THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON THURSDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER

Attempts at the UN to threaten Burma with global sanctions have been blocked by Russia and China.

The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, is calling for greater legal protection for people who tackle criminals.

Hospitals have been told they need to do more to ensure older patients are treated with dignity.

BURMA
Reports from Burma say large crowds of protesters have defied the military government and gathered on the streets of Rangoon. One report says security forces have fired warning shots to disperse one crowd in the east of the city. During the night at least six monasteries were raided and about 200 Buddhist monks arrested, as part of the crackdown on anti-government protests. This report is from Jonathan Head, who's following developments from neighbouring Thailand:

HEAD: Thousands of protestors are now back on the streets of Rangoon, defying the security forces, which have increased their presence overnight. Only a small number of monks could be seen among the crowd, who were heard chanting nationalist songs. During the night, troops raided a number of monasteries which have played a leading role in the recent protests. According to eyewitnesses, they smashed windows and doors and beat the sleeping monks. Some escaped but hundreds were taken away in military trucks. Two members of the National League for Democracy, the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, were also arrested during the night. The security forces have also been putting up new barbed wire barricades to try to block protestors from reaching the centre of Rangoon today. Leaflets have been circulated around the city urging people to come out and show solidarity with the monks.

UN BURMA
After a meeting in New York last night, the United Nations Security Council called on Burma's military rulers to show restraint. But it stopped short of condemning yesterday's use of force, because of opposition from China and Russia. From New York -- our Diplomatic Correspondent, James Robbins:

ROBINS: With so many governments represented at the highest level in New York this week, it might seem an ideal opportunity to agree on international condemnation of the Burmese regime. Instead, China and Russia blocked efforts by the Security Council to criticise the use of force against peaceful protestors and to threaten global sanctions. China's UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, insisted the violence in Burma was a purely internal matter:

GUANGYA ACT: The situation there has some problems, but these problems now at that stage does not constitute a threat to international and regional peace and stability.

ROBINS: The Russians backed that position and behind closed doors they apparently responded to french pressure for tough language by saying that next time there were riots in France, Russia would bring them to the Security Council. Today in New York, South East Asian nations will meet to discuss applying pressure on Burma -- something they're being encouraged to do by Europe and the United States, conscious that pressure from Burma's neighbours and trading partners may have the greatest impact.

LABOUR CONFERENCE
The Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, will tell the Labour party conference in Bournemouth today that he wants to see a review of the law on self-defence. Mr Straw will say that more needs to be done to protect citizens who stand up to criminals. He'll insist that the legal definition of what constitutes a proportionate response should be strengthened. More details from our Political Correspondent, Jo Coburn:

COBURN: Ever since the case of the farmer, Tony Martin, who shot and killed a burglar in 1999 and was subsequently jailed, the right of a householder to protect him, or herself, has been a recurring issue. Jack Straw, the former Home Secretary, is worried about the perception that the law is not on the side of the ordinary citizen who confronts an intruder. As it stands, the law on self-defence says that reasonable force could be used in circumstances where a person is under threat. Mr Straw wants to strengthen that definition to combat concern that a burglar's right might take precedence over those of householders fighting to defend their families and possessions. He'll also refer to four occasions when he himself has intervened and stood up to criminals.

In her speech to the conference, the Home Secretary, Jackie Smith, is to announce more money for the police and a zero tolerance approach to violent crime and related drug use.

IRAQ
The United States Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, has ordered a review into the way American private security companies operate in Iraq. It follows an incident earlier this month when contractors from the Blackwater firm , were involved in a shooting that left eleven Iraqis dead.

AFGHANISTAN
A police chief in Afghanistan says members of the Taleban have kidnapped two officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross. They're said to have been seized yesterday, in the province of Wardak.

OLDER PATIENTS AND NHS
Hospitals in England often disregard the wishes of older patients in the care they receive, according to the health service watchdog, the Healthcare Commission. It says there's been some progress -- but there's a considerable need for improvement in ensuring that elderly people are treated with dignity. The Commission is planning a series of spot checks. Mervyn Kohler -- special adviser for the charity Help the Aged -- told us what some patients were suffering:

KOHLER ACT: People are being talked to inappropriately, called possibly by a name they don't want to have used. They're not being involved in their own care. We're not really helping people to get better if we're treating them in this disrespectful kind of way.

The minister for social care, Ivan Lewis, said families must complain to hospital staff and management if their relatives weren't being treated with respect:

LEWIS ACT: There is no excuse for it; we need to have zero tolerance of indignity and the way we treat older people in our care system; we need to transform the health service into a personalised system.

EUTHANASIA
Researchers say there's no evidence that allowing doctors to help terminally ill people to die could lead to vulnerable patients being coerced to end their lives. Their findings, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, are based on data from the Netherlands, and from Oregon in the United States, which have different systems of assisted dying. Critics of the practice says it could be the beginning of a slippery slope, putting people at risk. Here's our health correspondent, Jane Dreaper:

DREAPER: The question of whether doctors should be allowed to help terminally ill people die is a deeply controversial one. The practice isn't legal in the UK, but has been the subject of fierce debate. Opponents have long claimed that permitting assisted suicide would threaten the most vulnerable members of society. Today's analysis in the Journal of Medical Ethics says that rates of assisted dying in Oregon and in the Netherlands showed no evidence that it was more likely to be used by women, the elderly or patients without health insurance. There was, however, evidence that people with AIDS were much more likely to request help in dying.

VICTIMS OF CRIME
Prosecutors have been criticised for failing to inform victims of crime when charges against a suspect in their case have been dropped or changed. The Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate said letters were NOT sent out in almost a third of the cases they examined in England and Wales. Some of the instances involved alleged rape victims.

PRINCESS DIANA
The process of selecting a jury for the inquest into the death of Princess Diana begins this morning. The full hearing is due to start next week. Here's our Royal correspondent, Peter Hunt:

HUNT: Around two hundred Londoners have been summoned to the High Court. They've been picked randomly from the electoral roll. The coroner, Lord Justice Scott Baker, will speak to them and then they'll be given a list of questions designed to establish whether or not they have any prejudices or connections which might prevent them from taking part in the Diana Inquest. The questionnaire hasn't been made public. The potential jurors may be asked whether they have any links with the royal family, Mohammed Al Fayed or the security services. For some, sitting on a jury for up to six months could prove very difficult. A shortlist will be drawn up and the final eleven men and women -- one fewer than for a criminal case -- will be selected and sworn in next Tuesday.

BA
British Airways has announced this morning a major order for new airliners worth about four billion pounds. It is to buy a dozen Airbus A-380 super-jumbo airliners and has also ordered 24 Boeing 7-8-7 Dreamliners.

NATIONAL RAIL HELPLINE
An investigation by WHICH? magazine has found that some rail passengers are given poor advice about fares -- and so pay over the odds for their tickets. The magazine put 25 questions to station staff, and to the National Rail Enquiries helpline -- but says only around half were answered correctly. Train operators say the sample was too small to be representative.

FILMS
There's been a big rise in the number of people going to the cinema. The Film Distributors' Association has put it down to the cool, wet summer and a number of successful sequels. Tulip Mazumdar reports:

MAZUMDAR: There were fifty-point-eight million visits to cinemas over this summer -- that's up by almost a third on this time last year and almost double the number from summer 2000:

SFX: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

MAZUMDAR: Hotly anticipated films like The Simpsons lured more people to the widescreen between June and August:

SFX: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

MAZUMDAR: Sequels have also enjoyed huge success with the like of The Bourne Ultimatums, Spider-Man 3, and the third Pirates of the Caribbean film: At World's End -- all proving that can still pull audiences. They're all in this summer's top twelve films which in total generated over three hundred million pounds at the UK box office. The Film Distributors' Association say the grey summer pushed people indoors for entertainment but say in general more people have been going to the cinema over the past decade and that trend looks set to continue.