Police in Myanmar on Tuesday released stun grenades on a crowd of hundreds of protesters who were demonstrating in the city of Yangon against the military coup that ousted the country’s democratically elected government.

Reuters reported that protesters took to the streets while wearing hard hats and wielding hand-made shields and barricaded themselves before the officers released fire.

“They were acting like they were in a war zone,” a teacher at the protest told Reuters about the actions of the police.

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No injuries were reported in Yangon, according to Reuters, however, four people were wounded from live ammunition in the town of Kale, which is located in the northwestern region of the country. Protestors also reported that they were wounded by rubber bullets used against them by law enforcement.

Police officers also reportedly opened fire on protestors in Yangon on Sunday, along with tear gas and warning shots after crowds refused to disperse.

At least 21 people in Myanmar have died as a result of the protests. One police officer was reportedly killed by the army.

Military officials have justified the coup citing their unanswered complaints of fraud in a November election, Reuters noted. Election officials in the country have refuted that claim, saying that the vote was fair.

Governments from countries including Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. have advised residents and foreign nationals in Myanmar to “shelter in place” amid police and military attempts to suppress the protests and demonstrations.

The Pentagon on Monday announced a $125 million security assistance package for Ukraine, with another $150 million contingent on Kyiv making progress on reforms and anti-corruption efforts.

The $125 million package for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative “includes training, equipment, and advisory efforts to help Ukraine’s forces preserve the country’s territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

The money — meant to help Ukraine to better defend itself against Russian aggression and funded through foreign military financing with the State Department — will go toward two armed Mark VI patrol boats; counter-artillery radars and tactical equipment; support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability; and equipment for military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures, according to the statement.

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Another $150 million, appropriated by Congress in fiscal 2021, is conditional on Ukraine’s progress on defense reforms. 

The Pentagon “encourages Ukraine to continue to enact reforms that strengthen civilian control of the military, promote increased transparency and accountability in defense industry and procurement, and modernize its defense sector in other key areas in line with NATO principles and standards,” the statement reads.

The United States has used the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to commit more than $2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014, when Russia seized and annexed Crimea from the country.

The program was thrust into the spotlight after the Trump administration in 2019 froze the assistance. Democrats said then-President TrumpDonald TrumpProsecutors focus Trump Organization probe on company’s financial officer: report WHO official says it’s ‘premature’ to think pandemic will be over by end of year Romney released from hospital after fall over the weekend MORE used the freeze as leverage to force Kyiv to tarnish then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe BidenJoe BidenSenate Democrats negotiating changes to coronavirus bill Rural Americans are the future of the clean energy economy — policymakers must to catch up WHO official says it’s ‘premature’ to think pandemic will be over by end of year MORE, leading to Trump’s impeachment in December 2019.

Trump administration officials at the time argued that corruption in Ukraine was justification for halting the money, but the argument was undermined by the Pentagon’s certification that the country had made progress in fighting corruption.

The Senate acquitted Trump in February 2020 on charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress, though a Government Accountability Office review found that the administration broke the law in withholding the aid.

Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman and acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett will appear before the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday to testify about the security breakdown on Jan. 6 when rioters stormed the Capitol.

The committee launched its investigation into the attack the day after the riot, and the hearing is the first congressional appearance for each after stepping into their roles following the resignation of their predecessors.

Pittman, who became chief on Jan. 11, started her tenure with an apology to lawmakers.

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“I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the department,” Pittman testified during a closed briefing in January with members of the committee.

“On Jan. 6, in the face of a terrorist attack by tens of thousands of insurrectionists determined to stop the certification of Electoral College votes, the department failed to meet its own high standards as well as yours,” she said.

The Appropriations Committee will also hold a hearing Wednesday examining the physical damage to the Capitol in a session with the Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton.

The House side hearings come as the Senate is also seeking a sit-down Tuesday with those responsible for security on the day of the riot.

Former Senate Sergeant-at-Arms and Doorkeeper Michael Stenger, former House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving and former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who all resigned in the wake of the attack, along with Robert Contee, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, have been called to testify before a joint session with the Senate’s Rules and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees.

-Updated 3:12 p.m.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Thursday announced that it had successfully cloned a black-footed ferret, the first cloning of a U.S. endangered species.

The agency revealed the breakthrough in a press release, writing that its cloned ferret, named “Elizabeth Ann,” was born Dec. 10 and has been raised at the service’s black-footed ferret breeding facility in Fort Collins, Colo.

The ferret was made from frozen DNA extracted from “Willa,” a black-footed ferret who died in 1988. 

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Noreen Walsh, director of the USFWS’s Mountain-Prairie Region, said in a statement that while the research is preliminary, the cloning marked the first of “a native endangered species in North America, and it provides a promising tool for continued efforts to conserve the black-footed ferret.”

“Maintaining and increasing wild populations and suitable habitat continues to be essential for black-footed ferret recovery and will remain a priority for the Service,” Walsh said, adding that “successful genetic cloning does not diminish the importance of addressing habitat-based threats to the species or the Service’s focus on addressing habitat conservation and management to recover black-footed ferrets.”

Scientists hope the cloning could launch similar efforts to help bring back other endangered or extinct species. The Associated Press reported that the same cloning technique was used last summer for a Mongolian wild horse born at a Texas facility. 

Ben Novak, lead scientist with Revive & Restore, a biotechnology conservation nonprofit that coordinated the ferret and horse clonings, told the AP, “Biotechnology and genomic data can really make a difference on the ground with conservation efforts.” 

Pete Gober, Fish and Wildlife’s national black-footed ferret recovery coordinator, told The New York Times that black-footed ferrets burrowed throughout the American midwest in the early 1900s, but all-but vanished after their their primary food source, prairie dogs, were nearly wiped out by poisoning, plague and habitat loss. 

It was not until the 1980s that a recently dead black-footed ferret found in Wyoming led to a newly discovered population of the species, though it became further endangered due to a lack of genetic diversity, vulnerability to pathogens and health disorders from inbreeding.

Advocates in favor of raising the federal minimum wage met with Sen. Joe ManchinJoseph (Joe) ManchinOn The Money: House panel spars over GameStop, Robinhood | Manchin meets with advocates for wage | Yellen says go big, GOP says hold off Manchin meets with advocates pushing for minimum wage Conservative groups seek to bolster opposition to Biden’s HHS pick MORE (D-W.Va.) on Thursday in hopes of convincing the moderate Democrat to reconsider his opposition to a $15 an hour rate.

Manchin, who has signaled support for a smaller minimum wage increase, held the virtual meeting with representatives from groups such as the Poor People’s Campaign and Service Employees International Union.

Rev. William J. Barber II, president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, said a $15 minimum wage shouldn’t be a partisan debate.

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“No politician, Democrat [or] Republican … can say this is a left issue or right issue, a center issue of far left or far right; this is a human issue,” Barber said in a Zoom press call after the meeting. “Particularly with Democrats, though, they ran on it. They put it in their platform. … It would be an ultimate abandonment and betrayal to now get here and have the power to do it and then to retreat.”

The minimum wage increase is one of the most divisive parts of President BidenJoe BidenDeath toll from winter weather rises to at least 40: AP On The Money: House panel spars over GameStop, Robinhood | Manchin meets with advocates for wage | Yellen says go big, GOP says hold off Top political donor sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegal campaign contributions MORE‘s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that is making its way through Congress. The proposal would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25, where it has stood since 2009, to $15 by 2025. 

Manchin and fellow Democratic moderate Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) have balked at supporting the wage component of the relief bill, posing a critical challenge for Democrats given their slim tie-breaking advantage in the 50-50 Senate.

“Having grown up in the small coal-mining town of Farmington [W.V.], Senator Manchin understands the challenges facing working West Virginians and small business owners,” Manchin spokesperson Sam Runyon, told The Hill in a statement after Thursday’s meeting. “He appreciated the opportunity to meet with Bishop Barber and members of the Poor People’s Campaign to discuss the issues most important to them.”

Barber and others on the call pushed back against Manchin’s opposition to a $15 an hour wage, arguing the dollar amount was already a compromise in that it still fails to meet current costs of living across the country.

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West Virginia service workers who were on the call with Manchin slammed his remarks after the meeting.

Pam Garrison, who earns the minimum wage and is part of the Poor People’s Campaign state chapter, said Manchin’s responses in the meeting were a “cop out.”

“The minimum wage has never been sufficient to feed my family and to survive on,” Garrison said. “If you’ve never lived in poverty, you have no idea mentally, physically, emotionally, what it does to you and wears on you.”

While Census Bureau figures show that 34 million people in the U.S. were living in poverty as recently as 2019, a formula used by the Poor People’s Campaign puts the figure closer to 140 million.

With millions of workers left unemployed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of Americans living in poverty in 2020 is expected to rise.

Barber indicated that the Poor People’s Campaign would be on the ground in several states, including Arizona and West Virginia, to keep the pressure on congressional Democrats to pass the $15 minimum wage.

Whether that provision will be included in the final bill is unclear. The Senate parliamentarian will soon need to rule on whether it meets the requirements under budget reconciliation rules that will allow Democrats to pass the broader package without any GOP support.

Republicans are zeroing in on potentially hundreds of billions in unspent funds from previous rescue packages in their criticisms of President BidenJoe BidenFeds investigating Cuomo’s handling of nursing home outbreaks Overnight Defense: One-third of service members decline coronavirus vaccine | Biden to take executive action in response to Solar Winds hack | US, Japan reach cost sharing agreement On The Money: Biden faces backlash from left on student loans | Where things stand on the COVID-19 relief measure | Retail sales rebound MORE’s $1.9 trillion relief plan.

GOP lawmakers, who are in favor of a coronavirus measure that carries a smaller price tag, say the combination of unobligated funds and an improving economic outlook mean Democrats need to scale back their ambitions for the latest relief bill.

“It is estimated that approximately $1 trillion in existing COVID-19 funding has yet to be spent,” said Rep. Jason SmithJason Thomas SmithSenate Democrats likely to face key test of unity on 2022 budget House approves budget resolution for COVID-19 package Biden’s minimum wage push faces uphill battle with GOP MORE (Mo.), the top Republican on the House Budget Committee.

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“Before President Biden and congressional Democrats try to pass trillions more in spending, the American people need, at the very least, a thorough and accurate accounting of the trillions of dollars already approved.”

The funding argument has popped up at both committee hearings and on the Senate floor.

“Now we’re to a point where the Biden administration is proposing $1.9 trillion of additional spending,” Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamRiot probe to likely focus on McCarthy-Trump call Graham: Lara Trump is biggest winner of impeachment trial Congressional Democrats say Trump acquittal was foregone conclusion MORE (R-S.C.), ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee, said earlier this month.

“We haven’t spent the money we’ve allocated, nowhere near the money we’ve allocated.”

Biden, stung by the experience of a scaled-down stimulus package in 2009 that contributed to a slow recovery from the Great Recession, says it’s riskier to do a smaller relief bill than a big one, a position backed by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

“The overwhelming consensus is in order to grow the economy a year or two, three, and four down the line, we can’t spend too much,” Biden said at a CNN town hall Tuesday evening in Wisconsin.

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“Now is the time we should be spending. Now is the time to go big.”

Democrats note that most forms of government spending have a long tail, and often get budgeted out over months or years.

But Republicans say that shouldn’t be the case with emergency funds, and that Biden’s budget office has been slow to provide them with up-to-date figures as the relief package makes its way through Congress.

In a Feb. 5 letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget, Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee pointed to $700 billion in unobligated funds and asked for an update. They said they have yet to receive one.

The most recent publicly available data predates the December relief package, which was signed into law on Dec. 27. Democrats note that a large percentage of funds from previous bills had been spent, and expect to see similar trends when January data is released.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a budgetary watchdog group, estimates $1.1 trillion of the roughly $4.1 trillion approved by Congress for COVID-19 relief last year remains unused, though the numbers may not reflect expenditures in the past several weeks.

Republicans have argued that the amount of unused funds means Democrats should slim down a relief package that some economists warn could overheat the economy, potentially leading to inflation and a subsequent rise in interest rates.

Some budget experts say it’s a bit more complicated than that.

Ben Ritz, budget director at the Progressive Policy Institute, says the government funds with the greatest economic impact went out the door quickly, and are slated to run out soon.

“A lot of that money was for direct relief, unemployment benefits, stimulus checks,” he said.

Of the $900 billion in the December relief bill, $287 billion was for unemployment relief and stimulus checks.

With the stimulus funds already out the door and emergency unemployment benefits expiring on March 14, Ritz said Congress has to provide more funds, regardless of whether there’s unspent money sitting in accounts set aside for small business loans, education and transportation.

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“The line that the money hasn’t been spent was definitely true in January, but not in March,” he said.

Marc Goldwein, CFRB’s policy director, said the arguments highlighting unspent cash don’t add up.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say there’s a big pot of money that they’re not spending. And I don’t think we can afford to wait until it’s all spent, because different parts of COVID relief cover different needs,” he said.

Just because there’s unspent money covering Medicaid expenses, Goldwein said, doesn’t mean the economy is out of the woods.

But he also said significant portions of the $1.9 trillion plan, such as expanded child tax credits, have little to do with COVID-19 relief, and should be passed separately or paid for somehow.

“Some of these are great policies; none of them have anything to do with COVID,” he said.

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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that several key policies in the Democrats’ relief bill, such as funding for schools, are expected to pay out gradually over the course of a decade, far beyond when the pandemic is likely to end.

Democrats, however, see the relief measure as a means of fixing economic problems that existed before the pandemic, such as poverty and inequality. They’ve pushed to include a minimum wage hike in the bill, though it may be stripped out in Senate procedure.

Moreover, they note that they agreed to the December bill with the expectation that it would bridge the gap until Biden took office.

“Congress’ bipartisan action in December was a long-delayed down payment and only a portion of what is necessary to respond to the country’s needs going forward,” said House Budget Committee Chairman John YarmuthJohn Allen YarmuthSenate Democrats likely to face key test of unity on 2022 budget House will have to vote on budget second time as GOP notches wins On The Money: Biden commits to ,400 checks, but open to eligibility limits | House approves budget resolution for COVID-19 package | McConnell seeks to inflict political pain on budget votes MORE (D-Ky.).

“The president’s American Rescue Plan fills crucial gaps in that relief and will generate a stronger, more inclusive recovery.”

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of Japan near Fukushima on Saturday, but there has so far been no tsunami threat from the earthquake. 

The Japan Meteorological Agency said besides power outages, there has been no major damage done by the earthquake, Bloomberg reported. 

There has been an emergency task force set up by the government as the earthquake was felt by many in Japan, including those in the capital city of Tokyo.

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It is not clear how many have been injured or possibly killed from the earthquake. It is estimated that 800,000 households are having power outages as a result of the natural disaster.

No signs of a tsunami is a relief for many after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan that devastated the country and took the lives of many.

Jaguar announced Monday that 100 percent of its new vehicle sales will be electric vehicles by 2025, becoming the latest company to embrace the trend away from fossil fuel use in the face of growing concerns about climate change.

Jaguar CEO Thierry Bolloré made the announcement, according to Forbes and USA Today, while adding that electric vehicles would make up 60 percent of new vehicles sold under the company’s Land Rover SUV brand by 2030 as well.

“The purity of electric is the next natural step. At the heart of Reimagine will be the electrification of both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands,” said Bolloré, according to Forbes.

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“By the middle of the decade, Jaguar will have undergone a renaissance to emerge as a pure electric luxury brand with a dramatically beautiful new portfolio of emotionally engaging designs and pioneering next-generation technologies,” Bolloré added.

Within two decades, the company plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across the board, he continued.

The Jaguar I-Pace, the company’s only electric vehicle currently on the market, won a World Car of the Year award in 2019. An all-electric Range Rover is slated to be released later this year.

Charges have been dropped against a woman who gained notoriety after she was filmed calling the police on a Black birdwatcher in a viral video last year. 

The woman, Amy Cooper, had been charged for filing a false report. The charge was dismissed after she finished an educational program that focused on racial biases. 

A judge granted the case’s dismissal after the prosecution requested it following Cooper’s completion of the therapeutic educational program that centered on how racial identities impact individual lives, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told the court, according to a transcript obtained by The Hill.

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“The simple principle is that one cannot use the police to threaten another and in this case, in a racially offensive and charged manner,” Illuzzi-Orbon said.

The prosecution offered the program as an alternative restorative justice resolution designed “to educate and promote community healing” instead of a punishment. Cooper’s therapist said the five sessions were “a moving experience” and her client “learned a lot,” Illuzzi-Orbon said. 

Cooper’s lawyer Robert Barnes announced that his client’s case was dismissed over Twitter, while expressing gratitude toward the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for “a thorough & honest inquiry.”

“We thank them for their integrity & concur w/ the outcome,” he posted. “Others rushed to the wrong conclusion based on inadequate investigation & they may yet face legal consequences.”

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Cooper was charged after she called police and said “an African American man” was “threatening” her and her dog in Central Park. 

The man she made the false claim about was a birdwatcher named Christian Cooper. He is not related to Amy Cooper.

Christian Cooper had requested Amy Cooper leash her dog as required in the park’s ramble, but she refused and as the argument intensified called the police, as seen in a video posted by Christian Cooper’s sister.

Later that day, she issued an apology, following backlash from the video, which Christian Cooper said he accepted. 

“I reacted emotionally and made false assumptions about his intentions when, in fact, I was the one who was acting inappropriately by not having my dog on a leash,” she said. 

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s (D) office charged Amy Cooper with falsely reporting the incident in July. 

Prosecution revealed in October that Amy Cooper made a second unreported call to police that day during which she continued allegations that Christian Cooper had attempted to assault her. Once police arrived on the scene, she “admitted that the male had not ‘tried to assault’ or come in contact with her.”

The dispute led Amy Cooper to lose her job at the investment firm Franklin Templeton last year, which released a statement at the time saying, “We do not tolerate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton.”

The incident occurred on Memorial Day last year, the same day that George Floyd died in Minneapolis after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. Floyd’s death sparked international outrage and protests against police brutality.

AEW has announced the rules for their upcoming Casino Tag Team Royale match at AEW Revolution on March 7.

According to a graphic posted by AEW on social media this afternoon, the order of entry in the match will be selected by lottery. Two teams start the match, and every 90 seconds a new tag team will enter. Tag teams will be eliminated when both members have been eliminated over the top rope. The winning tag team will earn a shot at the AEW World Tag Team titles, currently held by the Young Bucks.

Bear Country (Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson), Alex Reynolds & John Silver, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson, Ortiz & Santana, The Butcher & The Blade, Private Party, and Top Flight have been announced as participants, with more to be announced prior to the pay-per-view event.

Here is the full card announced so far for Revolution:

World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida vs. the title eliminator tournament winner
Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks vs. MJF & Chris Jericho
Hangman Page vs. Matt Hardy for the loser’s Q1 2021 earnings
Team Taz (Brian Cage & Ricky Starks) vs. Sting & Darby Allin in a street fight
Casino Tag Team Royale for a future Tag Team title shot
Miro & Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy & Chuck Taylor