MYANMAR'S SUU KYI DETAINED IN MILITARY COUP, 1-YEAR EMERGENCY DECLARED

Myanmar's military staged a coup on Monday, detaining de facto leader Aung

San Suu Kyi and declaring it had taken control of the country for one year

under a state of emergency.

The intervention came after weeks of rising tensions between the military,

which ruled the country for nearly five decades, and the civilian government

over allegations of fraud in November's elections.

The military last week signalled it could seize power to settle its claims

of irregularities in the polls, which Suu Kyi's National League for

Democracy (NLD) party won easily.

Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the capital Naypyidaw

before dawn on Monday, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told AFP, just hours before

parliament was meant to resume for the first time since the elections.

"We heard they were taken by the military... With the situation we see

happening now, we have to assume that the military is staging a coup," he

said.

The military then declared, via its own television channel, a one-year state

of emergency.

In Yangon, the former capital that remains Myanmar's commercial hub, troops

seized the city hall, according to an AFP journalist.

Elsewhere, the chief minister of Karen state and several other regional

ministers were also held.

The newly elected lower house of parliament was due to convene for the first

time on Monday but the military was calling for a postponement.

Soldiers are on the streets of the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main city,

Yangon.

Mobile internet data connections and some phone services have been disrupted

in major cities, while the state broadcaster MRTV says it is having

technical issues and is off air.

NAVALNY: THOUSANDS JOIN FRESH PROTESTS ACROSS RUSSIA

Thousands of Russians have been taking part in unauthorised protests to

demand the release of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

More than 2,000 people have been detained, a monitoring group says. In

Moscow police closed metro stations and blocked off the city centre.

Mr Navalny was jailed on his return to Russia after recovering from an

attempt to kill him with a nerve agent.

He blames the security services for the attack but the Kremlin denies this.

Russian authorities say Mr Navalny was supposed to report to police

regularly because of a suspended sentence for embezzlement.

Mr Navalny has denounced his detention as "blatantly illegal", saying the

authorities had allowed him to travel to Berlin for treatment for the

Novichok poisoning, which happened in Russia last August.

Mr Navalny has blamed state security agents under Mr Putin's orders for the

attempt on his life and investigative journalists have named Russian FSB

agents suspected of the poisoning. But the Kremlin denies involvement and

disputes the conclusion, by Western weapons experts, that Novichok was used.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied reports he is the

owner of a vast palace on the Black Sea, as alleged by Mr Navalny in a video

that has gone viral in Russia and has been watched more than 100m times.

ALEXEI NAVALNY, WHO, GRETA THUNBERG AND DONALD TRUMP AMONG NOMINEES FOR

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the World Health Organization and climate

campaigner Greta Thunberg are among those nominated for this year's Nobel

Peace Prize, all backed by Norwegian lawmakers who have a track record of

picking the winner.

According to a Reuters survey of Norwegian lawmakers, nominees include Ms.

Thunberg, Mr. Navalny, the WHO and its COVAX programme to secure fair access

to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries.

Ms. Thunberg was named as one of "the foremost spokespeople inthe fight

against the climate crisis", with the campaigning group she co-founded,

Fridays for Future, also receiving a nod.

Mr. Navalny, nominated by Russian academics, was named for his"efforts for a

peaceful democratisation of Russia" by Norwegian former Minister Ola

Elvestuen.

Other names are Belarusian activists Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Maria

Kolesnikova and Veronika Tsepkalo for their "fight for a fair election and

inspiration for peaceful resistance", one nominator, Geir Sigbjoern

Toskedal, said.

Other nominees include former U.S. President Donald Trump, NATO and the U.N.

refugee agency (UNHCR).

The 2021 laureate will be announced in October.

ASTRAZENECA 'AGREES TO BOOST EU VACCINE SUPPLIES'

The EU says UK-Swedish drug firm AstraZeneca will now supply an additional

nine million Covid vaccine doses by March, after days of criticism of the

bloc's vaccination programme.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a "step forward".

But the 40m doses now expected are still only about half of what had been

hoped, amid continuing supply problems.

The Commission has been involved in a much-criticised row with both the UK

and AstraZeneca this week.

In particular it was condemned over its threat to put checks on the Northern

Ireland border to prevent vaccines produced in the EU from reaching the UK.

The border was one of the most difficult problems to overcome in the

recently agreed Brexit deal, following the UK's departure from the EU.

In a tweet, Ms von der Leyen said AstraZeneca would "deliver 9 million

additional doses in the first quarter (40 million in total) compared to last

week's offer & will start deliveries one week earlier than scheduled".

She said this represented a 30% increase on the previous amount.

Irish broadcaster RTE is reporting that the country will get another 100,000

doses as a result.

OSAMA USED TO FINANCE, SUPPORT NAWAZ SHARIF: FORMER AMBASSADOR

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had supported and funded ex-prime minister

Nawaz Sharif, a former Pakistani diplomat who also served as a minister in

the PML-N supremo's cabinet has alleged.

"Yes, he (Osama) supported Mian Nawaz Sharif at one time. However, that is a

complicated story. He (Osama) used to extend financial assistance (to

Sharif)," Pakistan's former envoy to the United States Abida Hussain claimed

this during an interview to a private news channel, Geo TV reported.

Hussain, 73, also an ex-cabinet member of the Sharif government, recalled

that at one time bin Laden was popular and liked by everyone, including the

Americans but at a later stage, he was treated as a stranger, the channel

said.

She was apparently referring to the Soviet-Afghan War in 1980s during which

bin Laden was fighting against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan alongside

insurgent groups - known as the Mujahideen.

Last week, a lawmaker from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Party

alleged that Sharif took USD 10 million from bin Laden to bring a

no-confidence motion for overthrowing Benazir Bhutto's government.

Referring to a book written by late premier Bhutto, Farrukh Habib said

Sharif's daughter and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice president

Maryam Nawaz should read the book.

"It is written on page 201 that her father Nawaz Sharif laid the foundation

of foreign funding in the country and used USD 10 million from Osama bin

Laden to bring a no-confidence motion to overthrow Benazir's government," he

claimed on Thursday.

'FOREIGN TROOPS TO STAY IN AFGHANISTAN BEYOND MAY'

International troops plan to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline

envisaged by Taliban's deal with the U.S., four senior NATO officials said,

a move that could escalate tensions with the Taliban demanding full

withdrawal.

"There will be no full withdrawal by allies by April-end,"one of the

officials told Reuters.

"Conditions have not been met," he said on condition of anonymity because of

the sensitivity of the matter. "And with the new U.S. administration, there

will be tweaks in the policy,the sense of hasty withdrawal which was

prevalent will be addressed and we could see a much more calculated exit

strategy."

The administration of then-President Donald Trump signed an agreement with

the Taliban early last year calling for the withdrawal of all foreign troops

by May in return for the insurgents fulfilling certain security guarantees.

Mr. Trump hailed the accord - which did not include the Afghan government -

as the end of two decades of war. He reduced U.S. troops to 2,500 by this

month, the fewest since 2001.

Plans on what will happen after April are now being considered and likely to

be a top issue at a key NATO meeting in February, the NATO sources said.

CHINA SUSPENDS MOST FOREIGN TRAVEL FROM CANADA

China has temporarily blocked entry to foreign national traveling from

Canada, even those with current residency permits, the Chinese embassy in

Ottawa said.

"In view of the current Covid-19 situation and the need of epidemic

prevention and control... all foreign nationals who hold valid Chinese

residence permits for work, personal matters and reunion are temporarily not

allowed to enter China from Canada," the embassy said in a statement

Saturday.

A few categories of visa holder, including those with diplomatic stamps,

would be exempted.

"The suspension is a temporary measure that China has to take in light of

the current pandemic situation," the statement added.

Canada, with a population of about 38 million, has recorded more than

775,000 Covid-19 cases and nearly 20,000 deaths.

TIGRAY CRISIS: 'GENOCIDAL WAR' WAGED IN ETHIOPIA REGION, SAYS EX-LEADER

Ethiopian and Eritrean forces have waged a "devastating and genocidal war"

in Ethiopia's Tigray region, the region's ousted leader has said.

Debretsion Gebremichael urged the international community to investigate the

alleged atrocities.

The Ethiopian government said his claims were "unfounded", and his forces

were guilty of "horrendous crimes".

Conflict broke out in November after Mr Debretsion's forces captured

Ethiopian government military bases in Tigray.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy responded by ordering a ground and air

offensive, which led to his troops capturing the regional capital, Mekelle,

on 28 November.

Mr Debretsion fled the capital with fighters from his Tigray People's

Liberation Front (TPLF), and vowed to resist federal control over the

region.

The conflict has led to about two million people, or a third of Tigray's

population, being displaced.

This was the first time in more than two months that Mr Debretsion had

spoken in public. An audio recording of his comments, lasting for about 20

minutes, was broadcast on a Facebook account run by a TPLF media outlet.

"A devastating and genocidal war was waged against the people of Tigray

because they firmly fought for their right to self-determination and they

held a democratic election. The invasion and massacre has continued. So does

the struggle of the people of Tigray," he said.

Mr Debretsion also alleged widespread incidents of murder, rape, torture and

starvation.

It is unclear when the recording was made but he mentioned the killings of

other TPLF leaders, which suggested it was recent.

Mr Debretsion is wanted by the government on charges of treason.