Since women won the vote we ask why the big delay in one of the oldest democracies. Hello and welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. We start in myanmar and the Military Coup there. Weve now seen the biggest day of protests. Thousands of workers and young acitivists are out on the streets in yangon. Meanwhile, military rulers shut down most of the internet. The protesters are calling for the release of everyone detained by the army since monday, including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 0ur CorrespondentJonathan Head reports. Five days after the military takeover and people are testing the limits. This group included Factory Workers from the Western Suburbs of yangon. But led by Young Political activists, shouting their condemnation of the new regime and their support for the ousted government. Translation as a citizen l who was born in this country, i cannot accept the unjust takeover by the military. Because of this military dictatorship, many of our lives have been destroyed. We cannot let our future generation meet the same fate. Translation i am really pleased with what i see i in these protests. Here people are not paid to come out to protest, to those who are watching these scenes, we welcome you to join us. The crowd grew as it headed towards the Downtown Area of myanmar� s largest city, where a line of police blocked their way. Offering a perfect backdrop for The Hunger Games salute that has become the symbol of popular defiance in this region. Its hard to gauge how much of the country shares this sense of outrage, but it is a fair bet this coup is widely unpopular. The protest was broadcast as it happened on a dozen or more social media pages but the military began shutting down the internet and blocking popular apps so that through the day we watched myanmar slipping back towards the digital dark age of a decade ago. Protests have taken place outside myanmar too. With Aung San Suu Kyi in custody once more, these are painful echoes of a wretched past. Are myanmar� s generals really prepared to return to the bad old days . Perhaps even they do not know what they will do yet after inflicting such a blow to their countrys hopes. Jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. Lets move on to the coronavirus pandemic now and where we are with vaccines. The son of thatjab has been approved for use on emergency basis, despite warnings from sinovac that the data for Protection Rate for people over 60 is limited. David campanale has more. From Mask Diplomacy to vaccine diplomacy. China has been working hard to change global perceptions. It already has a vaccine in production made by sinopharm, which is being used internationally. Indonesias president joko widodo became the first major world leader to publicly receive a shot one month ago. By giving conditional approval to sinovac� s product, chinese regulators have now allowed Emergency Access For A Second Chinese supply for general use. Rio dejaneiros iconic sambadrome, which hosts the citys famous carnival. Brazilians here over 90 years old have been receiving sinovac jabs after the venue was converted into a drive through vaccination centre. Translation it will be wonderful to see my family. There is Nothing Better than embracing them. I miss them. Translation professionally, it is a unique experience and as a citizen, it is a joy for us to be giving hope to people with a vaccine that is efficient, that is safe, and we hope for better days. Sinovac says trials in brazil have shown 50 effectiveness in preventing infection, reaching 80 in preventing cases requiring medical intervention. But the company has also admitted that efficacy and safety results need to be further confirmed as trials are yet to meet normal standards. As western nations dispute contracts and bid up the price of the big name vaccines, chinas home grown jabs are picking up customers overseas. In asia, singapore, malaysia, the philippines and indonesia have either signed up or begun rolling out the sinovac vaccine. Turkey has also approved the sinovac vaccine for emergency use. 0ther deals have been reached with chile as well as brazil. The United Arab Emirates and bahrain have approved the sinopharm vaccine, as has hungary, along with several others. Chinas initial cover up of the viral outbreak and deflection of its roots to countries far away has lowered global trust in beijing. Its largesse with its products, branded Chinas Health silk road, is not entirely altruistic, with beijing hoping for a long term reputational and diplomatic return. I want to take you back to our top story, the coup in myanmar. For more on that, we are joined by the former Us Ambassador to myanmar, derek mitchell. He is currently the president of the National Democratic institute in washington. Welcome to the programme. What do you make of the Biden Administrations choices now . What possible action can it take . The talk of sanctions, will that help . I take . The talk of sanctions, will that help . Will that help . I think it is probably will that help . I think it is probably necessary will that help . I think it is probably necessary to will that help . I think it is. Probably necessary to send will that help . I think it is i probably necessary to send a signal this is completely contrary to our values into our interests in myanmar, in burma. But i think that is not sufficient. I think we need to reach out to our allies, and i know they are. Japan, korea, and probably india, as well. To put pressure on the regime as well as to see if there is less ability that we are not seeing to date in the Commander In Chief and the military and large. N commanderinchief and the military and large. Military and large. I dont know how military and large. I dont know how on military and large. I dont know how on as military and large. I dont know how on as you military and large. I dont know how on as you can l military and large. I dont i know how on as you can be, military and large. I dont know how on as you can be, but where you taken by surprise with this action from the military . We know that they are incredibly powerful in the country. They retain power, but they must� ve felt that was under threat and have taken action. But it seems were taken many by surprise. It action. But it seems were taken many by surprise. Many by surprise. It did take me by surprise. Many by surprise. It did take me by surprise. The me by surprise. The constitution and given the economic prerogatives, the security prerogatives, 25 of the parliament. A lot of that interests were protected. But this is in some ways very personalfor this is in some ways very personal for this Commander In Chief and his relationship with the state counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi. I think right up to the very last moment, people were thinking that they saw signs there might be a coup. There was heightened tension over the election, a lot of bitterness between the military and the government, but it might not actually happen. So when it did happen i think it really did take people buy supplies, notjust people on the outside, but on the inside. There is a lot of disappointment and sadness and also resilience within the society that we are going to see over the next day through street demonstrations. The other challenge street demonstrations. The other challenge for street demonstrations. The other challenge for the Biden Administration here is the role of china, china increasingly influential in. Of china, china increasingly influential in. They feel that myanmar influential in. They feel that myanmar is influential in. They feel that myanmar is in myanmar is in their sphere of influence. They feel they should have a special place in the governments and the affairs of the country. They want to have access to the indian ocean, they consider it to be 0cean, they consider it to be their west coast. They have long had investment interest, resources that fuel chinese development, coming from myanmar, a lot of theirjade. They are please, i think, that the United States and the west has been alienated from bmr. Myanmar. They have had a Good Relationship with the lnd and in sincity. They have not had a Good Relationship with the military. They have not like that they have been fighting groups against the military. This may push the regime and the military towards china and it might be an opportunity for china to take. China to take. Fuses significant china to take. Fuses significant days china to take. Fuses i significant days ahead. China to take. Fuses significant days ahead. Great to have your expertise. Thank you. Usually significant days ahead. We return to the coronavirus pandemic and specifically the vaccines. Drug Company Astrazeneca believes its vaccine will prevent against severe disease caused specifically by the South African Variant of the coronavirus. But the drug maker admitted it seems to have less effectiveness against milder versions of that variant. For more on this, heres our health correspondent, katharine da costa. Just a day after the Pharmaceutical Company said that the vaccine is effective at presenting against the uk variant. There are some caveats though. This is preliminary findings from a small study of about 2000 people in south africa and its not been peer reviewed. Theres been no comment from astrazeneca or 0xford University on this study. But crucially it being reported the vaccine still seems to be effective in preventing deaths in hospital admissions. Now yesterday, the head of astrazeneca said it wouldnt be surprising if levels of Protection Dip with the south africa variant, given what weve seen in early results from other vaccines. Developers are already working on tweaking their vaccines to cope with new, emerging variants. Its something that already happens with the flu jab and it may be in future that we need to have a booster shot each year. Dr ingrid katz is an Infectious Disease specialist and associate Faculty Director at the Harvard Global health instite. Thank you for coming on the programme. Thank you for coming on the programme thank you for coming on the rouramme. ~ i. ,. , programme. Thank you for having me. We programme. Thank you for having me we heard programme. Thank you for having me. We heard our programme. Thank you for having me. We heard our correspondent| me. We heard our correspondent use the word me. We heard our correspondent use the word caveat. Me. We heard our correspondent use the word caveat. I me. We heard our correspondent use the word caveat. I assume i use the word caveat. I assume thatis use the word caveat. I assume that is what im going to from you as well because we do not have much information on this latest, i cant even call them findings, because we have not even seen the data coming out, and that is frustrating, isnt it . We have a headline but not all the facts stop all the facts stop yes. Absolutely. All the facts stop yes. Absolutely. I all the facts stop yes. Absolutely. I think. All the facts stop yes. I absolutely. I think well all the facts stop yes. Absolutely. I think well get more information on the upcoming week to really help us understand what is going on, particularly with these new variants as noted in south africa. �. ,. , africa. And how concerned are ou b africa. And how concerned are you by these africa. And how concerned are you by these new africa. And how concerned are you by these new variants . I africa. And how concerned are | you by these new variants . We have had one version in kent, and in south africa, the bobby moore . ~ ,. , moore . Absolutely. I remain concerned moore . Absolutely. I remain concerned about moore . Absolutely. I remain concerned about these i moore . Absolutely. I remain i concerned about these variants, particularly when the rates of covid i9 is still incredibly high and the percentage of the population globally really is so low in terms of vaccination rates. ,. , so low in terms of vaccination rates. ,. ,. , rates. Does this mean that we need to start rates. Does this mean that we need to start thinking rates. Does this mean that we need to start thinking about i need to start thinking about the coronavirus like we think about the flu, that every single year there will be different variants and we will need protection against that . I do think the coronavirus is here with us to stay, unfortunately. But on the optimistic side it has been wonderful to see that these vaccines do seem to prevent hospitalisations, which is the thing that we are most concerned about. So if they can continue to work on these vaccines to ensure that they are safe and effective as these variants mutate, that i think we may be considering annual shots to make sure that everyone stays safe. And can i ask ou everyone stays safe. And can i ask you an everyone stays safe. And can i ask you an unfair everyone stays safe. And can i ask you an unfair question i everyone stays safe. And can i ask you an unfair question on | ask you an unfair question on timescales, here . Of course we dont know what will happen and we need to be prepared for the unpredictable, but with all things equal, given where we are now, do you have a rough hopeful timetable in your head for when life could start to get back to normal . For when life could start to get back to normal . Yes. I have been thinking get back to normal . Yes. I have been thinking about get back to normal . Yes. I have been thinking about this i get back to normal . Yes. I have been thinking about this a i get back to normal . Yes. I have been thinking about this a lot. L been thinking about this a lot. I first have to say it is so critical that we think about Vaccine Distribution and equity globally, that the virus does not stop at a given border. It is critical that we get vaccines distributed globally. I think if we can get effective scallop of these vaccines over the next 3 6 months globally and i hope that we can really turn the corner on this by the end of 2021 and be resuming a more regular live. More regular live. Doctor inarid more regular live. Doctor ingrid katz. More regular live. Doctor ingrid katz, thank i more regular live. Doctor ingrid katz, thank you i more regular live. Doctor ingrid katz, thank you so| more regular live. Doctor ingrid katz, thank you so much for coming on. For coming on. Thank you for havin for coming on. Thank you for having me this is bbc world news. Our top stories this hour an Internet Blackout fails to prevent protests in Myanmar Thousands take to the streets in the biggest demonstrations yet against the miltary coup. A study shows the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine has limited effectiveness in preventing mild illness from the South African Variant of coronavirus, but the team says it does help prevent severe cases. To india now and the huge protests by farmers there. Thousands from right across the country blocked roads to pressure the government to roll back agricultural reforms. More than 50,000 Security Personnel were deployed around delhi. Small farmers object to plans to open up Food Production to big business. 0ur india correspondent, Rajini Vaidyanathan reports. Roadblocks as farmers in cities across india staged a three hour traffic jam. Protests against the governments farm laws have spread nationwide, protesters say they will not give up until the reforms are repealed. Translation in protest of the three farm laws i that a Modi Government have imposed on us, we are blocking the highways, but peacefully. There will be no violence and they will be carried out peacefully. The government says they will leave farmers better off by allowing them to sell direct to big businesses. Farmers fear once big corporations enter the market, price guarantees on crops will eventually disappear. Translation the Modi Government, under the pressure of big corporations, have brought these farming laws, our demand is that these laws be repealed because it is notjust bad for farmers, it is harmfulfor the 1. 3 billion people of our country. As Tens Of Thousands of farmers continue to camp in protest, just outside delhi, a high security presence remains in the area. Internet has been shut down at protest sites. Farmers accuse the government of trying to silence them. The Un Human Rights Agency became the latest to comment on the protests, calling on the authorities to protect Peaceful Assembly and expression. It comes after public figures, including rihanna and greta thunberg, tweeted their support for the protests. In response, Indias Foreign Ministry issued an unprecedented statement this week saying sensationalist social media by celebrities and others was neither accurate nor responsible. Despite rounds of talks, both sides are in deadlock. This is the largest challenge facing indias populist Prime Minister, narendra modi. Farm leaders say they will not go home until their demands are met. Rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, delhi. To Northern Iraq now. The formal burial has taken place of more than a hundred members of the Yazidi Community who were murdered by the Islamic State group. The ceremony has been held in the village of kocho in the sinjar region where is carried out an attempted genocide in 2014. Tim allman reports. On this day, in this place, they have to queue up to bury the dead. Coffin after coffin 104 of them, to be precise carried to their final resting place. With each one, a photograph representing a life lost and a family bereaved. It is the worst day in history, said this man. The worst day in history. People die once, but we die every day. These are our people, our community, all the yazidis. They are our sons, brothers, mothers, fathers. Thousands fled, thousands died as the so called Islamic State lay siege to sinjar. Many women and girls were abducted, some used as sex slaves by is fighters. Many of those killed were buried in mass graves. Only now, their exhumed remains are finally being returned home. When we speak to survivors and ask them what is it that you want . The first answer of most of them is, we want to know where our loved ones, what happened to them. So their loved ones are missing and they are transferred in other countries or they are in these mass graves that are all over sinjar. A funeral is an ending, a chance to say goodbye to a loved one. But for the Yazidi Community, this is only the beginning. There are so many more Funerals Still to come. Tim ullman, bbc news. In cuba a big change in its state controlled economy, the government will now allow small private businesses to operate in most fields. The Caribbean Island is looking to recover from a devastating economic slump. 0ur Correspondent will grant, is in havana. When they opened up the decade they created a list of around 130 or so activities that could move into the private sector. Now they say there will be only 130 that will not be allowed in the private sector and over 2000 that will. In essence it is a huge step for a country like cuba which controls the economy and the means of production, of course, throughout the economy. But we do not know actually which sectors they will continue to control. Quite clearly we can say education, anything to do with medicine or the production of food, the government is very unlikely to let hold let go of that. But in things like tourism they may open up quite a lot. Egyptian authorities have released a Journalist Working for the aljazeera network, after more than four years in detention. Mahmoud hussein was detained in december 2016, without his case ever coming to trial. He was accused of spreading false news, joining a banned group and receiving foreign funds, all charges he denied. Italys populist five Star Movement said that it will wait for Prime Minister designate mario draghi to announce his policies before deciding whether or not to support him. Five star is the Largest Party in parliament. It will be difficult for mr draghi to form a government without five stars backing. A rare Sumatran Tiger similar to the one shown here has been shot dead after escaping from its enclosure at a zoo in indonesia. Officials said they had tried to tranquilise the animal but had to kill it because of its aggressive behaviour. Sumatran tigers are critically endangered. There are thought to be only about 400 living in the wild. Women in switzerland are remembering a key moment in history this weekend the Fiftieth Anniversary of finally being granted the right to vote. Switzerland lagged far behind its neighbours italy, france, and germany becoming one of the last countries in europe to offer women equal political rights. From bern imogen folks reports. Swiss women began demanding the right to vote a century ago. Their neighbours in france, germany and italy succeeded. In switzerland, they had to wait until 1971. Just 50 years ago. Were happy, but its still like. To think that it was just 50 years ago is also, like, kind of shocking. Why did it take so long . In switzerland, all Big Decisions are decided by nationwide vote. In 1959, the men went to the polls to decide if women could join them. The no campaign warned of catastrophic consequences forfamily life. As far as im concerned, i think its against nature. I think its an unnecessary luxury for the state, because womens vote is expressed to their husbands, anyway. One of the arguments not giving the women the right to vote i was because their. Brains are too small. And i think. Yeah, it was one i of the arguments. 67 said no to women voting. Yvonne, now 80 was 18 at the time. In the evenings, there was a large manifestation with flares and not even many speeches. It was more of a demonstration of mourning that, again, the women did not achieve what they wanted. And by a large majority. The radical � 60s came and went. Swiss women continued to protest. Finally, in 1971, another referendum and finally, a yes. There was a general election later in 1971 and so, after decades of protesting here outside parliament, swiss women could finally vote to put women inside. And they did. Since then, swiss women have continued to campaign, using their vote to get Maternity Leave and equal pay for equal work. I always vote. Ifeel like because i can, i should participate and vote and give my voice. I never missed any of these votations or elections. I always went, and my daughters do the same, so somehow, i taught them that this political right is important for us in switzerland. Switzerland has changed in the last 50 years. In part, thanks to those tireless women who never gave up on their right to have their say. Chinas maiden Space Exploration mission to mars has captured its first fairly close up picture of the red planet. And here it is. The tienwan 1 sent this Black And White image and you can see canyons on the surface. The probe took the picture from around 2. 2 million kilometres away. The spacecraft launched back injuly, and is due to touch down on mars later this year. In the danish Capital Copenhagen theyve been trying to cheer people up with the citys annual light festival. Lets take a look. There are 30 light installations all across the city on bridges, buildings and squares. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, all guided tours and Pop Up Events have been cancelled. The festival will continue until the end of february. A reminder of our top story this hour. The Internet Lack of fails to protect that may prevent protest in myanmar as thousands take to the street in the biggest demonstration yet against the Military Coup. Protesters are calling for the release of everyone detained by the army since monday. There is plenty more as always on our website. You can find me on social media. You can reach me on twitter im lvaughanjones. Hello there. It has been called the beast from the east two and during sunday strengthening easterly wind will bring in colder air and we will have snow falling widely. The focus of the snow has been in scotland and it is still snowing here now but the emphasis changes towards the South East Of England where we are closer to storm darcy, bringing thicker cloud and added moisture, which is bumping into that really cold air that we can trace all the way back to the baltic sea and towards the arctic. We will find snow falling by the morning in the south east and east anglia. It might be slippery elsewhere, further north there will be snow showers coming in off the north sea. Lets focus on the heaviest snow, where we have the Amber Snow Warning from the met office, it covers parts of suffolk, essex and kent. Widely five to ten centimetres, more perhaps in some places and there will be blizzards and drifting as well with the Winds Continuing to strengthen. Notjust knowing here, it will be snowing widely across the South East Of England and east anglia. Further north, snow showers coming in off the north sea across scotland, northern england, northern wales, one or two for northern ireland, drier towards the south west and parts of the midlands as well. The winds will be strong, perhaps gale force around the north sea coasts and it will make it feel cold. Temperatures will be lower than saturday, so maybe two or three degrees at best. Add on the strength of the wind and it will feel much colder, typically minus four or even minus five degrees. That run of Cold Easterly Winds continue for the start of next week. The cold air coming over the slightly warmer north sea generates the cloud which generates the showers, which will be snow. Those will stream their way in across england, heading towards wales, lots of snow showers coming into scotland as well. Drier for northern ireland. We shouldnt see the heavy falls of snow perhaps in the South East Of England but it will be very cold here. Temperatures below freezing all day with that covering of snow and of course, because we have the strong winds, it will feel much colder in the wind as well. We are likely to find more snow showers, for Eastern Parts of the uk during tuesday. And by the middle part of the week, it may be a bit drier, not as windy but it is still going to be cold. This is bbc news. The headlines an Internet Blackout failed to dampen dissent in myanmar as thousands of people took to the street� s of the main city yangon to protest against this weeks Military Coup. Theyre calling for the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others detained by the army. Pharmaceutical Company Astrazeneca says a small trial suggests the Coronavirus Vaccine its developed with Oxford University does not appear to offer much protection against mild or moderate disease caused by the south africa variant. But the firm believes the jab would protect against severe disease. Thousands of Indian Farmers brought some of the countrys major roads to a standstill to show their opposition to new agriculture reforms, which they say would leave them out of pocket. Dozens were arrested with more than 50,000 members of the Security Services being deployed for the protests. Now its time for dateline london