berlin. the general and his justifications. myanmar's army chief -- army chief defends ousting the civilian government. he is blaming election fraud and is promising to hand back power. the international community has condemned the crackdown as police use water cannon on police -- on peaceful protesters. the tit for tat row between europe and russia over kremlin critic alexei navalny. moscow has expelled envoys from

germany, sweden and poland. the three governments retaliated by ordering russian diplomats to leave their countries. donald trump second impeachment trial dividing america before it begins. his lawyers condemning the trial over the invasion of the capital as political theater. house managers insist trump betrayed the u.s. people. in american football, huge celebrations in florida over brady and the buccaneers. star quarterback tomrady,he tampa bay buccaneers took down the can the city chiefs sunday night and won the title, super bowl champions. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the unit it states and around the world, welcome.

one week ago, myanmar's army chief led a coup against the civilian government. today, he defended what he did. the top general insisting civilian leaders failed to investigate alleged vote rigging in november's election. in his first televised address since the coup, the president pledged to hand back power after elections. the international community has condemned the takeover. >> a week of military rule in myanmar has triggered a groundswell of protest across the nation. in the biggest city, they have a simple demand for the military. hand back the power to the elected officials. >> i want on some sushi and the president to be released quickly. we want all the people from the winning party, the nld, to be released. that is what we all want. >> monks and protesters marched,

holding the flag of the league for democracy. they say it is their last chance to fight the dictatorship. >> they used power to run the country and use the country's resources for their families and their owsake. they do not do anything good for the citizens and the country's development. >> there were rare protests in the capital where demonstrators braved police water cannon blocking their path. many here are state employees. perhaps a sign of the anger of those who have briefly enjoyed democracy after five decades of military rule. in tv address to the nation, the new military leader sought to justify the coup. the general repeated the military's line that campaigning in the poll had been unfair.

>> we are investigating the responsible authorities regarding voter fraud. >> that election delivered a handful of seats for the general's party and a landside for the nld. she is back in house arrest where the army had kept her for 15 years. that peaceful resistance made her an icon of democracy. already warning that resistance is unlawful and imposed a nighttime curfew, bringing more protests and triggering fears a bloody crackdown could soon follow. brent: for more, i am joined by a burmese academic and human rights advocate based in london. it is good to have you on the program. the general in myanmar claimed his regime is different from the military we have seen in the past. he also pledged to hd back power after new elections.

do you believe him? >> absolutely not. he has actually borrowed a leaf from a 1962 fndation othe rst textbook coup launched by a general. at the time, a general used a similar ptext that the country was on the brink of disintegration. as a matter of fact, the general paraphrased that term, excused voter fraud was not the reason he gave. voter fraud led to disharmony among different ethnic communities in the new union -- in the union. also it triggered demonstrations. there were a few small-scale demonstrations by the parties that lost. he used this voter fraud, wild

voter fraud accusations to frame the issue as a threat to national security. the real issue is that the proxy party, union solidarity and development party, has been almost put out of existence. out of 476 seats contested, the general's party only won 33. that was one of the major regions. -- major reasons. brent: as you see it, this coup resulted because you have a military and a general who does not want to share power in a democratically destined way. he just moved the military in and took over again. >> they wanted to share power.

they wanted to maintain 80% of the state power, including a very key ministries and general administration department. they wanted to share 15% of that state power with the democratic party. and maybe 5% with ethnic minorities. the fact is, the last 30 years have shown every time the military tried to play a look torah politics, -- play electoral politics, the voters voted against any party that the military backed. they cannot win this electoral politics. they wrecked to the game. brent: these protests we are seeing across the country of civil disobedience, how much impact is that going to have? >> in the immediate term, i am

not sure if it is going to make a lot of difference. the new generation that is referred to as generation z, i take my hat off. we have a trigger-happy group of generals that have nearly 60 years record of ruthless killings of buddhists, muslims, committing a genocide, keeping the war of aggression and colonial subjugation against ethnic minorities, they basically risk their lives coming out. this is intergenerational nationwide uprising. the generals have imposed in two major cities the curfew. we are gng to see unrest.

knocking on doors and arresting them. brent: we are out of time, but we appreciate your time and your insights. thank you. >> thank you. brent: here are more of the stories making headlines around the world. the european union has finalized a deal with pfizer and biontech to supply an additiol 300 llion doses of their covid-19 vaccine. brussels already secured 300 million doses last year. in recent weeks, the you has faced heavy criticism for the rollout of its vaccination program following the livery delays. italy has allowed a ship carrying 422 migrants rescued off the coast ofibya to dock in a sicilian port. the ocean viking boat arrested the -- boat rescued the migrants last week. most are from sub-saharan africa.

right police clashed with hundreds of protesters and beirut, demanded the release of antigovernment activists detained in northern lebanon last month. the lebanese army took 17 people into custody after rioters set fire to government buildings in tripoli. germany, poland and sweden have expelled russian coordinates in a coordinated response to the explosion of their own diplomats from russia last week. the german foreign ministry said the decision to announce the expulsions while the european union's foreign policy chief was visiting moscow was unjustified. russia accuses the diplomats in participating in illegal demonstrations. germany says its representative was performing his duties in the russian capital. for more, let's bring in our political correspondent, simon young. what more do we know about this tit for tat that is going on?

simon: the foreign ministry in berlin has made it clear this action was in retaliation for the explosion by moscow last week of a german diplomat. the moscow authorities said that person had been somehow involved in antigovernment protest and berlin is saying today that is totally unjustified. this person was carrying out his duties under the vienna convention on diplomatic relations together information on the ground in russia with legal means. that is the reason now why a russian diplomat has been declared persona non grata and the russian side has reacted this evening saying that explosion is also unfriendly and unjustified and further consequences may flow. it is ping-pong and

back-and-forth. brent: how else is the international community planning to put pressure on russia to release alexei navalny echo -- alexei navalny? simon: it is fairly clear this was a coordinated reaction by germany, sweden and poland. they have all moved to expel a russian diplomat from their capitals. it also came just after a meeting, a video conference meeting between representatives of the u.s., the u.k. and canada and the e.u. to talk about how to respond to russia's actions in recent days and to the russian treatment of protesters. there does seem to be a concerted international @@tion. the you foreign affairs representative has said the e.u. and russia are drifting apart. he says it is for members to decide what further steps to

take. that could include further sanctions being imposed. brent: where does this leave the german russian relationship? simon: that relationship is incredibly strained. there are so many issues. angela merkel said friday that what she sees in moscow now is a long way from the rule of law as she put it. i think she was thinking about not just the police brutality against protesters but also the three and a half year jail sentence for alexei navalny and the poisoning of him prior to that. there are a lot of issues that separate the e.u. and russia, not just the annexation of crimea in 2014 but also as far as germany is concerned, the cyberattack on the bundestag and also a murder carried out germans alleged by russian

agents in berlin. there are lots of things berlin is annoyed about. brent: dw's political correspondent simon young with the latest tonight. thank you. rescuers in india are trying to save dozens of power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after a himalayan glacier collapsed, unleashing a wall of water. at least 26 people are dead and more than 180 are missing. the flood destroyed a dam and washed homes downstream. authorities say the death toll is likely to rise. >> joy as rescue workers recover several survivors. the search is far from over. some dead bodies have already been found. several groups of workers are still believed to be trapped in tunnels, unable to get out. >> since this morning, we have

intensified our search operation in a second tunnel. we have information that around 30 people are trapped there and around 300 police officers have been deployed, clearing the tunnel so people can be rescued. >> this is the moment a small dam was swept away as part of the mountain glacier upstream broke, unleashing a torrent of water and debris. >> at around 10:00 in the morning, water start filling the tunnel because the glacier burst. we were able to get to a higher place using ropes in the tunnel. rescue teams came and saved us. now, we are doing ok. >> one hydroelectric plant was destroyed. another under construction was damaged. authities said they were able to prevent further damage downstream by opening gates to release water. the tragedy occurred in northern india. this region and the himalayan's

is prone to flash floods and landslides. in 2014, monsoon floods killed 6000 people and lead to calls for a review of development projects in the state. authorities say the main flood danger has passed about their work for rescue team -- but the work for rescue teams has only begun. brent: a left-leaning economist has taken a clear lead in the first round of ecuador's presidential election. the former minister has under a third of the vote. indigenous anti-mining activist could now challenge in the runoff in april. voting has not been as orderly as many had hoped. >> participation was massive. nothing unexpected since voting is compulsory in ecuador. this sunday's election was like no other.

marked by social restrictions and held in the midst of the second wave of covid-19 in the country. voters were face mask, that it was practically impossible to maintain social distancing. health protocols were not enough. >> because of the pandec, there is a lot of disorder. because the people do not respect now the military nor the police who are there to take care of us. >> there is no physical distancing. everybody is coming together. it is not what they are saying on the news. >> i had to wait a very long time. with the sun, it was terrible. >> more than 0 new polling stations were established for this election in an effort to ease the flow of voters. staff were also instructed to guide citizens. the nationwide security plan was deployed with some 90,000 security officers. but this is not enough to

rebuild confidence in initutions. ny doubt the integrity of these elections. >> let's hope that they are reliable becse honestly, as an ecuadorian, i have many doubts this will be transparent. it seems this is ruled by certain interests. the ecuadorian people know it. >> with those doubts in mind, the electoral authorities when announcing the results, certified the elections were clean and fair. >> the work of the cne is fair, respecting the decision of the ecuarians. despitall the problems we hav had in a pandemic situation and a financial crisis, the electoral council ifulfilling its duty. >> as soon the results were

released, supporters gathered outside the national electoral council headquarters. displayed a strong showing, it is unclear if the indigenous leader will advance in the april runoff. brent: in the united states, lawyers for former president donald trump have labeledhe impeachment trial beginning tomorrow as an active political theater. trump is accused of inciting the riot at the u.s. capitol building on january 6. house managers say trump trade the american people. a new poll shows the americans -- the majority of americans are in favor of convicting trump, the former president at his trial continue to polarize. >> a solemn procession through the halls of the u.s. capitol. with donald trump's future in their hands. democrats from the house of representatives set in motion a second impeachment trial for the former president by delivering

the single article of impeachment to the senate. >> article one. incitement of insurrection. donald john trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the united states. >> the democrats say donald trump's baseless claims of election fraud bring incitement to violence, culminating in a speech before congress was set to confirm the results. >> we will never give up. we will never concede. it does not happen. you do not concede when there is theft involved. >> shortly after these remarks, a violent mob breached the u.s. capitol building. rioters took over the building for hours and foed lawmakers into hidg paired five people died during the assault. while several republicans had criticized trump after the right it on january 6, numbers of the

gop are softening their stance and are increasingly criticizing the impeachment proceedings. >> first of all, i think the trial is stupid. i think it is counterproductive. >> democrats say it is important to hold trump accountable. >> everyone wants to put this awful chapter in american history behind us, but sweeping it under the rug will not bring healing. the only way to bring healing is to actually have real accountability, which this trial affords. >> the impeachment trial will be a test for both parties and a decisive moment for donald trump's legacy. brent: let's cross to dw's washington bureau chief. good evening to you. it is like deja vu. we have been here before. on the eve of it impeachment trial against donald trump, what can we expect tomorrow? >> for four years, the democrats have struggled to hold the

president accountable for his actions during his presidency. tomorrow will be their last opportunity to do so. former president's lawyers have called the trial political theater and they argue the democrats are exploiting the attack on the capital for their party. the democrats are saying the president betrayed the american people on january 6 when he incited an insurrection. brent: we know in order to convict the president, we will need two thirds of senators to vote for a conviction. that is going to mean having republicans voting with democrats. are republicans likely to vote to convict? >> at this point, no. there are not enough senators to convict trump. the democrats would need at least 17 republicans on their

side to get the necessary majority. there might be one or two out of the 50 republican senators, but that is not enough. any republicans argue the senate does not have the constitutional right to convict a former president and others say they just want their party to move on from donald trump and try to heal the united states. brent: there is no consensus on whether or not this trial should be taking place. whichever way the senate decides, what do you think will be the likely consequences for donald trump? >> the democrats, it is crystal clear they want at least to present to the general public that donald trump is still a dangerous figure within the political world and probably more importantly, so within the republican party. they at least hope to

symbolically hold the president accountable for his actions from over a month ago. if trump would get convicted, congress can ban trump from ever running for office again. but this is very unlikely this will happen and that means he will do everything to keep his influence in the republican party. we must not forget, more than 73 million americans voted for trump. he might be out of office and he is banned from twitter, but he is far from being gone for good. brent: dw's washington bureau chief on the people impeachment trial of donald trump. thank you. now to the biggest sporting event in the u.s. quarterback tom brady had a great night, leading the tampa bay buccaneers to beat the kansas city chiefs on their home

field in the super bowl. pretty secured his seventh -- brady secured his seventh super bowl title. he gave the city of tampa bay, florida a big reason to party. >> even the pandemic could not keep these fans off the streets. masks and social distancing were nowhere in sight. not after the tampa bay buccaneers thumped kansas city 31-9 to win the super bowl. the victory exceeded all expectations. >> crazy to me that brady just comes and wins a super bowl whenever he feels like it. that just kind of blows my mind. >> i have been a buccaneers fan all my life. >> all my buddies back home, all of them were a betting against the bucs. you cannot bet against tom brady. >> tom brady threw three touchdown passes. he received a record seventh

super bowl title and a fifth mvp award. was this championship more special? >> i think they are all special. it has been an amazing year. we set off to a good start. we had a rough stretch where we found our identity and played a lot better football. december, january. just really proud of all the guys. proud of all the coaches. the effort we put in. >> to understand how impressive all this is, no other player in the nfl has one more than five super bowls. brady is also the oldest player to win the championship. he is 43. age is just a number and tom brady continues to fly high. brent: here is a reminder of the top story we are following this hour. myanmar's army chief has cited alleged vote rigging at last

year's election to justify the coup which ousted the civilian government last week. there is increasing international concern about the crackdown on demonstrators who are protesting against that coup. you are watching dw news live from berlin. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, south africa stops its vaccination roll up. will the vaccinations work? i will ask right after the break. ♪

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♪ >> you are watching "france 24" here are the stories making world headlines. protests crackdown. the military in myanmar imposes a curfew and bands demonstration inhe wake of a coup and the jailing of the count eleed leader. protesters are refusing to back down. political turmoil and confusion in haiti. the government said it prevented an assassination of the president. the opposition says otherwise, and has named an interim leader. south africa has halted its rollout of the astrazeneca vaccine. the decision comes after researchers said that shot is