Forces, their size in afghanistan, will be 2,500 troops. Our force size in iraq will also be 2,500 by that same date. The announcement was made by acting u. S. Defense secretary chris miller. He replaced mark esper, who was fired by President Trump after joe biden won the electioner in this month. Troops have been gradually reduced as part of a peace deal struck earlier this year. U. S. Media reports say 4,500 soldiers are now believed to be deployed in afghanistan, and 3,000 in iraq. Republican Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell is raising concerns about the timing of the latest move, and warned against any earth shaking changes to defense or Foreign Policy in the coming months. The planned reduction comes amid a recent resurgence of violence in afghanistan. The government and the taliban are engaged in ongoing peace talks, but they have yet to achieve a breakthrough. Turning to the latest on the coronavirus here in japan. Infections continue to spike across many parts of the country. Its
If you get caught with covid 19, the closest hospital is probably one hour away for most people here. Woodruff all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff this has been a day for honoring americas military veterans, of peace and war, amid the political war over the president ial race. President trump still shows no sign of conceding to president elect biden, or
Restrictions that were put in place are actually having the desired effect or whether authorities have to tweak them and maybe increase them as well in the next few days. There are Big Questions as to whether this is being effective in particular, because germany continues to record very high numbers of new cases over 20000, for example, in the last 24 hours. And that is something that is obviously concerning for thors at the same time. There is a big concern among german hospitals. Many saying that the situation is even worse now than what it was in april, for example, during the 1st wave of the pandemic. So yes, there may be some positive signs, but the situation remains very serious and thats something the German Authorities have been very clear when they talk to the friends about these kinds of things. Christmas is only 6 weeks away and no government wants to go down in history as the one that canceled it, untold millions of people. They can go home and see their families. So tough
Democracy, and say, the president should be focusing on the pandemic. Instead. Im burnt. Coffee, its good to have you with us tonight. New infections. Corona, virus infections here in europe continue to increase despite the partial walked owns imposed in many countries. Frances Prime Minister saying that the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals is now higher than it was last spring. With another person admitted every 30 seconds, france has made the pandemic, the focus of this years virtual paris peace for president emanuel microns stressed today, there must be fair access to vaccines and treatments across the globe all across europe. Tonight, hospitals are under strain including in italy, europes ground 0 in the pandemic. This time its not just the rich north thats at the for the 2nd wave is also stretching resources in naples and the poor self. 2 2 hundreds of coronavirus patients wait for hours outside the emergency ward at the continue clinic to get treatment. Relatives have
Wednesdays program, this latest surge is putting a strain on hospitals as of wednesday. More than 12500 coated patients are in intensive care units, the highest number since early may Health Experts believe the reason for these recent spikes include pandemic fatigue, where people are frankly tired of hearing to social distancing protocols and inconsistent messaging from federal, state, and local officials. So with all of this in mind, lets go ahead and take another look at the trends and spread of the virus globally with our t. Correspondent, saya tablature saya. Where are we . Thursday brand worldwide cases are just surging right now. The global total has climbed to almost overnight, should say, 52000000. 00 deaths over 1287000. Now the u. S. Of course, has a way surpassed a 1000000 and almost hitting 245000 deaths and for a 2nd day in a row. And seeing a record high, like you mentioned wednesday was so 142860 cases, 69 percent up compared to 2 weeks ago. And thats, of course, our onc