♪ nicole: this is dw news, live from berlin. the eu plans new sanctions on moscow on february 24. european commission president and a team of top eu officials have been holding talks with a lot of her zelenskyy head of the summit on friday. also coming up, pressure marks 80 years since the battle of stalingrad. vladimir putin commemorates the

soviet victory over nazi germany and attempts to draw parallels with his war of aggression in ukraine. the global energy crisis is not a crisis for shell. the anglo dutch oil giant posted a record profit of $40 billion for 2020 two, prompting calls for a windfall tax -- 2022, prompting calls for a windfall tax. police struggle to control the cocaine trade in belgium, and many port workers are scared to talk about what they know. ♪ i am nicole frolich, to our viewers all around the world, welcome. it is the biggest eu delegation to visit ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.

top european officials met with the ukrainian president in keith to discuss -- kyiv to discuss new sanctions in moscow. correspondent: there was the feel of a family get-together as members of the eu commission gathered in kyiv for a historic joint meeting with the ukrainian government. the eu commission president said they were there to show eu stands firmly with ukrainian's war with russia. >> our message gives a 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. correspondent: amidst the solidarity since another issue. ukraine's president volodymyr

zelenskyy would like ukraine to become a full-fledged member of the eu family and quickly, a move that the commissioner appears to endorse. >> you prepared your application for the membership brilliantly. i know it by experience. you became a candidate country while fighting an invasion. you continue to make impressive progress to meet the seven steps of the commission. correspondent: part of that progress is renewed crackdown on corruption, including at the home of one of ukraine's prominent billionaires before the team's arrival in kyiv. a timely demonstration of zelenskyy's demonstration to prove to doubters in europe that he and his government can be trusted. not only as a future eu member state, but also with billions in aid for when the country starts to rebuild. translator: regarding the

reconstruction, there were a lot of discussions on various levels in europe regarding the rebuilding of our country after the war. now, it is time, i think, for more concrete details. both for fast reconstruction and fast financing of the process are important. correspondent: in the here and now, the eu promised to continue its support for ukraine by hitting russia with a fresh wave of sanctions. when it comes to e.u. membership, at looks like president zelenskyy will have to wait. nicole: for more on that, i am joined by a journalist from the ukrainian capital kyiv. good to see you. this is an historic summit. what do the ukrainian people think of more than a dozen officials visiting?

guest: ukrainians are demonstrating high support for membership, and more than 86% support the succession to nato and the european union. we are very happy that the summit kyiv is taking place in, it sends a strong signal that the eu is together with us and supporting us and the eu commissioner urszula vendor line -- commissioner's words today really send an unprecedented signal of support, and we are very grateful that we are not alone in this fight against russia that eu member states have chosen to support us in our quest for freedom, and the eu is synonymous with the freedom. it is a symbol of what we aspire to to be free of the russian empire and its authoritarian regime. today's summit in kyiv sends a strong signal that the eu is supporting ukrainians in our

fight against russia. nicole: but, symbolism aside, what is ukraine hoping to achieve with the summit? because swift membership seems unrealistic at this point. guest: well, i think the swift membership has been somewhat misunderstood. there is no really possibility to sort of fast track everything without implementing the necessary requirements or clear criteria for eu membership, and until they create implements, a decision will not be made. basically, from this summit, ukrainians are hoping for very concrete decisions that will help ukraine be practically closer to europe. a decision has been made on the succession of ukraine into the single market which will help integrate the ukrainian economic centers into the eu economy, and will help us with recovery now

and during the war. also, decisions are expected about succession and extension . the commissioner said an agreement on free -- custom free exports built into the eu will also be adopted, so concrete and practical measures that will bring ukraine closer to europe. that will support our economy. as well, resolute eu sanctions against russia are going to be you discussed, as well as military support because before that happens, it is unrealistic to think ukraine will be accepted into the eu. first, we need to defeat russia and then join the eu. nicole: our guest joining us from kyiv tonight, thank you for your time. guest: thank you.

nicole: the russian president vladimir putin attended the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the soviet victory over german forces and stalingrad. putin began with laying a wreath at the memorial complex to the fallen soldiers, and later spoke at an event where he criticized germany for helping arm ukraine. he said russia is once again threatened by german tanks. this is his latest attempt to compare russia's war against ukraine to the soviet victory over nazi germany in world war ii. let's listen tomorrow what he had to say. translator: it is unbelievable, but it is a fact.

everyone should understand this. nicole: dw's russian analyst gave me his interpretation of his speech. guest: it is standard putin, comparing what happens today, his invasion of ukraine, to nazi germany's invasion of the soviet union more than 80 years ago. basically, what all caps struck me -- what all struck me as the irony escapes them. he is playing the nazi role if you extrapolated, but this is a message she has been hammering home all the time. we are engaged, we as russia, are engaged in an existential struggle, which is comparable to the world war ii, which is called the great patriotic war in the soviet union and modern-day russia. he is not veering off from the

script, and he sees himself as, i don't know, probably as stalin's number one marshall, who was a very successful military leader of the time. yes, we do see putin once again telling the russians the war that happens today, or rather as it is called in russia today, especial military operation, is comparable to what happened between 1941 and 1945. nicole: you just said, if we want to go into the comparison, the roles between that war and this war, are very much reversed now so who exactly is the narrative gained at? in the west, -- narrative aimed at? does the audience at home believe him? who is he targeting here? guest: before, i will give you an example. a friend of mine, a presenter

for russian independent tv and youtube channels, told me a week ago that she was trying to explain to her mother, who was probably 60 or something like that, that it was the soviet union that invaded poland in 1939, together with nazi germany, and she told me, my mother do not believe it for a third time. putin is aiming at the audience in russia, which believes that russia is never at fault. and the same time, this is the audience well, if not supports the war, says putin knows what he is doing, and putin is always trying to consolidate his base. this is exactly the message for it, but, now, the enemy is not ukraine. if you look at russian propaganda channels, the rollers full of the ukrainian people,, quote, unquote. russia is fighting nato in the proxy war. this is the message sent by putin to the russian people,

and that is why he mentions tanks with crosses. they are not going to have any crosses on them anyway because they are going to be repainted by the ukrainians, but the idea is to invoke this old soviet adage that the whole of europe was against the soviet union during the second world war, so, essentially, we have reply of soviet propaganda but with the use of modern television, social media, and relentless 24/7 propaganda. nicole: and that makes it more dangerous, thank you. guest: thank you. nicole: putin used german support for ukraine to draw a parallel with nazi germany. i asked rdw correspondent simon young if berlin is prepared. simon: yeah, i think so. i think vladimir putin has done this again and again. he has his own version of how the world works.

he says he is in ukraine, fighting what he calls ukrainian nazis and now he is doubling down with the offensive suggestion that the modern federal republic of germany is somehow a lesion with nazis, but germany knows very well that it is easy to misrepresent the support that they are giving now to ukraine as it battles against the invader and by making these comparisons that putin makes with the nazis in the second world war, the ukrainian soil is the territory were some of the worst nazi atrocities were carried out, and putin himself was speaking today on the site of stalingrad, the biggest battle in history with a death toll of 2 million. so, it is easy to sort of mixup

the history, and i think that is what people here, and see what vladimir putin is doing. i would say that olaf scholz has been speaking this evening. he did not directly respond to vladimir putin's threats, but he did say it was time for vladimir putin to withdraw from ukraine to make way, open the way for peace talks out here, and he also said that he would continue to speak with vladimir putin by phone as he has periodically done. nicole: do you think the threats we just heard coming from russia could reinvigorate the debate now that we are talking about fighter jets? simon: well, it will invigorate those on the far right of politics, but, ironically, it is the afd party was closest to vladimir putin and speaking against the arms deliveries. as far as the german government is concerned, it is now sending

leopard tanks and other equipment over the last months, and as the debate goes forward, people are conscious of the need for caution and inspection, but i think the german'governments commitment to back in ukraine is clear. nicole: thank you. a debate about sending battle tanks to ukraine has erupted in belgian, even though its military has no extra tanks to send because one private citizen has a warehouse full of them. the ceo of a belgian weapons manufacturer says he is willing to sell his story of german-made leopard 1 tanks to the government. they would need quite a bit of fixing up. correspondent: in this warehouse in rural belgium, dozens of leopard 1 tanks sit unused among a catalog of military paraphernalia. they belong to the ceo of a

defense company, who purchased them from the belgian government in 2014. after germany agreed to export new leopard 2 tanks to ukraine, the businessman said there has been renewed interest in his stockpile. >> there are governments in which we have currently in discussion, yeah. i just recently got a call from the ukraine government. yeah, so there is a lot of interest, but that is because the german government gave export licenses and that was not the case, but there is also the u.k. government, the swedish government, so a lot of governments interested. we will have to see what happens. correspondent: the news sparked a heated discussion in belgium about if the states should buy back the tanks to send to kyiv, but the belgian defense minister

has accused the firm of financial opportunism. translator: these belgian tanks were sold for a price of 10,000 to 15,000 euros each as they were no longer working. nothing prevents us from buying them back, but they are not operational, and we are not going to buy them back at unreasonable prices either. at the moment, there are belgian companies that make a margin that is unreasonable. correspondent: the ceo said the tanks could be ready in months, but in regards of the buyer, the sale would need to be sanctioned by germany, where the tanks were made, and belgium, where they currently reside. nicole: let's take a look at other stories making headlines around the world. the prime ministers of finland and sweden say they remain committed to joining nato at the same time. they were speaking one day after the turkish president repeated his opposition to sweden's bid. a recent kerr on burning in stockholm has angered them.

the european bank hiked interest rates to 3% on thursday, the fifth hike in a row, and to curb eurozone inflation. christine the guard underlined the bank's continuing drive to tame inflation, even as the european economy slows. 2022 has proven a record. year for energy firms the u.k. headquartered shell is the latest to boast unprecedented profits for the year of almost $40 billion. rising oil and gas prizes after the invasion doubled its 2021 earnings and smashed its previous record set in 2008. the eu u.k. imposed windfall taxes on energy companies who have been able to earn while households have suffered a cost-of-living crisis. as discussed, a bumper year for the world energy companies, with dw business correspondent, how

could shall make this much money? guest: 2022 was always going to be a good year for energy firms. the year started with gas and oil prices rising because economies were getting going again after the worst of the pandemic again, but then we had a claddagh chrism in february -- cataclysm, in february, where the ukrainian invasion happened in oil prices shot through the roof as people discussed whether or not how much of an impact the war would have on how much oil they could get. the benchmark rose to $130 per barrel at the start of the year at $70 a barrel. and gas also do the same but it got pushed up even higher when russia started to throttle the amount of gas it was sending to the european union and prices got higher, and energy firms made a lot of money because people paid more for the oil and gas.

that is why we are here, talking about shell posting record profits, and other companies made more than shell, and i will not suggest any companies wanted to see a war in europe, but you cannot doubt the fact that they benefited. nicole: they benefited and people paid for it. how have they reacted because there is a cost-of-living crisis around europe? guest: this is particularly bitter in the u.k. where shell is headquartered because they have had an acute cost-of-living crisis. energy companies go bust as their government forcefully tries to keep bills down for people, but people are really struggling. they are the opposition party referring to shell's profits as outrageous, saying the conservative government of richie sunak is not doing enough . but the u.k. has introduced a

windfall tax on profits for companies exactly like shell, who benefited from the war. it only covers the money they made in the u.k., which is only 5% of their income. shell has to pay it $123 million in windfall taxes for last year. in the face of $40 billion in profits, it is not huge. nicole: wrong business it seems. thank you. suicide bomb attack at a mosque in afghanistan left security forces unsettled. it attacked -- targeted officials praying in a building in the police compound. the bomber was described in a police uniform -- disguised in a police uniform. correspondent: it is a real protest. they are not civilians but police officers in pakistan's

province, demanding security. suicide bombing in a mosque on monday killed many of their colleagues. but this was not the only attack. militants here are relentlessly targeting the police. last year, more than 100 police officers lost their lives in terror related incidents. translator: every day, our men are being murdered and no one is protesting and asking why they are being killed. translator: how due to suicide attack or enter the police compound? we demand answers and justice for our dead. correspondent: as this protesters happening, fuel trucks -- protests were taking place for those killed in the blast. this family is mourning their loss, a policeman, whose father

was also killed in a bomb attack more than 40 years ago. and just a few kilometers away, another family is grieving for an officer who leaves behind a widow and five children. these frequent attacks on security officials means civilians are forced to stay alert. translator: now, when police officers passed me, i fear if the police are attacked, i might also be attacked. translator: if the people who are meant to protect us are being attacked, who will really protect us? correspondent: authorities are investigating who is responsible for the mosque attack as security forces fight the resurgence of militancy in northwestern pakistan. nicole: the port of antwerp in belgium has become the number one gateway for latin american cocaine destined for europe. the trait is controlled by

international gangs and comes with high levels of violence and corruption. the problem is so acute, that the mayor is calling for the army to be deployed. teri schultz reports. >> very small and completely round. teri: is that when drug dealers are using? >> sometimes. teri: the recent shooting is believed to be a dispute against gangs and it has a researcher fearing attacks will spiral. >> i hope it will not be psycho revenge because then you have a whole new level of violence and unpredictable dynamics. teri: belgian authorities seized 110 tons of cocaine last year, but they estimate that is 10% of what is imported, not enough to disrupt criminal business. they are boosting their efforts, planning to deploy 100 more people at the port and new

scanning equipment, but the added scrutiny may make smugglers more determined to recruit insiders to get cocaine on land. they are already targeting port employees. >> they approach you directly, show pictures of your family, your kids, friends, and this is not a subtle way of working. it is a real threat. teri: the general manager at the port, which represents employers, said it was risky to even speak with us on the topic. >> i realize this is a danger. maybe also for myself and my family. i think there is no alternative other than being open about the problem. if you stay silent, i consider that to be cooperation with them. we need to stop them. teri: that is a top priority for the eu agency because so many other crimes are linked to drug trafficking. >> drug trafficking is also involved in any laundering and

fraud. teri: they emphasize they cannot begin to tackle the problem without help from around the globe. they are teaming up with origin countries like colombia and other places where kingpins sent. he says it is working. > we have arrested some in dubai who were allegedly orchestrating cocaine trafficking into the u.k. from dubai, so this loophole will be closed soon. teri: many remain open, but they say -- >> doing nothing is not an option. you cannot just say, we let them do their way and let europe flock with cocaine. that is not an option. teri: in the meantime, piles of confiscated cocaine and belgium are so big that authorities fear gangs will try to steal the drugs back before they can be destroyed. nicole: a quick reminder of the top stories were following.

the european commission president said the eu plans to place fresh sanctions on moscow before the 24th of february, one year after russia invaded ukraine. she made the announcement at a summit in kyiv. sanctions include additional price caps on russian petroleum products. and the russian president vladimir putin is attending celebrations to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the soviet victory at stalingrad. putin used a speech to criticize germany for sending tanks to ukraine. i will be back after a short break to take you through the day. hope to see you there. ♪

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>> hello and welcome to "live from paris" here in france 24. as he marks the 80th anniversary of the battle of stalingrad, vladimir putin lashes out at the west promising a decisive response to any country threatening pressure. across the border in kyiv, the ukrainian president welcomes the chief of the european union and ahead of a joint summit. zelenskyy pushes for more sanctions to be levied on moscow as he warns of an impending russian defensive -- russian offensive.

and prime minister netanyahu is in paris to meet with french president macron as he looks for in ally to stand up to iran and its nuclear program. ♪ it is good to have you with us this evening. our top story -- thursday marks the 80th anniversary of the soviet victory at the battle of stalingrad during world war ii. at a speech marking the occasion, let drew parallels between that and his ongoing war in ukraine. putin railed against western powers and their support of ukraine as they scramble to supply kyiv with heavy artillery. our chief foreign editor breaks down the day for us. >> could he again be threatening to use nuclear weapons?

he seems to have backed away from that position in the past after coming under criticism not just from the united states but from china, to, and others in his entouraghave certainly be making -- certainly been making threats. is he returning to that position now that things continue to be tough for his own forces? he says that russian tanks have never been so far from the border to nato, not for lack of trying, it must be said. a year ago, russian tanks invaded ukraine aim to get control of kyiv. if they have done that, they will have moved their tanks to the border with poland, so it would have happened, so it's not want of trying, but looking at the speech as a whole, he could have done so many other things i think is the first thing to say. he could have that much more upbeat about the future. 80 years after stalingrad, an event for the people who were

killed but also upbeat in the sense of the courage that was on display in the determination of russian people, but 80 years later, wasn't this an opportunity at least to look to the future? one thing you really see missing in russia today is attempts to look toward the future. they are locked in this sort of maudlin obsession with the past, and we saw again and again that speech from vladimir putin suggesting that 80 years on, as he said in the introduction, russia is facing gern tanks again. this is ludicrous. they are facing german tanks defending against an attack by russian army. what he said is unbelievable, but it is certainly not true. history is not repeating itself. russia is not under attack.

>> across the border in ukraine, president zelenskyy was hosting diplomats from the european union, including ursula von der leyen. brussels has poured suppt into ukraine and implemented a host of sanctions facing the consolidation of russian forces. however, kyiv is urging fresh sanctions be implement it quickly. >> back in kyiv for the fourth time since russia's invasion began, urszula von der leyen wants to demonstrate the eu's steadfast support. >> our presence in kyiv today gives a clear signal -- the whole of the european union is in this with ukraine for the long haul. >> the eu commission president and senior eu officials are meeting their counterparts ahead

of friday's eu summit, the first since eu -- the first since ukraine was granted candidate status last year. the bloc has welcomed between 4.5 million to 5 million refugees and allocated if the billion euros in humanitarian, financial, and military aid for kyiv, money that is likely to continue to flow as long as the war drags on. >> russia is concentrating its forces. unfortunately, to overcome such an enemy, there needs to be more than success on the battlefield. we need hope in europe. free europe, peaceful and united europe. >> eu officials descending on kyiv comes hot on the heels of local authorities cracking down on corruption. it is one of the main hurdles ukraine must overcome if it intends to one day join the european union. while kyiv hopes to join the bloc within the next eu -- two

years, the eu hopes terrain and expectations without leaving ukraine in the lurch. >> thank you so much for being with us here on france 24. friday, the eu and ukraine are holding a joint summit in kyiv. after a year of war, surely that is a meeting full of symbolic importance. sorry, we seem to have a connection issue. the eu and ukraine are holding a summit tomorrow. that must be filled with symbolic importance after a year of conflict. >> absolutely. it is not the first time the european commission and the leadership of eu institutions collectively goes to an active war zone.

this isot just about the looks, but this is also about the field -- the field -- the feel, like feeling what it is like to face air raid sirens and possible running for shelters, blackouts, electricity shortages,nd of course, to experience the determination in the ukrainians to defend europe's fundamental values. >> the eu has provided a lot of support to ukraine over the last year. do you think kyiv will be looking to get more defensive thomases out of the eu on this trip, seeing as there are no heads of state? >> and eu/ukraine summit consists of leaders of eu institutions and the ukrainian government, so, yes, the heads of government at the european

union are not part of this, but the commission is an extremely important instrument in preparing for helping ukraine find its way to membership in the european union, and a couple of core creed measures of assistance to ukraine were actually announced today, but i think what is even more important is that they are demonstrating these days that it takes preparation for membership very seriously. we have heard about the clampdown's on corruption, and the indictments against corrupt officials or very recently members of government. all these are important steps, and they come from both sides.

it is the european mmission announcing important new assistance to ukraine. also things like making the roaming zone inside the european union to ukraine, further trade liberalization, but also to show they are serious about preparation for membership. quite so wanted to expand on it a little bit further, as you say, ukraine has been on a corruption purge the last few weeks. we saw a massive raid yesterday. what more can ukraine do to bring the european union to its cause? >> above all, it needs to adopt legislation and then implement this, right? legal standards and economic standards, the single market regulation of the european union has to be adopted into ukrainian law, and not just on paper, but this has to be implemented. that takes a bit of time, so to

start as early as possible i think is a very important step. >> do you think ukraine has quite an uphill battle ahead of it if it wants to join the eu? >> well, let's be clear, first, we have to have peace. that means ukraine has to liberate its occupied territories, and we have to help them, but once there is peace, i think we can then talk about a very, very determined road to membership for ukraine. but first, peace has terrain -- peace has to reign. >> that will certainly mean pushing russian forces out of ukrainian territory. today we have seen russian -- russia lashing out at the west. how well do you think the message would be taken by russia? >> russia's aggression against ukrae did not start 24th of

february last year. it started in february 2014 because they decided to actually strengthen ties with the european union and to enter an agreement with the european union, so this is the source of the whole russian aggression against ukraine, that ukraine had made a decision. theyanted to become a western country and one day in the future join the european union. this is, like, given now. this is the source of putin's wrath against ukraine, that they have decided to take the future into their own hands and join the west. there's no further delopment that can be influenced by ukraine coming closer to the eu. the decision has already been taken. >> thank you so much for joining me their life from brussels. -- thank you so much for joining

me there live from brussels. ukrainian president richard calls for more western arms as kyiv prepares itself for an impending offensive in the coming weeks. >> moaning in pain. emergency crews tend to this wounded man lying in the snow. he's one of the victims of an alleged wrestling missile spike -- an alleged russian missile spike. residents who have stayed peace their lives back together. >> there wer explosions. we took cover. there were two blasts. windows and doors were blown out. >> not far away in bakhmut, the sound of war is never far away. fighting in the region has intensified over the past few weeks.

according to ukrainian officials, russian troops are making offenses from both the north and south in order to circle back mood. despite this, the town's handful of residents remain determined to stay. >> i have been living in this city since 1956. it will be 66 years in september if i'm still alive by then. i've been living in this flat for five decades. >> ukraine's army believes russia is preparing a counteroffensive to mark the one-year anniversary of its invasion. according to kyiv, moscow wants to make progress before ukraine receives deliveries of western tanks. >> israeli prime minister netanyahu's in paris to discuss what the country's paris embassy calls the international efforts to stop iran's nuclear effort.

with more on this meeting between the two heads of state, here is our correspondent. >> netanyahu will try as much as he can to keep the topic on a run. there's lots of factors right now working in his favor in his argument to president macron that he should give up on reviving the iran nuclear deal and impose snap back sanctions and further isolate iran. tehran is supplying weapons to russia that are being used to kill civilians in ukraine. they are carrying out a brutal crackdown civilians across their country now for more than five months, but it is also very

certain, we can say, that president macron is going to bring up the spiraling violence here that literally in a few days has killed 20 palestinians and israelis, and he will ask netanyahu, certainly, to take steps to restore calm. netanyahu said he will take measures to strengthen jewish communities after a deadly attack last friday night that killed seven israelis. macron certainly will ask him to perhaps rethink that and not announce anything that will expand settlements, but there's a larger issue here, of course, which is the new prominent role and power of far right leaders here in israel, whose agenda clashes with that of france, the europeans, and the united states in terms of their policies and their agenda, which is to expand settlements and legalize illegal outposts. they want to talk about annexation and taking harder

lines against palestinians and militants, so there's also going to be a larger conversation about, you know, netanyahu's ability to rein them in. he has saide is the one in control, and we will have to wait and see if that is true. so far, it has been a mixed bag. >> time now for business with kate moody. oil giants raking in record profits and people are not happy about it. >> household and businesses around the world have been struggling with high energy prices while oil and gas companies benefit. shell is the latest to report record-breaking profits, is highest in its 115-year history. >> more than 32 billion pounds or around $40 billion. greenpeace activists were up in arms as oil giant shall announce

record profits for 2022. they set up this mike price board outside the oil giant's headquarters. >> on the one hand, you got polluters profiting from the oil crisis, and on the other, ever worsening impacts. >> others slam the result is obscene and shameless. a day earlier, tens of thousands of workers took to the streets in london calling for higher pay to keep up with inflation. pressure's invasion of ukraine has sent global energy prices soaring, keeping many hospitals struggling while countries like show rate in the profits. this is not alone, though. a few days ago, exxon mobil posted a record $56 billion net profit and chevron, $36.5 billion. some analysts say the issue lies elsewhere. >> ultimately, this is not about oil companies profiteering.

this is a consequence of a failure to pnn the part of politicians for the transition towards renewables. >> the eu and individual countries like the u.k. and spain have imposed windfall taxes on energy companies. last month, shell said it expected that to cost it around $2 billion in 20 22, but as profits keep surgery, oil giants are increasingly facing calls to pay higher tides. >> central banks are tightening monetary policy as they try to get inflation under control. thursday, the european central bank and bank of england each raised their key interest rates. the u.s. federal reserve meanwhile raised its own rates

by a quarter of a percent thursday. i spoke to victoria scholar from international investor about how far central banks might go. >> the federal reserve definitely sets the tone for a number of central banks around the world, not least because it affects the value of the dollar and other currencies like the euro or the pound against it, so last year when the fed was raising rates very aggressively, we saw investors drive toward the u.s. dollar. a lot of pain for emerging markets. it can also dampen demand for commodities priced in dollars as it makes them more expensive. i think the fed appears to be leading the charge in terms of this shift toward more tempered interest rate hikes going forward. the expectation of that already

provided a tailwind to markets late last year, and we have seen markets rallying over the last 24 hours amid the hope that we are getting towards the peak for u.s. interest rates and possibly, like you said, it will set the tone for the potential for interest rates to be elsewhere like in the euro zone or in the u.k. in the months ahead. >> a mixed picture on wall street, so the s&p 500 traded at a titus level in five months. the nasdaq closing up about 3.75%, due in part to searching shares of social media giant meta. major european indices closed higher. gains across the board there. shares of deutsche bank dropped 6% despite higher-than-expected quarterly results and the highest annual profit in 15 years. hong kong is hoping to cash in on post-pandemic travel with a new campaign. over a six-month period, the hello hong kong program will giveaway half a million plane tickets and vouchers in lotteries, competitions, and buy one get one free deals. the city state relaxed entry

rules months after others in the region and is now hoping to catch up. it lost 3.5% of gdp last year, partly because of the loss of his nest and leisure travelers. those giveaways will initially target the southeastern asian market before expanding. before you ask, no word yet if there will be any direct flights from paris to hong kong. >> that was going to be my first question. i'm in the market for a holiday at the moment, so i would love to have some kind of got away. >> i honestly will. either that or the u.s. either way, i'm going far. >> there's no free tickets to the u.s. at the moment, i'm sure. >> thank you. it is time now for our daily fact checking segment. in today's segment, we are looking at users on social media who are attributing out -- outdated photos to monday's mosque last in pakistan. >> on monday, a suicide bomber

blew himself up in a mosque in pakistan leaving over 100 people dead so far. following this attack, users online are sharing these photos on social media, claiming to show images of the aftermath of this suicide bombing attack in pakistan, so beware of these photos if you see them online. they are outdated and do not belong to the current one that took place monday. we will look at some examples of these claims on twitter. we cannot really confirm these claims or attribute these outdated photos to the blast on purpose or by mistake, but here is one example on twitter. it is in eastern european media publication where we see people walking here through the aftermath of this blast in this mosque. here is another example of

another tweet with this second photo, allegedly of the aftermath of the blast on monday. and there is this third photo that has been circulating online , published by national news, a middle eastern news publication where we see people standing amid the wreckage of another blast that they claim to be the blast on monday. this muslim publication called five pillars, where we see the same images of the ones in the claims on twitter or these other publications by this russian news publication, where once again they have attributed outdated photos of another blast, not the recent blast that took place in cash for pakistan on monday. >> where and when were these photos that we are seeing in these online posts -- where were they taken? >> our fact checking colleagues

did the research and found the images attributed to the mosque last in pakistan on monday are misleading and unrelated to this blast. so contrary to the viral claims that we sell right here of another suicide bombing in pakistan, these photos right here actually show the aftermath of another suicide bombing that took place in pakistan in march 2022, so the viral photo we show where you see this general view of the aftermath of this blast in this mosque's prayer hall, this image was actually captured by a journalist for reuters, by this journalist by this blast that took place. the second photo we show, it was from the same blast from march 4, 2022. the image was taken by the same journalist for reuters, and the

final photo as well, you could find it in this russian news media publication highlighted right there. here's the third photo from this blast that killed more than 30 people. all these photos belong to this mosque last in afghanistan from march 2022, which could have led to the false claims and confusion. be careful if you see these three images circulating on social media. they don't belong to the current last that killed over 100 people on monday. they belong to a different suicide bombing in afghanistan, pakistan as well in march 2022. >> as ever, incredible work. we're going to take a quick break, but stay tuned. i will be right back with a round up of your world

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02/02/23 02/02/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy:rom new york, this is democracy now! >> this violent act was not in pursuit of public safety. it was not in the interest of keeping the public safe because one must ask, was it not in the interest of keeping the public safe that tyre nichols