this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: the military in myanmar confirms it has carried out a coup, and declares a state of emergency. the country's de facto leader aung san sui kyi has been detained. this move follows weeks of complaints by the military over alleged fraud in last november's general election, in which ms suu kyi's national league for democracy won a resounding majority. this is an assault on democracy itself, on the people of myanmar, on their hopes and their aspirations, and the people of myanmar need to know that the world is watching and the world is with them. more than 5,000 people are arrested in russia, as protests take place

in support ofjailed 0pposition leader, alexei navalny. the eu commission president tells pharmaceutical companies that problems with the supply of coronavirus vaccines must be addressed. military leaders in myanmar have staged a coup and declared a state of emergency for at least a year. hours earlier, they detained the country's de—facto leader aung san suu kyi and several of her fellow leaders in the national league for democracy. the military says it's in response to alleged election fraud in november's general election which saw aung sang suu kyi returned to power by a huge majority. 0ur south east asia correspondentjonathan head has the latest on the military�*s announcement. well, they have simply announced that this is indeed a coup, they didn't call it

that, but that they have seized alljudicial and legislative power, meaning parliament will not convene. the first vice president who is a military appointee, under a constitution which does give the military still very significant powers, will now take over from the president who is being held by the military in naypyitaw, in the capital with aung san sui kyi. the president is strong ally of hers, remember she is barred by this constitution of being president herself but in effect rules the country because her party has won a second election victory last november and the president is her ally. they are now out of power. this is, in effect, a violation of a constitution that the military not only wrote but promised only on saturday that it would abide by. we are not sure what justifications the military may give for this extraordinary move. as things stand, they have detained other key civilian officials all over the country. they have seized power. communications are being cut in many areas. this is a military takeover,

but it is, i have to say, an astonishing move by a military which managed a democratic transition in which it kept many of those levers of power. it was upset about the election victory, its own party did very badly. it alleged irregularities, those were rejected by the election commission but it is going to be very difficult to justify, it puts myanmar on an extremely perilous course of action. remember, aung san sui kyi remains enormously popular. she has, herself, gone out of her way to defend the military against international criticism over the treatment of the rohingyas and this move by the military is going to shock all of those who came out in large numbers during a covid pandemic to vote or aung san sui kyi last november. can we clear someone up straight away? the justification given so far by the military for detaining aung san sui kyi and others is, irregularities with the election?

is there any justification for those claims of fraud in the elections? there were problems with the elections. in some parts of the country elections couldn't even happen. the government said the conflicts that were going on were too severe. in a country like myanmar with a very new democracy, there will always be irregularities but remember, aung san sui kyi's party won 80% of the seats in the national parliament, even more than it won back in 2015, the first election when it was able to take power. no number of election irregularities are going to change that overall result and indeed the military themselves over the weekend stated that they were not contesting the outcome, just what they said were the processes. i think people are going to look at the military�*s complaints which have been quite shrill and alternated over the last few weeks, and then look at this extraordinary action that has been taken and very few are going to be able to see any kind ofjustification. a seizure of power, a state of emergency in myanmar, under the current constitution is only supposed to happen if the country's entire

integrity and unity is under threat, and it can only be carried out by the president who is currently being detained by the military, so everything in the constitution that the military themselves wrote to keep themselves in power, they've actually not followed any of the procedures required for the sorts of actions they're taking now. and were there any hints that such an extreme step by the army was in play? yes. i mean, last week there were some alarming comments by the military when it refused to rule out a coup and the armed forces commander min aung hlaing who now effectively runs the country did say that if the constitution wasn't followed, well, it should be annulled and replaced. but then the military gave more conciliatory statements over the weekend and i think many people thought about a military which was a pariah for running the country so badly for 50 years in such a brutal way that it actually managed a democratic transition in which it kept so much power, but to launch an out—and—out

coup would be so provocative, i think many people believed the military was just threatening a warning, that it was actually going to do it. it's done it now, and it is really hard to see a way forward for the country, and there have to be real worries about how strongly people try to oppose this coup. in the past, of course, when people have opposed the military, the results have usually been significant casualties and bloodshed. tom andrews is the un special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in myanmar, he's labelled the situation as an assault on democracy. it is simply outrageous. many of us feared that this might happen, the signs that we were hearing in recent days were not encouraging, but listen, we are talking about overturning a constitution by the generals that the generals themselves wrote, that they said just yesterday that they

would abide by. so this is notjust an assault, an attack on an individual, on a political leader or a political party, this is an assault on democracy itself, on the people of myanmar, on their hopes and their aspirations. and the people of myanmar need to know that the world is watching and the world is with them. many people have been caught by surprise by this, not because there haven't been hints over the last couple of weeks, and people have been anxious, there have been noises coming out of the military suggesting a coup, but people seemed reassured by the military�*s reassurance, firstly, and secondly by the fact that the military still already had a significant degree of control in the country. so, taking this extra step seems a strange decision, to say the least. that's exactly right. i mean, they wrote

this constitution. it provides them with enormous power, it leaves them unaccountable in many respects. it provides them with 25% of the seats in the parliament. they are appointed by the commander—in—chief, not elected by the people of myanmar. they have enormous wealth, they have control of economic institutions that are totally unaccountable. in terms of the public at large, they are unaccountable whatsoever with respect to these resources, so they have incredible sources of wealth, they lack the kind of accountability that most believe is critical for any military, and now despite all of those benefits that they gave themselves in the current constitution, they've overthrown the constitution. it is absolutely remarkable, it is absolutely outrageous. as of a couple of hours ago now, they are in control, state of

emergency for at least a year. what can the international community do now? well, first of all, there is absolutely no justification for this whatsoever. they can't claim that this was a matter of national security, that they were protecting the country, they can't use any of those excuses to justify this. i think first of all the international community has to speak out very, very clearly, very loudly and make it unmistakable how the international community, leaders of countries around the world, feel about this. there are options that the international community will be considering. there are a range of things that can be done to apply pressure. what those will be at this moment are not clear, but what is clear is that this simply cannot be allowed to stand. the international community cannot afford to stand idly by while this outrage occurs before our very eyes. is this a test now for president biden?

i think it's a test for the world. it's a test for all of us. and we need to step up and meet this test. i mean, the people of this country have been through so much, and they've been through decades and decades of brutal military rule. they are going through a pandemic. the economy is in really tough shape. there are so many things that they are facing. the last thing that they need is to be facing this, so they need to know that we are with them, that we are watching and that the world is going to do what is necessary to make clear that this outrage is not going to be allowed to just go by. the international community is beginning to give its reaction to events in myanmar. in a statement, the white house condemned what had happened and gave this warning: the united states opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede

myanmar�*s democratic transition, and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed. australia's foreign affairs minister, marise payne, said: 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. of course we will keep you right up to date on events of course we will keep you right up to date on events in myanmar. other news now: 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 0pposition leader alexei navalny. steve rosenberg reports. by law, 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: portugal faces a severe crisis after a surge in coronvirus cases, germany and austria promise to help stop its hospitals from being overwhelmed. 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: the military in myanmar has confirmed it carried out a coup and declared a state of emergency for at least one year. the country's de facto leader, aung san sui kyi, has been detained. this move follows weeks of complaints by the military over alleged fraud in last november's general election, in which ms suu kyi's national

league for democracy won a resounding majority. 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. paul hawkins reports. he finally, some good news of sorts from the under pressure president of the u commission. widely criticised for mismanaging the eu wide vaccine rollout, commission as that following a meeting with maxime the —— manufacturers, astrazeneca would now supply an extra 9 million doses by march. translation: we extra 9 million doses by march. translation:— translation: we want 70% of adults in europe _ translation: we want 70% of adults in europe to _ adults in europe to be vaccinated by the end of the summer and when we have fulfilled that it will be a tremendous achievement. but that seems — tremendous achievement. but that seems a _

tremendous achievement. but that seems a long way off. the extra 9 million doses bringing the total expected doses up to 40 the total expected doses up to a0 million, that is still only half of what was initially expected. there was also a promise not to introduce vaccine controls on the border between ireland and northern ireland, a highly controversial decision taken on friday to restrict vaccine supplies leaving the eu, but which was later reversed. translation: i later reversed. translation: ., ., , translation: i had a very good conversation _ translation: i had a very good conversation with _ translation: i had a very good conversation with boris - translation: i had a very good conversation with boris johnsonl conversation with borisjohnson last night. i was pleased that he said that the two plants that manufacture astrazeneca naturally also delivered to europe, just like european vaccination doses, but from beyond that, go to great britain. this is the spirit in which we have to approach this pandemic. which we have to approach this pandemic— pandemic. the uk, meanwhile, vaccinated a record 600,000 people on saturday and even suggested it could help other countries, including the eu, in future. i countries, including the eu, in future. ., , . countries, including the eu, in future. ., ., . ., future. i hope that once we do have those — future. i hope that once we do have those most _ future. i hope that once we do have those most vulnerable i future. i hope that once we do have those most vulnerable in j have those most vulnerable in britain vaccinated, when we are 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, of course, we need everybody to be protected, that's the way we're going get this disease. in the meantime, eu citizens are anxiously wondering when they will get theirjob are anxiously wondering when they will get their job stop both france and germany have threatened legal action if astrazeneca failed to increase vaccine supplies to the eu. bob german officials are due to meet with manufacturers on monday. while the vaccine rollout is the top priority for an eu commission under pressure and playing catch up. paul hawkins, bbc news. germany is to send military medics and equipment to portugal, as the country struggles to cope with the pandemic. the government has closed the border with spain and declared a travel ban for the next ia days in the hope of reducing the spread of the virus. duncan kennedy has more. in portugal, the grinding toll of covid is stark and unrelenting. workers at this funeral home in lisbon say they're overwhelmed.

their country now has the highest covid death rate among all the 27 members of the european union. translation: it's chaos. it's really chaos. - so many people are dead. there is no room to put so many dead. i've already lost my aunt, my cousin, my father, and my grandfather. many hospitals don't have any more room. ambulances have to queue. on thursday, some patients waited 15 hours before being admitted to the largest hospital in the country. so, the government is going further — by tightening the existing lockdown restrictions and closing the border with spain for the next ia days. no, no. you have to turn back. the border, it's closed. the next big step will be vaccines. but if pharmaceutical companies don't deliver the batches they promised to the eu,

it could mean delays. we are now completing the vaccination of the second priority group. so, we expect that this shortage can be addressed so the consequences on the vaccination pace can be minimised. but before the vaccine can shield its population, portugal faces more loss. translation: we have | reached a breaking point. politicians must put an end to this. this is portugal's reality — one mirrored around the world, one that reflects the devastation of this still unrelenting pandemic. duncan kennedy, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. at least three people have been killed in the somali capital mogadishu in an attack on a hotel near the airport. al shabab says it carried out the attack, which began with a car bomb.

so far, two civilians and a guard are known to have died, but the number of casualties may rise further. sir tom moore, the 100—year—old british army captain who raised tens of millions of pounds for the national health service, is being treated in hospital for breathing difficulties. sir tom was knighted by the queen, after being sponsored to walk laps around his garden last year. his family say he's been treated for pneumonia after testing positive for coronavirus, but is not in intensive care. millions of hong kong residents have been offered a pathway to british citizenship as a new visa scheme began on sunday. thousands have already made the decision to leave since beijing imposed a strict national security law on the chinese territory last summer. danny vincent has been speaking to a family determined to move away. translation: | feel a bit like i'm fleeing | rather than emigrating. like millions of hong kong residents, mr and mrs b,

not their real names, are eligible for uk citizenship. this middle—class, middle—age family are not front line protesters. they are afraid to show their faces. translation: we hope we can live in a place of freedom - for what is left of our lives. i don't want to worry about saying things that could get me into trouble. since china imposed a wide ranging national security law in hong kong, the couple are determined to leave. translation: the jobs - we are doing in hong kong, we don't know if we will be able to find that type of work. we are willing to do anyjob we are capable of getting. more than 3 million residents of this former british colony hold british national overseas passports. but the chinese government now no longer recognises them as valid travel documents. millions of hong kong residents are now eligible to pursue british citizenship.

but the move from the uk came with a stern warning from china. the implication is that those who pursue this new route may one day have to decide if they are british or if they are chinese. hong kong was promised certain political freedoms for 50 years after it was returned to china in 1997. but following months of anti—government protest, china imposed a national security law which critics say is eroding those freedoms. 7,000 have already moved to the uk. the people are so determined, they have to consider whether they should really continue to retain chinese nationality. translation: if a hong konger leaves hong kong, then - he is seen as a traitor. i cannot agree with that. who actually - betrayed hong kong? those that point the finger, well, maybe they should i look at themselves. china says the national security law restored order in hong kong. britain says it is clamping down on freedoms.

both nations now blame each other for breaking an international treaty. danny vincent, 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 — st 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's like the plague,"

that this man. "maybe it's even worse. but the war is worse. i lived through the war, and it was worse." the irony is for 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. a reminder of our top story this hour. the military in myanmar as it confirmed it carried out a coup and declared a state of emergency for at least a year. the country's to facto leader, aung san suu kyi,

has been detained. 20 more on the website —— to facto leader. you can reach me on twitter, i'm @lvaughanjones. 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: the armed forces in myanmar have seized power after they detained the country's elected leader aung san suu kyi and other senior members of the governing party. a statement on the army's television station said all authority had been given to the top military commander general min aung hlaing. a state of emergency has been declared. this dramatic move follows weeks of complaints by the military over alleged fraud in last november's general election, in which ms suu kyi's national league for democracy won a resounding majority of seats in parliament, and the military�*s own party performed poorly. 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. independent monitors said more than 5,000 were detained, including over 80 journalists covering the events.

now on bbc news, hardtalk.