this is bbc news i'mjames reynolds with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the united states threatens myanmar with new sanctions — after the military seizes power in a coup. mobile testing in england for south africa's covid variant — after cases with no links to travel are found. president biden meets republicans as he decides whether to compromise on his covid stimulus package. and storm orlena strikes america's east coast, bringing up to two feet of snow to new york city. 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. troops are being said to be patrolling the streets of the capital and the main city yangon. now her leadership and reputation has been once hailed as a beacon of democracy she was awarded the nobel peace prize. her leadership has been tarnished by looking at the rate map working alongside the army. alongside the army. muslim rohingya minority. but she still enjoys great support throughout the country.

our special correspondent fergal keane reports. (tx next) this. 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. our correspondent barbara plett usher told me more about how the biden administration is poised to respond to the coup. what it has 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 lift 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. how could all of this effect overall power in that region? particularly that region is by china? it's an interesting question. this is probably the first real test of mr biden 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. 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 west. will this change the way that western governments campaign for her or? 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 acknowledgement here that she was walking a fine line. then when she ended up the pending the rohingya campaign her reputation here was tarnished just like it was

elsewhere. the us government has taken generally a broad approach to myanmar on this. talked about protecting the transition to democracy. they haven't specifically called her out although some officials who had formerly been a government had formerly been a government had but not the government itself was up in this case they have focused on talking about releasing those arrested and the generals pushing 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 for units have moved into some parts of england. part of the drive to track the spread of the south african variant of the virus. all this after a handful of cases were discovered that could not be linked to arrivals from south africa or other countries was up around 80,000 people all at age 16 and over most of south east 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 are caused by the variant. iii to see if they are caused by the variant.— to see if they are caused by the variant. if you live in one of these _ the variant. if you live in one of these postcodes _ the variant. if you live in one of these postcodes where . the variant. if you live in one j of these postcodes where we the variant. if you live in one - of these postcodes where we are sending an enhanced testing that it sending an enhanced testing thatitis sending an enhanced testing that 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 transmissions of this new variant. and we've got to bring this virus to heal. h0??? bring this virus to heal. how

confident — bring this virus to heal. how confident are _ bring this virus to heal. how confident are you _ bring this virus to heal. how confident are you that - bring this virus to heal. how confident are you that the l confident are you that the existing vaccines in use will be effective against the south african variant?— african variant? three of the vaccines that _ african variant? three of the vaccines that have _ african variant? three of the vaccines that have been - african variant? three of the | vaccines that have been used african variant? three of the i vaccines that have been used to date _ vaccines that have been used to date in — vaccines that have been used to date in trials have shown that they— date in trials have shown that they have _ date in trials have shown that they have been effective against south african variant. we expect all other vaccines to have _ we expect all other vaccines to have a — we expect all other vaccines to have a similar level of effectiveness it particularly in reducing hospitalisation and death — in reducing hospitalisation and death. , , , . ., ., death. there is speculation that the vaccines _ death. there is speculation that the vaccines may i death. there is speculation that the vaccines may have j death. there is speculation i that the vaccines may have to be adjusted to cope with the new variant. it be adjusted to cope with the new variant.— new variant. it is unlikely that peeple _ new variant. it is unlikely that people would - new variant. it is unlikely that people would have l new variant. it is unlikely | that people would have to new variant. it is unlikely i that people would have to start again — that people would have to start again. much more likely that it would — again. much more likely that it would he — again. much more likely that it would be a booster shirt not shot— would be a booster shirt not shot a — would be a booster shirt not shot a hit_ would be a booster shirt not shot a bit like the annual flu vaccine _ shot a bit like the annual flu vaccine. . , ., vaccine. local councils have been sent _ vaccine. local councils have been sent home _ vaccine. local councils have been sent home testing i vaccine. local councils have. been sent home testing kits. preparing to distribute as fast as possible. the aim now is to contact as many households as they can. contact as many households as the can. ~ ., �* contact as many households as the can. ~ . �* ., , they can. what we're doing is mobilising — they can. what we're doing is mobilising over _ they can. what we're doing is mobilising over hundred i mobilising over hundred volunteers to go out and knock on resident stores in a defined geographical area. with debtors and testing kits. with every christ that they carry out a

test themselves and then we will come and collect it. this is about identifying how far the south african variant has spread within the community. in spread within the community. in the areas being targeted local people have been urged to take extra precautions for the call for them to minimise social contact as well is getting a test as soon as they can. officials say the variant doesn't make people sicker than the original strain but it spread fast. and that's what they want to stop. president biden hasjust finished meeting biden has just finished meeting a biden hasjust finished meeting a group of senators to discuss his plan for the covert relief package. susan collins beacon for the group is called the meeting a very good exchange. it comes as mr biden weighs up whether to negotiate a compromise of force through his proposals using the democrats wafer thin majority in congress was our president biden wants to push through his sweeping

$1.9 trillion similars package to get the comedy moving again. but the republicans are proposing an alternative of providing a much smaller $618 billion that's less than a third the size of the presidents plan. third the size of the presidents plan. daniel lippman is a white house reporterfor politico. he sastoe biden will try first for a bi—partisan agreement on the stimulous package, before forcing anything through. joe biden was a previous senate moderate before he was the vice president for the obama administration for sub he really believes in bipartisanship. of the countries become more polarised over those years sense. and republicans feel like they don't want to spend $2 trillion in democrats feel like if they can pass this through what's reconciliation where they don't need republican votes than they want to do that. they feel like they have to meet the size of they have to meet the size of the crisis with enough money to get the economy moving again. so the republicans are going to

say to slash the plan and he's going to say no?— going to say no? yeah. and there will — going to say no? yeah. and there will be _ going to say no? yeah. and there will be some - going to say no? yeah. and there will be some effort i going to say no? yeah. and there will be some effort toj there will be some effort to meet in the middle. but democrats are not gonna wait forever to have this new stimulus plan. they feel like president trump, former president trump, former president drum and the senate took way too much time last year to pass what's called phase four of pandemic relief of the those $600 checks. they think that american families are really struggling and they need to get cash immediately, almost. ., ~ need to get cash immediately, almost. . ~ ., ~ almost. talking about american families, what _ almost. talking about american families, what would _ almost. talking about american families, what would be - almost. talking about american families, what would be the i families, what would be the difference between the american republican proposed plans of the presidentjoe proposed plan? the president joe proposed ian? , �* ., , plan? resident biden has proposed _ plan? resident biden has proposed $1400 - plan? resident biden has proposed $1400 checks i plan? resident biden has. proposed $1400 checks for plan? resident biden has - proposed $1400 checks for many americans. and what the republicans have proposed our $1000 checks. but only people who are making 50,000 or $100,000 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 help the economy more than this republican plan. but my bet is that you're probably talking maybe $1200 checks because there are senate moderates who don't want to spend $2 trillion.— spend $2 trillion. president biden prides _ spend $2 trillion. president biden prides himself- spend $2 trillion. president biden prides himself on i spend $2 trillion. president i biden prides himself on being able to work with senators. he was a senator himself for three orfour was a senator himself for three or four decades. was a senator himself for three orfour decades. is he right to have confidence in his own abilities?— have confidence in his own abilities? ~ , ., �* ~ ., abilities? we 'ust don't know et. abilities? we 'ust don't know yet. because — abilities? we just don't know yet. because he's _ abilities? we just don't know yet. because he's only i abilities? we just don't know yet. because he's only been| yet. because 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 republicans before he's even met the senate democrats leaders are house democrats. that kind of is the first test that he wants to give it a good college try and see if the republicans are going to negotiate in good faith. , ., ., faith. does he have more in common — faith. does he have more in common with _ faith. does he have more in common with centrist i common with centrist republicans and socialist democrats? i republicans and socialist democrats?— republicans and 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 with susan collins than aoc. this is a person who has negotiated lots of bipartisan deals when he was a senator. he was a key the liberator when 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 not even reflected in the senate where there is just more senators they have to care about their base, which does not want to cut a deal with the other

party. let's get some of the day's other news. russia's state prosecutor has said he'll ask for a three—and—a—half—yearjail 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. turkish police have entered a university campus in istanbul to quell a student protest against the arrest of two gay rights activists. scores of officers dispersed demonstrators who had blockaded the entrance of bogazici university to press for the release of the two students. the devolved government in northern ireland has suspended physical inspections of food consignments at belfast and larne ports because of security concerns. earlier a council withdrew its staff from larne, saying there'd been an upsurge in sinister behaviour over new brexit arrangements. checks are being carried out on some goods arriving from the rest of the uk. the reddit army of investors have been at it again.

after pushing the shares of video game retailer, gamestop to dizzying highs — now the wall street warriors are targeting silver. prices for the precious metal jumped 11% at one point today. as before, the aim appears to be putting a squeeze on wall street hedge funds who bet that silver prices would fall. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: can the world's creative industries make it through the pandemic? we'll get the thoughts of the french composer jean—micheljarre. 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, it's the recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, 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". i 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. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines... the united states threatens myanmar with new sanctions — after the military seizes power in a coup. mobile testing in england for south africa's covid variant — after cases with no links

to travel are found. 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 not just 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. a major winter storm has hit the northeastern united states, bringing heavy snowfalls and blizzard—like conditions to new york state, pennsylvania and new england. thousands of flights have been cancelled, schools have been closed and coronavirus vaccinations have been postponed. weather forecasters say the storm will continue into tuesday and have predicted up to 50 centimetres of snow, which would make it one of the biggest snowstorms in the area since records began. cbs news meteorologist jeff berardelli is in new york's central park and told us more about the storm. nor�*easter stands for northeast wind. so when we have a storm that generates northeast winds and it's a snow storm, we call it a nor�*easter. actually, it could be a mixture of rain and snow. but the reason they're so huge is because they transport all this moisture from the atlantic ocean — almost like a funnel or conveyor belt of moisture. and this one has one of the best conveyor belts i've ever seen. that's because this storm

is not moving, it'lljust stay still for about 48 hours and keeps bringing moisture in from the ocean into what is a very cold air mass. and the result of it is a winter wonderland. so right now, i'd say we have about 16, maybe 17 inches of snow. some places i've already seen over 20 inches. earlier today, we had snowfall rates very heavy, three inches an hour. that's gone now, that's not coming back at least to new york city. if we get over 20 inches, it would put it in the top ten list of snowstorms for new york city. six of our biggest storms have occurred since the year 2000, so in the last 20 years, and part of that is due to human caused climate change. it may seem the opposite, but actually because it's warming upjust a little bit but still cold enough for snow, we are forcing more moisture into the atmosphere. ocean temperatures off the coast of new york are warmer than they would otherwise be — that powers bigger systems and heavier snow, so we get these blockbuster snowstorms. overall, we get less snowstorms here —

but when we get them, there like this. for many of us, music has been a key source of comfort, escape, inspiration — from the strains of living with the pandemic. but how are musicians themselves, and all those a report to the eu warns the damage to this whole sector is worse than for any other industry except aviation. we've been talking to the musician, jean—micheljarre who presented that report to the eu — here's a taste of one of his virtual gigs that have become popular during lockdown. earlier he spoke to us about the toll the pandemic is had on him and his work. you know, of course, in days of difficulties, we have to be creative as artists and also try and find alternatives. but the truth is, when you hear the british government saying

to artists, "if you can't survive and live with your jobs, you have to find another job", it's really not only a scandal, is just unacceptable for lots of different reasons. first of all, it's what we presented a few days ago to the european commission. i mean, the cultural creative industries, we are talking about seven million jobs. we are talking about an industry bigger than the car industry. so it's not a niche, it is something much wider. and another point is the fact that during this lockdown period, we did two things — to go out for finding food, and otherwise watching movies, reading books and listening to music. so if we had to prove it to ourselves, culture is a basic necessity, it's an essential good. today, we have 30% of

the artistic community having nojobs. and if we don't do anything, all artists are going to end up working for uber and it's not what we need. a reminder of our top story. presidentjoe biden has strongly condemned the actions and myanmar. the president said that the detention was a direct assault on democracy and the rule of law. he urgent international response and threatened to impose new sanctions on myanmar if the military does not reverse its actions. the un security council is to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the coup. forging good links with china which is likely to be an important role much more from our correspondence on bbc news. i am on twitter do stay with us

as we continue to bring us back you updates on this. 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 cold 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.

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 news, the headlines... there's been wide scale international condemnation of the coup in myanmar. president biden has warned that the united states will hold the burmese military accountable for overturning a democratic transition. mr biden called on the army to relinquish power. the european union, japan, and india were also critical. tens of thousands of people across england will be tested for the south african coronavirus variant, after a series of cases with no links to travel were detected. the health secretary, has said the uk must "come down hard" on the new strain, which has been found in six regions. joe biden has held a meeting with ten moderate republican senators to discuss a proposal to shrink his sweeping $1.9 trillion covid—19 relief package. speaking afterwards, the republicans said though they hadn't agreed on a package, they'd had "an excellent meeting". the us president has promised to explore a bi—partisan response to the pandemic. now on bbc news, it's hardtalk.