healthier boy fuller, like one of the most insightful discoveries in the history of mankind. down the hedge. moral life starts february 16th on d, w. ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin, russian president vladimir putin. the speaks out on the stand off over ukraine. he says the us is ignoring moscow security concerns, but signals. russia is ready for another round of negotiations. also coming up,

the situation is under control says president and below of guinea. so after a crew attempt in the west african country, he says drug traffickers could be to blame, but questions are growing over what really happened. athletes are preparing to go for gold at the winter olympics in beijing, but political issues and the ongoing pandemic are causing headaches. for organizers and sell them sterilized them or saved that the dilemma over what to do with the dozens of hippos 1st brought to columbia by drug lord pablo escobar. ah, i'm semi so misconduct. glad you could join us. russian president vladimir putin has accused the us and its allies of ignoring moscow security concerns. in his 1st public remarks on the stand off over ukraine in weeks. he said the west was using

ukraine to hinder russia's development, put in signals. he was ready to continue negotiations, but so far, neither side has been willing to budge on their positions. for weeks, he has left to talking to others, but no president vladimir putin has accused the united states of trying to drag russia into conflict. so mc loaner, you for that the united states, most important goal is to contain russia. that's the thing you wouldn't believe in this sense. ukraine itself is just a tool to achieve this goal is when you see them, this can be done in different ways. one of them is to draw into armed conflict on across the border and key of british prime minister boris johnson offered a show of support to ukrainian president vladimir to lensky johnson. warned that war would be a lose lose outcome. russia invasion of ukraine would be a political disaster. humanitarian disaster, in my view,

would also be for russia for the world, a military disaster as well. and i the out potential invasion completely, a flies in the face of president putin's claims to be acting in the interest of the ukrainian people. ukraine is not completely relying on diplomacy to protect them. president lensky announced a huge addition to his nation's army. mobile demos was to jot west william on over . we will create a new political cooperation format in europe between ukraine, great britain and poland was abusive. within the next 3 years, we will increase the number of the ukrainian armed forces by 100000 professional soldiers army. in a video release, just hours before boris johnson's visit, soldiers tested rocket artillery systems. just north of the crimean peninsula, which russia invaded, anne annexed from ukraine and 2014. both sides are preparing for war,

while the diplomats try to make peace. meanwhile, the spanish newspaper at pace has published documents. it says our confidential letter sent by the us and the nato alliance to russia. the leak documents detail the u. s. and nato's formal response to a list of moscow's demands chief among them that nato rule out and admitting ukraine to the security alliance. they should more light on the high stakes diplomacy taking place behind the scenes, including potential nuclear disarmament and trust building agreements. and for more of this, we can go over to terry schultz who is reporting for us in brussels high terry. so what stands out to you from these lead documents? are there any a clear differences between the u. s. and nato responses? hi, sammy, i'd. the 1st thing that stood out to me was just how similar the documents are to exactly what we were told were in these letters. both nato secretary general

stilton burge and u. s. officials had given public statements, saying that this is how they responded to russia, and i'm not saying i didn't believe them, but i'm still struck by just how much we did know about what these letters were and therefore why they were kept classified. the nato letter is just 2 pages long and quite general, while the u. s. response is 4 pages because the u. s. has more details with which to respond. it has missiles, which nato doesn't, and russia asked more of the united states. so the u. s. letter talks about what the u. s. is willing to do if russia reciprocates, including going back to arms control agreements that have fallen by the wayside. limiting and, and be more transparent about about troop movements, which russia does not do. i was also struck by sort of this scolding nature in the u. s. letter. in particular. it reminded russia that it invaded crimea and, and illegally annexed it, that it has troops in ukraine, in the eastern ukraine, which russia denies. and also that it has troops still in georgia and in will delva,

which were not there at the invitation of those governments. and terry, tell us again how the russian side has responded to these letters. well, besides, what you heard from president putin that was reiterated again in a letter from foreign minister, sergey lever off, which was posted on the russian foreign ministry website. and it, it, it reiterates that russia feels this, the 0 sum situation, that any reinforcement, any reassurance sent to its neighbors in d, stabilizing for russia. so leverett says once again that the west does not understand the russia, russian position, and that without a, if the these members are allowed to have nato forces on their territory, that it is not acceptable to russia. this is something where there is a clear difference of opinion that simply, i don't see how it can be bridged. so taken together that the letters and the response from russia does this, do anything to change the diplomatic state of play in the stand off?

i don't think so again, we've heard everyone's positions publicly. what it does do is, is show everyone in black and white that what president putin says that the rush that the west basically ignored russia's, russia's proposals and, and russia's concerns is not true because the letters address very specifically what russia wants nato and the us to do and which are not acceptable. the other thing that i, that i find interesting is that now those people in eastern europe who may have feared that nato and the u. s. might be willing to compromise on their security and withdraw some of these forces in these reassurance measures that's not on the table, little dw terry schultz in brussels for us. thank you so much. let's get a quick round up of some other headlines now. pharmaceutical companies, biotech and pfizer are seeking emergency authorization from the us for a vaccine developed for children under the age of 5. if approved,

the extra low doses would be the 1st in the country to be made available to children above the age of 6 months. authorities in canada had broken up a convoy of trucks that was blocking a major border crossing in the us truckers staged the protests as part of a larger anti vaccine demonstration that blocked rows in the capital ottawa over the weekend. and now to some other developments in the pandemic, germany has recorded more than 10000000 corona virus cases. since the start of the pandemic, more than 200000 new infections were logged on tuesday alone. according to the federal research institute, france has started easing, coven 19 restrictions, despite record infection numbers and january mandatory outdoor mass squaring and capacity limits for large events have been dropped. and tonga is going into lockdown after port workers delivering humanitarian aid. tested positive for the virus, the remote pacific nation was left devastated by a se unami after an underwater volcanic eruption last month. details

are emerging after a reported coup in guinea to south president tomorrow, so co em below has said assailants armed with machine guns, attack the government palace for hours while he and the prime minister were inside . but that that situation is now under control. the violence in guinea bison is the latest in a series of attempted, military takeovers in west africa and recent months, most of which have succeeded ah, come fire near the government seat and be south forcing bystanders to seek shelter . 4 hours president omar, osi ciocca and bolos whereabouts remained unclear until he addressed the nation, saying several security personnel had been killed and what he called a failed attack against democracy. this i was in the middle of the council of ministers with all the members, including the prime minister. we were attacked with very heavy weaponry for

a duration of 5 iowa. but now everything is under control. this is the african union and the un have both condemned the attempted coup. it is for us, clear that calls are totally unacceptable. we are seeing a terrible multiplication of goes the and all a stronger feel is for soldiers to go back to the barracks and for the constitutional order to be fully in place in the democratic context of today's universal. m barlow's opponents had accused the former army general election fraud after his victory in the december 2019 roles. he had also recently been at odds with his prime minister following a minor government shake home. since independence from portugal in 1970 full guinea be south, has experienced for coups and more than a dozen attempted ones. sure, in germany, debate is raging over whether

a former far right politician can return to his previous profession. as a judge. yes, maia was a member of parliament for the far right to a f d party. and as one of the party's hardliners was officially declared and extremist by germany's domestic intelligence agency, he fail to win reelection to the bonus dog last year. and now he wants to return to his old job as a judge. many question whether my or should be allowed to do that. he used to be a member of parliament for the far right, a f d party. and recently he was categorized as extremist by the domestic intelligence agency. un smile is known for his far right and unconstitutional statements. also, while he was in parliament, back in 2017, he was reprimanded for trivializing the holocaust. this whole propaganda and re education directed against, thus which wanted to persuade us that ow shabbots was factually the consequence of

german history. i hereby declare this called of guilt to be over to be finally, over in september, last year, maya was not elected for a 2nd term in parliament. now he wants to go back to his previous job as a judge in the german state of saxony. according to the law, he is allowed to do that, but many believe the justice minister can stop him from doing so. can you perhaps wiseman? oh yes. behavior during his time as a member of parliament gives reason to at least initiate disciplinary proceedings and to examine whether one can also use his statements to accuse him of having violated his official duties or whatever doesn't from institution pallets this could possibly even leave to his dismissal as a judge and it wasn't victor who and quintal, the justice ministry and sacks, and he doesn't think it can pursue this route. but there is another possibility,

a so called judge indictment. if judges violate the german constitution, they can be removed from office after a vote by a 2 thirds majority in the state parliament and the decision by the federal constitutional court. but the hurdles are high and the clock is ticking for those who want to stop maya. and we have our chief political correspondent, melinda crane, following this story for us. hi, melinda. what are the chances of jens meyer returning to his job as a judge? well, it's hard to say as we heard there, the threshold is in fact a quite high a. the fact is there are a few legal avenues as the report pointed out, but precisely because a germany is a country where a rule of law is taken seriously. the hurdles, the hurdles are significant of the fact is one of the absolute central measures is

precisely the one that the authorities had been pursuing in regard to mire himself . namely that he was under observation by the domestic intelligence service of the office for the protection of the constitution and a, and they are by that there's awareness of the risks. and then there are measures like the ones we heard about in the report. injunctions indictments, all of those, essentially represent vigilance on the part of all democratic institutions. and that absolutely is what is called for here. going forward. melinda, there are also have been other reports of right wing extremists working in the judiciary as lawyers, as judges, as civil servants. how big of an issue is this in germany? it's an issue of grave importance and not only because right wing extremists like my or are serving as lawyers and judges, but precisely because they're sitting in parliament as he did and have

a platform there for expressing views that call the very foundation of germany's constitution with its core provision on the invite lability of human dignity into question. you heard his remarks there about holocaust denial last week. the f d 's somewhat more moderate co leader. you might and announced that he was quitting his post and leaving the party because it's becoming increasingly radical. it's heartbeat's ever more to the right. he said, and it pounds ever louder. so the party has been in disarray for some time. and in the last election, it didn't do very well in the west of germany. precisely because of it's right, we're drift, but it has had resounding success in many parts of the east. and that is where mister meyer would be working if he's allowed to return to his judicial post. so the after radicalization risk widening, the divisions between eastern and western germany as a whole. and deepening polarization. here we saw more about the case of ins, meyer there, but how is germany tackling this issue on a whole?

well, as i said, i, the office for the protection of the constitution has been quite active in declaring some parts of and some members of the a f d under observation. then again, as we heard in the report, various members of various professional associations and democratic institutions also saying we must be vigilant. and the fact is if you look at the reporting on the a f d, you see an ongoing drumbeat. a very disturbing headlines ranging from the parties role in the anti vax or movement. it's attempts to get an exception from vaccination rules for some of its members serving and parliament the use by to a f. d. politicians of the telegram chap group to send subversive messages and more so there's definitely awareness, but that vigilance is absolutely crucial. our chief political correspondent,

melinda crane. thank you so much. let's get some more headlines now. at least 25 people are reported dead in the democratic republic of congo after a high voltage power cable snapped and foul. the incident happened on the outskirts of the capitol kinshasa. at the what he say, the cable had several homes and a market killing. several people instantly us actor and t, v presenter what the goldberg has been suspended by the a b c network following her remarks about jews and the holocaust. goldberg had said that the holocaust was not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man. she later apologized after a backlash. and in australia, 2 large bush fires have prompted evacuations on the outskirts of perth and emergency warning has been issued with blistering temperatures and high winds threatening to intensify the blazes in the coming days. the fires have burned through some 100 hector's of land since they began on tuesday.

beijing will become the 1st city in history to house both a summer and winter olympics. when this year's games officially begin on friday. almost $3000.00 athletes will be competing for glory, but with health concerns and political tensions dominating headlines and the build up. the sports are at risk of becoming a sub plot at beijing 2022. billions have been invested into making beijing 2022, an extravagant festival of competition. but the build up has been about so much more than sport politics. for instance, some nations including the u. s. and the u. k. have declared a diplomatic boycott over, schumann writes issues and wilson competitors, but no ministers or officials. meanwhile, organizers have threatened athletes with punishment for any behavior or expression that they deem in breach of chinese law, and will expect the io see to rigorously enforce its own rules limiting protests. they shaw the out, even if they're not in the olympic charter. there are very strict rules,

so for the middle ceremonies and during the competitions, political protests are not permitted. on other occasions, like at press conferences or during interviews or on personal platforms, the athletes are free to express their opinions. but the athletes must be responsible for what they say. orient you got as you sound far do to covey athletes and journalists will be kept insecure bubbles, while no spectator tickets will be sold to the public. organizers say health and safety are paramount, bela, of course covey counter measures are still on top of our agenda. we actually, we have been making effective measures and everything is under control. without a safe games, there would be no guidelines. so we will make sure that the health and safety of all participants is our top priority fun. definitely. a total of $32.00 new cases

were reported by elliptical authorities on wednesday alone. i've expected to pandemic is proving to be one of several headaches for the organizes of aging 2022 . we have time away from d. w. sports with us for more on the story. hi, tom. just how much will the pandemic disruptive game? well, i mean, there's plenty of disruption you know already so far, and i think it's probably reasonable to expect a fair bit more now. exactly how the pandemic disrupts your games depends on your standpoint. now obviously for the athletes who are currently contained inside this cobit isolation bubble and subject to daily testing, that's obviously, you know, a big level of struction that they wouldn't be used from previous games. of course, the worst case is for any of those 2 contract cove. it because if that happens, if they're lucky, their games are over immediately they will be removed and placed in for the isolation for the reporters who are covering the games from beijing. there was a similar conditions there in

a separate bubble and also subject to frequent testing and spectators. the destruction has already been almost total because there are no international spectators at these games. there was no public side of tickets, even for domestic visitors within china. and those some spectators will be allowed . they'll be specially invited, slightly unclear, exactly to whom those tickets will go. so yeah, i mean, like we heard in the report, the already 32 cases reported just today. so i think it's fair to expect a high continuing level of destruction. and on the political side, the report mentioned that diplomatically caught from the u. s. u k. how is china received that? well, i mean, it's not a full boy call as we heard, of course, they are going to still send competitors. of course, it doesn't sit well. the chinese government accused the usa of grandstanding, of political posturing and of undermining the games in the olympic spirit. it's not the only sort of political contention surrounding these games, you know,

the use of the case of pinks. why the chinese tennis star, who was not seen for 2 weeks after accusing a high ranking chinese communist party official sexual so and then immediately recanted. those allegations so there were concerns about her welfare and of course tie one will be competing as the as chinese, taipei at these games. it's another matter of controversy and political dispute because they were ordered to attend the opening and closing ceremonies after previously having said that, they were going to stay away. so plenty of political. yeah, great, contention, distracting from the sports themselves. we can't, we can't forget to talk about the sports. so what else we can expect from these games yet will of course, do plenty of sporting highlights. now it's a slightly slim a program, obviously than a summer games, but still a lot to look forward to a, one of the most hotly awaited appearances will be from the jamaica. bob said team who are competing at their 1st winter games in 24 years. they've been training in the u. k. in both in part by pushing cause around in car box. there. the games and

3 books events for the 1st time ever. that starts thursday next week. there are also new events such as the sky, big air, which is a mainstay of the x games at the olympics for the 1st time and coding which begins to day. and i can explore the winter game so you have plenty to get excited about. i love to look forward to her a tongue and i from the w sports. thank you very much. now, colombia is facing a dilemma over what to do with dozens of hippos. they were 1st brought there by notorious drug lord public school that he was killed by police almost 30 years ago . and since then, a growing population of hippos has been taking over the countryside near his former ranch. our reporter travel to 1000000 in columbia to discover why scientists and activists are divided over how to deal with the animals a legacy of drug kingpin pablo escobar and a problem that has grown over the years, columbia's hippos, now the largest population outside of africa,

which is their natural habitat, the so called king of cocaine, brought 4 of the packet arms to his ranch. they've now multiplied to more than 90 and a causing havoc. they like it here, especially in high summer, when the hippos gather i know it, i know but and i, they swim out there and then reappear somewhere else. they rammed my boat and tips it over because you can't see them at night. i know the mails aren't so aggressive, but one hit my boat with a big bang bombardment. but when we're lo, we're like our only i glenmarie the hippos in columbia. and now the subject of public debate. animal rights activists insist that the large mammals are completely innocent. but environmentalists criticize the effects they both have on the ecosystem and the indigenous foreigner. scientists support an end to the hippos.

don't them a lot of that from those hoping for decay sounds rather harsh, but we must clearly state that it must be done. i think that we from the academy must be able to explain why this must be done by necessity, even if no one is happy about it or you no one wants to kill the hippos. but it's the lesser of 2 evils. in this scenario. mild, main order and wellness and i live almost the environmental agency has started with harmless birth control, a contraceptive that works with both male and female hippos, willa seating. the medicine donated by us animal welfare authorities, is given by injection regarding, well, now we must wait and see how the medicine works. then we will know if it really will. the to few carves been remarked viaz karen, up on his. yeah. but young hippos often disappear even without medication. the semi

aquatic animals have achieved a kind of cult status among people who wish to imitate pablo escobar. yeah, i those gay killers, 2 of the little ones have already been taken away. they were sold. there are a lot of rich people in this country who wants to have something like this. the last young hipaa was brought to a man who is said to be very powerful, own people with boy. so now there's a market for these exotic animals in columbia. and they lack natural enemies. that's why this is the largest, hypo population outside of africa, where they are indigenous. and we have some breaking news coming in to us before we go. the european commission has announced a we'll go ahead with a controversial green label for gas and nuclear energy official, say,

nuclear and natural gas projects can be labeled as sustainable investments under certain conditions, despite fierce criticism that these sources are not environmentally friendly. green you lawmakers are launching a campaign to block. the move will have more in that story for you at the top of the next hour. let's get a quick recap of our top story. russian president vladimir putin as you choose, the west of ignoring moscow's concerns about regional security. after the u. s. and nato responded to demands of the ukraine crisis. the u. s. and russia have resume talks with a phone call between secretary of state lincoln and foreign minister, elaborate. but there has not been a break. thank you for watching dw ah ah

ah ah, with who a small island with big plans. no noon in the indian ocean. the french overseas department is making

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