you'll find more information on that site, a. d, w dot com ah, just hours after germany in the united states announced plans to sin battle tanks to ukraine, a reminder of why those tanks can not arrived soon enough. russian forces on wednesday captured a mining town in eastern ukraine for keep a russian reality check along the front lines. the fighting, it's fiercer than ever. the arrival of western tanks will be long overdue talk of a ukrainian victory this year. it could be overkill. i'm burnt off in berlin. this is the day. ah, the bottle is very important, the wheel that we miss. burn workers fear plot is also

a weapon. please don't forget we defend mark just about to put a band also as a saying, well, you would be in water. that was 21. i'm wasn't sure. the russians go so far as are we allowed to go. i want to repeat. well, we don't want to us to talk to russian black hours ago due to flock european family as democratic, more than also coming up a message for the catholic churches. fastest growing congregations this week, pope francis said that homosexuality is a sin, but it's not a crime. scene was being homosexual, is not a crime, inca every man and every woman must have a window in their life with where the content to the help and way they can see the dignity of god and being homosexual, isn't a crimes. it's a human condition is not on cinema. ah,

but to our viewers watching on tv, us in the united states into all of you around the world. welcome. we begin the day with airstrikes and you what some see as the latest acts of russian revenge in the country. on wednesday, germany of the united states announced that they will send battle tanks to ukraine, the news aloud ukrainians. a bit more hope that they may be able to win the war against russia and do so sooner rather than later. while the criminal sees it differently, president putin spokesperson saying that the tanks will be a mistake for which the ukrainian people will have to pay. when the wave of air strikes across you crane may have reminded civilians of how real just how real the russian military threat remains. we spoke earlier with the mayor of keith. it's hell eclipse co, about his peoples resiliency in the face of russian fireball. the russians tried to destroy our infrastructure right now. snowing outside temperature was pretty cold,

and the target to target a critical infrastructure to russians forces right to freezing a hometown. try to make that huge damages and destroy normal life ought to be there. and to make a house to try to bring a depressive mood to everyone, to everyone, our citizen instead of them, the people were angry and read as a 5. listen, the i year like, great saying the, our citizens felt better without let to stand what and then with russians. and we're still fighting for how and dependency for our freedom in the butler is very important. the wheels, we in this very spirit, but it's also very important and weapons and we defend right now, our homes,

our country, and please don't forget with his mom just now homes. we defend also the same wireless european, modern democratic wireless, and we defend the goss. i'm sure, do russians go so far as far we allow to go and we listen for we listen. what's wrong from moscow? they talking about and they talking about body countries and putting present himself as a collector all warmer during rush and what they want to rebuild the russian class . and i want to appease one. what we don't want back to us is we don't want to beat the point of running our dog to be the part of european family democratic more than it was telling them that the mayor of ki, well,

were the earth drawings that ukrainian soldiers. they were, they some sort of russian re ality jack meant for you gradient. i put that question to ed arnold. he is the european security research fellow with the royal united services institute. no, don't think so. what we saw yesterday is a significant defensive capability in the form times which has to be used with all of the other and military assets of the western provided, linking through fighting vehicles and artillery. and that will have real use come spring and summer when ukraine is going to go on the significance offensive in terms of the strikes that we're seeing as the last 24 hours, which has been striking the civilian targets for months now. and so i don't think that those 2 things are linked in terms of escalation of what they did in terms of the time commitment yesterday. and then on the 3rd and final points. yes, we're still taking some ground,

but it's incremental. it's not much ground. it's of no strategic value in that bank and very, very heavy cost for or you could bids then that when once we reach a certain number of tanks in ukraine, that we will see the gradient military. they'd be able to not only hold these front lines, but be able then to push russian forces back. if the i mean, are you convinced that's going to happen? it's been the ukrainian defense plans, obviously come up with the number 300 and that's what they assess that they need to take back the territory roughly 20 percent of ukrainian territory is in russian hands. so that is the number that they are provided at the moment in terms of time support for europe, and also the u. s. it's been over a 100, but i expect that to rise and actions a lot of the statements for these that, you know, there is a bit of an installation that these might also be of initial trenches. so you might see more times in the coming days and months, but also in ukraine needs and offensive capability. they'll take a 100 tanks and it's also,

it's not necessarily technical specifications. the times is how they use them. and you could have to decide whether they put them immediately into the fight. now it in the east or they hold them back for us with the largest or offensive and try and use them to, to train a higher echelon and use them in a more strategic way. that's a critical question. ukraine, them. and we've, we've been told that ukrainian soldiers, they obviously will have to be trained for and how to operate these lippard, to tanks. but can you give me an idea of the timeline we're working with, in terms of transporting these tanks from where they are there? there are numerous countries across western europe. they have to be transported from they are to ukraine. what type of time horizon here should we be looking at for the moment? so people say around 2 to 3 months for the lap and switch feels about why it says that she probably quite quick. given that the decision was only made 2 days ago,

this decision should have been made in october last year, following the counter fences in the south and east in september where the ukrainians objective for that was essentially saying, you know, we can do the job. we just need the tools. so actually the west is delayed this decision already, which means the timeline is quite tight. the ad one abrams, which will come from the u. s. the 31 has a quite large that it just takes footprints just because of the size of the time gets larger than that and to challenge and to and also the way that the fuel system works. so it needs a lot more so that, you know, these are all issues and the logistics issues on not insurmountable. but i think for your now what they need to decide is, is this a transactional hitcho's hangs? and that says, or is this that she, you know, they need to sustain the and more times over a number of potential months and years and not to stage maintenance repair that posed, for example, in poland. that's going to be a critical requirement now for the europeans to make. and before i let you go

u. s. president by the he until yesterday basically he had said that the abrams tanks, they're just not suitable for what they need to do in you crate. he's now not saying that we don't know, maybe the end of the year, we'll see the 1st abrams in ukraine. it did, he just maybe offer that to the germans to get those a leopard to takes where they need to be. yes, the any main battle times from the west are suitable to ukraine, just because it is where they are in the current war. what they need to achieve, hopefully this year to try and get some assumption of the fighting this year. like you said, the challenges of getting in was not insurmountable, but the u. s. did not want to do this. they will be very annoyed with the germans, was basically forcing their hands in order to release leopards. if you look at what the u. s. or providing in both ross says infantry fighting vehicles, high loss mission. you know,

it's totally 26000000000 now and stay late to support package from the u. s. match the u. k. assistance package for the entirety of last year. the u. s. a. doing all of the heavy lifting in a european war again, and i think they'll be very annoying to the fact that there's now has to sort of be forced into providing the n was that they think they didn't want to provide. yeah, that is a point that has been made repeatedly and you are making it again tonight as well. mr. edward, are we appreciate your insights tonight. thank you. i hope francis has spoken out against the laws on the books in some 60 countries that criminal lines, homosexuality saying that they are unjust. now that message comes just ahead of the positives visit the south sudan wanted numerous african countries. we are being gay . is a crime sometimes punishable by death. so closely, we are all children of god. okay. and god loves us as we are. and for the strength

that each one of us has to fight her at dignity, cinemas, being homosexual, is not a crime. it is not a crime, cps, but it's a sin you say, well, yes, but let's make this distinction placed between sin and crime it. it's also an intellect charity with one another. so what about that? every man and every woman must have a window in their life with where the content to the hope and where they can see the dignity of god and being homosexual, isn't a crimes. it's a human condition is not oh my next guest tonight is one carlos cruise. he is an openly gay man who serves as an adviser to pope frances on l. g. b. teach you matters. he is also a survivor of abuse by a priest in chile, it is an advocate for all such survivors. it's good to have you on the program. with this, we understand that the catholic church, when it looks at growth, in terms of numbers, size of congregations,

the strongest growth that it if seeing is in africa right now, that also happens to be the place where you are seeing even new laws that are being put on the books in some countries that criminalize homosexuality was this what we were hearing in this interview from the pope an attempt to maybe shepherd these growing flocks. is there were he was trying to do well 1st thanks for having me. and i, you know, you said it before the statement, the pope made yesterday is, is groundbreaking. no pope has ever done it in history. and i do think, yes that it's not only for growing continent growing where catholics are growing in africa. i think the pope has even a bigger ambition, i would say to make sure that human dignity is respected everywhere. the l g

b t. community is persecuted, is condemned. there's violence against a community, there's draconian, horrible laws you know, criminalizing almost a tragedy. and so it's important that the pope makes the statement and that other public figures, politicians, other faith leaders, bishops, cardinals, follow, follow his teaching. and it's, it's important because he wants the church in africa to thrive. but at the same time, this is a dilemma, isn't it? you've got growing congregations that have politicians in them that support putting game in lesbians, transgender people in prison, or maybe even putting them to death for being homosexuals. he knows that he's got to that's got to be stopped in order for the church to maintain its legitimacy. i

would go even further, you're absolutely right, but i would go even further. there's even church leaders that support at the passing of laws that criminalize in some way that the l g b t. community that definitely has to stock. and the silence of that higher key sometimes leads to these draconian laws, like i said before, to bubble up to be bigger and people need to, to speak up. you've got, you've got bishops, you've got members of the catholic church in africa who they know that they've got the leverage now. they know they've got the growing congregations and then they point to the catholic church, particularly in europe, but also in north america. and they say, look at your, your child sex abuse scandals, is history of that. you know, you've got what they perceive as gay men who have prey to punish children. what

they're doing is they're telling their people, they're asking us to bring that here. what's, what's your message to those church leaders who are passing on this horrible message? you're absolutely right. this horrible message, this criminal message that they're passing and i would turn it around for them, right? it's criminal. what they're doing. first of all, as a survivor of sexual abuse, you cannot equate them. pedophilia with homosexuality, they're absolutely 2 different things. gay men are not kind of a, some are some heterosexual men are part of this is, this is not a matter of sexual orientation. would you like to say that there would you like to hear the pope say that mr. cruz isn't? yeah, absolutely, absolutely. i think, i think though he's

a big statement right now. i think the people that have the that have megaphones or that have opportunities. i have to say it themselves as well. it doesn't, it doesn't stop with just the pope, especially in, for example, i'll tell you something in, i don't want to miss owens to it. but, but i deal with, i mean survivors from all over the world. and i met them from one african country. they're heterosexual. survivors of sexual abuse when they were children, they don't dare to speak up about their abuse because there are laws against homosexuality in that country. though they're afraid that they are going to be labeled homosexuals and go to jail. so it's, it's, it's shameful. everywhere you look at it and it's

still, it's still hard though to get that message to these growing congregations. because even if the pope says, almost sexual are not criminals, he's still saying they're sinners. and in a lot of people's minds, those centers and criminals are one of the same. yeah. but, but i, i, you show the interview and i, i'd encourage people to, to review it. the pope has a very singular way of when he preaches, when he speaks and interviews he, he was saying being homosexual is not a crime. and, and then he talks to himself like there is another person. he said, well, they might say that it's the same by compare a sin to them. it's a bigger thing to hurt your fellow human being or to persecute someone from the l d p community just because he's l u b. that's

a bigger sin and the pope says that so i, i do believe that some people, especially in the more conservative media, are trying to prove this. mr. cruz and i hate dinner, but we're running out of time. i want to, i want to thank you for taking the time to talk with us mr. one of those not crews advise you to the pub. thank you. take care. ah, a deadly cold step is with your cross asia record. low temperatures are disrupting the lives of millions of people from japan and south korea to afghanistan, which is experiencing its coldest winter in 15 years. people in china's northernmost city more. he and no strangers to the cold. the temperature here can stay below freezing for up to 8 months of the year. but this week things are especially chile, temperatures plunged to minus 53 degrees celsius. it's coldest day ever recorded

with yet. so northern china has been hit hard by the freezing front, affecting asia roads are covered in snow rail tracks, a frozen with thick ice july broad through seizure. go here and junk. a cycling isn't an option either. the cold sweep has caused sea ice and northeastern li alden bay to expand rapidly. it's not just china that's freezing. japan is also experiencing record low temperatures. heavy snow is blanketing large parts of the country. with $93.00 seemed to meet its falling on the city of money were in just 24 hours in south korea, nearly $500.00 flights in and out of the resort island j ju were cancelled on tuesday to, to the wither. meanwhile and central asia, the weather is proving deeply in afghanistan, temperatures have dropped

a minus 34 degrees in parts and more than a 120 people are reported to have died. we are having so many problems with this cold weather. we have no call, no stove, and our children have no warm clothes. the cold is deepening, the humanitarian crisis, facing the country since the taliban took control. yes, gun winter makes everything a lot more difficult and we're very conscious of the, the season and the timing. and as you say, we see some of the consequences in loss of life. this is within the context of 6000000 people. it's an astonishing number of people. knock it on famines door, the better temperatures, the plunging much of afghanistan, struggling population further into poverty. this year marks the cautious winter and a long time in large parts of asia and for the millions effected spring can't come

soon enough. was only me now is framed. smith is an independent journalist, reporting from sole south korea. good morning to you, frank. i think it's what about 5 50 in the morning there. we appreciate you getting up and it is early in the morning. is it so cold that you don't one of the drought and if you do have to venture out, are you even able to definitely to call to venture out and i'm not going to do a live interview with him outside as i've done previously. it's, it's gone down to minus 25 minus 28 with the wind chill as your report mentioned, flights in and out a check to island were cancelled earlier this week. and to get people off of that sort of sub tropical island that received a, you know, more than 20 centimeters of snow or so they opened up the airports in sol, in sean, and in game po, airports later to bring all those lunar new year. holiday makers,

back to the back to the mainland peninsula. they also deployed 2000 workers and a 1000 trucks around the capitol to, to clean and salt salt the streets. this is one of those stories too, that hits home in the building. i'm in, i live in a new or apartment building. we had some pipes freeze in, in the lobby of the building, burst and then spew water around the, the lobby of the building, and then freeze quite, quite an area creating kind of an ice rink there. so the greens are also dealing with an increase in, in energy cost because of the war and ukraine, south korea imports a 100 percent of its oil. so people saw their bills go up as the country imported more gas and coal, to deal with these energy shortages with the government just this week, announcing subsidies for people to in, in low income to deal with this increase in energy prices here. rent for your in

a place where energy prices may be high, but you've got the infrastructure to deliver the energy the and to keep you warm and dry. what are people in north korea? what are, what do we know about their realities right now in terms of, of heat for everyone and also food supplies? well, it depends a little bit where you are. if you've ever seen a satellite image of north korea night, there's a lot of light around the capital pyongyang and then outside of that it's, it's a black space. it almost looks like the ocean in places in north ham, young and south ham young provinces. these are bordering russia. they don't have a lot of electricity. so people rely on things like plastic sheeting to insulate their homes, would and dried plans to provide burning wood and dried plans to provide some, some heat to their homes. and there were reports last year of people going missing and, and freezing in the cold snap. so there is

a lot of concern there along with the food insecurity, brought on by north korea, shutting down as borders over the cove at 19 pandemic, just opening up late last year. so that's also a concern for those again, northern provinces in north korea, brent and we watch what people are having to do with me. you're having a proper and extreme winner, but it is cold there. and, you know, here in berlin, we're in one of the warmest january's on record. they're expecting february to be the same. i mean, you've got these extremes even for winter right now. what are you being told by meteorologist? how long is this cold snap? how long is it going to last? is that also going to be extreme? well it's, it's been extreme. certainly, you know, i've, i've lived in south korea for more than 20 years. now. this is the coldest. it's ever been in my memory, it, it hit record lows and in several cities here in,

over the past week. it's likely to carry on through saturday and then warm up a little bit into, into next week. you know, if we consider this also with the weather that we had in the summer, you know, a heat wave here in the summer and record rainfall that flooded the capital. sol, in late summer, early early fall. this, this past year in 2022 considering these extreme weather patterns it's, it's not surprising that we have meteorologist here calling this extreme why they're connecting it to climate change, of course and, and calling it a new normal brent frank smith joining us from so south to re afraid, we appreciate you getting up early and stay warm. thank you. the day's almost done. the conversation continues online. you find us on twitter, you directly w, as you can follow me on twitter that bridge. gov tv and remember what ever happens between now and then. tomorrow is another day from see that

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