the world is looking at our next year of sadness. with the election behind us the republican party dumptruck the weekly take on the us politics and society that's the bottom of. a u. turn for democracy the military takes power in me and ma prompting international condemnation and a call for sanctions to be imposed the country's democratically elected leader aung san suu kyi has been detained and replaced by the military's commander in chief. our intake of us is our 0 live from london also coming up a special delivery in south africa one and a half 1000000 doses of astra zeneca coronavirus vaccine touched down in

johannesburg. and after their investigation uncovers a criminal network colluding with bangladeshi security forces and profiting from links with promise to shake hasina. international reaction to the military coup in myanmar has been swift the un security council is preparing to discuss the situation the us is threatening to review sanctions on the country while here in the u.k. meehan mas ambassador was summoned to the foreign commonwealth and development office state counselor and son says she had called on people to resist any military takeover now her whereabouts remain unknown arrested in the middle of the night our coverage begins with this report from allie file one of the few western journalists based in myanmar. in dawn raids in yangon members of me amongst democratically

elected leadership were rounded up and detained as the military staged a coup in the name of the state of emergency is in effect nationwide and the generation of the state of emergency is set to one year. the military says it was acting in response to widespread election fraud its chief minimum lying now rules the country this is our worst nightmare quite clearly this is the myanmar military scrapping the democratic experiment you know you're talking about a party that won a landslide election truly a landslide election and all of the sudden we have. we have the president and other top people. under detention and a state of emergency manufactured by the military to justify your long seizure of power the raids came shortly before the 1st session of a new parliament was supposed to begin. party the national league for democracy had

won a landslide victory in elections in november instead the military is now patrolling the streets here in yangon it's been a tense day as information has continued to him although we have seen an increased security presence with riot police congregating in a few key areas the streets of remained relatively quiet the energy is released a statement accusing the military of trying to return to a dictatorship and urging people not to accept the coup ok i am now you know we have a lot of struggles right now for food for life in general the health you know us people have got the covert problem and now we have a coup we were about to be ok and now this happens what do we have to do to survive some supporters of the military did take to the streets in celebration the new leaders have pledged to hold fresh elections and allow the winner to take power.

but this is a country that only recently emerged from 5 decades of military rule and many a skeptical. how can we believe they will stick to that one year period based on what that have been other things in the past we couldn't believe them over there will be a solution when all the people unite there's a growing list of nations expressing concern over the situation as well as the united nations its former special rapporteur on myanmar says military chief minimum lying is pursuing his personal ambitions. i mean i wanted to be the president so that he can stay in power the reason he wants to needs to stay in power is his his family has so much at stake in. businesses business is run by the military it's cronies or it's associates minim lines power play has left many in myanmar uncertain about what comes next and with

banks and some shops closed people are stocking up on supplies early file al-jazeera yangon. earlier i spoke by phone to christina shauna borgen to the un special envoy for man maher she told me that the country's democratic progress since 2011 has been reversed in just one day i am really deeply comp her especially about the declaration of what your state of emergency and also the transfer of all legislator people executed anche at the shore power to the military and the commander in chief and peace means a real serious blow to the democratic reforms in myanmar and therefore d.c. is really not acceptable and we cannot allow a group like leyden no more open in 2011 and that we are now just one date back to square one and we are going to go to all

our efforts of me over. the last couple of years to bring forward 2 of. just one. the mean man crisis is the 1st major international test for the new biden administration u.s. president called on the military to relinquish power immediately but a tough stance risks changing the regional balance of power a white house correspondent kimberly how reports. calling the military seizure of power a direct assault on me and maurice transition to democracy u.s. president joe biden issued a stern warning to the country's military leaders were reversed course or face economic sanctions we remove sanctions the united states i should say remove sanctions on burma of the past decade based on progress toward democracy the reversal of that progress when the substitute an immediate review of our sanctions

laws and authorities followed by appropriate action oh no the white house is calling on the international community to pressure me and mars military to a mediately release detained officials and relinquish the powers it seized the developments are a test for the fledgling biden and ministration and the new secretary of state antony blanket who was sworn in last week the top republican in the senate mitch mcconnell released this statement pressuring the biden administration to take a strong stand and urging u.s. partners and all democracies around the world to follow suit in condemning this is a thorough terry an assault on democracy. when biden was vice president barack obama became the 1st sitting u.s. president to visit me in mar he praised steps toward democratic and economic reform strict u.s. sanctions against the country were lifted and me in march transition to civilian

rule but u.s. support for me and maurice government began to sour because of its discrimination against muslims that included a denial of citizenship there were further concerns when civilian leader aung san suu kyi defended the military as hunt. words of thousands fled as refugees the foreign policy crisis comes as the biden administration is struggling to deal with domestic issues its still trying to get its still trying to figure out what its foreign policies will be and most importantly it's very preoccupied with domestic crises biden distraction really wants to focus on the pandemic economic crisis at home and the racial tensions and it really doesn't i think it's not ready to confront a crisis like this the biden administration faces a dilemma tough u.s. measures could push me in mars military rulers closer to china a u.s. adversary something the new president wants to avoid can't really help at

al-jazeera washington people in thailand have protested in support of civilian government. at least 2 people were injured and 2 others arrested as police tried to break up the rally outside main mars embassy in bangkok when 200 people took part in a demonstration. a plane carrying south africa's 1st 1000000 coronavirus vaccine doses has arrived in johannesburg the country is battling a 2nd wave of infections driven by a more transmissible variant 1st identified there yesterday and it could jobs produced in india will be given to health workers 1st scientists believe it remains effective against the new strain south africa is the worst hit country on the continent from it aminah is in johannesburg and explains why the arrival of the

doses doesn't mean vaccinations can begin. well there's been a lot of anticipation around the arrival of those vaccines of that vaccine at least that $1000000.00 doses that's come through now it wasn't clear all slew these processes what exactly what was going to happen and now it seems that rather than the x. actual vaccination process beginning any time soon it will take another 10 to 14 days for those 1st jabs to be given and that's often a quality assurance process the storage of the vaccines as well as tests on samples just to make sure that everything is as it should be we do expect the government to implement a electronic database where people can register to get the vaccine but at this stage that focus will be are now front line workers people working in hospitals and health care facilities and in a later at a later stage phase 2 of the government grohl out will see essential workers like

teachers and police officers able to get the vaccination also we know that it's on a voluntary basis and we do expect that the government may encounter some difficulties around confidence within the south african population around the efficacy of the vaccine and just exactly how it works because of course as many countries around the world that have been a number of conspiracy theories misinformation that people have come across on things like social media so these are some of the challenges the government is facing aside from the issue of logistics and getting that vaccine to all parts of the country as quickly as possible. britain is ramping up code 19 testing after it emerged the south african variant may have spread in some regions experts urgently want to test 80000 people in 8 parts of england mobile testing units and some home kits are being sent into the affected areas both official say 11 people had tested

positive for the variant over the past 5 or 6 days who have had no links to travel john howell is in london and says the extra testing is to try to stop community transmission of the variant. $116.00 cases now identified included among them 11 that have no connection to previous travel in 8 different local areas in england and that suggests a degree of community transmission prompting the health secretary matt hancock a couple of hours ago to say that the health service who do whatever was necessary to crack down hard on this strain to try and eradicated so-called surge testing now ordered to begin as soon as possible in those 8 local areas that includes door to door house to house testing calling on people to come out and be tested 80000 adults they're hoping to cover all together as quickly as possible and pinpoint focused on those 11 addresses in an effort to break the chain of community

transmission i think the problem is that community transmission may be wider and deeper than they're able to detect at this point because one of those 11 cases we're told received their positive test several weeks ago now back in december suggesting that this south african strain so called much more transmissible more virulent of course alongside its u.k. born cousin the so-called kent strain may have been around now for quite some time just make a fire has pledged to deliver an additional $75000000.00 vaccines doses to the european union for the 2nd quarter of the year that brings the total number of doses for the block this year to 600000000 according to the european commission president and the e.u. vaccine rollout has been slower than hoped in part due to supply issues astra zeneca has reduced its quota of doses to the uk by more than half causing a rout over the company's contractual obligations. still to come this half hour

hong kong's most high profile national security defendant goes back to jail as his bail hearing has been delayed. new york wakes up to what could be a record breaking snowfall. we have something of a train of tropical sutter's in a moment 3 of them reducing the number was tired miss lee now most we can ignore honors now over open water lucas is still over open water and behind me in western australia this one hasn't as yet been named to probably will turn into a cycle of next 24 hours or so now also we as a can ignore this thing here which is lucas is heading towards new caledonia worst light to make landfall probably something light wednesday as a significant side play a bit of rain most likely risks rather than the strength of winds would be around

about $110.00 guineas brown mark over the mainland of australia it looks pretty stunning moment tropical showers in queensland very wet weather in the west and this potential cycle of course not quite standard when did what would be an understatement and the temps as melbourne come up to about $25.00 so yes some as a writer i suppose for this circulation means rain he's heading towards the east side of victoria or tasmania. going northwards again is a change in the fortunes is not deep winter anymore temperatures are temporarily below freezing in so once again the snow for japan those temps is slowly rising the walls going back to the korean peninsula was still snowing admittedly in japan. but. frank assessments you got colleagues on the ground in the canaries what is the situation there is only one doctor and one nurse for 2200 people and in-depth

analysis of the dates global headlines. inside story on al-jazeera from the world's most populated region. in-depth stories from across asia pacific. type us culture and conflict and politics when i went east on al-jazeera. i know in your mind the top stories here now to syria mean miles military has tightened its grip on power purging key ministers in the day following a coup the un security council is expected to meet on tuesday to discuss the situation. whereabouts of unsound suchi are still unknown after she was detained in

the middle of the night she had earlier urged people to resist a military takeover. a plane carrying south africa's 1st 1000000 corona virus vaccine doses has arrived in johannesburg countries battling a 2nd wave of infection is driven by a more contagious variant 1st identified their. own kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist jimmy lai will remain in jail while judges. instead of his bail application the 73 year old is accused of conspiring with foreign forces on a china's sweeping national security don't give it up are reports. a charged atmosphere as jimmy lie enters the building housing hong kong's highest court there's a heavy security presence unusual for a bail hearing but this is the 1st national security law case to make it to the court of final appeal oh yeah the side they're shouting matches between

pro-democracy activists jimmy lies supporters and those who want to see him locked up but they seem like that we are very angry with jimmy like he is a traitor and used his newspaper to incite riots and influence young people to me live is a billionaire with a rags to riches story and also one of the most high profile pro-democracy activists in the territory by he is one of the handful of people so far to have been charged under the national security law that was imposed by beijing in july last year but these bail proceedings are viewed as an arena for a struggle between china's communist party and hong kong's judiciary the pro-democracy activists say denying lie bail could impact the rule of law and set a precedent they have arrested has to prove their own innocence before we can even get that bail and it will become a very useful to for the regime to the rest anyone any prisoner for 4 weeks if not for 4 months before you can get

a trial and we had to travel before or not is and i had a question fundamentally undermine no you didn't destroy the principle of common law which has been practicing for will for for decades in an unusual move for the top court their new overseas nonpermanent judges presiding over this case that's only happened in 10 out of 700 courts of final appeal cases in the last 24 years on . almost all quarter final appeal cases unearthed an international judge to sit on the panel it's a tradition that underlines the independence of the judiciary and shows that the legal system here up calls international standards but this time all 5 judges are national security lawyer judges hand-picked by the chief executive the quarter final appeal is seen as the last holdout against beijing's increasingly assertive rule according to hong kong's legal community the ruling is likely to set the tone for what could be

a large number of national security cases if political conditions here continue to deteriorate the legal parlance our desire hong kong one year after the u.k. left the largest trading block in the world britain is officially asking to join a different scheme countries trade minister has requested to join a comprehensive and progressive agreement for transpacific partnership 11 country deal removes 95 percent of tariffs between its members including japan canada and australia unlike the e.u. it does not impose any laws on its members or seek to create a single market britain's application has been welcomed by many members but the trade value with its members is relatively small. after serious investigative unit has uncovered a criminal network colluding with the security forces of bangladesh and profiting from powerful links with the country's prime minister investigation found evidence that general head of the bangladesh army helped criminals to evade justice and make

money from state corruption well for one has this exclusive report. generalising heads of the bangladesh show me a man appointed by prime minister sheikh hasina to defend the country. surveillance team follows the general to malaysia and discover that he's also guarding his own secret waiting for him is his brother harry cellmate. he's a convicted murderer and an international fugitive from a notorious dukkha crime gang banger desh police put him on their most wanted list another brother is also there joseph was on death row but freed after he was pardoned by president abdul hamid in 2018. 0 my god we then tracked down the 4th armored brother anis as with harry's he's on the run after fleeing a conviction for the same killing of a political activist mr for rahman in takar back in 1996 the men get

a diplomatic escort from the bangladesh high commission their bond was shake a scene or began when the brothers worked as her bodyguards in the 1990 s. in a convert he recorded call general as he says the prime minister recently praised the loyalty of the brothers while speaking to prominent members of her ruling party. haris has been in hiding for 20 years protected by the general before he was part of a crime gang on the streets of dhaka now he says he can exert influence over state institutions. going up and. down. play nothing for nothing. we found harry soon hungry where

he runs numerous businesses under a false identity he tells our undercover source that he has shaikh has seen a support. because you don't get that 7200000 euro difference because of them but little things for them different. because of their. hurry so also acts as a middleman for business deals in bangladesh. the man on the left is her son's business associate they think they're talking to a fund manager in london who wants to invest millions in the bangladesh hotel to do so this is really really because he. really. is. spatially. but the meeting is a sting set up by al jazeera is investigative unit. and. his son says he takes 20 percent from every deal. this is.

basically. using. their because their early history lead everything to. al-jazeera invited all those involved including prime minister shaikh a senior un general as easy to respond to its findings none did so well thought on al-jazeera and he watched a full investigation all the prime minister's men on ours here on tuesday at 12 g.m.t. . uganda's opposition leaders filing a supreme court challenge against president yoweri museveni is victory in last month's election or be one claims the poll was rigged was 70 a former rebel leader won his 6th term with more than 58 percent of the vote wind secured just 35 percent of the january the 14th poll followed some of the worst pre-election bloodshed uganda has seen in years one's lawyer says any election to

70 participates in can never be peaceful or free israeli forces have dismantled several homes in the jordan valley displacing will of 70 palestinians locals told out there they're being pushed out so that israel can expand its illegal settlements in the area you noted nations says the israeli army has demolished $78.00 palestinian and structures since the beginning of the year. argentina is the 1st major country in latin america to legalize abortion but accessibility to the procedure remains difficult particularly in conservative provinces country there is terrorism bush has been visiting hospitals in the capital one as aries asking doctors about the issue. already under pressure from all that 19 argentina's hospitals are now having to adapt again abortion has just become legal in argentina dr while the sun says he has seen many women affected by botched abortions and is happy times has started to change in the

years. in the past 2 days since the law was implemented we have had 8 requests to terminate pregnancies we are trying to move as fast as we can as we have a pandemic and we are trying to minimalize the presence of patients in the hospital . i it's a major revolution in this overwhelmingly catholic country in december the senate voted in favor of legalizing abortion women rights groups have been arguing for years that thousands of illegal abortions already happen annually and they pose a major threat for women thousands of them end up in hospital because of complications but now women can have a free and safe abortion in a public hospital. where company women a lot we try to make it easy for them without too much crying we try to keep them away from obstetrics and begad trix we have other female doctors that come here to be with them we're ready for this next step. doctors here say many of the women who

can already have children and cannot afford to have another one the new law says that a woman can have an abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy the province of want to hide it is distributing this booklet that explains hospitals how to proceed when a woman comes and requests and i wash and this says that they have up to 10 days to interrupt the pregnancy timing is crucial until now abortion was only legal in argentina in case of rape or if a woman's life was at risk and that's why in many conservative areas in the country authorities postponed legal abortions for months forcing women to deliver their babies. has been covering women rights issues for years she says political will is crucial if the one cloud over same in the implementation is very clear and i think a conservative fundamentalist sectors don't want to see the implementation across

the country they will try to do what they can to stop it that's where it is important the political and political commitment to guarantee the law is implemented and it's not just on paper. prior to the passage of the new law precedent where the for amanda said broad legalization of abortion was a matter of public health that needed to be addressed and that's why hospitals in the country now see themselves as essential to help the government in their next step toward securing abortion rights nationwide. one of scientists in the u.s. a powerful winter storm is covering much of the northeast in what could become a record breaking levels of snow christians or me as a new york weather storm has already made travel and daily life difficult. we've already seen 15 centimeters of snow fall here in new york city and we get to 50 centimeters and that has prompted city officials to the for the state of emergency

it's not just the snow itself it's the high winds that could get up to 80 kilometers an hour and that is making for very treacherous traveling with low visibility on the roads not to mention power outages in areas outside of the city where the transmission lines are above ground so officials are warning people to stay off the roads they say travel problems could continue for days of course thanks to the coronavirus many people are already working from home and doing remote schooling but this is yet another impediment to vaccine rollout so many people are now finding that these appointments that they fought hard for are being canceled and poor new york city restaurants they only have outdoor dining allowed for another 2 weeks and needless to say not a lot of people are going to want to eat outside even with some of the elaborate set ups that we're seeing around the city to keep people warm and of course it's not just new york the east coast from philadelphia all the way to boston is being

blanketed with snow as much as 60 centimeters in some places. investors have set their sights on a new target so as they move on from a trading war struggling a video game to retain a game stop the precious metal reached an 8 year high at $30.00 an ounce in the u.k. on monday a surge is blamed on small traders using social media platforms to inform one another about what to purchase but some that dispute this claiming big wall street firms are behind the rise. from out of the top stories around as there are a 1000000 miles military has tightened its grip on power purging key ministers in the day following a coup international reaction has been swift the un security council is expected to meet on tuesday to discuss the situation is feared the crew will make conditions worse for the.