north korea. >> very high-level engagement with north korea as an aberration. the biden administration should take full advantage of those efforts that were begun by the former president. i think one way to do that is to embrace the rules that were laid out and making that the starting point. doing this is not just smart policy, it is also good politics, because by retaining one of the key signature initiatives of his republican predecessor, president biden would be able to signal to the country that this is not a matter of partisan bickering and partisanship, that there is a clear roadmap ahead for the united states that will entail to a large degree, diplomacy rather than coercive measures that could lead to conflict. of course, -- it is clear from the initial remarks by the president and his top advisers that president biden is not going to be using those summits just to initiate talks, right? that there will be some clear expectations in terms of what the united states needs in order to negoti

disagreement between us and korea against the these you know north korea nuclear new nuclear. problem the saying is that contra other news station of the south korea is kind of sympathetic to the north korea and still wants to you know summit to wait kim jong un so says korean government these very much careful in comments on north korea with sanctions or some sort of some other thing even. if you don't like the shoes are not clearly or pretty all dressed in this government so i think that not everyone on the same page so next week there will be a trilateral. tour in washington between the u.s. japan and korea also from south korea i will be a director of the national security council will be over there so there will be some you know agreements i should expect. what's the level of concern about the idea that if the u.s. were to reenter into talks with north korea that north korea might just you know try to string that process out and utilize that time as a way to bolster their nuclear program well you know their nuclear program is already as advanced as it can be if frankly the

cannot be bullied north korea cannot be pushed around the north koreans have a sort of an off ends it or kind of positive understanding of deterrence which is to say they don't just rebuild a big army and say you know we're pregnant will be also going to lash out occasionally to prove to us that they're still capable even though north korea's economy is pretty far behind it and south korea out he says that technologically and so that's why i read these tests i mean there's been a lot of sort of media attention and last week or so is this a challenge to joe biden the rest of it i don't really think we need to over read too much like that i think rather this is just sort of north korea kind of doing the traditional things that it does we had it just there in her dolls from one from personally was meeting with the north korean leader but but that was pretty rare and that has sort of fallen apart so it seems to me at least that we're kind of sliding back towards the status quo the pre-term status quo young you heard robert there is say that he believes we're sort of sliding back into t

including not include anything that would be considered too provocative rather to china and north korea 2 words are missing in the joint statement between south korea and the united states compared to the joint statement signed by japan and the united states which are the word china and the word completely nucleation no nos korea. and that is something that i did want to speak to you about especially on the issue of complete the need today's edition now the joint statement to did refer to the north korea nuclear missile and ballistic program but secondly blinken in the lead up to the meeting the 2 cluster meeting kept talking about denuclearization of north korea whether the south koreans have been using the freezing denuclearization of the korean peninsula i'm just wondering if you think this is a significant difference and it potentially indicates a difference of opinion between the americans and south koreans actually. very question was raised by one of the reporters during the press conference after the 2 plus the meeting and the foreign minister of south korea mr chairman you don't

north. korea for answers plus. another comment followed by another high profile resignation the circular because creative chief resigns after making derogatory comments about. he's the 2nd official to resign for making offensive comments towards women. i'm british manager welcome to news asia that you can join us north korea has accused the united states of adopting a new low tech theory towards it with rhetoric about complete denuclearization the country's 1st vice foreign minister we said that was the reason it would ignore any overtures from the u.s. or the negotiations statement comes as u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin met their opposite numbers in circle and discussed north korea's nuclear weapons program they can also called for china to use its economic leverage to with the country to quote convince north korea to pursue do you need to. be speaking to an expert in c. all about the visit but 1st this report. south korea's president meets the u.s. sec

my sense that this is probably typical north korea testing of a new u.s. president whenever there is a new president the united states or in south korea the 2 primary opponents of north korea the north koreans usually poles some kind of stunt some kind of provocation missile tests have become particularly a big one for them in the last few years but they've done other things as well and they were quiet for a while during the trial period and so the missile tests are kind of new and make a bit of a splash and have gotten a world attention i think that's what they want to say you know we're still here it was you can sort of ignore us or believes i think most people assume that north korea doesn't actually want to start a war right away they had many opportunities to do this in the past i think the real concern is that you might have some kind of spark rethink spin out of control in the yellow sea for example their bench shoot outs and stuff like that past have these things spin out of control the north korea has substantially greater firepower to expand the c

diplomats recently visiting asia to strengthen alliances and formulate policy on north korea. yeah to try to transcend some pretty weird signals about the u.s. position in asia right i mean he had gone on television and said that he was in love with the north korean dictator news friend he ran down south korea very publicly right when trump was not particularly get into the care of american allies i suppose is the way to put it and i think one of the things or by trying to do in the last few months or receive all these gaps get people back sort of on the same page that is the north korea of course on china which is really the big show i think yeah i'm john we're going to york oh yeah no as i say robot because japan says this latest launch represents a threat to regional peace and stability and it also violates un resolutions how worried are regional players like japan like south korea where you are about north korea's intentions here i think most people assume that north korea doesn't actually want to start a war i mean they had many opportunities to do this in the past i think

possibly leading at some point to a resumption of talks between north korea in the u.s. but that as we know will take the permission of the senior partner the united states in this and the u.s. have given no indication that they are going to allow south korea that kind of leeway or right or wrong live for us there in the south korean capital rob thank you. the u.n. secretary general has condemned the escalating military crackdown in me and. called on the international community to help stop the killing meanwhile funerals have been held off for at least 50 protesters who were killed on sunday the worst day of violence since the military overthrew the elected government in february activists say security forces killed another 20 people on monday. brazil's health minister has been replaced again as the corona virus outbreak hits record levels marcello kid oga will be the 4th person in charge since the pandemic began and replaces a military general who took the job in may brazil's most populous state has introduced emergency restrictions to curb rising cases infection and de

mission for joe biden his new administration but already the americans arrival in asia is agitating north korea. in jordan this is out as iraq live from doha also coming up a 4th new health minister for brazil as it struggles to contain coronavirus even with curfews in place in its biggest city. the thai prime minister takes a job for the team he gets a dose of the controversial astra zeneca that. we're going to pay the bill so we should be the ones making the decision and they're making noises on coronavirus on climate change we meet the young dutch with a passion for politics. 2 of the most powerful politicians in the u.s. have just started their 1st foray into kenya asian nations and already there's a wary eye being kept on north korea secretary of state anthony blinken than secretary of defense lloyd austin started the trip with high level meetings in japan well ahead of their arrival the sister of north korea's leader kim jong warned the new job the ministration to quote not do anything unseemly well we'll get more on that shortly from rob mcbride in south korea but 1st thought is solemn a

the argument is that the more pressure the united states and other countries put on north korea the more strongly or test north korean regime remain to its own nuclear warheads or an interplanetary missile so we have to relax the existing coming sanctions and demand of complete unverifiable in collegian of north korea which in his career we got as a basically unconditional surrender which is now said to bill to the king john regime of north korea but united states he says that it is time for pressure and in the joint statement to south korea and they know so great that it is very important to continuously carry out all that you just economic sanctions especially the united nations security council resolutions on north korea we have about a minute left professor what i wonder what the majority of you insult could hear is how do south koreans view american involvement over the north korean nuclear issue well our current. security situation he specially for the past 4 years hard during the trumpet administration has been quite welcomed by south korea public because south korea does

strategy towards north korea and there was a feeling that north korea would wait and see to exceed what exactly that strategy looks like before responding wouldn't do anything provocative well this test thursday looks like it could be a change of heart a change of direction and this could well be north korea deciding it has nothing to lose and now is the time to round put pressure on the u.s. china's foreign ministry is urging all sides to continue diplomatic efforts to deescalate the situation we were talking in bandar hooking when so when the problem 3 dialogue in consultation serves the common interest of all and is the aspiration of the international community we call on all relevant sides to meet each other half way and continue to maintain the deescalation situation to advance a political settlement and work for lasting peace and security on the peninsula north korea 1st launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017 during tom donald trump's 1st year in office the following year kim jong un and trump met in singapore both committed to the complete denuclearization of the

but it did it's a time when the by the ministration is developing still its strategy towards north korea antony blinken the u.s. secretary of state was here in south korea and in neighboring japan just last week talking to his counterparts the thinking was that north korea possibly would wait and see just what this strategy would look like that it wouldn't do anything provocative well maybe with this test firing thursday we should think again maybe this is a change of heart that it sees no harm in firing off these missiles now that if anything it may up the pressure on the u.s. turn up the dial a bit to see if it can influence that strategy also in south korea it has been treated with some dismay because of course the south koreans would like to try to revive high level dialogue with north korea diplomatically and was looking towards the summer olympics in japan as being an opportunity for that much as it used the winter olympics of 3 years ago but of course if north korea is now throwing ballistic missiles into the air it makes the chances of that being realized. far harder to achieve o

top the agenda will be north korea. it is keen to l be north korea.stration is keeping quiet about what its on the north may be so it is a time for both sides to come to some kind of an agreement. let's get some of the day's other news. two men in the united states have been arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer who died after the attack on the capitol building injanuary. prosecutors believe brian sicknick was targeted with a chemical spray that's designed to incapacitate. the vatican has ruled that roman catholic priests cannot bless same—sex couples, and that any such blessings are invalid in the eyes of the church. the statement was approved by pope francis, who supports civil rights for homosexual partners but opposes gay marriage. conservative catholics had asked for a ruling after bishops in germany and the united states expressed approval for the pastoral blessings some priests had bestowed. in london police have arrested a number of demonstrators , gathering to protest about male violence against women despite covid restriction

but in the past north korea has sometimes responded with live fire exercises of its own or even the odd miss our lord so these words by comparison are fairly measure then it does look as though the north koreans seem to be biding their time waiting to see what a policy by the ministration puts in place towards it north korea and we know from the state department to the various overtures to start talks have been met by silence it does seem as though the north koreans are waiting to see what concrete steps or offers the americans come up with what about the south koreans rob what will they be wanting from this new joe biden administration particularly when it comes to north korea. that's right this visit continues tomorrow wednesday through thursday with lincoln and austin coming to a soul on the face of it we are likely to see a unified alliance this is an alliance that goes back decades they will want to show that but of course behind closed doors there are some tensions in particular south korea is very keen to try to breathe new life back into this dialogue between itself and

now to north korea which has launched 2 ballistic missiles and according to south korea and japan it's believed the 2 short range missiles flew 450 kilometers before landing in the sea and alist say the country has a history of testing new u.s. administrations with missile launches and other provocations to force americans back to the negotiating table and for more we're joined now by joss smith a reuters correspondent based in seoul good to see you just tell us what are we to make of these missile launches are they a message to the new u.s. administration or something else. well north korea conducts these kinds of tests for multiple reasons not least because it provides them a good practical experience for improving their weapons and also giving same to their troops but it's impossible not to see this on context of the new administration and the review that divided ministration is conducting right now it also comes as you mentioned after north korea had rebuffed biden's ministrations attempts to reach out to them so in many ways this underscores what we heard from north korea in a sta

they were launched from north korea's south pound young province into the sea of japan the u.s. pacific command says the move threatens countries in the region south korea and japan have expressed deep concern and condemnation of pyongyang's actions. so you know here you are it is a threat to our country and to regional security it's also of violations of the united nations security council resolution will strictly protest and condemn their actions because i'm determined to closely cooperate with the united states south korea and other related nations to protect the lives of our people. mcbride has more from seoul. for the past couple of years since the denuclearization talks have stalled north korea has returned to kind of carry on developing its weapons arsenal but it's been very careful largely to avoid these provocative but listed missile test which of which of course are banned under un resolutions it has instead been firing off and testing weapons systems rockets which are permitted under u.n. rules and we saw that just this last weekend with the firing of 2 lesser cruise m

in trying to mediate between biden and north korea. if kimjong—un between biden and north korea. reachout would be fruitless, it seems. , , , seems. very briefly, those olive branches _ seems. very briefly, those olive branches and - seems. very briefly, those| olive branches and reaching out, do you think it will have any influences at all or north korea's behaviour? i any influences at all or north korea's behaviour?— korea's behaviour? i don't think s0- _ korea's behaviour? i don't think so. unfortunately. i| think so. unfortunately. i think so. unfortunately. i think the already knows that because korea have already made it clear that they are not interested in a quote unquote, inessential stuff. what they mean by that is referring to thing like inter— region community economic population and health operation, including covid—19 issues. it has been pitched multiple times but north korea has said, unless you guys talk about more serious stuff like security guarantees orjoint military guarantees or joint military drills guarantees orjoint military drills with united states, the

korea. one of the key issues is how to hale north america's -- north korea's nuclear agenda. >> to reduce theion, we reached out to the north korean government through several channels starting in mid february, including new york. to date, we have not received a response. katty: shortly thereafter, a response did he arrive. the powerful sister of north korea's leader commented on the biden administration saying that if the u.s. wants to sleep in peace for the next four years, it should refrain from causing a stink in the region. joining me now is laura bicker. thank you for joining me. there are two issues these u.s. officials are dealing with. one is north korea, one is china. let's start with north korea. what should they make of that statement coming from kim jong-un's sister. was it to be expected? >> she dsn't mince her words. she is kind of the attack dog of kim jong-un over the last year. i think there is a warning. and i think the reading of it should be we are watching you. when it comes to this kind of year, this has to be mentioned, the u.s. and south korean troops are currently ca

tokyo with secretaries blinken and austin outlining that they want to see the denuclearization of north korea that certainly is the wish here in south korea but obviously it is how we reach that and there is a different agendas at play here when this u.s. mission comes through seoul tomorrow wednesday and into into thursday we will see the same unified approach from these allies stressing the similarities between them and their unified approach especially to north korea but behind closed doors the south koreans will probably be pushing the united states for some leeway to try to resume or try to breathe new life back into its negotiations with north korea at a very high level and then beyond that who knows maybe a resumption of talks between north korea and the u.s. but obviously that takes the cooperation and also the permission from the senior partner and if there's any talk of relaxation of sanctions to get there then we can expect to see pushback from the u.s. . broad reporting live from seoul rob many thanks indeed tom as a professor of international economy care university and a former

as criticism ounds over a crisis at the southern border and a warning of an american response if north korea further escalate tensions but biden signaled a path to diplomacy is still possible. player watching al-jazeera live from doha with me fully back t. ball also ahead china sanctions people and organisations in the u.k. days after britain's action against beijing over the treatment of wiggle muslims. also ahead. scott either live in mesa thailand a community bracing for protesters fleeing the military crackdown across the border in miramar and conspiracy theories and mistrust her to mexico's vaccine rollout ask over 1000 guests hit 200000. thank you very much for joining us 64 days into the job u.s. president joe biden has finally held his 1st news conference in 80 outlined his administration's multiple domestic and foreign policy priorities and his plans to tackle them but a growing refugee and migrant crisis at the us mexico border took center stage as our white house correspondent kimberly hocket reports from washington. he started with good news for americans and a new vaccination go

and north korea. president biden through his back channel diplomats has reached out to north korea to try to bring north korea into some type of negotiations diplomatic discussions north korea has burnt those which are and just this week kim jong un's sister that's the north korean leader kim jong un his sister community said you know advised the u.s. not to make a stink or it wouldn't sleep well over the next 4 years indicating perhaps that north korea has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons at any point and is maybe tiring of criticism along those lines and this comes also as so screen the u.s. we're engaging in military exercises in the region. all right and the 3 seconds that we have left together in terms of you have anthony blinken is there to shore up alliances in asia what kind of reception do you think he will get. well he's going to be meeting with the chinese and alaska in a day or 2 south korea and the u.s. are in a different position so korea's largest trading partner is trying

strategy towards north korea and there was a feeling that north korea would wait and see to exceed what exactly that strategy looks like before responding wouldn't do anything provocative well this test thursday looks like it could be a change of heart a change of direction and this could well be north korea deciding it has nothing to lose and now is the time to round put pressure on the u.s. . later on thursday european union leaders will meet to discuss curbing vaccine exports to the u.k. britain has received more than 10000000 doses from plants inside the e.u. but has exported no vaccines back to the block other e.u. countries are struggling to find ways to stop the spread before more vaccines arrive this comes after astra zeneca slightly downgraded the efficacy of its coronavirus vaccine to 76 percent of the serious war in chalons has more now from east form in the u k. well i mean the european union is being pretty clear or at least trying to be clear in saying that this is not targeted at the u.k. this is not about a specific country and trying to choke off the u.k.'s vaccine supp

i think think more of the nuclear issue north north korea sort of definition or as the north korea is the reality threat why our troops are korean side they are seeing korean peninsula you know condition of korean peninsula as was going to korea but what is the role of china in all of this given that she jinping and kim jong warm exchanged messages of support with each other on monday. i think trans 2 roles on 1st will be about sanctions and the 2nd will be about the red lines on visa weapons tests that have yet made here in the past probably most part years station and it's not clear what biden's decision is regarding their own if i did. decide that they will primarily miss their pressure policy china will have to cooperate from us what if you china will have to cooperate listening sessions because most of the north korean strait go through china and economic pressure will only work if china is really how helpful in the back door for china regarding the red line i think transplant list. whether or not they will ok certainly been stressed when you asked if you remember. trying to hono

over a period of months now they have been reaching out but so far have not had a response from north korea and there's been a lot of speculation about just what the north koreans thinking may well be it could point to the kind of dire situation that north korea is facing domestically at the moment because of course we've had more than a year of the country being cut off from the outside world by the effects of kobe had 19 that coming on top of the ongoing international sanctions the impact of storms last year on agriculture causing food shortages so kim jong un is a man who has an awful lot on his plate at the moment we have been seeing in north korean media more visits field visits as they are known giving direction encouraging his people to redouble their efforts and also the firings of senior officials held responsible for some of the crises impacting north korea without any specific suggestions from the united states diplomacy is quite easy for the north koreans to ignore at the moment there is of course also the possibility that north korea is waiting to see just what specific suggest

it failed to reach any agreement on north korea's nuclear weapons. entire north korean policy. they said they were published that policy within the next few weeks. that will be one of the discussions that will take place tomorrow here in seoul as the counterparts meet, and hopefully after that we will learn the plant.— hopefully after that we will learn the plant. thank you very much. learn the plant. thank you very much- we _ learn the plant. thank you very much. we will— learn the plant. thank you very much. we will speak _ learn the plant. thank you very much. we will speak to - learn the plant. thank you very much. we will speak to you - much. we will speak to you again soon, i'm sure. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... the 2021 oscar nominations are out — and the acting categories are the most ethnically diverse in the awards history. today we have closed the book on apartheid and that chapter... cheering and applause. more than 3,000 subway passengers were affected. nausea, bleeding, headaches and a dimming of vision. all of this caused

to not make a stink regarding any activity by north korea or military exercises by north korea. indicating a thaw it sort of any potential for talks in fact the biden administration early on reached out to north korea to try to bring them to the negotiating table but because of the downfall in terms of you know this so-called love affair between kim jong il and its former u.s. president donald trump the failure of the noise summit in vietnam to us to really breaks through the ongoing sanctions against north korea pyongyang doesn't seem to bring really interested in talking. frank thank you very much that was correspondent frank smith at the defense ministry in seoul. to annex footballer who's started a new chapter in his working life he's not just any footballer stefan leashed on a once played for top tier european clubs like eventis arsenal and lots now he's trying out other talents off the pitch in a tiny watchmaking shop in switzerland. you know he's made his millions now stefan link's diner is making time for himself after years of success on the football pitch leeks diner i

confirmation from north korea that as the u.s. has stated it has reached out several times over the previous weeks to try to open up avenues of communication open up a dialogue with the north koreans but by this the north koreans admitting they've simply ignored those requests that's not to say that they are not following closely what the americans are formulating with regard to its policy towards north korea moving forward but saying all menace lee that it will keep tabs on what it calls the ill deeds of the new administration saying that it will match force with force but goodwill with goodwill so really very much the north koreans saying it's up to the u.s. to take the next step forward from the bride there with all the latest for us from that trip insult thanks so much rob well an italian court has acquitted oil companies shell and any and one of the industry's biggest corruption cases that 3 year trial centered on the patches of a lucrative nigerian oil bloc and talian prosecutors alleged around half of the $1100000000.00 poss

and he said that north korea is a bad problem that has gotten worse over time and he's certainly referring to the north korean nuclear program that continues to be a big concern for the united states. joe biden of course now blinken also said that the biden administration has been trying to reach out to north korea via diplomatic channels since february and those attempts have been ignored by the north korean regime north korea now with the remarks of commuting one sister showing some force by issuing that warning and that is certainly also a response so that now we know that the former u.s. president's relationship with north korea didn't exactly go to plan what does the current president joe biden intend to do differently. yeah well 1st of all donald trump of course tried at the time for a new approach that was unheard of in diplomatic circles these eye level meetings and bilateral with kim your own as you remember no result came out of that critics say the only result is that it emboldened kim your own and it was also breaking with the former u.s. position and that is no direc

let's remind ourselves of the latest developments coming from north korea. k" — criticising the us and south korea for conducting joint military exercises, which take place annually. the white house said it had been trying for weeks to make diplomatic contact with north korea. on 21 march, north korea fired two short—range cruise missiles into the yellow sea, but these do not flout un security council resolutions. us defence officials called it "business as usual". just days later north korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea to its east, pyongyang is banned from testing ballistic missiles under un security council resolutions, and joe biden warned that there would be "responses" if launches continued. i'm joined now byjean lee, who has covered north korea extensively as an ap journalist and is now the director of the korea centre at the wilson centre in washington, dc. what is north korea playing at? what is your assessment of this ratcheting up of the pressure? tt is ratcheting up of the pressure? it is startin: to ratcheting up of the pressure? it

from north korea that as the u.s. has pointed out they have been trying to reach out for weeks now to open up dialogue with north korea north korea by this statement says yes we got those requests and simply decided to ignore them it seems that's not to say that north korea is not following closely what the biden administration is formulating its new policy towards dealing with p.r. yang chase says that they will be following what she calls all of the ill deeds of this new administration moving forward in its attitude to north korea saying that it will match force with force but goodwill with goodwill so really leaving it very much up to the u.s. to come up with the next step mcbride in seoul more from him in the coming hours. and still ahead on al-jazeera police charge a white gunman with killing 8 people in atlanta georgia 6 among them were women of asian descent and iraq is struggling to feed their families as politicians bickering over the national budget. it's time for the perfect. sponsored point qatar airways h

through a number of channels — north korea has not responded.d today in a way, but perhaps the united states and seoul doesn't quite like what it hears. in terms of interpretation, it may well be that north korea is hinting at further missile tests in the future. now, they have refrained from testing nuclear weapons and long—range missiles. we know that they have new missiles to test because they showed them off at a parade in october, so it may be hinting at something like that. but i think in terms of the statement, mike, it is worth pointing out this is not entirely unexpected. every year when these drills happen we expect some kind of reaction from north korea. happen we expect some kind sometimes that comes in the form of a missile test — whether it's short range a long range — and on this occasion it is in a kind of string of angry words. and kimjong—un is using his favourite attack dog — his sister, kim yo—jong. and it's notjust aimed at washington, it is aimed very much at seoul, where the statement really criticises south korea for goin

strategy towards north korea and there was a feeling that north korea would wait and see to exceed what exactly that strategy looks like before responding wouldn't do anything provocative well this test thursday looks like it could be a change of heart a change of direction and this could well be north korea deciding it has nothing to lose and now is the time to round put pressure on the u.s. what china's foreign ministry is urging all sides to continue diplomatic efforts to deescalate the situation we were talking bandar. solving the problems we dialogue in consultation serves the common interest of all and is the aspiration of the international community we call on all relevant sides to meet each other half way and continue to maintain the deescalation situation to advance a political settlement and work for lasting peace and security on the peninsula a speedo white house correspondent kelly health at his life for us in washington d.c. kimberly it is the 1st significant provocation by pyongyang since u.s. president joe biden took office in january what kind of reaction can make specke

officials promised that the united states will be hosting national security advisers from north koreath korea and from japan at a meeting in washington hosted by jake sullivan where they'll start laying out that strategy. >> so, richard, take a stab at that question for us. how might a biden approach be different from trump, from obama? what could they do differently? antony blinken met with officials. we all saw tensions were high. is there a way to engage north korea without bringing china on track? >> most of its trade goes in and out through china. one challenge for the administration is going to be how do they square their muscular approach towards china with the need to bring china into this? in terms of north korea, ultimately we'll look at what i call something for something. we're not just going to sit on our hands. we're not going to try to solve it in one big move like trump did. instead, some type of limited constraints on the north korean arsenal, testing constraints in exchange for a degree, and i emphasize that, degree of sanctions relief. we're looking at that kind of

going back to the previous agreements made between donald trump and north korea. orth korea or work on tourism projects that they cannot do that without breaking sanctions and that would involve the us. for the vaccine rollout to be successful around the world, individuals have to agree to have the jab. religious leaders in particular will play a crucial role in convincing people to vaccinate. many are working hard to spread the news that vaccines are safe and effective, but in almost every faith there are also those who are undermining that message, with some spreading misinformation which could lead to vaccine hesitancy. stephanie hegarty reports. you get your chip when you get your covid vaccination. they want to alter us. they are sharing. rumours and lies about covid—i9 vaccines. this is a form of enslavement. and they have influence because they are religious leaders. i have influence because they are religious leaders.— religious leaders. i look at anti-vaccine _ religious leaders. i look at anti-vaccine content - religious leaders. i look at anti-vaccine co

and on china to contain beijing's growing assertiveness in the region and to get north korea to give up its nuclear weapons another group said that you know the u.s. was full mentee tension in the region with an increase and in weapons ales here to south korea and the good plumbing to an anti ballistic missile system just a few years ago and they say that you know north korea needs to be engaged and brought into the international community through peace building negotiations that's been the line of south korean president mungy ins policy so far. and remind us please where do things stand right now as we speak between washington and pyongyang because of course with the previous administration we saw a flurry of love letters and affection declaration in public how has the response been this time around well that flurry of affection between now and u.s. president former u.s. president don't trump a north korean leader kim jong un ended sort of poorly in hanoi vietnam.

i think think more of the ideal the issue north korea sort of definition as the north korea is the reality threat why stop korean side they're saying korean peninsula inclusion of korean peninsula as was going to korea what is the role of china in all of this given that she jinping and kim jong warm exchanged messages of support with each other on monday. i think trans through rolls 1st will be about sanctions and the 2nd will be about the red lines on visa weapons test and we have yet made sealing the path following months or years of station and it's not clear what biden's decision is regarding their own if biden. decides that they will primary pressure policy china will have to cooperate from us point of view china will have to cooperate with sanctions because most of the north korean strait go through china and economic pressure and china is really hopeful helpful in the back door for china regarding the red line i think transplant list. whether or not they will ok certain things test when you asked if they remember. china and north korea they group which a little bit because. of sanct

president joe biden took office in january they were launched from north korea's south young province into the sea near japan the u.s. past pacific command says the move threatens countries in the region south korea and japan have expressed deep concern and condemnation of pyongyang's actions. so you know here you are it is a 3 to our country into regional security and it's also a violation of the united nations security council resolution will strictly protest and condemn their actions. i'm determined to closely cooperate with the united states south korea and other related nations to protect the lives of our people. mcbride is live for us in seoul rob what do you make of this launch and the timing especially. this is a significant development and more people here are asking whether this marks in fact a new phase or possibly some kind of return to missile brinksmanship of the past for the last couple of years with the failure of denuclearization talks north korea has been busily building up its arsenal of weapons but it is being very careful largely to avoid 'd any provocative ballis

and he said that north korea is a bad problem that has gotten worse over time and he's certainly referring to the north korean nuclear program that continues to be a big concern for the united states. joe biden of course now blinken also said that the biden administration has been trying to reach out to north korea via diplomatic channels since february and those attempts have been ignored by the north korean regime north korea now with the remarks of commune sr showing some force by issuing that warning and that is certainly also a response so that now we know that the former u.s. president's relationship with north korea didn't exactly go to plan what does the current president joe biden intend to do differently. yeah well 1st of all donald trump of course tried at the time for a new approach that was unheard of in diplomatic circles these eye level meetings and bilateral with kim you know now as you remember no result came out of that critics say the only result is that it emboldened kim your own and it was also breaking with the former u.s. position and that is no direct talk

as criticism ounds over a crisis at the southern border and a warning of an american response if north korea further escalate tensions but biden signals a path to diplomacy is still possible. i'm fully back to watching al-jazeera live from doha also ahead china sanctions people and organizations in the u.k. days after britain's action against beijing over the treatment of we go muslims. i'm scott heiler on the tide myanmar border high authority are saying they are preparing for the possibility of a flow of refugees while on the other side an american army saying they are sheltering hundreds will fled the violence and conspiracy theories and mistrust her mexico's vaccine bowl out task over 1000 deaths hits 200 pounds. 65 days into the job u.s. president joe biden has finally held his 1st news conference in it he outlined his administration's multiple domestic and foreign policy priorities and his plans to topple them but a growing refugee and migrant crises said the us mexico border took center stage as a white house correspondent kimberly hockett reports. he started with good news for americ

diplomats recently visiting asia to formulate policy on north korea. that's right we have a change in u.s. administration antony blinken the u.s. secretary of state was in northeast asia meeting with his counterparts in japan south korea just last week as they are formulating what their strategy will be towards north korea now the north koreans confirmed during that visit that they had received overtures from u.s. officials about we starting dialogue which they said they basically ignored and it but it was thought by other statements that they were would wait and see just what the policy was not carry out any kind of provocations while the u.s. comes up with whatever their strategy years it seems by this test that possibly north korea has had a change of heart it sees no point in waiting possibly it has nothing to lose by firing off these kind of missiles at this point and if anything it might add pressure and discomfort on the u.s. administration. in seoul rob thank you and pyongyang is missile launch came hours before the beginning of the olympic torc

and north korea. president biden through his back channel diplomats has reached out to north korea to try to bring north korea into some type of negotiations diplomatic discussions north korea has burnt those which are sick and just this week kim jong un's sister that's the north korean leader kim jong un his sister kim your junk said you know advised the u.s. not to make a stink or it wouldn't sleep well over the next 4 years indicating perhaps that north korea has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons at any point and is maybe tiring of criticism along those lines and this comes also as so great in the u.s. we're engaging in military exercises in the region. all right and in a 30 seconds that we have left together in terms of you have anthony blinken is there to shore up alliances in asia what kind of reception do you think he will get . well he's going to be meeting with the chinese in alaska in a day or 2 south korea and the u.s. are in a different position so korea's largest trading partn

even as cnn has learned that north korea could be preparing to carry out its first weapons test in theg is not coming from north korean leader kim jong un, it's coming from his sister. she writes, quote, we take this opportunity to warn the new u.s. administration trying hard to give off powder smell in our land, if it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step. let's bring in jean lee to talk about this, the former pyongyang bureau chief for the associated press and the current director for the center of korean history and public policy at the wilson center. look, always used to getting colorful messages coming out of north korea, certainly. i wonder what your reaction is to this message from kim jong un's sister. >> yeah, you know, kim jong un's sister plays this role as a trusted aide to her brother and envoy at times but i would say she also serves sometimes as the bad cop to her brother and especially when it comes to sending out these warnings directed at south korea in particular, and i would say that this is o

be biding their time waiting to see what a policy by the administration puts in place towards it north korea and we know from the state department to the various overtures to start talks have been met by silence it does seem as though the north koreans are waiting to see what concrete steps offers the americans come up with the u.n. secretary general has condemned the escalating military crackdown in me and mar attorney called on the international community to help stop the killings meanwhile funerals have been held for at least 50 protesters who were killed on sunday the worst day of violence since the military coup in february. thousands of protesters of turned out across several rebel controlled parts of syria there marking 10 years since the start of the civil war the conflict us cause one of the world's worst humanitarian crises more than half of syria's population displaced. brazil is getting its 4th health minister since the start of the pandemic marcello karega will take over as infection and death rates climb rapidly and the world's 2nd worst affected country thailand's prime minist

north korea says it will cut diplomatic ties with malaysia for what it called a hostile act the state broadcaster's website said it's in protest over a court ruling it allowed a north korean citizen to be extradited to the u.s. on monday law money laundering charges north korea says the charges are politically motivated and war and that the u.s. will pay a price robin wright is joining us from seoul covering this story for us what more have we heard from north korea. well there is all stems from this court ruling earlier this month in a malaysian court to that the suspect moncho myung the north korean national can be extradited to the united states to face money laundering charges now he was arrested back in 2019 for allegedly being involved in a number of front companies also for apparently being involved in illicit shipment of goods into north korea north korea of course is suspected of using all sorts of illegal activities overseas in overseas countries to get access to funds or to goods that it's not meant to have as a way of getting around international sanctions it has reacted v