eastern press conference following the meeting with russian foreign minister sergei lavrov in geneva.e already heard from lavrov, basically saying everything was great. it seems like we have heard a lot from blinken that he was happy from the meeting. now we hear in terms of what the road ahead looks like, what the potential consequent is offer russia should they perhaps tip their toll more into ukraine if they are not planning to invade it. tonight like a.m., we get conference board u.s. leading index for the month of december. less interested in the specific components of this dataset, more in the overall momentum of the data coming out. the akamai trajectory has been indicated lower and has been disappointing. how much is this the omicron bump? how much will it subside? how much is it deceleration in an economy where consumers are worried about how high prices have gone? at 11: 30, we hear from u.s. treasury secretary janet yellen, speaking at a davos confab. she said yesterday she expects inflation for much of the year to remain above 2%, but if we are successful in controlling th

eastern time will have a separate conference with sergei lavrov.distance from the two hotels is the distance that maria tadeo made that the goal is not have an agreement, it is just to hear each other out. jonathan: i would say the ideal situation would be a joint news conference, not a sovereign 130 minutes apart. nothing about this is ideal, is it? tom: we will bring that to you worldwide and looking at headlines. for at least everyone in america and a tumultuous united kingdom, the conversation is we all go to omicron this weekend. i have to cut to the headline news and i see a 714 day average -- seven to 14 day average that is 2000 deaths per what does the signal to you? >> this is a major shift on how the variants have been causing disease. we have seen omicron be less severe but because it is so transmissible, it is increasing case numbers and therefore slightly lower severity rates is being trumped by the fact that case numbers are expanding so high. we are seeing case numbers drop but it is important to remember that hospitalizations and de

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sergei lavrov seems to su: est it suggested? sergei lavrov seems to suggest it is — suggested?vrov seems to suggest it is up _ suggested? sergei lavrov seems to suggest it is up to _ suggested? sergei lavrov seems to suggest it is up to the _ suggested? sergei lavrov seems to suggest it is up to the united - suggest it is up to the united states. and then after a meeting that lasted just an hour and a half, tentative signs that diplomacy is not over. talks, mr lavrov said, have been useful. translation: , , ., ., translation: this is not the end of our dialogue. _ translation: this is not the end of our dialogue. as _ translation: this is not the end of our dialogue, as i _ translation: this is not the end of our dialogue, as i said, _ translation: this is not the end of our dialogue, as i said, and - our dialogue, as i said, and secretary— our dialogue, as i said, and secretary blinken has said we will -et secretary blinken has said we will get a _ secretary blinken has said we will get a reaction to our initiative. mr blinken get a reaction to our initiative. blinken says get

antony blinken and sergei lavrov meet today in geneva. a warm welcome to the show. i asked myself this question, whether we had an evolution of more implosion in the equity story or are we exhausted as we see stocks tank and bond yields begin to roll over? this is the debate. exhaustion or evolution? good morning. dani: very exciting friday. it does not seem like it is exhausted that is because we are still selling off this morning. for me, it seems like the fear of missing out has morphed into the fear of holding the bag. manus: absolutely. who is the last man or woman standing? he is prescient in his calls in japan, in the implosion many years ago. he is saying that a super bubble was formed last year. this incredible checklist has run through its phases now. we are ready for a wild rumpus. it can begin at any time and it's talking about stocks dropping by 50%. very vivid memories. good morning, dani burger. dani: super bubble, wild rumpus. there is a lot in store. the bears are in charge. it's not just jeremy grantham. it is individual investors. the most net bea

and sergey lavrov very clearly says that's not going to happen. this is how he framed it. >> translator: you claim we are going to attack ukraine, although we have repeatedly explained that this is not the case. >> reporter: so this is the conundrum for the united states going forward. yes, the diplomacy is working, but can you take that to the bank that this buildup won't lead to an invasion? >> great to see both of you. thank you so much for that. joining me for more on this is a former secretary of state william cohen. secretary, great to have you here. thank you. we heard from secretary blinken today, and he described the discussions as frank and substantive. but how do you read kind of all that's been laid out here by our correspondents in the region? where do you think this crisis is in this moment? >> well, i'm skeptical on what mr. lavrov says. i've watched him and met him on occasion over the last 20 years, and i would be very skeptical in terms of his assurances that they don't intend to attack. it's as if -- you know, the west seems to

position, knew it clearly, and sergey lavrov said that's fine, we appreciate that. what they want are written agreements. they want a written formal response from the united states clarifying its position, clarifying what it's willing to do to address russia's concerns about nato. and although that might sound easy, asking for answers in writing about russia's concerns, the united states is reluctant to give answers in writing to russia because it doesn't want to make commitments about the future of ukraine in writing. it sounds like it's a colonial power dictating the future of a sovereign country, saying here is what we're willing to accept, here is what we're willing not to accept. so russia is insisting it wants written answers and the -- and secretary blinken is insisting he's not trying to negotiate the knew tour of ukraine. meanwhile, all those troops are still around the border and more troops have been going into neighboring belarusbelarus. it was a tough day for the secretary of state. >> richard engel, thank you for that. we will have much more on this si

sergei lavrov.rey — roads covered in ash after the volcanic eruption which was followed by a tsunami. the main concern right now is first trying to clean the dust here in the country, because we've been experiencing dust everywhere. there is no rain, and we've been told we may be expecting rain on saturday onwards, but we've been experiencing that. another concern is our drinking water. aid is now getting through. this is the new zealand military flying in, while ships carrying equipment are now arriving too, bringing fresh water — vital supplies have been polluted by ash — along with shelter kits, electricity generators, and communications equipment. but it's being dropped off without any contact with locals to prevent the risk of covid spreading to the island — it's seen just one case in the pandemic. in auckland in new zealand, charities are coordinating efforts to send in supplies. auckland council, on behalf of the people of auckland, has made a donation from its charitable trust fund of $25,00

here's what russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said after the talks.us is going to present us with written answers to all of our proposals, and he also said in particular that ukraine represents no threat to russia. i would like to once again remind everyone who analyses our public statements and our analysis, and i would like to say, that never before has russia threatened through its official representatives the ukrainian people. the western colleagues have taken the president of ukraine under their wing, condoning anything he does, and the president of ukraine has said if some ukrainian citizen does not feel ukrainian and feels russian, he or she should get out of the country. as far as allegations go, we have responded to everything, and when someone tells us, that is your territory, we recognise that, but there are too many troops, but at there are too many troops, but at the same time they say, it is not our business what the americans do with their troops in europe. this is something we discussed with antony blinken during our talks today. and h

sergei lavrov.in december. his visa was later rejected. matt graveling has this report. this was novak djokovic's chance to win his tenth australian open, and with it, the most grand slams ever achieved in men's tennis. upon arrival in melbourne onjanuary 5, and confirming he was unvaccinated, his visa was revoked by the government. the serbian was given an exemption to play, having tested positive for coronavirus in mid—december. in an attempt to overturn the decision, djokovic's legal team presented two covid test certificates to a federal court in australia. the first, shown to be taken on december 16th, shows a positive result. the second, taken six days later, shows a negative result. a german research company questioned why the unique confirmation code on the earlier test was higher than the later one. the bbc has investigated if codes on tests done in serbia are generated in a chronological order. a total of 56 test certificates were collected, and their unique confirmation codes plotted agai

and sergey lavrov sort of described antony blinken in the meeting as sort of repeatedly saying, you knowyou just de-escalate. you just de-escalate. lavrov described this as sort of the a mantra of blinken. and while this is going on, there's a military buildup going on. >> yeah, i want to ask you about the military buildup, nic. right now, russia has 100,000 troops on the border to ukraine. doing military drills, and at the same time, u.s. sending, we just saw the images, 100,000 ton of lethal aid, as they call it. britain sending in anti-missiles. it's far from a de-escalation right now. >> yes, and i think this is one of the things that antony blinken tried to coordinate with se sergey lavrov present in the meeting. there was a moment described as an interesting moment in that meeting, where blinken explained to larvrov what he sees is happening. when russia invaded ukraine in 2014 and annexed crimea, that's what got nato to react to russia's aggression in that case, saying, okay, we need to beef up our presence in eastern europe, and poland, baltic states, all of that grew out of that

he will meet russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in geneva friday. international relief flights are en route to tonga. ash from the volcanic eruption has finally been cleared from the airport runway. the u.s. will start distributing 400 million masks for free across the country next week from its national strategic stockpile. health experts say they are the most protective face covering against the omicron variant. the u.s. has been reporting up to 800,000 new cases every day over the past week. to the u.k. and britain's prime minister has defied cause to quit during a raucous session in parliament. boris johnson said he won't be stepping down over the so-called party-gate scandal. he's been under pressure to resign over those streets in his downing street residence during coronavirus lockdowns. >> in a highly charged atmosphere, prime minister's questions began with another thought -- another major body blow for boris johnson, news that one of his mps had defected to the opposition party. this following morning, newspaper reports of a widening plot

secretary of state antony blinken has been in berlin ahead of friday's meeting with sergei lavrov from russia. they are promising a swift and severe response to russian aggression against ukraine. germany's foreign minister called on moscow to take urgent steps towards de-escalation. >> nothing less is at stake than the preservation of peace in europe. this is existential for us, which is why we have no choice but to defend it firmly and protect it with a shield, even if it could have economic consequences for us. >> let's get more on those developments. >> ukrainians have been closely monitoring the flurry of diplomatic efforts over the past few weeks as this crisis has been deepening. after all, this is a conflict that has cost this country more than 14,000 lives, and after that -- add to that, more than 1.4 million people who are internally displaced, but beyond that, you don't get the feeling that people are worried about an imminent russian invasion, despite all the rhetoric they hear from their own leadership or indeed european and american politicians. people will tell you that

secretary of state linken and sergei lavrov. >> we're very grateful for you for this proposal to hold talks in geneva in thecontext of the work started on the security guarantees >> translator: when you made the phone call to me and proposed that we meet to achieve greater clarity with regard to our concerns, we believed that to be a very -- >> you can see there the meeting between sergei lavrov and u.s. secretary of state antony blinken. let's go to bureau chief max joining us thank you for joining us incredibly important meeting there. what do we expect to occur, if anything what kind of action may be taken? >> it's a miracle this meeting is happening at all because a week ago russia said the talks ran into a dead end so they didn't see any point in having any more meetings. and the u.s. is doing all it can to try to keep diplomacy on the table. but the fact is that both sides know that the -- what the russia is proposing is something that is unthinkable for the u.s. and its nato allies to accept. it's very hard to see where they're going to find any common ground on what russia is

large numbers of troops around its borders and in annexed crimea. the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrovs accused the west of infringing russia's security. moscow has deployed around 100,000 troops near the border, angry that a country once part of the soviet union, is now seeking closer ties with the west. in eastern ukraine, separatists, backed by moscow, have actually been battling ukrainian forces since 2014, with at least 13,000 people being killed in the donbas region. from the frontline, our international correspondent, 0rla guerin, has the latest. 0n the frozen front lines, of eastern ukraine, it is heads down in the trenches, to avoid sniperfire. maria is following in the footsteps of her military father. she keeps watch for the enemy, separatists, backed by moscow, who seized territory here eight years ago. if russia invades, she will be facing far worse. do you believe the russians are coming? i try to avoid politics, she says. psychologically, i try not to get worried. we have heard about their military build—up, but if they try to break through, we will be ready. troops here

mr blinken also plans to meet the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, on friday.inister borisjohnson, who's insisted nobody warned him a lockdown drinks party he attended broke the rules. tory rebels have said they believe there will soon be enough mps calling for his resignation as party leader to trigger a vote of no confidence. the biggest gaming deal in history is taking shape as microsoft says it is buying activision blizzard, the company behind video games such as call of duty and candy crush. the deal is worth almost $70 billion and reflects the soaring success of the gaming industry during lockdown. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk.

the us secretary of state antony blinken and his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov, are scheduled tocrucial talks in geneva later, but moscow denies planning to invade ukraine. here's our diplomatic correspondent james landale. it is notjust the russians who are conducting military exercises. these are pictures released by ukraine's defence ministry, showing their forces training close to crimea. it was annexed by russia in 2014 and the kind of incursion that ukraine and its allies are trying to deter once again. i have been absolutely clear with president putin, he has no misunderstanding, if any assembled russian units move across the ukrainian border, that is an invasion. it will be met with severe and co—ordinated economic response. in some of the most intensive american diplomacy for years, the us secretary of state has been touring western capitals. he was in berlin today, rallying support for ukraine and he appealed directly to the people of russia. you deserve to live with security and dignity, but what really risks your security is a pointless war with your neighbours in ukr

secretary of state antony blinken and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. the secretary of state saying the u.s. made clear a further invasion of ukraine would have severe consequences. >> this was not negotiation but a candid exchange of concerns and ideas. i made clear to mr. lavrov that there are certain issues, fundamental principles that the united states and our partners and allies are committed to defend. that includes those that would impede the sovereign right of the ukrainian people to write their own future. there is no trade space there, none. >> reporter: the meeting came just after new satellite images seemed to show the russian troop build-up progressing with forces stationed less than ten miles from the ukrainian border, well within striking distance. both russia and the u.s. say washington will provide written answers to moscow next week, replying to moscow's security demands including that ukraine never become a member of nato. blinken has recently called that demand a, quote, absolute non-starter. while russia claims it has never threaten

as andrea mitchell mentioned, sergey lavrov is a tough negotiator.sia for many years. he's deeply read in on the the subjects, he's highly skilled, he's respected in russia on a popular level, he's respected as a shrewd negotiator, as a trickster, as something of a secret weapon that russia can deploy, a diplomatic hero. when i've been in moscow, you don't see many people wearing t-shirts or pins of politicians except for vladimir putin and then sometimes sergey lavrov, so he's a well-known figure in russia and known for his skills. this is going to be a difficult series of negotiations to begin with, but then when you had to have the president correct himself right before the negotiations and clarify his position, and after having created so much ambiguity that the ukrainian president angrily responded. so you have the ukraine and the united states exchanging words with the ukrainian president saying to the great powers out there, clearly referring to the united states, there's no such thing as a small incursion. you remember it was president biden

secretary of state anthony blinken and sergei lavrov will meet in geneva, switzerland.otiations have done little to ease tensions so far. and ukrainian leaders say the u.s. and president joe biden must do more to deter a russian invasion. well, tens of thousands of russian troops a mass on ukraine's eastern border and president biden is having to clean up his comments that a minor incursion could bring a less forceful sports from western allies. have a listen. >> i've been absolutely clear with president putin. he has no misunderstanding. if any, any assembled russian units move across ukrainian border, that is an invasion. it will be met with severe and coordinated economic response. russia will pay a heavy price. >> let's get more on the story. cnn's international diplomatic editor nic robertson standing by for us in moscow. in geneva fred pleitgen joins us now. fred, the talks are huge, that is an understatement. what everyone wants to see is a de-escalation of the tensions. what are your spectations from the advantage point? >> reporter: they want to see de-escalati

i was able to ask the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in a press conference whether the russians felt any sort of heldway had been made, but the russians were disappointed the way the meeting went down. listen to what he had to say. >> antony blinken repeated his position on the right to choose alliances. i asked how america is going to fulfill its obligation, which was approved at the highest level in the framework of the osce along with the right to choose alliances, the obligation does not strengthen anyone's security at the expense of infringing on the security of others. >> reporter: as you can see there, the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov saying there will continuously be talks, this is not the end of the dialogue. we under anthony blink season about to depart here from geneva in what has been a beautiful but cold day, about to head back to the u.s. after these very important talks that the russians won't be completely satisfied with but certainly does seem as though there will be another round, other rounds of talks ahead, which, of course, is preferable for the un

the state department official said antony blinken was going to speak with sergei lavrov to see if diplomacy they could to take all avenues for that to get a peaceful solution. it's less than three weeks to go before beijing's winter olympics but the focus is instead on xinjiang. china has been repeatedly accused of human rights abuses against the province's uighur ethnic minority. but now it is using the games to create a snow sport boom in the region. robin brant reports. this is the image of china you'll be seeing over the next few weeks — beautiful snow covered slopes. china's communist party leaders hope it will persuade millions to grab a board or boots and come here like him. but he isn't near the host city of beijing, this is xingyang, it's a troubled region hoping for a major boom of the back of these olympic games. what's that going be like in 20 years time where you are? as china's second olympics approaches these images have been part of the state media reporting on xingyang, almost as if it's part of the games. on xingyang, almost as if it's part of the games. it's very differen

sergei lavrov accused russia's rivals of infringing its security on a daily basis. russia denies planning to invade ukraine. spotify says it's working to add a content advisory to any podcast episode that includes a discussion about covid after a row about misinformation. the musiciansjoni mitchell and neil young asked for their songs to be removed from the platform in protest at its work withjoe rogan who has interviewed vaccine—sceptics. north korean state media has released photographs it says were taken from its biggest missile launch since 2017. the pictures show parts of the korean peninsula and surrounding areas seen from space from a camera on the missile�*s nose. now on bbc news, it's time for dateline london with shaun ley. hello and welcome to the programme that brings together leading uk columnists with the foreign correspondents who write, blog and broadcast for the dateline london. this week an inspector is called — from russia without love — and mr breyer goes from washington. but is it the wrong one? joining us this week steve richards who writes, br

. >> the russians for their part in the form of sergey lavrov were saying they're happy about the fact they'll get those written responses they have been demanding. of course, the core demand the russians have is they want no more nato expansion. specifically that ukraine will never be admitted as a nato member. >> matthew, you have new reaction from ukrainian officials about these talks. tell us. >> yeah, that's right. i just got off the phone actually from a senior ukrainian official who has been telling me about their reaction to these talks. their concerns that these continuing u.s./russian diplomatic efforts could simply be a delaying tactic by moscow to further prepare for a military offensive. of course, moscow has tens of thousands of troops poised just across the border inside russia for the most part, pointed towards ukraine. and still a great deal of skepticism that this diplomatic process will not lead to, you know, a resolution. it could be a delay tactic. in terms of the coordination between the united states and ukraine, well, we're getting much more positive language co

sergei lavrov accused russia's rivals of infringing its security on a daily basis.episode that includes a discussion about covid after a row about misinformation. the musiciansjoni mitchell and neil young asked for their songs to be removed from the platform in protest at its work withjoe rogan who has interviewed vaccine—sceptics. north korean state media has released photographs it says were taken from its biggest missile launch since 2017. the pictures show parts of the korean peninsula and surrounding areas seen from space from a camera on the missile's nose. now on bbc news, it's time for dateline london with shaun

that was sergei lavrov speaking there. show you this report now — from the frontline — from our international correspondent, orla guerin, who has the latest. on the frozen front lines, of eastern ukraine, it is heads down in the trenches, to avoid sniperfire. maria is following in the footsteps of her military father. she keeps watch for the enemy, separatists, backed by moscow, who seized territory here eight years ago. if russia invades, she will be facing far worse. do you believe the russians are coming? i try to avoid politics, she says. psychologically, i try not to get worried. we have heard about their military build—up, but if they try to break through, we will be ready. troops here say they are not on a higher level of alert. so far, they stress, there is nothing to see here. a view echoed by the government in kyiv. these front lines have not moved in years, but the fear is there could soon be a much bigger conflict here and this is about more than the future of ukraine. it is about the future shape of nato, abou

sergey lavrov said there is not much cause for optimism. if you are looking at it from the white house right now, do you agree with that statement? >> katy, look, i don't think the administration expected their responses to russia's demands to yield to deescalation because russia's demands went far beyond ukraine to include things like the united states and nato essentially pulling back, pulling troops out of eastern europe. and, so, i think the administration wanted to be seen going the extra mile. you always want to test whether or not one diplomatic communication could lead to something that produces a deescalation. but the reality is everything from the russian side thus far has not appeared particularly serious about finding deescalation because at the same time these talks are going on, you have those 120,000 troops amassing around the border. underneath, you also have russia deploying things that would be necessary in an invasion, the kind of logistical capabilities, the medical capabilities that would support troops going into ukrai

mr blinken also plans to meet the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov on friday.r borisjohnson, who's insisted nobody warned him a lockdown drinks party he attended broke the rules. tory rebels have said they believe there will soon be enough mps calling for his resignation as party leader to trigger a vote of no confidence. the us telecoms giants, at and t and verizon have agreed at the last minute to delay the rollout of new 5g mobile networks near airport runways. the move follows a warning from airlines that the technology could interfere with instruments on some older aircraft, making them unsafe to fly. a 56—year—old from cumbria has pleaded guilty

listen to sergey lavrov earlier. >> translator: we do not threaten anyone, but we hear threats against us. i hope that all this only reflects the emotions that certain forces within the camp of western countries, we will be guided by concrete steps and deeds. >> reporter: sergey lavrov also says the russians are still waiting for answers from the united states for those military and security concerns that they put forward in the security talks that happened in geneva last week. the russians are saying they want those answers in writing and they want those answers soon. and one of the other things really important today was the foreign minister of germany also saying if russia does further invade ukraine it will have consequences for nord stream 2 pipeline as well, kate. >> fred, thank you so much. kylie, thank you as well. appreciate it. for more, i want to go to the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine william taylor. good to see you again, ambassador. thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> coilie alluded to the statement put out by the state department announcing blinken's trip. it did

that's how secretary of state antony blinken described today's high-stakes talk with sergey lavrov asn senator roger wicker of mississippi who just returned from a trip to ukraine. first kylie atwood with a look at what, if anything, the two top diplomats accomplished today. >> reporter: the united states and russia giving diplomacy new life. >> i believe we are now on a clearer path in terms of understanding each other's concerns. each other's positions. >> reporter: secretary of state tony blinken said the u.s. would put pen to paper in order to advance a conversation. >> what we've agreed today is that we will share in writing next week our ideas, our response to concerns that russia has raised. concerns that we have that we will share again in writing with russia. >> reporter: still, the two countries are incredibly far apart. first and foremost, the u.s. says russia must pull back its troops from ukraine's borders. russia is demanding that nato cease any plans for expansion. but the u.s. and nato have said that is a nonstarter. >> there is no trade space there. none. >> reporter:

mr blinken also plans to meet the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, on friday. minister borisjohnson, who's insisted nobody warned him a lockdown drinks party he attended broke the rules. tory rebels have said they believe there will soon be enough mps calling for his resignation as party leader to trigger a vote of no confidence. the biggest gaming deal in history is taking shape as microsoft says it is buying activision blizzard, the company behind video games such as call of duty and candy crush. the deal is worth almost $70 billion and reflects the soaring success of the gaming industry during lockdown. now on bbc news, it's time for panorama. tonight on panorama, what's going on on britain's roads? for the first time in a0 years, the death rate is on the rise. horns beep the figure for people killed on our roads is 1,600 a year. that's the equivalent of three fulljumbo jets crashing. we reveal how traffic cops and breath tests have been cut while hundreds of speed cameras have been switched off. the fixed camera network for speeding across the county is not

>> the diplomatic efforts continue and i do think that significance, sergei lavrov the diplomacy did not reach a dead end and limps onto see another day. the question remains what realistically can the two sides agree on politically? >> you know the region well. does that worry putin that he fears those democratic tendency bleeding across the border and it is about self-preservation rather than any military threat. >> i think there is a number of potential calculations that president putin is making. one of them is russia and ukraine are one people and kiev was part of ancient ruce and we saw pence of the open letter detailing history why he believes that russia and ukraine are one people and share much spiritually in terms of language and in terms of history and culture. the second as you mention is this idea of strong, democratic ukraine right on russia's doorsteps. what kind of a threat does that potentially pose for presidential putin. expansion and feelg that as to being direct aggression towards russia and essentially wanting to push back any potential progress would be made on

russia's foreign minister, sergei lavrov, says moscow wants equal, mutually respectful relations withhe united states and other countries — but added moscow didn't want to remain in a position where its security is infringed daily. manchester united footballer mason greenwood has been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault following allegations on social media. manchester police have confirmed he's in custody for questioning and inquiries are ongoing. rafael nadal has claimed a record 21st grand slam men's tennis title with his victory in the australian open final. he came from two sets down to beat daniil medvedev of russia. now on bbc news...yalda hakim travels back to afghanistan to find out what the country is like under taliban rule. last year, after 20 years of war, the taliban retook afghanistan. over 100,000 people fled. now, with access to the new taliban government, i want to find out what the country is like under their rule. they face a country shattered by war. the economy is close to collapse and millions face starvation. every baby and child in here is in a critical

approach the kremlin, we understand that antony blinken we sticking with russian foreign minister sergei lavrovomorrow. we seen a number of these discussions, they don't ever seem to yield anything concrete. we expect that to be different tomorrow? annmarie: the fact that they are talking, many will say that as optimistic. potentially tomorrow, given that is the first time they are talking since the u.s. responses were hand-delivered to the kremlin, potentially the discussions, because we know already sergey lavrov says there was a kernel of reality in these, we know he was at least welcoming the fact that he believes the west was taking into account some of russia's security concerns, so maybe things let military exercise, the placement of missiles, potentially we would get discussion. the readout will be very important in terms of what they discuss on the secondary security measures. but there is a flurry of diplomacy happening around the world. just this evening, after prime minister boris johnson johnson is done speaking to his colleagues on the floor in the house of parliament, he's going

russian foreign minister sergei lavrov says he saw some rational elements in the u.s.esponse to moscow's security demands, but said key points were ignored. president biden warned ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky that a russian invasion could come next month. president biden says he will fill his promise to not make the first black woman to the supreme court. he says he will announce his choice by the end of february, just as justice breyer told the president formally he will retire in june or july, assuming a successor has been confirmed. north korea launched four missiles this week, including two long-range cruise missiles that could good -- that could give the kid ability to hit almost all of japan. they have wrapped up weapons testing in an attempt to signal unhappiness with the u.s. over comic sanctions. in london, and acrimonious court battle over claims of false accounting has come to an end. the founder of autonomy corporation mike lynch -- accused of inflating the value prior to hp's $11 billion takeover in 2011. he faces four charges in the u.s. shares

secretary of state antony blinken and russian foreign minister sergey lavrov have agreed to meet in genevaearch of common ground. experts are concerned russian military buildup around ukraine could lead to an invasion there. >>> homes were evacuated in central texas over a growing wildfire. fire crews say a prescribed burn fueled by gusty winds may be the cause. rain is expected to pass through the area by thursday. >>> and there is a new date for music's biggest night. the 64th grammy awards will now be on april 3rd in las vegas. it was scheduled for january 31st in la but delayed over the surge of covid cases. you can watch the grammy's right here on cbs. for more news, download the cbs n news app on krur cell phone or connected tv. i'm tom hanson, cbs news, new york. >>> this is the "cbs overnight news." >> good evening and thank you so much for joining us. it is a tale of two americas in the ongoing battle against the omicron variant. some parts of the country can see light at the end of the tunnel. while others are seeing the biggest surge in cases since the very start of the pandemic

secretary of state antony blinken will be in an berlin this week before his own one-on-one with sergey lavrov in geneva. >> we are meeting every day here because the situation is changing every day. what is your read on the talks held in moscow between the german and russian foreign ministers. >> the you can crisis is moving out. annalena baerbock hit the right notes. but she also expressed a desire from the german government for substantive and stable relations with russia. nato allies have coalesced around through this. they will thus -- discuss risk reduction measures and so on. >> this is the highest ranking you can get from germany, dealing with a crisis. are we getting the same message here that is coming from this new government? is germany going to walk the walk and not just talk the talk when it comes to punishing russia if an invasion of ukraine takes ace? >> we have seen that coalescing around the same message. this will put nord stream 2 on the table. everything would be up for discussion if russia attacked ukraine. this is something they have been emphasizing for a while now. it

. >> sergei lavrov. melissa, we have been seeing the last 24 hours between the u.s. >> according to a senior ukrainian source, the fact that an invasion was likely in february. the president saying the threat was ambiguous and it might not take place at all. that's been denied by both the white house and the ukrainian side, but it does highlight that room for division that there is over the coming days the longer this goes on, the greater that room for division and fracture becomes. that's important. what washington has been trying to do over the course of the last few days, that united that very strong front. what it does not want is those sort of fractures to begin appearing. on one hand it has meant to galvanize european allies often divided over how best to approach moscow in particular on the question of sanctions these last few weeks. now what we've been hearing is a shift even of the german position you mentioned and alluded to with the north stream pipeline saying that would be killed, could be k

. >>> secretary of state blinken's meeting with sergey lavrov just ended. 90 minutes.t do we know about this meeting. >> so what we are hearing, john, and we have only heard from sergey lavrov is continuing to talk. it was expected to last 90 minutes. primarily he said the russians were essentially articulating or clarifying some questions that the americans had about the nature of their demands or requests. he said that the americans have said they will now go away and formulate that the russians had asked and that will be sometime during the course of the next week. he said he did not rule out the possibility after that written statement or responses of some kind of another summit between the two sides. we have not yet reached a dead end with regard to the possibility of a diplomatic solution. diplomacy is still continuing. i will say, though, we haven't yet heard from secretary of state antony blinken. we don't know exactly what his response will have been to the meeting. but it seems this went pretty much as expected, at least in the sense that the russians are pre

his current secretary, sergei lavrov, did say russia did take a negative view of the answers that russia had received although did say there could be some common ground found on some of the secondary issues like arms control, troops in europe. but on the big issue, the big issue of whether or not nato could open a path for membership to ukraine, the u.s. and russia stayed very far apart. but the real issue here is what putin decides to do. and at this point he's remained silent on that subject and the kremlin has said he's read the letter from the u.s. and nato, he's studied it and he'll give his answer in due course. he has the initiative. the ball is in his court to respond. >> all right, thanks. and turning to melissa from the ukrainian perspective, more criticism from president zelenskiy of the u.s. response, not just the schism of how imminent an invasion might be but also the timing of sanctions. >> reporter: that's right. we know the two, washington and kyiv, have long been divided on that question when sanctions should be put in. essentially the idea of bringing them in after an

the us secretary of state, antony blinken, and his russian counterpart, sergei lavrov are scheduled to have crucial talks in geneva. the first planeloads of aid have arrived at tonga's main airport after saturday's volcanic eruption and tsunami cut the pacific island nation off from the outside world. more flights and several ships are on their way, bringing urgently—needed drinking water, food, and medicines. many people are feared dead following a huge explosion in the west of ghana. rescue teams are searching for survivors after the blast destroyed hundreds of buildings. police say the incident happened when a truck carrying explosives to a mine collided with a motorbike. and there are your headlines. now on bbc news, a special edition of our series life at 50 degrees. when i was growing up, my grandmother used to tell me that we lived here forever. there's this collective conscious knowledge that is handed down from generation to generation. what you do to the land, you do to yourselves. that is how i was raised. but since a child i have seen changes in ecosystems, i've seen less w

and now russian foreign minister sergey lavrov is questioning the framing of nato as a defensive alliance. >> translator: each time it turns out that the line they have to defend is shifting to the east. now it has come close to ukraine. they also want to drag this country there. although it is clear to everyone that ukraine is not ready and will not make any contribution to strengthening nato security. this will really undermine relations with the russian federation. since it will be a flagrant violation of the official political commitment made by the presidents of the united states and other member countries of the alliance. >> joining us now from kyiv is cnn's melissa bell. good to see you, melissa. so a new sense of urgency here with the u.n. security council now set to discuss the ukraine issue, what is likely to come out of those talks? >> well, that's right. it will be an opportunity of course for russia to sit opposite the united states and other nato allies and speak directly to those concerns that they have. but as you were just hearing there from sergey lavrov, the positions a

and then that key meeting on friday with sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister in geneva. and that is definitely key, because remember that after the talks in geneva, the initial talks between the u.s. and russia, the russians said they were so disappointed they weren't sure further talks would even be necessary or would even be possible. well, right now it seems as though those talks are going to be possible and they are having on an even higher level than the talks that happened in geneva. possibly a glimmer of hope there, but at the same time, you know, as those numbers that were given to cnn by the ukrainians indicate, there is a very, very large force in place there and a lot of concern about that. >> clearly secretary blinken as well as europe still looking vech for diplomatic solution. fred pleitgen. good to see you. >>> a bipartisan group has returned. looking for aid and tougher sanctions and on russia. chris murphy speaking with cnn's anderson cooper. >> ukraine has the right to decide for themselves whether they want an alliance with nato or eu. we support the d

this is in reference to the message delivered to sergei lavrov 24 hours ago.t is very clear by the actual sort of situation we are seeing. what is your reading of this situion? what does ssia claim in terms of saying its demands are not being met? >> putin may not have decided what his next moves are. not least of which, to his advantage, he is dragging out negotiations with the west or possibly buying more time. i think that when we talk, it is important to say that putin's options remain open. they include de-escalation. we certainly hope that is the measure. there are a number of routes that russia could take now that are short of, say,ull-sce march 2 kia. russia could escalate the situation with more covert psychological, cyber, or economical pressure. some analysts have spoken about trying to seize the land court or to try to create a bridge to crimea, but even that would be quite large on military operations. mark: indeed. we are still talking crimea, donbass, russia's demands ukraine not join nato. russia treatg ukraine still as its backyard in many way

three-day whirlwind tour will end after a one-on-one meeting after -- with russian counterpart sergei lavrov in geneva. >> we are watching for developments on the. next, retired pope benedict has been accused of not acting to stop child sexual abuse. investigation focused on abuse of children by priests in munich found benedict allegedly failed to take action in four cases of child sexual abuse. benedict, who stepped down as pope in 2013, has previously denied wrongdoing. >> big long-awaited report has found that former pope and addict -- pope benedict xvi failed to take action against child abuse. a german law firm was asked to investigate abuse claims in the archdiocese in munich and i chch officials handled those correctly. and if accused priests remain active in the church. >> two cases involve acts of abuse committed during his tenure and sanctioned by the state. in both cases, the perpetrators remain active without explicit restrictions on their activities. >> the probe revealed at least 497 victims of abuse, mainly young men and boys in munich and surrounding areas. the report also fo

sergei lavrov and tony blinken. nic robertson, to you. what are you watching for?he president had to do a lot of clean-up on this entire situation trying to reaffirm the u.s. commitment to ukraine. >> reporter: well, both tony blinken and we heard a few minutes ago from the kremlin spokesman here, sort of saying that this meeting is to see how both sides have taken and digested the diplomatic meetings that happened last week. and russia's initial reaction had been negative, it was not clear there was any more point in talking. that, i think, is how do they come out of this and this talk about common ground. i think as you sort of frame the moods and attitudes going into this meeting, particularly from the russian side, the fact that they want this written response from the united states to their security proposals or demands as they're seen, the kremlin spokesman said, look, we know we're not going to get that in this meeting here, but we're still hoping for it in coming days. and i think that kind of language speaks to the diplomacy that's still in play here. yet

sergey lavrov and antony blinken had just met. they believe that a compromise in some way, shape, or form might be possible. i'm wondering from you, having covered so much in the region and now on the ground in ukrainian, are ukrainians hopeful that there might be some kind of compromise here? >> reporter: i don't think there's a huge amount of optimism on the ground that a compromise will be found. at the same time, the foreign ministry did say that they were pleased that diplomacy has not reached a dead end yet, that the talks do continue. as long as the talks continue, there is at least the hope that the threat of military aggression is swomewhat abated r somewhat mitigated. then again, another ukrainian official, paula, did say to cnn that this could well be a stalling tactic or a delay tactic. and that president vladimir putin is using this time as the diplomatic process grinds on to precipitate and finish preparations for some kind of a militaryukrainians have a sligh different perspective on all of this. they don't see the