In myanmar a direct assault on the countrys transition to democracy. The countrys armed forces seized power, detaining civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and her top advisers. The takeover follows a Landslide Win by her National League for democracy in novembers election, which the army claims was fraudulent. Myanmar, also known as burma, was ruled by the military until 2011. Democratic reforms by Aung San Suu Kyi ended their control. Troops are being said to be patrolling the streets of the capital and the main city yangon. Now her leadership and reputation has been once hailed as a beacon of democracy she was awarded the nobel peace prize. Her leadership has been tarnished by looking at the Rate Map Working alongside the army. Alongside the army. Muslim rohingya minority. But she still enjoys great support throughout the country. Our special correspondent fergal keane reports. tx next this. An army reverting to autocratic type, swiftly and ruthlessly deposing a democratically elected
Welcome to hardtalk. Im stephen sackur. President biden has reportedly paused arms sales to saudi arabia as his administration reviews relations with his long time strategic ally. Not long ago, candidate biden described the kingdom as a pariah, but is there any prospect of external or internal pressure challenging the authority of saudi arabias De Facto Leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman . Well, my guest is exiled saudi opposition activist, madawi al rasheed. What next for saudi arabia reform, repression or maybe both . Madawi al rasheed, welcome to hardtalk. Hello. You have become one of the highest profile saudi critics of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. I just wonder how you felt a couple of weeks ago when we saw the crown prince so warmly welcomed at the World Economic forum, the online davos event, where he was selling saudi arabia as an Investment Opportunity for the entire world. What did you make of that . Well, its a familiar image and a familiar trick. Saudi arabia ha
And what about care home staff . Some are refusing the vaccine. What does that mean for you wanting to visit your relativies . Im on twitter vicderbyshire. Online retailer asos buys topshop, topman and miss selfridge. The deal doesnt include the shops, putting 13,000 jobs at risk. The cost of covid for children a report suggests they stand to lose an average of £40,000 each in Lifetime Earnings becaue most are not in school. And coming up this hour, well speak to Nicholas Hewlett, a head teacher in south london who is coming out as gay during an Online Assembly this morning. Theres been International Condemnation of the armed forces in myanmar after they seized power and detained civilian politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi the woman known Around The World for decades as the face of the struggle for democracy in the country and who has, since elections in 2015, been widely recognised as its unofficial leader. Myanmar, also known as burma, was ruled by the military until democratic
With Vladimir Putins opponents in exile, in prison or dead, like outspoken Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, putins victory is practically certain. If mr putin serves out the full six year term hes likely to win, hell become the longest serving russian leader since catherine the great. Over the next half hour we will look at the impact of the election for those in russia, ukraine and around the world. But first, we start our coverage with this report from our russia editor, Steve Rosenberg in moscow. Russias democracy is the best in the world, the kremlin says. And at Polling Station 38 in moscow, we found a choice of candidates and plenty of voters. Democracy in action, right . Not quite. Realistically, only one man can win this. Vladimir putin the man whos been on russias political stage for the last quarter of a century. Vladimir putin faces no serious challenger. His fiercest rivals are in exile or in prison. Not that this woman, whose son is fighting in ukraine, wants any change a
Let me bring you some breaking news on the nhs. The average Response Time in february for ambulances in england dealing with the most urgent incidents, defined as calls from people with life threatening illnesses or injuries, was eight minutes and 25 seconds, nhs figures show. This is down very slightly from eight minutes and 26 Seconds Injanuary, but is above the target standard Response Time of seven minutes. Ambulances took an average of 36 minutes and 20 seconds last month to respond to emergency calls such as heart attacks, strokes and sepsis. This is down from a0 minutes and six Seconds Injanuary while the target is 18 minutes. Response times for urgent calls, such as late stages of labour, Non Severe Burns and diabetes, averaged two hours, four minutes and 12 seconds in february, down from two hours, 12 minutes and 48 seconds in january. Back to our top story. The communities secretary, michael gove, has told the bbc why the government is introducing a new definitgion for extrem