decades of civil war and he condemned religious extremists who use terrorism to achieve their aims. on sunday pope francis will see firsthand the destruction left behind by the terrorist islamic state when he visits the group's former stronghold in the northern iraqi city of mosul. now joined by journalist owen holdaway his in the air bill following the papal visit high on the pope met with one of the most powerful thinkers and shiite islam grand ayatollah ali al sistani why was as meeting so important he was extremely important because as you say these words powerful shortly but not soon iraq iran that whole middle east so i think the meeting of them to give a joint message of unity armas streaming importantly and also signals a lot that's cheerful as to you know to actually go along with that with their own christian brethren of iraq sort of a very strong message was additionally the arts for

a very private man growing makes political statements or a few of them so the fact that he came out and said so. i think it's really really really powerful so several times since his arrival already pope francis has denounced extremism and violence in the name of religion but realistically what can he achieve on this trip as far as interfaith dialogue goes. i think one of communitarian level you know social level one of these theories very powerful because it suits you but essentially the christians you've been persecuted yes and since the start up arm you can be the voice of the islamic state so i think the message that comes across particular not just to the me to the ayatollah but i'm so the other of the sunni against of the of the of iraq that we need to stay and also the political sense of message of you know it's only one iraq in this note that there is one of them all faiths everyone is human and they all need to get

along together so i think i think it's it's it's a very strong message in terms of whether or not it will have effect politically it's different matter you know the group says there are still groups that aren't are so sure militias for instance that we see attack the u.s. airbase here or isis that we can in some areas so you know it may not have a message but it might not reach that those sort of areas but i think at the general level arguments level it's definitely a very positive message for which the points of what or 2 i want to about he actually symbolic of is that they it's day 2 of 4 what's the pump schedule for the rest of his trip. he's having up to immediately in the morning and then he's actually sitting in reports going to mosul which were visit various sites various various areas that were decimated for the war they don't go in and go to the town of carriage which is a christian primarily a christian town that was taken over by isis it back up to 2058 they took over mosul are there's a church there's

a very famous church there which which was destroyed during the war so this is that and then it culminate then come back to the i'm holding a. mascot mass event in stadium just around the corner from me right oh i hauled away in the air deal thank you very much for that update. there's been fresh clashes in myanmar between police and demonstrators protesting against the country's military coup the military has been widening crackdown on the opposition since seizing power and early february over 50 peaceful protesters have been killed in the unrest among them a teenage girl whose death has become a solemn symbol of the opposition. close to the ground for safety her shirt says everything will be ok but it wasn't for mandalay university student kelson she was shot in the head and killed as police opened fire on protesters last wednesday thousands attended her funeral a day later giving the 3 finger salute it's become

a gesture of solidarity among pro-democracy civilians and a show of defiance against the military. kelson hasn't been allowed to rest in peace. witnesses say her grave was disturbed by soldiers shortly after her burial. they allege her body was subject to a grave site autopsy by military doctors only adding to the outrage over her killing. kelson story is no isolated incident wednesday was the deadliest day since protests began at the start of february but u.n. figures show more than 50 civilian protestors have been killed since the military coup many people say the international community isn't doing enough. like this none who took to the streets to stand between vulnerable protesters and

the riot police. there's no one to protect me on earth people. people have to defend themselves and help each other we can't trust anyone. it's not safe the security forces arrest and beat those they don't like and kill them. diplomatic efforts so far have failed when special envoy has urged the circuit city council to act now but it hasn't stopped one day of violence many are wondering when everything will really be ok on the streets of myanmar again. we're joined now from me on my 2nd largest city mandalay by a protester sam are withholding his full name for a safety hi sam good to speak to you again what's the situation there tonight. you know the situation has improved or rolled you noticed earlier this evening we see strangers coming into your already learnt. it with. the

rest otoh you know a well. is a middle book. could you identify those strangers. we did cause some of them they are being detained. people reporting of their older sister people. when you witnessed the protest today is your impression that people are being deterred by the island crackdown we've seen in recent days. no actually the protest has been going strong and it's own right now people are just you know very determined. and he detests being drawing against them so you know likely the protests will cool on till.

we reach 0. and we just saw the story of one of the protesters killed on wednesday you say the military has been trying to cover up her killing and that of others what evidence do you have for those claims. yet a sore point earlier this evening i think a wrong 8 pm no more time. to be here. really really is a statement that shows a shoe askew will not because most of the bullets that he used to disperse the crowd i mea. to try to blame it on. one of the protesters i was with her. you know less you know less movement so actually. the person being. sort of jet is actually her

friend and. we were going to see that this is you know to see the deal trying to cover up like oh with her with a woman tool to meet people. i understand a friend of harris was injured on wednesday when security forces opened fire on the crowd do you mind telling us what happened to him. yes she is recovering 000002 police this being such a human. and this house also. at the hospital he stayed so uselessly hiding. i don't know what reason is the one they want to really you know arrest him but. i do get a call from him he said he's in the army right now where is he is he well as

being in a critical condition. he's essentially recovering he was shot in the next a while while sam thank you very much for joining us today from mandalay and sharing your story and play stay safe. thank you. so take a look at some other stories making news around the world at this hour indian farmers have blocked a 6 lane highway outside delhi to mark the 100th day of protests against the deregulation of agriculture markets farmers say it laws imposed last september by opening the sector up to private players several rounds of negotiations between farmer leaders and the government tests failed. in poland a bus carrying dozens of ukrainian citizens has crashed killing at least 5 and injuring dozens more careened off the road in the southeast of the country near the ukrainian border there is no immediate cause given for the accident. and in

australia tens of thousands turned out for sydney's iconic gay and lesbian mardi gras due to coronavirus restrictions this here is event took place at the city's cricket ground to allow for social distancing is one of the biggest events sydney has seen since the start of the pandemic. and some sports now and the rb lights have gone top of the table with a comfortable 3 mil victory and cyborg they lead by and by a point though byron play later today elsewhere bowls books slipped up at hoffenheim frankford were held by stood guard leave out who is an edge. and has picked up their 1st win in 10 games the friday shock as 5th coach of the season saw his team draw millville with months. came close to breaking the deadlock 18 minutes in bunch of stuff these powerful headers stand out. as good as

they got for the holes as mine dominated for the most part the best of starts them for a shock a coach do need to get out won't see the signs remain bottom of the table 8 points from safety. and looking ahead to a classic between byron munich ambrosio dortmund kicks off shortly and there are 2 games on sunday when you go in berlin will hope to keep up their push for the european places at villa set. in tokyo anti olympics protesters have hit the streets in the japanese capital calling for the games to be canceled the march started at the national stadium where the games opening ceremony is due to be held and when through the city protesters held banners and shouted slogans to now saying plans to hold the olympics and paralympics in july of this year they say it's reckless to hold the games during a pandemic. and a reminder of the top story we're following for you pope francis has condemned

violence in the name of religion not an interfaith meeting in the iraqi city of or the pope is in the midst of a storage 4 day trip to iraq earlier he was in najaf to meet with grand ayatollah ali al sistani one of the most powerful thinkers and shiite islam. clutching d.w. news that's all from us for now up next is our tech magazine shift with a look at the robots helping to clean up after disasters from. passion drama competition marketing numbers atmosphere and time into mission. money. fans stamps and friends. on you to join us. how does the virus spread. why the repairman

and. just through the topics covered in the weekly radio program. if you would like and the information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you can get your podcast you can also find us at. science. shifts special how robots can support japan's rescue operations and save lives 10 years after the devastating fukushima daiichi nuclear disaster japan is still struggling with the aftermath now specially designed robots are helping clean up the site. this is a whom which radio dermatitis. it was exposed to high doses of idolizing radiation

for far too long. radiation sickness as many different effects seizures controlled bleeding. burns and blisters. it can even lead to bone marrow failure even today anyone who ventured too close to fukushima as reactor core wouldn't survive long. 10 years after the triple core melt own radiation is still extremely hazardous today some 7000 people are working on decommissioning the power plant but due to high contamination they are only allowed on site a few days a month on march 11th 2011 a tsunami struck japan's coast and caused the nuclear plants to fail but how can we clean the radiation zone we can't even access. with robots. but it's actually not that simple that's even all robots can withstand the radiation they're exposed to in fukushima disaster zone but more and that's later energy provider tepco in tech giant to shiva teamed up to develop robots that could help clean up fukushima's

radioactive rooms the challenges they have to face are relentless some pass the test others not quite here are 3 of the most exciting robots from the last decade. of the biggest questions in the fukushima cleanup remains. where to start. parts of the buildings were destroyed when the reactor exploded the blast caused walls and floors to collapse and reduced sensitive equipment to twisted hunks of metal the situation varies in each building but over consumption ated when radioactive material was vented from the reactor containment vessels. this is where so current and rosemarie come into play the robots joe was developed in 2015 to inspect the buildings but that's easier said than done some floors can only be accessed through extremely narrow and steep stairways no simple feat for robots but

that's exactly what rosemary and security were built to do. in addition rosemary was fitted with a gamma camera that can detect and display radioactivity. you can see that here in the colored images the recordings were to be shared on a wireless network and that's when engineers faced the next challenge. nuclear power plants are designed with a number of safety measures and built to withstand extreme conditions. wireless signals barely make it through the thick concrete walls of the reactors that's where scurrah comes in the robot functions as a signal transmitter and helps rosemary relay its recordings to the outside world. both robots were partially successful in their mission they enabled authorities to get their 1st overview of the reactor after the fall out. the scorpion was the great hope for fukushima and 2017 it was meant to inspect the

spots where radioactive lever 1st elite out of the reactor vessel joining the 2011 disaster the nucular fuel rods had heated up to 1200 degrees celsius causing them to melt through their metal casings the japanese government invested a lot of money in developing this little robots it was named for its appearance the cameras mounted on a retractable arm that hangs over the robots body like a scorpion stale ringback it was tested and improved for months until it was tiny enough to squeeze into the containment chamber the only way to get inside was a 14 centimeter wide hole in the concrete wall created just for the robots but before the scorpion could set out on its mission in units to the exploration suffered major setbacks one week prior and that the robots designed the clear the way for the scorpion failed its comrades the cold and to the extreme radiation.

nevertheless the scorpion was slated to deploy unlikes occur and rosemary wireless data transfer wasn't an option because the robots had to crawl to deep instead it was left dragging a heavy cable along if successful it would locate the radioactive waste that had leaked out of the reactor vessel so it could be salvaged in the future. everything went smoothly at 1st. the scorpions recordings were transmitting with i would say hitch. and it was getting ahead well. but then. just 3 meters before station the scorpion simply stopped what happened we still don't know for sure maybe it got stuck or maybe the radiation was too much to handle them. in the end the researchers decided to cut the scorpion loose and abandon the mission sorry little guy but.

after the scorpion had failed researchers had to come up with another solution to find the leaks material they gave up on units 2 for the time being and concentrated on reactor 3 instead but there are a whole new set of challenges lie ahead when the reactors exploded in 2011 for containment chambers were flooded to cool the reactors of course the perfect part would have to be small enough to maneuver through a tight hole in the wall strong enough to drag along a cable that could transfer images and survive as an emergency rescue line other than to swim. quite a tall order but the japanese engineers found a compact solution little some fish after losing the scorpion they weren't taking any more chances they tested little some fish for months and pools fitted with a camera and a tiny propeller powerful enough to navigate it through the dark and then it was time to send little sunfish out. the mission was nerve wracking. a pilot student through the water with a controller reminiscent of

a video game. on day one none of the material transmitted was any good. but then on the 2nd day of the mission the little robots bumped into a waxy mass on the floor of the containment chamber the radioactive core had congealed into a solid lump and dropped to the bottom of the flooded structure success. metal security rosemary scorpion until sunfish were just a few of the robots built to understand and repair the ruins of fukushima in the last 10 years their main objective was to explore thanks to them we have a rough idea where the radioactivity is highest and where the radioactive waste has settled in the coming years the challenge will be to. covered this waste here 2 robots will be dispensable robo diggers are already being tested for their missions in the hopefully not too distant future.

japan lies along the ring of fire making it a hotspot for natural disasters to save lives researchers are developing new rescue technology. made the snake bot its $36.00 joints make it incredibly flexible this lets it we go across tough terrain slither through pipes and even climb a ladder should disaster strike the snake robot could be a lifesaver it's been developed by a team of researchers at kyoto university. they can i took it all 1st of all these robots are used in places humans cannot enter or where it's not sure whether it's safe to enter. robots can help to measure of concentration or c o 2 levels. of the vatican hold to evaluate whether rescue workers can be sent in.

to what's the mood or who got the call this or the new year how do we not just consider places that may be in danger of collapsing but that occluded a lot bots can go in and gather information. so in broad terms these robots unable access to places where it's too dangerous for humans to enter. the united will higher user applications where robots can play an active part because they're upset about the weather for surgical procedures for everyday situations snakes have often served as models for industrial design their flexible bodies are the perfect blueprint for agile robots. and save the heavy sticks are interesting creatures that can move without legs that's the 1st aspect about this mysterious. animal that makes my curiosity. to see not go to war up aim is simply to imitate snakes. we want to create a snake like inspired robots and that's better to snakes. we all of our snake

robots can climb of ladders and has a very even and slick surface and the more there are no protruding cords the can slip into the wall who couldn't cut over this net over to a fit into each other because the thought caught small so. quickly g.'s of to call those on the lets a bend still more smoothly because so you designed them and that is vital to rescue missions japan is prone to natural disasters earthquakes are common in the country must be prepared for typhoons tsunamis and mechanical rupture ever since the kobe earthquake in 1905 but you know it's been developing technologies to help to. to deal with the end of a lot of so regionally i worked on space exploration robots. but then one of my students died in the great hunch an earthquake. was that's when i decided to focus

my research on disaster and response robots. to go the snake but is operated using a controller and comes equipped with a camera and numerous sensors engineers considered many different scenarios when creating the robot for instance when searching for survivors after a natural disaster the bot might need to be able to climb up high. outside or inside. the elevator. or even slit their it's way through pipes. to ask you to use google will or at 1st i wanted to create robots that rescue people hope. but then i changed my mind. when disasters

strike an urban area it's incredibly hard to find victims buried under the rubble when you go around. the other stores where the rescue workers will dig around here and there we don't much success at all so we're not up to what's going to trial and error process that's wastes a lot of valuable time during which people might don't know about this month but. for me tashi months to know also designed this rescue robot the prize winning. its 4 legs and tank like treads let it go places humans kept a multi-functional arm effortlessly open stores and retrieves objects. these robots are still under development but soon they could be sent out on rescue missions and help save lives.

this is a lot of these them in person and it's to break a gloomy donna. we need to musician block proctor to discuss this are most important in modern africa. for you to put money listen. to it as a film are you feeling tired we are breaking that promise that donna is going to leave on this list i would have to. be certain for certain. just to. researchers say that it's just the beginning. stars close to one virus back to trigger a pandemic the to meet will be the last and. up to 60 percent of all diseases already. from the animals how does this happen and what can we do to prevent it. in 60 minutes on the

w. w's crime fighters are back to the goodwill africa's most successful radio drama series continues the only persones are available online courses you can share and discuss on w. africa's facebook and other social media platforms crime fighters to me and now. welcome to the 77 percent the platform for you and young africans here we get to hung out and talk about things important to us i am michael duty on today's show roots reggae with you will you feel when i read. here's what's coming up on today's show. to find out the truth about reiki and meet

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