needless to say not a lot of people will be dining out today this storm is making its way up the coast with high winds threatening power outages from virginia through philadelphia and into new england states but there was still fun to be had from skiing in central park the planned it is the until i get to tired have to go home to watching pandas go for a slide in washington d.c. smithsonian national zoo proving even a major storm isn't all bad kristen salumi al-jazeera. this is out there are these are the top stories and memos military has seized power detaining democratically elected leader and son suchi and dozens of government ministers the military says the overthrow is temporary and has promised elections in a year or they could mean mars drawing international condemnation u.n.

secretary general called the military takeover a serious blow to democratic reforms and u.s. president joe biden has warned me and miles military leaders that they could face sanctions once again a group of republican senators in the united states say the bipartisan credit of our us relief package can be passed after meeting with the president to discuss their alternative they're proposing a plan costing about a 3rd of the $1.00 trillion dollars that joe biden is aiming for republican senator susan collins spoke after the meeting and she says that she's happy with how it went. it was a very good exchange of views i have when say that we came together on a package tonight no one expected that in a 2 hour meeting but what we did agree to do is to follow up and talk further at the staff level and amongst ourselves and with the president and vice president on how we can continue to work together on this very important issue the

un's high commissioner for refugees has called on the ethiopian government to do more to protect civilians trying to escape fighting and to grow a region filippo grandi says civilians driven from their homes told him their ordeal continued in camps where they sought safety and he has just returned from a trip to decry where almost 100000 people are displaced he says that aid agencies are not getting enough access to those in need iran has announced the launch of a rocket capable of carrying satellites into space the defense ministry says the rocket is for research purposes and will be able to compete with satellite carriers want it is fully operational meanwhile iran's foreign minister has also european union to coordinate a return of both washington and tehran to the 2015 minute deal. thursday we had lunch here and i deserve more news coming up right after inside story by fire.

a military coup in me and soldiers detained democratically elected leaders and say they're taking charge for a year world leaders are condemning the power grab but what can be done to return the country to the path of democracy this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm hammered him zoom me on mars 10 year journey to democracy appears to be over the military has launched a coup saying it's taking control for

a year soldiers detained the head of government on some sochi and leaders of her national league for democracy party or in l d they want to landslide in an election in november but the army insists without evidence there was widespread fraud world leaders have condemned the event as an assault on democracy the l.d.s. urging supporters to protest and resist scott heiler reports myanmar was supposed to mark an exercise in democracy on monday but instead the military rounded up the nation's democratically elected leadership including on song suchi it then announced a coup on military run t.v. . the name of the state of emergency is in effect nationwide and the generation of the state of emergency is set to one year. military chief men playing now rules the country monday was to be the 1st session of a new parliament after on songs to cheese party the national league for democracy a landslide victory in november recently the army made accusations of election

fraud and tension between the civilian government and the military increased last week when a general refused to rule out the possibility of a coup the matter where like this member of parliament and all the leaders and military critics were taken into detention before dawn there's a growing list of nations expressing concern over the situation in myanmar as well as the united nations the u.s. state department has called on the military to release all those who have been detained australia's prime minister says his country is keeping a close watch. rather disturbing. developments on the way or of those troubling reports in the foreign minister has been following the the banks in myanmar have shut due to poor internet connection and not knowing what might come next people are stocking up on supplies it's got hodler al-jazeera. one of the few western journalists in me and maher alley foul gave us this update from yangon . from around 4 in the morning they phone connection was cut off there so for the

1st few hours of this it was really unclear what was going on which is agreed to be on moving lots of people lots of rumors lots of people worrying about what's going on when they're hearing that most of the people who have been detained being detained within their own homes or their own compound the m.p.'s for example all stay in one big compound together so it's reasonably easy to keep them detained and rounded up but it seems that this still able to communicate so there is some information coming out from. under the constitution you can hand power to the military in a state during a time states syrian national emergency but the minute the president has to allow that so what's happened is that the president has been arrested in the early hours of the morning and the vice president who is a military nominee has become acting president and then he has put that close of the constitution into effect he's handed over power to the military leader saying

that it's legal but of course that's the last step the key step of taking the president out of power doesn't seem to have any legal basis let's take a closer look at me and mars history the military seems power in a coup for the 1st time in 1962 that's 15 years after the country gained independence from britain. came to prominence in 1988 when the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters killing hundreds the following year suchi was put under house arrest. in 2010 min maher said it would be running elections for the 1st time in 20 years and 6 years later the military handed power to the 1st civilian government suchi became defacto leader her in l. the party won last november's elections by a landslide the military as we heard says that vote was fraudulent all right let's speak now to tom andrews the un special rapporteur tour on me and more tom thanks for being with us i want to ask you if you have been able to speak with any members of the government either civilian or military since the coup happened what you

heard and how concerned you are about the situation. well one of the biggest concerns mohammed is that communication with those inside is very difficult to impossible we've had some communications with some of our contacts and for and allies on the ground things are exceptionally people are afraid there's a lot of fear a.t.m. machines have been shut down people just are terrified as to what is going to happen next but communication it has been extremely difficult we don't know so much because by design the military wants to make sure that the the world knows as little as possible so it's we're all dealing with this this is a big challenge but right now it's very clear that something very horrible has as has happened an outrageous assault on a developing democracy has gone on there's no justification for this whatsoever the

so-called state of emergency where the emergency is the military itself and it is extremely important that this their actions be condemned unequivocal in very strong terms by the international community and that action be taken that option for action be identified immediately and that the extent to the extent possible the international community has to act in a coordinated fashion the people of myanmar feel very isolated right now because of the communication a cut off time when we're talking about the situation i mean more we're talking about a country where there are several different different ethnic conflicts are going on in various parts of the country with this coup that's happened now at how much could this destabilize an already deteriorating situation and how concerned about how much this could potentially destabilize the region. clearly there's a great danger at what's going on right now the military has had very little

accountability and and the kind of pressure that is required placed on them already to this point as you know the constitution that they just overturn is one that day wrote and it gives them enormous power and of course just 24 hours ago they were saying that they were going to respect the constitution so they've thrown all of that to the wayside they have complete control and power and anybody who is vulnerable the members of the writing a community in rakhine state for example are very vulnerable right now those ethnic communities throughout the country that are living in very volatile regions conflict regions they're obviously very very vulnerable so what is clear right now is that the international community has to be very clear very strong very unequivocal with what's gone on this has to be condemned in uncertain terms and frankly those who believe in democracy and a working for human rights and democracy in myanmar have now either been arrested

or detained or are unable to take action whatsoever so what they need what is it imperative is a strong international response and that's what i'm i'm i'm hoping and trusting that they'll be able to see tom last time you and i spoke i asked you about the fact that the predecessor in your role the former u.n. repertory a man more young the leash he had been barred by the officials and me and more from reentering the country and i had asked you if you had gotten assurances that you could go there you had said that you know there was this coded situation right now and because of the protocols involved but you said that you felt you know assured that at some point you would be able to go what about now have you gotten any assurances from the military or from other government officials that you will be able to go to me and more. no there's been no shirts as whatsoever i've had no contact with the military at all and of course we're trying to reach whoever we can reach in the country but as you know it's the pandemic has created not let me list

to say enormous challenges i have not been able to get into the country go to the country visit the country because of the pandemic but i have been in communication up to this point with the government on an ongoing basis it has been a respectful relationship and so what that relationship is going to be going forward really is anybody's guess what we know for a fact is that this action is is illegitimate it's an outrage and i think right now the military needs to hear that the international community is not going to simply turn its back on the people of of me and my we will not sit idly by while this outrage takes place u.n. special repertory on me and more tom andrews thanks so much for taking the time speak with us today thank you mom and.

all right let's bring in our guests in london hmongs arnie mit is a min mark human rights activist and co-founder of forces of renewal for southeast asia in bangkok phil robertson is deputy asia director of human rights watch also in london ronan lee is visiting scholar at queen mary university of london and author of me and mars genocide welcome to the program let me start with you today the military in me and more already wields so much power why do this now and what is there in game. well i think the after 2 election cycles the military has figure out or discover to their dismay that they cannot play this democracy game with san suu kyi and her most popular national league for democracy anymore because this is the 2nd in the 2nd election cycle that was held in 2020 in

november 11 day before the us presidential elections were held up. the the verdict was so crushing that the military's proxy party union solidarity and development party was almost put out of business out of existence you know it won only $33.00 seats out of a 476 parliamentary seat and where a suit each party meet took a nearly $400.00 seeds that crushing defeat. triggered the realise ation there with sujit and l.t. they could no longer play this game and win it that it's one of the explanation they're also another explanation such as me arline has a price tag as commander in chief of the army that will is accused of committing a genocide against rootin general. you know in international legal or judicial

mechanism including universal jurisdiction case in argentina and also full investigation launched by the international criminal court in the hague and so there's another personal reason men are left probably that's not want to find himself in a similar situation as bashir of south sorry saddam the deposed ex general and president of sudan who the i.c.c. warrants for genocide in south sudan so that you know that the both personal and institutional reasons triggered this coup phil how surprised were you that this coup actually happened i mean there's been a lot of speculation over the past week about whether it would or would not happen and also how concerned are you for the safety of activists of dissidents of critics of the military and you expect that we're going to be seeing more detentions in the

days to come. well i think we were very surprised most people thought that this was saber rattling by the myanmar military that they were making threats to gain greater leverage over the civilian national league for democracy but that they wouldn't go through with it just because the damage would be so heavy on not only myanmar's international reputation but also quite possibly their economy of economic sanctions now follow so when they when i found out this morning that in fact that who had took them place i i i was really i'd to be honest quite shocked but i think you put your finger on that one of our major concerns right from the beginning is that we've had a large number of not only nationally for democracy people arrested but also civil society activists democracy activists people from other parties who the government who the military considers to be activists who might then sort of spark some sort

of larger uprising or protests against them and we're concerned that these people have been taken away we don't know where they're being held there's concerns about abuses in custody there's also concerns that we are going to see retaliation against critics of the military who have used the last 10 years of quasi democracy to speak out against the military and that these people may be on a list and may be rounded up that there's a lot of human rights risks connected to this military coup beyond the full on assault against democracy and. the myanmar people's choice of who they wanted to lead them ronan you heard a moment ago was arnie was talking about general men on lying and he was saying that perhaps he's the architect actually of this coup i want to ask you is the fact that he as military chief was expected to retire this summer how much has that

played into this i mean was he concerned about what would happen to him after he would have to step aside due to age restrictions. well i think he probably should have been concerned about what would happen to him once he steps aside i mean he deserves to be in an international court but i think is is bigger issue was he had no plan for what he would do once he was pushed out of the military at the age of $65.00 this is this is someone who has grandiose visions about their own role in me and mine are and their ability to contribute to the country this is someone who comes from a military tradition in me and where it's very much winner takes all is not a military that's that's really ever had civilian oversight to any degree this is a military that's been a law into itself for decades and it has a rich history of megalomaniac military leaders launching coups and holding on

to power for decades aggressively and violently and ruthlessly and i think part of the surprise for us maybe as that side is is that we assume to be non-language would act what we you know way we would consider sort rationally that it looked like he had things pretty well he was getting pretty much everything the military wanted to achieve in terms of policy and the flak was it was the blame for bad decisions was accumulating to aung san suu chait but what i think we the point we've missed is that it comes from a military tradition we are when you make a decision you get everything your own way and that's the sort of leadership that he wants from me and much this doesn't look like it's going to be a one year military administration it looks like they're betting in for the long term zani of the national league for democracy said that she is calling on the

public not to accept the coup and is calling on the public to protest do you think we will see people in myanmar take to the streets. a very much doubt that we will see the repeat of previous waves of you know nationwide uprising. as a result of the coup i think the burmese people have known how trigger happy improve the military regime it undef to under them like for 25 years you know i was born one year after the coup in 1982 and i think you know despite the commercial and social opening one thing that you know the international community has allowed itself to be fooled is that this so-called democratic transition the fact is the burmese military has never ever

compromised that never relinquish their control over key leavers of the state you know we have a situation in burma where the state has been captured over the last 58 years by the military the military intends to back seat drive the coup contrary to all the condemnations i very much oppose the coup here for the record but the coup has been made 3 empted will be legal and constitutional in the 2008 military's constitution which is the framework for democratization so the international community 1st held its nose when the military say we are moving towards a democratic transition so that you know the west and the rest you know go along with this is a big loss like burma is moving in a democratic transition with sujit as the for you know as the leader and then 2nd

the world continues to hold its nose when the very military. forge ahead with a way of sort of genocidal attacks against muslim was hindus and now the military is also a techie viciously the qur'an said other national minorities how can we possibly imperiously and intellectually and morally as well call a political system and the regime that commits genocide you know that zani writes itself as the job in terms of democracy in the cause our nation i'm sorry to interrupt you i want to get back to that point with you in a minute but i also want to give philip chance to respond to that as well phil you heard zani talking about the fact that there have been these allegations by many international bodies and countries against me in march military saying that they perpetrated a coup against the rohingya do you think you will see more countries now making

a genocide determination do you think that more countries will want to hold me in mars' military to account for the atrocities that were committed against the ring. i think that it's entirely possible that we will see that and we're looking very closely to see what secretary of state tony blinken does in washington if there is in fact that kind of determination by the u.s. which at the time did hire a group to do research with the rohingya in the refugee camps in 2017 you know so they've got all the raw data they've actually got a detailed report they just refused to the trumpet ministration to make a determination of what actually happened to either call it a genocide a call crimes against humanity or whether they're going to call they just refused to do that and now we're looking at a situation where you know the the situation is aligned where there is going to be a premium placed on levers to provide pressure on the myanmar military and i

think that we will see certainly a review of some of those designations or the reluctance to designate to actually step forward and say ok based on the facts this is what we really see and this is what it should be call so i think that you're going to see more concerted pressure against the myanmar military you're going to see. myanmar sort of going back to an inter national pariah status it's very possible that we will see global magnitsky sanctions brought against various different military leaders and it's very possible that we see a return to military sense economic sanctions particularly looking at military businesses the sort of work that the group justice for me on maher has been doing to reveal who is doing business with the military i think is something that the international community leads look at very closely run and we've talked in the last few minutes about the actions the countries that have condemned this coup may take

against the military meanwhile i want to talk about one of myanmar as cheap protectors namely china china and myanmar have strong trade and political ties china. of course you know it has really allowed me and mars military to get away with a lot of what they've gotten away with the past few years you know it is me and more going to be needing beijing's continued economic support going forward and do you believe that china may have been tipped off in any way that this was coming i mean would they have had to sign off to this coup. well unquestionably the amount will need china's economic support but they're going to need china's political support i mean china's a key protector of me and not within the u.n. security council and that we need from me and from the military's point of view and me about that we need that we need to be continued but china always extracts a very high price for its protection china's china's not

a an international player that simply does things for no reason it's it's a realist and it will demand concessions from the military end and quite likely the sorts of concessions in terms of dam building and other and other infrastructure that suits china's interests that may have been politically unpopular with the myanma and that will be china will expect that to be to be on those sorts of decisions to be to be made fairly soon in terms of whether whether china was tipped off i'd be surprised if china was given. a say in whether or not the coup was it would occur because i think china would have to be very frustrated with with the military i mean i think china was probably feeling that things in myanmar in terms of its infrastructure way haiti in the

right direction from its point of view and they were able to achieve their infrastructure demands with the sort of scrutiny that will now be applied i mean it's going to be very difficult now i think for. china to be seen as anything other than defending once again a pariah state in me and all right we've run out of times we're going to have to leave the conversation there thank you so much to all our guests mons arnie phil robertson and ronan lee. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story for me and i am a gentleman the whole team here by for now. oh

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a little. early. it's america's worst kept secret cracked open the time of a pandemic exposed in the time of trump through the turmoil of 2020 the big picture traces a century of racial injustice to reveal how philanthropy politics and economics preserve structural inequality keep the white a supreme and black in its place the race for america part one on and just 0. 0 as part of the launch team in 2006 protesters have called for a 1000000 man march in the time i've covered wars revolutions elections i'm going to treat poor sick crowds here in the u.s.

where remain very large and very vocal just 0 we cover the stories that matter the human stories. from the savannas of caracas to the battlefields around also i would drop just to get to the truth and empower people through knowledge. and on o'clock and to how the top stories here on al-jazeera and the u.s. threaten to reimpose sanctions on myanmar after a coup by military leaders prompted international condemnation the u.n. secretary general called the takeover a serious blow to democratic reforms the military seized power on monday detaining democratically elected leader and since hoochie dozens of government ministers it says they have a stress.