our over with exclusive interviews and in-depth reports from on big appear to be the place that you start but not a place for you in it al jazeera has teams on the ground but climate change is changing all of that right to bring you more award winning documentaries and life news. defined and determined the empty kook protest is in me and back on the streets despite overnight raids by the military. from doha everyone i'm come all santa maria this is the world news from al-jazeera . i can say we've taken one more giant step forward to live you know that promise of help is on the way joe biden hails the passage of his 1.9 trillion dollar covert

relief bill in the senate after the longest vote in recent memory. also iraq's semi autonomous kurdish region prepares to welcome the pope head of his visit to one of the hardest hit areas in the war against. because catholics wear black to in protest of the lack of justice for victims of the 2911 update from the capital colombo. so the anti could protest as a marching once again in cities across main mob despite the escalating crackdown. still defying the military's the military to call for a return to democracy these pictures from about an hour ago but this well these were the night raids security forces storming houses and rounding up activists days

of live fire tear gas and stun grenades have led to 38 civilian deaths but has failed to crush the growing anger here is tony chang in thailand to take us through develops 1st of all these night raids is this a new tactic or a different tactic. what we've seen of the last couple of weeks and i don't know if you remember but early on in the coup one of the ways that people were protesting was to come out on the to the streets at night and bang pots and pans and noisy but peaceful protest in an indication to the military junta that they would not accept this coup well now we're seeing the noise on the streets that now is being replaced by the crack of stun grenades and live fire as they're going into neighborhoods and this is a practice which they seem to have escalated in the last couple of days early on they seem to be going after targets people involved in the civil disobedience movement high profile journalists people who were tweeting stuff on social media

and frankly anyone in opposition to the coup and involved in the protests but they now seem to be doing it purely just to intimidate and we've seen footage of the soldiers going through one should mention here they're the soldiers seem a lot bolder at night during the daytime they're still present on the crackdowns that we're seeing on the streets very much in the background with the police at the foreground at night they seem to be much more to the to the front of what's going on they're going around smashing up vans private property they seem to be invading properties random in some cases taking people away checking their phones their social media for any sign that they're involved the people are involved in the protests and firing off these loud stun grenades which inquired residential neighborhoods reverberate around creating clearly of a feeling of severe intimidation and that's what's happening nonetheless this

happens in the dark of night every day and every day the people come back out on the streets to protest tony you've been reporting on this for over a month now and you know forgive me we ask you pretty much the same questions every day it just leads me to think do you see any way forward here is there any sign that either side would buckle. as you say we've been looking at this for over a month now and we've seen this sort of degradation the protesters clearly not giving up and the military crackdown has got worse and worse i think last week we were discussing exactly this it looked as if the security services stepped up. their objections to the protests but not too strongly they were going after the protesters and by the end of last sunday there were 18 people dead on the streets shot with live fire and since then we've seen scores more die and i think this is

the great concern there are so many ways in which this could also get much worse the military could crack down far more fiercely we could see the involvement of ethnic term forces in this conflict and this is the problem with it has been a very sort of early democracy for the last 5 years and it's very much a house of cards and what the military have done is pull out the bottom house the bottom card from the house and it's collapsing and it's collapsing very quickly and at this stage how do you how do you stop it from collapsing in turn build it back up again the military clearly won't back down they can't afford to show any weakness either to send suchi and their opponents in parliament or to the ethnic forces that are massed all around the borders that they clearly regard as enemies they can't show any weakness to the people but the people are going to give up they they've seen the benefits of democracy and they don't want to give that up either

so it's very hard to see a way out of this stage thankyou tony chaining in thailand and as we've been talking to china tony we've been watching live pictures from last year in mean in the north a few pictures of a war at the moment it would seem that whoever is operating the camera there was having to take a little break after the tear gas had been deployed and we saw people trying to wash their eyes out on the roadside there. but you know you're seeing it in real time here this is 1030 or so in the morning in maine and live streaming pictures of of this crackdown on going as it has been for over a month now live pictures out of me and there on the sunday morning where on to other news u.s. president joe biden achieving his 1st major legislative victory the senate's passed a 1.9 trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill by just the narrowest of margins biden's campaign promise will provide one off payments worth $1400.00 to most

americans as the bill now goes back to the democratic controlled house for approval from mike hanna. is. the bull was finally passed in the process of 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 college voted assertion their top priority one pandemic relief it was their washington wish wish. the whole process began as it would largely continue with the deciding vote by the vice president kaamelott harris to acceptable debate breaking a $5050.00 dead log 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 as a republican insistence the whole ball was read out in the chamber a highly unusual measure that in itself took some 11 hours and then came dozens of amendments introduced by republicans the vice president's vote not needed many as a republican senator from alaska had to return home for a family funeral or not agree to the amendments were rejected by 50 votes to 49 torsionally my friends on the other side have used the link tactics after the link 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 playing force force let me be clear the ball will go back to the house for approval and president biden is likely to get his big tree when i was elected i said will really get the government out of the business of badly known 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 my kind of al-jazeera washington. pope francis celebrated mass in baghdad's chaldean cathedral the latest stop on his

visit to iraq. early the head of the roman catholic church delivered a message of peace to a nation has been wracked by war and religious divisions prime minister most stuff for me was declared march 6th as a ranks of tolerance and coexistence pope francis was also not just where is osama bin jawad reports he met iraq's top share cleric. 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 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 discussed. short the point 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 of the religious

authority says it plays no role in politics audiences tiny 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 pope francis 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 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 savior francis called himself a messenger of peace advocating harmony and 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 there 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. and final preparations to receive pope francis are underway in northern iraq is due to travel to irbil shortly where he will hold prayers for victims of war the pope is expected to deliver a mass for thousands of people in the semi autonomous kurdish region later in the

day and he will also travel on to mosul we'll have coverage of that throughout sunday on al jazeera still ahead though with covert infections on the rise or thirty's in argentina chile and brazil are imposing a return to unpopular strict lockdowns and egypt's president out the front there sees in sudan for the 1st time since the overthrow of former president bush here. it's time for the perfect gentlemen. sponsored point qatar airways. out of the system that brought ms rouer couple days ago to the event has gone you can't even see is probably just to getting what is snow to afghanistan and then apart from what's happening in turkey a bit of rain the old shower of snow even maybe the higher ground it's quiet

weather we sort of bang in fairly quickly on friday and brought dust with it down through bahrain qatar now it's found that it's a little weak this is a large glow here's where the dust has got to be gathered up and taken back up through saturday towards q 8 of time you get to monday otherwise it's just sunshine in the sky and temperatures that part right for the time the a little lower in places where the wind was stronger. seasonal rains in africa have recently given flooding in madagascar now those rains are drifting slowly north and they came in a little bit lighter but you can follow the line back through the far north of mozambique south and tanzania and malawi that's where seasonal right is so where else is it raining apart from a few showers around the coast of south africa and maybe as far west as cape town is pretty quiet and it's seasonal seasonably warmest temperatures in for example botswana insulated thirty's and fairly humid there are because of that afternoon showers as far west as when talk but not on the skeleton coast.

at ways. to say just that and it's time for a different approach one that is going to challenge the way you think i'm asking the questions now is the new host of the next season of the show that's got no space for sound bites only time indeed so let's leave simplicity to the headlines join me as i take on the lies dismantle the misconceptions and debate the contradictions. and marc lamont hill and it's time to get up front right here on out there.

here with al jazeera and these are the top stories anti coup protesters are marching in cities across me and defying the military crackdown still calling for an end to the government takeover this is after a night of raids with security forces storming houses and rounding up activists the u.s. senate has now really passed a $1.00 trillion dollars coronavirus relief package the bill includes one of payments of $200.00 to most americans emergency unemployment benefits and billions of dollars for increased tax same distribution. and it is the 3rd day of pope francis's historic visit to iraq you'll hold press for i saw victims in the northern kurdish region before going on to mosul the pope is heading from the capital baghdad to. well tyler coronavirus restrictions you do a surge in case this is causing chaos in parts of latin america and paragraph the president has asked for the entire cabinet to resign after clashes between police and

protesters argentinians government has been condemned by rights groups of a violence and in brazil there are tighter restrictions again all the details now with. clashes broke out on friday in a border city in northern argentina following the imposition of. down restrictions police officers used tear gas and rubber bullets against a crowd injuring dozens. of argentina. and had already been hit hard by an economic recession before. many protesters were informal vendors demanding to be allowed to work. human rights groups have denounced what they say was indiscriminate use of force by the police but. the protestors were responsible for the violence. nothing justifies the actions we call for reflection all to make your claims in

a peaceful manner i similar scenes on the same day across the border in capital s. and where thousands of angry demonstrators confronted police throughout the night protesters burned roadblocks around congress demanding president. resigned. earlier in the day the country's health minister was the latest official in the region to give up his post but that wasn't enough to quell. the government's handling of the global health crisis but why is experiencing record numbers of cases with hospitals on the brink of collapse and few vaccine doses available. moving fast. cases or on the right as well for a 2nd day the country registered more than $5000.00 new cases the highest infection

rate in 9 months 2 thirds of the capital. strict lockdown as are a number of the region's. him. the worst hit country in south america local in rio and sao paulo have adopted new restrictions and a curfew to try to control the brutal 2nd wave shops and stalls are shut as police patrol the streets there is this by president. told citizens to stop whining and move on as he continues to downplay depend there me. is going through an extremely grave situation that could be catastrophic in some parts the result of a policy of denial an empty scientific platform and a contempt for human life. the latest restrictions are expected to last here until march 11th but many were out on the beach in rio on saturday the find the experts alison them. nigeria's president received his 1st dose of

a covert 19 vaccine as part of an effort to boost public confidence muhammadu buhari was inoculated days after the country received. almost 4000000 astra zeneca vaccine doses through the global kovacs scheme the program has been marred by delays and limited supplies and nigeria's seen more than 150000 coronavirus cases sweden's joined a growing number of countries holding and lockdown protests police were brought in to disperse hundreds of demonstrators gathered in stockholm on saturday with or he said the rally was illegal as large gatherings are banned under coronavirus restrictions protesters demanding measures be argued the rules restrict freedoms senegal's opposition party and civil society groups are calling for 3 days of nationwide protests starting on monday so the arrest on the charges against opposition leader. politically motivated and they're also denouncing violence by

security forces nicholas hark reports from dakar. in decors affluent neighborhood this is what is left of a french supermarket following another night of riots and lost for words i have tears in my eyes laments this cashier as she watches people including young children take away what they can a bag of passed out for her and door and unemployed carpenter who in the looting saw an opportunity to find a meal for his family tonight it's not just about shooting from. the are suffering . because of this people have lost their jobs we need a little something to get by and feed our families. protesters set the supermarket on fire following days of nationwide demonstrations it all started after the detention of opposition leader was asked wednesday he's accused of rape inciting and an authorised protest and public insurrection but his supporters say these

charges are politically motivated. describes himself as the anti establishment politician has been very critical of the relationship of big corporations with the state and the government specifically the president himself accusing him of corruption the government wants to see an end to the violence with the interior ministry warning the looters they will face arrest several local t.v. stations have been taken off air for inciting violence while journalists perceived as supporting the government have come under attack. the government calls on all the nation citizens and forces for calm and serene. while internet monitor net block says social media messaging apps are being restricted supporters of song go civil society activists and the opposition have joined forces taking their protest both to the streets and online with a hash tag free senegal one to defend our democracy because we are really outraged

you see how our government and he's our allies. people our young people have been organizing fighting in the streets standing up to say enough is enough. they believe people are looting because they're hungry and are calling for more peaceful demonstrations across the country starting monday in what appears to be not the end but the beginning of a movement nicolas hawkie al jazeera. the vote counting has begun in ivory coast's parliamentary elections some violent incidents were reported in the west of the country but it didn't stop a variance from costing the balance in marked contrast to the violence same back in october for the presidential election and interest as more from. election a few shows count the ballots cast party representatives watch closely. it's

a process that's going on across the country with i have already ins and cheerfully waiting for the results. as they voted there were concerns about the outcome. for their purposes are going to say this does not become like the past elections that were followed by violence this time we wanted to be a peaceful election say there in a victim's among the population after casting his ballot president alassane ouattara reassure us awardee page here right here just generally i see that there is no tension in the year i've just spoken to the minister of the interior he tells me that things are going well everywhere and i hope that the day as well as well as the count good luck to all the candidates. the election commission says it hopes to announce when is in print for hours election officials say voting went well across much of the country although they said voting started late in some areas because of voting machines. but also some skirmishes in a few places but officials say not enough to moderate. opposition leaders who

boycotted last december's presidential polls are warning against irregularities of paper loss they are not i would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the independent electoral commission to ensure that this whole process takes place peacefully and that there's no cheating observers say the turnout was low and that could work against some candidate the governing party aims to win 148 seats in parliament enough for a working majority of the opposition want to stop that from happening having stayed away from the presidential election in december analysts here say the opposition may struggle to reassert itself but for ivorians the primary concern is an election that doesn't get married in pilar's. reduce i'll just be sure. egypt's president says he's visited sudan as the enablers push to break a diplomatic deadlock with ethiopia with giant new dam both egypt and sudan lie

downstream from the ground if european. and they worried about future water supplies years of talks between 3 countries have repeatedly stalls. we discussed the renaissance dam in ethiopia this affects all the countries around the nile basin we had agreed to continue our efforts on coordination and consultation we insist on returning back to negotiations in order to achieve a fair balanced agreement regarding the feeling and operation of the dam for the sake of egypt sudan and ethiopia hear more from our correspondent hit morgan in. now the talks have stopped for weeks now because the 3 sides can't reach a deal on how to move forward and how to run the talks before if you appear starts its 2nd filling in july with the coming with the onset of the rainy season for dan in egypt have stressed that they want the observers to have

a greater role they want them to play a mediator role now this file is obviously being handled by the african union formally under the south africa now by the democratic republic of congo but what's sudan and egypt are saying is that they want the united states the european union and the union and the the united nations to have a greater role alongside with the african union to be able to reach some kind of solutions that's because as president the filling and the operation of the dam without a legally binding deal will impact at least 20000000 people who are living along the streams of the nile here in sudan as well as the operations of the receivers anderson our dams here in sudan egypt of course is concerned about more than 90 percent of the population who rely on the nile waters for a living so a lot of talks over this issue over how to move forward with the 2 sides seeming to agree that they need to include more people more more international mediation more

observers to have a greater role to be able to get this file moving forward before july before the feeling of the ground if you're going around them in the rainy season. but a group of people gathered to protest against the few visitors to them they were demanding the return of the hallowed triangle spirited territory claimed by both egypt and sudan an area of course rich in natural resources. lebanon's caretaker prime minister has and they are threatening to suspend his duties unless a new government is formed they've been demonstrations for a 5th day in the capital beirut lebanon as currency slides to record new lows the urge to politicians to put aside their differences and to address the worsening economic crisis. almost how relatively the feeling is really yet it's an attempt to avoid responsibility which leaves me with the option of halting work amongst this disruption that we are facing now to work on matters in the country so i can put pressure on to form a government if it helps to form

a government i am prepared to resort to that option even though it goes against my principles because it will hold the whole country back and will hurt the lebanese. pakistan's prime minister and can has won a vote of confidence in parliament after suffering a surprise setback in the senate elections he was able to secure 178 votes against the 172 required to win khan's governing party the p.d.i. won the most seats but his finance minister lost to the former prime minister and opposition candidate used to me called the vote on saturday after the opposition demanded his resignation roman catholic worshippers in sri lanka are demanding justice for the victims of the 2019 easter sunday bombings they're wearing black to church on a day religious leaders have declared black sunday the catholic church is criticizing a government report for not revealing the mastermind behind the bombings its members say they'll hold mass protests on the 2 year anniversary next month if

a full investigation isn't carried out more than $260.00 people died in those coordinated attacks. and i mean soldiers and veterans are joining the protests against prime minister nicole passion hundreds of softness is gathered outside the defense ministry and then marched towards the presidential residency condemning the prime minister's decision to remove the chief of staff of the armenian armed forces demonstrations against palestinians handling of the conflict against. let's take you through the headlines at half past the hour. these are protesters marching once again in cities across.