this is bbc news: i'm kasia madera with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the un is urged to come up with a strong international response in the wake of the myanmar military coup. china's congress set to unveil new plans to squeeze hong kong's democracy and ensure patriots are in charge. the war of words intensifies — the duchess of sussex accuses the royal family of spreading falsehoods about her and prince harry. i don't know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would stilljust be silent if there is an active role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us. no queues — no tills — just walk in — and walk out — this is amazon's first

contactless store in the uk. the violence in myanmar will be discussed at the united nations security council on friday, as international leaders condemn the actions of the military. the british prime minister borisjohnson has said he's horrified by what's happening. and washington has just announced fresh export controls. thursday has seen fresh protests in myanmar, as our south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, reports. every revolution has its martyrs, and 19—year—old kyel sin has been made a symbol of this unequal struggle against a powerful and merciless military. she was given a hero's sendoff

in her home city of mandalay. one of 38 people, shot dead in a day of violence, when the security forces opened fire on demonstrators here and in other cities. at least eight died here in the yangon suburb. makeshift shrines dotting the road where they fell in a hail of gunfire. but if the intent was to terrorise people off the streets, it failed. people were out again in large numbers today, defending the barricades they have built, to keep the military out, to show that their rule is not accepted. and in what we can only guess is a de—escalation, the police chased protesters today using paintball guns rather than the assault rifles they have used before to such devastating effect. this is a battle for

control of myanmar�*s cities which the military with all its weapons has not yet won, more than a month after its coup. there's been plenty of international outrage, not much action. the people of myanmar are on their own. fighting an army which rarely counts the human cost of its heavy—handed repression. jonathan head, bbc news. i've been speaking to the british member of parliament tom tugendhat, a conservative mp who chairs the uk's foreign affairs select committee. he told me the international community needs to come together on myanmar. the reality is that we don't have enormous of two numbers of options, but the generals may not be scared of sanctions, but they need the cash for businesses that they had been provided. in 2019, we were told

that me and my economic holdings saw them profit by some 18-19,000,000,000 us dollars, so that kind of money is not to be sniffed out and a regime that really is not one of the worlds wealthiest. so what do you hope to hear, because already, the uk has got a number of various sanctions against a number of individuals when it comes to myanmar. what do you hope to hear from this meeting on friday?— do you hope to hear from this meeting on friday? welll hope very much _ meeting on friday? welll hope very much under— meeting on friday? welll hope very much under the _ meeting on friday? welll hope| very much under the presidency of the uk and the un secured council, other nations will come together and join in putting sanctions on myanmar in the generals who are so abusing human rights. this is clearly an enormous test of the international unity. it's a test for the uk's presidency, but also test for the biden administration and indeed of the cooperation.— administration and indeed of the cooperation. when it comes to the biden _ the cooperation. when it comes to the biden administration, - to the biden administration, have you had communications directly with the new administration regarding this? have they been shown willing to go in forcefully with this? i

haven't had any negotiations with the biden administration. i hope very much that our foreign secretary has come and perhaps even our prime ministers. perhaps even our prime ministers— perhaps even our prime ministers. you need their suwort. _ ministers. you need their suwort. and _ ministers. you need their support, and also - ministers. you need their support, and also china's| support, and also china's support. has there been movement with them? figs support. has there been movement with them? as i said, i don't negotiate _ movement with them? as i said, i don't negotiate on _ movement with them? as i said, i don't negotiate on behalf - movement with them? as i said, i don't negotiate on behalf of - i don't negotiate on behalf of her majesty's government. my job is to hold the british government to account, so i don't negotiate with foreign powers on behalf of the british people. a bit it is i hope exactly what the bridge government should be doing. qm. government should be doing. 0k, talk us through more of the sanctions that the british government has ordered already when it comes to myanmar. fist when it comes to myanmar. at the when it comes to myanmar. git the moment, the sanctions we have put on a very targeted, and what i am calling for is the government to go further and to make sure it's actually sanctions the wider holdings of the military regime, because the military regime, because the regime is in fact a profit—making enterprise, not just a military force. companies, is there a suggestion that there are british companies that are trading with the generals, with

the military regime?— the military regime? there are very few- _ the military regime? there are very few- the _ the military regime? there are very few. the reality _ the military regime? there are very few. the reality is - the military regime? there are very few. the reality is that. very few. the reality is that the parish economic interest in myanmar is relatively limited. we have many partners and friends who do have interests, and that is where the foreign office should be acting, it should be calling on friends and partners to make sure they stand up for the human rights that we all value. british member of parliament speaking to me earlier. as china opens the annual people's congress in beijing, there's a new threat to the remaining independence of hong kong. according to state media, beijing willaim to, what it says "improve" hong kong's electoral system. president xijinping was given this reception as he arrived at the great hall of the people on thursday. it's reported beijing wants to see what it describes as "patriots" in charge of hong kong. it's potentially the biggest blow to the city's democracy since its handoverfrom british rule in 1997. here's our correspondent in beijing stephen mcdonell. he told me what to expect over the coming week. so, every year, around 3,000

delegates come to beijing to essentially rubber—stamp through new proposals, new laws, which have already been agreed upon by the communist party leadership. now, while it's a formality in terms of the vote, the reason people pay attention to the congress is that it tells us what these changes are going to be, and one of the big ones this year is to be alterations to hong kong's electoral system. now, people who don't closely follow hong kong might not realise, but the electoral system there, it's essentially already rigged to make sure that the pro—beijing camp — if i can put it that way — always control the mini parliament there. but the pro—democracy camp has been doing so well in recent times, that even given how rigged the system is already, it's making the chinese government and its allies there in the hong kong

government a little nervous, and so they want to just make absolutely certain that that pro—democracy camp can't make further inroads into the number of seats, for example, in the legislative council. now, the way they can do that is, at the moment, it's only half directly elected by the people. the other half, it's kind of selected by this committee, which is also rigged in beijing's favour. well, they can increase the number of those seats and mean that those directly elected are less of a proportion of the whole parliament. either way, we're waiting to see with the details are because it's clearly not going to make it a more democratic institution, given the language we've already seen from both the hong kong and beijing governments. now, of course, there are other things to watch in the congress as well, as china comes out of the coronavirus, the move to, sort of, get this giant economy going again, will they be setting a gdp target this year? pollution and measures

to control climate change, especially when they are related to the economy, also people will be watching. so lots to, sort of, pay attention to over the coming week in beijing, but news wise, i think hong kong and the changes to the electoral system there are going to dominate everything else. there are reports of tsunami waves in the pacific, following a series of earthquakes near a remote new zealand island. the tremors, the largest of which had a magnitude of 8.1, according to the us geological survey, were centred on the kermadec islands. they're around 900 kilometres from new zealand's north—eastern coastline, and a similar distance from tonga, which is to their north. the tsunami warnings have triggered evacuations in new zealand, with people in the whanger—ay region told to move to higher ground. no reports yet of any damage. here's new zealand's civil defence minister kiri allan

speaking just a short while ago. we are asking those that have moved to high ground or in land to remain where you are until the official all clear is given. the official all clear will be given when we have the advice that it is right to do so. we know that people may get a little, perhaps, tired, or bored, sitting at home, or whatever it may be, but we are asking, please do not go and leave those areas until you have the all clear. of course, we are monitoring that situation. the duchess of sussex has accused buckingham palace of "perpetuating falsehoods" about her and prince harry. in a clip from the upcoming interview with oprah winfrey, meghan markle said, what she called "the firm" should not expect her to be silent. the latest twist comes as queen elizabeth's husband, the duke of edinburgh, recovers from a heart procedure. 0ur royal correspondent,

nicholas witchell reports. it was on monday that the duke was transferred from the king edward vii hospital, where he'd spent 13 nights, to st bartholomew's hospital, one of britain's premier centres for cardiac care. he'll have been assessed on tuesday. surgery took place yesterday. according to buckingham palace, the duke of edinburgh yesterday underwent a successful procedure for a pre—existing heart condition at st bartholomew's hospital. his royal highness will remain in hospital for treatment, rest and recuperation for a number of days. the only known heart problem the duke has had was ten years ago. doctors found he had a blocked coronary artery. this is a representation of the normal medical response. a stent, or sleeve, is inserted into the artery. it opens it up and permits a normal blood flow to resume. if this procedure has been repeated, surgeons say it's relatively straightforward. this is actually a minimally invasive procedure, done

under local anaesthetic — the patient is awake. we often go either to get access to the heart through the wrist, through the radial artery, or through the groin, the femoral artery. i think in prince philip's case, certainly with older patients, we prefer to try and go through the wrist, because this reduces the risk of complications such as significant bruising or haematomas developing. the queen has remained at windsor. she'll be being kept closely in touch with the duke's condition. at the same time, she'll be pondering the latest twists and turns in the sussex saga. last night, the us broadcaster cbs issued another clip from the duchess of sussex�*s upcoming interview with oprah winfrey. it's not comfortable viewing for the palace. how do you feel about the palace hearing you speak your truth today? i don't know how they could expect that after all of this time we would stilljust be silent if there is an active role that the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.

and if that comes with risk of losing things, i mean, there's a lot that's been lost already. so, a royal duchess says the palace spread lies about her. former members of the royal household claim she was a bully, which she denies. little wonder the palace is bemused, but constitutional experts say the british monarchy will ride this out. this is the royal family as soap opera. it's not going to damage the monarchy as an institution. the queen is hugely respected and the monarchy as an institution in britain still commands very wide popular support. i don't expect that to be dented one iota by this current kerfuffle. normally, of course, the queen would have had her husband at her side to support her at moments such as this, but notjust now. but from the palace today, on social media, on this, world book day, a photograph of the queen and the duke together at balmoral in 1976 — a reminder of less turbulent

times. nicholas witchell, bbc news. there's tight security in washington on thursday, after warnings that miltant supporters of donald trump could potentially attack the capitol building. the national guard was on patrol at the scene of the armed invasion by trump supporters injanuary, during which five people died. inside, the us senate has voted, along party lines, to go ahead and debate joe biden�*s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill. vice—president kamala harris cast the tie breaking vote. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: food shopping without getting your purse out — but here's the catch, lots more still to come, including...

first, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. then suddenly the tables, the chairs and 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 their rights as citizens of the united states, - 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, the latest headlines... as the crackdown on protestors continues in myanmar the country's sacked ambassador to the un calls for immediate international action against the military leaders. china's annual parliamentary session begins on friday — amid reports that it plans to change the way elections are conducted in hong kong to squeeze out the pro—democracy opposition. there's tight security in washington on thursday, brazil has posted two consecutive days of record deaths from covid—19. in the past 2a hours,

over 19 hundred people have died from the virus — the country also registered more than 75 thousand new cases. president paul sinatra told him there was no point hiding under there was no point hiding under the bed to try to avoid the virus. translation: you didn't stay—at—home, you weren't cowards. we have to face our problems. foss all of this fussing and whining. how long are you going to keep crying? we have to face our problems. crying? we have to face our problem-— crying? we have to face our problems. crying? we have to face our roblems. ., ., ., ., problems. now we are going to take ou problems. now we are going to take you to _ problems. now we are going to take you to california _ problems. now we are going to take you to california to - problems. now we are going to take you to california to the - take you to california to the desert there where emergency services are at the scene of this rail crash. this is around 30 carriages of freight train which have derailed. this is according to the san bernardino fire service. it's in the mojave desert around 180 miles north of los angeles despite these rather dramatic images, there have been no injuries, i'm relieved to say. specialist and hazardous materials have been uninvolved in a clean—up

operation, it's as thought the cargo is to include flammable liquid, but the cause of this is not yet known. the european commission has, for the first time, band and export of coronavirus vaccine. it's comes after italy requested —— it comes after italy requested that a quarter of a million doses of the astrazeneca jab remain in the country, rather than be sent to australia, to fulfil a contract. astrazeneca has not commented — australia says its domestic vaccine production is on track. every week, ross atkins looks at the relationship with saudi arabia, and what it tells us —— every week ros atkins takes a look at one of the weeks main stories. this week, he's looked at the us relationship with saudi arabia — and what it tells us

about a global power struggle. it's been six weeks since joe biden became president, six weeks for him to begin the work of turning campaign promises into policy. promises like this on saudi arabia. we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them but we were going to make them pay the price and make them the pariah that they are. that was on the campaign trail — this is the biden administration in power. we are very focused on future conduct, and that is part of why we have cast this not as a rupture but a re—calibration. this complex bond between saudi arabia and the us will not easily be broken. joe biden faces an early test because of a murder. jamaal khashoggi was a saudi journalist and a us resident. in 2018, he entered the saudi consulate in istanbul and was murdered. this week, us intelligence report said it believes the killing was approved by the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin solomon — something he denies. despite pressure from senior democrats, the biden administration announced

sanctions against some saturdays, but not the crown prince. jamaal khashoggi's fiance responded saying... but there was no punishment from donald trump, now from joe biden. this obama era ambassador to saudi arabia, jim smith, helps us understand why. doing sanctions right now and doing it on mbs would not have done much to advance us interests, other than to give some of us satisfaction. and this map helps explain those american interests, saudi arabia sits across the gulf from america's long time foe, iran. america believes it needs saudi arabia to counter the iranians. and there is also america's position as the world's superpower to consider, is this american commentator explains.

this may often be unpalatable, but to america, it's seen as necessary, a marriage of convenience, if you like. president obama understood this, he went to saudi arabia, a dancing president trump understood this too, and so does president biden, which is whyjoe biden�*s promised to make saudi arabia a pariah is unlikely to come to pass. as part of the brexit deal, goods being shipped over the irish sea from great britain were supposed to have been subject to new checks and paperwork from the 1st of april. but the uk has unilaterally pushed that back. the eu says it will be a breach of international law. the irish foreign minister has warned that the eu is likely ——from belfast here's our ireland correspondent emma va rdy. crossing the irish sea from britain these days means crossing a new frontier into the eu. when goods arrive in northern ireland they require new paperwork and checks, and at the end of this month the red tape was set to increase. the government had been asking the eu for more time

for companies to adjust but then granted an extension all by itself. sadly, the eu have not been able to move in a timeframe that works for the supply lines, for example, for supermarkets, so we came to that point that we'd outlined previously, that we had to make a decision that we could see a continued flow of products in the supermarket supply lines, for example, could continue to flow, as we move forward, otherwise if we left it any longer we had a risk to businesses and livelihoods for people injust a few weeks' time. the eu views this as a potential breach of international law. an extension had already been under discussion with brussels and dublin, who now feel the uk jumped the gun. this sends a message to brussels and to the european union that they don't have a trusted partner in the context of implementing a complex agreement in a way that everybody can live with, that's a problem now. the new trade border in the irish sea had already led to temporary shortages

of some products on northern ireland's shelves injanuary but the big supermarkets were warning that in april more disruption to food supplies would follow. the government has tried to play down its latest move, saying it is still carrying out the northern ireland part of the brexit deal in good faith, and that it had to push back the date for the new procedures to come into force here for the sake of british business, but there are already signs of repercussions from the eu. europe's plans to rubber—stamp the brexit deal have been postponed. if you want to strike an agreement with anyone, notjust the european union, but any partner, well, it's important that your word is honoured. if your word cannot be trusted, why would anyone, not just the european union, strike any deal with this british government? the new brexit arrangements continue to be deeply unpopular for many unionists in northern ireland. today, a group that includes representatives of loyalist paramilitaries wrote to borisjohnson saying they were withdrawing support

for the good friday agreement — the peace deal which marked the end of the conflict here. the negotiations over the irish sea border will press on but tonight relationships feel strained on both sides of the water. emma vardy, bbc news, belfast. no tills — no queues — walk in — pick up what you want — and walk out. that's how you shop in amazon's new contacless food store that has just opened in the uk. is this the future of shopping? emma simpson reports. as big names retreat from the high street, here's one that's moving in — amazon's first physical store outside the us. all you need is one of these and the amazon app. so, how does it work? well, here's the technology. cameras everywhere on the roofs and lots of sensors, tracking so, how does it work? well, here's the technology. cameras everywhere on the roofs and lots of sensors, tracking everything that we take off the shelves. have one of these. there are lots of amazon—branded products. a counter to collect amazon orders and return them too.

and here's the thing — there aren't any checkouts. you just walk straight out. here's the bill. it goes straight to your account. you almost feel like you're stealing. you're not, of course, but... i mean, i haven't even looked at the receipt. i hate standing in line, so this is great. feels like you're being watched. i there's a lot of cameras. big brother shopping or a glimpse into the future of retail? this is a watershed moment for the uk retail sector. amazon is known for disrupting the status quo, for raising customer expectations and forcing competitors to evolve, but i think there's also this recognition that online—only is no longer enough. it's only one store, for now, but it's a sign of amazon's appetite for a much bigger share of the grocery market. emma simpson, bbc

news, west london. fascinating stop. thanks to emma, thanks for watching, bye—bye. hello. a colder start to the day for many of us because behind a weather front which has been sinking southwards, we've got colder air. but it still looks mainly dry, actually, and quite settled during the day ahead, albeit rather chilly. and the origin of that air right the way up from the poles here, following this weak weather front, which gave a lot of cloud through thursday. and into the start of thursday night, quite a keen breeze as well coming down the north sea coast. so temperatures hovering around freezing in southern and eastern areas holding up in the southwestjust under the cloud, close to freezing in rural areas in the south and east as well as further north. so a crisp start, and a better chance of some dry, bright and sunny weather through the day ahead, but there are some wintry showers following that weather front, given how cold it is. they will continue notjust through the remainder of the night but through the day

to pester eastern areas, but they will be few and far between. temperatures are down, though, 7—8 celsius is below average for the time of year and lower than they have been for the last couple of days, but with the sunshine and lighter winds, hopefully that will compensate. during the coming nights, again, through friday night into saturday, you can see we keep those clearer skies, and it is widely frosty, quite a sharp frost in many areas, these towns and cities, but they will be lower out in the suburbs. and that is because we keep our high—pressure with us, light winds, clearerskies, so temperatures at this time of year still with the lengthy nights will drop away, but perhaps some of the atlantic influence coming in from the west later in the weekend. but for saturday, subtle changes in wind direction across the north and the west. quite a brisk wind here both friday and saturday, but helping to break the cloud up elsewhere, still chilly after the cold starts, some mist and fog as well around in the mornings through the weekend. because of that light wind, it will be slow to clear. once it does, hopefully some sunshine. but this is the big change, the potentialfor some rain

across the north and northwest of scotland during the day. the start of the atlantic influence, if you like. and the temperatures will lift slightly, whilst elsewhere with the light wind regime, the mist and fog will still be with us sunday morning. now by the end of monday into tuesday, we are really starting to see the effect of the atlantic, and we could have quite a deep area of low pressure rattling in through tuesday and potentially again on wednesday, so it is looking much more unsettled we as go into the new week. for the weekend, still chilly, frosty, foggy nights, fine days. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the us has imposed new sanctions on myanmar as the crackdown by the militsry against anti coup protestors continues. a un security meeting is scheduled for friday with the the un's special rapporteur on human rights suggesting they should impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on the militaryjunta. china's annual parliamentary session begins soon amid reports that it plans to change the way elections are conducted in hong kong. it's being seen as the latest attempt to squeeze out the pro—democrarcy opposition. the duchess of sussex has suggested the royal family has been perpetuating falsehoods about her and prince harry. in a clip from a forthcoming interview with oprah winfrey, meghan said what she called "the firm" should not expect her to be silent.

now on bbc news... it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.