from berlin. ukraine's western allies say they are doing all they can to keep kyiv supplied with ammunition. dozens of countries meet in brussels. also on the program, the united nations says the earthquakes in turkiye and syria are the region's worst national --

natural disaster in more than a century. more than a week on, emergency crews still pulling survivors from the rubble. and nikki haley joins the race for the white house in 2024. she previously said she would not stand against her old boss donald trump. ♪ i am nicole frolich. to her viewers on pbs in the united states and all around the world, welcome. ukraine's western allies have been meeting in brussels to discuss further military assistance for kyiv. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin says they are doing all they can to keep ukrainian forces supplied with ammunition. some 50 nations including nato members have been taking part germany is to fast-track delivery of antiaircraft ammunition but there has been no announcement on whether ukraine's request for fighter jets will be met.

reporter: ukraine says this is a fight for its survival. as the winter begins to thaw, the united states ones russia is preparing fresh attacks and deploying new troops to the battlefield. but washington says kyiv may soon have a window of opportunity. >> what ukraine wants to do at the first possible moment is to establish or create momentum. and establish conditions on the battlefield that continue to be in its favor. and so, we expect to see them conduct an offensive sometime in the spring. reporter: to fulfill their promise to keep sending kyiv weapons, nato nations need more arms and you nations as their own stockpiles dwindle. germany says it has now signed a

contract to restart homegrown production lines for antiaircraft guns sent to ukraine. >> i am very pleased we have succeeded in doing this because it will ensure even greater independence and faster delivery. it is particularly important for air defense in ukraine. it performs outstanding services, particularly in defense against drones. reporter: after securing pledges of western made battle tanks, kyiv is now setting its sights on the skies. at nato headquarters, ukrainian defense minister pulled out a pocket square depicting the next item on his weapons wish list, western fighter jets. >> wendy expect to get it? >> from the sky. reporter: but so far there are no offers of modern aircraft. some site the complexity of the systems, others fear the risk of escalation. >> we have to assess the risk with our partners and think

about feasibility. it is something that will take time. it is best done behind closed doors to see what is and is not possible, what the consequences would be. reporter: nato officials now worn this war has become a race of logistics. and speed, they say, will save lives. nicole: i act nick connolly -- i asked nick connolly in kyiv about this. nick: it is something you hear time and time again, i don't know when my next delivery of munitions will come from. you can have all the artillery pieces in the world but if you don't have ammunition, you are stuck. any amount of experience and bravery is not going to do much about that. we have seen now that this war is moving into a slower phase of more position warfare. this is about how much ukraine and russia can mobilize their economies and produce enough weaponry and munitions and get

them to their soldiers fast enough. there's a real push in ukraine and a real awareness that this is crucial, given that russia spent the last couple months building up supplies and training a lot of people to fight in ukraine. nicole: nato chief jens stoltenberg says kyiv needs ammunition more than it needs fighter jets, but kyiv is still asking for those aircraft. so clearly differing expectations today. nick: i think kyiv thinks that they can get both. i think the history of this war as shown that ukraine needs to ask for more complex systems far in advance and make a lot of noise. be pushy, then eventually those red lines drawn by western leaders so as not to provoke russia are then eventually dropped. there's the expectation here that that is par for the course. there will be a lot of refusals before ukraine gets these plans and munitions as well. we heard munitions being brought up around the world.

reports of pakistani-made munitions for soviet systems in south korea, some from the states, being handed over to ukrainians. a real worldwide search for these now to help ukraine protect itself, given there is the excitation of russia advancing in the latter weeks of the winter and early spring. nicole: russia has started intensifying its assault at this first anniversary of the war approaching. western battle tanks will take weeks, possibly months to get to ukraine. how well-prepared are ukrainian troops to fend off russia's offensive without them? nick: when you talk to the military experts, they say the tanks are most important mainly for ukraine in its capacity to retake territory for ukraine to go into offense. for defense, the current situation doesn't really require tax on the same scale as taking back lost territory would. but there is a sense that western countries just do not

get the scale of this war. they have not experienced a war on this scale being fought for hundreds of thousands of kilometers. we have heard in recent days that ukraine is shooting as many shells as many european countries would purchase in a year in the space of 24 hours. this is a different scale, a different pace, and a desperation to bring that message across to western partners and see them acting on it. nicole: dw correspondent nick connolly in kyiv. always great speaking to you. nick: estonia is among the countries which want to step up deliveries of weapons to ukraine. our correspondent teri schultz spoke to the historian defense minister hanno pevkur. teri: ukraine went into the meeting think it wanted fighter jets and did not come out with any. you went into the meeting saying you thought they should have them. were you disappointed by the outcome today? hanno: ukraine needs every asset we can send. so definitely they will take all

the tanks, all the fighter jets, if there will be able to be a decision, no doubt about it. on the other hand, we also need to understand there is a need for training, there is a need for maintenance, there is a need for spare parts, etc. it is not only to send fighter jets or tax, it has to be a capability. this is why we have to be all clear, that when we send something, we send a full chain of that capability. teri: so it is too early for fighter jets you think? but a month ago they were not getting any tanks and now 11 countries said they are getting -- sending tanks. hanno: from my point of view it is never too early. ukraine needs not only fighter jets, they also need air defense, and urgent air defense, because they need to keep the air clean. they need training urgently. we are doing that in estonia, many other countries are doing that, but that is still not enough. we have to speed up the training, speed up the delivery

of the tanks and ammunition. ukraine needs everything we can send them, and it's very urgent. teri: ammunition is one of the most urgent needs and that is not scaled up as fast as ukraine needs it to. so what do you think about that? it seems that contracts have not been signed as quickly as one would think. hanno: what we need is we need to have the contracts with industry. otherwise they will not produce. second, what i proposed here today is that we need a joint acquisition of ammunition. my concrete proposal was that we should buy jointly at least one million rounds of 150 millimeter howitzer rounds. so this is my proposal, and i made a proposal that the european commission will proceed with that. so let's see how quickly they can move on that. nicole: more than 40,000 people are now known to have been killed in the earthquakes in syria and turkiye. united nations says the worst

natural disaster in the region in 100 years. the focus of the u.n. operation is on caring for people who let been made homeless, but emergency crews have not given up on the search for survivors, and people are still being found alive. reporter: more than a week trapped under rubble, 17-year-old mohammed is pulled out alive in turkiye near the epicenter of the devastating earthquake. he's carried to an ambulance. mohammed's brother is rescued soon after. but hopes of finding more survivors are fading fast. rescue teams are scaling back operations. the focus in both turkiye and syria is shifting instead to helping survivors. first, with immediate relief like food, water, and shelter, and then assisting them long-term. >> the rescue phase is dragging live people out from the rubble

and finding those who died in the rubble. that is coming to a close. and now the humanitarian phase, the urgency of providing shelter, psychosocial care, food, schooling, and a sense of the future for these people, that is our obligation now. reporter: syria's infrastructure was already battered from over a decade of civil war. in some areas, the earthquake brought total devastation, like in government controlled aleppo. people are waiting for shelter, tents, and blankets, but mistrust of the regime runs deep. many fear the aid coming into the country will not reach them. syria's government has so far only allowed 82 rebel areas through one border crossing. but in an unprecedented move, it says it is reopening two additional land crossings with turkiye. >> syria supports the entry of

humanitarian aid into the region through all possible cross points. whether from inside syria or across the borders. for the period of three months. reporter: displaced syrians living in dire conditions in the rebel held northwest can only help the promise is kept. in turkiye, the disaster -- many now need to be demolished. turkiye's government has been accused of a slow response to the quick. relief and long-term reconstruction are said to be a major challenge. along with housing the millions who are suddenly left homeless. nicole: earlier i talked to kit miyamoto, the global ceo of mem moto international, and i asked

him why last week's earthquakes caused such massive disruption. kit: first of all, this was a huge earthquake. 7.8 nd 7.5 back to back, we have not seen that for quite some time. and it is quite densely populated. 10 million to 50 million people. you are talking about 40,000 fatality out of 10 million, .4%. nicole: fingers are now being pointed at the authorities but also at building contractors. who do you think is to blame here? kit: well, first of all, the turkish building code changed around 2000, late 1999. -- 1997. before that, it was never a consideration. anything built prior to that we have seen there are no earthquake resistant components

at all, so they are really dangerous. today i was in a city, 95% was completely flattened. also one thing, turkiye does not have the license system here. they have a great education system. they have good engineers, good building code, and good contractors, but no license or contractors and engineers. there is no technical inspection during construction. nicole: does that mean just anybody can go ahead and build an apartment building? kit: yeah, you can be a contractor if you want. sure, you can. nicole: ok. kit: most contractors here, they try to do good things. they don't want to kill people,

they are just trying to do good things. but the problem is there are no engineers that advise them how to do it. it is not about the blame on individuals, is more that the system has to change. the inspection process and stuff like that. that would save tens of thousands of lives, no question. nicole: tens of thousands of buildings have been destroyed. how long will it take to make the affected areas livable again? kit: well, i mean, you are going to see a certain area here, we see huge destruction. i am talking 80%, 90% of buildings are gone. just horrible. i go there for jobs, and it's worse here. i think in certain areas it will take years. but turkish government -- i know

people are talking about the turkish government reacting slow. that is actually not true. compared to what is going on internationally, this government is moving extremely fast, even faster than certain places. is a huge event. i would say that certain areas would take three, four, five years. but turkish people in the government are really determined to make this happen. but there are many things you can do much faster. a lot of buildings can be required really -- can be prepared really quickly. nicole: kit miyamoto, thank you very much. kit: thank you. nicole: let's get you up to speed now on some other stories making headlines around the world today. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres has warned that global warming is feeling unprecedented sea level rises that threaten nearly 900 million people around the world. he called for urgent action to limit warning -- warming and

prepare for the huge number of climate refugees. the european parliament has approved a law banning the sale of new fossil fuel powered cars within the european union by 2035. the measure is part of the blocks efforts to become climate neutral by 2050. china's president xi jinping has hailed the close relationship between beijing and tehran. the iranian leader is on a three-day visit to china with a focus on strengthening trade and economic ties. equatorial guinea has confirmed his first outbreak of the marburg virus. the highly contagious disease related to ebola. nine people have died and more than 200 are in quarantine. former u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley has announced she is running for the republican presidential nomination in 2024. she's the second contender to join the race after her one-time boss, the former president donald trump.

the 51-year-old former south carolina governor is pitching herself as a new phase to lead a generational shift in the republican party, but a recent polling shows that just 4% of republican voters back her, while 43% support trump. for more let's go to michaela kufner in washington. 4%, that is not much. is nikki haley a danger for trump? could she really win the primary? michaela: well, let me ask a counter question. nobody believed -- really nobody -- in 2016 that donald trump would win when he went into the primary race. everybody thought he would drop out early and he would not be any threat. now we are in a trump party, that is still the republicans. yes, it depends on whether you believe in the early polling. nikki haley after all is someone who one could described as a

person who has lasted navigating donald trump probably like nobody else. she went from somebody warning against him, to someone who says something like this. let's listen in. >> i would not run if president trump ran. and i would talk to him about it. that is something we will have a conversation about at some point if that decision is something that has to be made. i had a great working relationship with him. i appreciated the way he let me do my job. i thought we did some fantastically great foreign policy things together. michaela: well, and that fantastically great policy was, amongst other things, pulling out of the iran nuclear deal. she went from someone warning against him to someone who is not running against him. donald trump for his part wished her good luck. at this moment in time it looks like she will still need it.

nicole: what are her real chances? you say the u.s. is always open for surprises, but realistically, does she have a shot? michaela: she is the second person to declare. she is the first person except for donald trump. we are still waiting to hear from ron desantis, who everyone expects to declare. he is the governor of florida. also former vice president of donald trump, mike pence, is expected to enter the race. two others are also a potential. so it is really very early days. the more people join the primaries, the more likely mathematically it becomes for donald trump to pull-through and become the wildcard. this is the party that is in an inner turmoil, fighting itself over donald trump. one thing that is for sure is that trumpism will survive into this next election campaign. here, the question is whether nikki haley, who entered the race, making a big thing about

her immigrant legacy, her parents came from india, and at the same time she was someone who really backed trump during his heyday as u.s. ambassador -- whether she will find a way to navigate this and oppose him and become that new generation, she said that the party wants. clearly the desire is there, but who will fit that bill, i have a question whether nikki haley would do that. ron desantis looks like the more popular candidate for now. nicole: why did she announce her candidacy so early? michaela: she beat the most likely contender, according to the polls, ron desantis, to it. she's the one taking the greatest risk. the later you declare, the clearer the picture. her calculation issue probably wants to attract campaign funding to her pretty early on. we know that there is big money lined up behind the scenes to

oppose donald trump, whatever that means. here, we're likely to see ron desantis really get more traction as sitting governor. it is a calculation for her, but it certainly gave her a lot more airtime than some of the other candidates will probably get further down the line. nicole: michaela kufner in washington, thanks for that update. german choreographer marco goecke is under police investigation for smearing dog feces in the face of a critic who gave him a bad review. the attack play -- attack took place at an upper house where goecke this director. goecke confronted her during the interval of a ballet before taking a bag of dog feces out of his pocket and shoving it in her face. the story is certainly making headlines around the world and david levitz is here to walk us through it. this is not the kind of story we usually talk about. david: it is not, and it's sort

of shocking to see this is probably the world's best known choreographer at the moment and also the world's best known dance critic, and it has nothing to do with their work. it is like something out of a bad teenage movie. so, marco goecke is actually a very prominent choreographer. he is very well-known known here in germany. he won germany's top dance prize last year. furious that wiebke huster, his victim here. she is known as probably the dance critic with the sharpest tongue in germany. very formidable, very well respected. she recently criticized a work of his, calling it an embarrassment. she says that she went insane watching it, that she also died. she said she was killed by boredom watching it. very harsh criticism, obviously. and one goecke saw her -- and when goecke saw her at the

theater, he decided to confront her. goecke usually keeps his dogs with him and he had just taken it for a walk and decided to save his excrement to use as a weapon against the dance critic. huster, the dance critic, says she screamed, went to wash her face off, then went to the police. nicole: so there is a police investigation now. but has goecke faced other consequence of? david: he has been suspended immediately from his job. he is not allowed to go inside the opera house. at the same time there is another company he works for instacart which said they would -- for in stuttgart which said they would continue working for him. so there was the question if anyone would work for him, apparently there are people who still want to work for him even after this. there is a police investigation, on the one hand for bodily harm, and the other is insult. it's illegal to insult someone

here in germany, so that is also a crime they are investigating. nicole: he was obviously upset. what followed was nothing short of bizarre. but what has goecke himself been saying? david: he has made a few statements, which are basically in the sorry, not sorry category. he most recently apologized for losing his temper, but at the same time he really doubled down and continued to blame the journalist that he attacked by saying that she had basically done the same to him figuratively with her words for many, many years. he's obviously in a space where he's not ready to fully make an apology for what he has done. nicole: how has germany's culture scene reacted to this? david: very strongly. the theater he was employed at, at least the one in hanover, has criticized him in the harshest terms. they said he endangered the careers of the 30 dancers that he works with and damaged the

theater's reputation. the newspaper that the journalist works for, one of the top newspapers here in germany, has basically said that this was an attack on press freedom, and that is the line that a lot of journalists have taken a cost germany. very strong condemnation. nicole: david levitz, thank you so much. a reminder of the top stories where following. ukraine's western allies have met to discuss further military assistance for kyiv. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin said they will remain united and resolute as long as it takes. the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff mark milley says russia has effectively already lost the war. the death toll from the earthquakes in syria and turkiye has risen to more than 40,000. but more than a week on, emergency crews are still pulling survivors alive

from the rubble. and don't forget, you can always get dw news on the go. just download our app from google play or the app store. that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world, as well as push notifications for any breaking news. stay with us now. i will be right back to take you through "the day." hope to see you there. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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>> welcome to "life from paris" -- "live from paris," world news and analysis from france 24. the united nations says the turkey-syria quick is the worst in over a century. turkey's president describes it as like a nuclear bomb scene. voices are still being heard miraculously under the wreckage. in syria, aid is getting through to rebel-held areas. nato has to assure ukraine it has the