welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughanjones. dozens of people are killed in north—east mozambique in an attack by islamist militants. thousands are forced to flee. the mexican government admits the true number of its coronavirus deaths is sixty per cent higher than previously reported. an outpouring of grief in myanmar — security forces are condemned after opening fire on mourners at the funeral of a protester. and the case that shook america — and reverberated around the world — a special report as the man accused of george floyd's murder goes on trial.

it is difficult to comprehend the horror that engulfed the north—eastern region of mozambique this weekend. islamist militants linked to islamic state began attacking the town of palma on wednesday — since then they have killed dozens, and thousands of people have been forced to flee. foreign staff working on a nearby natural gas project have also been caught up in the violence. they say they were forced to fend for themselves. survivors describe headless bodies strewn across the town. the bbc�*s africa correspondent, catherine byaruhanga reports. a desperate journey for many who had been trapped in the far north—eastern corner of mozambique. finally made it to safety. civilians risk their lives to charter boats and ships for the rescue mission in palma. but many are still missing.

sonia omar is worried for her brother is safety and describes this as a horrible in unfair situation. live rounds and mortar shells have been let loose in palma since wednesday. local islamists link to isis to have wage a brutal insurgency in this region sense 2017. its people, already terrorised by the violence, have had to flee once again. eyewitnesses describe seeing dead bodies, some of them beheaded, on roadsides and on beaches. south african meryl knox's son adrian was killed as he tried to escape. her husband and a younger son made it out of palma.

but she says they were left to their own defenses. you can imagine, no army to protect them. none of them having weapons. so it was a matter of run for your life. this could've been avoided, my son could still be alive today. after days of silence, the mozambican army confirmed the deaths of civilians, including foreign nationals, and said it was focused on restoring peace to palma. but the government is criticised for failing to tackle an insurgency that has seen 2,000 people killed and over 500,000 displaced. this latest attack, so close to lucrative natural gas projects will put it under even more pressure. catherine byaruhanga, bbc news, nairobi. i spoke to emily estelle senior research associate

at the american enterprise institute. i asked how these militant groups had become so powerful. so this insurgent group in northern mozambique is part of a broaderjihadi movement that includes al-qaeda and similar groups and this group is linked to islamic state. this group is a combination of long standing jihadist networks in eastern africa which have global goals with local mobilisation focused on more local issues and grievances. the injection of expertise from those networks has made this group more deadly as it became active in 2017 and so that explains some of the extreme violence we're seeing now. and it seems, at the moment, government forces are just simply no match. unfortunately, that is the case. the mozambican government and its forces face a number of challenges. one is the size and capability of the military against an insurgency that is remote, but other challenges include reports that there have been abuses by security forces and possibly by private

military contractors against civilians which, with an insurgency like this, actually strengthens the underlying factors that drive the insurgency and make it harder to defeat the group ultimately. and what are some of the recruiting tactics of this group? yeah, so groups like this work by inserting themselves into combustible local situations. in this case, there are background grievances between religious communities, within religious communities, ethnic groups, economic grievances against foreign resource extraction and simply a failing economy that is not allowing particularly young men to move into the next stages of adulthood. now, that means that this group can recruit, in some cases, by attracting people and providing a cause and providing a livelihood, but we've also seen this group

just forcing people to join with the extreme level of brutality that's also being reported out. so that combination of brutality and capitalising on local circumstances. as i mentioned at the beginning, the area this is happening, with natural gas, with foreign workers. is this just a coincidence of location? what is the relationship there? so i think it's actually been a goal of this group for a while to try and drive out foreigners generally, and that's a theme we see across groups like this in africa and elsewhere in the world.. now, while this group hasn't directly targeted the natural gas infrastructure, it's gotten close enough to have this effect, targeting both foreigners that are present in the area, and local civilians. this group has also been driving out civilians in the thousands. and that's part of a strategy to try to take over the terrain generally and install themselves more permanently. myanmar security forces are reported to have opened

fire on people gathered at a funeral on sunday. it was being held for some of the 114 people killed the previous day, the bloodiest since february's military coup. the united nations has led international condemnation of myanmar�*s military rulers. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, said washington was horrified by what he called the "reign of terror" laura bicker reports. "my son, my son, why can't you hear me," she cries. 13—year—old sai wai yan was playing in the street when he was shot and killed. witnesses say troops opened fire, even though no protests were nearby. his family are now adding their voices to a chorus calling for revolution. these children, in this time of crisis, they are kept in the safest place, by theirfamily.

these children are not on the street, not on the front, not even in the living rooms. they are hiding. even children are not safe, so that means no—one is safe in burma. over 400 people have now died in myanmar since the military seized power last month. some protesters have started to fight back using home—made weapons. but they are no match against trained fighters and live rounds. the us has accused general min aung hlaing of presiding over a reign of terror. his regime has already been hit by some sanctions, but he still has powerful friends. russia's deputy defence minister was given a front row seat for yesterday's armed forces day. 0ther diplomats were also in the crowd, including from china. but 12 military leaders

from around the world issued a rarejoint statement reminding the general that an army is supposed to protect its people... gunshot. ..not turn their guns on them. and yet the protests continue undeterred. the will of a defiant people determined to restore democracy has so far refused to bend, even under relentless fire. laura bicker, bbc news, bangkok. saturday also saw the burmese military carry out airstrikes against ethnic karen groups for the first time in 20 years. reports from ngos suggest 2,000 people were displaced by strikes against two villages, with refugees fleeing to neighbouring thailand. a caesefire had previosly been in place between the burmese military and karen insurgency forces — one of number of ethnic minority groups in myanmar. ethnic militant groups are also present in the northern states of shan and kachin. prior to the coup the majority

of the milkitary regimes focus was one these groups, with many human rights violation reported over decades. david eubank is founder and head of the free burma rangers, an ngo which provides assistance to displaced people in myanmar. could you tell us what difference in your assessment has been made since the military coup with the actions of the military? it’s military coup with the actions of the military?— of the military? it's been a big difference. _ of the military? it's been a big difference. i _ of the military? it's been a big difference. i was - of the military? it's been aj big difference. i was inside the actualfighting area the actual fighting area starting in december, january, a slow build—up in february, an explosion. we had around 2500 people displaced in northern karen state and now we have over 10,000 and more burmese soldiers have come up, over 104 trucks for example on one road

alone trying to build—up the camps and systems in northern karen state so we've seen an escalation in karen state but teams up in kuchin state of reported more attacks and more people displaced.— people displaced. what has chan . ed people displaced. what has changed in _ people displaced. what has changed in the _ changed in the military mindset? you think it is a lack of shackles now from previous democracy? what has changed? i think you are right. it is the relationship between the coup in the fight between the ethnics that connected. and i believe the burma military and aung san suu kyi and others said that's enough, we're going to take over a direct leave. the same with the ceasefires. they were not making the will of the ethnics like the burmese generals thought they would sew the gloves are. the gloves are up in rangoon, according to your excellent report, the same in the ethnic areas. there have

been airstrikes in kachin state but i've been in the field for 25 years but i've never seen airstrikes in karen state, there were a few but not in the last 20 years and also its unique, these are airstrikes, some of them occurred at night. we have not seen the burma army with that capability until now to unite warming runs. this of course influences _ to unite warming runs. this of course influences a _ to unite warming runs. this of course influences a huge - to unite warming runs. this of i course influences a huge number of people, people being displaced. what kind of help can you and organisations like yours give in these circumstances? ~ ., ., yours give in these circumstances? ., ':::: circumstances? we got about 100 small teams _ circumstances? we got about 100 small teams in _ circumstances? we got about 100 small teams in burma _ circumstances? we got about 100 small teams in burma but- circumstances? we got about 100 small teams in burma but that . small teams in burma but that is not nearly enough stop our teams give medical support, types, shelter and food and there are many other organisations and community—based organisation on the ground doing the same, we are in a partnership together and what we need is more funds forfood, blankets, tarps, for food, blankets, tarps, medicine forfood, blankets, tarps, medicine but the biggest need is to stop the burma army. people in karen will tell me what they told me, we don't need food and medicine, if you

just stop the burma army, we can do that ourselves but our appeal is for whatever intervention is necessary to stop the attacks of the burma army against people in the cities and the mountains and before that, immediate humanitarian assistance and there are many good partners on there are many good partners on the ground among the ethnic peoples. the ground among the ethnic peoles. ., ~ the ground among the ethnic peoles. . ~ i. the ground among the ethnic peoles. ., ~' ,, the ground among the ethnic peoles. ., ~' . ., peoples. thank you so much for cominu peoples. thank you so much for coming on- _ mexico has published revised figures indicating the number of deaths caused by coronavirus is 60% higher than previously reported. more than 320,000 people are now believed to have died from the disease in the country. meaning it now has the second highest number of covid—related deaths in the world, after the us. the new figures came after a review of "excess deaths" and of death certificates. so why do different countries count the numbers in different ways? how accurate is the global death toll? i asked monica gandhi, a doctor at the university of california, san francisco medical center. we don't actually have a planetwide system on how

to adjudicate deaths and this sort of showed this to us. today, as you told us today and reported, mexico increased their death count from covid—19 by more than 100,000 people, which ended up putting them into the second highest numbers of deaths worldwide from covid—19. and that was looking at the fact that they had so many more excess deaths than last year. and then even though the death certificates may not exactly reflect what people died of, understanding there are probably a lot of deaths that happened at home because the icu capacity is quite limited in many areas in mexico, and they decided to give these more accurate figures, so it is very worrisome, you are right, that we don't have a standard way worldwide to say what are the deaths from these causes, we need to work on this in a standard way after this.

that's really interesting, given we are a year into this, and we still don't have the standardised method, this approach of looking at excess deaths, which sounds cold and calculated but it's just the overall number of higher deaths that is normal in any given year. given as you are saying, some people aren't going to hospitals, things not recorded, the difference in recordings on death certificates around the world. is the ultimate number that in the future, next year, we should look on, is this number of access deaths across each country? this is a fair measure to look at, is excess deaths, because in general, we have a certain death rate every year and it does sound gruesome, then there are months where the death rate is higher because of respiratory illnesses like influenza and pneumonias, and usually the colder months in different countries. and we have it down, about what number of deaths you would have each year from typical causes and then suddenly something

like a pandemic comes along, and there are these excess deaths recorded. they're sort of assuming what else could be because of covid—19, what did change in country or worldwide that lead to these more than 100,000 deaths that were excess from the year 2018, for example, 2019, so it is fair. it's crude, i know it sounds crude but it is fair how many countries in retrospect have been looking back and saying, "did they have excess deaths," but you just revealed a problem that lower and middle—income countries, if they have limited hospital capacity, are occurring at home. they have been taken, unfortunately, to the morgue, for example, nobody recorded what they died of, so this is an assumption we have to make, what else could they have died of if there were more deaths this year than last year? stay with us on bbc news, still to come:

stay indoors — the warning from local authorities after severe weather wreaked havoc on the portugese island of madeira. the accident that happened here was of the sort that can produce a meltdown. in this case, the precautions worked, but they didn't work quite well enough to prevent some old fears about the safety features of these stations from resurfacing. the republic of ireland has become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. from today, anyone lighting up in offices, businesses, pubs and restaurants will face a heavy fine. the president was on his way out of the washington hilton hotel where he had in addressing a trade union conference. a small crowd outside included his assailant.

it has become - a symbol of paris. 100 years ago, many parisians| wished it had never been built. the eiffel towers's- birthday is being marked by a re—enactment of the first ascent i by gustave eiffel. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: security forces in mozambique say dozens of people were killed in an attack by islamist militants on the town of palma — hundreds of others escaped to safety. the mexican government has admitted the true number of its coronavirus deaths is 60% higher than previously reported. on monday, the trial begins of derek chauvin — the minneapolis police officer accused of murdering george floyd, by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, in may last year.

the video of mr floyd's death was caught on camera and sparked widespread protests against police brutality. 0ur north america correspondent, aleem maqbool, reports on what's being seen as one of the most important trials in us history. it sparked a mobilisation of people the likes of which has never been seen. the killing compelled americans to take a look notjust at the issue of police brutality but systemic racism in all its guises. "my daddy changed the world", said george floyd's daughter. and politicians and corporations promised to deliver. but when the spotlight shifted, what did change? so, a lot of people. people like to talk about change when things are burning down. and people are breaking into malls and there are protests every night and people are burning down restau ra nts. when all of that dies down, the call for change dies down too, unfortunately.

and black men continue to die at the hands of police. at this site, just two weeks after george floyd was killed... i don't want to refuse anything. rayshard brooks was reported sleeping in his vehicle in a restaurant car park. he was shot in the back by police and killed as he ran away. the case against the officer has faltered. for many activists, the focus of frustration became the government of donald trump, as george floyd's nephew told me last year. we demand change. so this is what is going to happen. we need to get out there and vote. vote him out. in the elections in georgia, for example, the turnout of black voters is credited with helping flip the state democratic. the killing of george floyd played a big role in that. we were all politicised at that moment and many people actually decided that we were going to turn that pain into power. and it started with a vote? for many people, part of it is, it starts with a vote but not a vote because we are asking people to believe

in the system, but we're getting people to use their agency to believe in themselves. but what of the police? some states did introduce changes to do with body cameras or banning the use of choke—holds. but this was no root and branch reform. well, many police here feel they have been unfairly targeted since last summer, insisting there aren't systemic issues with racism and excessive use of force. and speak to some of those who represent officers when they've killed — well, they question even the fundamentals of this case. because the central question here is not going to be whether he used a tactic that was not recognised by law enforcement. we've already condemned it. the question is, what caused george floyd's death? but there are very few people who would feel he would have i don't agree with you. a sense, perhaps, of how derek chauvin�*s defence will play things over the coming weeks. george floyd, as his daughter said, did change things,

eliciting emphatic calls for action. but even the trial itself is likely to expose the fact that not everyone has accepted anything needs to change at all. aleem maqbool, bbc news in atlanta. there have been clashes in bangladesh for three days in a row following the visit of indian prime minister a dozen protesters have died and more have been injured. the bbc�*s azadeh moshiri reports. flames and violence in bangladesh in the wake of indian prime minister narendra modi's visit. he left on saturday but the chaos is still fresh and palpable. many were injured and some were killed with clashes against police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets against islamist protesters. hindu temples were attacked and a train has been vandalised. translation: bangladesh is a muslim country, - we do not want to see him on our soil!

prime minister narendra modi's visit was meant to be a festive one. he was there to mark bangladesh's 50 years of independence, as well as the birth centenary of the nation's founder and father of the current prime minister. but for an islamist group in bangladesh, his two—day visit was unwelcome. bangladesh is a country of 168 million people and is mostly muslim. the group accused mr modi of stoking violence against muslims in his home country of india, and they're calling for more demonstrations. translation: the police force made this conspiracy to create | turbulence in the country and fight against the islamic scholars and unjustly fired on our innocent students. we protest the steps and demand justice. india's home minister has warned tough action will be

taken if the, quote, �*anarchy�* continues. but what he can't put an end to is the dark shadow cast over the country's goldenjubilee. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. another tug boat has arrived to help the growing effort to refloat the giant container ship which has been blocking the suez canal since last tuesday. there are now twelve tugs trying to dislodge the ever given, which has stopped all shipping along one of the world's most important trade routes. the egyptian government has ordered preparations to be made to lighten the load of the ship in case the current efforts to move it are unsuccessful. residents on the portuguese island of madeira have been asked by the regional government to stay indoors, after huge thunderstorms twice blacked out electricity and caused widespread flooding. alison roberts reports from lisbon. more than 20,000 flashes of lightning were recorded as the storm raged throughout saturday and into sunday. twice power was lost across the island due

to lightning strikes. the storm brought heavy rain resulting in widespread flooding of streets, underground car parks and also some homes. no—one was reported injured but several dozen people were left homeless. translation: the water came up above the sidewalk, - i had to leave. there was nothing i could do. continuing unstable weather prompted the authorities to urge the island's quarter of a million residents to stay indoors. the power is now back on for most of the island's inhabitants but the electricity company has warned that it will take time to replace some of the damaged equipment. quickly before i go, take a look at these pictures from germany. this is a former power station north ofjostled off.

they brought down the chimney, cooling tower and the boiler. that does make it. i'm lewis vaughanjones, this is bbc news. hello. it is going to feel like spring through the first part of this week for many of us. in fact, in some places you'd be forgiven for thinking summer had arrived early with values up to 22 or maybe 23 degrees. but by the end of the week it will feel more like winter has returned. much colder air digging its way southward just in time for the easter weekend. and in the shorter term, north—west scotland could see localised flooding over the next couple of days as this wriggling weather front brings heavy and persistent rain. to the south of that weather front that's where we're going to be importing the very warm air but notice there is something much colder up to the north. that will come into play by the end of the week. along the line of our weather front, heavy rain particular for northern ireland

and western scotland. very, very mild to start monday morning. 12 or 13 degrees in places. but it is going to be quite cloudy, misty and murky for many. rain pulling northwards out of northern ireland and continuing across western scotland all day long. heavy rain at that. some brightness for eastern scotland and certainly some brightest skies developing across england and wales. in the best of the sunshine here across parts of eastern england for example, we could get to 20 or 21 degrees, with a little bit cooler for some english channel coasts. through monday night and on into tuesday the rain continues across north—west scotland, it's the persistence of the rain that gives the potential for localised flooding. the further south and east you are on tuesday though, any early mist patch as you're clear, there will be lots of sunshine and tuesday is set to be a very warm day indeed. we could get as high as 23 degrees. pretty exceptional for this point in march. not as warm further north

where we keep cloud and rain. that cloud and rain on wednesday it will start to journey slowly southwards. the rain fizzling away but behind it some colder airdigging in. still some warmth towards the south on wednesday but up to the north, temperatures taking quite the tumble. and as we move out of wednesday towards the end of the week that frontal system in the north will finally journey its way southward. high—pressure building in behind so there will still be a fair amount of dry weather but much colder weather sinking its way southwards for the end of the week. and for the easter weekend it is going to feel decidedly chilly. there could even be some wintry showers.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: authorities in mozambique have defended their response to an attack by islamist militants on the north—eastern town of palma. a security spokesman said dozens of people had been killed by the insurgents but hundreds of others, including foreign gas workers, had been rescued. the mexican government has acknowledged that the true number of coronavirus deaths in the country is 60% higher than previously reported. based on excess mortality data, it's now thought that more than 320,000 mexicans have died as a result of the pandemic. in myanmar, troops have opened fire at a funeral for one of the 114 people killed in a crackdown on saturday. the european union and the united states have stepped up their criticism of the military for using deadly force against protesters. now on bbc news, dateline london.