♪ ♪ narratorfunding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy d peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.

and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers likeou. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". ♪ ros: hello. i'm ros atkins. welcome to "outside source." china has condemned the u.s., u.k. and australia over a new packed that gives australia submarines. >> using nuclear exports as a geopolitical gaming to lend apying double standards. -- geopolitical gaming applying double standards. ro we break down what is in the deal, designed to answer the growing influence of china in the pacific. also a story from france, 3000

health workers expended -- suspended for not having a covid vaccine before government deadline. and, relations with the taliban before and after they took over the country. ♪ let's begin with china, hitting out at this new security and defense pact between the u.s., u.k. and australia. it is accusing them of playing geopolitical games. yesterday, u.s. president joe biden along with u.k. prime minister boris johnson and australian prime minister morrison announced the new partnership to strengthen influence in the indo pacific to counter chinese influence. >> it amounts to a new pillar of our strategy, demonstrating

britain's generational commitment to the security of the indo pacific and showing exactly how we can help one of our oldest friends to preserv regional stability. ros: the august packed will cover ai -- august pact will cover ai and other technologies and is one of the biggest fense partnerships in decades per the main headline, the deal will allow australia to build eight nuclear submarines using technology provided by the u.s.. the subs, we should stress do not carry nuclear weapons, are the same as conventional some brains but a big difference is their capabilities. nuclear engines make them faster, they can submerge longer, shoot missiles further and are harder to detect. australia will become only the seventh country in the world to have these summaries. here is the prime minister. >> the world's becoming more

conflux -- complex in the indo pacific pre-this affectss all. the future of the indo pacific will impact all our futures. to make these challenges, to help deliver the security and stability our region needs, we must now take our partnership to a new level. ros: as you imagine, a huge amount of reaction. let's hear from taiwan, key ally of the u.s., very much feels threatened by beijing and it has been hailing ts deal. a spokesperson for the president said keeping the indo pacific free and open is not just important for security in neighboring countries like taiwan, it isanother u.s. ally n is japan. >> the enhancement of security and defse, -- cooperation between the u.s., u.k. and australia is crucial for peace and security in the indo pacific

region. for japan, we have made various efforts to the u.s., australia and are aligned with europe. ros: china though, has different words. it's foreign ministry spokesperson is accusing the u.s. of an updated, coldar mentality. there was more. >> the u.s. and u.k. are about to export highly sensitive nuclear powered submarine technology to australia. this once again shows they are using nuclear export as a geopolitical gaming to end applying double standards, which is extremely irresponsible. ros: so china is not happy, frce isn't either, for different reasons. the new pact brings an abrupt end to a 36 billion dollar submarine contract australia and france signed in 2016. listen to the french foreign minister. >> is a stab in the back. we established a relationship of

trust with australia but the trust has been broken. there is a lot of bitterness about this cancellation. this matter is not over. ros: criticism continued on twitter, many french officials lashed out at the u.s. the french embassy in america tweeted, the u.s. chose to exclude a european ally and partner such as france for a restructuring partnership in australia at a time when we face unprecedented challenges in the indo pacific reason and shows a lack of adherence france can only regret. this is the french minister for armed forces. >> once we sign a deal, a deal that is not simply an industrial-commercial deal, but a strategic art, and we backtrack on it, it is backtracking on one's words. in terms of politics, it is serious. ros: that is what the french are saying. let's hear australian defense on the decision. here's the prime minister. >> the decision we me to not continue with the attack class submarine and go down this path

is not a change of mind. it is a change of need. the goal has remained the same. australians would expect the prime minister to ensure we have the best possible capability to keep them safe, and to be unhindered in pursuing that as best as i possibly can. ros: the u.s. secretary of ste, antony blinken, has been addressing these tensions with france. >> i want to emphasize there is no regional divide separating the interests of our atlantic and our pacific partners. this partnership with australia and the united kingdom is a signal that we are committed to working with our allies and partners, including europe, to ensure a free and open indo pacific. we welcome european countries playing an important role in the endo pacific. we look forward to continued," with nato, the european union and others in this endeavor. france in particular is a vital partner on this and so many other issues, stretching back

generations, and we want to find every opportunity to deepen our transatlantic cooperation in the indo pacific and around the world. ros: next, let's get analysis from bbc security correspondent frank gardner. frank: it doesn't seemo come out of thee. i don't think there was any hint of it. it is a step change for ralia and the eire indo pacific region. it is knuckling to make an immediate difference because it is going to take years to build these nuclear-powered submarines. they are not want to be nuclear armed, but will be able to carry very powerful missiles with a range of about 1000 miles. in the submarines can stay submerged, hidden very stealthily, for month on end. ultimately, it will alter the military balance in the south china sea and the asia-pacific region, which is upsetting china. but as you alluded to, china has been on a huge spending spree to build up its military.

the size of its navy has tripled in the last 20 years. it is developiypersonic weapons which go up into the stratosphere and power down at mach eight, eight times the speed of sound. an if they get the guidance right, it can punch a hole in a warship and send it to the bottom of the ocean. so, the u.s. is now very concerned it has lost the military edge in the region. but together with australia and the u.k. and possibly others, they think they can possibly redress that and confront china actions which have been condemned by u.n. decisions, such as building artificial reefs and then taking over entire areas of the south china sea saying, you can't come in, this is china'territorial waters. ros: you allude to that particular project more broadly in the region, what would you pick out as main security pressure points that china and the u.s. are aware of?

frank: it is taiwan, number one and number two, freedom of navigation. xi jinping has made it clear by the time of the centenary of the chinese come in's party founding in 2049, he wants taiwan to be back in the fold as it were. they have never accepted taiwan as an independent state. they would like it to come back under chinese rule, and they will do that one way or another. whether that means an actual military invasion, certainly there are signs, they have carried out aggressive acts such as penetrating taiwan security airspace and making threatening moves. but there is no indication they are planning that imminently. ♪ ros: next, we turn to france because around 3000 health workers have been suspended because they haven't gotten themselves vaccinated against covid. the new rule came into force wednesday. it made vaccination mandatory for 2.7 billion health, care

home and fire service staff. the french health ministry said thursday, most of these suspensions are temporary. they went on to say they are going to get jabbed because they see the vaccination mandate is a reality. here is more for our world affairs correspondent. reporter: it wasn't the european -- first european country to insi on health care workers getting vaccinated. italy did it in the spring. but in july, president macron set the state of mid-september for health care and care workers to have at least jab the deadline passed yesterday. as you mentioned, the french health minister went on public radio and explained that 3000 staff had been temporarily suended. he says temporarily because clearly, he is hoping it will focus minds and they will come forward for vaccinations and thore, the policy will have

worked. that is what they are hoping, anyway. ros: staying with covid vaccines, many women reporting changes to their periods and unexpected vaginally bleeding after having a covid jab. the u.k. regur has received more tha30,000 reports of the sender prompted one doctor from imperial college london to write about the issue in the british medical journal and urgent investigation in the hope of offering reassurance. dr. victoria molly said the body's immune system is likely the cause and there is no evidence it will have any impact on pregnancy or fertility. here's what you told bbc. >> most people making the report say the period is heavier than usual earlier than usual. they say it goes back to normal quickly and we know from other research there is no impact on the ability to get pregnant. but because the the way the day case colleced -- of the way the data is collected, we don't know for sure if this is something

caused by the vaccine or might have happened anyway that people are particularly noticing because they are conscious of their bodies around the time they got the vaccine. i am arguing that, even though it doesn't seem to be a serious problem it doesn't pact fertility, we should actually look into it and find out for sure if there is a link. and if so, how common it is to experience this. it is important to know partly because yes, it is important we take people's concerns about vaccine safety seriously. but also, it is important for people to be able to plan. i have people getting in touch because there period came late after the vaccine and spent fiv daorried they were getting pregnant. if this was a common side effect, we would say less than five people -- 5% of people got a late period, and if that happens to you, don't worry. some people rely on their menstrual cycles either because they don't want to become pregnant or won't become

pregnant. for those people, if thers a change, it is important that we say, maybe this month don't rely on your prediction of when you are ovulating, it is a life-changing thing of having a baby or not having a baby. ros: coming up on "outside source," how journalists in afghanistan have handled relations with the taliban before and after the group took over. ♪ ♪ ros: north korea has given more details of a ballistic missile test carried out wednesday, saying the launch is part o a new railway-born missile system. bbc correspondent laura bicker has details. laura: this is the first time north korea fired a ballistic missile from a train. the images are extraordinary. you can see two ballistic missiles fired from a carriage on tracks in the middle of the mountains. and because is a headache for

military commanders herin south korea and the u.s. as they tried to plan any issues when it comes to north korea. what is next? what else does pyongyang have in its arsenal that it is waiting to test? we do know from satellite images that its made nuclear reaction appears to be functioning once again, perhaps as early as march this year. so we do know they could be purchasing some material that could pertain to nuclear weapons. but how far is pyongyang going to push it at this stage? ♪ ros: hello. i'm ros atkins in the bbc newsroom as usual. our lead story on "outside source," the u.s. says it will stand with australia against pressure from china after a huge new defense pact. the denmark government is

proposing a new law to ban prisoners serving life sentences from having new romantic relationships. under the new law, for the first 10 years of sentences, inmates will be limited to contacting only those close to them. the idea is to discourage what are called groovies, where women strike up relationships with prisoners. peter manson killed a swedish journalist aboard his homemade submarine and made headlines around the world back in 2017. since starting a life sentence, he struck up to relationships, first with a 17-year-old girl and then this woman, jenny kirkland, 39-year-old russian woman who lives in finland. they married last year. we will speak to thomas, who broke the story for a danish newspaper. thank you for joining us live on the bbc. is thia law really just aimed at one person? thomas: no, thanks for letting me come on bbc.

there are 35 people in denmark serving a life sentence in the jails. so, it is 35 people that cannot have a date now after the new law. ros: if this new law comes in, what can't prisoners do? thomas: well, they can't do the dating with any girls or anyone else that they are meeting, for the first 10 years that they are in jail. they can't do that. they can only speak with persons they knew before they went into il. ros: now, we know authorities have concerns about peter mattson, but do they also have concerns about relationships other life prisoners up and having? thomas: yes. that is actually a big discussion in denmark because the vernment is a bit afraid

it will be a very bad thing to be in jail for the other prisoners, because peterattson has done a lot of [indiscernible] -- a lot of dating while they were in the jail. but we don't know about a lot of the other prisoners who are serving lifetime. ros: thomas, tell us what other life prisoners can do at the moment. some life prisoners in denmark take part in podcasts and on social media. will that carry-on? -- carry on? thomas: no, they can't do that anymore. they can't be on a broadcaster social media. ros: there has to be some people in denmark that this is too much punishment -- that think this is too much punishment? thomas: that is correct, that you can't do this, that it is

not a possibility that you can do that in danish law. it is going to be difficult for the government to make this allowed. ros: thomas, thanks r speaking to us. ♪ now, let's turn to afghanistan. in the weeks that folwed the taliban takeover, foreign and local journalists have had to try to tell the story about the taliban is doing while dealing directly with the taliban. we will look at the ethics and practicalities of doing this. on bbc radio 4, i have been speaking to people who have to navigate this relationship. one of them is based in london, ceo of the company that owns total news. total has a big audience in afghanistan, many millions. here he is describing his dealings with the taliban. >> the relationship has always been professional. we did have an incident where they attacked one of our buses

in 2016, which resulted in the killing of seven of our employees. which the taliban took responsibility for. other than that, the relationship has been fairly professional. they are always on the phone, always available online. in areas they control, they provided us with safe passage. we were even embedded with the taliban red fours, a special unit, when they took on isis. i've -- taliban red force, a special unit, when they took on isis. they have been more savvy than the president's team. they wouldn't get back to us. they lied to us, whereas the taliban wereesponsive. they were professional. and a lot of ways, we had a betterelationship towards the end with the taliban than the previous government's communications team. ros that is one experience, here is another. i asked our correspondent to

tell us how we deals with the taliban. >> there is a sense of privilege that comes with being international journalist here in afghanistan. we have seen at times afghan colleagues being badly bten, tortured by the taliban, just because they are reporting something like that. it has not happened with the foreign media yet. that is partly because the taliban knows there will be more serious pr coequences for them internationally. that is not to say there are not challenges here. we have at times a confrontations with talib fighters who tried to prevent us from filming, demonstrations are at the airport last month when there was chaotic scenes taking place. but overall, their attitude with us has been very cooperative and very friendly. i think that is partly because on an individual level, we e still thought of as something of a novelty for taliban fighters and also because the group wants to portr a more positive image to the rest of the world. that in itself presents its own

challenges because there is a lot of misinformation around, and both the taliban and their critics have particular narratives they want to push forward redone the truth isn't always easy to decipher -- push forward. and the truth isn't always easy to decipher. in my reporting, there is the importance of nuance. we should talk about gains made over the past 20 years with respect to women's rights, for example. also important to remember that the widespread corruption. nuance is key. ros: he is in northern afghanistan and also reported in kabul, as has cnn chief correspondent clarissa ward. this is a widely shared clip of her encounter with taliban fighrs. >> the fighter takes the safety of his ak-47 and pushes through the crowd. >> stay behind him.

>> some of these taliban fighters are hopped up on adrenaline all right don't know what. ros: in 2019, clarissa ward reported on taliban fighters as they took on the afghan military. this is her experience dealing with a group. clarissa: there was a process and when you did have a guarantee of protection from the taliban, you could be reasonably secure knowing that you weren't at risk at least of being kidnapped on the trip, and that you would be given access to what y had been promised. so, there was a mechanism for dealing with them. and from what we are seeing on the ground now, that mechanism still exists. there is a department you go to come up t -- you go to, paperwork that you sign. the problem is now that your dealings with the rank-and-file on the street are not necessarily the same as your dealings with the upper edge

along of the top -- up or at salon -- upper echelon of the taliban. you have to go into it with your eyes open and you have to know the way i am treated is not the way another local journalists will be treated. so, when you are looking at the professionalism or savvy of the taliban, you have to understand it in its context, that it is largely transactional for them. they are hoping to get something out of that and the veneer from what we have seen is thin. on one hand, it is about we are protecting the rights of people to protest and carry out their jobs as urnalists and on the other hand, they are firing at protesters, they are beating journalists. so just because you talk the talk, if you don't walk the walk, we are going to cover that. ros: help me understand your

calculations on these issues. you are in the first international team into myanmar after the military coup and that would only have been possible with military acquiescence. what are your calculations when you are deciding to work to some degree with people like the military in myanmar or the taliban? clarissa: my calculation is that we are put in this position all the time, whether north korea, syria with the assad regime, where you are givenccess to a couny by a repressive regime. in your job when you accept that access is to make sure you tell the story to the best of your ability, and that you go even further in ensuring that you hold people's feet the fire. in myanmar for example, where local myanmar journalists were doing extraordinary work, from a security point of you, it wasn't possible for them to look a top genera in the eye and confront

him with evidence of being children being killed -- evidence of children being killed by his own forces. that is a privilege i have is a foreigner because i leave the country at the end of it and don't run the risk of going to prison. based on experience with the taliban though, iis a much more fluid situation. and even as a foreigner, if you get the wrong person on the wrong day, thasituation can quickly become very dangerous. ros: you can get a full episode of the media show wherever you are via bbc. our top story, more reaction to this defense pact between the u.s., u.k. on australia. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken trying to ease french anger over the deal, he says the friendship with france's valued, called it a vital partner. but the agreement scuppered a major submarine deal between the french and australians.

mr. blinken says he wants to deepen transatlantic cooperation in the indo pacific area and around the world. that ends this addition. thanks for watching. i will narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

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