welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. myanmar in civil war, according to the united nations. a year after the military takeover, the un says the situation is becoming as serious as it is in syria. as russian forces show no sign of pulling back from ukraine's border, president putin accuses the us of trying to drag russia into war. translation: their most important goal is to contain rush hour. in this sense, ukraine isjust a contain rush hour. in this sense, ukraine is just a tool to achieve this goal. the year of the tiger begins,

but covid restrictions mean hundreds of millions of people can't go home to celebrate the lunar new year. and, a very specialjoey — the first southern koala born in europe as part of a major conservation drive. it's 9:00 am in singapore, and 7:30am in myanmar, where peaceful protests have turned into what the un has now described as a civil war. the un has also told the bbc that the situation in myanmar is becoming as serious as syria. it says more than $800 million is needed to tackle the humanitarian crisis, as 12 months of violence has forced 400,000 people to leave their homes,

and led to more than 1,500 civilian deaths. one year ago on february the 1st, the military seized control of the country. its leader, aung san suu kyi, was jailed after claims of widespread fraud following the 2020 election, though the election commission said there was no evidence of this. strikes and protests ensued, but the military put them down with live fire, water cannons and rubber bullets. the country descended into civil war, with armed resistance and mass killings. to mark the year anniversary of the coup, a silent strike has taken place in towns and cities across the country, as people stay at home in protest. 0ur south east asia correspondent, jonathan head, reports. they were colourful, peaceful and hopeful. mass protests in response to a shocking and unpopular coup. gunfire. but within a month, protesters were being gunned down every day.

thousands of ordinary burmese people concluded they had no choice but to take up arms. today, myanmar is in the grip of escalating armed conflict, with volunteer people's defence forces attacking military targets all over the country. the army inflicting savage reprisals. all the situation in myanmar, if we are not able to do something more strongly about it, it will echo so much the syria situation. we think we are on the verge of a national civil war because we do have, on one hand, repression, and with the response of the people who don't want to be killed. i met george, not his real name, a salesman who gave up his job to learn how to fight with an ethnic insurgent army near the

border with thailand. i have to tell them, please accept us to get the training, and we will also try our best to recruit more people. what about weapons? do you get weapons? no, not at all, because we can't afford that. you have to pay for your own guns? yes. i have to pay for my own guns, so we have to link with some people on the black market. what do you think about the soldiers? they are burmese people like you. of course, they have their own family, too. like me, they might have a newborn baby. but soldiers are soldiers. and you are prepared to kill them? if necessary. not willingly. if necessary. but the constant fighting, month after month, is uprooting whole communities in myanmar. these families have fled for safety to the river that marks the border with thailand. the united nations is warning of a looming humanitarian catastrophe. to fight or flee —

the stark choices still confronting those who oppose the coup, and yet huge numbers still determined not to let the military crush their democratic hopes, leaving myanmar trapped in a brutal stalemate in which there is no clear way out. jonathan head, bbc news, on the thai—myanmar border. we'll have more on myanmar a bit later in the programme, when we'll be looking at how the military has become so powerful. do stay tuned. president putin says the us is ignoring russia's security concerns over ukraine. in his first public comment on the situation since december, he said washington had failed to address russia's key demand that nato should not expand further eastwards. meanwhile, ukraine's president has warned that any russian invasion of his country would lead to a full— scale war in europe. he's been hosting britain's

prime minister, borisjohnson, for talks in kyiv, from where our diplomatic correspondent, james landale, reports. for borisjohnson today, a change of subject, a change of place. he arrived in ukraine to make a show of support for a country facing the threat of invasion — a country where political survival has an existential meaning. first stop, the presidential palace. he told volodymyr zelensky that britain would always stand up for ukraine's freedom. he promised an £88 million in aid, and he had a clear warning for moscow — if a single russian toecap crossed the border, they would be met by devastating economic sanctions and a resolute ukrainian army. they will put up a very, very fierce and bloody resistance. and i think that parents, mothers in russia should reflect on that fact, and i hope very much that president putin steps back from the path of conflict.

translation: there would be a tragedy if an escalation - against our country starts. and that's why i am saying openly that this wouldn't be a war between ukraine and russia. this would be a full—scale war in europe. the uk's been one of ukraine's of most vocal supporters, sending them 2,000 anti—tank weapons and british troops to train ukrainian forces how to use them. but this is what's facing them just over the border — the continued build—up of more than 100,000 russian troops that moscow insists are training and pose no threat. president putin, meeting today his hungarian counterpart, insisted his country's security interests were not being addressed by the united states. "their most important goal is to control russia,

that's the thing. in this sense, ukraine itself is just a tool to achieve this goal," he said. the russian president is expected to speak to boris johnson tomorrow — a planned call on monday was postponed because of the row over lockdown parties in downing street. why should the international community take your diplomacy seriously when you're so preoccupied at home? when you put talking to mps ahead of talking to the president putin? it's absolutely vital that the uk government should step up now and bring together our friends and partners in the west. "russia has a gun to ukraine's head," mrjohnson said, "and is using it to try to redraw the security map of europe." it was a critical moment. all sides saying that this is no longer about ukraine — it is about wider issues. you've got mr putin saying that the west are using ukraine as a tool to threaten his security.

you've got mrjohnson saying that mr putin has a gun against ukraine's head to redraw the map of european security. and you've got the president of ukraine saying, "well, look, if there's any fighting, this soon becomes a fully—fledged european war." the stakes could not be higher. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the pharmaceutical company johnson&johnson and three major us drug distributors have agreed to pay around $600 million to settle lawsuits by native american communities devastated by the opioid crisis. the companies haven't admitted wrongdoing, but the settlement will speed up the process of distributing funds. tonga is imposing a covid lockdown after the pacific island nation, which had been virus—free, recorded two cases. the prime minister said the measures would be reviewed

every two days. the two men who tested positive had been working in the capital's port, where humanitarian aid has been pouring in after last month's devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami. ethiopian airlines has flown a boeing 737 max plane for the first time since a fatal crash almost three years ago led to an international grounding of the aircraft. the airline had previously said it would be the last carrier to use the jets again. it said the decision to resume had come after intense re—certification by regulators in the eu, us and china. chinese and french oil giants have signed a $10 billion deal to build a 1,500 kilometre pipeline from land—locked uganda to the indian ocean. the pipeline will deliver crude oil from lake albert, on uganda's border, with the democratic republic of congo to the tanzanian coast. it is estimated the lake lies

on top of 6.5 billion barrels of oil. environmentalists are trying to block the project. the manchester united footballer mason greenwood has been further arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and threats to kill. the 20—year—old premier league star was initially arrested on sunday afternoon on suspicion of the rape and assault of a young woman. dan roan is at old trafford. manchester united striker mason greenwood is now set to spend a third night in police custody. he was originally arrested on sunday on suspicion of rape and assault. and he has been questioned ever since. that was after a woman posted allegations on social media. and in a statement tonight, greater manchester police said that the suspect continues to be questioned after magistrates authorised an extension until tomorrow. following inquiries so far, they said, he has since been

further arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and threats to kill. greenwood has worked his way up here at the club from the academy. he made his debut in 2019, and he's become a key member of the first—team squad. he is yet to respond to these allegations. the white house has condemned a spate of bomb threats against a number of historically black colleges, the scares, at more than a dozen schools in cities from baltimore to new orleans, began on the first day of black history month in the united states. a spokesperson says president biden has been made aware of the situation and the fbi is investigating. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: far from home and far from ordinary — introducing the first southern koala born in europe.

this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. mission control: three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment — the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo _ around the world, non—stop.

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our top story: peaceful protests in myanmar following last year's coup have turned into what the united nations has described as a civil war. more on myanmar now for you. as you've seen in our report at the start of the programme, thejunta — known as the tatmadaw — has launched brutal attacks on civilians, which the un says could amount to war crimes. but how did the tatmadaw, which ruled myanmar for 18 years, become so powerful? 0ur reporter nick marsh has the background. it's said that most countries have an army but some armies have a country. and myanmar�*s tatmadaw has been the defining force in the country's

modern history. but who are they, and what's made them capable of the sort of brutality that we've seen? the tatmadaw played an important role in myanmar�*s independence. they're the founders of the nation — or so they like to see themselves. to the current coup leader, general min aung hlaing, the protesters are traitors, notjust to the country, but to what it means to be burmese. they are the guardians of the nation. they are the preservers of unity. and he often warns that without the tatmadaw, the nation could fall apart. myanmar is made up of more than 100 different ethnic groups, and so it's been the site of dozens of mini civil wars, if you like, all across the country ever since independence — that's seven decades of bloodshed, of campaign after campaign, and it's left tatmadaw soldiers

battle—hardened from the very top to the bottom. and it's left them accustomed, crucially, to killing within its own borders. the tatmadaw has been developed and shaped into this ruthless fighting machine that willjust follow orders robotically. but public opinion has never mattered much to the tatmadaw. they don't interact with the rest of society, they're quite insulated. and it's a giant echo chamber. the bottom line is, i don't think they care very much about what the world thinks. but one thing that they do care about is to project the same image they've always done — a fighting force that's secretive, superior, and accountable only to itself. nick marsh reporting on that story for us. as we reported earlier, the british prime minister

borisjohnson has been visiting ukraine, a brief escape from the ongoing row at home over lockdown parties. his deputy says mps still overwhelmingly support borisjohnson, despite a report concluding there'd been a failure of leadership. but another conservative mp said he has submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. after a mauling from mps in public and pleading with his backbenchers in private yesterday, fleeing abroad — even to a potential war zone — must have felt like a relief for the prime minister today. but 1,500 miles and a few hours later, the questions he faces at home had followed him to ukraine. he didn't want to say much about them... my focus is entirely on delivering on the priorities of the british people, and they include ensuring that we are secure in our relations with our friends and allies,

and that our friends and allies are secure. back here in westminster, conversation is still reflecting on the report that said there was rule—breaking at the top of government. not only did the prime minister and others break the rules, but they've taken the country for fools by insulting our intelligence in the cover—up that's gone on since. borisjohnson's promised a shake—up in how downing street works... reporter: are you sticking around, chief whip? hope so. ..which means questions for the man in charge of persuading conservative mps to back the prime minister... are you making a run for it, dan? ..and ones with the prime minister's chief of staff, too. down the road in parliament, one of mrjohnson's most loyal allies insisted... we're moving on with delivering with the british people. we're implementing the manifesto in which he got an intensely personal mandate in 2019. but others have had enough... thank you, thank you. people want honesty! yeah, i agree.

this conservative backbencher congratulated by a passer—by for talking candidly about his grandma's funeral. i didn't hug my siblings, i didn't hug my parents. i gave a eulogy, and then afterwards i didn't even go to her house for a cup of tea. does the prime minister think i'm a fool? ifeel this is tarnishing us all, and the longer it goes on, the more damage it does the conservative party as a whole. that means finding another leader? it may well do. i've had hundreds of people in my inbox overnight, and they don't feel that they can vote for this government as it stands. the prime minister has survived for now, but there are two big questions — for how long and can he recover? even some of borisjohnson's biggest supporters acknowledge privately he has been damaged by this, perhaps irreversibly changing some people's perceptions of him. and this is farfrom over. with a police investigation ongoing, there is still the prospect the prime minister could be found to have broken the law. chris mason, bbc news,

at westminster. it's the morning after the lunar new year but celebrations have been muted for many. covid—19 has dampened the travel plans of hundreds of millions of people for a third straight year. the celebration used to see as many as 3 billion trips made across china, and was the world's largest annual migration of people. chinese officials, still pursuing a zero—covid strategy, have enforced restrictions. howard zhang, head of bbc chinese, explained the challenges people are facing. i guess for people within the chinese border, you know, there is still more of a chance. you can make it home. for people outside the border, it's next to impossible — if you have family inside china and are trying to either fly in or take whichever way in, it'd be very, very difficult. howard, in terms of

the policies that the chinese government has put in place just within the country, the zero—covid strategy that it is still pursuing, and also some of the comments we've heard from officials telling people, look, don't move around ahead of the 2022 winter olympics, because they are trying to keep case numbers down — how is that affecting sentiment around this very important festival for chinese communities? i guess, you know, many people are definitely disappointed, and i know people who either live in hong kong or singapore, or sometimes in the us and canada, and the uk, want to go back home to see their parents, grandparents, and certainly cannot. and, you know, either there's no way you can even get on the flight, or you can even get a visa to go back. but there are also even people within china at this moment — their local community leaders,

or their local officials are basically telling them — i think last week, there was even an online sensation, a local hubei province official telling their countryfolks who were working in foreign coastal cities, "do not maliciously come back, otherwise we will arrest "you after your quarantine time" — that really caused a stir online in china, because people said, "what you mean by �*maliciously?”' but later on, of course, people understand, because they have strict orders, those local officials to make sure they maintain zero—covid. so for them to keep theirjob, the best thing to do is to discourage their own countrymen from coming back to the village or to the county. and that is really discouraging lots and lots of people from travelling. this year, i think so far from the official statistics,

we're seeing a 40%—60% drop compared to pre—covid time travel. but of course compared to the numbers during lockdown, this is higher at this moment. one for animal lovers — the first southern koala ever born in europe, has entered the world at longleat safari park,in the uk. the birth is part of a conservation drive, to learn more about the threatened animals who normally live in australia. jonah fisher has that story. i have got a little bit of news for you. james, a keeper at longleat safari park, is on a zoom with chris... oh, well, let's hear it! ..a koala expert in southern australia. so, i'd like to introduce you to — obviously, you know violet, one of your lovely adelaide koalas,

but she also has a joey. oh, that's fantastic news, james! well done. congratulations, you're an uncle! absolutely brilliant. i know. yeah, it's a little overwhelming. it's been quite a journey to get here. three and a half years ago, violet was a koala pioneer, travelling from chris' park in australia, to start england's only koala colony at longleat. when it was first born, violet's joey was the size of a jelly bean, and spent all of its time in its mother's pouch. now, six months on, the park and the koala are going public, and the joey is also starting to snack on more than just milk. so what the little joey is eating is called pap. it's recycled koala poo from violet, which means that it's gone through her, which takes the toxin levels out of the leaf, meaning that it's safe for the joey, but gets it used to the leaves that it will eat in its future life. so there are two

subspecies of koala — the northern koala, and what violet is, which is a southern koala, which is a bit bigger and hairier than its northern cousins. oh, look — it'sjust popping out there. they're probably the fussiest animal that we have. keeping the koalas happy so far from home is a major undertaking. if they don't like it, they will let you know very, very quickly. they only eat eucalyptus, some of which is grown specially for them in the grounds at longleat. growling. with a new baby koala on site, this male is trying to persuade his partner to try for another. growling. you don't have to be an expert in koala body language to recognise a polite "no"! jonah fisher, bbc news. before we go ijust want to show you these pictures from brazil, where the collapse of major motorway was caught on camera. it happened after tunnels being dug nearby for a new underground line became flooded and weakend the ground.

despite it being a major route in the city of sao paolo there were no injuries. that's all for now. stay with bbc world news. hello there. it was another windy day for many on tuesday, but the winds will be a notch down for the day ahead, as will the amounts of sunshine — actually, it's been the sunniest january on record for england. and we did have a fair deal of sunshine during tuesday. but through the overnight period, we've introduced a weather front, and that weather front will mean a cloudier day for many and, in fact, it's giving us some patchy rain and drizzle as well. now, it's this weather front that i'm talking about — the rain most significant in the north, but i think it's just because it's introduced that milder air, we'll notice that difference. still a cold start in the far north—east of scotland and the northern isles. but, as i say, it's the change in wind direction — we've lost the north westerly, we're picking up this

south—westerly air, coming in off the atlantic. it will be with us for a couple of days now and so therefore, there will be more cloud around and some patchy rain and drizzle. the cloud sitting on the hills and the coasts in northern and western areas, giving some hill fog. but inland, there's a good chance of some brightness developing for parts of wales, the midlands, southern england, perhaps east of the pennines. it won't be as windy, but there'll still be a fair breeze blowing through the day. as you can see, a steady brisk breeze, but it's milder — temperatures of 11—12 celsius above where they should be for this time of year — except in the north of scotland, where we stay in the chilly air. and we continue to feed in that rain and that drizzle, and then, as we go through the night, something perhaps a little bit more significant across scotland, as you can see. and temperatures also held up because of all that cloud, and still that breeze at 75 and 8s. now, as we go through thursday, we do have that more significant weather front moving in. so, again, ahead of it, still quite unsettled, showery outbreaks of rain, some brightness, but this is looking more significant, isn't it? and behind it, it could turn to snow,

some cold air digging back in. but for many, the day bringing stronger winds in the north, but a lot of drier weather, cloudier weather, milder weather further south. there's that mild air. but it's transient because, as i say, it's with us through today and tomorrow, and then, behind it on friday, we sweep in with that north—westerly wind once again coming up from the arctic. so, perhaps some snow on the trailing edge of this weather front, particularly over the hills, and then, plenty of wintry showers, rain, hail, sleet, yes, snow mostly over the hills following, but a much colder—feeling day by the time we get to friday. as ever, there's more on the website.

this is bbc news. news and headlines at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. this week: swinging satellites! and fruit. sensors to keep the city that never sleeps lit up. and using tech to get better at football... ..apparently.