let's. move from. american and chinese diplomats wrapped up a tense round of talks with the u.s. secretary of state saying the 2 sides are fundamentally at odds over a number of issues. from a head quarters and. also coming up. president biden visits georgia to support asian americans days after

a mass shooting raises concerns about asian violence the brazilian president. the supreme court to reverse the local coronavirus lockdowns despite infection numbers reaching record levels. warnings of what's being called the 1900 tornado in new guinea after a big rise in infections. hello thanks for joining us high level talks between china and the u.s. that began with an acrimonious public exchange have now wrapped up in alaska without any significant breakthrough the chinese delegation left without talking to reporters but senior diplomats yang jiechi was later quoted on social media he described the discussions as candid constructive and beneficial but admitted they still have differences the u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken made similar remarks saying the 2 sides are at

odds over a number of issues our diplomatic editor james bays has been monitoring the talks from anchorage. what we saw at the start of this meeting was a very rare public and law exchange of views and very different views they were the meeting though ended with much more moderate comments from both sides who said this was a constructive meeting the u.s. secretary of state and the blinken though made it clear there were still very big differences we certainly know and knew going in that there are a number of areas where we are fundamentally at odds including our transactions. with regard to work to hong kong tibet increasingly taiwan as well as actions that it's taking in in cyberspace and. it's no surprise that when we raise those issues clearly and directly we got

a different response. secretary blinken also made it clear though that there were issues where the 2 countries interests put it intersected those included the climate crisis north korea afghanistan and the iran nuclear deal the chinese spoke to 2 chinese media they said these were candid structured and helpful meetings but one year who's the state counselor and foreign minister added that you the u.s. should not underestimate china's commitment to defend its sovereignty well among the issues raised by the u.s. was there to ken a dns detained in china over espionage charges on friday the trial of businessman michael spay for ended with no verdict canada was denied access at the search and condemned by prime minister justin trudeau space for and former diplomat michael cole frank were arrested 2 years ago their case is widely seen as retaliation for

canada as the tension of weiwei executive may 10 at the request of the united states. you know cover from the beginning we worked with families with our partners and directly with the chinese government to underscore that this arbitrary detention of the 2 michaels is unacceptable i want to thank all the different countries around the world who supported our initiative against this arbitrary detention and i also want to thank all our allies who took a stand even with their bilateral conversations with the chinese government in order to raise their concern with the situation. there us president says asian americans have been attacked and scapegoated joe biden and vice president camila harris urged everyone to speak up against hate crimes after meeting community leaders in the state of georgia their visit comes days after 8 people were killed in a mass shooting there 6 of the victims were women of asian descent adding to existing fears about a surge in racially motivated it's x.

during the pandemic they've been attacked like a scapegoat harassed they did verbal assault physically its own kill document that is against of hate against asian americans have seen skyrocketing spike over the last year hey and violence often hard in plain sight it's often met with silence that's been through throughout our history but that has to change because our silence is complicity we cannot be complicit let's bring in gabriel is under his joining us more with more from washington d.c. and and biden and harris this trip was planned before the shooting to promote pandemic relief legislation but now they're of course consoling a community reeling from this attack gabriel tell us more about what they have to say. yeah that's right this trip was planned before the shooting there to atlanta

and it was supposed to be a celebration of sorts a celebration of the u.s. reaching more than $100000000.00 vaccinations the passing of the covert relief that would put more than $1000.00 in the checking accounts of millions of americans that are in need and there was a planned a rally a political rally by the president on friday night however that was canceled because of these vents and the president and the vice president meeting with community leaders of the asian american and pacific islander community meeting with the mayor and other elected officials there really trying to to console not only the community but the nation as a whole because so many asian americans have been coming under and receiving violent threats for over a year now and this terrible shooting that took the lives of 8 people as you mentioned 7 being asian americans 6 women the president spoke but even before the

president the vice president did speak and she said that racism is alive and well in america racism is real in america and it has always been xenophobia is real in america and always has been ultimately this is about who we are as a nation. this is about how we treat people with dignity and respect and also the right to be recognized as an american. not as the other not as them. but as us. now president joe biden knows a thing or 2 about grieving family members in 1992 his wife and child were killed in a car accident and then in 20151 of his sons both biden died tragically

of a rare form of brain cancer so biden is well known in washington and the united states particularly as someone that knows how to comfort and grieve people that are comfort people that are grieving from the loss of a loved one and he certainly had to do that led to what he when he met with community leaders there and family members of some of those that were killed certainly this was something that joe biden did not want to have to do so early in his presidency but certainly circumstances made it essential that he do that he is calling for congress to push through some legislation that would help to protect asian americans that are victims of hate crimes ok well thank you so much for that update from washington d.c. let's talk about this with. carney who's the executive director of the asian pacific policy and planning council and co-founder of stop a.p.i.

hates is joining us from los angeles thanks very much for speaking to us on al-jazeera so president biden over there in georgia saying that. violence must stop against asian americans in silence is complicity is that how you see it. we absolutely agree with president biden and are grateful for his visit to atlanta it signals a real departure from what we saw under the former administration both in terms of condemning hate against asian american communities and also in terms of you know showing his heart showing that he cares and will listen to our community members in this really difficult period we look forward to working with him and with congress in determining policy steps that need to be taken moving forward what sort of policy steps are we we also know the president is trying to pass this

congress legislation through congress right now the code with 1000 hate crimes act and we understand that would strengthen the government's reporting and response to hate crimes are also provide resources to the asian american community is that enough it doesn't go far enough we think that's an important 1st step we certainly need more resources for community members especially those who've been victimized by hate and but we also know that in fact most of the incidents that have been reported to stop a.p.i. and we serve as the nation's leading aggregator of that data they're not hate crimes they are hate incidents so we would like to see additional resources being put toward dealing with in addressing hate incidents across our country we need a civil rights infrastructure and we need resources dedicated and devoted to local

communities of talk to us about the work that you documents and the reporting that you do on these racist attacks and racist incidents and tell us why there has been such a rise in them. we launched up a p i hate exactly a year ago on march 19th of 2020 because we saw this emerging trend of hate incidents against our community members sadly within a few weeks we got several 100 incident reports that number continue to group grow through the spring summer and fall months and now today we're at the point of 3800 incidents from all 50 states and the district of columbia so we're using that data to help inform the public and policymakers so we understand what's happening to our communities and we do believe that it can help to drive policy so that

we have the solutions we need to prevent this from happening in the future and there is a conversation going on right now whether cultural stereotypes particularly when it comes to asian women play a role in targets and attacks such as the one we saw in georgia can you weigh in on that argument. it's clear that there has been sexualized violence against asian american women and that was on display on tuesday in this hateful act. where the perpetrator sought out asian american women at the 3 salons that he visited and so it is concerning for us that women are being particularly targeted at stopping a.p.i. hate 68 percent of the incident reports have been made by asian american women

so we know that sadly they're bearing the brunt of this hate and violence all right we'll leave it there we thank you so much for speaking to us from los angeles county thank you thank you. we do have some breaking news to bring you out of iceland that's where a volcano has erupted in the country's southwest it's situated in the middle of a pennant celebrity in the capital reykjavik and the international airport a no fly zone has been set up with all flights in and out of the airport halted the eruption has been expected and there have been tens of thousands of small earthquakes in the past weeks officials are currently assessing the situation and we'll bring you any developments as we get them still ahead on al-jazeera we look at some of the challenges facing tanzania's 1st female leader. is now in power after the death of john. judge refuses to delay the trial over the killing of

george floyd a black man whose death sparked a summer racial justice protests. but to an idea threat now has gone but it was quite dramatic in this is how it happens this is a put this on loop for you can see have these streams of plants go inland from this coastal area that's rather more humid air coming yes cold air is coming from the west you get these thunderstorms to topple sunder storms that is lightning and that's what caused a barrel of tornadoes was some damage there that's the biggest go the last tail on its way through florida a few hours ago now it's all linked to a system which is its head is quite caught in fact is going to be some morningstar that would have been some morning snow in parts of new england possibly even new

york then all things improved during saturday and this year on this east coast of florida or maybe georgia when you got on shore brazen or poor weather than the pacific side takes over the action this is a slowly opening frontal system which means rain at low levels and snow up in the rockies in the cascades it doesn't improve the time we get to sunday as you can see the sun returning and then things are temporarily quiet just watch these showers from the midwest for midwest there is unfortunately an increasing likelihood of significant rain in question moller and maybe down in panama as well. al-jazeera as investigative unit takes you on for months on the cover. both quickly if you had actually victims who had survived torture in detention and saying this was the cause of my arrest. revealing the illegal dealings of the surveillance

industry get. all your. these are the nuclear weapons of the 21st century al-jazeera investigations. on the weekend the top stories on al-jazeera this hour high level talks between china and the u.s. have now ended in alaska without a significant breakthrough both sides head out of the other's policies in front of the cameras revealing tensions over human rights and economic power the u.s. president says asian americans have been attacked and scapegoated joe biden and his

vice president have been visiting the state of georgia talking to community leaders 8 people were killed in a mass shooting on tuesday 6 of the victims were women off asia and just saying it's a volcano has erupted in iceland southwest a no fly zone has been set up with all flights in and out of the airport all to the eruption had been expected. brazil's president is taking several of his country's states to court to try and force them to overturn lockdown restrictions so you're both so narrow state governors don't have the authority to impose new rules even as infection rates hit record highs more than 1000 new cases were registered on thursday the 1st time that barrier has been passed also narrow says he wants people to have freedom but health leaders say the hospital system is collapsing in some areas want to have is joining us from rio de janeiro monaco so despite also narrows objections to lockdown measures more and more states are taking matters into their

own hands. he has a rio de janeiro lead been resisting for a long and has just closed down the beach it's closing down the beach and is something significant here because there's a lot of informal economy and much of it there are people that live on the beach and people going to the beach they sell their goods there so and also now to criticize the rio for doing that now the problem that resilin is facing right now it already had a collapse of the system with very few beds available and intensive care units but now in 18 states they're worried that they're running out of the medicine for intubation in these units so there's that as well and if doctors are like working round the clock with more and more people to do it will have to that they're that

are going into the hospitals so and it's across the country that's why it's so worrisome. so what's being said as to why the numbers. well there several thank you for more on what the fact that there was carnival that's what it's half full but still people. are not wearing the mask they are your . friend jeff stein party people have just stopped caring about all the safety measures it's also true that the president has not set an example himself you have heard what he does usually where mad he is not in favor of social distancing or at least if he said he is going to practice it himself so big that bill does not come from abroad and there are these mixed messages that become a political struggle between both the natural and the governors and the supreme

court and it's just become a very big political tangle so if you're against polls and i know you're going to be in favor of walk down if you're in favor of votes that matter you're going to be against. all right so monica thank you for that update from rio de janeiro. finland has suspended use of the astra zeneca vaccine as it investigates 2 cases of blood clots earlier other european countries resumed using vaccine on thursday at europe's drugs watchdog confirmed the job is safe and there's no evidence linking it to an increased risk of blood clots and you've barco reports. out of storage and into people's lives the french prime minister casting x. was amongst those receiving the oxford astra zeneca vaccine on friday in an effort to restore national conference in its use although the french health authorities a commonly only recommending it for people aged 55 and over.

from the beginning i always thought that the vaccine was safe so maybe the people are in a panic but there are always side effects. germany and italy have also restarted their rollout of the oxford vaccine the netherlands in portugal will follow next week so too will spain although certain groups will be excluded so he didn't and denmark said they needed a few more days to decide but germany's health minister will not back seems alone won't be enough to prevent a 3rd wave of the fires many e.u. countries are extending restrictions or introducing new ones germany says it's currently in talks with russia to secure supplies of its sputnik vaccine pending its approval by the e.u. . the rising case numbers may mean that we cannot take care of our opening steps in the weeks to come on the country we may even have to take steps backwards in from 16 regions along with paris to going into

a month long lock down from this evening schools will remain open but non-essential shops will close and travel will be restricted in the french capital more people are in intensive care now than joining the 2nd wave in november new covert variants of force president to manual mccrum to change his strategy the virulent strain 1st found in the u.k. now accounts for 75 percent of french cases more than 25000000 britons have had at least one dose of a vaccine so far in hospitals doctors surgeries and special vaccine hubs like this one the government says it's on target to give every adult in the country at least one dose by the end of july despite a 4000000 doses short for from a factory in india it is enviable progress and the european union knows it. with the oxford astra zeneca job now reapproved the e.u. must move quickly to make up for lost time the fuck outta syria london. papa new

guinea is closing going to close schools were strict movement and make masks mandatory it's part of what the government's calling aggressive interventions after corona virus infections at record highs this week alexey o'brien reports. a new temporary hospital ward for papa new guinea's capital port. the city seen a spike in corona virus cases in recent weeks even some health workers warning of what they call a covert tornado heading towards the country's fragile medical facilities there are only 2 public hospitals in the capital one is shut down the other is said to have 70 percent of its staff would call isolating that hospital's chief executive told local media he thought they were prepared until the most recent surge what we are concerned about is just how. the emergency department in the whole hospital.

had to crazy or not ward private patients in addition. they managed to get apartments or tokens just for private patients and it is very difficult so they say i should. the island nation managed to miss the worst of the pandemic last year but hundreds of new cases have been reported in recent weeks it's forced the government to take action announcing that for next week schools will close mask wearing will be enforced and to mask the rings will be banned. gatherings like this one just last friday a state funeral for former prime minister michael somare a man often called the father of papa new guinea. somehow they expect say they watched these scenes in horror describing it as a super spreader event with potential for disaster the escalating outbreak seemed kompany guinea's neighbors chippin new zealand says it will send more protective

equipment to the frontline health workers while a strain is pledging 8000 doses of the astra zeneca vaccine and calling for the european union to step up as well. it's not right for the bates countries in europe to deny the supply of vaccines to developing countries who need to display large public u.t. we do our bit by the frightened as we are and and for the broader so i won't be out of pocket but i will be helping a country that is desperately needed recently because of accidents. with only 55000 tastes conducted out of a population of almost 9000000 it's the what the true rates of infection a much higher those on the ground say a rapid response is needed before the outbreak gets out of control and next year brian al-jazeera. a u.s. judge has rejected an attempt to postpone the murder trial of a police officer in charge over the death of george floyd last week the city of

minneapolis agreed to pay $27000000.00 to florence family lawyers for a daring had argued the highly publicized settlement jeopardize his chance of a fair trial video kneeling on george floyd's next part of global protests last year john hendren has more from chicago. judge peter cahill is a no nonsense guy who wants the trial to run on time and in the same place it started in minneapolis so he is denied the defense's request that he delay the trial and move it elsewhere the idea behind that would be that you would have a jury pool that would know less about the case and therefore theoretically be less prejudiced but as the judge said everyone around the globe knows about this case and therefore they're not likely to get a different jury pool by doing that so the case will go on as scheduled he says with opening arguments on march 29th the judge also made one other key decision

saying that the arrest of george floyd in 2019 a separate arrest would be admissible in this case but only in so far as it effects his medical condition the crux of the. ace is around how george floyd died the prosecution is saying he died because for 8 minutes and 46 seconds officer derrick show of an knelt on his neck causing him to die and the defense says in fact it was a combination of factors that according to an autopsy was on fentanyl and methamphetamine he had a heart condition and he had covert 19 in all of those things the defense says contributed to george floyd's death the prosecution is likely to put it in perspective by saying this man died under a police officer's need for the act for a crime allegedly of trying to pass a $20.00 counterfeit bill tanzania has its 1st female president some e.r. salute who has signed has been sworn in after the death of president john mica

fully on wednesday many in the country are now anxiously watching to see if his son will take stronger action to stop the spread of coronavirus athan so why has more on me now. as he sent me a salute who hasn't tanzania's fast female president and a native of the semi autonomous region of zanzibar was solemn as she made her 1st speech as leader she said the circumstances around has swearing in leave little to celebrate. it is time to consider each other show each of a lot of our unity maintain our peace our humanity and patriotism and tons again values. president salue who is not new to tanzania's politics but the late president john mccain fully surprised many when he chose her as his running mate in 2015 she remains loyal to him but some in the country say her leadership style is different where he could appear impulsive and combative she is believed to be more thoughtful and likely to listen to advice many are hopeful she'll continue with

model foolish development and social projects and his 0 tolerance for corruption but also change where he fell behind i hope to see more independent somebody who i hope to see us and we have who will go back to the foundations of party. because that is perfect and what we need at the moment tanzania is a predict that. bush inherited a country that has been on the mend economically analysts say she faces a difficult task of restoring democracy in peoples' rights which the late president was accused of eroding she also needs to gain the confidence of tanzanians many are watching to see if she'll change the strategy of how the government has been handling the coronavirus pandemic last year fully controversially declared the disease had been eliminated his government refused to put in place proper protective measures and has rejected a global vaccination rollout for now though the focus is

a burial of john mark foley a man who leaves behind a checkered and divisive legacy he'll be buried next thursday in chattel his rural home in northwestern tanzania katherine sawyer. mice are a swarming a rural town in australia where locals are describing it as the worst rodent plague in decades video shows countless mice overrunning farms and gauguin dry that's a town northwest of sydney patients and hospitals have been bitten and supermarkets are having to double up on food packaging intensive battling is under way but people are hoping the heavy rain will drown. the headlines on al jazeera this hour high level talks between china and the us have now ended in a loss.