presents a huge sea breeze about iconic players whose influences be it is great the take on israel's 4th election in 2 years after the government's failure to the national budget up front. hill through the headlines to challenge conventional wisdom. on al-jazeera. a historic trip francis arrives in iraq to support one of the world's oldest and most persecuted christian community. i know that i missed this is al jazeera live from doha also coming out tightening its grip on hong kong china is to expand its veto power in deciding just who can run for elections. security forces in myanmar are accused of issuing death threats

to protesters on tick tock the video sharing app says it's removing content that incites violence. 'd in street battles and senegal protesters are demanding the release of an opposition leader they say is falsely accused of rape. now pope francis has arrived in iraq fulfilling a decades long promised by the vatican and becoming the 1st pontiff to visit the country the 3 day visit is his 1st trip outside since the coronavirus pandemic began he was welcomed by the prime minister in baghdad and is currently on his way to meet the president at the presidential palace now the head of the roman catholic church says he's going as a pilgrim of peace we can speak to our correspondents money is on the ground there outside the presidential palace. in baghdad so none of this trip is obviously

happening with a backdrop that we've been seeing of escalating violence in various parts of the country over the last few weeks and months you know the pope himself insisted on going then major security concerns around his agenda today. i mean of course there has been this has been a huge challenge for the iraqi government to pull this together logistically but also from a security perspective as you mentioned that there are numerous security challenges here challenges here even though i saw has been territorial defeated in iraq in 2017 there are still i sleeper cells that operate the country that have recently managed to stage suicide attacks here in the capital we had one in january which claimed the lives of dozens of people so that's a very credible threat right there and then we also have regular rocket attacks that are being launched against u.s. interests including here in baghdad we're very close here to the united states

embassy inside the 45 green zone which is of course one of the main targets of these rocket attacks in the recent one was just a couple of days ago aimed at a u.s. base in western iraq in the anbar province which houses u.s. troops so there will definitely be a lot of challenges and of course also the southern city of nasiriyah which is near the ancient city of which approach the pope will be visiting tomorrow this is one of the cities that has been seeing the most under-estimate is one of the cities that has been the main at the center of anti-government protests and also seen escalation happened there last week of several protesters killed so the challenges are really quite numerous in the security forces have really been deployed across that there is a curfew in place today saturday and sunday for the duration of the pope's visit to really minimize the movement of vehicles the movement. people to really try to

prevent any kind of security threats to the pope simona can you talk us through his agenda for the rest of the day i know he's on his way over towards you now and it is going to be a combination of political and symbolic religious atoms. that is correct so he's on his way right now to the presidential palace where we are you can see the stage has been set up here behind me where president barham saleh will receive him 'd and then both of them are expected to give a speech that will give a speech as well as the president's day will most likely focus on the historic importance of this visit on the spiritual side but the might also touch on some important points for the christian community to really help preserve this community to suffered so much from wars from persecution here in the recent years after that the pope will be headed over to the our lady of salvation church which is a syriac catholic church in. that where he will meet religious leaders as someone

i can't help but notice and also obviously still in the middle of a global pandemic and iraq as you've been reporting has seen a new spike in infections just in the last few weeks i saw when he arrived the pope was greeted with lots of handshaking and a bit of dancing i noticed there's also not been very much mass squaring going on what are the concerns here around. well we have seen an increase in new infections over the past few months the dependent make had kind of here in iraq towards the end of 2020 where the daily cases went down under 1000 per day but that number has increased 24250001000 per day more recently and there is there has been a curfew that has been imposed more recently for the pope's visit but in general there are very few movement restrictions there are very few restrictions on people in terms of being able to meet in able to gold to. 2 restaurants there is

no mandate to wear masks so in general there have been very few restrictions and of course that is one of the concerns that people may gather to welcome the pope that they may actually that it's actually in a way become a super spreader event that may then see a further rise in inspections in iraq and of course this is a country of a very fragile health system the country has really struggled to cope with the pandemic it has not even begun a vaccination campaign yet. so it is of course a concern of the authority is that if this visit sees a spike in inspections how exactly the offshore it is will be able to deal with that we are now hearing the music of the marching band here they're beginning to arrive in the square which means that probably the pope is just a few minutes away from arriving here and of course this is the place where he will

be received by president saleh and president barham salih he is the one who has really pushed for this visit her visit really enabled him to travel to the vatican in january last year where he met the pope this is where the invitation was extended to the vatican sort of pope to really come here because this visit has not just been on the. oh francis it was something that folks in the past have tried to implement john paul the 2nd try to come in iraq during saddam hussein's reign but that visit was called off at the last minute as negotiations broke down between the 2 sides still president barham salih is really kind of the sponsor of this visit he's also somebody who has really tried to push for minority rights he's the one who has championed a recent law that has been passed to protect the survivors of the z.t. genocide committed by as one the pope himself has also mentioned. in the speeches

before coming here so it's going to this visit is not just for the christians it's really 2 to foster coexistence between all of the religions really furder 9 the preservation of the religious minorities that have been under siege in recent years as so many about watching the pope now arrive with the munching back and his car approaching you there at the presidential palace the red carpets alison ready and not very far from here it's all i know just from his itinerary so minor that the pope is also making a bit of a statement right by meeting with shiite leaders in the coming days is this more generally as you say about religious unity and and wanting to support minorities or should we be perhaps reading a little more into that. yes so the theme of this visit is you are all brothers which of course comes from a verse in the bible so the aim of this visit is really to emphasize the commonalities between the religions to foster religious quirks i'm just going to step to the side a little bit so you can see what's going on behind me this is of course where. the

president of iraq will be receiving the pope so tomorrow the pope is planning to meet with grand ayatollah ali al sistani who is of course the main religious authority in country for muslims and that meeting is of course hugely significant on the one side it really endorses the place of which is the city where he will need to stand and also the role of sistani in kind of the leadership of of shia muslims and it's also an opportunity for the 2 men to really exchange thoughts on the challenges that iraq's different religious communities have faced over the past you can feel the cold has arrived at the presidential palace he is. alongside president saleh. and you can see the military is 3 things.

and some i know we do expect to hear from them but shortly but that in the meantime i'm wondering if you can give us a bit of a sense of how the christian community and iraq since that since has accused them for so long how did they view this as it obviously hugely symbolic them today. i'm not sure how well you can hear me because the band has now started playing behind me so the christian community of course for them this is hugely important in terms of the spiritual aspect of this because if they're really looking forward to the pope's visit things giving them hope whenever i ask christians about his visit their faces really light up they really have a lot of hope but at the same time they're also skeptical in terms of what this visit will actually achieve and how it will actually changed our lives because they have been facing a lot of challenges hundreds of thousands of christians were displaced as a result of war with ice and many of them have emigrated from iraq and not reside

in other countries many live in the semi autonomous kurdish region in the north and some of them are also here in but without and they're reluctant to return to their ancient lands because they simply don't feel safe there is no infrastructure to their houses have not been rebuilding of course is not something that's just affecting the christians this is something that's affecting all iraqis and of course there is a hope that maybe the pope will mention these challenges that there needs to be when he meets with the president and that perhaps there can be some kind of momentum in really protecting the interest of the christians but we also have to be very clear president barham salih has the president he is not the head of the government that is prime minister of the me so in terms of actual decision making power the president's role is spread in a minute of course he can draft legislation which he can. put forward to parliament that's something that you have in the past but india and the gatekeepers of the

status quo those are in parliament and we have seen over the past few years that the parliament has been increasingly dominated by factions that have been very let's say reluctant to respect the rights of the christian minorities here and so unless there are actually specific laws of the county of the parliament unless there are real there's real political campaigns unless there are stronger institutions that can actually enforce the rule of law to protect human rights there is unlucky to be a big change the lives of iraq christians simona fulton at the presidential palace for us in baghdad where you're seeing these pictures now as pope francis meets with iraqi president barham saleh we do expect to hear from them in just a moment but i'd like to bring in now eleanor robson she's the head of the history department at university college london she joins us now from cambridge in the u.k. eleanor we keep using this phrase historic visit this is really been decades in the

main making i mean we were just speaking there to our correspondents a moment you she reminded us that pope john paul the 2nd canceled his trip back in 1909 because talks broke down with saddam hussein's government why has it been so important for a pontiff to actually visit iraq. oh i think this is hugely important i mean it's massively important for the christians in iraq as we've been hearing but i think all of my iraqi colleagues and friends are hugely excited about this because let's face it this is the 1st time they've had a g.i. people as the chair only type who has arrived in iraq not to wage war or not to extract oil but to celebrate iraq's great history the pope started with a reference to iraq when the land soon syria and babylon the melting pot of the civil i don't show but under the of our suits in the total century was known as that city of peace and so he was

a chance to really to celebrate iraq's potential as a sort of really connects with all the. floor history so really celebrates a new beginning of a potential conflict future. it's a little primitive optimism on our iran can be really claimed as the best case of christianity judaism and islam and as i was saying tomorrow pope francis is going to fly to the holy city of najaf where he will visit to grand ayatollah ali al sistani talk us through the significance of that especially when it comes to that unifying influence that your fairing to. i think again we've took we've talked a lot already about sort of symbolic moment. over that since 2016 or even since 2003 there have been so many extremist movements in iraq designed to separate and to drive out elements of

a rocky society that didn't very narrow extremist views about appropriate religious practice was. and some elements of the shia religious. community have been very vocal against that and is very. supportive of the drive to drive die and shout to the ark and so here to bring the pope and the only one of the most respected leaders of the shark community in iraq together in public it's a real visual moment that iraq has moved beyond. that terrible period to a conflict and strikes and i think it will have no real dialogue and show to the whole of the world that iraq is open and. showed start to show that terrible fear of iraq is a plosive bombs and violence and then all we're certainly seeing that today the

presidential palace with all the pomp and ceremony and marching bands and now the pope and president barham salih greeting leaders as he walks down that red carpet eleanor as a historian i'm wondering if you can give us some background here as we've been saying so many christians have fled iraq and we have obviously seen the rise of al qaeda and i so can you talk us through a little of that history especially of the minority pacification that people have suffered that. so iraq and don't be christians in iraq since the very early days of christianity so to century a.d. on once particular northern iraq but also goes all the way through iraq at the very churches in every major city. and unfortunately what it was were 2003 it was really does olds there were no nor be happy or 16 lee oppressive for all iraqis that until 2008 it left them with nothing so that

enable extremists factions to stop persecuting bombing churches kidnapping. christians and just trying to try to mask the country and then that so that was beginning even before i said arrived in iraq in 2050 but that actually in the north you know in and around mosul where there is or nearly 2 millenia of those in a very strong christian community that has really driven out many many people not just christians. but also i mean i saw churches and most of us places of torture and execution completely desecrated. and christians have been very reluctant posts i still took to resettle because understandably they're incredibly know. about those as simone are saying and so. it's awesome that so many was also

saying perhaps allah has started to do a lot to encourage and to celebrate. iraqis iraq's communities and i think this is another step towards that it won't solve the housing crisis in and around mosul doesn't magically make. communities in and around mosul fit to live in again post-war because a lot of those were really badly devastated. but. i think it's a signal it will also enable communities i hope to hold iraq to account and. and the money where your mouth you think making this incredibly symbolic that we've just watched some dogs being released as iraqi president barham salih and pope francis continues preaching they could trace on that red carpet and we'll be hearing from them a bit later on and we'll bring you those remarks live on out of there now thank you very much alan robson head of the history department at university college london

well ali i had the opportunity to speak to you on a down can a he's the head of iraq's christian roughly dane's parliamentary bloc and he told me only asked this is a truly historic moment for christians in iraq that almost 2000 year later the pope about to come visit us here in such a difficult situation and iraq is suffering from very different issues and they make and economical and everything and even the conflicts in the region in america iran and many many other issues so we are very happy and welcoming his holiness we hope that he is for sure he is bringing the. message of peace a lot of forgiveness juice is message and his visit will have many many positive effect on iraqi society and in the region as well because. as

as you know the. fact of the eyes is. crying humanity against people here reflects very negatively on the islamic image in europe and america and everywhere so his visit to our religious leaders in iraq gives very very good positive for the. bring down a bit before we are new europe and america and western. society. well moving on to some other news for now and senegalese government has banned a planned gathering of opposition and civil society groups in the capital on friday that's after support as it was money sunk and leading opposition figure fought with police university campus in dhaka now some guy was arrested 2 days ago holding an

unauthorized rally before a court appearance to face rape charges he says that accusation is all part of approach to block him from running for president in 2024 how he can now speak. on the ground for us in dhaka nic we saw a really quite the protests yesterday and it does look like since we spoke last that it's getting a lot busier on the street there. that's right it's picking up here because on this order re right behind me well this road leads to the courts where we go is truly being held and being questioned by a judge and if you see all around you see all people living in this area some of the protesters have been fighting with the security forces the security forces deployed all of their forces there's a.p.c. you know it's armored personnel carriers they've been firing tear gas to the police have been telling us to move forward and meanwhile if you look right behind me this

is the city center and you see hundreds of people walking out of this area fearing for what is to come because there is a planned ban protest called by the opposition and by civil society this civil society are protesting because they see this police presence the presence of security forces as heavy handedness shrinking space for freedom of expression and the opposition are protesting because they say that one son who is being held by the court it's a politically motivated charge. and the qs the president of using the courts to eliminate opposition figures we've seen the former son of the former president water that was charged for corruption that was a rival to mikey sol also the former mayor. sol that was again brought to court charged for corruption and therefore disqualified to run for these elections that are still 3 years away and yet there is so much tension on the streets of the

capital it's very unusual to see such protests here in senegal sigel is known for its stability and this is really a blow to its image we've seen. supermarkets owned by french companies gas station owned by french companies that have been targeted well why because at least one song go he describes himself as the establishment politician he's been really calling out the relationship with the government has been having with these corporation accusing president mikey's cell of corruption and. on the ground for us across that story nic thanks so much and you stay safe. now china's biggest political gathering of the year has opened in beijing in the face of rising international criticism the country's leaders have outlined their economic and environmental goals for the next 5 years but the proceedings have been overshadowed by an announcement of plans to effectively stamp out any opposition and hong kong's

parliament katrina new reports now from the chinese capital. chinese president xi jinping was among the few who entered beijing's great hall of the people not wearing a mask the leader presided over the opening of china's national people's congress keen to present an image of strength and 53 victory over the core of a $1000.00 outbreak and the economic stagnation it caused we use this year china was a world's only major economy to achieve growth we attain a complete rig 3 in the fight against poverty and we scored the size of achievement in securing a full victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects a g.d.p. target of 6 percent it was announced that this year beijing is aiming to boost domestic consumption and encourage more self-reliance amid worsening ties with the us this is congress is taking place in the face of rising international criticism of attorneys in the prison because the florida virus outbreak forms. one of the

roles discussed of the next 7 days will dramatically overhaul the territories political system india and out of work to democracy to the states beijing is looking to reduce the number of electoral seats given to representatives directly voted in by the public and increase dollars allocated to poor beijing industry and social groups beijing backed chief executive kerry lamb and her team will also be given new powers to vet legislators some say the low crushes the democratic rights promised to the territory during its handover from britain to china. and over. and over this is. basically the. no more opposition. just you know. groups just became increasingly violent recently yes. last month dozens of organizers of $21000.00 primary vote to

choose democrat candidates for legislative elections were arrested under a national security law unveiled at last year's congress beijing says it's preserving hong kong stability by ensuring those holding public office a loyal to the chinese government analysts say she didn't think is sending a message to the international community and what hesitate to flex china's military muscle. when it comes to china's borders the south china sea taiwan and hong kong we see his hard lawn tennis he looks to the future and the wants to beauty his political and the minatory achievements like an emperor of beijing considers taiwan a road chinese province has warned it won't accept any move toward independence but the island's leaders say they will continue to defend its democracy and freedom. al-jazeera. well let's get the view now from hong kong adrian brown is there and he says the changes will have

a severe impact on democratic politics. the opposition here is effect lee being dismantled and of course that raises serious questions over the credibility of future elections not just for the chief executive but also for the legislative assembly as well as the district councils and its the district councils that have been worrying beijing keeping the leaders awake at night because 90 percent of those district councils are controlled by the opposition now there are a few other places in the world where district councils would command as much international attention as they are today but that is a measure of just how concerned beijing because people voted overwhelmingly for them in those elections in 2019 and what beijing is now saying is that these candidates who were successful were closely aligned with the protest movement and therefore are not true patriots so if they want to remain in their job they can have to take oaths of allegiance and prove that they have

a love of the motherland the question is will they also have to demonstrate a love for the communist party that hasn't been clearly defined we don't know whether you know expressing you know love for the motherland is the same as expressing love for the communist party the former leader dung sharping once said the people in hong kong wouldn't have to do that after the handover it was just enough to pledge love for the motherland so many questions still to be answered but certainly it does seem that hong kong is moving a step closer to having no political opposition. well still ahead here on al-jazeera how the sputnik creative acts and against private 19 has become central to a russian charm offensive and latin america. since its inception in 1961 the kuwait fund has been supporting people's livelihoods in

over 100 countries by funding projects in an array of sectors. ranging from infrastructure to health and education. these initiatives ultimately help to eradicate poverty. and promote sustainable development. frank assessments the world is on the brink of a catastrophic model failure is that a fair assessment if the catastrophic failure to weiss. informed opinions should we be buying bit coy ultimately it will be sovereigns and governments who are buying this that is the direction this is all headed in-depth analysis of the day's global headlines inside story. to say to say that it's time for a different approach one that is going to challenge the way you think on asking the

questions now is the new host of the next season of the show that's got no space for sound bites only comedy politically simplicity into the headlines join me as i take on the lies dismantle the misconceptions and debate the contradiction. of marc lamont hill and it's time to get up for us right here on al-jazeera. mocked on al-jazeera studio b. unscripted brings you 2 special guests in called the citation exploring ideas and finding common solutions 10 years on from the tsunami that struck japan al-jazeera revisits the people most affected by the disaster football rebels eric cantona presents a u.c. reason about iconic players whose influence has been as great off the page as on its israel's 4th election in 2 years after the unity government's failure to pass a national budget up front smocked lamont hill cuts through the ad lines to

challenge conventional wisdom. minds on al-jazeera. teaching and you could watch out as they were english streaming live on i.q. channel. plus thousands of our programs award winning documentary and dead news reports. subscribe to you cheap food slash al-jazeera english. hello again i'm a star let's remind you the top stories here this hour china has unveiled plans to overhaul hong kong's electoral system allowing beijing veto power over who can run for the legislative council that move will effectively stamp out any opposition in

hong kong's parliament. and pope francis as you can see has arrived in iraq fulfilling a decades long promise by the vatican and becoming the 1st pontiff to visit the country the 3 day visit is his 1st trip outside italy since the coronavirus pandemic began and he is now with iraq's president barham salih at the presidential palace. while the number of christians in iraq has dropped significantly in recent years partly cheers of them being persecuted as we were saying earlier by al-qaeda and i so they hope that their struggle to survive will get a boost from this pope's visit smiter fault and has more now from baghdad. 10 years ago louise flynn says the claim is survived one of the deadliest terror attacks on iraq's christian community it cost him his left ear drum $4.00 to $6.00 other christians their lives. about in the last. i thought it was the last seconds in this life they were very difficult moments you take you short towards the room

where we were in one hand grenade exploded that's when i was injured the project was a student in my truest. lewis and his son the were among more than $100.00 worshippers trapped inside the lady of salvation church in baghdad as gunmen laid siege to the building al qaida claimed responsibility for the attack one of many carried out against iraq's christian minority after the 2003 u.s. led invasion lewis is one of the few survivors of the church attack who stayed on in iraq and. i don't want to leave this is my home. but preserving iraq's dwindling christian population can feel like a lost cause. there's no hope left for the christians and other minorities to reassure them all the political parties and politicians don't care about the citizens interests they just care about their own interests the denomination's interests and regional interests this is the our lady of salvation church where the

2010 attack took place the concrete blocks to shield it from suicide bombings are now adorned with paintings of pope francis' in anticipation of his visit but the very presence of these protective barriers 10 years on is a sign that iraq's christians still don't feel safe the church attacks were a prelude to even darker days ahead. in 2014 eisel swept through the name of our planes in iraq's north forcing another exodus many christians fled abroad or to iraq semi autonomous kurdish region others came to the capital dhaka that this camp for displaced was set up in 2015 and still hosts around 200 christian families who can't decide whether to stay for the sake of preserving the past or leave for a better future. ameda tom america came here with her son from the village of humber she says there is nothing for her to return to. the now there are no

job opportunities and most of the village residents who are displaced there's nothing here for us in our street all the houses were destroyed pope francis' visit may offer a rare moment of hope for the christian community here but few expect it will bring about political change and any guarantees for their safety see one of 14 al-jazeera but. now there are reports at least one person has died in myanmar city of mandalay after protesters there clashed with police many have been defying a crackdown and marching to demand an end to the military coup activists are out in a number of cities 38 people were killed on wednesday and that sparked international condemnation a new video has also allowed showing hundreds of protesters being detained by police in the largest city yangon on wednesday the protesters are some of them monks as you can see there curing with their hands behind their heads before then being put into military trucks witnesses say more than 300 protesters were detained

earlier i spoke to a protester who is based in yangon and she described the situation there is frightening and heartbreaking she asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her in safety. i am not an activity on the streets at the moment but i have been sitting with legal hurt protests and i think there are different kinds of protests there are protests that are being gathered in the name coaches areas and their neighborhoods ones which are smaller and the ones that are right in the center of the city are a bit more dangerous to be in and i think the last few days there has to be large crackdown on those protests and life bullets have been used there are a bit more risk for women as well as there have been unconfirmed but reports of women being sexually harassed so that's a bit of a difficult situation to be in but the general discourse around that people are talking about is that we have to win this. revolution so people are still going out

people are so doing what they can either in the neighborhoods or outside and people are people have seen this as a as an outbreak war between the population and the military and there are lots of differing opinions on to what to do next but one thing for sure is the majority of the country is in the same side as being against military coup. speaking to us today you've asked us to keep your identity secret is that because your faith will fail in safety or well that of your family or friends what are you scared of might actually happened. all of the above all of the above my family doesn't know that i'm taking this call and will be probably against against this so i'm currently isolating myself from my family to be this call but they have been tracking people down who extension people who are a bit more political activists or people who have influence. actors they have all been tamed or great they can we can actively break into your house and take you

away so and your family recently a few weeks ago a famous actor he was taken away foster a life discussion of the condemning the military coup and they found him a few a few a few hours later and took him away so it's not particularly safe to be open about your opinions but obviously different people are some people are already in hiding and are more vocal. about their positions and some people have a lot more influence i'm not in hiding at the moment so i feel it would be best to put myself in my family to to live what i am of course obviously getting a chance to speak to you now but i know communications have been very difficult what's the situation at the moment. i am currently they've been gone and the few weeks a few days back we had some violent crackdown today has been a bit more stable in that stable i mean there is no death to date recorded just yet

but very tense this morning i was at the tea shop and people have been talking about the possibility of bombs being dropped because of rumor and speculation but you can you got it from people's minds that explicitly yesterday u.s. foreign policy document amounts of us wouldn't be going in the military intervention and i think this is something that blocks the hoped for. by people i mean the general population so there's there's this idea that there's nobody out here to protect us movies listening to our voices so the military could do anything and they have proven that they can do things. on a chinese video showing up tick tock says it's removed a video is apparent death threats from members of myanmar's military to antique a protest is digital rights group man i.c.t. for development has found more than 800 such clips have been recorded and posted on social media since the military to last a month now as you can see some of those videos show armed men aiming rifles and

cameras telling protest as they'll be shot in the head correspondent scott hyder has more on this from the thai capital bangkok. the tick-tock postings i think are one of many different types of intimidation that the military is using you know there's probably a department within the tatmadaw that's the military in myanmar that is specifically designed to do that to intimidate psychological warfare right now when you look at the streets of myanmar you can look at as there their battle lines so the military is deploying whatever they have learned over the years or tried to use over the years against their enemies and now they see the protesters as their enemy so yes they're using any type of intimidation they can if that is you know the facebook pages the you tube channel for much more official in organized by the military still spreading disinformation. still spreading rumors stoking fear now the tick-tock it's interesting it's difficult to tell i guess at this stage to see if that was actually orchestrated by someone within the military and in

a leadership position or just encouraging soldiers and saying go out there intimidate as much as you can the protesters and to talk is one of the platforms to use but tick tock as it has announced that they're going to monitor much more closely and that they have taken down some of these images that are direct threats to the protestors well you tube removed 5 channels run by myanmar's military including state network t.v. for violating its guidelines the video sharing platform joined social media giant facebook which earlier announced its deleting all pages linked to. quote incitement of violence and coordinating ha. well to the coronavirus pandemic now and an increasing number of countries across latin america are announcing plans to purchase russia sputnik against the coronavirus and presents an opportunity for the kremlin which is taking full advantage of vaccine diplomacy to try to grow its influence in the region trey's about reports now from what is eris. a plane from

argentina's national airline carrying thousands of doses of russia's sputnik v. vaccine the event was shown in most major television networks in the country mostly from the sudan interference from close we have signed a contract with the russian federation what does that contract say what that contract says is that we will be able to have enough doses to vaccinate $10000000.00 argentinean's between january and february. even though that deadline has passed and $10000000.00 doses are yet to arrive in argentina russia has become a crucial vaccine supplier for latin america last year as developed nations close deals with large laboratories for vaccines countries in the region turn to russia through fear of being left behind martin you know what one of the 1st country in the region and that delegate. ran played album they've never been. found in order to get the vaccine up. but it made it on

that information with other countries in latin america like mexico and bolivia at the beginning people here in argentina look at that but not be back feed with doubt now they're waiting in line to get inoculated. bolivia was hard hit by the pandemic almost 12000 people lost their lives in what is considered one of the region's poorest countries. in the country say russia sputnik of the vaccine was the only resource available. a real ability in the world has been always very very low most the comp. as a bridging the contract they can or didn't deliver their promised so it would be very unlikely that believe everybody back for the back in the 1st half of the intervention of our own president who has contact the president for this contract was achieved. russia was the 1st country to register a covert vaccine last year and since then sputnik v.

has become a diplomatic resource between moscow and latin america analysts here say it's part of a plan. the relationship with russia house we do with an objective of russia's foreign ministry with putin of projecting his presence in the region occupying areas where the united states is missing but also as a veiled to compensate the presence of the u.s. at the border with russia in ukraine the western presence in a way it means being in the united states backyard there's also the economic aspect local reports indicate moscow is already eyeing future contracts in argentina that include a nuclear power plant and a training vacuum want to an area that's believed to have some of the largest reserves of shale oil and gas in the world. but for now there is a pandemic and for many countries in the region the sputnik v. is the only chance to prevent further loss of life.

well after days of record coronavirus deaths across brazil its 2nd largest city has now announced its toughest measures yet to curb the spread of carbon 19 from friday restaurants and bars in rio de janeiro will close at 5 pm and an overnight curfew will be imposed it follows a decision by south paolo's government to shut non-essential businesses for 2 weeks for saturday brazil is facing its west phase of the pandemic yet pushing its hospital system to the brink of collapse i want to hear reports now from rio de janeiro. there are new people standing in line in front of the banks and increasingly more line by the door on the sidewalk like 33 year old barbara and her soon to be born baby boy. i lost my job as a cleaning lady when the pandemic began but at least i could rely on the government emergency aid now i have nothing around me a child on the way. government handouts benefiting 60 percent of brazil's

population stopped abruptly in january but the effects are beginning to show now. there's a bus company brazilians who return to poverty by the end of the year brazil went from one extreme to the other from having the most generous emergency aid program in the region benefiting 60 percent of the population to having none the question is how will people survive until we are all texan ated street vendor pony and his wife used to live in a shack in the slum until last week when their savings dried up and their customers stopped buying. a house in the way it's a vicious cycle we can't pay the rent or clients quit buying and finding a job now things are going from bad to worse is almost impossible. brazil's economy minister says the solution for the disease and the economy is the vaccine but president. has always downplayed the pandemic and political infighting has delayed

the knock you listen campaign less than 5 percent of the 210000000 population has been vaccinated in previous days rio's oldest slum people are wary of promises. we have less money food is more expensive and vaccines will take a long time to get here was still public that is 63 way high and the government says it could not maintain the emergency but economists say that dropping it all together can be doing for us. the specter of recession already looms over proceedings and with it the fear that the high unemployment and poverty rates will lead to an increase of violence which is already on the rise monica and i give all just sera rio de janeiro. well now south africa has received at 2nd batch of

$80000.00 vaccines donated by johnson and johnson it's part of a clinical trial in which tens of thousands of health care workers will be vaccinated but there are concerns that the rollout is going slower than expected i mean a mother has the story. south africa's government began vaccinating its health workers in mid february with 80000 receiving the jab so far for some like dr faisal saleman the rollouts been slower than expected he runs a private practice import outside durban he says has registered to be vaccinated but his appointments been cancelled it has been tough working it's not easy working in a closed environment being having people you know all day we do our own swapping here we've been treating patients directly and telephonically so it has been produced stressful particularly when you go home and pass this thing on to your family which i've done there more than 67000 health care workers in personal natal province alone of which fewer than 2000 have been vaccinated during the problem here have

been up won't maybe i location because we were given something like 10000 but i nor that they are here practitioners especially doctors who are in there we're looking into it it's not but since been at least get the idea there's been a learning process but many health care workers are still waiting as they continue to work in high risk environments scientists say it's important to vaccinate people as quickly as possible but johnson and johnson's donation of its vaccines in batches of 80000 doses every 2 weeks has worried critics will also questioning if this is indeed a rollout or nothing wrong than a clinical trial by the us pharmaceutical giant the government says it's part of an early access and monitoring program and it has to investigate how effective the johnson and johnson vet. scene is against the new more contagious strain identified

here in south africa later of me we must the vaccinated one for him to. have her way across now if that is the case then it means then that lorillard but we are doing now it's really small we should be vaccinating 80002100000 people a day instead of 4 point $5000.00 whatever $10000000.00 small doses from other companies like pfizer are expected to arrive possibly from april to expand the rollout well south africa is now at the end of a 2nd wave of infections there are concerns of another wave as soon as april. and a slow rollout and the winter months ahead have experts worried for me tamala al-jazeera johannesburg south africa well speaking of vaccines italy's government has blocked the export of an astra zeneca coronavirus vaccine shipment to a stray and now a stray is fighting back it's also a european commission to review that decision over concerns of a trend towards

a protectionist approach to back seen supply there to gauge reports. a story as cope at 19 vaccination program began just under a fortnight ago but it's already behind sched chill and is now eternally supported by the european commission has bob the planned export of 250000 doses of the astra zeneca vaccine to. this signal from europe is very. out of that magic that as of this that times and many many companies in the world will be replying on europe. that say it's the 1st thing to bench and of its current design to crack down on big pharmaceutical companies that fail to deliver on promise applies astra zeneca reduced its pledge doses to hear opinion earlier this year and italy has blamed its decision to block the astronomy unbound vaccines on supply problems saying it's try it in a stronger position with

a few code 19 caissons australia has rightist the issue with the european commission through multiple channels and in particular we have asked the european commission to review this decision the government says the block shipment one to affect its vaccine program a locally manufactured beijing of astra zeneca made by company c s n l is said to be available light to this month with the aim of producing $1000000.00 doses each week it's a very serious with $30000.00 steps a nation 1st 5 days of the program. has been shared access. saves with. lots of that saves and we start that. absolutely if you like general practices and found. the locally produced doses will provide the backbone

of the strategy is inoculation program which officials hope to complete by october straightly has also committed to helping vaccinate its neighbors in the pacific nicola gage al-jazeera. tens of thousands of people in new zealand fled their homes on friday after a series of earthquakes triggered a tsunami alert many have now returned home but as wayne hay reports from toronto others are still worried. around many parts of new zealand a peaceful friday morning was interrupted by tsunami sirens the calm waters provided an eerie backdrop to the warning about the danger that could have been on its way people in coastal communities in the north will most at risk and we're told to head to higher ground where some captured a tsunami arriving from an 8 point one magnitude earthquake hundreds of kilometers away near the committee island what we're asking people is to try and stay calm

touch price of people you love check on the people that you know might be most at risk and really just listen to the advice that is coming through for some this was the 2nd tsunami evacuation in hours early on friday morning another large quake struck much closer to new zealand and was felt strongly around much of the country by our jumped out to be a star in the doorway and my staff was up as well so our question wrong it took forever to start the quake send tsunami alert came less than 2 weeks after new zealand is marked teen years since a news quake in christchurch that killed 100 $85.00 people new zealand's location in the pacific ring of fire just breaking and lead to cross back over to baghdad where pope francis is on a 3 day visit had his 1st trip outside italy since the pandemic began the pope just met iraqi president back on sunday the 2 men are now giving remarks and this is the iraqi president let's listen in. soon in.

the church i believe we will come you. to the 1st city that has been all of the. of. the father of the prophets it's the city. believed in and known to go to visit. these grades holding a full peace facing. and in the strait sings the. coexistence. in humanity this is a great message to everyone because it includes lots of responses bill it is towards life and towards the human beings thank you very much you are high in this for accepting our invitation the invitation of the iraqis to visit our

country we appreciate you visit with all its dimensions religious and human and this means that you care about iraq during the previous meetings in the vatican i have felt that you care about our country your 4 row of twerps gloves on them our country and you followed by the choir uses the cut strong faith witnessed by the iraqis are due to the wus violence and foreign interference as the iraq is very proud of you because you are here today. dear against this spy it's all of the recommendations for you to postpone the visit because of the exceptional situation which understood by the end will yield to the

coronavirus pandemic despite all the difficult phase and bar you will come fully booked you have made the visit and you. this to be honest with you makes a visit right grades in. our hearts this is why it's the stones of violence in our country in the period of times they're rocking very proud because they have lived centrism centrism and sit is that include superman the components muslims. christians jews that is the there is. the components live in together in one city and one district the mosques the church. old to gather here and there everywhere in these cities and in these districts the rock is all

still very proud of protecting that has is. the funniest. violent attack against the church of. the moslems with the brothers the christians who work together to have the so-called when the muslims. believe that he human responsibility this is a tates to protect and defend the churches the same way they defend and protect the mosques and so quiet and. for all of us the. scene of that church in mosul. which was. this great hit by the isis and we

have seen the process like this but the moslems to be returned to its riot place in the church liberation office was saluting. the. christian shrines this is a very deep and human value that we all appreciate because all the iraqis believe that on the verse city is a high and supreme value deep inside our souls and spirits here in iraq at the beginning of. the emergence of islam christianity and the christians protectors muslims when they were a little and. juicy is said to be present job for me

we have nothing between us other than this. and we remember it i really. yes the eman miley was in iraq controlling this country has and he's sad that people are only to come. to a time. either brothers or even counterparts so what we're doing. is a quality this is a presence that believes in the quality and in the. principle of. today is a missing so many troubles and so many problems particularly in this part because the acceptance.