ah ah ah ah, this is the w is life a spy balloon high over us and so far to scrambling its own, it remains unclear, but the pentagon suspects china. canada says it's also monitoring what it described as a 2nd incident. also on the program. ukrainian president vladimir savanski says he's

country, deserves european union membership talks this year i taught you officials attending the joint summit in key of later offer hope without too many expectations. our climate change sentence to inundate and indonesian islands. if dw talks to residents take taking a major polluted court in a battle for survival, ah, i'm so gale. welcome to the program. the united states says it's tracking a suspected chinese, a surveillance balloon that's been spotted over the state of montana. defense officials say it's flown over sensitive military sites, but they chose not to shoot it down to avoid potential harm to people on the ground . canada says it's also tracking the balloon and monitoring what it says is a potential 2nd incident. china has warned against speculation and cause

a calm as it looks into the situation. i talk with timing for beijing with us secretary of state antony blinking set to visit next week. let's get into this with the in chung who is an international relations and security expert at the end us national university in singapore. welcome to d w. so what do these balloons do? there's so much detail in this particular business. use. high altitude balloons, in general, have a range of functions. they can do anything from imaging to collecting samples from of the year or 2, you know, trying to collect a signals intelligence. but in this particular case, there's not much enough information for us to know what this particular does. and this is the 1st time that something like this has happened. so according to the u. s. statements that,

that it seems to the 60 some suggestion that similar kinds of activity have happened before. busy was just at this the 1st time they have made it public. but whether that is really the case, the so much secrecy surrounding this whole situation, we don't really know for certain. so how does that, how do you expect to play out from here? do you expect the u. s. to react to in some way or to just wait and bring it down and examine it? so i don't know whether they they will bring it down. i mean, the option remains on the table. i guess it depends on where the balloon goes to, where there's some error, they can bring it down safely. then there's a question of what they will do politically. we know that secretary clinton is missing china next week. if it is the case that the u. s. a quite certain, i'm sure that the origins of the balloon are from china. i'm sure they will bring this up on it, of course will probably complicate whatever negotiations will be taking place in beijing next. thoughts as, as we speculator about this,

it's hard to know how far down the conspiracy rabbit holds ago. this is either inconvenient time it had a secretary visit or its awarding ahead of the visit. right. so we don't really know for sure. and also it would seem very strange for beijing to send a signal like that, a visit that they to want, right? it's not something in the u. s. have been demanding. chinese have been pushing up. so the timing, the action is all very strange. this is one of those situations where i mean, there's just so much speculation out there. there's not much information i guess, unless the us and canadian authorities, i'm off for coming with whatever other information they collect. the rest of us can just rest on, you know, what is what we're being told. china mean time telling everyone to just calm down and let's see what happens. yes. so china, it's, it,

the chinese response has been interesting. they've not fly out the night. it in other situations where they believe that, you know, they shouldn't be call out or they think that it has nothing to do it then the flat out say, isn't them, but that's not been the case right now. so that response from beijing just adds more to the mystery. thanks so much for helping assert through that in show from the n u. s. national university in simple. thank you. now to ukraine or the president of laudermill zalinski says his country deserves to start talks on joining the european union this year. and the comments in his nightly address follow initial meetings with commission president of the found a line ahead of a join to ukraine. some it later in the keith. but as it rushes, war in ukraine approaches is 1st anniversary. the ukranian dream of membership is unlikely to be achieved quickly. there is the steel of a family get together. this members of the e commission gathered in cave for

a historic joint meeting with the ukranian government. he, you commission president, ought to live on the lion said they were there to show you up stands as firmly as ever, with ukraine in its war with russia. our presence in chief today gives a very clear signal. the whole of the european union is in this with ukraine for the long haul. and we will stand up for ukraine as we stand up for the fundamental rights and the respect of the international law. but amid still the smiles in solidarity sits another issue, i guess, for you, ah, ukraine's president vladimir zalinski once she craned to become a fully fledged member of the e. u. family. and quickly you prepared your application for the european union membership brilliantly. i know it by experience you became acquainted at country while fighting an invasion. you'll continue to make impressive progress to meet

the 7 steps of the commission's opinion. part of that progress is renewed crack down on corruption, including this rate at the home of one of the cranes most prominent billionaires. just a day before the you teams arrival in cave, that timely demonstration of the landscape determination to prove to doubt as in europe. that he and his government can be trusted, not only as a future e u. member states, but also with billions in aid as him when the country starts to rebuild video door below. but regarding for reconstruction. so were a lot of discussions on various levels in europe, risk regarding the rebuilding of our country after the war concrete. now it is time, i think, for more concrete details luasa both for fast reconstruction given and for fast

financing of his process or are important over a process he in the here. and now the e. u has promised to continue its support for ukraine by hitting russia with a fresh wave of sanctions. but when it comes to e e e membership, it looks like president the landscape would just have to wait. did lucy, la correspondent mac xander is in cave and asked him for more about so what emerge from yesterday's talks? so we had this massive delegation in town yesterday, 16 e commissioners in total om who met with their counterparts to discuss and, and oversee the blocks. main initiatives here. so these talks are ongoing processes and we don't know much about what exactly as been going on. but there have been some announcements made yesterday in terms of further use towards to ukraine. one of them on the military side, you as, as, as committed to train an additional $15000.00 ukrainian soldiers on you territory. and on the side of the economy, re,

i related to business the you will make it easier for em, ukrainian businesses to access funds and projects in the you, in order to help them entire ukraine in the you cost together at a smaller me thing at later today between president zalinski and the european commissioner, president erskin to fund the lion. what's expected there? right, so this is a, this is a largely symbolic visit, right? this is about sending a message showing ukrainians that the you is still at their side and supporting them along the way and building towards a common future. so we don't expect any, any groundbreaking announcements today, but we know something a few things about the talking points today. one of the main issues is going to be the you integration and you, accession at the commission has identified 7 areas where it's asking ukraine to work on. we're not gonna expect any announcements on how this accession process

is. won't continue out. not any concrete steps will be announced, most likely this will happen in spring, but this will definitely be discussed. and other issue on the agenda as the response to russian aggression or we heard it already, a 10th package of sanctions and military aid that something that's being that's being discussed and had to name another one that's going to be global food security . you will see how to further help you train move gray and out of its ports by helping ukraine so, but also helping much of the developing world that very like, heavily depends on grain and food security. as it would it be fair to say max or despite this high level of delegation and just going to find the lines war woods, there is no real prospect of ukraine joining the european union any time soon. you know, if that's the $1000000.00 question, i mean, there was a lot on that on yesterday. she praised lensky governments for cracking down

corruption for working very hard and working very quickly on meeting these these, these, these targets that have been identified. but on the matter of the factors, is that joining the you integrating ix ix the accession process is a multi level process. it's very complicated and the country has to undergo the exact same scrutiny as any other country that wants to join to you. so there are $35.00 chapters which will be used to, to vet the entire system from range from the judiciary to agriculture, to, to, to, to transportation, to the economy. and this takes time and where the ukraine is not at the same level, are not meeting the expectations of the you will have to go undergoing reform process. and this could take years if not decades. thanks for that. max matt xander and keith and the united states is expected to send an new, a longer range, a weapon to ukraine, the ground launch small diameter bomb consent missiles more than 150 kilometers.

it's roughly double the range of ukraine's current longest range weapon. i would enable a enable the ukranian army to attack and russian forces from a greater distance and far behind enemy lines. the weapon is that johnson made by the american aerospace and company, and boeing, sweden's, som. mike martin's a senior fellow at the war studies department of kings college london. i welcome back to the w. mike. a tell us more about the sort of battle field advantage of this weapon can provide. as you said, it's more than twice the range of the current longest tillery system they have. if you draw a line of 150 kilometers from the ukranian front lines, it actually covers all of the russian forces in ukraine, apart from those that are in the bottom of the crime in peninsula. so what this enables you trying to do is hit all of those logistics and supply dumps previously

had been out of range. and so cause quite a lot of the russians will have to reconfigure how they do their supply. now be european union says it's going to double its military to ukraine by training an extra $15000.00 soldiers. does that strike you as a significant contribution? i don't think so. i think what it is is, is part of the back ground. the drumbeat, if you like, of continuing supplies, continuing training. if we put that 15000 in context, that's probably the number of casualties killed and wounded that ukraine has suffered over the last, let's say 4 to 6 months. so really what is it just keeping you crane at the same level of fighting right now, british prime minister issue soon act is the latest western allied to pull cold water on caves. hopes of getting fighter jets, echoes the position of the us. and of course, at germany, why the reluctance? i think it is partly we've seen this before. is that once

a weapon systems announced, we just have the tanks announce ukraine immediately. move on to the new in this case, fight it. yes. and i think there's a sense that the allies want to slow down this pipeline, but more than that fly suggests are just a different level of complexity. not only it's not just the jet is the airfields it's, it's all of the maintenance and supply issues. and then of course, you have to have this huge infrastructure for controlling fighter jets in the air. so it really is not just a simple ascending planes to ukraine. and my 1st words from the russian president tom, 1st that he said moscow's potential to respond to western arms deliveries to ukraine is not limited to using ahmed vehicles. what do we think he's talking about in terms of escalation? well, i think it's very important to put p 2 comments in context. his

main target audience is the russian domestic audience. welcome us. and of course, if you train receives new weapons from the allies, he needs to pay strong to his domestic audience. from our point of view, we've heard this before throughout the war, we've had threats of escalation from, from peach in and actually quite a long time ago, the west decided that it was calling his bluff. and, and as we've seen that there has been no escalation either to other countries or to nuclear weapons or anything. and so really we must consider that the russian domestic population is the main target pizza comments. for mike, have a very clear, thank you so much. my thank you. thank well says of potential escalation, this war threats from vladimir putin and concerns about adverse impacts on europe's economy. or just some of the reasons germany was so slow to allow its tanks to be

sent to ukraine. so now that berlin has given the green light, what the, germany's, what the germans think of the way that government has handled this conflicts or the results of the latest in protest at d. map poll. make interesting reading more than a 3rd of respondents say they're satisfied or very satisfied with what's being done in their name. well, the higher number say they are less satisfied in 22 percent of germans. are not a satisfied at all. for our political correspondent, dance a brand to it can talk of search through these figures that welcome hanser. what do you make of this? well, what i can see is that the support for the german government for chances of charles and the policy and ukraine remain strong. but the support is not as total as it may have been before the level of support. ready for the government of people that basically agree with what the government is doing has remain constant

over the last few months, a more or less constant. but the number of people who are starting to have dollars is increasing and that's what's being reflected in this figure. so that is one of the reason why all of shots and the german government are so careful about their decision making. so people are saying so hesitant about what they decide because they are very concerned that they need to take along the german population in their decision making. pulses also asked about sending weapons to ukraine. and he to opinion seem divided. 44 percent say germany is providing enough weapons following that decision and the leopard tank of goals, but about a 3rd se berlin's doing too much. hands on germans becoming less supportive and this will i think that so no, you can't really put it that way. what, what has happened here in the past months is in fact that decision to send main

battle tanks to ukraine, which was very controversial for many months. and that decision is basically supported by voters. but there has been a significant swing in this pole. this question, which has been asked repeatedly over the months and in the past month there's been a swing of more than 10 percent towards people who say it's enough now away from people who used to say that it was not enough. so the decision to send the main battle tanks and the following discussion about whether or not to send a fighter jets to ukraine. that is certainly something that has moving german opinion. people have seemed to say now it's enough for now and no more weapons to ukraine at the moment. so there again, the government is balancing its decisions very, very carefully. alter against the background of these opinions. and it looks as if some germs are still hoping for a diplomatic solution. we have a 3rd who think that germany is doing enough to try and end the war by diplomatic means, as many as 58 percent saying that not enough is being done. so we've been out on

the streets of berlin to hear some views. we'll hear from them and then come back to him abs diploma. t diplomacy. okay. but if only one side does the plan, is he in the other doesn't play a lot just pretends and nothing happens. then it said, no, he said, yeah, there's feel again lisa, very difficult decisions. one should never forget that he'd super difficult to weigh all of that. um, but i think overall it's fine. that's good. that's legally are very hesitant, had reserved everything should have happened much faster in this. as brands are german chancellor, olaf shoals says he'll keep talking to vladimir putin on the phone. is there any prospect of success by these means? well, at the moment doesn't seem very much prospect of success by these means. the last time the 2 spoke together spoke with each other 2 months ago and early december. as far as we know, that's what's been publicly announced on both sides. and those discussions really

lead no way. it was both sides stating that positions attacking each other. basically, they speak for long times for an hour, maybe sometimes more, but the outcome of that is nothing basically, so, but still in german society, there is this ingrained fear that germany could be pulled into this war, that germany, which after all, fought a terrible war against the russians, as we just saw in the commemoration of the started grog battle yesterday, that all of these parts of history could in some sense be repeated. so concern amongst the german public is great, and the hope that some form of diplomatic solution can be found is very widespread . political correspondent hands. brandt. thank you so much. those who look at similar stories, making headlines around the world, will start in peru where congress has voted down another proposal to bring elections forward to this year. if the day after it rejected a similar bed,

the countries been gripped by deadly unrest since president pedro castillo was ousted in december. early electrons are a key demand of protesters. israel's foreign minister has attended talks in sudan and says the 2 countries expect to fully normalize relations this year. and a such agreement would be the 4th israel has signed as part of the u. s. broke it abraham accords. following the deals with the united arab emirates, bahrain and morocco him, sharon tech stocks are posted, their biggest gains on wall street for 5 months. the rally was fueled by your facebook parent company matters quarterly revenue report, which showed better earnings than expected. the tech heavy nasdaq stock index was 3.3 percent. while the broader dow remains flat, australian tennis player nick curio says, pleaded guilty to insulting his ex girlfriend, but he won't face a criminal conviction after caught in cambra dismissed the charges chaos admitted

putting his ex girlfriend to the ground funding an argument in 2021 the judge said the incident wasn't premeditated and that the risk of offending re offending is low . go see levels that rise because of a human cause to global warming. the homes and livelihoods of millions of people in low lying areas are coming under threat. often the biggest sources of the greenhouse gases that raise global temperatures a half a world away from the worst affected areas. a correspondent gail g. mattress reports not from an indonesian island residence have decided to take on a distant but world class polluter. these roots hold the future for perry island. as manion, her friends are planting mangroves. once mature, the trees will serve as a natural barrier to sea water erosion and reduce the risk of flux. on the $42.00 hector island, which was just off the coast of jakarta. yeah. i don't

wait until we think safe, perry island. that is their message and it's a message they have now go to court as money i want to for residents of pari island who filed a lawsuit against cement, giant, wholesome, in switzerland, over its contribution to climate change. harassing at the monument illicit that it was ada. ah wholesome. is one of the world's biggest contributor cecia to the emissions causing climate change that impacts our island? i mean, they still have declined. the seasons are unpredictable selected at the sea level is rising. he and his men must hold haul sim, responsible for these consequences of climate change. but of any kind of in this field where the women of the village or planting vegetables is one of the few left that has not been flooded by sea water in recent years. now they la, wherever you go on the island, the struggle against the encroaching sea is obvious. many houses are flooded at

high tide, but i re put gentle one of the plaintiff is determined to stay or the li, okay. got to scott since the constant flooding begun in 2019, it's been difficult to get clean water. we used to rely on this fresh water well, but now it's even unusable for dishwashing, i look at them with the lat about the local environmental advocacy group, while he which backs the islanders alongside of swiss and german and g o is optimistic regarding the lawsuit. a similar environmental case against shell in the netherlands has recently been one, but they are preparing for a legal battle that could rack on for years now go candles and get the whole shim won't go bankrupt. we only demand 3 things, mitigation adaptation and loss damage. and this means that we want to provide corrections to the existing production mode, not to bankrupt. it for islanders are suing for $14000.00 euros in last damages

to be shared amongst them a comparatively small amount. but for fishermen, most a fear in it would make a huge difference. saw the self suggest unless the america was the one that they should be led by their conscience medical and take responsibility for what they've done. they reap so much in profit that they are blinded by one. they don't see that we are bearing the brunt of a climate emergency medical, but downs up on a rapid reduction in the companies carbon emissions which the lawsuit demands could make a difference in the long run. the plaintiffs also demanding better slot defenses and more mangrove restoration. the fight against the sea and global injustice on power re, has just begun her. when he saw roger canso bureau chief go matters in that report asked him why the island has

singled out to holsten for legal action. actually there is no direct connection between wholesome and that tiny island, which is just an hour speed old right here from from jakarta. in fact, if you look at it, wholesome, has withdrawn from indonesia and sold its local activities here in 2019 to a local and manufacturer. but what the n g o that have been advising? those for plaintiffs on this island have been arguing, is that the 7th industry is emitting more c o 2 a to the roles atmosphere than the entire aviation industry. and that holds them is one of the 2 largest as summoned producers in the world. and that is why they singled out this company. all also also told d w, the singling out individual companies was not an effective mechanism in dealing with the consequences of climate change. and it told us that it was already

mitigating c. o. 2 emissions in line with official requirements is remind of our top story at this hour. the u. s. as it's tracking a suspected chinese surveillance balloon has been spotted over the site of montana, trans official say it's flown over sensitive military sites and make chose not to shoot it down to avoid potential harm to people on the ground. level 3000 is up. next, looking at the mines and old power plants putting south africa's air. i'll be back at the top. they have a good day. thank ah, with

toxic air, south africa's economy depends on coal, but air pollution is a legal problem. ngos are pushing for a switch to renewable energy but with so many livelihoods

dependent on coal, it's a tough message to fill 3000 next on d, w. a super food or climate killer in accardo and blueberries, from south america. as global demand growth, this thursday produce is causing droughts and water shorter to where it's being cultivated. people are fighting over every drop. what's the actual price of these much hype? super food, 45 minutes on the w. o . a little, no da vinci's,

mysterious masterpiece. this perhaps the greatest leonardo masterpiece and the collection of the louvre and no, it is not the mona lisa. it is the virgin of the rocks, 2 versions, multiple copies, and a hidden drawing. was there another symbolic meaning to this beautiful painting that perhaps we just don't understand? the search for answers start to february 10th on d, w. ah, ah, welcome to level 3000 m sion romeus. a small community and costa rica is working to protect.