World breaking news today (Feb 16): China overtakes U.S. as EU's biggest trading partner
	World breaking news today (Feb 15): Prince Harry and Meghan 'overjoyed' to be expecting second child
	World breaking news today (February 10): Myanmar police fire to disperse protest, four hurt, one critical

Trump, Giuliani accused in lawsuit of conspiring to incite US Capitol riot

A Democratic congressman, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday (Feb 16), accused former President Donald Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and two right-wing groups of conspiring to incite last month’s deadly riot at the US Capitol.

The civil lawsuit accuses them of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 law passed to crack down on the white supremacist organisation. It is the latest legal attempt to find Trump responsible for the violence on Jan 6, which came after he spent months falsely claiming his election defeat in November was the result of widespread fraud.

It also names as defendants the Proud Boys, a far-right organisation, and the anti-government militia known as the “Oath Keepers”.

The US Senate on Saturday acquitted Trump of inciting the Jan 6 riot, when 57 senators, including seven Republicans, voted to convict, short of the 67 votes needed.

Although most Republicans voted against convicting Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell nonetheless made it clear he still felt Trump was responsible.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and attorneys from the law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll are handling the litigation.

Other members of Congress, including Democratic Representatives Hank Johnson and Bonnie Watson Coleman, are expected to join the lawsuit, according to Straits Times.

Myanmar: UN rights chief warns of ‘spiral of violence’ in Rakhine state

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has said the Government needs to condemn such inflammatory – potentially very dangerous – rhetoric no matter who is responsible. Failing this, there is a real risk that it could exacerbate the current spiral of violence.

On 9 October, OHCHR received reports that three Border Guard police posts in Maungdaw and Rathidaung, also part of the Rakhine State, were attacked during security operations.

Likewise, offensives in Kachin and Northern Shan state continue to cause human rights violations and displacement.

Rohingyas who were displaced by violence in 2012 stand outside their newly-rebuilt home in the village of In Bar Yi, Rakhine State, Myamar. (Photo: News UN)

The UN rights Office also stressed that the authorities must respect international humanitarian law and the rights of IDPs, pointing out that continued failure to do so would draw a sharp response from the international community.

The High Commissioner also regretted that, beyond the formation of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine state led by Kofi Annan, the Government has largely failed to act on the recommendations made in an OHCHR report in June on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, News UN reported.

Wife of North Korea's Kim makes first public appearance in a year

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's wife, Ri Sol Ju, appeared in state media for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday (Feb 17), joining her husband at a concert on one of the country's biggest holidays.

The official ruling Worker's Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun released photos of the pair at the event to mark the birthday of Kim's late father and former leader Kim Jong Il.

(Photo: The Star)

Ri had often accompanied Kim to major public events, but had not been seen since January last year at an event for the Lunar New Year holiday, stoking speculation over her health and potential pregnancy.

Ri and Kim smiled as they watched the concert at Mansudae Art Theatre in the capital of Pyongyang. Unlike several previous events, nobody in the photographs published by Rodong Sinmun was wearing a mask or maintaining social distancing measures.

The newspaper also reported that Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, to lay wreaths for the anniversary, called the Day of the Shining Star, as reported by Reuters.

U.S. forces in Iraq hit by rockets, contractor killed

A rocket attack on U.S.-led forces in northern Iraq killed a civilian contractor on Monday and injured a U.S. service member, the U.S. coalition in Iraq said, in the deadliest such attack in almost a year.

The rockets landed in and around a military air base operated by the coalition at Erbil International Airport.

The attack, claimed by a little-known group that some Iraqi officials say has links with Iran, raises tensions as Washington explores some degree of detente with Tehran.

The coalition spokesman tweeted on Tuesday that the dead contractor was not American, but did not elaborate. He said three 107 mm rockets had landed inside the base.

(Photo: US News and World Report)

Of the nine other people hurt, eight were civilian contractors and one a U.S. service member, a coalition spokesman said. A U.S. official who declined to be named said the U.S. serviceman had concussion.

In Washington, the White House said the United States was still working to determine who was responsible for the attack.

The attack comes just three weeks before a March 5-8 visit to Iraq by Pope Francis, which is due to include Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region, Reuters said.

Gold price forecast – gold markets break hard to the downside

Gold markets got hammered during the trading session on Tuesday as we have broken clearly below the 200 day EMA again.

Gold markets have broken down during the trading session on Tuesday as the US dollar has picked up a bit of momentum. That of course is toxic for gold, and we have even pierced the $1800 level. Between the $1800 level and the $1750 level, I suspect there is a significant amount of support that traders will be looking at. The question now is whether or not the uptrend in gold is over, or are we simply forming a larger basing pattern? I think that still a bit of an open question but with yields rising in the United States, if it does not stop, that will cause a breakdown in the gold market.

(Photo: USA Today)

The shape of the candlestick does imply that there is a certain amount of support underneath though, as we have seen a significant turnaround in the market as New York came on board. Whether or not we can break above the 50 day EMA above will determine whether or not we get a bigger move. Ultimately, I do think that this is a scenario that will continue to be very noisy in general, but I think the next couple of weeks we should get some answers, according to FX Empire.

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