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announcer: and now, "bbc wld news". >> this is "bbc s america," from new york. in russia, president pruden insists on immediate guarantees that nato will not expand further to the east. in the u.s., a jury has found former police officer kim potter guilty of manslaughter over the shooting of daunte wright and in hong kong a statue commemorating the deaths of protesters in tiananmen square has been removed from a university campus. one of the few remaining memorials in the city. health officials are encouraging people to get booster shots in the face of omicron, but in many countries people are still struggling to get the initial vaccine. we have a special report. during the pandemic many people relocated to be closer to their

families. for many in europe it meant moving to a whole other country. we report from poland. welcome to world news america on pbs, the u.k., and around the globe. tonight in russia vladimir putin has insisted the west must give moscow guarantees that nato will not expand its alliance eastwards and admit ukraine as a member. the remarks came during the four hour long press conference in which he stressed that russia does not want conflict over ukraine and rejected accusations that he was planning an invasion of the country. this comes as thousands of russian troops are now stationed along the border of the country with ukraine. our correspondent steve rosenberg is in moscow for us tonight and has this were or.

>> it's the most wonderful time of the year, if you happen to like long news conferences. the end of your press briefing is always a marathon affair. for four hours the kremlin leader fielded questions and he used the event to vent his resentment ahow nato had launched after the full -- fall of the soviet union. >> they told us in the 1990's not to move one inch to the east and look what happened. they deceived us. brazenly tricked us. they found ways to expand and now missile systems are appearing in romania and poland. >> is this the russian response? a buildup of the russian troops near the ukrainian border? the kremlin denies it plans to invade, but this is pressure and on the west, too, as moscow demands an end to no

enlargement and military activity in eastern europe, what they call security guarantees. >> they must give us guarantees. they must do that immediately. now. we won't be palmed off with decades of idle chatter about the need for security wle the other side carries out its own plans. >> vladimir putin spoke for a long time but gave little way about his intentions regarding ukraine about whether, as the west fears, he's planning a large-scale military operation there. what we do know now is that next month u.s. and russian officials will sit down to discuss the security guarantees that moscow is demanding so that there is still hope for a diplomatic resolution. vladimir putin has done 17 of these press conferences now as president. you need plenty of stamina to do this and to listen to it. and since all the tv channels in

russia show it live, it's wall-to-wall vladimir putin. a reminder, as if russians didn't know it, of who is in charge here. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. >> herin the united states a jury in the state of minnesota has found a white former police officer guilty of manslaughter for having shot dead a black motorist. during the trial she said she mistook her handgun for a taser when she killed daunte wright during a traffic stop in april. here's a bit of her testimony. >> i remember yelling taser, taser, taser and nothing happened. and then he told me i shot him [weeping] >> joining me now for more on the story is no mia it all -- is our correspondent. defense and prosecution both agreed that she didn't mean to

kill him, she mistakenly withdrew the wrong weapon. what were the key arguments the jury was weighing? >> for the prosecutors it was a case of a preventable death. they argued that this was a police officer of more than 20 years experience and she had to know the difference between a taser and her handgun. for the defense they said that this was an honest mistake and that she was simply trying to arrest somebody who was resisting arrest. it's worth mentioning that intent was not part of the charges. the jurors didn't need to be convinced by the prosecution that kim potter had tried to kill daunte wright. instead ts was all about whether she caused his death recklessly, whether she was conscious of causing death or great bodily harm and after 27 hours the jury of six men and women came back and backed

state's case. >> this was shocking as much for the fact of when it happened right in the middle of the derek chauvin trial, convicted of killing george floyd, another unarmed man. is there a sense that there has been a real shift in holding police officers accountable? >> it's interesting, i think a lot of campaigners do feel that. it'worth mentioning that convicting police officers in this country on criminal charges is pretty rare and there's lots of reasons for that. lots of laws protecting the right of the police to use force. police unions. juries tend to not want to second-guess the actions and decisions a police officer takes in the line of duty. the attorney general for minnesota spoke outside when the verdict came out and he said directly to the police that we

hold you in high record but also a high standard and we don't want you to be discouraged by this. when it comes to that sort of change, in minnesota itself you have the derek chauvin ce, now kim potter with motion towards what police reform but activists will be saying there hasn't been really any followthrough and it is worth mentioning that these sorts of cases are pretty high profile. they get a lot of media attention so while there is accountability happening, it is probably fair to say that it is not indicative of the country and where the country is at as a whole when it comes to the change that many people want when it comes to police. >> thank you so much. now in hong kong, a well-known statue that commemorates students who died in the pro-democracy two men -- tiananmen square protests have been removed from a college campus. hong kong university defended its decision but some of the

students have called e move cowardly. it was one of the last remaining tianann memorials in the city. the senate -- semi autonomous city has had many of its freedoms eroded in recent years thanks to strict laws from beijing. >> the painful expressns carved into the memorial were supposed to leave a long-lasting impression. the memories of the dead immortalized in copper and concrete. beijing does not commemorate what happened june the fourth of 1999, but hong kong rembers. >> this is a demonstration of our values. if it is demolished, it symbolizes the chinese communist party has one. >> the statue has two -- stood tall here for 40 years, etched into the monuments, the faces of the students killed in the crackdown of 1989. hong kong is the only place on

chinese soil where the dead artificially remembered. the statue represents the right to rememr. >> this public memorial was removed away from public sight, under the cover of darkness and mollusk, broken into pieces, away from public view. hong kg universy said that display of the statue posed a legal risk to the institution. hundreds, possibly thousands were killed when the pple's liberation army came down on protesters in 1989. activists s that protesters are accelerating the campaign to ise public recollection in hong kong. richard troy, at a museum remembering june 4. rated by the poli, last week he was jailed. >> i still feel that the people

of hong kong, most of us still remember where we were, what happened in 1989. we still have our belief of what is the truth. >> the pro-democracy movement in hong kong, once believed in time that it could help to transform china into a democracy. activists say that there is no longer space for dissent. >> across europe many countries are imposing new covid restrictions to slow the sead of the omicron variant. in spain they have paved the way for a nighttime curfew. buaria, where vaccination rates are low, the government introduced financial incentives for people to get the jab. omicron is already causing cases to rise and there are concerns that for much of europe many of the measures might be too

little, too late. our european correspondent has more. >> a festive message to spaniards this year, wear our mask, even outside. governments are issuing health warnings rather than glad tidings across europe. at a time when families come together, the advice is to keep your distance. belgium is inviting children as young as five to get vaccinated. covid cases have been falling for 10 days but cinemas and theaters are set to close, pubs will stay open. >> it's really a political choice. it is not really supported by the scientific. >> i feel like there are rules, but no one really cares. >> it sad that all the nightclubs are closing. >> exhausted doctors and nurses pleading with the public to follow the rules. >> the measures have their

effect and commit us professionals to continue to take care of all kinds of patients. not only patients having covid. really, i know the measures are weighing on all of us, but they are so important to beingble to keep our health system standing up. >> medical staff here and across europe are unanimous that hitting more people boosted is vital in the fight against the new variant. wh wdon't yet know is how the early studies coming from the u.k. suggesting omicron is milder will affect the decision-making of individual countries in the coming days and weeks. covid rates across the continent have been spiraling. denmark has the highest, followed by the u.k. france, spain, italy have all seen a surge, as well as germany. and there has been anger in munich with tighter controls that have targeted the

unvaccinated. police capped order at a time when most u.k. visitors are being kept out of the country. travel bans, which france has also introduced, scuppered british getaways, they won't work according to the world health organization, who argue that specific local measures like those introduced in spain and italy today of face verings are much better. as ever, the politics of the pandemic can take some navigating. as the last minute shoppers venture out, the general message from european leaders, wishing you a cautious christmas. >> as countries across europe discussed lockdowns and booster shots, many across the world are struggling ten get their first shot of the coronavirus vaccine. yesterday the head of the world health organization called for vaccines to be shared more equally and warned that

prioritizing booster programs in wealthy nations would more likely prolong the pandemic then and it. naomi grimley has more. >> 2021, the year that vaccines were distributed around the world but the vast majority went to richer countries. a former british prime minister thinks we should all be ashamed. >> it's a stain on our soul. we have had a sure fit of vaccines around the world. but the severe shortage in the other parts of the world where only 3% have been vaccinated, it affects us all. they must start to realize that if we allow the disease to spread in poor countries and it mutates, it comes back and it haunts. >> mr. brown wants world leaders to try again at the start of the new year to make vaccination

across the world a priority. the world health organization says 98 countries haven't been able to meet the target of vaccinating 40% of their populations by the end of the year. withoutore progress, who officials warned that the pandemic drag on for longer. >> getting the vaccines to those who need it most in our countries must be a priority for every single government. not just some. we need to also be able to use tools to drive transmission down because if we don't, we will continue to see the virus change in the virus threaten us in ways that bring us closer to the beginning than closer to the end. >> 2022 will cs entering the third year of pandemic and the question remains, will it be the year that vaccines finally become available everywhere? bbc news. >> taking a look at some other

news, ecuadoras made it mandatory for people in the country to get the coronavirus ccine following the rival -- the arrival of the omicron variant. dozens of countries have introduced new health measures in recent weeks but very few have outright mandated that people receive the vaccine. joan didion, whose career chronicled the mood and chaos of life in the 1960's and 70's has died at the age of 87. her publisher said the cause was parkinson's disease. largely credited with ushering in the new journalism genre of literary nonfiction, mining her richest material from her native california. ethiopia says their troops have been ordered not to advance into the region after rebels called for a cease-fire and negotiations that ignited hope that they could lead to a resolution to the war in rthern ethiopia.

you are watching bbc world news america. still to come tonight, striking a pose, we meet a man using the art of photography to tackle and express his mental health. in the u.k. there has been a new warning from the organization representing gas suppliers that gas and electricity bills could rise by as much as 50% next year unless the government steps in. coletta smith has more. >> we are feeling these price rises in all sorts of areas. oughts of our power stations across the u.k. are actually fueled i gas like the one behind me to produce electricity, which is why we are talking about price rises in gas and electricity. businesses are already paying the high prices and they are passing it on to us as customers by charging us more for pretty

much everything we are buying at the moment households are being effectivy shielded at the moment because of the price cap it might not feel like it because it went up dramatically in the autumn but the price is now fixed and it won't until april that we see another change and unfortunately it is going and only one direction because of the increase in wholesale prices now, fueling a rise in the spring. >> during this pandemic thousands of people across the united states have given up life in b cities to be closer to their families and other parts of the country and in europe a similar phenomenon is happening but instead of moving from city to city some people are shifting country to country. many polish people that moved to the u.k. years ago in search of better jobs have decided to move back. our correspondent, adam easton, reports. >> i couldn't stay.

something i didn't have in the u.k.. >> this cosmetics student is talking about the secure feeling of being near family and close friends. a law graduate, she lived in the u.k. for 12 years due to the variety of jobs. january, she rushed back to her home city just-in-time to say goodbye to her dying grandmother. >> i grew up here. my mother taught me how to skate. grandpa taught me how to cycle. yeah, all sorts of wonderful memories. >> since 2000 400s of thousands of people here left for the u.k.'s seeking better paying jobs. since then we ve had brexit, covid, and people are missing their families and returning home. the number of polish people in the u.k. now is at its lowest in eight years. monica and fderick had well-paid jobs in london for

more than six years. they love the city, their children were born there, but the high of raising their family there persuaded them to come home to warsaw. >> i was sure that in poland i could easily find a nice nursery where i could just send them and send a few hours at home working and in london we were not able to find like a nice nursery. >> this professor has interviewed hundreds who have recently returned. most want to stay, but for some, years abroad, they now feel uncomfortable in their homeland. ask one third out of 500 in the sample said that we do consider a return to the u.k. or to other countries because they do not feel at home anymore. >> in recent months: has seen a surge in the number of middle eastern people trying to enter the eu illegally from belarus.

this woman says that her years in britain have affected the way she sees migrants. >> being a migrant myself, i have an empathy for the people who are now coming from belarus. the terrible conditions. >> after years of living abroad, these polls are living with them new skills and life experiences that may shape the country's economy and politics. bb news. >> preserving your mental health can take a number of different forms. including art. an award-winning photographer has a new exhibition called laughing at gravity with a show that he says depicts how he has handled discrimination in his day to day life.

>> this is laugh at gravity, the first solo show exhibition by this award-winning photographer. >> when i first started, i didn't have many people tsit for me. then i became the sitter for my work. i became the subject and the artist and then i had to figure out what my relationship is with my own body and in many of the shots, if you look at them, i'm not really looking at the camera . i'm always looking away so the fa is a mask in the bodys a canvas. >> amongst his work it shines light on the black british experience and communicates that to a worldwide audience. >> love and gravity, did you mean by that? why such a title? >> well for me gravity was a

metaphor for oppression, for racism, for police brutality. or the fact that we areeing thrown into prisons more often than are white counterparts. the gravity is really living with the white oppression, basically. that's really where we are coming from. >> inspired by his own personal experience, some of the themes in his work are mental health and fatherhood. this image called holding onto the daddy was the winner of the mental health category of 2020. >> tell us more about your award-winning peace, holding on to daddy. >> the image depicts me flying or attempting to fly out of my room with my daughter tethered to me by a piece of rope while

she's playing a game. what i wanted to explore in the work was the duality of fatherhood where you can still be suffering from depression or posttraumatic stress but still have the duties of fatherhood. it's about the reversal of roles . my daughter is the one who is grounded because that is how she was when i was going through my worst state. >> powerful photography there. before we go, christmas just around the corner, we wanted to look at how some are spreading the holiday cheer around the globe. jerusalem, santa made an appearance on a camel, riding through the old city walls distributing christmas trees to residents in the holy land and in rome santa has repelled down the pediatric ward of the hospital to visit the children there over the holidays, making it all the way from the chimney

to the inside of the hospital, where they deliver the gifts. remember, you can fin narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy anpeter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs. ♪ da-da-da-duh-da-da-da♪ ♪ da-da-da-da-da-da ♪♪

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc > woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: a verdict. the jury finds minnesota police officer kim potter guilty in her manslaughter trial, following the shooting death of daunte wright. then, omicron on the rise. lines for testing grow, as americans prepare to come together for the holidays plus, from russia with blame. vladimir putin accuses the west of escalating tensions, as russian troops mass along the ukrainian border. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour.