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UN backs democracy in Myanmar and urges release of detainees

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council strongly backed a return to democracy in Myanmar on Thursday and called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all those arbitrarily detained by the military. In its first statement on the military’s ouster of the government, the U.N.’s most powerful body “stressed the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.” “The members of the Security Council emphasized the need for the continued support of the democratic transition in Myanmar,” the council said in the statement, which referred to the military's imposition of a state of emergency without calling it a coup.

Latest Stories

  • Israel's rapid rollout provides the first real-world proof that COVID vaccination works as well as promised

    Now that a huge share of Israelis have been vaccinated, experts are looking at the country’s experience as a kind of real-world, real-time experiment, with unique data that could start to answer some of our most pressing questions about the power of vaccines to curb the pandemic.  

  • Lauren Boebert: QAnon-supporting Republican claims 38,000 miles worth of gas money on Congress expenses

    In order to justify a reimbursement of such a big amount, Boebert’s distance driven during the campaign has to be 38,712 miles

  • Russia rejects Western criticism over Navalny's prison term

    Russian authorities on Wednesday shrugged off the massive rallies against the jailing of top Kremlin foe Alexei Navalny and rejected Western criticism as “hysterics” as activists reported more than 1,400 new arrests in the crackdown on protesters. A Moscow court on Tuesday ordered Navalny to prison for two years and eight months, finding that he violated the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany from a nerve-agent poisoning. The ruling immediately ignited new protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg that followed massive rallies over the past two weekends.

  • Seized guns destined for Colombia rebels in Venezuela: sources

    Eleven semi-automatic rifles and 12 magazines of ammunition seized in two Colombian police raids last month were destined for leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas in Venezuela, a high-ranking police source said on Wednesday. Colombia's tax and customs police (POLFA) had on Tuesday heralded the late-January seizure of five Anderson AM-15 rifles of U.S. origin and five magazines of 5.56 caliber ammunition and the capture of two suspects, saying it was investigating whether the final destination was Venezuela.

  • Biden's team is reportedly surprised Republicans don't see the political upsides of backing a big COVID-19 bill

    The politics of COVID-19 spending legislation is complicated. President Biden and former President Donald Trump, who don't agree on much, both pushed to get $2,000 direct payments to most Americans this winter, and the Republican governor of West Virginia is backing Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package while his state's Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, favors a smaller package. The White House is privately meeting with a group of Senate Republicans who proposed a $618 billion alternative package, The Associated Press reports, even as Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reject that amount as insufficient and urge Democrats to go big and go quickly. Biden and his advisers "publicly tout the virtues of bipartisan collaboration," but "they aren't pollyannaish about it," Sam Stein reports at Politico. "They know there is no recent history to suggest any such collaboration is coming.," but "inside the White House there is still some surprise that Republicans currently aren't more interested in working with them on COVID relief. Not because they believe Republicans philosophically support the bill, but because there are clear political incentives for them to do so." Biden and his aides have noted repeatedly that just because the budget reconciliation process would allow Democrats to pass much of the $1.9 trillion package without Republican support, Republicans can still vote for the package. If Democrats go the budget reconciliation route, the 10 Senate Republicans can either "oppose the measure without being able to stop it or work to shape it, pledge to vote for it, and get credit for the goodies inside it," Stein reports. "Put another way: Republicans could vote for a bill that includes billions of dollars of help for states, massive amounts of cash for vaccine distribution, and $1,400 stimulus check for most Americans. Or they could oppose it on grounds that the price tag is too steep, or the minimum wage hike is too high, or the process too rushed." And if they do that, a senior administration official told Stein, "they'll get no credit" for those $1,400 checks. Democrats only have the party-line option because they unexpectedly won both Senate seats in a Georgia runoff election, Stein notes, and one political "lesson from that episode is, quite bluntly: It's better to be on the side of giving people money." Trump understood that. Time will tell what Senate Republicans will decide. More stories from theweek.comProsecutors don't know where Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is, want him arrested again5 scathing cartoons about the GOP's Marjorie Taylor Greene problemMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wants

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  • Turkey's Erdogan describes student protesters as terrorists

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  • Can diplomacy deter Iranian nuclear ambitions a second time?

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  • 27 Best Desk Lamps to Brighten Up 2021

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  • Prosecutors don't know where Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse is, want him arrested again

    Prosecutors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sought a new arrest warrant Wednesday for Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with killing two people during an Aug. 25 protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man now paralyzed from the waist down. The prosecutors said Rittenhouse has violated the terms of his $2 million bond by moving without informing the court or providing his new address. After a court filing sent to Rittenhouse was returned as undeliverable Jan. 28, Kenosha detectives visited Rittenhouse's listed address and discovered another man has been living there since mid-December, prosecutors explained. It is "extremely unusual for a defendant facing a charge of first-degree intentional homicide in Kenosha County to post cash bond and be released from custody pending trial," prosecutors said in their motion. "Rarely does our community see accused murderers roaming about freely." Along with Rittenhouse's arrest, they asked the court to increase his bond by $200,000, noting that since his $2 million bond had been paid from a "dubious internet fundraising campaign," Rittenhouse "has no financial stake in the bond" and no incentive to cooperate since "he is already facing the most serious possible criminal charges and life in prison." Rittenhouse's lawyer, Mark Richards, responded Wednesday night, saying his client is in an undisclosed "safe house" due to death threats and "has stayed in constant contact" with his lawyers, if not the courts. He said he had offered to provide prosecutors with the new address if they would keep it secret, and they declined. Rittenhouse, now 18, is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounding a third man. He says he fired in self-defense. Prosecutors sought to amend the terms of his bail last month after video footage captured him drinking with a group of Proud Boys at a Wisconsin bar and flashing white-power hand signs. It is legal for 18-year-olds to drink in bars in Wisconsin if a parent is present, and Rittenhouse's mom was apparently at the bar with him. More stories from theweek.com5 scathing cartoons about the GOP's Marjorie Taylor Greene problemMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wantsJobless claims remain high but dip to lowest level since November

  • About 29 million people would lose out on stimulus checks under GOP plan, experts say

    Republican senators have also proposed $1,000 checks instead of $1,400.

  • Gulf Arab states launch new restrictions over virus fears

    Gulf Arab states on Thursday launched new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries. With populations including largely young and healthy foreign laborers, many Gulf countries have avoided the higher death tolls seen elsewhere around the world. In Saudi Arabia, where authorities already have banned travel to the kingdom from 20 countries, including the U.S., officials also ordered all weddings and parties suspended.

  • Daughter: Pakistan arrests rights activist in sedition case

    A Pakistani teacher, social worker and activist was arrested on Wednesday in the northwestern city of Peshawar, after a court denied him bail on charges of terror financing and sedition, his daughter said. Gulalai Ismail tweeted that her father, Mohammad Ismail, was taken into custody in a long-standing case that also charges her and her mother since 2019. According to Gulalai Ismail, the local court in Peshawar granted the provincial counter-terrorism authorities permission to hold her father for questioning for three days.

  • Suspected Chinese hackers breach U.S. networks

    Chinese hackers are suspected of breaking into U.S. government computers last year.Reuters sources say that the hackers exploited a flaw in software made by SolarWinds to target a federal payroll agency.SolarWinds is the company that alleged Russian hackers used to breach U.S. government networks and private firms last year.That attack only came to light in December, but hackers are believed to have breached the networks for months.U.S. lawmakers have called the alleged Russian hack a national security emergency, but this latest breach by suspected Chinese hackers marks a new twist in the saga.The Chinese hackers are believed to have exploited a different flaw in the software of SolarWinds to the Russian hackers.According to sources, FBI investigators recently found that the National Finance Center was affected by the breach.It's responsible for handling the payroll of several federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.Reuters was not able to establish how many organizations were affected by the suspected Chinese operation. But there are fears that data on thousands of government employees may have been compromised.The FBI declined to comment.China's foreign ministry said any allegations should be supported with evidence. Reuters sources say the two espionage efforts were separate and distinctly different operations.But both show how hackers are now focusing on weaknesses in obscure but essential software products that are widely used by major corporations and government agencies.

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene raises $325,000 as top Republican defends her for ‘denouncing QAnon’

    Greene had made a fundraising pitch after a resolution was passed on Tuesday calling for the Republican to be stripped of her committee assignments

  • Manchin will support Democrats' reconciliation bill, allowing COVID relief to move forward without GOP

    Democrats are all set to move forward with their COVID-19 relief bill, leaving Republicans in the dust. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday introduced a budget resolution bill that would allow them to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus with just a simple majority in both chambers. And on Tuesday, they got the final vote they needed to solidify that majority, as holdout Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) indicated he'd support the resolution. Schumer and Pelosi filed a joint budget resolution for the 2021 Fiscal Year on Monday, taking the first step needed to introduce a Budget Reconciliation bill and pass the stimulus with just 50 votes in the Senate. Manchin seemed to complicate their plans, indicating he wanted a more targeted distribution of stimulus checks instead of a flat $1,400 sent to all Americans. But "because of the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis," Manchin said in a Tuesday statement he'd vote for the budget. He'd like Biden to focus on "Americans who have been impacted most by this pandemic" in the future, and said he "remains hopeful that we can have bipartisan support moving forward." Democrat @Sen_JoeManchin says he'll support moving forward procedurally to tee up doing a new Covid aid package with only Democrat votes, but notes that Biden "remains hopeful that we can have bipartisan support moving forward." pic.twitter.com/xFPDS2ZIgd — Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) February 2, 2021 Manchin's change of heart comes after West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump and adversary of Manchin, indicated his support for the $1.9 trillion bill on Monday. A group of 10 centrist Republican senators presented Biden with a $618 billion stimulus proposal on Monday that includes smaller stimulus checks, and leaves out local government funding. Pelosi and Schumer's move seems to indicate their plan is bust. More stories from theweek.comMarjorie Taylor Greene is getting exactly what she wantsDemocrats may only have one chance to stop America from becoming a one-party stateGOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger mocks GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz after House GOP votes to keep Liz Cheney in leadership

  • The pandemic is getting better all across the U.S.

    Data: The COVID Tracking Project, state health departments; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/AxiosNew coronavirus infections slowed by nearly 16% over the past week, continuing a trend of rapid improvement.The big picture: The U.S. still has a ton of coronavirus, and there’s still the potential for dark days ahead. But this is progress, and the improvement is significant. If this trend keeps going, the country will be in a far better and safer position as vaccines continue to roll out.Be smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America.By the numbers: Nationwide, the U.S. is averaging about 139,000 new cases per day — a 16% improvement over last week, which was a 16% improvement over the week before. * The number of new hospitalizations was also down last week, by just over 26%. * And deaths fell by about 6%, to an average of 3,097 deaths per day.Between the lines: 139,000 cases and 3,000 deaths per day is still a very bad pandemic, but at least the numbers are headed in the right direction. * The U.S. is back at about the same caseload we were experiencing shortly before Thanksgiving. * The number of new daily cases fell over the past week in 42 states, and held steady in the remaining eight states. No state got worse — another sign that this improvement could be sustainable.Yes, but: Experts warn that a more contagious variant of the virus is quickly becoming the dominant strain within the U.S. * As it gains more ground, each infected person is more likely to infect others. And because the U.S. still has so many infected people, that could cause cases to spike again. * But the best protection against another surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths is to get cases down and keep them there — and that’s what we’re doing.Each week, Axios tracks the change in new infections in each state. We use a seven-day average to minimize the effects of day-to-day discrepancies in states’ reporting.Get smarter, faster with the news CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here.

  • EU rebuffs UK demand to soften N.Ireland Brexit trade terms

    The European Union on Wednesday rebuffed a British demand to extend a grace period for checks on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland, saying the post-Brexit trade treaty gave London enough tools to solve the problems. But it agreed to "work intensively" with Britain to resolve difficulties that have already impeded deliveries of goods, notably food, from other parts of the United Kingdom and caused shortages in supermarkets, even with a grace period still in force. The dispute, which stems from Britain's exit from the EU's orbit on Jan. 1, threatens to reopen a rift that bedevilled years of Brexit talks, and further strain relations between the EU and its former member.

  • Leader says Serbia is proud to give citizens Chinese vaccine

    Serbia’s leader expressed his gratitude to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday for 1 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, saying he is proud Serbia became the first European country to give its population the shots made in China. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said after meeting with the Chinese ambassador in Belgrade that by receiving the Sinopharm vaccine, “the citizens of our country expressed deep trust in the Chinese vaccine and with that also in the Chinese state and Chinese experts.”

  • Gunman who killed FBI agents led a seemingly mundane life. But some neighbors were wary

    The FBI on Wednesday identified the gunman who mowed down five FBI agents at the door of his Sunrise apartment — but as agents pored over the crime scene for a second day, what prompted the violent outburst remained a mystery.