months after that i will cain eruption they say their hearts are now back to normal . understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world no matter where. we use in current affairs that matter to you. gunfire and minerals capital as protesters ignore a military ban on gatherings. oh there are more of this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up hong kong's highest court denies bail to media tycoon jimmy lai who faces charges under beijing's national security law. i'm elizabeth brown i'm in northern india where

rescuers are attempting to free dozens of people trapped in a tunnel since a catastrophic flood ripped through this mountainous region. following the despicable turn on january the 6th there must there must be truth and accountability. and the stage is set for donald trump's 2nd senate impeachment trial his lawyers deny him sides and supporters to storm capitol hill. to begin the enemy and mall where police have begun cracking down on protests and. warning shots have been fired in the capital and at least 27 people have been arrested in the 2nd largest city mandalay and demonstrators have been hit with water cannon. activists of replies by pelting police with rocks and rubbish as they

ignore bans on gatherings to demand the release of the proposed civilian leader aung san suu kyi. as the journey also being going overseas in the last few hours new zealand has become the 1st country to announce action against the military every new zealander would be devastated to see years of working so hard to build a democracy in maine to see. what we've seen in recent days unfold lead by the military our strong message is we will do what we can from here in new zealand and one of the things we can do is spin and there are high level dialogue at a political level we can put in place travel bans and we can make sure that the aid funding we put into me does not in any way support the military regime or monday minimal self appointed leader men playing appeared on television defending the coup

has promised new elections and better leadership. for a multi-party democratic system a free and fair election is important for the long term of the system. when we have completed one year of this emergency law we will continue to proceed on to the 2008 constitution we will have a multi-party election and we will hand over power to the one who wins in that election according to the rules of democracy. scott hired has been following protests from across the border in bangkok. they absolutely have stepped up their response the security forces here across the border in myanmar know what happened you know we saw 3 days of large gatherings protests right across myanmar but really a low security presence security force presence until monday morning there was a little bit of a back and forth in the capital with water cannon but today a completely different story on tuesday there was a live fire used as

a term to try to push protesters back more water cannon tear gas was used rubber bullets were used to a much stronger security presence 6 security pushback in multiple locations across in the end mar you know it we saw clashes in yangon was a classic in nature or the capital as well as mandalay the 2nd largest city so really kind of a push back from the security forces after a couple of days of large protests but peaceful and really no confrontation that has changed today will be interesting moving forward to see if this is kind of just a probing situation where they wanted to see how the protesters reacted or this is going to continue i would imagine this will continue kind of as a hard line for the security forces as we move forward protesters saying they're resolute they're going to continue to come out they're going to continue with their civil disobedience movement with their protests so it'll be interesting to see how to see how things unfold but right now that's where we stand. let's take

a look at how the military has used its business activities to strengthen its role over them in ma the united nations report points to more than 140 companies that are owned or controlled by men last minute tray the list includes banks mining conglomerates construction firms and even gas and water companies that businesses are closely linked to state owned enterprises and large private firms together they constitute a huge slice of minerals economy chris so they see as a co-author of the report the economic interests of the man mom military he says economic sanctions may be one of the few ways foreign countries can employ and set the military has always been interested in maximising the income of the individual generals of the talk and more broadly funding military operations they take around 12 to 13 percent of the state budget in in manama so there's a lot of money going into the military from the state budget but they increase that

they increase they take through all of these business enterprises and their enriching themselves through it with sanctions are important because the military feels the pressure of economic isolation there's no doubt about that and so the decision announced last week by the japanese company kiran to withdraw from a joint venture with the military in may in mass largest brewery is a very important decision kiran had previously stopped paying dividends to the military and now as announced it will withdraw from the joint venture this kind of pressure is absolutely essential at this time now that the military has retaken control. the pressure is mounting and the pressure is on the military directly and on its partners to cut off the dollars to cut off supplies there are very few ways in which we can influence events in may in ma but what is happening at the moment is a tragedy and the very least we can do is to stop funding the military. they've got

some other news now on the world health organization team that's been investigating the origins of the corona virus pandemic in china says its 2 week mission to the country did not dramatically change what it knew about the outbreak. experts say they still cannot pinpoint the animal source of covert 19 they also found no indication that the virus was present before december 2019 and that it's unlikely it was leaked from a lab in terms of understanding what happened in the early days in december 2019. did we did we change dramatically the picture we had before and i don't think so did we improve our understanding did we. details to that story absolutely we did not. find evidence of large our rates of that could be related to teasers of could 90

prior to december 90 or elsewhere. sarah clarke is following the press conference from hong kong and sarah after a very long delay getting started this press conference has now been going on for about an hour and a half what else we've been hearing from the. what has in the press conferences now got to the q. and a session or the question and this is from the journalists but it has been a much anticipated preliminary findings with this particular team on this are quite tightly controlled mission from the w.h.o. they've identified a few points we didn't know but they've certainly expanded what they're saying that expanded their investigation they're saying they can confirm they do believe it originated from animals but as you mentioned bats and penguins have always been the potential source what they say they can't rule out other species that those other species that they want.

and of course you know we've lost the signal to sarah clarke in hong kong she was talking about the press conference that is continuing. now hong kong's top court has denied bail to media tycoon jimmy lie he's accused of fraud and conspiring with foreign forces under beijing's controversial national security law is the most high profile person amongst more than 100 people who've been arrested under the new legislation as a 3 year old is to remain in custody until his trial is. what she said during his life set a precedent for future trials as if it upon and reports from hong kong. to me a lie was in ford's for less than 10 minutes before you found out he would not be given bail so he has been taken back into custody presumably presumably until his trial on april 16th this is also the 1st trial by. chief justice

that took the helm on in january and he's told jimmy lies legal team but they can challenge this but not back at the courts a final appeal but so that sets a nother dilemma for jr and his legal team that's if you recall in december he was granted bail by one of the lower courts that was challenge by the department of justice who said the lower courts did not understand the tenets of the national security law and this is why jimmy life took his case or took his challenge to that ruling back to the courts of final appeal now this sets many kinds of precedents for one thing there was a lot of attention being paid to this it was the 1st case to reach the national security law case $3.00 to $4.00 courts of final appeal and of jimmy alive also had gotten bail would also set in the other precedent meaning that those charged under the national security law would be able to get bail but this ruling now essentially

means that. unless you have the resources and means to challenge the national security law and the rulings given even before trial it is very unlikely you will get bail. rescue workers in india are trying to locate $197.00 people who are still missing 48 hours after a classic collapse triggering flash floods take a look at the worst affected area now the collapse of part of the $900.00 calls water levels to rise in nearby rivers the receipt ganger power project was 1st to face the force of the floods entire site was destroyed every from that project's damaged energy plans downstream that includes the state run top of an hydro electric plant which also suffered major damage this is the tunnel where more than 30 workers trapped under construction tunnel was meant to connect the hydro project to the other side of the valley only 2 kilometers of the tunnel was built before

the flood this tunnel was meant to carry water and divert river flow to an underground powerhouse. well here is a rough map of the actual tunnel itself and this point is where rescuers are digging about 110 meters in right now and these are the 2 locations where they believe the workers may be trapped rescuers a saying that once they dig beyond 180 meters find pockets where they hope the survivors will be trapped but this is the one location in the tunnel where crews are pinning their hopes it's got significant pockets and crews think anyone trapped here would have the best chance of surviving. is at the size of one of those rescue efforts into where the latest. we are at the tunnel where hundreds of rescue workers are continuing this search for around 35 people who were working

in the tunnel when it flooded on sunday rescuers worked throughout monday night they say one of the biggest challenges is the amount of mud and slush that's inside the 2 and a half kilometer long tunnel they've been able to enter about a couple of 100 meters and but they say any time they clear the 4 to 6 feet of mud and slush more as falling in from the inside they haven't been able to establish communication yet with anyone inside the tunnel they say that that could be because it is 2 and a half kilometers long and they might not be any cell phone signal they're worried that workers could be suffering from hypothermia with temperatures dropping to below 0 degrees at night now away from here there is a humanitarian mission going on to deliver food rations to people in around 13 villages who have been cut off after bridges were washed away this latest disaster in that i can has led to many people many environmentalists questioning why these

hydro power plants and these dams continue to be built in the himalayas which is known as a very ecologically fragile. well sensitive region they say that they should not have been built here protests in the past have managed to stop other dams from being constructed but despite that there are around 50 dams and power plants including those under construction in this region and at that i can do. so has head on out to sarah the crisis over his presidency intensifies the opposition claims the steamy amazed judge will be the new leader. and betting big on bet coin tester invest $1500000000.00 in additional currency with plans to accept it as pay once.

its target for the profit janet. sponsored play qatar airways it's cold enough the time being for the floating out to siberia north east and john has been to reduce no in japan however this climb down here has given 129 millimeters of rain in the north of vietnam that he's out of season that's more than the entire if every average by some degree for the last 24 hours and that band of unusually at a season right has its way through and also through hong kong and for gentoo was taiwan in the next 2 days and to the north of that there the air was cold have to be subzero now exactly foster could harbin you'll notice the showers turn more to blue which is right wrong and snow there is warmer and that's true for northern china as well already just below freezing in harbin so as a warming trend you might think in beijing shows it 11 to 13 degrees it's frosty overnight admittedly the average for february of beijing for this part of the

reason for so we are well above the average at the moment. now you have just aren't really the thing to worry about in most of india bangladesh or pakistan there's still snow showers falling in the mountains particularly in poll still fog hugging the northern plains of india and inequality in delhi and to get spread from hazardous unhealthy. sponsored paul qatar airways its america's worst kept secret cracked open in the time of the pandemic exposed in the time of trump through the turmoil of 2020 the big picture traces a century of racial injustice to reveal how philanthropy politics and economics preserve structural inequality keeping white a supreme and black in its place the race for america part one on a jazzier.

and there again you're watching al-jazeera has remind you of our top stories this hour police of fired guns into the air and men miles capsule naked or to disperse protesters that's according to the reuters news agency at least 27 people have been arrested in demonstrators hit by water cannon. the world health organization team that's been investigating the origins of the corona virus pandemic in china says it's unlikely the virus leaked from a lab expert says more likely to have jumped to humans from an animal. and almost 200 people are still missing in northern india after a classic collapse on sunday triggering flash floods rescue crews

a digging through a blocked tunnel hoping to free more than 30 power plant workers trapped inside. donald trump's lawyers have revealed more details of their defense strategy for his 2nd impeachment trial they deny him slices supporters to storm capitol hill they're also arguing it's unconstitutional to hold a trial for a former president but democrats prosecuting trump say he has no valid defense reports from washington d.c. . we fight we fight like hell and if you don't fight like you're not going to have a country anymore those were some of donald trump last words on january 6th moments before a violent mob fired up by his false claims that the election had been stolen broke into the u.s. capitol and try to stop congress from making joe biden's win official for rioters and a police officer died in the attack 2 more officers later died by suicide the grounds

for this impeachment are deeply deeply troubling and if the united states senate acquit stunnel truong this round it's essentially a green light for future presidents to try to overthrow elections close to the end of their terms house democrats bring the charges against alleged intentionally whip his supporters into a frenzy inciting an insurrection trump's attorneys say the trial is unconstitutional because he's no longer in office and that the former president's speech was protected by the 1st amendment robert ray defended during his 1st impeachment i don't think the words as charged in the impeachment article go fight like hell can be you know seen as chance amount to a call to violence 45 of 50 republicans in the senate try to dismiss the trial on

grounds that it is unconstitutional they failed but the early vote showed republicans are now falling back in line behind the former president and the likelihood of convicting trump is slim as the impeachment managers will nevertheless try to present an emotionally charged case forcing senators to relive the hours they spent powering for their lives inside the capitol fearing american democracy was on the verge of collapse trump has refused a request to testify although it's become. clear that this trial is not just about his guilt or innocence it is also about politics with senators weighing how their verdict on trump will also impact their own grasp on power. castro al-jazeera washington. republican voting rights has become the 1st sitting member of the u.s. congress to die off to contracting covert 19 rights died on sunday in a dallas texas hospital in less than 3 weeks ago that he and his wife had

contracted the virus the 67 year old was all moved by his colleagues during a moment of silence on monday. the u.s. state department has defended the removal of yemen's hoof you rebels from its terror a blacklist the u.s. says it will continue the pressure to pressure the who sees for what it calls reprehensible conduct muslim jordan has more from washington d.c. . late last week the by ministration notified congress that it's going to reverse one of the trumpet ministrations final acts in all this designating the hoop these a member of not one but 2 terrorist group lists we notified the hill of the secretary's intent to revoke the foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorist as the nations of on surveillance we did that late last week we have also been very clear about a 2nd element of this intent to revoke that designation has nothing to do with our view of the who these and their reprehensible conduct including as you mentioned

attacks against civilians in the kidnapping of american citizens a among other moves we are committed as we again said last night to helping saudi arabia defend its territory against further such attacks. our planned action the secretary's intent to delist is due as i said before to the humanitarian consequences of this last minute designation we can do 2 things at once the u.s. is also underscoring the fact that not only is it going to be working with the u.n. special envoy for yemen martin griffiths but that it has its old on void now 10 lender king a veteran u.s. diplomat in efforts to try to end the yemeni civil war that's been going on since 2014. opposition politicians in haiti have named their own president in an effort to drive out incumbent jevon elmo is. being selected as the new leader is the oldest in the country's supreme court position says president weighs his 5 year

term expired on sunday but he says he still has another year in office well then 20 people were arrested on sunday and the alleged plots. chaudhuri has released a video message accepting the appointment by haiti's opposition. following the resolution of the judiciary officially noting the end of the constitutional mandate of the president of the republic his excellency mr coburn on the 7th of february 2021 i declare that i accept the choice of the opposition and civil society to serve my country as in term president of the transition of rupture that have managed as a professor at the state university of haiti and shake spain's how haitians have reacted the mood is quite somber i would say the streets are quiet except for the sporadic protests that we've been having that have been violently repressed so it's a pretty somber evening here in right now i think the intent here is to get as

close back to the constitution as we can so those who get to be closer to what they now on sufficient tells us to do and so choosing their all this judge from the floor is in line with the constitution's intent close friends of the family were arrested as far as i know the treatment since they've been detained has been decent that is what we have heard but of course we are all very anxious and worried because there is no way to know what will happen if that will continue we've been having protests for over 2 years now so as long as moyes stays in power i think there will continue to be protests and i think there will also continue unfortunately to impression. the u.s. is investigating under and present one. that's according to a court filing it doesn't specify what hernandez is being investigated for but last

month u.s. prosecutors filed motions accusing him of flooding the u.s. with cocaine and referred to him as a coconspirator and accepting bribes from drug traffickers and denies having any ties to drug cartels john homan is following events from mexico city. but this is the 1st time that he's been directly signalled that he's being investigated by the united states it's not however the 1st time he's been implicated in the same case back in january he was quoted in court documents as saying he wanted to shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos referring to the americans that's what someone else said that he said back in 2019 his own brother was convicted of drug trafficking so there's been a lot of rumors and a lot of controversy swirling around one orlando and on this for some time now the country that he presides over honduras is 157180 countries in the corruption

perception index of transparency international so i think a lot of people in that country that we've obviously visited many times are going to be surprised by this tool they've seen the rule of law in that country continually undercut by this administration itself and biped politicians in general in the country now what there is an implication here is not just want to land the one on this but also for the new u.s. president joe biden because he rolled out he said he was going to have a full $1000000000.00 plan in central america to tackle the root causes of migration such violence the economic situation and corruption now the question is going to be how is he going to do that in partnership because that's a plan with a government like the one of one orlando and then there's the u.s. federal prosecutors now are investigating for corruption that's going to be really tricky for the new president as he tries to cut the causes of migration off at the root. colombia is to grant protective legal status to hundreds of thousands of

undocumented refugees and migrants from venice while a temporary measure will make them as you will to apply for a 10 year residency permits colombia has long been the most popular destination for venezuelans fleeing the economic and political crisis at home 1st 1000000 are thought to be living in the country without papers. because the announcement by columbia to grant temporary protection for venezuelans in their territory for a 10 year period is an emblematic humanitarian gesture for the region or even for the whole world this initiative is an extraordinary sign of humanity commitment to human rights and pragmatism. tesla has bet big on bitcoin the cryptocurrency has hit a record price of $44000.00 a unit after the automaker invested $1500000000.00 tesla says it will cynics start accepting payments in the digital currency. has more from new york. the

bitcoin craze has reached new heights thanks to tesla the announcement by the electric car company that had bought $1500000000.00 worth of the cyber currency and may start accepting it as payment drove the bitcoin price soaring at $1.00 point monday up more than 14 percent to over $44000.00 per unit tesla announced a move in their annual company report and said buying bitcoin was all part of a larger strategy to diversify in alternative assets but tesla is a product of its flamboyant founder eve on musk recently named the world's wealthiest person musk has long boasted of bitcoins promise he often uses his twitter platform with more than 45000000 followers to promote not only bitcoin but other little known cyber currencies the big corn price jump was welcome news for new york for owner patrick hughes after 30 years in the business he's selling up

last month putting not just one but both of his new york city bars on the market the price $25.00 bitcoins or $800.00 a ferry i'm another cryptocurrency in what would be the 1st cryptocurrency only restaurant sale in the u.s. i have a lot of faith in crypto currency because if you offered me right now $100000.00 in crypto currency i don't even care bitcoin the theory and one of the other major crypto currency or one $100000.00 u.s. dollars i know in 5 years the crypto currency is going to be worth far more than the dollars most investment banks have ignored bitcoin saying that it's too risky because it's mostly unregulated but attitudes appear to be changing there's talk of wall street perhaps starting an investment fund backed by big. coin as early as

later this year if it's approved by government regulators and there's a lot of money at stake as early as last month the total value of all cyber currencies reached over $1.00 trillion dollars. i'll just you know new york. you're watching us there these are top stories. on fleece and men men have fun warning shots during a crackdown on anti crude protest says at least 27 people have been arrested in the 2nd largest city mandalay and demonstrations have been hit with was a common. theme of flying by pelting police with rocks and rubbish as they ignore bans on gatherings to demand the release of the posts.