as you were saying earlier on very coordinated in its very nature that's right which is why i mean right now there's literally shockwave going through the population in this country we haven't seen anything of this still on each of the years and in terms of the really you saw these attacks on forward it all started occurring sort of mid-morning right in the middle of easter sunday services that was the first we heard the two explosions in the churches and subsequently the rest of them all followed very closely within within an hour or the hour and a half we found these record breaking that all these multiple occasions had had the explosion and basically the casualty numbers were building so it doesn't seem which is why when we spoke earlier talking of you know who might be behind it what is likely to be the cause i mean it should lanka as you said before has had

a very violent past this is not something new we've seen we've seen multiple explosions we've seen huge casualties but a country that have same suicide bomb blast we've seen millikan insurgencies we've seen literally the world but for many many years we haven't seen anything of this still and of this nature so that's why people are very concerned at this moment trying to figure out what exactly is going on in this country aaron and mina we know that easter sunday of course is one of the major feasts in the christian calendar i mean is there a sense that perhaps these attacks were time to take maximum advantage of the fact that people had gathered in churches. that definitely in terms of you look at the choice of the location there and dies kind of going to the fact that the churches were targeted however if you look at st anthony's church

while being a very very reserved and sacred catholic shine it is something that has appealed to she lunk and across the board it is something that invokes a lot of piety among people of all different faiths people fall. sort of reputation there are people from all walks of life from all different sets of colombo that goes regularly to the services at the anthony church so while it was easter sunday and it does appear that these were two locations that were targeted for the couple that could have sort of basically directly targeted on any they like i said does seem far greater than that much wider in terms of its reach and scale there and i don't know what about the hotels in terms of those that were attacked were very young do know which hotels they were. yes what the reports

basically that we have is there are all five star hotel again within the sort of heart of colombo literally of a kilometer a little over that from the scene anthony judge the diva to the shangri-la. sri lanka's most recent five star hotel. again on the seafront this limited intelligible. other course of what they're called the two very again the five seven days in partnership with local companies and the third one a the hotel called the cinema and then now people who have gone through colombo nor do you mean because these are very much to do with the five star hotels in colombo and the john. the thinking behind it obviously with the targeting of five star hotels is who was the maximum impact not just on physical casualties but very much on the whole stability of this country so which is why you

know people since i'm at a loss to understand read this is coming from that and it's i mean elephant and as they're in the sri lankan capital manila for the time being thank you for that if you're just joining us here on al-jazeera let me just recap for you these pictures you're seeing on your screen pictures coming in from colombo in sri lanka where there have been multiple explosions this morning three christian churches and three tourist resorts we understand that there are around one hundred sixty casualties possibly twenty five people dead we know the casualties are still being taken to the national hospital so these are the latest pictures coming to us from sri lanka so far one hundred sixty casualties is something like twenty five dead these figures we're getting in from our reporters and people we've been speaking to in sri lanka so three churches targeted three hotels targeted with you bring you more on that as we get it here al-jazeera. to libya now where the capital's only

functioning airport has been closed after intense fighting nearby airstrikes are reported in several areas as the warlord. a gallon offensive to retake the capital three weeks ago is fighting against the un recognized government based in tripoli al jazeera as much when i go i had begins our coverage from tripoli. under cover of attila the shelling forces to libya as you could know as the government advance in what it would be so the east of the capital. they're trying to push forces louis into world and for have to out over aims are unable. civil military units joined together in a number of flash points to form a defense called on facing hefted as forces of tripoli government warplanes targeted have to his forces locations near the area and city and around eighty kilometers south of tripoli that. your forces providing fire support to our

ground operations you know me is trying to flank our forces from the back but they have failed in the face of the strength of our fighters and the experience of our fighters it has become a war of attrition so the sicht as good as controlled by the. military sources with the u.n. recognized the government say they're preparing to launch an offensive in the next few days to retake the former international airport they want to push to discuss a little bit of shared a strategic supply point for have to his forces involved in the fighting southeast of the capital some analysts believe forces loyal to the tripoli government have an advantage as they try to hold off have to advance the strengths. out in the ability to understand the area national gini backed forces under stand tripoli southern parts of tripoli the western parts of tripoli where the

clashes are taking place. they understand. the local the local roads the local deserts the backyards off of the battlefield and as we've seen there hasn't been. any long or stable. advance by the on those locations since. the you and recognized government is accusing actors forces of committing war crimes by targeting residential areas with heavy weapons. two weeks of fighting has forced thousands of civilians to leave their homes. the military general prosecutor in tripoli issued arrest a warrant against hefted and other military officers. targeting there is attention areas including an airport the only operational airport in the city the latest move in tripoli by have to his forces has derailed

a peace conference that was due to be held this month in the city over the dam is libya has two competing administrations since twenty fourteen and violence has followed among their raver armed groups many libyans now fear that the next few months could bring even more interest ability. tripoli. in sudan and several senior members of the former ruling party are reported to have been arrested thousands of demonstrators are keeping up the pressure on the ruling military transitional council they want inquiries into abuses by the former regime the public prosecutor says ex-president omar bashir is being investigated the money laundering lama dollars more from the capital khartoum. a senior party member of the former ruling communist party confirmed but some of the top leaders of the party including the speaker of the parliament including or saw the former defense minister have been transferred to the kolkata jail after being arrested. however

the military council has not confirmed that there is no official statement from the military council in that respect the only confirmation that came over the last few days was the arrest of the two brothers of ahmad bashir a bass and there wasn't even a confirmation from the military council about the transfer of all of the shoes to the khobar jail this has been criticized by the general public yet particularly by the leadership of the protest they accuse the military council of being of lacking transparency about the process of getting rid of the remnants and vestiges of the former regime on the other hand consultations. been held this evening between the need to ship of the protest and the military cost of this has been the third round of talks to words the creation of a civilian government the chairman of the african union is here visiting he has been meeting with the two sides to ask for a speedy handover of power to the civilians but there are differences both

among the parties and the leadership of the opposition about who should be part of this government and how much power should be tossed for them in the shape of the protest they want a complete ass for power or at least civilian transitional. sufferance presidential council towards a country instead of a military council. there were reports now from khartoum where people are still demonstrating. the sounds of sudan's uprising made loud and clear in front of the army headquarters in the capital and these protesters have been here for nearly three weeks demanding change. i mean i was thinking that we are continuing with our sit in so that we can guarantee that our demands will be achieved demands that we came out and that people have sacrificed their lives if their demands are not met then this will not end them. that they're demanding that the military council the

body that ended president obama to the shoes thirty year rule handover of power to a civilian government and to hold all former officials to account for alleged corruption and the lives lost during the three decades that bashir and his ruling party were in power the military took over and eleventh of april in a move that was condemned by the african union which gave the council and till the end of the month to transfer power to the people foreign diplomats have expressed similar demands and the united states stated that it will not recognize the council if that doesn't happen. on saturday the head of the african union commission. council leaders and politico. parties in hearts on the council had stated that forming a transitional government was a task for the parties but something they need more time to make that's happened. reid told them as political parties must meet regardless of ideology vision and number we must meet with

a you and agree on transitional government and we've asked the e.u. to extend the deadline they gave for handing over power for the consultation is. a position that is not held by all sides the sudanese professional association which led the calls for protests that started in december continues to encourage the sit in in front of the army headquarters along with twenty two other parties it wants power to be handed immediately to an independent transitional government for a period of four years a proposal that shows that's not all parties are united and that forming a transitional government may not be an easy task something they'll hold on to their demands hoping for a different sedan for a future generation knows it was going to be a victory when there is a civilian government because through a civilian government who will have a pen and constitution to preserve the rights. they didn't have any rights for the future what happens now will largely depend on these protesters and those leading

the military council for more than a week and the democrats opposing president no matter what here we are down and without a government and the military council is under pressure to hand over power pressure little. bit well armed rebel international diplomats as well as you know it's not going to. i don't want the military to deprive me of a victorious revolution you know morgan are you there are. two teenagers have been arrested in northern ireland over the killing of a journalist police are warning of what they call a new breed of terrorists threatening the region's peace but its myth has more. the murder of larry mckay has been a shocking reminder here of what life was like during thirty years of violence between irish republican and pro british communities but while the signing of the good friday agreement twenty one years ago brought peace there is still a lot of frustration in what remains the poorest part of northern ireland whereas in music that doesn't going to get us anywhere killing more innocent people doesn't

really get us anywhere and. it's just to play senseless. can justify even if you don't agree with a agreement nason justifies technically or my case i say oh it wasn't. riots began almost pro irish estate in london derry on thursday as police raided homes looking they say the patch will bombs and other weapons the might be used in a march planned for easter monday lire was hit by someone who fired a gun apparently randomly towards a crowd of onlookers the twenty nine year old journalist had been named as one of the thirty under thirty in media by forbes magazine and had signed a two book deal to write about the conflict in northern ireland it has shocked people who thought they were on shock about a local politician a man mccown lives in an area with the highest unemployment in the u.k. almost half of working age adults in derry don't have a job young people who are living a poor circumstances and are not getting any better they can't see any future in

which there's a decent job for they are angry at the situation and worse than that growing up and it's understandable and the inevitable that some of them are going to see an outlet for their anger and frustrations and. the cost was behind the syria historically and worst of they see it has been abandoned by their elders police officers here say they've noticed a palpable change in the community as people of a cooperation following the murder. the police also say they're dealing with what they're calling a new breed of terrorist two years ago in northern ireland power sharing of ministration between pro british and pro irish parties broke down and that's left a power vacuum which groups opposed to peace could be trying to take advantage of bernard smith al-jazeera dairy. twenty people have been arrested the latest yellow vests protest in paris some protesters voiced anger over the nearly one billion

dollars donated by france's wealthiest families to repair the cathedral some of. a saturday of fire and fury for the twenty third week in a row yellow vest protesters came out in paris as well as other cities across the country. this was one of the most intense day of confrontations between the crowds and riot police in weeks it was driven by outrage over the nearly one billion dollars donated by some of france's wealthiest families and corporations to repair the not today. days after a blaze nearly destroyed the famous building but the message here france has bigger problems to solve. it's about decency these their nations could help french people but it's so short sighted instead all this money is going to save very prevalent and starve it's not right something's not right. he just. it's

shocking given the current situation whoever is giving to not may be a good thing to do but perhaps it's not a moment to do this kind of thing be inclusion of groups such as black bloc have led authorities to place paris and other major cities on a state of high alert throughout the day protest as lit fires on blocked off streets destroying vehicles parked in the vicinity others attempted to break into buildings. police responded by firing tear gas at the crowds and using water cannon to disperse them. if the government had hoped that protest as would take a break over this holiday weekend it was not the case. the elevates movement that began last november a ritually of a fuel price hikes and the high cost of living has not gone away this. it spread into a broader movement against president. his attempt to. is

expected to announce a series of measures in the coming week tax cuts for poor households the protest at the wealthy has recent days partly stoked by the not. but also himself who is seen by them as a president of the rich in a deeply divided society. breaking news here on al-jazeera those bomb attacks on churches and hotels in sri lanka. again on the phone from the capital one of the latest details you've been hearing about these explosions and attacks. that. our there are also here. in the town of but it has also been. very clear.

that report to the back of. the document. from the. law enforcement. that. security in and around the city has been heightened visuals from the vacation show budget particularly personally deployed to bomb disposal unit because it's still a crisis that's unfolding with people not knowing what to expect things happen. at this stage any idea as to who is likely to be behind these attacks

that on it's still a very open ended there is a different people have begun to express different views we too early. because in terms of the obvious. given the kind of violent past has had a brutal conflict for. a quarter of a century we've also had really killed insurgencies political scenario has also been fairly trivial and so with all of these things it is quite a concern no obvious suspects but at this stage law enforcement authorities everyone keeping their options open ok i know we have thank you thank you very much indeed sir just to wrap up what manila saying the attacks on three possibly four churches two hundred eighty injured forty two dead we're back at the top of the

hour with more news on al jazeera. how is he changed since he was seven. charting the lives of the children of apartheid over twenty one yes each story reflecting a history of dramatic social and political change twenty eight hours south africa part one on al-jazeera. has around nine hundred million indian voters decide who should be the next week how vulnerable are they to the kind of social media manipulation that has recently been seen him you can either say amid growing anxiety about the impact of fake news

and malicious information on the world's largest democracy we've been to infest. the banks . as far as crime goes not much happens in. a sleepy drew district in the heart of the south indian state of. ny so when police constable mohammad the smile received an urgent phone call after noon in may two thousand and eighteen he didn't quite know what to make of it. reported that a mob had taken four child kidnappers hostage and was trying to kill them.

but some schools are. on the record one hundred people gathered with. the religious told the constable that they had received messages forwarded to war whatsapp that a child kidnapping gang was heading for their village. the message is what accompanied by a video that showed two men on a motorcycle abducting a child who was playing on the street. it was enough to cause panic and mayhem. you'll know. what. a lot. of the years of never said. there were just.

to hear your voice here bit older i got all good we don't. all just go for the action that was the law in the public at. the top of the school police i got a. call. while constable a smile was able to save the day here things did get out of control in the rest of the kind. over a period of four months in two thousand and eighteen more than thirty people were lynched across india after similar rumors about child abductions began circulating on what side. these killings were eventually dubbed the whatsapp lynchings by the media. among law enforcement officials. chief of police remarked with a computer science degree he was one of the first to recognize what was happening i understand mall ft under videos where did fix they were not real be deals but these

we do or send images we're making these religious form into mobs wielding mobs and they were trying to restrain strangers who walked into the village there's this fear there was this mass hysteria we wanted to understand the origin of this we do because they were going but unfortunately we could not get to the origin of this videos because of the traceability problem because what has this and went and corruption and you cannot get to the origin so even today we have absolutely no idea about where these videos originated from. eventually it emerged that the video in question was doctored from an educational video made by an ingenue in karachi pakistan tried to raise awareness about child kidnapping. with just a little editing the video became

a weapon in the hands of unknown troublemakers. so we had to do something and we had to do something very quick. when you have a faceless criminal when you don't know who is you know creating this panic or who is spreading this malicious message is the only option you have us to reach out to the community and up build them not to share them not to make them go. so that's precisely what we did people write north of red all for the sake. of misinformation and the potential it hard to incite winds. but if the actions of free and others have helped raise awareness about the potentially deadly consequences of spreading malicious disinform ation few people fully understand the broader threat that fake news poses to indian democracy.

in the capital of the north indian state of bihar housings of people have assembled to watch prime minister modi launch his campaign for reelection in the state the excitement is palpable. was. behind the scenes of this festive unlike most experts have been sounding the alarm bells since the last general election in two thousand and fourteen india's political parties including the prime minister's hindu nationalist party jump up party. have emerged as masters of digital manipulation. most of them including the opposition congress now have a social media wing but critics believe that the b.g.p. steam better known as the id cell is far more organized so i reached out to them

and all requests for interviews were quickly denied but there are three pozen i-t. cell volunteers spread out across the stradley and i hope some of them would be billing to discuss bad work the figures. the instructor. is what they are trying real hard liquor filled up. then in a stroke of good luck i ran into money which he has the id sell for the state of bihar there are often accused of dishing out misinformation in an attempt to sway voters a charge that body image lee brushed aside i want to pull this stunt i'm able to you project on what our psyche but that we call the individual you don't just give us both your part of us face usually if the link isn't any of the up their brand of overlap or not that was the fake government you could look me. up but he

explained that he had personally oversee in the setting up of pozen of whatsapp groups each with nearly two hundred fifty members. verbs loop which you don't want to have you'll want to become the official human didn't have a five year fax you have been radial the job i. want to like make up you would know what the koufax they bought up on the year i'm fulfilling the role in tears to my b.m.j. i am. a little. over two hundred and thirty million people use whatsapp in india and many of them have been added to partisan groups but disseminate misinformation and provoke sectarian tensions nobody understands better how this works than twenty five year old shivashankar saying a whistleblower who was a key member of the bee gees data analytics department until he suddenly quit

a year ago the editor of the party getting thirty fourteen election posts are no doubt all developers are dotted and on the wall are good there's not a multiple message unlike jack who heard i don't at the party want to find if you look at messaging today it's all about how you're going to see the revenue for pollution of the got to fight in the last pocket on how that all went to nationals and four hundred children coming up for you to go to country and how they're going to save you from all of the fun with all of these up and struck the economy. that the body is going to do basically a liar. and manipulate them into what a party is just based on emotion that. critics like sharon allege that the b. chippies shifting narrative is contributing to the flood of misinformation in a chair on the ballot as the cook he now consults with a group of opposition politicians in the state of bihar helping them devise a digital strategy to counter the b.g.p. which is miles ahead in the game. because you know just to not be sure. you'd been

able to unemployment this best fix on me. and official language shiver my ledge is that when he was with the b.g.p. he was tasked with collecting a large amount of personal data to profile voters these. would then be used to add people to different whatsapp group chats based on their interests all their prejudices. of the daughters of the public domain that's provided by the election commission of toast the biggest one is the one who were to. each other they live in that household information and they want to know in a large part of her do you can get people's cost and religions just with that being because if it's a muslim you know that person is probably a muslim so we just don't you can get to sixty five seventy percent accuracy brit this you can also make up other did just that including say electricity bills which give you a good idea of social context actors because workers are to usually has

a higher electricity bill because they have air conditioning plus you have things like for not bush that out of the liberal surprisingly is a leader and you know if you can back up back to the. then you basically have a direct to be to message people based on their cost their religion their it group and the would belong to the lack of data protection laws in india means that such methods are not strictly illegal. but she was disturbed by the kind of an ethical micro-targeting he witnessed the problem arises when you start using the exact same of the liberty doll to basically create a divided society and the people what started happening is that there is a very concerted effort to create a divide between hindus and muslims to create a divide between groups be to be as ready specific kind of messaging they're going to get across they want to get across the messaging that muslims will overtake the population number for this group but the thing is just because the messaging goes

to such a small subset of people who didn't know or what i am to believe that that's such a good thing is if you can profile people and identify what kind of messaging they're likely to believe you can skew that delist better fix it as best for messaging campaign it doesn't happen instantly one piece of news that's going to convince you of something but if you're bombarded with news point to do is press that direction for months on end it does start to feel. these messages star get minority religious groups or individual politicians journalists and activists. but the problem of fake news it's not limited to whatsapp. its parent company facebook has nearly three hundred million users in india and that's by default plays host to an organized ecosystem for disseminating misinformation. in two thousand and eighteen a b.b.c. analysis of some three thousand facebook pages from in town found a pretty tama.