oh, as we take on the world, 8 hours i do. oh, this is weird all about the stories that matter to you. whatever it takes, i police, my fellow, being a pain dealer, we are your is actually on fire made for mines. the world's rich and powerful are once again mixing and mingling in the swiss alps . no. not. and st. lawrence in davos home of the world economic forum, the annual meeting, where the global elite shakes, hands makes deals and dreams up solutions to humanities. biggest challenges, this is not

a feel good summit. ukraine's 1st lady used her platform at the meeting to power, fully urged leaders to use their influence to end the war that is destroying her country. with a special mention of china, russia's most powerful ally who still refuses to condemn moscow's aggression. i'm nichol foolish in berlin, and this is the day ah, we are facing a threat and a collapse of the world as we know it we receive or if much more support. but there's more to be honest, the small to my friends that will be no let up in our stat for support to ukraine. we hope we are trying to organize a bigger support for for euclid and we need and to work at systems. we need to defend our citizens city. one year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years,

15 years. we will support ukraine as long as needed. you all know that russian aggression was never intended to stop at ukraine's waters. this war will move forward and trigger wider crises if ukraine use us. oh, also coming on, china's population shrinks for the 1st time in decades. we'll look at what some see as a demographic time ball, or there's a lot of pressure to have kids who days to have kids. the unemployment rate is so high, hope destroyed everything. there's nothing we can do. ah, welcome to the show. we began the day and dallas were hundreds of the world's most influential movers and shakers are gather this week for the annual world economic forum. the stated motto of the event improving the state of the worlds and of that

is really what they're therefore list of possible topics to tackle is longer than ever. a looming recession, climate change growing in equality, and of course, the horrendous war in ukraine to de ukraine's 1st lady elaine. as the lamps got dressed leaders and called on them to step up their efforts to bring the conflict to an end. she said it was a crucial 1st step in finding solutions to the many other pressing global issues. here's part of her speech yokes eith, which of this is how does the world expect to reach climate neutrality? if it can't even stop the burning down of whole ukrainian cities, you see me. this is what russia does with its artillery missiles. iranian drones look at them, i'm giving you all know that russian aggression was never intended to stop but ukrainian borders. but at the supreme, this war can move forward animals and ignite wider crises if you crane loses. if show her sort of snippet of her. but how can peace be achieved?

well, the zalinski is have a clear plan and the ukranian 1st lady brought it with her to davis. she came bearing letters from her husband, volota mere zalinski setting out his proposal to end russia's war against his country. one of them was meant for a chinese leader shooting, paying. china has been an important partner for moscow, and so far, refused to condemn russia's invasion to lend. scott also had a letter for european commission. president was a fund ally, the chief reaffirmed the blocks financial support and urged member states to provide the weapons that ukraine needs. first task for europe is to support financially. we have accepted a package of 18000000000 euros for the year 2023. and the 1st trash has been approved yesterday of 3000000000. it's crucial to keep the state of ukraine up and running. paying salaries, for example, the hospitals running schools going on. then of course, military equipment is of utmost importance. here it's

a task of the member states. but i think personally ukraine needs the military equipment that it can handle and that it is asking for like, what, for example, well, as it is not the european union, who is a owning any kind of a military equipment, is the member states who have to decide on but i'm always positive on advanced material advanced equipment because if they can handle it, they and they need it, they should get it. i was european commission chief, was enough on the line there. and germany has major decisions ahead over its military support to ukraine after the u. k. offered to challenger tanks being sent to ukraine. berlin is under pressure to allow the delivery of german maint, leopards, ukraine. hopes of fleet, of these modern battle things will help change the course of the war, but the ex, or even from other nations, requires german authorization. a decision now, all sets on the desk of germany's new defense minister to name forrest historian

was name to replace christine alumni to resign yesterday. historian has been a state level politician for more than a decade now. he's at the head of germany's armed forces. boris pastorius is an old hand with a new job, taking the reins of germany's military during times of war and europe. he told reporters he was ready for the task. um, yeah, do model disability and respectfully enormous task before me fingers the ministry of defense. he is already a great challenge in peacetime and even more in times when germany is involved in a war indirectly. but i'm, i'm aware of the responsibility and the great significance and em all the more grateful that i have been entrusted with it. at harvard on that i will throw myself into this challenge with 150 percent from day one. a little long for the last 10 years. pastorius herself does interior minister in the state of law saxony

furnishing a reputation as reliable and unafraid to speak his mind. chancellor, allah sholtes hopes those qualities will help steer the armed forces through considerable change. thus, mitchell, i'm fine, don't. he is not only a friends and girl politician her position, but also someone who has a lot of experience and security policy fruit. there. there who has worked very openly and closely in his previous function with the bonus via on the and to also possess as the strength and calmness needed for such a big task as the face of the current changes. pastorius will have plenty to do at a ministry known as a career killer. modernizing the military, strengthening, fighting forces and handling weapon supplies to ukraine. opposition figures have called on him to turn germany's site and vendor or turning point into

a reality. so he needs a steep learning curve and he has to start quite soon because the expectations on, on germany, arnold lowering the r a will increase in the next months. therefore, he has to show leadership and to bring site and when the into practical terms and practical experience for the others. pastorius will have no time to settle in his 1st big appointment, a meeting with his u. s. counterpart in berlin. later this week. so a new defense minister in town, when does the story appointment also? mean, we'll see changes to germany's policy on ukraine. here's didn't owe his chief political correspondent mean as well. he will have to learn to swim instantly after his official appointment this thursday because the u. s defense secretary will be here in berlin, and you'll want to talk how best to supply ukraine with weapons. how best the west considered as a support ukraine, militarily. there is a big,

high level meeting of international defense ministers on friday at ramstein military base, or where we're hearing that there is a bit of movement. germany could agree to give its consent, potentially, so that other countries can deliver combat tanks to ukraine. now that is of course, something where germany has come under a lot of pressure in recent weeks and months. gemini so far is not willing to deliver those combat tanks itself, but might give its consent so that others can deliver those german made tanks. but whatever those decisions imply are all have sites. the chancellor has made it clear that they lie with him, no matter who leads the defense ministry. so some personnel changes here in berlin and lots of talk of supporting ukraine from around europe. let's get some perspective and bring and ref, elbows on. he's with the german institute for international and security affairs in berlin. thank you so much for joining the day tonight. we're only a few weeks into the new year and it looks like the western response to the warning

crane is evolving. the u. k has already pledged battle tanks we just heard of. there will other countries now step up their game to well, as we just heard, we have to wait for this meeting and lunchtime. but yes, the noise is that with this kind of, you can move. there is really, really not massive, but there is a momentum growing. finland is also plus more support. poland anyway, has been over the forefront. and well, we'll see whether there will be this kind of change fundamentally with main battle tanks. but i wouldn't be surprised if at least the low numbers, say 2000 or 50 in total in the coalition of countries could be actually agreed on. and that still doesn't mean that they will arise the next day to ukraine. it will still be a process of months, but it is a critical time because everybody expects in terms of the cation of the fights over the coming weeks. now, in germany, seems to be the main hold out here. what signal does that send to you cream?

well, this has been a story really for months, as you said, and german decision makers, at least in the gum. and they also point out that actually germany's performance overall isn't that bad. and we have to live in actually a lot more than say, france practically. we just have been very bad, let's say in presenting our actual assistance also in the military side. so i don't know where the germany really can be seen as the main stumbling block. but yes, in this question of main battle times it is critical because really, as you said, there is this need for giving approval. and i think that is really what is on the cosmo with this personnel change that we could see that. and then if 3 or 4 countries will deliver their leopard pet times than maybe 2 or 3 months later, germany will also come along and provide its own forces. so germany is critical for that one question, but no overall we have provided a lot of air defenses, petra systems, artillery pieces and so on, so forth. so really it's

a bit more nuanced picture. ok, let's look at it from a different angle. then how does germany's position factor into the european and more broadly and to need i was response to the war. well, germany is obviously a very large and central country in europe and as such as nato is gearing back into its old rationale, mainly territorial defense. the defense of the lions. it is ultimately really a key state um, but it is not delivering yet it's sort of full weight or you know, we're not investing sufficiently. we are way back in terms of what we are initially promised already to build up since already several years. 2 percent of our gross domestic product. and, and, you know, germany traditionally was, well the frontline of a potential conflict with the former warsaw pact. now obviously we're not, but still we have this kind of central central role, maybe not frontline,

but as an industrial heartland. so i think ideally, germany would be a backbone to provide a lot of material. and also a leader in terms of bringing both western and eastern european countries together . france has amended some difficult relations with some eastern european countries who are set of barbara cross overtures to russia in the past. but, you know, france has moved on from that still, i think germany really has to play this bridging role. and i hope there is going to be catching up process. so it's a diplomatic but also economic and material role that germany has to play. it's not the leader and part of the central pillar, definitely and we still have to move for effort in that respect. and i want to talk sanctions because the regime doesn't seem to me hurting the russian economy as much as was hoped. how much more can a turn that screw? well, yes, that's true. and we did underestimate the resilience of the russian economy. also,

the russian bank, central bank did a great job instead of placing the deficit for the time being. there is of course, always somewhat more room. there is also called from a personal sanctions, but i wouldn't see that there is a real new game changer around the corner. what is much more important is, will we see the effect of the last rounds of sanctions to really bite soon? so the oil embargo has been only in force since early december. the price kept similarly, and now there is this data coming in the russia really is currently forced to sell it oil at almost half the price of the already said price cash. so there was a debate $60.00 per barrel. now it's around $35.00. apparently, the russia is being able to sell, and so this will really cut into the russian budget. so yes, last year russia was really still having record sales this year. it's look a lot different. and i think the sanctions will show more effect over the coming

months. but yes, there are not a silver bullet. and i don't think we really can expect massive new sanctions over the coming weeks. help us on. great speaking to you and thank you for your time. thank you. oh, for the 1st time in decades china's population has declined by 850000 people according to official numbers. and that doesn't sound like much for a country of more than a 1000000000, but this moment marks a trend will be seeing over the century. projects, friends show that by 2100 china's population will be lower than it was even in the 1960s. this demographic shift is predicted to have massive consequences on china's economy and social stability, and not as likely to echo around the world. oh, here's a look back at how china has trying to manage its population of to new booming mecca cities teeming with people. that's the image of 21st century china. and

yet, china needs more babies. for the 1st time in 60 years, it's population is shrinking. despite dropping its notorious one child policy some years ago. chinese couples are reluctant to have more children those out. so are you feel that the economic pressure on young people is quite high, especially for those from outside of beijing who live here. it's already really difficult. for those of us that were born in the eighty's, most of us are from one child families. there's a lot of pressure when it comes to taking care of your parents and improving your quality of life in the future, you'll have audi alley. with this is an inevitable outcome. at the moment, people born in the 2 thousands which is reaching the twenty's. and right now, many young people don't want to have kids. so that's because of the economic circumstances and the social environment. so that's contributed to decline in population growth. wine,

back to the 19 fifties and china's population was exploding, fueled by chairman mas believe that a large population was a key component of china's strength. but this led to poverty and food shortages, especially in rural areas. in 1979 authorities introduced a strict one child policy with families who violated it, facing hefty fines and other penalties, but worries over a decline in the working age population that could threaten china's position as the wells manufacturing powerhouse prompted a change in 2016, the rules were relaxed to permit parents to have 2 children. 2 years ago, the policy was expanded to allow couples to have up to 3 children. law for decades of social conditioning from the one child policy. as well as economic worries mean that chinese couples remain unconvinced. well, what not?

we don't think about it too much. we only care about whether having a 2nd child is good for our family. i don't feel i should have more children because the birth rate of this country is falling georgia. we don't think that way . well, i'm happy as long as our family is happy with having only one child. kyla goal of williams, i shall. china is still the most populous country in the world, but if it can't reverse it's slowing rate of population growth, it's such a face a demographic time bomb. earlier i spoke to english and she's a researcher, abby eurasia grew where she covers chinese foreign policy and domestic politics. i asked her to give us a sense of the significance of this population decline. so this, as you mentioned, is the 1st time in a around 60 years that china has experienced a population decline. and it is significant in the sense that it highlights the severity of china's demographic picture. it basically says that china's aging

prices is officially here. what's the reason for this historically low birth rate? yeah, so the population decline, as you said, is driven mainly by low by, by, by historically low birth rates. and this is primarily due to the rising cost of child bearing in china as of 2019, there is a study that says a cost of raising a child up to the age of $18.00 is nearly 7 times of china as a g. d p per capita. of, of that year and a co 19 has actually exacerbated this trend of lowering fertility willingness among young couples. because, because of the unpredictability of large downs, under the 0 co policy, there is a decreasing sense of financial or financial stability and security among young people. china arrived at this point, much earlier than expected,

is the economy purely to blame for this? this, this trend is basically due to a accelerating decline of people's willingness to have children because of the reasons i mentioned before and to cover 1000 has simply exacerbated those those challenges. because of this negative effects are on the economy. specifically, in terms of decreasing domestic demand, it's being called a demographic time long. what will this mean for the country, for the people and the economy? so in the long term, the chinese demographics situation is definitely a challenge because china is trying to convert is economy to a more consumption driven economy. but with the aging crisis, there will be a long term dollar pressure on china's domestic demand. and in terms of government

expenditure, the government will be expected to spend even more on social security now, and also providing child support. and those are the 2 main long term challenges for china's economy. and in terms of its society, i think young people are even more expected today to take care of the elderly. as china's dependency ratio has risen due to this population of decline, which is projected to continue over the next few years. is there a chance this can be turned around? what realistic incentives can the chinese government offer it? citizens to have larger families? there are several existing policy initiatives. for example, people with multiple children can have some kind of incentive to choose better housing, buy better houses. and there are also discussions in beijing to issue policies from

attorney leave and provide a better support in terms of child care for people who are, who are working. but these policies have yet to remain to be, to be seen how effective they are. and these all tied to as well to see a common prosperity agenda, which is trying to basically improve the quality of life for, for people. i was a mission and chinese policy researcher at the your age group. we heard how climate change is an urgent issue being discussed at the world economic forum and in few places are the effects felt as acutely as in africa. the horn of africa is now facing the threat of a 5th consecutive failed rainy season and devastating droughts. but a solution could be much closer than many realize. scientists have discovered that despite the frequent grounds, there is an increasing amount of ground water underneath the regions dusty plains,

which could be used to cope with a long dry spells b. it's the worst drought in 40 years here in somalia. makeshift camps like this one near the town of by do a have sprung up on mas as hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee bone dry conditions. many a herders whose lifeline is their animals. they totally depend on regular rainfalls . really of the we will come here above the list. i think is becoming really difficult for liberal to sustain the lives them having the room turned droughts in the horn of africa are becoming more frequent and more devastating with time. people in this already water, scarce region, can no longer rely on the long range between march and may and the short rains between october and december. whilst livestock said come,

and more than 37000000 people in the horn of africa are facing acute hunger. people might be sitting on top of their lifesaver, huge amounts of groundwater. scientists found that most countries in africa would actually have enough underground water supply for more than 50 years. plus, the study shows this water storage is even increasing despite the poor rainy seasons. this is because of the now more common heavy rain showers. they can most effectively refill the water stored in the ground to become ground. water. rainfall needs to be intense enough for the water to quickly infiltrate the soil. these short but heavy downpours fill up dry riverbeds. the water then seeps into underground deposits. these findings are extremely exciting, says the agra economist, alaric sandra, who has had years of experience working in africa, come up there is

a great opportunity and a huge untapped potential. if you can access that, you can increase yields in a fairly short time by $100.00 to maybe even 400 per cent. so there's a very big potential to increase production in africa, the protocol and all the off. the world bank has allocated money to explore this and the private sector is already drilling in some places if tapped into on a large scale ground water could be a game changer for the continents most vulnerable regions. blue. and finally for days now we've been covering protests at the german village of nits a lot, which is slated for demolition to make way for a coal mine expansion. it's become a symbol for the fight against fossil fuels and a cause for climate activists from across germany. and beyond, well today, one of the most famous climate campaigners of them all gretta tumor was among a group of demonstrators who were detained by german police. and 20 year old swede

was physically carried away by officers in riot gear. felice said the protesters would be released later in the day and that's our time by make sure to stay in touch, follow our team on twitter asking w news and myself at nicole underscore fully. it's the latest headlines you're looking for. there is, of course, always our website, d, w dot com for now though from me and the entire team here on the day. thank you so much for spending parts of your day with ah ah ah ah

ah with ah, with their the last primeval forests in europe. in lapland, the land of the sammy lies an ecological treasure. mm. but even here, the timber industry is felling more and more trees. environmentalists and sammy are

teaming up to fight back. it's a song, but there are succeeding clues up in 30 minutes on d. w. an exclusive interview with donnie dionne director of the yacht, to wash him holocaust memorial. you vowed that you would never visit germany. what are your expectations? we have to think together how to continue to keep the flame of all upholstery members alive. now he's visiting germany for the very 1st time. the exclusive interview with donnie di starts january 18th at 2315. you to see on d. w to 77 percent west on central africa have the highest rate of child marriage in the world. a violation of human right? you are 15 at this age. would you want to be married? no, because been a go child. i believe to say there is more to life than getting married at the very

age. less is being done to fight this cool practice. the 77 percent 90 minutes on d w. and what are sports all about in a we say they were about giving up sports life every weekend on d. w. a land of contrast of ambitions of inequality. 75 years ago, my gandhi peacefully led the country to independence. what has remained of his vision? where does the world so called the largest democracy stand?

where is india headed? this is the moment to unleash on violet bars. gandhi's legacy starts january 28th on b, w ah, [000:00:00;00] ah, stay that we news line from berlin. russia has more on ukraine, dominates the 1st big speeches, add the world economic forum, and deb. yes, the push of this is how does the world expect to reach climate neutrality if it can't even stop the burning?