in honduras and those showers still coming at you for that caribbean coast of central america. now for south america, heaviest frame will be along the eastern side of the andes into the western amazon base and out toward the south atlantic. and we've had some big storms around rio de janeiro on thursday and that continues, ah ah. ready still a huge force ready to invade. nato says there is no evidence russian forces are pulling back from ukraine's borders. ah, well, come on, pete. adobe. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also coming up, struggling with the surge. hong kong hospitals are overwhelmed as corona virus case

is continue to climb dozens dead as floods and landslides tear through a brazilian city patropolis in search of a better life. the initiative task with integrating defects is from the north into south korean society. ah, the head of nature says, russia's testing of europe security is quotes, the new normal gen stalson bergs as the alliance will now look at boosting its forces in eastern europe. there are reports in us media saying that russia has actually increased its presence along the border by as many as 7000 soldiers. neve barker begins our coverage from brussels fis bump diplomacy. as defense chief some

nato countries, including the u. s. and germany arrive at alliance headquarters to strengthen their stance on russia and pool over the latest intelligence. and this is what they've been looking at. a russian defense ministry video claiming to show a partial pullback of forces from near ukraine. the kremlin, says combat equipment and treats were leaving the crimean peninsula. seas from key evan, 2014 and returning to base. but nato secretary general was quick to dismiss any talk of a de escalation of tensions. we do not see any sign of the escalation on the ground, nor withdrawals of troops or equipment. this may, of course change. however, what we see to day is that russia maintains a massive invasion force ready to attacked with high end capabilities from crumb yard to barrows. strong words to from european union chiefs in strasburg,

urging moscow to come to the negotiating table. lou schwab owes waldron the choice to days between war and tragic sacrifices that would go along with it or the courage of a political engagement, a courage of a diplomatic negotiation. very clearly, european union chooses diplomacy and chooses negotiation. we will demonstrate discourage your there was little sign of any russian troop withdrawals in belarus on wednesday. this another show of military muscle for the cameras joint exercises, wood bell, or russian troops, only deepening fears, a neighboring ukraine that had invasions imminent, on the land. and in the air, nato says russia has reached full combat readiness. but there is a shred of hope. in recent days, russia, his signal that it would be willing to join talks about door remains open. do too much, and nato runs the risk of being drawn into a long, protracted stand off with russia due to little. and it runs the risk of a possible invasion in ukraine. something that could destabilize the whole of

europe. russia is creating a new normal said stolen burg by using force to contest the principle of serenity in europe. the alliance he said, must respond possibly with a new nato battle group in romania. the hope of an easy end to the stand off is fast fading. leave park al jazeera brussels, a cyber attack that hit ukraine's defense ministry is the worst the countries seen, the government suspects russia may have been behind it a claim. the kremlin denies. in a show defiance against any potential invasion. ukraine held a national day of unity, a 200 metre long flag was carried through the olympic stadium and kiev. and the president loaded me as a lensky mark the day by attending military drills. much longer. lincoln a cook, which way we are seeing a large concentration of troops. it hasn't change of the last week. we're seeing some small rotations, but i wouldn't call these rotations a pullback of russian troops cause to throw out there. we will confirm the pullback

of russian troops once it happens and once a short period of time passes after the number of groups of military forces and hardware decreases. it does parts of the border. natasha butler with more now from key f. in terms of the mood in the country, i mean, you could say that it pretty much seems to change day today you got to try to imagine what it would be like to be living somewhere where there is constantly this breath of invasion or attack. you're being warned by western powers intelligent sources saying that any day now, russia could evade in your, in a country where on 3 sides, you have this huge build up of russian forces, some of them carrying out military exercises, just less than 200 kilometers from the capital here for example, so it's a very unusual atmosphere, but you know, lot of people will say to you here in ukraine to look, we've been living in the shadow of a possible russian attack for many years now for nearly 8 years. in the past days,

people have suddenly become a lot more pessimistic, a lot more anxious because the longer it drags out the harder it is, the kind of mentally deal with all this and people have started to do things like stuck up food and water and make preparations think to themselves, what will i do if there isn't a talk? if there is an invasion, how will i safe? god, my family. where will i go? child stratford reports now from khaki. von how small? the pantry also gathering marked unity day. the upon us young brothers, faith hill, yet smile, our enemies will perish like you in the morning some words of the ukrainian national anthem. the choir was national dress of the ceremony in a park in the eastern city called que. the gathering was held to market. the ukrainian president followed me zalinski called

a day of unity. the flag was raised from half mast soldiers stood to attention after the national anthem, a singer tried to rouse the crowd with a popular song about morale and peace. ah, but only a few people came to watch of proposing for photographs. the choir began to leave my good job for the unity of our country. they want to be united. we want to be very your night give nearby outside the tent, where for years people have signed up for the army and donated money. opposed to the russian president and his belly, russian ally, and fellow neighbor of ukraine. but the city is calm. look when the phone it's quiet as usual, is just the normal routine day people whacking children at school. i don't know what will be will be. i am not worried. there is no point from where we met on

a day when you as intelligent services predicts a possible russian evasion of ukraine show of unity here in eastern city of car, give us a small group of people. and their message is that ukraine remains unified against what they in the government and their western back. assaye is russian aggression. johnson rapid al jazeera called cave. russia's foreign ministry has mocked western media for labeling wet and state quotes invasion day. dawson jabari has that story from moscow. we've been hearing statements coming out from the foreign ministry spokeswoman, who said that it really this is not something this country take seriously because of course they have no intention of invading ukraine. this was that a weekly briefing of the foreign ministry where as this spokeswoman said, that's a really, it's a rhetoric and it's hysteria that is created by the western media. let's listen to some more of what she had to say. oh yeah, couple fake

a crises kicks me if there is a space on the u. s. t department's website that used to publish stories about the so called russian fake news. please publish stories about your own faith williamson graded by your american media. if you need examples, i shall send you some cars and may be for the 1st time in human history, the so called aggressor, which the west appointed russia to be on the so called victim, which ukraine is being described as are both denying everything that is being reported marie, certainly vladimir put his, made it very clear that he is not going to invade ukraine, but he does want to have a conversation with his u. s. counterpart president joe biden, about the security concerns that he has about nato's further expansion. the u. s. as it's in the final stages of, in direct talks with iran to save the 2015 nuclear deal, france is also taking part in the discussions. and it's foreign minister said an agreement could be just days away. now in direct negotiations between the u. s. and iran resumed last week following a 10 day hires. we are in the midst of the very final stages of, as i said before,

a complex negotiation with the key stakeholders. here i'm, this is really the decisive period during which will be able to determine whether a mutual return to compliance with the j. c. p. away is in the offing, or if it's not again, we are, are sincere and steadfast in our efforts to ah, test the proposition as to whether a return can be achieved. an increase in truck drivers testing positive. cobit 19 is causing food delivery. delays to hong kong the supply as he was forcing up the price of fresh fruit and vegetables in some parts there. on kong imports, 90 percent of it would stop health authority say $35.00 cross border drivers, tested positive this month, forcing hundreds more into isolation to stop it spreading from you. i came all the

way here from the other side of the city because prizes have become too expensive over there. well, yeah, my delivery truck only came at 2 pm today. i didn't dare to take a break in case i missed its arrival. while the government has set up a task force to deal with the problem, i'm a thong into yet. i deal with the 1st task is to create more truck drivers who have not been exposed to infection risk to joining this work. second is to ensure that all cross boundary truckers will have covered 19 tests every day by using the rapid anti body testing. once the results show negative truckers are allowed to work across the boundary. we're also working to see if it's possible to go with waterway transportation. as hong kong is girdled by water. and there are quite a lot of inland wolf and cargo handling areas. and we're contacting some of the shipping companies to see if it's possible to transport these goods to hong kong by water. and on top of all that the cities, health care system has become completely overwhelmed. there is a search in infections as we've been reporting. patients can be seen in bed outside,

reportedly because it's too crowded inside the hong kong leader who we were just hearing from there. kerry lamb said area this week that hospitals and clinics were struggling to cope from all life. now to hong kong and our correspondent, the brit clinic, so the hospitals still running out of bed space. they really are overwhelmed. this one behind me in particular is struggling with capacity. there are dozens of people lying outside on hospital bed. many of them are elderly, it's raining, it's cold. now the hospital authority apologized. it seems like this yesterday, but we're seeing it again today. clearly indicating that the hospital is struggling with capacity once again. now, this is something that is being addressed by authorities. they tell us time and time again. however, this is a direct result of the dynamic cove it strategy, which means that even if you exhibit the modest of symptoms, you must be sent to

a hospital or a quarantine facility. as a result, thousands of people in the city are waiting to be put into warranty facilities, or isolation facilities or hospitals like the one behind me that to accommodate for this bottleneck authorities. a considering transforming student accommodation, housing in states, and also hospice hotels, into guaranteeing facilities to they're also considering building a make shift hospital, much like the one we saw in wu han at the start of the pandemic. the other thing they're doing is designating about 300 taxis to be designated transportation vehicles for people who are exhibiting mild symptoms of cove it from their houses to facility. so certainly this is alarming officials and they're trying to find ways of accommodating for these people. but as i say, there are many elderly people out here in the cold lying on hospital beds behind me

. how much pressure of the authorities and hong kong coming on the from the government in b jing to get a lead on this. well, chinese president cedar pay speaking to pro beijing media, made it clear. he said that hong kong officials to take should take all the necessary steps to combat this spread. he said that he wants to authorities to tackle this earnestly assume responsibility and make controlling this outbreak overriding off. now he also said it's important for social stability at hong kong that authorities really bring this under control. now chief executive carry lamb said that she appreciates. she's concerned and vowed to unite the city in order to combat this virus. but certainly vaccination rates among hong kong elderly are still low hovering at less than 30 percent. that's obviously a cause for concern for officials too. and we're looking at perhaps weighing up

whether there is need for a city wide lockdown like the one that we're seeing across the border in places like c on authorities for now have rolled that out, but many health experts to say that we would need something like that in order to bring numbers down to 0, but a lot of criticism for the government here, pisa with seems like this to years into the pandemic. people say, why is this happening? why it wasn't war done to prepare for this day? right. thank you very much. for climate they're talking to us from hong kong. still to come on this program an unsavory problem. we meet the pi sharpoda battling to keep prices done as food call soule in greece. ah, ah, look forward to brutus skies with sponsored point, cut off at ways. you're locked into your weather update for asia. let's go every

one. great to see you. it's a fairly com pitcher across india. along the western gats, we've got temperatures in the thirty's majors see a few spits and spots of rain for a karnataka into careless stay, but as we look toward that southeast corner of india, things are dry. same goes for for longer is while really the bulk of the activity is falling over the adamant. and nick, var islands checking in on southeast asia right now concentrate it. rain southern sections are smarter rate across java, western and southern areas of borneo on thursday. now, ando china, we've had spells of rain over the last little while it was a dryer picture, but we've disrupted that weather pattern. so still some sundry downpours in bangkok with a high of 30 degrees, snow to be expected for central areas of china. this is all falling in between the gang stand, the pearl river valley, and eventually cold air will rush as far south as hong kong. so your temperatures are look at this over the weekend. they take a big drop. we've got that northerly wind, so that's part of what's dragging down things and really raw feeling. dave snow the

big issue for western areas of japan. we do have a heavy snowfall warning in place for western areas of honshu. we could pick up to 50 centimeters of so within 12 hours that you're up. oh, the weather, sponsored by katara weighs ah, co creator, culture of knowledge, openness, imperialism worldwide, and to reward merit and excellence and encourage creativity. the shea tomato was a translation and international understanding was found to promote translation and honor translators, and acknowledge their road and strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between arab islamic and world cultures. for all the

the me welcome back to 17, almost to 18 gmc your top story so far this half hour, the head of nature says the alliance we'll look at putting its forces in eastern europe, western powers, believe russian troops are still building up around ukraine. in a show of defiance against a potential invasion ukraine, held a national day of unity weapons. day was the day russia was reportedly likely to attack hong kong hospitals have become overwhelmed with cobra. 900 patients. they can be seen the beds outside reportedly because to crowded inside the home, commonly they carry lamps as hospitals and clinics are struggling to cope. now rushes version of the f. b, i has opened a criminal probe into the ill treatment of the civilian population and ukraine. following the discovery of mass graves in the countries east last year,

president putin has said a genocide is taking place there against russian speakers is all part of a disinformation campaign was being fought between russia and the west, and this case, the u. s. as the claim of genocide is based on lies and could be used as a pretext for that invasion. let's talk now to brett brewing. he's president of the global situation room consultancy. he previously served as director of global engagement in the white house under barack obama. he joins us from washington. bret boone welcome back to to 0. clearly to long standing competing narratives here, which one is getting the more traction around the world? well, you know, if there's that old. busy saying that a lie will travel a 100 miles before the truth has a chance to get off of the starting blocks. and i think that's what we have seen a lot of in recent years is not just russia, but other countries. other groups are able to build these very emotionally tinge

stories that capture social media. and obviously, are also propagated in other fora to try and convince people that you know, everything from the sky is green all the way through to russia is not, in fact intending invading ukraine. is that why, for all the international news channels, there's almost a sense now of wag the dog going on in as much as a, lots of the channels. if one channel hops serves are reporting the story holy and utterly in negative terminology. no invasion yet. if there's an invasion is wet and stay, weapons day has come and gone, nothing has happened. and then we kind of spin off into reporting, claim, and counter claim about say for example, as i mentioned in the introduction, genocide taking place in certain parts of ukraine. no evidence at all being offered

none being discovered to justify a claim of genocide. well, and i think precisely to that point, this 24 hour news cycle and this constant de lose of social media scoops and viral videos. what we're seeing, quite frankly, is the ability and certainly of certain actors, nation state actors like russia, to drive the new cycle and to project whether it is on a force narrative or in some cases. and we certainly witness it from here in washington efforts to drive a new cycle around a potential invasion around the potential threats or even false flag operations. so what you're seeing right now is the information battle that is proceeding potentially a military invasion of ukraine. is this the new normal to pick up that phrase from

un stilton back in as much as difficult to remember, a conflict or a potential conflict involving mr. putin involving the kremlin, where he was kind of inviting people to diary the day of the invasion because that was the that was the dynamic. that was the message that went out there. and then over the, literally, over the past 12 hours, the kremlin has been rubbishing and laughing at the west and media for reporting something that was pushed out there by the russians. yeah, and, and this quite frankly is classic food in it's classic k g b. you want to create both distractions. but also and, and i've spoken about this over the last several days. you want washington to cry wolf, you want them to say the invasion is coming several times. and then on, you know, the 3rd who were 5th time, folks are taking it less seriously. so while obviously, we don't know,

ultimately what putin's plans are, this certainly has all of the hallmarks of an effort to try and distract and to dilute the potency of what western power is, are warning about. i would also say, and i worked on that 1st a russian invasion of ukraine back in 2014 trying to counter russian dis information. what i'm seeing now is that the west and particularly washington is playing too much on putin's terms on his timeline in following his trajectory. we have to seize control of this story of this crisis and try to zoom out so that we're not playing this, you know, whack a mole game of, of every time that putin comes up with a new story. we're chasing it down. or an interesting aspects of the story which we are not done with, not by a long shot yet, but thank you so much. barbara, in the talking to us out of washington. rescuers have saved

these 21 people in brazil after flooding a mudslide swamp to historic mountain town. at least 66 people were killed after the deluge destroyed 80 structures in patropolis leaving 400 people without a home catcher, lopez or the arm has more. ah, the forest and magnitude of this rainfall was unexpected. with an hour's streets across the brazilian city of the properties were submerged. nearby families are stunned as floods and mudslides get closer to their homes. the current so strong it push vehicles along streets like toys. even a burst is aimlessly drowned away, nearly covered in water. families are now dealing with a devastating aftermath,

including hearing about neighbors didn't survive at nasa. morgan. don't know. it's very sad to see people asking for help and not being able to do anything. it's a feeling of desperation, a loss. our city is gone, our neighbourhood is gone. this group desperately tries to hold on. the mobile fire department says more than $250.00 millimeters of rain fell within 6 hours. that's more than a monthly average for the entire month of february. the region is still recovering from the damage of last year's heavy rains were more than 500 people were killed. you can on this year again, authorities fear the death toll will likely rise. recovery efforts are underway, president hired by sonata, who's visiting russia has called on the local government to deliver immediate support to what will likely be a long term operation patio locus of

a n. al jazeera. the new initiatives been launched in south korea to better integrate defectors from the north by helping them start their own businesses. more than 33000 defectors live in south korea. but as rob mcbride reports from so many of them find it hard to adapt to a life there. as this launch of enter meeting between 2 cultures with a common purpose, south korea, ministers, and officials on one side, on the other young defectors from north korea wanting to make their mark in business planning. and jessie came, came to south korea 8 years ago, bringing with her a lifelong love of food, which she is turning into a successful online business promoting north korean cuisine quiet although, till my own as a child, i was fascinated by the ingredients. the smile characteristics of food and always prepare meals for the whole family, my home town, you can see me. her home is near to mount,

back to considered by north korea's leadership to possess special significance and straggling the chinese border through which most effectors escape to the south. these north careers heavily fortified border with south korea much harder to cross . and the scene of dramatic attempts, such as this defection by a soldier in 2017, amid a hail of bullets once they get out of north korea, many defect as fine that is only the start of their troubles. the big challenge is adapting to south korea as much freer lifestyle and fast paced economy completely unlike anything they've been used to. jesse kim has made that transition successfully and more than tongue any game more than clinical. i think for all young people business is difficult. i don't think i found it any harder, easier as in north korean defector. but many defect to struggle with some, even returning to the north pole. this scheme is aimed to help them with business

startups. with the wider goal of closer integration between north and south. you're on the walker, i am convinced this is an opportunity for people like you and future generations to dream big and initiate change across the korean peninsula. they're me, linen community startup business to produce goods and sure this is for both the north and south can help reduce the psychological distance between the 2. curiously, his visit visual with inter korean relations currently in a deep freeze, even small initiatives, it seems keep alive the hope of close ties. one day. rob mcbride al jazeera sol, bank to europe. inflation has reached 6.2 percent increase. that the highest level in a quarter of a century is left some people having to choose between eating or paying their power bills. john serrato list now from athens. anna tonda is making past that

and porridge make up her diet, which she shares with her mother for whom she cares. together they earn a $1000.00 a month and pensions, they own their small apartment. so there is no rent to pay. but as energy costs rise, many of tuned as neighbors have received electricity bills, they cannot pay. and when hers comes, she says she'll take to the streets with galahad luasa. i won't pay it because i catch. you can be all right, with 500 or even a 1000 euros. he can $8.00 and pay the utilities, no one. this is law or death, or name. rising energy costs are reflected in food costs. the government is subsidizing farmers fuel even more than usual, and has harvey sales tax on animal feet and fertilizer. but it's not enough since thought a papa who runs a pi shop in central athens. the fresh meat and vegetables that go into her pies have gone up 40 percent since last summer since christmas. her electricity bill

doubled is still better than never said he miss. i didn't raise the price of my pies and i added $0.50 to the price of the feed. it doesn't cover my increased costs, but if i put prices up further on these customers, because many of them the pension is, i'm going to wait. if i can't make ends meet, i'm going to reduce the kitchen staff and work longer hours. yeah. energy costs rose by more than 15 percent last year across developed economies, the highest annual rise in 40 years. and that's what's driving most inflation here in greece. electricity prices alone triples last year, and the government is spending more than $2000000000.00 subsidizing energy costs for households, businesses and farmers. greece has been one of the most exposed european economies to energy price shocks, because 40 percent of its electricity is generated from imported natural gas. the energy subsidies, a move increase away from its goal of sustainability says one environmental think

tank. this is really a fossil fuel subsidy. this are mass need. it fans that could have been used.