experience outstanding shopping and dining offers. enjoy alice services. be our guest at frankfurt airport city. managed by fraud lou. ah ah. this is dw news lie. we're 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 23 year old man for participating in recent anti government demonstrations. walks in at shikari is the 1st protest her to be put to death and other detainees now faced the same fate. plus the biggest financial fraud and german history comes to court. 2 and a half years after the collapse of wire card, prosecutors aimed to prove that former executives worked to hide nearly 2000000000 euros in missing revenue. ah. hello, i'm claire richardson. thanks so much for joining us. you as basketball, star brittany griner has been released from custody and russia. the 2 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. now her release as part of a high stakes prisoner exchange. this is the united states, hand over a notorious russian arms dealer scenes of joy in the oval office as brittany greiner. she has a phone call with her wife cheryl, and preston, joe biden, following confirmation of her release from a russian jail. she safe. he's on a plane. she's on her way home, after once been unjustly detained in russia. hel, owner, and tolerable circumstances. britney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and, and she should have been there all along. over the last name nancy, i'll have 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 spec taishan. oh, he was more severe. gra, less then. well, i do. to do with those 2 rangers 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 a 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 said 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 . and each of these kelvin ashmore has more on how much pressure the biden administration was under to secure the steel care. there has been a lot of public pressure in the united states to get a grinder back home despite the 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 pull whelan. he is a u. s. citizen who has been held in russian prison since 2018 on charges of espionage, but according to a secretary of state antony blink. 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. it's all, it's all really that brutal

a war in ukraine. many people of course, show sold directly 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 as senior official and from the state 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 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? victor vote at 55 years old is a huge figure for the us and for rush house while we're talking about and arms dealer who worked for acadia 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 where back then opposing us 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 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. moxon shikari was hanged on thursday morning after being accused of wounding a security officer during protests activists born. others could soon also be put to death and that at least a dozen other iranians have been handed sentences for their involvement in demonstrations behind these walls and to 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, and neither an independent legal defense nor the opportunity to challenge the verdict. that regardless protests against the rainy and regime are still going on

for 3 days across multiple cities. many businesses have been on strike people on the streets report, a massive 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, right, 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 that a t, ron university. what does that work? yeah, and then, you know, west thinks we'll just hand the country over to the protest this, you, donna, but no, no, the reigning students would never let a lot of, quite, apart from his supporters. but the majority of students are his fears. this critics cell phone footage shows them protesting against 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 or come round. martinez a senior lecturer on international relations at the university of sussex and he w earlier asked him if he was surprised by the quick trial and execution. no, i actually am not. i mean, various officials of those lamid republic and even a large number of m. p 's in their, in, in parliament have been calling for tougher action against a protest. in the case of the in peace. they specifically asked for the use of the death sentence against protests. so the government has been comparing this for a while, but we should remember that this is not something new in the islamic republic of iran. iran has already executed around 500 people during the course of 2022. and since the inception of the islamic regime, in 9079, execution has been one of the main instruments of intimidating society and

suppressing their position. and there has been dramatic instances, for example, in summer of 1988 over the course of few months, several 1000 political prisoners were executed. so this was all as expected. but i very much doubt this would actually change much on the, in terms of the protests that's come on at martine, speaking to us earlier. now, a few more stories making headlines today. the u. s. congress has approved a landmark 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 amid concerned that the supreme court could reverse its 2015 decision to legalize same sex marriages. the u. s. house of representatives has voted to provide record defense spending next year, totaling $858000000.00. the figure is 45000000000 more than asked for

by president joe biden. the bill also includes a provision to scrap cove at 19 vaccine mandates for military personnel. supporters of peruse, austan, president pedro castillo, have clashed with police. backers of the populace leader are demanding his release and the suspension of parliament. a peruvian court ordered his detention on thursday after congress voted to impeach him. south korea has ordered strike and 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. that's around $22000.00 euros. south korea's government as a prolonged strike could begin to hurt major export industries. and croatia will join europe, passport re travel area in january. it clears the way for an end to land border controls between croatia and other shingle members and and to airport tracks will follow later. romania and will guerria were unable to overcome opposition to their

membership in the shank and zone. for the trial over germany's a biggest ever accounting scandal started today in munich, wire cards, former c e o and to former executives will take the stands. they're accused of hiding nearly 2000000000 euros of missing revenue. and more than 2 years after the collapse of the financial technology company, the scale of the fraud has been described as unparalleled in german history. this is the man at the center of a case that sent shock waves through germany's financial and political establishments. marcus brown, prosecutors accused the former wire card seo and to top executives of orchestrating a massive criminal act to defraud investors. he faces charges including falsifying financial statements, market manipulation, and breach of trust. he's been in custody for more than 2 years. after its founding

in 1999 wire card, enjoyed a fairy tale rise by 2018. the online payments firm had become one of the 30 most valuable companies on the frankfurt stock exchange result. looking back, but very much looking at the future. and i thing but that then i make of growth in the next 10 years. ah, will totally all perform what richie from last 10 years rumors began circulating early on about fraudulent activity, but barely any one wanted to listen wire card success story. it was just too good. then in 2020, after an independent investigation, it became clear. almost 2000000000 euros had vanished from company accounts or only existed on paper wire cards, big deals, faked or staged. the one time darling of fintech filed for insolvency. investors last huge sums auditors and german financial regulator. baffin faced heavy

criticism for ignoring early warning signs about wire cart brown denies any wrongdoing. he's instead pointed the finger at wire cards, a former c o. yon masonic who has reportedly hiding out in russia and wanted by german authorities. that is your knees update at this hour coming up next is silent terror, a documentary about her son, the 1st major city in ukraine to be occupied in russia's invasion. that after a short break or of course, you can find more news and analysis on our website at t w dot com. i'm clear, richardson, thanks for watching. ah . interest. the global economy. our portfolio, d w business being. here's a closer look at the project.