i know japan shares our concerns with china's destabilizing actions the u.s. secretaries of state and defense are in japan to strengthen relations as china's influence grows in the region. and our neighboring forget this is our 0 ally from joe also coming up libya's new unity government is about to take power it's part of a u.n. backed efforts to bring peace. experts from the world health organization now to

meets to discuss the astra zeneca vaccine as latvia joins the list of european countries suspending their rollout plus a mythos of partner. dutch confirmed on wednesday and we meet the policy calling for them to racism in the netherlands. the u.s. secretaries of state and defense of used the 1st overseas trip to take a hard stand against china and stapling cannot lloyd austin have been holding meetings in japan they say that washington is prepared to push back against beijing's growing influence in the region the u.s. defense secretary added that announcing regional lives says is essential to confront what he called china's coercive and aggressive behavior i know japan shares our concerns with china's destabilizing actions. and as i have said before

china is a pacing challenge for the department of defense and we know that competing in today's shifting global dynamics can only be done through the spirit of teamwork and cooperation of 0 as friday saturday is live for us in tokyo tell us more about what lloyd austin had to say and secretary of state antony blinken. well we have been hearing that both ministers were going to. forward harsh. words against china but we didn't expect that to be as harsh as they did the genocide has been talking about reaffirming the alliance between both countries but some of the experts here were talking about the statement in which china would be named would be mentioned by name and that's what happened for the 1st time in such

meetings of 2 plus 2 so for the 1st time we hear both the germany side and the american side mentioning china by name as a country as a country who is exercising its muscles in the area who is intimidating and by broaching intruding into its territory alliance so it was a very harsh stance towards towards china and japan that's very that's very comforting for them because during the last 4 years of. the former president of trans mr asian he followed what the so called america 1st policy and they have been inside they were left alone facing. facing china's mighty mighty power in the region so now through a reaffirming the alliance of any side is feeling very comfortable with that but

naming china is also causing somewhat the among some politicians in the germany side that it could. lead the tension even more and could maybe cause a confrontation with china especially near the sink acquire lands where the presence of china has been increasing during the last few weeks. so al jazeera is. live for us in tokyo let's get some reaction now from from china katrina you is live for us in beijing so true to the americans have been selling this is a chance to strengthen asian alliances to counter china what's the view from beijing . well the aging foreign ministry has responded to the meeting by saying that the u.s. and japan should seek to affirm regional unity and cooperation and not to target any 3rd party or sabotage their interests it's quite

a strong but still muted message from beijing no doubt they do officials are watching and waiting to see how the u.s. acts as it continues its trip in asia ahead of their own resetting with the a u.s. which jigsaw of the national security adviser and anthony lincoln in alaska on those day but last week china's foreign ministry did accuse the u.s. of hyping the china threat in the region and also only seeking to contain china not purely in its own interests but it is true that there have been a number of maritime behaviors in particular which have caused concern not only with the u.s. but with a few of the countries in the region namely we've had increasing military activity by china in the south china sea increasing military exercises and when it comes to japan increasing incursions in the area of the same caucuses japanese control it's with what china considers its own and calls the d.l. you islands we've also had earlier this year a change to china's coast guard law which allows coast guard vessels in china to

carry weapons and also when necessary to fire on foreign vessels and recently in general we've had these increasing china rhetoric when it comes to protecting their own sovereign territory saying that these are red line issues and that china will not hesitate to use force and recently president xi jinping himself called on china's pilate to increase military preparedness in order to defend china's territory now i want to switch in this meeting between the u.s. and japan say that the u.s. is simply trying to feel out its allies like to see how enthusiastic japan and later korea are in terms of standing up to china but also made many beijing officials say that the u.s. and its allies are all too aware that they need to work with china when it comes to making any progress when it comes to me. and also in north korea of course aging being close to both of those countries and china for its part despite all of this rhetoric despite what the u.s. has been saying in japan beijing still wants very much to continue to work with the

u.s. and to reset ties and it's hoping with its meeting that's coming on thursday that they will be able to sit down and find some common ground on some issues but certainly as we've seen today there are many disagreements over the south china sea and also regarding other issues alleged human rights abuses and shinji on that threaten to overshadow that meeting of 0 as katrina you live in beijing katrina many thanks indeed was america's top officials are in japan a powerful figure from north korea has issued a warning commute jong the sister of leader kim jong un as urged the u.s. administration to refrain from doing anything unseemly if it wants to sleep in peace in the coming 4 years and she says the joint military drills with south korea are a barrier to renew diplomacy rob mcbride as the details from south korea's capital seoul. there is something of a stinging rebuke from kim jungle especially as it seems to be just about one of

the 1st official statements aimed from north korea at the biden administration since their coming into being kim jong il saying that warning the americans not to make a stink in this part of the world they also had some very unfriendly words for south korea warning that they would be willing to rip up a military agreement to the north signed with the south a few years ago when relations were far better than they are now but in some ways as these remarks can be seen as being fairly tame stuff obviously the remarks are code to time to coincide with this mission to this part of the world but it's also timed with these military exercises the resumption of these joint exercises that will hold it under the trumpet ministration they have been resumed they normally take place in the spring time but they are very small in scale it's pretty much no more than a computerized simulation a simulation but even so they began last week last week and we have been waiting

for some response from the north by comparison to how it's responded to these military exercises in the past this is not seen as being particularly aggressive in the past of course it had life firing exercises of its own with some very angry angry words so it does seem as though north korea is waiting to see what the biden administration's policy towards it towards north korea will look like and that's all part of course of this mission to formulate that policy. breaking news coming out of yemen the sour local sources say that hundreds of protesters have stormed the main gate of a presidential palace in the port city of aden the sources of the protests stormed the palace without being resisted by forces loyal to the u.a.e. backed southern transitional council this anger about the u.n. backed government's policies in the deteriorating economic situation last week the administration announced a series of measures to try to improve the economy. in the coming hours libya's

newly sworn in unity government is expected to begin its work the un backed effort is meant to help to bring stability ahead of the elections in december but with an estimated $20000.00 foreign fighters still in the country security will be a challenge for the government zeros not to try to reports now from tripoli. after years of division libya's new unity government is formed in the eastern city of 2 brooke. 35 ministers including the country's 1st female foreign minister were sworn into office. the ceremony was attended by members of parliament the new presidential council as well as several investors and broadcast on most t.v. channels here on what many are calling has story. their main goal to leave the country until nationwide elections are held in december and. now is the time to leave us to forgive each other and forget the past. after years of divisions

infighting and after many months of negotiations we're now able to announce a new government that unifies all libyans. the new prime minister abdul hamid to be uber has promised to improve government services and unify state institutions but that won't be easy but the hardest challenge facing this government will be forcing foreign fighters you know parts of this country out they constitute a major obstacle to the government and to elections so it must be a priority we do not want a foreign presence in libya and this is a popular demand we see as well he is a local journalist in tripoli and says people want action we hope that this government will not be like their predecessors and help the average citizen for 10 years libyans have heard empty promises that's made it hard for them to believe politicians in order for the government to gain popular support they should focus

on domestic issues that touch citizens like providing electricity in basic services before looking to international and political issues while the government has many challenges for many here in tripoli it's covert 19 that needs to be addressed 1st. the government needs to focus on the health sector make getting covert 1000 vaccines a priority once we get it under control we can begin to look at other issues. after being sworn into office in the eastern city of tobruk the new executive authority we turn to tripoli the outgoing prime minister. will hand over power on tuesday in libya 1st peaceful transition of 2012 and with that the beginning of a difficult role for the national unity government now trainer al-jazeera. experts from the world health organization

a meeting on tuesday to analyze data on the safety of the astra zeneca vaccine in germany france and italy have temporarily suspended use of the job and now latvia has been added to the growing list sizing concerns about a few cases of blood clots among people who got the shot dominic came reports from berlin this is a vaccine that divides opinion in some countries it's a large part of the strategy to combat coated in several others it's been linked to blood clots in some patients and is now suspended from use across europe a succession of governments has called for more research to be carried out that this is the a.t.p.'s on. the decision which has been taken in conformity with our european policy is to suspend as a precaution vaccinations with the astra zeneca vaccine in the hope that we can resume quickly if the make gives a green light. in germany 2 senior ministers have acted to stop its use again as a precautionary measure meaning massive vaccination centers such as this one here

at berlin's old tempelhof airport are now closed the many doses of astra zeneca vaccine within its walls are now in storage pending a decision by the european medicines agency later this week the contrast to this uncertainty in the u.k. is stark there the use of astra zeneca has been greatest and for the prime minister there are no such doubts. we have one of the toughest and most experienced regulators in the world they see no reason at all i discontinue the back to nation program forever and they are for any of the vaccines that we're currently using either of vaccines that we're currently using they believe that they are effective highly effective in driving down not just hospitalisation but but also serious disease and immortality is the nub of the issue is about the way astra zeneca interacts with a human body according to the

e m a from around 5000000 doses administered to date there are reports of a few dozen patients developing blood clots with some individuals having died although as yet no link between the vaccine and their deaths has been proved for the world health organization and the say the benefits of continuing to use astra zeneca as product far outweigh the potential risks but around many european capitals there is now fresh doubt what is certain is that suspending the use of astra zeneca will slow their vaccination programs dominic kane al-jazeera berland. thailand was the 1st country outside europe to stop using the astra zeneca vaccine but after reviewing reports it's once again cleared it for use in an effort to build public confidence prime minister prime with john archer became one of the 1st people there to get the shot in thailand will start to manufacture the astra zeneca

says in june and it's reserved the 1st 61000000 for its own population. japan's prime minister has been given his 1st dose of the fire as a covert 900 vaccine shaheed asuka is the 1st japanese official to publicly receive the shot. where the next here on al-jazeera then a little bit toward sri they like no other organizers are calling on spectators to . they say. they really think there's going to be a big audience. think this is kept many people company through a year of isolation now the streaming giant is hoping it can unseat hollywood's hold on the oscars. probably there were seen some rather nasty storms just a rumbling away across parts of the philippines recently little clutch of storms

coming through his eye some heavy rainfall getting up to around 100 millimeters of rain in the past 24 hours so what's a weather will continue in his usual showers across much of southeast asia with the truth and i'm born has seen some lively showers some job or a game with some heavy rain and that could lead to some localized flooding we're seeing some localized flooding to into parts of queensland australia lots of cloud around into that eastern side of also over the next couple of days some operetta features bringing some lively and fun very shasta some welcome rain some parts of central and southern queensland have had their best rain for around 3 years so that is some good news somewhat of weather will continue over towards brisbane this big on through this day the sunshine coast the gulf coast things and shall is still some showers there it's a good part of new south wales but for victoria's jenny dryness warming up as well 26 celsius hasn't sunshine the in melbourne further west for getting up to 33 in perth again with some sunshine when starting to ease off now into

a new zealand largely fine and dry so it looks good for the americas cup home wednesday go on into thursday it stays fun and dry here but further showers for last radia. to make a change. change a life for the path of the country. challenge the accepted truth you want to create something you push to break it continually mold up to turn the status quo and fight injustice down all month to get. down to. witness personal documentaries that don't turn up deception on al-jazeera.

hello again this is al-jazeera the main news this hour the u.s. secretary of state as he used his 1st overseas trip to take a hard stand against china and sleep lincoln says that washington is prepared to push back against beijing's growing influence in the region. north korea has taken note of the visit and has issued a warning to the u.s. kim jong the sister of leader kim jong un as a washington to refrain from doing anything quote unseemly if it wants to sleep in peace. and in yemen the local sources say that hundreds of protesters have stormed the presidential palace and 8 justices stormed the machine palace without being resisted by forces loyal to the sultan transitional council. a significant step now in the countdown to the postponed olympic games in tokyo organizers have

confirmed the torch relay will go ahead in 9 days before then they hope to make a final decision on whether to allow foreign fans into japan for the games which is due to begin in july. so you would be watching the torch relay along the streets yes please do that when you do that please ensure that you have physical distance with everybody else we want to ensure safety while you are enjoying the olympic torch relay. jailed kremlin critic alexina valmy is expected to appear in court file video link later on tuesday the valley has accused the authorities of not doing enough to investigate his poisoning last year the opposition figure says that he's being held in what he's called a concentration camp in russia's vladimir region about he was jailed for parole violations or being treated in germany after his poisoning charges say his supporters supporters are politically motivated. civil liberty campaigners in the

u.k. are calling on politicians to scrap a bill giving police more power to crackdown on protests laws being debated for a 2nd day on tuesday before going to a vote for lisa in london facing criticism for the way they handled a vigil for 33 year old woman who prosecutors say was murdered by an off duty police officer join a whole reports. the right to peaceful protest to demonstrate one's views to be heard. potentially under threat in proposed legislation containing a range of new powers for the police overall the bill has many elements of it which are quite a thorough tyrion they defer to senior police officers on judgments as to whether something can be considered criminal and that particularly sits in the part of the bill which deals with protest so if protests are considered to be causing serious annoyance or disruptive or causing a disturbance it can be up to senior police officers to decide that that process is

then not allowed to continue to go ahead. here's why it matters seems on the weekend of women being manhandled by police officers while attending a vigil in memory of a young woman murdered allegedly by a police officer the police say the vigil was unlawful and a pandemic restrictions and the head of the metropolitan force president dick has resisted calls for her to resign civil liberties groups are calling for a rethink of the planned policing bill. this bill might be held up as containing measures to address violence against women and girls in reality it lays out measures which undermine our right to hold power to account that we can see how important is to be able to hold power to account and we have to scrutinize and contain the use of state power in the context of the weekends in sorrow and in anger women gathered 1st at clapham common in london where 33 year old sarah everett disappeared on my. the 3rd and then outside police headquarters and

parliament with cries of kill the bill they formed an emotive backdrop to parliament's debate opposition parties have echoed campaigners concerns that the policing believes deeply in balanced apart from unwarranted curbs on protest for instance it does too little to protect women while it does increase criminal sanctions for defacing statues and memorials they'll be longer jail terms they say for vandalism than for rape he says speaker let me turn to this weekend's events this government in fighting crime and keeping the public safe but in the interests of providing greater assurance and ensuring public confidence i have asked her majesty's inspectorate of can staff to conduct a full independent review. the government says it's taking a wide range of steps necessary to keep people safe despite some libertarian concerns among its own m.p.'s

a large parliamentary majority will likely ensure the bill is passed joe the whole al-jazeera london. the netherlands holds a general election where the state of the issue of race is playing a major part in campaigning the by aim political party says the country has failed to face its colonial past the bottle reports now from amsterdam. the stormy weather in amsterdam did little to deter the dutch parliamentary candidate silvana simmons thanks to a well known former t.v. star simmons entered politics 5 years ago the party by ayn is campaigning to end racism and inequality in the netherlands you know we need to stop it because you know we equal and therefore everyone is entitled or deserve the same rights simmons came to the netherlands as a baby from the former dutch colony of syria she says that the image of the netherlands as an inclusive society is far from reality she's on surprised by the

rise of far right parties we've been served politics that say. be afraid of everybody that doesn't look like you it's been going on for 20 years it's not something that just came up this is a right wing country we have to accept that for simmons and her party more diversity in mainstream national politics is essential to help change the attitudes in the netherlands and help end what she calls institutionalized racism michel as a yes runs the black archives a project or documents discrimination in dutch society its books artifacts and clippings are a catalogue of oppression and a testament to those who fought against it and so yeah says that the root of the problem lies in the netherlands failure to face its colonial past and that legacy is still visible in present day society and the daily basis people are confronted with different forms of racism and i break racism islamophobia there's a lot of research showing it. however unfortunately there's not enough

acknowledgement from the government that this is a serious problem prime minister margaret is hoping to be elected for a 4th term despite his center right government resigning in january after a child benefit scandal tens of thousands of people were wrongly accused of fraud the majority immigrant families targeted by the tax office prime minister was convicted in 2007 for racism and discrimination yet after that he became prime minister and he has been for over 10 years so this is how institutionalized it is simmons knows that her party is unlikely to win the election but she hopes to become the 1st black woman party leader to win a dutch parliamentary seat for her supporters that would be a huge victory and to sign that the winds of change may be blowing natasha butler al-jazeera amsterdam. bank employees across india have called for

a 2 day strike to condemn the government's decision to privatized public sector banks some services were affected a sense of thousands protested against the proposed plan the strike was called by an umbrella organization representing 9 banking unions. once onside netflix is not dominating the academy awards after year of lockdowns the streaming service is received $35.00 oscar nominations to 16 of its productions a record number of women and ethnic minorities something nominated well brunell's reports. in a year that saw theaters shuttered and movie fans marooned in front of their t.v. sets the netflix drama manc about an alcoholic screenwriters foray into 930 s. hollywood one the biggest number of academy award nominations with 10 including for best picture david fincher was nominated for best director and gary oldman for best

actor other best picture nods with 2 no man's land minori judas in the black messiah promising young woman the father sound of metal and the trial of the chicago 7 these defendants had a plan and the plan was to incite a riot 2 women directors were nominated a 1st in the 93 years of oscars chloe xiao for a no man's land and emerald fennel for promising young woman what happens in life under unusual circumstances given what happened right why i dropped out i'm not the only one didn't believe it all a record number of 76 nominations went to women film professionals it was kind of historic all the way around for actually spreading things out and getting more diversity across gender lines and also race but i think there's still so much more that needs to be done also for the 1st time an asian american actor was tipped for

best actor steven un was nominated for me nare the story of a korean american family trying to make a go of farming in the rural south places tend to be good programs when i see a baby event from some other part of. that. you know a lot of bare faced sort of movie need being nominate in that supporting and roland. did you cry and other best actor nominations went to anthony hopkins for the father. i mean. for sound of metal and a posthumous nomination for chadwick boseman in my rainey's black bottom becoming goldman's death from cancer last year at the age of just 43 shocked and saddened his many fans. got about the kind of god god god he did i think a lot of people would say he's the sentimental favorite not just for his performance

. but truly for his body of work in the best actress category frances mcdormand received her 6th us her nomination for nomad land and viola davis got her 4th nomination form are a nice black bottom the other actresses nominated are carey mulligan for promising young woman but s. occur before pieces of a woman and andra day for the united states versus billie holiday the oscars award ceremonies will be held mostly virtually on april 25th robert oulds al jazeera los angeles. it's good to have you with us live adrian from going to here in doha the headlines on al-jazeera the u.s. secretaries of state and defense have used that 1st overseas trip to take a hard stand against china and say they think the lloyd austin.