philippines but also in other parts of the country and they re also notorious for piracy and for kidnappings for ransom also targeting western travelers in that area and they re known to behead their hostages if the ransom they demand for them isn t paid karo could this attack be linked to last week s referendum on muslim autonomy in the southern philippines. it s a bit too early to tell but the authorities are definitely looking into that. the area where this attack happened sulu province in the southern philippines rejected that autonomy law in that referendum last week and if it s in fact a group like the abu sayyaf who is behind this attack they could benefit from sabotaging this autonomy law and sabotaging this peace deal because they draw their strength from the dissatisfaction among the muslim population in that area dissatisfaction that stems from perceived oppression and perceived injustices and
those are exactly things that this autonomy law and that this peace deal aim to target carol. all right our south east asia correspondent boston heartsick thank you very much. now look at some of the other stories making news around the world the u.n. says more than fifty mass graves have been found in the democratic republic of congo after a string of killings there the graves in the west of the country are believed to be related to deadly violence between two ethnic groups that erupted in december the investigation is now underway. hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have gathered to attend pope francis s world youth day mass in panama city on sunday the service marks the end of the pontiff first trip to central america later today he will also visit a church run home for people living with aids. huge protests are expected today in the venezuelan capital caracas as demands are growing for fresh
that autonomy law in the referendum last week and if it s in fact a group like the abu sayyaf was behind this attack they could benefit from sabotaging this autonomy law and sabotaging this peace deal because they draw their strength from the dissatisfaction among the muslim population in that area dissatisfaction that stems from perceived oppression and perceived injustices and those are exactly things that this autonomy law and this peace deal aim to target carol all right our south east asia correspondent boston heartsick thank you very much. a state court in brazil has blocked more than a billion euros in assets belonging to the mining company valley in order to pay for damages from friday s dam disaster at least forty people are confirmed dead after the incident and three hundred more are still missing hopes of finding survivors are fading fast. scenes of despair and a damn sight. for the families of the missing the wait for news about their loved
as long as the filipino army is putting out fires in other places they have less they have less forces to concentrate on these groups as well so there is a reason to believe that in the wake of this of this autonomy law that was passed in that referendum maybe these groups want to destabilize that region. a bit further and you. se asia correspondent thanks so much. negotiations to end america s longest war may have made significant progress the u.s. special envoy will brief the afghan government in kabul today about his peace talks with taliban rebels amid reports of positive steps being made towards a deal so may held six days of talks with the taliban representatives in the qatari capital doha key sticking points on negotiating a cease fire and a timeframe for a withdrawal of foreign troops from afghanistan. and the u.s.