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Myanmar's security forces have cracked down on new protests as the leaders of its coup marked Armed Forces Day. Protesters took to the streets of Yangon and other cities, with reports that 16 had been shot dead. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said in a national TV address on Saturday he would "safeguard democracy", promising elections but giving no timetable. More than 320 people have been killed in the suppression of protests since the coup on 1 February.

Source: bbc.com

Former world champion Oscar de la Hoya says he will make his boxing comeback in July - 13 years after retiring. The 48-year-old held 11 titles across six weight divisions in a 16-year career and is regarded as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters. His final fight was a defeat by Manny Pacquiao in 2008.

Source: bbc.com

An asteroid named for the Egyptian god of chaos and darkness won't be wreaking any havoc on Earth -- at least not this century. That's the good news from NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, released on Friday.

Source: cnn.com

Kodchakorn Tantiwiwatkul had bought sea snails for 70 baht (£1.65) from a local market for dinner in Satun, Thailand, when she made the shocking discovery. She found a round orange object inside one the shells and was gobsmacked when she learnt it was in fact a six gram Melo pearl, that measures 1.5cm in diameter, and depending on its quality could be worth a small fortune. Melo pearls are produced by predatory sea snails called Volutidae and usually found in South China Sea and Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar.

Source: mirror.co.uk

As part of a major revamp of its online presence, the world's most-visited museum has created a new database of 482,000 items at collections.louvre.fr with more than three-quarters already labelled with information and pictures.

Source: france24.com

North Korea said on Saturday that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden had taken a wrong first step and revealed “deep-seated hostility” by criticising its self-defensive missile test. Biden said the test violated U.N. Security Council resolutions but he remained open to diplomacy with Pyongyang. Ri Pyong Chol, secretary of the North’s ruling Worker’s Party’s Central Committee, said the test was self-defensive against threats posed by South Korea and the United States with their joint military exercises and advanced weapons.

Source: reuters.com

Officials at a Virginia school where a wallet was found during a remodeling project are returning the item to the woman who lost it as a student nearly 70 years earlier. The wallet's contents included 85 cents, some Santa Claus stamps from 1951, a 1951 calendar and a pair of photos. Information found in the wallet identified the owner as Ester French, 85, who moved to Connecticut in 1957.

Source: upi.com

One defective gene might turn some bunnies’ hops into handstands, a new study suggests. To move quickly, a breed of domesticated rabbit called sauteur d’Alfort sends its back legs sky high and walks on its front paws. That strange gait may be the result of a gene tied to limb movement. Sauteur d’Alfort rabbits aren’t the only animal to adopt an odd scamper if there’s a mutation to this gene, known as RORB. Mice with a mutation to the gene also do handstands if they start to run.

Source: sciencenews.org

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Iran on Friday for a visit that Iranian state media said would see the signing of a 25-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, which are both under U.S sanctions. The accord, final details of which are yet to be announced, is expected to include Chinese investments in Iran’s energy and infrastructure sectors.

Source: reuters.com

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to receive a report from historians who were tasked with studying France's links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which at least 800,000 people died. Publication of the report could help to ease French-Rwandan tensions, as Rwanda has long accused France of complicity. From April to June 1994 ethnic Hutu extremists massacred Rwanda's minority Tutsi community and moderate Hutus. A Hutu elite ruled Rwanda at the time.

Source: bbc.com

At least 32 people have been killed and 66 injured after two trains collided in southern Egypt, the deadliest such incident in nearly four years. Dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene of the crash in the southern province of Sohag, the country’s health ministry said.

Source: independent.co.uk

Poland reported a record number of coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day on Friday, with 35,143 new cases, health ministry data showed as the country’s healthcare system is testing the limits of its capacity. The government has announced more restrictions on Thursday to curb the surging number of infections.

Source: reuters.com

The ivory trade, loss of vital habitat and a deeper understanding of elephant biology have all combined to reveal a previously underestimated threat to Africa's elephants. African forest elephants are now critically endangered, an update from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reveals. There are now just over 400,000 elephants across the African continent.

Source: bbc.com

"In terms of performance, the J-16 is a superior to all types of aircraft I have flown. Speaking of the control capacity of the aircraft, the J-16 is a 3.5 generation plane with huge breakthroughs in radar and fire control systems in comparison with previous aircraft," said Wang Songxi, a flying instructor at the People's Liberation Army Northern Theater Command Air Force.

Source: globaltimes.cn

China has sanctioned organisations and individuals in the United Kingdom over what it called “lies and disinformation” about Xinjiang, after Britain imposed sanctions for human rights abuses in the western Chinese region. The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that it sanctioned four entities and nine individuals, including the former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith and the Conservative party’s own Human Rights Commission.

Source: theguardian.com

H&M, Nike and other big Western apparel brands are facing a boycott in China because of the stand they've taken against the alleged use of forced labor to produce cotton in the country's western region of Xinjiang.

Source: cnn.com

A series of tornadoes hatched by early spring “super cell” storms tore across Alabama and moved into Georgia early Friday, leaving at least five people dead amid ruins of wrecked homes, splintered trees and crumpled businesses. Authorities said one fierce tornado traveled roughly 160 kilometers across Alabama on Thursday, leaving a long path of damage. The National Weather Service for Atlanta said a “dangerous, fast moving” tornado ripped through some of the metro’s southern suburbs just after midnight.

Source: apnews.com

Authorities are warning of a growing criminal threat which is attempting to scam vulnerable people with fake COVID-19 vaccines as Interpol warned many to be wary of fraud. The police organisation dismantled several criminal organisations in China and South Africa who were targetting scared and vulnerable people who were desperate for a dose. Criminal gangs have already made roughly two million euros and have secured personal details from many which can be used for nefarious purposes.

Source: express.co.uk