news line from berlin the pope calls for an end to religious extremism on the 1st of a papal visit to iraq pope francis visits a cathedral in baghdad where dozens of people were massacred by extremists over a decade ago today he'll meet with she was islams leading cleric also coming up. for democracy for un silenced in miramar despite a week of deaths and detention the u.n.

special envoy urgent search security council to act against the violence. and we take a closer look at international program helping countries in africa to vaccinate some of their most vulnerable against code 19. a michael ok welcome to the program pope francis is holding a groundbreaking meeting with the leading cleric in shia islam francis is in the city of najaf to hold talks with grand ayatollah ali sistani the meeting will be a major step in deepening ties to shia on friday pope francis met with christians in baghdad iraq's christian community has been growing smaller every year it's now estimated just half a 1000000 iraqi christians remain in the country. the pilgrim of peace as pope

francis called himself is aware of the risks he is taking amid an ongoing pandemic and a regional conflict. this is an emblematic trip and it is my duty to a martyred land. 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 and undercover intelligence officers 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 different ethnic and religious groups in the name of god cannot be used to justify acts of murder exile terrorism and oppression. for over 2 decades now sectarian conflict has driven most of iraq's christians out of the country. in 2014 the so-called islamic state began targeting christians driving hundreds of thousands more from their homes the pope's visit is a symbol of victory over this tide of violence. this cathedral in baghdad was the site of a 2010 terrorist attack the pope's visit there drew strong reactions from the community. we feel indescribable joy not only me but everyone seeing pope francis in iraq as a historic event. pope francis also plans to visit. mosul a recaptured stronghold of the islamic state and the pontiff is set to meet with

iraq's top shia muslim cleric grand ayatollah ali al sistani who has never met with the pope it's a big moment for christians and muslims alike. for more on this i'm joined by d.w. religious affairs correspondent martin jacques martin the pope is now meeting we understand with grand ayatollah. sistani in a nutshell why is this meeting so important. i think generally speaking this has been the policy or the policy position of this vatican which restricts trends and strengthening relations across really just religious boundaries and it has made you know it has made islam one of its name one of its main targets in the sense i mean they are very interested in fostering part of their relations with the world they have done sort of a thorough going where we would. would sunni's and now there is an opportunity for

this pope to meet actually one of the main few years of the show were. so. here is that you know the basis the date the ground is being is being said for essentially much more work to be done in the future keep in mind that the vatican has a very strong diplomatic machine which very often states on the ground way after the pope has left the country so the presumption that this is an opening of conversations we don't very important part of usefully of the muslim world as you well know this meeting has been more than a decade in the making why has it taken so long. well there was an attendant in day. john paul the 2nd to meet to go to iraq but actually in negotiations with with the saddam hussein regime back then. the plan fell through and that possibility really came now i mean i think that these events you

can that it's very interesting underscoring the situation of christians in the region particularly in the context of you know the grown up and demick and so on in which the foggiest has been sort of lost therefore the pope has decided to actually had to wait obviously iran which is not directly the issue i mean we are talking about iraq but iranians have very looms large in the international political political. landscape and meeting with a shia cleric in iraq which he's somebody that in some sense is we could say something like political and religious softy shool uniting the both countries becomes an important figure an important gesture. martin jacques to religious affairs correspondent much thanks. you're welcome the un special envoy in miramar has called for a robust international response after this week's violence against protesters she

made the remarks during a closed door meeting of the u.n. security council in new york but the council is unlikely to pass a resolution on miramar because of china and russia's veto wielding seats more than 50 people have been killed over the past 7 days as protesters keep up their calls for a return to democracy. oh. the march for democracy perseverance in me and maher despite brutal crackdowns by the military authorities. demonstrations are regularly dispersed by tear gas the violence has escalated in the last week with police making mass arrests and adopting more lethal force. with radio free asia published this c.c.t.v. footage it allegedly shows authorities beating up medical volunteers in the un gone on wednesday the broadcasters say as they were then taken to prison the video

follows reports that police opened fire on medical workers in the city where several protesters died was self-styled front line protesters keep the demonstrations going they equip themselves with shields helmets and gas masks and it's their job to assist anyone injured. during the dinner rule to those who died in the revolution had families of the original where they had their whole lives ahead of them joe wanted to lose some of them were younger than me it makes me very angry but we can't do anything so we're protesting peacefully and have to fight until the end will hold your gold farming was. hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of 25 year old our carmo he was one of many who died on wednesday. oh.

god he was my eldest son. he got shot while he was trying to save his friend who was also shot. can. you know what you to police a shot to right at his heart is no remorse you know what i feel so angry that they're suppressing us again like they did under military rule they're destroying their own life for their own sakes the minute you know the overtones on it are you know nobody. the revolution must prevail the mourners chant to get their. journalist intent is joining me now from young gun a people are back on the streets today after tough crackdowns from the military this week do you think it will get even worse this weekend it's quite

possible there's quite a number of sort of confluence ing of bents that are happening right now the committee representing elected officials have made an announcement that government workers have been told of 7 midnight to join the civil disobedience or face essentially sanctions from the public and the government the military has also ordered all thanks to open. and you know they're in a sense losing control of government workers as well as institutions with over 600 police who have now left military controlled ministries as well as over 10 diplomats or at least 10 diplomats who have publicly stated that they will not obey orders from the hunt so it's quite likely that you will see further escalation as the military loses more control well clearly the military has exhibited no signs of backing down if anything they've shown an even firmer hand do protesters believe they have a chance of making any difference. yes so if you listen to any of

the protests are happening or watch what's happening by chance are still very aggressive about what they think they're very optimistic about the chances of winning almost all the chances are about how they will not lose how this is the last fight and in fact the songs that people are singing are about the sort of final battle so i think we're in a situation in which protesters have the side that that you know there's no future except the democratic one well according to reports the military has jailed many journalists how do you and your fellow colleagues men if she continue working. so mostly journalists will happen the rest of have been taken while they are working so what number of journalists have started doing is not identified themselves as press and then the sort of visible way while they're doing their work to my helmet right now doesn't say press and this jacket while it does say press i

do take it off if i feel like i'm going danger of being targeted as a member of the press and also one journalist was taken from his home and one thing that many journalists are doing right now is not sleeping and they want to ensure that they stay at least half a step ahead of security officials came in saying journalists and young gun thanks so much. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world at this hour protesters have gathered in the turkish city of is jumping to denounce violence against women government figures show hundreds of women were killed across turkey last year the demonstration comes a few days ahead of international women's day which saw clashes between women's rights protesters and police last year. u.s. aviation authorities say they will investigate in the merge and see on a boeing $737.00 max plane the aircraft landed safely on friday after their captain shut down an engine american airlines said the issue was not related to the

computer systems blamed for to fail crashes that resulted in the world wide grounding of 737 max planes while some wealthy nations have already vaccinated millions of people against covert 19 many african countries are struggling to secure even a small number of doses the world health organization's kovacs initiative aims to help poor countries roll out vaccines now nigeria kenya and will one day have started inoculating health workers and other vulnerable people it's an historic moment for this medical work because the of the 1st kenyans to receive a covert 9000 vaccine. somebody from. the east african nation has begun rolling out dozes from the global kovacs program

an initiative launched by the walls health organization to ensure low and middle income countries have fair access to vaccines. it's a crucial resource for the world's poorest continent and say kenya's president stressed the importance of global cooperation roxanne nationalism is something that you should. make a nice thing. if you ask and it's just there is no single country that will be able to be safe unless all of us are safe so we have an obligation to ensure that this vaccine is made available. and that's a special to the citizens of the globe this week the 1st batch of more than 1000000 astra zeneca doses summarized in nairobi kenya hopes to vaccinate

1200000 people by june. that's all for now you're watching news up next our technology show scheft don't forget you can get all the latest news headlines on our website that's. also on instagram and twitter at e w news i'm michael okwu in berlin thanks for watching. and forced into an english mass. their bodies your tools. the history of the slave trade is africa's his.