Six In The Morning Friday 12 February 2021

 

UN rights body unanimously adopts Myanmar resolution

The UN’s top rights body adopts resolution demanding restoration of civilian rule and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The top United Nations human rights body has called on Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials and to refrain from using violence on people protesting against the military coup.

The 47-member Geneva forum adopted a resolution brought by Britain and the European Union (EU) unanimously without a vote, although Russia and China said afterwards that they “disassociated” themselves from the consensus.

Myanmar’s envoy said before the vote that the resolution was “not acceptable”.

Election officials detained in Myanmar 'in bid to prove fraud'

A senior polling officer and a human rights watchdog say arrests part of military’s attempt to discredit vote

Emanuel Stoakes, Michael Safi and a Guardian reporter in Yangon

Myanmar’s military government is detaining election commission officials in night-time raids and asking them to provide evidence that November’s election was rigged, according to a senior member of the organisation and a human rights watchdog.

The Tatmadaw justified its 1 February coup by alleging widespread irregularities in the vote, won decisively by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, but their claims have been rejected by the Union Election Commission (UEC), the organisation responsible for administering elections in Myanmar.

The campaign of arrests and intimidation of UEC officials has raised concerns the military is seeking to pressure the commission to give their backing to its election fraud claims.

Fourteen arrested in Germany and Denmark over terror plot

‘We found things that can be used to make a bomb’

Jan M. Olsen

Fourteen people have been arrested in Denmark and Germany on suspicion of preparing one or several attacks in the two countries, Danish police said.

Officers added that the discovery of a so-called Isis group flag could indicate the suspects "have a connection or sympathy with the terror organisation".

Flemming Drejer, operative head of Denmark's Security and Intelligence Service, said the findings were "worrying" but "it is our assessment that there was no imminent danger".

South Korea celebrity suicides put spotlight on gender inequality

The recent death of a young actress has triggered a debate about gender inequality and increasing societal pressures facing young women in South Korea.

Young actress-model Song Yoo-jung had enjoyed a successful career before a recent downturn in work and prospects. On January 23, she died suddenly. Initial media reports suggested she took her own life. If true, she would be the latest in a series of young South Korean female entertainers to die by suicide.  

In addition to uncovering the mental health challenges facing those in the spotlight, it shows the alarming trend of suicides among young women in a country already grappling with a high suicide rate.

Actress Oh In-hye, 36, took her life last September. Singer Sulli, followed by her celebrity friend Goo Hara, ended their own lives months apart in late 2019. Male celebrities have also died by suicide in recent years, most notably Kim Jong-hyun from the group SHINee in December 2017.

US to revoke terror designation for Yemen's Houthi rebels

The short-lived US designation of Yemen's Houthi rebels as a terrorist group will end Tuesday in hopes of supporting humanitarian efforts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"The revocations are intended to ensure that relevant US policies do not impede assistance to those already suffering what has been called the world's worst humanitarian crisis," Blinken said in a statement Friday.

He went ahead with the promised move despite US condemnation of a drone attack Wednesday on the Abha international airport in Saudi Arabia, which has carried out a devastating offensive in Yemen to defeat the Houthis.

'They're unrecognizable': One woman reflects on losing her parents to QAnon

Story by Richa Naik, CNN Business
Video by Richa Naik & Zach Wasser

Updated 1447 GMT (2247 HKT) February 12, 2021

As Joe Biden was taking the oath of office to become President of the United States, 20-year-old Lily was holding her breath. "I thought, for sure this would be it," she said. Finally, the moment she'd been waiting for months to arrive was here.

Her parents, ardent QAnon adherents, would finally see the truth and disavow the conspiracy theory, she believed. "[Inauguration] was the end of the line," she said. Instead, the opposite happened.