>> you are watching france 24. these are the latest headlines. a four-day tour of arak. -- arak. the president says the pontiff's decision to visit during the coronavirus and amid security concerns doubles the trips value. there is an urgency for collective action so says the u.n. special envoy to myanmar. they hold a closed-door session to discuss the military takeover and the bloody crackdown on those who oppose it.

ties between washington and russells are on a stronger footing. they decided to suspend tariffs. we will be speaking to our correspondent in brussels in just a few moments. ♪ >> made a clash of arms be silenced and may there be an end to acts of violence. the words of pope francis as he addressed the people of arak on day one of what he is calling at visit after touching down on baghdad's airport, he was driven through the capital streets in a bulletproof car to the presidential palace and he has also visited the our lady of

salvation cathedral. he is urged the dwindling christian community there to stay strong. this is what he said concerning corruption. >> we have to combat the scourge of corruption. abuse of power and legality. yet this by itself is not sufficient. we still need to build justice. to encourage honesty and transparency. we have to strengthen the relevant institutions in order to let stability grow and to have a healthy political system that can offer everyone notably young people hope for a better life. >> before the pontiff boards the plane and flies back to the vatican, he will be heading north and on sunday, he will be

in city of muscle. >> eric church in the heart of the old city, its master is a french dominican. he lived here between 2003 and 2004 then returned in 2019. it may be a majority sunni but we are reminded of its christian history. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the islamic state group occupied the state from 2014 to 2017. these buildings were looted, desecrated, destroyed. [speaking foreign language]

>> the emblems of the islamic state groups still remain. these men are working to remove them before the arrival of the pope. mine clearance is still ongoing. remnants of the war are still found here. >> we found in the house, this explosive. they will have guns, hand grenades. pistols. >> its guardian is happy to see and. he is one of several dozen christians here today. a far cry from the thousands who lived here for 2003.

>> [speaking foreign language] they hope that their efforts from the pope's visit will encourage religious minorities to return. untilhen, they will work together to preserve what is left of their heritage. >>, it has been described as the -- a very positive signal for better economic cooperation in the future. for an additional four months, the eu and u.s. have agreed to suspend the tariffs which were brought in during the boeing disputes. the joint statement has been released saying that the suspension will cover all u.s. tariffs on that $7.5 billion of eu imports and all european duties on $4 billion of american products. for more, our correspondent who is following this story in brussels.

how significant a break there is this? not just because of the size of the market value of the product effective here, but also because this represents a thawing of the eu u.s. relationship which got so tense over the past four years. must have the tariffs were the result of an escalating trade war that we saw develop over the past four years. started by the trump administration. it is involving a trade dispute over subsidies to airbus, europe airplane manufacturer and boeing. america's manufacture. that dispute goes back many years. it predates the trumpet administration. the trump administration decided to play tough with the eeo and slap on these tariffs. largely on luxury import items from the eu to the u.s.. largely involved alcohol.

de responded in kind. it is a confusing story because this involves an airplane manufacturing trade dispute, but it heavily hits spirits makers, those who make alcohol on both sides of the atlantic. there were 25% tariffs slapped on during the escalating trade war. this is the truce in the trade war. it came after a conversation between the new u.s. president, joe biden and urszula underline today. today they said that joe biden believes this is turning the page on the very bad relationship that the u.s. had with the eu during the trump administration, assigned that it wants to revitalize that arrangement. or the relationship. this is only a four month freeze. that suggests that these are complicated issues. the fundamental dispute between the u.s. and eu still remains. what they trying to do is walk back the escalation, the tit-for-tat trade war that

developed over the past four years. they are still left without fundamental disputes. >> what happens in four months when this suspension that has been announced today comes to an end? >> i imagine tt the time of four months has been chosen to give time for the two sides to try to negotiate finally a resolution to this dispute. but not too much time that it could be kicked into the long rest. they want to make it short enough to give pressure to both sides to try to find some kind of arrangement. even during the trumpet administration, the u.s. and eu was trying to come to some kind of understanding. not free trade deal, but some kind of framework with which the two sides could solve their many trade disputes that have developed between them. president trump liked talking about those disputes while he was in office. he was fixated on german

automobile manufacturers. there was lots of trade tensions between europe and the u.s.. this is assigned that the by the administration wants to work with europe in solving these disputes. some of which go back decades. that four months be a test to see how far they could come. in four months time, we will see maybe they have made enough progress to extend this freeze in tariffs further. or maybe, we could get a long-awaited tra understanding between the eu and u.s. that would allow it to solve many of these issues that have seemed so intractable for so long. >> thank you very much. moving on, 20 six-year-old has been fatally shot in myanmar. the latest victim of a crackdown on protesters. a day after the largest number lost their lives in this unrest, fresh rallies were held in

numerous cities in anger at last month's army takeover. youtube has announced that it has taken down five channels. >> distraught but resolute, the reality of the last month in myanmar hitting home in devastating fashion. here on friday, more than 1000 people raved the conflict. the country's worst day of violence since the coup began. >> these people who died for the revolution had a future. families and i don't think it is worth wasting their lives because they had so much left to give. >> led by front liners, they took to the streets again setting up barricades for another police offensive. >> i am very scared to say on the front line.

we promise to check each other. >> in the southeastern city with three finger salute, demonstrators were met with a volley of her bullets gradually engulfed by clouds of tear gas. hundreds more defied the military rulers as they marched through the city shouting slogans and holding pictures of the leader. the medic outrage has been growing with calls for serity forces to halt the bloodshed. in a meeting on friday, the special envoy to myanmar urged the security council to stand the nations people while asking how much more the military would be allowed to get away with unchecked. >> with more blood spilled on the streets, the pressure is growing on the outside world to do more. the u.n. special envoy has briefed a closed-door meeting of the security council saying it is critical that the assembly agrees to robust action to end

the violence and denounce the actions taken by those generals who sees -- seized the grenfell tower last month. this is from new york city. >> the u.n. special envoy called on the council to take action on myanmar. your unity is needed more than ever she told the council. the hope the people have put in the u.n. is waning. she says the desperate pleas she has heard, she has gotten thousands of messages begging the you and to do something. dozens of unarmed protesters have been shot dead and there are reports that the military has sent the threats to protesters on tiktok. after the first meeting, they issued up press statement.

now they are working on a presidential statement which is a step up because technically, it can have legal force. it is still really only words, not action. you and experts for the human race situation site they call for sanctions and an arms embargo but it seems we are still a long way off from that. china is opposed to concrete council action because while it voices concern, it views it as an internal affair. the chinese ambassador to the u.n. released a statement saying we don't want to see a instability or chaos. he also said all parties must exercise,. we can expect the council to show its support for regional efforts to mediate in the crisis and to call for an end to violence against protesters.

they may also call for protection of refugees. many of the refugeesn camps have barely any food and water and the people risk their lives to escape the dire conditions they are facing. >> now to senegal. streets that have become a background -- battleground. in one neighborhood this friday, those who backed the detained politician have been back out in the hundreds. the interior ministry says that four people have died in the clashes there in recent days. >> skirmishes returned to the streets. as friday marks the third successive day of protests. following the arrest of the opposition leader, new restrictions by government on internet access are not enough to quell the dissent.

on thursday, chaos erupted as clashes broke out between the police and university students. by late evening, the violence reached a climax leading to the first protester death since it again. -- began. ew>> he was arrested on wednesdy after hundreds of supporters clashed with police. protesting a rape accusation which he denies. as the leader of the opposition party and largely popular among the youth, he is seen as the strongest challenger to the president ahead of the 2020 elections. the lawyers believe there is a conspiracy and play to have him silenced. [speaking foreign language] despite an increasing reputation

as a democracy, senegal has not seen violence like this in years. they also expressed concerns about what it sees as arbitrary arrests. two channels were suspended for three days following coverage of the demonstrations. >> now how france is combating the coronavirus. over 23,000 fresh cases have been reported this friday. that's a slight drop from the figure released on friday. health minister has also announced that 439 people have died from the virus in the latest 24 hour reporting time. taking the total death toll in mainland france to almost 88,300. francis health minister has urged health workers to get vaccinated. with the government pressing hard to speed up its inoculation drive, less than one third of medical personnel have received a dose.

some still skeptical. >> every day at this medical center, more than 100 staff queue up to get a covid-19 vaccination. [speaking foreign language] they are a minority at the moment. so far, only 30% of the health workers got themselves vaccinated against the disease. disappointingly low rate for the government. [speaking foreign language] >> paramedics are particularly wary of getting a jab. wondering about personal side effects and unhappy at the astrazeneca vaccine has been chosen for them.

[speaking foreign language] >> mistrust of the astrazeneca jab persists even though data demonstrates its high efficacy. while it may take more time, others say making the shot mandatory for health workers is not a bad idea. [speaking foreign language] covid-19 is currently the number one disease that people catch and hospitals. >> to the italian region of tuscany where florence heinz have been rediscovering part of their architectural heritage. tiny holes board into the walls of houses and built to sell wine

are now being used two keep people refreshed during covid-19 social distancing. >> since the explosion of the pandemic in italy, florence is struggling to recapture its former lifestyle. in order to contain the spread of the virus, waiter service is no longer responsible. forcing bars to reinvent themselves. thanks to these small windows, the hotel can be served without any physical contact.

>> known as wind windows, these appeared in the 16th century. used byhe aristocracy to sell wine without an in americare. -- and intermediary. they came when the plague ravaged tuscany. [speaking foreign language] >> currently, there are nearly 300 and tuscany. a historic tradition that today allows visitors to continue to enjoy italian delights while keeping safe. >> it's time for the latest in

business. we're are starting over in the u.s. where economic activity is picking up. the country is even seeing a surge in jobs. >> we are seeing a hiring boom in february based on the latest data. they added 379,000 jobs last month. that's the most since october. so many are taking it as a sign that the economy is up. that meant the on employment rate fell to 6.2%. that's a noticeable increase from the 166,000 jobs added in january. it's still three point million jobs short of the employment level this time last year. they expect the increase in hospitality jobs to only continue as the weather gets warmer. let's take a look at the markets

at the end of the week. u.s. stocks roared back at the close after a while the session completely upending analysts earlier expectations. the dow jones rallied and the close, it was up 2% along with the s&p 500. sentiment boosted by the positive jobs data and the optimistic note on trade relations between the u.s. and eu. the session started in the red, so that is a complete reversal. it was pushed up by apple and microsoft stocks. in europe, european markets closed lower today after a week handover from asian indices. the ftse was down. the growing violence and myanmar is being watched around the world. social media companies are finding themselves increasingly forced to take a stance on propaganda and potentially

harmful content on their platforms. we have the latest on measures taken by silicon valley giants. >> where to draw the line between free speech and the spread of disinformation. this is the challenge increasingly faced by social media firms. youtube has closed five channels run by myanmar's military. the platforms said it didn't conform to community guidelines. the decision from the silicon valley giant tops off the bloodiest weekend myanmar the coup on february 1. it comes only several days after facebook fans all of the country military think accounts -- link accounts. the storming of the u.s. capitol was widely organized and relayed online experts saying it highlights the need for more regulation within tech companies.

control is not straightforward. they said they only provide hosting services for users. that stance is slowly weakening. tiktok is also on alert. it has begun taking down content after soldiers in myanmar were found to be using the platform to deliver death threats through short videos. >> ireland's economy expanded in 2020 despite the pandemic. gdp grew by 3.4% making it the only eu economy to post positive growth next year. that is mainly due to exports in pharmaceutical and i.t. sectors. multinationals like google and facebook also contributed. ireland's facebook minister called it remarkable given the

country imposed one of the strictest lockdowns in europe. today the italian government launched a last-ditch attempt to save its beleaguered national airline. by appealing to the eu commission for a rescue plan. the pope's visit was on and era tell you plan -- airplane. it will take more than that to reverse the company's fortune. company has not made a profit since 2002 and is bleeding money . rome helps to convince the eu that a rebranding and restructuring will not fall afoul of eu rules. that's a long time to go without profit. >> absolutely. it is time now for a quick break. our coverage of the latest world

news and analysis continues in a few moments. stay tuned to france 24.

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03/05/21 03/05/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> many millions of workers are earning starvation wages. and i underlined that, starvation wages, in this country. i would love to hear anybody get up here and tell me that they could live on seven those $.25 an hour, eight dollars an hour, nine dollars an hour. you can't. amy: as the senate votes to