the invasion of ukraine. the chinese in russian president's call for responsible dialogue on the conflict and pledge cooperation on trade and energy. ♪ laura: i am lauren taylor, this is al jazeera. also coming up, japan's prime minister pledges support for ukraine as he makes an unannounced visit to kyiv. outrage and criticism after israel's finance minister states there is no such thing as a palestinian. >> he would frequently shout at me.

he called me a liar. lauren: a rape victim tells of her experience at the hands of metropolitan police, a force described as institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic. ♪ lauren: russian president vladimir putin says china's 12 point peace plan could be used to help end the war in ukraine. putin met xi jinping in moscow for talks on tuesday, and said the proposal which does not call for russia to leave ukraine, could be put forward as soon as ukraine and the west were ready for it. he added he had not seen such readiness yet. talks went beyond the war. putin described china as russia's leading foreign trade partner. he said they would be developing ties in finance, transport, and energy. our correspondent reports. reporter: they say it is an

alliance without limits. china and russia are expanding trade and diplomatic cooperation. the two countries insist their relations are far from being a military and political alliance. but xi jinping and vladimir putin share a growing concern of what they perceive to be an american dominance across the globe. for the chinese leader, who secured an unprecedented third term earlier this month, this trip could be the moment to establish his country as an international peacemaker. >> we shall always respect and abide by the u.n. charter. we will always promote peace and also promote negotiation and discussion. our stance has always been based on fairness and justice. we will always be on the side of peace. we are always on the side of dialogue. we are always on the side of historic fairness and justice.

reporter: but ending war in ukraine may not be an easy task. china has yet to elaborate on its 12 point peace plan. beijing has called on russia and ukraine to address their security concerns, without mentioning russian troops withdrawal, a key demand for kyiv. the u.s. has dismissed the peace plan as a stalling tactic. in the meantime, western nations are stepping up military assistance to ukraine. >> today we learned the ministry of defense of the u.k. declared he would supply tanks to the ukraine, and uranium enriched weapons to ukraine. i think the west will fight russia to the last ukrainian. reporter: facing growing international isolation, vladimir putin is turning to president xi jinping, an alliance largely shaped following russian invasion of ukraine last year. after the eu imposed a ban on

russian energy imports, china stepped in, buying large quantities of cheap russian oil, providing cash-strapped moscow with much-needed revenue. the u.s. considers china the biggest threat to its national security. and fears beijing could be exploiting russia's embattled standing to expand its geopolitical influence. lauren: journalist -- our journalist has more from moscow. reporter: the visit of the chinese president to russia caused a huge wave of interest. according to analysts, it is largely due to beijing's self nomination for the role of peacemaker in ukraine. expectations arose that the key of resolving the conflict could be found during xi jinping's talks with vladimir putin, followed by possible talks with ukrainian later, volodymyr zelenskyy. if china makes even a little progress on the issue of a

peaceful settlement, than this will be a great victory for all, for ukraine, russia, and chinese diplomacy. on the other hand, the russians understand how influential the chinese economy is, and how it is affecting their everyday lives. and the influence continues to grow. so many ask how it is all going to play out in the future. according to president putin, the countries should multiply the volume of trade. many ask, what is going to happen after the visit? will china help russia evade sanctions? will russian banks be allowed into chinese payment systems? as the visit continues, it is believed some of those questions will be answered. lauren: u.s. national security council spokesman john kirby said the way for the war to end is for russian troops to leave ukraine. >> ukraine, i would note the two sides just said "the purposes and principles of the u.n. charter must be observed, and international law must be respected."

well, we agree. following the u.n. charter would mean that russia should withdraw from all of the territory inside ukraine, the territory of another member state of the human -- of the u.n. a method that it has invaded. lauren:lauren: discussions include a new pipeline to reroute russian gas ports from russia to asia. the power siberia to pipeline has not been formally agreed. vladimir putin said it was getting closer. the pipeline is expected to come online by 2030. it will run from the peninsula in northwest siberia, threw two mongolia, and supply 98 billion cubic meters of gas and 100 million tons of liquefied natural gas to china. san greene is director of democratic resilience at the center for european policy analysis. he said it is not surprising putin is turning to china for help with his foreign-policy. >> it has been a long time in

the making, even in happier times when russia was not at war with ukraine and the west. trying to build in this direction. one of the things that had always gotten in the way was the pricing. china did not want to become dependent on russian hydrocarbon, seeing the bond that europe had -- the bind russia had gotten into. russia did not want to invest without getting a good return. what we are seeing now and russia is investing without a guarantee of profitable export prices from china is the power now that china has in this relationship with russia. it gets to set the terms, and russia does not have much choice. the entirety of this project at the moment, both in the war in russia -- sorry, the war in ukraine, the sustainability of that war and the sustainability of his regime and his economy at home are dependent on his ability to replace what he has

lost in europe in terms of an export market, but also in terms of a source of finance direction of trade. with what china can offer. lauren: president volodymyr zelenskyy says he has invited ukraine -- but is waiting for an answer. he made the comments as japan's prime minister made an unannounced visit to ukraine. he met president volodymyr zelenskyy in kyiv and offered to give support to the country that has been battling russian forces for over a year. it is the first time since the second world war that a japanese prime minister has visited a country during a conflict. >> the russian invasion of ukraine is an aggression that shakes the foundation of international order, which i strongly feel after i visited kyiv and vucevic today, where i saw the tragedy of the russian invasion with my own eyes. lauren: russia says it will be forced to react if the u.k. supplies ukraine with ammunition containing depleted year --

pleaded uranium. putin accused the west. the u.k. hit back, accusing peyton of deliberate misinformation. stephanie decker has more from kyiv. reporter: cow has made it clear that they are against the increase of weaponry being sent from the west. this is a conflict not just between russia and ukraine, this is a geopolitical chessboard as one of our political analysts called it recently. you have many different countries involved supplying ukraine with different weapons, stepping it up recently. all of the talk ahead of a potential spring offense -- offensive by the ukrainian army to push russia back, and recently yesterday in a statement, the u.k. defense minister admitting part of the challenge are two tanks the u.k. will be sending at some point here to kyiv, are going to be including armor piercing ammunition that includes depleted uranium. this is something vladimir putin picked up a, it is something

lavrov picked up on, calling it against humanitarian law. vladimir putin saying if the west, the collective west as he calls it, is going to use weapons with nuclear capabilities, they are going to have to go all the way. lauren: stephanie decker reporting. a magnitude 6.5 earthquake has struck northern afghanistan, killing at least two people. the epicenter of the quake was in the mountain range near the remote northern afghan province. it had a depth of 194 kilometers. tremors were felt in neighboring countries. rescue officials say nine people, including a child, died in pakistan's province when the walls of the houses collapsed. in kabul, some people spent the night outdoors after the earthquake. ♪ lauren: israel's government has an old part of a law that bans

settlers from residing in some areas of the occupied west bank. 80,005 law was brought in during israel's withdrawal from the gaza strip under prime minister ariel sharon. israeli settlers were removed from areas. the latest amendment paves the way for israel to resume building settlements, which are illegal under international law. the u.s. state department says it is troubled by israel's passage of the law. >> we have been clear that advancing settlements is an obstacle to peace. and an obstacle to achieving a solution. and that certainly, but this legislation would do would be to create new settlements were buildings and legalize outposts. all of this would further insight tensions and but a negotiated two state solution further away. lauren: the u.s. has condemned this as dangerous and offensive. comments from an israeli minister who said there is no such thing as a palestinian people at a conference in paris sunday. the finance minister described

palestinians as an invention of the past century, sparking a fierce backlash. >> there is no such thing as a palestinian. there is no such thing as a palestinian people. do you know who is palestinian? i am palestinian. my late grandfather, whose 13th generation jerusalem might, is the true palestinian. the palestinian people are an invention that is less than 100 years old. lauren: imran khan has more from west jerusalem. reporter: the far right in israel have always said this type of thing. it goes back to golda buyer, the israeli prime minister. she said, she used to say there was no such thing as the palestinians, despite the fact that the first recorded use of the term palestine was 3200 years ago. during the bronze age and the land between the jordan river and the mediterranean seas has always been referred to as

palestine, always -- all the way up until the establishment of israel. if that had not happened, it would be called palestine. the far right have always said that there has been no state of palestine. that is partly true, because of the occupations the land has been under much recently by the british in 1940. these comments are inflammatory. they are designed to really ratchet up tensions, but they are also designed to play to her base, which completely agrees with the kinds of things he is saying. now benjamin netanyahu put out a tweet that said, now is not the time to go to the u.s. and meet with president biden. he is on the back foot, he is trying to defend his decision not to visit. the fact of the matter is that according to the state department officials, there is not the invite there. lauren: a damming report by an independent member of the u.k. parliament has found london's metropolitan police force to be institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic. house of lords member louise casey has called for comprehensive reform.

our correspondent reports. reporter: louise casey's report is comprehensive and damming. the metropolitan police is institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic. it needs wholesale reform. the scale of the problems laid there shocking even to those who had seen some of them firsthand. >> it was devastating in terms of those officers having to endure such misogyny, racism, and homophobia within policing. after 30 years, trying to make changes within policing, it seems nothing has changed. reporter: some of the most searing testimony comes from members of the force, talking of discrimination against women. i have -- i have witnessed senior officers. on females like creditors, there is a culture of hit lists, targets, and trying to sleep with female officers and staff. against sikhs, one officer had his beard cut because an officer thought with -- thought it was funny.

>> it generates a whole series of emotions. it generates anger, frustration, embarrassment. it generates some pride as well, which may sound odd. but it is our men and women who care about policing of london, given most of the evidence from that report. reporter: taken as a whole, this report is entirely condemning of this organization. it says the metropolitan police has lost public support and consent needs to wake up and engage in comprehensive wholesale reform. the report stems from the outrage after the rape and murder of sarah ever awed by a serving that officer wayne cousins. it finds major deficiencies in the handling and investigation of rape cases. something this woman recognizes from her own experiences with a detective after reporting rape. >> he would frequently shout at me. he called me a liar, and then he eventually said to me, he did not want me contacting him

unless this person showed up at my house. then he corrected himself and said no, not just showed up, unless they are breaking all of your limbs, then you can call me. lauren: metropolitan police told us the incident was investigated, and one officer instructed to undertake reflective practice. louise casey says public trust in policing in london is broken, and to rebuild it, the entire force, not just leadership, needs to be accountable and improve frontline policing. harry force it, al jazeera, london. lauren: still to come ms. half-hour -- >> a package is bringing hope in the country's worst economic crisis. but with painful conditions. lauren: fending off another banking crisis, a rescue plan for credit suisse brings relief on wall street. ♪

>> hello. it is quieting down nicely across new zealand. we are seeing wet weather, breezy weather pushing its way through. things will be largely settled as we go through the next couple of days. still breezy at the moment. showers continue across the southeast of australia. you can see the shower cloud showing. . heaviest downpours around the area. just over toward the kimberly. again, it is still very warm, 37 celsius. we are cribbing up into the 30's there for perth over the next couple of days. showers continue into the southeast. sydney will see wet weather from time to time. going into thursday, a repeat performance. very much getting into the outback here for the heavier rain. eastern parts of victoria also still seeing some showers.

as we got into friday, signs of a change. showers are in the far southeast. across the far north as well. what or whether will make its way to the south side of new zealand. auckland, 21 celsius. wet weather making its way across central areas of china. as we go toward the weekend, that cloud going right across japan. ♪ >> too often, afghanistan is portrayed through the prism of war. but there were many afghanistan's. thanks to the brave individuals who risked their lives, an extraordinary film archive spanning four decades reveals the forgotten truths of the country's modern history. "the forbidden real, par 4, an era of darkness" on al jazeera.

♪ lauren: a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. chinese president xi jinping and russian president vladimir putin are calling for responsible dialogue to resolve the war in ukraine. following talks in moscow on tuesday, putin said chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement. japan's prime minister has made an unannounced visit to ukraine. in a joint news conference with president zelenskyy, the prime minister condemned russia's invasion as an aggression that shakes the foundation of international order. the u.s. has condemned as dangerous and offensive comments from an israeli minister who said there is no such thing as a

palestinian people. he described palestinians as an pension of the past century -- as an invention of the past century. a prime minister has announced general elections will take place in may. it follows the country's deadliest rail crash on record last month. 57 people died. the train disaster sparked public outrage and mass protests, with calls for him to step down. railway workers blamed years of underinvestment by the government for the collision. the concern of the government's four-year term expires in july, and he was expected to call an election in early april before the crash happened. sri lanka will receive a bailout of almost $3 billion from the international monetary fund over the next four years as part of efforts to rescue its battered economy. the first installment of $330 million is expected within the next two days. in a televised national address,

the president said his country was no longer a bankrupt nation. our correspondent has more from colombo. reporter: government celebrates securing a $3 billion loan for monetary funds. but most sri lankans are battling to make ends meet. currency reserves, fiscal management, debt sustainability means little too many people struggling to put food on the table. >> unlike before, it is very difficult and we find it difficult to go on. >> the cost of living is really going up. i don't know what's going to happen in the future. >> give them the money we invest, we can't get a proper return. it was to front before, but making a profit is very difficult. reporter: a series of bombings in 2019 and the pandemic, coupled with economic mismanagement, correction, and unsustainable debt, have pushed sri lanka into its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.

after months of negotiation, the government finally secured a four year loan from the international monetary fund. >> the first will be made available soon, and the next two days or so. and going forward, disbursements will be tied to reviews that take place every six months. reporter: the loan comes at a price. with the government forced to impose a major drive to secure it. this includes taxing more people, and introducing higher tax rates. the price of electricity and water have risen, and fewer costs are more -- almost three times that it did two years ago. the president address the nation tuesday. >> approving the loan certifies that sri lanka has the ability to restructure its debts and will no longer be considered a bankrupt country. we can resume normal

transactions and remove import restriction, as our foreign-currency situation improves. reporter: cracking down on an -- on corruption and improving fiscal management is part of the program, and central to the reform the imf has insisted on. >> is an important thing to improve that -- the fiscal institutions. public management, which is to include how the public manages it, either from tax revenues or financing from vendors like us. reporter: some have questioned how effective the program will be. >> imf programs are often designed to treat the symptoms of the problem, and not the cause. more than ever, i think it is clear to the imf and everyone else that sri lanka's fundamental problem is in governance and corruption. this program, and it is being -- as it is being published, fails to engage that causal issue of the country.

reporter: the imf bailout will provide much-needed funds to allow sri lanka to buy essential goods and help struggling businesses. but analysts saying much still needs to be done to allow sri lanka to begin to recover. lauren: protesters have set off layers and fireworks in paris as demonstrations against france's pension reforms continue. there were thousands of people in the french capital on the eve of a crucial televised interview by president emmanuel macron. police attempted to disperse protesters with tear gas. macrina aims to use the interview to "calm things down." former british prime minister has admitted he misled parliament parties held at downing street during the covid-19 lockdown, but not intentionally. johnson is due to be questioned wednesday by a committee investigating the so-called party gate scandal. in a document containing his

defense, johnson said he acted in good faith, and believed the rules and guidance were followed. johnson was fined last year over the gatherings. wall street's main indices climbed to say after the rescue of credit suites combed nerves about a bigger banking crisis. the u.s. treasury says it is considering what steps can be taken to further strengthen the country's financial stability. our correspondent has more from new york. reporter: the u.s. economy is certainly giving off a lot of mixed signals right now. on one hand, there is a banking crisis that has markets teetering. but there is also some positive signs as well. i spoke to max wolf, an economist in new york city, to try to make sense of it all. >> most americans are nervous. some are really suffering. and no one really knows exactly what is going on. reporter: inflation was a big deal last year, where it reached over 9% in june. in response, the federal reserve raised interest rates, and it

did the job. bringing inflation down to about 6% where it is today. but that is still high, because most economists say the target is around 1% to 2%. >> collation will be less of a problem going forward. but we have a lot of instability risk around the global supply chain and the conflict in russia and ukraine. reporter: higher interest rates might have helped slow inflation, but it is also -- it has had a negative effect on the housing market. that is because interest rates during the pandemic were down to historic lows of about 2%. today, they are up to about 7%. >> when i think the housing markets death -- best days are in the rearview mirror, not the windshield. reporter: americans are working. the u.s. added over 500,000 jobs just in january, and over 300,000 in february. the unemployment rate of 3.4%

was the lowest since 1969. since americans are working, they are also spending money at a record pace as well. what are we to make of all of these conflicting signs of this economy? >> every time we see a piece of data, we have to hear out if this is the new normal or abnormal. that is how we look at things in economics. does this the beginning of something new? the end of something old? or something we have not seen before? reporter: the confounding u.s.ñq

(sophie fouron) it's always interesting to listen to the sounds of nature, especially here. you hear the bald eagles, a lot. the ravens. salmon jumping. you kind of understand why they call it "the last frontier". you can't really go further than baranof island. it is what you imagine alaska to be. kilometers, and kilometers, and kilometers of forest. there are very little paved roads here. you don't spend much time in your car, but you spend