Reuters World News Summary

Hours earlier, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble had denounced the proposed term extension and called for preparations for a new presidential election. Senators urge Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Bowing to pressure, Somalia's president agrees not to extend presidential term

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said on Wednesday he would drop an attempt to extend his term by two years, bowing to domestic and international pressure after clashes in the capital Mogadishu split security forces along clan lines. Hours earlier, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble had denounced the proposed term extension and called for preparations for a new presidential election.

Senators urge Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters. Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to "explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity."

Saudi crown prince: Only few differences with Biden administration

File photo of crown prince?/la Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in remarks aired on Tuesday that the United States was a strategic partner and that Riyadh had only a few differences with the Biden administration which it was working to resolve.

Washington helping Kabul replace departing U.S. contractors: envoy

The United States is helping to find replacements for American contractors who provide vital services to the Kabul government but must leave Afghanistan under a 2020 agreement, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Tuesday. "The Afghans ... with our help are looking for others to be able to provide that service to them," Khalilzad told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We're obviously very sympathetic to them to find alternatives."

Guatemalan civil society to ask U.S. to help tackle corruption

Guatemalan civil society leaders say they will implore the United States to sanction more people linked to corruption and to promote the independence of the judicial system when they meet with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. The meeting takes place a day after Harris met virtually with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and U.S. sanctions were imposed on Felipe Alejos Lorenzana, an elected delegate in Guatemala's Congress, and Gustavo Adolfo Alejos Cambara, chief of staff under former President Alvaro Colom, over corruption allegations.

Australia to upgrade military bases, expand wargames with U.S. - The Australian

Australia will unveil a A$747 million ($580 million) defence package on Wednesday to upgrade four military bases in its north and expand war games with the United States, The Australian newspaper reported. An airstrip in the Northern Territory will be lengthened to support larger aircraft, firing ranges overhauled and new training facilities set up for defence personnel and U.S. marines, The Australian newspaper reported.

Barbados ex-minister sentenced to two years in U.S. for laundering bribes

A former minister in the government of Barbados was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for laundering bribes he received from a Barbadian insurance company through a U.S. bank, the U.S. Justice Department said. Donville Inniss, 55, who had served as minister of industry in the Caribbean nation and as a member of its parliament, was convicted by a federal jury in January 2020, the department said in a statement.

Botswana president in self-quarantine, to miss meeting on Mozambique attacks

Botswana's president will miss a Southern African regional meeting he had been due to chair on Thursday to discuss recent attacks on Mozambique after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, prompting him to self-quarantine, his office said on Tuesday. Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique will be attending a summit of a division of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), where they will receive a report on how they can help Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province following Islamic State-linked attacks there.

U.S. appeals court rejects Ghislaine Maxwell's latest bail request

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's latest request for bail, after her lawyer said guards in her Brooklyn jail were keeping her awake at night to ensure she does not commit suicide like the financier Jeffrey Epstein. In a brief order, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said that to the extent Maxwell is being deprived of sleep, she should seek relief from U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who oversees her criminal case.

Vital medical supplies reach India as COVID deaths near 200,000

Vital medical supplies began to reach India on Tuesday as hospitals starved of life-saving oxygen and beds turned away coronavirus patients, and a surge in infections pushed the death toll close to 200,000. A shipment from Britain, including 100 ventilators and 95 oxygen concentrators, arrived in the capital New Delhi, though a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britain had no surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses to spare.