A Myanmar court sentenced deposed civilian leader (Reuters) Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison on charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions. Since Myanmar’s February military coup, which ousted Suu Kyi from her role as the country’s de facto leader, Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado. Meanwhile, the military has violently cracked down (CNN) on pro-democracy demonstrators and arrested thousands of people. 
 
Human rights organizations as well as the European Union, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other countries condemned the verdict. Two other leaders from Suu Kyi’s party were sentenced (WaPo) to two and four years, and Suu Kyi faces further charges that could lead to prison sentences of more than one hundred years total.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry made the comment (Reuters) after CNN reported that U.S. government officials will not attend the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to protest the Chinese government’s human rights abuses.
 
This In Brief looks at the debate over boycotting the Beijing Olympics.
 
Taiwan/Slovakia: Senior Slovak officials are carrying out (AP) the country’s highest-level visit to Taiwan since opening a representative office on the island in 2003.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet (Hindustan Times) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today. The leaders are expected to sign deals to expand cooperation on issues including defense and trade. The Indian and Russian defense and foreign ministers will also meet.

The national security advisor of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his Iranian counterpart, Ali Shamkhani, reportedly said they hoped the visit could yield (Al Jazeera) “warm” ties. The UAE is part of a coalition fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
 
Jordan: Five senior health officials were sentenced (Reuters) to three years in jail after ten COVID-19 patients died during an oxygen shortage at a hospital in March.  

Niger’s defense ministry said “dozens of terrorists” and at least twelve soldiers were killed (AFP) in a battle in the country’s west. Groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the self-declared Islamic State often attack communities in the region. 
 
Gambia: Incumbent President Adama Barrow won reelection (BBC) on Saturday, authorities said, winning around 53 percent of votes compared to his nearest rival’s 28 percent.

During a five-day trip to Cyprus and Greece, Pope Francis said (NYT) that global cooperation “seems to be terribly absent when it comes to migration,” and he compared migrant detention centers to “concentration camps.”
 
France: President Emmanuel Macron said several European countries are considering opening a joint mission (BBC) in Afghanistan that would not amount to political recognition of the Taliban.
 
For Foreign Affairs, P. Michael McKinley discusses Afghanistan’s looming humanitarian catastrophe.

Julio Borges, the foreign affairs commissioner of opposition leader Juan Guaido, said Guaido’s claim (Bloomberg) to head an interim government has been “deformed.”
 
CFR’s Elliott Abrams discusses the lessons learned from the failure of democracy promotion in Venezuela.
 
Brazil: The country’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered an investigation (Al Jazeera) into President Jair Bolsonaro’s false claims that COVID-19 vaccines can increase chances of contracting AIDS.

The world’s one hundred biggest arms companies sold a record $531 billion worth of weapons and military services in 2020, with 54 percent of those sales coming from U.S. companies, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).