Three things for February 8
1. Internet access restored as Myanmar protests continue
After last week’s coup ousting Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, thousands marched in the streets of Myanmar in protest on Sunday, Feb. 7.
Authorities cut access to the internet as the protests grew on Saturday, fanning fears of a complete information blackout. On Sunday afternoon, internet users in Yangon reported data access on their mobile phones had been restored, according to AP News.
The demonstrators seek to reverse last Monday’s seizure of power by the military. They demand the release of Suu Kyi, the country’s elected leader, and other top figures from her party.
The military accused Suu Kyi’s government of failing to act on complaints of election fraud last November. Suu Kyi’s government, which won a landslide election in 2015, was the first led by civilians in decades. The military directly ruled this country for more than five decades before loosening its grip in 2012, reports AP News.
For more information on the coup, seizure of power and Suu Kyi’s government in Myanmar, read this AP News article.
2. Former Secretary of State George Shultz dies at age 100
George Shultz, who served as former President Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state, died on Saturday, Feb. 6, at his home on Stanford University’s campus.
The Hoover Institution announced Schultz’s death on Sunday. A cause of death was not provided.
During his life, Shultz served in three major Cabinet positions within the Republican terms of former Presidents Richard Nixon and Reagan. He was labor secretary, treasury secretary and director of the Office of Management and Budget under Nixon before spending more than six years as Reagan’s secretary of state.
According to AP News, Schultz was the longest-serving secretary of state since World War II and was the oldest surviving former Cabinet member of any administration.
3. 140 missing after Himalayan glacier breaks
On Sunday, Feb. 7, part of a glacier in the Himalayas broke off and released a torrent of water and debris that slammed into two hydroelectric plants. At least nine people were killed, and 140 are missing. Experts said this disaster appears to point to global warming.
More than 2,000 members of the military, paramilitary groups and police took part in the search-and-rescue operation, including soldiers who excel in mountaineering.
Authorities said a portion of Nanda Devi glacier snapping off in the morning caused the flood, releasing water trapped behind it. It rushed down the mountain into other bodies of water, forcing the evacuation of many villages along the banks of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers.
A hydroelectric plant on the Alaknanda was destroyed, and a plant under construction on the Dhauliganga was damaged, said Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the paramilitary Indo Tibetan Border Police.
Pandey said at least 42 workers were trapped in two tunnels at the Dhauliganga project. Twelve were rescued from one of the tunnels while at least 30 others remained stranded inside the other.
An additional 140 workers at the two plants are still missing.
