nations, the united states, and many, many other countries. arab leaders sought what became known as an arab solution only to conclude that saddam hussein was unwilling to leave kuwait. others traveled to baghdad in a variety of efforts to restore peace and justice. our secretary of state james baker held an historic meeting in geneva only to be totally rebuffed. this past weekend, in a last ditch effort, the secretary general of the united nations went to the middle east with peace in his heart. his second such mission and he came back from baghdad with no progress at all in getting saddam hussein to withdraw from kuwait. now the 28 countries with forces in the gulf area have exhausted all reasonable efforts to reach a peaceful resolution. i have no choice but to drive saddam from kuwait by force. we will not fail. as i report to you. air attacks are underway against military targets in iraq. we're determined to knock out saddam hussein's nuclear bomb potential. we will also destroy his chemical weapons facilities. much of saturn's artillery

united nations system. >> thank you for that question. working to address these issues will be one of my highest priorities in new york if i'm confirmed. not paying our bills really does diminish our power and it diminishes our leadership. we need to pay our bills to have a seat at the table. and our leadership is needed at the table. we know that when we seed our leadership, others jump in very quickly. and we know we would have push back on those -- >> ambassador, we have very little time. your opening statement to reform and transparency. a lot of u.n. funding is dedicated to peace keeping. we have seen peace keeping missions around the continent and around the world. some have been essential and well run. some have been profoundly flawed. i look forward as a member of the sub committee that funds our work around the world to working with you on that reform. i'm concerned about a spike in violence and darfur. going in the wrong direction after the peace keeping mission was drawn down if is also a topic o

our instrument and our hope is united nations. and i see america, and the impatience of those, who would abandon this imperfect world instrument, because they dislike our imperfect world. trouble of a world organization, merely reflects troubles of the world itself. and if you organization weakens, these troubles can only increase. we may not always agree with every detail action, taken by every office of the united nations. with every voting majority. but as an institution. it should have, in the future, as it has had in the past -- know stronger or more faithful member than the united states of america. weeknights this month, we're featuring american history tv programs as a preview of what is available every weekend, on c-span 3. a look at george h. w. bush, we look back 30 years to january 16th, 1991. when president bush announced from the oval office, the start of the persian gulf war. named operation desert storm, the military action -- opening salvo but an effort to drive saddam hussein out of kuwait. iraq invaded's -- that

of the united nations. arms alone are not enough to keep the peace. it must be kept by men. our instrument and our hope is the united nations, and i see little merit in the patients of those who would abandon this imperfect world instrument because they dislike our imperfect world. for the troubles of a world organization merely reflect the troubles of the world itself, and if the organization is weak, these troubles can only increase. we may not always agree with every detail or act taken by every office of the united nations, or with every voting majority, but as an institution, it should have in the future, as it has had in the past, since its inception, no stronger or more faithful member than the united states of america. [applause] [applause] a former cia historian who is now a professor at the catholic university of america teaches a class about intelligence activity during president kennedy's administration. he talks about the bay of pigs, the cuban missile crisis, and other covert operations during

united nations system. the if confirmed, how will you use the power of america's vote and voice on the security council to hold china accountable for its behavior within the united nations and beyond? >> senator, thank you for that question, and i see that my highest priority if i'm confirmed at the united nations, and that is to push against chinese influence in the security council, and it will mean working with our allies and bringing them on board and getting their support to push back against the chinese, and as i said earlier calling them out every opportunity that we have on their efforts to -- to have greater influence on the united nations and to bring a set of values to the united nations that does not fit the organization that we all support. >> so i'm -- let's tease that out. i'm going to unpack that a little bit. so you'll work with partners and alice to apply greater leverage. that makes some sense to me. how will you approach this differently than the previous administration are, and you'll n

the united nations. mr. kennedy firmly supported u.n. efforts to keep the congo a united nation and sent planes to aid in u.s. transportation when fighting broke out in katonga. went to the congo to try to arrange a ceasefire and was killed in a plane crash. president kennedy paid him tribute in these words. >> i know that i'm speaking for all my fellow americans, expressing a deep sense of shock and loss and the untimely death of the secretary general of the united nations. his dedication to the cause of peace is his untiring labors to achieve it, his courage under attack, his willingness to accept responsibility in trying to strengthen the united nations and make it a more effective instrument for the aspirations of the hundreds of millions of people around the globe who desire to live out their lives, those efforts are well known. i express my sympathy to his country, the government of sweden. and i hope that all of us will recognize the heavy burdens that his passing places upon us. ♪♪ >> later i

at the united nations in york. our country faces an unprecedented series of crises and challenges both at home and abroad, global pandemic and economic recession and a reckoning around inequality and injustice and unprecedented levels of displacement, violence on the world and the exit central threat of climate change. in this moment i believe the credibility and values are at task and our test around the world and relationships our strength. we need to ask yourselves who we want to be and what example we hope to set for the rest of the world and as our base of the united nations the united states needs a leader who can advance not just our interests but our values, restore our alliances, rebuild bridges and develop relationships that allow us to manage disagreements, unpacked complex challenges and inspire the next generation of leaders. that is why i am so excited to have the honor of joining with senator cassidy and introducing ambassador thomas greenfield who is no stranger to this committee, to the diplomatic

there was a meeting that was a long meeting and mainly dealt with united nations matters. quÉbec and canada again, and the morgenthal plan was decided, we'll talk about that in a minute. moscow in the soviet union, churchill flew there. churchill flew 107,000 miles during the war to get to these meetings. and these miles were flown in converted bombers, unpressurized and heated. so the travel was not very comfortable yet at the time. if you think about the meaning meetings and churchill attending them going to moscow in the fall of 1944 and i'll talk about it a bit too and let moscow in 1944, an important decision was made about how the balkans would be divided up between the east and the west. the so-called percentage agreement. and then yalta, we'll talk about that and the meetings continue later on too. there was a san francisco meeting where the united nations was founded and there was also a big meeting in potsdam, germany, right at the end of the war, where important decisions were made about postwar germany including reparations decisions. it's a very long list of

united nations and were in the pacific. this isn't something that's very high on the american agenda. a big issue in poland. it's a very interesting conference. a wartime conference that perceived as a peace conference. this is also the conference where they spend on poland more than they spend time combined on germany and japan. so that is how oriented they are towards the future. that's how poland is important for them, in particular, for churchill, but in particular, for fdr. there are two sets of questions with poland. the forest is the borders. prewar poland was really the country, maybe the only case in history that was lifted up. then moved westward. the movement of the country, and we had to negotiate eastern borders, stalin insisted on the borders with hitler, with western ukraine and delivers going to the soviet union. then there's the question of the western border of -- which means actually taking at the german population from eastern germany. and establishing polish state they're so very big and complex issues.

the 1st meeting of representatives from the 51 united nations the united nations in session for the very. first time. meeting in london in 1946 there were 51 countries seated in the un general assembly now there are 193 in 1406 there were high hopes for the new organization after 2 world wars. now the world body is being tested again by the pandemic and many feel the un has failed that test because many of its members have been fending for themselves rather than working together. 7 days after the 1st general assembly in a conference room in a church building nearby in london it was the turn of the other main body of the un in charge of maintaining international peace and security listening back to these recordings today the 1st word ever spoken in the security council seems particularly jarring gentleman all 11 ambassadors on the council the number of members was later increased to 15 in 1965 what all men they wouldn't have realized it at the time in 1946 but with the benefit of hindsight 75 years on we now know the world was drifting into what we now call the cold war it lasted for more

govern the united nations means that the premier powers in the world. the united states, great britain, the soviet union and china would dominate. there would be a general soundly were all nations of the world will be represented. but one of the sore points with the soviet union came up at he'll touch as well, but it was discussed earlier that soviet union insisted that they want to have all of that they are 60 republics represented in the general assembly, meaning georgia, ukraine, whatever, would be representing as individual states would be represented there as well, and churchill and roosevelt were not very excited about that. i'm not going to talk more about that because i am sure that we will pick up that issue. the future of germany of course was a very important discussion, part in all of these conferences, namely that decision that germany would be occupied militarily by the big three after the war. there was a interesting incident in tehran where in fact they were talking about the denazification of germany, and stalin said, the best way to di

united nations and participation of the soviet union in it. the soviet participation in the pacific war. it turned out it wasn't necessary. truman then was trying to stop that. at that point from the perspective of february 1945, that was a big success. stalin knew he would get away doing whatever he wanted in poland but there was also a formal agreement to support a democratic process so there was a hope for churchill and fdr. france was not only given occupation of germany but also sit on the security council so there were some modest reasons for churchill to be happy as well. and stalin, basically, got to keep his booty in eastern europe, the red army would take over, would be his to decide. so there was this euphoria to a degree. there was one exception when it comes to the americans who were not participants in the conference per se but there on the margins. the group of americans were the american airmen and also the ground specialists of the u.s. air force that was stationed in 1944 and 1945 at the three american air bases in today's uk

is also part of the system of the united nations whose fundamental rule is non interference in other country's affairs on the one hand w.h.o. is told to monitor developments and if need be intervened in the politics of sovereign nations while on the other hand it is to in general refrain from such actions to teach you to. look what happened at the world trade organization at the w t o one a country is out of line it is immediately brought to order by the w t o director general and other states. and if it still refuses to accept requirements it can leave the w t o but quitting the w t o is a dramatic move for a country so what people have accepted on the economic front for capitalism and trade they are incapable of doing so for human health. and that is tragic. the w.h.o. in common with any institution serving the public interest has been weakened this is not this is not some kind of unfortunate mistake it is wanted they do not want a strong w.h.o. they want a world health organization that will rep that will so the fact that health is a trillion dollar market. the w.h.o. faced unlimi

the united nations is already actively engaged and development in this area and as far back as 1961, i conferred with our authorities in vietnam in connection with their work there. and i would hope tonight that the secretary general of the united nations could use the prestige of his great office and his deep knowledge of asia to initiate as soon as possible the countries of that area a planned cooperation and increased development. why (applause) >> for our part, i will ask the congress to join in eight billion dollar american investment in this effort as soon as it is underway. (applause) and i would hope that all other industrialized countries, including the soviet union, will join in this effort to replace despair with hope, and terror with progress. the task is nothing less than to enrich the hopes and existence of more than 100 million people. and there is much to be done. the vast me kong river can provide food, water and power at a scale to dwarf even our own pga. the moderate wonders of modern medicine can be spread through villages where thousands die every year from lack

the department was founded at the united nations in 1969 the un f.p.a. the united nations popular. found through this ostensibly neutral path western governments channel millions into population control in developing countries the major donors besides the united states were sweden great britain germany and switzerland. south korea was among the earliest testing grounds for population control the country was devastated after the korean war at the same time there was a baby boom with the highest birth rates in the world the united states participated in the reconstruction from the very beginning population control being high on the agenda. these 4 korean women grew up in a village 200 kilometers from seoul and still remember the war and the time that followed. good. bye and i'll call. him. to tell them. okey being a law. delivered to me a little or you want all my being do go. home. slow the regular hmong who come. to my poor. more. who. want to help with the whole world so who do not cuddle and who doesn't look like me who don't really want them have them down. tathra look at paying

the united states is young as nations go. fortunate in what it has been able to accomplish in such a few years. ♪ it owes much to older traditions and ideals, to concepts of freedom in law given fresh meeting on new soil. among these principles is the echoing resolve of abraham lincoln. that a government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. ♪ >> you can watch archival films on public affairs in their entirety on our weekly series, real america. saturday at 10:00 and sunday at 4:00 eastern, here on american history tv. each week, american artifacts takes you to museums and other historic places to learn about american history.

now the united nations is urging the united states to reverse its decision to designate yemen's who the rebels a terrorist group cited concerns of a large scale famine the designation is due to come into effect on january the 19th that your state says the aim is to hold 23 rebels accountable for what the u.s. says are terrorist acts the u.n. fears that designation will prevent a from getting to those who need it the most. the major project priority in yemen right now mr president is to prevent a mash i mean it data shows that 60000000 people are angry this year already about 50000 are essentially starving to death in much essentially a small. amount of 5000000 in just one step behind. every decision the world makes right now must take this into account. in the united states and i don't think married. to terrorists. foreign terrorist organization or. a mom say they say so unanimously approaches that they believe it will excel or it's yemen's. interior. let's course not because it's a woman who's at the u.n. and christian serious concerns at the u.n. about this designation absolutely we j

the united states is young as nations go. fortunate in what it has been able to accomplish in such a few years. ♪ it owes much to older traditions and ideals, to concepts of freedom in law given fresh meeting on new soil. among these principles is the echoing resolve of abraham lincoln. that a government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. ♪ ♪ onamerican history tv is social media. follow us @cspanhistory. the c-span cities tour travels the country. our staffamericans, is staying close to home due to the coronavirus. next, a look at one of our cities tour visit. of drivingrience into politics or a state park like it has been for thousands of years -- into palo uro canyon is like it has been for thousands of years. the fact that i see this, i just have to stop and take it in.

today the united nations headquarters stands in new york a daily reminder of the need for nations to work together for peace. to help secure that peace, the united states joined the 15 nation north atlantic treaty organization or the american people, membership in nato was never an issue. voters of both major political parties strongly supported the alliance. in 1952 they elected president a man who had played a vital role in europe, dwight d. eisenhower. as supreme commander he led armies in the liberation of europe. there for the second time in a generation american boys had joined in the cause of freedom. ♪ they went home, their country sought to help them resume a peaceful life. schools opened their doors to millions of veterans. ever since it began, the united states has seen a constant growth of education. a high school diploma is now almost taken for granted. every year 2.5 million students enroll in the universities and professional schools. many of the young men who had fought in north africa and normandy went back to the farms. they went back to working the earth in the q

and i would hope tonight that the secretary general of the united nations could use the prestige of his deep knowledge of asia to initiate as soon as possible with the countries of that area a plan for cooperation and increased development. [applause] for our part, i will ask the congress to join in eight billion dollar american investment in this effort as soon as it is underway. [applause] and i would hope that all other industrialized countries, including the soviet union, will join in this effort to replace despair with hope. and terror with progress. the task is nothing less than to enrich the hopes and the existence of more than 100 million people. and there is much to be done. the vast meghan river can provide food and water on a scale -- the wonders of modern medicine can be spread through villages where thousands die every year from lack of care. schools can be established to train people in the schools that are needed to manage the process of development. these objectives and more are within the reach of a cooperative and determined effort. i also intend to expand in speed up

and may he continue to bless our nation, the united states of america. announcer: next on the presidency, george h. w. bush delivers his 1991 state of the union address to a joint session of congress. about two weeks earlier, he had announced the start of operation desert storm, military action to drive saddam hussein from neighboring kuwait. iraq had invaded kuwait several months earlier. in addition to the persian gulf war, president bush outlined his economic and budget priorities. the miller center and george h. w. bush presidential library and museum provided this video. pres. bush: mr. president and mr. speaker and members of the united states congress, i come to this house of the people to speak to you and all americans, certain that we stand at a defining hour. halfway around the world, we are engaged in a great struggle in the skies and on the seas and sands. we know why we're there. we are americans, part of something larger than ourselves. for two centuries, we've done the hard work of freedom. and tonight, we lead the world in facing down a t

[cheers and applause] later, vice president nixon chooses as his running mate united nations envoy henry cabot lodge. the 58-year-old mr. lodge is shown with his wife, chicago bound to accept the party mandate. ambassador lodge is asked by a news man, >> how do you feel about the chances of a nixon lodge ticket? >> i am very optimistic. i think it will be an exciting campaign. i think it will be exciting, interesting. but i am optimistic of the outcome because i think people are taking the situation of the united states in the world today seriously. and they are right, and they ought to. i think they are worried about the world. just like a man who is going to, knows he is going to have an operation he wants to the best , doctors. and i think the voters will want to have in the white house the man who is the most experienced, who is the most intelligent, who is the most trained who is a , real pro, in other words. and i think that is going to convince a great many people to vote for richard nixon. ♪ >> in chicago, a post nomination appearance with pat nixon, his two daughters and his m

the united nations, the premier powers in the world. they would dominate as the four policeman, it would be a general assembly. one of the sore points came up, too. the soviet union insisted they want today have all of their 16 republics representationed in t general assembly. they are represented as general states would be represented there, too. and churchill and roosevelt are there. they will pick up that issue. the future of germany was a very important part in all of these conferences. namely that germany would be occupied militarily by the big three after the war. there was an interesting incident where tehran was talking about de-nazification. and they said we would have to kill 50,000 officers. he was aghast at this issue. we don't know if he said it in gue jest, and roosevelt choked back well 49,000 is enough. but of course we had to talk about the future order, what will duo with all of the nazis.. the european advisory commission was established. let me mention one more thing that was very important. the american secretary of

the united states is young as nations go. and fortunate in what it has been able to accomplish in such a few years. (music) it owes much to older traditions and ideals, to concepts of freedom in law given fresh meeting on new soil. among these principles is the echoing resolve of abraham lincoln. that a government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. (music) (music) you up next boris johnson talks about his book the churchill factor, in which he looks at the british prime minister earnings influence. mr. johnson now prime minister himself was meier of london himself when he spoke of politics in washington d.c. in 2014. >> but now on to the main event i want to say how

first, we will continue to give unfaltering support to the united nations and related agencies. and we will continue to search for ways to strengthen their authority and increase their effectiveness. second, we will continue our programs for world economic recovery. we must keep our full weight behind the european recovery program. third, we will strengthen freedom loving nations against the dangers of aggression. fourth, we will embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of under developed areas. i believe that we should make available to peace-loving people the benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life. our aim should be to help the free peoples of the world, through their own efforts, to produce more food, more clothing, more material for housing, and more mechanical power to lighten their burdens. democracy alone can supply the force. tonv)7 spur the triumphant peops of the world intot■#4v!ñi actiot only

camps that were run by united nations relief and rubella tatian ministration. but supplied by the armies they's army supply them with metals coal supplies and shelters. they built facilities. what happened was in germany, and the years following the day. in these camps there were little ukraine's little little jewish places, in the beginning the allies decided that they were going to separate out the last million by nationality. they did not recognize that there is such a thing as a jew. lithuanian jews were sequestered with the weightings, polish jews with non- jewish polls. in many instances the jewish survivors found themselves in the same camps as those had been there guards in that concentration in labor camps. that ended in july and august when the jews were put into their own camps the sense that all of that this was transitional. that they would soon be allowed to go home and they believe that the world war iii was coming rapidly and that the american the british were going to liberate ukraine, lithuania, estonia, from the soviets and displaced persons

the united nations, he gets the nations of the world to join. the understanding is that it will be an agency that takes care of the immediate need for refugees and provides passage for them. the last million, that doesn't happen. they demanded they be sent home or made to survive on their own in germany. the americans and british continue to support these people in camps for a year, year end a half until it's clear they're not going home. the americans and british, the establishment of the new organization, they without them. each task is to resettle the last million and it was late 1947, extraordinary bazaar meat market set up. it's a displaced persons camp and all members of the international refugee organization, dozens of latin american nations, canada, australia, they recruited into the camp to find workers to take jobs that will they can't find anybody else to take. it begins with the british, it is the labor shortage and they can't get anybody to work there. what do they do? they going to the camps and recruit women in the beginning and t

for more than five months, we, along with the arab league, the european community, the united nations, tried every diplomatic avenue. the u.n. secretary-general, presidents gorbachev, mubarak, king hassan, prime ministers, majors, just to name a few, all worked for a solution. but time and again, saddam hussein flatly rejected the path of diplomacy and peace. the world well knows how this conflict began and when. it began on august 2, when saddam invaded and sacked a small defenseless neighbor. and i am certain of how it will end, so that peace can prevail, we will prevail. [applause] >> watch both programs starting sunday at 8 p.m. eastern, 5 p.m. pacific, here >> every saturday, at 8:00 p.m. eastern, go inside a different college classroom and hear about topics ranging from the american revolution, civil rights, to 9/11. >> thank you for your patience and for logging into class. >> with most college campuses closed, watch professors transfer teaching to a virtual setting to engage with their students. >> gorbachev did most of the work to change the soviet union, but reagan met him h

rationed for the united nations relief and works agency matthias sure. well apparently while everyone's been talking about the inauguration of joe biden there's been aerial bombardment of gaza by israel armed by the united kingdom the european union the united states and tanks have invaded in some going to land invasion in gaza. so yes indeed we had a couple of nights ago. but that particular incident was triggered by rockets fired from here towards israel and then there was bombardment heavy bombing by the heavy bombardment in retaliation for those strikes and that i have to say happens regularly over the last couple of weeks i think there have been 3 such nights now for me to be perfectly honest you know no one go there was even injured in the area stopped the more serious incident was the tanks coming into gaza a few days ago that's in the border area and the reason that's more serious is number one the israelis always claim that gaza runs itself they are not on the ground and as in the west bank you know it is a sovereign territory where you don't ju

and the ambassador to the united nations adlai stevenson and his daughter-in-law are the among those presented. the following day at the white house, the cabinet is sworn in by chief justice warren in the presence of the mr. kennedy. these men will assist the president in fulfilling the responsibilities of the executive branch of the government. the administration of president john fitzgerald kennedy begins. ♪♪ >>> weeknights this month we're featuring american history tv programs as a preview of what's available every weekend on c-span3. tonight, former white house social secretary's lee berman and jeremy bernard talk about their book "treating people well." they share stories from the white house and their thoughts on professional and public civility. watch tonight beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern and enjoy american history tv every weekend on c-span3. >>> the inaugural story 1969 is a 45-minute film by the joint congressional inaugural committee, the senate recording studio, and the naval photographic center. this film details the time-honored events of a presidential inaugurati

is also part of the system of the united nations whose fundamental rule is non interference in other country's affairs on the one hand w.h.o. is told to monitor developments and if need be intervene in the politics of sovereign nations while on the other hand it is to in general refrain from such actions would you do to. look what happened at the world trade organization at the w t o i want a country is out of line it is immediately brought to order by the w t o director general and other state. and if it still refuses to accept requirements it can leave the w t o but quitting the w t o is a dramatic move for a country so what people have accepted on the economic front for capitalism and trade they are incapable of doing so for human health. and that is tragic. the w.h.o. in common with any institution serving the public interest has been weakened this is not this is not some kind of unfortunate mistake it is wanted they do not want a strong w.h.o. they want a world health organization that will rep that will so the fact that health is a trillion dollar market. the w.h.o. faced unlim

the ambassadors of the united nations are among those presented. the following day at the white house the cabinet is sworn in by chief justice warren in the presence of mr. kennedy. these men will assist the president in fulfilling the responsibilities of the executive branch of the government. the administration of president john fitzgerald kennedy begins. ♪ ♪ ♪

nations. it was a brutal attack on eden's airport just as newly appointed yemeni government officials arrived killing more than 20 people including civilians and aid workers but what the u.s. has done since blaming iran back to the separatists and designating them a terrorist organization will have more deadly and far reaching consequences that according to martin gryphus the united nations special envoy who recently visited the country we fear. there will be inevitably a chilling effect of my efforts to bring the parties together even worse according to the u.n. and aid agencies the move is likely to push yemen over the brink and into widespread famine after 6 years of civil war $16000000.00 people more than half of the population already rely on humanitarian assistance to buy food 90 percent of which is imported aid agencies say the terrorism designation will disrupt the supply chain increase prices and possibly cause suppliers to pull out of the country altogether david beasley has the nobe

among the nations of the world, only the united states of america needs to back it up. we are the only nation on this earth that could assemble the forces of peace. this is the burden of leadership, and the strength that has made america the beacon of freedom in a searching world. this nation has never found glory in war. our people have never wanted to abandon the blessings of home and work for distant lands and deadly conflict. if we fight in anger, it is only because we have to fight it off and all of us yearn for a world where we will never have to fight again. each of us will measure within ourselves the value of this great struggle. any cost in lives, any cost, is beyond our power to measure. but the cost of closing our eyes to aggression is beyond mankind's power to imagine. this we do know. our cause is just, moral, right. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] let future generations understand the burden and blessings of freedom. let them say we stood where duty required us to stand. let them know that to gather, we affirmed america and the world as a comm

uniting our nation. and i ask every american tojoin me in this cause. applause. kamala harris becomes the first woman to hold the office of vice president — anotherfirst, her black and asian heritage. donald trump skips the ceremony and heads off to florida — he says he'll be back in some form. america is at a turning point and we'll be reporting on what it means for that country — and the rest of the world. also tonight: terrified patients, exhausted nhs staff and wards full to bursting — how the royal derby hospital is coping with the pandemic. a further 1008 —— a further 1821 coronavirus deaths been recorded. more flood warnings for england as storm christoph pushes through — there've been rescues, roads closed and rail services suspended. in half—an—hour, we will rejoin katty kay in washington for continuing coverage of the dayjoe biden is inaugurated as us president. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. just a couple of hours agojoe biden took the oath of office, becomi

nations the united nations in session for the very 1st. meeting in london in 1946 there were 51 countries seated in the un general assembly now there are 193 in 1946 there were high hopes for the new organization after 2 world wars. now the world body is being tested again by the pandemic and many feel the un has failed that test because many of its members have been fending for themselves rather than working together. 7 days after the 1st general assembly in a conference room in a church building nearby in london it was the turn of the other main body of the u.n. in charge of maintaining international peace and security listening back to these recordings today the 1st word ever spoken in the security council seems particularly jarring gentleman all 11 ambassadors on the council the number of members was later increased to 15 in 1965 what all men they wouldn't have realized it at the time in 1946 but with the benefit of hindsight 75 years on we now know the world was drifting into what we now call the cold war it lasted for more than 40 ye