this is bbc news — with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm tim willcox. the united states threatens myanmar�*s militaryjunta with more sanctions if it continues its violent crackdown on demonstrators opposed to last month's coup. the un says it is �*disappointed' by the amount of aid pledged to war—torn yemen. it had hoped for $4 billion dollars to help prevent famine. in the uk — health authorities continue the hunt for the person carrying the new brazilian variant of the coronavirus, as the prime minister defends britain's policy on protecting borders.

prince phillip — the queen's husband — is moved to a specialist heart hospital in london for further treatment. demonstrations outside of hong kong's court where 47 pro—democracy activists face charges of �*conspiracy to commit subversion�* the united states has issued a stern warning to myanmar�*s military leaders of more sanctions if killing of unarmed protesters and attacks on journalists and activists continue. earlier in myanmar, the deposed leader aung san suu kyi, appeared via videolink in court and was told she faces fresh charges. it's the first time her lawyers had seen her since the military seized power on the 1st of february — detaining many government leaders.

since then there've been widespread protests with security forces responding with increasing force — this weekend at least 18 protestors were killed. here's what the state department had to say. we condemn burmese security forces brutal killing of unarmed people, its attacks on journalists and activists, and ongoing unjust detentions. the united states, in close coordination with our partners and allies, we have made clear to the burmese military that violence against the people of burma is abhorrent. the recent escalation of tactics by security forces is reprehensible. the united states stands in solidarity with the tens of thousands of people in burma who once again came out peacefully across the country with courage and determination to reject this military coup. to voice their aspirations for a return to democratic governance, peace and the rule of law.

nyein chanaye has the latest on the protests — from the country's biggest city, yangon. a warning, his report contains distressing images. back on the streets, despite the deadly risk, protesters here try to prepare to face the military as the violence from the security forces increases. nini aung tut naing, one victim of their brutal response. this is where a young man was shot dead in the chest in sunday's crackdown. he was just 23 years old, a university student. he lost his life while demanding a return to democracy. he was not alone. in mandalay, this is where 32—year—old ma daisy was killed. witnesses say ma daisy was a bystander, shot in the head near a protest.

translation: she was shotj in her temple, from the left. i was told the attacker was riding a motorbike. it happened as the soldiers came and fired. people were shouting, "go inside," so we went inside and shut the doors. we couldn't pick up her body, we couldn't even see it because of the gunfire. at this court today, aung san suu kyi appeared via video link, the first time she has been seen since the coup. but her lawyers are struggling against the system. we cannot have any access to the court, to look at the screen on the side of the court, to look at her face, aung san suu kyi's face. because the judge says that we are not permitted. security forces here say they are on the streets to enforce the rule of law, and accused the protesters of rioting, arresting hundreds.

it's clear the military are not backing down. nyein chanaye, bbc news, yangon. here in the uk — the prime minister has defended the uk's border controls as health officials try to trace one person in england who's been infected with the brazil variant — to try to stop it spreading into the community. it's one of six cases of the variant, found in the uk in february before the introduction of mandatory hotel quarantine. so how dangerous is the new variant and what does it mean for the vaccines developed? ravi gupta is a professor of clinical microbiology at the university of cambridge and has been researching the evolution of covid—19, including new strains. i asked him how alarmed we should be that the brazil variant has now been detected

in the uk. it is interesting to note that the origin of this he won variant, and you describe the situation, the worry about reinfection came from the observation that there was a lot of, or ape high prevalence of antibodies after the first wave it. in the estimates range 50%. if a new very emerged and can be effected the other 50% we are not sure how many of those infections were re—infections, so that's still a very open question. we don't think it's more dangerous but it's a concern because it carries some of the signature mutations that have been shown in vitro by a number of groups and in terms of the vaccine responses to be a bit of a problem. responses to be a bit of a problem-— responses to be a bit of a problem. do we know how significant _ problem. do we know how significant it _ problem. do we know how significant it hampers - problem. do we know how significant it hampers a i significant it hampers a vaccination programme? we don't know the answer _ vaccination programme? we don't know the answer to _ vaccination programme? we don't know the answer to that _ know the answer to that question, all we know is that

if you put the mutation, which is one of the key mutations, the brazil variant has we can see something like a tenfold shift in the amount of antibody required to neutralize that virus. tenfold sounds like a lot, but actually we make huge amounts of antibody after vaccination, and so for most people that want to be a problem. so you will still limit severity, you will still prevent death. but there may be a small chance of transmission, and that's what we are worried about here is the public health applications of this. find about here is the public health applications of this.— applications of this. and in terms of — applications of this. and in terms of mutation, - applications of this. and in terms of mutation, forgive applications of this. and in - terms of mutation, forgive me if i am mixing of the scientific terms, but maybe you can help me out, is there a risk of mutation becoming a dominant strain? for risk of mutation becoming a dominant strain?— risk of mutation becoming a dominant strain? for that to ha en dominant strain? for that to happen the _ dominant strain? for that to happen the virus _ dominant strain? for that to happen the virus would - dominant strain? for that to | happen the virus would need dominant strain? for that to . happen the virus would need an advantage over whatever is circulating now. one of the advantages of having the b 117 is that it spreads very rapidly, and it does confer a

small reduction in the efficacy of our antibodies. so it has to outcompete an already very successful virus, and that's going to be challenging for any new strain coming to the country. this is in the backdrop of increasing vaccination and the increasing prevalence of people who have had coronavirus, something like 20% or even greater. so it has quite a few hurdles to overcome. so i don't think this or the south african variant will take over this country but that's because of the timing, really. the un secretary general, antonio guterres, has described the amount of humanitarian aid pledged to yemen this year as disappointing, warning that cutting aid was a death sentence. the un had been seeking almost four billion dollars for yemen, saying the funds would help prevent a devastating famine. but only one point seven billion has been promised by international donors.

david miliband is former british foreign secretary president and ceo of the international rescue committee. i asked him first for his reaction to the reduction in aid from the uk. honestly, it's inexplicable to hear that the uk has cut its aid for yemen at a time when the uk has a globalfamine envoy and has made famine a priority for its presidency of the group of seven leading industrialised countries. the organisation that is at the closest, the closer to the front line when it comes to doing food deliveries would be the world food programme. organisations like mine, the international rescue committee, we work on the wider nutrition agenda committee work on health. so we are treating the victims of malnutrition, but that difference from about £167 million down to £87 million, that is literally at mouths being fed through the world food programme.

because these are people who are literally facing starvation. because of a combination of conflict which is cutting off aid, lack of aid because of lack of money, the number getting humanitarian aid in the form of food support was cut from 13 million to nine million last year, and a commercial economy whichjust does not work because of the consequences of the war. yeah. it's 187 down to 90 million, but the war is the problem obviously. britain, the us involved in the arms trade for saudi arabia. it does not necessarily follow, does that, that whatjoe biden has done with a reset in terms of the relationship with saudi arabia and the supply of arms for the war here, is necessarily having a desired effect. only a few days ago houthi rebels attacked a saudi stronghold, for example. so what of the options there? because a lot of it does not necessarily seem to be going according to plan. well, that's a very good point.

the us have taken the first steps, two of them in particular. they have stopped support for the offensive operations for the saudi led coalition. obviously the british government are out of step at the moment because they have not ceased that support, albeit at a lower level. the second thing the biden administration have done is stop the designation of the rebel houthi movement as a global terrorist entity, which would have really torpedoed humanitarian aid, but also further torpedoed with the commercial economy. one needs to happen now is first of all, a proper cease—fire across the country. because all parties, you are right to make this point, have been flouting international humanitarian law. second, the aide needs to flow as i have discussed, but thirdly the un envoy who is charged with bringing political settlement to the war in yemen, he needs... as it happens, it's british diplomat martin griffiths, he needs to get on with his business with proper support. with the americans pressuring the 70s, europeans like germany pressuring iran, which has an influence over the houthi. at the moment, the situation

is fragmenting very badly in the south of the country where 20% of the population live. and the rebel movement is stronger and stronger across 80% of the population. hundreds of people have gathered in hong kong, outside the court where 47 pro—democracy activists are facing charges of "conspiracy to commit subversion". it's the biggest protest in months, against china's controversial national security law, imposed on hong kong last year. danny vincent reports from hong kong. protesters in hong kong saluting pro—democracy activists in myanmar. but they came to show solidarity with 47 activists here who are facing charges for breaking the draconian national security law. the police warned the hundreds

of supporters outside the court that they too could be in violation of the sweeping new law — which has all but silenced the street protests movement. yet still they came. hong kong activists say the pro—democracy camp is facing an unparalleled crackdown. past and present political activists say they are victims the government says it's returning law in order to hong kong. this man is a lifelong activist. he is facing charges relating to the 2019 movement. it's sad that hong kong has become just like what happened inside china. and the young people are caught in that environment, and we, you know, in a way, are part of it. but still, we have already had years of fighting. but they are still young. more than half a million hong kong residents voted in in the unofficial primary election — which led to the arrest of 47 activists that participated. millions took to the streets in

2019 in opposition to greater control from beijing. today's scenes, much smaller, represent a new desire for hung congress to protest in public. activists like lee must face several charges for his role in the protest movement. he must fight his battle in court. he fears he's living on borrowed time. danny vincent, bbc news, hong kong. stay with us on bbc news — still to come. how our canine friends are being trained to sniff out coronavirus in infected people. first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables, then suddenly the tables, the chairs and the people crashed sideways and downwards.

it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. the hydrogen bomb. on a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. i had heard the news earlier. and so my heart went bang, bang, bang. the constitutional rights of these marchers are l there rights as citizens of the united states, i and they should be protected| even in the right to test them out, so they don't - get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. this religious controversy, i know you don't want to say too much about it, but does it worry you that it is going to boil up when you get to the states? well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right at the end of the day. this is bbc news —

our main headline. myanmar security forces have intensified their crackdown on anti—coup protests — as the us warns the country's military leaders it could face further sanctions. armenia's prime minister has offered to hold snap parliamentary elections next month in a bid to stave off calls for his resignation. nikol pashinyan has been under pressure after armenia's defeat to azerbaijan in nagorno—karabakh last year. paul hawkins reports. opposition protesters to force their way into the government building. but this is armenia, not america. and along the way the call for prime minister nikol pashinyan's resignation. eventually holding a rally inside the building. the calls continued into the evening outside parliament. the people,

the army, victory, they shouted. last week the army called and the prime minister and his cabinet to resign after he sacked a commander. they blame him for losing last year's blame him for losing last yea r�*s conflict blame him for losing last year's conflict with azerbaijan of the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh. translation: nagorno-karabakh. translation: everyone absolutely _ translation: everyone absolutely everyone - translation: everyone absolutely everyone who translation: everyone | absolutely everyone who is present here, we are tired of nikol pashinyan. we are not satisfied with the current situation in the country. we want to stop the country of armenia being disgraced in the eyes of the whole world. translation:— eyes of the whole world. translation: ., ., ., translation: the governor of the region. _ translation: the governor of the region, the _ translation: the governor of the region, the mayors - translation: the governor of the region, the mayors of - translation: the governor of the region, the mayors of the l the region, the mayors of the cities have declared their disobedience to nikol pashinyan. the army does not obey him either. the police almost obey him and the foreign ministry is thinking about disobedience. it's all a matter of time. disobedience. it's all a matter oftime. ., of time. nikol pashinyan and his sunporters _ of time. nikol pashinyan and his supporters disagree. - of time. nikol pashinyan and - his supporters disagree. 20,000 of them packed into the square

to rally in support of their leader. the prime minister has admitted making mistakes, but denounced those calling for his resignation. last week he warned of an attempted military coup and perhaps that's why now he has offered the opposition a snap election. paul hawkins, bbc news. the duke of edinburgh has been transferred to st bart's hospital in london for tests on a pre—existing heart condition. the 99—year—old was driven by ambulance after almost two weeks at another london hosptial. nicholas witchell reports. king edward vii hospital this morning, an ambulance had been reversed up to a rear entrance. umbrellas were raised by staff to shield the view of a patient who is being placed into the ambulance. it's believed the patient was the duke of edinburgh. as the ambulance departed, it was assumed he was leaving after 13 nights in the hospital to be taken home to windsor castle.

but at 12:30pm, this statement was issued by buckingham palace. the journey across london was a short one. st bartholomew's, or bart's, is britain's oldest hospital, but it has some of the most modern and extensive facilities for cardiac care. it's a recognised centre of excellence. it's the largest specialist centre for this type of condition in the uk, and one of the largest in europe, and so you can see all of the subspecialists, whether it's a problem with the heart rhythm, a problem with the blood supply to the heart, or the heart muscle, all under one roof and delivering care at the same time. the duke has suffered heart issues in the past. in 2011, there was an emergency admission to papworth hospital in cambridgeshire.

he had suffered chest pains at sandringham. the queen and his immediate family all went to his bedside. a blocked coronary artery was diagnosed. it had been a close call. yet there has been no suggestion until today of any recurrence of any heart problems. for a man approaching his 100th birthday, the duke has seemed in generally good health, yet his hospital stay is now longer than any previous one. it's unclear whether the duke will require any surgical procedure on his heart, such as occurred in 2011. on that occasion, he had a stent inserted to relieve the blocked coronary artery. on this occasion, all the palace will say is that he's comfortable and responding to treatment. amidst all of this, a message of reassurance from the palace. tonight, footage of the queen on a video call, unveiling a statue of herself in south australia. it was recorded a few days ago, before the latest news of the duke.

but the queen sounded unmistakably cheerful. it might be quite alarming to suddenly see it out of the window, if she arrived unexpectedly. all of which would seem to emphasise that these royals don't dwell on their problems, they get on with the job. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the former president of france, nicholas sarkozy, has been found guilty of corruption. a court in paris heard wiretap evidence that he offered a magistrate a job in monaco in return for information about a separate corruption investigation. lucy williamson reports from paris. you really saw the two sides of his image today, as he walks to the courtroom the police standing outside stood to attention and saluted him. just a few minutes later he was getting a dressing down from the judge as she convicted him of corruption and influence peddling. more surprising than that, perhaps is that this case

would never have come to trial were it not for another inquiry that was taking place seven years ago. the police had tapped a phone line that saw him use to speak to his lawyer and they overheard the two men discussing a plan to bribe thejudge in return for information about yet another investigation. his lawyer said today he would appeal the verdict, sometimes she says it takes a long time to get to the truth. in australia, specially—trained "covid detection dogs" could soon be sniffing out coronavirus in infected people. dogs' acute sense of smell is already used to detect certain cancers and other diseases, and it's hoped they can now play their part in ending the pandemic. to explain how it works, i've been speaking to dr anne—lise chaber, from the university of adelaide's school of animal and veterinary sciences. we are using a sweat sample from people who are infected by coronavirus and training them to detect the smell.

so it's not the virus itself that they are detecting, it's the smell that would we produce when we have it. so how accurate can it be? somebody has got to be infected, but even if they are not showing symptoms. that's very accurate. they don't need to be symptomatic, and actually they can be on the in the incubation phase. when you're in the incubation phase you are not positive, it's not picking at that you are positive and the dogs can. we finish their assessment of accuracy and they are very accurate, more than 99%. i mention from france to australia because the french have trialed this out already and you are no hunting for dogs over there, what sort of dogs are you looking for and do these dogs, can you use dogs that have been trained for other things

like explosives and things like that? yes as of this project is done with the australian order for us and we are using a dog that belonged to them. we're using dogs that were previously trained for explosives, and also what we call green dogs because they were not experienced before. and read you see this being rolled out? borders and airports are things in australia and new zealand have got almost covid free status and lock people down as they fly in. yes, you are right and so we are now are to getting the deployment trial at borders. and when you think that will happen? very soon in the next few weeks. the tv show the simpsons has been on the air for over 30 seasons. and while the show has tackled social issues in funny ways, it's also been criticized for having white actors voice the parts of people of colour. following the death of george floyd last year and the subsequent protests, producers announced that some characters would be recast.

that includes doctor hibbert — the family physician with the infectious laugh. fine round today, sir. you know, i hope to be a doctor myself. it's always been my dream to work around blood. well, maybe this will help with medical school. - whoa, 20 bucks! kevin michael richardson is the voice—over artist i have been in the business for quite some time and it has always been somewhat colour— blind to us. to us, you know, because there are some need different varieties of nationalities in voiceover, you know, you will find, oh, gosh, asian plain black, black playing weights, adult playing children, myself playing a troll.

i play a tree, for god sakes and guardians of the galaxy. so, you know, it'sjust this evolution that we are watching happen is pretty remarkable, and so when you say that, it is wonderful to be a part of that. you know, the acknowledgement to know that people of colour matter is i think very important. the face and voice of kevin michael richardson. hello there. today is shaping up to be a pretty similar day to how yesterday was with many places starting chilly, grey, foggy with some low cloud what will slowly burn back towards the east coast, allowing for some sunshine to develop for many of us. so, a largely dry day today, a chilly start with that low cloud and fog. many places will though turn brighter into the afternoon. now, it's all driven by this area of high pressure which is keeping things fine and settled. most places will see light winds which is why we'll start off rather grey with this fog around for many places. the exception — the west of scotland, parts northern ireland,

far west of england and wales which will start cold, frosty, and sunny. but eventually the sun will get going on this cloud thinning and breaking it but it could linger again like on monday through parts of eastern wales, the midlands, eastern england and also eastern scotland where we'll continue to see some threatened half lapping against coast. sunshine will develop across southern areas. and winds generally light but still quite fresh through the channel and for the south—west of england. in the sunniest spots, we could see temperatures reaching ten to maybe 1a or 15 celsius but really chilly where we hold onto the grey, foggy weather — only 3—5 celsius. now, as we head into tuesday night it looks like that low cloud and fog will tend to return across much of the country. a few clearer spells out west. a few showers starting to push through the channel islands and the south west. so, here a bit more cloud, so not quite as cold but chillier further north particularly where we have any cloud breaks. so into wednesday then, we've got this little weather front which is going to bring some better weather to southern

and south—western areas. mainly in the form of showery rain, some of the showers could be quite heavy for the channel islands. south west england then into south wales and than spreading into parts of the midlands, southern and south—eastern england into the afternoon. elsewhere, it's generally cloudy particularly towards the east. best of the sunshine further west. but despite any sunshine, it's actually turning colder across the north. further south, given some sunshine again, quite mild —10—15 celsius. the reason for it getting colder in the north is this new area of high pressure moving down from iceland. it's got some very cold air mixed in with it. and that's going to affect much of the country as you move through thursday and indeed friday. so, a much colderfeel to our weather to end the week. it will return to a more settled note though. thursday looks pretty cloudy across the board. friday, perhaps, seeing a little bit of sunshine in places.

this is bbc news. the headlines... the us has threatened myanmar�*s militaryjunta with more sanctions if it continues its violent crackdown on demonstrators opposed to last month's coup. it had already sanctioned ten individuals, including its acting president, as clashes continue in the country. protests on sunday saw at least 18 people killed by police. the united nations says it is "disappointed" by the amount of aid pledged by international donors to war—torn yemen. secretary—general, antonio guterres warned that cutting aid was a death sentence. it had hoped for $4 billion to help prevent famine, but 1.7 billion has been promised. armenia's prime minister offers to hold snap parliamentary elections next month in a bid to pull the country out of its political crisis sparked

by its defeat to azerbaijan. addressing supporters who'd gathered in yerevan's central square, nikol pashinyan said it was for the people to decide who should govern.