craig gleason, al jazeera, at the beijing train station. >>> the vatican is acknowledging there can bequote, no excuse for child abuse. we'll get more on that now as we join julia. >> david, thank you. the roman catholic church came in for blistering criticism of a un committee that was quizzing the representatives for the first time. critics say that the church protected priests they knew abused children. hi, there sigh. -- simon. do you think the vatican has made any real progress? >> i'm not sure that they have. the original submission earlier in the day was very much similar in tone and content or lack of content to earlier things we have hear from the vatican. there was a great deal of optimism mainly because of pope francis and the good mood music he has been setting in the opening months. but i think the majority of people both in the un committee that were listening to the vatican, and the interested parties, the victims and survivors themselves, it was a disappointing day. for many this was a chance for the vatican to display a new attitude. the session opened with a statement

craig gleason has the details. >> kenneth bae was brought before journalists in a a gray cap. he spoke briefly with journalists, during that time he made this statement: i believe my problem can be solved by close cooperation between my government and the government of this country. that appeared to be north korea reaching out to washington and south korea for ongoing or renewed talks with the country. kenneth bae was jailed in november 2012 for what was stated as crimes against the state, sentenced for 15 years hard labor. he has visited hospital at that time. he recently became a center of headlines after dennis rodman's trip to north korea. he took in an nba basketball team to play a game for kim john jong-un's birthday. >> president obama says he's troubled by ham harsh antidrug s have harmed, jonathan betz is here with that. jonathan. >> well richelle marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the united states. 17 million americans use it. it is a number growing for many years. for most it is their only drug. one out of every three high schoolers have smoked pot. that

here is craig gleason with the details. >> kenneth bae was brought before foreign media by state police wearing a gray cap with a number 103 on the front. he appeared in reasonable health and spoke briefly with jowrnlts. durin-- journalists. he made this statement, i believe my problem can be solved by employees collaboration between my country and the officials of this country. jailed november 2012 for what was said to be crimes against the state after leading a tour group through the country. he was sentenced to 15 years in hard labor. he has visited hospital at that time. he recently became a center of headlines after dennis rodman's trip to north korea. he took in an nba basketball game to play for kim jong-un's birthday. he said that maybe bae was responsible for those crimes. he was castigated by bae's family for those statements. >> a new interview, president obama says alcohol is a bigger danger than marijuana. he says he is troubled by how harsh antidrug laws tend to affect lower income companies. softened their stances but the ferd government still sees marijuana use as a crim

craig gleason, al jazeera, beijing. >> stay tuned. i'll be fieding yo guiding you r half hour of news in just a few seconds. >> everybody's different here... >> for students at the esteemed international high school at lafayette everyday is a fight to suceeed >> it was my dream to get a high school diploma >> but a failing grade can mean loosing it all... >> i don't know how my life would look, if i would get deported... >> will they make it in america? >> i have a chance... >> i learn america >> all this week, >> the strength of our future relies on education. >> we are creating a class of ...we are creating a class of mediocre education. >> stealing education, part of our week long, in depth series. america tonight only on al jazeera america >>> good afternoon to you. welcome to al jazeera america. i am morgan radford, live from new york city. here are the stories we are following for you right now: tens of thousands clash with police in ukraine defying the ban on protests. we are live in kiev. anti-government protesters in thailand

craig gleason, hong kong. >> from high-tech to spooky actually. a bizarre tourist attraction. in mexico. decapitated dolls. we take you to the island of the dolls. >> reporter: one of the biggest tourist attractions in mexico city. a welcome escape from the concrete and high-rises, where people can enjoy the same beautiful canals once used by the aztecs. these ancient waterways hold many stories. nowhere is that truer than here, in the island of the dolls. it looks like a scene from a horror movie. hundreds of dolls strung up and hanging from trees. his uncle started collecting these dolls 50 years ago after he found the body of a young girl who drown on these shores. >> he found the dolls in the canals and the trash, and he started happening them up to protect him and to scare away the spirit of the girl. >> reporter: now every year, more and more tourists with morbid curiosity come to the island. people like linda flores. [ speaking spanish ] >> in mexican culture, there are a lot of legend about dolls. people believe that they can stop them from harming anyone. >> reporter: