this plan will get checks out the door starting this month. the u.s. senate narrative passes president biden's $1.00 trillion dollar covert relief bill after around the clock session. low i maryam namazie in london you're watching al-jazeera also coming up on the program pope francis holds an historic meeting with iraq's top shiite cleric and calls for unity while visiting the ancient city of. of.

a candlelight vigil in me and martyr remember the dozens of people killed in protests against the military also. in belfast northern ireland where post breaks you shouldn't have caused loyalist paramilitary groups to withdraw their support for look good friday peace agreement. welcome to the program u.s. president joe biden's $1.00 trillion dollar covert relief bill has just cleared a major hurdle after a marathon session lasting more than 24 hours the senate has approved the plan despite every republican voting against it the bill which includes $1400.00 stimulus checks for millions of americans now returns to the democrat democrat controlled house before the president can sign it into law mike hanna reports now

from washington. go is asked. the poll was finally passed in the process tied to a vote a rama it was the longest senate vote in recent memory approval coming more than 24 hours after the role of members was called this bill will deliver more help to more people than anything the federal government has done in decades we could work together. but our democratic colleagues made a decision a top priority one pandemic relief it was their washer and wish wish. the whole process began as it would largely continue with the deciding vote by the vice president kaamelott harris to accept the ball for debate breaking a 5050 deadlock along party lines. the 1st major delay was among democrats with senator joe manchin holding on for more than 10 hours before reaching

a compromise to president biden on unemployment payments i asked at republican insistence the whole bull was read out in the chamber a highly unusual measure that in itself took some 11 hours then came dozens of amendments introduced by republicans he's the vice president's vote not needed or many as a republican senator from alaska had to return home rule or not agree to the amendments were rejected by 30 votes to 49 on torsionally my friends on the other side have used the link tactics after the lake tactics obstruction of structured obstruction some senators raising the issues as part of the abstraction should taxpayer money be set $1400.00 to every illegal alien in america provoking a heated response the statement of the senator from texas is just plain false

false let me be clear the ball will go back to the house for approval and president biden is likely to get his big treat when i was elected i said really get the government out of the business i'm battling on twitter and back in the business of delivery for the american people making a difference in their lives could be everyone achieves a fighting chance but made very clear is that any legislative process depends on a razor thin majority one that could be threatened should any single democratic senator go against the party line. mike hanna al-jazeera washington or any other top story this hour pope francis is iraq's muslim and christian leaders to put aside that differences and what together for peace and unity he is on the 2nd day of his trip to iraq during which in that shia islam's most

influential figure the grand ayatollah ali al sistani and discuss the price of iraq's christians a solid binge of aid reports now from the city of najaf where they met. under strict security pope francis enters not just one of the holiest cities for shia muslims another historic 1st for the leader of the catholic church as he met erupts grand ayatollah ali al sistani the reclusive leader who is rarely seen in public he's iraq's most revered cleric and his proclamations have influenced many since the 2003 years of beijing the plight of those being persecuted in the region including palestinians and syrians that discussed. short the pool of equal rights for christians in iraq and peaceful coexistence the meeting between the pope and grand ayatollah ali al sistani is symbolic and significant although the majority or the religious authority says it plays no role in politics audiences tony 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 niger 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 rejali dean 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 4 went 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 sudanese shias christians disease and sabin's francis called himself a messenger of peace advocating harmony faiths. my belief is

a strong element that unifies us terrorism and extremism has nothing to do with religion terrorism exploits religion 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 in the province where there have been frequent protests 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 it out of there now jeff security forces have used tear gas and violence to break up another day of anti coup protests in me and mom. was throwing rocks well large crowds have continued to turn out across several says he's in defiance of the crackdown more than 50 people have now been killed in protests since the military seized power last month and a vigil has been held in yangon for the protesters killed by security forces about

a 1000 people sang songs and gathered around candles spelling out what heroes photos of the victims were also displayed on a big screen tony chang is following developments from bangkok in neighboring thailand. 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 be using particularly harshly for the last week interesting new 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 were

soldiers from the qur'an ethnic groups have come out in support of the protesters. those protesters in law she 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 to that they didn't push back because 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 weakness or tall those groups could use this is an opportunity to push back against them meanwhile some protesters in yangon hoping as superstition involving closing lines well help them in their ongoing battle that the authorities. in

myanmar it's considered bad luck to walk underneath the shell off lines like this one it's known locally as the long it's not the defensive move might by the protesters some more time. they are being pursued by security forces. and i know we have the traditional belief that if we pass on the need for long we won't lose our luck the younger generation no days doesn't believe it certainly but the soldiers do and it's their weakness so remote more time to run before you come to us. and then in the western city of manya protests is there of course away their local beer to show their objections to the breweries owner the military sales of me and my pair of plummeted in the past month has also lost its japanese partner karin which announced it was pulling out of the joint venture because of the coup. now 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 of the detention of a swan song he's been charged with rape and making death threats but song says the charges of politically motivated and an attempt by the president lucky sell to discredit him before the 2024 election his party is calling on his supporters to rally again on monday tuesday and wednesday next week. because we have policies we have a government that is a assume a lot of people that are taking the world the west of the country believe in the good of the people in poverty in this this is what we want to be calling for this of the most patient peaceful demonstration monday tuesday and wednesday we're requiring all mothers or fathers or young people the full senate side to go out and . enough is enough. as there is no class has more for us from the car.

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 and then erupt to call into question the government when people are displeased with their leadership 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 the food toilet paper 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. you know al jazeera life or not and much more still ahead on the program promises under pressure the south africans feeling forgotten spite of governments of out of vaccinating country also . the netherlands hold its 1st major music event since a pandemic began

a trial dance festival that is designed to be covert praise. but . there are still a few showers in australia and south australia but this white line might draw your attention that is now a virtually racing severe tropical psycho bitch moving so quickly other that she recall of a scene won't go this speech now that could be bad because it's going the same direction as a spin which means the strength of the winds which are over 200 kilometers were at its strongest a few hours ago when it went past new cardone you could add that to it and it could do some pretty severe damage but because he's going so quickly that window he lasted for a short time so hopefully damage isn't too bad anyways now over open water and we could almost forget it looks could be going towards new zealand but i rather doubt

it now has left us well in the water so the coast of queensland in particular will feel that because it was churning for so long in the coral sea inland a few showers and in fact is warming up in new south wales cities up to 30 so showers are probably going to be sundered storms unfortunately having taken brief we're revisiting of summer in melbourne we're back down to 22 again here but on lies 30 in person a few showers in western australia it's recently got cold as you know in tokyo down to about 10 degrees but the sconce sun is coming back to work for up to 40 by monday. it begs well and doesn't require diplomas. that's why so many in mco work for the casinos. in but for those like and who struggle it school. dropping out has become the less evil in perseverance greater gamble. future

gamble part of the viewfinder series unnoticed 0. 00. a comeback a recap of the headlines now the u.s. senate has approved a $1.00 trillion dollar coronavirus relief package after more than 24 hours of debates to go show actions and a moment proposals no republicans backed the bill which includes $1400.00 stimulus checks for millions of americans. a leader of the roman catholic church has met a shia islam's most influential figure pope francis visited the grand ayatollah ali

al sistani in the city of najaf on the 2nd day of his historic visit to iraq. and security forces have used tear gas and violence to break up another day of anti coup protests in ian maher despite the crackdown in large crowds of timed out in defiance across several cities more than 50 people have now been killed since the military seized power last month. now people in ivory coast have been voting for their next parliament the election comes 3 months after our somewhat tara won a presidential poll that was boycotted by the opposition this is the 1st election in 10 years where the ivorian popular front headed by the former president long has taken part dozens of his supporters were killed after he protested against what tara's reelection in october i'm interest is in abidjan the largest city in ivory coast and says that in some polling stent sent his votes have already been counted . 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 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 that 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. now indian farmers of mark the 100th day of the protests against new agricultural laws in the country thousands of blocks a large road in the capital new delhi standing on tractors and waving flags the united farm is front says the that since the protests began at least 248 farmers have died at the sit ins some of them from health issues are those by suicide the

protesters say they won't move until the government repeals the new laws. it's one of the biggest challenges prime listener and modi has faced since coming to power in 2014. when out of the ongoing fallout from the brics it deal people in northern ireland who want to remain part of the u.k. say it's driven a wedge between them and the rest of the country feelings are running so high that an organization which represents formally armed factions is saying it no longer supports the 1908 peace treaty which ended the violence from belfast jonah hall reports on how real the prospect of renewed fighting is. in communities still divided protestant unionists from catholic nationalist the past is hard to shake off even though we have a peace process here it's probably more of a negative piece of those days are taken and it's not a part of the case because they still have grills in their windows are there still there still are security zation around here community activists on both sides

witnessed regular confrontations between young people who weren't even born when the good friday agreement brought peace to northern ireland in the 1998 has kind of frog back all that sort of old memories of from out of times where that was a constant here as well and it is unfortunate that this is passed to another generation of young people who are basically going out and going out of their way to attack other communities the other community some fear that a fragile peace could falter with tensions raised further by post breaks it customs checks between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. under the so-called northern ireland protocol. for unionists it's a stake through the heart of what they stand for causing loyalist paramilitary groups to withdraw their support for the good friday agreement and the major decision affecting the north in our community hard to have the consent of both

communities in the case of this protocol the fact is being given just to the national nationalist side of the agreement in other words there is being brought respect of it should not be hard for them on the island of ireland but equally there cannot be a hard border or regulatory border between northern ireland and the rest of our own country that some plea as an author most to unionism so how much of a threat is there to peace in northern ireland well observers including the police force don't believe there are many among the former paramilitaries who want a return to violence but there's no denying that unionists and therefore harder line loyalists have been badly let down by the briggs's negotiations and there's very real anger about their feelings that loyalist activists warn shouldn't be overlooked if the concerns of young loyalists and the concerns of the way he and his community are persistently ignored then what's what's going to happen is the data anger as is going to have nowhere to go and when you have all this pent up

anger and even awarded to the act and then you end of a dangerous territory and once once that genie gets out of the bottle it's again it's extraordinarily difficult to fit it back in again and that's a concern the good friday agreement is underpinned by public support and it will likely stand regardless of the loyalists move but as long as there remains no alternative to a sea border between northern ireland and great britain now the anger will grow threatening to spill over into something worse join a whole al-jazeera belfast. stricter coronavirus restrictions are now in force in brazil's 2 most populous cities because of a surge in new infections in sao paolo non-essential shops have closed while in rio de janeiro bars and restaurants can only offer takeout services after 8 pm and a nighttime curfew stops people gathering from 11 pm to 5 am on friday there were chaotic scenes in rio as thousands of people aged 60 and over queued for hours for their 1st dose of the vaccine lines up to 7 kilometers long and only

a fraction of the doses needed were available meanwhile protest as of clash with police and power wise capital late on friday is anger has been growing over the government's handling of the pandemic police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as protesters surrounded the congress building innocency on breaking down barriers and burning growth blocks earlier in the day the health minister resigned after a meeting with the president has recently hit record numbers for de infections leaving hospitals near collapse. all south africa's plan to vaccinate most of its people by the end of the year is running into problems one major challenge is getting the vaccines to rural areas where a 3rd of the population lives for me to mina reports now from kwazulu-natal where some say they're being left behind. buried her brother behind a family home into about 2 was soon or told just months ago she says he died from

covert 1000 well she says a family's been devastated by his and the death of 2 other relatives they're not convinced the vaccine will protect them some say that no it's not. a good vaccine to be taking because it can continue killing. you can say that if he really airbags that it can continue maybe you are going to die more after likely 10 days he lives in the village of some killer which is nearly 200 kilometers from the city of durban the main clinic years already under pressure its limited resources have been further strained by the cold than 1000 pandemic a much island exist now and we have many challenges we have few nurses and not doctors. in its 1st phase of the vaccine rollout south africa's government has vaccinated tens of thousands of health care workers across the country here in cars do not tell fewer than 2000 have received the jab so far only after all health care

workers are immunized with it vaccinate essential workers the elderly and the vulnerable more than a 3rd of south africans live in rural areas that are often difficult to get to and have poor infrastructure well tens of thousands of health workers in urban areas have been vaccinated it's unclear how the government plans to inoculate those who haven't been and others in areas like this one. in addition to its current supply of johnson and johnson vaccines the government is expecting $20000000.00 doses of the pfizer job later this year but it requires storage at minus 70 degrees and that's unlikely in rural areas with facilities a limited our population is going down. but for now we can't just our process because we will create an expectation that will not be 4 feet if mr in now get the votes needed then they would say when and then we are not read the with

specifics because we are still as i said with only $10.00 in a bowl term voles in. the government expects more vaccines every 2 weeks and it's increasing the number of vaccination sites but as time does heal as family mourns their loss and fear becoming sick themselves their faith in the vaccine and when it will come remains uncertain for me to millar al-jazeera to tell south africa. one of europe's best nonparty spots is holding its 1st major dance event since the crowd of ours outright 1st began more than a 1000 people are expected to attend amsterdam's largest music venue done across the weekend supposed to remain in small isolated groups the whole time step fasten was that. an explosion of energy was released after hundreds of the trustable fans returned to the dance arena after

a year of absence and with no social distancing the word just let the party again flow to the material very prominently how their brotherly love it my hero made the leo love the love the love the. oh it was so amazing i'm still higher like drilling is still my body but i loved every 2nd the people went crazy so really amazing organizers divided 13 on the people in 6 different bubbles and which different rules apply with sand so they gathered data about their behavior after you want is asked to get tested afterwords but researches say the results are not needed for the experiments to work and not interested in the real infections it's it's a mess magical prediction model what we are actually doing isn't that strange because that's the best proof you can get right if it's safe or not yeah but then people really become guinea pigs and i don't think that's the idea it's it's not safe before the event and 11 people classified as

a thief would cope with 19 they were not allowed to enter such low particularly not in the least likely to come out that you really cut it in a similar experiments will be held in the next few weeks if successful organizers are hopeful they can reopen soon we have the eurovision song 1st of all in may we have the euro. football tournament in. in june and we work want to build up the capacity step by step in order to have a summer with. hopefully a full capacity much will depend on a possible 3rd wave of infections many in the netherlands have urged the government to ease the lockdown which is one of the strictest in the region last tuesday an explosion took place at one of the testing facilities police called it an attack but with infection still high and night curfew remains in place the future now.

to be honest i hope not i don't really want to go back to normal but if this is necessary why not for at least 1300 people lie filed a little bit like normal again but however well come it was short lived after a few hours on the dance floor they went back into lockdown step found some al-jazeera and said that. this recount the headlines the u.s. senate has approved a $1.00 trillion dollar coronavirus relief package off the hours of debates negotiations and amendment proposals it takes president joe biden one step closer to delivering his 1st legislative victory it includes $1400.00 stimulus checks for millions of americans and more than $350.00.