ah ah ah ah ah, this is dw news alive from berlin, free after months in a russian prison. brittany griner is finally on her way home. the u. s. basketball star is handed over in a prisoner swap. in exchange for notorious russian arms dealer. victor boot. also coming up on the show, iran executes

a protester for participating and recent anti government demonstrations. 23 year old moccasin shikari is the 1st demonstrator to be put to death and other detainees now face the same fate. plus olaf schoultz marks his 1st here as german chancellor. with the more in ukraine, the coping pandemic and political divisions at home will look back on what's been a tough year for his coalition government. ah. hello, i'm clare richardson, thanks so much for joining us. us basketball star brittany griner has been released from custody in russia. the to time olympic gold medalist was arrested in moscow in february and sentenced to 9 years in prison on drug charges. she recently had an appeal rejected and was transferred to a remote penal colony. her release now is part of

a high stakes prisoner exchange. it sees the united states hand over a notorious russian arms dealer. scenes of joy in the oval office of brittany greiner. she has a phone call with her wife sharelle, and preston, joe biden. following confirmation of her release from a russian jail, she said, she's on a plane, she's on her way home. after months being unjustly detained in russia, held on her and tolerable circumstances, pretty will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and. and she should have been there all along over the last night, nancy all had dan, i'm so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life inside to day. i'm just standing here and overwhelmed with emotions. bay. the most important emotion that i have right now, she is sincere gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. back

in october, such scenes seemed unimaginable. as greiner appeared, via video link from her prison cell, to make an appeal more in hope, the next dictation. oh, he was more severe, gra 1st, then we're here to do with her as it all those 2 trainers mistake was being caught with cannabis. oil in her baggage at a moscow airport in february in august. she was sentenced to 9 years in jail for drug smuggling and possession. the backdrop to this, of course, is russia's war in ukraine. diner, a u. s. citizen is one of the world's best basketball players, or supporters considered her upon in russia's political game. this man was seen as

grinders, best hope of being released, and so it proved victor boot or russian arms dealer serving a 25 year sentence in the u. s. had been considered as part of a prisoner swap, but russia was apparently unwilling to negotiate. while greiner trial was on going, after her appeal was rejected, craner was sent to one of russia's notoriously harsh penal colonies to serve the rest of her sentence. no, she's on her way back to her loved ones in the u. s. were according to her wife, she intends to do all she can to free fellow american citizens imprisoned by russia . let's get more on this story from carolina shamore in washington, d. c. carolina. we just saw those emotional scenes with grinders wife in the white house. how big do you think the pressure was on the white house to make this deal happen? here, there has been a lot of public pressure in the united states to get a gardener back home. despite her recent release, we know that the negotiations have not been an easy,

an easy way and an easy victory for the bible ministration. they had to pay a heavy price on it. they released victor boot and major arms dealer. and it's also important to point out that in addition to this, the u. s. government also tried, but it was an able to secure the release of poll whelan. he is a us citizen who has been held in russian prison since 2018 on charges of espionage, but according to a secretary of state antony blank and they had no other option that than to do a one on one exchange. meaning, greiner, for a boot, he said the alternative would have been to not have a release at all. a whelan will remain in prison and president biden promised that they will keep on fighting for his release as well. and even to do that extreme for brittany greiner, u. s. president biden said it took painstaking negotiations. how do you think the american public feels about the fact that the u. s. government is striking. deals with russia while it is waging

a brutal war on ukraine care. the priority for the american people is it's not really that brutal a war in ukraine. many people of course shows how the diary with ukraine, but the war is far away. people don't really feel the impact of the war on the sanctions as much as they do in germany or in europe. so the priority for the administration here has also been to a free and american citizen who in their wars has been wrongfully detained in russia. and there has been a lot of public pressure on this release here in the u. s. and this is clearly a huge victory for the bible ministration that would probably have an impact on the public opinion about him and about his administration. the question is, if this means that a dialogue with russia on the war in ukraine could also be possible, a senior official from the say department pointed out this morning that this is not the case. he said this has been a negotiation that was very focused on

a concrete topic on wrongfully detained to us american prisoners. and he as threats that getting this done, does not mean that the us government minimizes rushes behavior in the war in ukraine. and what can you tell us about victor boot the notorious russian arms dealer who was part of this exchange? victorville, a 55 years old, is a huge figure for the u. s. and for russia as well, we're talking about an arm steeler who worked for okay. for the taliban and for rebels in rwanda, he was a sentence in 2011 on 4 counts that included conspiring to kill american citizens. and he had agreed to sell weapons to secret service agents who were back then opposing arms buyers for the farm. for the revolutionary armed forces of columbia and a boot was sentenced back then to prison for 25 years. you would have been released

in 2036 currently and we're just seeing pictures now of a boot arriving in a rush. i thank you so much for your reporting from washington dc. we really appreciate it. well, iran has carried out its 1st known execution of a protest. her sins anti government demonstrations began in september walks, and shikari was hanged on thursday morning after being accused of wounding a security officer during protests activists worn. others could also soon be put to death and that at least a dozen other iranians have been handed sentences for their involvement and demonstrations. behind these walls and t ron's even prison, a young man was reportedly executed. iran's judiciary claims he injured a police officer during the protests of him, but observers say this was a show trial. it was broadcast in installments on state television, the 23 year old at neither an independent legal defense nor the opportunity to

challenge the verdict. that regardless of protests against the iranian regime, are still going on for 3 days across multiple cities. many businesses have been on strike people on the streets report, a math of deployment of police and malicious store owners preferring to remain anonymous. say there have been targeted intimidation, attendance and, and with. we were severely threatened if we left the store closed, they would shut down our cafe completely. the rules, iran's president r e z continues to blame other countries influences for the ongoing protest that's getting done. he reiterated that point when he address to pro regime students at a terran university. what does that work out of that you to west thinks? we'll just hand the country over to the protest this, you donna, but no longer any raining students would never let. i was going to mr. wyatt, according to a pause from his supporters. but the majority of students are his fiercest critics . cellphone footage shows them protesting against raw, easy,

and the regime outside the university. you have no honor, they shout repeatedly, not only in the capital, but at universities all across the country. and the demonstration show no sign of dying down. we can bring you up to speed now with some other world news headlines you didn't it? the u. s. congress has approved a landmark of bill protecting same sex marriages. president joe biden is expected to sign the measure into law quickly. the draft legislation passed the senate last week. after months of negotiation. it comes and concerns that the supreme court could reverse its 2015 decision to legalize same sex marriages. israeli troops have killed 3 palestinians in a don rate on suspected terrorists. palestinian authorities described clashes in the city of at jenny and in the occupied west bank as fierce. there has been an increase in violence in the region following several attacks on his railways. south

korea has ordered, striking cargo truck drivers to return to work. those who refuse to comply could face up to 3 years in jail, or a maximum fine of 30000001 at is around 22000 euros. south korea, governments, as a prolonged strike, could begin to hurt meter export industries, and peruse. president pedro castillo has been arrested after being ousted by congress castillo, had earlier, tried to dissolve parliament and install and emergency government hours before he was due to face an impeachment vote. former vice president deena boulevard tay has been sworn in. she is the 1st woman to leave the country. well, exactly a year ago, a lof schultz was sworn in as german chancellor. his 3 way coalition government came to power on a platform of change. but russia's full scale invasion of ukraine in february has meant they've had to abandon some of their core principles, not least of all regarding power generation here, dw, takes

a look back at the chancellors challenging 1st 12 months. for 16 years, she was the face of germany, anglo makeover felt solid, dependable, safe, until 2021. when this guy took over, all of so it's bruton. nicole listen, government of left wing as liberals and greens. they promised big changes. but with the government, just 77 days old, russia launched its full scale invasion of ukraine. they've changed everything you're we're experiencing at turning point. the need some sla laid out a series of major promises to deal with a new political and economic global reality. for decades, the mighty german economy had relied on cheap oil and gas from russia that had to change and fast. so it gave renewables a big boost, hunted down oil and gas deals abroad. and built l. n. g terminals at home. he

even extended nuclear and coal power generation, although the government's green element prevented this from going as far as the opposition wanted our business when it comes to nuclear and renewable energy, he stayed way behind germany's capabilities. the government also spent $200000000000.00 euros to protect german customers and companies from price rises. the ukraine war also meant germany had to decide what to do to help that we will deliver 5000 how mr. ukraine. and even though he later dramatically expanded this, many remained critical of sorts. his efforts just kind, there is no german lead european coordinated support for ukraine, for example, with battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. on a major problem, the german armed forces didn't have much to give away. in that same speech, swords authorized a $100000000000.00 euros special budget for the armed forces. none of those things

were on the agenda when chance was elected. he and his partners came to office with a raft of progressive policies. they abolished an article in the criminal code banning doctors from advertising abortion services. they introduced the 1st ever l g, b t q plus rights commissioner. and they said to make immigration to germany easier and even legalize recreational cannabis use. it was a baptism of fire, what we'll have. so, and his new government, all that came from the war in ukraine. the ongoing pandemic and the economic forelock from both bought some of the lessons learned already being applied to the next major challenges, such as how to deal with germany's dependency on china. there's still a lot to do just before we go, let's get a reminder of our top story. at this hour, the united states has secured the release of basketball star,

brittany greiner from russian custody, as part of a prisoner swap. the u. s. handed over russian arms dealer, victor boot. in exchange. that's news update at this hour coming up next. it is the business headlines with robin watts. and the latest on germany's biggest financial fraud scandal. stay tuned for that or check out our website at d. w dot com. thanks so much for watching. ah ah, every journey is full of surprises. we've gone all out to give you some tips with.