we have this report from addis ababa. >> this this is one of the biggest days in the calendar, the day people believe jesus christ was baptized and thousands gather at churches like this one and then walk a few kilometers to an area that is supposed to symbol i'll the river jordan. >> the women play an instrument. ethiopa orthodox christians believe king david played it in praise of god. police carry replicas of the arc of the covenant, symbolizing jesus. the patriarch follows them. >> for me and all the people who follow the ethiopian orthodox church, it's a very special day, as you can see. >> i love the celebration. it's part of our history. >> tens of thousands of people gathered here now, they've come from their respective churches and waiting for the patriarch's arrival. the culmination of this ceremony happens in the morning. >> the patriarch blesses water symbolizing the river jordan. priest use hoses to spray the crowd. >> i'm very excited to have been covered by the holy water. >>> a ceremony practiced for more than a thousand years, a celebration for the young and the old. c

protests were recently sparked by opposition to the government's so-called addis ababa incident graded development plan, the government said it's to develop the region around the capital. many of the people are calling it an unconstitutional land grab. activists and opposition members say security services have killed 140 people. hundreds of others have been wounded, arrested and detained. >> the problem with the government is simply the government is trying to avoid recognizing real problems in the society. the youth, the young people, they have lost hope, total hope. >> the government admits the people have legitimate concerns that it needs to address. it says it has suspended the addis ababa immigrate development plan and blames violence on individuals with links to what it describes as a terrorist organization. >> the implementation of the plan is basically questioned. only the people have the final say. >> back at her home, her son is too young to have any say in his future. he just hopes his mother doesn't die. al jazeera, ethiopia. >>> time to catch up on sports, here's jo. >> w

the situation is being discussed at the african union summit in addis ababa. >>> still to come. protests on the fiefd anniversarfifthanniversary of oz anhosnemubarak. >> hello again and a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the world health organization is warning that the zika virus, which is linked to babies born with brain damage, is linked to almost every country in the americas. >>> delayed talks on syria and opposition groups will now begin on friday. disagreements over who will take part. >>> and the iranian president hassan rouhani is in italy on his first european talks after lifting of european sanctions on tehran this month. >>> three people have reportedly been killed in clashes with egyptian forces on friday. guide despite a crack down there friday. security forces reportedly used tear gas near alexander the revolution in 2011 was driven by egypt's young people. but five years on, many of them feel betrayed by the outcome. osama ben javad reports. >> it was supposed to be a new dawn as millions of egyptians came together. people from ought faiths backgrounds

joining us now from addis ababa is the director of the international crisis group. what are your expectations from today's summit? >> it's hard to tell. the security council met last night. no decision was taken. there was an extended meeting today. we're yet to hear what the outcome is going to be. it's not surprising that given the complexity of the issue and given the fact that the president himself rejected the communique of december last year where the security council decided to sends in a peace keeping force, and it's very clear also as we speak that there's no consensus at the security council, so we have to wait for the assembly of heads of states to sty on what's going to happen in burundi >>> burundi isn't the only country which is facing constitutional changes in the issue of i president running for a third term. can you talk about what the other countries there will be discussing? >> i mean, the other key country, i guess, in the context of burundi and the question of third term is, obviously, the democratic republic of congo next-door. there are countr

we have the latest from addis ababa. >> the head of state decided to suspend deployment of troops to burundi without the consent of the government and instead decides to push more aggressively for a solution to jump start an all inclusive political dialogue. they are alleges sending a high level delegation to burundi to talk to government officials, talk to the president to try to convince hims to yes to a deployment of teams to that country basically to help the local authorities in the disarmment efforts and also in the protection of civilians. the head of state also noted a complaint by burundi against its neighbor. burundi has always criticized rwanda of arming and training rebel groups in refugee camps there, but officials there have always denied this. >>> palestinian police officer has been killed after he opened fire on a well known israeli checkpoint, wounding three israelis there the attack in the occupied west bank near an illegal settlement. >>> in iraq, 17 soldiers killed after a suicide talk in anbar province. isil fighters drove a bulldozer into their base, detonating

more on that now with our correspondent from addis ababa. why was there this reluctance to take action without burundi's go ahead? >> reporter: many of the heads of state were saying that this could amount to invasion, they were talking about noninterference issues, they were saying that burundi is a sovereign country, it has an elected leader, that election is contested. they have instead - they are instead pushing for a political solution, an all-exclusive political dialogue to be held. i remember that this dialogue was supposed to start in january, but the burundi government delegation did not show up, saying that the government will not sit down and negotiate with groups as criminals. now to that end the heads of state have also decided to sends a high a.u. level delegation to burundi to speak to the government officials there and different other players about the talks and also to speak to the president and try to convince him to say yes to a deployment of troops there that basically would help the local authorities there in the disarma

good discussions in addis ababa for the financing for development.n fact, we should not forget that even today, the deadline is the first of october. when these countries can put in their individual national-determined contributions. or what they call "indc's". awful word, but that's what it is. we currently already have 58 countries that have submitted, and the 58 countries that have submitted is about 70% of the carbon emissions. we are waiting for some big countries like brazil and india, but there is some encouraging noise coming from there as well. i was in brazil just three weeks ago. i was in india a few months ago. so we are waiting for that. what you see of all these submissions that are being done, that we more or less can get to 30% or 40% of what i believe is needed. there has never been an agreement, globally, in the first place. let alone an agreement for 30% or 40%. which, frankly, is more than anybody have thought. -- would have thought. francine: you would be happy with 30% or 40%? paul: no, that is a starting point. the agreement in

. >> catherine soy, reporting from addis ababa. >> southwestern part of the cup not far from the swiss border, luckily the grenade did not go off. asylum seekers were evacuated and the explosive was destroyed in a controlled detonation. the perpetrators have yet to be identified. meanwhile, germany's relying party and its rivals have come to an agreement on how to deal with asylum seekers whose obligations were rejected. germany still trying to integrate refugees who are hoping for a better life. >> reporter: their struggle to get to germany is over. now the main task is to learn a new language. safely installed in a classroom in gehra, these syrians are glad to have left their country's troubles behind. >> translator: i came here to have a peaceful life. it feels good. i have security. and i have the peace i've been longing for. but it was hard to leave home and family. >> reporter: the refugees's teacher is nisreen schmidt schmidt, she came to germany 12 years ago from dubai, she says her experience has made her want to help these people integrate. nisreen says the attacks on women i

high commissioner for refugees, joining us live from addis ababa. good to have you with us. if i can start with what our reporter was reporting, that the african union decided against sending peacekeepers to burundi. what do you think of that decision? do you agree? >> it is really up to political leaders to decide on the best option for addressing a conflict. as you know, my organization is deal with the conflict and already for a few months, we've been helping host countries, tanzania, rwanda, the democratic republic of congo deal with an outflow of refugees. what is positive is that the african union is engaging to find collectively a solution for this conflict so that the conditions of recreated for a return of the refugees to their country and the stabilization of the situation. >> i'll stick with the e.u. for a moment and then talk to you about refugees. when you say it's good that they're finding some sort of solution, are you cost though in the boots of the e.u. to actually implement decisions when they come up with a solution? >> i hope there will be this capacity.