>> this is dw news. ukraine marks one year since the discovery of alleged war crimes. volodymyr zelenskyy leads the remembrance of killings killed -- carried out by russian troops during five weeks of occupation and grieving families pay their respects. also, donald trump lawyers haggle over the terms of have a -- of his arrest after a grand

jury indicts a former u.s. president for the first time in history. the biggest showdown in years is just hours away. in munich, a new coach with a top spot up for grabs. ♪ >> welcome to the program. ukraine has been marking a year since bucha which that was liberated. president volodymyr zelenskyy declared his country would never forgive those responsible for the horrors inflicted on the town which is 30 km from the capitol kyiv. ukrainian troops who liberated the area discovered devastation and substantial evidence of alleged war crimes carried out by russian forces. >> president volodymyr zelenskyy. ♪ >> was joined by the leaders of

moldova, slovakia, croatia and slovenia at the commemoration ceremony that took lace in front of a church where mass burial sites were discovered after ukraine gained control of the town one year ago. images of the atrocities committed during the occupation were beamed around the world. dead men and women lying in the streets, some with their hands tied behind their backs. >> on the streets of bucha, the world has seen russian people. people unmasked. the world has seen with the kremlin tried to bring to other streets of ukraine other streets of europe. and the world. which could have been occupied by russians if it weren't for you. if it weren't for us. if it weren't for ukrainians. >> the president headed out

medals to soldiers. relatives of those who died fighting to take back bucha were also awarded posthumously. kyiv says more than 1400 people were killed, including children, during the occupation. global leaders have emphasized their solidarity with ukraine and its pursuit of justice. >> is this brutal war drags on, we remain steadfast in condemning russia's aggression and atrocities. we all saw near kyiv and other regions across ukraine. >> many ukrainians marked the first anniversary of bucha's liberation by visiting the town's cemetery to honor the memory of the residents and soldiers killed. >> bucha has become a byword for the brutality of the russian invasion as prosecutors gather evidence of alleged atrocities. those responsible have not

been held to account for you may find images in our next report disturbing. >> this is bucha. a peaceful, unassuming place. this is how it looked after the russians fled one year ago. the bodies of civilians left to rot on the road surrounded by shopping that was never delivered. some with their hands bound. >> you can see it for yourself. these are civilians. this woman was carrying potatoes and snipers shot them all in the head out of boredom. >> how could this happen? >> to understand how this quiet residential street turned into hell, you have to meet the people who lived, died and survived here.

men like -- seen here trying to keep warm in the early days of the russian occupation. not long after this video, he joined his nce's boyfriend who wanted to check up on his own father. he never came home. the family found his body weeks later. >> we were cycling and then the shooting started. we didn't see from where. >> then there is hola, a welder who loved football. his wife described how russian soldiers turned up at their now destroyed home, then ordered -- away. >> i thought, where is --? i saw he was lying there. they took him around the corner

and put him on his knees and shot him in the. -- in the head. i stood next to him, then fell to my knees. the russians were sitting across the street. >> neighbor vladimir was borrowing a bike when he was killed. russian marksmen fired their guns with impunity. >> his neighbor wanted to take him away and bury him in the yard so his corpse would not be left lying on the street. what a sniper wounded the neighbor in the shoulder. the bullet went straight through him and he fled. >> in the days after the liberation, bodies were discovered in sellers and mass graves too. an estimated 10% of the remaining population killed in a month-long reign of terror. bilotta mayor zelenskyy visited the town too. his face etched with anguish.

>> these are war crimes and this will be recognized as genocide by the world. >> in order to prosecute war crimes, ukrainian and international investigators must first identify the culprits. never mind arrest them. a painstaking task that may never succeed. for nadia, whose daughter was killed, justice will be served one way or another. >> used -- bucha used to be nice and clean and there was order. everyone lived well. then these animals came and in one month they turned it into -- i don't know what. may god punish them for the rest of their lives.

>> t recover, but they, nor the world, will never forget. >> -- is a lawyer with the ukrainian legal advisory group which collects and documents evidence of war crimes committed during the invasion. i asked him how the bucha investigation is progressing. >> thanks for having me. there are multiple investigations being conducted right now by law enforcement agency says as well as civil organizations and independent investigators. they are ongoing. unfortunately, this takes time, identifying and gathering evidence. so, this is rather a process. although it already in some instances springs some results. some of the military units being identified, or even some

specific suspects of alleged crimes that have been committed in the area. >> already you have painted a picture that there are multiple investigations from multiple groups, not one group coordinating everything. the identification of suspects is particularly interesting. will you need to identify individuals -- individual soldiers for each death in order to prosecute? >> yes and no. i would say that of course to hold the direct perpetrator to account, you need to have them identified. however, international criminal law has the -- as the command responsibility established, means that even if we are not holding the direct perpetrator to account, the person who specifically, directly shot a civilian, for example, their

commanders can bear responsibility for them. given how difficult it might be to identify all of the perpetrators, this is unlikely to be the case necessarily, but identifying the commanders is something we should and are definitely looking into. going as high as we can possibly come of this is something that can ensure justice for these crimes with a higher likelihood. >> how difficult is it to pursue these investigations while the conflict is still going on? >> specifically for the bucha region and neighboring areas as well as other liberated territories, it becomes a bit easier for the reason that you gain more access. however, there are still many territories that are not liberated. in this sense, access is key but

also in some form, sometimes the perpetrators or alleged perpetrators themselves help to identify them by not being cautious with phone conversations. footage being left on the ground, which already has yielded some result. but this is a complex process. international justice related to the conflict is justice that requires high standards and therefore this is not something we can easily do. it takes time and effort. it is a process. >> we wish you well. thank you for sparing us the time. -- from the ukrainian legal

advisory group. >> thank you. >> here's a look at some more stories making news. belarusian leader lukashenko says russia may deploy long-range strategic nuclear weapons in his country in addition to a short range tactical warhead. speaking on state television, he called for an immediate cease-fire in ukraine. an idea of kremlin has rejected. spain's prime minister pedro sanchez has urged xi jinping to open talks with ukraine. mr. sanchez said spain supports ukraine's calls to completely withdraw forces. pope francis is expected to be released from hospital within the next day. the 86-year-old was hospitalized two days ago with bronchitis. the vatican released this

footage of him baptizing a baby boy during his stay. controversial social media influence or andrew tate and his brother have been released from custody into house arrest. the brothers have been detained in romania since december on suspicion of sex trafficking and rape. both deny wrongdoing. tate is a self-professed misogynist who has built a large online following. the united states, a grand jury in new york has indicted donald trump. the first-ever criminal case against a former u.s. president. the charges are linked to an alleged payment of hush money to an adult actor before the 2016 election. this or drop is due to appear in court in manhattan on tuesday. >> donald trump is the first u.s. president ever to face criminal charges. a grand jury tasked by the manhattan district attorney's

office spent weeks looking into $130,000 payment made to actor stormy daniels. trump reportedly paid the sum during the 2016 presidential campaign to keep daniels quiet about a sexual encounter she alleges they had years earlier. trump vehemently denies allegations of wrongdoing. the exact charges he will face have not yet been made public. >> it is too early to speculate what type of sentence he would get if convicted by a new york jury. the judge would likely base it off the evidence presented at trial. whether trump testified, whether he perjured himself. >> donald trump claims he is innocent. he called the indictment a case of "political persecution at the highest level in history." his lawyers say they will vigorously fight any charges. the proceedings are bound to

shake up the 2024 presidential race. the u.s. constitution does not require a clean criminal record for someone to become president. but it would be extraordinary for someone under indictment, or convicted of a felony, to become a presidential candidate. trump's lawyers have struck a deal with prosecutors to not have trump in handcuffs when he surrenders to criminal charges next week. but the former president who will appear in court tuesday, will have a mug shot and his fingerprints taken. >> david shapiro is a former fbi agent and specialist in financial crimes were no lectures at the john jay college of criminal justice in new york. i asked him about the source of -- sorts of charges. >> based on public reporting, i envision a set of charges that

include conspiracy, falsification of business records. campaign finance disclosure fraud. insurance fraud. tax fraud. >> quite a list. >> several counts of each, i suspect. >> are these the sorts of charges that carry jail time? >> at present, most of them seem to be class e felonies, which would expose mr. trump to four years in prison. >> take us through the process. after mr. trump's lawyers surrender him tuesday, what happens then? >> basically he is formally introduced into the criminal justice system. he gets a chance to hear the formal charges against him at the arraignment, which is a hearing before a judge. he will be represented, as well as the prosecutor.

he will be fingerprinted, photographed, bail will be set. the usual process. and then some discovery, that is, evidence or records and things, may be given to trump's attorneys at that time, but maybe not. >> nonlawyers often think the law is black-and-white. if you do this, this is the consequence. what it is clear there have been negotiations behind the scenes between trump's lawyers and the prosecutors. give us an idea of how that works. >> this is one of the more intriguing aspects of this story. mostly, these kind of negotiations would generally involve, ok, what will your client pleads to? we have a strong case, or a fairly strong case, let us make a deal. in this case, mr. trump is such a renowned figure that the

purpose of bringing all of these charges and the hoop law -- we have read in the media are not going to be gone to waste and a half-day plea agreement of ok, mr. trump will plead guilty to the falsification of business records, a misdemeanor, and we can all go home. that really alters what would normally occur in the negotiations behind the scenes. i think the prosecutor will take an aggressive, firm stance. likewise, the defense attorneys recognize that they are going to have to file many motions and maybe take this case as far as it may go, which may be the u.s. supreme court. >> what is intriguing about this is that, for instance, this business of mr. trump not wearing handcuffs as he goes in. america, the land of the brave and home of the free and all of the rest. it is different if you've got good lawyers or a big name,

clearly. >> you get the best defense money can buy. this handcuff issue is very intriguing because in a sense, i see why mr. trump might want to be handcuffed. it increases the gravity, the victimization, the martyrdom. it makes them appear as if he is a dangerous criminal, like a mobster. due to his proclivity to seek publicity and maximize situations where he thinks he can get an advantage, he might prefer the aggressive, treat me like i am america's number one enemy. >> thank you for talking to us, david shapiro. >> thank you for having me. dunkage in. -- >> king charles has ended his three-day state visit to germany. the trip has focused on

strengthening european unity despite the war in ukraine and on rebuilding ties between britain and germany which were strained by brexit. >> british weatherford king charles in hamburg. the monarch began the last day of his germany trip by commemorating german's of world war ii air raids. the gesture at the ruins of a church, is unprecedented for a british sovereign. hamburg's bishop stressed the importance of the visit as a symbol of reconciliation and hope. later, crowds turned out in front of city hall hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. >> i really wanted to see him. actually, i wanted to write a letter and give it to him.

it did not work out that way. >> it is not really what i became, but it is a special event and we wanted to experience it. >> on a tour of hamburg, the king learned about local efforts to advance environmental causes. climate protection reconciliation and a future forged by common values. those with the theme of his trip. some hope this will open a new chapter for british-german relations. >> it means for the future that despite all of the turbulence we have had since brexit, we are both know looking forward to the future that we try to build and rebuild this relationship on a new basis. >> for now, it is back to the u.k. after a trip of many firsts. >> in sport, the biggest fixture in recent german football history takes place tomorrow as munich faces dortmund and what

has be -- the defending champions have dominated the bundesliga for 10 seasons with dormant playing second fiddle. this time, dortmund takes the pitch with nine games to go. the bio will be starting a new chapter under former coach. >> the new man in charge. taking control of the ship with byron in unfamiliar territory. dortmund only have a one-point point lead, but that is not the point. dortmund have more wind behind their sales. a dominant position last wednesday put them in pole position for the title. bayern failed to respond a day later, conceding two penalties and losing deleter cruising. the stage was set for a massive game between the bundesliga's

biggest two. but then the unthinkable occurred and bayern fired their coach. he signed in 2021. enter the chelsea champions league winner in 2021 and former dortmund coach was not given much preparation time ahead of the match. >> this is a big game. we want to go back to the top of the leak. we won't be champions if we win and we will by no means right off the championship if we do not but of course, we want to send a message. we have had extremely little preparation time, but we know exactly what we expect from ourselves and with the fans expect from us. >> tuchel's debut is a top border. the top order. the tom price have high expectations. one being to always defeat dortmund. history favors bayern, however

early this season, the fixture ended in a draw. with a victory, dortmund would be one step closer to their first title since 2012. that last time a team other than bayern won the league. >> tom is here to guide us through the classic. this is going to be a real baptism of fire for bayern's new coach. >> absolutely. he is going to be licking his lips ahead of the game tomorrow. but, what a fixer to have as her first game in charge. there are just nine games left, meaning if dortmund win tomorrow, they have taken a big step towards their first title since 2012. tuchel is facing his former club, a club he left fairly acrimoniously in 2017. that adds a little tension.

he takes over from -- was not doing that badly. bayern are still in with a chance at three trophies this year. there is pressure because of the expectations are so high. he has had just one training session with his whole squad because many players were away on international duty. he has not had a long time to prepare. his opposite number is also a very talented coach. for him, this is a massive fixture as well. here he is talking to reporters today about his motivation heading into munich tomorrow. >> the fact there were four journalists here a few weeks ago and now the press conference room is full says a lot the fact -- a lot. 192 countries will be tuning in, all the motivation we need. as well as the top of the table. we have suffered in munich, it is also motivation.

>> dortmund haven't won since 2012. is this their year? >> they are in great shape. they have won nine out of 10 bundesliga games since the break. he is a man who knows how to close on trophies. he won with dortmund in 2021. but the bundesliga is a different matter. tuchel is an elite coach himself. he is a much more technically astute coach than the one we lost. having gained experience at chelsea. it is very difficult to say, but certainly tomorrow is a huge moment in the title race and we could look back and say tomorrow is the game where this season's title was decided. >> a big match tomorrow. you can catch the best of the action here on dw. for now, thank you. >> thank you.

>> this is dw news from berlin. i will be back in a moment to guide you through the big stories of the day. i will leave you now with stunning footage of the northern lights as seen from the international space station. have a good day. ♪

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>> hello and good evening from paris. the time is now 10:00 p.m. in the french capital and these are the latest headlines. his lawyers say he is ready to fight. donald trump is due in court in new york this coming tuesday. the republican set to become the first former u.s. leader to face criminal charges in a case involving hush money payments to an adult film star. we will be speaking shortly to our correspondent who is standing by in washington, d.c. cozying up to india and china,

curtailing the perceived dominance of the u.s. and its allies, vladimir putin signs on for a new foreign strategy for moscow, deepening the divide between moscow and the west. staying put behind bars in south africa, oscar pistorius is denied parole because he has not completed the minimum detention period for early release. the paralympic champion will continue to serve a sentence for fatally shooting his girlfriend 10 years ago. "i'm not afraid of what's to come" -- that's the latest from former u.s. president donald

trump who faces charges in manhattan this coming tuesday after being indicted. he's accused of forking out $130,000 to silence a porton ar -- a porn star. legal experts say any future trial is still well over a year away. for more, we can speak now to our washington correspondent. there's still no comment from the white house and the biden administration, but trump and his lawyers have both certainly been talking. >> absolutely. the white house trying to stay as far away as possible from this trump indictment. donald trump himself of course reacting right after news of this indictment broke, and he has been reacting all along. he has, of course, talked about this witchhunt, political

persecution, election interference, but he has also said that he was not afraid of what was to come. that said, he will not be fighting this from the get-go. we are expecting him to actually travel to new york and surrender . he is not going to be arrested. he's going to surrender, turn himself in to that courthouse in new york and be arraigned. there, though, he is expected to refuse a plea deal, and after that, his lawyers have indicated that they are ready for a fight, even before this case goes to trial in the pretrial motions. they are expected to try a motion to dismiss the case, try motions to exclude some types of evidence, and also possibly to change the venue of a possible trial, arguing that new york being an extremely liberal city,

a jury would not be objective in judging the situation in the case of donald trump, given that he is a republican candidate. donald trump himself has been using this for political gain. he has been rallying supporters around what he has been saying for months and years, which is that he is the victim of a political witchhunt, and his campaign has jumped on the bandwagon, fundraising off of this indictment. several fundraising emails going out just minutes after news of the indictment broke, including an email to sell merchandise that is already banking on the indictment. one t-shirt reading, "i stand with trump" with the date of the indictment, march 30, 2023. >> as we've learned to expect,

all eyes will be focused on this courthouse in manhattan this coming tuesday. how is new york getting ready for what will be a key and historic moment in american history? >> the new york city police department already putting out a call for all the 35,000 new york police department officers to report for duty as early as today, all of them in uniform to be ready to react if something happens. this is, of course, to prepare for any potential protests but also to start setting up a security perimeter along that courthouse. barriers already going up in front of that courthouse as well as in front of trump tower, which is also located in manhattan. right now, the mayor's office says there are no credible threats, but they are on high alert because donald trump himself just last week warned of

death and destruction if he was indicted. he at the time called on his supporters to show up and protest and express their anger. he has not done so since the indictment, but there is still that worry that people might turn up in front of the courthouse or in front of trump hotel. then there's also the logistics of arranging a former u.s. president. he is surrounded at all times by a secret service detail, so there are reports that secret service, new york police department, and officials at the courthouse are in talks today to figure out how to best secure donald trump's arrival, arraignment, and departure, likely in tunnels that will be away from the cameras, away from public view, but donald trump will be accompanied by some type of secret service detail throughout this process until he is leaving that courthouse once

he has been arraigned. a lot of preparation going on because this, as we said, is going to be a historic moment, and to see a former u.s. president being arraigned at the courthouse. >> thank you very much. staying with the u.s., joe biden and his wife jill have been driven through the town of rolling fork in mississippi. the president and first lady witnessed the extent of the damage caused by the powerful tornado that left 26 people dead in mississippi and in alabama last week. the white house says mr. biden will announce that the federal government in the u.s. will cover the full cost of emergency measures in the state for the next 30 days. in other news, the kremlin has posted a new 42-page document on its website, a document which details president putin's new

foreign policy stance. the text states that the russian federation now intends to give priority to the "elimination of vestiges of the dominance of the u.s." and other so-called unfriendly countries in foreign affairs. we spoke to our former muska correspondent. this is what he told us. >> basically, putin calls the u.s. view of the world as a unipolar world. what he would like to see is more balance. he likes a balance of power so not only the u.s. can call the shots but russia, china, india, other major economies can also call the shots. that's what he means by that. also in this document is this idea that russia is an ancient civilization, 1000 years old, and that it has auty to

protect itself and to protect similar -- read "christian" cultures across eurasia. what he is trying to do here is direct a message at the do mystic audience and show the russians that russia is not under any kind of threat from the west, but at the same time, he is defining russia as the victim. he is keen to get that message across to a domestic audience, but at the same time, this 76-point, 42-page document a kind of book that russian diplomat's will be able to use, and don't be surprised if some of this language comes up.

>> nato's secretary-general says a new member will be joining the alliance in the coming days. jens stoltenberg has announced all 30 allies have ratified the protocol to welcome finland. stoltenberg has also described finland as having highly capable forces, advanced capabilities, and strong democratic institutions. >> it is a moment of huge significance that is redrawing europe's security map. finland has changed its tack after a long period of military neutrality, and will be joining nato. that means expanding nato's influence all t way up to the arctic, an area that is

becomingly -- becoming increasingly important. >> i think they can view the map and say that it is very important whent comes to the strategic element of nato. the defense of the north becomes much easier. >> another advantage for nato -- finland's military might. most men in finland do mandatory military service. official statistics show wartime strength of 280,000 soldiers and 900,000 reservists, making it one of theiggest armies in the alliance. troops already do joint military exercises with nato and are experts at operating in the kind of climate and terrain found on russian borders with your. finland has other technical

expertise that could be useful to nato allies as well. for decades, finland has harnessed every level of society to prepare for the possibility of conflict with its neighbor. at least six months of all major fuel supplies in strategic stockpiles while all buildings above a certain size have their own bomb shelters. public spaces also stand ready to be converted into evacuation centers at any moment. >> an independent parole board has decided this friday that paralympic champion oscar pistorius should not be freed from that jail because he has not completed the minimum detention period to be released early. he was put away seven years ago for murdering his girlfriend on valentine's day in 2013. >> a decade after he shot and killed his girlfriend, oscar pistorius has been denied parole

after a hearing. e department of correctional services said the former paralympian had not completed the minimum detention period required to be released. >> the decision was guided by a clarification order of the supreme court, which stated that mr. pistorius has not yet completed the minimum detention period. >> it is a style of relief for the victim's family. they opposed an early release, saying they do not believe pistorius told the truth about what happen. >> while we welcome the decision, today is not a cause for celebration. we miss reva terribly and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives. we hope justice continues to prevail. >> oscar pistorius was a world-famous paralympian champion, known as blade runner for his prosthetic legs.

pistorius continues to maintain he shot her by mistake, believing she was an intruder. he was initially convicted of comparable homicide, sentenced to five years in prison, but after an outcry, the prosecution appealed and secured a conviction for murder from south africa's supreme court in july 2016. six months later, his sentence was increased to 30 years. the sentence has led to legal wrangling over when pistorius should be eligible for parole. serious offenders must serve half their sentence to be considered for release. authorities have said pistoriu'' request will be considered again next year. quicktime now for a look at the day's top business news. we are starting with a look at inflation here in europe. is it good news or bad news? >> the latest figures for the

eurozone a bit of a mixed bag. overall inflation slowed this month by the biggest margin since data collection began in 1991. that's the good news. consumer prices were up an annual 6% in march. compare that with 8.5 percent in february. the bad news is that core inflation, which excludes energy and food, accelerated from 7.4% to 7.5 percent. that's an all-time high. while energy prices fell in march, food prices continue to climb, topping 15% on an annual basis for the second month running. new data shows french consumer spending actually fell in february with shoppers forced to change their habits in the face of price hikes. >> there are plenty of things i've stopped buying. >> until now, no, we did not pay any attention to prices.

we took what we wanted without looking at the label. but now, yeah, we do look, and we don't particularly put certain products in our trolley anymore. sometimes not at all. >> that stubborn inflation is raising the pbability that the european central bank will continue hiking interest rates. investors on the continent taking the glass half-full approach. the cac 24 up friday with the dax in frankfurt not far behind. the federal reserve's preferred measure of core inflation up just .3% in february as all major indexes marked significant gains. chinese tech giant huawei has reported a massive drop in profits for 2022. it is $5.2 billion of net profit marking a nearly 69% annual decline.

the founder's daughter ascended to chairwoman for a six-month rotation. he has spent nearly three years on house arrest in canada on the request of u.s. authorities after having violated sanctions against iran. the chair claims u.s. sanctions. >> while it's true we face considerable pressures ahead, we still see growth opportunities. we have a resilient business portfolio, competitive edge, a trust of customers and partners, and have the courage to invest heavily in r&d, so we are confident of overcoming difficulties and realizing sustainable development. >> finally, italy is blocking cap gpt -- chat gpt. authorities ordering the artificial intelligence service

backed by microsoft to justify the massive collection and storage of data. this comes hot on the heels of a petition by tech leaders for a pause in new ai experiments over what they call "profound risks to society and humanity." >> has artificial intelligence gone too far too fast? italy says yes, blocking ai app chat gpt on friday, citing lack of respect for user data. they gave open ai 20 days to respond to concerns or pay a 20 million euro fine. the seemingly meteoric rise in ai technology has the potential to drastically shape our lives but has also raised a lot of questions about safety, misinformation, and just how intelligence -- how intelligent

ai can get. elon musk-founded institute called for a pause citing risk to society. the open letter was sent by hundreds of big namesn tech. the future of life institute's director of policy spoke to france 24. >> half of ai researchers say there is a 10% or greater chance that this could pose an existential risk to humanity in time, and if the people that are developing this and who work on this every single day indicate this and worry about this, then i think we should not dismiss this as sci-fi. >> open ai has acknowledged some safety mechanisms were not put in place fast enough, allowing users to access information about buiing weapons, for example. earlier this week, the european policing agency issued a stark morning that criminals are using the app to commit fraud and other cybercrimes, but few

expect a pause in the technology to actually happen. the governmental coordination required to do so would be impressive. >> thank you very much. staying with the ai theme, it is time now for truth or fake, our daily dose of fact checking. today, you have been looking at another artificial intelligence story about a photo that is circulating from the recent french pension reform demonstrations. what more can you tell us? >> yes, ai strikes again, and this story all comes back to this photo here, which was posted on twitter showing a young protester escorted by three policeman in their riot gear at the most recent protest

that took place tuesday march 28. we have blurred out elements at the young protester's face in case she is a minor, but twitter users strongly reacted, believing this photo was created by artificial intelligence. they really went forward with that theory, and they said that it seems quite obvious that this is ai-generated due to the shadowing around the photo, the aesthetics of the composition and light, and also the inappropriate smile, the big smile in the background for the police officer there. they also called out the original protester directly, asking them to clarify if this is an ai photo, and they actually pointed directly to one ai program in particular, and that is mid journey. interestingly, it has recently gone through a massive software update, and because of that, it has been creating increasingly

realistic ai photos that have been going viral on social media. we have covered them here before. you might have seen the photos of trump being arrested but also the photo of pope francis in his puffer jacket. these were both mid journey creations. it is interesting that just yesterday, the platform announced it was halting free trials to the service, citing extraordinary demand and a new influx of users. make of that what you will. >> the question will want to know now is -- is it truth or is it fake? is it ai or not ai? >> to cut straight to the point here, this photo is in fact real. it is a real photo taken three days ago on march 20 at the last protest in paris.

we have reached out to several photographers who were at the same scene, and they have shared photos with us bearing witness to the fact that this is real by showing the same photo shown from many different angles. if we look at this photo taken from the photographer who has taken a similar photo posted on his own social media of the same image, and we can identify the same three policeman in the background and the young protester as well, identifiable by the black turtleneck but also the same beige-colored backpack on her shoulders, can, of course, the short haircut. we have also spoken to a spanish journalist who also published this photo, another angle of that same moment, and he told us that when they escorted her, she was very calm, and many took the photo, so he confirms that many

photographers jumped on this moment because she looked very young if not underage. we have spoken to the photographer who actually took that same photo that is under all that scrutiny. they prefer to go under their pseudonym bad year 85. they also took to twitter on their own to say, i am the photographer, no ai or anything. we can again see that same moment that he managed to capture from just behind where he stood. the photographer also in order to prove that it is indeed his photo, he sent us this video showing his professional camera, and we can see the raw file, the raw image on his camera to confirm this photo is 100% real. he also shared with us his concerns about the future of his profession as well.

he said that his photo has not been touched up except for basic likeness and contrast adjustments, which is actually linked to his very own personal style of photography. he says it is worrying for the future of profession to see what artificial intelligence is doing when some media as starting to do this and see it as real. this is the first time he has started to question his own personal pictures, and that is scary. overall, this is a pretty straightforward case. this is indeed a real photo that has been edited to match the same style of the photographer who took it, but it does say a lot about current artificial intelligence investment -- advancement people are starting to confuse the two, to think that things are fake when they are not. but yes, in a rare conclusion concerning the stories of ai that we do here, this is a real photo untouched by ai.

>> thank you very much. time now for a quick break here on france 24. i'm back in a few minutes' time with more world news and in the next slice of the program, we will also be talking about haiti where gangs are increasingly running amok and where the security situation continues to deteriorate. we will be speaking to two of our journalists in bogota about the film they made from there. do stay with us here on france 24. ♪ >> from north america to the southern tip of patagonia, turn us for a look at the latest political, economi cultural, and social news from the americas. >> "inside the americas" on france 24 and france24.com. >> india in the himalayas.

the government is risking everything to speed up economic development. >> [speaking foreign language] quick -- >> hydroelectric dams, railways, motorwa have a massive impact on the region already hit by numerous ecological catastrophes. >> this is disastrous, what we are making. >> on france 24 and france24.com. ♪

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