our top stories: an apparent military coup is underway in myanmar. the country's de facto leader aung san sui kyi has been detained. the military complained about alleged irregularities in last november's election but at the weekend promised to abide by the country's constitution. yelling. more than 5,000 people are arrested in russia, as protests take place in support ofjailed opposition leader, alexei navalny. the eu commission president tells pharmaceutical companies that problems with the supply of coronavirus vaccines must be addressed.

welcome to the programme. a military coup appears to be underway in myanmar. reports say the country's de facto leader aung san suu kyi and other civilian leaders have been detained. soldiers are on the streets of the main cities and communications have been cut. tension has been escalating since the november elections, which the nld was declared to have won by a landslide. the military, whose proxy party won only a few seats, has claimed the results were fraudulent. 0ur south east asia correspondentjonathan head is in bangkok. he says facts are difficult to confirm at this stage. well, it's not that clear from here in bangkok. we're getting a lot of reports from contacts inside myanmar. it does appear — there are numerous reports that the key leadership of the country, including aung san suu kyi, have been detained by the military, very early this morning,

before dawn, that the capital, naypyidaw, which is not the main city, that has been more or less cut off. people are been having trouble getting through on phones or any other lines. naypyidaw is where the military has its biggest bases, it's also where parliament was due to convene later today to establish a second term of office for aung san suu kyi after her party won an even more resounding election victory last november. it was contesting that election victory and complaints of irregularity by the military which appears to have driven this action. remember, the military last week made some alarming signals talking about replacing the constitution or even possibly a coup, then backtracked at the weekend, saying it would abide by the constitution, but still insisted that its grievances over the election were still valid. what's happened this morning really can't be overstated. it's an extraordinary move. you have to remember that the constitution that governs myanmar right now was written by the military, the entire transition back

to a democratic government was overseen by the military, which still has very significant power, it's guaranteed a quarter of the seats in parliament, it controls key ministries. and yet they appear to have moved today to neutralise the government, to take it over, in effect, before parliament consent. now, the military has given no statements so far. there have been soldiers visible on the streets in many parts of myanmar. it seems those have been brought out to detain key officials in regions as well, people like chief ministers, so i'm not sure the military will describe it as a coup, as a suspension of the constitution. under the constitution, the military does have significant powers to declare a state of emergency and that might be option. but it is an extraordinarily dramatic and provocative move by the military, in particular, to detain all the key leaders and aung san suu kyi. and these are very, very popular politicians, aung san suu kyi is enormously popular. the election result was clearly in herfavour, her party won 80% of the seats in the main parliament. so this is not going to go

unopposed and it's a very risky move by the military. one thing i think may be unlikely is they overthrow the constitution. the constitution is their own constitution, they spent years drafting it, gives them enormous powers, unlike thailand, which has coups and constitutions as often as most people have changes of government. in myanmar, i think, it would be a big deal. it is likely they will stick to a state of emergency. frankly, the military has set a path which is fraught with huge issues. the anger over this move, over a move against a government that has just won a resounding election victory, albeit there were complaints of irregularities. but the election commission judged that those simply could not have altered the result. and when you look at how well aung san suu kyi's party did it's hard to argue that the party did notjustifiably win a new mandate. with all of that, for the military to move against them right after that election, i think many people thought the military was quite savvy and had been quite subtle often in managing its relations with civilian governments, there is nothing subtle at all about looking up an elected government.

bill is an associate fellow on the international programme on the international programme on the international programme on the international affairs think tank. he the difficult relationship between aung san suu kyi and the armed forces. there seems to be very little personal chemistry between aung san suu kyi and the senior general in charge of the myanmar military. they reportedly haven't spoken for months or maybe even longer. the main issue is that she wants to see the military formally out of politics, and the military are absolutely convinced that they are the only thing that stands between, you know, normality and disaster. they think that they are the backbone of the country, they embody the soul and the spirit of the nation and that, therefore, they are required to make sure that myanmar stays on a true path and that theyjust don't trust civilians, frankly, to get on with it.

so it's hard to see why they've chosen, you know, decided to go on this particular issue, because the constitution guarantees them a 25% representation in both houses of parliament, which means that the constitution can't be changed without their say—so. but it seems that relations have become so bad with the civilian party that they feel that this was the moment to move. it's extraordinary, isn't it, in part this is a constitution written by the military. so any kind of apparent coup to overthrow a document that they essentially wrote is unusual, to say the least. we heard from fergal keane earlier on, speculating that perhaps that the timing was due to the fact that aung san suu kyi is not particularly strong internationally at the moment. could you explain to us what that means? well, i think the reason it happened today was because parliament was about to sit and all the mps will be in naypyidaw, all staying in a guest house, the vast majority in one particular

guest house, and they can all be rounded up quite easily. the reason why it may be happening in the wider context, aung san suu kyi has become increasingly isolated due as a result of the rohingya issue. and it's the military who expelled the rohingya muslim minority from the northern part of rhakine state and you now have hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps across the border in bangladesh. the myanmar government and aung san suu kyi as its most public representative has been thoroughly criticised for that. although, frankly, there was not much she could do about it. the military are the people doing the pushing, they're the ones that control the military defence and the border affairs agencies and everything else. and there is very little she could have done to stop it. nonetheless, she has taken the blame for that. she's become a sort of persona non grata in capitals around the world. and i guess she's not seen as the thought of saintly

figure she was five years ago. so where do you see this ending up now? well, i mean, the myanmar government, or rather the myanmar military have plenty of experience of withstanding international sanctions and international pressure. i mean, they had a coup in 1988 against similarly resounding results for what was then the opposition, and they basically stuck it out for 20—plus years. so a lot will depend on what myanmar�*s immediate neighbours think, i'm thinking china, india, and the southeast asian countries. interestingly, china, although not a democracy in itself, probably gets on better with aung san suu kyi than it does with the myanmar military. meanwhile, india, which is a democracy, ironically, gets on better with the military than with aung san suu kyi. and the southeast asian countries, it's not sure how they will split.

i think those three countries or blocks will probably have more impact on say the european union or the uk or the united states making comments about it, frankly. i imagine what they're going to try to do, the army here, is try and force the supreme court or something to nullify the elections or rerun them. it's hard to see they could overturn the results as they stand, but maybe they can try and call for a different election process, because that's ultimately what they are complaining about here. or else theyjust continue to rule without fear of international criticism. i wanted to go back to the issue of how much of a surprise this is, i suppose. because we've heard in the last couple of weeks these murmurings about a possible coup, denials from the military, assurances from the military, actually, that they will abide by the constitution only 2a hours ago, and then suddenly this. do you think people

inside the country, inside the ruling party would have had any inclination that they would be rounded up and detained this morning? well, as you were saying, there has been rumour of coup preparations. and we saw armoured vehicles driving around some of the city streets on thursday last week, and increasingly talk and the army saying they wouldn't rule anything out. but, i mean, they could say they are going to do within the spirit of the constitution, the state of emergency. i mean, technically that has to be called by the president, but with the president apparently being arrested, presumably he could be pressured to formally call a state of emergency. so they could say they're upholding the constitution in that sense. but, obviously, the spirit of the constitution, the idea of a democratic rule is being violated as we speak. bill hayton there.

are really important context and background to events. we are starting to get a reaction from the international community about what is happening in myanmar a reaction from the white house, from the united states, i have the statement here saying the united states is alarmed by reports that the burmese military has taken steps to undermine the country? democratic transition including the arrest of aung san suu kyi. the first interesting thing is we urge the military to adhere to democratic norms and the rule of law as we would expect and to release those detained today, calling directly for the release of aung san suu kyi. in the second point they may, from the second point they may, from the white house, saying the us will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed, so they are the two main points coming from that white house statement, reaction from the usa. also we

have reaction from australia, the foreign affairs minister saying we call on the military to respect the rule of law, to resolve disputes through lawful mechanisms, and to release immediately all civilian leaders and others who have been detained unlawfully. we will keep an eye on the international reaction to that apparent coup in myanmar. in a second weekend of widespread protests, large crowds have demonstrated across russia in defiance of warnings by police. the protesters are demanding the release ofjailed opposition leader alexei navalny. according to independent monitors, the police crackdown has now seen at least five thousand people arrested across the country. among them is mr navalny�*s wife yulia, seen here accompanying her husband on their return to russia earlier this month. she has been arrested by police in moscow as she and others marched towards the prison where her husband is being held. steve rosenberg reports.

by by law, russians have the right to peaceful protest. 0n russians have the right to peaceful protest. on paper... in moscow today, police were determined to clear the streets... whatever it took. some people got away. but hundreds of people were detained in the russian capital. protesters had come out in support of alexei navalny, the kremlin critic who's in jail. moscow police had warned that any protest in the city today would be considered illegal and broken up, and that's exactly what's happening right now. the message is that the authorities are determined to crack down on dissent. but the crowds swelled, and moved through the city. chanting "moscow, take to

the streets", they're chanting. the riot police tried to stop them, but they were playing catch—up all afternoon. mr navalny�*s arrest was the trigger for this, but resentments of the authorities has been building. we have been stagnating for, like, 20 years of putin's rule, and i believe that we need some change. i wanted freedom for our country. the situation now is the worst, i think, than the last ten years. this too brought russians onto the streets, alexei navalny�*s recent video alleging that vladimir putin built himself a £1 billion palace with illicit money, complete with £600 toilet brushes. the kremlin�*s denied it, but the video's had more than 100 million views online.

the result — the toilet brush has become the symbol of this protest, the embodiment of what many here believe is massive corruption at the top. there were protests across russia, from st petersburg. .. ..to siberia and the russian far east. man shouting. but will they force a kremlin u—turn and mr navalny�*s release? no sign of that. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we have more on the breaking news of the apparent coup in myanmar.

this is the moment that millions in iran had been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. the ban on the african national congress is lifted immediately, and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. ..four, three, two, one... a countdown - to a critical moment. the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 - of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, l slashing the cost of a launch, l that makes this a breakthrough in the business| of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailing solo around the world non—stop. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines:

an apparent military coup is underway in myanmar. the country's de facto leader aung san sui kyi has been detained. the military complained about alleged irregularities in last november's election, but at the weekend promised to abide by the country's constitution. simon adams is the executive director— simon adams is the executive director for the global centre for the — director for the global centre for the responsibility to protect, an organisation seeking to prevent mass atrocities.— seeking to prevent mass atrocities. , , ., ., atrocities. says the situation is worrying- _ atrocities. says the situation is worrying. this _ atrocities. says the situation is worrying. this is - atrocities. says the situation is worrying. this is a - is worrying. this is a dangerous _ is worrying. this is a dangerous and - is worrying. this is a - dangerous and potentially deadly situation, and ifear for people on the ground in myanmar, especially human rights defenders, independent journalist, anyone opposed to military rule, and the only thing i would disagree with slightly as i think that we have gone through this kind of democratic transition in

myanmar, but there are trappings of democracy. someone who is essentially over the last four years, been an apologist for me and my�*s military, even though they like to offer so many years previously.— to offer so many years previously. to offer so many years reviousl . ~ , ., ~ previously. why do you think they decided _ previously. why do you think they decided to _ previously. why do you think they decided to act - previously. why do you think they decided to act now? - they decided to act now? 0bviously they decided to act now? obviously the election has shaken them, that they are at a tipping point, their power may be diminished and even though, she has done everything i think over the last four years to try and reassure them, including standing up at the international court ofjustice and denying genocide that was perpetrated by me and my�*s military, even though she did that for them, they are still concerned that there is little bit too much democracy for their liking, they don't like their liking, they don't like the result of what happened,

and so they have decided now to sweeper and the national league for democracy, aside, including adjuster but other leaders, like a more general round—up of democracy activist, human rights defenders, student leaders and others.- rights defenders, student leaders and others. let's talk cuickl leaders and others. let's talk quickly now _ leaders and others. let's talk quickly now about _ leaders and others. let's talk quickly now about the - leaders and others. let's talk quickly now about the people j quickly now about the people that really matter here, the people the ordinary voters in myanmar who voted overwhelmingly for aung san suu kyi's party, hugely convincing win the election in november. what do you think happens now? will they come out onto the streets? are they potentially endanger? i have been trying to reach out to anyone with contact on the ground in bien ma, whether that be journalists or others, and of course nobody can be reached, the telephones are down, the internet is down, and

it remains to be seen what people do but of course there is question of this in myanmar, people have come out very bravely and resisted dictatorship and sometimes they have paid for that with their lives. i hope and pray that they will not be the case this time around but that will depend, in no small amount, on the amount of international pressure that can be put on myanmar�*s military to step back from this terrible development, to immediately and unconditionally release one and all the other people who have been detained, and restore democracy in myanmar. fin been detained, and restore democracy in myanmar. on queue to simon adams _ democracy in myanmar. on queue to simon adams and _ democracy in myanmar. on queue to simon adams and of _ democracy in myanmar. on queue to simon adams and of course - democracy in myanmar. on queue to simon adams and of course we j to simon adams and of course we will keep you right up to date with any developments in myanmar. the president of the european commission ursula von der leyen has told the heads of six pharmaceutical companies that problems with the supply of coronavirus vaccine have to be addressed. astrazeneca has now agreed to increase the number of doses it will supply the bloc before the end of march. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has more. keeping the border

between northern ireland and the republic open was a priority in brexit talks, so the eu faced intense criticism after drawing up plans to introduce controls on vaccine imports. ministers in london and dublin intervened to tell brussels it had made a big mistake. the commission should've spoken to you first, should it not? yes, and we've had that conversation. and i think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from how all of this transpired, because it took four years to put the protocol together. people were blindsided by the decision that was taken and its implications for the protocol. the vaccine roll—out in the eu has been slow, with tension over supply delays. the under—pressure commission president held talks with pharmaceutical companies this afternoon. ursula von der leyen said astrazeneca had agreed to deliver 9 million additional doses. speaking to german tv tonight, she emphasised cooperation. translation: i had a very good

conversation with boris johnsonl last night precisely about this question. it makes sense to work together during the pandemic. i was pleased that he said that the two plants that manufacture astrazeneca also deliver to europe. this is the spirit in which we have to approach this pandemic. but in the uk, hundreds of thousands are being jabbed daily, with a record number yesterday, and ministers have even suggested that eventually, spare doses could be given to other countries. i hope that once we do have those most vulnerable in britain vaccinated, when we're on track with our vaccine programme, we will be able to look at helping the developing world and, of course, our friends and neighbours, because we need everybody to be protected — that's the way we're going to grip this disease. for all the criticisms of government policy, the vaccine roll—out here has been one of the speediest in the world. the situation in europe shows that that wasn't guaranteed. and despite those tensions with brussels, the fact that ministers here are even prepared to talk about the idea of sharing vaccines

is a sign of confidence. vaccines are a key tool in the government's plans to lift lockdown, and for now, the roll—out remains on track. nick eardley, bbc news. this weekend should have seen the start of the venice carnival — a vivid display of light, sound and colour that attracts thousands of tourists each year — but it's been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. the canals and streets of the city are now almost empty. here's tim allman. what a difference a year makes. this was venice at the beginning of 2020. the usual mix of the spectacular and the slightly surreal. this is venice in 2021. almost a ghost town. when it's carnival time, you would normally expect to see sites like this, saint marks square full of gothic costumes. but 12 months later,

it is practically deserted. for this city, like so many cities around the world, it has been a tough, tough year. it is like the plague, that this man. maybe it is even worse. the war is worth, lived through war and it was worse. the irony is that italy as a whole, things are slowly beginning to improve. restrictions are being eased as the vaccine rollout continues. restaurants and cafes will be able to open their doors and not a moment too soon for some. we will have lunch outside, said these women, we will go out for lunch. lockdowns have been eased in the past, of course, and then tightened once more. perhaps in 2022, the carnival will return and life will finally be back to normal. tim allman, bbc news.

we do have a significant update now on the situation in myanmar. we have been reporting of course about the apparent coup there, while we seem to have confirmation from our correspondence jonathan have confirmation from our correspondencejonathan head correspondence jonathan head saying correspondencejonathan head saying that the military has confirmed it is carried out a coup and that it intends to hold powerfor at least coup and that it intends to hold power for at least a year. reuters news agency says the army declares a state of emergency and again, from reuters and from the army, saying that power will now be handed to the commander—in—chief of the armed forces. so hugely significant developments there in myanmar in the early hours of monday morning, several leading governing politicians were detained, including the facto leader of the country aung san suu kyi. —— de facto. since then we have not heard anything from any of those politicians that have been detained and we have now heard from the army itself, saying they intend to

hold power in a state of emergency for one year. plenty more on this story right here on bbc world news. i'm lewis vaughn on bbc world news. i'm lewis vaugthones. goodbye. hello. it may be a new month but the weather pattern, for now, is staying the same. so in the week ahead, there will be low pressure systems coming our way, there will be more rain to flood—affected areas, some snow as the wet weather pushes north causing some disruption, and although milder for some of us, that's not going to last. a damp start for some to the south, close to this area of low pressure for monday morning. this is a much more vigorous weather system coming our way with that rain and snow monday night and into tuesday. monday not starting as cold as sunday morning. still, the coldest parts of scotland close to minus double figures. quite sharp frost in scotland and northern england under clear skies, but with some sunshine for monday morning. icy where we're still seeing some wintry showers towards the north and east of scotland. damp and drizzly with plenty of misty, murky conditions

across parts of southern england and wales. parts of the the midlands, though, and east anglia may brighten up into the afternoon. and rain and hill snow spreading north across northern ireland during the afternoon, and that will push into parts of scotland into monday evening. but this area of rain is from that low pressure system i showed you. some heavier rain pushing north into the cold air monday night and into tuesday. we're going to see some snow out of that in parts of wales, the midlands and northern england before it turns to rain but briefly very icy with that, and the snow by tuesday morning across northern england and into parts of scotland, so a covering for some of us to start the day, some very difficult travel conditions and although for some it will turn to rain, still into parts of the pennines and scotland on tuesday, there will be further snow, and the totals really starting to mount up into the higher ground particularly. south of that, it's turning milder and there will be a few sunny spells but there will also be a few heavy showers around. it could be thundery, too. this area of low pressure is still close by going into wednesday. and particularly for parts of northern ireland,

northern england and scotland, some rain, some snow around. another weather system coming in towards the south. uncertainty about how far north it's going to bring its rain but some of us will get a sizeable dose of rain for that, we think, during wednesday. in between the two weather systems, you could actually have a dry day, you could actually see a bit of sunshine. and as we go towards the end of the week, it looks like the weather will begin to quieten down a little bit. and where temperatures have gone up, you'll notice they'll come down again, and it is looking colder going into next weekend.

this is bbc news, the headlines: a military coup is underway in myanmar. reports say the country's de facto leader, aung san suu kyi, and other party leaders of the national league for democracy have been detained in a series of early morning raids. soldiers are on the streets of the capital naypyitaw and the main city yangon. the military in myanmar has confirmed that it has carried out a coup, and intends to hold power for at least one year. in a statement the army said it carried out the detentions in response to election fraud. the state broadcaster announced would be the acting president. tens of thousands of russians have taken to the streets in support of the jailed activist alexi navalny for the second week running. they're the biggest protests against president putin for a decade. now on bbc news, the week in parliament.