from berlin. another russian missile strike on civilian homes in ukraine. a five-story apartment building is almost completely destroyed. several victims were killed in their sleep in the southern city of zaporizhzhia. g20 foreign ministers meeting in india failed to agree on a joint approach to the war in ukraine. russia's sergey lavrov blames the west for blocking a joint statement.

and a series of mystery poisoning cases at girls schools in iran. there are claims hardline religious groups could be trying to stop girls from getting an education. growing hopes of an agreement to protect the oceans from pollution. a deal would wrap up more than a decade of international negotiations. ♪ i am gerhard elfers. welcome to the program. we begin in ukraine, where at least four people have been killed in a russian missile attack on an apartment building in the southern city of zaporizhzhia. a search-and-rescue operation is underway to find people still trapped under the rubble. president volodymyr zelenskyy has condemned the strike and vowed to drive all occupiers out

of ukraine. reporter: the russian missile hit overnight, turning this five-story building into a mangled ruin of rubble and debris. authorities say many residents here were asleep in their homes when the attack happened. with no time to escape. >> the people were screaming. it was hard to hear. we were shocked. the rescuers came and the people were under the rubble. reporter: for rescuers, the desperate search for signs of life is a dangerous one. but the reward is worth it. as more people are pulled from the rubble, injured, but alive. >> a man, 30 years old. he slipped on a couch. got trapped by a concrete slab

when the rocket hit. for almost three hours, rescuers worked to recover him from under the slab. he is alive and well. everything is fine. reporter: but there is little comfort for those able to walk away from the ruins. on a waiting bus, they watch on as rescuers pick through what is left of their homes. more lives, now shattered by russia's ongoing aerial assault on ukraine and its people. gerhard: our dw's nick connolly is in kyiv and gave us this update on the attack in zaporizhzhia. nick: there are still many people unaccounted for, and there is an expectation that the casualty figures might still rise. we know that of the people who were recovered alive from the ruins, there was a pregnant woman and children believed to be among the survivors. in terms of how this happened, for now we have information from the ukrainian authorities, they say that this was a russian s300 missile.

that's originally an anti-aircraft, air defense rocket, but given that russia is running out of ammunition they are repurposing those to attack ukrainian targets. that is a weapon that is very difficult to defend against. it's a ballistic rocket, it travels much faster than the normal cruise missiles and travels in a way that makes it pretty much impossible to intercept. so, especially for cities like zaporizhzhia that are very big, have big area, it is difficult to see how they are going to avoid this kind of danger in the future. gerhard: this is not the first time that zaporizhzhia and the surrounding region have been targeted by russian strikes. what is it about the city itself and its location, maybe, that makes it important for russia? nick: this is the regional capital in a part of ukraine that russia has annexed, at least the bits it controls and lays claim to the entirety of the region, including zaporizhzhia. this is only a couple dozen kilometers away from the front line. so any rockets can travel to zaporizhzhia very fast from

russia's position. there are a lot of places where you have a lot of time when you hear the air raid warning to get to safety. this is also a very crucial logistical and industrial hub. this is basically ukraine's base for those southern front lines. a kind of war zone of hundreds of kilometers where russians and ukrainians are facing off. so there's definitely a reason for the russians to go after the city. we have seen time and time again that they are not doing anything, or very little visible, in terms of efforts to avoid civilian casualties. and lots of their weapons are just very old, they are not necessarily being used for their original purpose, and as such, civilian victims are just par for the course. we are still seeing people still leaving zaporizhzhia a year into this war because they are not seeing any hope for greater safety and they are leaving in significant numbers. gerhard: there are also reports about an alleged attack by soldiers apparently aligned with ukraine on russian soil. what do you know about that incident? nick: the longer this goes on,

since those first initial reports in russian government media, the more confusing it is. but certainly the view from kyiv is that this is a false flag operation, an attempt to rally people in russia to the cause of this war, to try to reengage their interest, and to show russians that this is a ukrainian attack on russian soil, and hopefully encourage them to sign up to fight in in putin's military. so far, lots of the things are very contradictory to the information we have heard from them. there is an expectation that there could be revenge attacks, retribution attacks on ukraine the next couple of days. people have been calling on ukrainians to listen to those air raid warnings and go to shelters, and not think that they are in safety. there is an expectation that there could be significant escalation the next couple of days. gerhard: nick connolly in kyiv, thank you. a meeting in delhi of the g20 group of leading nations has ended in disagreement over the war in ukraine. india's foreign minister says differences on the invasion

could not be reconciled. despite their opposing stances, the u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and his russian opposite, sergey lavrov, met for the first time since the war began. reporter: a gathering of leaders beset by division. as host of the g20 foreign ministers meeting, india was determined to focus attention beyond the war in ukraine. but despite their best efforts, the conflict quickly dominated the agenda. for the first time since the war began, the u.s. and russian top diplomats spoke face-to-face on the sidelines of the summit. >> i told the foreign minister what i and so many others said last week at the united nations, and what so many g20 foreign ministers said today. end this war of aggression. engage in meaningful diplomacy

that can produce a just and durable peace. reporter: but the brief exchange did little to narrow the divide between them. instead, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov accused western nations of turning the g20 into a farce. after hours of negotiation, ministers from 20 of the world's wealthiest nations were unable to agree on a joint declaration. >> there were differences on the ukraine issue, which we could not reconcile between various parties who had differing positions. reporter: the final declaration had called for russia's complete withdrawal from ukraine, a passage that moscow rejected. but they were not alone. china also objected to the statement, raising concerns in the west that the two nations are moving closer together. ukraine and its western allies fear that china may be considering providing weapons to russia, and beijing's decision to side with moscow at the g20

has only reinforced that concern. gerhard: michael beckley is an associate professor of political science at tufts university and the author of a number of publications on china's position in global politics. and i asked him earlier about the developing russia-china alliance. michael: that alliance was announced more than a year ago as a no limits partnership, and now it looks like beijing is starting to back up its rhetoric with actual material support. there have been reports showing that china has been sending critical components to russia, things like navigation systems, parts for fighter aircraft, and computer chips. now there is of course credible intelligence suggesting china is considering sending lethal aid. so this is very much an alliance. china seems to be backing russia in increasing ways, and obviously the west, the u.s. and its allies, are increasingly united in supporting ukraine. gerhard: who has more to gain in this partnership, russia or

china? michael: russia certainly does, just given its precarious position. russia really has few allies left, and so it needs china as a source of revenue to sell oil and natural gas to, and now increasingly for resupply of all different types of things. most critically, computer chips, just given that russia has been cut off from those and needs it not only to power its economy, but also to keep its war machine alive and kicking. so, china has been a critical conduit, and china has also been running useful interference for russia by touting russian propaganda, spreading it not just within china but across the developing world where china has great influence. so clearly russia is benefiting more right now, but that does not mean that russia is not important to china. russia is also very important for chinese interests. gerhard: what are the chinese interests here? michael: i think first and foremost, china cannot allow russia to go down in a humiliating and catastrophic defeat, because that might

destabilize russia itself, and then china would have to deal with a destabilized russia right on its borders. china also needs to make a good show of supporting its ally, given that it has put its credibility on the line by announcing that no limits partnership. and also russia helps china accomplish its broader goal of pushing back against the liberal world order, and trying to push forward a more autocratic, hierarchical vision of world order based on state sovereignty. so there is a number of interest here, and of course russia can supply china with vital commodities, food, as well as oil and gas. gerhard: so how much do you think will china want to risk losing in order to keep up its support for russia? michael: i think right now china is trying to have it both ways. this is why they put forward that peace proposal, the 12 point peace proposal that basically would have ratified russian gains. they want to show that they are a good global citizen so they can maybe maintain trade ties,

especially with the european union. while at the same time behind the scenes, creating facts on the ground. i think china, if russia looks like it is going to go down in defeat, china would be willing to up its support for russia, even at the cost of economic and diplomatic links with the west. i do not know if china would be willing to sacrifice real blood and treasure though to actually get militarily involved. i am very skeptical of that. but upping the support to the level of lethal aid is certainly not out of the question, given that china has this overriding interest in keeping russia standing. gerhard: do you think this is a real long-term partnership, or is china just being pragmatic here? michael: i think it is a long-term partnership, because china does not have a lot of allies in the world, either. russia is really its only major great power ally. and so, you have north korea, you have pakistan, you have venezuela. but this really is the core of a broader autocratic coalition that includes countries like belarus and iran as well.

china is hoping that this will be a sustainable partnership. china might be fine with a weakened russia that is more dependent on china but not a pressure that is -- not a russia that is flailing and has internal instability as a result of that defeat. gerhard: michael beckley from tufts university, thank you very much for that analysis. the invasion of ukraine a year ago prompted a dramatic u-turn in germany's defense policy. chancellor olaf scholz announced a sharp rise in spending on the armed forces. now, scholz has told parliament what he believes has been achieved and what still needs to be done. reporter: it has been one year since chancellor olaf scholz announced what he called a turning point for germany. scholz's government committed to significantly increasing funding for german defense and started sending heavy weapons to ukraine, including state-of-the-art tanks.

taking stock a year after that pivotal speech, scholz made clear germany will continue supporting ukraine's defense. >> wanting peace does not mean submitting to a bigger neighbor. if ukraine stopped defending itself, it would not be peace, but the end of ukraine. reporter: but he said germany needs to increase the capabilities of its own army, also by upping the production and purchase of weapons in imitation. >> defense minister pistorius and i are talking to the defense industry about a real change of track towards rapid, planning-oriented, and efficient acumen of defense equipment for the boom to surveyor and other european armies. reporter: the opposition says progress is too slow. >> you quite rightly mentioned cooperation with the arms industry and with european partners. but why were weapons orders, why were decisions not already made

in the last year? reporter: marie-agnes is chair of the defense committee and a member of the governing coalition. she says much has been achieved in the last year, but there is still room for improvement. >> we are still not fast enough. we have to become faster. on one hand because of the war in ukraine but also because we have an obligation towards nato, and that means more equipment, more personnel. reporter: such a shift in germany's defense and security policy was almost unthinkable before russia invaded ukraine. but more work remains for the german government to truly make good on its promises. gerhard: time now to have a look at some of the other stories making headlines today. former german chancellor gerhard schroder has escaped being thrown out of his own political party over his close ties to russia. members of the centerleft social democrats sought his expulsion

over his links to russian state energy companies. but the party committee says he did not break any rules. firefighters in hong kong are battling a blaze at an under construction skyscraper. multiple floors are engulfed in in flames. four nearby structures also caught fire, but those fires were extinguished. the death toll in greece's worst rail crash has risen to 57. recovery work is still underway at the scene. officials have admitted to serious problems with the rail system, as anger is growing over the head-on collision. the health minister of iran says an investigation is underway into allegations that religious groups may be targeting schoolgirls in poison attacks. hundreds of girls are thought to have been affected by toxic gas at dozens of schools.

several politicians claim groups opposing girls education are to blame. reporter: a school day that ended in the hospital. >> i feel pain in my chest and when i walk, my legs shake a bit. >> when i stand up i feel dizzy and my entire body feels very numb, which means i cannot walk. >> in one of the workshops, there was a smell that was like the smell of paint, so we evacuated the students. reporter: these are the latest victims of alleged poisonings that have sickened hundreds of female students from dozens of schools since november. many have been taken to hospital with respiratory problems and report smelling something strange before falling ill. the government has announced an investigation into what officials are saying could be an attempt to close down girls schools. >> we have assigned a special committee to investigate this matter, and this committee is comprised of the best toxicologists and university

professors. reporter: but parents say authorities have been slow to act, or answer their questions. some have suspicions that the girls may have been targeted in an act of revenge. young women were at the forefront of anti-regime protests that have rocked iran in recent months. iranian activists say this footage shows a concerned mother outside a school being attacked by a man who they believe is a plainclothes officer, something tehran's police force have denied. parents continue to hope for answers, but few expect clarity anytime soon. gerhard: the united nations is urging countries to agree on a treaty to protect marine life and biodiversity in the oceans. negotiators are hoping more than a decade of talks will wrap with a formal deal. scientists are warning that pollution is damaging the fragile ecosystems of our seas,

and more needs to be done to safeguard them. reporter: our oceans are under threat. from plastic waste, climate change, and over-fishing. and yet, we humans need oceans. they provide us with food and transport routes. they regulate our climate. and offer a range of valuable raw materials. but vast areas remain poorly protected, if at all. in particular, those that are more than 200 nautical miles from the coast, the high seas. >> within coastal waters, they are under the jurisdiction of a country. so, that country has the tools that it needs to try and protect or conserve those waters as appropriate. that's not the case for the high seas, because the high seas are international waters. they are beyond the jurisdiction of any country. and so it makes protecting them and conserving them much more difficult. reporter: a lack of uniform

regulations makes it hard to curb illegal fishing or overfishing caused an international waters, or monitor damage caused by mining and drilling. although the high seas cover more than half of the earth's surface, just 1% is protected. but that could change. the united nations is considering a high seas treaty to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine diversity in international waters. >> enable the international community to create these protected areas in the high seas. we also hope that it will do a couple of other things. we hope that it will help to coordinate these different sectors and different activities that are going on. to bring a sense of all of the cumulative impacts that might be impacting a particular place of the high seas. reporter: the fate of the treaty is unclear. developing countries and emerging economies want marine resources to be shared equitably, while the eu and others want greater species protection. the deadline to reach an agreement is the end of the week.

gerhard: let's bring in laura meller, she's a scientific advisor for the environmentalist group greenpeace and she joins us now from new york where she is helping to lobby for an agreement on that ocean treaty. why is this treaty so important? laura: this global ocean treaty is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn the tide of the current ocean crisis and put us on a path to protecting the oceans. it was only two months ago that all governments committed to protecting at least 30% of the oceans by 2030. what scientists say is the bare minimum to allow marine life a chance to heal from all the pressures they are facing. and on this target, time is running out very fast. and without a strong global ocean treaty, it is not possible to create fully and highly protected ocean sanctuaries in

the majority of the world's oceans. gerhard: if it is so urgent, why has it been so difficult, and why did it take so many years to come even close to an agreement? laura: i think it is very recently that governments have realized just how big and urgent the ocean crisis is and the need to protect them. i think it was, for a very long time, they were considered an unlimited resource where you can always dump more and where you can always take more. but it has been very encouraging to see that, in the recent years, this has changed, and there is a clear understanding that the protection is urgent. gerhard: so what or who are the main obstacles here? laura: i think the main challenges we are facing is

finding an agreement that is strong in its ability to create marine protected areas and manage them without deferring to existing bodies that look after , for example, fishing that have been failing to secure healthy oceans. and the other one is to make sure that there is enough resources put forward to make sure that this treaty can be put into action in a fair and equitable way. gerhard: talking about resources, if a treaty is finally agreed and signed, how difficult will it be to implement and police? who would enforce it, if necessary? laura: certainly, i would say agreeing a strong global ocean treaty here and now is a beginning that allows

governments then to move from years and years and years of talking, to actually making change happen at sea. and so, it would be the governments who are agreeing the treaty tomorrow that would need to commit to invest and making sure that it's actually putting into action and does not remain just words on paper. gerhard: laura meller there, a advisor with greenpeace. thank you very much. laura: thank you. gerhard: let's get a roundup now of some more new stories. more than 200 people have been killed in weeks of fighting between security forces and clans in somalia's breakaway somaliland region. clashes have centered around an area where local militias have pledged their support to the central government. nigeria's presidential candidate peter obi says he is the real

winner of saturday's election and will contest the outcome in court. official results put him in third place, while the ruling party candidate was declared the victor. observers say there is no evidence of any fraud. two u.s. astronauts and a russian cosmonaut are on their way to the international space station. they blasted off from cape canaveral in florida. also on board is the first astronaut from the arab world, spending several months in space. a string of destructive winter storms has lashed the u.s. west coast, bringing blizzards to areas of california that are unused to freezing conditions. yosemite national park has closed indefinitely, and record snowfalls have caused widespread disruption. reporter: for some, it brought pure, unadulterated joy.

>> whoo! >> man, i just rolled down the hill. having fun with these kids. playing in the snow, we have not had snow like this in 30 years. it felt good to become a kid again. reporter: and real kids, too, made the most of the rare snowfall in this part of southern california, just east of los angeles. but the winter storms have also caused serious problems, with nearly one meter of snow in some areas. major highways had to be shut, and the blizzards knocked out power to thousands of homes. emergency crews are scrambling to shuttle food and medicine to communities cut off from the snow. >> our county fire and sheriff and public works crews can deliver medicine and food to those who are still homebound. we know that roofs are starting to collapse. we have elevated this situation into a unified command with all

of our emergency cooperators and every available resource that we have at the county and the state that they can provide will be thrown at this incident. reporter: with more snow expected in the coming weeks, residents will have to brace for the harsh conditions to continue. gerhard: you are watching "dw news." here's a reminder of our top stories. a russian missile strike on an apartment building in ukraine has killed at least four people. victims were asleep in the five-story block in the southern city of zaporizhzhia. that is it for me and the news team. i am gerhard elfers. don't go away. in a few moments i will be back to guide you through "the day." see you then. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption contt and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> this is "live from paris." the fierce battle continues for corol of the eastern ukrainian city of bakhmut. residents artrickling out of the ruined city, carrying with them whatever they can. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken tells pressure's top diplomat sergei lavrov to end the military occupation in ukraine -- tells russia's top diplomat, sergei lavrov, to end the military occupation in

ukraine. -- russia's top diplomat sergei ey lavrov. welcome back. we begin in eastern ukraine in the syzygy of -- in the city of bakhmut were kyiv soldiers are managing to hold onto their positions in the city. even so, wagner group are continuing to advance on e city, and terrified residents are trickling out of the area, carrying with them whatever they can. moscow sees the city as being strategic in their bid to seize the surrounding donbass region. >> 15 kilometers from bakhmut, ukrainians are digging

's of defense. intensified russian shelling has destroyed homes and forced residents to flee. >> we stayed until the very last moment. we wanted to stay but where? the flat has not been destroyed. it is time to go. >> sounds of outgoing artillery collector the streets, but not everyone seems phased by the fighting. >> i had a flight in back look. it does not exist anymore. i worked all my life to buy it. i do not fear anything anymore. i'm 70 and i have seven grandchildren. >> some residents simply adapt, bordering -- boarding up windows and collecting supplies at humanitarian aid centers. the battle for has become the most protracted in the war -- -e

for bakhmut. it is unclear when the footage was shot. the location has been verified as two kilometers from backman -- bakhmut's center. some officials in kyiv have talked about a strategic withdrawal from the city, but an army spokesperson says no such decision has been made. >> meanwhile, the kremlin is accusing ukrainian saboteurs of crossing into western russia and firing on villages. president putin says these are the actions of what he called ukrainian terrorists. they've denied this and says it is probably an attempt but russia for cooking up a premise for its own attacks.

telus, what's the scale of these alleged cross-border incursions? >> this allegeincursion this morng is the biggest so far. apparently there are about 45 n involved from the so-called russian volunteer corps, which was apparently set up by a far right character. this incursion was across the border into the region of russia there, and they got into a village, they shot a post office . they g fil of thselves ouide of a medal center, an apparently fired on aar, killing civilians -- a car carrying civilians, killed one person.

there was one border guard who did not take any hosges. there have been previous smaller incursions. about five ukrainians who were all kied a couplof months ago. those are irregular ukrainian units regularly held at arms length from the government in kyiv. this apparently some kind ■of homegrown for based in ukraine across the border. >> we will be hearing from either side, the russians and ukrainians, for what the motives might be. >> t russians just saying this is a terrorist attack. ukrainians not playing by the rules of war, but from russia's

side, who knows these days? the ukrainians are very careful never to claim responsibility for these types of things, and they deliberately muddy the waters, and that happened today with the spokesman for volodymyr zelenskyy, the uainian president, saying this could have been some kind of homegrown attend --ome kind of homegrown atmpt or a false flag operation from the russians themselves. the ukrainians are neverery clear about these things. there have been quite a few drone attacks, couple of airbases in russia. drones did hit military targets, and also early this week, drones

fell close to oifacilities. this has considerably unnerved the kremlin. quick thank you very much indeed for bringing us the latest analysis. the russian invasion of ukraine dominates the discussion of the gathering of g-24 ministers in delhi today. the g20 is one of the last forms to which the russian delegation is still invited. the meeting drew to a close without a joint statement, and that is something that russia's top diplomat blames squarely on the west. he accused it of, and i quote, "obscene behavior." >> nipped in the bud just hours after it started. g-20 foreign ministers were unable to reach consensus as they gathered in new delhi on thursday. >> unfortunately, the declaration on behalf of all

g-20 ministers could not be approved. our western colleagues tried by all possible means to give prominence to the situation in ukraine, which they present under the spin of russian aggression. >> later on thursday, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken suggested there was some degree of consensus. >> the chair's statement on india today reaffirmed the declaration of g20 leaders last year which strongly condemned the war in ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragility's in the global economy. russia and china were the only two countries that made clear that they would not sign on to that text. >> g-20 countries are divided over the war in ukraine. india and china both have strong ties with moscow and hav refused to condemn russia's invasion. blinken lavrov -- blinken and

lavrov both spoke at the summit. the russian foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the two have spoken, stressing that they did not hold negotiations or a formal meeting. blinken said he had no plans of meeting either his russian or chinese counterpart. >> four people have been arrested in tehran in connection with the assault of a woman outside a girls school. her girl was filmed being beaten outside of a school at a time when tensions are running high. this speculation poisonings at girls schools could be an attempt at stopping girls education. iran has seen protests in which hundreds have been killed. >> i have reported from iran for a very long time, so i have a od sense when the government, government officials are trying

to hide something, to cover up not.thing, and when they are my sense is that they are confused, too. they arerying to get a handle on this. they want to figure out what is happening. they don' want negative headlines again in international dia, so theyay they ve started an investigation. the prident has charged the interior minisy with finding out what is happening. one official last week came out and made a statement -- he said someone is trying to end girls' education here, and that led to a lot of headlines for those who are not familiar with the run, i think it is impoant to pot out that there's neve bn a movement here against girls education. in fact, the government here, values girls' educaon veryand much. half of women here are college

graduates, and tt's a sign of a society that stresses girls' educatio human rights, women's rights is another issue, but that adds to the mystery and the confusion. what i happening? is there someone behind this, or is this an industrial accident? if it is, how come it is happening in such a widespread area? lots of questions, very few answers. >> the israeli prime minister has hit out at protesters who clashed with police in tel aviv. netanyahu has described them as being anarchists. he may be particularly angry because at large crowd gathered last night outside aeauty salon in tel aviv with his wife was having her hair done. netanyahu is a polarizing figure in israel, but she was met with chants of "shame, shame or co---

"shame, shame." do you get the impression the level of anger at these proposed reforms has taken netanyahu and his government by surprise? >> i don't tnk it has taken them by surpris i think what happened now that we are in our ninth week of protests is that the voters themselves for netanyahu were surprise. much of the country. the election was about returning netanyahu to power, approaches toward internal security, and the economy, and many voters found themselves surprised when the coalition turned its full force of attention not to security, not to rise in cost of living, but to the judiciary. >> i expect many are scratching their heads saying perhaps there's a little bit of a

conflict of interest. >> absolutely, and this is something that is absolutely addressed by our attorney general who told netanyahu that he has a conflict of interest given that he is currently on trial for three different corruption ces. of course, this has also been folded into the judicial reform overhaul among 10 or so outstanding proposals that are expected to be pushed through by the end of this month, is one that would prevent the high court of justice from forcing a prime minister from taking a leave of absence if it were for any reason other than menta or physical health. you can see how power is already starting to filter through an tension is already starting to filter through some of these protests. >> you have the protests, for example, outside parliament in jerusalem. there's been large street protests and clashes in tel aviv, and there's a lot of powerful people in the israeli

society and the israeli world of business, who are pretty horrified by these plans, which are scaring off investors, it would appear. is there any sense that anyone has any chance of putting the brakes on these judicial reforms? >> this coalition is united in its right wing ideology in that it wants to have these reforms. each of the parties in this coalition want this suite of reforms for different practical reasons, and netanyahu's side, our justice minister who yesterday reportedly blocked netanyahu from agreeing to take a 1.5-week-long freeze in the legislative push in order to allow for dialogue. netanyahu's coalition is being held together for these -- by these refms for complicated political reasons that also tie into agreements that they made to pass by a certain timeline.

the only thing that could possibly stop this, i thi, is bigger bogeyman than the prospect of the government falling apart. reminding again but as we would just had its fifth election in four years, and political stability is something that israelis and politicians deeply crave. what a bigger bogeyman could be, possibly the economy. we received another letter this morning from more than 250 of israel's top leading economists, including a bank of israel governor that netanyahu himself appointed, saying that long reaching effects on the economy will be results of these reforms. the question is, could this be a big enough demand -- big enough bogeyman to eventually stop the reforms? we will find out. >> the cabinet looks united, but extremely isolated, doesn't it?

when you take into account you just mentioned. >> i'm not sure what you mean by isolated. isolated from the rest of political -- >> well, yeah, from the country, from what people on the street actually think and apparently in quite large numbers. >> they actually very well represent a certain segment of israeli society, which is the far right segment of society that has almost a messianic approach towards land and religion in israel, very committed to west bank settlement, believes that jewish sovereignty needs to be over that land as well as the ultraorthodox parties. if you remember, both those segments are growing in terms of israeli demographics, and they are the backbone of this coalition. you have about 75% of the voters for this coalition supporting the reforms. of course, that's not a majority

of israelis. you have the vast majority of israelis not supporting these reforms, but that is the problem we currently have, that there is strong support on the fringes of israeli society for these reforms, and these are the politicians who are currently in power. >> this really is the last question. supposing these reforms are put in place. can the adnistrati simply scrap them? >> that is precisely the problem. because israel does not have a constitution, rather we have these because i constitutional -- these quasi-constitutional laws, anything can be rewritten, and that is sort of the central conversation that is going on. many israelis agree that there is a need for reform. what they disagree about is if there should be reformed to strengthen liberal democratic inciplesour overha to basically i changed -- basically

add change power balance. >> political correspondent at "the times of israel," thank you very much indeed for taking the time to speak with us. officials at guinea and ivory coast say they are repatriating hundreds of their citizens from tunisia. sub-saharan migrants were accused of being criminals by the country's president. many have lost their jobs and houses and some have even reported being attacked physically. >> relieved and escorted back to safety, these canadians -- these canadians -- these guineans have been returned to the country. >> when we go out, they catch us and put us in jail. people talk about repatriation. they have prepared a special prison. when they catch you, they send

you there. >> there are an estimated 21,000 sub-saharan migrants in tunisia following the president's speech on terminating illegal immigration. most are victims of violent assault, eviction without notice, or rest. >> we cannot allow anyone to illegally reside in tunisia. there is a state and there are institutions. in some areas, the matter has reached a point of setting up courts. >> in the past week, dozens of migrants stood outside of their embassies, seeking repatriation, prompting guinea to judge emergency flights. >> we went to get them. we brought them back safe and sound. this simply means the doctrine advocated by the head of state remains in force. >> other countries like the

ivory coast in -- and mali have announced repatriation flights for those willing to return. >> president emmanuel macron is currently on a 4-nation tour of south africa. it comes at a time when china and russia are both jockeying for regional influence. president macron said france had no desire to interfere in african affairs and said the age of french interference was over. let's listen to what the president said. >> it is precisely for the purpose of building a balance partnership on climate and diversity issues, on climate and industrial issues to defend our interests and different common causes. we have not come to invest in anyone. i have come to show my friendship and consideration by -- for people who are friend and

brother. >> the french president speaking there. the next stop on his tour is angola and from there, the democratic republic of congo. egypt's antiquities authorities newly unveiled a chamber inside one of the great pyramids of giza. the discovery thought to date back some 4500 years was made thanks to modern scanning technology. let's hope this kind of tech will lead to all sorts of other archaeological findings. the chamber in question is nine wide, and it was found next to the great pyramid in khufu. it is time now for truth or fake , our daily fact checking segment. welcome to the program. you have been looking into more online misinformation surrounding the war in ukraine. he claims russia has destroyed the first of ukraine's donated

leopard two tanks. >> yes, viral post claim russia has captured and destroyed the first of ukraine's leopard two tanks sent to the ukrainian front lines. let's take a look. in this first photo claim here, we can see there's 185 on this view alone. what we can see is a battered tank submerged in water with the russian flag poking out of it. the first leopard two captured by russian soldiers. this is interesting -- they have used the former russian name indicating this is a pro-russian account. we also have a second one, slightly different but in the same vein, and this user has over 132,000 views.

we can see that says wagner fighters have destroyed the liver two tank. this user has made a slightly that has named a slightly different place but has attributed the destruction of the tanks directly to the russian military. in terms of the tanks themselves, we know these have indeed arrived in ukraine after much documentation through the media. they arrived last week on february 24, the first anniversary of the war starting, sent by poland after lengthy hesitance by germany, so we know that they are there, but the claims are not necessarily true. >> how do we know they are misinformation? >> a simple reverse image search of the two photos made it clear that both of those images work

taken well before the conflict began in ukraine. that same photo that we saw of the battered tank upside down submerged in the water appeared on this website, this is a russian-language for them, and it was taken at least 23 years ago at the bottom of the page of this forum. it was actually dated. show you there, it was actually dated december 2006, so we know that this picture is at least 23 years old. we can also see the tank does not carry a russian flag, a pretty strong indication this photo has been manipulated. the second picture we saw actually appeared on this website, this is a russian website, and again, dated february 2018, so what we do know is the picture of the tank is not from ukraine and is not a recent picture. the article indicates to us that it was a tank destroyed by the kurds against the turks in the

syrian civil war. there's also been no verified official news media confirming any leopard 2's seized or destroyed by russia. this was posted by the founder and head of the mercenary wagner group, and he actually posted an audio file earlier on. so far, there have been no fights with the leopard. overall, both of those claims, both of those images of russia having destroyed the leopard 2's sent to ukraine, these are clearly being used out of context to continue to stimulate and perpetuate that pro-russian narrative and to really continue to push the idea that russia is winning. quickset brings you up-to-date with the world news. thank you for watching. stay tuned to france 24.

03/02/23 03/02/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> russia attacked ukraine and russia is the country which must take a stepped up and do something so peace comes possible. what is necessary is the withdrawal of troops. amy: as russian and ukrainian forces battle for control of the city of bakhmut, calls are growing for the war to end but deep divisio r