pull out of me and more but what is all this going to do when it comes to chinese companies when it comes to other countries who are very much invested in me and more right now. well let's face the

reality that the us walk it is still one of the largest markets for chinese companies and chinese products and if china breaks sanctions and includes remy's products produced by military companies from burma india supply chain they're going to face the same challenges that they have that has happened where the u.s. customs actually confiscated textiles and governments from china because. slave labor if the we the concentration camps went into those supply chains with this is thought just about whether we buy things from it's about everybody along the supply chain any business that has products in a supply chain needs to have some proper due diligence run and i saw you nodding along to debbie there did you want to jump in. yeah i died totally agree that i

think it's important that any business that's doing trade with me in my moving forward is able to demonstrate that it doesn't have connections with the military and it's very clear that i'm like under the trumpet ministration by is taking an interest in me and ma and biden's administration will take action it's unclear what that will beit i mean i think it's quite likely to be some form of sanctions but there is an opportunity i think for the biden administration to really target this sanctions in a way that hurts the businesses that are connected with the military and at the same time that would provide an advantage to businesses that aren't connected with me a mouse military i mean that's that's the way forward that's that's what will help use business pressure financial pressure to make the crime ease pressure

the military to step away from the. and to restore democracy it's important to i mean i go i agree with that the point that was made earlier about about major ran the major run telecommunications companies they've got good reputations in other part of parts of the will never not be too nitty in me and ma to simply refuse to take the orders from the coup leaders they can say quite quite clearly that that the military does not represent the legitimate government of myanmar and that they won't take its orders to shut down the internet therapy or heard ronen their talk about the fact that us president biden is threatening to impose new sanctions against me and mars military how much of an impact do you think that would have that will have impact but another thing we can do as you know. the previous coup and the previous dictatorship got away without any impunity it

doesn't that isn't wrong message the international community not not some but that this is the weakness of you know the sanctions because there are powerful symbolically but if there is no impugn to say so like nigeria did with a dictatorship apart right the us there was a. lawyer that tried to find many and tenet to 90 area if we can do it you know that would be a real strong message you know this is this isn't real in repercussion funny thought that the fall of the military is a but the other didn't we i could. i would like to kind of to start you know we talk about tele noise and all radios so so and then they actually were you know. operating under the legal frameworks the business models the international community accept that we have to realize that this law deal is trolled because we

relied on you know the trickle down effect right now 16 percent of internet a small kid and it is operated by very small communications companies so if many players especially the locally owned businesses could try and the business model know not the capital is the number a couple tell as you know the last has promoted i mean that is what gets these people are the system for us and not the internet you know of course some of them you know off all the government channels but the rest is run by this small companies but this is a real good example and people should take lessons from ronan i want to take a step back and take a look for a 2nd one particular person at the top of the military food chain a man more that's general men on long he of course is the top military commander in the country he is now leading the country since the coup how much has he enrich himself as head of the army in me and more. well his family have developed a business empire based on their connections with the me that this real talk

ringback that one of the key reasons for the coup was to protect the financial interests of mino lang and he is family to retire later this year and that the feeling that the national league for democracy government under uncensored she might frustrate his ability to stay on. caused him to launch the coup because he's fear of course would have been that once he's out of power that he can't provide the protection and the contacts and the sweet deal for his family to continue to enrich themselves at the expense of of ordinary people in me and my i mean in many ways at its core this is about the economy and it's about who gets to control me and mows economy the way i see you not in quite a bit to iran is saying i mean let me pose the question to you based on what ronan said do you believe that had met online actually stepped aside as he was scheduled

to do later this summer having been aged out of his military leadership role was there the danger of him potentially being investigated for these lucrative deals and how much of a problem with that have been for him. well the n.l.b. was elected for a 2nd to with a much bigger majority and that would have him emboldened it and empowered it to ensure that this government. put a put a hold and put its foot down it came to corruption when it came to whittling away at military economic power the big problem in burma now young man now is that this is a country of immense economic growth but the lion's share of the profits is being held by the military and their cronies and not being equitably distributed going back to ronan's book on the rohingya genocide a lot of people fail to realize that new f.b.i.

in the country fell by 67 percent immediately in the year off the genocide in 2070 that represents nearly 3 years of the national health budget and that's particularly important given that burma is now coping with an explosion of coded therapy i guess one of the questions a lot of people are asking right now is you know companies that have been affiliated in some way with me in moore's military have for a while now come under criticism from members of the international community from un investigative bodies and it didn't seem to bother them when there were these atrocities that were being committed against the rohingya in rock crime state which became a huge humanitarian crisis the u.n. called it a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. why is there this outrage now and why now

might we see more companies cutting ties with memoirs military. exactly right the companies only care about. their p.r. right of tasteful had to come in you know and so the questions of the senate only after their. reputation has 10 days and times are. not taken down the hate speech hate campaigns and instigations on facebook on to mema so he. also i think that company comes leniently forget that absolute well needs absolute power to protect it since there is nothing going on to take away that wealth you know the day after 2017 and you know not after 200-1000 international day i see j k says you know so so they were only trying to protect their interests even stronger and the business. will

has to wake up and realize that they too know did they. not be so they could have preempted you know that this this this coup and also what i would like to point out is that no they these business companies have double standards wrong so if i tell you no was asked to ban internet and all we're going to do that right but they did they didn't hesitate to do it so i would like to call of these 2 companies to to to to it's not just upset reflect and you know stop these double standards around the world ronan there is a school of thought out there espoused by some analysts who worry that broader u.s. economic sanctions against me and more is military could harm me and more by cutting it off from potentially more diverse foreign investment and that if that were the case china would just fill in the vacuum what do you say to that. i think

circumstances are not quite as they were maybe 1015 years ago in the street got i think it's possible now for the us to impose very targeted sanctions that focus like a laser baby on companies connected with me and mas military i mean there was a a united nations human rights council report about this in 2019 and they recommended focusing very clearly on companies connected with the military and since simultaneously supporting business in me and mot connected with the military i think i think a couple things have changed in recent times too i mean the engagement of the us with me and not changes the playing field remarkably companies like karen did not feel it in the aftermath of the regime crisis and 2017 that that be meaningful consequences for them internationally either by the reputational or in

terms of penalties that they obviously feel they will be nat and i think that what we've seen this week at the united nations security council that the china did sign up to a statement from the security council me and my i mean china's relationship with own sense of she was very good prior to the coup china's support for me and mas military post has been less than fulsome i mean yes yes they've been they have not can dampen and but it's it's not the wholehearted support that the coup leaders would have would have wanted and i think it's possible now to make use of the u.s. is engaged meant and china is feeling that maybe they would have got a better deal. of the civilian administration to really make some changes in me and my i mean this young people on the streets they they do not want the military back i mean most people are mia ma. young born after 1988 when young censored.

she came to political prominence they don't want to return to a country ruled by all means male soldiers debby it looked to me very much like he wanted to jump in and add to what ronan was saying please go ahead i i think we can't use china as an excuse to not to act a lot of people have been saying what about china that well china is there but china is also part of the global economy and it has increasingly had to be accountable for its engagement so i think when the u.s. and when the rest of the international community need and whether that's targeted economic sanctions which is really needed but also through stakeholder and consumer activism china has to listen because it depends on global supply chains and global markets their ip what do you think could there be a type of targeted sanction that would make a difference now and also you know is china going to be listening this time will

they take it differently than they have in the past. i want to find out then you know someone has to go back to iran and so times times are different now rights above before we go after the kudo international community you had to do a catch up game listed list trying to list all the companies and businesses that they think of them and all that right now we have the ready make lists so particularly you know to the. work of an eis issues like justice for myanmar so immediately after the announcement of the cook. everybody was sharing the list of the companies the list of the directors right people were taken down by tell people were asked in the you know libya companies to to come and take their beers back because that they're not going to sell any of these you military old business a sensible by the so people people as a when

a is probably the highest right now and also the the power they gender and generation need and you know we met i lived through 1988 i was 10 so we we we could only imagine what could be like without the military but this generation has already lived through they have the experience what it does to live without you know i haven't it's fair and the look over your shortest when you talk something bad about the government right this generation has a sense and actually let live in it right they're not going to learn everything taken away so and also no more like any other countries like tunisia afghanistan shouldn't be the proxy wall for the global global power strain so to think what the the foreign policy impact these countries now we have seen tremendous progress in.

you ask them don't do most don't domestic policy only if they could be. you know. transferred to foreign policy saying you know us a china has given us russia i mean these are the all of our all of the low the critique of the of the reflection off the foreign policies would not would help not just yet mark but the tensions that have become such late you know become proxy was all these. run and we don't have a whole lot of time left just about a minute but you and i have spoken a lot in the past about the plight of the rohingya and i want to ask you if you think that this new focus on the military and this increased pressure on me and more is military will bring more attention from international actors to the plight of the ring with support in the region situation isn't forgotten in all this it's important that international actors don't go back to a focus solely on returning

a form of democracy to me and ma that doesn't deliver for everyone in the minima but the young people on the streets today in yang gone in mandalay and elsewhere they they don't want a return to the broken democracy that allowed the military to mistreat the rich as they as they did in 2017 and seats they want a genuine democracy or me and mop where this civilian oversight of the military and any changes that diminish military power in myanmar will be considering it all right we've run out of time to we're going to have to leave the conversation there thanks so much to all of our guests debbie started runnin li and therapy than. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter we're at at a.j. inside story for me how much gentlemen a whole team here by for now. we

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one a fire's a warning shots fired at me and mar as police try to break up protest announcing a military coup and demanding.