florida. algae blooms threatening the east and west coasts and what they are doing to prepare. and taking to the streets protests and clashes with police in france as the president moves to raise the retirement age. this is what we are watching at this hour. thank you for being here. i m kate bolduan and a milestone and potential troubling statement on a developing partnership of russia and china. xi jinping is traveling to moscow to meet with putin, and this is first trip since the launch of the war in ukraine. this is coming after cnn has learned that u.s. has intelligence that china is considering providing lethal aid to russia, and the u.n. has said that would kcross a red line. and turkey has said that their country would start the process to ratify finland s nato membership, and that is a significant move. nato requires the unanimous approval of its 30 members to start this move. let s start with will ripley on this trip that xi is planning for his trip to russia?
those are on southwest. the airline now apologizing, but as you can imagine that s little comfort for people who may miss out totally on seeing their loved ones this holiday season. i m beyond frustrated. and hurt. because i can t see my dad. my mom is in the hospital and i wanted to be there for her once she like got discharged. unfortunately because of the situation they are saying that the closest flight is the 29th. are you going to make it home today? no, likely not. i mean, i heard someone say over the intercom not to expect to get a flight within the next four days. that s definitely not what i wanted to hear. people just missing their family and loved ones. the log jam starting with the powerful winter storm that hit western new york the hardest. look at that. this morning people in buffalo struggling to get food, water, medicine, after days of driving bans and closed stores. we are going to take you live there in just a moment. let s go first to our team co
moscow. prigozhin says he stopped the convoy and has withdrawn from a captured military facility after reaching a deal. the kremlin says he will move to belarus and will not face criminal charges. his rebellion presented a huge threat to vladimir putin s grip on power. according to ukraine s president, it even frightened him. translator: the man from the kremlin is obviously very afraid and probably hiding somewhere. not showing himself. i am sure that he is no longer in moscow. the ukrainian military launched multiple simultaneous counter offensives on saturday. the fighting took place in several cities and towns in the east, including bakhmut, saying there is progress in all directions but not providing further details. also acknowledging heavy fighting in southern ukraine, where russian forces are trying to halt ukrainian advances. some everyday ukrainians are echoing president zelenskyy s
battlefield in ukraine, and some analysts say that why, and why xi and russia would consider this. and also, today, a big boost from two allies to ukraine as poland says it is sending four mig jets to ukraine in the coming days. and slovakia is following suit saying that it is going to send ukraine more than a dozen fighter jets. it is seen as a significant move which is going to help ukraine against the russian forces in the east, including bakhmut. ivan watson is live in kharkiv since we have been talked so long about the ask and the pleading from president zelenskyy for the fighter jets, and what does this mean for the announcement and what it could mean for the ukraine s fight? well, president zelenskyy has thanked the small nation of
thank you. new this morning taiwan is extending its mandatory military service for all eligible men to counter the rising threat from china. the time requirement will jump from four months to a year starting in 2024. that s a major u-turn for taiwan which had previously shortened conscription as recently as 2018. taiwan s president says four months can, quote, no longer suit the needs of taiwan s defense. turning now to russia s war on ukraine. this morning heavy fighting reported in parts of the country including bakhmut and other areas in the donbas. all this as russia demands ukraine abide by its proposed peace talks which includes the demilitarization and so-called denazification of the regime controlled territories. cnn international correspondent will ripley is joining me now live. what s the latest from where you are now? reporter: so the air raid sirens have just lifted in lviv,