Biden imposes new sanctions after coup by Myanmar military
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered new sanctions against the military regime in Myanmar, taking action after the military this month staged a coup in the Southeast Asian country and arrested de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians.
Biden said he was issuing an executive order that will prevent Myanmar’s generals from accessing $1 billion in assets in the United States. Biden added that more measures are to come.
“The military must relinquish power it seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of Burma,” Biden said. Burma is the former name of Myanmar.
Biden said the new sanctions will allow his administration to freeze U.S. assets that benefit Myanmar’s military leaders while maintaining support for health care programs, civil society groups and other areas that benefit the country’s people. He said the administration planned to identify specific targets of the sanctions this week.
“The people of Burma are making their voices heard, and the world is watching,” Biden said. “We’ll be ready to impose additional measures and we’ll continue to work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts.”
Before Biden spoke from the White House, large crowds demonstrating against the military takeover again took to the streets in Myanmar, even after security forces ratcheted up the use of force against them and raided the headquarters of Suu Kyi’s political party.
Visiting Mars:
A Chinese spacecraft went into orbit around Mars on Wednesday
on an expedition to land a rover on the surface and scout for signs of ancient life, authorities announced in a landmark step in the country’s most ambitious deepspace mission yet.
The arrival of Tianwen-1 after a journey of seven months and nearly 300 million miles is part of an unusual burst of activity at Mars: A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates swung into orbit around the red planet Tuesday, and a U.S. rover is set to arrive next week.
China’s space agency said the five-ton combination orbiter and rover fired its engine to reduce its speed, allowing it to be captured by Mars’ gravity.
“Entering orbit has been successful ... making it our country’s first artificial Mars satellite,” the agency announced.
Deserted island rescue:
Two men and a woman had lost track of days as they survived on a diet of coconuts, conchs and rats for more than a month after they were cast away on a deserted island between Florida and Cuba.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said the three people from Cuba told them their boat had capsized in rough waters and they were able to swim to Anguilla Cay, where they spent 33 days before they were spotted and rescued.
The uninhabited island of rocky ground and palm trees and shrubs is part of an atoll of the Bahamas that is much closer to Cuba and monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard for strandings of refugees trying to reach U.S. soil.
They were rescued Tuesday and taken to the Lower Keys Medical Center with no serious injuries.
The U.S. Border Patrol took custody of the three
Cubans from the Key West hospital, and they were taken to a facility in Pompano Beach, the Coast Guard said. Immigration officials did not say whether they would be deported.
Saudis release activist:
One of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent political activists was released from prison Wednesday, her family said, after serving nearly three years on charges that sparked an international uproar over the kingdom’s human rights record.
Loujain al-Hathloul, who pushed to end a ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia, was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to almost six years in prison in December under a broad counterterrorism law. Held for 1,001 days, with time in pretrial detention and solitary confinement, she was accused of crimes such as agitating for change, using the internet to cause disorder and pursuing a foreign agenda — charges that rights
groups describe as politically motivated.
“Loujain is at home !!!!!! ” her sister Lina al-Hathloul declared on Twitter alongside a screenshot showing a flushed Loujain beaming on a family video call.
There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on her release.
Her release was widely expected as the judge suspended two years and 10 months of her sentence and gave her credit for time already served.
Iran nuclear capabilities:
The United Nations’ atomic watchdog agency said Wednesday its inspectors have confirmed that Iran has begun the production of uranium metal — another violation of the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers.
International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi told member nations that his inspectors had confirmed Feb. 8 that a small amount of uranium
metal, 3.6 grams or about one-tenth of an ounce, had been produced at Iran’s Isfahan plant, the Vienna-based organization said.
Uranium metal can also be used for a nuclear bomb, and research on its production is specifically prohibited under the nuclear deal — the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — that Tehran signed with Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the United States in 2015.
Since the unilateral American withdrawal from the deal in 2018, the other members have been working to try and preserve the accord. Tehran has been using violations of the deal to put pressure on the other signatories to provide more incentives to Iran to offset crippling American sanctions reimposed after the U.S. pullout.
The latest move by Tehran complicates the efforts of the other member nations to entice the U.S. to return to the deal, something President
Joe Biden has indicated he would be open to.
US deficit soars:
The U.S. government’s budget deficit hit $735.7 billion through the first four months of the budget year — an all-time high for the period — as a pandemic-induced recession cut into tax revenues while spending on COVID19 relief measures sent outlays soaring.
The Treasury Department reported Wednesday that the deficit so far for the budget year that began Oct. 1 is 89% higher than the $389.2 billion deficit run up in the same period a year ago. Last year’s deficit through January had not yet been affected by the pandemic.
The report showed that spending through the first four months of this budget year was up 22.7% to $1.92 trillion compared with the same period last year, while government tax revenues were down 0.8% to $1.19 trillion.