welcome to bbc news, i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the yeas are 50. the nays are 49. bill as amended is past. by a single vote, the us senate passes president biden�*s $1.9 trillion covid relief plan. pope francis holds an unprecedented meeting with iraq's top shia religious leader — before going onto celebrate mass at a cathedral in baghdad. allegations of police brutality — as security forces in myanmar use stun grenades and tear gas against anti—coup protesters. dozens are reported dead in yemen — as fighting takes place for control of the oil—rich city of marib.

and, parts of iceland are shaken by a series of mini earthquakes, causing fears that a dormant volcano may be about to erupt. president biden has described the senate's approval of his coronavirus relief bill as "one more giant step forward" in helping americans to deal with the impact of the pandemic. the package, which is worth nearly two trillion dollars will provide one—off payments to millions of people. republican senators were united in opposing the bill. our washington correspondent lebo diseko reports. the yeas are 50. the nays are 49. the bill as amended is passed. a vote on party lines gave joe biden the victory he needed in the senate, after a marathon session lasting more than 2a hours.

this is his first major piece of legislation as president — a package, he says, is necessary to turn the toll of the pandemic around. this plan puts us on a path to beating the virus. this plan gives those families who are struggling the most the help and the breathing room they need to get through this moment. this plan gives small businesses in this country a fighting chance to survive. and one more thing — this plan is historic. the bill will help fund payments for the unemployed. last month's job gains are still too slow, says the president, with the country still down 9.5 million since this time last year. money, too, to speed up production and distribution of vaccines — the hope being that that will help significantly increase the 10% of americans who've been fully immunised. but republicans say the cost is too high, and they were united in their opposition with not one voting in favour of the bill. voters picked a president

who promised unity and bipartisanship. democrats�* response is to ram through what they call, quote, "the most progressive domestic legislation in a generation" on a razor—thin majority in both houses. there was criticism, too, from within the democrats�* own ranks which almost derailed the bill — all of this an indication of how difficult it will be for president biden to fulfil his agenda. the bill has been substantially changed since it passed in the house of representatives, so it will go back there for a vote on tuesday. democrats are racing to get it signed by the president by m march, when key unemployment benefits expire. lebo diseko, bbc news, washington. i'm nowjoined by amanda fischer who is policy director at the washington center for equitable growth and has

worked for more than a decade on capitol hill in roles related to economic policymaking. thanks so much forjoining us. it is called the rescue plan, will it rescue america? i will it rescue america? i think that this bill is a really - that this bill is a really significant and large downpayment on addressing the worst of the economic suffering thatis worst of the economic suffering that is happening here in the united states. i think it is really significant that, since i've worked in congress ten years ago, policymakers really seem to have learned their lesson that the risk is doing too little, not too much and this bill really makes investments in the programmes that are going to help the people that are suffering the most right now, which are low income workers in the united states, people who are on the front line, disproportionately people of colour and women and this bill makes investments that they need, so it broadens unemployment insurance to help the jobless, unemployment insurance to help thejobless, it makes the jobless, it makes investments thejobless, it makes investments in childcare so that workers can stay in the workforce, it provides rental

assistance and direct payment checks to families and it also invest in state and local aid, which is critically needed right now as a state and local governments can't run budget deficits but the federal government can.- deficits but the federal government can. �* , ., deficits but the federal government can. �* , . ., government can. let's imagine a case study- _ government can. let's imagine a case study- a — government can. let's imagine a case study. a family, _ government can. let's imagine a case study. a family, no - case study. a family, no savings, parents have lost jobs, kids are of school age, how would this bill affect their lives?— their lives? so, the unemployment - their lives? so, the - unemployment insurance is incredibly significant, here in the united states we have an unemployment insurance system where benefits expire very quickly, and there is really not a helping hand out there, if you can't find a job very quickly, so this not only boost the amount of unemployment insurance but it extends the duration of that. it provides more funding for child care services so that women who may have dropped out of the workforce, parents that may have dropped out of the workforce for caregiving responsibilities might have access to more affordable

childcare. provides $1400 direct payments to individuals in the middle class here in the united states and it helps prevent an eviction crisis by providing billions of dollars in rental relief.— providing billions of dollars in rental relief. let's say the vaccination _ in rental relief. let's say the vaccination programme - in rental relief. let's say the l vaccination programme works in rental relief. let's say the - vaccination programme works and people are allowed to move freely again at some point, how long after that would it take for the country to fully recover?— recover? so, i think that this bill is a really _ recover? so, i think that this bill is a really good - recover? so, i think that this bill is a really good start - recover? so, i think that this bill is a really good start to l bill is a really good start to get us through this period of vaccination and containing the virus and get us to the other side. you know, i heard a statistic today saying that without this bill it would have taken two without this bill it would have ta ken two years for without this bill it would have taken two years for employment to reach the level that was that before the pandemic that is really mitigates against that very protracted damage. but we are going to have to do more when we get to the other side of the pandemic to address 40 years of entrenched wealth and income inequality here in the united states that

so fragile going into the pandemic to begin with. amanda fisher, thank _ pandemic to begin with. amanda fisher, thank you _ pandemic to begin with. amanda fisher, thank you so _ pandemic to begin with. amanda fisher, thank you so much. - pope francis has met the influential shia muslim cleric, grand ayatollah ali al—sistani, during the first—ever papal visit to iraq. later, francis celebrated a public mass at stjoseph's cathedral in baghdad. 0ur rome correspondent mark lowen is travelling with the pope. peace in iraq will take time to flourish, but this visitor is determined to see it. along the narrow alleyways of najaf, and into a historic meeting of two faiths, catholic and shia islam. grand ayatollah ali al—sistani face—to—face with pope francis. at 90 and 84, it's taken long lives and generations to get here. the two religious leaders spoke of friendship to overcome oppression, rare unity after iraq's sectarian conflict.

that theme of dialogue then spread further to the remains of ur, biblical birthplace of abraham. and in the shadow of its ancient citadel, pope francis met followers of other faiths. gestures of respect to those often sidelined, and victims of iraq's wars now brought together in a plea for peace. translation: hostility, - extremism and violence are not born of a religious heart. they are betrayals of religion. we believers cannot be silent when terrorism abuses religion. from these windswept plains, the pope is using the symbolism of the ancient prophet, evoking the figure of abraham, revered by christians, muslims and jews, to try to spur reconciliation between religions today. and then it was on to mass, pope francis hoping to persuade a dwindling christian community to remain. iraq's patchwork of people came together today.

but as this country knows too well, the spirit of coexistence can quickly fade. mark lowen, bbc news, in ur, iraq. to myanmar now, where an increasingly brutal crackdown by police and the military has not stopped protests against the military coup. security forces have continued firing tear gas on protesters gathered in yangon. the un's special envoy on myanmar has told the security council that there is urgency for collective action. this is a scene that's become all too familiar in cities right across myanmar, from the northern mountain region to the major cities of yangon and naypyidaw in the south, young protesters have been standing up to police, banging on home—made shields, and marching for democracy. on saturday, security forces used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades against activists in yangon to clear the streets. and there have been further

allegations of police brutality. it's been over a month now since the protests erupted against the military coup on february 1st that overthrew aung san suu kyi's elected government. in that time, the people of myanmar have faced internet blackouts, night—time raids, unlawful arrests and death. 38 people were killed on wednesday alone, the deadliest day since the start of the coup. hundreds gathered in mandalay on thursday for the funeral of one of the victims. kyal sin, who was known as �*angel�*, wasjust 19 when she was shot in the head during anti—coup protests a day earlier. she was wearing a t—shirt with the phrase "everything will be ok" when she died. the pressure is being felt globally. on friday, the un special envoy to myanmar, christine schraner burgener, urged the security council to hear myanmar�*s desperate pleas, and called for swift international action to end the violence. everyone has a role to play. there are no bystanders here, whether it's the secretary general, whether it's the security council as a whole, or whether it

individual member states, those who have an influence on the situation in myanmar, whether it's the regional powers, the asean countries, everyone has a role to play. but china and russia and unlikely to impose sanctions, and so far, the biggest international reaction has come from corporations, not governments. facebook, instagram and now youtube have all banned accounts belonging to militaryjunta. the army have threatened civil servants who continue to strike that they will be fired. but the protests show little sign of waning. every day, people continue to raise three fingers in protest in what has become a symbol of resistance and solidarity for democracy movements across south—east asia. myanmar�*s military has said it is used to being isolated. so can the international community exert any pressure on the junta? a question i put to tom andrews, the un's special rapporteur on human rights in myanmar. they have said forever

that they are — they can go on their own, they're impervious to international pressure, but what we've found from history is that's not true. that in fact, the reforms, the democratic reforms that we've seen overturned by this junta by february one were reforms that were created precisely because tough economic sanctions were applied on thejunta. they, and the generations following — the older generations of generals, they want to make money, they want to be part of the international economy. so there was pressure building from within the military to engage with the world so that they could be able to prosper. so, they conceded they had some reforms, modest reforms, but they were reforms. the point is, they reacted, they responded to economic pressure, i believe that they can and they will again now. let's look at international action. if china blocks or slows down action inside the un,

would you suggest individual states to carry out their own measures? no question, no question. there are 41 countries, for example, that have some form of arms embargo, i think we have to increase that number. and also, sanctions, tough, clear economic sanctions. there with 35 countries with some form of economic sanctions already in place. but they're a hodgepodge, they're a wide variety, we need to focus those sanctions. we have to make sure they are clear, tough and coordinated, they work together, so that the collective weight of these countries that are imposing these sanctions will have the strongest possible punch. now, ideally, it's the security council that will be doing this, and they could also make reference to the international criminal court, that could investigate, prosecute, that could put those who are responsible for these atrocities behind bars. but until we can get a unified response by the security council, there are a number of things that individual countries can do, and the best thing they can do is work together. 30 to 40 countries out of, what, 200, taking steps is nowhere close to

a global arms embargo? that's exactly right. and we have a lot of work to do. but if you look at what is going on, on the streets of myanmar right now, you see exactly why it is so compelling for countries to take action. the aggressiveness of this and the brutality of these troops continues to escalate. there is video right now that we've been getting from different parts of the country, in which soldiers are marauding around neighbourhoods and literally firing into homes. and you can see them walking down the street in yangon, firing up through the windows as people look in horror down in the streets. these are gangs. this is criminal activity. they're terrorising these neighbourhoods. so, there is a compelling reason for the world to act and for the world to act now. and you are right, we have a long way to go, but it's worth it. because we simply can't afford in any sense of the word to sit back and turn our backs on the people of myanmar. let's look at the biden administration and the us approach.

from what we can tell in the first few weeks, the foreign policy of the biden administration stresses realism and caution. there is an overt promise not to engage in over—ambitious foreign interventions. does this mean we are unlikely to see the us take any kind of extraordinary steps with myanmar? well, they have taken some very important steps. the biden administration right out of the gate applied some — a new round of sanctions, the president was very clear that this was the first of many steps he was prepared to take to build pressure on the regime. they had an asset freeze — the money that is in us financial institutions — and froze them, over $1 billion worth, that takes an immediate bite. so the fact the biden administration has acted quickly, they stepped quickly out of the gate, i think is a very positive step. now we need to see other nations follow. tom andrews, thank you so much. my pleasure. let's get some of the day's other news. protesters have rallied in tokyo to express their opposition to japan's hosting of the olympic games, which are due to begin injuly.

they think it's irresponsible to hold the event before the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control. japanese 0lympic organisers have insisted the games will go ahead, but they've hinted that overseas fans might not be allowed into the country to watch. lebanon's caretaker prime minister has warned that the country is on the brink of an explosion as its dire economic plight worsens. in a television address, he referred to an incident in which supermarket shoppers in beirut fought over powdered milk supplies. lebanon has been hit by a severe financial crisis and political deadlock following the beirut port explosion last year which devastated much of the capital. you are watching bbc news. the headlines: the us senate passes joe biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief plan by a single vote. the president says the package will beat the virus and cut poverty. pope francis holds an unprecedented meeting with iraq's top shia religious leader — before going onto celebrate mass at a cathedral in baghdad.

reports from yemen say dozens of people have died in 24 hours of fighting between government forces and houthi rebels who are battling for control of the northern city of marib. the rebels, who are supported by iran, want to drive out the saudi—backed government in marib. mark lobel reports. explosion. gunfire. these scenes, shot last month, show pro—government forces have been defending the area around marib from houthi rebels for some time. explosions. now it appears to be under heavy attack again. military sources report a frenetic 24 hours with around 30 deaths on the government side and nearly 60 rebels killed in air strikes. marib is strategically important after heavy investment from the yemeni government. it is also a rich gateway to oil and gas production. it would be a massive blow to the yemeni government

if they lost control of the city. they'd already had to effectively cede control of yemen's second city, in aden, to the southern separatists and this really means that marib is the last major city in yemen that they really control. the timing of this latest onslaught may be highly political. since taking office, the biden administration has called for an end to the war in yemen, with an immediate ceasefire to restore peace talks between the saudi—backed government and the houthi rebels, supported by iran. these houthi military commanders, in public, have stated that they plan to fully push on the city, that they are not going to hold back, that they are going to push to marib and beyond. but it remains to be seen if they will do that or if they will push right to the outskirts of the city, before then realising that this is the best position for them, to then go into any kind of peace talks or political

talks with the saudi—led coalition and the yemeni government. the fighting also threatens hundreds of thousands of displaced yemenis, living on precarious floodplains and with limited access to fresh water, now in danger of displacement. —— now in danger of displacement yet again. all potentially worsening the world's worst humanitarian disaster, now into its seventh year of devastating conflict. mark lowen, bbc news. the family of george floyd — the unarmed black american man who died while in police custody last year — have been speaking about a major police reform package that would ban choke holds and combat racial profiling. the george floyd justice in policing act cleared the us house of representatives on wednesday and will now head to the senate. meanwhile, the trial of derek chauvin, a white officer charged with murdering mr floyd, is due to begin in minnesota on monday. at a press conference earlier for the newjustice in policing act, george floyd's nephew said derek chauvin must be held accountable. i think when you look

at my uncle's murder, a police officer kneeling on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, we have to hold him accountable. either he's a murderer or he's not qualified to do his job correctly. either way, someone needs to be held accountable. there's no way that a police officer getting a call on an alleged counterfeit $20 bill, and a man i loved — one of ours — is murdered for 20 us dollars? someone needs to be held accountable. in paraguay, protests against the government's handling of the pandemic are continuing for a second night. protesters are demanding the resignation of president mario abdo. he asked his entire cabinet to resign, saying he had listened to the people. health workers complain that hospitals have run out of medicines and equipment

to treat covid— 19 patients. demonstrators accuse the government of stealing money that could have been used to deal with the health crisis. there is growing concern among scientists in iceland that a volcano which has lay dormant for 800 years is set to erupt after the country was hit by an intense series of earthquakes. more than 20,000 have been recorded in the past ten days. isabella allen reports. part of iceland is being shaken by an intense —— 32 kilometres south of the icelandic capital lies mt keilir on the reykjanes peninsula. the last major eruption here happened eight centuries ago, but that period of rest may be coming to an end after days of intense seismic activity. normally, there are around 1000 small earthquakes a year but there have been more than 20,000 in the past ten days, including 3000 on friday alone, leading scientists to believe an eruption is imminent. the magma is fracturing and it is so close to the surface — two or three kilometres away from

the surface — that we have to take it seriously, the possibility that a new eruption can occur. the close vicinity is uninhabited and there is no immediate danger to the public, but roads have been closed and people are being told not to travel to the area. the small fishing port of grindavik is only a few miles away. well, the feeling is never enjoyable, i can tell you that for sure. of course, when mother nature is, like, shaking underneath your feet, you feel powerless. but i have been living in grindavik since i was born so this has been happening time to time, but this is the first time we are having such powerful earthquakes so frequently. earthquakes are common in iceland because it straddles two of the earth's tectonic plates. in 2010, the explosive eruption of a more southerly volcano caused huge disruption in international air travel, affecting as many as 10

million travellers. but if any eruption occurs this time, it's thought lava will emerge more slowly from a crack in the surface, so it's unlikely to cause the same chaos. in case of an eruption, we are expecting a small one, yes. but lava is flowing — we are not expecting a large explosive eruption — with minimal impact on atmosphere, flights, and living conditions for people. as the ground awakens after 800 years, people await the outcome of this seismic storm. isabella allen, bbc news. sydney's famous mardi gras celebrations have gone ahead, despite the pandemic, but the event was scaled back for the first time in four decades. instead of a dazzling parade through packed streets, about 36,000 lucky people gathered inside sydney's cricket ground. there was still a sea of rainbow flags, plenty

of pyrotechnics and a showcase performance by rita 0ra. mardi gras house parties, though, have been limited to 50 people. australian police had warned ofjail or heavy fines for rule—breakers. movie theatres in new york city have reopened after being closed for the better part of the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic. cinemas will be allowed to operate at 25% capacity. customers must wear masks and obey social distancing rules, and are encouraged to use disinfectant wipes and sanitizers. here's the reaction from some of the movie—goers. it feels amazing. it feels really good. i'm excited. i decided to not work today and ijust came to a theatre. as soon as i read that movie theatres were open, i got a ticket literally ten minutes later. well, it feels great — especially after so much time. you know, i don't subscribe to any streaming services, so — and i always love to see movies on a big screen with great sound, so it feels so good to be back. well, i was walking - by and saw the lights on. i had to come in and see.

i mean, the beginning of the end, hooray! i we are really- excited about this! let's hope it's over, 0k? now, who needs a movie when you can buy a tweet? bidding in an online auction for the first—ever tweet has climbed to $2.5 million. it was written by the platform's founderjack dorsey 15 years ago. mr dorsey simply wrote: this inaugural tweet is being sold as a unique digital certificate through an online marketplace. buyers predict that digital content can be financial investments, like an autograph or piece of memorabilia. 0ut out of my league! a reminder of our top story — president biden has welcomed the us senate's vote to approve his coronavirus relief plan, calling it "historic". mr biden said that the stimulus package, worth nearly $2 trillion, would help the country beat

the coronavirus, help struggling families, save jobs and halve child poverty. under the deal, millions of americans will receive a one—off payment of $1400. more on our website. stay with us. hello there. saturday was a disappointingly cold and cloudy day for many of us, and disappointing temperatures for early march. we did have a bit of sunshine, though, across western areas but it's looking like sunday is going to be a bit of a repeat performance. it is going to stay chilly with limited sunny breaks and quite a bit of cloud around. now, the settled conditions are because of this area of high pressure which will continue to bring settled weather through sunday, but it's slowly going to lose its grip on our weather as we head on to the start of next week. so, early for sunday, it's going to be cold and under clear skies. we will see some frost and mist and fog about, but there will be patchy rain for northern and western scotland, a little bit of snow over the higher ground, too, but where we have the cloud, 4—6 degrees here versus sub—zero further south, so a cold start to sunday. there will be some early

sunshine around, mind you, with the frost and a bit of mist and fog, but then it looks like the clouds will tend to build up again into the afternoon, so turning grey and cold for many. we'll have further rain for the north and west of scotland. i think temperatures here a degree or so up, 9 or 10 degrees, but elsewhere, 7 or 8 celsius. and then for sunday night, it will turn cold again for central and southern areas under clear skies, some further frost here but less cold further north — that's because we will have more cloud. some showery bursts of rain, which will also affect parts of the north into monday. so for northern ireland, parts of scotland, northern england, a bit of sunshine around too. after a cold start further south, there should be a bit of brightness around, but also cloud here and there. i think temperatures a degree or so up across the board — nine or ten degrees will be be high. —— nine or ten degrees will be the high. now into tuesday, the first of the weather fronts start to move in. this one's a weak feature, though, and it brings no more than a band of cloud with just a little bit of light rain on it. so it'll bring cloudier skies to northern and western areas

initially. sunnier skies central, southern and eastern areas after a cool start. and the winds will start to pick up from the south—west. so temperatures again 9, 10, maybe 11 degrees. but cast your eyes out west. this massive rain tied in with a deep area of low pressure — something that we haven't seen in a while — through tuesday night into wednesday and we could see another even deeper area of low pressure potentially move in wednesday into thursday. now, these areas of low pressure will also bring up some milder airfrom the south—west, certainly for england and wales, but it's certainly looking pretty stormy from mid—week onwards with some heavy rain, the potential of severe gales, and slightly less cold airfor some of us.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

president biden has welcomed a senate vote to approve his covid recovery plan. the bill worth nearly $2 trillion will return to the house of representatives for approval within days. republican senators were united in opposing the draft legislation, dismissing the bill as an unaffordable wish list. the visit of pope francis to iraq has continued with a public mass at a cathedral in baghdad. francis praised the resilience of iraq's remaining christians, whose numbers have plummeted in the past two decades. earlier, the pontiff held an unprecedented meeting with iraq's senior shia religious leader. in myanmar, there have been further allegations of police brutality, after security forces used stun grenades and tear gas against anti—coup protesters, who have again taken to the streets. the un's special envoy on myanmar has told the security council that there is "urgency for collective action". concerns are being raised

that thousands of pupils and their households may wrongly be told to isolate