he was killed for treason, he said to have shown dissatisfaction request kim ki-jong's leadership, andled out carry out his instructions. >> translator: our government sees such executions as a way to create a fearful atmosphere so it would promote consolidation of kim ki-jong's one and only ray regime. >> reporter: it is also leading some to question the stability of the leadership. south korea's intelligence agency says 15 other officials have been executed since the start of this year. >> there has to be better systemic ways to ensure the order of this system. this quick removal, the way it was carried out, seems to indicate only the weakness of the system not the strength at all. >> reporter: kim ki-jong's uncle was publicly humiliated before his execution. but this time there was no announcement. the execution was particularly violent in front of a crowd of hundreds. last week the u.s. organization released this satellite image showing what it believes was a similar killing in october. aimed at targets just 30 meters away. north korea has worried the south by showing off its abili

plus harsh words from secretary of state john kerry on kim ki-jong and his reported public executions♪ >>> the state of texas has taken a stand on frac-ing. this new ban on frac-ing bans takes place immediately. how did this bill actually come about? >> this bill focuses on one small suburban community called denton. and last november 3rd out of five voters voted to ban frac-ing within their city limits. it sits atop the barnett shale. and that brought all of the operators to town and as of late last year there were three gas wells for every square mile of land in denton. people living there said they were tired of the nuisance and the noise and what they perceived as the health threats. so they passed this voter referendum to ban frac-ing. but that ban lasted a very short time, just six months because the state of texas immediately vowed to fight the local ordinance. indeed they did. the bill passed through both chambers republican controlled without any problem, as of today with the governor's signature, that ban of ban on frac-ing has been passed. >> what does this mean for denton

. >>> kim ki-jong reported biorders the death of his defense chief for being disrespectful, why it may signal trouble in the country. >>> welcome back to l -- to al jazeera america. thousands of protesters in burundi are celebrating in the streets of the capitol a senior army official says the president has been removed from power. a presidential advisor dismissed the announcement as a joke. >>> 31 people are dead and dozens more injured after a factory fire in the philadelphia philadelphia -- philippines. >>> and toyota and nissan are recalling more 6 million cars globally over fears of exploding air bags. the inflaters can deploy abnormally or even rupture. the cars were made between 2003 and 2007. and the air bags were made by the same company who has products linked to seven deaths. >>> patricia sob ga joins us now. >>> south korea's intelligence agency reportedly told parliament members that north korea publicly executed its defense minister late last night. his alleged infraction treason, including failure to follow orders and falling asleep at a meeting in front of the supreme l

ki-moon's visit to north korea. so it's hard to tell which course they're trying to steer right now for kim jong-un. >> will ripley in tokyo, thanks so much. >>> let's bring in former ambassador christopher hill former ambassador to south korea who has associated with north korea. he's author atof "outpost." thanks for joining me. how seriously do you take this threat from north korea? >> i take it pretty seriously. they are clearly developing, they've been consistently developing these nuclear weapons. the question would be when would they miniaturize. when they'll do it is immaterial. that's the direction they're headed in. >> what should we do about it? diplomatic first and then military next? what would be those options, in your view? >> well the options are never good. but i think certainly we need to keep the negotiating door open not that they've been particularly interested in that. secondly i think we need to thicken up missile defense in that area. i know the chinese don't like that. but the chinese need to look at where we are with north korea. thirdly, we should be looking at direct methods, whether there

ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general, was supposed to be in north korea in the coming days but that trip was canceled. do you know why? >> we've seen kim jong number of senior leaders lately. he's rejected several meetings. he's isolating himself even further. >> at the same time some 30 women, including 30 american women, are now in pyongyang and getting ready in the coming days to do this peace march from north korea to south korea along the demilitarized zone saying they have permission from both the north korean government and the south korean government. did you give them your encouragement to go on this mission when the american women on this trip left? >> we certainly didn't and we are very clear that we do not believe americans and that's who we give advice to, should travel to north korea. we've seen as we've talked about americans who are arrested there, who are detained there. we don't think it's a place americans should be visiting. >> are you worried about their security? >> there's also reasons we have these travel warnings in place. we've seen americans detained. we've worked hard to get them home. >> their hope is that maybe