fizzes d.w. news line from berlin the philippines government values revenge on those behind a deadly bombing at a cathedral at least eighteen people were killed when twin blasts struck during sunday mass the attack a holo island which has long been plagued by islamist militants our correspondent has the latest. and venezuela's top military envoy to the u.s. breaks ranks with president nicolas maduro and urges the rest of the country's military to back opposition leader wanted to a duel demands for fresh elections are growing with huge protests expected.

i'm carl aspen thanks for join me two bombs have exploded at a cathedral in the town of holo in the southern philippines at least eighteen people were killed and many more were wounded the first blast happened during sunday mass it sent churchgoers scrambling outside where a second bomb then detonated it tack on the island of holo comes less than a week after voters there projected its inclusion in a muslim autonomous area in other parts of the mindanao island group the referendum was overwhelmingly approved. our south east asia correspondent boston hard to going to be now with more boston what else do we know about this attack. well we know karl that this wasn't the first time

that this particular church was targeted we know as you said that there were two bombs one going off as the mass was going on and then the second one about a minute later near the entrance of the church as the people were fleeing the building and security for forces were coming in to secure the perimeter is now we understand that the majority of the victims are in fact civilians although there are some army personnel among the wounded as well most of the casualties were taken to the local hospital in holo some however were also airlifted out to zamboanga city which is on the neighboring island of mindanao which is the main island in the southern philippines karl president. is calling this an act of terrorism but what do we know about who might be behind the bombings. well so far there are no group has claimed responsibility for this attack the

filipino authorities however are focusing on one group of several armed islamist groups who operate in that area and that is the. often they're saying that is there's a high probability that it was that group because they believe that it's the only group that has the capability and the means to carry out an attack like that and if that's in fact true then we're dealing with a group that is responsible for many bombings in the past mainly in the southern philippines but also in other parts of the country and they're also notorious for piracy and for kidnappings for ransom also targeting western travelers in that area and they're known to behead their hostages if the ransom they demand for them isn't paid carol could this attack be linked to last week's referendum on the muslim autonomy in the southern philippines. it's a bit too early to tell but the authorities are definitely looking into that. the

area where this attack happened sulu province in the southern philippines rejected that autonomy law in that referendum last week and if it's in fact a group like the i would say off who is behind this attack they could benefit from sabotaging this autonomy law and sabotaging the peace deal because they draw their strength from the dissatisfaction among the muslim population in that area dissatisfaction that stems from perceived oppression and perceived injustices and those are exactly things that this autonomy law and that this peace deal aim to target carl. all right our south east asia correspondent boston heartsick thank you very much. now to some of the other stories making news around the world the u.n. says more than fifty mass graves have been found in the democratic republic of congo after a string of killings there the graves in the west of the country are believed to be

related to deadly violence between two ethnic groups that erupted in december an investigation is now underway. canada's ambassador to china has been fired by prime minister justin trudeau maccallum was sacked for suggesting that the u.s. should drop its extradition request for wall way executive when one jew she's the firm's c.f.o. and was arrested in vancouver in december she's also wanted by the u.s. on charges of violating sanctions on iran. hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have gathered to attend pope francis's world youth day mass in panama city on sunday the service marks the end of the pontiff first trip to central america later today he will also visit a church run home for people living with aids. huge protests are expected in the venezuelan capital caracas as demands grow for fresh elections that's after the country's top military envoy to the united states announced he turned his back on president nicolas maduro government he said he recognizes

opposition leader one dual as venezuela's interim president and urged the rest of the military to follow his lead the european union has also called for fresh elections president maduro says his government will not be dictated to by foreign nations. the e.u. is ultimatum is another boost for one quite knows campaign to oust nicolas maduro brussels has given the incumbent a week to call fresh elections otherwise it will recognize his opponent as president. you know given that you know the first thing i want to do today is to recognize the european union's firm steps toward supporting venezuela firm steps in supporting and recognizing the democratic struggle in our country. during a congress that a different rally madeira was government pushed back in strong terms it's

a lever that you don't have what i gather i don't know so the european union has given us eight days to go to hell over something as well and don't take orders from anyone. yet another year none of the others are doing this while the military leadership continues to stand by president maduro a high level defections signaled that the army's unity may be fracturing venezuela's military attache in washington announced he was switching sides. yet today i speak to the people of venezuela and especially to my brother was in the national armed forces with the goal of recognizing one guy door as the only legitimate president. one way to go so you know to vote through a crisis was hotly debated saturday at an emergency session of the u.n. security council called by the u.s. to force the world's powers to pick a side. no more delays no more games either you stand with the forces of freedom or

you're in league with material and has made i'm mature as defined growing international pressure and building by russia and china's continued support your calling the crisis a u.s. orchestrated coup. but he defused an imminent showdown with washington over his demand for american diplomatic personnel to leave venezuela by sunday extending the window to allow negotiations with u.s. officials. there. is in caracas for us he's been closely following the developments there. caracas now waking up this morning to this news that a key military official has broken ranks with him adorable how is that playing out so far yesterday the bell as well the military old boy in washington colonel also received about right at last one way to go as president ensure of the next well he's the first to do so and it helps the opposition today because they are handing out any news tomorrow and that did in congress to punish the military

of any wrongdoing during this last years marked by violent repression from forces their hand in the law and to military and armed forces and in exchange some sort of work of transition in government in a free and fair elections now we could have noticed government did not just what we call this action as treason ok now we're just from her no question really. interesting there. at the last minute we may have lost are you still there if you lose them. there you are ok girl at the at the last minute he suspended his demand for u.s. diplomats leave the country what do you make of that. well. obviously backtracked on the seventy two hour also made they handed out this memo saying that they are talking with the u.s. government to. put up these offices of interests and if that thirty days the

offices of interests are not set up as they want to know then they have seventy two hours to leave so obviously there is a break in command. this was expected because it was very difficult to imagine how migrants government was going to forcefully be almost diplomatic personnel of the u.s. embassy here as well and. let's look ahead now things are still a bit uncertain but is there a sense perhaps of a larger shift in the military away from a do or oh. well it seems that way from what we heard this morning from the military on board in washington. however high ranking officers in the military have a very important interest economic and political interests in venezuela and they are supporting mother who drove through and through. hope for opposition is that

middle and lower range officers rebel against the iranian officers and that is a tough quarter so we are expecting to see what happens with this amnesty law if it has. any power in changing minds of the military here and that's what. i write the following those developments in caracas for us thank you very much. now yet another mining dam is at risk of rupturing in brazil's south east according to warnings from firefighters it's been only two days since a deadly dam collapse in the same area killed at least thirty four people around three hundred more are still missing after that disaster but hopes of finding more people alive are fading. since of despair. for the families of the missing the wait for news about their loved ones has become

simply am bearable. sorrow is also turning into anger this woman's husband is among the missing. watching i don't have any news he's not of seeing his phone i'll give you his number and you call him i need an answer i'm desperate my daughter is pregnant and is not feeling well the police aren't letting me go there why if nobody tells me anything if he's not fine he has a family some residents accuse authorities in the area of negligence. the alarm didn't work the only alarm i heard came from my neighbors miles they were yelling. meanwhile rescue workers continue to dig through the mud and debris in search of signs of life dozens of people may still be buried under the waste and hopes to find them alive are fading. it's still unclear what caused

the dam to collapse it had passed a safety test just last year it's owner brazil's largest mining company is still facing legal action for another dam veriest in the same region in twenty fifteen. brazil's president a gyre both a narrow flew over the devastated area in a helicopter on saturday he said in a tweet that he was hard to not to get emotional after seeing the scale of the devastation he said a full investigation will be carried out. now today marks holocaust memorial day on this day in one nine hundred forty five soviet troops liberated thousands of prisoners in the auschwitz concentration camp former prisoners have placed flowers at an execution ball in the former nazi death camp where more than a million people were killed a ceremony to honor the victims is planned for later on sunday.

all right tennis now and the world number one novak djokovic has beaten world number two rafael nadal to win a record seventh australian open title the serve in just around two hours to complete a three set victory djokovic dominated from the start winning thirteen of the first fourteen points and that trend continued in the second set which he won after losing just two games he didn't wind up in the third set either joke which won six three six two six three it's his third straight grand slam title and the fifteenth of his career. coming up after the break it's the bundesliga with my colleague nick mckenna kline dortmund were sitting at the top of the table going to the match day nineteen and of course they want to get their formidable scoring machine going once again against an over stay tuned for that and more coming up on the industry.

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