[000:00:00;00] ah, ah ah, this is dw news like from berlin. germany's chancellor lands in washington for crisis talks on ukraine, ala sholtes had been criticized, were not fully supporting allied efforts to counter rush us to build up on ukraine's borders. he is looking to reassure president biden of germany's result. also coming up canada. as capital ottawa declares a state of emergency as protests against coven, 19 vaccine mandates, paralyzed the city to police chief calls it

a siege. chinese tennis star punch way gives an interview at the blake beijing olympics denying. she accused a communist party boss of sexual assault, but did she speak under duress? and senegal declares a special national holiday today. oh, for both bands and the capital, the car is celebrated after the senegalese team when their 1st ever title at the africa cup of nation. ah, i'm see me, so must gander. glad you could join us a week of urgent diplomacy kicks off today, as european leaders tried to refuse the crisis over ukraine. french president, demo and mccall will hold talks in moscow with vladimir putin amid fears that russia is preparing to invade its southern neighbour. meanwhile, german chancellor,

olaf sholtes is preparing for talks in the white house seeking to reassure or presidential biden of germany's reliability as an ally shows has reiterated that military aggression against ukraine would have a high cost for russia. germany is nato allies, including the u. s. are unhappy with berlin's refusal to provide ukraine with defensive weapons, but shall stress that the decision is in line with a long standing german policy on arm sales. the bonus gill had that for years the german government has followed the clear course of not delivering to crisis owns on not delivering lethal weapon to ukraine from one to forget. that was my predecessors policy. it was right then and remains right by the way. and this is really important to me that the majority of german see it exactly as i do as the government does. and as my predecessor delegating says he does, but not everyone sees it that way and their voices are very loud at the moment of mine. but my duty is to do what in the interest of the german people, and what in this case is also the view of the citizens of this country as well as longest as well as we said,

it is the start of an intense week of diplomacy over ukraine, russia tensions thought. start with our political correspondent here in berlin. nina has a hi nina. we've heard the white house say that russia could attack ukraine any day . now. what is the german government threat assessments all or so the chancellor has said that the situation is indeed very serious and that that's how the german government sees the situation. and germany is foreign minister, and alina babble has called the russian troops on the ukrainian border, a threat recently. but the message that we're still getting from the german government is war can at this point in time, still be avoided and therefore should still be avoided by all means, which is why these next 2 weeks, not just a day, are entirely dedicated to crisis diplomacy in their packed weeks, lots of bilateral multi lateral meetings, including with russia at the negotiating table. what about the fact, nina, that germany has gotten a lot of criticism from its allies for not taking a tougher line against russia for not sending defensive weapons to ukraine?

what are the chances that are joe biden and all our shorts will find a joint solution on how to approach the crisis? well, many people have criticized all the shots for taking so long to actually make this trip to washington. because it is his 1st trip and he's been in office for 2 months now. so we'll have show, it says that this meeting especially has been very diligently prepared. so you can expect him to have something in the suitcase with him today. what it is we'll find out later today, but so it's, we'll definitely underline again today that germany plays in t nato, so to speak. and president biden, and all of shows will probably agree on saying that all options are on the table as far as possible. sanctions and the joint reaction are concerned if russia were indeed to invade ukraine, but as far as weapons deliveries are concerned, there's probably not going to be a change in position. gemini will not deliver weapons, but what could be on the table? is that our choice? i'm biden,

might announce that nato will continue increasing its true presence in the baltic states. german defense minister has hinted at that. and charles has also said before departing to washington, that he was willing to make decisions. on the other hand, the german foreign minister analynn burbock, she is with her cheque, slovak and austrian counterparts in kiev today. or what can they offer ukraine? and i didn't babble gazande kiss and in easton ukraine today and tomorrow. and the nearby has said before departure that you train sovereignty must not be violated. and that she's probably going to stress again today that germany will continue. it's a port of ukraine. what many people don't realize is that germany has been one of ukraine's biggest economic supporters of recent years. and that is a message that the german government is beginning to try and sell more loudly in recent days as well. and the dom government has given almost 2000000000 years to ukraine since 2014. and of course, by going together with a counterparts from other european countries. another beverly also wants to signal

to ukrainian leaders the message. the west is standing united. no dividing. that is the message that the german government, including all of shots, are sending in these days of crisis negotiations are political correspondent, nina has a thank you for that insight for we mentioned another, a piece of that flurry of diplomatic action is the french president of mine on my call meeting, russian president vladimir putin in moscow today. let's go to our correspond jack, paris, who was following the story for us from brussels, hijacked? we seen the kremlin today, thing we know in my, on my car will share plans with putin to lower tensions. what might that be? what do you think we can expect from this meeting? the $1000000.00 question. right. nice to me. what exactly is micron hoping to get out of this meeting? i think ideally what he would see as an enormous win is if he could persuade the russian president to remove any of the nearly 800130000 troops from that border

with ukraine. that is very unlikely though, and in order to do so, he would have to provide some concessions from the western side. the difficulty for micron is being able to speak for the entirety of the west. because at the moment, france is slightly in a different position to the rest of the european countries. specifically, the bowl takes uncertainty in a different position to the u. s. and the white house micron gave her an interview to french press over the weekend, where he said he understood the needs of russia to defend its security interests. he also said that he doesn't believe that the objective of the russians is to invade ukraine. that's in direct opposition to what we're hearing from the united states and also from nato. the big question is, as i say, what will he offer his potentially going to warn russian president vladimir putin, of the enormous enormity of the sanctions that the west are potentially preparing that could really hit the russian economy. and also he could potentially put on the

table some more discussions about arms control nuclear issues as well. but the thing that the russians really want to hear from the west is a promise that western troops and specifically american troops will be removed from the, from east in europe. and also that there will be promises from nato, that ukraine and georgia would never become nature. members, nato has already rolled that out. it'll be an interesting meeting to watch. our brussels corresponded jack park reporting for us there. thank you very much. and d, w correspondent mathias billina is covering the story for us from the region. he traveled to the front line in eastern ukraine, near areas controlled by russian back separatists. and he said to us, this report from the village of fanny, now the village school of ranita, the last village here on ukrainian control territory is close to the front line. it has come under fire before. now the classrooms i m t not because of the war but because of new cove it restrictions,

the war is something people have been living with for 8 years. ready they will not on board or push. in fact they did, they began to whack most of the time the children go to school the to the speech, but we don't know what will happen in 5 or 10 minutes. she but to morrow. nice a lot. so we're always worried, the always scared saperstein list. there are just a few 100 meters down this road is the last ukrainian position. this who is in the line, the fi of the opposite side. there is a heavy military presence immigrant. a ceasefire is in place, but shelling can sometimes be heard at night. let him correct. oh dear. so saturday we already know her sheets and when so we just sit at home because it was worth a few years ago. we always hit in the cellar when there was fighting it. sure,

but that was then the shelley, she took the key to lovely. but with the latest russian build up, a bigger escalation is on the table. again. coffee and all kinds of stuff. when things come down, we bought a house here for tressa, but now we don't know what will happen deduction. ukrainian territory ends with the last houses of the village. behind a small river lies the demilitarized strip. the pedestrian bridge is the only link to the next village in the so called gray zone. for short, the next village is not small. people come here every day to work. it and kids go to school. one of the people who crosses the border every day is teacher louis miller car truck. she is from across the river and does not want to give her you

name because her life depends on good relations with both sides. shelling is even more frequent in her village. get on board. the yell was on that of my work is here . i come here every day. yes, it's hard. who's on the? yes, it's dangerous. very dangerous. let me. but i cannot just quit work and leave. i just can't wait for the lymph. she says she has not yet lost hope that somehow this conflict might come to an end peaceful. let's get to mother headlines now. the death toll has risen to at least 20 after a cyclone head south, east madagascar, nearly 50000 people have been forced to leave their homes. the storm has brought widespread flooding to the indian ocean island. it's the 2nd storm to hit madagascar in recent weeks. mexican security forces have evicted nearly 400 people from

a makeshift camp in the border city of tijuana. it had been occupied for more than a year by migrants trying to reach the us. the camp was formed after the biden administration limited, the cross border flow of migrants due to the pandemic. australia as announce, it is reopening to all fully vaccinated international visitors starting february 21st. the country shut its borders when the pandemic began nearly 2 years ago. since then, entry rules were only relax in november for skilled workers and students. and a pope francis has now added talk show guess to his resume, he made the 1st ever paypal talk show appearance on the italian td program to temple. far the pontiff criticize the treatment of migrants trying to escape poverty by sea. the interview also had lighter moments where friends spoke about his friendships and love for tango. oh, good jenny. she, canada's capital city has declared a state of emergency. the mayor of ottawa says a blockade by truck drivers is threatening the safety and security of residence.

the protest began after they were told they needed to get vaccinated to be able to cross the us border. but it has gathered wider support in a country where many are weary of corona virus restrictions. oh, making themselves heard in canada's capital. these protesters have paralyzed central ottawa and the cities man has declared a state of emergency. the so called freedom convoy started as a protest by truckers at a new coven 19 vaccine mandate for crossing the border from the u. s. but it's growing into a rallying point against pen demik restrictions. and the government people should be able to make their own choice to take a needle or not take the needle and not lose the job, not lose her house, not lose her income. just for the installation. oh, she was mad said the situation on the straits was out of control. as demonstrate as

outnumbered police. there are reports of protesters displaying confederate and nazi symbols. we have a series of urgency where we have to put all options on the table. and that may include some violence, we want to minimize that. but at the end of the day, the people are not going to leave to go out to be forced to leave plain and simple is cannot go on for months and months. this is causing such having such grief, but the movement has gained international support and millions of dollars in donations through its go fund me page. the crowd funding site has now removed the page and said it will refund old donations. many auto residents have said, members of the freedom convoy have harassed them and complained of non stop horn blaring. some have staged counter protests. i just have to stand up. i was warned with after the 2nd world war. i heard it is

like not to be free and they are thing freedom. they're afraid they don't know what it is, not to be frank. about 90 percent of cross border truck is and almost 80 percent of canada's population a fully vaccinated. but these loud minority say this, staying put in till coven 19 restrictions. a lifted chinese tennis star punch way seems to have retracted her controversial sexual assault allegations in her 1st appearance in western media. since she made the accusations in an interview published today in the french newspaper like heap, she said sexual assault. i never said any one had sexually assaulted me in any way . the former doubles world number one had previously alleged on social media post that she had been forced into sex by china's former vice premier. that post was deleted, and pung then disappeared from public view for 3 weeks, sparking concerns for her safety. pung,

met with the chief of the international olympic committee on saturday invasion. and we have our state of the sports correspond and jonathan crane who is falling the winter olympics for us in beijing. hi jonathan, it's good to see you. so what is the i o c saying about the situation in short, not a lot, but that is a story in itself because pung, swine once again dominated questions by western media. the daily news briefing in between questions and chinese media about sporting equipment and athletic competition. not as road back on her allegations in this interview with les, keep raise each just more questions about how free she's actually to speak about her situation. the i see was asked about that in today's briefing, essentially mcadams, the spokesman set reporting organization and he said it's not for us or you meeting the the media to judge her situation. now, thomas bock and his press conference last week said that the c would support, punish,

try if she decided to pursue her allegations in the court. i wanted to find out how that actually would work in practice given her situation. and this is that exchange . what conversations have there been re the fisher with here and basing about a possible investigation? and does the, i see, think that is actually possible for public to do? can she make that demand without fear of any repercussion? thank you. i'm not sure we're able, as a, as a source organization to make that call. i think the president was right and saying it shouldn't be for us to judge whether they should be an investigation or not. you've seen the words which in the interview which she gave to keep. i think it was an hour and more into yes. yesterday or the day before whenever it was which was published this morning. i think we need also to listen to her and we need to to read what she's saying. as we've also discussed, we've been in contact with, we remain in contact with her. we met her in person,

we've invited to come to europe and we will meet again. and i think, i think we can say that we are doing everything we can to make sure that the situation is as it should be there. like i said, jonathan, not a whole lot of information there. so what else do we know about punch weighs latest movements and that interview that she did with the french sports new side. well, the strange thing is that the, i see was the yes, the meeting will happen when clearly it had already taken place. we can only assume from that that he didn't want to ruin any kind of carefully stays choreography, including that interview with keith had been set up already because we've known for some time that the i see was planning to meet punks right here in beijing. as for lay keep interview, so i keep had to submit the questions in advance. they had to publish her answers for base them in a q and a format. so that really doesn't need too much room for any context or explanation or indeed any follow up. ok, and jonathan we mentioned you're, they're covering the winter olympics for us and tell us what's been going on with

the olympics today. yes, you may have been handed out today already in the alpine skiing, but for to switch to the one the men's downhill. that was disposed yesterday because it's heavy winds that took place this morning. sorry, a heck of sweet and won the women's giant slalom. her 1st ever made individual title. but the big story that was michela schiffer at the risk the, the defending champion and a heavy favorite did crash out in the 1st runs that didn't make it into the 2nd run . and then of course, on the ice, we had committed eva the teen sensation. she became the 1st ethnic escape to land, a quadruple jump in competition. now that's for rotation. she did it not just once, but twice you 15 years old. she's the youngest competitor in this competition at the winter olympics. she's already helped russia when the team event, she is the heavy favorites at win gold in the women's event. later on. d w,

jonathan crane in beijing for us. thank you very much. sat for another big sports story. senegal have won the africa cup of nations for the 1st time ever after they beat 7 time champions, egypt and sundays. final. it was a tough start for fed, senegal, there, star sadie, money, it sale to convert a penalty in the 7th minute. the games are few chances after that and with neither team able to break the deadlock, they went all the way to a penalty shoot out and a state would have it. it was sadly, monet who scored the winning spot kick. redeeming is earlier miss and securing senegal, their 1st ever asked con title. let's talk about all of this with low lady i do we from d. w. sports looking into the ass, gonna tournament for us. this is pretty big for synagogue. how. how did they get this for? how was his team so good? well then he gala the best team on the continent right now when daddy highest rank initially in africa and the fee for rankings. and they deserve to win the title. great reward for teams as the horses and by the last 3 years, i said your money supported by just as it one more di napoli is,

could you buy lee and buy a minute? you know, when i saw, you know, they did, did what they need to do, we will do money. is that penalty where he went or to score the window kick in the should out and it's great, really redemption for the our coach. also. i lucio who missed the penalty in 22002, you know i and then 20 years later going on to win the couple of nations for the 1st time for a very talented country of good footballer. so it was really good for synagogue. yeah, we can see the country really going while they're in those pictures. now the what about egypt here? because we mentioned there 7 time champions. they didn't manage their time. what went wrong for them? well, everybody hope that mohammed seller would do the damage for them, but if your sometimes the pressure can be big, huge on what he's a good grip. clear for the big stage. and he came out to he had shot on target. but um, this is

a title dollars wanted to win for that is tied to record extending one, but it's not to be and unfortunately he's still going to be compared with compatriots. so someone like mohammed, i would trigger one a 3 times, you know, played at hope, but you know, of what you need to to win it in the future. and he would hope that the next, the next time around next to it could happen for him. there were some other under dog stories and thing milestones at this ask on 2022. what stood out to you. i think i like the story of gun the gun. be i really, you know, but to get out there country after the elections and it helped them a lot to know smooth in the name of that elections and need to get into the call to find out as will commerce, commerce had done on likely story. no big deal, it had no chance, but you know, on the last the and every, all you know, the tiles fell in the india fable for them to reach to no cost age. but also we saw

solomon cassandra, the 1st woman to ship a couple of nations, which was really good. i spoke to her and it's, it's a really inspiring story that we've seen the african and so many other stories are on the tournament. that makes it one of the best, the events we've seen in a long time. certainly an interesting turn them about. they're still celebrating over in seneca with away from the sports. thanks so much for bringing reporting. and in germany's blunder, slager sundays early math saw a blow out when for buyer lever was an against home team. bursey darkman 5 to the final score that deals a heavy blow to dornan's title, hopes spirits were high endorsement ahead of the game. but in just 90 minutes time fans would waive their title hopes good bye. it only took 10 minutes for leave a coupon to take the lead following chaos and dot once defense, manuel comes. he poked the ball beyond his own keeper,

a nightmare stored for the swiss dot one did get one back quite quickly. thanks to yet another on goal. this time by jeremy frank pung. but just 4 minutes later of window confusion votes found the back of the net actor great combination play to retake, leave acquisitions, lead the goals just kept coming. a fantastic re kick by ho. but underneath made the score 3 to one heading into halftime an injured darling holland was too stunned to speak. lila, whose and showed no mercy instead, great finishing with unit santa smashing home the 4 to one. and it was the frenchman mussa dabby who score leave a cousins 5th of the night. dot one did score one more themselves, but that was purely damage. limitation fight it to the final result. an embarrassment for dot month in front of their home crowd. they now trail by and by 9 points leave. i was not the other hand, had themselves

a night to remember and celebrate the 2nd and all the results now from match, say 21 in the blender slager of osburg cruise. it's a victory overfit. as we just saw, their dort men thrashed at home by labour, koorsen fire, and just about menace, should be like say, alex berg beat only on berlin. frankfort, edged out when overstock mila felt, and glad back drew. mine's feet, hoffen haim and fibre glossed in cologne. on friday at berlin. drew with the hm. and the final game ball spoke against quite a thought is currently underway. and let's take a look at how things stand in the bonus like a table after the 21st match day byron are on top of the dorm, and now 9 points behind. and 2nd after their last to labor cuz in on the on berlin, 5, oak and cologne, round out the european qualification spots as things stand. the automatic relegation places are still occupied by 3rd and stood guard by last burg move up into 12th after their 1st victory since early november. let's get

a reminder now of our top story. your auntie dubuque, german chancellor, olaf schoultz has arrived in washington for talks with us president joe biden. they'll discuss the threat of a new russian invasion of ukraine. but choices repeated has refusal to provide ukraine with defensive weapons. coming up next on dw news, asia chinese tennis star punctuate, deny sexual assault claims. were they really just a huge misunderstanding as you now claim? and a special report from india as a nation mourns one of the most beloved singer that's on d, w. 's asia with be rich, banner g in a moment. first we leave you with some pictures of those scenes of jubilation and a car after synagogue,

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love over down god, wilken i on me. that way they could have been and i can artificial intelligence. combat loneliness. i like to see yankee hi and i love stories from the future. starts february 14th on d. w with you're watching d w. news asia coming up today. it's more controversy at the aging olympics this time over chinese tennis star. punish. why is she or isn't she speaking under coercion? we take a closer look at our comment and her big career announcement. and in india, a legend has passed away millions more in the death of bollywood singer a lot on the guest car