we're going to. an opposition leader in jail in anger over continued coronavirus restrictions 2 issues collide on the streets of senegal. hello i'm maryam namazie and london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program an explosion in somalia's capital at least 20 people of thought to have died in me and ma the military's crackdown against the protest movement is now being carried out online. and on historic visit to

iraq pope francis delivers a message of solidarity calling for an end to violence and extreme and sectarianism . now there's been a day of violence on the streets of senegal's capital protestors have been fighting with police after a court decided the opposition politician is months on co should remain in custody violence broke out 2 days ago after 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 also calling for coronavirus restrictions to be eased out as there is nicolas haq was in the thick of protests earlier on the respond. 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 unwilling 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 that 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 that 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 doing some good that is the riley rallying cry of bongos protesters and you can see there that their very own muesli men this is a neighborhood where you have a daily viewers that have been really suffering through the current of her in a virus because i mean for the economic fallout of the is going on of the current of ours and i mean. well now to somalia when medical sources are saying that at least 20 people have been killed in an explosion in the capital city this happened to a restaurant near mogadishu central prison has been no claim of responsibility from any group so far but a further 30 people have been wounded in this attack with a nearby building collapsing in the middle of rescue efforts at least 2 people were killed and 3 wounded in a separate attack on a prison in the city of assassin. demonstrations in may in march again been met with rubber bullets and live ammunition from authorities. in several cities across

the country tear gas was used in the city of daraa way while one man was killed in a peaceful march in mandalay in the largest city yangon hundreds of people came out to mourn a 25 year old protest or killed in wednesday's demonstrations that was the bloodiest day of the protests which of claimed at least $55.00 lives in the month since the military seized power and then a new video has emerged showing hundreds of protesters being detained by police and young gone on wednesday the protesters some of them well monks can be seen here queuing with their hands behind their heads before being put into military trucks witnesses say more than $300.00 protesters were detained but the fight in myanmar isn't just happening on the streets it's also playing out across social media video sharing app tick-tock is removed more than $800.00 clips of apparent death threats from members of me and miles military to the protesters some videos show armed men telling protestors they'll be shot in the head you tube was removed 5 channels run

by the military including state network t.v. for violating its guidelines 2 weeks ago facebook bought the military from its platforms deleting all pages linked to it and military owned businesses for the incitement of violence and coordinating harm and then early last month the military throttled internet access ordering service providers to block twitter and instagram in an effort to stifle dissent scott hyla 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 and all the developments the u.n. special envoy on man maurice told security council members that now is the time to act against and that cheney diplomatic editor james space is covering this for us from the united nations. 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 shriner 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 myanmar family with the statement does not have the key question of what action china will support. pope francis began a historic visit to iraq today in the 1st at a papal trip to the country despite concerns over security and the coronavirus pandemic the country has one of the world's oldest question communities that part of the population has also. been declining in recent years and then on saturday pope francis will meet grand ayatollah ali al sistani the highest religious authority for iraq's shia muslims one of the world's most influential muslim

leaders so wonderful to reports now from baghdad. a historic trip to a historic land pope francis' long held wish to set foot in the homeland of this ancient christian community became reality his visit to boost morale among iraq's christian minority which has dwindled in recent years as a result of war and persecution and he wants to encourage religious coexistence between muslims christians and other religious minorities. 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. this is the 1st time the head of the roman catholic church has visited iraq

a country long mired in political economic and security crises most recently the war against eisel and attacks by iranian backed armed groups the iraqi president hopes the pope's visit could mark the beginning of a new chapter. and 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. president by him solemn mentions that the pope's visit is a great message for coexistence he applauded him for having come here for having made this journey despite the many challenges that the country is going through not just the pandemic but also the many security challenges that iraq is facing. the pope visited the our lady of salvation church in baghdad to commemorate the victims and honor to survivors of a 2010 attack which claimed more than 50 lives and the celebrated the exodus of

christians from iraq but can his words make any difference politically or stop that reclined in iraq's christian population no i don't think so because. i mean. the appearance on the situation good good vision and security is that really the jobs services and this is the you know the. the task of the iraqi government to create a good. fear. to be able to come back that would be reigning in armed groups and strengthening the rule of law and the respect for human rights issues that many would argue lay at the root of iraq's current problems seem awful to al-jazeera but that also news from syria now medical officials are saying that at least 3 people have been killed and others have been injured after a missile strikes in the northern part of the country they hit a market in the city of near the turkish border or oil refineries was struck there

as well as a controlled by turkish bank fight has there been no claims of responsibility for these attacks. now a case against colombia's former president could be shelved after the attorney general called for a hearing he says the evidence suggests of are a rebate has not committed any crime he is being investigated for witness tampering allegedly carried out to hide his links to pam military death squads the supreme court was originally responsible for the case until it was handed over to the general's office in september but critics claim he would be more lenient towards a repay alice 100 b.s.t. has more from bogota. the 30 general's office had until friday to decide if it was going to formally charge former president. in a case that has deeply divided the colombians this decision now to request to shelve their investigation could be the end of a case that started back in 2008 dean at the time the country supreme court was

investigating even placing him under house arrest for 2 months that is until decided to resign is senate seats forcing the case to be moved to the attorney general's office under colombian law. for months to do you miss critics had alleged that the would have favored duty with the attorney general is a close ally of current president and would be brought to the chief prosecutor in the case a statement on friday that after a comprehensive evaluation of the evidence there was no proof that we had committed any crime or who had insisted he is innocent treated thank god for this positive step but left the senate. who were falsely accused of being behind a conspiracy to connect him to paramilitary groups said that he together with the lawyers of the witnesses in the case will appeal the decision and sue the lead prosecutor for malfeasance accusing him of invalidating evidence and this missing

the investigation of the supreme court decisions along by none other all. morning we witnessed a machine pushed. who ever in the history of the attorney general's office is a friend of a criminal investigation under a broken unscrupulous power. denouncement risk further tarnishing colombia's view at their legal system which many see as a bias in favor of the powerful a judge will have to decide if the case willing deed be shelved in coming weeks in a public hearing the promises to keep colombians on edge. and al-jazeera life from london still ahead. changing things warning to the world and don't interfere as china overhauls hong kong's electoral system. and the vaccine the one over a continent now russia sputnik the is a victory for moscow in latin america.

australia saying quietening whether this significant tropical cyclone is moving away from australia and it will set a surface well for the coast but itself it's moving towards new caledonia and it's quite a significant storm i think it'll make landfall juror saturday and the figures that come with it particularly pleasing is it's a major cycle and category 3 or 4 locally that's winds of 200 kilometers per hour or there abouts maybe more significant wave heights already 11 and by this time i think by the time it gets close to the album's 12 beaches as a battering situation now admittedly if you're not a new calgary all you get is that swell that eventually reaches the coast of points in the new south wales with a few showers inland the temperatures are rising again in melbourne for example

victoria seeing the warm late summer sunshine per still in the sherry regime quite likely wrong the rest of western australia and we're up to 28 france army get to sunday in melbourne near and heading south it's unlikely to make its way to new zealand but we'll watch it just in case but of a northerly blast coming into japan on the korean peninsula and temporarily for northern china after what has been a rather warm spell. it baze well. and doesn't require diplomas. that's why so many mco work for the casinos. in but for those who struggle it school. dropping out has become the less evil in perseverance the greater gamble. mccullough's future gamble part of the viewfinder series on 0 to 0 and.

the. to him. without is there a lie from london on main stories this hour medical sources say 20 people have been killed in an explosion in somalia's capital city as happened at a restaurant near mortgage issue said will present a further 30 people have been wounded there's been a 3rd day of violence on the streets of senegal's capital protestors have been fighting with police after a court decided that opposition politician is money sancho should remain in custody over an unauthorized rally and the un special envoy on me and maher is told

security council members 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 a deeply divided u.s. senate is voting on potential changes to president biden's massive coronavirus relief bill the $1.00 trillion dollars package would go towards vaccines emergency payments and help for the unemployed now really passed its 1st hurdle on thursday night but amendments are expected over the hours ahead a package of existing relief measures expires next weekend well let's go to andy gallegos in miami for us now and obviously there's been concern over the way in which the pandemic has affected the level of unemployment and the state of the economy how much of a difference is this bill going to make for people there where you are in florida. well if you look at where most of the job losses are coming from it is the service

industry hotels restaurants tourism etc that is one of the biggest jobs sectors in this state after agriculture so those payments will make a huge difference for some people that have been out for work for months and months and months but there have been compromises along the way this is a very slow laborious process because the republicans want to make this is difficult to spot simple joe biden's administration they have reduced those unemployment payments down from $400.00 a week to $300.00 a week but perhaps more significantly a proposal by senator bernie sanders to raise the minimum wage in this country to $15.00 an hour has been shot down 7 democrats and one independent voted against that but the important thing here is that the biden ministration needs unity among its democrats it needs all 50 democrats in the senate to back up in line to get this bill through because joe biden who's making a last minute please today and meeting with families who are struggling to make

ends meet says that this $1.00 trillion dollars will help the u.s. economy balance back from what has been an horrendous year with over half a 1000000 deaths in this country alone so it is moving slowly it is likely to reach the president's desk by some point next week but the republicans have used all sorts of tactics they've insisted on the entire report 700 pages long being read out before the senate they've they've been really upset that this is that there are things in this bill that they don't want that they see as a left wing agenda so this is a very slow process where negotiations are continuing amendments are continuing but it looks likely that biden's 1.9 trillion will get to the american people sometime very soon and for many in this country remember there's 9500000 people still unemployed still without work it can't come soon enough thank you andy caddick in miami there. now china's largest annual political gathering is underway in beijing

with increasing international criticism over its human rights record and has outlined the country's economic and environmental goals over the coming years but the proceedings are really overshadowed by plans to overhaul hong kong's electoral system as katrina you 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 growth 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 over china's treatment of those regas the florida virus outbreak for instance. one of the war's been discussed over the next 7 days will dramatically overhaul the territories political system india and out of the world to democracy activists beijing is looking to reduce the number of electoral seats 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 say 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 taken. basically 'd no more opposition. why don't you

just where you have you know people who want or. just became increasingly violent recently yes mainland china last month dozens of organizers of $29000.00 primary vote to choose democratic candidates for legislative elections were arrested under a national security law unveiled 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 ping is sending a message to the international community and what hesitate to flex china's military muscle. when it comes to china's borders the south china sea taiwan and hong kong we see his hard line tendencies he looks to the future and the wants to beauty his political and the minatory achievements like an emperor of 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. a number of countries across latin america are announcing plans to purchase russia sputnik the vaccine it's helping the vaccine roll out again pacing it's called benefits for russia's influence in the region as to raise it by reports from one is. 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 doses 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 and that delegate. we paid for it translated thousands of documents related to the vaccine in panic in order to get the vaccine up. but it made it on that information with other countries in latin america like mexico and bolivia at the beginning people here in argentina look at the 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 or thirty's in the country say russia sputnik of the vaccine was the only resource available. reality in the world as be annoyed

very very low most the companies are breeding the contacts they can or didn't deliver their promised food would. very unlikely the believe everybody back for the back in the 1st half of the intervention of our own president who has gone back the president 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 has to 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 vague 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 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. now ivory coast voters go to the polls on saturday in parliamentary elections 3 months after allison what tara won the presidential vote opposition parties boycott in that election but this time they say democracy could be at stake i might interest reports. 5 requests opposition parties staying away from saturday's election is not an option they say every vote counts to stop the country turning into a one party state and taking control of parliament could make governance difficult for president alassane ouattara leader of the r.h.d.

party who was reelected for the last december's presidential election. the son of what to us archrival and former president laurent gbagbo is all your voters to ensure the opposition now takes charge of parliament. let's go to the like sions and type at the power to give it back to whoever has the right to it in the ivory coast but this election is seen by the opposition as the biggest possibly only a paternity to stay politically relevant before the next presidential vote in 5 years . think it is important for us to go to these legislative elections because we cannot yet allow the r h d p to exercise absolute power you know every coast. so my voters believe the planned return of former president laurent gbagbo will employs both turnout and

outcome but the president's supporters dismissed the opposition challenge promising to record another decisive victory. said that. this election is an opportunity to take stock they all came to power here we saw what they left we also saw what we've done in 10 years that's the balance sheet but if they continue to believe that time has remained fixed that things haven't changed well we whiting for them. are trying to 16 referendum that the opposition called illegal pave the way for tourist 13 office that led to violent protests that killed dozens of people because more violence and more deaths leading to december's presidential election something most i've oreo's don't want to see repeated a comedy drees al jazeera. a 6 and a half weeks of journey might not seem like much to write home about it's a different story when that journey is all maz nasa has just released photos from

the perseverance rovers 1st drive on the red planet it took 30 minutes for the rover to cover that distance but perseverance also unfold its arms for the 1st time to make sure its roots dubbed shylock and cameras named watson are fully functioning the team also announced the rovers landing place has been named octavia butler landing off to one of the few afrin of african-american female science fiction right. recap of the headlines now as been a 3rd day of violence on the streets of senegal's capital protesters have been fighting with police off the record decide at the opposition politician is money should remain in custody violence broke out 2 days ago off to some co is arrested for taking part in an unauthorized rally he is also facing rape charges which he denies.