mom on al-jazeera. the arab claims of rights violations in northern ethiopia the u.n. says the only way to get the truth out of t. gray is to allow independent monitors in. no i'm barbara starr you're watching al-jazeera live from london also coming up anger on the streets in senegal after opposition leader was months on call is arrested he says charges against him are committing clee motivated. beating killing and unlawfully detaining protesters the list of accusations against me and lars military continues to grow and the u.s.

capitol on high alert intelligence reports suggest extremist groups could be plotting another attack. if yo paean and eritrean forces may have committed war crimes in the t grade region and the government must less independent monitors investigate now that's the message from the un's human rights chief michel bashfully who's warned that reports of killings sexual violence and rapes are still streaming in months after ethiopian government said the conflict in te grey was over ethiopia declared victory after launching an offensive against the tea great people's liberation front in november but since then there have been reports that every trance all jersey and other forces have continued fighting in the region hundreds of thousands were displaced and thousands of others were killed in last year's conflict malcolm

web is following the story from nairobi. well you know weeks and months that have followed the declaration of victory that came from ethiopian government at the beginning of december more information's been coming out and a growing number of reports of atrocities committed by all of the different forces involved in the conflict just last week the rights group amnesty international published a report it said that based on dozens of testimonies of people that in the town of axum in late november said that eritrea and ethiopia and forces were responsible for indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas of the town and then it said that eritrean troops had entered the town and massacred about $800.00 men civilian men and teenage boys eritrea's previously denied that its troops are in to grave but that contradicts numerous reports that have come from there it also refuted the

city's report the government of ethiopia has said that it is investigating various reports of rights abuses across the region humanitarian organizations do have some access to some of the people they say they need to help in some areas but they say that that access is inadequate just a few days ago the un's office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs was saying that the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate they say about a 1000000 people are in need of food support routine asham the signing is a spokeswoman for the un human rights office she says there could be several more instances of abuse that have not been reported yet. we have seen reports of a quite a strong case is quite a lot of cases of sexual and gender based violence we have all we've received reports of some 136 cases of rape that have been reported but of course you as you

may be aware in cases of sexual violence the number of those that are actually reported tend to be the tip of the iceberg because many of these cases do not go reported we're also seeing door to door searches of individuals we are seeing continued killing and continued fighting is in many parts of to agree supporters of senegal's opposition leader have been fighting with police in the capital dhaka police of fire tear gas and rubber bullets to break up protests and demonstrators have been throwing rocks they're demanding runs a song cause release after he was arrested for participating in an unauthorized rally he was due to appear in court to face a rape charge which he denies and says is politically motivated al-jazeera as they call a shark is in the capital with more on the protesters the man's. they were chanting even a song which means free song though they want to see the opposition leader out of

police custody and that's where he's being held since yesterday. has refused to answer any of the questions that the investigators are asking him and the have another 24 hours to charge. he's going to be charged well it seems from the prosecutors in charge of the case and with public disorder. the the security forces in the government feel that he is responsible for what we're seeing here unusual scenes there hasn't been seen that of that violence since the last election in 2012 when the former president wanted to run for a 3rd term in office so a very tense situation where a few hours away from the corona curfew where people are expected to stay indoors but it seems that these protesters will be staying out to continue to fight with the security forces. international outrage against me and maher school is growing

just a day after search demonstrators were killed in the deadliest crackdown what the country's own embassy in washington has joined a chorus of criticism stating that it's greatly distressed by the deaths of civilians well the un's human rights investigators also demanded more sanctions and the global weapons embargo on the military meanwhile protesters inside myanmar remain defiant scott heide learn of reports. like thousands of others justin nicknamed angel went out to protest on the streets of mandalay on wednesday less than 24 hours later people gathered for her funeral she had been shot in the head. according to the un angel was one of 38 protesters who died at the hands of myanmar security forces the most killed in a single day since the coup on february 1st aid agency save the children says 4 of the dead were children. in yangon bodies were identified and collected by family

members this neighborhood of the country's largest city saw the heaviest death toll on wednesday there are reports that security forces opened up with live ammunition on the unarmed protesters without warning. but the protesters continue to put pressure on the giant on thursday again building barricades to block the security forces as they prepare for another day of protests young dealy is the former u.n. special repertory for myanmar she and 2 other experts have started a council to track the situation after the coup the behaviors the actions of this so called military. aren't. terrorists like behaviors they have. and on high high rise buildings around tall building. they meet and shooting at. civilian populations is a question and she said that the international commune. need to acknowledge the military's actions as being comparable to terrorism un. they should really be

ashamed of what they've done only not done you know they haven't been hearing to the un charter to protect and to restore it to maintain order to secure peace in order. and the security council has have really not done its job. she went on to say that china and russia has veto power in the un security council is obstructing action that needs to be taken in myanmar so far the council has voiced concern but has not condemned what's happened since the coup but there will be a further test of that on friday as another security council meeting has been called to discuss the crackdown on protesters this week scott hyder al-jazeera. well as we've heard in that report and as unicef has confirmed that children are also being caught up in myanmar sky says at least 5 have reportedly been killed and more than 500 arbitrarily deny detained one human rights activist has told al

jazeera that security forces want to terrorize protesters. it's important to be clear about what we have been witnessing there and i think what the former special report saw was just mentioning the terrorist tactics what we've seen here these clashes these a systematic orchestrated attacks upon an unarmed civilian population i think it's clear that they're seeking to terrorize the population of me and ma into submitting to this coup and we've seen videos as we mention all of the social media we've analyzed a lot of that footage and what we've seen amounts to extradition killings of people so this isn't just a normal sort of you know sort of excessive force to clear protesters this is an orchestrated campaign it's happening across the country and suggests the chain of command and these are following orders so we've seen really really brutal situations all across the country and i think the concern is that we will continue to see more moving forward we see those protests coming out today with people that i've been speaking to that are part of these protests that are in myanmar they're

saying that they are very well aware of the risks that's taking. to go onto the streets to oppose the military but they think those risks are worth taking rather than living under a brutal military dictatorship so i think there's a reality a realisation and i think there's a formidable strength within the population of me i thought so think it's important to point out that protests on the street are just part of a wider operation under the sort of civil disobedience movement as have been tagged and i think that's really hitting the joints even harder strikes people within the government within banking sector within trade with imports and it's really grinding the arms of the states will hold. well the european union has cut financial support to me and more in the latest bid by the international community to herd to the military's bank balances it's suspended support for development projects which normally nets the country just over $240000000.00 for typically 4 year long projects it's a similar response to it from japan which last month halted development aid worth

$1800000000.00 in 2019 the 2nd biggest contribution after china the us has focused on sanctions hitting 10 individuals including me and mars acting president it's also trying to block a $1000000000.00 of government funds and the u.k. has lengthened its sanctions list adding 6 more military figures last week to a roster of 1000 people. people in from me and maher have held a vigil outside the u.n. building in bangkok they wanted to commemorate those who have lost their lives while protesting against the coup hundreds of people lit candles and shouted pro-democracy slogans the man doing the un take action to stop the violence. police and other agencies in washington d.c. are on high alert for

a possible assault on congress this follows intelligence that extremist groups were possibly plotting to take control of the building so conspiracy theorists and donald trump loyalists believe it is the day that he will return to the presidency authorities were criticized for failing to protect congress from rioters in january we should have them here as long as they are needed and the silliness of this being a nod to ration day and night in may the president will be. inaugurated is. falls into the realm of. let's not waste our time on it but in terms of that what we need we have to have what we need when we need it and in the numbers of that we need it but that's a security decision let's go live now to hide his show castro who's on capitol hill for us says so heidi how seriously is this threat being taken.

barbara the security officials have taking no chances however far fetched this conspiracy theory is that what return to washington to day that is absolutely not going to happen because of intelligence reports that at least one extreme militia group had been potentially plotting to breach the capitol that is why we're seeing an increase in security even beyond that which we've seen in years since january of course there are the military vehicles that are still guarding this perimeter the tall fencing the barbed wire and of course the 5200 some national guardsmen and women who have been deployed here since january and the latest on them. request from the capitol police force for this deployment of the national guard troops to extend beyond the original completion date which it would be

a week from tomorrow now they're being asked to remain here until may because of the continuous security threats that are coming into the capitol in fact as another extreme measure the house of representatives rushed to finish their legislative business yesterday in order to not have to be in session today nancy pelosi the speaker of the house and the top democrat downplayed the influence of today's threats on making that schedule change she said that it was more out of convenience to allow republicans time to have their virtual conference but what is undeniable is that this is not the same building this is not the same perimeter as last year and these changes were seen security are going to last perhaps not with these physical beer barriers the same that we're seeing now that are more of a band-aid but there are reports pending on suggested increased security the.

whelan include permanent barriers and of course more security forces stationed here permanently additional castro with the latest from capitol hill heidi thank you. well the u.s. senate is set to debate president biden's huge coronavirus relief plan with the chance of it passing on a knife edge that accredits are modifying the $1.00 trillion dollars package to insure support from the party's 50 senators with republicans having the other 50 the bill's passage could come down to a tie break vote by the vice president the plan boosts funding for vaccines and direct payments to most households. still ahead in this half hour of the deal that sealed peace in northern ireland for more than 20 years loses paramilitary support and it's all due to breaks it. the way it was all going so well of a successful landing for space x.

goes up in flames. that deep winter maybe over we still got temperatures going up and down quite wildly this is another active cold front on its way down through europe the temperatures there for will drop behind it on the front itself will be rain or snow and it will head right way down eventually towards the eastern mediterranean now behind it the sun is out the temperatures just are rather low than they were it doesn't necessarily feel bad but that 3 degrees after the snow go through more so you maintain 3 and 70 by night the cold will reach book orest that have to remain here by saturday that's quite a big drop in temperature as the front goes through brings it as sleet or snow with it even in bordeaux in western france will be a feeling as a temp drops from what it currently is 20 down to about 10 degrees little wind so

this is the picture then for saturday a lot of sunshine significant temperatures proper snow in finland maybe again the baltic states and norway otherwise not much precipitation apart from the rain that's been hanging around in portugal's heading slowly size and it still shows itself in northern turkey and that will eventually be a temperature drop so the current right and then in the algarve is a circulating low bringing some showers all right even as far into the atlas mountains as to drop stuff the showers area. for. 9 years ago al-jazeera was the last major network to find evidence of genocide. when the tragedy of the ruling was mostly unknown. will.

it in genocide on al-jazeera. the old. reminder here of the top stories on al-jazeera the un human rights chief has urged the ethiopian government to let monitors investigate abuses that could amount to war crimes. as there are reports of killings and sexual violence in the t. gree region months after the government after government troops the clear victory against local forces. supporters of senegal's a leading opposition figure have been fighting with police in the capital dakar

they're demanding that was one song called be released after he was arrested for participating in an unauthorized rally and myanmar's own embassy in washington says it's greatly distressed by civilian deaths in the country a day after $38.00 people were killed in a crackdown by security forces the un's human rights investigator was also accused myanmar's military of beating killing and lawfully detaining protesters a since last month's coup and as the man that a global weapons embargo on the army. a group of paramilitary organizations which supports northern ireland staying in the u.k. says it's temporarily pulling out of a historic peace deal the loyalist communities council says it's suspending its role in the good friday agreement over breck's it they say it's destructive trade and commerce between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. the 1998 deal ended the 3 decade conflict between catholic nationalists and

protestant unionists childer holidays in london and says it comes down to being consulted on changes. i'm not sure there's any realistic immediate threat to the integrity of the good friday agreement itself after all this is an agreement that's backed by public support as much as anything else nor is there any sense that the parties to the former troubles really want any real return to the troubles or resumption of violence but this being northern ireland it's impossible to say where things like this might go where they might end so we're talking here about the loyalist communities council the l.c.c. this is an umbrella group that represents what remains of a number of loyalist paramilitary groups that were largely disbanded certainly disarmed under the good friday agreement of 1998 the l.c.c. as you say writing to the british and irish governments giving notice that it's withdrawing its support from the good friday agreement because of concerns about the so-called northern ireland protocol

a key piece of legislation underpinning the post briggs it trade deal between the u.k. and the e.u. and you may recall the protocol involves new customs checks brand new checks down the irish sea on the trade of goods between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. remember this is meant to be one big economic entity and that was a way of avoiding a hard border on the island of ireland and that in itself was a precondition of the peace now there's been problems brewing with this protocol since the beginning of the year concerns about a shortage of goods on the shelves some trade disruptions and so on and the l.c.c. says particular concerns in the loyalist unionist communities about a breach of their rights because this new relationship between northern ireland and the u.k. is something they were consulted on and didn't consent to which is a right of this is guaranteed under the agreement so they want their rights restored they say their protest will be peaceful and democratic but they're

essentially threatening here with whatever power they may have that anything short of a fundamental change to the nature of the protocol could result in time to. the destruction of the good friday agreement. could be its deadliest week of the pandemic with a high in the number of deaths on wednesday but it's also struggling with a political battle over restrictions. will close at 5 pm from friday in the cities near 7000000 people when they will be under a nighttime curfew will also enter a 2 week lockdown from saturday well mike and i can joins us live now from. the situation. what reaction is. well yes it is worrying it's. in all senses one of the worst 2 weeks because not only have deaths been going up and for the 1st time all over the

country we're having problems with hospitals a lack of beds in units and rapidly rising infections to the point that some states have had to hire containers to take the dead people out of the hospitals so there's the health issue which is very very dramatic but on the other hand there's also be economic issue which is equally difficult this will be the decade that has ended in 2028 was the worst since $9900.00. g.d.p. brazil's g.d.p. plunged 5.5 percent so they're both sides now people are afraid so they're willing to comply with these new restrictions all over because they're seeing how dramatic the situation is but on the other hand you have the president jade both. all again

downplaying the virus again playing restrictions today just said something like you should stop. and just you know people should just be able to work so so these there are these mixed messages but all the governors or most of the governors have taken some sort of measure so you have the president on one side states and mayors on the other side in congress pushing right now for more emergency aid because the emergency aid that helps people get through the 1st wave ended abruptly in january so now they're pushing for more since people will be forced to stay at home more time. well the situation in brazil meanwhile germans aged over $65.00 can now receive the astra zeneca vaccine after it was approved by an independent panel germany was one of several countries which initially restricted the astra zeneca vaccine to people

under $65.00 citing a lack of effectiveness in trial data the panel is also recommending just one dose of the vaccine is given to people who've recovered from covert 19 it so that will stretch limited supplies after a slow vaccine rollout across the. all the problems with the vaccination campaign have led italy along with the european commission to block the export of doses to australia a quarter of a 1000000 italian made astra zeneca vaccine are being held with the drug firm accused of failing to keep its contract with the e.u. officials have blamed the slow supply for their inability to speed up vaccinations well italy will only offer one shot to the code in 1000 vaccine to patients previously infected with the virus the policy applies to people diagnosed between is 3 and 6 months before the planned short it's aimed at saving doses as the

country struggles to secure an adequate supply italy is the 3rd country in the european union to take the step following spain and france members of the block has suffered with the slow inoculation efforts. it looks like 3rd time's the charm for space x.'s latest test flight until it wasn't the starship rocket land that successfully on wednesday but then blew up just a few minutes later it had already failed twice before the explosion took place the day after applications open for space x. is 1st commercial flight to the moon emily so reports. lately. local person. has made history it looks like a successful test flight for space x.'s next generation rocket that was until this . morning. it's not clear what went wrong.

the private american space firm launched a giant rocket a few minutes earlier. after a high altitude to test flight the 10 starship prototype or s n 10 touchdown in the u.s. state of texas the company called it a beautiful soft landing with its billionaire founder in a mosque praising the fact it landed in one piece 2 previous prototypes crashed into the ground. but space x. remains confident that starship will eventually replace its existing felt can rockets and become the world's 1st reuse a ball space vehicle. any type of engineering feat where you are not only developing news happy potion system but a new type of fusion. just so many testing boundaries that have to occur and say it's not something i think that we have seen that he cut a play out in real time bit it is a good thing having set nasa astronauts into orbit last year space x.

also has ambitious plans for commercial flights the 1st civilian lunar mission and on its promised a lunar excursion for japanese billionaire yes. on a starship and 2023 myself i began accepting applications for 8 others to join him a day before the failed flight test on thursday although under the name of the key . i want to reach out to a wider more diverse audience to give more people across the world the opportunity to join this journey if space x. is successful private spaceflight will be the world's 1st and despite the latest failure musk says he's optimistic you'll be able to send passengers to the moon mars and beyond. to our dizzier but francis says share the message of unity and hope ahead of his 4 day visit to iraq it's his 1st overseas

trip since the pandemic began in a video released by the vatican the pope said he hopes for peace in the war torn country then will. i come as a penitent pilgrim to implore the lord for forgiveness and reconciliation after years of war and terrorism to ask god for the consolation of hearts and the healing of wounds and i come as a pilgrim of peace to repeat you are all brothers yes i come as a pilgrim a pace in search of fraternity animated by the desire to pray together and to walk together also with the brothers and sisters of other religious traditions and the sign of father abraham who unites all in a single family muslims jews and christians. and this trail in zoo has unveiled plans to save one of the world's most unusual and endangered species from extinction their own gazoo says it will build the planet's 1st platypus for a few gin the city of double to protect the mammals from disease and climate disasters scientists have warned that the platypus could go extinct within 50 years

unless action is taken more of that and everything else that we've been covering on our website there it is al jazeera dot com. and here are the top stories on al-jazeera the un human rights chief as urged the ethiopian government to let monitors investigate abuses that could amount to war crimes michelle bachelet says there are reports of killings and sexual violence in the great region if he appeared declared victory after launching a.