Newshour BBC World Service

Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs says China had "no intention" of violating other countries' airspace after the Pentagon reported a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted flying over sensitive military sites.

Also on the programme : the latest from Kyiv where EU ministers are meeting with the Ukrainian government to discuss membership to the bloc and Pope Francis is in South Sudan with the other leaders of the Christian denominations on a peace mission.

(Photo : A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, US. Credit: Chase Doak)

Nir Barkat, Israel's minister for economics, joins us to defend his governments proposed judicial reforms as well as the current relationship between Israel and Palestine.

Also on the programme; a former Russian army officer says he's witnessed his fellow soldiers torturing Ukrainian prisoners. And why Amazon's drone deliveries just can't get off the ground.

(Picture: People in Tel Aviv protest the proposed judicial reforms in Israel. Credit: Reuters / Kern)

US troops will be given access to four new bases not far from Taiwan, where there are growing fears of a Chinese invasion.

Also, a former Russian officer has told the BBC he witnessed fellow soldiers committing abuses in Ukraine including torture and looting, and did the Vikings come to Britain with their pets?

(Photo: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin walks past military guards during arrival honours at the Department of National Defense in Camp Aguinaldo military camp, Quezon City, Philippines. Credit: Rolex dela Pena/Pool/Reuters)

Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.

The military authorities in Myanmar have extended the state of emergency by six months, on the second anniversary of the coup that deposed the democratically elected government. Many shops are closed and streets emptied to mark the event.

Also in the programme: It's been dubbed 'Walkout Wednesday' in Britain as half a million public sector workers take industrial action in the biggest strike for a decade; and do Monet and Turner's paintings reflect air pollution?

(Photo: A trishaw rides on an empty road in downtown Yangon, Myanmar on 1 February 2023. Anti-coup groups called for the public to participate in the Silent Strike to protest by staying at home. Credit: EPA)