WASHINGTON — The U.S. business lobby says it is high time to drop the remaining U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, but human rights activists and U.S. lawmakers say not so fast.

Former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi is now running the government after winning elections. Still, the military continues to wield considerable power.

That poses a dilemma for President Barack Obama, who wants to encourage investment but not lose leverage to encourage further reforms. So next week, Obama is expected to renew sanctions for another year. The administration could take some state-run companies off a U.S. Treasury blacklist.

Secretary of State John Kerry will be traveling to Myanmar on May 22 to signal support for the civilian-led government that took power last month and for further democratic and economic reforms, the State Department said Friday.

The U.S. waived its longstanding bans on investment and trade in 2012 after the country also known as Burma began shifting from a half-century of repressive military rule. The U.S. still forbids business dealings with companies majority-owned by the military and dozens of companies and individuals designated by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The United States also bans arms trading and imports of rubies and jade, one of Myanmar's most lucrative industries.

The authority under which sanctions are imposed is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which empowers the president to regulate commerce with another country in response to "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States. Some 20 countries are subject to such a declared emergency.

"Does an emergency still exist as it did in Burma five or 10 years ago?" said John Goyer, senior director for Southeast Asia for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is pushing lifting of Myanmar-specific sanctions that it says create uncertainty for investors. He said that where necessary, the U.S. could blacklist companies and individuals under different sanctions programs.

Although several major U.S. firms like Coca-Cola, General Electric, Chevron and Caterpillar are now operating in Myanmar, U.S. investment of USD$248 million (8.8 billion baht) represents less than 1 percent of total foreign investment there, a much lower proportion than in other Southeast Asian countries, Goyer said.

Human rights activists see matters through a different prism. They cite continuing repression of 140,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims confined to squalid internment camps, and abuses by Myanmar's army in long-running hostilities against ethnic armies.

"The current sanctions regime is deliberately limited and creates incentives for human rights abusers to clean up their act," said Matthew Smith, executive director of the group Fortify Rights. "These measures are sensible and should remain in place. Known human rights abusers shouldn't profit from improved bilateral relations."

U.S. lawmakers of both parties have also urged Obama to renew the sanctions authority that expires on May 20.

In a letter to the president this week, seven House members said that despite the electoral success of Suu Kyi's party, "there is no path toward ending the military's extraordinary and powerful role in civilian politics." Under the current, junta-era constitution, the military controls three key government ministries and 25 percent of parliamentary seats.

Congressional aides briefed by the administration this week said they expect the sanctions authority to be renewed but for some non-military state-owned enterprises to be either removed from the Treasury blacklist, or get waivers. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter before the announcement. The aides said that the administration is also considering the duty-free trade benefits for Myanmar, but it's unclear when that might happen.

Tin Htut Oo, former chairman of Myanmar's National Economic and Social Advisory Council, said sanctions were slowing down trade. He stressed the importance of the U.S. restoring duty-free trade benefits to help the economy grow.

"The U.S. can still put some particular sanction on Myanmar but the unnecessary ones, especially (ones) that affect the people, farmers and poor people, should be lifted," he said.

Story: Matthew Pennington / Associated Press

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CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolas Maduro threatened Saturday to take over idle factories and jail their owners following a decree granting him expanded powers to act in the face of a deep economic crisis.

Maduro's remarks came as Venezuela's opposition warned the embattled leader that if he tries to block an attempt to hold a recall referendum, society could "explode."

Speaking to supporters in the capital, Caracas, the president ordered "all actions to recover the production apparatus, which is being paralyzed by the bourgeoisie."

He also said that businesspeople who "sabotage the country" by halting production at their plants risk being "put in handcuffs."

Last month the country's largest food and beverage distributor, Empresas Polar, shut down its last operating beer plant. It says it has been unable to access hard currency to buy raw materials.

Maduro accuses Polar and others of trying to destabilize the financially stricken country by exacerbating shortages of goods from foodstuffs to medicines to toilet paper.

Meanwhile dueling anti- and pro-government crowds demonstrated in Caracas on Saturday for and against a bid to recall the president. Maduro opponents demanded that the National Electoral Council rule on the validity of some 1.8 million signatures collected in favor of the referendum and allow it to move forward.

"If you obstruct the democratic way, we do not know what could happen in this country," opposition leader Henrique Capriles said at one rally. "Venezuela is a bomb that could explode at any moment."

Across town, Maduro ally Jorge Rodriguez vowed there would be no recall referendum.

"They got signatures from dead people, minors and undocumented foreigners," Rodriguez said.

Opposition leaders deny any fraud in the signature drive.

Friday's decree extended for 60 days Maduro's exceptional powers to address the crisis. Venezuela is suffering from multiple financial woes including rampant inflation and low prices for oil, the cornerstone of its economy.

Opposition leaders accuse Maduro and his predecessor, the late President Hugo Chavez, of mismanaging the economy. Maduro alleges that conservative political interests are waging what he calls an "economic war" seeking his ouster.

Story: Ricardo Nunez and Juan Camilo Hernandez / Associated Press

MANSFIELD, Texas — A Siamese cat recently cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest living cat did not live to enjoy the title.

Scooter marked his 30th birthday on March 26. However, owner Gail Floyd of Mansfield, Texas, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Scooter had died by the time Guinness conferred its title on April 8.

Dr. Tricia Latimer, a Mansfield veterinarian, says Scooter had lived to the equivalent of about 136 human years.

Scooter wasn't Guinness' oldest cat of all time, though. That mark belongs to a fellow Texas cat who lived to be 38.

Story: Associated Press

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Siamese, 30, is Named Oldest Living Cat

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TOKYO — Leaders of Tokyo's winning bid for the 2020 Olympics acknowledged Friday making payments to a firm in Singapore, but said the funds were for legitimate consulting fees and maintained that all bid activities were "fair and correct."