Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Brazil Senate elects Bolsonaro ally to head the upper chamber

Brazil's Senate voted 57-21 on Monday to elect Rodrigo Pacheco, the candidate endorsed by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, to head the upper chamber for a two-year term. Though he is a Bolsonaro ally, Pacheco of the center-right Democrats party has said he would not make a priority of privatizing Eletrobras, Latin America's largest utility and one of the government's biggest potential asset sales as it works to cut the fiscal deficit. UK to seek 'diplomatic levers' to restore democracy in Myanmar

Britain said it would pursue diplomatic steps with its allies to ensure a return to democracy in Myanmar, after a military coup led to the arrest of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Britain's foreign ministry said it had summoned the southeast Asian country's ambassador for a meeting with Minister for Asia Nigel Adams. Biden threatens U.S. sanctions after Myanmar coup, launches policy review

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar following a coup by the country's military leaders and called for a concerted international response to press them to relinquish power. Biden condemned the military's takeover from the civilian-led government on Monday and its detention of elected leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as "a direct assault on the country's transition to democracy and the rule of law." Iran's Zarif hints at way to bridge nuclear deal impasse

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested a way on Monday to overcome the U.S.-Iranian impasse over who goes first in returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying a top EU official could "synchronize" or "choreograph" the moves. Zarif's stance was a shift from his position, expressed in a Jan. 22 article in which he said the United States should remove U.S. sanctions before Iran returned to the deal. Turkish police detain 159 people at protests over Erdogan-appointed university head

Turkish police on Monday detained 159 people over protests in Istanbul against President Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a new rector at one of the country's top universities, the Istanbul Governor's office said. Students at the Bogazici University in Istanbul began their protests nearly a month ago, saying the appointment of Melih Bulu as rector was undemocratic. Teachers at Bogazici have also protested Bulu's swearing-in. Turkey's Erdogan says may begin working on new constitution

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday his ruling AK Party and its nationalist allies may start work on drafting a new constitution, less than four years after overhauling the previous constitution to grant his office sweeping powers. Turks had voted in favour of the constitutional changes in 2017, leading the country to switch from a parliamentary democracy to an executive presidential system despite strong backlash from opposition parties and critics. As U.S. warns on withdrawal, data shows Taliban attacks climb in past year

The number of attacks in Afghanistan by the Taliban in the last quarter of 2020 were higher than the same period the year before, a U.S. watchdog agency said on Monday, after recent accusations by President Joe Biden's administration that the Taliban has failed to live up to commitments needed for a U.S. withdrawal. The February 2020 agreement between the Taliban and the United States calls for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops by May 2021 in return for the insurgents fulfilling security guarantees. Coup prompts outcry from Myanmar as Biden threatens sanctions

Western leaders condemned the coup by Myanmar's military against Aung San Suu Kyi's democratically elected government and hundreds of thousands of her supporters took to social media to voice their anger at the takeover. In the early hours of Monday, the Myanmar army handed power to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing and imposed a state of emergency for a year, saying it had responded to what it called election fraud. Not just Navalny: economic pain also behind Russian protests

The trigger for some of the biggest protests to sweep Russia in years was the arrest of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was detained on his return to the country last month after surviving poisoning by a nerve agent. The anger runs deeper, however, and some protesters, young and old, say they have also taken to the streets to vent their frustration over declining living standards and the perceived gap between a small, wealthy elite and ordinary people. Sanction Putin's inner circle to trigger Kremlin infighting, says Navalny ally

A close ally of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Monday urged the West to hit President Vladimir Putin's inner circle with personal sanctions, predicting the move could trigger potentially destabilising infighting among Russia's elite. Leonid Volkov, who is wanted by Russian authorities on accusations he illegally encouraged minors to attend anti-Kremlin protests, made the call on the eve of a court hearing that could see Navalny jailed for three-and-a-half years.

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