no, nothing has been transferred to my long carrier in john mod done. it's a long evening stop. i hot us. i was it's way of report by choice in this car. it has given me a way to transmit. my name is nick rushman much and i was dw ah, ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin tonight,

america's top diplomat in key with the promise of solidarity and more weapons. secretary of state entity, blake, and declares unwavering support for key of and warns that russia could quickly double the number of troops on ukraine's border. also coming up tonight more aid and help on its way to tonga as new images emerge, revealing the devastation from last weekend, organic corruption, and soon ami plus british prime minister boris johnson in the political fight of his life. the party gates scandal. as his fellow conservatives in parliament outbreak, you sat there too long hold. good, you've done. and the name of god, god. and germany records more than a 100000 new corona virus infections in the last 24 hours a record high made possible by the omicron very ah,

i bring gov to our viewers watching on p b. s. in the united states, into all of you, round the world, welcome. it's good to have you with us on this wednesday. we begin tonight with the u. s. secretary of state at the start of a 3 day diplomatic sprint here in europe aimed at preventing a war in ukraine to day. antony blinkin was in kia, where he urged western countries to remain united in the face of what he called relentless russian aggression during a visit, a key f for talks with ukrainian president vladimir zalinski. lincoln also accused moscow of trying to undermine ukraine's democracy and society. he says that washington is committed to protecting ukraine by de escalating tensions with moscow . lincoln will be here in berlin tomorrow for talks with his german, british, and french counterpart of setting. although the ultimate goal is peace, not war blank, and warned russia again today that any aggression in ukraine will come at

a high cost. that's why present by asked me to come here to underscore our steadfast commitment to ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity. and it's why we will continue our relentless diplomatic efforts to prevent renewed aggression and to promote dialogue and peace. at the same time, we continued to bolster ukraine's ability to defend itself and make clear the costs of the united states and europe will impose on moscow if it rejects the diplomatic path that we've laid out. and proceeds with an unwarranted unprovoked, unacceptable invasion or destabilization of ukraine with you as secretary of state speaking earlier today. my 1st guess deny and steven piper, he's a senior fellow at the brookings institution. he spent a quarter of a century with the u. s. state department and foreign service, he joins me tonight for morgan hill in california. it's good to have you back your on the program. let me ask you when you look at what lincoln offered ukraine today,

basically more weapons. is that what he have wanted? most of all well, i think russia has tried to frame this crisis as nato russia, but it's really about ukraine. so it's a good thing that secretary lincoln was there to underscore american and western support for ukraine, but also to talk about more american defense supplies. as a way to help the ukrainians better have their keep, improve their capability to defend themselves in the event of a russian attack. and that's part of an effort to deter and dissuade moscow from attacking in the 1st place. you tweeted earlier today that it looks as if vladimir putin has painted himself into a corner where the only way out now that seems feasible is military action. do you think that wards the only way we're going to break this situation? i still hope that there's a diplomatic path out. i'm glad that secretary lincoln foreign minister law for

meeting on in geneva on friday. but i worry that over the last 6 weeks, the criminals painted itself into a corner. it's done this large military buildup which continues in december, it demanded security guarantees which russian officials had no, we're just not possible. and so i do worry that increasing the companies in this corner, and either they have to make an embarrassing climb down or resort to military action. but hopefully secretary blinking, they can find some diplomatic out out. that path is not going to sacrifice western principles. your secretary blinking, he's meeting with his a russian counterpart in geneva later this week that we also saw the german foreign minister in moscow yesterday basically on the same mission. who do you think though, that russia really is interested in talking to here? it's just the united states isn't i wouldn't say that the kremlin would like to see divisions between the united states and europe and between the united states and

major countries such as germany. and by the accounts that i've seen foreign minister barbara kenner. so very well, and to the extent that the russians are getting the same message from the west, i think that's good. last week at the nato, russia council meeting with the russians heard was that nato was prepared to talk about things like limits on missiles or reciprocal constraints on the size and scope of military exercises. but that nato was not prepared to forswear further enlargement. neither was not prepared to remove forces from allies that had joined the alliance after 1997. and to the extent of the russians are heard that from a wide variety of european allies, in addition to the united states that strengthens the message you to day. we heard from the deputy foreign minister of russia, and he said that in what has not changed is the fact that russia still feels threatened by eastward expansion of nato. in the same breath though,

he said there will be no russian invasion of ukraine. can we take these top russian diplomats by their word? well, i think if you look at nato's military presence in places like the baltics, it's not serious to rush to say that there's a threat here. nato now deploys a multinational battle groups of 821500 troops in each of the baltic states and in poland. ah, and they weren't there before 2014, which is when russia seized crimea and provoke this conflict. and don, boss asked for the 2nd as for the foreign deputy, for mr. downplaying, the russian military threat. everything that we're seeing on the outside suggest that the russians continue that no go, which i build up. they're going to be deployed forces into dollars for exercises. but they're also bringing in forces from as far away as the russian far east towards ukraine. i think the military threat is real and the west has to assume

that it's real and should be doing everything it can to try to dissuade and deter moscow from a decision to use military force. to morrow, the u. s. secretary of state will be here in berlin for a meeting with the quad group. that's the u. s. the u. k. france. in germany, if you were an advisor in the room with those for foreign ministers, what would, what would you say? what should be the one message that should come out of that meeting? i think that the message that needs to be sent to the russians is that, well, there are some issues that can be negotiated like the questions on strike systems in year for exercises. ah, that the west is not going to say now, even though there is no enthusiasm within nato now for putting you can on a membership track. nato is not going to allow russia to dictated change in policy where data would say we will never enlarge again. and then to reiterate that should the russians use military force against ukraine, there will be very painful at consequences including economic sanctions,

greater merit with greater western military assistance to ukraine. and also steps by needed to florida fire their defense position on the eastern flank. we will be following these next crucial 2 to 3 days of diplomacy here in europe, steven piper, we appreciate your insights tonight. thank you. thank you. i had, let's take a look down some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. a court in ukraine has rejected an appeal by public prosecutors to detain former president petro portia inca the ruling means the 56 year old will remain free while being investigated for treason. thousands of supporters rally to day outside the courthouse fourish inc. of denying the charges, he says they are politically motivated. a belgian court have sentence the leader of a human trafficking ring to 15 years in prison. in connection with the death of 39 vietnamese migrants. victims suffocated while being smuggled in the back of

a truck that was driven from belgium to the u. k. in the summer of 2019 the voice of a syrian doctor on trial in germany for crimes against humanity. slow has said he's confident the evidence presented against his client will quote, not stand up to scrutiny. prosecutors alleged the 36 year old doctor tortured prisoners and military hospitals in syria during the country civil war. he arrived here in germany like in 2015 health officials in tone. gov say the country's international airport has now been cleared of ash after last weekend's volcanic eruption and soon ami. that means it's wides carrying crucial supplies. could begin arriving in the country on thursday. the international communities stepping up efforts after the disaster, china says it's willing to help the country rebuild. new zealand and australia are also shipping supplies to the area. the ash from this volcano is everywhere. it has fogged the skies of the pacific islands of tango,

and it has fallen back on to the ground, mixing in with the water supply contaminating it. the russian has wiped out some villages completely. we also had at these one particular eye, yet now known as mungo, and this is one of the law islands and those that the action site are all of the homes on that island have been destroyed and damaged and the a great ease of safety and working with the islands, ships from australia and new zealand are on their way to tonga, bringing much needed relief, including barrels of clean drinking water. but the ships have thousands of kilometers to cover. one estimation was that they could be there as early as friday, which is encouraging use of course has already been mentioned. we don't know what the shipping lanes look like. and so we want to of course, proceed with that. of course,

as we get closer to the to the tango was cut off from the world for several days after the eruption. families worried about their relatives on the island. the worse here is always that you're not going to see the people that you love it. and yet that's the worst he now phone networks are slowly springing back to life and lifting the fog on how damaged tango really is. i'm joy now by katie greenwood. she's the pacific hed international federation of the red cross and red crescent society. she's in fiji tonight. it's good to have you on the program. i know that you have been able to make contact with your colleagues in tonga and what are they telling you about the situation on the ground there? well, there is mixed news coming out of toner this morning. it is very good news that we have been able to finally make contact with our team who we hadn't previously spoken to since saturday afternoon when the russian took place. so it was

a very emotional buying call that we had with them to hear how they've been going on. the grounds, what they've been doing in terms of providing a relief supplies to the tongue and people. but there's also some sad news, some devastating news that has come out of some recognizance trips that have gone out to some of those small, a low lying assholes that has found that most of the structures on 3 of those islands have been completely wiped out. and destroyed the death toll, the rise slightly yesterday as well. so it is mixed use today in k b. did they tell you in this conversation exactly what the experienced? i mean, from the moment the volcano erupted until all contact was lost with the rest of the world. yes, absolutely. the very small context that we had on saturday afternoon was immediately after the huge eruption. and once the unami warning had been issued,

and when we spoke to a team member at that point in time for, for about 5 minutes, she was running up and down the hill kind of in the capital there. making sure that people could get to the limit to the vailable high. a ground was very scary. people had been living with the smaller russians, they spokane since november, december last year was a very big shock on saturday afternoon. the magnitude of that erection and the unprecedented night of the pacific wide army that was treated. so it's very frightening situation with been telling us about the work that they've been doing, distributing essential relate supplies, claim what have being the number one priority at the moment for the population that really does rely on that rain water. and also they have sent to people on the recognizance ship that lift from,

from the government and provision out to those low lying assholes. we'll hear more details of their experience in the coming days. but the initial reports are certainly devastating. and you, did you get the impression to this 1st conversation that, that, that these people are still in a state of shock? who are we know whether natural disasters that we've covered around the world that in those 1st hours it's not 1st days after the event. people are maybe acting in a fog, if you will. did you get that impression in your talk with certainly and because of the unprecedented nature nature of that erection, i think that shock is there, that, that surprise that, that fall, that you just spoke about the adrenalin, that key scene. also, we see in the 1st few days of a disaster like the adrenalin for, for survival in instinct really kicks in, carries people through what we see now as in the cycle of disasters that starts to

happen is that people start to come down from that adrenal and then they really looking around them and being able to for the 1st time, catch that sense of the exact ramifications personally for them and for tongue as a country overall on the kind of infrastructure damage that they might have suffered. so now is really the critical window for when people are most active in terms of being able to understand the big picture of all of these different ramifications and start to act on short, medium and long term plans for recovery. we certainly do wish you all the success and all the best of the work you're doing important work. katie greenwood with the international federation of the red cross and red crescent. katie, thank you. thanks so much. went to the u. k. now we're bores johnson is fighting to stay on is prime minister after a revelations about boozy gatherings held at his downing street residence as

millions were enduring, covered 19 walked out. johnson is facing mounting pressure to quit, from the opposition and from his own conservatives. and from ordinary citizens, after the drinks parties to hang over in parliament bars, johnson defied colds to resign from his political opponents. most likely it's no time for him to resign. here ma'am, is the speaker, but what i can tell her is, as i said to the house last week, i apologize sincerely for any misjudgments that were made to continue. johnson as apologize for tending bring your own booth gatherings. it but said he thought it was a work event and wasn't told was against the rules that he sitting tight for now. but even his tory peers may try to asked him, one lawmaker defected to the labor opposition on his parties. former breakfast minister urge him to resign. you sat there too long for all the good you have done, and the name of god goes out. as the political storm continued in the house of

commons, johnson announced the end of covert 19 measures introduced to curb the rapid spread of the arm across variant. some people were skeptical about the timing and felt was meant to distract from his current political woes. m. o, being cynical, i think his maybe before his johnson feels he's about to be upstairs and that he wants to offer the public something maybe among health workers in particular. there was anger at the idea of the government boozing while they fought the virus. i had to say, listen, i, well, we're sit at night says and read. think about why city be my ang when we're working hides. as anger grows, johnson will now hoped out an inquiry is ordered into the downing street parties, plus a bit of luck can help save his job. it is

a new and un unwelcomed pandemic record germany as recorded more than a 100000 new corona virus infections in the last 24 hours. that is a 1st in this pandemic. the surge is viewed by the highly contagious omicron variant which now accounts for the majority of new infections. the effect on hospitals here has not been as bad as previously feared, but authorities are warning the public not to let their guard down 2 years into the pandemic infections or at a high, never before seen in germany. and it's all down to army chron. but despite the huge numbers, it seems, most people have only been mildly sick with a slight decrease reported in the number of intensive care patients. experts warn, though, don't get complacent, and on that or given up on all, we assume that in the next few weeks. so by mid february, we'll see a significant increase in hospitalizations, so the number of patients admitted to hospital and then ultimately in intensive

care unit. so the kinds of the dish doesn't. and it's not just coven 19 that people will have to contend with later this year. and he asked that as this coming autumn will bring a wave of respiratory illnesses with lots of influenza and various are the viruses . it's a big range. and there'll be many corona cases to our congo and have been regular protests across germany in recent weeks, over the government strategy to make life harder for the unvaccinated contact. restrictions have been tightened to flatten the omicron curve, but it hasn't led to a significant increase in germany's vaccine uptake. steel over a quarter of the population is not fully vaccinated, but that could change with a highly controversial plan for mandatory vaccines on the cards. and when it comes to testing the sheer weight of all the new or meconium fictions has exhausted capacity. and so authorities believe the real number of cases is double what's officially being counted out on the streets. opinions very from concern to being

completely fed up. because i cannot stand this topic any more. you hear it than news in the media as well. i know that army corolla isn't a severe most of the time, but of course, every, just like before about people with pre existing conditions and relative. i know i'm not where it really everyone's being careful. staying at home, maybe send complacency, set him, but i'm double vaccinated and boosted. that's all i can do in the rest. i am leaving up to fate. german authorities expect the only crown way to peak around the middle of february and the government's plans, compulsory vaccines could be in place by april or may discussions on that due to begin in the buddhist talk next week. here's a look at some of the other developments in this pandemic. england is announced that it's ending most corona virus restrictions. yet again,

some measures were re introduced last december to slow the spread of omicron portugal safe citizens in isolation because of vivid 19 will be allowed to leave their homes to vote for one hour in the evening on election day. and japan is extended covered 90 restrictions to the capitol, tokyo as it registers a record number of new infections due to that. oh, micron. very like lots of countries. turkey is grappling with a surge in coven infections. fueled by o. mcgraw on the government's latest pandemic weapon, a home grown vaccine, known as turk, hvac, the new jab received emergency approval last month, but some experts say its effectiveness has not been proven. dw correspondent, julia han reports to night from istanbul. oh, queuing for a world prim yet at this east and will hospital people have been receiving the taco vac vaccine. since the beginning of the year, the 1st cove at 19 jap,

developed and produced in turkey. to go up to do to go. i have more trust in typical back than in other vaccines because it's made by my own country. it is still there to go up to more. i wish they had launched her go back sooner. i would have gotten it for all my shots school that reject them to believe me some other i haven't been vaccinated at all until today. i waited for turco voc because i trust our turkish scientists more than those abroad. a sham was engaged in for president reggie ty, about one talk havoc is a symbol of national strength with its own vaccine. he says, turkey is one of the most innovative progressive countries in the world and no longer dependent on others the government, a celebrating, talk about as a great success. but how effective is the vaccine and doesn't protect against only crohn and other potential virus marion. many medical experts here in turkey remain

skeptical. is in sion only from the countries, independent doctors union criticizes the fact that hardly any data on took of us has been published. that is why she isn't recommending the new vaccine. political success, she says, seems to be more important to the government than scientific accuracy, horribly. they are. i can't evaluate how effective this vaccine is, because i don't have the necessary information. the results of the phase one and phase 2 studies have not been published. we also know next to nothing about phase 3 interview until we have the scientific facts. we can't consider this a vaccine, but just some kind of liquids on the head are you there. so you see on as in many countries on the chronus behind the number of new infections, rapidly surging here in turkey, the lexy nation rate is comparatively high. about 85 percent of adults have received at least 2 japs. but the uncertainty surrounding took havoc is causing

concern to call o'clock. we don't know much about 2 o'clock yet. that's why i don't think it's very safe beating that i wouldn't take it because i haven't seen scientific data in studies about it. her mom quoted out of the didn't saw what was that old little vision room. we're going to change golden rule. i will get my 3rd day of buying tech to day. i don't trust the turkish. maxine, i have my doubts glances equal, renewed him, nor routine. yee has overseen toko vox development. he says the warriors are unfounded. the turkish vaccine is a safe and effective as others. it can limit the image of it, which is what we have all figures and all studies show show. we do not have the slightest concern or doubt in terms of its effectiveness being vaccinated as better than not being vaccinated at all. if turco voc helps us convinced those who are unvaccinated, that would be one of our greatest achievements itself will cause

a lose warrior over the next few months. as many people as possible are expected to also get their booster shots with turkey's own vaccine. and soon, according to the government's plan to collect will be delivered to other countries to help them in the fight against cove it or do that the african cup of nations underdogs co roots, pulled off a surprise victory over favorites. gonna knocking them out of the competition. there were celebrations in the capital city of maroney, as their cycling be 3 to win the small island nation has never qualified for african afore they now have a chance of progressing through the group stages. if other results go their way and fans, they are hopeful that their team will continue its journey at the tournament in cameroon. ah, grandma, i have tears of joy. it's a historic wind for us. these 3 points are enough and if we can qualify for the last 16, that would be amazing that i'm a ample,

no korean robotic when we thank god for the incredible performance our players have achieved to day. and it is that the math that they had last 2 games, but today they showed they're able to advance in the competition and they wouldn't own it out. it was done with angela r i before we take a break, we have something cool to show you. very cool. hundreds of russian orthodox christians in the city of cal banker have been plunging into icy water to celebrate epiphany. ritual commemorates the baptism of jesus in the jordan river, which probably was not quite as cold as this, although it may not look like it. a bone chilling bath is believed to be good for you. wonder if it works against omicron. you're watching dw news from berlin after a short break. i'll be back to take you through the day to night. the 3 digs of diplomacy that could bring peace or war to ukraine in europe will be right back

with oh, i

do legal goals minds as far as the i can see, mozambique, city, money, mani. national park is on the verge of collapse. the provincial government no wants to step in with reconnaissance and mining licenses, but we'll work global 3000 in 60 minutes on d. w o blue with the battle against cove it the only common variant is putting healthcare systems on the world to the test vaccination campaigns. are accelerating while restrictions are intensifying once again. but are these measures enough to stop the spread of omicron fax

data and reports in our weekly cove at 19 special? every thursday on d. w. ah, soccer is a sport of many colors and the children in this mountain village. oh them all. but can everyone be adorned with them regardless of gender, pima, where is blue. the color of her favorite sex is traditions prevent her from going to game. don't play an insurmountable obstacle bloomed girl football on the peak that starts february, 4th on d. w. ah, with russia has position 200000 true.