Follow on down jordan this is out of there alive from doha also coming up Hong Kongs High Court a sentence prodemocracy activist josh along just three months in prison. Is providing Vital Services to the Palestinian Refugee population the u. N. Says a decision by the United States to cut funding for Palestinian Refugees will affect stability in the region. And another crisis for yemen as the World Health Organization says the Diphtheria Outbreak is spreading fast. Your secular state Rex Tillerson is calling on the world to step up pressure on north korea until it abandons its Nuclear Program hes joined representatives of nineteen other nations to discuss ways of tightening sanctions on pyongyang was in jordan reports. A show of diplomatic commitment in vancouver to ending north Koreas NuclearWeapons Program but the meeting cohosted by canada and the United States yielded just one new tactic for the fight an agreement to prevent socalled ship to ship transfers of outlawed goods to p. On yon i think we all agreed together with our partners here that the timing has turned out to be really for to attack us because we are seeing we we want to be clear headed we dont want to be in any way pollyannas about this but i think we collectively believe that the peaceful pressure is beginning to have an impact North Koreans know our channels are open and they know where to find us but a sustained cessation of north koreas threatening behavior is necessary is a necessary indicator of whether the regime is truly ready to pursue a peaceful diplomatic resolution to the Security Threat that it has created our nations must remain united on sustaining pressure until north korea takes concrete steps toward and ultimately reaches didnt. Thank russia and china were excluded from the meeting only countries that supported seoul during the korean war were invited to the gathering in moscow and beijing said this one sided event could aggravate tensions however two of north koreas neighbors said now was a good time as any to tell people yong to abandon its Nuclear Ambitions we should not be naive about their intent nor should we be blinded by north koreas Charm Offensive in short it is not the time to pressure or to reword no its career we stand ready to provide a Brighter Future for north korea if it makes the right choice. Analysts said the bank hoover meeting wont be a major venue for resolving the north korea question but it isnt a waste of time either if the clouds can part just a wee bit with a little bit of sunshine coming in then those countries are going to be necessary whether its to talk about verification or whether its to talk about new forms of economic assistance to north korea that could be part of the opening process the u. S. And canada have promised to brief china and russia on the discussions held here on tuesday its not clear whether this gathering will have turned out to be instrumental or simply a side bar to diplomatic efforts at the u. N. Rosalyn jordan aljazeera vancouver well we have two correspondents following the story rob mcbride is in china i will go to him in a moment but first kathy novak joins us from the south korean capital seoul cathy so Rex Tillerson was asked about the difference in policy between the u. S. And its allies south korea how is seoul handling those issues cathy. Yes the question is around the fact that the u. S. Is pushing for this campaign of maximum pressure and of sanctions against north korea while south korea is conducting talks with north korea and pushing a campaign of more engagement and dialogue Rex Tillerson though when asked about it said that there is no difference between the policies of the u. S. And south korea and south koreas foreign minister made similar remarks saying that these campaigns actually go hand in hand that ultimately the goal of the sanctions and Pressure Campaign is to bring a north korea to the negotiating table so right now there is another round of talks going on between north korea and south korea regarding the norths participation in the Winter Olympics and what south korea hopes is that this thawing relations here on the peninsula will bring about the circumstance in which there may be talks in future about denuclearization dare i kept you as you say the two koreas are meeting again today what more do we know that theyll be talking about. Well a lot is around the logistics of the norths participation so there have been suggestions of the two koreas appearing together in the Opening Ceremony the suggestion of a joint womens Ice Hockey Team and the other portion of discussions will be around transportation Accommodation Costs issues like that and one of the issues for south korea is how to help north korea participate while not violating un sanctions and also perhaps unilateral sanctions that south korea has imposed itself south korea had suggested that it may be able to go beyond the sanctions that are imposed by this country including perhaps see travel when it comes to the olympics but it will not go against any of the u. N. Sanctions that have been imposed which were the very topic of discussion of this summit in vancouver derren or Roger Kathy Novak there in the south korean capital seoul county thank you lets join rob mcbride now hes live for us from dun dong rob the chinese werent invited to this conference and i was beijing viewing this summit. They have not treated this very well it has not been received very well at all i think its true to say daryn its received something of a lashing in the official media here state run television common trees in government run newspapers they have branded this a kind of a cold war mentality on the part of the participants really asking why when things seem to be improving in terms of relations with north korea would america and its allies want to jeopardize that i think theres a lot of concern here about just what this use of naval forces to enforce the embargoes the sanctions would really look like out on the high seas the last thing china wants is extra elements of the u. S. Seventh fleet fleet being deployed to the east china or yellow sea separating china and korea it increases as far as china is concerned the risk of some sort of accidental confrontation and then also theres the problem of implementation just what happens if the u. S. Navy or its allies try to intercept a chinese freighter what happens also if theres a Chinese Naval vessel nearby does it then lead to that naval vessel intervening so an awful lot of problems here for china to contend with should there be this enforcement of sanctions of course as far as the u. S. And its allies are concerned theyre merely doing what the chinese authorities havent been doing and simply turning a blind eye towards robin we know that china is the biggest trading partner with north korea but how how strictly are those u. N. Sanctions being inforced by beijing because there are suspicions of sanctions violations. Well china officially says it is applying fully all of the u. N. Sanctions it points in fact to a big drop in trade just last month and that overall though over the past year trade has dropped by around ten percent of course as you mentioned there china is vital to north korea to keeping the regime going to propping up the regime but there is always a suspicion that Companies Individuals are getting around some of these sanctions and that china isnt doing enough to clamp down on that were here in dandong this is one of the main crossing points the main points at which supplies are getting into north korea and some of the more conspicuous businesses here such as some of the more famous north korean restaurants which are important money earner for north korea they do seem to have closed some of the Trading Companies which are more prominent in trade between china and north korea they too seem to have closed down but the suspicion always is that these companies merely have changed their names or Management Structure and that they are still somehow getting around the embargo and the from chinas perspective when it comes to those goods commodities which they can legally supply to north korea they continue to do so because china of course the last thing they want is to have some sort of collapse in the north korean regime all right there in dandong rob thank you. Now comes high court to sentence prodemocracy activist joshua wong to three months in prison wong and fifteen others were charged with criminal contempt for refusing to leave a protest site during the twenty fourteen revolution those sentenced to jail terms in that case will be immediately imprisoned lets go straight to difficult pollin hong kong divya what more details are emerging about these present terms and whats the background to this case. Well daryn like you said there were sixteen youre in the dock waiting to be sentenced to jail sentences were handed down the rest were given suspended sentences or fines the two sentences are two joshua long that now quite famous student leader that led the prodemocracy protests of twenty fourteen and the other rafael one who is also well known in hong kong for being one of the student leaders spearheading those protests. These charges stemming from two thousand and fourteen when bailiffs were instructed to clear one of the protest sites this is in the main protest site theres another smaller protest site and apparently joshua was raphael wong and the others had stopped the police from clearing it or had resisted burning to the judge they were given several warnings to leave the protest site and they refused to move and therefore they are now in contempt so theyve had pleaded guilty all joshua eleven of them pleaded guilty including joshua won and iran fell one that was nearly two years ago when they were first charged and david just briefly why is the sentencing taken so long and where does this now leave the prodemocracy movement. You know daryn thats a very interesting question and many skeptics are saying part of the reason could be because many of those who are in the court right behind me were under the age of twenty one until very recently so sentencing them before they turn twenty one men that they wouldnt. Be given jail terms under hong kong law they would be allowed to be sent to jail so there is speculation that the sentencing could be handed down now when many of them particularly joshua wong and rafael want both with very Strong Political ambitions have now turned twenty one whats also interesting is the type of sentences being given according to hong kong law if they go to jail for more than three months they are not allowed to run for office for five years so its interesting that joshua is being given three months while rafael one who is contesting by elections thats coming up in march has given four and a half months just above that mark so many of the prodemocracy camp and critics say sentencing has taken this long and the type of sentences that have been given are minutes dissuade them from any of their political and to. Thank you. Know a military court in thailand has decided not to prosecute a historian for insulting the monarchy so lots of iraq was charged after he commented on a battle that happened more than four hundred years ago the eighty five year old has been in and out of court since twenty fourteen as live for us in bangkok scott so what more can you tell us about this case. Just one for the court room just behind me the military court room just behind me within the last half hour and then about fifteen minutes later he came out and thats when we got word that the military court will not go forward with this trial now its a lesson majeste case and that is its called one one two and that is insulting the monarchy and they say that they lack the evidence to pursue this case to move forward with this trial were nearly supposed to hear about that if the trial was going to move forward back in december but there was a delay and today a very very short hearing he came out spoke with the media here he said he believes that the current king rama ten intervened he petitioned to the king asking for the this case to be dismissed and he believes that the king was involved in the fact that this was this case will not move forward again that that announcement is coming the last twenty minutes there are to scott thank you. Well time for a short break here aljazeera when we come back another crisis for yemen as a to fear outbreak takes hold affecting almost seven hundred people plus why these people are protesting on the streets of boston on a day before the Regional Parliament is to be sworn in on that state. Hello there were seeing a little bit more in the way of snow work its way across north america at the moment mostly out of this weather system here its still giving us some fairly heavy snow in places as it gradually eases towards that eastern coast eventually though as we head through wednesday into thursday it should clear away meanwhile the weather in the west is so putting itself together wednesday were just seeing a little bit of rain across that far western coast more snow inland and then that really pushes in as we head through thursday and this will give us some fairly hefty downpours at times and some fairly strong winds as well this huge central belt so generally quite quiet weather wise but certainly not warm chicago is a maximum just minus one of a further towards the south it has been a fair amount of rain across this belt over the past few weeks or so were still seeing a few showers around the bahamas there for the heavier rain as we head through wednesday into thursday will be a bit further towards the west four hundred as it really does look very wet were also expecting yet more heavy rain of parts of costa rica and panama wants more they further towards the south and weve still got our showers through possibility or through paraguayan into the southern parts of brazil plenty of showers here were also seeing a few more showers a bit further south as well some of those very very lively particularly in the northwestern parts of argentina will be dry for suborning salaries by thursday. On the fringes of some of this mega city. Make a slum is perched on stilts. But the cities are beginning to develop even areas where the. Architect of the army is offering more sustainable solution unities the state of the title change. The law could have to continue working. This time on a just. A quick recap of the top stories here on aljazeera u. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson is calling on the world to step up pressure on north korea and abandons its Nuclear Program hes joined representatives of nineteen other nations in vancouver to discuss ways of tightening sanctions on pyongyang. Hong kongs high court to sentence prodemocracy activists joshua long to three months in prison long and fifteen others but charged with criminal contempt for a fusing to leave a protest site during the twenty fourteen umbrella revolution. And a Militia Court in thailand has decided not to prosecute a historian for insulting the monarchy of sue knox of iraq that was charged after he commented on a battle that happened more than four hundred years ago. Now the un relief and works agency for Palestinian Refugees is one that reduced u. S. Assistance will threaten Regional Security the Trump Administration has announced it will withhold hof of the Financial Aid it had allocated to the agency didnt want to get into james bays has been following the story from u. N. Headquarters in new york. After years of conflict and poverty millions of palestinians rely on they will be devastated by this announcement or an element of a they should not cut the aid people here are sick and poor and have nothing to support themselves people here can afford to buy bread so why does the u. S. Say its taking this action it has long been a concern of this administration here in the administration about annorah and how it handles itself and how it manages its money under the u. N. Relief and works agency for Palestinian Refugees to give it its full title is one of the oldest agencies in the u. N. System founded almost seventy years ago the u. S. Has been its biggest funder providing money for among other things clinics schools and social services for palestinians beyond the borders of the territory long disputed by palestinians and israelis and neighboring countries jordan and lebanon it is under a knot the Un Refugee Agency u. N. H. C. R. That helps palestinians living in camps news of the cuts to the agencys funding started to emerge as a News Conference by the un secretary general was underway in new york its clear antonio could terrorists was not given advance notice by washington. I mean ive been in close contact with. What you are saying now i was not yet informed so no no official no i mean at all there might be something that i do not know because i mean its impossible to kompany zings by the minute. Until i was informed there was no official notification of the position but it might have happened. There is a political as well as humanitarian dimension to this President Trump has said he hopes to get the deal of the century between the israelis and the palestinians and yet this announcement hot on the heels of his recognition of jerusalem as the israeli capital has alienated one side making efforts to get the Peace Process