Police crack down on coup protesters
Police in Myanmar repeatedly used tear gas and rubber bullets Tuesday against crowds protesting last month’s coup, but the demonstrators regrouped after each volley and tried to defend themselves with barricades as standoffs between protesters and security forces intensified.
Authorities have escalated their crackdown on the protests in recent days. The United Nations said it believed at least 18 people were killed Sunday when security forces fired into crowds, while a rights group said more than 1,000 people were detained over the weekend, including an Associated Press journalist. A lawyer for the journalist said he has been charged with an offense that could see him imprisoned for up to three years.
Some fear the junta’s escalating use of force is meant to provoke a violent backlash by the demonstrators — who have largely remained nonviolent — in order to discredit them and justify an even harsher crackdown. attacks, the news editor of the privately owned station said.
Shokrullah Pasoon, of Enikass Radio and TV in Jalalabad, said one of the women, Mursal Wahidi, was walking home when gunmen opened fire, according to eyewitnesses. The other two, whom Pasoon identified only as Shahnaz and Sadia, were shot and killed in a separate incident, also walking home from work. Two other people, apparently passers-by, were wounded in the shooting attack.
Afghanistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world for media workers. Tuesday’s killings brought to 15 the number of media workers killed in Afghanistan in the last six months.
No one claimed responsibility for the killings.
U.S. to help Mexico obtain more COVID-19 vaccine, but said he wasn’t denied either.
Ahead of the meeting, White House officials reiterated that Biden remained focused on first vaccinating U.S. citizens before turning his attention to assisting other nations.
On immigration, López Obrador said he proposed the U.S. analyze how many workers its economy requires and then design a plan for temporary worker visas that would allow Mexicans and Central Americans to migrate legally for work. “And it’s going to be studied,” he said. Before the meeting, López Obrador has floated a scale of 600,000 to 800,000 Mexican and Central American workers annually.