this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. thousands of people take to the streets in myanmar to protest against the military coup and to demand the release of aung san suu kyi. coronavirus vaccines should be offered to everyone over 50 in the uk by may — but scientists warn against easing lockdown too soon. public trust in covid—19 vaccines is growing around the world, according to global surveys. president biden says donald trump is "dangerous" and wants him to lose access to intelligence briefings normally given to former presidents.

ijust think that there is no need to have that intelligence briefing. what value does is giving him an intelligence briefing? what impact does he have at all, other than the fact that he might slip and say something? and tens of thousands of farmers block major highways across india as they continue their protests against new agricultural laws. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. thousands of people have taken to the streets of myanmar�*s main city, yangon, to protest against this week's military coup. they are calling for the release of the elected leader aung san suu kyi and others detained by the army. it's the first big demonstration since the military seized power. the crowds were chanting in favour of democracy, and against what they say is a dictatorship. the authorities have been quick to respond — although there are no reports of any violence yet. police with riot shields and barbed wire have set up barricades to prevent them entering

the downtown area. the military, which seized power on monday, has ordered telecom companies to block the social media app twitter, following a similar move against facebook earlier this week. our south east asia correspondentjonathan head is following the developments in bangkok. how widespread are these protests, given the restrictions? we how widespread are these protests, given the restrictions?— given the restrictions? we do not know how much _ given the restrictions? we do not know how much they _ given the restrictions? we do not know how much they have - given the restrictions? we do not know how much they have been l know how much they have been replicated in the rest of the country. we understand there was a protest in the second main city mandalay. this was pretty large, not spectacularly big, but the largest so far. people at this stage, there is no obvious leadership, the national league for democracy which was ousted has had its key leader aung san suu kyi detained and charged. other leaders detained. i do not think there is an overall strategy. since the coup people have

found other ways to show disapproval of what the military has done, with the nightly banging of pots and pans and car horns. workers coming in from the industrial west of yangon marching down led by young political activists and joining up with others until they were confronted by not big lines of police but there were a water cannon and it was peaceful, they did not attempt to push their way past police. that protest we believe has now disbursed or died down, with the promise they will come back. i think we have to see this as the beginning of people protesting and perhaps testing the water under military rule as to how much they will be allowed to do. the difficulty will be keeping track of what happens from now on. the internet has not been completely blocked by the authorities but squeezed to down to small amounts of internet service. the main social

media apps have been blocked. twitter is down. it is getting harder to get information and material out and that will make it difficult to monitor what happens from here on.— difficult to monitor what happens from here on. ~ . ., ~ from here on. what about aung san suu k i's from here on. what about aung san suu kyi's whereabouts? _ from here on. what about aung san suu kyi's whereabouts? what - from here on. what about aung san suu kyi's whereabouts? what state| from here on. what about aung san i suu kyi's whereabouts? what state is she in as far as we know? and what about the key reaction of china? aung san suu kyi, we believe, is in her home under a kind of house arrest. we know she has been charged with this ludicrous case of apparently having a legal walkie—talkies. nobody takes that seriously. it seems they will pursue that. they may apply other charges. i think the military is trying to work out ways in which they can finish her off. nobody doubts that is the game plan. the military complained about the election. its own party was pretty much wiped out with 6% of the seats. if it holds

another election and corrects what it believes was an unfair election, it believes was an unfair election, it will have to stop aung san suu kyi from running. we expect her to stay in custody. i kyi from running. we expect her to stay in custody-— stay in custody. i am so sorry, we have lost — stay in custody. i am so sorry, we have lost the _ stay in custody. i am so sorry, we have lost the line. _ stay in custody. i am so sorry, we have lost the line. but _ stay in custody. i am so sorry, we have lost the line. but we - stay in custody. i am so sorry, we have lost the line. but we got - stay in custody. i am so sorry, we i have lost the line. but we got most of what he was saying. here in the uk, scientists are warning the government against easing lockdown measures too soon, despite the continued rollout of the coronavirus vaccination programme. ministers have said that all over—50s in the uk should be offered the first dose of the vaccine by may. with infection rates falling across the country, borisjohnson is under pressure from his own mps to set out a roadmap for lifting restrictions. the prime minister has promised to set out his plan to start easing measures in england on 22nd of february. meanwhile, a leaked government document has revealed ministers are looking to make sweeping reforms of the national health service in england, with a reduced role for private companies. more on that in a moment, first this report from rhaya barton.

nearly 11 million people have been given theirfirstjab. the government is increasingly confident it will hit its target of offering vaccines to the over—70s, all front—line health workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable by the middle of this month. so now it's looking further ahead. my goal is that i want us to be able to offer a vaccine to all over—50s — that's priority groups one to nine — by may. there's a lot of things that we've got to get right in order to hit that goal. and, obviously, supply is the most difficult of all of those. but we're currently on track for that. just over 10,971,000 people have now received their first dose of a vaccine. 19,114 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the latest 24—hour period, with a further 1,014 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. how are you doing? the prime minister says as the vaccination programme

intensifies, he'll set out a road map later this month for easing lockdown restrictions. but he's warned that these are early days, and infection rates are still very high. scientists, too, are urging caution. i totally understand that we want to try to get back to normal. but the real danger is if we relax too rapidly, we'll get a resurgence and we'll end up going into another lockdown. so we really need to ease out of this very carefully, so that we don't lose the gains we get from vaccination by allowing people to mix more rapidly and spreading the virus more. you might get a sore arm for a couple of days. in a further boost for the vaccination programme, the uk's drug regulator says any side effects are mostly mild. my wife has had hers already and she just had a 24—hour soreness. but that's all. and she's perfectly ok afterwards. so i'm not concerned. it doesn't hurt and i feel so secure now. the government says it wants to vaccinate 32 million people by may. but it's more reluctant to say

when it thinks life will be back to some sort of normality. rhaya barton, bbc news. borisjohnson is planning to reform parts of the nhs in england, with a reduce role for private companies. in england, with a reduced role for private companies. a leaked document from the uk government says the health secretary would have a greater say over how the health service is run. the former conservative health secretaryjeremy hunt welcomed the proposed changes. last year was the first year in history where, across the world, there were more over—65s than under—fives. so we are all having to deal with this big change in our health provision of the growth in older people. what that means is you need a lot morejoined—up care. it's notjust going into hospital to have your hip replaced, having that sorted out and going home again. it's people who have lots of things that need to be sorted out,

who are using the health service many times during the course of the year. and the structures need to be improved to make that possible. china's medical products regulator has formally approved vaccine for use. it has already been used in china, braziland indonesia. it is not yet cleared for use in the uk, or usa. public trust in covid—19 vaccines is growing around the world. in many countries, medical experts had feared that misinformation and slow vaccine production would mean not enough people getting a jab. and countries could then fall short of achieving herd immunity. but surveys suggest attitudes are changing. gareth barlow reports. the effort to tackle coronavirus is the largest vaccination campaign in history, but the rapid rate vaccines have been developed and approved, plus misinformation and misunderstanding, has led many people to be

wary of getting a jab. that does however seem to be changing. this week, a study of 15 countries found over half of respondents would get vaccinated. but many remain hesitant, with people injapan, france and germany the least likely to trust the vaccine. to trust a vaccine. translation: at the moment i will not get one. _ i will wait a bit. you hear positive and negative comments, and it's very confusing. i am not even sure the government is clear. i would say my opinion has changed, yes. i now feel more favourable towards the vaccine. as to whether i get vaccinated, i can't give you the answer today, because i'm still thinking about it. in the uk, analysis of 7 million inoculations found that the vaccines were extremely safe and the side—effects mild. it is hoped the mounting weight of evidence will convince more people around the world to get in line and get protected. i can see why people would be

a little bit hesitant but i think... maybe i see it as a civic duty to kind of get it done, so, yeah, i think i'd be fine with it. the challenge of convincing people to trust vaccines isn't the only issue. low distribution to developing and low—income countries is of serious concern. on friday, the head of the who warned that the roll—out needed to be ramped up. more than three quarters of those vaccinations are in just ten countries that account for almost 60% of global gdp. almost 130 countries with 2.5 billion people are yet to administer a single dose. the development of vaccines is just the beginning of the end of the pandemic. for countries, economies, communities and confidence, there is still a long way to go. us presidentjoe biden believes donald trump should no longer have

access to intelligence briefings because of his "erratic behaviour." former us presidents traditionally receive some briefings after they leave office. but mr biden told cbs evening news he was worried about mr trump's access. this was mr biden�*s first broadcast interview since becoming president. he also spoke about the upcoming impeachment trial, to convict mr trump. iran like i ran like hell to defeat it because i ran like hell to defeat it because i thought he was unfit to be president. i watch what everybody else watch. what happened when that crew invaded the united states congress. but i will let the senate to make that decision. let congress. but i will let the senate to make that decision.— to make that decision. let me ask ou to make that decision. let me ask you something — to make that decision. let me ask you something you _ to make that decision. let me ask you something you have - to make that decision. let me ask you something you have oversight to make that decision. let me ask. you something you have oversight off as president. should former president trump still receive intelligence briefings? i think not. why not? because of his erratic behaviour

unrelated to the insurrection. you've called him an existential threat, you've called him dangerous and reckless. i have, and i believe it. what's your worst fear if he continues to get intelligence briefings? what value is giving him intelligence briefings? what impact does it have, other than that he might slip and say something? with much of the emphasis still on former president trump, our north america correspondent, peter bowes, told us how difficult it might be for president biden to move away from the shadow of his predecessor. inevitably, he is going to be asked, at least for the foreseeable future, about donald trump, when there are relevant issues. but you could almost hear his reluctance to get into that issue too deeply. he also in this interview talked about the stimulus bill, how he has made concessions over minimum wage, which may not be in this bill. it's certainly something he wants to achieve in the months and years to come.

i think he is a man in a rush to get his policy enacted, and that's what he wants to focus on. but, clearly, because again coming back to what we have all gone through the past few months, the actions of donald trump are still likely to make news and the president is going to be asked about it. tens of thousands of indian farmers have blocked major highways across the country as they continue their protests against new agricultural laws. police have detained dozens of protesters. more than 50,000 security personnel have been deployed in and around the capital, delhi. but farmers' leaders have said there won't be any road blocks inside the city. it all comes as the farmers have received support from international figures like the singer, rihanna, climate change activist greta thunberg, and meena harris, the niece of us vice president kamala harris. their tweets have angered the indian government who described it as �*sensationalism'. the government has offered to suspend the laws but the farmers want them to be repealed. bbcjournalist salman ravi sent in this report from a protest site in haryana, india.

road traffic across india, all major highways, they are being suspended for three hours as farmers took to the streets in protest against the three farm laws enacted by the indian parliament. farmer organisations say that these laws will actually make way for corporate companies into the farm sector. you can see behind me this is the agra—delhi national highway where these farmers have assembled. they've stopped traffic, you can see the tractors and trolleys lined up here. for three hours, the farm leaders have been staging protests and addressing farmers from surrounding villages in this area of haryana state, where i'm standing here at the moment. there have been a series of talks between the government and the farming union leaders. but the stalemate continues as no breakthrough could be achieved. the prime minister, narendra modi, he reached out to the farmers saying that he was open for dialogue and was just a phone call away. but the farm leaders

and the farm organisations say that they will accept nothing short of the repeal of these laws. salman ravi, bbc news, india. joining me now from delhi, is bollywood actor swara bhasker. you are supporting these farmers in their protest, why?— their protest, why? yes, i think in india, as their protest, why? yes, i think in india. as a — their protest, why? yes, i think in india, as a democratic _ their protest, why? yes, i think in india, as a democratic country, i their protest, why? yes, i think in india, as a democratic country, a l india, as a democratic country, a country that has been born in peaceful protest, a country that won her freedom peaceful protest, a country that won herfreedom by peaceful protest, a country that won her freedom by peaceful protest, we see this as a right and it is a constitutional right. i think the farmers have been quite an example of peace and discipline in the manner in which they have protested. i think a lot of the questions they raise about farm laws, the manner in which those laws came into existence

in the past few months, i think they are legitimate questions. i think barring the unfortunate incidents that took place on the 26th of january, the union that is heading the protest was quick to distance itself from, i think the farmers are well within their rights. they have a right to protest about a law that will affect their lives so deeply. you say it has been peaceful but there have been violent incidents with some farmers coming seemingly armed according to authorities. there has been criticism and questions about whether this movement, even valid questions raised by small farmers, has become politicised. it is raised by small farmers, has become oliticised. , ., politicised. it is a democracy. politics is _ politicised. it is a democracy. politics is inherent _ politicised. it is a democracy. politics is inherent to - politicised. it is a democracy. politics is inherent to the - politicised. it is a democracy. politics is inherent to the way politicised. it is a democracy. i politics is inherent to the way in which governance will take place.

group supporting separatist movements who want to criticise the government for other reasons. 50 government for other reasons. so this government for other reasons. sr this bandwagon government for other reasons. 5r this bandwagon has started. i think there has been an attempt within india by some of the media that is more pro—government to discredit the farmers. one of the easiest things to fall back on is identity. a lot of protesters are sikh. the way of branding them as part of a separatist movement that took place a few decades ago, but that may not be true. i have been two protest sites. i have heard leaders speak. they have reaffirmed their faith in the territorial integrity of india and constitutional values of india. these protests are mostly from

punjabis. not from other parts of india. that is why people have asked what is the real motive behind those organising these protests? fit, what is the real motive behind those organising these protests?— organising these protests? a large ”ercentae organising these protests? a large percentage of _ organising these protests? a large percentage of protesters _ organising these protests? a large percentage of protesters are - organising these protests? a large percentage of protesters are from | percentage of protesters are from punjab and they have also received support from other areas. i do not think it entirely true to say they only belong to these two states. that is not true. these are the two states that have benefited from the minimum support price assurance the government gave to those states. the government gave to those states. the government says they will keep that minimum support in. they have specifically said they will keep minimum support going. i specifically said they will keep minimum support going. i think the roblem is minimum support going. i think the problem is the _ minimum support going. i think the problem is the farmers... _ minimum support going. i think the problem is the farmers... i - minimum support going. i think the problem is the farmers... i think. problem is the farmers... i think there is a trust issue. i think the manner in which the government has behaved has not inspired a lot of trust in the farmers and i do not

think the government is willing to give that in writing into law. that is the problem, where there is a lack of trust and on top of that a verbal assurance the farmers feel they cannot rely on because of past experiences. i think that is the problem. it is only right that for a law that will affect the lives of the farmers so deeply that they be on board, taken on board, for any changes that will take place. i think the appeal of all farmers is this, repealthe think the appeal of all farmers is this, repeal the laws and lets start the process afresh. no one says agriculture in india does not need to reform. that is not what the farmers think. the recommendation to be implemented, no government has done that. it is wrong to paint

farmers as unreasonable and stubborn. i do not think that is necessarily their position. we are out of time _ necessarily their position. we are out of time but _ necessarily their position. we are out of time but thank _ necessarily their position. we are out of time but thank you. - one man has died and nine others have been injured, after a series of stabbings in south london overnight. police are currently investigating whether the incidents are linked. five incidents of serious violence happened between within hours of each other on friday evening. a section 60 order granting additional stop and search powers is in place across croydon this morning. our correspondent is in croydon and sent this a little earlier. police were called to this block of flats just after eight o'clock yesterday evening following a report that two men had been stabbed here. one of them was taken to hospital but the second man sadly lost his life, despite the efforts of paramedics. the incident here was one of five that the police had to deal with in the space ofjust over a couple of hours in this area yesterday evening. let me talk you through exactly what happened.

the first incident was at 18.56, where the police found one man had been stabbed. then around 20 minutes later, at 19.15, at a south london hospital, four men were being treated there for stab wounds. then, at eight minutes past eight, police were called to the incident here that resulted in a man losing his life. at 20.51, at a south london hospital, another two men were being treated for stab wounds, and at 21.12, the final incident, in dingwall road, where one man was found with stab injuries. of those nine people, two are in hospital in a critical condition and there have been two arrests. the police are saying at this stage, they are not able to say for definite whether these events were linked. that is going to be part of the investigation. they say, at the moment, they are not moving towards that conclusion. the police have described the violence in these

incidents as abhorrent and, overnight, they brought in extra powers. section 60 order which allowed them to carry out extra stop and searches in the area, and they also introduced more police officers to ensure that there was no more violence overnight. small businesses that took out government loans to keep them afloat during the pandemic are being given more time to repay them. to date, 1.4 million businesses have borrowed £45 billion and they will now have up to ten years, rather than six, to pay back the money. the chancellor, rishi sunak, said he wanted to give firms "breathing space to get back on their feet". our business correspondent katie prescott is here. what is changing here? these loans were introduced during the pandemic to get money cheaply and quickly to businesses that could borrow up to £50,000 with no need to repay the money in the first year. we are coming up to may and the first of

these will fall due and the worry is that these businesses will not be able to pay back the money. that is able to pay back the money. that is a real concern for banks, so we have seen banks are now seeing massive losses in the past year because they are setting aside billions to cover these loans companies might not be able to pay back because the pandemic has gone on longer than expected and the economic hit has been harder. there is concern about fraud when it comes to these loans. they were pushed out quickly and firms were given the ability to take them within 24—72 hours. there is a concern this money will not be able to be paid back. and we are coming up to be paid back. and we are coming up to the budget in march. the chancellor is having to look again at these schemes introduced to support the economy and think is now the right time to wind them up? new zealand has been celebrating waitangi day. it's national day that marks the treaty signed between the british and maori

chiefs in 1840. prime ministerjacinda ardern hosted a ceremony at dawn. she also helped serve a breakfast barbecue to those who attended the service. here in the uk, the queen is celebrating a big milestone today — she is entering her 70th year on the throne. the monarch would normally mark the annual occasion in sandringham, but the pandemic means for the first time in 31 years, she'll be at windsor castle for the anniversary. the queen — who is the nation's longest reigning monarch — isjust one year away from her platinum jubilee. china's maiden space exploration mission to mars has captured its first image of the red planet. and here it is. the uncrewed tianwen—1 sent this black and white image showing geological features including a vast stretch of canyons on the martian surface. the probe took the picture at a distance of around 2.2 million kilometres from mars, according to the china national space administration.

the spacecraft, launched injuly, is expected to touch down later this year. much more ahead. we will be back very soon. you're watching bbc news. activities to occupy the family are always in demand — especially during lockdown — so stargazing might be just the thing to make the most of the long winter nights. and you can record your findings as part of the annual star count project that launches today — it's encouraging people across the uk to count the stars wherever they live, to see what effect light pollution is having on our views of the galaxy. fiona lamdin reports. we are all being asked to look up to the skies and count the stars this week. we will be looking for orion, which is the three stars that make up the belt. it's so experts can get an accurate picture of light pollution levels across the uk right now.

it's basically too much light in the wrong place. so it might be a sky glow — that's that kind of orange glow you see when you approach a town or city. and the other kind is a sky glare, which might be a light that shines right in your eyes and is really annoying, or right into your bedroom, and that's the light pointing in the wrong direction. why is light pollution harmful? for birds, for instance, foramphibians, bats — it's really harmful. we've heard of birds waking up in the middle of the night and singing under a bright street light, and that blue light is particularly damaging for wildlife. you can count the stars with your eyes from your window, balcony or garden. when you go out to do your star count, turn to the east or south—east, depending on the time of night, find the constellation and identify the four corner stars — they are very bright and they form a sort of rectangle in the sky.

then count the number of stars you can see in those four corner stars. don't include the corner stars themselves but everything you see inside. i think people can expect to see maybe ten or so stars if you are in a fairly light polluted area, but if you've got really good dark skies, you probably will see 30—plus stars. so you are doing really well if you can see that number. space scientist dr maggie aderin—pocock has been counting the stars during lockdown. you look up and say, did you see that one? before we go to sleep it's a nice, relaxing thing to do. it makes me feel a lot more peaceful. last year, research showed two—thirds of us live with severe light pollution. it's hoped lockdown might changed this. not only has reduced movement

and traffic on our roads impacted reduced levels of light pollution, we've also seen an increase in the movement of nocturnal wildlife, and in doing so our dark skies have appeared that much darker. while you might not be lucky enough to see this, if you fancyjoining in any night this week, spot the stars and record your findings on the star count website. everyone's results will show the effect light is having on our views of the galaxy. what will the stars look like tonight given the storm heading our direction. storm darcy is set to bring heavy snow and gale force winds to parts of england as cold air sweeps in from russia. yellow warnings for snow cover the length of britain, with a more serious amber warning in place for scotland's central highlands. the storm has also led the met office to issue an amber warning for snow for the south—east of england from early on sunday morning. there is a chance a few places

could see as much as 20cm of snow, forecasters have warned. everyone getting slightly panicked about whether we are going to be able to get into work in the morning. let's find out a bit more. hello. the weather is going to be turning much colder right the way across the uk this weekend and as it does so, the risk of disruptive snow will shift further south. we saw scotland badly affected through the latter part of the weekjust gone. still some snow for scotland this afternoon and actually, increasingly at lower levels, as the colder air works in. we will also start to see some snow across parts of northern england, particularly across the high ground of the pennines. further south, it's largely rain across central and eastern england at this stage. towards the west, there will be some sunshine around. through the evening, and overnight, the colder air from the east continues to float its way southwards. a weather front comes into the mix pushing up from the continent and then we look set to see some fairly persistent snow across some

southern and eastern counties of england. widespread frost takes us into sunday, further snow showers