Myanmar protesters hold general strike as crowds gather for 'five twos revolution'
Protesters compare date – 22.2.2021 – to 8 August 1988, when military cracked down on pro-democracy rallies
Protesters across Myanmar have held a general strike, taking to the streets across the country and shutting many businesses, in one of the largest nationwide shows of opposition to the military since it seized power three weeks ago.
Crowds assembled in Yangon, Naypyidaw, Mandalay and elsewhere on Monday, despite an apparent threat from the junta that it would again use deadly violence against demonstrators.
Activists had called for mass demonstrations on Monday, a protest that has been referred to as the “five twos revolution”, a reference to the date, 22.2.2021. Protesters have compared the date to 8 August 1988 – or 8.8.88 – when pro-democracy demonstrations challenged military rule, but were brutally crushed by the army.
Luca Attanasio: Italian ambassador killed in Congo during kidnap attempt
Envoy dies during attack on UN convoy in area where dozens of armed groups operate
Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo has been killed during an attempted kidnap, according to reports.
The Italian foreign ministry said Luca Attanasio, a carabinieri police officer who was providing security for him and a third person were killed in Goma.
They were traveling in a UN convoy in Congo but the ministry provided no other details.
Germany: Schools reopen for younger children amid rising COVID infections
Lawmakers have pushed to accelerate the vaccination of teachers to keep schools open for younger children. The move comes amid rising infections and the threat of a third wave.
Day care centers and elementary schools in 10 German states reopened on Monday, almost two months after their doors were shut due to a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision to open schools for the youngest children followed a continuous fall in the rate of infection across the country. But by Monday this trend had reversed as the more contagious variants of coronavirus spread through Germany.
Son says Iranian-American sentence commuted but blocked from leaving
Iran has commuted the sentence of an ailing 84-year-old Iranian-American but barred him from leaving, his son said Monday, urging President Joe Biden to prioritize the case.
Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official, was detained in February 2016 when he traveled back to Iran after the arrest in Tehran of his son Siamak Namazi, a businessman.
Siamak's brother, Babak, revealed that the Iranian judiciary commuted the sentence to time served a year ago based on his serious medical problems.
Boris Johnson lays out go-slow plan to take England out of lockdown by summer
Updated 1612 GMT (0012 HKT) February 22, 2021
Boris Johnson has set out a four-step roadmap to take England out of lockdown. The country has been in full national lockdown since January 4, after a new, more transmissible variant of coronavirus was discovered in southeast England.
White supremacy a 'transnational threat', U.N. chief warns
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that white supremacy and neo-Nazi movements are becoming a "transnational threat" and have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to boost their support.
Addressing the U.N. Human Rights Council, Guterres said the danger of hate-driven groups was growing daily.
"White supremacy and neo-Nazi movements are more than domestic terror threats. They are becoming a transnational threat," he told the Geneva forum. Without naming states, Guterres added: "Today, these extremist movements represent the number one internal security threat in several countries."
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