you ah ah, this is a that we news. why from berlin? a russian troop draw down. or are we deployments around ukraine? moscow releases footage, which it says shows its troops leaving crimea. but nato's chief says the alliance has seen no evidence of withdrawal. and as accusing russia of increasing its military presence around ukraine, also coming up deadly deluge, flooding and much slides kill dozens of the hills north of rio de janeiro authorities. fear of the death toll could choir and could germany see an end to

corona virus restrictions. as case number's fall, an increasing number of politicians and scientists say it's time to plan a path back to normality and it's a war is an aide at the rural and international festival. stars and audiences are back. despite some pandemic restrictions, which film will win the golden bear, we show you some of the favorites. ah and while iraq, thanks so much for joining us. a day after russian president vladimir putin said, some russian troops were being sent back to their basis from positions near the ukraine border. the u. s. a. nato say moscow is actually moving critical military units closer to the area. the european union is urging moscow to take real steps to

de escalate tensions and to follow words with deeds. meanwhile, nato ministers are meeting in brussels to reaffirm their commitment to alliance members in eastern europe. while questioning russia stated willingness to negotiate a solution to the crisis. here's nato's chief un stolberg. we have heard the songs from moscow about her readiness to continued diplomatic efforts. but so far we are not to see an end the, the escalation on the ground. on the contrary, if the person to rush are continues, the military buildup the nato secretary general there speaking moments ago, and we can take you to nato headquarters, our bureau chief, alexandra von nomine, is that following developments? they're very closely for you. alex is nato being tested by russia. and how is nato managing? yes, layla. the answer is yes sir. russian president vladimir putin,

it's definitely tight testing the alliance. and it's unity sending mixed signals from moscow and trying k to, to form to see some cracks in this unity. because he of course knows how difficult it is for the 30 members of nato to have a common position. and to stay firm on that position. they all have different interest. some of them have very close economic relations with russia. some of them used to be for my soviet republics. and of course, they are afraid they have a border with russia. so has a different concerns. but so far, we have to say that nato has remained united in its dual track approach towards russia. so they say they are, of course, continuing their diplomatic efforts. they want to have a meaningful dialogue with russia. but they also ready to father provides

deterrence and defense in eastern europe. many nato allies have started ascending additional troops to eastern europe, and that is something that there are going to speak about here. again, nato secretary general se tolten back has made clear that russia's actions will have long term consequences, meaning they will be an enhanced need to presence in eastern europe. defense ministers today we'll talk about an additional battle group to be place in romania, one that would resemble the for battle groups already in place in the baltic states and poland. alexandra present, brewton is demanding that ukraine not be allowed, never be allowed to join nato. is there any scenario being contemplated right now where you are, where the alliance would be willing to give those assurances and if not, what can they offer instead?

so barring ukraine from nieto is off the table. definitely. there has been some confusion or a confusion or some irritation, if you will, after the german chancellor left shoulder a sad after his visit to moscow that you know, your queen is not likely to become a natal member any time soon. but nato secretary general, he is fresh to once again at that nato is not giving up its core principles the right of every independent country to choose whether it would like to become a member of nato or not. and nato is ready to talk to russia about other things. and things are confidence, building measures that could lead to more transparency when it comes to military drills, for example, or troops movements, dw brussels for achieve alexander phenomena reporting from nato headquarters in brussels. i thank you. or before the announcement of withdrawals outside

estimates, put the number of russian troops close to ukraine's border at 813-0000. that's including $30000.00 involved in exercises in neighboring bell roofs. the build up has happened in stages, but it has given russia the opportunity to flex its muscles and shown the scale of the potential threat to ukraine. russian fight to jets patrol the skies above bella. ruth. on the ground, russian marines practice combat drills with a bellow ruffian army. just some of the 30000 or so russian troops taking part in the launches military exercise held between the 2 neighbors since the collapse of the soviet union in russia's northern leningrad region. more footage,

released by the russian ministry of defense. this time one of its tank units involved in another military exercise. and in the south russian rule ships openly train in the black sea. the country's military buildup her round ukraine has been no secret. even if getting accurate numbers has been hard. satellite images released this week have shed more light. these jets were photographed on sunday at an air basing crimea, an area annexed by russia in 2014 and images of military helicopters were taken near the russian city of salon. tea, not far from the ukrainian border. on tuesday, moscow announced it was withdrawing some of its forces. hours later,

the ministry of defense released these images, which yet maintain show troops leaving crimea. meanwhile, ukraine's military is a fraction of rushes. it's active duty troops and just a quarter of its foes. we even if civilians are being trained up to help bridge the gap some members of nato have been providing ukraine with military aid. but it's hard to compete with a nuclear power. even if it says it doesn't want war. i like to turn out to foreign policy analyst, jessica berlin. jessica, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us a lot of competing narratives going on right now. in this moment, you've got the nato leader saying that he sees no immediate sign of

a military draw down on ukraine's border. but russia says, actually, we are continuing to pull back troops. how hard is it to accurately assess a situation like this one? well, let's be clear here. seeing is believing and the fact that the russian government has put out some videos and statements saying that there, withdrawing troops from the border doesn't prove a thing. if this were a hostage video, i would not accept these videos as proof of life. all right, there's no date stamps. there's no way of really knowing where this footage was taken or where these troops are. these tanks that you showed were being moved. it's been actually proven in open source intelligence sources, even satellite imagery on traffic, cams, et cetera that are openly available, that no significant troop withdrawal has taken place. and certainly not, no movement of any troops considered significant in the event of an attack. so we really can't take these statements from the russian government. i'm to mean that

any data is currently underway. we're an extraordinary moment in terms of international relations. or maybe we've seen this bit before. you as president joe by went out on a limb, basically predicting a date of invasion. now, a lot of make a phone diplomacy also happening from other western leaders. what kind of effect does this have on any efforts to diffuse tensions? statements like this are not so much about saying we're predicting that an attack is going to happen today as much as there is sign to vladimir putin that the west is watching and ready for any eventuality at any moment. i. so those who are, who are criticizing and saying that this is escalating the situation. let's remember all this escalation, all of the aggression in the situation is coming from russia. and the fact that the united states is calling out and saying, and attack is imminence on this could happen today. this could happen next week.

these kinds of date markers are assigned to russia rather than and considered a temporal prediction. so should we prepare to be in this for the long haul, or at least ukraine if that the pressure is not going to lead up on ukraine for the time being? yes, i, and quite frankly, i, for russia, this is a positive situation. they have been able to concede concessions, and to bring on the western allies to the table, to negotiate so called security concerns purely out of a fabricated crisis. this is a crisis built on russia's terms, and they are going to milk it for all it's worth as so we can only hope that there is a diplomatic resolution. however, the nato allies need to be absolutely clear that a little bit of concessions now couldn't the long term come back to bite us. because in this situation, we've enabled vladimir putin to bring us to the table to gain concessions around

ukraine sovereignty. ah, that to which he has no. right. so yes, this could last for very long time, but we certainly all hope for a peaceful resolution. and in russia's case, if so, would also not be in russia's interest him to have a violent conflict. okay, jessica, before i let you go, one last question in just a couple of words. have these tensions exposed to west powerlessness in the face of a belligerent russia, powerlessness, perhaps a more, more helplessness, a hand wringing a strategic last ness. i went explicitness m as was being thrown around last years, a munich security conference. ironically letting me put in may have accomplished unification of the west when we were in, in a week and, and disordered state. i'm so right now, even if at times the messaging and the approach are in disarray,

we have been coming together across the northern atlantic. the nato allies are working hard to form a unified front and response. and so even if we've been stumbling at some points in this crisis, letting me put in may, it through his aggression have achieved a real recognition across the trans atlantic alliance. then we need to strengthen our strategy and our capability to stand up to such attacks. and such aggression in the future. foreign policy alice jessica, berlin. jessica, thank you very much for joining us. thank you. let's take a look at other stories making headlines this, our brazilian present. our airable scenario is in moscow for talks with russia's vladimir putin, both an arrow in the resisted pressure from washington, a traditional ally, and his own cabinet to cancel the trip because of the ukraine crisis. the european

union's highest court has ruled that brussels can cut funds for member states that disregard democratic standards. the case has major implications for poland and hungary. both countries are accused of undermining the rule of law in good, now lose billions of euros in in you recovery funds and brazil of flooding and much slides have killed at least 38 people in the city of patropolis, north of rio de janeiro nearly a months worth of rain fell on the city and just 3 hours. the disaster has left hundreds homeless, and the death toll is expected to rise. desperately digging in the search for survivors through mud and debris, houses were dragged down this hill by a mudslide. people could be heard screaming for help traps in their destroyed homes . the mud slide was set off by heavy rains that hit the city of patropolis in

a mountainous area of rio de janeiro state. the firefighter department said more than $25.00 centimeters of rain fell in the region within 3 hours. that's almost as much as during the previous 30 days. the area had already seen hundreds of deaths after heavy rainfall in 2011. brazilian president james bull scenario was visiting his russian counterparts. vladimir putting in moscow, expressed his condolences and said he instructed his ministers to deliver immediate support to those affected level. at least 180 soldiers are working in the area to help with the search and rescue efforts. authorities say that rescue and recovery operations are still ongoing. there are fears that the current the toll could rise further. german chancellor, olaf, shorts and germany. 16 state leaders are meeting to discuss easing,

pandemic restrictions, infections in germany. i have started to fall. hospitals have been coping in almost 3 quarters of the population has had at least 2 vaccinations. a new plan could gradually allow for a larger private gatherings and entry into stores with masks, but without having to show vaccination status, access to restaurants and bars would again be allowed for the unvaccinated if they can show and they can have test. and we as people are here in the year capital, what they think of the prospect of loser restrictions. although we should wait another 4 to 6 weeks until just before easter, that's the right time. as long as everything happens, gradually, it's a good idea that you have to be careful, that things don't get out of control. i'm really looking forward to it. i think it's about time. it seems a bit too much right now, i think, and we'll have to show the corolla past every time you go into store. i've never

done that before. so i think it should be nice. well, i think you're about 2 weeks behind england to be honest with you and i think is possibly the best thing we can do. because we all of the about to normal. we all have to get some sort of normality in our lives. and if we don't do it now, we will, i'll for anxious is a professor of epidemiology at hamburg university of applied sciences sir, a very warm welcome to d, w. c. thank you for taking the time to speak to us as you may be heard. just right now are we might be looking ahead and possibly see an end to restrictions is the worst over for germany. good afternoon, 1st of all of the situation in germany is or is getting better to leo what we're still having extremely high numbers of reporter cases to day in europe we have the highest numbers of our nation, sir. being reported was more than far more than 200000 cases in one day. so it's, it looks like it's leveling off, which is good or so,

which is broke perfectly. based on an increase or population immunity due to many, many infections and extremely warm winter. and also at the same time the numbers have to be taken very cautiously. there's also testing has been decrease or the opportunity for testing is your testing is, is limited in germany at the moment. so it, it, it's going in the door right direction, but we're still at a very high levels of infection. now, as you know, doctors for months here in germany era they've been debating a pass makers have been debating a nation wide vaccine mandate for all adults. that discussion seems to have gone a little bit, retreated in the background. can you give us your assessment? would you be in favor of, of an a vaccine mandate for all adults in germany? yeah, the, the legal issues are political, are part of political discussions. but what is for sure is we need to adopt

nationwide level we would need a higher rate of immune response against not only the only chron variant, but also against a more severe once. so therefore, everything needs to be done. the higher immune levels are reached and maybe amended seems to be the only way forward after many other things of detroit. and that's one more question before you go and do you think that some corona virus and measures will remain even after the append armika is over? i think it would be wise to use those things which will have proven to be effective because corona what the virus won't disappear, it will still be part of our lives. so we need to learn to live, was it? and maybe also known to live for some protective measures. professor ralph had anxious set from hamburg university of applied sciences. doctor,

thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us and take our questions. you're most welcome to nights is awards nights at the berlin international film festival. on the spite pandemic restrictions, the stars are back on the red carpets and audiences back in front of the silver screen. so which film will scoop the belly, malice ta prize. the golden bear, here's a look at some of the contenders. the standard performance of the festival came from german turkish actress milton captain as the title character in robbie corners versus george w bush. eaton versus job. you couldn't us the following. george lee bush. just looking in please identify tom cast via ish thought in zones. it's the true story of a loving mother who fought for 5 years to get her son released from guantanamo prison. if you miss him, have him. he will show you,

but i will describe it's a misty. this is a good you look amused. obviously captain's rabbit is a force of nature who doesn't lead anything. german bureaucracy, social norms or the u. s. government stand on the way of getting justice for her son. justice is nowhere to be found in robe of gems. the debut film by mexican bolivian director natalia lopez, golardo, a moody impressionistic look at the violence and brutality of the mexican drug wars . the film divided critics, but many agree it was the most visually arresting film in berlin this year. in both sides of the blade, french director clare denise managers to be both stylish and intimate. her story of a woman caught between 2 men is deceptively simple. but the performances by juliet, be nash, as von so london are subtle and emotionally devastating. they come to

the berlin festivals most moving love story is. the chinese film returned to dust. director li ruin jones gentle tale follows a pair of outcasts and a forced marriage as the e count in existence in a series of small villages. they're constantly uprooted as farming communities are torn down to make way for urban expansion. nessa but politics are subtext. here the real story in return to dust is the growing love between mar and glee, ying, an affection that has never sentimental and all the more affecting for its restraint. i robert scott roxborough is at the breland alleret by the red carpet. scott: good to see you. so to night we're going to know who will win the golden bear? who's your favorite pig? yeah, those channels we just saw actually are all on my on my top 5 top 10 list um but if

i had to pick just one. um that's not on that list. um it would be a spanish film on the screen here yesterday. i caught us from the director college, the moon. i'm and it's a family story. it's a set in a, a farm, a family own farm in catalonia, and it's sort of a bitter sweet tail. it's about a family basically doing their last summer harvest because their farm is they're about to be evicted from their farm. it's going to be taken over on to make way for urban expansion. so i say very bittersweet story, but it's set in the sort of mid day midsummer, a sunlight of spain i'm and so really i think is visually the most powerful film that i saw this year. and also i think the emotional emotionally moving of this year's belly knowledge and what was the emotional highlight for you? yeah, off the screen when it came to the, the people who hear the stars and the the press conferences. i had to say there was one moment i'm when emma thompson was here and emma thompson was here to show off

her film, her new film, a good luck to you, leo grand. and in it, she plays a widower who's sort of repressed and hires a sex worker to give her her 1st ever orgasm. it's so it's a bit of a comedy, but it's also some quite serious things to say about shame, about sexuality and thompson, inter press conference very personal. and she said one scene in particular where she has to literally expose herself on camera, was very challenging for it. because she says even herself, as a, as an oscar winning actress, i'm has some issues, some body image issues, take less, a found very g. when women have been brainwashed, all our lives to hate our bodies. that's the fact of it. and everything that surrounds us is it reminds us how imperfect we are and everything is wrong with us . everything is wrong and you need to look like this. so you try that, you try sunny in front of america because i don't move. don't go, don't just don't move just the fact is that fact it and don't judge it is the

hardest thing i've ever had to do. just accept it. don't judge it is probably something that we are struggle with. scott, and you know, you cover all the film festivals. how does this year's berlin allah compare to the other a prestigious film festivals? yet this, this year, i would have say, is a bit subdued. it obviously has to do with the fact that there were the strict a corona conditions there were social distancing. there was mass lead and have said, crowds of film fans behind me at the red carpet screaming as you usually would at the bailey nala. i'm. and though a corona wasn't an issue on screen directly, um it did have an impact on the kind of a thumbs up. we saw a la the film see more theatrical, more like stage plays because they were required to shoot under limited conditions . i'm, i'd have to say this years belen, all it was less about us or celebration of a returned to cinema after corona and more, a sort of reflection on, on, on what we've gone through emotionally over the last 2 years. still very powerful festival. i'm but as i said, a little bit subdued. a lot of it's subdued scott roxbury reporting from a,

the berlin ala. we hope to catch up with you soon again. at the beijing winter olympics claim ah, noel has won france their 1st to alpine skiing gold metal. the 24 year old was in 6th place after his 1st run, but returned with a bang and scorched the ice river course in a stunning 2nd, ran to win the mans slalom event and claim the gold medal. having one gold medal winner in the family must be nice, but there is one particularly swedish family that has 2 older sisters. hannah oberg went out 1st in the bios laundry relay and built a lead to hand over to her younger sister. elvira little says, had to hold her nerve, completing 3 lapse of the 2 kilometer a long course. she didn't miss a shot standing up at the shooting range,

but she made it home safely to a complete, happy family picture. great stuff. coming up next step, made in germany, looks at how business is still struggling with the effects of the pandemic. here we did a renewed life from berlin. will be back at the top of the hour with the world headlines . see that ah ah ah ah

ah ah ah, ah ah, ah, 2 years at the corner by pandemic have been devastating for some businesses. all deliveries have been brought to a standstill and many jobs are in jeopardy. has globalization run its course? or are there new opportunities for our topic this week long cove, its effect on business po, made in germany next on w. o.

and sometimes a seed is all you need to allow big ideas to grow. we're bringing environmental conservation to life with learning facts like global ideas. we will show you how climate change and environmental conservation is taking shape around the world and how we can all make a difference. knowledge grows through sharing. download it now for free. ah, i think is everything jenny think fair, some are big. i'm listening so much different culture between here and there. so challenging for everything. ah, to some of this i think it was worth it for me to come to germany. shove my got my

license to work as a swimming instructor here on dish. and now i teach children not adults to swim desktop. is that what's your story take part. share it on info, migrants dot net. ah ah ah ah, oh, do you remember the beginning of the pandemic? many of us thought it would be over in a few weeks or months. we bought puzzles, baked bread, hunker down inside and waited for it to be over. all around the world, there were locked down empty streets, public squares without a soul in sight. animals room, city streets.