face-off at the united nations as the u.s. and russia exchange accusations over the situation in ukraine. moscow is dismissing allegations it is planning an invasion even though it has amassed tens of thousands of troops at the ukraine border. the french ambassador to mali has been ordered to get out of the country as relations sour. the diplomat has 72 hours to pack uand leave. boris johnson is under fire, appearing before and angry

parliament, he once again apologized for parties said to have violated lockdown protocol. you are watching live from paris. thanks for joining us. the u.s. and russia faced office monday at the united nations over growing tensions in ukraine. during the meeting, the u.s. accused moscow of causing an urgent and dangerous situation by amassing more than 100,000 troops at the border with ukraine. the west has warned a russian invasion could be imminent. the kremlin dismissed those comments as fear mongering by the u.s.. reporter: 10 votes in favor, two

votes against, three abstentions. the provisional agenda has been adopted. a swift vote at the un security council has thwarted moscow's attempts to block a public meeting on the brewing conflict near ukraine's borders. the majority of the body supported keeping the session open, with china joining russia in voting against, and abstentions from the remaining three. the russian ambassador dismiss the meeting as a pr stunt by the united states. >> this is the pursuit of our american colleagues to whip up hysteria. the escalation hysteria will bring harm to ukraine. reporter: the meeting was requested by the u.s. amid growing fears of escalation with hopes it could be the beginning of a diplomatic dialogue. >> if this is truly about russia

security concerns in europe, we are offering them an opportunity to address these concerns at the negotiating table. the test of russia's good faith in the coming days and weeks is whether they will come to the table and stay at the table until we reach an understanding. reporter: since the beginning of the conflict, more than 100,000 troops have been deployed. the largest military buildup in europe in decades. russia continues to deny claims of an imminent invasion or attack. anchor: joining us now is a professor of russian studies at the university in switzerland. thanks for being with us. russia has told the u.n. there is no proof it is planning military action despite the fact there are more than 100,000 russian troops at the border. what are pruden's intentions?

>> i think there are at least four reasons that make an invasion rather improbable. if you look at the history of the tensions between russia and ukraine, the russian invasion is not a minute but it occurred eight years ago. ever since the kremlin hasn't system -- has insisted that russia is not a war party, from a russian perspective what has been going on, is a ukrainian civil war. this is my first point. it does not make sense from a moscow perspective to turn a covert war into an overt war. second, i would say the costs of an occupation would be way too high, maybe you remember the

russian warlord who was a prominent figure in 2014 and was responsible for the establishment in the east of ukraine, said that for each soldier that you sent into you nine -- ukraine toccupy the territory, you would have to deploy 10 security people just to ensure the peaceful society. third point, the external cost would be way too high. nord stream 2 was on the agenda. finally, i think that there is no support in the russian population for an incursion into ukraine. in every russian family you will

find -- anchor: you are laying out reasons why you think an invasion is not probable. what exactly is pruden trying to accomplish? >> i think it's a smokescreen that will provide legitimization for a completely different theater. my personal guess is that this is not about you rain -- ukraine, if you look at the political agenda of the kremlin in 2021, the main topic was the dictator lukashenko who was basically at the point of being ousted from his presidency and basically pruden back to lukashenko and strived to stabilize the situation in belarus. my guess is is that all of the russian troops that have been

deployed in the last few weeks to belarus are not there to invade ukraine, but they are deployed there to stay in belarus to reinforce between belarus and russia. look in january 2022, we offered you securi guarantees, now we have to look that we guarantee security ourselves. anchor: whether or not there is an invasion, you are saying that is improbable, the u.s. and the k. are threatening serious sanctions against russia and putin, what kind of effect do

you think those sanctionsight have? >> we have to see that it is easy, pecially for the united states to threaten russia with sanctions, because of the economic ties between the u.s. and russia are rather weak. it would be european states like germany who would pay a heavy price if it really would come to sanctions. i think for the british and american government, at this point, it is quite easy to level sanctions against moscow. anchor: the west is warning that a war could be imminent, that is something you disagree with. ukraine continues to urge everyone not to panic. what do you think the calculation here is on the part of president zelenskand the ukrainians? >> think t ukrainians are

already used to being at war. ukraine has been threatened ever since 2014, and in a way, they already know what it means if you are under a constant threat. if you travel throughout the eastern parts of ukraine, you will see barricades, military personnel, so basically, they learn to live with the insecurity. at the same time in ukraine, it is very clear they will be there a partisan war if a russian invasion were to happen. thiss probably also some kind of a side effect of ukrainian patriotism, which is the russian

aggression. anchor: we want to thank you. relations between france and molly took another turn. leaders have just 72 hours to pack up and leave. the nations have been at odds over a failure to hold elections in february. the expulsion was in response to what military leaders said were hostile and outrageous comments made by the french foreign minister. >> the announcement was made on national television and signal the latest escalation intentions between france and mali. >> the french ambassador has been summoned by the minister of foreign affairs and

international cooperation. during this exchange, he was told about the position taken by the government. >> the decision was in response to hostile and insulting comments made by the french foreign affairs minister. last week date contempt the european mission. >> it's a new sign of recklessness. illegitimate and taking irresponsible measures. >>'s words prompted a strong response. >> this is not being about irresponsible. we are trying to defend the interests of our country. >> relations have soured since

the army staged a second military coup in may last year. another source of tensions is the presence of a russian group, paris had previously said any deployment would be incompatible with its own mission. three weeks ago, after they said they would postpone elections, west africa's economic block slapped them with tough sanctions including border closures and a trade embargo. the move sparked mass protests, many in the streets held anti-france signs. anchor: the military says it has restored the nations constitution. after the country was suspended from the african union, they made that move in response insisting on a return to constitutional order. the nation had already been suspended by the west african

economic lock. today, the head of a delegation met with the ousted president and said he was safe and in good spirits. rwanda has reopened its land border with uganda following a tense three year standoff, tracks were allowed through. travelers were held back by immigration officials. the move represents a thawing of tensions but rwanda h warne nding issues must be resolved before relations can be fully normalized. boris johnson once again apologized today for parties that took place at downing street during the covid lockdown. he faced an angry british parliament on the same day the civil servant released details of her report. the report was not released in full, but the initial findings said gatherings represent serious failures of leadership.

reporter: fending off fresh opposition calls, boris johnson apologized for the parties held at downing street during lockdown and valid ministry to changes. >> i want to say sorry. i am sorry for the things we did not get right and sorry for the way the metal was standard. -- matter was handled. we are making changes now. reporter: johnson apologizing after the release of a report. she found the behavior surrounding the gatherings is difficult to justify and some of the gatherings represent a serious failure on the part of the government. she has admitted her report is limited in scope due to an ongoing police investigation. >> we now know 12 cases have

reached the threshold for criminal investigation. which i remind the house means there is evidence of serious and flagrant breaches of lockdown. reporter: police say they plan on questioning people. >> we are looking at individuals . we are currently assessing individuals and progressing that through the relevant regulations. reporter: weeks of revelation 17 leak photographs and emails indic dating needed reaches of the governments own covid rules during the period spanning may 2022 april 2021. the so-called scandal has posed one of the greatest threat so far to johnson's premiership. anchor: time now for a look at business news. we are starting off with spotify, the joe rogan

experience, spotify is seeing this backlash over covid misinformation. >> spotify is in the midst of what many analysts call is facebook moment. analysts have argued it is a tech platform, not a media company. a growing backlash overovid misinformation on the top podcast is forcing it to change tack. reporter: still rocking in the free world, but not on spotify. after neil young pulled his catalog, he was followed. fed up with a stream of covid misinformation on the streaming giants most popular podcast the joe rogan experience. the controversy has prompted the ceo to announce new measures against fake news. >> we are working to add a content advisory to podcast episode that included discussion

about covid-19. this will -- resource that provides access to data-driven facts. reporter: spotify launched its podcast basin 2019 when it announced it would invest in the sector. its strategy includes securing exclusive contracts with podcasters such as joe rogan, paid a reported $100 million to publish 45 episodes a week. he has apologized for stirring controversy. >> i pledge to you, i will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives, so we can maybe find a better point of view. reporter: neil young claims being removed from spotify will cost them 60% of streaming income in the name of truth.

for the company, it's a moment of truth for a different card. major social networks like facebook and twitter seeing responsibility grow through the content it distributes. anchor: boeing has made a deal with qatar. they were set to unveil an agreement to supply 34 jets. the order will also include 25 boeing seven passenger planes. it's worth an estimated $34 billion. it comes as a release -- relief for boeing. it comes as qatar is locked in a bitter legal battle. airbus flaws on the 8350 jumbo jet, jus days ago airbus revoked order.

time for a check on trading action. wall street saw significant gains as u.s. shares wrap up a volatile month. the tech sector is leading the way as indexes regain ground. spotify shares closed up over 12% while netflix gained 10%. stock prices are marking their worst month since march 2020. european indexes mostly gained as well. that as new data out monday showed eurozone growth hit a record 5.2% in 2021, still not enough to make up for a 6.4% drop in 2020. growth was slowing by 2021 spinal cord. inflation in germany ease for the first time since june. slowing growth and cooling inflation being the european central bank is unlikely to tighten monetary policy in 2022.

>> i still expect the first rate increase next year. that is still far ahead, when it happens it won't hurt. pulling hot irons out of the fire, keeping this excessive indebtedness in europe. we will not experience it. anchor: finally, what do bulgarian professional wrestling, cocaine trafficking, and credit suisse have in common? they are all implicated in a money laundering trial as prosecutors say they are seeking $45 million in penalties against the bank. they say an employee process transactions from 2040 2008 despite clear signs that the money involved was of mental origin. -- criminal origin. those transactions coming from a bulgarian crime ring. they added up to some $40

million from the trafficking of tons of cocaine from south america. credit suisse has been struggling to rehabilitate its image after a series of scandals. the bank has denied any wrongdoing in the case and say they are going to fight that case with all they have got. between pro wrestling, cocaine and money laundering, all of the elements for atp thriller or a great saturday night. anchor: thanks a lot. time for our daily fact-check. before we start tonight segment, there is a video you want to show us. >> let's take a look. >> hlo, i am a news preseer on france 24. you can see me every weeknight on live from paris.

stay tuned, stay informed, watch france 24. >> do you recognize this person? anchor: not at all. >> this is a deepfake. if we can take a look on the computer, i will show you the website was used to generate, it's a site fulton stadia. you can choose a different -- this is another video. it was generated by the website. this was broadcast in mali. it was meant to be a news anchor from france, talking about all sorts of this such as spies,

information about the army position, this was circulating on a facebook page that has about 88,000 followers. it had a huge amount of interaction and clicks. we can show you what the original image was pulled or generated from. this was an actor or avatar generated by the website. essentially, you have free, open acce. basically what you can do is type in whatever text you want the avatar to say, and you can choose the tone, whether it is a news update, something informational or a sales pitch. it's a sophisticated piece of software. if you pay 30 euros a month to have a subscription, you can do a lot more sophisticated work. that is just what the public has

available to him or her. you can imagine, it's a sophistication that deepfakes have reached where there is we are money -- real money and technology. anchor: is that a real person? >> there were avatars, actors. it is a i generated, but on the basis of an actor. in any case, it generated a degree of confusion, the observers published quite a detailed article nine fact-check debunking that. with this tool, it was not designed for purpose of misinformation or so the representative told observers, they said this is for educational purposes, other uses. when a technology like this is release, the genie is out of the bottle. how it is used is depending on

the intentions of the purpose. you can see t ease of access to this type of deepfake technology, it can go as far as simulating a person. putting words in the mouth of a politician. in this case, it is adding to the confusion right now. anchor: the voice sounds a little computerized. i imagine they are trying to make improvements. >> that is indeed something that should emerge, it is not reliable when it does not sound like a natural delivery. anchor: thanks a lot. that is it for now. stay tuned for more world news. ♪ >> france is famous for food, fashion, and the winter months,

skiing. >> one of the top destinations in the world when it comes to winter sports. it's a significant part of the tourism industry. it's about much more than the slopes. this being france, a lot of that has to do with food. has skiing gotten too expensive? >> join us as we slalom through the ins announced >> presented by -- ♪

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01/31/22 01/31/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> enough is enough. it is time to release mr. peltier. if the senator would put that in a letter, a well-written letter and as concisely as he did -- again, puts this right on the desk of the president. he has got to deal with this. he has got to correct this wrong.