be our guest at frankfurt airport managed by for. this is the w.'s line from germany's president has harsh words for the united states china and russia as he opens the munich security conference profile the steinmeyer accuses them of stoking global mistrust and putting national interests above international cooperation also on the program and toxic temperatures reached record highs as scientists warn of dramatic and unforeseeable effects of warm up on

the icy continent. i'm phil gal welcome to the program. a long list of conflicts and uncertainty of the west's role and the world of the top issues of the munich security conference which started this afternoon weld leaders and security experts gathered for the annual meeting in southern germany on everyone's mind is the war in syria where government offensive in it lead has triggered a full blown humanitarian crisis another concern is the west's when dealing influence on global security it's even spawned a new term west lessness german president trying as opening speech contains some critical words on this issue and on the united states attitude to international relations. unknowns i think that the been our closest ally the united states of

america under its current administration rejects the very concept of an international community. and up every country it believes should look after itself and put its own interests before all others as if everyone thinking of themselves meant that everyone is being considered. and you know great again even the expense of neighbors and partners. disappears like. they don't miss chief political correspondent melinda crane is that welcome belinda what sort of reaction has there been so the jenna president's words. well we heard nancy pelosi the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives a short while ago on stage and she complimented the president on his speech and in general it must be said that those words about the u.s. followed equally frank words accusations against russia and china

a sensually for the same thing for putting their own national interests 1st for undermining international institutions and transgressing international rules and norms with the german president saying that taken together what that represents is essentially a 0 sum view of the world meaning of you in which one nation's strength is another nation's weakness and he went on to say that basically all of us lose out when countries take that approach that both the weak and the strong lose because we are increasingly unable to work together to solve problems that only can be solved internationally that and he cited for example nuclear escalation and climate change as 2 examples of that but lest it be thought that he was only critical in regard to the u.s. russia and china he also had some fairly self-critical things to say about germany

saying that many germans think of themselves as the best of all possible europeans but that the fact is that germany also often puts its own interests 1st and that germany could use more humility more curiosity and more ability to see things from the perspective of others and he also pointed out that germany's identity is absolutely tied. in with europe's and that europe represents the only framework in which germany can position itself in the world and the only answer to germany's history and geographical challenges and tell us about west lossless melinda this cuts phrase that is emerging. yes a catch phrase but how far this catchphrase is going to go i'm not quite sure because if you talk to people here there's a lot of eyebrows brow raising about this new term perhaps because in some ways it almost sounds too cute for something that is very serious indeed but the idea behind it is the notion as the german president said at the beginning of his speech

that whereas in the past the transatlantic community would have used the term we to speak of their consensus that that's increasingly no longer the case precisely because a country like the us seems to be putting its own interests 1st and he said that only if we can restore this sense of a community that it makes sense and is absolutely necessary to address problems multilaterally only then will we be able to confront the challenges of the 21st century as i said mentioning climate change as one of those challenges that absolutely requires that systemic multilateral approach but not only that stay with us we're going to take a closer look at this notion of quest listeners by examining one of the west's key agencies nighter. the biggest deployment of u.s.

military might to europe in a quarter century is heading this way for nato's defender 20 exercise 20000 american soldiers and 13000 pieces of equipment should give the enemies pause and allies confidence. one more one more one way. through showed up real reliable loyal portals within the nato framework but that reinforced military framework risks being undermined by weakness on the political side increasing apathy across the alliance regarding its most fundamental values collective defense what if nato has the weapons but it doesn't have the will a recent survey by the pew research center indicates that across 16 nato countries fewer than 40 percent of respondents would want their militaries used to defend the baltic states or poland in case of an attack by russia the munich security conference has coined a new term to describe this kind of ambivalence listening for those wistful about

west listening this geopolitics expert shot at islam has some advice move on the west has had its wonderful moment it can still matter i think europe still matters definitely but it will have to work in coalitions and and alliances with countries outside the comfort zone so we will have to work with the indias of this would with russia with china with us trade you would you pan and not just rely on this once very strong transatlantic alliance french president emanuel mccaughan has seized the stage to position himself as a disruptor france has a moment to lead. it can lead in rhetoric it can lead in ideas so it can lead to its actions not actually know yet which way it's going to go it is a nuclear country as a state in the security council they can do therefore what no one else can. and it can do that. but while the west deals with its identity crisis kremlin tactics are

working better than never warns retired u.s. army general ben hodges people to lose confidence and trust in each other in their own institutions in the alliance that's that's where this competition knows and. i think that we have to compete hodges praises the massive defender 20 exercises for making sure the military side is ready waiting for political cohesion to make a comeback. so melinda crane typically the real business of i got the munich security conference is conducted offstage behind the scenes what's been going on. well a big headline there u.s. officials have confirmed following a meeting between the u.s. secretary of state mike pompei o the u.s. secretary of defense mark s. work and the afghan president bashar conny that there will be an agreement on so-called reduction of violence between the u.s.

and the taliban now this agreement which is going to essentially require the taliban to prove that they can reduce violence across the spectrum from roadside bombs to other forms of attack over a 7 day period this egremont has been a precondition for the afghan government to agree to all afghan negotiations about a peace proposal now as you know the u.s. and the taliban have been negotiating for a while but the afghan government hasn't been involved in those talks and it said it 1st wants to see proof that the taliban can deliver on this weeklong reduction of violence explicitly not being called a cease fire that would be essential and a step now if this does in fact take effect and the taliban proves it can do it would. the a prelude to those all afghan talks and that in turn would be a prelude to the u.s. withdrawal of forces something that u.s.

president donald trump would very much like to be able to demonstrate to the voters come november and the u.s. election thank you for that melinda cry at the munich security conference. we'll take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world v.w. says it has offered an $830000000.00 out of court settlement directly to consumers involved in a case relating to the emissions cheating scandal is follows the collapse of talks between the german car giant and a consumer group representing hundreds of thousands of german diesel car owners the w says talks failed because of the disproportionate feed amounts of the group's lawyers. the u.s. attorney general william blamed president trump's tweet so making his job impossible on wednesday the president tweeted in praise of mr boss handling of a case involving former presidential adviser roger stone. spain's coast guard has

rescued $86.00 migrants traveling from north africa including a baby was born that city the newborn and mother were taken to hospital and the said to be doing well the group included 6 other babies and 4 children all from the sub-saharan africa. scientists in antarctica say temperatures that have risen above 20 degrees celsius for the 1st time ever this follows the hottest january on record and they're warning that if the trend continues it could have dramatic and unforeseeable effects on sea levels the news of the record temperature coincided with a big break in the ice on pine island iceberg 300 square kilometers an area calved from a glacier last weekend. giant blocks of ice have always broken off antarctica as ice shelves but in places like pine island the losses are speeding up scientists are worried there are 4 warning of even larger events as climate change drives

higher rates of thaw on the frozen continent. a new study says if temperatures continue to go up in antarctica global sea levels could rise by up to one and a half meters by the year 2100 at chile's escudero base on king george island the ice and snow pack has melted almost entirely this year. it's the 1st time we see a lack of snow that is so impressive it really caught our attention we left some sensors installed we've seen temperatures over 13 degrees just so you know in the last 40 years ice loss in the antarctic has increased 6 fold and as it continues to melt the warm temperatures are also having an impact on wildlife like chinstrap penguins populations of them have plunged dramatically we did find one colony on elephant island that had a very large cawley that declined about 77 percent. tremendous loss over

a very short period of time and with january of 2020 setting new heat records there's no sign the melt is going to slow anytime soon. well it's valentine's day and love is in the air in thailand by more than 20 couples got married aboard a hot air balloons hundreds of people back to push them off but it's risky bad marriage certificates and take to the skies this newlyweds the weddings were part of the balloon festival in chiang rai so if you fancy starting out of life on a hike you might bear in mind that organizers are hoping for more participants next year. but valentine's day is not just idle state w. has been asking children around the world what fills their hearts and minds with happiness.

what. they see the links and little couple he kill lying now. what's. up you don't. get old thing was in. the. hundreds have been too much alive. on the total monkey when you all to no 4 on the sauce all get a say. kid i need a man i need. an emo nerd me to last. me bob bob was ing. son who lives modernizes.

yale home how they live my bedroom says they have roots again they know what i saw at the e.u. i. don't. know where i bought all. of his little brother because he keeps quiet and stands out of the way of a whole world there's a type of alcohol has business south africa in just a moment. things are forced into a nameless mass. their bodies here to loose with. the history of the slave trade is africa's history. just. for our

interest.