to the best connection, sophia, road and radio located in the heart of europe, you are connected to the whole world who experienced outstanding shopping and dining offers and try our services. be our guest at frankfurt airport city, managed by from waterloo. ah ah, this is d, w y from berlin, a dramatic escalation in the crisis over ukraine. the u. s. a sense of $3000.00 troops to be fought its presence in europe. russia denounces the deployment as

destructive and likely to increase tensions. also coming up on the show, a warning from scientists, greenland is warming faster than any other place on the planet. and the dramatic melting of its ice sheet is pushing up global sea levels. and the fanfare begins the winter olympic torch relay completes. it's 1st day with human rights abuses and the corona virus. in the spotlight, we ask whether the actual sport risks becoming a side show. ah. hello m claire richardson, thanks so much for joining us. in an escalation of the crisis over ukraine, u. s. president joe biden is mobilizing 3000 troops in a move meant to reassure neo allies of washington's commitment to collective defend . the pentagon has emphasized it is not sending troops to ukraine,

but added that the build up is meant to deter russian president vladimir putin from invading ukraine. the kremlin has denounced them as destructive st. it's likely to only increase tensions another day. another increase intention over ukraine. the u. s. is sending 2000 soldiers to poland and germany, while another 1000 move from germany to romania. the current situation demands that we reinforce the deterrent and defensive posture on nato's eastern flank. president biden has been clear that the united states will respond to the growing threat to europe's security and stability. our commitment to nato article 5 and collective defense remains iron clad. the pentagon made it clear that no us soldiers will fight in ukraine. he, the ukrainian president, vladimir zalinski said diplomacy comes 1st, but no options are off the table. me. we only think about

t some with we only think about the return of our occupied territories and only through diplomacy, lamentation of shall issue betia. we will not give up with a single piece of our land to day yolanda, we will not give up our territories when they read them, no matter what the prize lee, your captain ah, ah, jeez, but i would nibble on despite zelinski reassurances. others are preparing to do battle. if it comes to a fight, the click go boxing brothers, one. now the mayor of give both signed up for the army other calling we milt week and an aggressor have to understand you, they do it, activity aggressive duty against you brain. you have to pay huge price for that. would it have to fight leaked documents confirmed by the pentagon, reveal the back room diplomatic efforts to avoid war. the u. s. offered russia

access to inspect key military sites in return for a d escalation. russia says it has no intention to invade ukraine. but these pictures released by russia's defense ministry showing joint combat drills with bella, bruce sent a clear message. russia is not backing down. so let's get straight across to washington and dw correspondent oliver's alex. hi oliver attentions have been mounting for weeks. so why this deployment now has washington's calculation of the security situation changed a lot necessarily clear. i mean, the pentagon spokesperson, john kirby said today. yes, of course, the deployment of 3000 troops to eastern europe is the response to that russian true built out that we've been following over the last week. and we've seen those satellite pictures today showing that russia continues to add forces to bela rules to that western russian border region with ukraine. and that's

a concern for the united states and for nato allies. and therefore, for, according to the pentagon that's met with u. s. troops, but of course in a very much smaller scale, and they'll, for that move also is a symbolic move given that you have already 60000 us troops stationed in europe, 800000 russian troops on the other side of the border. plus those $3000.00 us troops coming in. now, really a small amount of soldiers with the ultimate goal, of course, to deter russia from invading ukraine. and do we know how long those troops will be stationed in eastern europe or the official take was that this is a temporary deployment, but we do not know exactly how long they will be stationed. us wants to reach an agreement following their diplomatic efforts has been made clear time and time again by president biden himself. but that of course, implies that a lot of your potent deescalate that he changes course, that he drops his maximum demands that we've been hearing that for example,

that nato would ban ukraine from joining the block is certainly something that nato and the western allies reject. and it doesn't really look like russia is moving right now. and so we're looking at a true built up on the russian side. we're seeing those troops deployed from the u . s. side. so certainly, we're going to see more tensions there before we see any kind of de escalation now for america as lengthy wars and brought in the recent chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. is there really support among the us public for a potential confrontation with russia? no, absolutely not. clear, of course, as you mentioned, that has been the core reason why the biden administration pulled all their troops of, of kansas and, but keep in mind that is not the plan. there's not the plan to have any further escalation there. the pentagon made clear that the troops that are sent are not to have any contact with russian troops. neither should there be any american boots on

ukrainian soil. so that is all just for deterrence. at least that's the official take. right detail these oliver's on reporting for us from washington d. c. thanks so much for that. and german chancellor all are sold said on wednesday the he plans to meet with president vladimir putin, to discuss the tensions between ukraine and russia. the to dish, but ultimate, of course, i have also spoken with the russian president, and of course we are carefully preparing everything that needs to be done. our phone. i will now be going to the us and i will be continuing the conversation on the necessary issues in moscow soon as you know, it's important that the policies of the european union and nato are coordinated. but it's also important that the decisions that we take are the result of sound preparation and hard work. does it ignore metadata? or political correspondence? simon young has this assessment of the meeting. we know that officials have been trying to set up a meeting between shots of putin for several weeks. and this,

by the way, would be the 1st face to face meeting with president putin said sir olaf, sholtes ah, became chancellor. they had spoken briefly on the phone before, or the thing we do know is that to show his heading to washington for a meeting with their president biden on monday. that's to coordinate details of the year west's response to this crisis. so i'm assuming that it happened after that now as to what he can possibly achieve will allow short says that his 1st priority is to prevent war. and perhaps the best way of doing that would be to convince vladimir putin that the west and germany in particular is really serious. when they say that they will not accept any russian incursion into ukrainian territory, olaf shots has said repeatedly, if that were to happen, then all auctions are on the table and that includes the nod stream to a gas pipeline. so this meeting would be a chance to look a putin in the eyes. and,

you know, make it clear to him what the price would be of any further russian aggression, some young forest there. now let's get a round up of some other stories making world news headlines at this hour. for the 1st time in almost 2 years, a new zealand will begin to re opening its borders in stages from the end of february. under the new rules vaccinated citizens entering the country will be able to self isolate at home. instead of in hotel quarantine. women's students are back at some of afghanistan's universities in a significant concession by the taliban colleges in around a 5th of provinces. how it re admitted women. but classes are segregated. the taliban rulers have been under pressure to improve women's rights since seizing power last year. northern ireland agriculture minister has ordered an end to all post breakfast checks on freight with the rest of the u. k. written and you

are currently talking about reforming. the northern ireland protocol, ireland says, any unilateral change to that agreement is a breach of international law. germany and the u. s. have rejected the word apartheid in connection with israel. amnesty international published a report accusing israel of practicing segregation, dispossession and exclusion against palestinians. and missy said its findings were based on the seizure of palestinian land and to be forcible transfer of people. israel has strongly rejected the findings with golden. new data released this week by danish researchers. it shows that greenland massive ice sheet has lost enough ice in the past 20 years to cover the entire united states with half a meter of water. the climate is warming faster in the arctic than anywhere else on earth and ice melting away from greenland is now the main factor in rising oceans.

on the front line of climate change, current studies show green lands rapid melt is helping push up global sea levels. they risen by an average of $1.00 centimeters around the globe. daughter see him all the up the arctic ocean especially is warming out. that's led to this dramatic melting of ice. the ice sheet at the top of greenland is actually continuing to grow. but the ice low down is melting away, much quicker than what's going on topic. this is free. if you mia, i thought, well, call this nasa model shows just how rapidly it's happening. since 2002, 4700000000 tons of ice have melted away from greenland coasts. that's enough to put the whole of the united states under half a meter of water. rising sea levels are a threat to us all. you can get here and the insulin that see the islands of the pacific countries like bangladesh, but also here in germany. it also plays

a role for the german coastline guy. we're already strengthening our defenses. it all costs a lot of money. and so we're also affected by the rise in sea level climate researches, a warning that time is running out the urging politicians to act. now, greenland glaciers, a melting 6 to 7 times faster than they were 25 years ago. and an end to that development is nowhere in sight. now, even before friday's official opening the beijing winter olympics have been mired in controversy concerns about human rights abuses and the high number of corona virus cases threatened to overshadow the games. the olympic torch relay has completed its 1st circuit with more than 500 bearers carrying the flame through the chinese capital e. v. almost $3000.00 athletes will be competing for glory at some are worried. the competitions themselves are risk of becoming a sideshow. hold on. hello, sheila billions have been invested into making beijing 2022,

an extravagant festival of competition. but the build up has been about so much more than sport politics. for instance, some nations including the u. s. and the u. k. you have declared a diplomatic boycott over schuman rights issues and wilson competitors, but no ministers or officials. meanwhile, organizers have threatened athletes with punishment for any behavior or expression that they deem in breach of chinese law, and will expect the io see to rigorously enforce its own rules limiting protests. they shaw us out even as an indian pick charter. they are very strict rules. so for the middle ceremonies and during the competitions, political protests are not permitted either. on other occasions, like at press conferences or during interviews or on personal platforms, the athletes are free to express their opinions. but the athletes must be responsible for what they say. oh, you know?

yeah, you got as i sat in fact, due to covet athletes and journalists will be kept insecure bubbles. while no spectator tickets will be sold to the public. organizers say health and safety are paramount. the law of course covey counter measures are still on top of our agenda . we have been making effective measures, and every thing is under control. without a safe games, there would be no guidance. so we will make sure that the health and safety of all participants is our top priority financially. a total of $32.00 new cases were reported by olympic authorities on wednesday alone. as expected, the pandemic is proving to be one of several headaches for the organizes of beijing 2022. and if you live in the united states, you might be wondering when a major winter storm that's battering, millions of americans will come to annex. well, if local law is to be believed,

it could be quite a while. punxsutawney philip, the groundhog who can supposedly forecast when spring will begin has disappointed thousands of revelers who gather to watch eagerly events. here's how it works. if phil sees his shadow when emerging from the ground, that means another 6 weeks of winter weather. that's just what happened in pennsylvania on wednesday. the groundhog day tradition in the u. s. and dates back to 18. 87. what is your news update at this hour? my colleague stephen beardsley is up next with the business headlines and play richardson in berlin for me in the team here. thank you so much for joining us. ah, ah,

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