Myanmar junta extends state of emergency by 6 months

Myanmar junta extends state of emergency by 6 months
Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing, above, during a defense and security council meeting in Naypyidaw. (Myanmar Military Information Team/AFP)
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Updated 31 January 2024
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Myanmar junta extends state of emergency by 6 months

Myanmar junta extends state of emergency by 6 months
  • The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the February 2021 coup
  • The junta has extended the state of emergency multiple times since declaring it

YANGON: Myanmar’s junta on Wednesday extended a state of emergency by six months, again delaying elections the military has promised to hold as it battles opposition across the country.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since the February 2021 coup which ended a ten-year experiment with democracy and sparked mass protests and a crackdown on dissent.
Three years on, the junta is struggling to crush widespread armed opposition to its rule and recently suffered a series of stunning setbacks to an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups.
Acting president U Myint Swe “announced the extension of the state of emergency for another six months” at a meeting of the national defense and security council, the junta said in a statement.
The extension of the state of emergency — due to expire at midnight on Wednesday — was needed to “continue the process of combatting terrorists,” the statement added.
The council discussed “preparations for holding multi-party elections” and the holding of a national census at a meeting in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, it said, without giving details.
The military declared a state of emergency when it ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February 2021, citing unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud in 2020 elections her party won in a landslide.
It has extended the state of emergency multiple times since, delaying fresh elections it has promised to hold.
Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 constitution, which the junta has said is still in force, requires authorities to hold fresh elections within six months of a state of emergency being lifted.
A surprise offensive in late October by an alliance of ethnic armed groups in northern Shan state sent the junta reeling.
The Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) seized roads to the country’s biggest trading partner China and captured dozens of military outposts.
Troops surrendered in their thousands and military units fled into India and China, prompting rare public criticism of the junta leadership by its supporters.
A China-brokered peace deal has since paused the fighting in the north, but the alliance has largely kept its recent gains and clashes continue elsewhere.
The setbacks have also galvanized pro-democracy groups to renew their attacks on the military elsewhere in the country.
Independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson said the move was “a totally expected extension for a crumbling regime.”
More than 4,400 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent and over 25,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.
The junta has said that “terrorists” opposing its rule have killed more than 6,000 civilians.
More than two million people have been displaced by violence since the putsch, according to the United Nations.


Malaysia PM Anwar deflects questions on house arrest for Najib

Updated 18 sec ago
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Malaysia PM Anwar deflects questions on house arrest for Najib

Malaysia PM Anwar deflects questions on house arrest for Najib
  • Najib was prime minister between 2009 and 2018 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August 2022
  • The sentence however was halved this year by a pardons’ board chaired by former King Al-Sultan Abdullah
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim refused to answer questions on Tuesday on the existence of a royal decree that would allegedly allow jailed former premier Najib Razak to serve his prison sentence at home.
Najib, who was prime minister between 2009 and 2018, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in August 2022, when Malaysia’s top court upheld his conviction in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.
The sentence however was halved this year by a pardons’ board chaired by former King Al-Sultan Abdullah, shortly before his reign ended in January. Malaysia has a unique system of monarchy where the country’s nine sultans take turns to become king every five years.
Since April, Najib has been pursuing a legal bid to compel the government to confirm the existence of and execute an “addendum order” that he said was issued by the former king alongside the pardons’ board decision, entitling him to serve the remainder of his jail term at home. The former monarch has not commented on the case.
Anwar said in parliament on Tuesday he was unable to answer questions from lawmakers on the document, citing parliamentary rules on matters being decided by courts.
He admitted presenting Najib’s request for a pardon to the king, saying the ex-premier had a right to be heard, but stressed he had not been present when the federal pardons board made its decision to halve Najib’s sentence.
The king and the prime minister sit on the board, although the premier can be represented instead by a federal territories minister.
“Until this case is concluded in court or the king allows for it, we cannot discuss (it),” Anwar said, adding he had referred the matter to the current king, Sultan Ibrahim, for further deliberation.
Malaysia’s Court of Appeal is set to hear Najib’s request on Jan. 6 next year, after an earlier bid was struck down by a lower tribunal in July.
Najib’s son last week filed an affidavit in court, affirming he had received a copy of the addendum from Al-Sultan Abdullah’s royal household, though his lawyers declined to disclose the document’s contents.

Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump
Updated 22 min 42 sec ago
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Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump

Biden is rushing aid to Ukraine. Both sides are digging in. And everyone is bracing for Trump
  • Russia, Ukraine and their global allies are scrambling to put their side in the best possible position for any changes that Trump may bring
  • A Ukrainian military commander says his forces will keep fighting but when the aid runs out, they’ll be destroyed

WASHINGTON: The grinding war between Ukraine and its Russian invaders has escalated ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration, with President Joe Biden rushing out billions of dollars more in military aid before US support for Kyiv’s defenses is thrown into question under the new administration.
Russia, Ukraine and their global allies are scrambling to put their side in the best possible position for any changes that Trump may bring to American policy in the nearly 3-year-old war. The president-elect insisted in recent days that Russia and Ukraine immediately reach a ceasefire and said Ukraine should likely prepare to receive less US military aid.
On the war’s front lines, Ukraine’s forces are mindful of Trump’s fast-approaching presidency and the risk of losing their biggest backer.
If that happens, “those people who are with me, my unit, we are not going to retreat,” a Ukrainian strike-drone company commander, fighting in Russia’s Kursk region with the 47th Brigade, told The Associated Press by phone.
“As long as we have ammunition, as long as we have weapons, as long as we have some means to defeat the enemy, we will fight,” said the commander, who goes by his military call sign, Hummer. He spoke on condition he not be identified by name, citing Ukrainian military rules and security concerns.
“But, when all means run out, you must understand, we will be destroyed very quickly,” he said.
The Biden administration is pushing every available dollar out the door to shore up Ukraine’s defenses before leaving office in six weeks, announcing more than $2 billion in additional support since Trump won the presidential election last month.
The US has sent a total of $62 billion in military aid since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. And more help is on the way.
The administration is on track to disperse the US portion of a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, before Biden leaves the White House, US officials said. They said the US and Ukraine are in “advanced stages” of discussing terms of the loan and close to executing the $20 billion of the larger loan that the US is backing.
Biden also has eased limits on Ukraine using American longer-range missiles against military targets deeper inside Russia, following months of refusing those appeals over fears of provoking Russia into nuclear war or attacks on the West. He’s also newly allowed Ukraine to employ antipersonnel mines, which are banned by many countries.
Biden and his senior advisers, however, are skeptical that allowing freer use of the longer-range missiles will change the broader trajectory of the war, according to two senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
But the administration has at least a measure of confidence that its scramble, combined with continued strong European support, means it will leave office having given Ukraine the tools it needs to sustain its fight against Russia for some time, the officials said.
Enough to hold on, but not enough to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces, according to Ukraine and some of its allies.
Even now, “the Biden administration has been very careful not to run up against the possibility of a defeated Putin or a defeated Russia” for fear of the tumult that could bring, said retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, a former supreme allied commander of NATO. He is critical of Biden’s cautious pace of military support for Ukraine.
Events far from the front lines this past weekend demonstrated the war’s impact on Russia’s military.
In Syria, rebels seized the country’s capital and toppled Russia-allied President Bashar Assad. Russian forces in Syria had propped up Assad for years, but they moved out of the way of the rebels’ assault, unwilling to take losses to defend their ally.
Biden said it was further evidence that US support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was wearing down Russia’s military.
Trump, who has long spoken favorably of Putin and described Zelensky as a “showman” wheedling money from the US, used that moment to call for an immediate ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
And asked in a TV interview — taped before he met with Zelensky over the weekend in Paris — if Ukraine should prepare for the possibility of reduced aid, Trump said, “Yeah. Probably. Sure.”
Trump’s supporters call that pre-negotiation maneuvering by an avowed deal-maker. His critics say they fear it shows he is in Putin’s sway.
Zelensky said Monday that Russian forces’ retrenchment from outposts worldwide demonstrates that “the entire army of this great pseudo-empire is fighting against the Ukrainian people today.”
“Forcing Putin to end the war requires Ukraine to be strong on the battlefield before it can be strong diplomatically,” Zelensky wrote on social media, repeating near-daily appeals for more longer-range missiles from the US and Europe.
In Kursk, Hummer, the Ukrainian commander, said he notices Russian artillery strikes and shelling easing up since the US and its European allies loosened limits on use of longer-range missiles.
But Moscow has been escalating its offensives in other ways in the past six months, burning through men and materiel in infantry assaults and other attacks far faster than it can replace them, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
In Kursk, that includes Russia sending waves of soldiers on motorcycles and golf carts to storm Ukrainian positions, Hummer said. The Ukrainian drone commander and his comrades defend the ground they have seized from Russia with firearms, tanks and armored vehicles provided by the US and other allies.
Ukraine’s supporters fear that the kind of immediate ceasefire Trump is urging would be mostly on Putin’s terms and allow the Russian leader to resume the war when his military has recovered.
“Putin is sacrificing his own soldiers at a grotesque rate to take whatever territory he can on the assumption that the US will tell Ukraine that US aid is over unless Russia gets to keep what it has taken,” Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at Scotland’s University of St. Andrews, wrote on his Substack channel.
Putin’s need for troops led him to bring in North Korean forces. Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use longer-range missiles more broadly in Russia was partly in response, intended to discourage North Korea from deeper involvement in the war, one of the senior administration officials said.
Since 2022, Russia already had been pulling forces and other military assets from Syria, Central Asia and elsewhere to throw into the Ukraine fight, said George Burros, an expert on the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the Institute for the Study of War.
Any combat power that Russia has left in Syria that it could deploy to Ukraine is unlikely to change battlefield momentum, Burros said.
“The Kremlin has prioritized Ukraine as much as it can,” he said.


UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria

UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria
Updated 10 December 2024
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UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria

UN Security Council convenes over situation in Syria
  • “The Council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming,” Russian UN ambassador Vassili Nebenzia told reporters

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Members of the UN Security Council on Monday discussed the fluid situation in Syria after President Bashar Assad’s fall, opting to stand by and await further developments, according to ambassadors who attended the closed-door meeting.
“The Council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming,” Russian UN ambassador Vassili Nebenzia told reporters after the emergency meeting requested by Moscow.
Russia was a key ally of Assad, who was toppled by Islamist-led rebels over the weekend after a short and stunning offensive.
“But look, everyone was taken by surprise by the events, everyone, including the members of the council. So we have to wait,” to see how the situation will evolve, he said.
Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood called it “a very fluid situation.”
“No one expected the Syrian forces to fall like a house of cards,” he continued.
“As many folks said in the consultations... the situation is extremely fluid and is likely to change day to day for the time being,” Woods said.
However, Woods noted that “just about everyone spoke about the need for Syria’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence to be respected, and concern about the humanitarian situation,” indicating the council is working on a joint statement.
“The intention is for the council to speak with one voice on the situation in Syria,” he said.
When asked about the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group, which led the rebel coalition which toppled Assad, and whether it would be removed from the UN sanctions list, both Nebenzia and Wood said the council has not yet broached the topic.
Since the Syrian civil war first broke out in 2011, the UNSC has largely been paralyzed in its response, with Russia consistently using its veto power to protect Assad’s government.

 


Dozens of Nobel laureates sign letter opposing RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary

Dozens of Nobel laureates sign letter opposing RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary
Updated 10 December 2024
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Dozens of Nobel laureates sign letter opposing RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary

Dozens of Nobel laureates sign letter opposing RFK Jr. as Trump’s health secretary
  • An environmental lawyer by trade with no medical background, Kennedy has spent years professing conspiracy theories linking vaccines and autism, and most recently spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines

WASHINGTON: Seventy-seven Nobel prize winners on Monday sent an open letter to the US Senate opposing the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), citing his “lack of credentials” and anti-vaccine beliefs.
“In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public’s health in jeopardy,” concludes the letter signed by 77 Nobel recipients in medicine, chemistry, physics and economics.
Among the signatories is Drew Weissman, who received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on developing mRNA vaccines, which was a major breakthrough in the fight against Covid-19.
Kennedy, a nephew of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy Jr, made his own White House run earlier this year before throwing his support behind Trump.
In return, Trump has tapped him to oversee the part of the executive branch in charge of health and medicine — though his selection must be approved by a majority of the US Senate, as outlined by the Constitution.
An environmental lawyer by trade with no medical background, Kennedy has spent years professing conspiracy theories linking vaccines and autism, and most recently spread misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines.
He has said if he is confirmed for the position he will work to remove fluoride from tap water in the US, despite its addition being considered a major victory against bacteria causing tooth decay.
“In addition to his lack of credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration,” the letter reads, “Mr. Kennedy has been an opponent of many health-protecting and life-saving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio.”
“We strongly urge you to vote against the confirmation of his appointment,” the letter said.
Kennedy is far from the only Trump cabinet nominee to stir controversy.
Among the most notable is Pete Hegseth, a Fox News anchor tapped to lead the Department of Defense, who has seen his nomination derailed with sexual assault allegations and rumors of excessive drinking.
And Trump’s first pick for Attorney General, former US Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew after further scrutiny emerged of alleged sexual relations he had with a minor.
 

 


Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts

Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts
Updated 10 December 2024
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Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts

Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO charged with weapons, forgery and other counts
  • The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites

ALTOONA, Pennsylvania: Police arrested a suspect Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.
The chance sighting at the restaurant in Altoona led to a dramatic break in a challenging but fast-moving investigation that had captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the health insurance industry.
The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said. He was charged with weapons, forgery and other charges.
Mangione was sitting at a table in the rear of the McDonald’s wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop computer, documents said. When an officer asked if he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake.”
In his backpack, police found a black, 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed black silencer, according to the documents. The pistol had a metal slide and plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel. He was taken into custody about 9:15 a.m., Pennsylvania, police said.
“He is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Mangione had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, Tisch said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu. A message left Monday with a Philadelphia-area phone number connected to Mangione was not immediately returned.
He was being held in Pennsylvania on gun charges and eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death, Kenny said.
Mangione was arraigned and ordered held without bail during a brief court hearing. Asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could “answer that at a future date.”
Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had “ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said.
The handwritten document “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” Tisch said.
Mangione had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace, investigators said.
“As of right now the information we’re getting from Altoona is that the gun appears to be a ghost gun that may have been made on a 3D printer, capable of firing a 9 mm round,” Kenny said.
Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a US passport, Tisch said. Officers found a suppressor, “both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” the commissioner said.
NYPD detectives and staff from the Manhattan district attorney’s office traveled to Altoona to interview Mangione, Kenny said.
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.
UnitedHealth Group thanked law enforcement in a statement Monday. “Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” a company spokesperson said.
The shooting shook US businesses and the health insurance industry in particular, causing companies to rethink security plans and delete photos of executives from their websites.
The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching the executive from behind and opening fire, police said. He used a 9 mm pistol that police said resembled guns farmers use to put down animals without causing a loud noise.
Mangione attended an elite Baltimore prep school, graduating as valedictorian in 2016, according to the school’s website. He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a school spokesman said.
One of his cousins is a Maryland state legislator and his family bought a country club north of Baltimore in the 1980s. On Monday, police blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to the suspect’s parents. A swarm of reporters and photographers gathered outside.
In the days since the shooting, police turned to the public for help by releasing a collection of nine photos and video — including footage of the attack, as well as images of the suspect at a Starbucks beforehand.
Photos taken in the lobby of a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side showed the suspect grinning after removing his mask, police said.
On Monday, police credited news outlets for disseminating the images and the tipster for recognizing the suspect and calling authorities.
Investigators earlier suggested the gunman may have been a disgruntled employee or client of the insurer. Ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
The gunman concealed his identity with a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence, including a backpack he ditched in Central Park, a cellphone found in a pedestrian plaza and a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that police say he bought at Starbucks minutes before the attack.
On Friday, police said the killer had left the city soon after the shooting. Retracing the gunman’s steps using surveillance video, investigators say the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle and emerged from the park without his backpack.
He then walked a couple blocks and got into a taxi, arriving at at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, which is near the northern tip of Manhattan and offers commuter service to New Jersey and bus routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, Kenny said.
The FBI announced late Friday that it was offering a $50,000 reward, adding to a reward of up to $10,000 that the NYPD offered.