Myanmar’s military seized power (BBC) after detaining leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian government officials in an early morning raid hours before the country’s new parliament was set to convene. Military-controlled television announced that Myanmar is now under a yearlong state of emergency and that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing controls the country. The military pledged to hold (Reuters, AFP, Bloomberg) a “free and fair general election” when the state of emergency ends.

The coup follows the military’s efforts to discredit the results of November elections, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party far outperformed the military’s proxy party. International officials, including in the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations, expressed concern (Al Jazeera). Suu Kyi, who spearheaded reforms that ended Myanmar’s military rule, urged supporters not to accept the seizure of power.

Despite a crackdown on dissent, tens of thousands of people protested across Russia in support of detained opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who will face a court tomorrow (WaPo) for allegedly violating the terms of a suspended sentence. More than five thousand protesters were arrested (Moscow Times).

Brussels: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca will provide nine million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses (NPR) to the European Union this quarter, still falling short of the agreed-upon target. AstraZeneca’s recent admission that it would not meet vaccine supply targets triggered a spat with the EU.

Independent experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan that was linked to early cases of the coronavirus, as well as the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Hubei Province. They are investigating the virus’s origins. CFR’s Yanzhong Huang told Reuters he doubts the team will reach a conclusion.
 
Australia: Much of the state of Western Australia entered a five-day lockdown after a security guard at a hotel where COVID-19 patients were quarantining tested positive for COVID-19. It is believed to be the country’s first case of community transmission (BBC) in two weeks. People can leave home (SMH) for essential work and shopping, health care, and restricted exercise.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the storming of a historic fort in New Delhi last week an “insult,” breaking his silence (Al Jazeera) on months of farmers’ protests against agriculture laws.

Israel will send five thousand COVID-19 vaccine doses (Haaretz) to the West Bank, which it previously gave one hundred doses for medical personnel. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have been left out of Israel’s vaccination campaign, sparking international criticism.
 
In an interview with Think Global Health, Israel’s former coronavirus czar, Ronni Gamzu, discusses the country’s vaccination campaign.
 
Syria: At least twenty people, including several children, were killed and dozens more were injured in car bombings (Middle East Eye) in parts of northern Syria controlled by Turkey, local sources said. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Turkey routinely blames fighters linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party for such attacks.

Nine people were killed and ten injured in an attack on a hotel (Reuters) in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. The Islamist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility (BBC) for the attack, which began with a car bombing and evolved into a firefight between militants and security forces.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at al-Shabab and U.S. policy in Somalia.
 
Uganda: The opposition leader known as Bobi Wine plans to file a petition (Daily Monitor) to the country’s Supreme Court today challenging President Yoweri Museveni’s reelection last month. Three previous challenges to Museveni’s electoral victories, the most recent in 2016, have failed.

For the second weekend in a row, protesters gathered (Al Jazeera) in several Brazilian cities to call for President Jair Bolsonaro’s resignation. Bolsonaro faces criticism for his handling of the coronavirus in Brazil, which has the world’s second-highest death toll.
 
El Salvador: The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders suspended its work (Reuters) in the country after personnel were attacked in the capital of San Salvador. The government denounced the attack, which local media attributed to suspected gang members.

Former President Donald J. Trump parted ways with five of his lawyers, a decision that the Washington Post reports was mutual and followed a difference in opinion over how to defend Trump next week in his impeachment trial for inciting a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Yesterday, Trump’s office named the two new lawyers who will lead his defense team.