it's been an eventful 2a hours in the maldives, where the president, abdulla yameen, has declared a statey, giving sweeping powers to the security forces. police have arrested the former head of state, maumoon abdul gayoom and security forces have been sent into the supreme court, where two judges have also been detained. the opposition has described the president's actions as a purge. joining me now is our south asia correspondent, justin rowlatt. just talk us through what has been going on in the last 2a hours. just talk us through what has been going on in the last 24 hours. well, we have to go further back to understand what has been happening. last week, the supreme court of the maldives ordered a group of political prisoners, people arrested under terrorism charges but members of the opposition party, be released. nine of them, including the former president, bashid. they also ordered 12 mps who switched sides, leaving the ruling party for the opposition, have positions reinstated. that would effectively end the majority the current president, abdulla yameen, has in parliament, open

president abdulla yameen declared a state of emergency after accusing the judges of plotting to overthrowth asia correspondent. you and i were discussing this yesterday. what a difference one day makes. is the challenge over to the president? absolutely not. the opposition is saying that the three remaining supreme court judges opposition is saying that the three remaining supreme courtjudges were coerced into making thisjudgement and that sounds plausible when you remember that the circumstance of the arrest of the two most senior judges in the court, which happened yesterday morning, security forces stormed the supreme court building before arresting them. the suggestion is that they were perhaps put under pressure in order to change their views. the official statement said it was in light of state m e nts statement said it was in light of statements made by president abdulla yameen to persuade them to change their position. indeed, tensions rumble on in the maldives. the leader of the opposition said from his base in sri lanka, he tweeted a request that india send an envoy with militar

president abdulla yameen abdul gayoomlamed the position for forcg his hand. >> ts is not a state of waridic, or national disaster. this is something more dangerous. thiss an obstruction of the variability of this state to function. reporter: yameen has faced international criticism for rolling back democratic reforms. he has used the state to crack down on opponents, most recently ordering police to storm the supreme court and arrest two justices. the opposition is defiant. as the former finance minister was taken to jail, he said the whole procedure was illegal. "i have been taken into custody unlawfully." it is not clear what charges the detainees will face. international pressure is mounting, with calls for the president to respect the constitution and the rule of law. brent: earlier we spoke to opposition member of parliament, eva abdulla. she explained why her democratic party has called on india to intervene in the maldives. eva: we think it's time for india to stop its wait and watch policy. since president yameen came to power, he has moved maldives' foreign policy very much tow

attorney general says the government will resist any attempt by the court to impeach president abdulla yameenhe 52nd super bowl is under way in freezing temperatures in the us city of minnesota. the philadelphia eagles are taking on the new england patriots and the eagles began with the ball and came away with an early field goal, matched by the patriots. the underdogs, philadelphia, have just scored a touchdown, putting them in the lead at 9—3. we will keep you updated as the game progresses. pressure is growing on south africa's president jacob zuma to step down. the top six officials from the governing anc have been to see him at his official residence to discuss his future. for months now, allegations of corruption have swirled around mr zuma, with both the opposition, and elements of the anc, intensifying their effort to remove him from office. as andrew harding reports from johannesburg, we could be seeing the last days of mr zuma's presidency. he's swamped by scandal. south africa's president, jacob zuma, has already been found guilty of breaking his oath of office when he upgraded his

the political crisis was triggered when president abdulla yameen refused to comply with a supreme courters and reinstate a group of opposition mps. translation: police are here to arrest me. i remain steadfast in my resolve. i urge all our supporters to be strong. we will not give up on the reforms we started. stay courageous. the former us gymnastics doctor larry nassar has been sentenced to an additional a0 years to bring his total prison term to 125 years. the sentence relates to the sexual abuse of young female athletes. nassar carried out the abuse over two decades under the guise of medical treatment. president y one may be first visit to the vatican by a turkish president in decades. they discuss the status ofjerusalem. meanwhile, scuffles broke out between police and demonstrators. two people were detained after trying to get closer to the vatican. let us look at some footage now. a greedy dog's efforts to steal some leftover pancakes at a home in the us state of massachusetts almost went horribly wrong after it accidentally ignited the stove, causing something on top of it to c

the political crisis was triggered when president abdulla yameen refused to comply with a supreme courttor, larry nassar, has been sentenced to an additional a0 years to bring his total prison term to 125 years. the sentence relates to the sexual abuse of young female athletes. nassar carried out the abuse over two decades under the guise of medical treatment. a greedy dog's efforts to steal some leftover pancakes at a home in the us state of massachusetts almost went horribly wrong after it accidentally ignited the stove, causing something on top of it to catch fire. luckily, the alarm system alerted first responders, before any serious damage was done. a lucky escape. more now on the impact of the latest us stock market fall here in asia. with me is karishma wasvani, our business correspondent. we spoke an hour ago and the losses we re we spoke an hour ago and the losses were not as deep as it is right now. the nikkei is now down by 5%. and you see a similar reaction in korea as well. i expect across the trading day here in asia you will see similar falls. day here in asia you will se

the great president, thcu's the ent president, abdulla yameen, porter the arrests -- ordered the arrest. ordered a 15-day state of emergency, the sacking of the police commissioner, a political crackdown. opposition supporters have made her feelings known. one mp called the event a purge. and the american and british governments have called for president yameen law.obey the but the biggest players in maldives politics, india and china, have so far remained silent beyond warning tourists about potential trouble. this is the peak season for the industry, and the consequences of the president's actions could be very costly for the maldives. laura: in iran, dozens of people have been arrested for protesting againsts law that ma compulsory for women to wear the hijab. alny women have posted images of themselves on so media without their headscarves. 'irans religious leaders have called for strong action in the , court the country's president says the voices of protesters need to be heard. act ofr: it was a simple defiance. a youngns woman's stand ag the law that forces all women in iran to w

attorney general says the government will resist any attempt by the court to impeach president abdulla yameen issued last week. and there's much excitement at the 52nd superbowl. it's one of the big tv events of the us calendar. the philadelphia eagles are taking on the new england patriots. philadelphia are the underdogs, but in an end—to—end match they are currently leading 22—12. fans are having to put up with freezing temperatures in minnesota. we'll keep you updated right through the programme. pressure is growing on south africa's president jacob zuma to step down. latest reports say he's refused requests to step down, in talks with top officials from the governing anc party. as andrew harding reports from johannesburg, we could be seeing the last days of his presidency. he's swamped by scandal. south africa's president, jacob zuma, has already been found guilty of breaking his oath of office when he upgraded his private home lavishly at the taxpayer's expense. more recently, his friendship with the controversial business family, the guptas, has fuelled allegations of massive corruption

the current president, abdulla yameen, ordered the moves against the court after it ruled that terrorismied, and ordered they were freed. instead of complying, president yameen ordered a 15—day state of emergency, the sacking of the police commissioner, and a political crackdown. 0pposition supporters made their feelings known. 0ne mp called the event "a purge." and the american and british governments have called for president yameen to obey the law. but the two biggest players in the maldives' politics, india and china, have so far remained silent beyond the warning tourists could be in trouble. this is the peak season for the main industry of the country, and the consequences of the actions of the president could be very costly for the maldives. bill hayton, bbc news. here in the uk, the prime minister's decision to rule out membership of any kind of customs union after brexit will mean new trade barriers on british goods and services. that was the warning from the european union's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, in downing street on monday. he went further, saying the time h