ah, the ah ah business dw news lie from berlin. russian forces come closer to taking the key city of sierra the next, as they step up their offensive across the east of ukraine. also coming up there, calling it a signal to vladimir putin, that europe is united against him. danish voters overwhelmingly agree to join the

european union's common defense policy and a legal victory for the actor johnny dead. the u. s. jury sides with the hollywood superstar concluding his ex wife ever heard dufrane to him in an opinion article in which she said she was an abuse victim. ah, i'm gab alphas welcome to the program. russian forces edging closer to capturing a key ukrainian city after days of fighting st. battles on the way and the industrial harp or stevie severe low net in the east and the don bus region. the governor there says that 80 percent of the city is now under russian control, but in a boost for ukraine, germany and the united states, and also additional weapon support. forgive conclude, including advanced rocket systems with

a range of up to 80 kilometers. as for him that he w a correspondent, rebecca richard, who is in kia for us. rebecca, what more can you tell us? well, on the, on the battlefield, gerhard, things are moving pretty slowly. we are looking at a war of attrition at the moment. but as you say, russians making as small gains in that case, city in the hands of era than yet, as the governor, they're the governor of that region. now saying that they do, indeed, the russia has now round about 80 percent of that city under its control. or we saw a one of the chemical plants there. it is an industrial city. one chemical plant was heat yesterday and we saw plumes of toxic smoke went out, told that civilians are trying to hide in that factory. but the governor saying this will not be an as of style to if you will, referring to that the steel plant in mary you poll. that's now infamous in this battle. and on the other side of the river sever several donetta is

a sister city with lucy chance as on the other side of a river. and the russians are struggling to get across that river there. now trying a tactic of bombarding up from another angle around the, at the other side of the city so that they don't indeed have to cross that river because that has been proven quite difficult for them in the war so far. they haven't been very successful at crossing rivers, so we'll have to see what happens there. but yeah, as you say, it is not looking at good for ukraine in low hands. cur russia, merely taking all all control of it now. now the ukranian, so they desperately need heavy weapons to turn the tide or do we know how long it will take for it to deploy for these weapons that were promised by germany in the us? yes, that announcement of weapons from the u. s. and germany was very welcomed here in ukraine, but of course it won't be immediate. we will see what we're seeing at the moment

carry on for some weeks. we're hearing that the pentagon estimate that these heavy weapons from the u. s. could take around 3 weeks to arrive here, of course ukraine is will need to be trained on them as well. and there is that we're hearing about delays potentially from the german anti aircraft, anti defense systems that have been promised that they're not going to come from stock pals within the german army. they're actually going to come directly from the manufacturer so that could add delays. so not really sure exactly of a time frame there. we do know that ukraine desperately need them as soon as possible. we're hearing now that you can, the u. k has also agreed to send some of these a longer range weapon systems and are also going to be training the ukrainians in how to use them as well. so we will see some of some benefit from those weapons, but not for some weeks. we don't know what's gonna happen in between then whether you crank and hold back or whether russia's just going to keep storming ahead. probably the latter, but definitely, well welcome news that these weapons systems are on their way. rebecca,

it is their reporting live from t of thank you. are the voters in denmark of overwhelmingly back to referendum to join the repeal unions? common defense policy, more than 2 thirds voted yes. and wednesdays bull on whether to abandon denmark's long held position of opting out of shed you defense decisions, russian aggression and ukraine from to that landmark ballot. a pile of yes ballots . just a handful of nose. danish vote is cast away decades of resistance to marching lockstep with the european union on matters of defense. a decision once unlikely this year became essential, says denmark's prime minister met frederickson. there was a year before february 24th before the russian invasion. and there is another europe after, when threats to liberty are on europe stool. and there is once again war and our

continent. then you can't be neutral. in 3 previous referendums, danes had voted against close at e u alignment. but russia's attack on ukraine convinced voters that cooperation is more important than isolation in times of war. it's obviously important to, to state if you feel that you want to join this community or not. we should join us because otherwise he just that one friend who never buys round the outcome means danish troops can take part when e u states put boots on the ground in operations such as those held in molly and elsewhere and benefit from joint weapons purchases. denmark is the latest nordic state to reverse course on military strategy is previously neutral. neighbors, sweden and finland have applied to joined the nato military alliance for 4 small

european states. being holy integrated in the european security architecture, whether it be the you or nato is increasingly important at the moment. denmark's decision shows russia's attempts to divide the european union of bringing its countries closer together. joining us from copenhagen is our correspondent barbara visa. barbara, does this decision mean? denmark is now required to send troops to you missions or spend additional money on equipment at your had did. they are required, but it always is, of course, voluntary, but there are no slouches militarily, so they just recently sent troops to estonia to reinforcer the eastern border. so they will probably participate in european missions and they have already earned just a little while ago. increased their defense budget up to 2 percent,

which is the theda limit demanded in b. m amount demanded by natal marlos. and it's a big increase for a small country like this. so yes, they are there on board, was this bed. what's really remarkable about it is this tremendous a change in feeling and, and political atmosphere here in the country. because in the past, they, more or less, for chronically said no to anything that came from europe, but this time they really have felt. this is the time and instigation where you have to step inside the tent where it's better to be together with others. now all the countries have now changed their previously independent or neutral or military positions. what does that mean for the region? it means for the region that they can work together more closely. i mean, these are small countries. they do have armies, professional armies, so they can do something, but it is much better when they do it together. for instance,

they can decide together who buys helicopters, who buys new ships, if they can do some burden sherry? and of course they feel that if they really work together closely, all the nordic countries together was the baltic, for instance. and they can bring some weight to the table politically, not only militarily, but they will have a voice. they will be heard amongst others about do talking about strategy and what to do against this threat that everyone feels is coming from the east is coming from, from russia. and this is such a huge change for these countries, for who for a decade seem to live in this sort of paradise of political independence and being apart from others. the now i have understood very deeply and emotionally that they just have to go together with everyone in order to protect themselves. did have you correspond? barbara visa reported from copenhagen there? thank you, barbara. now let's have

a look at some of the other stories making headlines in the us for people have been shot dead on a hospital campus in tulsa, in the state of oklahoma. the police say that the gunman, armed with a rifle and a hand gun, apparently killed himself. is, is the latest in a series of mass shootings to shake the united states recently. ah, israeli forces have blown up the house of a palestinian gunmen who had shot dead 5 people in an israeli city. in march. israeli raid in the west bank village of your bards spark clashes between residents and soldiers. palestinian officials said one man was killed and 2 others wounded. croatia is said to become the 20th you country to adopt the europe. the european commission says the balkan nation has fulfilled the necessary criteria crash our plans to replace its national currency. the corner from the start of next year. in mexico,

it is 11 people are dead and many more are missing. off the hurricane. agatha slammed into the country's pacific coast. the storm was one of the strongest may harkens to ever hit the country and forecast to say the weather system could gather strength again in the gulf of mexico and move towards the u. s. this weekend. the thought of hurricane season in the pacific has hit mexico hard. how to gain agatha made landfill monday, cricketing heavy jeans and deadly flooding. it was the strongest storm to hit this easier in the month of me. since recordkeeping began in 1949. in what hacker, dozens of people are still missing. locals are trying to assess the damage as the clear debris and fallen cheese up put the body, they were going to be difficult to recover from these losses and we lost everything . we are going to have to start all over again. we're both in his will. ivy thing happened when by the water,

yet we don't have enough to drink power right now. let's see if he get help. if to provide us with water hold and whatever else they can well, because they've lost everything here in the state. government has set up over 200 shelters for the displaced. it has also at east hotels. for tourists. agatha has now moved out over the could have been that authorities one it could pick up strength again as a precaution, bought spoof and non essential businesses have also been closed for as long as the storm lasts. the actor johnny depp has come out on top of his defamation case against his ex wife amber heard us court ordered her to pay him more than $10000000.00 in damages, but heard was also awarded to 1000000 dollars after jurors found that debit defamed as well through his lawyer, the 6 week trial made headlines around the world with a couple making often lurid claims and counterclaims of domestic abuse mister

depths, claim for amber heard it was a bitter end to an intense trial of hearing. do you find that mister dev has proven all the elements of defamation? answer yes. heard, listened with her eyes downcast as it became clear that jurors had emphatically side to do with her ex husband. finding that she had defamed him by implying he was abusive during their marriage in a 2018 newspaper article. dep was in england as the verdict was delivered, but posted a triumphant statement on line in it. he thanked the jury, saying they had given him his life back heard to release her own statement online. after leaving the court. saying that she was disappointed beyond words by the ruling and dubbing it to set back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously. the result was a remarkable turnaround for dep from just 2 years ago when

a british court ruled that he had repeatedly assaulted herd based on much of the same evidence presented in court in virginia. but while the latest chapter of that highly public legal saga may have ended in a victory for dep, it's unlikely to be the last time the pair face each other in court. heard has already announced she's planning to appeal the verdict. earlier we spoke with as attainment, journalist k, j matthews, and we also bought the public perception of this trial. very early on in the 6 week trial, you could see that the court of public opinion was really in the corner of johnny deck. you could see it on social media. you can see a lot of articles that were written even if you watch all of the legal analysts, they all tended to be in the camp of johnny debt. his team did a really great job as portraying him as someone who was really just victimized and lost his multimillion dollar career and standing in hollywood based on an op ed

that amber heard had written. now even though amber, her took the child that the stand and she cried. and she talked about the relationship that she had in the marriage that she had and how she felt that she was abused. it didn't seem to really have the same mustard and that that johnny dec . i can't deal when they put him on the stand you at cdw news from berlin. that's it from me and the news seem for now don't go way up. next business news with christy. don't forget to come get a lot more news around the clock on a website, www. dot com gab office in berlin. watch. ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ah, ah, she made it out. unfortunately.