thomases starts december 4th. this is g w. news live from berlin. the u.s. secretary of state makes an unprecedented and provocative visit to the occupied golan heights on pay importing controversy as the 1st u.s. secretary of state to visit the disputed territory of long with an israeli settlement. marking a major shift in u.s. foreign policy. also coming out the u.s.

death toll from the coronavirus topping a quarter of a 1000000 and the numbers there are still rising rapidly. and germany's top scientific advisor warning the coded infection rate here is still too high, as the daily number of new cases remains of bugs 20000 and european union countries awaiting billions of euros in emergency funding to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. but hungary and poland are blocking the monies release in the row over due respects the rule of wall i'm bring our viewers on p.b.s., in the united states and to all of you around the world. welcome u.s., secretary of state, mike pompei. it was in the middle east on a trip that is breaking with established u.s. foreign policy starters. he became the 1st u.s.

secretary of state to visit a jewish settlement in the occupied west bank today. an occupation still not recognized by much of the international community. later in the day he stopped in the israeli held go on high. it's a disputed area that israel annexed from syria back in 1967, syria has condemned today's visit, calling it a provocative act. it's a 1st for israeli american relations and a parting gift from america's outgoing top diplomat. mike pump a was a visit to the golan heights, makes him the 1st u.s. secretary of state to visit the disputed territory. since israel sees the region in 1967, the united nations may have rejected the annexation. but for pump a 0 and the trump administration. this is israeli land. you keep, you can't stand here and they're out at what's across the border and deny the central thing the president for up recognized that previous presidents had refused

to do. this is a part of israel, a central part of israel in another, unprecedented move pump a 0. made a stop to an israeli settlement in the west bank angering some palestinians who see legitimizes what they view as illegal israeli settlements. the secretary of state had no scheduled meetings with palestinian leaders. some have called the trip a victory lap of sorts. a chance for the trumpet ministration to highlight what it sees as its diplomatic success in the region. including taking steps to legitimize israeli settlements. there for a long time, the state department took the wrong view of settlements. it took a view that didn't recognize the history of the special place, and instead now today the united states department of state stand strongly to the recognition that settlements can be done in a way that are lawful and appropriate and proper a stance that puts us at odds with many international bodies,

and that could prove to be a stumbling block for incoming president elect joe biden. let's bring in our correspondent. she's on the story for us tonight in jerusalem. good evening to you, john. yeah, so talk to me about how controversial this trip to the go on hikes was well, absolutely, it was labeled as a fair vote to a for the outgoing secretary of state mike pompei, you very controversial. ron, with a lot of stuff over is a lot of firsts, as we also heard and the reports. he went early this afternoon to the golan heights, and that is an arena where at the time, but ms. sation trump administration reversed a longstanding u.s. foreign policy by recognizing israel serenity over the occupied golan heights. and that was not the only stop over earlier on. he went, as you saw in the reports,

to the settlement, sagar, to visitors that binary, which has released even a wind and the name with named off to pump a 0. and there you made another surprising announcement off a new u.s. policy that allows basically products some settlements in the occupied west bank to be labeled made in israel. and that again is a very controversial move. and it's also in line that the trump administration last year said there are no longer seeing settlements as illegal per se. now of course, for palestinians, this was a very provocative visit, but they also have the sense, you know, this is the end of the trump administration. which even leaves to question what impact this all has announcing also, this new u.s. policy and budget will set a president and his prayer into lines. what is permissible in international law?

we knew so much of this policy has been built on the close relationship that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has with u.s. president donald trump. so what is the feeling there about president elect joe biden? well, i think you have to see it from a different level as the president elect joe biden is very well known in he has described himself as a friend of israel, and he has said that he has known nearly every prime minister since the early ninety's seventy's and he's also knows the current prime minister binyamin netanyahu very well, but it won't be the same kind of relationship that be seen over the past 4 years between benyamin netanyahu and u.s. president, donald trump. and the main concern i think in israel is now how will this foreign, how does a foreign policy look like of the incoming biden up ministration?

what will they reverse? what will they have review? the main concern is if they're looking here at the iran nuclear deal, the trump administration withdrew from it in 2018, but also pertaining to issues of the israeli palestinian conflict. a trump administration, recognize jerusalem as the cops of israel moving the embassy. they cut funds to the palestinians, so this is what the israelis will be looking at, especially also the right wing here. and also how important actually, the region will be for the incoming biden up ministration. definitely have to deal with for years. that's for sure. thank you our, let's have a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world . a new report finds that members of australia's special forces unlawfully killed $39.00 afghan civilians and prisoners. the internal investigation into military

misconduct. heard evidence of summary executions in afghanistan during initiation ritual. as the chief of the australian defense force has apologised, the case is being referred to a war crimes prosecutor. in uganda, at least 60 people have been killed, the 350, arrested in 2 days of operations by security forces. authorities are trying to end why it's so far by the arrest of presidential candidate bobby wine. the pop star turned lawmaker is seen as the leading challenger to president yoweri museveni in january election. the council of europe's anti torture committee has sharply criticized the conditions under which migrants are held in some detention centers in greece. human rights monitor says they are dangerous and degrading. it's also concerned over allegations greece illegally pushes back by rains. coming in from turkey, u.s.

president, donald trump's attorney rudy giuliani has described, recounts of election results as useless claiming the us voting system has been compromised by widespread fraud. the state of georgia is finalizing its recount, which is likely to uphold democrat joe biden. as the winner of this previously republican stronghold state trumps legal team has filed multiple lawsuits in several states. disputing the election results allegations of voter fraud are so far unfruitful. our for more now let's go to our correspondent in washington, oliver sound that good evening to you are live or so rudy giuliani. he has just held a press conference. what did we learn about trump's plane? well it's one thing brand to claim voter fraud at a press conference, as we've seen with rudy giuliani,

a little while ago or by e-mail or twitter as we've seen from donald trump and his team over the last days and weeks. and it's another thing to claim that in court and be successful with it because what we've learned here is they have not produced any substantial evidence. once again, they've produced a lot of claims as not really clear brant what they want. but especially because officials said time and time again that they're not able to change the outcome of the election. in spite of that, only a few republicans are currently all polling donald trump and their strategy their plan. they're following right now, mitt romney the utah senator is one of them. and that is a situation that's likely to continue until january 5th, at least because that's when the senate run off in georgia, takes place a very important race for both democrats and republicans. but the republicans are pretty obviously here trying to win the senate and to be able to push forward with an obstruction policy and block joe biden's policies there as he takes office.

george is a crucial state right now. i want is to listen to what rudy giuliani just had to say about the reaching out that's going on in georgia. take a listen. so for example, the recount being done in georgia will tell us nothing. because these fraudulent backlit will just be counted again because they wouldn't supply the signatures to match the ballots. some of means nothing to have counted ballots. with the means nothing, then what do you want to do with election to me? is this strategy going to work out? it's very unlikely because look at the recount that took place there went better for donald trump than expected, but still joe biden is in the lead with more than 10000, volts, and the georgia secretary of state is in charge of the election. they are said that small arrows in $41.00 votes on a very small scale are normal, you know, but there is no evidence again for widespread voter fraud in what the trump team

does. here is taking legal action are unlikely to succeed without evidence, but they're creating a narrative for next that works very well and that is the election is still in and his followers do believe that. and that's a problem for the biden presidency. that is very likely to follow because you will have a certain amount of american voters who will think that joe biden is not the legitimate president. that's true at the latest poll shows 70 percent of republicans think that at the moment it's oversell within the story forwards in washington, all the brit. thank you. well they look like a flower, but they actually are little white flags, each of which represents a u.s. citizen who has died from covert 90 the u.s. death toll has now topped a quarter of a 1000000 that is the highest in the world. now this installation, which was designed by the visual artist suzanne brennan system, is located in

a park in washington d.c. . and it's dedicated to people who died in the pandemic. so many state governors and mayors are preparing to impose stricter measures before next week's thanksgiving holiday. but with infections soaring to new highs, there is little relief for those hard pressed health care workers. and not the day on the front line. doctors and nurses are doing all they can to help the growing number of covert 1000 patients. but the death toll keeps rising. 250000 americans lost to the pandemic. that exceeds predictions by the country's top people. and experts say hundreds of thousands more could die in the coming months. health care workers are pleading with people to take the virus seriously. where understaffed, we have some much on our plate as nurses, there's not enough. we have time, kirby. and one of those is just

a place for people to go and get seriously wear masks. and i hope i don't see you as the pandemic keep sweeping, the u.s. the midwest has become the latest hot spot. the dakotas and neighboring states have some of the highest per capita death tolls. but every state in the contiguous us is seeing rising numbers. some are blaming the lack of a national strategy. cities and states have their own response plans in new york city schools closed again on wednesday, just 8 weeks after reopening, california is considering a curfew. other places have introduced mass mandates. president elect joe biden has called for a strong federal response, and he has warned even more people could die if president trump continues to refuse to share crucial information with the incoming administration. on wednesday biden held a virtual meeting with frontline workers who told him about chronic shortages. they

still suffer under the care. i myself have held their hand. the guy agents were crying out for their family that they can't see. you know, we nursed us. we know that we are seeing immense death and suffering in the coming weeks and we will be there. but we need to act now and started so more and in many places, the morgues are filling up again in texas. prisoners are helping move the deceased to refrigerated trucks. a quarter of a 1000000 dead is a bleak milestone. and even with hopes of a vaccine on the horizon, the disarray and hurt is far from over. and it is dire on the side of the atlantic as well. germany's disease control institute warning that the national rate of corona virus infections remains too high more than 22000,

new cases recorded in just the last 24 hours. but there are signs that the latest restrictions may be working. the numbers begin to plateau. the head of the rubber cock institute says despite all of that, the situation remains very serious. the overall case number has a much too high in the number of severe cases and the number of patients in intensive care are also on the rise. the number of deaths is also still very high. as we know, this is settling in severe cases and dams and as infection numbers here in germany, increase hospitals are having to handle more and more critically ill. 1000 patients talk germany's parliament. zuzana of uganda has been working here for 18 years. but she has another job too. when the corona pandemic hit germany,

she volunteered to work part time as an intensive care nurse in berlin shockey t. hospital. just finished a 9 hour shift taking care of covert patients. now she's come back into the office to finish off some work for her full time job commitment. i can't stay at home with, a clear conscience if my colleagues are slaving away in the i.c.u., i have the training and can help. so i help. there's no question about it. i'm german hospitals are in dire need of help. intensive care units are stretched thin . chief nurse of the shop, one of europe's largest research hospitals. she has put her finger on the problem. germany's health care system is facing we have enough ventilators, enough beds, enough masks, and gowns and gloves. but we're worried that all the beds can't be used because we

don't have enough personnel for it to deal with this. the shocking to have launched a campaign to rehire former health care workers. like susan, have you got she trained to be a nurse over 25 years ago, but decided to move into a different profession. in this all hands on deck situation. it's people like her that are needed now intends if the icy use are running at full capacity. if one person is taking care of 3 or 4 covert patients, that's rough. you have very little time. after work, i leave the hospital with a sad feeling because i couldn't give the patients the attention that they deserve . despite rising carona numbers, germany's health care system has not crashed yet. but hospitals were already

understaffed, and the workload was too high before the pandemic. despite all the problems, zona has rediscovered her passion for nursing care. she couldn't even imagine quitting her job in the stock. what for that? she says. hospital working conditions would need to improve. here's a look now at some of the other developments in the pandemic. africa now has more than 2000000 confirmed corona virus cases. officials are warning of an impending 2nd serve. japan has hit a record deal a high of more than 2000 infections. the prime minister has urged maximum caution, but stopped short of calling for new restrictions. and china says nearly a 1000000 essential workers have been given doses of an experimental vaccine. new, serious adverse reactions have been reported. i, let's take a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world

. the crew of the international space station have given a media briefing from the weightlessness of space. it's their 1st public interview since they were joined by 4 astronauts and what they are by a space x. rocket. that was the 1st time crewmembers were carried to the orbiting station by a privately funded spacecraft. b.m.w. is to stop making petrol and diesel powered cars at its main plant in munich, germany. the elder maker planning to invest 400000000 euros to shift production to electric vehicles and power trains. in the year 2026. b.m.w. will continue producing combustion engines in austria and britain. the european union has unveiled plans to increase its offshore wind energy capacity by 5 fold in the next decade. renewable sources, like wind and solar, provide around a 3rd of the e use power,

but europe is aiming to double that by the year 2030 and become climate neutral. c, o 2 neutral by the year 25th was struggling with the coronavirus european union. countries are waiting for a 750000000000 euro emergency fund to help them get through this pandemic. but a diplomatic route has stalled. the relief effort leaders have been trying to resolve the dispute. now, hungary and poland object to a rule of law mechanism which would allow the e.u. to withhold funds from member states which violate democratic norms. something both of these countries have been accused of doing. while the politicians negotiate europe's health care workers face the full force of the corona, virus is 2nd way you know to do that in a hospital near to being in this hugging room is providing some comfort. the 2nd

wave of covert 9000 is hitting italy just as hard as the 1st wave did in the spring, and the economic consequences are equally rough. italy, along with many other even states, is anxiously awaiting a multi-million euro finance package to help ease the covert 19 crisis. but the funds are blocked. hungary and poland, reject conditions set for the payment of the funds. washington: yeah, we say no to all mechanisms which are meant to punish us like naughty children and which treat poland and other countries an equally in the 3 strongest year when there were a very on the table is the e.u. budget of 1.8 trillion euros for the next 7 years, including 750000000000 euros of coronavirus aid, payment of the recovery funds is blocked in cases of corruption or violation of the rule of law. that is what hungary and poland want to prevent. they along with

slovenia, oppose the other e.u. . members. there are many other member states who are not willing to make major compromises on the rule of law. the leaders are trying to find a middle ground. but given these entrenched positions, it's clear that pandemic is not the only crisis. europe needs to solve the money and the virus. let's cross over now to our correspondent barbara bays and she's in brussels following this summit for good evening to you barbara. this route. what seems to be the big elephant that's in the room? i mean, what will it mean if the budget and this recovery package, if they can't be unlocked? it is bad, it is very bad, particularly for all those southern european countries like italy as we just saw because they've really been hard hit it canonically in italy. for instance. they had hoped that with the beginning of the new year, they could very quickly get access to funds in order to alleviate the problems they

have and help their economy to be revived. but this is not going to happen. so quickly. european lives are really struggling. they talked about 30 minutes on their virtual, at their virtual summit tonight, and then had to give up because mark of the german chancellor told the street opposing countries, slovenia has the meantime sort of added to the list that they need. a solution does need to be done, they don't consent needs to be given. but as we know that it's conference doesn't end it self to yell at each other or to sort of strike quiet big room deals. no solution could be found now they have 3 weeks till they meet again in december. when they come in person, when they come to brussels for a real summit, until then they have to have something figured out because this is a pretty big disaster. yeah. exist made worse by is there any way that the

bypass by hungry in poland they can buy a possibility the 1st thing they're going to try is to sort of have some, some declaration added to this rule of law making isn't where they promise the countries promise that everybody will be treated equally. i mean that is what poland and hungary have been saying, and we have being singled out here and the other countries say, no, everybody's sort of has to stick to the same rules. and we know that those 2 put a countries in particular do and do that. and don't want to do that. i mean, this is a very obvious sort of attack against the basics of the european union. and if that doesn't work this declaration, and there is no climb down by those 2 governments, then the other possibility is that they sort of figure out some sort of governmental contract by the between the remaining $24.00, they raise the money on the financial markets. they sort of figure this out legally

. it can be done, it's a bit complicated, technically and legally. it can be done in the end, but that's what diplomats here call the nuclear option because it really would sort of deep in the rift that we've already been observing for quite a while now between eastern europe and the rest of the european union. barbara biggs, all following this story for us tonight in brussels. thank you. and for we go the pandemic, not just affecting humans, the lives of lots of animals are also being disrupted, particularly those in captivity. i want you to meet ray a 6 year old african penguin of she lives in california's monterey bay aquarium. but it's closed at the moment because of the pandemic. so ray has taken to exploring her home as she was around following the staff. and just like the zoo's human visitors, ray has discovered that there's lots to see some species, even the good enough to eat. she's clearly taking plenty of exercise hard work for

a member of one of the world's smallest in when specie. yes, she is. well,, are his remind of the top story we're following for you. u.s., secretary of state, mike pump a of his visited to go on heights disputed territory that israel annexed in 1067. earlier in the day he became the 1st top american diplomat to visit an israeli settlement in the occupied west bank. you're watching out for short break. i'll be back to take you through the day. stick around. we'll be right back.

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better. we need to take a closer experience, not tomorrow to thank them. in one of baby was suffering from hunger in the world. good programmers fighting over the world. why to join the fight honestly carefully. i

don't know if you used to get that discomfort subscribe to the documentary on you tube, in one of his last acts as u.s., secretary of state like ohio today made history as he became the 1st secretary of state to visit and israeli settlement, land palestinians say it was stolen from the symbolism was strong, but was there more in 2 months from peo and his boss, president, trump, will both belong to america's political past. and yet what we witnessed today could

have been a rehearsal, but for whom a future presidential candidate named mike pompei. oh or did we just see a repeat performance by a candidate.