from berlin. nato promises more military assistance for ukraine. member states are stepping up production of artillery shells but there is no agreement on increasing overall defense spending. also, nine days into syria and turkey's earthquake disaster, damascus agrees a deal to allow aid to some of syria's worst affected areas, and as iran's

economy struggles under western sanctions, its president makes a rare visit to beijing in the hope of forging closer ties with china. ♪ i'm nicole frolich. to our viewers around the world, welcome to the program. nato leaders in brussels have aid new pledges to provide ukraine with weapons and military training. there has been no immediate promise of more tanks or advance on increasing defense spending. allies agreed to supply more ammunition and artillery shells, but the nato general secretary admits more needs to be done. >> it is a show of support. nato allies have decided to wrap up their weapons production for ukraine after concerns arise

that ukraine is using ammunition much faster than the west is producing it. >> things are happening, but we need to continue, we need to step up even more because there is a big need out there to provide ukraine with ammunition. this is now becoming a grinding war, and the war is one of logistics, and, therefore, this is so crucial for our ability to ensure that ukraine wins and is able to retake territory. >> u.s. defense secretary is optimistic that with targeted support, there is real chance ukraine could make significant gains in the war. >> for every system that we provide, we are going to train troops on that system and give them additional training on maneuver, the integration of fires, sustainment, and on maintenance.

so, with that additional capability to better train troops, but forms that can perform a lot better in this environment, i think they will have a real good chance at making a pretty significant difference on the battlefield. >> considering future security threats, the secretary-general urged member countries to spend at least 2% of their gdp on defense. but no agreement was reached on new targets for overall defense spending by the nato allies. nicole: dw's correspondent teri schultz in brussels has followed the talks, and i asked her what nato was promising in order to speed up military aid for ukraine. teri: there are a lot of things nato needs to do to speed up the delivery of what is already promised to ukraine, and that is what general secretary was talking about. although they have known for months now that ukraine was firing many more rounds of artillery and bullets than could

be produced, they have yet to really ramp up production on the ground here in europe or in the united states to meet that demand, so now they are getting serious about it. it is a shortfall where we could see ukraine actually running out of ammunition. each country is looking at what it can do to both generate more reduction in their own companies and also join together. they are talking about jointly procuring ammunition out to make the orders big enough to entice industry to change production practices and make them more rapid. nicole: one of the big challenges for nato country seems to be supplying ukraine with military equipment while maintaining their own ability to defend themselves. how is the alliance handling this issue? teri: this is an issue because, of course, nobody was prepared for a shooting war in europe again, so once they started, they had to send a lot of these weapons they had not really been

stocking up on over past years. in fact, with ammunition, which we don't see it with upscale production, they thought it would not be necessary again, so when it came to supplying ukraine, secretary-general said don't think of this as a dilemma. if you have an issue, send the supplies to ukraine and let's back our own stocks later, so he has allowed countries to reduce the standards in what they should keep on hand for some kind of domestic emergency, and they are planning on replenishing those as we talk about scaling up the ammunition supplies. nicole: and the allies are also discussing potential changes to national defense budgets among all of this, right? teri: that is true. all of these things we are talking about cost a lot of money, more than nato was prepared for when it made this 2% pledge seven years ago. that is, of course, one that has become famous in germany because germany was very slow to scale

up its defense spending and has come under a lot of criticism, but it certainly isn't the only country. now what nader was talking about is not making 2% the lower threshold or upper threshold but rather the lower threshold.some countries are already spending 3% of their gdp on their defense, and they would like to see other countries ramp up, as well. by 2024, nader was going to need to come up with a new formula -- nato is going to need to come up with a new formula and that is something they will have to decide this summer. nicole: what about ukraine's plea for fighter jets? any progress on that issue? teri: if you are ukraine, you don't see any progress. this is not something nato has any appetite to do. none of the allies who possess fighter jets have made any offer whatsoever to ukraine. they do not see this has really a practical solution for ukraine. they believe that fighter jets flying over russian hilt territories -- held territories

and ukraine would be immediately shot down, so that is an expensive failure. what nato has said today and yesterday to ukraine is, let us bolster your air defense so you can shoot down missiles without having fighter jets in the air. this is something they are talking about possibly providing ukraine in the future, when ukraine has pushed pressure off of its territory to rebuild an air defense, including fighter jets for ukraine, but everyone says it is too early and this is not really something in the cars at the moment. remember, that was said about tanks, as well, now they should be on their way to ukraine. you never know. nicole: teri schultz in brussels, thank you so much. nato's chief admitted turkiye blocked sweden and finland from joining the alliance. he is planning a talk on the issue. a swedish defense minister told dw brussels' bureau chief that

sweden and finland are corn aiding their nato membership bids. >> sweden started the process together with finland, and we have been going together the whole process. our preferred option would be sweden and finland going at the same time. at the same time, i have respect for the fact that these are two sovereign national parliaments. they have to decide how they deal and interact with our applications. i can take note of the fact that 28 of the 30 allies has already ratified our application at record speed, and we are waiting on canada and budapest. >> are you -- ankara and budapest. >> are you confident that ankara and budapest will drop their reticence to your application? >> we have not heard any certain criticism so far on her application, and the process has been in the parliament in

budapest, and in regards to turkiye, we have a deal between sweden, turkiye and we are implementing that agreement, and we hope we will have a rapid ratification. let me also say i think when it comes to turkiye, i'll focus right now is, of course, on alleviating human suffering and the tragedy going on there right now. >> nato allies here in brussels have pledged to increase their military assistance for ukraine. sweden is not a member of the alliance yet, but still, you are ready also to increase military help for ukraine, as i understand, so it will be your contribution? >> when the new swedish government enters power in october, we will escalate support for ukraine. that is crucial because putin escalated the war, and the only way to respond is by increasing support. therefore, we have various

defense systems and the latest batch of our support package will be 90, which we provided over 50 cb 90's which can build a battalion in conjunction with ukrainians, so that will provide ukrainians with more combat power. supporting ukraine is about helping ukraine and investing into our own security, and it is absolutely critical for our security interest that ukraine regains its territorial integrity, freedoms and independence, and we are doing all we can to ensure that. > germany has promised leopard two tanks to ukraine, but they are scrambling to get enough partners on board to deliver those tanks. sweden has those tanks. are you willing to deploy them to ukraine? >> yeah, we had a constructive meeting earlier today, and we

also had it with the polish defense minister. i think it was helpful. what we are proposing right now is on the vehicle 90 and training of italian, but we are also looking to participate in the leopard group, training, transportation, logistics, and this is being done with build durations with other members. what is important is to remember supporting ukraine now is not about sending platforms but holding capabilities, and you can do that with artillery systems, and working on sending the archer system, and sending the cb 90's and tanks, but we have to think about the case and efficiency and the best way to build the capability the ukrainians need. nicole: here is a quick look at other stories we can headlines around the world today.

at least 39 people have been killed and 20 more injured in a bus crash in panama. the bus was carrying migrants who had entered from colombia. record numbers of migrants arrived in panama last year, headed for the u.s. a u.s. court has sentenced a white supremacist who killed 10 peopl -- 10 black people last year. court proceedings were interrupted after one of the victim's family members lunged at him. he said he was radicalized by conspiracy's online. dozens of migrants are presumed dead after their boat sank off the coast. rescuers retrieved 11 bodies while several survivors are in the hospital. it is the latest shipwreck in the mediterranean, one of the most dangerous migration routes. turning to the earthquakes in turkiye and syria now, the number of people known to have died in both countries has risen

above 30,000. humanitarian aid has been slow to reach parts of syria, which has been fighting a civil war for more than a decade. a new deal between the united nations and the syrian government means assistance is finally getting through. >> help is finally on its way. within hours of the u.n. negotiating a deal with the government in damascus to open two border crossings between turkiye and northwestern syria, this international aid convoy is heading straight through. the earthquake devastated parts of the opposition held region in syria, and also damage the road to the only border crossing that had been approved for una deliveries. -- u.n. aid deliveries. aid workers can now deliver more shelter materials, blankets, and radical -- medical supplies. >> near the syrian border, we

just loaded two trucks with aid, departing for northwest syria, and they will deliver supplies to 170 facilities. >> the un is latching a million dollar appeal to help people affected by the earthquake in syria. as the hope of finding people trapped alive under rubble in turkiye and syria is dooming, rescue efforts are shifting the focus on helping survivors. this warship docked on the south coast of turkiye has been turned into a floating hospital. >> there is no hospital in my neighborhood. the closest one is a hospital full of people injured by the earthquake. that is why they cannot provide help to people like me with slight injuries. instead of that hospital, we prefer this makeshift one. >> tens of thousands have been

injured by the earthquake in turkiye, many requiring medical treatment. with only 300 beds, the worship hospital can only relieve a small part of the current huge strain on the turkish health care system. nicole: earlier, i talked to an engineer at university college in london. i asked if it makes sense to encourage people to return to buildings that are still standing. guest: well, normally, we use engineering assessments to be able to judge the loadbearing capacity of the structures after an earthquake, and this is often done by judging and assessing the crack patterns and other damages on the structure. i personally know that the ministry is going through a formal training, preparing some of the most for tedious -- most

prestigious, so i will say that there have been some outages going around on social media that have been ridiculed widely because they were doing certain things that did not convey that robustness of the assessment, but we actually do not know. we don't know how many people they have deployed. we would like t to think they have a good level of knowledge. nicole: some areas were flattened, while in other places, many buildings withstood the earthquake. what made the difference? guest: again, we need to go to the ground to study the damage of the buildings, but we had also seen other examples. for example, a small town survived the earthquake with no damage at all. because we are hearing that the

mayor of a town was persistent in enforcing the law and code and everything else. so, i think the difference is you are observing is going to come down to the ability of the authorities to enforce the law. nicole: hundreds of thousands of people currently do not have a home to return to. how long would you expect reconstruction to take? guest: unfortunately for an event like this, we expect the recovery process to take a long time, and turkiye has a great track record. we know that people are still living in prefabricated housing and for example, the earthquake from 2020, the people are still in need. i am hoping that this time the

recovery and processes are completed more promptly, but given the areas, the size and the expense of the damage, i am afraid it is going to take a while. nicole: many thanks for your time. i ran's president has criticized sanctions as "weapons of mass destruction." it was a second day of a statement to china. they are seeking closer ties with beijing, its top trading partner. i ran's economy has struggled for years due to the impose sanctions over the nuclear program. china is also under increasing pressure from washington with tensions running high over the shooting down of a suspected chinese spy balloon. we can now talk to an associate professor of international studies at indiana university and has written extensively about toronto.

-- tehran. they are signing cooperation agreements. is this the economic lifeline iran has been hoping for? guest: thanks for having me. it certainly is. it is more of a recent relationship between the two countries, since 2021, they signed a 25 year economic strategic pact that iran has yet to see any benefits out of. i think from the iranian perspective, the hope is that by rekindling the pact, iran could finally see economic benefits coming its way, especially since it is under very severe sanctions from western governments, and it is increasingly desperate to get some revenue pumped back into his economy. nicole: gaining more access to the chinese market sounds like a win for tehran, but what about beijing? guest: this is a strategic deal

more than anything else. it gives regime another important piece -- beijing another important piece on bargaining vis-a-vis the united states and u.n., as well. beijing is seen to have some economics way over the regime andtehran, then its relationship with western governments, it needs to give up a piece, iran is a simple bargaining chip, either by cutting back economic ties to, or isolating iran, it could redress any pressure western governments would want to place on beijing for their own geopolitical purposes. but also it has a material dimension. beijing now has a border system when it comes to iranian oil. it is getting it very cheaply, and it likes to have that full of fuel, continue unabated, so it can get its own economy also

going on a cheap fuel. nicole: this comes as the u.s. has all but given up hope of reaching a deal with tehran on its nuclear arrangement program. on tuesday, midprice essentially said the ball is now in china's court. let's have a listen and get back to you. >> the p.r.c. has a role to play in very clearly signaling to iran it is destabilizing activities, that it will not be rewarded, not something the international community is prepared to sit idly by and watch. nicole: this sounds like the u.s. tax of the admitting that its efforts to maintain tehran have failed. guest: china has a geostrategic interest to keep iran away from a nuclear weapon, so from a chinese national security

perspective, it is important for iran to also not weaponize. that hasn't changed. when it comes to the united states and the beijing-washington relations, china would like to very much be portrayed as an important player at the table, and to be able to bargain a deal and broker a deal between iran and the united states and other signatories, in a way that those signatories or i should say the kind of leading diplomats of those groups were not able to do, so china would like to reposition itself as a kind of savior of the deal in disregard. nicole: tehran is cozying up to beijing and moscow, described as an attempt to offset western sanctions over its nuclear development. is this tehran telling the west, we are going nuclear whether you like it or not? guest: i think it is them saying that the p5 class, the permanent

five members of the un security council, plus germany coalition against iran has now been broken down to p2 +1, china, russia, plus iran having their own little pact on the side, and that iran can exploit these fissures, the west, china and russia, in this very important and vulnerable geopolitical moment in their relationship right now, and that tehran is going to use every avenue at its disposal to exploit that, especially given the kind of prices of legitimacy that tehran is facing from within and its own domestic politics, as well. nicole: very interesting. many thanks. guest: thank you very much. nicole: here are some of the stories making news today. an italian court acquitted the former prime minister of bribing witnesses in a trial related to his notorious parties with young

women. he was accused of paying guests to lie at previous trials. allegations surrounding the parties, which he maintains were elegant dinners, have dogged him for years. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, is stepping down. the scottish national party leader took office november 2014, soon after an independence referendum in scotland voted to remain part of the u.k., he is the longest-serving leader in scotland. traffic returned to normal at germany's busiest airport. an i.t. failure at frankfurt airport caused major disruption in flight cancellations. germany's airline blamed a problem with the check-in and boarding systems. the company says the fault was caused by railway engineering works that damaged broadband cables. rio de janeiro is gearing up for its first full-scale carnaval since the pandemic. while some celebrations went ahead last year in brazil, rio's

famous street parties were canceled. organizers reckon the festivities will be the biggest party on the planet. ♪ >> it has been described as a rebirth in rio. ♪ and in neighborhoods right across the city, are the sounds and colors of carnival that are back. this year sees the return of the world's biggest party. including the epic street's unofficial launch of carnaval. hundreds have been authorized after being banned due to the covid pandemic in 2022, and there is much to celebrate. >> now, in this carnaval, what we need is to be happy. there yourself and happiness. hug people. stay close.

>> i think that politically this year a special, not only because of the pandemic but also because we have had the victory of a left-wing government. i keep asking myself, what would become of this carnaval if it were not for this victory of a left-wing government? but for rio's world-famous somber schools, there is no time for dancing, just yet -- samb schoolsa, there is no time for dancing just yet. sewers have been working long hours to have everything ready for the parade. >> those who believe in this romantic carnaval that they see on the television, the greatest show on earth, it is all about passion. but it is also a lot of hard work. more than a year. and for rio's shop owners, they hope the city's passion for

carnaval will also see revelers spend big and help them to make up the loss of tourism during the pandemic. >> everything you need to samba the night away is on sale here. > with retailers expected to earn more than $970 million during the celebrations. nicole: it sure looks like it is going to be a good party. that is all for the news for now. stay with us because after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. hope to see you there. ♪

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mark: welcome to "live from paris" -- will news and analysis from france 24. more news from the rubble -- the woman pulled out alive after more than 24 hours trapped. there are still people to be saved as rescue workers keep up their frantic search against the clock. ukraine will get what it needs to beat russia. the nato defense ministers united in this viewpoint at their meeting in brussels, but behind the words, no sign of the aircraft ukraine has repeatedly