welcome to bbc news, my name is mike embley. our top stories: one of the world's most dangerous places — especially if you're a child. more than a50 killed or wounded in yemen's �*city of snipers.�* we've a special report. you can go from building to building, family to family, and hear more stories of children that have been deliberately targeted by snipers. myanmar�*s military crackdown. clashes with protesters, tanks on the streets, and harsh new punishments for those who challenge the coup leaders. emergency vaccine approval to help distribute the covid jab to poorer countries through the global programme known as covax. and america's arctic chill —

large swathes of southern and central states are hit by unprecedented snow and ice. 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, and the iranian—backed houthis, who still control most of the population. our international correspondent orla 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. ruwaydah saleh is eight years old. her big brother amri 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 amri who dragged her to safety.

ruwaydah arrived in hospital unconscious and had to have brain surgery. we reported on her story then, but couldn�*t reach her. now we have. she�*s still trapped in a city at war, and it�*s taking its toll, says herfather, saleh bin saleh.

in front of the family�*s home, right where ruwaydah 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 allegations of targeting children are completely false and come from 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 ten—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 ruwaydah�*s neighbourhood, a young boy plays dead. hard to watch. too often here, it�*s not a game. 0rla guerin, bbc news, taiz. and there�*s further concern for civilians in yemen, as houthi fighters step up their attacks around the city of marib. the city�*s been a refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people who have been sheltering in or around it, but rebels have launched a fresh offensive. the un�*s humanitarian chief, mark lowcock, said an assault on marib itself could have unimaginable consequences. the leader of the coup in myanmar, general min aung hlaing, has said he will try to handle the mass protests against the overthrow softly, although he didn�*t clarify specifically what this would mean.

this comes after threats that protesters could face up to 20 years in jail, if they obstruct the armed forces, or long sentences if they incite hatred towards the coup leaders. 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 landslidejust 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. the world health organization has given emergency approval to use astrazeneca 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 dossiers to the who for review at the same time, as they submit them to regulators in high—income countries. the new head of the world trade organisation has told the bbc that when it comes to vaccines, protectionism is not the answer

to ending the pandemic. in one of her first interviews since she got one of the top jobs in global trade, nigeria�*s doctor ngozi 0konjo iweala told our correspondent nancy kacungira her organisation could help accelerate vaccine rollouts. protectionism, with respect to vaccines, which we call "vaccine nationalism", is something that i don�*t think really works. because the nature of the pandemic and the mutation of its many variants, makes it such that no one country can feel safe until every country has taken precautions to vaccinate its population. so, with respect to that, the wto can do two things, number one: there�*s some wto rules that can be looked at to see how can you flexibly allow countries to manufacture more vaccines? developed countries feel that this might impinge on intellectual property. and i feel that within wto rules we can find what i call a "third way", in which we can

license manufacturing to countries so that you can have adequate supplies, while still making sure that intellectual property issues are taken care of. and it�*s happening right now. earlier i spoke to medical ethics expert dr kyle ferguson from nyu. he explained what vaccine nationalism is. vaccine nationalism is the usual nationalism, only about vaccines, and by that i mean it�*s when countries act in ways they think are self interested, and acting in ways that prioritise their own citizens and their own country�*s interest over those of the rest of the world. because the major point

is the big countries with a lot of leveraged, a lot of money will be first in the queue, and yet if we are not all vaccinated, it gives much more chance for the virus to mutate, for new variants to emerge? it�*s also in their own self—interest that the rest of the world to be vaccinated, it�*s good for the global economy, and it�*s good for preventing the disease from running rampant. that�*s a context where new mutations might emerge that could obviate the vaccine protection that higher income countries have been attempting to build in their own communities. so doctor ferguson, do you think this announcement from the who is at least a step in the right direction? i think it is a step in a good direction, the good direction is that it is expanding access to coronavirus vaccines in parts of the world that really are depending on the covax facility, but i don�*t think it signals an end to vaccine nationalism, it doesn�*t change the hoarding

which we see in some countries, and some degree of nationalism may have been at work driving countries to join the covax facility in the first place. lower and middle income countries benefit in nationally self—interested ways by getting access to vaccines that otherwise they couldn�*t, and richer countries that joined the covax facility spread the risk by betting on a diverse portfolio of vaccines that the covax facility has orchestrated. very briefly if you don�*t mind, there has been talk of a moral failure if rich countries do hog the vaccine. we�*re several months into a rollout, do you still feel that is a risk? it is still a risk, it�*s a risk that is being realised right now, we are failing, and we haven�*t discovered and we haven�*t decided where the limits of acceptable vaccine nationalism lie. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: in the grip of a bitter arctic chill —

southern and central us states are hit by snow and ice. we�*ll have the latest from kansas. 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 affect on the morale of the people. i'm terrified of the repercussions on the streets, one wonders who is next. gunfire. as the airlift got under way, there was no letup . in the eruption itself. lava streams from . a vent low the crater

flowed down to the sea the east of the island, i away from the town for the time being. | it could start flowing again at any time. i the russians heralded their new generation space station with a spectacular night launch, they called it �*mir�* — the russian for peace. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: at least a50 children reportedly killed or wounded in sniperfire in yemen and now the un warns of unimaginable humanitarian consequences, with the latest escalation of fighting. myanmar�*s military warns anti—coup protestors could face up to 20 years in prison if they obstruct the armed forces. canada has launched a global declaration against the detention of foreign nationals for political purposes, calling the practice �*immoral�*. 58 nations have signed up. this initiative doesn�*t specifically target any specific nation, but china and iran have been accused of detaining foreign nationals for leverage,

and canada is still in dispute with china over two nationals detained back in 2018. but what can a non—binding initiative actually achieve? sarah leah whitson is the executive director of dawn, a non—profit promoting human rights in the middle east and north africa. the extra point this declaration attempts to make is the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for the specific purpose of using them as hostages to gain concessions from rival states... 0bviously, arbitrary detention itself is a widespread, sadly global practice, particularly from authoritarian governments around the world. but we have seen a dramatic escalation of detentions of foreign nationals who may be there on business or scholars orjournalists, who are literally being picked up used as bargaining chips. i couldn�*t help noticing some of the signatories to this are in fact also guilty of what they are condemning? exactly.

and to the point, the united states accuses iran of holding 30 american dual nationals, i believe there are some canadians among them as well, but iran accuses the united states of holding 20 iranians for sanctions busting charges that they believe are similarly arbitrary. and in fact, the countries have engaged in hostage swapping, swapping the detentions in each country to secure their release. so, who is this really a message for, would you say? well, very clearly the initiative grew out of the arbitrary detention of michael kovrig and michael spavor, canadian citizens who have been arbitrarily detained in china in the wake of the huawei executive meng wanzhou�*s deportation from canada to the united states. that was the immediate initiative.

they have been detained for almost three years now, over three years now, and i think that is why canada has been particularly involved in this file. the targets are very much china, iran, north korea. sadly, however, the practice of arbitrary detention — including to use them as bargaining chips with governments — is not at all unique to these governments. a south african corruption inquiry will ask the country�*s constitutional court to put its former president in jail. on monday, jacob zuma failed to appear before the commission which is looking into corruption during his time in office. paul hawkins has the story. for nine years, jacob zuma led south africa, but his presidency was dogged by accusations of corruption. mainly, that he allowed the wealthy gupta family to plunder state resources and influence policy and cabinet appointments. both deny any wrongdoing.

there is no minister who is here, who was ever appointed by the guptas, or by anybody else. nevertheless, for the past three years, the zundo commission has been looking to allegations of corruption against the former president, who was legally required to appear before the commission on monday but failed to do so. instead, thejudge, has asked the country�*s constitutional court to charge him with contempt of court. one of the things it can do is impose a term of imprisonment on mr zuma, another would be for it to impose a fine. the former president said he would rather go to jail than appear before the commission. he believesjustice zondo is biased against him, an accusation the judge denies. meanwhile, supporters of the former president were marching outside his rural home. the man himself, holed up inside. three years since he left office, but there is still some

public sympathy for him. jacob zuma is a freedom fighter of everyone. he fights for this country to be what it is today. so, for me to sayjacob zuma is to be sent to the prison for three months, ah, i don�*t think it�*s an easy thing to say. if there is, then someone needs to answer for it. so, i feel like he should. but also, the means of which they are calling for him to do it, i guess is questionable, but i don't know. i guess we'll see. this is a volatile period for south africa�*s governing anc. other powerful figures also implicated in corruption are trying to regain control of the party and the country. president ramaphosa is still widely respected here, but with corruption still rampant and an economy battered by the pandemic, the anc�*s shadowy power struggles could yet unseat him. paul hawkins, bbc news.

let�*s get some of the day�*s other news. rockets have been fired at irbil, 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. officials in the democratic republic of congo say more than 60 people have drowned after a barge capsized and sank on the river congo river. 300 people have been rescued but possibly 200 others are unaccounted for following the accident. locals said the boat hit a rock east of the capital kinshasa while travelling at night, which is forbidden. carlos menem, the flamboyant politician who led argentina for two terms as president between 1989 and 1999, has died at the age of ninety. 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. in the us, some southern and central states are gripped in a bitter arctic chill, millions have been left without power. the national weather service says the situation is unprecedented. meteorologistjeremy goodwin, in kansas, told us more. i tell you what, i haven�*t seen anything like this professionally. i have been a broadcast meteorologist for about 25 years now. and tonight was the coldest day we have had in topeka, kansas, since just before christmas of 1989. so it is not record—breaking — records go back to the 18805 — but, you know, we�*re talking about three decades. certainly it is notable. but we�*re looking at low temperatures here in topeka, that�*ll be about —27.7 c, or —18 fahrenheit, and you have to go back 30 years to find a number that low. so, jeremy what do you think is going on?

the polar vortex does not usually get down and i�*ll tell you what. in this area, we hadn�*t seen a temperature below 0 c since early 2019, and i really had to go back and look, and have we done this recently? no. for the last couple of years the temperature is did stay up. the polar vortex if you will, will kind of roll across southern canada into saskatchewan, manitoba, near winnipeg, and to give us a shot of cold air that will last a day, maybe two days, we all complain fora minute, and it normally goes on its way. but in this case we�*re looking at staying below 0 c for two straight weeks. that has not happened in about a0 years. so it�*s not that the temperatures — the temperatures tonight are especially extreme. but it�*s the length of this cold outbreak — we haven�*t seen something as cold as that since 1983 where it was this cold for as long and it was much worse. and how much longer

are you expecting it�*s a last and how are people coping with this? it is unusual, mike. we�*re looking at the temperature finally getting above 0 c here in topeka on friday of this week, and by then we will have gone 1a straight days, for two cold weeks, below freezing. it has been almost a0 years since that is happened. as the weather warms up in mexico, swarms of butterlies are fluttering in but the tourists are not. millions of orange and black monarch butterflies have migrated to mexico after a 2,000 milejourney from canada across north america. butterfly sanctuaries in the western state of michoacan are world heritage—listed and typically a major tourist attraction. but officials say they have seen barely 15% of the foot traffic they�*d normally get because of the pandemic. there

because of the pandemic. is much more for you anytime there is much more for you anytime on the bbc website and our twitter feeds. anytime on the bbc website and our twitterfeeds. thank anytime on the bbc website and our twitter feeds. thank you so much for watching. 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 south—west, 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 north—west 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 south—east 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 south—east. 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 united nations has said it�*s alarmed by the escalation of the conflict in yemen. in the south, in taiz, more than a50 children have reportedly been killed or wounded by snipers. the un said a rebel attack on the northern city of marib could have unimaginable consequences. the leader of myanmar�*s military coup — general min aung hlying — says he will try to handle nationwide civilian protests softly, although he gave no details. protestors have been threatened with long jail terms, towards the coup leaders. the world health organization has given emergency approval to use astrazeneca 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 being rolled out.

the uk has met the vaccines target set 6 weeks