>> this is a dw news from berlin. in nigeria, accusations that the presidential election was ri gged. widespread voter fraud alleged. coming up, we will ask the world health organization about the difficult relief efforts in turkey and syria as anger mounts over both governments responses to those devastating earthquakes. ukraine acknowledging russian

that a field gains. president zelenskyy saying the situation is becoming more and more difficult as russia makes progress units attends to encircle the front-line city. ♪ i'm brent goff. to all of you around the world, welcome. you begin this tuesday with that contested election in nigeria. opposition parties are calling last weekend's presidential election to be scrapped. they say that it was a sham. the labour party and the people some aquatic party both say that the poll has been compromised. police gathered in front of the elector commission earlier today but officials have yet to respond to the demands of the parties. early results are showing -- of

the ruling all progressives congress leading the race to replace the outgoing president. but half of the country states have not reported their final results. this is a moving story. we want to go now to lagos, to our correspondent who is there right now. alisa, it is good to see you. bring us up-to-date. where are we right now? the vote counting is still not over, correct? >> yes, you are correct. what we can say is that the ruling party candidate has 30 8% of the votes cast so far with 14 states officially announced.

it was clearly won by the labour party and has got some states in the north. they also have some for the opposition party. as it stands, -- is the front runner. brent: explain to our audience why are these two main opposition parties, why are they taking this step, saying the election has been rigged and calling for a new election? that puts the integrity of the entire electoral process into question. >> yes, it does, and that is the point they are making. they are basically calling for a boycott, for a cancellation of the process and rehashing of the election on saturday. they clearly have put out this joint statement saying that it was widespread voter fraud. they cited all the -- that happened across the continent.

there is voter intimidation that happened. the main issue is the lack of electronic transmission of the results which he did say was supposed to be uploading the result in real time. because so much money was spent on this new electronic voter registration system and transmission system, which has not happened so that is a point of contention. results have not been published online and uploaded in real time. that has called the whole process into disrepute. brent: they are making accusations that the proof that the vote has been manipulated, you know, no one has put hard proof on the table yet, right? >> well, that is where, you

know, the boss himself has demand and has also stated that they should provide evidence. a couple of party leaders are saying the legal teams are quite busy so many people suspect perhaps should the results come out and it doesn't favor them, they might look at the legal angle. nigerians voted on saturday. today's tuesday. it does look certain that perhaps we will get a final result. some people want their votes to count, going out to the streets today. people are not really happy. they feel a little bit that they are not happy with the process. voter fraud. people feel that something has gone wrong some way.

something is missing somewhere according to the parties. brent: we will be waiting and see if we get some type of closure may be by tomorrow this time. our correspondent joining us tonight from nigeria with the latest on those elections there. thank you. three weeks since those devastating earthquakes that hit turkey in northern syria, they killed more than 50,000 people. turkey's president has asked for forgiveness for his government's slow response to the areas hardest hit. by the earthquake. he also blamed the aftershocks as well as bad weather and he rejected claims that the country was not prepared. the anger at the government's crisis management is presenting a major political challenge for erdogan. he hopes to seek reelection in may.

for more now, i want to pull in dr. hans, the regional director for europe and he joins me tonight from the city of -- the epicenter of those first deadly earthquakes. it is good to see you again. you have been to countless disaster zones around the world in your career. tell me, in your experience, how big of an impact has the weather had on rescue efforts when we are talking about post earthquake? >> >> definitely. this is the largest natural disaster that we have experienced in the last 100 years. i was meeting the minister of health today and he was saying that it impacted an area 50,000 square kilometers which is

larger than belgium, larger than switzerland, 11 provinces, 50 million people, so on one hand, i am impressed by the massive response by the turkish government. for example, they evacuated 50,000 patients from the area where i am now to other parts of the country. but generally, it is acknowledged that this is of a magnitude, a complexity which surpasses the capabilities of any single country and of course, the weather also brings complications. first was the winter but now, it is getting warmer and it has a lot of consequences. where do you store safely your food? the tapwater is not safe either because it is mixed with sewage so medical needs but also basic needs like shelter, safe water, and basic supplies. brent: what is the risk moving forward that we are going to see

a humanitarian crisis which we have right now in the aftermath of this earthquake turning into a public health crisis? the fact that people are still having to sleep outside, they don't have the basic necessities. how worried are you that this is going to become something much bigger? >> as of now, we don't see any outbreaks. i'm not speaking about northwest syria where the situation is different. in turkey, we are working very hard on strengthening the early warning systems, the surveillance, the laboratory capacity. it doesn't mean it cannot happen but for the time being, there is a solid system being put together. very, very fast. the biggest need ic and very interesting -- i just came back from ukraine, which is a man-made disaster.

the mental health of the whole nation has been impacted. people are losing trust, they told me, in the ground beneath their feet. i myself here awoke last night by an aftershock that has been more than 8000 aftershocks since fairbury sixth. we see that -- february 6. we see that the military and the doctors who are helping the people are impacted as well so the impact on mental health is massive and will have a long-term impact. brent: it is, for someone who has not experienced what these people in turkey and northern syria are experiencing, it is hard to imagine, and as you correctly said, dr., the mental impact, it will probably last for as long as these people live. regional director for the world health organization in europe, we appreciate your time and your

insights. thank you for all you are doing. thank you. all right. let's take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. medics say sudanese security forces shot dead a protester during a demonstration against military rule on tuesday. he was a 125th person to be killed in the weekly protests that have been held since the military coup back in october of 2021. police also fired tear gas at protesters marching towards the presidential palace in the capital of khartoum. the belarusian leader, alexander lukashenko, has arrived in beijing at the start of a three-day trip to china. pacheco, who is a key ally of the russian president, will have talks with the chinese leader, xi jinping. the visit comes amid continuing u.s. concerns that china may be seeking to arm russia in its war against ukraine. the european parliament has become the latest e.u.

institution to ban the popular apps tiktok on staff smartphones. it follows the european commission and the european councils move. the u.s. has also given federal employees 30 days to remove the app from their phones. there are fears that the chinese apps could be used for spying. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskyy, has warned the situation for ukrainian forces in the embattled eastern city of bakhmut is getting more and more difficult. russian troops have been trying to capture the city for six months now. recently, they stepped up their assault and have gone to encircle the city and the losses, they have been huge on both sides. >> they are fighting for every corner of this nearly destroyed city. bakhmut has become yet another symbol of ukraine's resistance against the invaders. it's soldiers have been holding the front line for months but

russian attacks have become more intense in recent days. >> you could say every house and every street is covered in our blood. our artillery is not managing to suppress their artillery. we have a lack of ammunition, a lack of professional drones that could conduct reconnaissance. >> bakhmut has omitted strategic value but it's capture would be a major symbolic victory for the russian army and the wagner group of mercenaries which appear to have put their differences aside. >> essentially, we have seen that, you know, in the political sphere, it seems that wagner tried to contest the ministry of defense. however, as of now, we are seeing that on the battlefield, they are still trying to achieve a common military strategic

objectives. >> most of the city's 70,000 the residence have long left bakhmut -- residents have long left bakhmut. soldiers have taken people to safety. if you have chosen -- a few have chosen to stay. >> so long as my home is intact and so long as i am not hurt, i am going to stay here. >> the scale of the destruction becomes clear when seen from above but as bakhmut may be about to be taken over, the city 's are trying to keep their spirits high. >> i was thinking maybe i will turn on the radio and listen to some music so i am not bored. and on the radio, i heard "ukrainian soldier, give up.

it has been taken by russians. leave your positions and surrender. we will spare you." i was like, yes, sure. i am driving through bakhmut and i'm going to surrender. so funny. >> with resources running low and overwhelming attacks, these soldiers are determined to make the russians pay a heavy price for bakhmut. brent: our ukraine correspondent, nick connolly, he has more from the city of bakhmut. nick: after weeks and months of false starts, it seems like a withdrawal might finally be on the cards. there's just one safe route left between the city and ukrainian territory. we heard from a top general who has complained russia is sending its best prepared and most experienced troops despite huge losses and we also know the u.s. has long been pushing ukraine to get out. they are convinced the potential gains from forcing russia to commit cute resources are simply

not worth the risk of seeing ukrainian troops encircled there. most of the planners, military planners, the experts, they say this is not a city with a huge strategic importance. it is just one of many cities in donbass in that part of eastern ukraine but symbolically, it has taken on a huge significance in the last couple of months. it has been the top of everyone's newsfeeds. president zelenskyy refers to the city as a fortress, trying to explain to ordinary ukrainians that it was worth risking ukrainian soldiers lives for the last couple months. that is now no longer the case. that will be very difficult indeed. brent: finland's parliament is holding a final debate on the bill that is needed for the country to join nato. the debate coincides with a visit to helsinki from nato general secretary -- secretary-general -- speaking alongside the finish prime minister earlier today, he

said that now is the time to allow both finland and sweden to join the military alliance. that comment, directed at two nato members, turkey and hungary . they are still standing in the way. as teri schultz reports tonight, turkey's opposition is causing the most concern. teri: side-by-side. that is how almost everyone presumed finland and sweden would travel the path to nato when they submitted their applications in may. >> this is a goodital moment for security. teri: turkish president erdogan put the brakes on the two country's bids, due to their perceived tolerance for kurdish groups he considers enemies. the three countries made a deal to work out their differences but only finland has succeeded. in sweden, where the officially

designated kurdish terrorist organization, the pkk, is more visible, activists targeted erdogan personally and burned a koran, stoking on kara -- stoking animosity. >> we don't have a major problem with respect to finland. we are always underlining that sweden should take concrete steps. teri: this led to a change in nato's infosys that the nordics joined together. >> the main question is not whether finland and sweden are ratified together. the main question is that they are both ratified as full members as soon as possible. teri: there has been a shift in helsinki, too. the president says joining together is his preference but -- >> we have applied for membership and should we now say that we cannot allow application customer teri: --application? teri: they are thinking more about their other neighbor now.

decades evaporated after russia launched a war on ukraine. >> it will be hard for decision-makers to justify to the people who are over 80% in favor of nato right now and also we are seeing our 50% of finns going in nato at this point even if sweden has not ratified it. teri: the swedish prime minister reacted angrily, warning that leaving sweden outside nato even temporarily would compromise both of their security. henry disagrees. >> sweden would be surrounded by nato members and would have finland on its eastern neighbor in a nato. i would not say it would be the worst possible scenario. i would say there is significant improvement. teri: at the moment, it is the most likely scenario. with finland holding part of entry elections in april, they would like to see a flag raised at nato under its watch and there's still a sliver of possibility for a tandem accession as stalled talks with turkey resume in march.

brent: that was teri schultz reporting. i spoke with her and asked her about where the debate stands now in finland. teri: we very much know what lawmakers think because they had to vote once already on getting the government permission to seek the application for membership and at that time, they voted on hundred 88 for seeking membership and only eight against. today, in this final reading of the bill, there was still a handful of people who felt like this was their last chance to make a stand against joining nato. there was a couple of speakers in opposition to it. but again, the bill is going to sail through. in fact, support for nato membership has only grown over the months since it was initially introduced with russia's continued brutality in ukraine. brent: we know finland and sweden applied together to join nato and now, it seems, ok, sweden may not be able to join as soon finland. it seems finlan is

contemplating may be going it alone. is that having any type of strain on relations between finland and sweden? teri: you can definitely see some tensions in public. at the munich security conference, swedish prime minister -- warned against splitting the bids. he said this would be dangerous for his country, that it would leave them abandoned, and the swedes very much feel this would take pressure off turkish president erdogan if they were allowed to get finland in now that i spoke to someone at nato who said this is what we think is the best path now. get finland in and then we can all focus on helping sweden get over that line, to. brent: if prime minister said the delay in ratification that is coming from hungary and turkey, she said it strains the open-door policy of nato. is that the case? teri: that is right and that was very interesting that she said that with the nato secretary-general standing right

next to her today and i think that was a very bold thing to say because it puts pressure back on nato to help finland and sweden overcome these obstacles that are not even really clear anymore in hungary and turkey so i think it strains the vision of unity in the alliance but you know, henry, who i spoke with in that story, said this is a good lesson for finland anyway. we find out that it is not a rose garden inside nato, that there are compromises to be made and politics being played out everywhere, not even with direct relevance to the issues at stake, he said, so we are learning some lessons here. i think both countries eventually will get in but it very much looks like finland will be first and that makes some people uncomfortable, especially in sweden. brent: turkey, obviously being the big blockade here, what is the status right now with turkey and with president erdogan? >> we thought turkey was the biggest obstacle and it probably is but you know, just today,

hungary announced that it was going to delay yet again it's vote on finland and sweden e.u.. this is a fellow e.u. member -- and sweden. this is a fellow e.u. member. no, viktor orban is delaying yet again. there is some hope for the turkish talks because now, talks are set up for next week, march 9, for the three parties to come to nato headquarters, so that will be secretary-general stoltenberg putting his own pressure on turkey to let in finland and sweden. he said today, it is time to get this done. brent: how correspondent with the latest tonight in brussels. as always, thank you. sports news now. the french football federation president has resigned after being accused of sexual harassment but rather than condemn him, major male figures in french soccer have been praising the 81-year-old, even suggesting he should keep his other job with world governing

body fifa. >> >> -- >> france's 2018 world cup triumph and is a powerful figure in the global game. but now, the 81-year-old president of the french football federation has been forced to resign after allegations of sexual harassment. he denies wrongdoing and was praised by his successor after an emergency meeting to announce he was quitting. >> it was a very important meeting for french soccer. it started with a very dignified statement by president -- the president who i believe has shown through the decision he took that he is one of the great leaders of french football. >> instead of criticizing the outgoing president over the harassment allegations, a top figure also had kind words for

him. he is inspected to continue as head of fifa's paris office. >> maybe fifa can help him out at this difficult time. i have always had a lot of respect for men and women who make lifelong commitments so i think this will be good for him. i could tell he appreciated fifa reaching out. >> all is not well in french football. women's national team coach -- is also under pressure to step down. the captain and two other players said they would skip the world cup in july. french media reported that he refused to play again because of her methods. click problems in the french game are coming home to roost. brent: now to some big weather. here is something you don't see very often, pictures from an

unusually snowy spain. take a look. residents of barcelona woke up to cedar city dusted -- in the white city dusted. a rarity in the generally mild spanish climate. it only snows in barcelona about once every 10 years. juliette is expected to cause low temperatures and strong cold winds across the country until thursday. enjoy it while you can. finally, it may be almost february. it is almost march, actually. in europe, on the others of the peninsula, they are already thinking about surfing. serve season, despite the cold. several souls have been braving the water in the surfer's paradise in portugal. take a look at that. a nearly 5000 meter deep underwater canyon helps generate these in our miss waves -- enormous waves hundreds of spectators watched on from the cliffs.

numerous records have been set right there. yes. all right. this is dw news from berlin. a reminder of the top story we are following for you, two main opposition parties are demanding this past weekend presidential election be canceled. they want new elections. they are alleging widespread voter fraud. early results show a lead for the ruling apc party. this is dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around. we will be right back.

>> hello and welcome to live from paris here on "france 24." the british prime minister heads to belfast to sell his renegotiated deal with the e.u. it hails the so-called windsor framework as the beginning of a new era for post brexit relations. fighting intensifies in the east of ukraine is russian troops step up their offensi around the town of bock moot. it comes as the top psecutor arrives to