this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the military coup in myanmar, president biden threatens new sanctions if the army doesn't reverse course. testing in england for south africa's covid variant after cases with no links to travel are found. if you live in one of these postcodes where we're sending in enhanced testing, then it is imperative that you stay at home and that you get a test even if you don't have symptoms. president biden meets republicans as he decides whether to compromise on his covid stimulus package. and the world's first bio—powered rocket takes flight.

the maker claims the fuel is cheap and sustainable, and even safe enough to eat. president biden has called the coup in myanmar a direct assault on the country's transition to democracy. the country's armed forces seized power, detaining civilian leader, aung san suu kyi, and her top advisers. the takeover follows a landslide win by her national league for democracy in november's election, which the army claims was fraudulent. myanmar, also known as burma, was ruled by the military until 2011. democratic reforms by aung san suu kyi ended their control. previously she'd spent 15 years under house arrest.

internationally aung san suu kyi was hailed as a beacon of democracy — she was awarded the nobel peace prize. now her leadership and reputation has been tarnished by the army's ill—treatment of myanmar�*s muslim rohingya minority. but she still enjoys great support throughout the country. our special correspondent fergal keane reports. an army reverting to autocratic type, swiftly and ruthlessly deposing a democratically—elected leader. somewhere behind the guns, aung san suu kyi is once more a prisoner of the generals. and even if people never trusted the military, they're still shocked at what's happened. translation: the army assaulted i people as it carried out a coup i on the civilian government elected by our people. our country is just a bird learning to fly. now the army has broken our wings. i am surprised and shaken. i fear that prices will rise and people will revolt. i hope that aung san suu kyi and her colleagues will be freed sooner rather than later. the crisis began when suu kyi's

party won a landslide victory in elections last november. that win may have convinced the military that their hold on key security ministries — the root of real power here — was threatened. this was their response, relayed to the public on state television. allegations of election fraud from an army notorious for its human rights abuses. there'll be a state of emergency for a year, with limitless powers to detain political enemies. this is the husband of one woman mp asking the soldiers what they want. his wife is taken away in one of the numerous dawn raids. expect them to escalate. the coup has an air of dark familiarity. for decades, the military has tried to maintain a monopoly of power. this was in 1995, when aung san suu kyi was released after her first six

years of house arrest. the woman i met then was a global human rights icon. i think i became more political after i was put under house arrest than before, because once i was under house arrest, i became totally a political animal. because this was my whole existence. but human rights would eventually come second to politics. three years ago, by now sharing power with the military, aung san suu kyi defended generals accused of genocide against the rohingya muslims, even appearing for the defence at a war crimes trial in the hague. do you ever worry that you will be remembered as the champion of human rights, the nobel laureate, who failed to stand up to ethnic cleansing in her own country? no, because i don't think there's ethnic cleansing going on. for western powers, the issue isn't about a personality, but the principle of democracy in myanmar. and tonight, president biden threatened renewed sanctions on the military.

but he needs chinese support, and that's far from assured, given the competition for regional influence between beijing and washington, and china's long—standing support for the generals. the army's supporters were on the streets today, but the cheers won't echo for long. ahead lies deepening isolation, perilous uncertainty. fergal keane, bbc news. let's cross live to washington and speak to our correspondent barbara plett usher. barbara, what options does the biden administration have? what barbara, what options does the biden administration have?— administration have? what it has mostly been _ administration have? what it has mostly been talking _ administration have? what it has mostly been talking about - administration have? what it has mostly been talking about is - administration have? what it has mostly been talking about is the | mostly been talking about is the possibility of sanctions. although it depends on really what kind of sanctions you're talking about. in recent years there have been targeted sanctions placed against military leaders because of this campaign against the muslims. of course you remember the americans had a pretty sweeping economic

embargo during those decades of military rule. they began to live that in phases when the tradition to democracy started in 2011. mr biden seems to be referring to the possibility of restoring that type of sanctions. he said he's called for a review and he's going to take action appropriately. that's something that he's keeping open as a possibility. he would need the support of the international community if he wants to effectively isolate the generals. h0??? community if he wants to effectively isolate the generals.— isolate the generals. how could all of this effect _ isolate the generals. how could all of this effect overall _ isolate the generals. how could all of this effect overall power - isolate the generals. how could all of this effect overall power in - isolate the generals. how could all of this effect overall power in that| of this effect overall power in that region. particularly that region is by china? it’s region. particularly that region is b china? 3 ., region. particularly that region is b china? 2 . , by china? it's an interesting question- — by china? it's an interesting question. this _ by china? it's an interesting question. this is _ by china? it's an interesting question. this is probably . by china? it's an interesting i question. this is probably the by china? it's an interesting - question. this is probably the first real test of mr biden is a china policy. he will undoubtedly try to bring beijing along in his efforts to pressure the generals. but that will be difficult because china is a key ally, historic ally of me and mira. it's a remaining economic partner has strategic interest in

the region for the rabbits had a pretty muted response so far said something to the effect that we hope that they can solve this problem internally. mr biden has said that he wants to try and curb china's influence by collaborating with allies and putting up a stronger front. he has called for an international response. that's also tricky because in the past when there have been periods of international isolation that's when china's relationship with the generals has grown closer. in previous periods of detention she was a human rights icon in the west. in this new period of detention she has a much more troubling record for the rest. will this change the way that western governments campaign for her or? it’s that western governments campaign for her or? �*, , . ., that western governments campaign forheror? �*, m when she took power there was a recognition here that she had to share it with the generals because the generals didn't relinquish their

power. there was an acknowledgement here that she was walking a fine line. but then when she ended up defending the campaign her reputation here it was tarnished just like it was elsewhere. the us government hasn't taken a generally broad approach to myanmar on this. they talked about protecting their transition to democracy. they haven't specifically called her out. although officials who have been formally in government have. but not the government itself was up in this case they have focused on talking about releasing those arrested and the generals relinquishing power. they haven't spoken about whether this would change, how they view or relate to her. there's growing concern among health experts about the south african variant of coronavirus, after random checks found a number of cases in the uk, which could not be linked to international travel. the health secretary for england,

matt hancock, said authorities across would have to "come down hard" on the variant. door—to—door testing will be carried out in the affected areas. our health editor hugh pym has the latest. new mobile testing units have moved in to some communities in england, part of a drive to track the spread of the south african variant of the virus. all this after a handful of cases were discovered which could not be linked to arrivals from south africa or other countries. around 80,000 people aged 16 and over in eight areas — most in the south east of england and one in the west midlands — have been asked to take tests regardless of symptoms. positive cases will be analysed to see if they're caused by the variant. if you live in one of these postcodes where we're sending in enhanced testing, then it is imperative that you stay at home and that you get a test even if you don't have symptoms. this is so important so that we can break the chains of the transmission

of this new variant, and we've got to bring this virus to heel. how confident are you that the existing vaccines in use will be effective against the south african variant? so, three of the vaccines that have been used to date in trials have shown that they've been effective against the south african variant. we expect all other vaccines to have a similar level of effectiveness, particularly in reducing hospitalisation and death. there's speculation the vaccines might have to be adjusted to cope with new variants. it is unlikely that people would have to start again. much more likely that it would be a booster shot, a bit like the annual flu vaccine. local councils like woking have been sent home testing kits. officials have been preparing to distribute them as fast as possible. the aim now is to contact as many households as they can. what we're doing is mobilizing over

100 volunteers to go out and knock on residents' doors in a defined geographical area with letters i and testing kits, with a request that they carry out a test - themselves, and then we'll come and collect it. - i so this is about identifying how fari the south african variant has spread within the community. in the areas being targeted, like hanwell in west london, local people have been urged to take extra precautions, with a call for them to minimize social contact, as well as getting a test as soon as they can. officials say the variant doesn't make people sicker than the original strain, but it can spread fast, and that's what they want to stop. hugh pym, bbc news. president biden is meeting a group of republican senators right now to discuss his planned covid—19 relief package. it comes as mr biden weighs up whether to negotiate a compromise — orforce through his proposals using the democrats' wafer—thin majority in congress.

president biden wants to push through a sweeping $1.9 trillion stimulus package to get the economy moving again. but the republicans are proposing an alternative that would provide a much smaller $618 billion relief package — that's less than a third the size of biden�*s package. the white house spokesperson said mr biden would listen to the republicans, but his principles were clear. they put ideas for it, that's how the president sees it. he felt it was, you know, an effort to engage on a bipartisan basis, and that's what he invited them to the white house today. but his view is that the size of the package needs to be commensurate with the crises we are facing, the dual crises we're facing, hence why he proposed a package that's $1.9 trillion. daniel lippman is the white house reporter for politico. he joins us from washington.

cana can a bipartisan deal be done? joe biden was a previous senate moderate before he was the vice president for the 0bama administration. so he really believes in bipartisanship. at the park countries become more polarised over those years sense. and republicans feel like they don't want to spend $2 trillion. and democrats feel like if they can pass through us through what's call reconciliation where they don't need republican votes and they want to do that. and they feel like they have to meet the size of the crisis with enough money to get the economy moving again. 50 enough money to get the economy moving again-— enough money to get the economy movin: aaain. , , , ., moving again. so the republicans are auoin to moving again. so the republicans are going to say/ — moving again. so the republicans are going to say/ the _ moving again. so the republicans are going to say/ the planned, _ moving again. so the republicans are going to say/ the planned, he's - going to say/ the planned, he's going to say/ the planned, he's going to say no?— going to say/ the planned, he's going to say no? yeah. and there is auoin to going to say no? yeah. and there is going to be — going to say no? yeah. and there is going to be some — going to say no? yeah. and there is going to be some effort _ going to say no? yeah. and there is going to be some effort to - going to say no? yeah. and there is going to be some effort to meet - going to say no? yeah. and there is going to be some effort to meet in l going to be some effort to meet in the middle. but democrats are not going to wait forever to have this new stimulus plan. they feel like president trump, former president trump and the senate took way too much time last year to pass what's

called phase four of pandemic really. though $600 checks. and they think that american families are really struggling and they need to get cash immediately, almost. talking about american families, what would be the difference between the republican proposed plan and the presidents proposed plan?— presidents proposed plan? president biden has proposed _ presidents proposed plan? president biden has proposed $1400 _ presidents proposed plan? president biden has proposed $1400 checks i presidents proposed plan? president| biden has proposed $1400 checks for many americans. and what the republicans have proposed is $1000 checks. but only people who are making 50,000 or hundred thousand dollars would actually get that money. under president biden the pool of people actually getting government checks would be much bigger. and would not include millionaires but the pool would be significantly larger. that would actually help the economy more than this republican plan. my bet is that where it may be talking $1200 checks because there are senate moderates

who don't want to spend $2 trillion. president biden prides himself on being able to work with senators. he was a senator himself for three or four decades. is he right to have confidence in his own abilities? we 'ust confidence in his own abilities? - just don't know yet. he's only been president for less than ten days. more than ten days. he has not proved that he can actually be a bipartisan leader. but he feels like it's important to give it a shake. and this is his first meeting with members of congress. it's very significant that he's meeting with the republicans before he's even met with senate democrats leaders are house democrats. that kind of is the first test, he wants to give it a good college try and see if the republicans will negotiate in good faith. , ., ., faith. does he have more with centrist republicans _ faith. does he have more with centrist republicans than i faith. does he have more with i centrist republicans than socialist democrats? i centrist republicans than socialist

democrats?— democrats? i think that is 100% accurate. democrats? i think that is 100% accurate- he — democrats? i think that is 10096 accurate. he has _ democrats? i think that is 10096 accurate. he has more - democrats? i think that is 10096 accurate. he has more in - democrats? | think that is 10096 | accurate. he has more in common democrats? i think that is 10096 - accurate. he has more in common with susan collins than aoc. this is a person who has negotiated lots of bipartisan deals when he was a senator. and he was a key the liberator when he was vice president biden. he would go to congress often to try to strike deals. but the country has become more polarised and that even reflective in the senate. where there isjust and that even reflective in the senate. where there is just more senators that they have to care about their base. which does not want to cut a deal with the other party. want to cut a deal with the other .a . ., ~' want to cut a deal with the other la . ., " want to cut a deal with the other stay with us on bbc news, still to come: fit to fly.... 0rare you? fake covid certificates with a negative result are being sold online around the world. this is the moment that millions

in iran have 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. and the anc leader, nelson mandela, is to be set free unconditionally. 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, i it's the recycling of the rocket, 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 nonstop.

the world health organisation tea m team to. sent to china to investigate the origins of coronavirus — has visited two centres for disease control today, one which is quite close to the food market, which, allegedly was at the centre of the initial covid 19 outbreak in the city. the bbc�*s stephen mcdonnell has this update from wuhan. (tx sot) this is the second field trip for the coronavirus investigation team. they have come here to the wuhan centers for disease control. there are a lot of experts they will want to speak to. these are the people who dealt with the coronavirus outbreak. the first in the world when it took over the city. but in side here there are also labs. now the team has visited these labs but

the team has visited these labs but the crucial thing about this building is its location. so over this way, about several hundred metres not direction is the livestock market where the first clusters appeared in this city. you can imagine the possibility, somebody comes out of here inadvertently they have the virus on them, off they go to the market to buy some seafood or something. and that way have spread the disease into a super spreader location. i should stress this is only one theory. 0ne should stress this is only one theory. one of many that the team is considering. fake coronavirus test certificates are being sold online — meaning people can travel without being tested. that's the warning today from the eu's law enforcement agency, who say criminals

are exploiting the pandemic and putting lives at risk. it comes as bbc news can reveal that counterfeit certificates made to look like they've been issued by the uk's health service are also being sold online. angus crawford reports. this is a covid test certificate. the holder is negative and fit to fly. except they might not be, because it's a counterfeit. an investigator monitoring online forums used by criminal gangs. in some, flight tickets are bought and sold using stolen credit cards. and now they're also dealing in fake covid test certificates. these criminal organisations that have been previously providing airline tickets using stolen credit card information, they're providing a fuller service. so they're now being able to give you false nhs certificates saying that you are fit to fly, that you have a negative covid test result. so this is like an underground travel agency? absolutely. and these guys have been operating for some time, not located just in the uk, they operate on a global basis.

recently a man was arrested outside luton airport on suspicion of selling fake fit to fly certificates. it's an issue the authorities right across europe are worried about. our investigation found notjust fake nhs certificates, but also ones sold abroad for people coming back to the uk. these look like they're from clinics in nigeria but they're also fakes. crucially, if they're getting fake fit to fly certificates, they may be carrying the virus. there is a very real risk of that, absolutely. travellers cutting corners, criminals making money. if fit to fly is easy to fake, can these certificates really keep britain safe? angus crawford, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news... iran's foreign minister has suggested the european union help negotiate his country's return to the international nuclear agreement. iran lifted restraints on its atomic programme after donald trump

pulled out of the deal. the united states has warned that tehran could be only weeks away from having enough material to make a nuclear bomb. russia's state prosecutor has said he'll ask for a three and a half year jail sentence for the russian activist alexei navalny. there have been more protests across russia in support of the putin critic. his wife yulia navalnaya has been fined about $270 for taking part. his wife yulia navalnaya have een been at again. after sharing now the wall street warriors are targeting silver. . , ., , , silver. prices for the precious metaljump- _ silver. prices for the precious metaljump. monday. - monday. the world's first commercially—launched rocket using a bio—fuel took off in maine over the weekend. the stardust 0ne successfully flew a mile into the air before parachuting back to earth. 0ur correspondent, jane 0'brien, wrapped up warmly and went to the launch site.

making space history in the state of maine. stardust 1.0 becomes the first commercial launch of a rocket with the fuel derived from a secret substance found on farms. this is awesome. this is fantastic. all right. sascha deri is the inventor of the biofuel and head of blushift, which built the rocket. but it's been a long road to success. stardust made its historic debut at a runway for heavy bombers at the disused loring air force base in the far north near the border with canada. compared to other commercial rockets that now ferry astronauts to the space station, stardust 1.0 is very small, but cheap to fly. that makes space accessible to many more people. this launch carried experiments from a college and a business that wants to test an alloy for vibration.

it will eventually launch satellites into space. right now there are freight trains to space like spacex and ula. there are medium—sized companies and rockets that are launching i would call them buses to space, with medium—sized payloads. but we want to be the uber to space. maine is well—placed for launching into polar orbit, but it's also really cold and that can cause its own problems. once you get to minus, below minus 10 fahrenheit, we actually have issues. we didn't expect it to get this cold. so right now we are doing everything to warm up the rocket's internals. we have actually a heater in there and we are hoping that heater windfall do the job. but anyone doubting maine's ability to establish itself as a key player in the increasingly diversion space industry should look at the history books. during the cold war with russia, this windswept winter wilderness was america's front line of defence.

the b—52 bombers that constantly patrolled the skies were maintained inside this massive hangar. the base closed in 1994, but the infrastructure is still here. just waiting to play a new role. hello! maine has other bases it can use and some 50 companies already working in the aerospace industry. it is hope that blue shift�*s success will boost plans for a new spaceport complex. a massive winter storm lashing the us east coast, causing widespread disruption. by early monday afternoon, the storm had dumped as much as 48 cm of snow in parts of newjersey and pennsylvania. some 90% of flights at new york city—area airports have been cancelled. many covid—19 vaccination sites and testing locations were also forced to close

or change their schedules. new york city and newjersey have both declared a state of emergency. more on all our stories on our website. do stay with me. hello there. heavy snow is on the way for tuesday. the met office have issued an amber weather warning for this one across parts of northern england, where we're looking at around 10—15 centimetres of snow over the higher ground. it's more than enough to cause transport disruption. some roads will be shut, and we could see some power cuts as well. this area of low pressure, then, these weather fronts are pushing into cold air that's with us across scotland and northern england and will be slow to budge through the course of tuesday. so it's one of these situations where the rain is starting to turn to snow, and that will continue over the next few hours. now, the initial concerns will be across parts of northern england,

where we could be looking at around 3—8 centimetres building in. but across some of the hillier areas, you don't have to go too high up for this, we're looking at around 10—15 centimetres. i think sheffield could be one of the places that gets hit pretty hard with this. notice the snow isn'tjust limited to the pennines. across into cumbria, into southern areas of scotland will also see snowfall developing through the day, so we're more likely see some disruption in some of these areas as well. now, funnily enough, away from this band of snow, we've got some sunshine in cold areas of scotland. cold and frosty here. to the south, we've got some thundery ran pushing into the south west, but look how mild this is across these southern areas. temperature 12—14 degrees in cardiff and london. you ain't going to get any snow with that, but further northwards, that's where the cold airjust continues to loiter. as i say, transport disruption is more than likely. i suspect the a57 snake pass will be shot. the m62 could be affected. even parts of the m16 in cumbria and the a a74m in southern scotland.

all areas that could see some issues. now we are not done with the snow just there because as we go through the night—time, tuesday night into the early part of wednesday, the snow pushes northwards into scotland. was of heavy rain across southern england could bring the risk of localised flooding. as a localised flooding from the rain in north west england as well. wednesday, we've got more snow to come in scotland. perhaps the heaviest migrating north of the central belt, causing some transport disruption here. but it's turning milder across northern england. temperatures about nine degrees in liverpool and hull. still around double figures, ten degrees or so in london and cardiff. so quite a mild spell of weather really across southern parts of england, and that means that what's coming next week may well come as something of a rude shock. that's the latest.

this is bbc world news, the headlines... there's been wide scale international condemnation of the coup in myanmar. president biden threatened to impose new sanctions on the military, if it didn't reverse its actions. the european union, japan, and india were also critical. 80,000 people in parts of england are to be tested for the infectious south african variant of coronavirus, after cases with no links to travel were detected. previous cases were connected to south africa. president biden is meeting a group of republican senators to discuss his planned covid—19 relief package. he's weighing up whether to negotiate a compromise — orforce through his proposals using the democrats' wafer—thin majority in congress. yulia navalnaya, the wife of the russian activist alexei navalny, has been fined 20,000 roubles — that's about $270 us — for taking part in unsanctioned protests over her husband's detention on sunday.