denmark passes a controversial bill to seize refugees' assets and valuables. this is al jazeera live from doha. also ahead one immediate dead and at least one injured after police in the u.s. arrest the leader of an armed militia in oregon. brazil deemploys more than 200,000 troops to battle the zika virus which may be linked to deformitys in new born babies. a japanese emperor visited the

philippines denmark has become the latest european country to pass legislation to confiscate valuables from refugees. new powers will allow police to seize assets worth more than $1500 from asylum seekers to cover the costs of housing and food. rob matheson reports >> reporter: the mood was subdued, the three-hour debate was polite but the result has shocked many in denmark. by 81 votes to 27 danish politicians have said police can seize valuables worth more than $1500 u.s. from refugees. the cash will be used to help cover housing and food costs while they wait for their asylum acclaims to be heard. >> translation: the argument that denmark doesn't do its bit, we absolutely do when it comes to refugees in europe.

it is not a secret that when we stand here today, it is because we wish to take a smaller share. >> reporter: denmark took in a record 20,000 refugees last year and it's not the only country to make them pay for living expenses. switzerland takes valuables worth more than $985. parts of germany have a similar policy. critics and supporters of the danish bill an it has more to do with deterring refugees from crossing the der. >> translation: -- border >> translation: denmark was a small country always at the forefront. today we're known for an inhumane policy. >> reporter: the united nations is concerned. >> the decision to give danish police the authority to search and confiscate valuables from asylum seekers sends damaging

sent p mets. it is promoting fear rather than promoting sold art for people in need of protection. >> reporter: they say it is in line with danes themselves who have to sell assets worth 1500 before they can receive benefits. they will be able to keep items of sentimental value, wedding and engagement rings, but they might have to hand over watches, computers and mobile phones. sometimes their only link to family and friends they may have left behind the leader of an armed militia in oregon that occupied government property has been arrested along with several of his companions. at least one person was killed during the arrest and another injured. our correspondent has been following this story since the standoff began at the beginning of january. he joins us live from new york.

what more do we know? >> reporter: it has been 24 days since the armed militia members occupied that wildlife refuge in a rural part of oregon. at about 4.30 p.m. local time the f.b.i. and organ state police conducted an operation and they confronted a caravan of militia members on a highway outside of the wildlife refuge. it appears that ammon bundy along with several other members were on their way to a community meeting nearby when the f.b.i. stopped them on a highway, a gun fight erupted. five militia memberss were taken into custody, including the leader, mr bundy, another militia member was shot but only had minor injuries. a sixth person, a militia member who has not been officially

identified yet by the f.b.i., but who was killed. that is significant because finnecum was the number two person ride behind ammon bundy he was often the spokesperson for the group. so five arrested there, one killed. simultaneously the f.b.i. arrested two more militia members in another area. they have all been charged with conspiracy, a federal crime, to impede law enforcement officers. it is unclear if this was an organized f.b.i. operation or if they just happened to be in the area and somehow stumbled upon this convoy. the details of the arrest and of the shooting have not been revealed yet. at the refuge there are still some militia members there, but

what their fate is going to be is still unclear just briefly, give us a background to all of this. as we said a few moments ago, the stand-off at this government property has been going on since the beginning of the year. yet the people who were holed up in there were arrested outside of the property on their way to a meeting. what was going on? >> reporter: that's right. the core militia members that overtook this refuge were not from oregon, they were mostly from arizona. mr bundy is a well-known militia leader. his forth led a similar protest last year elsewhere. they went to oregon and they overtook this rev guj because of holistic demands. they wanted federal grazing lands that the federal government owned or managed to be turned over to local

ranchers. that was their key fight. that was what they wanted done and that's what they were trying to bring attention to. they had other demands as well, but that was the key one. it really divided the local community in oregon, the ranchers there. half of them were against this occupation. another half were actually for it. there's a big counter current against the federal government by a lot of rural ranchers and that's what these members were trying to harness. as you mentioned, this has been going on for about a month now, this stand-off, and they were going to some sort of meeting outside of the compound when this all went down. more details will be coming out soon, but clearly a big development here thank you for that. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is urging china to take more action against north korea. he has met with his chinese counterpart in the capital of beijing. he described north korea's nuclear program as a major challenge to global surety. he also called on them to

increase tension over disputed parts of the south china sea. the director for the china national association of international studies joins us now. we had hoped to have been able to discuss john kerry and his chinese counterpart's press conference. that has been delayed for another hour. we do have an idea of what they would have been talking about. the first thing, of course, being, programs the most important, a way forward on north korea's nuclear program, which is a major challenge, kerry said, to global security. what sort of response would he get there in beijing? >> there is no doubt that the continued nuclear arms testing by dprk constitutes a major threat to peace and stability not only on the korean peninsula

itself, but others. china is a victim by these repeated nuclear testing by dprk i think china has called for the resumption of a six-party talk and urges a rationality and the reason to prevail and also urged all countries on the peninsula to discontinue with in any nuclear weapon program. in this particular regard co-ops between china and u.s. is a vital importance. without china's full cooperation and full participation, any international sanction against the dprk would not be that meaningful. on the other hand i think from the chinese perspective when we look at what the united states is asking for, it seems that the u.s. is contradicting itself. on the one side u.s. wants to have china's full cooperation on the dprk nuclear weapon testing issue, but on the other hand china believes the u.s. is

creating a lot of trouble in the south china sea by choosing and ticking sides in term of territorial dispute. it is very unfortunate that the u.s. wants to have the cake and eat it at the same time. i would say purely for the sake of resolving the nuclear proliferation issue, the united states need to full in secentiv all parts so they rally together and koum up with a common strategy to resolve the weapons testing rather than creating so much contradiction in this part of the world the second issue that kerry said he was keen to talk to his counterpart about, the activities in the south china sea. is the u.s. lecturing china on its behaviour in the south china

sea? >> from the chinese perspective the u.s. is not only lecturing on china, but also is picking sides. in territorial disputes between china and the philippines and china and vietnam, for example. this is unfortunate whenever you have certain territorial disputes, any third party will serve itself and all the other stakeholders better if it remains neutral rather than picking sides. also from the chinese perspective there is suspicion that the u.s. wants to create more problem in the south china sea by using certain countries as its proxies so that trouble can be created in this part of the world, escalation may happen and eventually a situation may get out of control and the u.s. will be the net winner of that kind of situation. therefore, china is very prepared against any such trouble making by the u.s. and

prepared against the worst just in case any armed conflict or confrontation may happen involving any territorial dispute in the south china sea always good to get your perspective. thank you for being with us. japan's emimportanter is on-- emperor is on holiday. diplomatic relations were restored 160 years ago, but there has been no japanese apology to philippine women who were captured and forced to become sex slaves. >> reporter: the emperor of jap might be here to bring a message of peace peace. but there are many concerned over the deepening security ties between the philippines and japan. particularly because of what seems to be a remilitarization of the country that formerly occupied the philippines.

these women, in particular, whom you just saw were actually skwh slaves during the imperial japanese army's rule over the philippines. they are still waiting for an apology and just kofr sayings none of which they have got from japan just yet still to come here on al jazeera. >> reporter: if we have an education it would be better than this afghanistan's children trade away their future to provide for the family. the family. the only way to get better is to challenge yourself,

and that's what we're doing at xfinity. we are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. and this includes our commitment to being on time. every time. that's why if we're ever late for an appointment, we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around.

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the top stories here on al jazeera. danish politicians have passed legislation to confiscate valuables from refugees to help cover housing and food costs. the leader of an armed militia in oregon has been arrested along with several xhan i don't knows. there are reports that at least one person was killed and another injured u.s. secretary of state john kerry is urging china to take more action against north korea. he has met his chinese counterpart in beijing. he called on china to decrease this evenings over disputed parts of south china sea. earlier john kerry visited vietnam. the country's economy is booming right now. it is on course to reap the

rewards of the largest trade pact. >> reporter: following 2000 years in vietnam historical roots runs deep. it this man has been a tour guide in the capital for 15 years. the temple here is a frequent stop for visitors. in 2014 his company suffered a 75% fall in chinese tourist traffic because of the territorial dispute in the south china sea involving china, vietnam and other people >> it depends on the ear, on the relationship between the government and you also know that in recent times the relationship between china and south-east asia changed a lot. >> reporter: as a result of the souring relationship, vietnam has been embracing america's

pivot to asia. 40 years after the war ended, the relationship with its former enemy has never been better. the u.s. trance pacific agreement agreement is ready to be signed. it will make things cheaper. vietnam is one of 12 nations in the position to hugely benefit economically. the agreement could also looten vietnamese ties with china >> the relationship, economic relations between vietnam and china is over dependence, but we do hope that it will be in place and vietnam will have more and deeper relationship. >> reporter: that partnership can now include american military equipment. the u.s. government lifted its ban on weapon sales to vietnam two years ago. in the dim global economy, vietnam is growing. it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and that along with tbp coming on line

soon, industries like this are looking to take off. >> for every one billion u.s. export will create about 100,000 jobs. exports from vietnam will exceed 40 billion by 2020. >> reporter: that's a million half more vietnamese employed in the textile and apparel industry alone. so as the leadership is chosen in the next five years, the younger hopes good fortune in vietnam continue the united nations estimates that around 40% of afghan children are out of school because the poverty. for families are forced to send their children to do hard labor instead. -- poor families >> reporter: these children are forced into hard labor. working to make bricks to help their family pay off debts.

everyone has to work. the young and old. this boy is only 78 >> translation: i-- only 8 >> translation: i collect the bricks and put them together. my hands and feet hurt. >> reporter: this girl is 11. she says she wants to be at school. >> translation: if we have an education it would be better than this. my head hurts a lot >> reporter: the forth borrowed money from the brick owner to cover his expenses. the family entire income is less than $20 a day which leaves them always needing to borrow more. he says it hurts him to see his children suffer, but he has no other choice. you can find entire families working here making bricks, but the main working force are children, those who are under the age of 10 get to work eight

hours a day. those who are over 10 years old will have to work 13 hours a day. child labor in afghanistan is endemic. it has illegal since 2003, but families are desperate to send their children to work in order to survive. the government says it is aware of the problem and is trying to promote education and create jo jobs. in the capital, the situation is not any better. children are found working in many sectors as cheap labor force. government figures assure that around 1.9 million children work across the country. >> translation: the issue of child labor is a serious one. the responsibility lies with the government and families. the government has a program with the help of the international community to sought the children. >> reporter: child labor is a long established custom that is difficult to overcome. it is related to the country's

lack of development and poverty. back in jalalabad these children work silently. they have to make 4,000 bricks a day. every brick bears their sweat and pain police in northern sierra leone have fired tear gas at protesters, who are protesting in a market. the whr had declared the country ebola free, but new cases have since been reported. u.s. president obama has met health and security teams to discuss the spread of the zika virus in brazil troops have been deployed to crackdown the mosquitos that spread the virus. >> reporter: there is a somber mood here. seats, fencing and food stands are all drenched with

insecticide. in two weeks it will be packed with thousands of people celebrating the country's festival. it will be a key venue when the country hosts the 2016 olympics, both occasions risking the spread of zika virus >> translation: any crowded place is considered a strategic place to combat the mosquitos. all the football stadiums are considered strategic points. we have a different treatment over the entire year for those places. the dome is also a point >> reporter: brazilian laboratories are trying to confirm whether there is a link between the virus and birth defects in hundreds of babies. the u.s. says it too is beginning research to find a possible rack seen. the president has been briefed on how the virus might spread and the possible economic impact. cases of zika virus have been reported in the u.s. states of require gin i can't and arkansaw. u.s. airlines are offering

refunds to passengers worried about flying to areas affected by the virus. but in brazil some say warnings about zika and ways to avoid contracting it are not getting through. >> translation: when i arrived here in the city, i did not see any information about anything. we knew about it from the television, but here in the city i have not seen or heard about it. >> reporter: 25 countries now have the zika virus and scientists estimate that more than 60% of the u.s. population live in areas where the virus might spread during warm months the second largest lake in bow live i can't-- bolivia has dried up. el nino is being blamed for its decline forcing people who live there to pack up and leave. a report from the city of oruro.

>> reporter: there was once water as far as the eye could see. the lake covered more than 2300 square kilometers. it used to provide most of the country's fish and was a contemporary home to thousands of migrating birds. now it is all gone. the second largest lapt turned into a cemetery for dozens of species when it finally dried up in december. only bugs are left praying on their carcasses. fisherman-- this man showed us where the peer used to be. his boats have been turned over. he was still fishing here a few weeks ago. >> translation: since 2014 there was a strong wind blowing. the water, birds and aglae began to disappear. we were helpless. now the lake is completely dry. the only thing left are our

tools, our boats and our memories. >> reporter: nearly 1 # 50 families who relied on the fishing industry are moving out or have already left. the government of the region has declared it a natural disaster. its governor says he is willing to fight ways to bring the water back, but at the same time he is hoping that rain will come. >> translation: in the meantime, we will implement breeding farms, but in the long run we must find alternatives to water sources. although i'm convinced that the rain will fill it again. >> reporter: the lake has dried up in the past. environmentalists say now it is different. they're partly blaming the el nino phenomenon. scientists say el nino used to have been every ten to 15 years, but now global warning has made it more recurrent, not giving the lake its chance to renew its

water cycle. it is also partly because it has diverted water supplies to a basin it shares with chile. the fate of the lake is irreversible. >> translation: whatever water the base, we have altered the hydrology cycle. it is a dead case. >> reporter: fisherman here agree. >> translation: now we have to migrate to the city. now my wife has to beg in the streets. that's how we are surviving. >> reporter: this man is not ready to give up the life on the lake just yet. he is guarding his nets and boat and hoping that somehow one day the water returns this will brighten your day. the dooms die clock remains at three minutes to midnight. it is a counted down to

armageddon. >> reporter: it has been a year of breakthroughs, a global climate change agreement, the iran nuclear deal done, but according to the bulletin of the atomic scientists, the people who set the dooms day clock, it's not enough to move their hands of time. they say the world is still just three minutes from utter catastrophe. nothing has changed from last year, in part because more nuclear weapons are being made >> nuclear programs continue, china pakistan, india and north korea are all increasing their nuclear arsenals and the u.s. and russia are modernising their arse is analysis. it is-- arsenals. it is hard to reduce these when you expect to spend 350 billion dollars modern nicing them. >> reporter: this has been getting attention for 69 years.

the fear it spreads have only encouraged more countries to get nuclear weapons. >> major case in point is the war in iraq which began in 2003 mainly as an anti proliferation war. the danger was that there were nuclear weapons. the result of that war is well over 100,000 dead, far more than that were killed in nuclear incidents combined. >> reporter: what the world has agreed to do is not enough to stop the impacts on the planet >> are you ready for the commander in chief? >> reporter: they want people to push their politicians, but acknowledge that is unlikely in this very unusual u.s. election year. >> it will be a long and somewhat disillusioning year as we elect a new president. my hopes are that we will elect a president who is totally fitted for the job

>> reporter: it is still an open question as to who will be the next one to hold the u.s. nuclear codes and they say the outcome will determine which way the clock moves next i bet that has cheered you up. there's more news, of course, at our website, aljazeera.com