the u.n.'d food program suspends aid to several ethiopian towns after rebel forces lose warehouses. new zealand moves to stamp out smoking for good. a newlan would make it illegal for young people to ever buy cigarettes. ♪ >> welcome to world news america on pbs and around the globe. we begin with the finding that china carried out genocide against the muslim uyghur population. china has slammed the findings officials say the body has no legal basis or credibility. the tribunal was set up by activists and legal experts in london to hear claims of human rights violations against the uyghurs population another minority. these findings have power but organizers hope to highlight the abuses and hold china to account. here is the chairperson delivering the verdicts. >> on the basis of evidence heard in public, the tribunal is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the prc, by the imposition of measures attended -- intended to destroy a significant part of the uyghurs, has such committed genocide. >>

the u.n.'top humanitarian official, martin griffiths, condemned the attack and called on burma's military rulers to protect civilians. aid groups say a crackdown by government forces has left more than 1300 people dead since burma's military overthrew the democratically elected government of aung san suu kyi in february. the bodies of at lst 27 refugees, including a baby, were discovered after they washed ashore in the western coast of libya saturday. the refugees likely drowned in recent shipwrecks as libya has become a key departure point for those trying to reach safety in europe. meanwhile, the bodies have 16 people who were among another group of 27 refugees who died last month trying to cross the english channel were returned to the hometown in iraqi kurdistan. this is one of their family members. >> and a stand, for more than seven or eight years, there's been a lack of work and young people have no work in the government sector or the private sector. all these some people travel to achi

sanctions or u.n.anctions, but that these are exempt when they are directly aimed at getting aid directly to the afghan people. the americans are showing that they want to help the afghan people. the americans had frozen nearly $9.5 million of assets for the afghan central bank when the taliban took over in august. they want to get the aid to flow to the country. of course, making sure that the taliban don't get anywhere near. these are an expansion. it has to be said that the americans wanted a narrower resolution at the u.n. that would have been a case-by-case exemption. that was vetoed by the russians and chinese. you are sing this larger exemption for all of the humanitarian aid elements to go through to the afghan people. the americans tried to make things easier so the aid workers, ngos don't fall under these sanctions when they're trying to help. >> you for that update. a court in tunisia hasssued an order for the former president to spend four years in jail. he is accused of assaulting the exte

the u.n. agency says it might have to cut food aid in the new year. in the u.n. human rights office condemns what it calls the appalling situation of migrants stuck in freezing conditions on the border between poland and belarus, as both countries refused to allow you and staff to enter the area. ♪ i am phil gayle. welcome to the program. gemini's infectious diseases agency has warned omicron will become the country's dominant variant within weeks. the country's health system and critical infrastructure could be compromised if the latest wave is not stopped. the government responded by stepping up vaccination efforts and putting restrictions on gatherings. they will also be limi on social ctacts, but not until after christmas. reporter: e festive preparations might be continuing across germany, that the country's top public health of body has warned people not to let christmas be the spark that lights the omicron fire. there are no official restrictions on festive celebrations, but small gathe

u.n.achers. now, those moves come as u.n. aid agencies warn 1 million children are at risk of dying from starvation if relief doesn't arrive soon. ana coren reports on the humanitarian efforts. and we must warn you the images are difficult to watch. >> reporter: a little girl sobs gently rubbing her ears. in a feeble attempt to ease the pain tormenting her body. she doesn't have the energy to cry the way other sick children do. camilla is exhausted. as she lies in a hospital bed in kandahar, southern afghanistan, slowly starving to death. the 2 1/2-year-old weighs just over 5 kilograms, 11 pounds, about a third of what a normal toddler her age should. her mother is sick and we are poor people, explains camilla's grandmother. she tried to breast-feed but had no milk to give. camilla now one of at least a million afghan children under the age of 5 at risk of dying from starvation. for months the u.n. has been sounding the alarm warning that afghanistan was on the brink of a humanitarian cata

so, like, the u.n. and governments would be track one. track two is faith-based leaders, women's groups, community grassroots organizations. and to me, these are the people that matter the most because their on the ground. and -- they're on the ground. i lived in london for most of my adult life, actually, and i used to go to a wonderful church there on pottery lane. and the priest that ran it was a, he was very much involved in track two in israel/palestine along with william sekart who was a great philanthropist in london. you probably know him. >> yep. >> i think faith-based groups contribute so much to bringing healing. but, you know, i think extremism whether it's the federal movement in israel or whether it's radical jihadis or whether it's evangelical christians in america who are, to me, as dangerous as anyone else when they align themselves with political causes, extremism is the real danger. you know? and this is what these endangered communities fear the most. so if we get like-minded, sensible, pragmatic, compassionate people

does what the u.n. typically does, it is going to begin negotiations for a cease-fire. that he is going to do as quickly as he can, before any final resolution is passed. >> it was clear to him that jerusalem is the jewel in the crown. and he knew that he is going to enter into the annals of history. if he could occupy the old city to return to the most sacred place for jews. >> so, dayan gives his soldiers the order. attack the old city of jerusalem. ♪ [text alert] ♪ son of a bi— beth? if it's “i thought we said no gifts” season, it's walgreens season. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep to people who were tired of being tired. i've never slept like this before. i've never woken up like this before. crafted with clinically studied plant-based ingredients that work naturally with your body. for restorative sleep like never before. [school bus passing by] [kids laughing] [bikes passing] [fire truck siren] [first responder] onstar, we see them. [onstar advisor] okay. mother and child in vehicle. mother is unable to exit the vehicle. injuries are unknown

and in the book if you go, and i go behind the headlines, if you look at a u.n. press release, the summary for policymakers, this dire and scary at all about political lobbying, they use science to lobby the political action. look at what al gore said, the u.n. was torqued up in order to get policymakers attention. at the national climate assessment and othertt governmet reports like that including eu reports come uk government reports but as you look deep in the reports and a doing my book i see that floods hurricanes and drought tornadoes wildfires even according to these reports that the people cite as evidence of a climate emergency the premise of your question show there's no trend or declining trends on time scale. people can say california is evidence of climate emergency or the north was as evidence. nonsense nonsense. epa data shows up currently the 1930s with the hottest heat waved in the united states. so anyone claiming that this northwest heat wave currently is evidence of climateno change, lk at the 30 year satellite data. that makes sense. if you l

u.s. policy, u.s., u.n. policy genocidal what is your response? >> they are wrong. they think we should -- saddam hussein says i'm going to starve my kids unless you let me buy weapons. if you let me do everything i want so i can be in a position to kill and intimidate people i will stop starving my kids. >> since it is rare to get you on the phone let me ask you another question. what is your position on granting leonard peltier the native activist clemency? >> i don't have a position i can announce yet. i believe there's a new application for him in there and when i have time after the election is over i will review all the remaining executive clemency applications and see what the merits dictate. i will try to do what the right inking is based on the edence. >> many say ralph nader is at the high personal point because you have been responsible for taking the democratic party to the right. >> what is the measure of taking the democratic party to the right? we cut welfare roles in half and poverty is at a 20-year lee and child poverty cut by a t

it happened because the u.n. did not do a good job with the kurds in northern iraq in the end of the gulf war. and he wanted it fixed. he didn't just bash the u.n. he criticized them, but he said we have to fix this. and he did. and there was a big fight in the administration because there are certain people who did not support creating a new office like this. it has been a success story. in a.i.d. and ofda, the office of foreign disaster assistance, which i was director of in my first job, an amazing story. i didn't want the job, and finally, andy kept telling me, administrator allen woods said, we want him to be the head of the latin america bureau, and i said, well, you know, i really wanted to do this job. and we kept fighting with him, and it didn't work. and andy said, we'll move you later. take the job as the head of ofda. i said i don't even know anything about this. why are you putting me in this job? after two weeks on the job, i said i don't want to move. this is the best job i have ever had, and the m

for months, the u.n.unding the alarm, warning that afghanistan was on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. the taliban takeover on the 15th of august saw international funds immediately dry up. triggering an economic collapse in an already impoverished company. with foreign aid representing 43% of the country's gdp, and 75% of government spending, according to the world bank. but as the u.s. withholds billions in afghan reserves and sanctions are imposed on the taliban government, the west attempts to force fundamental change within the group are hurting the afghan people. and with the country in the grips of winter, facing one of the worst droughts in decade, the most vulnerable are paying the price. in this hospital in northwestern afghanistan, up to 100 mothers and children turn up each day with varying cases of malnutrition. this doctor has been working here for the past six years, and has never seen this level of desperation. >> translator: almost 70% of the cases are severe, and imagine how bad

the resolution also requests periodic updates by the u.n. emergency relief coordinator to ensure assistance is reaching the intended beneficiaries. i would just remind all of you, we're the single-largest provider of humanitarian assistance in afghanistan. in addition, we're going to provide the people of afghanistan one million additional covid-19 vaccine doses through covax, bringing our total commitment to 4.3 million doses to date. hopefully that's enough news for you for the moment. go ahead. reporter: thanks, jen. i have a question on your favorite topic, joe manchin. senator mitch mcconnell and john cornyn are two republicans of a few trying to get him to switch parties. what's the white house response to that? and is the president doing any sort of countereffort to keep him in the democratic party? ms. psaki: well, i know senator manchin has been asked about this himself and has spoken for himself, as i assume he will continue to do. i would just note that the president considers him a friend. he believes they share values about a ra

the u.n. has been sounding the alarm for months.h the humanitarian crisis every single day, please explain to us how bad the situation is on the ground right now. >> thank you very much. situation indeed continues to be bad and more than half of the population of the country is in severe malnutrition or in some sort of a malnutrition or having limited access to food. what that means in practical terms, also, that children are in the winter months do not have access to food and then if they are brought in the hospital, then there is no heating and then there is measles or an infection and the outcomes of that situation are very, very pessimistic. so, what we're looking at is a very harsh winter situation on the grounds. we're seeing that the people have not been paid salaries in many sectors. we're doing our best to provide the assistance and distribute the food and winterization items, but the winder hter has treating people harsh. >> what does this mean for your efforts and other ngos who have been struggling to provide aid to thos

the u.n. has said all parties to the conflict have committed violations of international human rights, some of which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. the more-than-year-long conflict has killed thousands of civilians, displaced millions, and created a humanitarian disaster. in argentina, thousands of protesters filled the streets of buenos aires on saturday, rejecting a possible pact between their government and the international monetary fund. protesters say any deal to have argentina repay $45 billion in loans to the imf would require austerity measures that would hurt working people. >> we are about to walk into to demand the debt not be paid. we must break with the imf, refused to pay the debt, and allocate those thousands of minds of dollars to solve the social any, problems that exist in our country. amy: voters in new caledonia overwhelmingly rejected becoming independent from france. but sunday's referendum, the third such over the past three years, was boycotted

the u.n.uman rights castle is -- counsel is to investigate all sides of ethiopia's work.at least 12 if eop has wa -- ethiopia's war. at least 12 people were killed in a typhoon in the philippines. >> i remember people yelling taser, taser, taser. and nothing happened. anchor: and the former officer that killed daunte wright breaks down as she takes the stand. ♪ thank you for joining us. we begin in the u.s. were coronavirus cases and hospital emissions are rising at an alarming rate as the winter surge continues. the number of infections has increased by 40% compared to last month while hospitalizations have been risen about 45%. many universities across the country are reverting to online teaching and school events have been canceled or postponed. it comes as experts predict the omicron variant will soon become the dominant string here. >> omicron is increasing rapidly and we expect it to become the dominant strain in the united states as it has in other countries. we've seen other cases in o

we align ourselves with the position of the u.n. secretary general.s classified a selective band as travel apartheid. correspondent: about 200,000 people from nigeria live in the u.k. many plan to visit relatives this this holiday season. now they may have to wait. bbc news, lagos. laura: many public health experts are saying the slow rate of vaccination in the developing world allowed the new strain to mutate. for more on what the united states is doing to vaccinate the world, including today's announcement that an extra $4 million will be spent on distribution efforts, we are joined by the assistant secretary for human affairs at the u.s. department of health and human services. the u.s. has a travel ban on many southern african countries. the u.n. secretary general is saying this is travel apartheid, ineffective. what's you are response? >> thanks for having me again today. on travel, that has to be a part of the solution. we understand that as public health professionals. the steps we took where an initial step for us to understand what's happenin

re crisis.ban control,se the u.n.s that more than one million children under the age of five could die of starvation this winter. we have spoken with u.s. officials about the afghanistan withdrawal and the day the elected president, ashraf ghani, fled the country. but president g ghani has not spoken publicly. and we're hearing for the first time from hamdullah mohib, the national security advisor under former president ashraf ghani. we begin by playing a clip of the president. >> biden: the afghan president gave up and fled the country. the afghan military collapsed without trying to fight. we gave them every tool they could need. we provided close air support. we gave them every chance to determine their own future. we could not provide them the will to fight for that future. >> brennan: what do you make of that assessment. did you lack the will? >> absolutely not. the afghan people made tremendous sacrifices for afghanistan. it would be a dishonour to take that away. what happened is that the rug was pulled under t

the u.n. says 30 million people maybe affected.ys it is extremely disappointed with signals coming from the u.s. and ate out in response to its demands for security guarantees from the alliance -- u.s. and nato in response to its demands for security guarantees from the alliance. the white house press secretary said there would be no talks with russia on european security without european allies. ♪ two japan now -- at least 27 people are feared dead after a fire in a building in the city of osaka. poce are investigating whether the fire was started deliberately. officials were alerted friday morning, with footage showing lack and windows on the fourth floor after it was extinguished. our tokyo correspondent gives us this update. reporter: from what the police and fire service in osaka are saying, it is looking more likely that this was a deliberate arson attack on this clinic. witnesses have apparently told the police and fire service there that they saw a man in his 50's or 60's entering the building this morning, carrying some so

u.n.calling for urgent eight is a prolonged drought has left more than one million people on the brink of starvation. >> this used to be one of madagascar's biggest and longest rivers. but now, it is dry and turned into a dust bowl. nada: the u.s. supreme court allows legal challenges to a controversial abortion law in texas, but the measure itself remains in place. a british court rules that wikileaks founder julian assange can be extradited to face charges here in the united states. he plans to appeal the ruling. plus, they fled afghanistan but will never stop fighting for their country. we meet the women lawmakers who are still making a difference months after the taliban takeover. ♪ nada: welcome to "world news america" on pbs and around the globe. we begin tonight's coverage in madagascar, wherthe native nations is warning the country is on the brink of famine. over one million people on the island are battling severe hunger with 30,000 of them facing catastrophic conditions as they s

a u.n. panel found that all those involved may have committed war crimes. u.s. policy toward saudi arabia and this war should be clear. the united states must do everything in our power to bring this brutal and horrific war to an end. exporting more missiles to saudi arabia does nothing but further this conflict and pour more gasoline on an already raging fire. in my view the united states must support an international observer mission along the yemen border and spearhead efforts to rebuild yemen. this should be on local humanitarian and development initiatives like yemen's social fund for development. we must also dramatically increase our diplomatic engagement to press saudi arabia, the riyadh base, and the houthis to accept the u.n. road map as a basis to allow yemenis to come to an agreement. the war has gone on too long. and it is time for the united states to be bold and decisive in bringing about peace. mr. president, i also think that it is long past time that we took a very hard look at our relationship with saudi arabia, a country whose government repr

top ross may not be attending, but the u.n.retary general has been signaling he will attend the games. >> i would not say it is a split. the united states is the most powerful country in the world, but it still is unable to get h their way all the time. there are some issues where they are not willing to go along. france is obviously saying a different thing, but i suspect the french are reacting to the previous episode where the french were displaced and the president is trying to -- i would not say it is payback, but it is trying to say something different to show its own kind of leadership within the western bloc. there are other u.s. allies who are also saying different things. if you look at the japanese and south koreans, they are pretty ambivalent about following the u.s. into this diplomatic boycott. the japanese prime minister has said he will take the national interest in consideration. what that usually means is he is still thinking. there are voices within japan from the conservative party. they have been whipping u

the u.n.m the u.k., germany, and france say iran's nuclear program is more advanced than it has ever been, describing the situation is grave. the one secret to counsel has been discussing progress on salvaging the 2015 around nuclear deal. talks have resumed in -- resumed in vienna. iran wants sanctions lifted on its nuclear program. >> the only solution is committing to the verifiable limitation of jcpoa. as we have stated time and again. obviously, iran must be assured that all sanctions will be lifted, the u.s. will not withdraw from the accord again, and it will not abuse the procedures set out in the jcpoa. vienna talks can succeed only through genuine political will in good faith negotiations. engaging in blame game or artificial impatience is not constructive. >> we are convinced that if iran approaches talks in vienna with urgency and good faith, we can quickly reach and implement an understanding on mutual return. we cannot allow iran to accelerate its nuclear program and slow walk it

and if the u.n. security council fails to re-authorize the crossing in january, some 6.8 million people who rely on humatarian assistance could be cut off entirely. in mexico city, protesters gathered outside the national institute of migration tuesday demanding andrÉs manuel lÓpez obrador's government stop criminalizing immigration. the protest came less than a week after a truck carrying more than 160 migrants overturned in southern mexico, killing 55 people and injuring scores of others. advocates for the asylum-seekers blamed the biden administration and mexico's government for a crackdown on migrant caravans that's driven asylum seekers to take increasingly dangerous measures to reach the u.s. border. this is mexican immigration activist irineo mujica. >> migration has always existed. the thing is the ways lÓpez obrador has moved to contain it hurts. the blood is felt. it is felt in our lives. it does not reflect the balance of mexico. it does not reflect the balance of our society. this really

for months the u.n. the alarm, warning that afghanistan was on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. the taliban takeover on the 15th of august saw international funds immediately dry up triggering an economic collapse in an already impoverished country where foreign aid represented 43% of the country's gdp and 75% of government spending, according to the world bank, but as the u.s. withholds billions of dollars in afghan reserves and sanctions rim posed on the taliban government, the west's attempts to force fundamental change within the group are hurting the afghan people, and with the country in the grips of winter face one of the worst droughts in decades, the most vulnerable are paying the price. in this hospital in northwestern afghanistan, up to 100 mothers and children turn up each day with varying cases can of malnutrition. this doctor has been working here for the past six years and has never seen this level of desperation. >> translator: almost 70% of the cases ary is vehicles and imagine h

>> i like the u.n. i'm trying to keep out of george bush's hair and doing things -- >> sure. >> -- time for. >> great. >> and i'm writing about to make a very nasty speech to the russians. >>> was that intelligible? generally? ends by saying he's going make a nasty speech about the russians and he goes on to say that the russians and the u.n., the russians had pointed out or had criticized us, the u.s., because of we'd had -- been a labor union demonstration against the administration. and moynihan was going tell them that the last labor union demonstration in russia had been suppressed in 1917 by the communists and there haven't been any unions in russia since then. he was looking forward to that. we went past a photograph of arthur burns. i want to ask about him. when nixon brought moynihan in, as to be head of the urban affairs, which was essentially the domestic policy thing, operation. but he also brought in, as counselor to the president which was sort of a on the same level, arthur burns who was

the u.n.ound as many as 10,000 rohingya were killed by burmese forces during the 2017 genocide, though some estimates put the death toll at more than twice that number. another 730,000 people were forced to fully burma. in financial news, the world inequality lab found the world's billionaires saw their net worth grow exponentially during the pandemic by more than $3.6 trillion in 2020 alone, while 100 million more people were pushed into extreme poverty. the report also found that since 1995, the world's richest 1% claimed 38% of all new wealth, as the poorest half of the global population benefited from just 2%. in washington d.c., immigrant justice advocates were joined by progressive lawmakers as they rallied to demand congress and president biden include a path to citizenship in the build back better reconciliation bill. this is hwangchan yu with the hana center in chicago, who immigrated to the u.s. as a child. >> in this rare moment, we can use the process to take a step forward. we nee

it started at 1045 when a u.n. staffer alerted the u.n. safety and security detail that there was a man with a shotgun outside of the building. the nypd responded to that and since then, there has been a standoff. it appears that the main is in his mid-60s wearing a red sweater and has been pacing back and forth. he is holding a shotgun to his head and the police have been trying to talk to him. in one video, you can hear the police say, "there stomach put on the gun. there are better ways to get your message out." it's important to note that the nypd he says there is threat to the public. it is secure around the u.n. national headquarters blocked off on first avenue. the united nations is even allowing pedestrians to come and go from the u.n. headquarters building on 46th street and allowing vehicular traffic on 42nd. that means they believe this situation is contained enough in the area is secure enough to allow that to happen. that is good news. when you look at the united nations headquarters, it picks up seven blocks here on first ave

pressure the u.n. to support the opposition group, even declare what the military did against rohinga genocide, do you think those steps could help? >> all of those steps are good steps but there are more as well. and the u.s. goft will be coming up with a new strategy soon at the request of the congress. so we will see many more things ppen. i believe they are looking very hard at how to quut off some of the revenues from oil & gas and other things, it is is not that simple. so we have to be careful. but there are ways, and that is definitely the main threat of the u.s. policy, is it excludes the military more and more. i believe that they should refuse the genocide but i don't think it is just rohingat is not only ethnic cleansing, they are going after all-- including their own. >> schifrin: in the brief time left let me ask about the humanitarian situation that the u.n. warns they could fall into poverty, and millions die of hunger, how dire is the humanitarian crisis. >> absolutely dire. that has a

. >> the u.n. barely existed at that point.most of the countries knew what they were doing. >> there was no palestinian representative at the u.n. there was no former leadership. you have arab leaders speaking on behalf of the palestinians, but not necessarily speaking from within the palestinian communities themselves. all the while you had these outside actors making decisions on behalf of palestinians that did not take their interest at heart. >> in 1947, the united nations votes for the creation of a jewish state in palestine. they draw an incredibly unrealistic partition of a country. >> its decision on what to do in palestine was to cut the baby in half. >> the partition plan separated palestine into three parts, one that was jewish, the other was arab, and the third was jerusalem and some territory around jerusalem which will be obviously by the international community. >> the palestinians were fundamentally opposed to partition. partition is going to mean the palestinians who fall in what would become the jewish state w

they don't even do anything when there's a genocide. ( u.n.ial ) "we're going to issue a forceful statement. what? it was vetoed. well, we tried. next up, climate change. what? vetoed as well. we tried." luckily, as a german, merkel wasn't fazed by sausage-fests. but even more importantly, she faced down crisis after crisis and got germany and europe through to the other side. >> many in europe saw merkel as a steady hand in times of crisis. >> in critical moments, angela was that lady, that madame who intervened and helped us to find the solution. >> angela merkel, lauded as a bulwark of europe, helping save it from imploding during the 2009 debt crisis. >> angela merkel, for 16 years, has kept the country in kind of a bubble. all those turmoils in the world was spared to the germans. there was no economic slump. there was nothing. >> she calmed one of the major military crises we had in ukraine with negotiating a cease-fire with russia. >> merkel showed her resolve in 2015 when she allowed more than a million refugees, most fleeing from syri

in fact, the u.n. rapporteur on torture called it torture.rs, all for the crime of having exposed to the american people and the people the world things that they should know, things that it's their right to know. that is supposedly the role of journalism. in fact, leading journals did make use of his exposés to revl a fair amount of material. but he is at the heart of it. the start of the project, continued the project revealing to the public things that ty should be aware of. so for that, he has been subjected to years of torture, false charges, now the threat of extradition in which he will face a possible lifetime of imprisonment and the press is not coming to his defense, with a few exceptions. not enough people. it is the same story as always, just like glasgow, the voices in the street which can end this trady of the assange torture and persecution. like everything else. like the civil rights moment. like the social democratic inittives in the 1930's, like the antiwar movement, like the women's movement -- everhing. always the same ans

, at least until biden signs it [ light laughter ] former president barack obama spoke today at the u.nimate summit in scotland where he warned that without immediate action global temperatures could rise by as much as two more buttons. [ laughter ] the "sesame street" character big bird announced over the weekend on social media that he received his coronavirus vaccine shot "we'll take him," said the packers. [ laughter and applause good graphic it's a good photoshop. you wait all day yeah, i see them when you see them and i'm pretty happy about it. you know [ laughter ] according to a new report, president biden farted while speaking with britain's duchess camilla parker bowles at the u.n. climate summit which brings us to a segment called, "how is there not video of this?" [ laughter ] ♪ >> seth: how's there not video of this? [ laughter ] do you know what kind of currency that clip would be for monologue writers? think of how many times you've seen his falling up the stairs now imagine if instead of falling up the stairs he was tearing ass in front of a royal? [ laughter ]n know wha

speak out against human rights violations anywhere. 73 years ago this week, the world convened at the u.n. convention on genocide to condemn and come about this crime of genocide. -- combat this crime of china side. which the chinese are engaged in. 20 years ago, china succeeded -- a seated to the wto and that has not been a success. during the same week that the inaugural summit for democracy was launched under president biden, we salute him for making that a priority at the head of state level. again, happening at an opportune time for observing human rights. democracy versus autocracy. he is making a decision to highlight that at the highest level. i salute the president on his call this week that there will be no diplomatic presence of the united states in beijing during the time of the olympics. some of us called for that in may. we must support our athletes, that's very important. we are not calling for a boycott. we are saying a diplomatic boycott. we cannot proceed that there is nothing wrong with having the olympics in a country that is engaged in genocide and perpetrating human

putin knows he can withstand u.n. stream 2 is exactly what's going to fracture europe. >> bret: mara, your thoughts. >> nord stream 2 has been a real problem not just for president biden. president trump wanted germany to cancel that he failed to get that done. but, germany is making some kind of, you know, positive noises that they will consider doing something about that if russia invades ukraine. i think the big question from today is when jake sullivan says he looked putin in the eye and says we are going to do things we didn't do in 2014, what does that mean? does that mean canceling russia's access to the international banking system through a program called swift? does it mean that would in effect freeze the bank accounts of oligarchs and president putin? i mean, that would be something that would probably hurt. but if they just do the kind of sanctions that they did in 2014, we know that didn't deter putin from annexing crimea. so we have to see what the u.s. and its european allies come up with that would rea

u.n. secretary-general antonio guterres on wednesday condemned travel bans imposed by dozens of countries on southern african nations that first detected the omicron variant, blasting the restrictions as travel apartheid. guterres noted the virus had already appeared in europe before it was first detected in africa and is now in dozens of countries around the world. >> people of africa cannot be blamed for the immorally low level of vaccinations available to them, nor should they be collectively punished for identifying and sharing crucial science and health information with the world. with a virus that is truly borderless, travel restrictions that isolate any one country or region are not only unfair and punitive, they are ineffective. amy: secretary of state anthony blinken is meeting with sovereign lavrov post of russia cently ordered some u.s. diplomats to leave the country after attending a nato meeting about the situation wednesday. antony blinken ro warned russia was planning signif