u. s. supreme court. justice stephen. brad will retire. setting up a political showdown if you will, please. ah, certainly not as states. nature have delivered written responses to moscow's security demands of ukraine, and they rejected russia's cool to permanently ban care from joining the security. lance or the secretary of state says the letter lays out to claim to promote it. paul, for moscow is concerned in the west, grows over a possible russian invasion of ukraine. wilson jordan has his report now from washington d. c. on wednesday night, the u. s. ambassador to russia, john solomon hand delivered the american response to russia's demands for increased security guarantees. amid it's scanned off with the west over ukraine, the letter several pages long repeats. the biden administration's position u. s. troops go where they're wanted. individual countries decide whether they want to join, nato and russia must abandon any plans to invade ukraine. moscow says it has no such plans. the documents with them and balls in their court. we'll see what we do as i said repeatedly, whether they choose the path of diplomacy and dialogue, whether they decide to renew aggression against ukraine, were prepared either way. good to see you again, but the u. s. also offered some proposals it thinks could reassure russian president vladimir potent and his government renette arms control, improved transparency on us engagement in ukraine, and changes to u. s. nato exercises in eastern europe. the russians received a similar note from nate, a leadership in a bid to head off a possible conflict and ukraine. we color or shot once again to immediately the escalate the situation. nato firmly believes the attentions on this agreements must be sold through dialog on diplomacy. nato was offering to host negotiations between the us and russia to resolve the crisis. but stolen bird told reporters 5000 nato rapid response. troops can be called up in just a few days if needed. but washington and its european allies have stepped up deliveries of military age to kill, including defensive weapons. unity among western nations though has not been complete. i in fact like germany, notably hasn't provided any military aid to keep sensibly because of its reliance on oil and gas deliveries from russia. the u. s. reportedly is trying to address those concerns. i'm absolutely confident in german solidarity in of being with co, together with us and other allies and partners in confronting renewed russian aggression against ukraine. meantime, the u. s. and russia are still walked in a spat over diplomatic thesis. 26 russian diplomats and their families left washington on wednesday because of what the russian ambassador called on going harassment by american authorities. u. s. official say it's now up to moscow to respond to what the americans consider reasonable proposals to and the crisis. but they saying they're still ready to impose the harshest sanctions possible if moscow orders its troops to invade ukraine. rosalyn jordan al jazeera, the state department ellipse enough, max bergmann, who served as a top adviser in the state department during the a bomb administration work young ukrainian security assistance efforts. he says moscow security demands unmasking other intentions. i think no one is very optimistic that the diplomatic track will be picked up by russia because i don't ultimately think that russia's issues are with nato military exercises or. ready with the posture of nato, i think the u. s. has done a very smart thing to say, look, russia, your concerns are really are the security or security issues such as are military exercises or various arm sales that we have done in our, in arms transfers to ukraine. we can talk about that is we have a long history of talking about that with the russians and the soviet since the cold war period. ready of trying to create strategic stability. but i think at the heart of this, i think is about russia wanting to control ukraine in what the us is not going to do is to sort of see too ridiculous demand, such as ensuring that, that ukraine will never be part of nato. frankly. rash already have sort of a detail about that because russia has occupied part of your brain. and i don't think there's any possible way that you can become part of nato, as long as russian forces are still on korean territory. so i think what we're really talking about is the russian looking for reasons to walk away from talks to justify potential invasion. and so that's why i think everyone in washington is very much on edge right now. the secretary general is wanting life in afghanistan is becoming a frozen hell. and tony a terrorist says, an ongoing humanitarian crisis has left the country hanging by a thread with education, food availability, and other social services. on the brink of collapse or diplomatic editor james base reports now from united nations. with more than half of the afghan population suffering from what the un calls extreme levels of hunger, the secretary general antonio terrace again sounded the alarm. 6 months after that they covered by the taliban. afghanistan is hanging by a threads for us, guns daily life has become a frozen hell. one of afghanistan's best known women's rights campaigners who still lives in cobble came to new york to address the security council. after 20 years of tasting creed, and what kink studying playing sports, performing music, it has taken less than 6 months to completely dismantle the rights of the women and girls across the country. her account was backed by the un special representative inside afghanistan. deborah lawns said a number of women activists had recently been abducted and then had disappeared. she said this was part of a wider, deeply worrying, patton, and here on the ground there is compelling evidence of an emerging environments of intimidation. and deterioration in respect for human rights suggests that the consolidation of government authority may be leading toward control of the population by fear rather than by understanding and responding to its needs. the meeting was presented by norway's prime minister jonas ga stora. his government fluid taliban delegation for talks in oslo with international diplomats in afghan civil society. in recent days, in an interview for talk to al jazeera, he told me this was not meant to give the group legitimacy or recognition. to me, it looks like this. if we don't sit down with them, present the expectation, the demands and what they have to deliver afghanistan and going, it's going to sink down in that tremendous humanitarian. this all serve, most of us kind of stones reserves remain frozen, but the un wants to change that without renewed liquidity and the african economy. as a risk, the da humanitarian situation becomes a country wide famine. on the other hand, some nations still worry about rewarding the taliban when the human rights situation in particular, the treatment of women seems to be getting worse. not better. james bayes al jazeera of the united nations. the military cube, bikini passer is due to be discussed at an emergency meeting. echo asleep is on friday. the regional organization has already condemned mondays, military take un and us are demanding the immediate release of the deposed president. records to leaders say they seize power because of the government failure to stop attacked by on groups lead to alti to an eyesore nick is falling development and what it is and has said this report, it's in this upscale neighborhood in wonder do that president hawk monica boyes being held under house arrest this nearby, the presidential palace just behind me. it's now in the hands of special forces. we can go any further. they've set up checkpoints. it's no longer the center of decision making in this country. that's now in a military count in downtown, why do go where earlier the head of the military june, lieutenant colonel. oh, he met with the former government of hawking mach category. essentially trying to create some sort of government of national unity to gain some sort of legitimacy. the fear is sanctioned from the west african body echo off the heads of states. a west africa are going to meet in ivory coast on friday, but also sanctioned grounds from the un or the something that this country cannot afford. there are still attacks happening in the north, in the east, from arm groups linked to al qaeda and ice cell and well earlier during the week, thousands of people took to the streets. it was less of a celebration for the end of february regime. it was a celebration for hopes that this new leadership may be able to bring purity to this country. we met with one of the organizers of this march, and this is what he had to say. what is the new regime need to save book in a set of what got to go? people ask yet we need a stability. we have more than 2000000 people displeased the need to be able to go to 1000, have been killed. we need to regain control of our country, and we brought this in 2015, thousands of people storm this road behind me, leading to the presidential palace and not marked the return of democracy 60 years ago. people now hope that with the new regime, those democratic achievements will not be quashed for the military though many soldiers of the front line hope that they will be better equipped to deal with the threats of arm groups linked to al qaeda and ice. although they'll have rations, knight gall goals and weapons, so that they can protect this country from further attacks. still ahead here and al jazeera, the, you case, prince andrew wants a jury trial in the sexual assault delegation. he's fighting in new york party. and while the public suffolk, every moment he stays, he's dragging the need for families who reminded of the sacrifice is the mean and standing his ground, the u. k. prime minister tells mpg has no intention of stuff and despite revelations of possible locked down violations. ah, the out to couch is coming pools is currently sitting over the prairies of central calendar. it's cold for the science but not as optically. so, as it has been now, that might change from the end of the week, or get a combination of warm moist air from the sas and cold from north of the time being . it's the sunshine. the breeze is not that strong. now, new york's minus one probably feels lovely and he's going to snow in toronto attempts he comes up to about minus 5. so that's the progress. this is during says, day than that cold wind come south again, keeping things below where they should be been or article coat. however, if you're in chicago, it goes from minus 2 to minus 8. the sun comes out on saturday, but until that expects some snow proper winter, as i said, and that winter it has come sad. so the highest temperature in your is 11 degrees in the gulf coast as not going to feel good as the sun is to compensate re factor and that loss all the way back to the pacific coast. few big showers, i think in the northern bahamas as the re disappeared from florida and is an in house rent in a few showers elsewhere in central america. nothing extraordinary. but the seasonal rain has pet booked up. and i think in ecuador, southern columbia, and overseas, further south and north argentina, and southern brazil, intent showers will be around. ah frank assessments for china? well, bannister from the 0 call it strategy. if the rest of the world, again informed opinions as not leaves a critical debate with claims that need to understand chill threat to russia. but it's precisely his actions that we did this insecurity in the region. in depth analysis of the days global headlines inside story on al jazeera lou. ah, again, you're watching out 0 reminder out top stories is our and the united nations and nato have delivered written responses to moscow. security demands about ukraine in it, they rejected russia's call to permanently buying a kia from joining the security alliance. the antarctic generals, his life in afghanistan, has become a frozen hell and 10 years terrorist warned the humanitarian crisis has left the country hanging by threat with education and other social services on the brink of collapse the military q and became a fast so will be discussed at an emergency meeting, equity lead is on friday. the regional organization has already condemned monday's military takeover. un usaa demanding the immediate release of the deposed president rock or kurdish forces in northern syria say they've regained control of a prison following a week long assault by iso fighters. around 200 inmates and 27 kurdish fighters were killed in idols. attempt to free their comrades at the battle force, 45000 people from their homes in the city of husker. the charities save the children, says some of those being detained in the prison were used as human shields. as syrian refugees and the countries northwest are appealing for urgent help as the region is hit by freezing weather. around a quarter of a 1000000 refugees have been affected by snow. heavy rain and low temperatures. as a bank has this a city of tents. this is life for around 250000 syrians force from their homes by the civil war. and now after 10 years of continued conflict, snow and rain is their latest enemy result. so a lot of the very cold weather, the massive volume snow and the bad condition of the camp have led to the tents, damages every way. we ask allah and we urge those who are willing to help do they based for us. we don't have firewood and there is no heating. we burned some shoes and clothes just to offer some heat to the children and father, traveling to the area, was already difficult. the snow has made it near impossible. agencies are struggling to get access. 10 have collapsed under the weight of the snow. the few that do have shovels do what they can. the rest i left to move snow with their hands in freezing temperature. on the whole camp does not have bread, we call upon the humanitarian organisation and all the authorities concerned to urgently help the camp in its residence. the un says more needs to be done, but for the people here, they need help. now multiply that within the whole camp is in real danger, and we don't know what to do. we have spent the last 70 years intense and displaced caps. they can't find us a flat. the camp, inadequate at the best of times, the snow. it's only adding to the misery he's people face. i said big junior. yes. media reports a supreme court justice steven brear, it's set to retire at the end of his current term. for is one of 3 remaining liberal justices and the conservative majority caught the 83 year olds, retirement will give us president joe biden, his 1st chance to nominated new judge to the countries highest judicial body. hydrogen castro has this supreme court justice. steven briar had long been jacked at viewing the high court through a political lens. at 1st, dismissing calls from democrats to step down so that a president of their own party may name a replacement if the public sees judges as politicians in robes. its confidence in the courts and in the rule of law itself can only diminish, diminishing the court's power, including its power to act as a check or other bridge. born in 1938 in san francisco right, grew up in a middle class jewish family. he said his upbringing helped develop the pragmatism that later shaped his legal views. i stephen drive, you solemnly swear. he was a federal appeals court judge for 14 years before president bill clinton nominated him to the supreme court in 1994. every judge's particular obligation is to deal fairly and thoroughly with the legal problems of the individual parties before the court, whether they are poor or rich or helpless or powerful minority or majority. ryan joined the court's liberal wing consistently ruling in favor of abortion rights, environmental protection, and voting rights. he opposed to the strict textural interpretation of the u. s. constitution as endorsed by conservatives. but he believed in compromise and was a famous optimist. just as briar, i think is a true technocrat in the best sense of the word he believes in a good ideas, thoughtful compromises and intelligence and expertise running the world. ah, and he has really tried to do that quite consistently in his time on the court. in his later years on the court, ry are questioned, the legality of the death penalty and drafted one of the rulings of holding obamacare. his retirement now sets up a political battle to name a replacement heidi joe castro al jazeera washington. let us take this on. we can speak to eric ham, who's a political analyst, joins us live from washington dc. is so eric, the timing of a prize retirements, and no coincidence. i imagine well, biden, so there's a chance for a clear path to replace him. yeah, that's right. but also we have to keep in mind that whoever he places on the court, they're still going to be a 63 set up where you have 6 conservative, 3 liberals. so whoever this person is not going to change the trajectory of the court. what this does is that allows biden to actually bolster his legacy, but more importantly, given an eye towards the midterm elections, where many believe democrats could lose both the house and the senate, whoever he named it could energizes base to get more democrats, more excited to come out to vote. right. and on that because on the, on the campaign trail button that if he were to get a vacancy on the supreme court, he would fill it with an african american women which could well happen, i guess. and would that make a difference of empower the, the efforts in the mid terms? absolutely, it will, particularly when you look at some of the seats that are, that are up particularly in the senate that could be mono. but you look at places like pennsylvania where they have a large african american population, north carolina, as well as wisconsin. and given the fact that african americans are right now demoralized because they have not see this administration or this congress move on voting rights. placing an african american woman on the court, the 1st that would ever be on the court would be a boon. not only to that constituency, but also to the president given right now, he's fighting to try to keep his approval ratings above water. and the party is looking right now, the more lives heading into the election, gonna say as we approach mid terms, you have to say the need to help you can get absolutely, he does. and this certainly will give him that. and also to you gotta keep in mind this potential selection comes, admit a range of challenges right now, confronting this administration, we're talking about a stand off with russia over ukraine. and addition to that, kobe 19 continues to punish the united states rising inflation. and also the president's signature agenda items, his bill bag better plan, simply has failed. and so right now the president needs to win and this will certainly be want to give it to her. and finally i had to say curious about the kind of protocol go to visit the way these things work. i would briar have been under pressure to leave. i would have been encouraged to leave. now while the going is good for brian camp. well that there has certainly been taught and there has certainly been, you know, some level of push for him to retire. but as if he is, if you're asking if he is sensing that if he is thinking that he surely i think the answer to that question is no. again, even though the court has now been seen as heavily politicize a, many of the jo, this is simply do not adhere to a lot of the background noise that plays out in washed. right. yeah, he always talked about the impulse to the public not to see judges as politicians and robes, didn't they? eric, appreciate that. thanks very much. eric. how may i? thank you. you bet. now south koreans are being urged not to be alarmed by another record rise and code 19 infections. the health ministry recorded 13000 new cases compared to about 8000 on tuesday, though to say they expect the more trends and transmissible on the corner where it will cause further increases. they also say the health systems prepared to respond because of high vaccination rates. and rapid testing, germany is reporting a record of 164000 new infections in the past 24 hours. around one and a half 1000000 germans have to verify the highest total. since the pandemic started in the netherlands, restaurants, theaters, museums, and cinemas are reopening despite a surgeon infections linked to the i'm a convert, the prime minister margareta says he's responded to what he called great attentions caused by the 6 week lockdown and the protest which followed u. k prime minister bras johnson has resisted calls to resign in parliament on wednesday. he's refused to comment on an internal investigation. it's whether his government held gatherings in breach of cove 19 rules. police say carrying out a separate investigation. letting baba report now from one to 5 to 5 minutes, leaving downing street now the subject of a police investigation and hoping to persuade his party in parliament to move on from the parties in number 10. in truth, many people have already decided whether they believe boris johnson over what's referred to as party gate. the latest twist, including one loyal m p, claiming the prime minister had been ambushed with a birthday cake at a celebration in june 2020 in parliament, johnson was asked yet again about his assurance his last month that there'd be no parties, and that no coven 19 rules had been broken, the minister code says that ministers who knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their resignation. does the prime minister believe that opposed to him? by mister, mister speaker, of course. but let me tell the house either. i think he is inviting you a question about an investigation, which is, you know, mister speaker, i can't a comment. johnson brushed off calls to resign. you saying he had important work to do, but top of his inbox will be the government report overseen by civil servant. c gray, into a series of gatherings in downing street since the 1st lockdown in 2022nd. the prime minister confirmed that he will publish the full su cray report as he receives it. lisa, mister speaker, well, i can tell him is that we've got to leave the report to the independent investigator as he knows. of course, when i receive it on course, i will do exactly. i want, i said, as part of the report, police officers working here gave evidence that evidence led the metropolitan police to decide they would launch the road investigation into potential breaches of covey laws. anyone found guilty could receive a fine, but the mere fact that prime minister could be interviewed as a suspect, as a layer of embarrassment to widespread public resentment neetha the investigates and prove that he was her breaking the rule. then yes, definitely. he was making their own visit therapy were dying that time below. following it strictly was differently against the spirit of what we're all trying to do as a nation. and yet, if he's broken the law within my a speculation mounted about how many conservative m p 's might soon be sending in letters to trigger a no confidence voted. johnson's leadership. the foreign secretary was wearily defending her boss on national television and a 100 percent supportive of the prime minister. he has done a great job and whether it's delivering for accent, whether it's the response the pandemic. there's no doubt the shines. come off or is johnson's image is a man of the people, but it's his colleagues, not the public having to decide right now whether he can come back from this or whether he's become too much of a liability the deem baba al jazeera britons. prince andrew is seeking a jury trial to clear his name in the sexual assault complaint he's fighting in new york is facing a civil case brought by a virginia to frey who says she was sexually assaulted by the prince 20 years ago when she was 17 years old, he denies the allegations. gabriel elizondo has a late us from new york. potentially could go to trial. when would that be? it's anybody's guess at this point, but probably later in the year. not necessarily immediately. would prince andrew have to be present at this trial in new york? not necessarily again because it's just a civil and not criminal case. he would not necessarily physically need to be present, although this is all still details to be worked out in the future. could this is our chance this does not go to trial. the answer to that is yes as well. it's not guaranteed at this point. there's certainly still a chance that this could be settled out of court. so that is also another possibility. moving forward in the 11 page filing by prince andrew's lawyers, he does admit that he did 1st meet prince did 1st meet jeffrey epstein in 1999. that's about a year before the allegations of sexual abuse against prince andrew came are are, are between $22002.00. but beyond that, he denies being a co conspirator to a jeffrey epstein. and he denies all the allegations of any sort of sexual abuse against virginia go free virginia free claims. she was sexually abused by prince andrew on 3 separate occasions once in london, once on jeffrey epstein, private island in the caribbean. and once here in new york, he denies all 3 of those. but clearly, prince andrew's options are dwindling. the spanish coast guard has rescued more than 300 people. off the canary islands, migrants and refugees were picked up from 7 boats. one had kept sides in the passenger without clean to it authority, se about 120 people had crammed into a single beneath the mostly north and central african migrants were trying to reach europe. they've been taken to nearby health facilities. chuckle store, my mom has killed at least 12 people and caused widespread flooding in malawi and in mozambique powers out across large parts of both countries and crops. have been decimated, search and rescue operations or underway. dozens of people reported missing in many fed, trapped by rising water levels. the u. s. federal reserve says it will raise interest rates for the 1st time in 3 years. they were slashed to near 0 at the beginning, the pandemic interest rates were widely expected to stop moving up in march in an attempt to fight rising inflation in the u. s. federal reserve. the u. s. federal reserve chad, your empower says getting high inflation under control. it's vital to a strong job market authorities in peru or assessing a new oil slick off the coast of lima. the u. s. is sorry, the government says accrued as spilled into the sea during work on a pipeline of that lap on p at refinery rep. so the company that owns a facility denies has been a unique cruise, is still cleaning up off to the tolerance unami cause another major spill at the same refinery. ah, so this is out 0. these are the top stories and the united states and nato have delivered written responses to moscow. security demands about ukraine in it, they rejected russia's call to permanently banned kia from joining the security lines. the document we've delivered includes concerns of the united states and our allies and partners about russia's actions that undermine security. a principle and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that russia has raised and our own proposed.