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Senator Rob Portman, one of ten Republicans who will meet with Joe Biden later today, previewed the group’s priorities when it comes to coronavirus relief.
Looking forward to meeting with @POTUS this afternoon to discuss #COVID19 relief. Let’s work together on a bipartisan agreement that provides targeted relief to the families and small businesses that need it the most.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has released a new statement condemning the military coup in Myanmar.
“I call on Burma’s military to immediately release the civilian political leaders of the country and turn back from this abyss,” the Republican leader said. “We need to support the people of Burma in their journey toward democracy and impose costs on those who stand in their way.”
I call on Burma’s military to immediately release the civilian political leaders of the country and turn back from this abyss. We need to support the people of Burma in their journey toward democracy and impose costs on those who stand in their way. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/C2uOjnIVQx
The military coup and suspension of democracy in Myanmar has been condemned by the US, and noted by China, as the world divided on largely predictable lines over the importance it attached to the young democracy.
Tony Blinken, the US secretary of state, facing his first major crisis since assuming office last week, expressed the US’s ‘grave concern and alarm’. He called on Myanmar’s military leaders to release all civilian government officials, including the state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, and to respect the will of the people as expressed in democratic elections on 8 November.
Related: Myanmar coup: US and China divided in response to army takeover
Read the original article at The Guardian