home in connecticut. the statement from kissinger associates did not give a cause of death. tributes have started pouring in. former president george w bush has said on x — "america has lost one of the most dependable "and distinctive voices on foreign affairs with "the passing of henry kissinger." here's a look back at his life from our diplomatic correspondent james landale. to some, henry kissinger was one of the cold war�*s most influential statesman who advised presidents and prime ministers for decades. to others he was a war criminal. we call for the arrest of henry kissingerfor war we call for the arrest of henry kissinger for war crimes. whose ruthless defence of american interest cost thousands of lives. he was born heinz kissinger in nazi germany. hisjewish family fled to america in 1938 but the young henry, as he became, returned to europe fighting with the us army. in peacetime the soldier became a scholar at harvard university making his name arguing that nuclear weapons could be used in conventional wars. i believe it is technically possible to conduct resistance with limited employment of nuclear although that is less desirable. it was president richard nixon who brought him into government, first as national security adviser and then later secretary of state. a double act seeking to reshape the cold war by balancing competing world powers. kissinger drove america's re— engagement with communist china, paying secret visits to its leaders, paving the way for an historic first visit by a us president in 1972. he sought to improve relations with the soviet union through negotiations about trade and arms control. in the middle east he coined a new phrase, shuttle diplomacy as he flew between capitals to try and constrain arab—israeli conflict. his belief was in realpolitik, the idea that national self—interest trumped human rights or shared values. no nation can make its survival dependent on the goodwill of another state. this all brought him some global celebrity. i don't stand on protocol, if you just call me excellency. we believe that _ you just call me excellency. we believe that peace is at hand. kissinger�*s fame became notoriety as he struggled to end america's involvement in the vietnam war by bombing cambodia. this cuts supplies to north vietnam that also killed hundreds of thousands and fuelled the rise of the brutal khmer rouge. his critics accused him of war crimes and his supporters welcomed a nobel peace prize. nothing that has happened to me in public life has moved me more than this award. he was criticised for supporting authoritarian anti—communist leaders such as general pinochet in chile. he supported the coup that brought the brutal junta to power. so that the united states could not be totally indifferent to the question of a communist regime in chile. i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. kissinger was considered so indispensable he survived the watergate crisis that brought down nixon and was kept on by gerald ford but he fell out of favour in washington, loathed by the left, distrusted by the right and began a life of lucrative consultancy. thus henry kissinger, a scholar and statesman, a cynic at times cavalier with people's lives, above all a diplomat always ready to talk. gautum mukunda is an author and research fellow at the harvard kennedy school's center for public leadership. he has written extensively about presidential leadership. henry kissinger was not himself a president but he had a lot of points on several administrations? . ., , did administrations? he certainly did there are _ administrations? he certainly did there are presidents - administrations? he certainly did there are presidents who | did there are presidents who have had less of an impact on the united states than him. what do you think his legacy will be on the controversial aspects, what stands out to you? aspects, what stands out to ou? , ., ., , , you? the short answer is complicated. _ you? the short answer is complicated. to - you? the short answer is complicated. to his - you? the short answer is| complicated. to his credit there are certainly moments in his career that had enormous consequences we look back on favourably from the opening to china to shuttle diplomacy which you mentioned and more importantly than many of those is during the declining days of the nixon administration when president nixon was paranoid, alcoholic probably not sane in conventional terms kissinger played a crucial role in holding american policy on the western alliance together, be had to done those things american history would look very different, you have to weigh that on the balance, disregard notjust human rights but a casualness with them, that even when measured on its own terms is pursuing the american national interest, failed over and over again catastrophically. most prominently interesting not only areas where he is most criticised, cambodia i am not minimising what he did there but in his catastrophic mismanagement of the genocide in bangladesh and the indo pakistani war.— in bangladesh and the indo pakistani war. what did he see as the american _ pakistani war. what did he see as the american national- as the american national interest? i as the american national interest?— as the american national interest? ., ,, interest? i would say kissinger defined it as _ interest? i would say kissinger defined it as american - interest? i would say kissinger defined it as american security and american power hope lee in that order and he thought in action he saw as furthering those two goals, was justified. but the problem is that is not a useful definition because the question of what is american security or how american power is best maximised as all the interesting parts of foreign policy, you canjustify any action as being for american security or power within huge boundaries and the important part is trying to figure out what other ones that are actually most useful in that regard and there is sometimes he succeeded and sometimes he failed. �* , he succeeded and sometimes he failed. �*, ., ., ~' he succeeded and sometimes he failed. �*, ., ., ~ ., he succeeded and sometimes he failed. �*, ., ., failed. let's look at one asect failed. let's look at one mm of _ failed. let's look at one aspect of his _ failed. let's look at one aspect of his career - failed. let's look at one - aspect of his career relations with china we know about the secret trip taken to china in the 70s, how does that stand up to relations with china today? clearly has opening of china was a seminal moment in global politics, global history given the importance and size of china, and he handled that skilfully, you might fairly say that the international dynamics of the cold war between the soviet union and the us with china in the middle meant a rapprochement between the china and us would be inevitable. but that may be unfair but the person who said that rapprochement was inevitable was henry kissinger in one of his own books. so if we take a mendis word we would say he executed something skilful yet no—one would deny that but something that likely there were large historical forces pushing in that direction and they aided him. tell pushing in that direction and they aided him.— pushing in that direction and they aided him. tell us more about his _ they aided him. tell us more about his life _ they aided him. tell us more about his life when _ they aided him. tell us more about his life when he - they aided him. tell us more about his life when he exited office and what shaped his life afterwards? i office and what shaped his life afterwards?— office and what shaped his life afterwards? i think there would be two things. _ afterwards? i think there would be two things, in _ afterwards? i think there would be two things, in a _ afterwards? i think there would be two things, in a word - afterwards? i think there would be two things, in a word his - be two things, in a word his life after leaving office was lucrative and exceptionally so as the founder of kissinger associates, he became a counsellor notjust not for profit for the us government but for profit for governments all over the world and this was so important to him when george w bush appointed chair of a commission to investigate intelligence failures that led to 9/11 he found out if he took that position he would have two reveal who all his clients were as a consultant he declined the position because he did not want to reveal the identity of his clients. the second is, for roughly almost 50 years after he left power, there was probably few people outside the government had more influence on the way people in the government about the world. every president listens to him, they may not have agreed with him or done what he said, barack 0bama was enormously sceptical of his opinions but every president �*s and to him and everyone was wise to do so evenif and everyone was wise to do so even if you did not agree with his thoughts, no—one ever in his thoughts, no—one ever in his entire life he thought henry kissinger was done he did not have things with hearing to say. not have things with hearing to sa . , , , ., say. interesting things you make. thank _ say. interesting things you make. thank you - say. interesting things you make. thank you for - say. interesting things you | make. thank you forjoining say. interesting things you - make. thank you forjoining us on bbc news with your insights on bbc news with your insights on this story. just a shortwhile ago i spoke with ambassador winston lord. he served as national security advisor, assistant secretary of state, and ambassador to china — as well as special assistant to henry kissinger. you were the special assistant to dr kissinger. i would like to get your reaction to this news of his passing? obviously i react both on the global level and on a personal level. i think america has lost a tireless champion for its national interest. the world has lost a tireless advocate for peace and i have lost a cherished friend and mentor. so obviously we take solace in the fact he lived a full 100 years and had an extraordinary career and a wonderful family life. it is not tragic in the sense of premature death, but nevertheless it is a great personal loss to me and i think to the world. i want to come back to his professional legacy but first personally, what stands out to you about your friendship with dr kissinger? he has had more influence on me than any other people except my own family. i was a young 30—year—old when i joined his national security staff and worked by his side for eight years and in the course of that he was my mentor but i used to joke he was also my tour mentor because he was extremely demanding, he stretched my nerves and my patience but he also stretched my abilities, my capabilities and my horizons. so i am always grateful to him not only for the success i was able to share with him but also what he taught me for the rest of my life, in terms of strategic analysis and working in the fields of diplomacy. we have been looking at some images of the two of you working together. i want to ask you about that monumental trip to beijing, the secret trip you accompanied doctor kissinger on. tell us more about what you remember from that trip? well, i've had a lot of dramatic moments in my life but that probably topped them all. we went secretly from pakistan, and i always claim and in he admits i got to china before he did. no american official had visited china since 1919, for 22 years, as the pakistani plane carrying us secretly to beijing across the chinese territorial demarcation i was at the front of the plane and henry was at the back so i was the first american official to go to china. it was dramatic, it upset the geopolitical, it was an earthquake, a very positive move for american policy for the morale of the american people, it helped us improve relations with the soviet union by gaining their attention by dealing with the adversary. that helped bring the end of the war in vietnam, it made kissinger a national and international figure. it was a major hinge point both for him personally and dramatic for me since my wife was chinese from shanghai, i was going back to her local land and in global history. that trip and the drama, it was secret with the james bond aspect and dealing with chinese leaders for the first time for 22 years and paving a way for the nixon trip was really one of the highlights of my life. you called doctor kissinger an ambassador for peace, that being part of his legacy. you will know because he is a deeply controversial figure as well, he has been called by some of his critics a war criminal. criticised for a lack of moral compass in his foreign policy approach. what do you think of that? of course, i totally disagree with that. like any person of great stature, he did have flaws, but he monumentally contributed to world peace and to american interests, to say someone had no moral compass who lost 50 family members in a holocaust is absurd. he worked on human rights behind the scenes in public, he often had to balance geopolitical interest as many presidents and leaders during the cold war by working with unsavoury partners in order to balance the soviet union and there were other controversial decisions. but i would argue that peace and stability is the greatest human right and he paid attention to human rights but often quietly, there is no question he put great emphasis on stability and the difficult trade—offs you had to make. one more question, he did spend many of his later years defending his record against some of these criticisms. what do you think he would want to see his legacy to be? i think he would want to see he helped transform american foreign policy, you have to remember when he and nixon came to office he inherited a very difficult landscape. we had a president who had resigned, we had assassinations and the vietnam war, we had no contact with china, the difficult relationships with the soviets, we had declining influence in the middle east, and all that he with the presidents of course, nixon and ford turned all that around. more stable relations with moscow, opening to one fifth of the world's people, ending the war on the best possible basis at the time, the middle east and one of his greatest accomplishments people tend to forget is the watergate period. your lead did not mention this, he did notjust survive, he survived because he was trusted and not involved with that so he was the one leading figure in the government that could hold this country together and our foreign policy together during a tremendous constitutional crisis and during that period he was a hero to almost everybody here. but his version of history has set in and some critics are going after him but i think he stands as a giant. we will have to leave it there, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. an appeals court in ecuador has ruled that an indigenous group in the amazon should have its ancestral lands returned. the group, which calls itself the siekopai nation, numbers around 800 people. tribal elders say the siekopai were displaced from their homeland in 1941 during a military skirmish between ecuador and peru. a us navy warship in the red sea shot down an iranian—made drone, which the pentagon says was launched from houthi—controlled areas of yemen. the uss carney was escorting two ships, one of which was carrying military equipment to the middle east, when the drone approached. there were no injuries to us personnel and no damage to us ships. in an interview with the new york times, billionaire elon musk delivered profanity—laced comments toward advertisers who left his social media platform x. the backlash from advertisers came after musk agreed with an x user who claimed jewish people were adding to hatred against white people. the tesla ceo traveled to israel and spoke to prime minister benjamin netanyahu earlier this week. you're live with bbc news. turning now to the war in the middle east. talks to extend the temporary truce between israel and hamas have been continuing. the clock is ticking, with the current ceasefire set to expire. israeli officials say they're prepared to return to military action in gaza if there's no agreement. on wednesday, the sixth day of the deal, 16 hostages were freed from captivity in gaza. they included two russians, ten israeli citizens and four thai hostages, who were all handed over to the red cross. their release was delayed by what hamas called logistical issues. president biden has confirmed that one of the freed hostages is israeli—american liat benin. on wednesday, 30 palestinian women and teenage boys were freed from israeli prisons in exchange for the hostages. this as the us secretary of state antony blinken touched down in tel aviv for more talks aimed at extending the temporary truce and increasing humanitarian aid into the gaza strip. 0ur diplomatic editor paul adams sent this update from jerusalem. for the six night in a row we have seen a successful exchange of hostages and palestinian prisoners. earlier in the evening with saw to israeli russian dual nationals released and a few hours later ten israeli hostages and full—time workers also release so 16 hostages in all. we are seeing the release as a result of that of another palestinian detainees, 1a, it has gone on pretty much without a hitch for six days. the question is whether we from here. "4 thai workers. the israelis want to see the remaining children and older hostages release and beyond that there are dozens of soldiers being held, both male and females, and for hamas, they are gaining quite a bit of kudos in the palestinian community for securing the release of so many palestinian detainees so it is in the interests of both sides to keep this process going. what would you not know is whether there are disagreements about the terms of any further extensions. it is that we could see an extension for a day or two. hamas might be wanting slightly longer. they may be discussions about exactly who will be included in the releases but i think there is still a hope that will happen. if it does not, israeli officials, from the prime minister down, wanting israel is ready to go back to war. when that happens they say no cities will be regarded as safe. that is the prospect that looms if this hostage and present it really still finally comes to an end. the united nations climate change conference, also known as cop28, is kicking off in dubai on thursday. more than 200 governments are invited and thousands of delegates from environmental charities, community groups, think tanks and businesses will take part. among them will be us vice president kamala harris. she will be there in place of presidentjoe biden. another key player, china's xijinping, is not expected to attend, sending a representative in his stead. some of the topics at the summit include fast—tracking the move to clean energy sources, to slash greenhouse gas emissions before 2030, climate finance, with calls for richer nations to pay for the climate crisis. leaders from developing nations say they're vulnerable to climate change but have contributed the least to it. and inclusivity in the climate change movement will also be discussed. cop28 is considered the most inclusive it has ever been. this year's gathering has also faced controversy for being hosted in dubai. the uae is one of the world's top 10 oil—producing nations joining me to discuss this week's events from dubai is carl nasman, our news reporter. very good to see you. what are the goals of cop28? you touched on a few of _ the goals of cop28? you touched on a few of them. _ the