the indian government set up a new commission to. lucian across 5 states health experts and. that. would lead to an increase in pollution and the impact that would have on the 19. an opposition leader in jail in anger over continued coronavirus restrictions 2 issues collide on the streets of senegal. although i'm maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program a crisis in may in ma where the military's battle against the protest movement is now being fought online. as story visit to iraq france's delivers

a message of solidarity with calling for an end to violence and sick tarion ism. and the vaccine that one over a continent how russia sputnik the is a victory for moscow in latin america. welcome to the program i actually want to begin this hour with some breaking news and medical sources are saying that at least 20 people have been killed in an explosion in the capital of somalia now this happened at a restaurant near mortgage issues central prison a further 30 people have been wounded with a nearby building collapsing during the course of rescue efforts which are taking place now the attack has not been claimed by any armed groups at this point so no one has claimed to be behind the attack as yet earlier on at least 2 people were

killed and 3 wounded in a separate attack on a prison in the city of basra so and now that has been followed by this explosion in the capital mogadishu we're going to stay across this story bring you much more developments there in the capital mogadishu as it comes in to us but for now as far as we know 30 people have been wounded and at least 20 people have been killed after that explosion in mogadishu. of course our top story this hour a 3rd day of violence on the streets of senegal's capital protesters have been fighting with police after a court decided that opposition politician was money sancho should remain in custody roylance broke out 2 days ago on to sancho was arrested for taking part in an unauthorized rally he's also facing rape charges which he denies saying the accusation is part of a plot to block him from running for president in 2024 but the demonstrations are growing with people calling for coronavirus restrictions to now be eased al-jazeera

is nicolas haq is on the streets where protests are taking place. the response from the government itself has been muted just a statement saying and telling people to stay indoors and to follow the rules and regulations instilled by the government but look at the protest behind me here this is a defiant crowd. that seems to be only willing to listen to the government's advice so they want to get towards the march that is ahead of us where they are the opposition archer's and civil societies that have gathered together together have called on this march against the government and also calling for the liberation of response ok don't you can see the security forces have successfully tried to stop the and prevent them going towards that direction and that's what we're seeing for the last few hours where they're trying to contain the

crowd inside alleys but it has been very difficult. they're chanting leaving some go which means bring some code that is that the rial rallying cry of bongos protesters and you can see there their very own muesli men this is a neighborhood where we have daily they have been really suffering through the current of the current virus pandemic through the economic fallout of the economic of the current of ours and i make. well now we go to demonstrations in me and ma they have again been met with rubber bullets live ammunition from authorities in several cities across the country to gas was used in the city of da a while one man was killed in a peaceful march in mandalay in the largest city and gone hundreds of people came out to mourn a 25 year old protest at killed in wednesday's demonstrations that was the bloodiest day of the anti coup protests so far which of kind at least $55.00 lives

in the month since the military seized power well a new video is also showing hundreds of power. testers being detained by police in young gone on wednesday the protest as some of them monks can be seen queuing with their hands behind their heads before before being put in military trucks witnesses say more than 300 protesters were detained. the fight in myanmar is not just unfolding on the streets it's also being played out across social media video sharing take to remove more than $800.00 clips of apparent death threats from members of me and miles military to who protest is some videos show armed men telling protestors they'll be shot in the head you tube has removed 5 channels run by the military including stay at what i'm on t.v. for violating its guidelines and then 2 weeks ago facebook also bombed the military from its platforms deleting all pages links to it and military on businesses they say for the incitement to violence and coordinating harm early last month and the

tree throttled internet access ordering service providers to block twitter and instagram in an effort to stifle dissent scott haidar is in bangkok for us with more on how the military is using social media. the tick-tock postings i think a one of many different types of intimidation that the military is using you know there's probably a department within the tatmadaw that's the military in myanmar that is specifically designed to do that to intimidate psychological warfare right now when you look at the streets in myanmar you can look at as the their battle lines so the military is deploying whatever they have learned over the years or tried to use over the years against their enemies and now they see the protesters as their enemy so yes they are using any type of intimidation they can if that is you know the facebook pages the you tube channels were much more official in organized by the military still spreading disinformation still spreading rumors stoking fear now the tick tock it's interesting it's difficult to tell i guess at this stage to see if

that was actually orchestrated by someone within the military and in a leadership position or just encouraging soldiers and saying go out there intimidate as much as you can the protesters and to talk is one of the platforms to use but tick-tock has announced that they're going to monitor much more closely and that they have taken down some of these images that are direct threats to the protesters the u.n. special envoy on manned mars told security council members that now is the time to act against the minute she. added james bases at united nations and says she might be disappointed. we've certainly spoken to one of the ambassadors the british ambassador and it appears that they are working on some sort of statement but no action as yet at this stage the meeting took place behind closed doors so we don't know exactly what was said but we do know that christina sharana bergen who is the u.n. special envoy brief the security council i've seen a copy of her remarks she said that the people in myanmar their hope in the u.n.

was waning she said that the repression must stop and one other quote from what she told us that there's there is an urgency for collective action how much more can we allow the myanmar military to get away with but as i say doesn't look like any collective action at this stage is likely it looks like another statement remember the security council surprised people by finding unity a month ago on the 4th of february with a statement where it said it was very unhappy about the situation and called for the release of all of the politicians including and son suchi the key question i think is what russia and china will do and as i say negotiations go on among members of the security council about a statement and about any other possible action the chinese have put out a short time ago statement of their position they say we don't want to see

instability even chaos in myanmar the military and various political parties all members of the me and my family of the statement does not have the key question of what action china will support. but francis landed in baghdad on friday for the 1st ever papal visit to iraq his 1st overseas visit in 15 months of course because of the coronavirus pandemic but security concerns mean the pope can't travel as he would prefer. the open sided poem avail replaced by and on that car 4 day tour includes and meeting with the grand ayatollah and he will let worship with christians who have suffered under the rule of i still made a direct appeal to the small christian community are asking them to stay and help rebuild the country. the politicians need to promote the spirit of fraternal solidarity there is corruption abuse of power that's not the way at

the same time you need to think of justice transparency to strengthen certain values that's how credibility can grow so everyone especially the young people can have hope for the future. that this is a historic chance to have this visit be a cornerstone in building peace increasing cooperation increasing the tolerance and understanding among all sides of society so mona felt it was at the cathedral in baghdad and says the pontiff recognize the difficulties for christians in the country. he was here at our lady of salvation church to speak to pastors to priests to catechise to speak to them about the really the status of christianity and to encourage them to really preserve their faith and to encourage them to reach out to the christian community to remain close to them so as to encourage iraq's christians to christians to say many christians have left iraq as a result of the recent violence and in fact one of the main objectives of pope

francis visit here is to encourage the approximately 300000 christians who are still believed to be in the country to remain he did acknowledge the victims of the attack that happened here in 2010 he also acknowledged victims from other ethnic religious minorities such as the for example and he did also appeal to the youth he said the young people are a sign of promise and hope and what he's really saying here is that the next generation of christians the young people that they need to remain in iraq we have seen obviously a huge exodus of christians and perhaps some of the older generations they're inclined to stay simply because they have spent most of their lives here they're keen to preserve the past but many of the young people they don't see a future in this country the moment they get in a paternity to emigrate abroad so they can really practice and live in peace they take that opportunity and that is one of the things that pope francis is trying to

encourage with his speech for these people to really remain a part of the christian community here in iraq and to stay. so i have for you on the program fairs in northern ireland as loyalists pressed pause on their part in a historic peace deal. and pains warning to the world don't interfere as china overhauls hong kong's electoral system. the temperature is dropping in much of central and eastern europe just a reminder that winter is not really gone yet that's the cold front of relevance on it there is some snow mostly it's just a change in temperature feel and after that the sun comes out but it's going all the way down towards turkey it will be rather miserable day in istanbul i suspect

on saturday everywhere else temperatures drop a single figures from what was double figures but any real wintry weather at the moment this is that we're talking about is probably no way in finland maybe the baltic states windy and snowy here a few showers in the war bits further south particularly spain in portugal but at least the south portico is slowly drying up now once that's cold is tucked in and it does in warsaw then the wind picks up there's quite a wind chill to feel for the weekend and then snow showers come monday that stay where it is expanding as you can see through this part of europe for the south it doesn't happen that when the cold air comes across warm waters you know usually built up into something we said is he's a big showers in the valley erik's maybe sudden parts of spain but that'll cross into the northwest of africa morocco will certainly get rain maybe some snow for the atlas mountains and for the canarios were pretty windy sherry time.

welcome to down from every one of us. even those working quietly behind the scenes . so you can relax enjoy breaking new journey. and when you leave with a smile we know our day's work is done can't are always welcome to our home. the or the. the.

rock i'm back watching al-jazeera live from london a look at headlines now medical sources saying that at least 20 people have been killed in an explosion in the capital of somalia this happened at a restaurant near mogadishu central prison another 30 people have been wounded in the attack. has been a 3rd day of violence on the streets of senegal's capital protests have been fighting with police after a court decided the opposition politician is man sancho should remain in custody over an un authorized rally the u.n. special envoy on me and maher has told security council members that now is the time to act against the military and you could protesters have again been targeted with rubber bullets and live ammunition in several cities across the country. now italy's foreign minister says the block on a shipment of corona virus vaccines to australia should not be considered a hostile act the european commission stopped a quarter of a 1000000 astra zeneca doses leaving him in the country had failed to meet its

commitments as dominic cain now explains from berlin and it comes against the background of a push to get more your europeans vaccinated. millions more people in germany will soon be able to receive a vaccination that's the news from the health minister yen spawn who is speaking to reporters on vaccines but also on many other issues surrounding the pandemic in germany but also around the e.u. one particular theme the decision by authorities in italy to stop a shipment of astra zeneca vaccine to australia is to sean address the topic in general terms this is what he had to say evades if a woman is mundane and the world is interwoven especially when it comes to vaccination production sometimes a vaccine is flown between continents just for a bottle because there's no more capacity on one continent and sometimes one part of the process leaves germany or europe sometimes though maybe something else comes back i think that with every action we take we have to carefully consider that we

might happen in fantasia in a short period but we should not create mid-term problems for the supply chain one of the other ministerial mantras here is encouraging as many people as possible to take up the vaccine to take it when offered it whatever vaccine is happens to be particularly astra zeneca the man in charge of the robert cock institute which is the relevance agency tabulating information but also making recommendations to ministries well he is sent that the astra zeneca vaccine is not only safe but a good option for people to take given the research data that has emerged in the course of the past few months about the effect it has on the body so clearly a double message coming here from ministers and others that there will be many more millions of doses of vaccine available and that all vaccines should be taken up if they are off it. now a deeply divided u.s.

senate is voting on potential changes to president biden's massive coronavirus relief bill $1.00 trillion dollars package would go towards vaccines emergency payments and help from the. narrative passed its 1st hurdle on thursday night but amendments are expected over the hours ahead a package of existing relief measures expires next we can all i want house correspondent can reallocate is following this story and joins us now so there is clearly debate some concern about the effect this bill will have where are the discussions right now. so the things are still in the senate where they're being debated and it's inching its way through in terms of this legislation the latest compromise or discussion point that seems to have now been resolved is on the issue of how much money people receive each week in terms of unemployment benefits those that are out of work and needing a check from the government to help pay rent food those kinds of things it wasn't

a 400 dollars a week now it's gone down to $300.00 in addition in this $1.00 trillion dollars package the white house calls the american rescue plan will also be direct payments for americans who make under 80 $1000.00 so this is much more targeted then and michelin proposed and what this will be is a check for $1400.00 not the $2000.00 that was promised by joe biden on the campaign trail the white house defending this though saying look the contents of this bill the core of it are still intact and they're eager to get it passed not only because the timeline is running out but also because they believe that this is going to have benefits for the u.s. economy white house press secretary jim psaki saying in just the last hour or so that what the economists for the white house believe is that this will allow the country to return to full employment a year earlier than anticipated but still the news is a little bit challenging because while millions were made out of work only about

379000 jobs were added last month so the white house noting there's a lot of work to do but they still believe that if this rescue plan is passed joe biden can sign into law which it's expected to do venture early it will add 7 point $5000000.00 jobs i mean the pandemic hasn't anywhere in the world hasn't had the same effect on everyone you obviously have the proportion of the population is struggling to pay the bills and to pay rent how do the majority of the people that feel about biden's bill. the majority of americans american voters a coder according to most polling seem to be in favor of this now that's not exactly reflective on capitol hill particularly in the u.s. senate in fact as often is the case and those lawmakers are always in touch with the people they represent and that's really being shown by republicans in the u.s. senate right now who are expected to for the most part en masse not support this legislation even though many of their supporters who put them in the u.s.

senate are in support of this so what we're hearing from a lot of them is that they believe that well this is being called cold it really if there's a lot of extras that democrats have tucked inside the legislation here's what mitch mcconnell the top republican in the u.s. senate had to say about that this isn't a pound of our rescue package it's a brood of love playing projects that are ramming through the ramming through during. so in the coming hours joe biden will be meeting with the treasury secretary is the continued discuss this rescue plan and again eager to sign it because time is running out march 14th is the deadline when a lot of these benefits that help americans will end unless this package is extended all right thank you very much i want house correspondent kimberly thanks company. an increasing number of countries across latin america are announcing plans to purchase russia's sputnik vivax saying it's helping the roll out game pace

and it's got benefits for russia's influence in the region as to raise a bar reports now from. a plane from argentina's national airline carrying thousands of doses of russia's sputnik of the vaccine the event was shown in most major television networks in the country mostly from the running of the restaurant was we have signed a contract with the russian federation what does the contract say what the contract says is that we will be able to have enough to vaccinate 10000000 argentinians between january and february. even though that deadline has passed and $10000000.00 doses are yet to arrive in argentina russia has become a crucial vaccine supplier for latin america last year as developed nations close deals with large laboratories for vaccines countries in the region turn to russia through fear of being left behind martin you know one of the 1st country in the

region to send that delegate. basic translated thousands of documents they've never been in the family in order to get the vaccine up. but it made it known that information with other countries in latin america like mexico and bolivia at the beginning people here in argentina look at that button it could be back feed with doubt now they're waiting in line to get inoculated. bolivia was hard hit by the pandemic almost 12000 people lost their lives in what is considered one of the region's poorest countries. in the country say russia sputnik of the vaccine was the only resource available. reality in the world as being noisy very very low most the companies are breeding the contacts they can or didn't deliver their promised food would be very unlikely to believe everybody back for. back in the 1st half of the intervention of our own president who has gone back the president of

russia by for this contract was achieved. russia was the 1st country to register a covert vaccine last year and since then sputnik v. has become a diplomatic resource between moscow and latin america analysts here say it's part of a plan. the relationship with russia house would do with an objective of russia's foreign ministry with putin of projecting his presence in the region occupying areas where the united states is missing but also as a veiled to compensate the presence of the u.s. at the border with russia in ukraine the western presence in a way it means being in the united states backyard there's also the economic aspect of local reports indicate moscow is already eyeing future contracts in argentina that include a nuclear power plant and a training vacuum one of the an area that's believed to have some of the largest reserves of shale oil and gas in the world. but for now there is a pandemic and for many countries in the region the sputnik v.

is the only chance to prevent further loss of life. when a site is. release in northern ireland insists there is no threat of a return to violence after paramilitary groups that they are pausing their part in an historic peace deal they say it's down to breakfast and customs agreements a fair driving a wedge between the region and the rest of the u.k. john hall has more now from belfast. a move like this the withdrawal of support by some loyalist paramilitary groups for the 998 good friday agreement does of course raise a number of questions not least what sort of power and influence these groups may still have largely disbanded disarmed of course under the 1998 accord and consequently what sort of threat is therefore posed to peace in northern ireland and the agreement itself while on the face of it they do seem to be some sinister elements at work threats last month for instance to workers carrying out brand new

customs checks between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. these were of course one economic entity until brics it and the much disliked northern ireland protocol came about and more recently than that alleged threats towards politicians seen as supportive of the protocol when according to the police service of northern ireland they do not believe at this point that loyalist paramilitaries are preparing or wish for a return to violence chief constable simon byrne said last night our initial assessment is that this is a political move a political move in other words aimed at appeasing perhaps more hardline opinion among loyalists showing that something is being done to defend loyalist interests and in particular the perception among loyalists that their rights have been breached under the good friday agreement in that this new economic arrangement between northern ireland and the u.k. has come about without their consent what of the overall threat to the good friday

agreement itself will bear in mind this is an agreement underpinned by public support not necessarily the wishes of any individual group but of course a unilateral move like this is bound to have some sort of a destabilizing effect and particularly on the delicate balance of power sharing politics in northern ireland. china's largest annual gathering is currently underway in beijing with increasing international criticism over its human rights record. proceedings were also overshadowed by plans to overhaul hong kong's electoral system as katrina year reports. chinese president xi jinping was among the few who entered beijing's great hall of the people not wearing a mask the leader presided over the opening of china's national people's congress keen to present an image of strength and 53 victory over the core of a $1000.00 outbreak and the economic stagnation it caused we use this year china was a world only major economy to achieve growling we attained

a complete with 3 in the fight against poverty and we scored decisive achievement in securing a full victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects a g.d.p. target of 6 percent was announced that this year beijing is aiming to boost domestic consumption and encourage more self-reliance amid worsening ties with the us this is congress is taking place in the face of rising international criticism of attorneys in opposing regas the florida virus outbreak and forms. one of the last discussed of the next 7 days will dramatically overhaul the territories political system india and out of work to democracy to the states beijing is looking to reduce the number of electoral states given to representatives directly voted in by the public and increased dollars allocated to poor beijing industry and social groups beijing backed chief executive kerry lamb and her team will also be given new powers to vet legislators some said the low crushes the democratic rights

promised to the territory during its handover from britain to china in the 1997 and over to china and over this is. basically no more opposition. prompted by those. just where you have you know up to 2000000 people one point or groups just became increasingly violent recently yes mainland china last month dozens of organizers of 21000 primary vote to choose democratic candidates for legislative elections were arrested under a national security law and veiled at last year's congress. beijing says it's preserving hong kong stability by ensuring those holding public office a loyal to the chinese government analysts say she didn't think is sending a message to the international community and would hesitate to flex china's military muscle. when it comes to charmers borders their soft

taiwan and hong kong we see his heart long term designs he looks to the future and the wants to beauty is political in the minatory achievements like in. beijing considers taiwan a road chinese province has want it won't accept any move toward independence but the island's leaders say they will continue to defend its democracy and freedom. al-jazeera aging. quick recap of our top stories now and we've been keeping an eye on developments in somalia where medical sources saying that at least 20 people have been killed in an explosion which took place in the capital now this happened at a restaurant there mortgage issues central prison the attack has not been claimed by any armed groups at this point but we do know that a further 30 people.