this is bbc news. i'm tim willcox with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. myanmar�*s military crackdown. clashes with protesters — tanks on the streets — and harsh new punishments, for those who challenge military rule. welcome to the uk quarantine hotels — from today visitors from high risk countries must spend ten days shut in government approved facilities. not particularly looking forward to the next 11 days, but, yeah, just hoping it goes by quickly. australia receives its first doses of the pfizer vaccine — with inoculations due to begin next week. it's one of the most dangerous places on earth — especially if you are a child.

we have a special report from yemen from the so— called "city of snipers." well, we have to move carefully here and take cover in these front—line districts. nowhere is safe, and no one is spared — especially, it seems, the children. hello and welcome to audiences in the uk and around the world. the leader of myanmar�*s coup — general min aung hlaing — says he will try to handle the protests rocking the country softly, although he didn't clarify specifically what this would mean. this comes after threats that protestors could face up to 20 years injail, if they obstruct the armed forces — or long sentences — if they incite hatred towards the coup leaders.

there've also been cuts to internet services, and a further detention for the civilian leader, aung san suu kyi. meanwhile — there are more reports — of soldiers using rubber bullets against protestors as demonstrations continue. here's our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. gunfire. even for a country shocked at being back under military rule, it has been a stressful 2a hours. rumours of a full—scale army operation were strong, and here in myitkyina, repeated bursts of gunfire from the security forces made people think it was already happening. most of the shots, though, were fired into the air. then, an eight—hour, nationwide internet blackout. for what purpose, we still aren't clear. this morning, the military was making itself visible in yangon and other cities. that didn't stop people from protesting again

over their power grab, as they have for the past ten days. if anything, the soldiers provoked people to speak out even more over seeing their democracy crashed by the generals. this armoured vehicle found itself surrounded by hostile traffic, the drivers honking their anger. and here at the headquarters of the party led by aung san suu kyi, more anger. "release our leaders," they shouted at the police surrounding the building. they haven't forgotten that they re—elected her by a landslide just three months ago. she's still in military custody, her detention extended today for who knows how long. the military�*s plans from now are hard to guess. the soldiers, though, are an ominous sign. these are combat units used

to fight armed insurgents on myanmar�*s borders, and in previous unrest to shoot protesters. and they're back on the streets again. jonathan head, bbc news. earlier, i spoke to murray hiebert, senior associate of the southeast asia programme at the center for strategic and international studies. i asked him whether he thought events in myanmar are taking a turn for the worst. there is a lot of concern with the extra armored personnel carriers, tanks on the streets with more soldiers, with the cutting of the internet, with introducing a whole slug of new very draconian laws that were on the books or had been on the books before when the military was in charge. i think we can expect, i think most analysts expect that there will be some kind of crackdown sometime soon. nobody thinks that they are

going to want to put up with daily protests, with basically a government shutdown with civil disobedience, a lot of government ministries and hospitals, schools. i can't imagine the military is going to be patient for very much longer. we have been here before, haven't we? 1988, the civil uprising was crushed. and in 2007 again, the saffron revolution, as they called it, led by monks, yes, both times, they were crushed rather brutally with forces coming in and firing guns and killing. we still don't know how many people, some people think thousands in 1988 and certainly hundreds maybe in 2007. but lots of people, yes. what role is china playing in this? china would have been informed about the coup, presumably. well, you are guessing

they might have, but it was very bizarre that the foreign minister came to visit myanmar hree weeks before the coup. i'm not sure chinese foreign minister who met all these leaders, i'm not sure china would've sent a leader if it's that soon before a coup if they had known all about it. china and the myanmar military have a very complicated relationship after the communists won in china in 1949. they supported armed insurgency, communistarmed insurgency, in almost all the countries in southeast asia, including myanmar. china is supporting with arms a lot of the armed ethnic groups that are still fighting the military on the border. so, they have a difficult relationship, but once the coup happened, china sort of circled the wagons, and at the un joined the russians in blocking any strong measures

by the united nations. however, one thing that has happened in the last few days is that chinese internet experts have been brought in to help them install more safeguards, probably a myanmar version of the great wall in china to block the internet, so it's plain, you know, we don't know yet what all the rules are that china will play, but they will certainly make sure that the military can survive if it wants to. the uk's prime minister says he plans to set out a road map for relaxing covid restrictions next monday now that 15 million people in the country have received their vaccines. to stop the spread of coronavirus variants, new quarantine rules have been put in place. travellers heading to england after being in a high—risk covid country now have to quarantine in a government—approved hotel. the list of 33 countries

includes portugal, brazil and south africa. in scotland, the rule applies to travellers returning from all countries. caroline davies reports. a different arrival to the uk. some of the first passengers destined for quarantine hotels escorted out of the airport through photographers' flashes and on to their rooms. coaches have been arriving throughout the course of the morning, bringing passengers from heathrow airport to the quarantine hotels. everybody on board will have declared that they've been in a red list country in the course of the last ten days. guests won't leave these walls for 11 nights or ten full days. but for those arriving today, there was some company outside their windows. how's the room? good, thanks. it's ok. this man flew from south africa via qatar. he's starting a newjob here in march, and his visa only started today. he says that passengers that

travelled from red list countries and those that didn't were together on the flight and in the airport. i was probably about two seats from someone that doesn't come from a red list country. we're all in the same vicinity, breathing the same air. he split the room with a friend for the 11 nights. we're either going to as really good friends or we're going to hate each other. so, i guess only time will tell. windows unfortunately don't open. it would have been nice to maybe get some fresh air in every now and then. i'm not particularly looking forward to the next 11 days, but, yeah, just hoping it goes by quickly. there are no international flights into northern ireland or wales at the moment, but those flying into scotland have to quarantine regardless of which international country they started from. this man and his eight—year—old daughter flew in from america this morning to be reunited with his wife after 16 months apart. i got my covid shot already. whatever it takes to make everybody safe, i'm all for it. they'll have to wait another ten days before all three can

be together as a family again. there is a loophole for scottish arrivals. if they fly into england and they haven't come from a red list country, they're expected to isolate at home, not a hotel. the scottish government want them to be put up in english hotels. negotiations on that are ongoing. early indications suggest that the number of passengers flying into the uk today was low and that the queues were relatively short. but there are concerns that new checks will mean delays, which could be a risk to passengers and staff. every additional check- the officer has to do slows up that transaction, - increases the risk of infection to the officer and to - the traveller from the officer. and as those queues build, . of course the different planes mixing with one another, i that builds up and increases the risk from traveller. to traveller that the virus willjust spread. the government say that every step is taken to reduce risks and to minimise any potential for passenger interaction, and that some airports including heathrow have introduced additional measures to separate passengers from red list

destinations before immigration. the policy doesn't have an end date, and the number of countries on the red list could still get longer. so these hotels may well see more passengers through their doors in the next few weeks and months. caroline davies, bbc news. the first doses of the pfizer vaccine have landed in australia with the first stage of inoculations due to begin in the coming week. just under one hundred and fifty thousand doses have arrived with frontline health, quarantine and care workers to be given priority for the first jabs. the deputy prime minister michael mccormack has described the operation as "one of the largest logistic tasks australia has ever underta ken". earlier, i spoke to epidemiologist professorjodie mcvernon who explained why the vaccination drive in australia is starting later than in other similarly rich countries. so, australia has been very early in negotiating access to vaccines since these were first being developed last year.

we do acknowledge that we are not in the same situation as the uk and many other countries, where emergency use authorisations have been sought. so we are in this fortunate position, we have very few cases, in fact, no community transmission, basically, at the present time, so we have opted to go through a full registration process rather than that emergency use process. so when you talk about a registration process, you mean further checks, and is that to reassure people? because you are obviously geographically more isolated than the rest of europe and, say, south america, is that to reassure people that when the vaccines are there in bulk, people should take them up? absolutely. so, it's very important for our population to be confident of the safety of the vaccine. and obviously, we have had the benefit of additional trial date of coming out, population use of vaccines and how that roll—out has occurred. so we can also take that extra data on board. but yes, our population is very risk—averse in terms of covid out this time. we are, you know, in elimination, and that's

a state that we preciously are guarding, but then to be sure that the vaccines that we are using will be safe and effective is critical to inspire public confidence. what responsibility do you have for the wider region? i'm thinking about, for example, the pacific islands and things? is australia allocating vaccines for those populations? sure. so, many countries in the pacific are in the same state as us, but obviously border closures and many of those nations are having devastating economic impacts, so australia through covaxx has devoted 200 million, 18 million is for low middle income countries, also $500 million investment over three years for vaccine access and health security in the region. and the message from the authorities, from scientists is that once these vaccines are rolled out, it's not going to mean the end, though, of dealing with this pandemic. and are people happy

to take that on board? or is there pandemic fatigue? it's a complex conversation. i think our risk tolerance here in australia is vastly different from what is experienced in the eu because we have been so free of covid for so long. so we do have a complex conversation and a transition plan to be developed over the next year to work out how we can with other countries make vaccine part of our fight against covid, how use that to relax our social measures and reconnect with the world, and as you know, we are all looking to do, covid won't go away, we want to avoid it, but how do we help move vaccines to move it towards less life—threatening disease. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: in yemen — we report from the "city of snipers" and on the horrific plight of children — in the country's long—running civil war.

nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. the withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. malcolm has been murdered. that has a terrible effect for the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions in the streets. one wonders who is next? as the airlift got under way, there was no let up in the erruption itself. lava streams — from a vent low in the crater — flow down to the sea on the east of the islands, away from the town for the time being. it could start flowing again at any time. the russians heralded - their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch. _

they've called it mir, i the russian for peace. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines myanmar�*s military warns anti—coup protestors that they could face up to 20 years in prison if they obstruct the armed forces. uk quarantine hotels begin their operations today — british citizens arriving from high risk countries must spend 10 days shut in government approved facilities. the world health organization has given emergency approval yemen is one of the most dangerous places on the planet — its population suffering from a civil war that's lasted for six years. but the city of taiz is one of the most dangerous places to be a child. human rights workers say more than a50 children have been killed or wounded by houthi

rebel sniperfire. the houthis deny it. taiz, in yemen's south—west, is home to one of the longest—running battles of the conflict. it's under virtual siege, divided between yemeni government forces — backed by a saudi—led coalition including the uk and the us — and the iranian—backed houthis, who still control most of the population. our international correspondent 0rla guerin, cameraman goktay koraltan and producer claire read sent this report from the so—called "city of snipers". a warning, some of you may find the report distressing. in taiz, city of snipers. a family on the front line. ruweida saleh is eight years old. her big brother amry is ten. she probably owes him her life. here she lay last august after she was shot in the head. who took aim and pulled

the trigger, herfamily have no doubt — a houthi sniper. it was amry who dragged her to safety. ruweida arrived in hospital unconscious and had to have brain surgery. she has made a remarkable recovery, physically at least. but she's still trapped in a city at war, and that's taking its toll, says her father, saleh bin saleh.

in front of the family's home, right where ruweida was shot, kids just want to be kids. her attack caused outrage. since then, snipers have left the children alone on this street. under armed escort, we travelled to another front line area. human rights workers document every attack. they say houthi snipers have

killed or injured more than a50 children in taiz. houthi officials say these are completely false accusations by their opponents. the makeshift barricades are to block the snipers' line of sight. well, we have to move carefully here and take cover in these front line districts. nowhere is safe and no one is spared — especially, it seems, the children. you can go from building to building here, from family to family, and hear more stories of children that have been deliberately targeted by snipers. 0ne father wanted to tell us his story, so we followed him to his home. he runs this risk every day. so do his children. this photo of 10—year—old saber was taken last april.

days later, he was dead. abdu tells me saber was shot out of a tree after climbing to pick fruit. the bullet passed through his body. saber�*s younger brother mohammed was there and saw him die. he got shot in the stomach. the seven—year—old made it home and hid under a blanket, too scared to tell their mother they had climbed the tree. while mohammed survived,

he's deeply traumatised. his mother says when he's not happy, he tells her, "i'll go to the sniper so he can shoot me again." across yemen the young are at risk from all sides, and death often comes from the skies. air strikes by the saudi—led coalition, which supports the yemeni government and is backed by the uk, kill many children. human rights workers here in taiz say the difference is houthi snipers are systematically trying to kill them. back in ruweida's neighbourhood, a young boy plays dead. hard to watch. too often here, it's not a game. 0rla guerin, bbc news, taiz. the world health organization has given emergency approval to use astrazeneca's covid—i9 vaccines produced in india and south korea.

the decision will help distribute the vaccine to poorer countries through the global programme known as covax. these jabs will make up most of the initial 330 million doses of covax�*s first rollout, which begins at the end of the month. we now have all the pieces in place for the rapid distribution of vaccines, but we still need to scale up production, and we continue to call for vaccine developers to submit their doses to the who for review at the same time as they submit them to regulators and ——at the same time as they submit them to regulators in high income countries. in other news... carlos menem, the flamboyant politician who led argentina for two terms as president between 1989 and 1999, has died at the age of 90. he was being treated at a clinic in buenos aires, for respiratory and heart

problems. as president, he privatised creaky state enterprises in a massive transformation of argentine institutions in the early 1990s. rockets have been fired at erbil, the capital of iraqi kurdistan, hitting sites including a base of the us—led coalition in iraq. a coalition spokesman said a foreign civilian contractor had been killed and a us service member and five other contractors wounded. a previously unknown pro—iranian militia group says it carried out the strike. chinese state media says — authorities have arrested 70 people, suspected of producing and distributing fake coronavirus vaccines. one group of suspects is reported to have made a profit of almost three million dollars by bottling saline solution and mineral water and selling it as vaccine. and finally — scientists who bored a hole through an antarctic ice shelf have

discovered new species living in total darkness on the sea bed. they found bacteria, sponges and animals with a stalk— like head which could be a form of predator known as a hydroid. researchers have not previously reported filter— feeding organisms stuck in place on the sea floor. one of the study�*s authors said he never expected to find such creatures living so far from daylight. and before we go, archaeologists in egypt have uncovered what could be the world's oldest brewery. the site — said to be about 5,000 years old — was discovered at an ancient burial ground in abydos. the joint egyptian—american team found a number of units containing a0 pots used to heat a mixture of grain and water to make beer. the supreme council of antiquities believes the find to be the oldest high—production brewery in the world.

evenif even if the beer perhaps is now a bit flat. that's it from me and the team here. bye—bye for now. hello. well, it's frost free out there again, second night in a row. it's certainly turned very mild across the uk. monday was a mild day and tuesday is going to be every bit as mild. but the mild south—westerly winds have also brought some rain. this is where our weather is coming from, all the way, in fact, from the south almost. last week, it was all coming out of eastern europe, those cold easterly winds, but a complete reversal in the weather patterns. in fact, over the next few days, not only is the weather going to be coming in from the southwest, these passes of mild air, towards the weekend, it looks like a dip in thejet stream will make the air come right from the south. so that means that those temperatures will shoot up to quite possibly 17 celsius. but at the moment, we have the mild south—westerly winds,

and they are strong. off the coast of scotland, gusting to 65 mph. on top of that, we've got plenty of rain splashing its way through the country during the early hours. these are the morning temperatures between 5—10 celsius. so, on tuesday, the low pressure is sweeping just to the northwest of scotland. gale force winds there in the hebrides, gusting again to 65 mph and frequent heavy showers. now, this is a weather front here. it's just clearing east anglia and the southeast in the afternoon. it may take time before it clears away completely, and then behind it, it's a mixture of sunny spells and showers, and the temperature is between 10—12 celsius. so even for february, quite a mild day. and as i say, that rain will take time to clear away from the southeast. here's a look at wednesday's weather forecast. 0ne low—pressure moves away — in fact, it's over iceland — and another one replaces it. in fact, we are going to see a series of low pressure coming our way, bringing spells

of rain, weatherfronts, this is the beginning of that really unsettled spell of weather, which will then turn very mild weather as we head into the weekend. but look at wednesday, lots of showers, outbreaks of rain heading toward some southern parts of the country. temperatures, again, fairly similar around 10—12 celsius. now, the rise in the temperature will be very significant as we head towards saturday and sunday. that's the day where in some southern and eastern areas, it could hit 17 celsius.

this is bbc news, the headlines.

the leader of myanmar�*s military coup — general min aung laing — says he will try to handle nationwide civilian protests �*softly�*, although he didn't clarify details. protestors have been threatened with long jail terms, if they obstruct the armed forces or incite hatred towards the coup leaders. new quarantine restrictions have come into effect in britain, with people arriving at airports having to pay for ten—day stays in hotels. it affects arrivals to england, from 33 countries including portugal, brazil and south africa. 15 million people across the uk have received their vaccines so far. the first doses of the pfizer vaccine have landed in australia with the first stage of inoculations due to begin in the coming week. just under 100 and 50 thousand doses have arrived with front line health, quarantine and care workers to be given priority for the first jabs.

that's