CONCERNED WITH BEIJING'S INTIMIDATION ATTEMPTS': US

In its first response to the China-India border standoff, the Biden

administration has voiced concern over Beijing's ongoing attempts to

"intimidate" its neighbours and said it was closely monitoring the

situation.

A top official asserted that the US would stand with its allies to advance

its shared values in the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region.

"We note the talks between India and China and continue to support a

dialogue and a peaceful resolution to border disputes," said Emily J Horne,

spokesperson, National Security Council of the White House.

He was responding to a question on recent Chinese bids to intrude into

Indian territories. "The US is concerned over Beijing's pattern of

intimidating its neighbours," Horne said.

PAK SC CONFIRMS DECISION TO RELEASE PEARL MURDER ACCUSED

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of Britishborn

Pakistani Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime accused in the 2002 beheading

of American journalist Daniel Pearl, from Karachi prison and directed

authorities to move him to a government rest house within the next two to

three days. This comes despite US secretary of state Anthony Blinken

speaking over phone with Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi

and discussing the accountability of convicted terrorists responsible for

Pearl's murder, according to the US state department.

Tuesday's decision comes after a three-judge panel reviewed and confirmed

its order last week to acquit Sheikh, who had been on death row for 18 years

since originally being convicted by an antiterrorism court for his role in

Pearl murder.

CITIZENS IN MYANMAR PROTEST COUP WITH NOISE BARRAGE

Scores of people in Myanmar's largest city honked car horns and banged on

pots and pans on Tuesday evening in the first known public resistance to the

coup led a day earlier by the country's military.

What was initially planned to take place for just a few minutes extended to

more than a quarter hour in several neighborhoods of Yangon. Shouts could be

heard wishing detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi good health and calling for

freedom.

"Beating a drum in Myanmar culture is like we are kicking out the devils,"

said one participant who declined to give his name for fear of reprisals.

Several pro-democracy groups had asked people to make noise at 8 pm to show

their opposition to the coup.

A senior politician and close confidante of Suu Kyi also urged citizens to

defy the military through civil disobedience.

Medical staff in several major cities are planning strikes, while activists

are calling for a campaign of civil disobedience.

Win Htein, a leader of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, spoke

Tuesday from a small party office in the capital, Naypyitaw, not far from

where hundreds of lawmakers elected in November national polls were detained

when the military seized power Monday in a lightning takeover.

"The curse of the coup is rooted in our country and this is the reason why

our country still remains poor. I feel sad and upset for our fellow citizens

and for their future," the former political prisoner said.

"All the voters who gave their backing to us in the 2020 general election

should follow Aung San Suu Kyi's instructions to carry out civil

disobedience," he said, referring to a note posted Monday on Facebook

attributed to her.

The military began to lift restrictions Tuesday on the hundreds of members

of Parliament who had been confined at a guarded government housing complex,

with the new government telling them to go back to their homes, party

spokesman Kyi Toe said.

He said Suu Kyi was in good health at a separate location where she was

being held and would stay there for the time being. His comments couldn't

immediately be confirmed.

JEFF BEZOS TO GIVE REINS TO CLOUD BOSS ANDY JASSY AS AMAZON'S SALES ROCKET

PAST $100 BILLION

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is to step down as chief executive of the

e-commerce giant that he started in his garage nearly 30 years ago.

He will become executive chairman, a move he said would give him "time and

energy" to focus on his other ventures.

Mr Bezos, the world's richest man, will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who

currently leads Amazon's cloud computing business.

The change will take place in the second half of 2021, the company said.

"Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it's consuming. When

you have a responsibility like that, it's hard to put attention on anything

else," Mr Bezos said in an letter to Amazon staff on Tuesday.

"As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also

have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth

Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions."

"I've never had more energy, and this isn't about retiring. I'm super

passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have," he added.

MOSCOW COURT SENDS NAVALNY TO PRISON DESPITE PROTESTS

A Russian court sentenced Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to three and a half

years in jail on Tuesday after ruling he had violated the terms of his

parole, but said that his prison term would be shortened for time he had

served earlier under house arrest.

Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most prominent critics, was

arrested at the Russian border on Jan. 17 after returning from Germany where

he had been recovering from being poisoned with a military-grade nerve

agent.

Navalny's allies called on their supporters to immediately protest against

the ruling in central Moscow.

Navalny's lawyer said the opposition politician would appeal against the

ruling.

BIDEN SIGNS IMMIGRATION ORDERS AS CONGRESS AWAITS MORE

US President Joe Biden has signed three executive actions seeking to reunite

migrant families split up by a Trump-era policy and ordering a review of his

predecessor's wider immigration agenda.

In an attempt to deter illegal immigration, President Donald Trump's

administration separated undocumented adults from children as they crossed

the US-Mexico border.

Mr Biden's orders will set up a task force to try to reunite the estimated

600-700 children who are still apart from their families.

The Trump administration split up at least 5,500 children from adults along

the border between 2017-18.

One of Mr Biden's orders will set up an inter-agency task force - led by the

newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas - to

oversee family reunifications

Mr Biden's second and third orders signed on Tuesday order a review of Mr

Trump's immigration policies that curtailed asylum, slowed legal immigration

into the US, and cancelled funding to foreign countries.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Biden said: "We're going to work to undo the

moral and national shame of the previous administration that literally not

figuratively ripped children from the arms of their families, their mothers

and fathers, at the border and with no plan, none whatsoever, to reunify the

children who are still in custody and their parents."

'HE INVITED US': ACCUSED CAPITOL RIOTERS BLAME TRUMP IN LEGAL DEFENSE

Emanuel Jackson, a 20-year-old Washington area man, was caught on video

using a metal bat to strike the protective shields wielded by police

officers as they tried to fend off rioters storming the US Capitol on Jan.

6.

Jackson, awaiting trial in federal court on assault charges, is now adopting

a novel legal defense: seeking to pin the blame on Donald Trump, citing the

former president's remarks at a "Stop the Steal" rally shortly before the

Capitol siege.

Trump told the crowd to "fight like hell," said "we will not take it

anymore" and repeated his false claims that the election was stolen from him

through widespread voting fraud. Trump exhorted his followers to go to the

Capitol. The ensuing rampage interrupted the congressional certification of

President Joe Biden's election victory, sent lawmakers into hiding and left

five people dead including a police officer.

Jackson's lawyer, Brandi Harden, wrote in a Jan. 22 court filing that "the

nature and circumstances of this offense must be viewed through the lens of

an event inspired by the President of the United States."

The Capitol siege, Harden added, "appears to have been spontaneous and

sparked by the statements made during the 'Stop the Steal' rally." Harden

argued that Jackson should be released while awaiting trial. A judge on Jan.

22 denied the request.

At least six of the 170 people charged in connection with the Capitol siege

have tried to shift at least some of the blame onto Trump as they defend

themselves in court or in the court of public opinion.

Other defendants to take this route include Jacob Chansley, who donned a

horned headdress and face paint during the attack, and Dominic Pezzola, a

member of the Proud Boys right-wing extremist group who is accused of

shattering a window in the Capitol with a stolen police shield so rioters

could enter.

"The boss of the country said, 'People of the country, come on down, let

people know what you think,'" Pezzola's defense lawyer, Michael Scibetta,

told Reuters. "The logical thinking was, 'He invited us down.'"

IRAN ASKS EU TO HELP NEGOTIATE US RETURN TO NUCLEAR DEAL

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the European Union could

play a mediating role in the dispute with the United States over Tehran's

nuclear program.

Zarif said EU Foreign Affairs Minister Josep Borrell could coordinate a

synchronized return of Washington and Tehran into a nuclear deal, in

comments during a CNN interview on Monday.

The minister said the necessary steps could be taken simultaneously, in

response to a question on whether Iran still required the US to act first.

He said Borrell could facilitate this as part of his role as coordinator of

the joint commission for the nuclear agreement.

"You know clearly there can be a mechanism to basically either synchronize

it, or coordinate what can be done," he told interviewer Christiane

Amanpour.

Borrell can "sort of choreograph the actions that are needed to be taken by

the United States and the actions that are needed to be taken by Iran,"

Zarif said.