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tv   BBC News America  PBS  December 11, 2023 2:30pm-3:00pm PST

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by...
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woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i am caitriona pen washington and this is bbc news
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america. walkouts threatened avoids phasing out fossil fuels. airstrikes continue in the gaza strip as israeli tanks make their way to a major southern city. ukraine's president in washington to make his case for more aid as partisan politics in the u.s. threatened to stop it. ♪ caitriona: hello and welcome to world news america. i am caitriona perry. negotiator is threatening that the bloc will walk away from climate talks happening at the top 28 summit in dubai. there is is one of many criticisms emerging after the body published its latest draft of a deal. key nations are outraged at the scrapping of what they say is important language to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees celsius. the latest draft says countries
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could reduce consumption of fossil fuels. it scraps previous calls to phase out coal, oil, and gas use. the u.s. and the e.u. have called for the trap to be strengthened and some island nations call it insufficient. a representative from the alliance of small island states sharply criticized the text. >> if we do not have strong mitigation outcomes at this cop, this will be the cop where 1.5 will have died. we will not sign our death certificate. we cannot sign on to text that does not have strong commitments on phasing out fossil fuels. caitriona: the deal means nearly all of -- it needs nearly all of the countries to agree or else it will collapse. the former white house climate
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advisor under joe biden. is this the text that you were expecting to see come out of this? >> it is close to what i assumed would be coming out at this stage of cop. my hopes are that it will improve a little bit over the next day. >> there has been much criticism that the phasing out of fossil fuels is absent from the text at this point. do you consider that to be a failure that the absence of that -- >> it certainly is a disappointment, especially the framing that is in there. it's really just about what happens in 2050. you need to reconcile the fact that we have to phase out fossil fuels beginning now and make significant progress in 2030 so the phrase of not having the phaseout of climate change is a challenge. it is not what the world expects and i think most of the world
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wants. i have been working with her and she has put out a letter and has signatures now from well over 1700 who know that we actually have to reduce both the consumption as well as the production of fossil fuels. that is what they say about what we need to do is simply phaseout fossil fuels and adjust in an equitable way. that is what she is putting on the table. we have to do it in a way where we scale up public and private sector investments, particularly in the developing world, and we have to reverse the deforestation and other challenges that we are facing as a result of climate change. those are the three things that i would like to see in this document. it mentions all of those but the language is not yet there to say that it is time to phase down and phase out equitably and in a
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just way the challenge of fossil fuels. look, we all know what caused the greenhouse gas emissions. you know now what has to be diminished. and that is the phaseout of fossil fuels and our commitment internationally to get that done. caitriona: one of the e.u.'s lead negotiators at this cop has said the e.u. may walk away from the talks entirely if the document is not changed. does the u.s. feel like that -- is that an approach the u.s. might take as well? >> secretary kerry, who is clearly the lead negotiator for the u.s., has a strongly close to that it is time to have language that phases out fossil fuels. so i think it is very clear that there are countries. clearly, the e.u. has been vocal
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on this for quite some time. the u.s. is joining in that effort. we cannot now, i think, be satisfied with the language that is in here that is so wishy-washy as to be meaningless on fossil fuels and it looks to say, yup, we will fix it all with carbon capture and sequestration. look we cannot be relying on the carbon capture technology. that is putting it in the ground . it's never going to be the answer. it is just the opportunity for them to stick our heads in the sand if we think that the best we can do is to continue with fossil fuels, not demand that phaseout, and look for technologies that simply are not the answer and i think secretary kerry has been very clear about that. caitriona: just to jump in on that, do you think had president biden attended in person himself, would that have made a
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difference? would he have brought a greater leverage? >> i think president biden made the choice he needed to make given the international challenges we are all facing and i am very confident that secretary kerry is the spokesperson for president biden . they have a close relationship. they talk all the time. secretary kerry is certain -- >> sorry for interrupting you but it is kind of the visuals, isn't it, for the rest of the world, for the president of the united states and the president of china to be there, and they are not. >> i don't know what the entire world expects to see but what i expect to see his strong leadership from secretary kerry and i expect to see fossil fuel language phasing down. if that does not come, we will just have to keep pushing. caitriona: just briefly, we are told there are a lot of lobbyists in dubai. did that make a difference that a lot of the fossil fuel companies and representatives
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were there? is there anyway to hold these negotiations in something of a vacuum? >> i think the challenge for all of us is to actually have more people there, more opportunities for discussion. there were clearly lobbyists there and people who represented fossil fuel companies, but i spent time there. i spent almost a week and i saw people there that were optimistic, that understood that we already have the technologies we need to actually address the climate change and what we really need to do is to make sure that country leaders get together and actually reconcile the fact that we need both public and private sector investments in order to actually make this happen and we have to have renewables tripling by 2030. caitriona: we are out of time at the moment. gina mccarthy, former white house climate advisor, thank you
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so much for joining us. >> great to be here with you. thank you. caitriona: israel's military issued another call for civilians to evacuate the two largest cities. israeli tanks are moving further in towards the center. a hospital director there says staff are struggling to cope with the number of people hurt and by dwindling supplies. the un's palestinian refugee agency says that has been almost a total breakdown of civil order when it comes to aid deliveries. both sides continued to exchange strikes as israel hits northern gaza from the air and rockets are fired at southern and central israel. hamas has warned that more than 100 hostages it is holding will die unless israel frees more palestinian prisoners in exchange. hamas is designated a terror organization by the u.k. and u.s. governments. regimen netanyahu claims dozens of hamas militants have surrendered and says it is the beginning of the end for the
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group. we can speak to our middle east correspondent, hugo. thank you for joining us. on that point from prime minister netanyahu, describing it as the beginning of the end, does it feel like that from a military perspective? hugo: i think lots of people will say it is too early to talk about the beginning of the end. the israeli authorities say that around 7000 fighters, hamas fighters, have been killed since the beginning of this conflict but before the war, hamas had around 25,000 fighters so it continues to be a very significant force in gaza. we are seeing right now that the israeli military is focused on khan unis, where the israeli authorities believe senior members of the hamas leadership hiding including the leader of
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hamas in gaza. what we have seen over the last few weeks is the beginning of this offensive. no senior member of hamas has been captured or killed so obviously, this continues to be a key objective of the israeli military, to either capture or kill top hamas members, but again, i think the israeli authorities are saying that the goal here is to eliminate hamas and the israeli authorities may be able to destroy the infrastructure being used by hamas in gaza but the ideology is likely to resist and i think it was a very interesting thing that yesterday in doha, during an international conference to discuss the situation in gaza, the qatari foreign minister said there was the risk that this war in gaza could radicalize an entire generation across the middle east. so i get in, appearing to suggest that the ideology of hamas is likely to survive.
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caitriona: briefly, what does this all mean for civilians? how is the humanitarian mission managing to operate throughout all of this? hugo: so the israeli authorities are under growing international pressure to do more to protect the civilian population of gaza. just days ago, we heard from the u.s. secretary of state who said there was a gap between what the israeli authorities were saying and the reality on the ground. we are seeing that across gaza, the humanitarian situation is getting worse with widespread shortages of basic supplies, hospitals under a lot of pressure, unable to treat casualties from these israeli attacks. u.n. officials and aid organizations saying more needs to be done for more age to reach the population of gaza. caitriona: thank you very much
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for joining us. as the fighting continues in the region, the united nations general assembly is likely to vote on tuesday on another call for a cease-fire in gaza. the u.s. recently vetoed a resolution of the security council. jeremy bowen reports now and just a warning that you may find some details in this report distressing. here me -- jeremy: taking cover on the road to tel aviv from rockets out of gaza, air raid sirens and the activation of israel's iron dome antimissile system. most of the time, life looks pretty normal here in central israel but everything changed with the october 7 attacks. their fear shows the depth of the collective trauma hamas inflicted on israelis. iron dome took care of most of the rockets but one man nearby was hurt. the fact that hamas can still attack means that it is not beaten.
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we were going to tel aviv to see the man on the left, a veteran fighter pilot, air force general, and former head of israeli military intelligence, who still advises his successors . >> lloyd austin said if israel continues the way it is, the risk is a tactical victory at a strategic defeat because too many palestinians will have been killed. what do you make of that statement? >> israel is having terroristic do collateral damage than the americans and the brits. >> what about the civilians? >> and i say political damage, i'm speaking about the civilians. there are more civilians for terrorists killed in raqqa than in gaza. >> why are they saying israel is killing too many palestinian civilians? >> they want it to be done
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without any collateral damage, without any humanitarian crisis. if they have the formula how to do it, please help us to have it. this formula does not exist. >> will this lead to a lengthy israeli occupation of gaza? works now, we don't want to occupy gaza. we don't want hamas to be in gaza. we don't want to occupy gaza. one reservation, there will not be a military power that can repeat the seventh of october attack on israel. >> and the future for wounded civilians in gaza's last few overcrowded hospitals may be amputations or death as they are not getting the follow-up treatment they need. he has just been wounded for the second time. she says they cut my hand. my grandpa was killed. my dad was shot, and my brother
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is dead. she has -- she is asked what she wants. a new hand. jeremy bowen, bbc, jerusalem. caitriona: ukraine's president, vladimir zelenskyy, is in washington today at the start of what could prove to be a pivotal week for ukraine support from the u.s. the deadline is looming for congress to approve a military aid package that both kyiv and the white house have warned could mean the difference between victory and defeat for kyiv. last week, he missed a planned videoconference with the u.s. senate, sending his apologies at the last minute. his unexpected visit to washington will instead allow him to make his case to wavering members of congress face-to-face. mr. zelenskyy was in one authorities -- in buenos aires. mr. zelenskyy visited the headquarters of the imf, meaning
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its director on the day the imf is meeting to approve a new $900 million loan to kyiv. he thanked the imf and said kyiv is working to implement reforms obligated by it. his first stop is at the national defense university. he took a met members of congress blocking the additional aid, saying deadlock in washington was being welcomed in moscow. >> let me be frank with you friends. if there is anyone inspired by unresolved issues on capitol hill, it is just putin and his sick clique. they see their dreams come true when they see the delays or some scandals, and they see freedom to fall when the support of freedom fighters go down. >> we can speak now to our state
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department correspondent. barbara, is president zelenskyy right in what he says, that russia benefits ultimately from u.s. inaction? >> russia would benefit if the u.s. was not going to resume the funding levels it has been continuing until now. it is not the only country that is giving assistance to ukraine. european countries are as well but it is the biggest single supporter to the tune of about $100 billion over the last year which is quite a lot, which has really helped to build up the ukraine army in terms of training and intelligence and weapons of course. those air defense systems, for example, which are using u.s.-made missiles, are crucial, but there is a lot more than that as we all know and also, it's not just the military. the money is going to help ukraine's budget as well so the country can keep running and continue conducting services and so on.
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so if it stops or if it is radically reduced, does that mean ukraine would fall? probably not. but it would probably reduce ukraine's capability over time to deal with a long attritional war and there is a political element because the u.s. has been very at the front of getting the coalition together, organizing countries to support ukraine benefits role is reduced, it is possible the coalition could weaken. >> there is a view held by some u.s. congress people about the u.s. has played its part already in terms of how much funding it's applied to ukraine so far. will zelenskyy be able to persuade congress tomorrow to vote for that extra funding? barbara: well, i have been thinking what a contrast this is to last year at this time. remember when zelenskyy came and gave a speech to the joint session of congress and kept getting standing ovations. now, the audience is much tougher and there is opposition. there has always been a certain hard-line opposition in the republican party but it was
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marginal. now, it has grown because the war drags on and the counteroffensive has not been decisive, because constituents are beginning to question the amount of money that is being spent so republicans -- some republicans are asking, how long will this go on? will this $60 billion at the white house is asking for, how will that be any different from the $100 billion already spent? there is a lot of skepticism in congress. mr. zelenskyy will be addressing the senate and there, he has a more sympathetic audience. quite a lot of republican senators adhere to traditional views about the conflict that the u.s. should support ukraine because it is protecting democracy, protecting europe, protecting -- it is protecting the u.s. as well. but there has been problems in the senate in terms of getting this funding even moving because the white house has tied it to a complicated issue which is funding for u.s. immigration policy at the border and that could drag this out longer than
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it might have otherwise. >> ok, barbara. ask for that. russia is the world's largest producer of rough diamonds. they are one of the few major exports still untouched by sanctions imposed following the invasion of ukraine last year. riddick's say revenue from the war. the european union and the g7 are about to impose a ban on them. sophia reports. >> these glitzy videos are produced by a mining company in siberia. one third of the wells diamonds come from here. when russia invaded ukraine, foreign sanctions hit russian coal, gas, vodka, caviar, but these stones have continued to be exported all over the world. the european union has held off from a ban largely because belgium was keen to protect this city, antwerp, the diamond capital of the world. this is where diamonds are
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polished, in factories like this one. with 80% of all rough diamonds that are mined across the globe, they are traded here in the city of antwerp. this is the gateway to the world for russian diamonds but all that is changing. that's because the e.u. and the g7 are about to unveil sanctions banning the import of diamonds mined in russia which affects people. before the war, half of all his stones came from russia. >> some of the companies were reliant on their business with russia. it was a very big business and it had to stop. the turnover of some of the companies were big traders in russian diamonds. they went out of business. sophia: critics say russian stones should be considered as conflict diamonds. gems sold to finance putin's war. in the first half of this year, the mind generated more than $2
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billion and a lot of that cash goes to the kremlin. but cannot ban actually work -- can a ban actually work? it's incredibly difficult to know where i diamond comes from. >> it is difficult to trace diamonds. other commodities like chocolate or tea, you could have a certificate of origins. for diamonds, it is difficult because diamonds, they travel and they often get mixed and it is not registered with us in the mix so you end up with a certificate of mixed origin and you cannot tell where they come from. sophia: and that could make this ban tricky to enforce. analysts say it is essential to introduce a system to trace the diamonds every step of the way, from the mine to the jewelry store, but even with that, the hope is these new sanctions will cough another vital source of revenue for vladimir putin and his war against ukraine.
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sophia, bbc, antwerp. caitriona: argentina's new president marked his first full day in office by meeting his radically slimmed down cabinet. he is a self-described and narco capitalist -- anarchos. in his inauguration, he said his country needed economic shock therapy, as he described it, telling argentines there is no money. early in his campaign, milei said he would abandon the argentine peso in favor of the u.s. dollar to rescue the nation from a crippling recession and triple digit inflation. he has walked back those ideas but he is expected to announce cuts to public spending, a contentious move in a country where many people work for the government. the first details of his economic plan will be revealed tomorrow in his first outing at the podium today. the press secretary said mr.
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milei's inaugural message was not just a catchphrase. >> this logic of spending more than we have is over. there is no money is not a hollow phrase. there is no money and fiscal balance will be strictly respected and the logic we all have in our own personal budgets will be strictly respected. which is that we cannot spend caitriona: as always, you can keep up-to-date on all of the days news at our website, bbc.com/news, and you can see what we are working on at any time by checking us out on your favorite social media site. i am caitriona perry. thank you for watching bbc world news ameri narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors.
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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. thiss the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the “newshour” tonight, how israel's decision to use artificial intelligence and loosen restrictions on civilian casualties has made its campaign in gaza so destructive. geoff: pressure rises ol

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