i'm zona don't generally the 6 that what happened in the capital have been using that defense the fact that they they say they were following the former president's orders how does that is that problematic for trump's defense today. well i think what they're trying to say is look i mean anyone can say anything in trying to defend their actions so meaning that the insurrectionists have been arrested you know it's not it's not. entirely improbable that they were trying to make statements like that but i think they'll try to say this look the president is not responsible for deluding people through and misinterpret his message and i think the ride was never an argument i think as your correspondent pointed out they're not particularly eager in it in protecting this trial they're quite you're to see it and in an expeditious fashion i think except as they did their own interviews about half of the 60 hours there are a lot of them and i think they will write a very heavily on the so-called constitutional argument that the president's

lawyers and gave him protected speech that he was expressing opinions and that when he talked about things like fighting weight health he was using the kind of writer that we commonly see our politicians use professor thank you very much indeed for tonight and i'm sure they're appreciated. as bring you some of the day's other news while we wait for the impeachment trial to resume a number of people filing new applications for unemployment benefits in the u.s. is starting to fall as a drop in coronavirus cases raises hopes for the start of an economic recovery but more than 20000000 people remain out of work across the country with a market recovery storming in the 1st quarter new infections fell by as much as 25 percent last week and not just drop since the beginning of the pandemic a number of data deaths remains high though with another 3364 fatalities reported

in the last day. u.k. researchers say they credit maurice mutation 1st found in the country could become the world's dominant strain it's already been found in more than 50 countries after being 1st detected last september in kent in southeast england since then it spread to her alarming rate across the u.k. forcing the government to introduce new knocked out measures head of the u.k. virus identification group says vaccines will have to be tweaked to stay ahead of new strains what's really affected us at the moment is transmissibility because the new various what the country is going to sweep the world in all probability in the future and i think the key is going to be if some think is particularly problematic with the facts and i think that we're going to be able to. duck and dive around and that's again vaccines take to get the road again in boosters but it's going to be that kind of that slow wars with the virus in the vaccine development trying to keep up ahead of what it what what nature is throwing at us actually head of

africa's disease watchdog says african countries should use the astra zeneca vaccine if they don't have a major spread of the south african variant test so suggested it's not as effective against that strain. recommendation for the use of as a stress that occurred vaccine is very clear. if you have evidence that they vary and if i have one v 2 variant is dominant the keyword here is predominant in the country then we recommend that it should not be deployed so i think we should encourage countries actually to to use that roxanne with little or no help evidence of that variant. 10 days after the coup and meehan maher the nation's new military leader has condemned the mass protests against israel men on harang government employees to return to work as tens of thousands of people rallied for the 6th day in a row but diplomatic pressure is growing with

a draft u.n. resolution strongly deploring the takeover largely reports. maintaining their momentum thousands of protesters again pour into the streets across myanmar in their civil disobedience campaign against the different groups representing many walks of life now that i nearly done you this campaign is a little strange and co-chair but we think that the main goal is to get attention from all the countries so all the boys joining this campaign are risking their lives and putting aside. as. some police officers in chaos state even broke ranks and joined protesters calling themselves the police of the paper someone who was in the 1988 myanmar student uprising that ended in a violent military crackdown says that this movement has much broader support i think that the military will not be able to use the

their must at their might in full extent because this is the time is different the world is different now you can see that the the world's leaders came out with a strong statement especially the new zealand prime minister. our then came out with this very strong statement that they cut their relationship with the military in his 1st public remarks on the protests coolly. urged government staff to return to work and people to avoid large gatherings because of coronavirus. people are found to be assembling in public areas we use them to avoid doing so as such assembly could increase the spread of covert 19. many protesters seem unlikely to listen some commented on social media that living under military dictatorship is worse than under the pandemic but mina also warned that effective actions would be

taken without elaborating what he meant meanwhile arrests continued. chawton sree a top aide to aung san suu kyi and several others with links to the ousted government were taken from their homes overnight. officials from the electoral commission are also reported to have been taken in. the junto says the election in november was fraudulent citing that as the main reason for its takeover. the u.s. announced it will impose sanctions against the military rulers the u.k. says it may follow suit a slowdown on foreign investment is also anticipated like in the past that could lead to the country tightening its already close economic relationship with china and sanctions and international isolation could also undo the economic progress since the election in 2015 was. but for now the message and

the goal for the protestors are care get as many people as possible out on the streets while at the same time drawing in more international attention and involvement florence louis al-jazeera. rising waters have been hampering efforts to rescue 35 construction workers believed to be trapped in a tunnel in northern india india the tunnel and much of the surrounding valley and state flooded and part of a glass here collapsed into a river on sunday rescues search through the night but families of the trapped workers say that our losing hope food parcels are being sent to remote villages cut off by the floods at least 35 people were killed and around 200 still missing i was with her on a reports from top of on where the rescue efforts are continuing. the rescue operation to find the 35 men who were in the tunnel when a flooded is facing get another challenge in the middle of the night drilling teams began drilling into an area that they hadn't looked into before the silt filtration

tunnel that's 12 to 30 meters below the entrance behind does the police say that they were only able to draw a line hof way down before they machine stopped working meanwhile all of the agencies involved in the rescue efforts that the police the army navy disaster response the indo tibetan border police they're continuing with their operation to remove large amounts of sludge from inside the tunnel this still hoping to get to about 180 meters from the entrance where they believe there are pockets of air and that is a possibility of where they could find the missing men meanwhile relatives of the 35 men are here and they are growing increasingly frustrated martin your heart is so dark i have no heard from the administration or come with the hope that the administration would at least be able to give me my son's body but i've lost much hope to have been here for 4 days my family is calling and asking me where our son is now you tell me what i told them meanwhile away from here 6 men who are missing

since the flood hit on sunday have been found they were installing cell phone towers when the flood hit and they took shelter on the help pad and. took them 3 days to walk to the nearest village after bridges was swept away in the flood and so engineers are building zip lines that are going to carry cable cars across the river to connect people in around 13 villages who have been cut off since many bridges were swept away. india and china have agreed to pull back troops from the disputed lake area in the western himalayas the standoff began last april when india said chinese troops had crossed over to its side of the border china denied that and accused indian border guards of provocative actions at least 20 indian soldiers were killed with chinese troops also thought to have died when they fought in the gun one valley in june was a private for the funeral of

a prominent lebanese activist who was shot in his car last week bachmann slim was an outspoken critic of hizbollah his murder last week promote a public outcry across lebanon after the memorial slim's mother asked young people in lebanon lebanon to embrace dialogue to resolve conflict instead of the use of arms use at the u.s. ambassador to lebanon. attended this ceremony and paid tribute to sleep. if you were. at the rate. it's in the cards be very. unpredictable and unexpected like him. as not get very. little this is just. a new accountability it could be my. very

best carry on his legacy. including. by continuing our partnership with the organization he helped here and we are proud to be partnerships. the sister of a freed sound a women's rights activist says she may have left prison but is still not free to train and have flu campaigned for women's rights to drive and was sentenced on the terrorism laws she was freed after more than a 1000 days behind bars but her sister nina says there's no justice while she lives on the restrictions. jane is not free she's just been your. condition even east. and so what we want now is that. really just. that jane is complete unconditionally free and that anyone who has been. part of the dissemination campaign whether it's.

the high ranking people who have been talking about jane as a state and as everything she's not and even the official charges mentioned. there is really lies by people regarding the jain skates and we will stop until. justice is a. sudanese villages along the border with ethiopia caught in a standoff between the 2 countries over an area known as our fresh aga both countries claim the land and tensions have led to an increased military presence in the area civilians are reported attacked attacks by theo paeans as hiper morgan reports from get i restate onto don's border with ethiopia. this is the village of the state of the body of the people here are poor the only water comes from the river the women still gather firewood for cooking. as

a liberal hymns wife was out looking for firewood when she was killed in an attack by ethiopian militia men last month he's now raising their 4 sons alone the youngest nearly 2 years old is already starting to show signs of malnutrition. for the whole lot of them were there she went out with 12 women to gather wood ethiopians came from across the river attacked they killed 6 including a young baby since she died our youngest has not proper food she keeps calling for her and they allies in a fresh account an area of about 3000 square kilometers contested by sudan and neighboring ethiopia sudan's government uses to colonial agreement signed by if he appears then emperor to claim the region but ethnic on her farmers from ethiopia say the area belongs to them and they have been farming it for nearly 5 decades some of those who live near the sudan if you appear border have reported having family members kidnapped by if you have been militia men and held for ransom the attacks usually happen at the start of the farming season in april and may now with

the army pushing back if you have been farmers from especially there are fears this season could be the most violence here. the push back up with european farmers in the area started in december last year since 2002 talks to demarcate have stalled between the 2 sides so damn the boundaries drawn according to the 19 to deal if you are on the other hand wants to renegotiate for a new deal after failed round of talks in december if you stated it want to continue without saddam withdrawing from a fresh egg or something sudan's army has refused to do is sort of go out on our guard does not the most important thing was securing the land and that's happened we've taken back our land the land of our ancestors and we want to move from here but it's not only the people of the area who will be buried here people from all over sudan can be buried here. the army says it's taken back more than half of the farmland once occupied by ethiopians ibrahim says his farm was one of them. or

land that he was still can't farm on it because ethiopian sometimes come in attackers they killed the villages we need security but you can see the condition when he development to live to farm there are poor roads poor machinery life here is hard residents say they hope the move by the army to take control of them for sugar is followed by development projects that will make their lives easier morgan al-jazeera at about if the. president of valerie says he will hold a constitutional referendum next year to let the people vote on whether he has too much power after 6 months of protests against his rule i was on a new shanker was speaking at the launch of the people's assembly in the capital minsk is made up of his political allies the opposition has accused him of making vague promise is an attempt to end the protests that so take you straight back now though to. congress and the capitol hill into the impeachment trial of former president trump.

thank you mr president mr castro will now return to address the harm visited upon america's national security by these events in the damage to our international reputation. my colleagues discussed with you the many harms to our nation as a result of president trump's conduct and now i'd like some spent to spend some time talking about the harm to our national security and our standing in the world on january 6th when president trump incited a mob to march to the capitol he led them to a building that houses some of our nation's most sensitive information and consider

who was part of that mob some of the individuals were on the f.b.i. watch lists in the past behavior of some individuals led here by president trump so alarmed investigators that their names have been added to the national terrorist screening database and at least one of the insurrectionists may have intended to steal information and give it to a foreign adversary according to charging documents riley williams allegedly helped steal a laptop from speaker pelosi office to quote send the computer device to a friend in russia who then plan to sell the device to s.v.r. russia's foreign intelligence service while we can't be certain if or how many foreign spies infiltrated the crowd or lease coordinated with those who did it

we can be sure that any enemy who wanted access to our secrets would have wanted to be part of that mob inside these halls and the point is this many of the insurrectionist the president trump incited to invade this chamber were dangerous people on the f.b.i. watch lists violent extremists. white supremacists. and these insurrectionists incited by president trump threatened our national security stealing laptops again from speaker pelosi office taking documents from leader mcconnell's desk snapping photographs as you saw in the videos earlier in sensitive areas ransacking your offices rifle ing through your desks the president the united states the commander in chief knew the risk of anyone breaching the capitol he swore an oath to preserve protect and defend

this country and yet he incited them here to break into the capitol. senators as you all know we have spent trillions of dollars building the strongest military in the world and billions of dollars on the most sophisticated weaponry on the planet to prevent the kind of attack that occurred at this capitol on january 6th and here's what the insurrectionists incited by president trump did. oh my god we did this shit we took this shit. on your kids that.

in many ways this room is sacred and so are the traditions that it represents they've been carried on for centuries. congress has declared war 11 times on this floor including entering world war 2. and congress passed the civil rights act and expanded the right to vote to ensure that no matter your race or your gender you have a voice in our nation and this floor is where history has been made and now our intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies have the burden to figure out exactly what was stolen taken ransacked and compromised as acting u.s. attorney michael sharon explained quote matilde materials were stolen and we have

to identify what was done mitigate that and it could have potential national security equities these investigations are necessary now because of the actions of president trump and it wasn't just the people that he led here the intelligence agencies have to look into it's also what they took and what they gathered and it was the very fact that this building was so much sensitive information and some classified information that this capital was breached and think about it. every foreign adversary considering attacking this building got to watch a dress rehearsal and they saw that this capitol could be overtaken as elizabeth newman a former trump administration official stated quote you have terrorists who would

love to destroy the capitol they just saw how easy it was to penetrate we just exposed a huge boner ability and it's not just the capitol this attack has implications for all government buildings and senator rubio made this point well if you're a terrorist right now you're sitting out there watching this you're saying there's a hey it's not that hard to get into the capitol maybe that's not hard to get into the white house at supreme court building or somewhere else. our government our intelligence agencies and our law enforcement have implemented additional safety measures since the attack on january 6th but while we secure this physical space what message will we send the rest of the world we already know that we already know that the message our adversaries took from january 6th and

this is how some of them responded after the attack quote for america's adversaries there was no greater proof of the fallibility of western democracy than the sight of the u.s. capitol shrouded in smoke and besieged by a mob whipped up by their own willingly outgoing president to make matters worse our adversaries are even using the events of january 6 not only to denigrate america but to justify their own anti-democratic behavior calling america hypocritical here's what the chinese government is saying the spokesperson for china's ministry of foreign affairs said the capital riot should spark quo pay deep reflection among u.s. lawmakers regarding how they discussed the pro-democracy movement in hong kong

suggesting that the u.s. is hypocritical in denouncing beijing's crackdown in the city while it struggles with its own unrest at home and the global times an outlet affiliated with the chinese communist party even tweeted a series of side by side photos of 2 events the seizure of the u.s. capitol and a july 29000 incident in which pro-democracy protesters in hong kong broke into the city's legislative council building think about that president trump gave the chinese government an opening to create a false equivalency between hong kong protesting for democracy and violent insurrection is trying to overthrow it. as representative gallagher described in real time if we don't think other countries around the world are watching it and have it right that we don't think that you're anything on it already getting back

in one thing and we're killing our to call it off mr president we need you to call it off and russia has also seized on his violent attack against our government decrying that democracy is quote over the chairman of the russian upper house of parliament's international affairs committee said quote the celebration of democracy is over this is a last actually the bottom i say this without a hint of gloating america is no longer charting the course and therefore has lost all its rights to set it and especially to impose it on others they're using president trumps incitement of an insurrection to declare that

democracy is over in iran the supreme leader is using president trump incitement of insurrection to mock america he said of the situation in the united states quote this is their democracy and human rights this is their election scandal these are their values these values are being mocked by the whole world even their friends are laughing at them nice statements are serious and pervasive. according to a joint threat assessment bulletin from the department of homeland security the f.b.i. and 8 other law enforcement entities quote since the incident at the u.s. capitol on january 6th russian iranian and chinese influence actors have seize the opportunity to amplify narratives in furtherance of their policy interest amid the

presidential transition we cannot let them use what happened on january 6th to define us who we are and what we stand for we get to define ourselves by how we respond to the attack of january 6th and some might be tempted to say and point out that our adversaries are always going to be critical of the united states. but following the insurrection on january 6th even our allies are speaking up canadian prime minister justin trudeau said quote what we witnessed was an assault on democracy vibe violent rioters incited by the current president and other politicians as shocking deeply disturbing and

frankly saddening is that event remains we have also seen this week that democracy is resilient in america our closest ally and neighbor the georgian german foreign minister said quote this closing of ranks begins with holding those accountable who are responsible for such escalations that includes the violent rioters it also includes their instigators the world is watching and wondering whether we are who we say we are because what are other countries have known chaos our constitution has helped keep order in america this is why we have a constitution. we must stand up for the rule of law

because the rule of law doesn't just stand up by itself after the insurrection my colleagues on the house foreign affairs committee the chairman of the ranking member issued a bipartisan statement that said quote america has always been a beacon of freedom to the world proof that free and fair elections are achievable and that democracy works but what happened at the capitol today has scarred our reputation and has damaged our standing in the world today's violence an inevitable result when leaders in positions of power misled the public will certainly empower dictators and damage struggling to mock receives and that's true for generations the united states has been a northstar in the world for freedom democracy and human rights

because america is not only a nation for many it's also an idea it's the light that gives hope to people struggling for democracy in autocratic regimes the light that inspires people fighting across the world for fundamental human rights and the like that inspires us to believe in something larger than ourselves and this trial is an opportunity to respond and to send a message back to the world and i say this is somebody who loves my country our country just as all of you do there is a lot of courage in this room a lot of courage that has been demonstrated in the lives of the people in this room some folks have stood up for the civil rights of fellow americans and risk their careers and their rep.