young girls go through secondary school with us are going to be able to stay employed but that's one path and able to change have fun meet the women in ghana who are going places when it comes to education women make chains on al-jazeera. or a. manner. top chinese and u.s. officials are set to meet in alaska for the 1st face to face talks since president joe biden took office. hello i'm barbara starr you're watching the al-jazeera half hour of news live from london also coming up safe and effective europe's medicine's regulator gives its verdict on the astra zeneca vaccine after several countries suspended its rollout

over safety concerns a meeting in moscow puts russia back at the center of a ghana stance peace process. and paying tribute to what king mourners bit a final farewell to south africa's the longest serving zulu monarch. top officials from the world's 2 largest economies are preparing for talks in an effort to repair relations that are at their lowest point in decades it's the 1st time level meeting between the u.s. and china under president joe biden's administration and the discussions are expected to be difficult delegations from both countries have now arrived in alaska for the summit including u.s. secretary of state and to lincoln lincoln will be pressuring china on a range of security and human rights issues he says the country has to address

before relations can improve but beijing says washington must lift what it calls on reasonable restrictions in the form of sanctions and tariffs to encourage further cooperation well earlier the secretary of state and the u.s. defense secretary met with leaders in south korea the reaffirmed their shared goal of a deal denuclearize that north korea will thrive has more from seoul. this mission to north east asia ended as it had begun with the u.s. directly accusing china of aggressive behavior in the region but the u.s. and south korea also confirmed beijing's importance in the denuclearization of north korea but china has a real interest in helping to deal with this house has an obligation under the u.n. security council resolutions the u.s. and try to open a dialogue with north korea ahead of this trip but without success north korea has

officially confirmed it had received those requests but didn't respond it's 1st vice foreign minister and he saying there can be no dialogue until the u.s. stops what she called its hostile behavior making it clear pyongyang is waiting to see what the new policy of the biden and ministration to war date will look like this mission is intended to help formulate that strategy it's also a restoring and repairing relations between the u.s. and its traditional allies in northeast asia i mean i'm going to partners a bit as the u.s. has repeatedly said the trilateral security cooperation between seoul tokyo and washington is crucial considering the international situation and newly emerging security threats. are relations often severely strained during the previous administration of donald trump that advantage for the united states has been

greatly ruined during the 4 years of trumpet the ministration saw it is important for the biden are the ministrations restore of the u.s. treasury as their united states has and china does not one of the last acts on this visit a cost sharing agreement for the basing of u.s. troops in south korea disputed for years by the trumpet ministration its final signing seen here as evidence of an alliance restored rod mcbride al-jazeera sold. the european union's medicine regulator has ruled that astra zeneca vaccine is safe after more than a dozen countries suspended their rollout due to safety for years the european medicines agency found no evidence of a higher risk of blood clots in people who receive the job but the e m a also says they cannot definitely rule out a connection to a rare blood disorder so the agency insists the benefits outweigh the risks

the committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion this is a safe and effective vaccine expend if it's in protecting people from covert 19 with the associated risks of death from hospitalized nation outweigh the possible risks the committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of throwing a public event or blood clots senior members of the taliban and the afghanistan's government are meeting in moscow to try to resume stalled peace negotiations russia the us china and pakistan have called on both sides to consider an immediate cease fire american troops are meant to leave from afghanistan on may 1st but president joe biden says that's a difficult deadline to meet well it. is a regional analyst she says every small step towards peace is a welcome sign. i'll focus that's there and they will. get us on has been in

this war for 40 years over 40 years the people who are in our all namely our people who have been the most throughout your guidance in killing people in common things they've unions in assassinations from aids and they have to be made responsible for as the grouse forced it upon its actions as regional and global economics all. at reaching it everything he's a means to end its conflict in program reason the moscow. bends some think that it's too brain to think either but they think and from moscow is still really this into the voice of the afghan people who are crime victims office who are going to. war that has never been and it's all part and mind you know the 3

countries or the united states russia and china. are not the only players at their ease saudi there is on their own and other countries in the crimson or broader region that have a stake in a slum they have people in afghanistan they have proxies and those processes are responsible for this never ending war so the complexity of the afghan conflict is like this that never ends and in reality it is thoughts by afghans that this is not all done by. as some protesters in myanmar push back against the security forces violent crackdown the military announced a treason charges against the former ambassador to the u.n. chemical tun was fired the day after speaking at the u.n. general assembly last month where he called for help to remove the army from power scott haidar has gone. the industrial zone of yangon has

emerged as the main flashpoint between protesters and myanmar security forces it ignited on sunday and has continued throughout the week. the protesters now arming themselves with makeshift weapons slingshots amal tough cocktails fighting back as they appear to be facing live ammunition and tear gas this part of the city is home to migrant workers at the nearby factories some of which were torched on sunday leading to the most violent day so far in the 6 weeks of protests martial law has been imposed in some areas the military has announced another member a former civilian leader aung sang suu cheese and al de party has been charged with high treason me and mars in bass or to the united nations giacomo tune is facing the charge for his speech during the un general assembly on the situation in his country and that february 26th beach he called for the fight for democracy to continue more international pressure on the junk and raise the protest movements 3 finger salute he was fired the next day. myanmar state television has aired an

interview with the man who says suchi accepted money from him while she was in office. i mean according to my weight he had given. for payments $100000.00 in may $218150000.00 in may $21950000.00 in february 2020 and $250000.00 in april 2020 totaling $550000.00 tourney called the bribery accusation groundless in a logical this is the 2nd corruption allegation in addition to charges already made against suchi including illegally importing walkie talkies and breaking covert 1000 restrictions. in a further move by the military to control with seen and heard inside myanmar internet services are becoming increasingly limited mobile networks have been ordered to shut down and the speed of the internet has become very slow. scott hardliner al jazeera let's go to the netherlands now where the prime minister

margaret is beginning talks to form a coalition government after claiming an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections and that the big winner in the poll is former u.n. diplomat sigrid coggan her progressive liberal the 66 party having gained the most seats they could move the nation's foreign policy towards being more pro he repeated steadfast and reports from the hague. i this is how the firmest party made his entrance to the dutch house of parliament it's one of 17 parties elected the largest number since 1980 this shows how the already fragmented political landscape has become even more divided in the campaign we said we will take the rural areas to the hague and like this is the symbol for the rural areas with the hard working farmers all 17 party leaders now have to negotiate to form

a new government but with the governing center right party of prime minister marketa clearly winning not many expect the new coalition to be much different than the previous one but of course the main issue a short table for the next 2 years is how to rebuild the country going forward after the corner was and this woman will have a much bigger say destroy him around former u.n. diplomats surprisingly manage to make a pro european party the 2nd largest in parliament well they get all their fellow 1st and for now front is dealt what i have always believed and is now confirmed is that dutch people and not extremists but moderate people appreciate positivity they count on their own strength and always respect others all thet in regard. while kaka's named as a possible 1st female prime minister in the future analysts say it will be easy to remove from office. pretty himself jokes about

a possible 24th written cabinet out of a possible successor will have to chase him out of his office with force he won't leave easily and not a winner from the 1st election held during the pandemic is the far right anti immigration party forum for democracy at $18.00 seats in parliament so only campaigning against covert $1000.00 locked down it's. really a normal world. out of an english instinct to be a part of the govern. and because none of the leading parties wants to go in with well that's what they said before the elections but it's a tradition in western countries that everything the established parties promised before the elections is discarded after the elections 4 years ago it took 225 days to form a new government but in the middle of a global pandemic most agreed that politicians should set aside their differences and form a new government as soon as possible steps fast and al-jazeera the hague. ok let's take you back to one of our top stories and that is the high level meeting between

the u.s. and china which is due to take place in the next few hours in alaska well let's go to our diplomatic editor james bays live from that summit in anchorage so what are we expecting the 2 nations to talk about james. well 2 hours from now is when this absolutely crucial meeting takes place absolutely crucial because it affects so many of the crises around the world these are the 2 most powerful nations on earth bhowmick clee and their relations have been very very poor in recent years during the trumpet ministration this is a chance i think not necessarily to rebuild the relations but to rebuild the relations on certain areas the biden administration has a different approach to this is no longer there we're going to be talking for example about the wu hand virus it's going to call out china on issues where it doesn't like what china is doing for example human rights for example some of the

regional issues involving china but it wants to work very very closely with china on other issues climate change as an example some regional issues myanmar the coup there and how to respond to it the ongoing situation in afghanistan the peace talks those are areas where the u.s. wants to work with china and the idea of this meeting is not to be any great outcome or communique or achievement from this meeting is to work out how these 2 can compete at the same time they can collaborate on different issues at the same time working out a parameter of parameters for the relationship working out where both countries have red lines so that i think is what we're expecting from these crucial talks starting 2 hours from now bob we'll of course be talking to you as those talks begin for the moment there james phase life for a senator in alaska thank you. and still ahead on the program a nation in mourning tanzania grieves over the death of president john.

but others say he's left. how we got some beautiful spring sunshine across northwestern parts of here now we're seeing a little bit of time weather just teasing down the north sea that is the sort of england pushing into the low countries across parts of france but high pressure comes in behind that will keep it nice and quiet but to the east of that high we're dragging cold air from an old direction so single figures across a good part of central and eastern europe with some snow there was some snow flurries around the outs pushing across parts of germany into poland easing through into western side of russia and that was the southeast as well some west of weather there once again. turning

a little drier and brighter for grace on places like that for the western side of the med. showers will continue to rumble away as we go through the next couple of days and on into the weekend in the west of weather that will make its way back across the balkans most snow coming in here some showers into northern parts of grace up towards a northwest that's the place to be fine and dry on a little breezy across the far north of scotland but it will be lost the settled and sunny some of the city for the northeastern corner of africa but i would also northwest what the weather coming through here those showers that we have across that western side of the mediterranean will bring some rather wet weather into northern parts of algeria and sunni shia. al jazeera as investigative unit takes you on for months on the cover of course. if you had a. victims who had survived torture in detention and saying this was the cause of

my arrest revealing the illegal dealings of the surveillance industry here in france if. all you're doing these are the nuclear weapons of the 21st century al-jazeera investigations. the world. of back here is a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in alaska for the biden administration's 1st high level meeting with china top officials from the world's 2 largest economies are preparing for talks in an effort to repair relations that are

at their lowest point in decades the european union's medicine regulator has ruled that astra zeneca has vaccine is safe saying it found no evidence of a higher risk of blood clots in people who received the child. and senior members of the taliban and afghanistan's government have been meeting in moscow to try to resume stalled peace negotiations. well let's take you back to that story one of our top stories that the european union's medicine regulator has ruled that the astra zeneca vaccine is safe for use let's go to an attack or who joins us from paris some pascha france one of the countries that had suspended the astra zeneca vaccine what reaction has there been to these comments by the european union's medicine regulator. well the french prime minister. gave a press conference a short while ago and he says that frons is very pleased that the astra zeneca

vaccine has been given the green light again if you like by the european medical agency and that france will resume its use on friday on the noon hour it had been suspended on monday the french president a man who might cross said to the he decided to suspend the use of the vaccine in the country and till the in may had given its advice for the advice is there good news says the prime minister he says that he will actually be vaccinated with the astra zeneca with an astronomical jab on friday publicly the government know that they are going to have a huge p.r. job on their hands to try and persuade people in france to use this vaccine that has had so much conflicting publicist see over the last few months in the european union so the prime minister is hoping that of course by going public with his own astra zeneca job he will try and encourage people to also get vaccinated but recent polls have shown that no matter what politicians are saying in france that really

public opinion is very is very divided over the facts in and many people simply say they don't want the astra zeneca vaccine and that is a problem for the government because they need more people to be vaccinated already vaccine skepticism very high here in the country absolutely and like other parts of europe france is just introduced a further lock down a lot of fall lock down maybe but certainly restrictions for the next few weeks tell us more about those. yes the french prime minister saying another month long lockdown for 16 regions in france including here in the capital per paris and the suburbs month long lockdown schools however will remain open that's always been very important for the government they never shot since may last year but all non-essential shops to close restaurants bars that kind of thing they've already there already shot since last year but people will have restrictions on where they can go they can't travel outside of their own region

they will be travel within a 10 kilometer outside of a 10 kilometer perimeter they will have to use permits again every time that they leave or have leave the house has a pretty hard lock down certainly many people in from in these regions were not expecting it to be so hard recently the government's been experimenting with weekend lockdowns in some regions but it seems that they need much tighter restrictions the french prime minister is saying that infections are simply too high at the moment in some of these regions we had about 38000 new infections daily for the past few days i see use saturated in the paris region patients have been flown to other hospitals in other areas so the prime minister says that unless these restrictions were tightened now that the situation would simply degrade and also that's why the vaccination campaign is so crucial in france like so many other countries there with the latest from paris thank you. was speaking of vaccines

a remote village in brazil's amazon region has received 1000 vaccines after all of its residents were infected doctors traveled for 2 hours by boat to the region as community of nova speranza some residents were initially skeptical about the vaccine but the village chief says all eligible members have now been inoculated with the chinese made sin of actos all 195 villagers got infected after some of them returned from the state capital of my now us where they have gone to buy food . pens india has the cleared a period of mourning after the death of president john. officials say the 61 year old died of heart problems but political opponents suspect that he was actually sick with covert 19 well before he was skeptical about the pandemic encouraging the public to focus on prayer instead of lockdowns and vaccines catherine sawyer has more now from nairobi in neighboring kenya. floods in the streets of tanzania flat

half mast to mark the death from heart failure of president john palmer mughal fully a man who is as divisive in death as in life the news though did not come as a great surprise there's been speculation over his health including rumors of covered 1000 infection since he disappeared from the public spotlight 3 weeks ago. but for a man of his state model for his death has shaken the country and also shown the split in his support some paid tribute to him as a politician who cared about the poor fought corruption change the way the government did business kept down on expenditure and initiated numerous infrastructure and social projects. i am not happy because he was a brave leader now that he has left i have no words we have lost hope i am in pain the poor had started making progress in life business was far reaching if you had

a problem you would approach a government official and you would get help but marvel who was also accused by his critics of being an authoritarian who presided over our government that stifled political and media freedoms was intolerant to dissent and carried out human rights abuses his handling of the corona virus pandemic was also faulted with many saying his denial of the disease caused serious harm when. nearly people. who were. in. regional heads of state have sent their condolences with kenya's president. calling mughal fully a statesman despite the 2 countries having a frosty trade and diplomatic relationship in the pricing as president of the sunni

. ok. tanzania will be mourning for $21.00 days. vice president who has and takes over as interim president until 2025 when a new election will be how old she the country's fast female in the top job and now has to navigate through what john moxley left behind including his policies on coronavirus catherine soy are 20 a bus carrying afghan government employees has been hit by a bomb in kabul at least 4 people have been killed and 9 others wounded no group has claimed responsibility yet. meanwhile a helicopter crash in central afghanistan has killed at least 9 military personnel the defense ministry says 4 crew members and 5 troops died when the aircraft came

down in my down water that province the reuters news agency says the helicopter was shot down by a rocket according to sources. the 1st native american cabinet secretary in u.s. history has just been sworn in an interior as interior secretary deb holland that will oversee national parks and other government owned land she'll also be in charge of washington's relationship with more than $500.00 tribal nations as a congresswoman representing new mexico holland focused exist extensively on climate change she is expected to continue to be a central figure on that issue in joe biden's cabinet severe thunderstorms have led to several tornadoes in the u.s. states of alabama and mississippi local t.v. crews captured this dramatic footage of a twister sweeping across central alabama several people have been injured

thousands of homes suffered damage and are without power tornado warnings are still in effect in the region. south africans have been paying their final respects to one of the country's most influential traditional role this zulu king at goodwill as well if he need died last week at the age of 72 from diabetes for me the miller has more now from. zulu arias bid farewell to the only king most of them have ever known these men are called the. they've come to the royal palace in a northern cause alluna tal to pay tribute to king goodwills ability need from across south africa tribal chiefs objects and well wishes gathered after the king's private burial ceremony where only close male family members attended by littlewoods and will and it's important for me to be here as our father the king has left us so we're here to mourn him by about 11

a celebrity some of my fellow worriers were hurt they couldn't be here because of the current coronavirus not all of them could be covered 1000 restrictions mean many have stayed away and unusual time for mourners and the royal family revered throughout the cause alina told province king goodwills well it is a memorial service has begun within the palace grounds like sides the worry is i'm about to have gathered they say they're here to praise the king they are fiercely loyal but at the gate to the palace police keep them back instead they perform rituals outside inside the palace stigma trees and family pay tribute to. the passing of his majesty means that we've lost our of year. who had the distinction of leading the people for half a century the significance of his long reign and his legacy

is not lost on us. while his role was largely ceremonial with at least 11000000 subjects' really teeny had significant political influence which couldn't be ignored by both the apartheid and democratic governments after 1904. while some say the king was a peacemaker others argue his influence led to further bloodshed during volatile times it's really t.v. was known as a traditionalist often promoting the zulu culture but he was criticized too for comments he made in 2015 saying that foreigners should return to their homes he also publicly condemned homo sexual relationships the king was also one of the largest landlords in the world through a special trustee controlled nearly a 3rd of the land in the province people who live here don't own the land

controlled by the trust last year activist groups took the trust to court they want more rights for tenants but many here remain loyal tradition and the monarchy and despite the criticism people here say they've lost a king for me to malaya al-jazeera non-gold mark was all in a towel. and you can get more on that story and everything else that we have been covering on our website there it is al jazeera dot com. and now the top stories on al-jazeera top officials from the world's 2 largest economies are preparing for talks in an effort to repay relations that are at their lowest point in decades u.s. secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in alaska for the biden administration's 1st high level meeting with china lincoln will be pressuring china on a range of security and human rights issues he says the.