BIDEN REFUSES TO LIFT SANCTIONS TO GET IRAN BACK TO NEGOTIATE NUCLEAR DEAL

US President Joe Biden says he will not lift economic sanctions against Iran

until it complies with the terms agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal.

Mr Biden was speaking in a CBS News interview aired on Sunday.

But Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tehran would only

return to compliance if the US first lifted all economic sanctions.

The 2015 deal sought to limit Iran's nuclear programme, with sanctions eased

in return.

Former President Donald Trump, however, withdrew the US from the deal in

2018 and re-imposed sanctions, leading Iran to roll back on a number of its

commitments.

In a short clip of the interview published before the full broadcast at

16:00 EST on Sunday, Mr Biden was asked if he would halt economic sanctions

to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table, and he replied: "No."

Meanwhile, Ali Khamenei said that for Iran to return to its commitments

under the deal, the US must first "abolish all sanctions", Iranian state TV

reported on Sunday.

"We will assess, and if we see that they have acted faithfully in this

regard, we will return to our commitment," he said, adding: "It is the

irreversible and final decision and all Iranian officials have consensus

over it."

PROTESTS SWEEP MYANMAR, NET RESTORED

Tens of thousands of people rallied across Myanmar on Sunday to denounce

last week's coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi,

in the biggest protests since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped lead

to democratic reforms.

In the afternoon, the junta ended a daylong blockade of the Internet that

had further inflamed anger since the coup last Monday that has halted the

Southeast Asian nation's troubled transition to democracy and drawn

international outrage.

In a second day of widespread protests, crowds in the biggest city, Yangon,

sported red shirts, red flags and red balloons, the colour of Suu Kyi's

National League for Democracy Party (NLD). "We don't want military

dictatorship! We want democracy!" they chanted.

Massive crowds from all corners of Yangon gathered in townships, filling

streets as they headed towards the Sule Pagoda at the heart of the city,

also a rallying point during the Buddhist monk-led 2007 protests and others

in 1988.

A line of armed police with riot shields set up barricades, but did not try

to stop the demonstration. Some marchers presented police with flowers. One

officer was photographed giving a surreptitious three-finger salute.

Protesters gestured with the three-finger salute that has become a symbol of

protest against the coup.

There was no comment from the junta in the capital Naypyidaw, 350 km north

of Yangon and state-run TV news carried no mention of the protests.

An internal note for UN staff estimated that 1,000 people joined a protest

in Naypyidaw, while there were 60,000 in Yangon alone. Protests were

reported in the second city of Mandalay and many towns and villages across

the country that stretches from Indian Ocean islands to the fringes of the

Himalayas. The Yangon protesters dispersed after dark.

DUBAI IMPOSES FRESH COVID RESTRICTIONS AMID CRITICISM OVER SURGE IN CASES

After reporting a record-breaking number of new Covid cases in recent weeks,

Dubai has enacted a fresh set of regulations in an attempt to reign in the

spread of the deadly infection. This comes as the city has been facing

criticism globally for reopening businesses and easing curfews in order to

attract tourists during the peak year-end holiday season. But UAE

authorities blame Covid protocol violations for the sudden rise in cases.

Dubai has introduced a raft of new measures, ranging from shutting down pubs

and bars and cracking down on private parties, to testing incoming

passengers more aggressively. Shopping malls in the emirate will now be

operated at a reduced capacity of 70 per cent. Additionally, restaurants and

cafes will have to close by 1 AM and will not be permitted to organise any

entertainment activities in their premises.

Both international tourists and UAE residents alike will have to provide a

negative RT-PCR test report before travel. Only close relatives will be

permitted to attend weddings or private parties, the maximum number of

guests for which has been capped at ten.

Dubai was one of the first destinations to welcome tourists during the early

months of the pandemic, when it opened its borders in July, last year.

Just last month, with over 4,000 new cases being recorded daily, the UAE saw

its caseload soar to over 290,000, increasing the strain on hospitals across

the country. Countries around the world are now pointing the finger of blame

at the UAE for spreading the coronavirus abroad.

JOE BIDEN ON XI JINPING: 'HE DOESN'T HAVE A DEMOCRATIC BONE IN HIS BODY'

President Joe Biden says China is in for "extreme competition" from the U.S.

under his administration, but that the new relationship he wants to forge

need not be one of conflict.

In an interview broadcast Sunday, Mr Biden acknowledged that he has yet to

speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping since his inauguration January 20,

but noted that the two leaders had met many times when both men served their

countries as vice president.

"I know him pretty well," Mr Biden said in an excerpt of the interview aired

Sunday by CBS' "Face the Nation." When they do speak, they will have "a

whole lot to talk about," Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden appears to be concentrating his initial telephone diplomacy on US

allies. He so far has spoken with the leaders of Canada, Mexico, the United

Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the NATO

secretary-general.

He also worked in a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the interview, Mr Biden described Xi as "very bright" and "very tough"

but without "a democratic, small D, bone in his body."

Mr Biden, in the interview taped Friday, said he has said to Xi " all along,

that we need not have a conflict." But, Mr Biden added, there will be

"extreme competition. And I'm not going to do it the way that he knows. And

that's because he's sending signals as well."

Mr Biden said he will not pursue US-China relations in the way that Mr Trump

did but will focus on "international rules of the road."

U.S. MOVES TO REJOIN UN RIGHTS COUNCIL, REVERSING TRUMP ANEW

The Biden administration is set to announce this week that it will reengage

with the much-maligned U.N. Human Rights Council that former President

Donald Trump withdrew from almost three years ago, U.S. officials said

Sunday. The decision reverses another Trump-era move away from multilateral

organizations and agreements.

U..S. officials say Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a senior U.S.

diplomat in Geneva will announce on Monday that Washington will return to

the Geneva-based body as an observer with an eye toward seeking election as

a full member. The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative

lawmakers and many in the pro-Israel community.

Trump pulled out of the world body's main human rights agency in 2018 due to

its disproportionate focus on Israel, which has received by far the largest

number of critical council resolutions against any country, as well as the

number of authoritarian countries among its members and because it failed to

meet an extensive list of reforms demanded by then-U.S. Ambassador to the

United Nations Nikki Haley.

In addition to the council's persistent focus on Israel, the Trump

administration took issue with the body's membership, which currently

includes China, Cuba, Eritrea, Russia and Venezuela, all of which have been

accused of human rights abuses.

One senior U.S. official said the Biden administration believed the council

must still reform but that the best way to promote change is to "engage with

it in a principled fashion." The official said it can be "an important forum

for those fighting tyranny and injustice around the world" and the U.S.

presence intends to "ensure it can live up to that potential."

ASTRAZENECA VACCINE BEING TWEAKED TO FIGHT SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT

Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab

to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn, the vaccine's

lead researcher said Sunday.

Health officials in Britain are trying to contain the spread of the variant

first identified in South Africa amid concerns that it is more contagious or

resistant to existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of the South African

variant have been found in the UK.

Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher for the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday

that "we have a version with the South African spike sequence in the works."

"It looks very likely that we can have a new version ready to use in the

autumn," she added.

Her comments came as Oxford University said that early data from a small

study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only "minimal

protection" against mild disease caused by the South Africa variant.

PAKISTAN ASKS AFGHANISTAN TO 'NEUTRALISE THREAT' EMANATING FROM WAR-TORN

NATION

Pakistan said on Sunday that the United Nations has acknowledged the

presence of terror groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and its

affiliates in Afghanistan as it asked the Afghan forces to "neutralise this

threat" emanating from the war-torn nation.

According to the 27th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions

Monitoring Team last week, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan was reported to

have "overseen a reunification of splinter groups that took place in

Afghanistan and was moderated by Al-Qaeda."

The report noted that Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan was responsible for over 100

"cross-border" attacks within three months last year.

Commenting on the report, the Foreign Office said that Pakistan "expects

that a dedicated effort will be launched by Afghan National Defence and

Security Forces (ANDSF) and Resolute Support Mission (RSM) to neutralise

this threat emanating from Afghanistan."

POPE FRANCIS APPOINTS MORE WOMEN TO VATICAN POSTS

Pope Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only

by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in

themale-dominated Holy See.

He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of theXaviere Missionary

Sisters, on Saturday as co-undersecretary ofthe Synod of Bishops, a

department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few

years on a different topic.

The previous day, Francis named Italian magistrate CatiaSummaria as the

first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican'sC ourt of Appeals.

Mr. Becquart's position, effectively a joint number two s pot,will give her

the right to vote in the all-male assemblies,something many women and some

bishops have called for. She is 52, relatively young by Vatican standards.

Women have participated as observers and consultants in past synods but only

"synod fathers", including bishops and specially appointed or elected male

representatives, could vote on final documents sent to the pope.

He has also appointed women to the posts of deputy foreign minister,

director of the Vatican Museums and deputy head of the Vatican Press Office.