oh recognized where exactly was fun and i have learned a lot our culture who through all their d w travel extremely worth a visit. mm mm 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. for us 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 execute

a 23 year old man for participating and recent anti government demonstrations. walks and shikari is the 1st protest her to be put to death and other detainees. now face the same fate. ah hello, i'm clear richardson, a warm welcome to the show. us basketball star, brittany griner has been released from custody and 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. now her release as part of a high stakes prisoner exchange, that sees the united states hand over a notorious russian arms dealer. a prisoner swapped on the tarmac of abu dhabi at port it is here,

the captive dns for you as possible. stop brittany griner scene here on the left and russian on the la victor boot on the right. us president joe biden spoke to grind shortly. i'll release, i'm glad to be able to say the brittany's in good spirits. she, she's relieved to finally be heading home. and the fact remains that she's lost months of her life experience. needless trauma, she deserve space privacy in time with a lovely recovery. he'll from her time being wrong through detain vice dryness. why sharon, thank dos involved in bringing brittany home. so over the last 9 months, y'all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life. and so today i'm just standing here overwhelmed with emotions. but the most important emotion that i have right now is just sincere gratitude. like right now,

we're still on our way to the u. s. who was already being welcomed by his family in moscow. the he had been in the us jails in 2012 serving a 25 year sentence for trafficking? yes, i mean, i mean i've seen it so what i was interested growing was arrested at moscow put in february and sentence to 9 years for possession of cannabis by a russian court. these images published by the russian government show being released from the penal colony. she was held in and put on a plane to apple w. along a deal. it's finally over. and these kaleon ashmore has more on how much pressure the bite in administration was under to secure this deal care. there has been a lot of public pressure in the united states to get a gardener back home. despite the recent release, we know that the negotiations have not been an easy, an easy way and then easy victory for the by that 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 was unable to secure the release of poll whelan . he is a us citizen who has been held in russian prisons 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 griner for a he said the alternative would have been to not have a release at all, 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 britney 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 our, it's our elite that brutal a war in ukraine. many people of course shows already 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 booth, 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 talking about an arm stealer, who worked for acadia for the taliban. and to rebels him randa, 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. army buyers for the farm, for the revolutionary armed forces of columbia. and a boot was sentenced back then to prison for 25 years. he would have to be 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 since anti government demonstrations began in september. moxon 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 the walls of the notorious evian prison most in shaker, he was hanged on thursday. the death sentence against the 23 rolled, was only handed down in november and has now been very quickly carried out. war to live up as iran's judiciary, a que shakera of injuring and militia member during the protests. human rights groups condemned the proceedings as a fast track show trial. lacking an independent defense, intended to scare off other processes the hammer or on thursday

morning broadcast is close to the iranian regime. shed this video on social media. it was supposed to prove shikari is guilt accompanied by dramatic music, this and the use of computer generated scenes of violence. the regime staged a dubious admission of guilt. observe as believed that the confession was extracted under torture. and you're s iranian turkish political scientists. the reef gaskin says that systematic in iran, you know, minutia since the foundation of the islamic republic in 1979. the regime is repeatedly imprisoned. opponents tortured them and put them in front of cameras. and now they're doing that with the demonstrators a week. they want to show them as fearful and weak people guiding them along. as people who break when they're put under enough pressure. on little coat cock. only a few days ago, a regime propaganda channels published a video with the famous rappa too much to lay. he was who also faces the death

penalty in the video, extracts from one of his music videos were cut together with an interrogation in it to lay he apologizes for inciting people to protest on, on john you are. his gaskin believes the regime propaganda strategy is having the opposite of his intended effect to lay he and others. now heroes to many groups, good people see these stage confessions law really as a sign of the weakness of this regime was trying to prevent its downfall a regime that is increasingly under pressure because the resistance in a rollin shows no signs of going away. iran has a sanctions for decades now. and protesters are calling for your up to go a step further and expel iranian diplomats and the children of high ranking officials. earlier we asked an annoying man a member of the european parliament. what she makes of these criticisms. what i

would say is it is very important that we use all the tools that we have available at the moment to make the regime stall is, is popular condemnations. it's a lot of attention and just funding awareness about what they are doing iran because we have seen in the past. one's attention fades away. that is when the execution happens, it is sanctions. but yes, it is true. our tools from the outside are also somehow limited, so we have to do everything we can. but also it would be wrong to believe that this would mean the tipping point. the change has to come from inside iran. there are different opinions about expelling iranian diplomats from the european union. i have to, sam a, be careful with this. do you want? because if we expel irena diplomats from the european union, there is this kind of issue of reciprocity in foreign policy. so then we would give the regime the easiest afford excuses to kick out our own ambassadors,

our own embassies from iran. and they are at the moment doing crucial work inside the country that many human rights organizations want us to do, observing the trials, exerting pressure on the regime, supporting the protesters, for example, in finding a lawyer are getting at least half way just process supporting human rights defenders with raising their cases am and all of this would have to stop or would still, if our ambassadors would be kicked out also for us. they are an important source of information. so we do not have to trust the regime propaganda. no one wants wants to trust it, but we need than other sources of information and our embassies are providing that for us. let's bring you up to speed now with some of the world news headlines. the u. s. congress has approved a landmark bill protecting same sex marriages reg, 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 it concerns at the supreme court could reverse at 2015 decision to legalize same

sex marriages. the us house of representatives has voted to provide record defense spending next year. totally $858000000000.00. a 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 and chinese president. she champagne has met with saudi crown prince mohammed, ben solomon and read young. it is, she's at 1st, isn't it? to saudi arabia in 6 years and only his 3rd overseas trips as a coven panoramic began, would he set to meet with other regional leaders or a china arabs. on that. later today, angel film or power cuts in south africa have reached record at levels. south africans currently don't have electricity for up to 10 hours a day and it's scheduled blackouts to avoid a total collapse of the overwhelmed national grid. but how can the power crisis a salt that was among the topics discussed this week during a visit by the german economics minister, or correspondent,

asian credit reports the south african renewable energy technology center at the university in cape town, germany's economics minister holbert hobbit himself a green party petition is visiting to promote the transition to cleaner energy production. amanda shy is one of the students you draining to become a wind turbine service technician. so my favorite part of everything is just how everything comes together for the renewable energy part of things. and i think sustainability because that's where you see that no man um, it can be a load shading can be a think of the past. load shedding means no power checking the load. shedding schedule has become a daily ritual for south africans. they currently have to cope with levels 6. power cuts, meaning up to 10 hours a day without electricity. often even traffic lights effect, as many businesses and factories are for to close,

then those who can afford it get generate us or they improvise. i found out the electricity crisis has been brewing for decades. the state power utility escalate has been accused of mismanagement and corruption demand has been steadily growing that crucial investments haven't been made. and the power utility is heavily in debt despite several government bailouts. currently, most of south africa's electricity is produced with local coal. germany wants to support transition and energy policy and africa. hi. this is starting africa is ready to reduce c o. 2 emissions and change its reliance on coal. europe and germany are ready to help the money for that is already made available. interested on south africa, president has repeatedly called for such a green transition, but he's facing opposition from within his own government. the energy minister is a former coal minor and union leader. the coal is going to with us for some time. and therefore,

we must agree on and to whatever you call must listen to us. what do we think? how do i feel about it? and not just push us into doing what they want. they can capetown soon to be a wind turbine service technician? amanda shy says she wants to be part of the generation that provides both steady and green electricity for everyone in south africa. that is, after our coming up next is silent. terran a documentary about her son, the 1st major city in ukraine to be occupied in russia's invitation statement for that. and thanks so much for watching a racist. i thought they were great here.