ah ah ah this is dw news lie from berlin, germany is new defense minister hits the ground, running just hours after being sworn in boys. the story is meeting with the us defense secretary lloyd austin, likely top of the agenda. german battle tanks for ukraine. also coming up. i'm leaving because with such a privilege,

wrote comes responsibility. the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are in a shop in new zealand. prime minister jacinta order says she stepping down early almost a year before her term is due to an end. billions of trips are expected as a lunar new year. travel gets under way in china this sunday, but a huge surgeon covered. 19 infections is casting a shadow over a normally festive season. ah. and a warm welcome to our viewers around the world. i'm michael. ok. germany's defense minister boris destroys, has been in office for just a few hours and he's already holding talks with his us counterpart, lloyd austin, in brief statements before their discussions. austin and historian,

stress the importance of the close alliance of their countries. they were meeting ahead of nato consultations on friday in germany, about further military aid to ukraine. here, some of what the u. s. defense minister 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 the united states and a staunched offender of our, our large and values. so we'll continue to support ukrainian people as, as a resist russian aggression and defend their sovereign territory. i'd like to thank the german government for all that. it is dawn to strengthen ukraine, self defense, and your contributions of security of systems and training for ukraine's defenders

have been invaluable. earlier i talked to d. w political correspondent, benjamin alvarez goober, and i asked him how ready the new minister of defense was for this meeting with his u. s counterpart lloyd austin absolutely. probably would also have like to have a few more days to get into this new role. that that's something that the german president funds i just, i may a told the new defense minister earlier today. you have to get started right away in another high ranking politician of the pro business f d p party said that won't be a grace period. so he needs to start it with the talks already. he met the secretary of defense. he also had a phone call with his french counterpart. and to morrow of course, will be a big day for a politician that has known this topics it for several weeks. he has been following all this evolution is interior minutes of lowest sacks and he also dealt with many of the security topics. and that's something that the german chancellor will

actually said when he announced that boyish disorders will be germany's new defense minister. no doubt the most pressing issue, whether germany should provide battle tanks to ukraine. the pressure on germany is clearly growing benjamin both from outside the country and within. where did the talk stand between washington and berlin at the moment? definitely, and that's one of the biggest topics. it's a dilemma between both countries between germany and the u. as the german chancellor has been dodging the questions on sending tanks, he did the same. also yesterday the world comic for us in a divorce. and what germany is saying according to a german media now, is that germany would send a these lepper tongues to ukraine. but with the condition that the u. s. does the same, what they abram tank so they will be something that they will definitely discuss. that's a dilemma because the, the gas is not signaled yet that they will st battle tanks to ukraine. although some european countries have said already that germany and that europe should step

up, their weapon, exports it to ukraine. but to see how big this difference is, we will actually get to know their batter to morrow, when at the allies of ukraine, me to morrow drumstick. abbeys. on the invitation of the u. s. secretary of defense, lloyd austin, a to discuss if there will be any further weapons exports, there will be further weapons expo that some something that we know for sure. but the big question now will be, will there be tanks? will germany wait for the you asked to take the 1st step because that's something that the german government, that bill in his repeated saying that they will not take any steps along that they will wait it to discuss with alice what the new weapons experts will look like, and that's something that germany and berlin has been severely criticized over the past months. is since a russia invasion of ukraine saying that they have been dragging the feats when it comes to this and taking a role not taking the lead in this question. many thanks to d. w political corresponded benjamin alvarez gruber,

ukrainian tank units say they need modern equipment like the leper to in order to break through russian front lines, they insist they'll be able to quickly integrate the new technology on the battlefield. a ukrainian base in the hockey region, the area has been under russian fire again since the weekend of tatiana high to moscow and her medical team are looking after this tank brigade. the men have been stationed here for weeks or more was 1st the chemical. so i was good, isn't that these are russian project childs nearly every day and night. they fire at my colleagues and our ambulances at the moment. we only have 2 of these vehicles, at least this ones survived. the shannon hi to moscow inspects the vehicle. they use as an ambulance, that has to hold out a while longer. there's no money to replace it. that worries her, they're more and more bullet holes. mission

a professional necessary the much these are all old cars that volunteers donated to us as an official and that if they buy up cheap old cars, then they bring them here and give them to us for delos thumbs. well yeah. we then were pad them all the time at a month to month or so because they keep breaking down. no. am i supposed to push gina? it's not just the makeshift ambulances, a tank officer, michael, a tempo is worried about the condition of his own vehicles used to live. this was a mono we're fighting here with old tanks from the soviet union, with them spot with the same tanks. the russians have us, with the quote, have an advantage to break through the russian front lines. we need more modern main battle tanks like the leopard to picnics in which i know you slowly. so far his unit has been using old soviet t 72 battle tanks from the early 19 seventies. the tanks have seen a lot of use and some of them are badly damaged. hence the bush to get leopard twos

. as soon as possible bonsa eisen was loose there, i'm sure our soldiers will master the modern technology. what is that soldiers who have combat experience with the t 72, you will learn to master the leopard very quickly. of the law toward the dentist ripka in of chit. so what the, in the lower part, the soldiers here are waiting for russia to mount another major offensive. dr. high to moscow is going to stay here, though she could earn much more money. and keith dunny situ. i'm exhausted, tired all the time. i'd like to go to my little daughter. he's waiting for me at home. but i know that the soldiers here need me more. even when i'm gone for a short time, i worry about how the men are doing denisha, then on at this phase hopes that the new modern tanks will arrive soon.

marina miran is a defense analyst with the war studies department at kings college london. earlier i asked her how tanks provide a competitive advantage. while ukraine hasn't got any tanks or many tanks, laughed, and whatever it was using, those were old soviet pangs and obviously to gain a competitive edge, especially in light of the fact that the russians have billed national defense along the front line. ukraine is in desperate need for tanks, and as a matter of fact, they are asking for some 2 to 300 pangs, which is a significant number. but this number indeed, makes sense because they could be integrated to conduct defensive as well as offensive combined arms operations. as our correspondent just made clear a moment ago, reports suggest germany is said to be ready to supply the leopard to tanks. if the us sends the abrams to ukraine. what are the salient differences between these 2

vehicles? well technically speaking, they stem from the same project and the 17 so the leper 2 and the tank in terms of their performance app rooms has seen battles. so it's battle tested. it doesn't have that theme armor that the lap or do have. so leopard to is definitely superior when it comes to armor. ab rooms has successfully performed a, in the goal for in $91.00 in 2003 in iraq and also in a canis tan. so it has seen battle, it's battle proven. it's reliable. i'm black for it to has great armor. it has also 120 millimeter that high explosive, empty tank rounds. but it depends on the version of flapper that the ukrainian armed forces are going to get because there have been some problems was

e. caldwell version that as to a 4 in syria, one turkey deployed those tanks and they were vulnerable to more tours and mines. you'll know, of course it, in the early years of the 21st century, military planners were musing about the possibility the tanks would become obsolete . does the warn ukraine demonstrators, how far off their speculations were? i think it is the an interesting question because most in military officers think about how future wars will look like. and the idea was that there will be no peer on key or warfare. and there that will be contactless worse, where you wouldn't actually see your enemy. and i think the lessons here are, is that we have to be prepared for everything. we have seen syria, we a, we have seen a combination of kind of old m world will want tactics along with some modern

technology being used in war. so i think it would be premature to discount the roll off tanks for now. got it. that is a marina moran defense analyst with the war studies department, kings college london. many thanks. thank you. a look now at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. rescuers were scrambling to get to 6 people trapped under a collapse building in the dominican republic. cameras have been wedged into the rubble and firefighters 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. swedish climate activist gretta tune berg has accused global fossil energy firms of fueling the destruction of the planet. she was speaking at the world economic form in davos, switzerland, turnbook presented a letter she and other activists had written to energy companies,

demand issue based off exploitation of fossil fuel reserves as well. d w caught up with louisa, not neu, by our germany's most well known climate activist at davos, and asked her what they were hoping to achieve at the form he and diverse m. some of their most brooding industries avoid meeting and their investors. and as someone needs to spread the message that the fossil fuel era needs to come to an end and the future belongs to renewables and m that message, it's certainly not coming from those people. so we, instead a lot of talk about getting to net 0. do you think that world leaders and business leaders will actually deliver? i think am well it is business leaders i doing very good job. he, i am demonstrating that they know their climate change vocabulary very well by now . m. congrats. am batch clam address isn't about nice words and at the green rhetoric, it's about substantial change and ending the am fossil fuel expansion. and if you

look at the business plans of the beek philosophy industries around the world, all of them most, almost all of them planned to expand. so am clearly, they're not drawing the line you when it comes to instruction, they're not clearly not planning to stick to acclimate targets. so someone outs will need to stop them. who is a know about thank you so much. the german parliament has recognized the massacre of ethnic ya cities in iraq as genocide. it was a unanimous vote in the german buddhist star after debate that lasted an hour. the move was hailed by a city community representatives who attended the session as visitors, fighters from the so called islamic state and massacred more than a 1000 your cities in north western iraq in 2014. the w spoke with one year city family who found refuge here in germany. it's shopping talent, slow, still shaken when he recounts the attack on his home village are petty islamic 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 bud see, mark taylor's slow and his family fell into. i asked him to the tea and we're separated his christian shopping hub voice my father on my house. where is my father? where is my uncle? one of the i s men said to me, we asked them several times if they would become muslims or not. and your father and other men said no. so we shocked them, and they are hoping it shows. it shall be nish, his father, like the rest of the family, belong to the years edi ethnic religious minority. the i asked brutally persecuted them because of their beliefs and traditions. the family used to live in the main settlement area of the easy des, cynthia. it's also where tele, his mother and his sisters were held captive by the i ass hard. on ski schleiden,

they beat us and gave us little to lead, fiercely took over for a sisters away and forced each of them to marry a member of the i did. and in this one i thought, according to the u. n, 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 as, as considered defeated. but their homeland still lacks basic infrastructure. i had skipped canvas. there is no water and no electricity, hank, 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. the difficulty has if this does not happen, i ask, will have achieved exactly what it wanted, but its attack,

which is to free this region of years. it is using in 2015, the iraqi government paid the i asked ransom and talon and his remaining family were released and came to germany. but even if the region recovers va, car, kindful, i do not want to go back to a country where i suffered so much a leavin worcester, for now. he has everything he needs. here. we have some breaking news coming in at the moment, and the actor alec baldwin is expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter over the accidental shooting on a film. sat back in october 2021. a cinematographer was killed when a revolver baldwin was rehearsing with, during filming fire, to live round. baldwin denied responsibility for the death at the time saying he was told the gun was cold and industry term, meaning it is safe to use more in this breaking news. when we get it turning to

france now, where hundreds of thousands of people are taking part in strikes and protests against pension reforms proposed by president manuel mac holmes government. in a rare show of unity by all french trade unions across the country, the majority of trains, metro's, and buses are not operating about 70 percent of teachers who are also on strike. the french president wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. let's get more from people, madeleine, a journalist for the french financial daily. lizzie, cool. in paris, a table. this isn't the 1st wave of public sector strikes to hit france in the past few years. give us a little perspective, how significant is this current wave? well, it is significant. the union said this last day that if they reach a 1000000 people on the streets, that would be

a success. and this morning or this afternoon and one of the main unions said day that it went far beyond their goal. so we can expect, we see the figures in about an hour so that the $1000000.00 figure would be probably reached. and it's, it's big. and, and i just said, or unions are united against reform, which is quite unusual. you're president, man, or may call, tried to push back retirement age in 2019, but was forced to withdraw his plans when the pandemic head. why does he think he can push reforms through this time? well, i think he is convinced that france needs a reform where we are one of the last countries where people go in retirement within 62 years compared to our neighbors. it's quite andy, but also is put it quite high on his agenda while being reelected last june

2022. it was one of the main points in these electro platform. so he thinks he has a mandate to, to reform the system. what one aspect also is, is that in the 1st place, he intended to bring the retirement age to $65.00. and now putting the age at $64.00 instead of $65.00 and coming from $62.00, he thinks that that would be to we wouldn't be able to reach a, some sort of a compromise means it hasn't been the case yet, but some is quite decided to go through and i think it doesn't want to be remembered as a president who bowed before the st. tries right to bow. we should note, france does have one of europe's lowest retirement ages and everyone gets a state pension. macenrow government says that the reforms are vital if this system

is to be upheld. is there an alternative? well, i'm not sure the system needs to be financed and it's without this reform that would be difficult to, to, to keep it to keep it in place. but, but there must be ways to find some sort of an agreement with the union, so you can play with the retirement age, but you can also play with the number of years people pay into the system. and i'm sure there will be discussions about it as well. and that's, that is one of the main points that's unions criticize but, but still we see, and we will also see how the year the unions in the next try will go there unions already planned to demonstrate next week and probably weeks after. so it will

be a battle between the government and the unions for the next few weeks and we will have to end it. there are many thanks to t. bone met, journalist for the french financial daily lives, their goal new zealand of prime minister jacinta ardor and has shot her country with the announcement she is stepping down early. she led her labor party to a landslide re election victory 2 years ago. but now order and says, february 7th will be her last day and the top job just in the arden lead newsline through the pandemic 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 really chin and then my tim as prime minister will conclude no later than the 7th of 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. island became the world 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. how compassionate response to the mar shooting at christ church mosque in $2191.00 . her widespread praise. we a nuisance parliament voted to change the nation's gun laws less than a month later. horace wisely, for 46400 level and governments go hard go. early approach the

pandemic is partly what got her a 2nd on in 2020 newsline quickly shot bordeaux's and imposed a prolong, locked down to stop the spread of the virus. but bold suggest a popularity has waned in reason. once a planned boucher has come as a surprise not only to those who support her but also those who don't i think she was an excellent leader and i'm devastated to that. she's skinny, she's resigning. now. it was time for her to go in and, and no one in the right. mine would have been voted for her. so like, i was never surprised. i actually, i was a bit shocked. i was shocked that she for them the tell a little, you know, i kind of thought that she was going to be in it for the long haul. it was, it was a shock. it is a shame to see and effectively to like pick go. but i guess nobody's irreplaceable

ogden says she has no plans yet for the future. rather than spending more time with her family. well, the lunar new year gets under way this sunday and in china it's a holiday with an even more special meaning this year. it's the 1st time chinese citizens will be allowed to travel, since the pandemic broke out transport authority, se billions of trips will be made during the holiday season. and that sparking concerns for their spread of the crone of virus from cities to rural areas that travel rush on a scale not seen in years lunar new year in china. march, the world's largest annual migration by land, air, and water. travelers are relishing a life after lockdown. got lucy, i'm going home and i feel so happy. so excited recently that this has been my 1st time going home in the past 3 years. you're oh, well, when i get to my home town,

well, i'll surely do a p c r test just to protect myself. otherwise, i wouldn't know if i'm infected. china abruptly ended it 0 covert policy in december after imposing some other world's strictest pandemic measures. residents of big cities are now reuniting with relatives in the countryside. that has china's president jean pink concerned says state tv medical resources. there are spread thin unions here in a video holiday message. g paid tribute to china's health care workers that long upon your tray for that is reaching our this wave of the epidemic among came fast either and fierce grandfather. all the medical workers have been working on epidemic prevention and control. and while providing daily medical care at the same time for dr. chung's teaching, all you have been working long hours, household goods or hard work, putting an overtime them issue all for the sake of protecting the lives and health

of the people. you've made great contributionship. i thank you for your efforts. i gushing fuller a time of caution and joy for travelers. this lunar new year coming up next t w. news asia with my colleague melissa chan. don't forget you can get more news and analysis on our website. that's d, w dot com. you can also follow us on social media handle. there is at dw news, a michael. okay, for me and the rest of the berlin news team. thanks for watching. with

an excuse of interview with donny dionne director of the yard 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 opposed to

remembrance allied. now he's visiting germany for the very 1st time, the exclusive interview with donnie dionne mine in 15 minutes on d. w. a winter wonderland. i most there all this left is this mountain past. this time i'm going to be pretty high up in the anger the. it's a belly in the swiss alps and it's my very 1st time, luca shows us the highlights of this stunning region from st. morris to the matter horn ticking. in 60 minutes on d. w. a lead of contrasts of ambitions of inequality. 75 years ago, mahatma gandhi peacefully led the country to independence, full of ideals. what is the remainder of his vision?

what's the status of human rights and social justice in what's called the world largest democracy? we received the ahead. it is the pulpit to unleash on violet bass and re imagine these teachings for relevance to gandhi's legacy starts january 28th on b, w. ah, you're watching d. w. news asia coming up and the prime minister of pakistan. extend an olive branch to india, but just how a sincere is his overture. we'll take a closer look at his offer and the main sticking point that is kashmir. plus the president of vietnam resigned less than.