henri and that of their country. who witness. to bombs on al-jazeera. the. bill as amended is passed. after a round the clock session the us senate narrative passes president biden's $1.00 trillion dollar covert relief bill. it's been a long day a long night a long year but a new day has come. oh i'm maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program shops banks and petrol stations looted in senegal after 3 days of violence over the detention of an opposition leader pope francis holds an historic meeting

with iraq iraq's top shiite cleric and calls for unity while visiting the ancient city of or bus oh it. can live vigil in me and maher to remember the dozens of people killed in protests against the military. the u.s. senate has approved a $1.00 trillion dollar coronavirus relief package by just one vote that followed a marathon session of debates negotiations and amendment proposals last thing more than 24 hours well it does take president joe biden one step closer to delivering his 1st legislative victory the bill includes $1400.00 stimulus checks for millions of americans more than $350000000000.00 in aid for cities and states plus 100

$30000000000.00 for schools the vote played out largely along party lines no republicans backed the bill now goes back to the house again before president biden can sign it into law and before that to aid money can finally be dispersed well mike hanna is live for us now in washington so president biden closed to delivering on one of his that major legislative priorities mike but it didn't come without some drama from a member of his own party to manage to paralyze the senate for over 10 hours. indeed yes all senator joe manchin held out over the question of unemployment payments that took hours of negotiation with him then surely president biden called him directly and they worked out a compromise that was just one of the many delays the others introduced by republicans insisting on reading the entire bill which in itself took some 10 hours and then amendment after amendment was introduced by republicans all of which were

voted dumb now most of them by 50 votes to 49 which was the final vote but the reason why it wasn't a split vote and requiring the vice president's defining vote is that one of the republican senators had to return to alaska for a family funeral so here you've got a vote of 50 to 49 showing exactly how razor thin the margins in the senate are and the division within the senate reflected by the vastly divergent views of the majority leader and minority leader in the chamber it's been a long day a long night a long year but a new day has come and we tell the american people help is on the way when democrats assume the majority in this chamber we promised to pass legislation to rescue our people from the depths of the pandemic and bring our economy and our

country roaring back we could work together. but our democratic colleagues wrote a solution their top priority was. it was their washington wish wish. and of course the president wanted this done with before march 14th when those federal unemployment benefits expire what happens with the bill now. well at any moment we're going to hear directly from president biden will go to him a soon as he starts speaking however now the bill will get passed in the house but not without perhaps some argument among democrats there is some disfavor of some of the compromises that were made but the bill is still highly likely to go through the house given the democratic majority within that chamber but this emphasizes one major problem for president biden and that is that the majorities is so slim in the

senate that all it would require is one democratic senator to go against party line in order to actually prevent president biden's letters to the processes from going through so what we've seen in the chamber over the past 24 hours is in a way a warning to president biden that any legislation will have to be agreed to by my sorry to cut and then might actually we are just about to hear from president by now you know. when we took office 45 days ago i promised the american people help was on the way today i can say we've taken one more giant step forward in living on the promise of help is on the way. i want to thank start out by thanking the vice president but i want to thank all of the senators who worked so hard to reach a compromise through the right thing for the american people during this crisis and

voted to pass the american rescue plan. it obviously was uneasy wasn't always pretty but it was so desperately needed urgently needed also i also need to say a few words about majority leader chuck schumer who i spoke with many times in this and again this morning i served in the senate as you all know for many years i've never seen anyone work as skillfully as a bully as patiently with determination to deliver such a consequential piece of legislation that was so urgently needed as the american rescue plan chuck schumer senator chuck schumer when the country needed you most you led chalk and you delivered neither i or the country will ever forget that and it's not a moment too soon i've been talking about the urgency of this need for many for over a year the american people were told they were on their own they were see now we've

seen how hard that is bent on so many americans as of last night 519064 lives lost to the virus that many empty chairs of sporting the breakfast table gone more than 400 small businesses close unnecessarily millions of people out of work through no fault of their own i want to size that through no fault of their own food bank lines stretching for miles did any of you ever think you'd see that in america and cities all across this country families facing the threat of a fiction this nation is suffers too much for much too long and everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the merced most urgent needs of the nation and put us in a better position to prevail. starting with beating his virus and vaccinated the

country the resources this plan will be used to expand and speed up manufacturing and distribution of vaccines so we can get every single american vaccinated sooner than later i believe by we'll have enough by the end of by the middle of may to vaccinate is going to take longer to get in iran but that's how much vaccine would have because of all the funny we'll be able to hire more vaccinators set up more vaccinations sites to get the country in a place to get back to normal this plan will get checks out the door starting this month to the american people so desperately need the help many who are lying in bed at night staring at the ceiling wonder will i lose my job if i haven't already will i lose my insurance will i lose my home over 85 percent american households will get direct payments of $1400.00 per person for

a typical middle class family of 4 husband a wife working making $100000.00 a year total with 3 kids who get $5600.00 with 2 kids who gets $5600.00 and will be on the way soon that means the more he can get paid that means the child can stay in community college that means maintaining the health insurance you have it's going to make a big difference in so many lives in this country unemployment benefits will be extended for a levon 1000000 americans who have lost their jobs who last night again were lying in bed thank you my lord i'm going to lose mine employment insurance in a week or so is about to expire schools are going to have the resources need to open safely states and local governments that have lost tens of thousands of essential workers will be have the resources they need available to them through those laid off police officers firefighters teachers and nurses they can re hi

there are these are essential personnel. look the american rescue plan lowers health care premiums food nutrition assistance it's hard to believe that 24000000 adults and 11000000 children as i speak in the united states suffer from food insecurity that means simply don't have enough food to eat to geoffrey magic in the united states of america you'd see lines literally miles long for kids folks in their automobiles waiting for a box of food to be put in their truck i stood in line handing out food to people coming up never ever ever thought they'd be in that position they sell families who are behind in their rent or mortgage payments so they aren't thrown out of their homes look the bottom line is this this plan puts us on

a path to beating the virus this plan gives those families who are struggling the most to help in the breathing room they need to get through this moment this plan give small business this country a fighting chance to survive and one more thing this plan is a story taken all together this plan is going to make it possible to cut child poverty in half let me say it again a significant story will cut child poverty in half is much more to this bill but for now let me make one final point when i was elected i said we're going to get the government out of the business of battling on twitter and back in the business of delivering for the american people making a difference in their lives giving everyone a chance a fighting chance of showing the american people that their government can work for

them and passing the american rescue plan will do that. and you know it may sound strange but a lot of senators and congressman i want to thank but i really want to thank the american people for making all this possible so how did they make it possible and quite frankly without the overwhelming bipartisan support of the american people this would not have happened your elected officials heard you overwhelming public support every public opinion poll shows overwhelming support for this plan and for the last weeks it's shown that every public opinion poll shows the people want this they believe is needed and they believe it's urgent now this bill returns the house of representatives which have done a great job from the beginning i hope will find quick passage so it can be sent to my desk to be signed into law by pass the american rescue plan will have heeded the

voice of the american people not ignored their voices by pass this plan would have delivered a real tangible results for the american people and their families they'll be able to see and know and feel the change in their own lives by passing this plan will approved of this government this democracy can still work what has to be done it will improve people's lives one more thing the vast majority of economists left right and center from wall street to the to the private private. economic pauline initiatives the economist as i said left right and center say in addition to the needs that people have we need this to grow the economy. that if we haven't spent this money

and recreated the kind of incentive for people to be able to make a good living that we'd be in real trouble this will create millions of new jobs as guestimated over 6000000 new jobs by itself increase that gross domestic product by trillion dollars put our nation a position to outcompete the rest of the world because the rest of the world is moving particularly china and the no that is tough at this moment is there are brighter days ahead there really are as i said before it's never a good bet to bet against america it's never been a good bet to bet against american people we are america we're going to get there we're going to remain the leading economy in the world and going to be the most successful economy in the world because they use american people thank you and god

bless you all may god protect our troops thank you. president joe biden speaking there about that nearly 2 trillion dollars relief package that was just passed he's being asked a question or 2 now. in any case nearly 2 trillion dollars of relief passed by the senate after a very long drawn out session of more than 24 hours actually it was extremely partisan with democrats defeating and managing to resist republican efforts to make changes and amendments to the bill to effectively watered down what is the largest emergency aid package in u.s. history which is now expected to be signed into law by march 14th which is when millions of americans tens of millions of americans risk losing their unemployment

benefits and that was really it is a key legislative priority for the binded administration and they were determined to try and get this over and done with by the middle of march because of the effect the virus has had on the economy and the many millions of americans that are in need of that help so let's go to mike hanna he's watching all of this and my the bill passed the senate but it didn't come without some polarization and opposition from the republicans of course despite the fact that the majority of americans support this package. indeed yes while the republicans were arguing that it's grossly overspending they had proposed some plans that would cost a lot less money and it all went exactly along party lines the republicans to a person within the senate opposing the legislation proposing amendment after

amendment a 2 to delay the actual passing of the bill within the senate and that's why it took so long because of those republican objections but also because of some disagreement within the democratic party let's not forget that took hours of negotiation with one democratic senator in particular before compromise could be forged on the issue of unemployment payments now this compromise is something that may come home to roost in the house when it debates the whole issue on tuesday there are some democrats who are dissatisfied with the compromises that needed to be made in order to get to the bill before the senate and passed by the senate now that debate's likely to continue the majority in the house does mean that in all likelihood the bull will be passed pretty quickly and it will go to president biden for his signature president biden actually in those comments he was making there reminding the american public of the costs that they have suffered over the past year the huge amount of deaths and huge amount of casualties that incurred as

a cause of the coronavirus pandemic but also framing this legislation within the framework of wider economic recovery pointing out that this could stimulate the economy immensely it could create up to $6000000.00 jobs is what president biden says so this is not just a narrow bull attempting to relieve the impact of the pandemic it is also a bull according to president biden that could be the beginning of a real and lasting american economic recovery thanks so much mike canter in washington thank you mike. shops banks and petrol stations have been torched and looted in senegal after 3 days of protests over the arrest of an opposition leader at least 4 people have been killed since the unrest began over the detention of

a smug song co is charged with rape and making death threats sancho says the charges a politically motivated and an attempt by the president lucky sell to discredit him before the 2024 election is policy is calling on his supporters to rally again on monday tuesday and wednesday next week nicholas hart has more from de kock. the feeling is for the protest movement is that as as mentioned earlier this isn't just about some go it's about safeguarding the long tradition of democracy that you have here in senegal never has there been any coup or military dictatorship unlike neighboring countries here there's always been a peaceful transition of power and the stability the bedrock of the stability of this country is this active civil society that now when that erupts call into question the government when people are displeased with their leadership i was sitting right behind

a french supermarket that was looted in the fancy is the wealthiest neighborhood of the capital and this area just further down the road is where the united states embassy is it's only the most safest area in probably in the capital and yet protesters were allowed to come in and loot this supermarket now they're trying to rebuild it and they're trying to put it back on its feet but earlier today we saw not just protesters frankly women with their mothers mothers with their children going in and trying to get anything that they can with the town the food toilet the for and they've really stripped that supermarket they're even taking to fridges and that shows the level of desperation among the people that are protesting and particularly among many senegalese who feel frustrated after a year of restrictions because of the global pandemic. polls have just closed in

ivory coast parliamentary elections this vote comes 3 months after allison would tar want to presidential poll that was boycotted by the opposition it's the 1st election in 10 years where the ivorian popular front headed by former president laurent gbagbo has taken parts dozens of his supporters were killed after he protested against what taras reelection in october well ivory coast has a long history of political tug the alliance on a somewhat taras 1st presidential election win in 2010 lead to civil war when dawn refused to step down around 3000 people were killed in the subsequent violence a constitutional amendment in 2016 allowed ouattara to seek a 3rd term that led to violence between opposition and governing party supporters and the security forces were tar won that time in october with 94 percent of the vote but his opponents didn't accept the result so let's go live now to ahmed idris who is in abidjan the largest city in ivory coast so the presidential election was

mobbed by violence in october there are fears that the same thing could happen again. well election election officials here are saying that voting has won has gone very well across much of the country and basically except for a few places where clashes were reported in the west of the country there were 2 incidents and even here in the largest city abidjan there were sort of portrait. incidents near the airport area some cautious recorder but generally officials are saying that this election went on very well despite the glitches on the in the morning because of the month function of voting machines earlier and some people kind of why some voters couldn't find their names on the ballot however those with voting cards whatley voting cards were allowed to vote despite the malfunctioning of the voting machines right now across the country voting votes are big counted

here i'm standing in one of the voting centers in question all 16 voting centers are entrenched and already vote count has concluded what's happening here now these officiers entering the records of the votes cast for each candidate and right across if i move out of shot now right across the room there are political party agents who were pretty close attention to what was exactly happening the counting of the votes every candidate has these representatives in this hall now these results later in the various regions and then sent to the election commission which will compile the number of votes cast for each individual for each contestant and then the winners will be and. i'm and why is the policy of the fallen president all back by taking part now it's the 1st time that doing this in

a decade isn't it. yes basically that there are concerns that if. this if the opposition in this country allowed the election to go and they boycotted the election just like they did the presidential election that could easily victory to the governing party which the which they feel will not all go well for the country they fear that this country gradually move to a one party state and that's what they wanted to do and apart from that those who are having some concerns or some issues of personal water and his party would want to use this opportunity to grab as many seed as they can in parliament so as to confront the president president's party to make things difficult in governing and at least represent their own people in parliament and in governance in this country but basically the political anymore city among the various political parties especially their concerns or their worries or even their hatred of the governing

party is still there so the situation is still tense as reported there were cases there were clashes in some parts of the country but a lot of ivories are hoping that after this election they would be violence as we've seen in the previous election the presidential election and even to the in the run up to the presidential elections last december so basically the opposition see this as an opportunity to remain relevant in the scheme of things in the police and the politics of ivory coast and also to confront and also make their money in politics in this country and confront personal loss of a lot of water and the governing party so that this country according to them cannot move into a one party state. address in ivory coast thank you. pope francis is iraq's muslim and christian leaders to put aside their differences and work together for the peace and unity he is on day 2 of his trip to iraq during which he met one of shia islam's most influential figures the grand ayatollah ali

al sistani and discuss the plight of iraq's christians as i live in a reports now from the city of najaf where they met. under strict security pope francis enters not just one of the holiest cities for muslims another historic 1st for the leader of the catholic church as he met iraq's grand ayatollah ali al sistani is a reclusive leader who is rarely seen in public he's iraq's most revered cleric and his proclamations have influenced many since the 2003 u.s. invasion the plight of those being persecuted in the region including palestinians and syrians that discussed. short the point of equal rights for christians in iraq and peaceful coexistence the meeting between the pope and grand ayatollah ali sistani is symbolic and significant although the majority or the religious authority says it please no role in politics has played a pivotal part in iraq recently whether it was urging people to take part in politics in elections whether it was to tell them to pick up arms against isis and

more recently in the favor of the protesters. clerics in najaf say the pope's visit has highlighted iraq's central place for all religions and is a brave gesture from for france's in the face of security challenges and the pandemic. home your home clerics through their words and behavior convert the message of peace and love and convince people to stay away from extremism this is what we did in iraq in the last 2 decades and not just doors have remained open the pope's visit to natura will boost the spirit with our partners the christians in iraq. as part of this pact 3 day visit the pope and on a pilgrimage to or the city is the birthplace of prophet abraham the patriarch of all abrahamic religions. in a meeting with leaders representing sunni's sheers christians disease and sapiens francis called himself a messenger of peace advocating harmony faiths. believe is

a strong element that unifies us terrorism and extremism has nothing to do with religion terrorism exploits religion and it is up to us to find solutions and is up to us to face and deal with those who betray religions the ancient city of the province where they have been frequent protests and violence but on saturday the message from politicians and religious leaders there was of tolerance and peaceful change many iraqis say they're ready for such a transition and hope it will also has reduced corruption and bring more jobs some of the job. now jeff. security forces of use to gas and violence to break up another day of anti coup protests in me and my. well large crowds of continue to turn out in defiance of the crackdown right across several cities more than 50 people though have been killed in protests since the military seized power last month and then in other developments

a vigil was held in young gone for more than 50 protesters killed by the security forces about 1000 people sang songs and gathered around candles spelling out word heroes photos of the victims were also displayed on a big screen tony chang is following developments from bangkok. once again people have come out on the streets and our young gone mandalay in many places across the country and once again they have been met by security services who are firing tear gas setting fires trying to force them back off using those weapons of fear they'd be using particularly harshly for the last week interesting the one place where they didn't push back was in northern shan state in the town of last year where a very large crowd came out at about 9 am local time yesterday evening the t.n.l. a which is an armed insurgent group one of representing one of the ethnic minorities in that area become close to the city and made it very clear that they

were supporting the protesters and we've seen this in other places too where soldiers from the qur'an ethnic groups have come out in support of the protesters. those protesters in last year stood off with the security services further down the road for a couple of hours they were waving groups representing different protesters around the country but also their own ethnic groups and the security services stood back they didn't push back as they had done so many other places and this highlights a big problem that i think many people are concerned about that these aren't ethnic groups and they exist all across myanmar in many of the border areas and they're very well armed in certain cases these protests could be the potential for greater strikes in addition to which the military shows any.