pelosi arrived in taiwan, defying threats from china and sang her visit honors america's unwavering commitment to the island's democracy. the trip promises military exercises in response. russia's supreme court calls a

ukrainian regiment a terrorist organization. many of the soldiers are in russian prisons are waiting to hear the update. the u.s. kills one of the key partners of the 9/11 attacks, press biases ayman al-zawahiri died in a drone strike after years in hiding. ♪ welcome to the program. nancy pelosi has landed in taiwan after weeks of speculation of whether she would visit the island that china claims as its territory. china has claimed the trip is a publication and will respond with targeted military operations. i is a 21 chinese jets have entered taiwan's air defense

zone -- taiwan says 21 chinese just have entered taiwan's air defense zone. we asked whether supporting taiwan's diplomacy was the only reason for nancy pelosi's visit. >> that seems to be her most important reason based upon a statement she had issued before her arrival. she is being a high-profile trip and is demonstrating america's commitment to asia more generally. >> i asked the question because it seemed that president biden is not particularly committed to this. he would have preferred her not to go. yet she has gone? >> in the united states congress is a separate but equal plan --

branch of government. he has no authority to stop her from going and members of congress visit taiwan on a fairly regular basis. the speaker of the house is highly unusual, the administration was worried about the potential for isis with -- china over her visit which seems to be what is starting as we speak. >> china has announced air and sea drills around taiwan. drills are likely to be the extent of beijing's response? >> i think they are there immediate response. they issued a map this rning with coordinates for this evening, there was a television prograat 1:00 a.m. chinese time announcing that the exercises have already begun. this is their first move.

from china's standpoint they see the united states we his commitment to the one china policy which has created the framework for u.s. china and taiwan relations. there is a need to underscore their resolve for u.s. china policy and taiwan policy. i suspect this will only be the first movehat they take. they can undertake exercises for several weeks or even months to come, there can be an economic component to this, most likely focusing on taiwan. i do not think these exercises will be the sum total of china's response. >> does this visit and the response to the visit, how does this shift has relationship between china and the united

states which is already pretty fraught? >> thi it confirms the worst case assessment on both sides. that they are drifting from a competitive relationship, the white house often talks about being in competition with china which will be a part of a much more direct confrontation. i think we are witnessing the start of this process. it will unfold over a period of time, it is not inevitable. it appears as if that is the direction of travel we are heading. >> thank you so much for joining us and aligning that for us. -- explaining that for us. >> thank you. >> china has launched official protests with the german embassy in beijing after a foreign

minister criticized chinese aggression towards taiwan during the trip to new york. he said germany stands united with the u.s. >> weight share american concerns, we have learned over the past month that aggressive rhetoric can turn into dangerous action. china's comments in regards to taiwan ways serious questions -- raise serious questions. if china is creating on top of this excessive economic dependency in its region. >> michaela is in new york, she told me more about the german foreign minister's criticisms. >> when she arrived yesterday she wanted to talk about nuclear nonproliferation. she was also asked about nancy pelosi's visit to taiwan.

she said that it was not acceptable in relation to russia at that a bigger ate could attack a smaller nghbor. inteational law also applies to china. th did not go down well, i protest was delivered to the german ambassador in beijing. clearly, this is so that chinese reflects when there is criticism. there is no interest to make a clear statement or reaction on that visit. it appears like the united states they want to see this visit speak for itself and not add fuel to the fire. at is what we are seeing from the chinese side. there's qte a bit of anger over this visit. >> the foreign minister also called for the strengthening of the transatlantic alliae. what does she mean? >> she held a speech on us using the transatlantic moment.

that is a nice way of saying the rediscovery of transatlantic bonds and reliance on the united states in the light of the ukraine war, she says that china is of course a common concern. more alignment with the u.s. policy on china is what she is hinting at. that could mean taking a tougher stance. that could also meet after the failure to get the transatlantic trade agreement together, there could be individual steps that could amount to something like a closer trade framework. >> the foreign minister says germany had abandoned its belief in the concept of change through trade. what does she mean by that? >> this is interesting because this is the question that angela merkel avoided during this final month of being in office.

whether china was proof that this concept had failed. she did not want to answer that question what she means isg that quite having less trade reliance. she has cited ukraine with germany's heavy reliance on russian gas as a negative example. in relation to china, that must mean she has her argument to have less dependence o certain aspects of production and supply line there cannot be certain medicines that can be delivered at home because of the high reliance on china. . she is in line with whatmerica under trump and biden have been callg for for long time. clearly the europeans and germans are rethinking their relations to china. >> thank you for that.

let us take a look at some more stories. croatia has marked international roma genocide remembrance day. an estimated 16,000 people were killed during world war two. community leaders say many roma live in poverty despite rules protecting minorities. this airways ways for suspending sales of four whole flights from london's heathrow airport. at the airport has capped the number of departures because of staff shortages. they have asked fleiss to stop selling tickets. russia's supreme court has ruled that the azoth regiment is a terrorism -- terrorist group. they have a nationalist

background. it was the focus of russia's claims of fascist elements in ukraine. they were in a steel plant in mariupol. russia backed separatists are asking for them to be executed. >> this was the steelworks earlier this year, inside, thousands of fighters from the azoth regiment, the leaders send out video messages. this could be the last appeal of our lives. we are facing our last days if not hours. the enemy outnumbers us 10-1. they did not last much longer, order to surrender, the defenders were taken prisoner. russian officials called them nazis. the group does have it far right history. -- a far right history. it was a fighting pro-russian

separatists in the donbass region. they have been caught nationalists or radicals. they say that they are patriots. russian media also says the group mistreated civilians in mariupol, but without evidence. videos showed fighters helping subelements evacuate before the surrender. -- civilians evacuate before the surrender. they have become potential assets in an potential swap or cease-fire negotiation as the war crimes on without them. -- grinds on without them. >> as a russian court's ruling could change the status of the fighters. -- the russian court's ruling could change the status of the fighters. >> they weren't registered as prisoners of war and that would mean under geneva convention

that they are not charged for fighting in their war. this changes if they are recognized as terrorists, they could face charges and even in the dundas republic, they could -- dunbass republic, they could get the death sentence. i spoke to a lawyer in ukraine and he said it might be only political games by russia to raise the value of the prisoners in this -- in negotiations for a peace agreement. the relatives do not know what to think here. if it is a threat, many are worried because many have

relatives or friends in the army and when they might get prisoners of war, they fear that this pattern of russia's to criminalize the prisoners of war. >> the first ship carrying a ukrainian great exports is a approaching the turkish coast. it set sail after ukraine asserted grain shipments under a deal to end russia's blockade. commodities were halted at the start of the war in february, causing a global food shortage. >> a sign of hope for many, the first cargo ship to leave ukraine since the start of the conflict. 26,000 tons of corn on board, headed to lebanon with a lean crew. >> it is so liberating after being stuck here for so long.

it is an incredible feeling to return to my homeland. >> 20,000,000 tons of grain is waiting to be exported from ukraine. this first ship is an important start, says the u.n. secretary general. >> this merchant vessel is loaded with two commodities in short supply. corn and oat. many rely on ukraine's exports to feed their families. >> the ship is due to enter turkey on tuesday night. authorities are prering for the ship's arrival where the cargo will be inspected. >> due to the bad weather conditions, the ship is expected to anchor in eston bell around midnight -- istanbul around midnight. >> after arrival procedures, an

inspection will be carried out with russia, turkey, ukraine, and united states. they ship will be on his way subject to results. >> eight ukrainian ports on the black sea, 60 death grain -- eight ukrainian ports on the black sea, 60 ships await great exports. >> this is a crucial stage ahead of the 8:00 local time wednesday, we will see a turkish boarding party with russians and ukrainians and the united nations and they will inspect the ship to see everything is according to the declaration of the ship. every ship involve leaving and going to ukraine will have to be searched by these parties of ukrainians, russians, turks, and

united nations. this has been coordinated in istanbul and this is seen as crucial to the ongoing program they are talking about needing 100 ships a month to meet the target. each ship needs to go ahead as lou mosley and ts process should start on wednesday -- each ship nds to go ahead as smoothly as possible and this process should startn wednesday. it will go on 211 two -- lebanon to deliver food. >> ayman al-zawahiri was killed in a strike in afghanistan. the cia targeted the man they believe was central to the 9/11 attacks. >> in the heart of this w wealty kabul neighborhood or many

taliban leaders reside, as a leader of al qaeda found a hideout. a u.s. official says ayman al-zawahiri was identified spending timen the balcony of the house where he was eventually struck early on sunday morning. >> we have eliminated the leader of al qaeda, he will never again allow afghanistan to become a terrorist safe haven because he is gone and we will make sure that nothing else happens. it cannot be a launching pad, we are going to see that will not happen. >> he was osama bin laden's right hand man before succeeding him as the leader of al qaeda. he was responsible for planning the 9/11 attacks and other operations including two u.s. embassy bombings in east africa

in 1998 and the attack on the u.s. cold war ship in yemen in 2000. following the strike that followed him, the taliban accused the u.s. of violating international principles and an agreement. the americans say that the taliban has broken the deal because they were harboring al qaeda. >> this journalist lived in afghanistan and i asked if he was surprised that ayman al-zawahiri had been living in kabul. >> i was surprised, it was a 10 minute walk from my apartment. i would ask everybody was also surprised.

there haveeen credible reports that not afghan jihadists have been visiting or staying in kabul so at some people like him have been in kabul was known, he lived in a position, that was not a surprise. >> was it possible for him to be living in such a simple position without the taliban knowing? >> this is almost impossible to verify but it is barely imaginable that the taliban could not have known that he was around. even if one would assume that it would the make -- it would make as a taliban look good if they missed someone like him living right in front of them. either way it does not look good for the taliban. >> do we then presume that al

qaeda -- he is there, we presume that al qaeda, his organization will be operating freely in the country or have been since the u.s. withdrawal? >> al qaeda has never completely disappeared from afghanistan. we are talking about an estimated dozen or so or a few dozen members so that they have been while the u.s. was staying there and while there was a republican government in hiding. this is the taliban takeover, you and reports have indicated that they move around more freely so that al qaeda is around and is not a surprise in itself. the question is what they are doing, are they just hiding out? are they planning things? information is barely available. there are around, that was more or less clear. >> what differences do you see

between this operation out of the operation to kill osama bin laden in 2011? >> from a technical standpoint, there were two clearly different operations. here it was a strike with a drunk, no u.s. foods on the ground, the way that president biden said they intended to do counterterrorism. they dnot need huge presence on the ground to do such things. a mission to kill bin laden, u.s. helicopters started from a base in afghanistan, crossing into pakistan, you had u.s. soldiers on the ground hauing the target down. it w a different modus operandi. it was both al qaeda leaders that were targeted. >> thank you for that.

wildfires in california have earned through huge areas of forest and displaced thousands of people. -- burned through huge areas of rce and displaced thousands of people. droughts and rising temperatures have made california vulnerable december fires. we have been talking to californians who have seen the fires close up. >> any day they can use helicopters in the battle against the fire is a good day. the blaze is curving deep bass carving deep wounds into the beautiful mountainous landscape and is leaving many residents wounded and scarred. the town's elementary school is an red cross evacuation center.

shelter for all who had to run from the flames, those who need help now in one way or another. >> fires of impacted different neighborhoods and communities that have impacted different neighborhoods and communities -- fires have impacted different neighborhoods and communities. we are providing the emotional care that they are needing it right now. >> ronnie mcguire was surprised by the fire while at work. >> it was that quick, less than 40 minutes from when i saw it, 20 minutes to get home, grab a few items, and the flames were teasing me out of the driveway. -- chasing me out of the driveway. >> the electric companies are repairing fi electricity lines. the u.s. marines veteran asked

me for a favor. >> we have an american flag, posted on my property. i do not want to see it right now. post valve flag for me. -- post that flag for me >>. >> it will give me inspiration. i cannot win. i am not ready. >> we are following on the front with his help, we are trying to find robbie's house. >> i do think that is it? >> this is it. the site at the bottom has its address on it. >> front yard, i guess? it should. -- a shed. >> there is nothing left.

there is nothing left. >> as a rod and he asked us to, we posted his replacement -- as rodney asked us to, we posted his replacement flag. we are back with rodney in his motel room. after running for his life days ago he sees what is left of his house for the first time. >> oh my god! >> we would have to guess. >> thank you guys. i needed to see the damage so i could heal. >> firefighters put up a fight against the oak fire every day. for a lot of people, in mariposa

county. >> here is a reminder of our top story at this hour. nancy pelosi has arrived in taiwan, marking the highest level visit by a u.s. official in 25 years. she says it highlights our country's unwavering support for taiwan's democracy china will launch military exercises offer taiwan's coast in response. we will be back in a moment. taking a look at the nancy pelosi visit to taiwan and the united states assassination of the al qaeda leader. that in just a moment. ♪

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jackson on france 24 and france went for.com -- france24.com. >> nancy pelosi touches down in taiwan, china vows a response and tonight 21 chinese planes fly into taiwan's air defense zone. fresh details emerge of the killing of ayman al-zawahiri in kabul, runs 24 geo locates his house to the bridges -- british embassy and afghan capital. the first ship of ukrainian grain to leave odessa since the war began has now reached