>> the conflict in ethiopia's tigray region could descend into civil war. you are watching al jazeera, live from doha. afghanistan's hunger crisis. more than half the population is malnourished. aid agencies say millions of children cld starve to death. poland deploys more soldiers to its border with belarus. the belarus and government is accused of allowing migrants to illegally cross into the european union. the u.s. lifts covid-19

restrictions for foreign nationals. the conflict in ethiopia's tigray region could spiral into civil war, that is as of this morning from the un security council who has been meeting to discuss the situation. it is calling for an end to the fighting and urging dialogue. ethiopian forces have been fighting rebels for a year. rebels are threatening to march on the capital addis ababa. >> over 90 different ethnic groups and 80 languages. no one can predict what continued fighting and insecurity will bring. but let me be clear. what is certain is that the risk of ethiopia descending into civil war is only two real. that would bring about

humanitarian catastrophe and consume the future of such an important country. >> al jazeera has more from u.n. headquarters. reporter: the security council received a bleak message from a number of speakers and that is that time is running out. threats of an impending civil war in particular, deep concern crisis that has alreadyside is that the sits increasingly dire. great difficulty getting humanitarian supplies into the region. we also heard remotely from the representative of the african union, who said very clearly that there is a small window for a negotiated settlement. we also heard from the ethiopian ambassador who told the security council that this was not a matter of resolving a dispute between equal parties. insisting that ethiopian

government is a democratically elected body and that those who are seeking to unseat it are indeed rebels. it is a position shared by some on the council, which makes public agreement difficult in terms of how the situation is going to be dealt with. but there has been a statement from the united kingdom, which would appear to be the majority view. it is time, says a statement, to put the people of ethiopia first. >> the number of people around the world on the edge of famine is up 3 million from earlier this year. the u.n. says the situation in afghanistan is a crisis and catastrophe. more than half the people do not know where their next meal will come from. >> you are already hearing stories of women, mothers, selling one child to feed the other children in hopes that child can be taken care of by another family. it has not gotten as bad as it

is going to get yet. the next six months are going to be horrific, unless the international community truly unfreeze those assets so they can pay the teachers because now students really are not in school. it is not a girl boy thing, it is a money thing. >> in kabul, aid agencies say without medical intervention, millions of children may starve to death. reporter: this is one of the busiest food markets in western kabul. the produce comes fresh from farms outside the city. prices are cheap. for three years, he has been here with his wheelbarrow. for a small fee, he transports shoppers groceries. yet for the last few months, his wheelbarrow has been mostly empty. he says shoppers cannot afford services. >> there is no business. we just roam around.

he approaches women, hopeful they may need help. auntie, do you need a wheelbarrow, he asks? they walk away or ignore him. he is five hours into his workday and has earned only $.20. he used to earn about three dollars a day, a nafta pay his rent and feed his family -- enough to pay his rent and feed his family. he spends his day surrounded by food, but evermore frequently returns to his family empty-handed. afghanistan's economy is collapsing. under the last government, 75 percent of public spend at your came from foreign grants. u.s. u.n. sanctions made that evaporate on the taliban takeover. officials say they need sanctions lifted and eight agencies to return to tackle the problem. with little money to go around, banks limit withdrawals, employers cannot pay their staff. today, green tea for breakfast,

lunch is bread. they will ration the leftovers for dinner. >> i used to bring a lot of food to the house before the taliban. now there is no work and it is pushing even more of a crisis. i am do to pay $22 for rent but i still over last month and the children's' health is getting weaker day by day. >> 95% of people's and afghanistan are not consuming enough food. more than half, about 22 my and people, or malnourished. this is what he is trying to avoid. al jazeera has visited multiple hospitals. the wards swelling with more children being treated for malnutrition. eight agencies say is the worst food crisis in afghanistan since records began. they say children are already starving to death.

>> we are looking at 5 million children who are one step away from starving to death. that is serious. 5 million children are going hungry, they do not have food, they are surviving on bread. the diet they are getting is not enough to sustain them. reporter: he says the pressure is immense. days are getting shorter. he wonders if he and his wheelbarrow bring home just enough for his young family to last the winter. >> poland has closed part of its border crossing with belarus after large groups of migrants tried to force their way through. they are in the middle of a diplomatic dispute. the belarusan accused of allowing people to cross the

border. reporter: traps between the woods trapped between the woods and the highway. these people have been anxious to enter the european union. on the other side, polish security forces in riot gear, part of the 12,000 stationed there guarding the frontier, preventing hundreds of refugees and migrants from reaching the border. but it is a deadlock that risks igniting into another migration crisis on the doorstep of the eu . for months, thousands have been entering the block through belarus, first via lithuania and latvia, now mainly through poland. the eu has accused belarusan leader lukashenko of orchestrating wave after wave of undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers. in retaliation, they say, for sanctions imposed on his government over its violent

crackdowns on the opposition. cause and the middle of this brinkmanship, those attempting to escape the harsh conditions they find themselves in with no shelter are being steered toward poland by a belarusian state -- by belarusian state border officials. some had taken the risk after hearing belarusian travel agents were selling visas to the eu only to find themselves surviving for weeks in the forests that border poland and belarus. >> they provide everything. when you say to them, ok, i want to go back to my country, it is so dangerous, they say go to poland. they put the gun to our heads. when we say we need to go -- reporter: poland's government has refused help from the eu

frontier agency's fight reports by polish border guards of hostile behavior and threats from belarusian forces. for those stuck in this no man's land, there is no guarantee how long they will have to face the elements with little access to food and water. human ponds between two hostile neighbors. -- human pawns between two hostile neighbors. >> the u.s. has opened its borders to vaccinated travelers. visitors from more than 30 countries have been banned since early 2020 when coronavirus restrictions were imposed. land borders between canada and mexico have reopened. reporter: we are in in a cedro, the busiest -- we are in san isi dro, the busiest border crossing. the people that live in the

city, tijuana, they have a cross-border lifestyle. they have cars here that if you're a renter -- cards here that if you are a resident, you can go into the united states. a lot of people do that for shopping, when they want to go to restaurants, cinema, when they want to see family and friends over the other side. it is a big deal for the people we are speaking to that they have been able to get back in. there is another population in cities like tijuana of floating migrants, many wanting to seek asylum in the united states. they want to get into the country where they feel they will have a better future. we spent time with some of those people as well. some of them were in a tent camp just by the side of the border. obviously this is going to be a different situation for them. the fact this border, the restrictions are using for mix can locals to get back across, that is not going to change the

situation for them. that door remains as firmly closed as it was. there is a different situation for the different populations here. >> traffic is moving both directions at the canada-u.s. border. it was one month and one day ago the canadian border reopened to u.s. non-essential travel, but today is the day canadians can cross south. all you need is proof of vaccination. two doses of an approved vaccine , and you can enter the united states. it has people of both sides of the border feeling rather joyous. >> has been so eerie and quiet here. normally we have 200 50,000 crossings in a month and has been so quiet that we just -- i welcome this. it is so wonderful. >> all the businesses across the border have been suffering from this. they are going to be reopening

and doing really well again. everybody is happy. >> it is open. let's begin dialogues together. meet family to family, etc.. this is the longest border in the world that is not militarized. it is incredible. the friendship between america and canada. we need to be open. we need to be meeting each other. >> another step closer to some sense of a new normal here at the canada-u.s. border. still that hurdle to be climbed is the fact that a pcr test is required to get back into canada. that can be costly. still, this is an opportunity for canadians who felt they must only travel by air to go to and from the united states. now there is the ability to drive across a land border. >> still ahead, the warning from former u.s. president barack obama about the dangerous lack

of urgency in climate talks. plus. >> here on the ionian coast of greece, find out why amateur sports tourism is injecting millions of dollars into the local economy. >> look forward to brighter skies. sponsored by qatar airways. >> let's have a look at the weather in south asia. a divided picture in india, dry in the north with lots of hazy sunshine for new delhi, but the city has been clouded in smog and air quality remains hazardous down in the south it is a lot wetter. we have flooding in shania. that is brought on by the northeastern monsoon in full force. we have amber warnings out.

the rain expected to last for at least four days. some severe storms are likely to slip into shellac. further north, it is a finer, dryer picture. lots of warmth building in the northeast corner for bungalow -- -- bangladesh. a wintry picture in china. this is beijing. snowfall over the weekend. for a, people enjoying the snow -- forbidden city, people enjoying the snow. that has moved to the northeast, wintry mix at play here. that is affecting the korean peninsula. things are turning cooler in japan with heavy rain in the north. that is your weather update. >> the weather sponsored by qatar airways. >> the pacific island nation falling victim to rising sea levels.

skillfully commending the stage of climate change diplomacy -- commanding the stage of climate change diplomacy. but can he secure a future for his soon to be stateless people? >> it is going to be the fate of the rest of the world. >>itness it on alazeera. ♪ >> welcome back. the un security council has warned the conflict in ethiopia's tigray region could spiral into civil war. poland's closing part of its

border crossing with belarus after large groups of migrants tried to force their way through. poland accuses the belarusian government of making people across the frontier to get into the european union. the u.s. has opened air and land borders to all vaccinated travelers for the first time in 20 months. in other world news, palestinian rights groups designated as terrorist organizations by israel. staff had their phones hacked. the activist groups believe the spyware was used on their phones for more than a year. they are calling on the u.n. to investigate. reporter: after weeks spent rejecting israeli accusations of links to a designated terror organization, six palestinian rights groups went public with accusations of their own. an investigation found six

iphones, at least three belonging to staff from the palestinian ngos had been infected with pegasus spyware. >> it is a strong feeling to have your privacy violated. even the simplest of things. my wife could not sleep for three days after finding out. our privacy was violated as a family. the children, their pictures, conversations with family and friends. >> pegasus is sold to governments around the world in israeli company under license from israel's ministry of defense. there have been reports of the spyware used by authoritarian regimes to target journalists, activists, and politicians. last week, the u.s. blacklisted the company. pegasus is supposed to be blocked from use on israeli or palestinian phones. on monday, nso said we cannot confirm or deny the identity of our customers. nso group does not operate the products itself. the company licenses approved government agencies to do so.

last month, three days after the investigation into suspected phone hacking begin, israel designated all six organizations as terror groups, accusing them of funneling money to the popular front for the liberation of palestine. there was significant pushback from international donors, but this sunday, the israeli army endorsed the move, giving itself the power to shut down offices, confiscate money, and make arrests. the groups are demanding international protection and an investigation into who is behind the spyware attack. >> this technology was used in the cell phones, but we don't know who was implanting it and what for. this is why we are calling for more investigation in the case, in order to find who is responsible and to find him accountable for this violation. reporter: the story has emerged on the same day the washington post published results of an investigation into an israeli facial recognition system known as blue wolf.

it is said to use a huge database of smartphone images of palestinians taken by israeli soldiers to target people for detention. we saw comment from israel on the alleged use of the pegasus spyware on the israeli and palestinian phones. the only response has been from the military, which has denied using pegasus. palestinian groups say they will continue to operate as normal despite the heightened risk. >> the u.n.'s aid agency for palestinian refugees says it is close to collapse. its third largest donor, the u.k., cut funding by 50%. trying to raise $800 million at a donor conference in brussels this month. the agency operates 700 schools and provides health care to millions of palestinian refugees. funerals have been held for victims of a yule tanker explosion in sierra leone. -- fuel tanker explosion in

sierra leone. a mass ceremony was held for those who died. the tanker exploded after it collided with the truck at an intersection in the capital on friday. more than 90 people remain hospitalized. the u.s. and european union have led calls to reject the outcome of nicaragua's election. president ortega clinched a fourth term as an office winning 76% of sunday's vote. most opposition figures have been arrested or barred from running and voter turnout was low. our latin america editor reports. >> the only issue is not whether the nicaraguan president won sunday's controversial election, but whether he seized it. ortega had imprisoned scores of critics, including seven of the most competitive would be candidates, and barred independent observers and journalists from entering the country. international condemnation was

swift and harsh. >> this was not a free election. this should not surprise us because this was a chronicle of fraud. >> countries from chile to costa rica to the european union denounced the election as illegitimate and antidemocratic and a pantomime on a saying they would not recognize the results. venezuela, cuba, and russia have rushed to ortega's defense. >> when the voting was over yesterday evening, the white house announced its refusal to recognize and called on other countries to do the same. we consider unacceptable and condemn such policies. >> the biden administration and the eu was already considering going beyond the current sanctions against vice president -- who is ortega's wife, or the chief of police who is accused of gross human rights violations. in neighboring costa rica, a television journalist was

accused of terrorism and released from prison following a brief amnesty. she continues to broadcast from exile. she says restoring democracy in nicaragua will will be difficult. >> nobody wants to die. nobody wants to rot in jail in nicaragua. the ortega's have gone out of their way to spread fear and spy on people going house to house. i have faith in god. i am waiting for a miracle. the miracle of freedom. >> while they wait for that, opponents of ortega and his wife acknowledge that what they also need is to put aside their differences and join forces, something has -- that has eluded them for years. amnesty international is predicting a new wave of repression against critics of the government following this election, which should only fan the number of people who are fleeing from the country looking for refuge elsewhere, like here

in costa rica. record numbers of nicaraguans are joining other central americans in their quest to reach the united states. adding more pressure to an already unprecedented migration crisis in the region. >> time is running out. that is the message from former u.s. president barack obama speaking at the cup 26 summit in glasgow. obama praised progress made since the climate deal in paris, but warned it is not enough. >> collectively and individually, we are still falling short. we have not done nearly enough to address this crisis. we are going to have to do more. and whether that happens or not to a large degree is going to

depend on you. not just those of you in this room, but anybody who is watching or reading a transcript of what i say here. >> andrew simmons is at the summit and says obama's speech was well received. >> he is speaking in a private capacity, he has nothing to do with negotiations, but he is a key figure in terms of climate control. because he did sign on behalf of the united states the paris agreement in 2016. of course, donald trump had other ideas with that agreement and pulled out of it, he became president. now under joe biden, the u.s. is back and as obama was saying, it is back and it is strong and it is taking a leadership role along with others. this has no bearing on the proceedings here, but it has

certainly encouraged young people because they did single out this issue of youth leadership and how a lot of people, if they are not engaging, if they are in denial, they should get out and make way for the youth. that generation was the one threatened with what he called catastrophe. he spelt it out, not as an optimistic terms at all. he did refer to progress being made, but the lack of initiative, the lack of ambition by many countries failing to make emission targets of six years ago. >> denmark is re-imposing covid-19 restrictions less than two months after scrapping measures. it is in response to a sharp rise in infections. the prime minister says a health pass will be reintroduced to help stop the spread of the

virus. on monday, the country reported more than 2000 cases for a fifth day. now when the pandemic hit, global travel ground to a halt. international sports tourism was one of the hardest hit sectors, losing billions of dollars in revenue. some parts of europe have showed strong signs of recovery this past summer, but it is not being driven by holiday packages. reporter: traveling triathletes are a unique bunch. they train all winter. they choose an exotic destination. they go, they race, but they do not see the destination at all. they are more concerned with racing. pain is the watchword for a longform triathlon. swim, bike, run, quick as you like, on your own, go. >> we combined sports events with fun.

>> i would say my ballpark for me as a spectator's $1000. >> where the ionian and mediterranean seas come together is a historic, beautiful part of this coastline in greece. summertime has gone. it is over. although european schools have gone back in. there are no moms and dads playing with kids on this beach. you could be forgiven for thinking tourism here is dead and buried for the next four or five months. you would be wrong. ♪ >> the local number crunchers work on a four-day assumption of making money. for every prosperous competitor, they calculate there are 1.9 other people just along for the ride. the groups we spoke to number considerably more than 1.9

people per competitor. they were traveling in multiples of 3, 4, or five and they all budgeted roughly $150 per person per day plus flights, plus accommodation, plus car hire, and that adds up.