it's as if. this is the the years line from the late pope francis a field for reconciliation on a historic 1st visit to iraq it begins with a call for and to sectarian violence and religious strife and remembers the dozens of victims of a suicide attack in baghdad cathedral also on the program china moves to tighten its grip on hong kong as phasing shifts its focus from the fight against the pandemic to longer term goals. to take a closer look at an international program helping countries in africa to vaccinate

some of their most vulnerable adults because he's 90. time philco welcome to the program. pope francis has arrived in baghdad on the 1st papal visit to a war torn iraq he began with an appeal for an end to sectarian violence and religious strife he also remembered the victims of a suicide attack on baghdad cathedral in which dozens of washington's were killed and a country with a twinkling christian community he called on iraqi leaders to guarantee equal rights for all on saturday he's to hold an unprecedented meeting with the country's top shiite muslim cleric and despite the pandemic huge crowds are expected when he celebrates mass. the pilgrim of peace as pope francis called him self

is aware of the risks he's taking made an ongoing pandemic and regional conflict. i'm happy to be making trips again. but he is not traveling alone he's protected by one of the largest security deployments in recent iraqi history $10000.00 personnel by some estimates including special forces 24 hour drone surveillance undercover intelligence officers in addition to the pope's own bodyguard entourage. it's the 1st visit by a pope to iraq and comes just 2 days after a rocket attack that seemed to put the trip in doubt his 1st remarks in baghdad acknowledge the difficult days most iraqis have had to endure without a military escort. over the past several decades iraq has suffered the disastrous effects of wars the scourge of terrorism and sectarian

conflicts often grounded in a fundamentalism incapable of accepting the peaceful coexistence of different ethnic religious groups different ideas and cultures he said a new chapter in iraqi history was urgent. if the name of god cannot be used to justify acts of murder exiled terrorism and oppression. iraq is home to some of the earliest christian settlements the christian community here is diverse like few others in the world roman catholics live side by side with how the end catholics protestants armenian orthodox christians and others. then politicize. the mujahideen we are sending a message to the pope and the world that we are here to know more we the christians are remaining on our land our roots are here it is impossible to leave the homeland that embraced us yes if that if enough knowledgeable heart yes. there were as many

as 1400000 christians in the country at the start of the iraq war in 2003 sectarian conflict drove most of them away in 2014 the so-called islamic state began targeting christians driving hundreds of thousands more from their homes the pope's visit is a sign of victory over this tide of violence he is set to visit mosul a former stronghold of the islamic state which was recaptured in 2017 by government forces and the head of the catholic church plans to meet with iraq's top shia muslim cleric grand ayatollah ali al sistani who has never met with the pope a big moment for christians and muslims alike straight to iraq then we're joined journalist in her. way of bail welcome houses visit being seen by iraqis especially by the non christians. well he's affectionately known as

once the non-christian of iraq misleads it's generally spits troops being very well received i think it's a nice reflection away from what's traditionally seen in so vox they want conflict in the same terence and this plague this country and since the fall of saddam back in 2003 so in general i think the trip itself is going to be very positively on the ground you know months and months both the christians but also the different the different sects of sex in this country right now but there must be concerns that all these crowds are going to turn his visit into some sort of covert super spreader event. yet there's very much the danger i think they need to keep the key event will be the one on sunday where he met holds of mass at the francisco's the stadium just down the road from where i'm at the moment and that could potentially cause of massive massive uptick in the case in iraq itself is already on its knees infrastructurally in inter and its health care system and it's very much it breaking point on top of that it's been brought dean 1000 deaths that corona almost

$14000.00 deaths to corinna and it also had a slight uptick in cases like in the cases since the start of the it so it is will risk. with it with this trip and we saw a thousands of security personnel that are going to be deployed what can you tell us about the. well 10000 troops actually troops been destroyed by that there's also a presence are here and below and in mosul and all the other cities that he's visiting on additionally there is obviously the drones and most cities now and that was what the lockdown that century not the lockdown itself within the city but anyone coming in and out is really not out so that's the main security security center i mean in erbil particularly are there was a recent rocket attack on the on the u.s. the u.s. base so that there's a concern there and also isis the islamic states and we group in some areas south of south of cook and also around the nineveh area so there is that security

concerns on the on. in that in that in that area as well right so what were they when they were when isis were targeting was targeting christians were we had in the report how most of them fled the country whom do they fear now. i mean the terms of the islamic state you know i mean i think that that they're very much on the rise in terms of bait certain areas particularly in the anbar and you never area where the pope will the pope will visit when he goes to mars there's a real concern that the christian communes were heavily targeted in town of kalak caution which he which on which the pope will also be busy they completely decimated the church church there and also a lot of the christians if you can back it then and came to then came to be oh here we are in the city so i think his visit here but see to the when he comes to erbil and since they're the catholics and christians it will be

a will because them are out because they've been severely pious heat when you slimy statement since it's sentence thanks so much for joining us us journalists on hold by bill. a year ago much of china was shut down to contain the corona virus with a pandemic and are largely under control its latest want to get the economy back on track around $3000.00 delegates are taking part in the annual national people's congress the country's biggest political event the rubber stamp laws drawn up by the communist party later and said political priorities for the next 5 years one of those is economic growth. neighborhood security officers patrol beijing streets when they're around it's a sure sign that an important chinese political gathering is underway the offices and to prevent displays of dissent during the event the mood at the gathering is optimistic china has largely managed to control a clearly pandemic and the economy has begun to recover after

a virus induced slump genius. the most important goals for this year are an increase in g.d.p. of more than 6 percent and the creation of $11000000.00 new jobs in urban areas. among the parties other plans a large increase in the military budget and greater investment in new technology to make china less dependent on the rest of the world china is also planning to tighten its control over hong kong to an electoral reform that said to be approved by beijing's national people's congress. which immediately jubilance are you going to the phones and we want to ensure in principle that patriots rule hong kong and. mass arrests have already weakened hong kong's pro-democracy movement activists fear that these changes could so michael are back layers of political scientists at

tufts university in massachusetts as a child alice of a conservative american enterprise institute he joins us from boston. welcome to day w. . you that you're with us professor. yeah thanks for having no us there so that what is that beijing aiming for with this boost to its defense budget well i think the 1st thing to note is that this 6.8 percent increase isn't unusual and up until 2014 china was increasing its military budget by roughly 10 percent every year that said 620 percent is still very significant and i think it reflects the fact that china is big on ambitions but short on time it wants to do big things like reabsorb taiwan and dominate east asia but it's about a sub or a devastating asian crisis 30 years from now china's going to have 200000000 fewer working age adults in $300000000.00 more senior citizens so it's simply not going to have the manpower or the tax base to apps like

a superpower so china needs to make a move now and that requires a big build out of the chinese military so i think that's why i'm seeing china's military spending largely tracked with the increase in china's economy right now so just just to make a you think there is what is what building up to wall throw its weight around to be able to credibly threaten to enforce its sprawling territorial claims which include most of the east and south china seas as well as territory and india and of course taiwan. and how the economy does appear to be about bouncing back while from coven 6 percent to growth be on the wildest dreams of many countries at the moment but you argue that that high that hides underlying weaknesses is just explain that to us is that beyond the ageing profile. well i think that's actually here and now so they do provide us 30 years from now

that the here and now is that most of china's economic growth has come through essentially stimulus spending china has been rolling out an obama administration sized stimulus package roughly every 5 months for the last 10 years in a predictable outcome of that is a huge surge in china's debt which is the wound 8 fold just over the last decade so that means that you know productivity growth which is what really drives real wealth creation is actually down 10 percent over the last 10 years and that means china is spending more and more to produce less and less so china says that it's going to grow 6 percent this year i think maybe 2 to 3 percent of that is going to be real growth coming from a bounce back in consumption in exports but the rest is going to be made up through all the things that beijing has said it wants to get away from namely stimulus spending on infrastructure and real estate projects that could turn into white elephants as well as frankly massaging the data china is notorious for that and if you study china's economic statistics you know that you know they massage you know

so i think the fundamental problem is that china yes it's going to meet its growth target but in fairly artificial ways that are setting itself up for a much worse crunch earlier down the line because now debt is at 335 percent of g.d.p. no country has racked up this much debt so fast in peace time at a certain point all of those wasted assets are going to have to be written off and that means china's g.d.p. will eventually take a haircut and we headed there for the value of the company spot he wants to put more money into innovation in an effort to try to decouple itself from west to technology a satellite into. i think it depends on the area i mean it makes total sense for china to do this because it confronts a pretty hostile environments where it's ranged by the united states and allies an anti china sentiment is actually high as we haven't seen since the 1997 square massacre and so china has reason to worry that it's dependencies on certain lynch and technologies like semiconductors is essentially

a pressure point that other countries especially the united states can squeeze in a time of crisis so the united states is already trying to get its allies to cut china off from advanced computer chips which is essentially threatening to decapitate leading chinese tech firms like quality and c.t.e. so china is spending lots of money we'll see if it's able to overcome this i mean it's already spent tens of billions of dollars to try to build the next semiconductors but it's national she still isn't up to international standards professor michael bakley from the american enterprise institute thank you so much thank you. all of this for a couple of technical issues at the start of that interview well we'll take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world starting near the workplace of opened fire on protesters in mandalay local media are reporting that one person was killed fresh protests have broken out across the update i'll have more view of the top of the hour up next on the interview because africa environment

a magazine course is always out war news around the clock on websites that state of being dot com instagram twitter as well at least years of good. patients on ventilators. overwhelmed doctors. and facemasks knockdowns. army trucks taking away the bodies of coded 900 victims and new infections and

deaths reported every day. until march 2020 these were images only seen in china where the virus felt far away but in the blink of an eye it had hit northern italy and spread to the whole of europe. in a matter of weeks a worldwide pandemic would be declared and our lives would never be the same. welcome talk of it not in special and d.-w. i'm going to get jones in berlin and i vividly remember sitting here in the studio last year reporting on the horace in the italian region of lombardy little did we know how that occurred with 19 would soon dominate all our lives and still does. but it was here at the. place where the.

patients could be treated. and military trucks had to transport coffins out of the city the pope john the 23rd hospital was at the center of the outbreak. today the number of coronavirus patients is a small fraction of a year ago. the director of the emergency station suspects that barrack a most residents have developed a form of herd immunity to the virus. many of the people who had antibodies in their blood last march were tested again in december and they still had antibodies in their blood 8 months later those people hardly anyone was infected again. after the 1st wave the city's health officials ordered extensive blood tests showed who had already been infected more than 40 percent of those tested had antibodies against covert 19 perhaps explaining

why significantly fewer people were infected during the 2nd wave in late 2020 but now another problem has officials concerned. i think we may have survived the worst of it but it's far from over we have to look carefully at the mutations that are spreading because they could completely change the virus and the situation here. the outbreak left even survivors traumatized and it wiped out nearly an entire generation of seniors among them stefano grandfather. there's a saying that fits this tragedy very well every time an old man dies it's like a library was burned down we saw a lot of libraries burned here it's a huge wound that will never heal. he said to look down and back i'm ok much too

late to save those like his grandfather. he founded an organization to seek justice and take legal action against the public officials he said let it happen 5000 people joined up. but for now fusco says he wants to transform anger into something constructive and one year after the coronavirus catastrophe to make sure that something like that never happens again. and i'm joined now on the line by and because starting the head of the critical care department and i see you as kramer on our hospital in italy criminal of course also being a beautiful town and along the region that was hit by the pandemic last spring and dr stuart you were right in the thick of it how did you experience that terrible 1st wife last spring. the year i perfectly can recall exactly the time when we knew that we were feet being called the main team. because we have been the

very 1st one to diagnose with these infection in europe and at that time it was clear that we were forced to to face having which was totally unexpected then and nobody deviating the last. 100 here here in europe so it was the idea that we have to find the way to to fly again a funding week problem which was really astonishing in the end you had to make hard choices also something that you probably don't have to do every day. yeah i think that what should be clear that the. disanalogy 0 we were forced to to face was its sorta worst scenario is sort of mosque a lengthy problem where the diffusion on my schedule of the year when there's

a huge disproportion between the number will be sion you have to take care to care and that a researcher sees that you have a being that will hear that the timing was a very difficult very important to. the chimney piece he shows which means the lakers which means. how to really. range and leave. the hospital organization to meet the sound being kit which was the top of the different from the routine that. must have been very tough for me not all your colleagues still on board or did some say this is too much so i quit. yeah i promise you that as i mentioned. to cool the situation with a sort of for worst scenario worst situation. what was the shoot what was the.

peacetime or getting the nation was that thoughtfully reverted so. that the defining. many many hours to be cool and so she's also let me say that. call the main theme for a tense east means. senior class which means a huge need of ice you care so that position where guided. prayer. barrel position with their e critical condition and so nobody nobody see no nobody surrender to the situation if you are asking me walk as being the cause of these choices for sure has been extremely hard so what is the situation now compared to years ago.

let me say that from the organization of perspective of course now we are well prepared and we. we know better these kind of pull but all of these guys on the very beginning these was totally unknown and so that was a nice sure the time now we are more ready and we have more deeper knowledge about what we have to do and about the walk to call the men section must unfortunately meantime we have became the core section corben the it didn't your logic perspective barry close to the 1st wasteful. fortunes the thing that we have to fight so we could be. no longer waiting for the vaccines prodigy. to enjoy the fine and just very briefly if you could utter

a wish to politicians what do they need to do now. i think that we have to talk there and we have to balance again the actual. research the walkies the now is variable and forecasting very wisely what to do in the next 23 months in order to address our export all right doctor and request r.t. from criminal hospital in italy thank you so much. thank you now one positive side effect of the pandemic more people have been getting a flu jab but there are still reservations towards 1000 maxine's and they justified time to ask derek. my elderly airlines have already survived the infection and vaccination recommended for them. i'm not a doctor and your in-laws need to talk to one about what's recommended for their

specific unique medical situation but they can go into that discussion informed so let's go back over a few fundamentals of this pandemic that are important to keep in mind 1st and foremost the elderly are the group most at risk when they get this disease in some places 4 in 5 of the people who died from coke at 19 have been over 65 that's why in fact seen rollouts nearly everywhere the elderly are at the top of the distribution list because evidence is now really piling up that back seems really do reduce severe disease hospitalization and death in that group 2nd in trials older people generally responded very well to approved vaccines and going on 300000000 shots worldwide they're still doing so

so the chances that a vaccine will present some kind of danger to their health are vanishingly small and there's a reason why which is that seems don't make you sick many people still have to be reminded of that approved vaccines don't contain sars kovi 2 they contain things that fake an infection with it and that can cause side effects as your immune system reacts sometimes even. fairly powerful side effects but but those are signs the vaccine is working and are almost always quite short term the 3rd point i want to make is that health authorities pretty much all recommend everyone get backs unaided when they had the chance even if they had the disease and have recovered because then the balancing acts as a booster and can help shore up the immune response even more there might be some

instances for example where someone is extremely frail or where there are serious underlying conditions where doctors might recommend postponing back summation but if they were recommending that for my in-laws i'd certainly make them explain why because vaccines saved lives. and there it williams will be back next week as will call it 19 special thanks for watching.

oh. boy. what's going on here oh no house of your very own from a printer. computer games that are healing. my dog needs electricity. shift explains delivers facts and shows what the future holds

oh yeah living in the digital world shift. on t w. carefully . don't know. it will soon be nice to get going. to get discovered the way. to go. subscribe to the documentary on you tube. good use crime fighters are back to africa's most successful in radio drama series continues

this season the stories focus on hate speech prevention and sustainable charcoal production. all of the zones are available online and of course you can share and discuss on africa's facebook page and other social media platforms. and fighters to mindanao. was an exiled saudi journalist who was killed and then butchered inside the saudi embassy in istanbul have a since his film say has been fighting to bring to justice the man identified by u.s. intelligence report as being behind his murder crown prince mohammed bin solomon of saudi arabia so what does have jenkins hope to achieve for him not at film say the man.