A damning insider account. And the new us sanctions designed to further isolate syrias president and force him to make concessions. Welcome to the program a day after north korea blew up a Liaison Office that was used to communicate with south korea its military is announcing further escalations the army says it will redeploy troops near the heavily fortified border Demilitarized Zone it also intends to resume regular military exercises and rest up his guard posts in frontline areas on top of this north korea has rejected souls offer to discuss reducing tensions for its part south korea says it will no longer accept what it calls unreasonable behavior from its neighbor well robert kelly is a professor of International Relations and diplomacy at Busan National university it joins us via skype from there robert weve seen a number of recent military threats by north korea in the last few days but what message is pyongyang sending by blowing up this legs in office and why now. Hi yet thank you for having me so i think the stencil of the North Koreans said that it was about leafleting which is to say you have served north korean groups in south korea sort of christian groups who released balloons filled with leaflets and they flowed into north korea but i dont really think thats what its about the North Koreans have experienced that from southern groups for 20 years i think what theyre really trying to do a signal to us that theyre very upset about the course of the negotiations with to donald trump but also with the south korean president right trump and moon have been engaging north korea now for close to 3 years and not much has come of it and i think the North Koreans are disappointed in this is how theyre theyre telling us but lets just stay with south korea for a 2nd because cell has warned it would respond strongly if the north continues to worsen the situation so what are the options open to south koreas president to deescalate tensions well thats actually part of the problem is that south korea actually really cant engage north korea very much because of global sanctions right to sort of u. N. Level sanctions and theyre also sanctions by south korean south by the United States by japan the countries around north korea this president when jane really wants to engage north korea but hes been very very constrained in what he can do because the lead the letter of the law prevents a lot of south korean engagement right so when he asked about the escalation my sense is that he would go out and give a speech and ask the North Koreans back to negotiating table hes already done that the South Koreans want take any kind of provocative action but the facility that was destroyed was inside north korea and theres some other stuff inside north korea too that the South Koreans have built if the North Koreans choose to demo to demolish that or to occupied or repurpose it in some way theres really nothing the North Koreans can do about it a robot we often say pyongyang raise tensions with the south when it wants concessions or sanctions relief from washington but President Trump has some big domestic issues on his plate at the moment so how is washington viewing all of this. Yeah my sense is the americans at least the trauma ministrations simply checked out on north korea and i think part of that is simply the president s personality the president sort of interested in north korea sort of comes and goes and a sort of very much driven i think by the imagery of it sort of he walked around inside in north korea and everything but he didnt really bring much home and i think also i think that people around the present are actually quite disappointed they feel like they met kim jong un 3 times they helped normalize kim by you know having him meet the american president which is quite exceptional no north Korean Leader ever got to do that and the North Koreans didnt offer anything right they offered to dismantle some old facilities and stuff like that and thats not what the trumpet ministration expect that they thought that handshake would buy them something more meaningful North Koreans didnt come through and so the trump people just dropped it and i said on this i dont think there will say anything yet just just a final point from you rob but i mean how does this recent escalation on the border then fit into the broader context of north koreas playbook whats the Bigger Picture here sherm the North Koreans have done provocations against south korea for decades literally right so in that sense i mean i dont think people should get carried away nobody should worry about sort of conflict or war or anything like that the North Koreans are going to do anything really serious they know they would lose any kind of a serious conflict so they wouldnt risk that right this is another way for north korea to signal to us to the americans and the South Koreans right that that we should come back to the bargaining table and offer something really substantial they really want is sanctions relief in exchange for something presumably a in the Nuclear Missile program and thats the sort of deal that everybody sort of dancing around right and i think this is the North Koreans way of sort of pushing the South Koreans and the americans to come back but again i think you know trump is just doesnt is not that interested anymore and moon is very constrained by sanctions i mean thats why this thing is sort of been frozen for your nap im just not sure that much can change in the next 6 months or 8 months Robert Kennedy always good to get your thoughts thank you for talking to al jazeera thank you thanks for having me when i spoke with rob mcbride in peshawar thats on the south korean side of the border. I think generally there is a feeling of disappointment and how this all seems to be unraveling and unraveling so quickly i think also among a number of people there will be concern about just how bad this war of words will get out but also i think generally in south korea there is a feeling of we have been here before people here are very philosophical about these kind of cycles of crisis and then reconciliation theyve been through this kind of thing before whats different this time possibly is that there was really a feeling of a potentially that this was going to lead to some kind of breakthrough that we havent seen in the past and that will obviously leave many people here disappointed where we are now this is its about as close as you can get in south korea to the d. M. Z. Its another few kilometers further on from here but it is also one of the crossing points for the main rail links between north and south that gives you an idea of the legacy of the conflict and also hopes of future coexistence hopes that until recently at least had been very much alive and well one of the bridges here was destroyed during the war and has been left to like that but the other bridge was restored and then in a previous rounds of reconciliation they actually reconnected the rail link between north and south its connected its ready to roll just add trains the feeling was that the negotiations reconciliations were going so well this time that it was going to possibly lead to regular Train Services restarting between north and south which would have been something quite historic obviously all of that now seems increasingly farfetched especially as we get this developing war of words its really the acrimony of the old we have kim jong she is the increasingly influential and powerful sister of the north Korean Leader whos become almost the point person when it comes to lobbying insults at the south branding south koreas president been jailed in as brazen and shameless. And then returned we now have the president ial office the blue house the government of moon j. M. Which until now has been very conciliatory trying to keep things on track retaliating in kind it seems talking about her comments being rude and senseless and saying that the south korean government will not tolerate unreasonable words and acts in future and rob just briefly so how does this escalation fit into the broader context of north koreas playbook i think this is really north korea showing its frustration at the stalled dialogue with south korea but also with the United States obviously not going anywhere possibly it is being naive in overestimating the influence that the South Koreans have with the World Community on getting relaxations of sanctions on getting the United States to move their position but partly it could also be playing to a domestic audience it almost has to create a crisis now to explain to people in north korea why all of this dialogue seem to have been going nowhere the Indian Army Says 20 of its soldiers were killed in fighting with chinese troops along their disputed border late on monday night it happened in the gulf valley region its the 1st time deaths have been reported during a standoff between the 2 countries in decades of balance reports. In a remote twist in himalayas there is little evidence of what led to indian and chinese so jews in gauging in a deadly brule at the border on monday indias army said there were casualties on both sides but not a shot was fired these are Indian Military reinforcements destined for the border shortly after. India and china share the wounds longest unmarked border in recent months both sides have ups the military presence tensions increasing over who are what land the border has been disputed since india and china went to war in 1962 the line in yellow is the socalled line of actual control but there are several disputed areas only the site one of the main ones is a chain which is claimed by india but administered by china india has appeared confident in a diplomatic resolution just on saturday indias army chief see this. Situation along our borders with china. Yet having a series of talks the chinese also thought dialogue was working but blame india for the deadly breakdown. On june 6th forces of the 2 countries had command a level talks and reached a consensus on easing the situation in the border area however it was shocking that the Indian Forces violated the consensus crossing the border twice to carry out a legal activities and provoking attacks on chinese soldiers. Indian officials have refuted that i cool cease collation this story more a more aggressive posture. Which looks like a deliberate policy to create a vision between or rather the relationship between india and china at the highest level. Les is a quiet town on the indian side of the border outside of military helicopters reasons have few clues behind the tension only do steep if the joint bottom it will face off what officials are releasing a statement regarding the standoff that is going on at the border they rima spread which is created fear among the people People Living near the border most get the Cellular Network in the area has also been cut off and no information is coming through. The deadly scheme issues raising the stakes for beijing in new delhi of the we are the vast frontiers begin and end bonus 0. Trainer who joins us live now from beijing katrinas are both sides are blaming each other for this deadly skirmish whats been the response there in beijing where you are and how is it playing out in the media. Well china says that both sides have been engaging in talks for the last few weeks and on june 6th theyve actually they actually reached a consensus but according to a spokesperson from chinas military he says that india broke that consensus he says that they violated this commitment cross the border line and the indian side deliberately launched provocative attacks are laying the blame solely on indias doorstep and also saying that this altercation actually took place on land that was clearly chinese territory now when it comes to state media response youve had a spectrum and on one hand weve got the the hawkish nationalist nationalistic newspaper the global times and its on the front pages has a headline china urges india to restrain and in this article describes as india the Indian Military on the border of as being reckless and arrogant and also warning the Indian Military that china will not back down from many challenges to its sovereignty but it does end with a north saying that both sides should continue dialogue and continue trying to maintain keast quite interesting lee its important to note that china has not released any casualty figures on its own side i think this really is the strongest indication that they do not want an all out conflict and they dont theyre not releasing these figures because they dont want to fan any confrontational sentiment here certainly china has its plate full with dealing with the core of 19 outbreak a new outbreak in beijing in trying to restart its economy its simply not in its interest to have conflict with india and on the geopolitical side china has actually invested a lot of time and effort in the past few years in getting closer to india president xi jinping met with president morsi twice last year and he acknowledged the difficulties that they do have on the border but he said its important for the dragon to keep dancing with the elephant from both sides to continue talking i think the last thing that china wants to do all see is any of that that would push india further into the arms of the u. S. Or right to katrina you there live for us in beijing katrina thank you. Turkey has launched another military offensive against the Kurdish Group the p. K. K. In Northern Iraq troops were deployed to the have to mean region near the Turkish Border and jets hit p k k positions its the 2nd offensive against the group this week turkey considers it a terrorist organization the trump ministration is suing former National Security adviser john bolton in an attempt to stop him publishing a book about his time working at the white house the government says the book contains classified information and must be edited before its released the book is said to accuse trump of committing several impeachable offenses bolton was fired last year after 17 months in the role somebody said he wanted to write a book if you wrote a book i cant imagine that he can because thats highly classified information even conversations with maybe theyre highly classified i told that to the attorney general before i would consider every conversation with me as president highly classified so that would mean that if you wrote a book and if the book its that hes broken the law time for a short break here now is iraq when we come back. Without police there is chaos without law there is an arche and without safety there is catastrophe yes President Donald Trump signs an order he says will encourage better policing but makes no mention of the National Debate over racism more in the stay with us. Hello there it is of course very hard to cross much of the middle a theory be in peninsula its also been very windy of the last few days and that is set to continue meanwhile to the all the cross into turkey theres been a little bit of cat that does mean maybe just one or 2 showers nothing particularly heavy and its a warm day wednesday and through the high of 28 despite the chance of the shot as we can see by these big green arrows the winds are very strong of course that coming through this horse interior untypically this time of year june sunny across into council is actually the windiest month of the end sunny it has been that way so far 46 in doha on wednesday and then by thursday time it is a little bit low but the winds are strong so not really feeling any better you can see there more widespread showers across much of turkey elsewhere temperatures in the mid to high fortys 46 and 43 in riyadh and down in Southern Africa touches a lot further to the south of course we see want to showers across south africa they will continue on wednesday and in fact fairly heavy at times the ticket early into the southern areas of mozambique in the can be fairly widespread particularly long as close areas in fact really all the way along into the coast of tanzania even up towards kenya the heaviest rains continuing around the gulf of guinea and then say no change elsewhere but certainly cool for the next few days in johannesburg 13 on thursday. Join our Global Community called the crisis. Doesnt raise last. Upon my thing upon my humans have evolved Global Health keeping you up to date is why so for situation where we have a human rights prices that persist beyond the health crisis. Questions is a dialogue just nothing we are now approaching a crossroads this is an opportunity that we must not miss the stream on al jazeera. Welcome back or come out of the top stories here on aljazeera north koreas military says it will redeploy troops near the Demilitarized Zone and resume regular exercise along frontline areas comes a day after pyongyang destroyed and there is an office used to communicate with south korea. Indian and chinese officials are blaming each other for a Deadly Border brawl in a disputed region of the himalayas 20 indian soldiers have been killed and turkeys launched another military offensive against the Kurdish Group the p. K. K. In Northern Iraq troops were deployed to a region a near the border and jets p k k positions a 2nd offensive against the group this week. U. S. President donald trump assigned an executive order to reform policing following the death of george floyd in custody it aims to stop bad officers being able to move jobs and to restrict the use of neck holes but the president rejected calls to defund the police. Reducing crime and raising standards are not opposite goals they are not mutually exclusive they Work Together they all Work Together. That is why today im signing an executive order and courage and Police Departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities well Police Reforms are also being implemented at state and local levels but theres disagreement over the best way to address systemic Racism Police unions say theyre being targeted as an easy political win while some activists say its the unions that are the problem kristen salumi has more now from new york. Pepper spraying pushing and plowing into demonstrators the spotlight on the new York Police Department since the killing of george floyd has not been flattering and the state has moved quickly to pass reform measures but the unions representing police in the city say theyre being used as political pawns and Public Safety will suffer what were saying now is were all demonized because some was murdered in minnesota im going to say it again most restrained police the bobbin in the country activists say unions are a big part of the problem ya know smart tone is a civil rights attorney running for Manhattan District Attorney all across the country we have weve got you steps forward one step back were electing better people were asking better laws but these Law Enforcement unions are clinging to their power and theyre going to do everything they can to undermine or forums into undermine individuals who are elected. Since a member of his staff compiled a list of local politicians taking Campaign Donations from Law Enforcement groups however many politicians have decided to give back the money signaling the tide may be turning new yorks governor last week signed a law banning chokeholds named after eric garner who was killed by one and making the records of Police Officers accused of misconduct public and on tuesday the mayor of new york city announced that footage from Police Body Cams must be released within 30 days if it involves the use of a firearm or force that results in injury or death. Police reforms here in new york and elsewhere around the country have largely focused on individual officers and holding them accountable for their actions but critics say racism is a systemic problem and more systemic changes are needed former Police OfficerDennis Kenney believes the issue isnt to unions but rather a militarized approach to policing weve gone back to the effort militarized Police Easily evaluated Tactical Solutions and so forth and all of those have the effect of kind of driving a where. Between communities and elise. And i think we need to go back and think oh sophocles again about why we not just our police in california the states largest Police Unions have published their own reform agenda ignalina need for action it calls for lessening the use of force and increasing accountability to root out racist Police Officers but that will require communities and police to Work Together to make communities safer for everyone kristen salumi al jazeera new york. Now a new drug trial in the u. K. Has shown that a cheap and widely available steroids can dramatically cut the death rate from cope with 19 dexamethasone reduced deaths by around a 3rd among those with the most acute cases of infection the World Health Organization is describing the results of the trial as a lifesaving scientific breakthrough the virus has killed more than 440000 people worldwide new u. S. Sanctions are about to go into effect targeting any country individual or entity that provides support to syrias government the sanctions on the legislation called the seas act are designed to force president Bashar Al Assad to make political concessions so hot as more now from beirut. Theyre known as caesars photographs named after a military defector who documented torture and killings in Syrian Government jails his testimonies to the u. S. Congress was part of a campaign to hold the regime responsible for what have been described as war crimes it led to the passing and now the implementation of a bill in the us the socalled caesar act in any country in the world theres a company individual. Thats providing acknowledge the financial support. And military support. Are all liable for states and under the caesar bill these sanctions go further than existing ones are aimed at preventing International Engagement with Bashar Assads government partnering or fighting on its side will also be punishable the Syrian Government calls the legislation economic terrorism but proponents of the law point to exemptions that minimize any impact on civilians. The federal government is allowed to buy medicine they want but they dont want to. Be on that they want to fund their war machine they want to pump the militia human Rights Groups have accused the Syrian Government of using aid to fund its atrocities benefit those loyal to it and punish opponents by confiscating their properties plans to move to a postwar phase in syria will now be difficult. Thats what this. Regime. Its already faced with a collapsing economy and currency there is unprecedented poverty some say a 3rd hasnt been this vulnerable at any time during the 9 year war. It kind of shuts the door fully closed in terms of there being any light at the end of the tunnel for the Syrian Regime so i think politically and diplomatically that will have an impact but it adds to the already terrible effects of the syrian economic crisis assad has faced pressure in the past but has never agreed to making political concessions he since the clear victory in the war in syria and while he may have won militarily winning the peace may prove harder the new legislation means the fight for damascus as the seat of assads power and legitimacy has still to be fought that of. Beirut. Who the rebels in yemen of accuse the Saudi Led Coalition of killing several civilians including children and asked trucks it comes out of the u. N. Remove the coalition from a blocked list of countries that kill children in conflict zones a decision a human Rights Groups describe as appalling. Reports. Outside of the United Nations headquarters in yemen protesters are in disbelief theyre condemning the decision to remove the military Coalition Led by saudi arabia from a u. N. Blacklist. You know. Its considered a list of shame for attacks like these exposing anyone who kills harms or abuses children in war zones the Saudi Led Coalition was listed for 3 years exposed for his war record in yemen but i doubt its a disgrace that the United Nations removed saudi arabia from the list for killing children everyone in the world including saudi arabia knows its a shame on humanity you know you have hours after the removal announcement who the rebels say 13 people were killed in a saudi little attack in northwest yemen 4 of them children more victims of the emmys 5 year war because the coalition has consistently attacked schools and hospitals also be listed for that violation knowing that they had attacked in 20202019 all schools and hospitals and yet they are not part of that list of better traitors the u. N. Says the coalition was removed from the list because its taken steps to stop harming children but the u. N. Also says 222. 00 children were killed or injured by saudi led attacks last year. Monitoring. A 20 month who are sure and under complete a hold and you know. There are young victims on both sides of the conflict the u. N. Says who the fighters are responsible for herning or killing 313. 00 children and Yemeni Government forces account for 96. 00 casualties but unlike the Saudi Led Coalition both remain on the blacklist. The coalition is blamed for pushing yemen into a deepening crisis with threats of famine and disease the saudis intervened in 2015 to support yemens government against who the rebels backed by iran treaties and cease fires have been ignored and the violent struggle for power has continued the u. N. Is warning the coalition it will go back on the list if it fails to reduce the number of child casualties but critics argue the u. N. Has compromise the integrity of the list of shame katia locus of the u. N. Aljazeera was not a hashimi from the university of denver he says the u. N. Was pressured into removing saudi arabia from its blacklist. Saudi blackmail was going on behind the scenes i think thats exactly what has happened. For people who are following this story there is a very important parallel development that took place in 2016 when then u. N. Secretary general ban ki moon explicitly said that he came under severe pressure from saudi arabia to remove saudi arabias name from the list of shame and if they did not do that saudi arabia would cut funding to various u. N. Programs. Among the palestinians among the ebonys except for a so i think thats exactly what happened and i think you know this is a dark day for the United Nations its a dark day for human rights and its fundamentally a very dark day for the children of yemen it effectively puts the u. N. Secretary general and presents hes presenting himself effectively as a hypocrite i just to cite one example in february of this year he released a very important document called a call to human rights where he called on the International Community to respect International Humanitarian law human rights law to make human rights central in everything that the International Community does and here we have him doing the exact opposite effectively acting as a Public Relations agent for the crown prince of saudi arabia by shielding it from legitimate criticism. Now the Largest Utility Company in the u. S. Has pleaded guilty to killing 84 people in one of the countrys most devastating wildfires the blaze in 2018 was sparked by decaying infrastructure on pacific gas and electric power grid it destroyed the california town of paradise on tuesday the company admitted to 84. 00 counts of Involuntary Manslaughter its agreed to pay a fine of 3500000. 00. All the news of course on our website there it is on your screen the address on to c. N. N. Dot com thats al jazeera dot com. 5 time for a quick check of the headlines here on aljazeera north koreas military says it will redeploy troops near the Demilitarized Zone and resume regular exercises along frontline areas it comes a day after pyongyang destroyed any azan office used to communicate with south korea as the latest from purdue on the south korean side of the border a lot of concern in the south will be this possible plan to set up guard posts one small inside the Demilitarized Zone this strip of no mans land that separates north and south they as part of a 28 agreements at the height of the reconciliation both sides agree to dismantle these very confrontational symbolic border posts and bring their troops back so that will be a concern especially as this whole agreement that was agreed back in the heady days of 2018 now seems to be in tatters indian and chinese officials are blaming each other for a Deadly Border brawl in a disputed region of the himalayas 20 indian soldiers were killed and the Indian Army Says there were also casualties on the chinese side but beijing has confirmed this. Turkey has launched another military offensive against the Kurdish Group the p. K. K. In Northern Iraq troops were deployed to a region near the Turkish Border and jets targeted p k k positions its the 2nd offensive against the group this week the trumpet ministration is suing former National Security adviser john bolton in an attempt to stop him publishing a book about his time working at the white house the government says the book contains classified information and must be edited before its released. And trump a sign that executive order to reform policing following the death of george floyd in custody it aims to stop bad offices being able to move jobs around to restrict the use of meth calls for the president rejected calls to defund the leaks. And a new drug trial in the u. K. Show that cheap and widely available steroids can dramatically cut the death rate from 19. And reduce deaths by around a 3rd among those with the most severe case of infection the World Health Organization is describing the results of the trial as a lifesaving scientific breakthrough those are the headlines the news continues here on the aljazeera after the street station thats watching. Their own. Let me ask you how worried you are about the increase in hostilities in yemen we listen this is the moment to stop all the 30 action this is the moment. We meet with global news makers the stories the 000. Theyre welcome to the stream im josh rushing sitting in for me ok today coming to you live from my hold because of cobra 19 in the core of the dog out that kids are talk to in the veteran in my wife whos work in the carrier in the lights. Joining the conversation today on you tube in the live chat and well get some of those comments in during the show todays topic is about Police Reform of course that started here in the u. S. But those protests to spread across the world it began when people saw the viral video of a white Police Officer in minneapolis