berlin. turkey blocks talks on finland and sweden joining the western alliance, and ambassadors failed to reach an agreement. also on the program, moscow's has nearly one thousand ukrainian fighters have surrendered to russian forces in are you paul -- in mariupol. their fate is now unclear.

and key indicators of global warming have hit new records and time is running out. and north korea sends in the army to deal with an outbreak of covid-19 among the nonvaccinated population, with the health care population lacking equipment. i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. turkey has blocked talks on finland and sweden joining nato. both nordic nations have formally submitted membership bids and need unanimous agreement from the thirty current states, but turkey is standing firm. president erdogan accuses them of harring kurdish extremists. >> for turkey, the issue could

actually be about u.s. fighter jets. they were dropped from a u.s. fighter jet development program in 2019. this was after sanctions were imposed on the country providing a russian air defense system. many are hoping to pressure the u.s. to sell them the new f-16 fighter jets instead, a controversial topic in washington. another issue in 2019 halted weapons to turkey after it attacked kurdish people's defense units in northern syria and launched an offensive there. turkish president erdogan could blocked talks for sweden and finland, destabilizing the alliance in the process. >> it would plan to prudence

hand -- play into putin's hands and send a signal that there is no organization in nato. >> antony blinken and his turkish counterpart meant in the attempt -- met in an attempt to find a compromise. >> turkey was supporting the open-door policy of nato before this war, but this possible candidate, the candidate countries, we have legitimate security concerns they have been supporting terrorist organizations and they are -- there are restrictions on defense products. >> this will likely isolate turkey and nato circles, but will do good things for

president erdogan back home. phil: let's get more on the meeting between the u.s. secretary of state and his turkish counterpart. how did the meeting go? >> when finland and sweden signaled they were making this decision, they expected a tough response from moscow, not from one of its own. so the rest of nato was pretty irritated and outspoken about it, but from today's meeting between the foreign minister of turkey and bidens national security advisor blinken, both sides are on a path to find an agreement. at this point, they don't mention the specifics. phil: right. what does turkey want out of this meeting? >> and cara's main demands are

for the nordic countries to halt work for -- on the northern territory, and they want them to lift bans on sales of arms to turkey. they are using the current war in ukraine to raise his case, as he knows how important it is for nato to stay united against vladimir putin. plus, erdogan is facing an election in his own country and his polls are really down, so he definitely wants to show strength to his own people. phil: this is not his first argument with nato allies, so he is not worried about his country being isolated within the alliance. >> i wouldn't go so far, but i think it is fair to say he is often playing both sides. what do i mean with that? for someone who fights with russia and syria on the one hand

, but supports ukraine against putin's army. why does he not? he wants to be seen as an indispensable mediator, which allows him, after all, to keep doing business with everyone he wants to. phil: so is the thinking that turkey will really stop sweden and finland from joining nato? >> at this point, the u.s. is confident they will reach a settlement. there seems -- from my understanding, being here in washington and reporting about the white house, there seems no way nato would give erdogan this power. i think it is pretty possible that we know more after biden met with the presidents of sweden and finland, tomorrow at the white house. phil: our correspondent in

washington. back in ukraine, russia says nearly 1000 ukrainian soldiers have surrendered at the steel plant in mariupol. authorities hope they can be traded for russian prisoners of war, but authorities in moscow are calling them to be put on trial and even executed. talks about remaining -- the evacuated fighters remaining at the plant are --. russian troops showed them being led away from a sprawling steel plant. russia says they will be treated for international norms, but there have been called to designate the regiment a terrorist organization. a russian lawmaker taking part in peace talks says russia should consir the death penalty for the regiment. >> they do not deserve to live after the monstrous crimes against humanity they committed,

and are committed continually against our prisoners. ukraine officials remain hopeful their soldis can be exchanged for russian prisoners of war. >> from our side, we can say the negotiation process is ongoing, and the rescue operation health is also ongoing. >> there has also been some unprecedented criticism of the war from unexpected orders. >> the main problem with our military and political position is that we are in full geopolitical isolation. no matter how much we hate to amid it -- admit it, virtually the entire world is against us. that is a situation we need to get out of. this marks a rare win for russia's mitary and ukraine, but it could be short-lived. finland and sweden have made a joint application to join nato, a further setback to moscow's

ambitions to maintain block. phil: our correspondent in kharkiv -- what was likely to happen to the prisoners captured in mariupol? ukraine is still opening for a prisoner exchange, and this was the deal in the beginning, but everyone aware -- is aware that this deal is not there untilt has happened. th reason why he' fighters have stayed so long in the steelworks and why they have not surrendered, despite having very little food left, little ammunition left, etc., they feared that in russian hands they would either be executed or tortured. what we are hearing now from moscow, points to that possibility as well. they are now in their hands. it is moscow now. that is what will happen to them. phil: how much of a blow is the

loss of mariupol to the ukrainian war effort? >> from the very beginning, there was little hope that mariupol could somehow be saved this date. -- this fate. it was surrounded early in the war and it was clear the ukrainian army did not have the capabilities and capacities to break through to the city and open a way in or out, and may be keep control of it. it was surrounded and it was a matter of time, so this does not come as a surprise and people feel sad about it, but it is not a psychological blow in that way. what it does, however, militarily, it releases many of the russian troops who have been fighting, they might now be deployed elsewhere, to the donbass, where the most intense fighting is going on now. phil: you are in kharkiv, the

country's second biggest city. what is going on there? >> the city's breathing after a long time of being not besieged, because it was never surrounded, but the russian troops being very close and shelling the city residential quarters, the city center has been hit by several rockets. there is a lot of distraction in this city and people have been hiding in the city for many, many weeks, for months, actually. now it is a bit safer, although we do your some artillery somewhere in the distance. we went to a villageoday outside othe cityhat was occupied and that ukrainian forces have taken back recently. fighting is still going on there. they have pushed the russians away from the cities orders, but not out of the region yet. phil: thank you to our correspondent in kharkiv. a russian trolled -- soldier

being tried for alleged war crimes in ukraine has admitted to killing a 62-year-old civilian. this sends a message, ukraine says, that those who kill -- commit more crimes will not evade responsibility. >> this russian soldier has been accused of a war crime. this case centers on the shooting of an unarmed civilian in the first week of russia's invasion of you rain. through a translator, the judge asks a russian sergeant if he pleads guilty. from inside the glass box comes the answer, yes i do. if the court convicts him, the 21-year-old russian could spend the rest of his life in prison. the lawyer for the accused soldier plans to challenge the

war crimes charge. despite his client's guilty plea. >> the fact that he pleaded guilty does not necessarily mean that he is guilty to the exact charges detailed by the prosecutors. i think he admitted those events happened, but as for the classification, the work will decide. i personally don't see criminal substance in his actions. >> watching the trial is katerina, the widow ofhe killed 62-year-old civilian. as a young man, her husband used to work with russians during the soviet era. for katerina, any forgiveness is a long way off. >> can you forgive him? >> no. they brought too much grief to

us. to any children have been kied. there has been too much brutality. >> ukraine accuses the russian army of committing widespread war crimes. it's a charge that moscow denies , but ukraine's prosecutor general, seen here with journalists, is preparing cases at least against 40 russian soldiers. back at the court in kyiv, the country's long fight for justice is just beginning. phil: a quick look at some of the news related to this war. the united states has reopened its embassy in key. the u.s. state deptment says a small number of staff will return to the ukrainian capital. several companies -- countries have reopened their embassies over the last month. the european commission

president ursula von der leyen has announced a plan to end europe's dependence on russian fossil. wind power production was also pledged to be increased in the north sea. this was signed in denmark. the international criminal court is sending investigators to kyiv to investigate possible crimes against humanity. the u.n. has launched a five plan aimed at averting a global climate catastrophe. the secretary-general has warned that time is running out as temperatures rise. scientists are also sounding the alarm. climate indicators include greenhouse gas concentrations and rising sea levels, and much of the world is feeling the

efct. >> it's a heat wave that one in six people on earth are currently struggling through. blistering heat has scorched india and pakistan for weeks. on the weekend, temperatures hit a record high of 49 degrees celsius in the indian capital of delhi. >> i am 74 years old. we used to hear about the heat and think of it as an unfortunate event when rajasthan used to go through 48 degrees celsius. this year, all the records have been broken. >> climate change already made extrem lik this hotter and more likely. the heat has killed crops and hurt harvest. the farmer themselves can't catch a breaeither. >> the heat us thirstier.

are also exposed to more heat and have to work with cloth wrapped over our head, and if we don't we get a headache. we cannot afford to stop working. >> heat makes people less productive, but staying outside roo long, as many workers and even children are forced to do,an cause fatal damaged organs. temperatures will keep rising as long as people continue to burn fossil fuels. in a bid to keep weather extremes like this from wrecking communities, world leaders in 2015 promised to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius this century. the average increase might not sound like a lot, buthe effec it has on extremes is a matter of life and death. phil: laura patterson is the world meteorological organization's ordinate or at

the united nations, and joins us from new york. we have just seen the devastating effects of this temperature increase. your organization says temperatures could climb even higher in the next five years wasn't the -- years. wasn'the paris climate agreement aims to stop this? >> it was to lower efforts and keep them down to 1.5 degrees. the report that has been released today shows that 2021 was already around 1.1 degrees rmer than preindustrial times. as you said, in recent weeks we have also seen there is an increasing chance of us reaching temporarily 1.5 degreesn the next five years. however, it is worth stressing this is different than what the paris agreement calls for. it speaks to long-term averages.

one year here or there does not breachhe parisgreement. today's report really highlights that the seven indicators the of uto monitors -- dw -- the wmo monitors are going in the wrong direction. phil: how seriously should we be taking this? >> incredibly seriously. we should be stepping up climate ambition and action. we don't have long. the ipcc has been clear that we need to start massively reducing our greenhouse gas emissions this decade, and the current plans that have been submitted to the paris agrment aren't giving that result yet. we really need governments to be picking up their level of ambition and otherwise, these temperature goals are going to be out of reach.

phil: it's interesting that your report comes out today, the same day the european commission has announced this multibillion euro effort to wean itself off russian fossil fuels that -- and invest in renewable energy out at sea. it's intriguing that it takes a war to get countries to take this seriously. >> yes it is, a warrant a cost-of-living crisis as well. it's really not sustainable and it's t efficient, and it's not in national security interests to be reliant on fossil fuels. the ason - the easy a relatively cheap solution is to step up renewable energies and stop subdizing fossil fuels, and to accelerate action in that direction. phil: we saw in the report some

of the effects and saw how he damages productivity. if this trend continues, what el are we likely to see? >> we will definitely continue to see the types of heat exemes that were here before, in india and pakistan at the moment, all the health impacts and the economic impacts that go with that. interestingly today, there was a study released that showed the types of temperatures, record temperatures in those regions are 100 times more likely now because of climate change. we can expect far more of that. we can expect more droughts, more intense flooding, intense rainfall leading to flooding situations, much like as the report details, as we have seen in germany and western europe last summer. we will also continue to cc levels rising. maybe the amounts, the rate of sea level rise, half a

centimeter a year does not sound like much, but when y add that up and put that on top of storm surges associated with tropical cyclones, you really start to see an increasing chance of more coastal flooding, and those extra bits of sea level rise helps reach those levees and sea walls. phil: no one can say we weren't warned. laura patterson, world meteorological organization, thank you. >> thank you very much. phil: north korea is struggling with an outbreak of covid-19. authorities have registered more than one point 7 million cases, and describing the illness as fever related, but it appears there are not enough tests and pyongyang does not appear to have vaccinated its citizens. >> north korea is putting on a show of strength. footage from state media shows thousands of army medics have been mobilized. this -- the kim family,

as always, is front and center. but this might not be enough to combat the wave of covid-19. global fears of a public health crisis remain high. >> the democratic people's republic of korea, the dprk, has announced through their ste media their first outbreak of covid-19. double -- who is deeply concerned with the spread of covid in the country. >> north korea has one of the world's worst health care systems. it's hospitals are believed to be poorly equipped with few intensive care units, and is one of only two u.n. member states that has not ruled out mass vaccination against covid-19. but an uncontrolled outbreak have consequences beyond north korea. >> i think when you have

unchecked transmission, there is always a higher risk of new variants emerging. part of the strategy of suppressing it is to save lives in terms of reducing hospitalizations and deaths, but also to keep pressure on the virus so we don't see the same rate of evolution of the virus around the world. >> pyongyang has not responded to offers of international aid and assistance. north korea's outbreak is almost certainly greater than what it is reporting. doing nothing in response could have far-reaching consequences. phil: finally to india, and a man with a passion for birds. when he moved to the capital of delhi, he was struck by the lack of bird song. to bring back his favorite sounds, he and his wife started building eco-friendly nests for their feathered friends. >> these house sparrows have

returned to the city after many years, thanks to one man who has been making home for thousands of words. his name is rick -- rakesh. >> i was thinking about why we have not seen any nests anymore. where have they gone? it made me feel sad. birds like peacocks and cuckoos were disappearing. ople used to talk about a lot of these things from the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms. i used to think people talk so much about these big issues, but why don't they even think about where the nests have gone? >> the deli resident --delhi resident and his wife started to build nests for the birds, and then switcd to ego from the materials. after a lot of trial and error, the eureka moment came. >> we sat down with our cameras. we waited for three days and

people used to laugh at us. they would say, why did the birds go to your nest? they make the nests by themselves. on the fourth day, i was sitting with my camera. people were passing by and laughing, but a male sparrows sat down on one nest. i have that photo on my website. he inspected it and flew away. he came back with a female sparrow and the two had straws in their mouths. it sounds like the story of a movie, but it is the reality for my life. i saw this and stood up and started clapping. the birds started coming to my nest. >> he has also won several awards for hisork. big organizations in the country and people abroad also realized they can do this. if others can do it, my husband can also-f my husband can do it, others can also do this type of work.

now, contrary teaches schoolchildren to make nests, passing the idea of conservation onto the next generation. >> this journey that i started in 2008 is currently at 250,000 nests. i have to this to millions of students, teachers, and corporations, and this journey is never-ending as long as i have the strength and my body. i hope i will continue this work. this is my passion and my profession. phil: that's it, you are up-to-date. more news in half an hour, but i will be back to take you through the day. looking closer at that war crimes trial into ukraine -- what mightake a soldier trained to kill into a murder. -- murderer. ♪

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>> welcome to live from paris. these are the headlines. a russian soldier these guilty to a war crime charge. the 21 year old faces a life senten for shooting to death a 62-year-old civilian on the fourth day of the russian invasion. a court rejects the request by a french cement firm to dismiss charges of complicity and charges of crimes against humanity and endangering lives. two groups including