US expects 2 Reuters journalists

to be acquitted in Myanmar

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley says the Trump administration expects to see two Reuters journalists accused by Myanmar’s government of illegally possessing official documents acquitted of all charges next week.

A Myanmar judge postponed the verdict in the case of Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone on Monday, saying it will be announced on Sept. 3.

The two reporters have pleaded not guilty to violating Myanmar’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act. They contend they were framed by police while reporting on Myanmar’s brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.

Haley told the Security Council Tuesday that “a free and responsible press is critical for any democracy.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed, without mentioning names, that “we must also continue to press for the release of journalists who have been reporting on this human tragedy.”

Brazil to deploy military in state

flooded with Venezuelans

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Michel Temer announced Tuesday that he’ll deploy the military to restore order in a state at the heart of the Venezuelan migrant crisis, as new data showed a surge in killings that meant the state now has the highest homicide rate in the country.

Between January and June, there were 27.7 homicides for every 100,000 people in Roraima, a poor state in northern Brazil on the border with Venezuela, data from the Violence Monitor showed. Rio Grande do Norte, with 27.1 killings per 100,000, had the second-highest rate, followed by Ceara and Acre, both with 26.

In the past three years, Roraima, like many Brazilian states, has been the scene of an intense battle between criminal organizations for territory and influence. During the same period, it has also been the major entry point into Brazil for Venezuelans fleeing political and economic turmoil in their homeland. Both have put pressure on the state’s institutions and contributed to a feeling of instability.