US to restore ties with Myanmar

US to restore ties with Myanmar

washington

The United States is restoring full diplomatic relations with Myanmar, a landmark in the Obama administration’s drive to reward democratic reforms by a government the U.S. previously treated as a pariah.

The decision announced Friday to exchange ambassadors with Myanmar for the first time in two decades followed the release of hundreds of political prisoners, but Washington probably will be looking for fair conduct in coming elections and an end to ethnic violence before it lifts sanctions.

The U.S. wants Myanmar to open up to U.N. nuclear inspectors and sever illicit military ties with North Korea.

Gambling priest sentenced to 3 years

las vegas

Muffled sobs erupted Friday in a courtroom packed with supporters of a Roman Catholic priest who was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison and ordered to repay $650,000 he acknowledged embezzling from his northwest Las Vegas parish to support his gambling habit.

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe, 59, offered no reaction as U.S. District Judge James Mahan credited him for accepting responsibility for looting parish votive candle, prayer and gift-shop funds for eight years, but faulted him for “hedging his bet” by blaming it on a gambling addiction.

Van der Sloot gets 28 years in prison

lima, peru

Joran van der Sloot knew his guilty plea in the strangulation death of a young woman he met at a Lima casino was a big gamble as he tried to get a reduced sentence. On Friday, the poker-loving Dutchman lost.

A three-judge panel sentenced him to 28 years in prison, discarding his claims of contrition in a killing his lawyer said was triggered by trauma from being the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway.

Asked if he accepted the sentence, Van der Sloot said he would appeal.

The sentencing came a day after a judge in Alabama declared Holloway legally dead as her parents try to bring Van der Sloot, 24, to the U.S. for a related crime.

Financial analyst wins $208M jackpot

middle island, n.y.

A financial analyst from California has come forward to claim a $208 million lottery jackpot after buying the winning ticket in New York last month.

Daniel Bruckner of San Jose joined New York State Lottery officials Friday at the Long Island supermarket where the ticket was sold.

The winning Mega Millions numbers were drawn Dec. 27. The 35-year-old bought the ticket while visiting relatives on Long Island over the holidays.

Oprah’s elite grads

henley-on-klip, south africa

Oprah Winfrey makes no apologies for spending millions on an elite school for underprivileged South African girls. But she’s also looking to make her money stretch further to help more struggling Africans.

Winfrey spoke Friday on the eve of the first graduation at her school. Of the 75 students who started at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007, 72 graduate today.

All are headed to universities in South Africa and the United States to pursue such studies as medicine, law, engineering and economics.

Associated Press