ah ah ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin. germany's new defense minister hit the ground running just ourselves being sworn and bertha storage is me. thing with the us defense secretary lloyd austin, likely top of the agenda. german battle tanks for you pray. also coming up i'm leaving because we've got your privilege roll comes responsibility,

responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead. and also when you are not in a shock announcement, new zealand prime minister jacinta says she is stepping down early after almost almost a year before her is cute to end. ah . and it's been 40 years since floating balloons became a symbol for the madness of cold war nuclear brinkmann shit, and launch one of the biggest hits and the german language. we'll take a look back at the phenomenon that was 9 and 9 below. ah

my manuscripts mckennan, thanks so much for joining us. germany's defense minister boys pistole as has been in office just for a few hours, but he has already met with his us counterparts, lloyd austin, and brief statement before that discussions. austin and pastorius stressed. the importance of the close alliance of that countries, that me thing ahead of nato consultations on friday in germany about further military aid to ukraine. his, some of what u. s. defense minister lloyd austin had to say. it's been a turbulent term for european and global security, but throughout the crisis caused by russia's unprovoked invasion of ukraine. germany has remained a true friend of united states in a staunch defender of our large and volumes. so we'll continue to support ukrainian people as, as they resist

a russian aggression and defend their sovereign territory. i like to find the german government for all that it is done to strengthen ukraine, self defense, and your contributions of security of systems and training for ukraine's defenders have been invaluable. and d deleon's chief political correspondent, nina hossa was following the press conference for us. nina, we just heard from the u. s. defense secretary that the german defense minister was making his 1st official appearance this morning after being sworn in earlier today . can you tell us a bit more about what he said? a forest for story as has been in office, was since to day, essentially. and the meeting with the u. s. defense secretary was his very 1st and big meeting for his historian, essentially reiterated the close and the close alliance with the united states and

said that to germany, the u. s. is the most important ally. his story is spoken english at 1st and the statements you do have to know this became before their actual meeting. so in terms of content, in terms of new announcements, we didn't get any of that. but it was interesting to gauge the atmosphere a little bit. visorio spoken english, he is dressed that in alliance with us. he said that the 2 are talking about what's going to happen out of hampstead, military base on friday, where the international community is discussing how best to support ukraine. latera lee. but he also said that lots of other nato topics were on the agenda, the in the pacific situation, for example. and to me, what stood out this morning was what was not said and no mention from either of the 2 about that elephant in the room. the potential delivery of a german made leopard 2 tanks to ukraine and i was just going to ask you about those leopard at 2 tanks. obviously

a really of an important topic for the 2 defense secretaries to discuss today and the possibility of them being sent to ukraine. we're going to take a look at and why there is so much focus on this potential tank delivery and right now. and nina will come back to you right after that. it's the flagship of the german army, the leper to a heavily armed battle tank with superior firepower weighing close to 60 tons. it can hit targets at a distance of up to 5 kilometers and protect itself and other vehicles from all kinds of threats. while still being agile and easy to maneuver. that's why it's widely regarded as the best of its kind. developed for the bonus van more than 40 years ago and built in germany, the leper too is now also used by many other countries, especially in europe, but also in canada, chilar cutter, indonesia, and elsewhere. more than 3500 units,

i used worldwide by some 19 nations. overtime the tank was upgraded and adjusted for use and specific environments. so several different versions have emerged and not all of them are still up to date. refurbishing them to make them fit for combat in ukraine takes time. so even with a political decision made, it could take months until the leper to can make a difference on the frontline. nina, you did say that a shot, excuse me. the 2 defense ministers didn't mention the leper to tanks, but there are reports suggesting that chancellor charlotte's would be willing to send german tanks to ukraine if the u. s. and it sends its own tanks to is that a likely scenario that could happen? well, you do have to keep in mind that when it comes to those issues, what is germany delivering to ukraine in terms of military support? that is a decision that so far offshore has made clear that decision lies with him. now

whether that is going to change under the new defense min is, so we'll just have to wait and see just how and self confident forest his stories is going to be in terms of challenging his counselor in public as well. so far this decision is with all of shows and he spoke to you as president joe biden on tuesday . and what we're hearing is that in that phone call will have showed said that he is open to delivering german made lepper. 2 tanks to ukraine provide at the us send their own abrams tanks. now what we're hearing from washington is that they are not considering such a step. they say it's a system that requires a lot of maintenance era issues with that. then also there's long training periods . they say that they are hesitant, they don't want to deliver something to ukraine, that ukraine doesn't really need right now. okay, now that there is incredible pressure on chancellor charlotte's about this topic to morrow. austin and pastorius are scheduled to attend a meeting of allies at the u. s. military basin, ramstein,

south western germany to discuss further weapons deliveries to ukraine. so is there any sense whether they'll be a shift after those talks? what, what can we expect from that meeting? i think you have to take em the issue and look at it from m. what road in in detail really. there are 2 questions here. one is will germany send lepper 2 times to ukraine? i think most likely we won't hear such an announcement from ramstein to morrow. the other question is will germany give its green light so that other countries can send lepper to tanks, that they have once in the past bought from germany. and that is more likely we're hearing from washington that one of the goals of the u. s. defense secretary austin here in berlin today is to unlock that decision to get germany to agree that there can be a coalition of willing countries who are incidentally expected to meet on the side

lines of that hum, stone meeting, trying to coordinate the delivery of level 2 tanks or to ukraine, poland has already said it wants to do that finland has as well. and so there might be movement in that respect, but not when it comes to direct delivery from germany. i don't think nina has and he double his chief political correspondent, thanks so much and we will of course, have coverage of that meeting in sometime tomorrow. right now we're going to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world to palestinians have been killed in an overnight raid by israeli forces in janine and the occupied west bank. palestinian sources say one of those killed was a millicent. while the other was a teacher, at least 17 palestinians have been killed by israeli forces in the west bank this year. rescue as a scrambling to get to 6 people trapped under a collapsed building in the dominican republic. cameras have been pushed into the

rebel and fire fighters are in contact with those waiting to be rescued. several inhabitants were injured when the 4 story structure collapsed, but no deaths have been reported. the travel, russia head of china's new year holiday has begun. millions of people are traveling across the country to spend the holidays with their families. it's the 1st time holiday travel has been allowed since verena virus directions were lifted. and that's raised concerns that the virus could spread further into rural areas. and the general parliament is debating today whether to recognize the massacre of ethnic e z d's in iraq as genocide, faces from the so called islamic state massacred more than a 1000 years either north western iraq in 2014 the w spoke with one years edi family who found refuge here in germany? it's shopping tele slow, still shaken. when he recounts the attack on his home villager,

paddy is lennox state. and my mom he is now in germany, but lived in iraq until 2014. that was the year when the islamist militia concrete, large parts of his homeland east. and so her bards him out with hello slow and his family fell into. i asked him to the tea and we're separated. just crush shopping with hard voiced my father on my lawyers. where is my father? where is my uncle? one of the i s man said to me, we asked him several times if they would become muslims or not. and your father and other men, sir. no, sir, we shot them. of the r happen i'll it shows it's shop english. his father like the rest of the family, belong to the years edi ethnic religious minority, the i as brutally persecuted them because of their beliefs and traditions. the family used to live in the main settlement area of the yesterday's cinder. it's also where tele, his mother and his sisters were held captive by the i ass hot. on ski schleiden,

they beat us and gave us little to you. yes, they took over for a sisters away and forced each of them to marry a member of the i did. and in this one, i latin, according to the you and the i as as mad at more than 5000 she cds and kidnapped, there was 7000 women and children since 2014 to this day, thousands of years edi refugees live in camps in iraq. although the i asked was considered defeated, but their homeland still lacks basic infrastructure, but has kept kind of us. there is no water and no electricity honk. and there are no hospitals or schools either a truly support from a country like germany would help. formal recognition would release government funding to help you see these rebuild their homes. it is crucial for us. i am ever yes, it is called back to the city has. if this does not happen, i ask,

will have a chief exactly what it wanted, but its attack, which is to free this region of yours. it is using in 2015, the iraqi government paid the i asked ransom and tallow and his remaining family were released and came to germany. but even if the region recovers, it will go kind file. i do not want to go back to a country where i suffered so much a live in wooster for now. he has everything he needs. here are political correspondent, matthew moore, is that the german parliament, the bundle, talk where the parliament is currently debating whether to recognize the prosecution of his cds as genocide that he what more can you tell us about this motion? that's right. under the debate is on going on in the, in the and plenary sal behind me and one lawmakers and law make after lawmakers describing that. what is the darkest chapter? one of the darkest chapters in the city history one,

lawmakers said the and what happened in 2014 was one of the most barbaric jennifer genocides of the 21st century. and the motion that they're discussing to d describes the, their crimes of the so called islamic state and as indescribable atrocities. and essentially at an attempt they say to wipe out the u. d p point to destroy, you see the communities. and it said it did this by we as we had motoring and thousands of men and abducting thousands of women and girls. and it says here that the, that the gender beast violence of rape an abduction was really an attempt to degrade, humiliate, and to, to, to tear apart easy societies. and, and it's the people that, that lawmakers have been saying that the stuff, the suffering goes on. the mass graves are still being found and people who don't have survivor still have have no, no, no, no understanding on knowledge about the whereabouts of missing loved ones. and, and the hope is to david the recognition gifts of ivers and voice. and that it

strengthens you see the communities around the world and, and in cinder. and here in germany it's not is worth noting that 152200002 city people left in germany. it's one of the biggest i asked was outside of, of, in the singe, are region. and the age of, sorry, cindy rather than i get priority for like as a workman. i just wanted to ask you to, to, to, and clarify for our viewers. what's the recognition of a genocide would change in concrete terms? the atrocities a clear? but what would this official recognition of gen genocide bring although i'm the probably the biggest difference would be when it comes to, to pursue of justice and prosecutions. gemini has led the way international. there's been a couple of court cases already in germany. which of which of convict phoned and i asked members guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. and what this some today would mean that, that there are some, 1000 german sits and our alleged have traveled to fight for i s m. and the hotels

that they will, that to day they got german government will increase investigations into, to, to the suspects. and increased funding for international investigations for fear in germany and in the region. and so that's the hope is that this will ultimately lead to more people more a legit i s members been convicted? matthew, thanks so much for that. let's d w political correspondent, matthew more now, new zealand prime minister jacinta arden has shocked her country with the announcement that she is stepping down. she led her labor party to a landslide re election victory 2 years ago. but now, arden says that the 7th of february will be her last day in the top tub. just under arden led newsline through the pandemic, a terrorist attack and natural disasters. she now says she is ready to pass on the baton and so today i am announcing that i will not be seeking

religion in the my team as prime minister or conclude no later than this, steven or february i know what this job takes and i know that i no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. it's that simple problem became the world's youngest female head of government. when she was elected in 2017, at the age of 37, she quickly gained global recognition for her brand of liberal and inclusive politics. the following year, she had a baby becoming the 2nd elected leader in history to give birth while in office. and i am by no means the faithful then from all the task i end in terms of being a woman in politics. there are plenty of women who have to pack and incrementally,

heavily the way her compassionate response to the ma shooting at a christ church mosque in 20. 191 a widespread pres we a nuisance parliament. wanted to change the nation's gun laws less than a month later. voice wisely, for 46. for level 2 and a government's go hard. go. early approach should the pandemic is partly what got her. a 2nd dome in 2020 newsline quickly shot bordeaux's and imposed a prolong lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. but paul suggest her popularity has waned in reason once and she has fears an increase in threats of violence, particularly from anti vaccine groups. she insist that is not why she is stepping down. i'm not leaving because i believe we can't win the election. but because i believe we can and will, and we need

a fresh seat of shoulders for that challenge. i am human politician, the human. we give all that we can for as long as we can. and then it's time. and for me, it's time and says she has no plans yet for the future. rather than spending more time with her family into more than this, we joined by laura greeves, the political scientist at the university of oakland. welcome to the w. this resignation announcement was really unexpected, wasn't it? so do we know why now and credibly shopping? none of us would've expected this. in fact, other had actually said late last year that she was definitely going to continue the election. so it's quite the surprise. i mean, the culture in new zealand is to have the summer off to have the christmas often to reflect a bit. so, i mean, we can probably take her on face value that she has to burn out. she's gone out and she has and her words,

nothing left in the tank. yeah. how on new zealand is reacting to the news given that i want expected we hearing a lot of surprise when people are interviewed. illustrate that just like what's not what we expect. there's all a lot of surprise and actually a lot of appreciation across the political spectrum. so has a lot of understanding that during the clover g as it's incredibly hard to deal with, things like the crashes terrorist attack before that incredibly con. so a lot of gratefulness service, regardless of where people are sitting on the political spectrum, she does have a lot of support is that she does. of course, also have her critics. we just heard it in our report. how will her time as prime minister be remembered over all i think fundamentally, we can argue back and forth around different policy issues or different filings. but i think her main point as prime minister will be being the crisis prime minister facing the question care of tech needing that was a copy y island adoption, which,

which code many people of volcanic eruption the carpet is as while being the prime minister. and now we're leading code response. i think she's going to go down in history as the crisis prime minister along by the looking ahead. what's next for new zealand? you know, what, when will the next election be held? are there any successes already being talked about? well, about free time, all of the members are just under out then parties over the what all of the name of the parliament going to court and figure out who the reason for me and stuff is posted on the side and that person will work at work out a prime minister of new zealand, they have a few months to get to know the public and they will have a few months of campaigning before the election and october. and really a lot of us are looking to see what the next few polls look like, because we generally think it's going to be a very close, very tough election for the labor party. all right, dr. laura green,

the political scientist at the university of oregon. thank you so much for your time. okay, we're going to take a look at some of the other world news stories. police have fired tear gas that protest is taking part in an unauthorized demonstration in goma and easton congo. the group was condemning the presence of foreign peacekeeping troops in the city. they want the enforcement of a withdrawal agreement between the government and the m. 23 rebel group. microsoft says it will be cutting $10000.00 jobs by the end of the 3rd quarter. the software giant says the jobs represent less than 5 percent of its workforce. it's the latest sign that lay off our accelerating in the u. s. technology sector as companies brace for an economic downturn. and a train has derailed in southern slovenia, injuring 5 passengers. no one died in the accident which happened near the town of

nova. mm. esto, rower officials blame the incident on trees falling on to the track after a recent snowfall. sports news now and in tennis at the australian open debutante american gents and brooks be added another upset in the men's singles after he eliminated world number 3. caspar rude of norway in the 2nd round. brooks be needed for sat to get past rude, who was looking to win his 1st grand slam title as one of the favorites. brooks be surprised. victory came in the same round and on the same court were defending champion ruffin. a doll lost as well as the world number 2 rough elena doll will be sidelined for 6 to 8 weeks. he says, due to the hip injury that he suffered during his 2nd round loss at the australian open that that 6 year old had been battling various injuries which kept him off the

court for much of last season. however, the 22 times grand slam champion is optimistic that he could return to action before the clay season begins, giving him enough time to recover for the defense of his french open title. now to a song made here in germany that became a global hit at a time of nuclear anxiety. it's been 40 years since the release of 9 and 9 ceaseless belongs by nina. the cold war era, single was one of the biggest german language hits ever recorded in english as 99 red balloons. it captured the hearts of generations of music lovers and its anti war message endures. 040 years ago an unknown german singer and her band released a song that floated around the world. nay,

as 99 red balloons captured the angst and sight guys of the iraq, perfectly. in 1983, the cold war was in full swing relations between the u. s. and the soviet union were deteriorating and the world feared a nuclear apocalypse. nato responded to easton block proliferation by stationing pershing to nuclear missiles on german soil. nina and her band took a stand against, with pop music. 99 red balloons, became the soundtrack of the peace movement. isn't i? it was the time when the big question of whether nuclear weapon should be stationed in germany was at the for it was a question that occupied people everywhere, not just in germany. and this was when name as anti war song. 99 red balloons burst onto the scene and quickly caught on him why. the idea came from the band guitarist harlow hargis, at the end of their concert in west berlin, in $1082.00. the rolling stones released balloons into the sky carlo wondered what

would happen if they floated over the border to east berlin and were mistaken by soviet radar from missile. the idea for 99 red balloons was born. the song top, the charts in germany, japan, australia, new zealand, and reached number 2 in the us. the band later recorded an english language version, but in many countries the original german song was preferred. 40 years on the music may be showing its age, but the lyrics about the senselessness of war remain as pertinent as when they were 1st written. ah, is a reminder of the top story we're following today. javin defense minister boys pastorius is holding talks with his us counterpart, lloyd austin, at this hour in berlin. now this comes ahead of the white and the thing of european defense ministers of the u. s. i base in dine in southwestern germany on friday.

berlin is under pressure to facilitate the delivery of left to battle tanks to ukraine. and that's where we have time for the don't forget, you can always get t w news on the go. just download our app from google play or from the apple app store. that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as the push notifications for any breaking news. and of course, there's also a website that is d, w dot com and social media on handle that is asked d, w. i many kids in the can and thanks for watching ah, with

who norway is also vulnerable to attacks. since to started the war in ukraine, this scandinavian country has become europe's largest gas supplier. also making it a potential target for act sabotaged. armed forces are on high alert

with focus on europe. next, on d. w. conflict with tim sebastian, it's almost a year since russia invaded ukraine with no talk. so a cease fire of any kind in cross. but my guess is we would have moscow is to meet with former army officer and former director of the carnegie moscow center, which was shut down last april. why did moscow go to war? just as the west had begun the dialogue who tended been demanding complete a 60 minute dw with we're all good to go beyond deal

with. as we take on the world 8, our oldest fans, we're all about the stories that matter to you. whatever it takes, 5 policeman follow up with you. we are, your is actually on fire made for mines with ah, this is focus on europe. i'm lar bubba lola, welcome. russia's war in ukraine has severely impacted europe's energy supply.