'SERIOUS BLOW TO DEMOCRACY': WORLD CONDEMNS MYANMAR COUP; CHINA REMAINS

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Myanmar's military has detained the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu

Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior figures from the governing party,

seizing power in a coup less than 10 years after it handed over power to a

civilian government.

Suu Kyi's political party is urging Myanmar's people to oppose Monday's

"coup" and any return to "military dictatorship."

The National League for Democracy (NLD) released a statement on the Facebook

page of its party head, Suu Kyi, saying the military's actions were

unjustified and went against the constitution and the will of voters.

The military's actions has received widespread international condemnation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the developments were a "serious

blow to democratic reforms" and urged all leaders to refrain from violence

and respect human rights, a U.N. spokesman said.

The U.S., Britain, Australia and the EU condemned the military's coup and

detentions and its declaration of a state of emergency. The Army said it had

taken action in response to "election fraud".

China's response, however, was more muted.

"China is a friendly neighbour of Myanmar's. We hope that all sides in

Myanmar can appropriately handle their differences under the Constitution

and legal framework and safeguard political and social stability," Foreign

Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

"The international community should come together in one voice to press the

Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized,

release the activists and officials they have detained," Biden said in a

statement.

"We call on Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and

civil society leaders and respect the will of the people of Burma as

expressed in democratic elections on Nov. 8," U.S. Secretary of State Antony

Blinken said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned the coup. "The vote of

the people must be respected and civilian leaders released," he said on

Twitter.

Japan said it opposed any reversal of the democratic process in Myanmar. "We

strongly call on the military government to restore democracy as soon as

possible," said a Foreign Ministry statement.

The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, called for the

"immediate and unconditional release" of all those detained.

India's foreign ministry said it "noted the developments in Myanmar with

deep concern".

"India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic

transition in Myanmar. We believe that the rule of law and the democratic

process must be upheld. We are monitoring the situation closely."

BIDEN THREATENS SANCTIONS ON MYANMAR AFTER MILITARY COUP

President Joe Biden on Monday threatened new sanctions on Myanmar after its

military staged a coup and arrested the civilian leaders of its government,

including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Biden assailed the country's army for the coup, calling it a "direct assault

on the country's transition to democracy and rule of law." The coup in

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has also been roundly condemned

internationally.

"The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on

progress toward democracy," Biden said in a statement. "The reversal of that

progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and

authorities, followed by appropriate action. The United States will stand up

for democracy wherever it is under attack."

Myanmar had been emerging from decades of strict military rule and

international isolation that began in 1962, and Monday's events were a

shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991

for her work promoting democracy and human rights.

OXFORD KEPT COVID-19 VACCINE TRIAL VOLUNTEERS IN DARK ABOUT DOSING ERROR,

LETTER SHOWS

About 1,500 of the initial volunteers in a late-stage clinical trial of the

Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were given the wrong dose, but weren't

informed that a mistake had been made after the blunder was discovered,

documents obtained by Reuters show.

Instead, the dosing mishap was presented to the trial participants in a

letter dated June 8 as an opportunity for University of Oxford researchers

to learn how well the vaccine works at different doses. The letter was

signed by the trial's chief investigator, Oxford professor Andrew J.

Pollard, and sent to the trial subjects.

As Reuters reported on Dec. 24, participants were given about a half dose

due to a measuring mistake by Oxford researchers. The Pollard letter didn't

acknowledge any error. Nor did it disclose that researchers had reported the

issue to British medical regulators, who then told Oxford to add another

test group to receive the full dose, in line with the trial's original plan.

There is no suggestion there was any risk to the health of trial

participants.

Reuters shared the letter - which it obtained from the university through a

Freedom of Information request - with three different experts in medical

ethics. The ethicists all said it indicates the researchers may not have

been transparent with trial participants. Volunteers in clinical trials are

supposed to be kept fully informed about any changes.

"They are not clear at all about what they need to be clear about - what's

going on, what they knew, the rationale for undertaking further research,"

said Arthur Caplan, founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at New

York University Grossman School of Medicine. "It is lost in a snowstorm of

verbiage."

Steve Pritchard, a spokesman for Oxford, told Reuters: "The half-dose group

was unplanned, but we did know in advance that there was a discrepancy in

the dose measurements and discussed this with the regulators before dosing

and when the dosing was revised."

Pritchard also said, "We have not stated that a dosing error occurred."

PAK SC REJECTS GOVT'S REQUEST TO SUSPEND RELEASE OF ACCUSED IN THE DANIEL

PEARL MURDER CASE

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday rejected the government's request to

suspend the order to release British-born al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Omar

Saeed Sheikh and his three aides in the brutal murder of American journalist

Daniel Pearl, days after it announced to formally join the review

proceedings against the acquittal of the accused amid mounting international

pressure.

The court, however, extended the interim detention order of main accused

Sheikh and his aides - Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib- by one

day to hear the government's position on the case.

During the hearing on Monday, the attorney general of Pakistan requested the

Supreme Court to suspend the decision to release the accused so that he

could argue the case in detail. The apex court rejected the request,

according to a report in The Express Tribune.

DONALD TRUMP NAMES DEFENCE LAWYERS AS TRIAL LOOMS

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday he had picked two

lawyers to head his defence team days before his historic second impeachment

trial, as Republicans braced for a battle over the future of their party.

Mr. Trump's Senate trial is due to start on February 9, but he had

reportedly parted ways with several members of his initial legal team just a

day ago.

His lead lawyers, David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr, are "highly

respected trial lawyers" with backgrounds in criminal law and defence,

according to a statement from Mr. Trump.

Mr. Schoen has represented Mr. Trump's ally Roger Stone, and said he was in

discussions to join the legal team for Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 days before

the disgraced U.S. financier killed himself while in jail on allegations of

trafficking underage girls for sex.

IRAN STATE TV AIRS LAUNCH OF NEW SATELLITE-CARRYING ROCKET

Iranian state TV on Monday aired the launch of the country's newest

satellite-carrying rocket, which it said was able to reach a height of 500

kilometers (310 miles).

The footage of the solid-liquid-fueled rocket showed the launch taking place

during daytime in a desert environment. The report did not say when the

launch happened.

The rocket, called Zuljanah for the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of

the Prophet Muhammad, did not launch a satellite into orbit.

State TV said the rocket is capable of carrying a 220-kilogram (485-pound)

satellite, adding that the three-stage rocket uses solid fuel in the first

and second stages and fluid fuel in the third.

Iran in the past has used various fluid-fuel satellite carrier rockets to

put smaller devices into orbit. Last year, the paramilitary Revolutionary

Guard said it used a Qased, or "Messenger," satellite carrier to put the

Noor satellite into space.

Iran often coordinates its launches with national holidays. It will

celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution later in February.

TURKEY'S ERDOGAN HITS OUT AT 'LGBT YOUTH' AS POLICE BREAK UP FRESH PROTEST

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday lashed out at Turkey's LGBT

movement, accusing it of "vandalism" following an outbreak of student

protests.

Four people were arrested over the weekend for depicting Islam's holiest

site with pictures of the LGBT rainbow flag during a rally at Istanbul's

Bogazici University.

And shortly after Erdogan's televised speech on Monday, another rally

erupted at the same school with dozens of people detained and social media

footage showing police dragging away students who had been protesting

peacefully.

"We will carry our young people to the future, not as the LGBT youth, but as

the youth that existed in our nation's glorious past," Erdogan said during a

video linkup with members of his ruling AK Party.

"You are not the LGBT youth, not the youth who commit acts of vandalism. On

the contrary, you are the ones who repair broken hearts."

Rights groups accuse Erdogan of taking the mostly Muslim but officially

secular country on an increasingly socially conservative course during his

18 years in power.

Homosexuality has been legal throughout modern Turkey's history.

But gay people often face harassment, and LGBT events -- including Istanbul

Pride -- have been blocked under Erdogan.

COURT FINES NAVALNY'S WIFE AFTER PROTESTS IN MOSCOW

A Moscow court on Monday has ordered the wife of Russian opposition leader

Alexei Navalny to pay a fine of 20,000 rubles (about $265) for violating

protest regulations after she attended a demonstration in the Russian

capital to demand his release.

Tens of thousands took to the streets in dozens of Russian cities on Sunday,

chanting slogans against Russian President Vladimir Putin and demanding that

authorities free Navalny, who was jailed last month and faces a prison term.

His wife, Yulia Navalnaya, joined a protest in Moscow that took place

despite unprecedented security measures that city authorities took ahead of

the rally.

She was quickly detained and charged with participating in an unauthorised

rally. A court on Monday ordered Navalnaya to pay a fine, her lawyer

Svetlana Davydova told the Interfax news agency. Ms. Davydova said the

defence plans to appeal the ruling.