♪ >> you are watching "france 24" here are the stories making world headlines. protests crackdown. the military in myanmar imposes a curfew and bands demonstration inhe wake of a coup and the jailing of the count eleed leader. protesters are refusing to back down. political turmoil and confusion in haiti. the government said it prevented an assassination of the president. the opposition says otherwise, and has named an interim leader. south africa has halted its rollout of the astrazeneca vaccine. the decision comes after researchers said that shot is

less effective against a new, more contagious strain of the virus. this, despite the arrival of one million doses less than a week ago. ♪ hello, everyone. thanks for joining us to we begin iran nav-- in myanmar whe they are made an effort to crackdown on protesters. it follows the jailing of the elected leader aung san suu kyi. the move has prompted large-scale protests that have since been banned in the nations two largest city. sharon gaffney has the latest. >> in his first address to the naon since grabbing power in a coup last week myanmar's

military leader has pledged to hold elections next year and to democratically hand over the running of the country to whoever wins that poll. >> when we build our democracy, nobody will be above the law. this should be the basic fact that was first considered in a democracy. it is also important for improving the country systems. >> he claimed politicians and the election commission for forcing him to stage a coup, and again claimed there had been a massive fraud in last november's general election. but as he spoke images began circulating online of people banging pots and pans in front of their television screens. devastations intensified on monday and spread to more parts of the country with tens of thousands taking to the streets for a third day. the coup in which de facto leader aung san suu kyi and dozens of her party were detained was triggered -- has

triggered international condemnation. >> i'm hoping she will soon be free. i believe that. i hope we will be free from military rule. >> i've decided to fight until the end, until they are released. >> the rallies have the military government to ban gatherings of more than five people in two of the biggest cities. it's also imposed an overnight curfew. >>4 early we spoke to a burmese activist who told us more about the public dissent, especially among young people in the protest movement. >> both of us are protesting peacefully. and i believe all of the violence happening is done by the military. they hire people trying to start the violence between the protesting people. so, i would think --

we are going to be out there each and every day. we have to fight until the end. i know everyone is concerned about the situation right now. but we all understand that this is a fight we have to do by ourselves first, by myanmar people first. all you can do is just give -- have dissention. that's all. this is the last fight we have to do this year. this generation. and i really appreciate all of the concern of international pressure. but i don't expect much change from these kind of supports because they don't really care. the military always does what it wants. >> rescue teams in northern

india are trying to reach more than 40 people trapped inside a tunnel at a hydroelectric power plant. the tunnel was flooded when a glacier broke andestroyed a dam causing widespread flooding. 26 people are dead and 165 are missing. >> rescue teams are desperately trying to reach dozens of workers who are believed to be trapped inside this tunnel at a hydropower plant. the men were caught off after a glacier fell into a river and crashed into a dam, triggering a massive flood. rescuers have managed to free workers who have been trapped inside another smaller tunnel nearby. >> we were working when we heard screams. get out. get out. we didn't know what was happening. we tried to run but could not get away because of the force of the water. we had lost hope. we didn't think we would survive. >> this man's think we would

survive. >> he used to work here and now i am hearing he is stuck inside. we have no information about him. >> this mobile phone footage shows the moments when floodwater hit one of two hydroelectric dams that were damaged in the disaster. more than 2000 police and soldiers have been deployed to help with the rescue effort, and to deliver emergency supplies to this transit. -- to the stranded. >> the priority is people who have been cut off. we are insuring they do not have shortages of food. >> it is not clear what set off the avalanche. it's prone to flash floods and landslides. environmental experts say thism makes it in oan on suitable location for power plants when glaciers have been shrinking in size due to global warming. >> now to haiti where there is political turmoil and confusion after what the government says was an attempted coup. the administration claims it

prevented the attempted assassination of president mois. but the opposition is disputing those accounts and it claims that he should've left office on sunday and his named a transitional leader. to help sort this out, we are joined by a journalist with the publication -- and he is with us from port-au-prince. thanks for joining us. there seems to be a lot of confusion about what exactly happened here. cayou walk us through what both sides are claiming? >> ok, so, thanks for the invitation. i will try to be as clear as possible pier 1 is going on in haiti -- so what is going on in haiti is a constitutional crisis on top of a political crisis. there is a fierce debate. according to several high-profile constitutional lawyers and the opposition in

the judicial system, moises is no longer president of haiti as of february 7, 2021. inside the constitution the presidential term is five years. there is a clause that says that the president, if the president does not start his mandate on time, his term will officially start on february 7 of the year of his election. moises was elected in 2016. because of political turmoil, he was sworn in february 2017. because of this clause in the constitution, normally his mandate expired this year, but he refused to step down. he claims that he still has one year left on power. so, the only problem with the president is he used the same clause in 2020, last year, to declare that the parliament is dysfunctional.

even though some elected officials had years leftn their mandate. so, on top of this, there is -- on top of this political problem, there is a crisis of power, a battle for power in ju-- in haiti. since 2018, a lot of people stted protesting against corruption. at least $1 billion was misused in the scandal. so, several reports from the superior court of accounts and the senate found that the president himself, the president himself moises, and several individuals from his party indicated in this -- dilapidation. so, the opposition and several civil society institutions are saying it is because the actual government does not want to see a trial of misconduct. they are doing everything they can to hold onto power. last year, for instance, they

start a process that change the constitution of the country via a referendum, but the only problem is the actual opposition, the 1987 constitution forbids referendums. >> the country appears to be heading towards a constitutional crisis. how will such a crisis affect the people of haiti who are already suffering so much already? >> well, to understand how it affects, you have to understand how politica, you nknow, crisis affects people here. the president is trying to change the constitution to give more power to the executive branch. high profile human rights organizations in haiti fear a return to the dictatorship period which was in effect -- from 1957 to 1986.

> 40% of the population in 2020 was in urgent need of food. so, on top of that, we have to add the problems that linked -- led to the is security climate. they rape people and they kill people who cannot pay ransoms. even if you are rich, even if you are poor. if you wait too long to give them the money they ask for, they kill you. u.n. sent a note denouncing the kidnappings that are putting the lives of kids in danger. this was the beginning of this month. so, it is a really concerning political and humanitarian

situation. >> thank you so much for your insights night -- tonight. we have new figures of the number of coronavirus cases in france in the last 24 hours. 4300 new cases have been reported. that is down from 19,000. that is typical for monday because there are fewer people tested. the health minister received the first injection of the astrazeneca vaccine at a hospital in paris. >> as i am myself a health worker age below 50 and as i we set i would get vaccinated is soon as i was eligible, i accepted the hospital directors invitation to receive the first shot of the astrazeneca vaccine. i invite all health workers to get the vaccine in their hospitals and city vaccination centers or in any of the places at their disposal to protect themselves as soon as possible. as you can see, even after getting the vaccine i am still wearing a mask, applying hand gel.

o i'm still being vigilant. >> to south africa where the government has halted the rollout of the astrazeneca vaccine. the decision comes after researchers said the shot is less effective against the new strain of the virus circulating in a country. less than a week ago the nation receive one mailing doses of the shot -- one million doses of the shot. >> it has been nearly a week since the first shipments of the astrazeneca vaccine arrived on south african soil. authorities had hoped that the one million doses would contain the pandemic. a crisis that s become even more challenging because of the emergence of a contagions variant which was first detected in south africa. but findings from research from the university -- and the university of oxford has thrown the rollout into disarray. the data show the vaccine offers over minimal protection from

moderate illness caused by the virus. the news pushed the authorities to halt the rollout of astrazeneca doses. >> because the only things -- [indiscernible] >> the b1.351 variant is the most dominant form of the virus in south africa, a country that ha lost 46,000 people to the disease. many saws the astrazeneca vaccine is a saving grace for the continent because it is cheap y and easier to transpor. but now they're are back to the drawing board. >> we are directed at our scientist must quickly sit together and figure out what approach are we going to use in order to effectively deploy the astrazeneca as a temporary until we figure out these issues? >> south africa is now looking

to johnson & johnson. their doses are due this week. the rollout has not been given the green light anywhere else in the world but south african of threes are hoping to administer it to 100,000 health care workers. >> time now for business with kate moody. good to see you. carmakers around the world are facing another challenge, shortage of semi conductor chips? kate: a global shortage. it is really affecting manufactures across the globe. the manufacturers that are already struggling to revamp their business from that initial shock of the pandemic and lockdowns. renault and the new fiat chrysler group have said that some of their factors are being forced to slam on the brakes this week. there are a limited number of chipmakers, most based in asia. analysts say they are struggling to meet growing demand. >> though one of the smallest

components used in auto making and yet one of the most vital. semi conductors control all aspects of modern vehicular electronics from brakes to the gearbox and entertainment systems. now the shortage has left carmakers temporarily shuttering factories. >> it is not just renault. general motors in the united states has suspended production at several of his plans along with toyota and ford, which predicted at 20% drop in production. in europe, volkswagen and audi have made similar moves in recent weeks. following nearly 20,000 -- in total because of the chip shortage and the pandemic. >> [speaking french]

>> that has led to a bottleneck in logistics worldwide. >> [speaking foreign language] >> possibly not as long as some fear. taiwan manufacturers well over half of the semi doctors and they said it will ramp up production. -- of the semi conductors but said they will ramp up production. kate: the major european indices closed higher. milan outperforming and mario draghi opened the final round of talks and to form a new government in italy. oil crisis meanwhile rose to their highest level in year with brent crude hitting $60 per

barrel. wall street has also seen gains, little bit above 3/4 of a percentage point across the board. a new record high at the closing bell. investors are looking for signs that the congress will pass a hefty stimulus package, even if it has to happen without bipartisan support. president joe biden and his democratic party are already walking back expectations for the minimum wage to be more than doubled to $15.00 per hour. it was one of the proposals in his stimulus plan. the report from the congressional budget office says the move would cost 1.4 million jobs over the next four years but it could lift 900,000 people out of poverty. critics warned the increasing minimum wage could hold back small businesses whilte biden and supporters say it is key to addressing income inequality. the white house set on monday it is not sure the change will be included in the covid relief

legislation. it is one of the issues that sparked opposition among republicans and biden is hoping for bipartisan support on the overall plan. the president says he may tackle the issue separately at a later time. the hourly wage was last raised in 2009, although some states have gone with higher threshold since then. the price of bitcoin has skyrocketed to a new here, near $45,000 after a boost from electric car maker tesla. the company said it had invested $1.5 million in a cryptocurrency and it planned to begin accepting it as payment. elon musk has repeatedly endorsed bitcoin and other digital currencies on social media in recent weeks. its value has soared. regulators and financial experts warn it could mean volatile and highly risky. christine the guard repeated h position that should be considered a speculative asset rather than a currency. still, some analysts said that tesla's stance could prove to be

a game changer. >> if teslas going to price cars and say that thiss bitcoins and this will cost 2.5 or whatever. there is a certain currency normalization that could happen mply because of large transactions happening in bitcoin terms as opposed to u.s. dollar terms. >> this is a question we have been tackling for the last decade -- is bitcoin a currency or an investment? if it is a currency, how much is it worth? >> you can buy a tesla with bitcoin? >> i do not know how many bitcoins. it will depend on the day, really. >> thanks. time for our focus report. we take you along the route from italy to france as -- migrants hope for a better life. they crossed treasurers alpine passes in the middle of the night. our colleagues join some of them on their journey. >> this is where they start the

crossing. in the little italian building near the french border after nightfall. a group of people gets off the bus and rushes into the darkness. >> where do you want to go? >> french. >> france is less than three kilometers away by road, but these people are in for a five hour walk across snowcapped mountains. the two afghan families with three children and a five-year-old boy are fleeing war. they arrived in europe 3.5 months ago. >> they were able to get warm clothing from an italian ngo. they fear running into the police and being prevented from reaching france. this is their third attempt. this time, though, it is an

italian red cross patrol that crosses their path. >> you go 1-1-2, the number of emergency in italy. >> thank you. >> goodbye. >> [speaking italian] >> the slope begins to get steeper and the snow deeper. the children begin to tire. since gps pointers from other migrants who previously traveled this way. -- the group uses gps pointers.

it is the moment of truth. after walking for five hours, they've reached the border where we must leave them. ♪ their crossing -- they are crossing nera here. -- near here. thousands cross here every year while trying to avoid this border control. >these mountain professionals are part of a group of 200 volunteers authorized through rest -- to rescue migrants in danger but they are forbidden from crossing the border. or they could be prosecuted for aiding illegal entry into france. >> [speaking french]

>> the police and charger border control is reinforced by soldiers. the controls were put in place after them november 2020 terror attacks in paris. the police presence has increased ever since. at nightfall silhouettes appear on the edge of town. migrants that come from a range of different african countries. it is their fourth time trying to enter france. >the group tries to hide but it has been spotted by the police. they cathc up a-- catch up a few

hundred meters away. >> [speaking french] the three men are swiftly sent back to italy, joined not long after by a dozen people from afghanistan. about 10 kilometers further down the mountain, a refuge welcomes migrants who have made it across. here we find the two afghan families who spent the night climbing the mountain with. their next hurdle is just as high -- creating an asylum application. they are not sure if they will do it in france or germany. the two families will rest here

for a few days before setting out on the journey at their own expense. since 2017, 12,000 migrants have been through this refuge. people whom neither the police nor the apl-- the snowy alpine heighteem able to stop. >> stay tuned for more world news here on "france 24." ♪

[captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> when i heard about the decision, i was very happy about it. we hope the decision is true. bring justice for the children who were killed in the wars. amy: