A team of independent experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered initial findings from its investigation into the origins of the coronavirus today, rejecting the theory (NYT) that the virus escaped from a Chinese lab as “extremely unlikely.” Speaking in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus was first identified in late 2019, WHO scientist Peter Ben Embarek said the evidence indicates (AP) that the virus most likely jumped to humans from an animal host. Still, he conceded that the experts’ weekslong field investigation—which faced delays from China and concerns about Chinese influence—did not dramatically improve understanding of the outbreak (AFP, Reuters).

Meanwhile, countries continue to impose restrictions and roll out vaccines to control the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 2.3 million people globally. Iran, one of the Middle East’s hardest-hit countries, launched its vaccine campaign today using Russian-made Sputnik V vaccines. But new strains of the virus are spreading, and a recent study showed that the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot is not sufficiently effective against a variant that arose in South Africa.

The impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump begins in the Senate today. Trump, the only president to be impeached twice, is charged with inciting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It will be the first impeachment trial held after a president has left office, which Trump’s lawyers say is unconstitutional (WaPo). Trump’s defense team will also argue that his incendiary comments before the riot are protected as free speech.

A Hong Kong court denied bail (WSJ) to media tycoon Jimmy Lai, one of several people facing prosecution under a national security law Beijing has used to quell opposition. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the government does not recognize (SCMP) dual nationality for residents of Chinese descent born in the city or in mainland China, and that they are regarded only as Chinese nationals.

Police fired guns into the air, reportedly injuring several people (Nikkei), and used water cannons during the fourth day of nationwide demonstrations against last week’s military coup. Meanwhile, a journalist and others were reportedly arrested, and New Zealand suspended (SCMP) high-level military and political ties with Myanmar.
 
CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick looks at potential policy responses to Myanmar’s coup.
 
India/United States: U.S. President Joe Biden had his first phone call (Al Jazeera) with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which they pledged to work together on climate change and the pandemic, the White House said. New Delhi welcomed Washington’s decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement and said Modi looks forward to a U.S.-hosted climate summit.
 
This CFR Backgrounder explains global climate accords, including the Paris Agreement.

Fourteen Palestinian political groups kicked off a two-day, Egypt-backed dialogue in Cairo to iron out issues before legislative and presidential elections are held later this year. The elections will be the first since Palestinian governance fractured (Al Jazeera) over the results of elections in 2006.
 
Morocco: At least twenty-four people were killed in the city of Tangier after an illegal factory flooded due to heavy rains (NYT), the interior ministry said. At least ten others were rescued from the factory, which was in the basement of a home, and a search is ongoing.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok unveiled a new cabinet (AP) that includes seven former rebel leaders. The move is intended to create a more inclusive government and comes after an October peace deal between the transitional government and rebel and political groups.
 
CAR: For the first time since rebels blocked a transport artery (Reuters) last month, an aid convoy carrying food and medicine reached the Central African Republic’s capital of Bangui. Violence related to the contested December election has impeded food deliveries and inflated prices in the city.

The three countries each ejected one Russian diplomat after Russia expelled three European Union officials for allegedly attending a pro-opposition protest. The Kremlin criticized the move (Guardian) as “unjustified and unfriendly.”
 
Brussels: A spokesperson for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she continues to support EU Minister for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, even as more than seventy European Parliament members urge him to resign (Politico) over his performance in Moscow. Borrell will face Parliament today.
 
This CFR Backgrounder looks at how the EU works.

Colombian President Ivan Duque announced that his country will grant (BBC) ten-year protected immigration status to eligible undocumented Venezuelan migrants and refugees living there. More than half of the 1.7 million Venezuelans believed to be in Colombia are there illegally.
 
This CFR Backgrounder shows how Venezuelans have fled their country’s economic and political turmoil.
 
Honduras: U.S. prosecutors are investigating President Juan Orlando Hernandez, according to a court filing that accuses him of protecting drug traffickers, Reuters reports. A related filing previously accused him of accepting drug-trafficking proceeds and promising traffickers protection. The Honduran presidency called the allegations “100 percent false.”