UN leads condemnation of Myanmar

National League for Democracy supporters shout slogans in front of the Myanmar embassy during a rally in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on Monday. The United Nations called for the release of detainees and the restoration of democracy in Myanmar after the military seized power on Monday, which had detained elected leaders including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.SD-Agencies

Italian PM Conte hands in resignation

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has met with President Sergio Mattarella to hand in his resignation, the Italian government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting on Jan. 26.

Conte “has expressed ... his intention to ... submit his resignation”, the statement said.

Mattarella has confirmed Conte’s resignation. “Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has offered his resignation,” Mattarella’s office said in a statement.

“The President of the Republic has reserved the right to decide and has invited the government to remain in office for the time being to take care of day-to-day business,” the statement said.

Trump’s lawyers for im-peachement defense quit

Donald Trump has abruptly parted ways with the two lead lawyers working on his defence for his Senate impeachment trial, a source familiar with the situation said, leaving the former U.S. President’s legal strategy in disarray.

Butch Bowers and Deborah Barberi, two South Carolina lawyers, are no longer on Trump’s team, the source said, describing the move as a “mutual decision.” Three other lawyers associated with the team, Josh Howard of North Carolina and Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris of South Carolina, also parted ways with Trump, another source said.

A third source said Trump had differences with Bowers over strategy ahead of the trial. The president is still contending that he was the victim of mass election fraud in the November election won by Joe Biden.

Indian farmers battle police against reforms

Thousands of Indian farmers protesting against agricultural reforms on Jan. 26 overwhelmed the police and stormed into the historic Red Fort complex in New Delhi after tearing down barricades and driving tractors through roadblocks.

Farmers’ leaders condemned the deadly violence, while stressing that they would not call off their protests.

Police fired tear gas in an unsuccessful bid to force the protesters back. One protester was killed, a witness said, and New Delhi police said 86 officers had been injured across the city.

Morocco receives 1st batch of Chinese vaccines

Morocco received its first shipment of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines on Jan. 27, the ministry of health said.

The North African country will launch a mass vaccination campaign in the coming days, as it has secured acquisition of 66 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm and Britain’s Oxford University/AstraZeneca, health officials said.

A total of 3,000 locations around the country are prepared to host this campaign.

“The vaccine meets all the conditions of quality, efficacy and safety, and does not present any potential side effects,” the health ministry said.

Global cases exceed 100m

Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million on Jan. 26, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count reached 100,032,461, with a total of 2,149,818 deaths worldwide, as of 2:22 p.m. local time (1922 GMT), the CSSE data showed.

The U.S. reported the most cases and deaths around the world, which stood at 25,362,794 and 423,010, respectively. (SD-Agencies)