here watching t w news. here is a reminder of the top story we're following for you. washington. it says moscow is planning to frame ukraine's government in such a way that would justify a russian invasion. it comes after a week of diplomacy between russia and western powers. ended with no breakthrough. that genius update at this hour, the business headlines are coming up next tuesday to and for that. and of course there is always more news and analysis on our website, d, w dot com. i'm quite richardson in berlin for me and the team. thanks for joining us. ah. we got some hot tips for your bucket list, a magic corner. hot spot for food.

and some great cultural memorials to booth w travel off. we go 30 years after the soviet union collapsed. they were born in the middle of unrest. young people that now live in independent countries. what remains of the soviet ideology and how do they live with its legacy? the dream hope and reality of the breakout generation. reporter to day on d. w. y. a slipping sales and spending a season. americans put the brakes on buying in december, a development that had surprised analysts also on the show energy

shortages are threatening many businesses here in germany or hear from some of us. and we take it to venezuela, where the collapse of the countries oil industry has left a legacy of economic hardship and environmental degradation. this is the w visit. i'm janelle de la on welcome you as retail sales dropped by the most in 10 months, missing expectations. 10 months in december, that is the us commerce department pointed to a 1.9 percent decline in the final month of the year. it's thought that americans, wary of shortages and supply shocks, got their holiday shopping in early and held on to their cash more tightly toward the end of the month. economy. se consumer caution could persist this year and potentially slow the economy yann's quarter,

or is corresponding in new york joins us now. and what these numbers tell us about the mindset of american consumers. and this report overall was a big a miss. and by the way, we also got the latest to reading on consumer sentiment that also came in lower than expected. so there are a couple of forces said to play, i mean there is inflation. so people are more hesitant to spend. if prices go up, then there is 3rd, the army kron, or pandemic. or we did see, for example, that sales at bars and restaurants a drop. but over all a we shouldn't be too alarmed at least at this point because yes, the month of december was a big miss. but as you, if you look at 2021 in total sales actually increased in comparison to 2020 by almost a 17 percent. so maybe some americans so started their holiday shopping early economists want all the time about those supply chain issues. so maybe as some of

the m sailed, some actually happened before the month of december. while you should do your part ends and spend some money. but it's not just retail numbers, of course that are out. a few big banks reported their figures today, and it's quite an ex picture, isn't it? it is a big mix picture we did see a profits drop a bit by with the biggest the bank here in the united states, a j. p. morgan and an even bigger drop when it comes to profit at the city group down by about 26 percent a. j. p. morgan, by the way, the stock was a drop of a good 6 percent by far the biggest loser in the jones industrial leverage. and that tells you that something is wrong with the numbers. so for one said, j. p. morgan is saying that there is some wage pressures, so that's good for employees, but it's also me entire cost for the banks and also the whole trading business is

cooling off a little bit. but then again, it's really also complaining on a pretty high level for the entire year of 2021. j. p. morgan still achieved record profit. and if you look at a city, one of the reasons why the numbers came lower than expected is that americans actually pay that credit card debt in time. so there's less interest for the banks, but it's good for the us population. yann's quarter in new york. thanks for all your reporting this week. now to some of the other global business stories making news, martin should probably must return $64600000.00 in profits. he and his former company reaped from raising the price of the life saving drug. darren a u. s. judgment on friday. the imprisoned x c. o does a form, a bro in the media has also been barred from participating in the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life. the jury is spelled and the u. s. senate is

introducing new legislation that would force defense contractors to stop buying rare earth from china by 2026. the bill would also require the pentagon to create a permanent stock pile of the strategic minerals, which are used in vehicles, weapons at electronics. facebook's parent company meta faces a 3000000000 dollar class action lawsuit in the u. k. it's over allegations it abused its market dominance by exploiting the personal data of 44000000 users. the company says users did have what meaningful control of what information they share . the u. k. economy been strongly in november returning to its pre pandemic size. britain's g d p expanded by a much faster than expected point 9 percent for that month, which was before it was hit by a wave of the omaha variant of the virus. and now to germany's g d p

figures from the country statistics agency show it grew by 2.7 percent last year. now that's a welcome return to growth after the economy shrank by almost 5 percent in 2020. but 2021 was still far from the boom year once hoped for. the german economy struggled to recover in the face of the prolonged pandemic. and it's knock on effects with g d p, most likely shrinking during the last quarter of the year. now one of those side effects which is carrying over into 2022 is germany's energy crunch. soaring gas prices and dwindling supplies are taking up major toll on the countries manufacturers. special steel foresaw blades it's been slowly heated up to $700.00 degrees celsius. freshly produced paper, dried by huge infrared heaters, steel, and paper. they have one thing in common. that production is extremely energy intensive . a problem at a time of shop,

the rising prices for electricity and gas to who are in a good price of, of that higher energy costs have such an impact on our overall production costs. that soon we might no longer be able to offer competitive prices. so dr. the made up of abs face in nearby paper, mill cobbled paper is similarly under pressure. currently, the company faces energy costs as much as 10 times as high as the competition abroad. the higher cost is being passed on to customers who so far have been willing to pay up the record on either of you. we don't have an option, it's just the way it is. unlike our competition in france or scandinavia, we can't rely on industry exemptions that would lower our energy prices form to widely ruthie privacy. for now, the company's trying to conserve energy wherever possible, keeping a close eye on volatile markets. some machines are being turned off when prices

rise to high. still, high energy costs are threatening investment in new technologies, including a switch to renewables. cobbled paper was planning on using geothermal heat going forward. we are more than taking your 3 of, you know, 4, we've been working on research on geothermal energy, but that project is going to be shelved soon. like we'll have to make a decision. also, we're working on a large lot recovery ventilation system. but for all that, we currently lack money and liquidity piece of scale, nor did the details the government will have to step in, i know, wouldn't berg hopes that companies might be exempt from certain taxes. if not, he fears that some might shut down. you know, of ice does her every one knows that germany had a thriving textile industry in the 1950s until the business moved almost entirely to asia because production here was cost prohibitive. the bar, i would really like a soon oiled is such a fate for our industry duties the again,

but i can't rule it out. ah, the northern is to the log and these is also the german economy ministry has said it won't abandon businesses facing higher energy costs and that it will be watching . but, but it's holtz and cobbler paper, need more than that. earlier we spoke to karen patel, she leads the energy climate and resources center at the etha economic institute. we asked why the energy crunch has been a particular problem in germany. one reason why and germany it's more um it's more cute as are you are relying more strongly on natural gas, not only for heating, but also for electricity production compared to countries like france, like norway, like switzerland. we do have market prices, so we don't have a publicly regulated energy prices. and on top of that, we rely more on russian gas than other european countries. and we had a decline of energy production from renewables, especially from wind. 13 years ago,

venezuela was producing 3200000 barrels of oil every day, fast forward to today, and it can barely scrape half a 1000000 together after a years of crippled production. the collapse of the countries oil industry is a key aspect of venezuela's, devastating crisis. abandoned platforms, rusted pipes, oil and gas leaks in the seventy's debasing of lake mara cable in venezuela was the largest oil field in latin america. today. it's a toxic testament to the disarray of the country's petroleum industry. the decline of pe, the vesa, the once flourishing state owned oil company began 20 years ago. when ogo chavez started steering its resources to fund his social programs and replace most of the management with is loyalists river them in bugler petroleum live in his way. lou was an industry that before the oil strike of 2002 was practically apple integral.

and independent, it managed its own resource, atlanta with when it fell into politics and they created the concept little bit of a sub belongs to everyone. well, i think that's when it went into the client that goes by the race as facilities in other parts of venezuela. are also suffering from a lack of maintenance and investments in the northeastern state of magus near the agricultural area of my dream or a leaks from an older pipeline or a recurring problem for the farmers. you said, oh you oh, there have always been oil spill. so mostly in the older pipe. yeah. i am not aware that the new pipe has broken off, but the old one has because it's been used for more than 60 years. in the miles in donnelly, industry, experts believe the country still has the largest oil reserves in the world. but the current economic and political turmoil makes it very difficult for venezuela to

capitalize on its fast natural resources. and finally, tesla chief eli mosques, long term flirtation with crypto currencies continues. he says his company will accept a dodge coin, which began life as a social media job as payment. however, you can't use village coin to buy full size cars and just yet it can be used to pay for many models of electric vehicles and merchandise. predictably, the move st dodge coin. price is 14 percent higher. modern life say that's called, that's all for me. and the business in here in berlin for more from us check out our website, d, w dot com slash business have a great weekend now . now it's a tough so like you can take their toll. german robotics

researchers are developing new systems to release strain on the body. next shoulders back. how did the exoskeletons fair when tested? tomorrow with a donkey with a special side came with a unique, artistic talent, a raven with a special gift with amazing animal, a collection of extraordinary stories. with 60 minutes on d, w. oh.

the internet knows all its creators want everything and the c digitize everything. the hot commodity in this global experiment. our data, smart devices are embedded in our daily lives tracking. i work every day. are we headed to a futuristic utopia or a digitized nightmare? the internet of everything starts january 17th on d w. ah. what's this be robots doing in the name of science? mm.