of colorful landscape, a strong infrastructure governance arising where investments are waiting to flourish with creativity, even flied by tradition. i where beautiful possibilities are oh, i rushes vladimir putin and us president joe biden hold a virtual summit of tension filled over ukraine. ah, hello, hello. i'm watching, i was there like my headquarters here in also coming up an explosion in iraq, southern city of bands ra, kills at least 4 people. a governor call that

a terrorist attack new rules to limit the spread of the alma calling burien come into effect in the u. k. will be live at london, gatwick, airport, and of an air after 16 years empower german chancellor anglo american makes way for the next generation of leaders. ah, welcome to the program. a high stakes meeting between the leaders of the us and russia has been taking place. presidents, joe biden, and vladimir putin has been holding virtual talks focused on russia's troop build up along its border with ukraine. now their affairs in washington, the moscow made planning to invade its neighbor. according to us intelligence, it's preparing an attack as early as next year, and has amassed at $70000.00 troops near the border of russia denies any plans for an invasion of ukraine and describes the accusations as hysteria. president putin was the grantee from the west. ukraine will not join nato,

and biden is expected to urge the escalation while warning of economic consequences . if an attack takes place and he's been working with allies to prepare such measures. but it's me is in moscow with the very latest, but we're speaking it him in a few minutes. the 1st that's cost over to our white house correspondent can be how kit, who's in washington dc. and we've been waiting for the start of this. you might say meeting, but it's all behind closed doors, so we're not sure exactly the tone of the conversation. kimberly that's right. what we do know the little we do know is that the meeting began at 15 o 7, g m t, and that's about it because the rest of it is all taking place in a secure location inside the white house, at least from the us side. joe biden, we know, is speaking to vladimir putin, the russian leader i have from the situation room and it is secure, and it is

a video call that is taking place. and we expect it to be quite lengthy because there's a lot to talk about. but the big headline and the one that most people are here in the united states watching carefully, is that, in terms of the escalation intentions between russia in the united states over ukraine, we know that a preparation for this telephone or rather a video conference call that the u. s. president consulted with european allies the leader of germany, the leader of france, as well as britain and italy. and what we're told is that they really tried to get on the same page in terms of what they want to see from russia, and that is respect for ukraine's territorial as well as it's sovereignty. so this is something that has been conveyed by the u. s. president, there is also going to be a request for a di escalation, attentions and an attempt to return to diplomacy in order to try and resolve the differences that exist,

particularly when it comes to the issue of ukraine. but again, there will be other topics that will be discussed as well, including energy and even some of the cyber attacks that have occurred in the united states that the united states alleges were at the hands or at least knowledge of the russian government. within the last hour, kimberly had a contributor here on al jazeera, talking about sort of a histrionics of you credit being part of the russian empire. and how threatened russia feels by ne toes encroachment and encouragements of countries to join it's group. he mentioned the baltic states, and this is the, the real pivotal issue is the about ukraine status. but it's application for nato membership and who really can say yes or no. this is where the us russia angst really is. well, there's no question that this is the friction point, and i know my colleague bernard smith will discuss this further. so i don't want to

speculate on the russian position for, but from a u. s. standpoint, certainly a russia seems to be seeking some assurances that the u. s. will not press for any sort of membership by ukraine in nato and i, it's unclear whether or not that assurance will be provided. that's well be watching very carefully to see what the read out is that comes out of this. but very quickly, what i should tell you the united states is going to tell russia today. and it will be no surprise to the russian leader is that there will be punishing financial sanctions if russia decides to invade your credit. of course, us intelligence indicates that there is an amassing of tens of thousands of russian troops along that border. and so there is this concern, according to us intelligence, this could be something that's launched as early as next year. so we know punishing financial sanctions to isolate russia from the global financial system are something that the united states and coordination with its european allies have said they will levy if the russian leader decides to take further escalation and

action into ukraine. indeed, we are monitoring it very closely with you from washington dc. kimberly how can that force? let's join bernard smith, who's actually in moscow for so i'm but you know, the russians describing the west's reaction as hysteria regarding that troop build up on the border. but again, to, to does want something positive to come out of this meeting and avert any sort of confrontation, doesn't he? he does vitamin putins having his side of the meeting. he didn't saatchi on the black sea. he stopped that on the way back from the summit meeting in india robin coming all the way back up here to very snow snowy and cold and wintry. moscow. vladimir putin is looking for respect to mutual recognition, to be treated on the same level really as the united states and the once the united states to stop nato's encroachment eastwards. it doesn't want, he doesn't want ukraine to be allowed to join. nate,

so now the russians have been aggravated certainly over the last year by increased . what they see is us activity nature activity on that doorstep on rushes doorstep . u. s. navy exercises in the black sea turkey providing arm drones to ukraine on the u. s. also arming ukraine's military. now, i might not be in jo biden's gift to give assurances that nato won't expand. but vladimir putin does have this bargaining chip now, which is this large troop build up along the borders with ukraine. and according to us, estimates that could be enough troops there by the end of january, the earliest to launch an invasion showed vladimir putin want to go down that route . we talk about this issue of historically the baltic states, for example, of join nato. and ukraine has got an application in that to join nato. how much of a threat this is felt by russia and by moscow that you know,

what was once bears is not, there's any more well, when ukraine declared independence, not lock up long after the collapse of the soviet union, vladimir putin described it as a great common calamity now that might not be view shared by many ukrainians, but an indication of the centuries of connections that have been between ukraine and russia. russia did not want those former eastern european members of the soviet union to join nato. it doesn't want georgia also, georgia is hoping to join nato, along with ukraine. ukraine's application has been on the table though, since 2008. so nato members in no rush to allow ukraine to join. and so there is no risk really, that us troops would be involved in a front, on confrontation with russia. should russia decide to take it? what would be a very dramatic step and go ahead with an invasion early on in the new year. but as

with our correspondent force in moscow, thank you. now let's move on to those other news now. and the world health organization says imposing mandatory vaccine should be an absolute last resort. the warning comes as more countries in europe debate, whether to adopt the strict measure because of a new surge of infections driven by the armor con variant. that last month, austria announced that would make inoculations. compulsory from next year mandates at on vaccination or an absolute last resort, and only applicable when all, all that feasible options to improve vaccination uptake have been exhausted. they have proven effective in some environments to increase vaccine uptick. but the effectiveness of mandates is very context. pacific mandates must be supported by

appropriate policy considerations. a comprehensive implementation plan including provisions for exemptions and a strong communication component for the population that new travel restrictions have come into effect in the u. k. as a result of the new variant. people traveling now will need to show a negative test result within 48 hours before taking their flight. now the u. k. government is already ban travel to and from several countries in southern africa. prime minister boys johnson has told his cabinet. the armoire con variant appears to be more transmissible than the delta variant. and re, sevens has more from london's got. we cancelled the restrictions on travel have been met with a sort of mood of, of reluctant acceptance by many to days within 2 days. a compulsory covey test to come into the country and also a cove it test within 2 days of leaving the country. and so um,

this is an acceptance as i say, nigeria, west african state has been added to the red list of the travel band which were already includes 10 other states there in southern africa. i was lot of controversy about nigeria having this restriction placed upon it, but really the issue that's on people's minds more than anything else is the level of the restrictions in the u. k. prime minister, or as johnson said, at tuesdays cabinet meeting, early indications are that on the kron variance is more transmissible than the delta vary. now that not be may not be massively new, but the real concerns are whether this on the chrome variant will cause some evasion. on immunity, and also whether or not it's more dangerous, whether it will make people even more sick of them. they would be anyway with coven 19. and the infection rates is of great concern. our latest estimate

suggests that it's doubling every 3 days. well, at least of all people have been killed by an explosion in iraq, southern city of basra. the blast happened near a hospital. several other people were also injured, but we double white has more from day off. the governor over as basra city has called it a terrorist attack, despite the fact that he has not given any more details about the causes as or who behind who is behind the attack. a. but he calls it a terrorist attack. now the bus or a girl province has just declared 3 days morning at for the victims of the, the attack eye. witnesses in the scene, say that or a man just pocket a motor bike or near to vehicles and left and then it ex, applauded in the 2 vehicles after the man left did the scene and the smoke

was coming out of the of the by, of the motor bike and there 2 vehicles as it has been circulated on that at social media. now, the governor of a bustler at pledges to identify their perpetrators and to know the, the yellow coals behind at tax and also to punish the perpetrators or those who are behind it. the attack. it's interesting because those are, are a lake other are southern provinces in iraq. it has been quite for a long time and they're up to his, their tax or dream. would it usually happen in the north, at, namely in the areas in the disputed or areas between could this 10 region and the, the, the by the dad there are territories. the saw, the girlish in yemen says it's lot, several air strikes against military targets in the capitol center where it comes after,

reportedly intercepted and destroyed. missiles fired at the kingdom by who the rebels earlier the who these claimed saudi oil facilities and the capital jetta were hit. who these control much of northern yeah, been legally snar, which they seized in 2014 will still had here on al jazeera, indonesia, president vows to increase rescue efforts. as dozens remained missing. after mount several erected on the long road. ho, one of the wolves oldest religious texts was tons to iraq, years after it was looted and sold illegally. ah, ah, look forward to brighter skies the winter sponsored by cattle a ways and away we go with your weather update for asia. hello everyone. we're seeing that ne, not soon pick up in intensity, so it's stern up some rain in the bay of the call that's on wednesday. check out on

thursday pretty much for that entire east coast of india. we're going to get played with some brain, but we're got darker colors here. that's bursts of rain. so coastal entrepreneur dash disha into westbank got next top. i'll take you to indo china. we're with that ne monsoon. it's chuck in rain into central and southern parts of the vietnam and check out what it's due to the philippines, cutting rate through the center of the country. here with just down with rain, especially. that's where the east we gotta be on the lookout for. some flooding clouds drifting across as some of the river valleys in china to the pearl river valley, the gang see, and the yellow river valley and where we got those clouds. but if it kept on temperatures so great lin, just the high of 18 on wednesday, that's lower than where you've been over the past few days. next, stop for japan, a lot of activity for central areas of hon. shoes and snow higher elevation, but big winds and some big waves. so for tokyo itself, i think will be blasted with wind gusts in the city, potentially up to 75 kilometers per hour and

a gloomy shower day there with the high of 9 degrees on wednesday. ok, i'll catch up with you a bit later on, sir. ah, the weather sponsored by katara ways, whether it's cute and cuddly in australia, wild and ferocious in bangladesh, birth rise addresses the balance between endangered wild life and then your neighbors, the forest right there. and there's nothing between that. how you have a human habitat learning to live together on al jazeera, how many people here have seen a tiger? my biggest, really, ah, ah, the me,

like you're watching, i'm just a really nice the whole run. the reminder of all top stories, us president, joe biden, and russian counterpart vladimir putin holding a video call a bit rising tensions about ukraine. washington says it has evidence of moscow pining an invasion which russia denali lease full people have been killed by an explosion in iraq southern city of basra. the blast happened near a hospital. several other people were also injured. and the u. k has implemented the travel restrictions as a result of the new 1900 barriers people traveling that will now need to show a negative test result within 48 hours. the best flight not trying to is wanting relations with the u. s. may be home after washington announced a diplomatic boy cause of next year's winter olympics in beijing. american government officials will not attend the event because of what they call human rights atrocities and genocide. katrina,

you has more from beijing off on china's winter olympic uniforms already. and thousands for the vent stuff have been hired, but there will be few guests attending with the games opens engaging in february, the united states has announced a diplomatic boy caught sight and concerns about china's human rights record. only american athletes and not officials will be present. the aging says the move is an act of political manipulation move on to over the u. s. approach seriously violates the principle or political neutrality of sports. established by the limpid chatter runs contrary to the limpid motto of a more unity, understands on opposite side of the often number of athlete and on the spot. if you the asked over the wall washington says chinese treatin of muslim weakness and should john amounts to genocide, rights groups say, forced labor and sterilization, are rife, accusations repeatedly dismissed by the chinese government. your lead up or down

shing young has effectively guarantee the rights of people, of all ethnic groups. they're masters of their own affairs. other countries, including the united kingdom and canada, are also considering diplomatic boycotts. analysts say this will escalate tensions and do little to change. china's behavior, we will have virtually no and or do impact on, on their policies. and ginger, ah, and why the policies in hong kong relations between the u. s. and china have dramatically shifted and chilled said staging. hosted the summer olympics in 2008. which former u. s. president george w bush attended for china is just trying to figure out exactly what all of this star means. a busy just political posturing ahead of the midterms next year via president who was unpopular. or does this reflect though a long term rash, systematic and structural differences between the countries ah,

the u. s. has also applauded to women's tennis association for suspending all tournaments in china for concerns about the well being of chinese tennis star punctual. i, who has not spoken publicly, after accusing a senior official of sexual assault, the chinese government says it will respond with firm counter measures, but it hasn't released details as to what those might be. in recent weeks, the 2 countries announced these the concessions to help the exchange of business people and journalists. industry leaders are now worried that those could be katrina, you al jazeera aging. chimney is marcie angler miracles last day. as chancellor intellectuals is set to replace her on wednesday, bringing the curtain down on her 16 years in office. it pays way for a transform to political landscape with a new coalition. dominic cane has moved from belin 4 times angle immaculate, her party into a general election 4 times. she won that election and using

a leadership style based firmly in the political center. when the berlin wall fell, chancellor helmut kohl brought her into government where she thrived, and when a scandal engulfed him, she engineered his departure with a ruthlessness which saw her 1st become party leader. and then chancellor in 2005. she was under estimated by her rivals the rivers talked about the way and the means they would come to power bud merkle, follow the logic of party politics, get power key, power, and get your opponents and wires away. the in suing e e. u debt crisis propelled on to the international stage where her star rose as she helped broke her bailouts for europe's ailing economies and cemented her position as a german leader. the world's presidents and prime ministers wanted to be seen with . but it was her handling of another crisis,

which would shake people's faith in her when refugees from serious civil war began arriving on europe's doorstep, she opened germany's borders more than a 1000000 came increasing numbers of senior colleagues in her own party, openly disagreed with her policy her poll rating suffered and the far right populist anti immigrant alternative for germany party thrived many wondered if michael was becoming a lame duck. but then came the corona virus and as infection and mortality rates rose across europe. so did miracles resolve? well, now he was pending me. europe's economy is badly shaken with fundamental human rights have had to be temporarily, massively restricted to an extent unprecedented for our democracy is over. these are decisions that are among the most difficult and my term as chancellor. her pragmatism, this time meant agreeing vast grants to ailing european economies. she was brilliant and managing through all the crisis on board. again, not in

a very visionary way. there's hardly a project i could link to angela magazine. ok, this is where she actually implemented whatever topic were discussing. actually a great idea. so it's much more that she managed to to get to all these crisis but cove. it was the crisis. she couldn't manage your way through alone. in her last days, as chancellor, the numbers of daily cases had record highs. now she had to give way to the incoming government leaders who vetoed her proposed locked her. and as the new parliament deliberates, she is just a spectator looking on as the man who replaces her, does so having styled himself as a male miracle, dominant cane al jazeera berlin. at least 38 people are being killed in a fire, burn these main prison. dozens more injured in the early morning fire. there are reports that emergency services didn't arrive on the scene until 2 hours after it

started from des interior ministries. as it was caused by an electrical short circuit. malcolm, where possible kenya's capital, my ruby, be through the overcrowded prison. before dawn when many inmates were still asleep, the run, the vice president has visited the scene. he said the dozens of died, and many more were injured. the red cross came to the scene, some of the injured retreated there. others were taken to hospital room. these interior ministry a said that the cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit. the interior ministry is also said that there was a fire 4 months ago at the same prison also caused by an electrical short circuit. but on that occasion, there were no casualties over crowding is common in burn these prisons despite a presidential pod and 6 months ago that resulted in $5000.00 prisoners being released. now turkey's present reptile or the one is set to leave cat are after to

day visit aimed at enhancing cooperation. now his health meetings with cattle is the magic to mean been hammered. al tani, the 2 nations signed 11 agreements covering trade, investment, health and media. before his journey at one said, turkey wanted to establish good relations with all countries in the gulf region. indonesian present jekka would do, though, is promising to increase evacuation efforts after devastating volcanic eruption. at least 34 people are now confirmed dead, but many more remained missing. after mount, the metal erupt, it on saturday, alexia bryan reports this muddy wasteland of broken homes and ash covered crops, lies in the shadow of indonesia, mount samira volcanoes. it sounded to life on saturday, shooting clouds of ash into the sky, swallowing homes and blanketing entire villages and gray survivors say there was no warning and that many people were killed. though, after the auction,

my house of damage to the ceiling destroyed. i opened the door, it was so hot, so i closed the door, went into the house. but then i decided to feed me and now sheltering and evacuation centers where they given hot meals and a temporary roof over their head. but indonesia presidencies, a more long term plan is necessary, junko widowed visited the disaster zone on tuesday. his government will now look into moving homes away from the volcano because of the threat of more or options that up the we hope that once everything has subsided, that everything can start fixing infrastructure or even relocating those from places we predict or too dangerous to return to just now, i received a report saying that around 2000 families need to be relocated immediately. mount scenario is the tallest mountain on the island of java, and one of nearly $150.00 active volcanoes in indonesia. people are being told not

to travel within 5 kilometers of the crater, because the nearby is highly polluted. evacuated, complain about coughs brought home by the dust and smoke, while many in hospital is suffering from burns from the searing hot lava i had to learn. when i came down from my chair, i stepped in the loft, i ran and climbed onto the roof of someone's house. the volcanic cache and smoke was choking. i felt like i couldn't breathe for 10 or 15 minutes. i don't know, but thank god i was given a chance to live others weren't so lackey, the body of a 13 year old boy was retrieved on monday. the rescue is a battling dangerous conditions. rain has turned debris into thick mud, and the lava is hardening. for now, once bustling villages remain empty and silent. people say they're too scared to go home. a case of volcano rose to life once more. alex or brian al jazeera.

after 30 years, one of the world's oldest surviving works of literature has been returned to iraq. the small clay artifact known as the pilgrimage dream tablet was stolen during the 1st gulf full midville has the story. it's known as ganesh, dream tablets, an artifact made of play with an engraved fragment of the epic of ganesh. one of the world's oldest, no religious texts. it was stolen from an iraqi museum in 1991 and sent to the united states. now it's back along with the world's attention ceremony. us embassy officials in bagdad handed the precious read your father to note. gilgamesh tablet is a clay tablet dating back more than 3500 years. it has to marian engravings on it. are embassy in washington received it from the holy bible museum. the text on this tablet is 1000 years older than homer's poems and tells the story of

a legendary hero named gilgamesh who is said to have ruled mesopotamia some 2000 years before the christian era. he was elevated in sub sequence to marian mythology as a god in 1991 during the 1st gulf war, 9 of iraq's regional museums were looted up to 4000 items was stolen or destroyed, including some that were thousands of years old, like the gamut tablet it was bought by a us based christian arts and crafts retailer in 2014 for display in its museum of biblical artifacts. it was later seized by the u. s. department of justice. according to the u. s. cultural agency, eunice co, it entered the u. s. in 2007 iraqi authorities say they're happy to have it back. now. i've been lo. this template has laden with deep symbolism and 2 respects its own intrinsic value and then, and what it means to retrieve it. with all the efforts that have been deployed by the government in this regard, it's

a message to all those who smuggled our artifacts and auctioned them. they should know that will end up retrieving what they had stolen. the rockies may appreciate the u. s. initiative to help return their last artifacts. but they also say america's invasion of iraq in 19912003, led to the biggest disasters for the nations ancient heritage. and estimated, $15000.00 artifacts were looted from the baghdad museum and smuggled out of the country. iraqi save us bears full responsibility for what happened and needs to do more to help them retrieve what they lost mohammed one or dizzier. ah, your charges there with lisa hill, robin. reminder of our top stories, u. s. president joe biden and russian counterpart vladimir putin have been holding a video call him at rising tensions about ukraine. washington's.