♪ anchor: this is dw news live from berlin. tonight, shocking threats from the head of the wagner mercenary group that says he will confront russia's defense minister and military leaders are telling the public lies about the war in ukraine. we bring you more about his latest claims. also tonight, questions around the catastrophic submersible implosion. officials grappling with who was responsible for investigating the catastrophe that killed all five people on board deep in the north atlantic.

and germany scaling up, large labor forces -- shortages forcing change to labor laws for unskilled workers. ♪ to our viewers on pbs in the united states and all of you around the world, well computed the head of the russian mercenary group wagner has issued what sounds like a declaration of war against his country's top military official. he posted an audio message today accusing the army of launching strikes on his own troops. in a separate video clip, he said moscow's invasion of ukraine was based on lies by the military's leadership. wagner group spearheaded russia's capture of a city last month, a battlefield success that has allowed him to criticize moscow with impunity. the main target of his tirade is

the russian defense minister. >> the defense ministry is trying to deceive the public and the president and tell a story there was some crazy aggression by ukraine, and together with the entire nato alliance, they were planning to attack us. the so-called special operation of for very 24th was started for other reasons. anchor: military analyst with the war studies department at king's college in london, i asked her what she thought was behind the statements. >> good evening. it is interesting wagner has been silent almost a month, and now he is coming out. in between we've seen accusations that apparently the russian armed forces had attacked wagner troops and one

hostage has been taken and now it seems a back-and-forth game. i think to a certain degree the minister of defense is going to show wagner it is not going to tolerate such behavior, even if he has direct links to putin. i think we will see this power game for a while but i don't think there will be a major escalation because the minister of defense understands it is a tool of the kremlin. it is to keep the military and check amongst other things. therefore wagner can allow himself to be explicit without punishment. anchor: if he is that important for the war effort, what if anything can russian defense ministry do to put him back in line? marina: internally perhaps there

will be moves by the ministry of defense to convince putin to silence wagner in a way but without any sort of physical violence and we will see on the battlefield, as i said, the russians attacked the wagner group, one soldier has been taken hostage and now wagner are claiming the russians have fired on their positions. those kind of skirmishes we are likely to see. i think mostly those things will be settled internally. i think prigozhin also benefits from going out and attracting public attention. maybe his taunting is useful for the mod to take action. he seen that in the last six months, he has taunted the mod about the defenses after a loss and withdrawing from ki another

city. it had some impact on internal thinking. anchor: prigozhin also said in the video that there was no data threat to pressure, no ukrainian threat to russia. -- no nato threat to russia, no ukrainian threat to russia. will that make a difference? marina: i don't think prigozhin has the power to influence the russian population. the narrative, for at least the past 15 years, is that nato is preparing a revolution inside russia. so nato has been a bogeyman for quite a while. i don't think this will alter the views that have in persistent in the russian population. anchor: marina, as always we

appreciate your time and insight. thank you. marina: my pleasure. anchor: the catastrophic implosion deep in the atlantic that claimed five lives a day after the u.s. coast guard confirmed the tragedy, many questions remain, most of all, what went wrong? the losses provoked criticism and calls for regulating deep-sea terrorism -- tourism. reporter: at the bottom of the atlantic ocean next to the titanic lie the ruins of the titan. confirmation that the submersible collapsed. the tragic deaths of the five people on board have triggered questions about the safety and ethics of such adventures. >> the ocean is a very dangerous place, is not a playground. this notion of tourism needs to

take in the danger of the ocean. you could never be seen again. second, this is not just the sight of a ship wreck, it's more than 1000 people breathe their last and it is their final resting site, a graveyard. reporter: when the titanic sank, it paved the way for new rules governing commercial vessels at sea, like having lifeboats on board for all passengers. the submersible was never independently tested and many say, much like the titanic, early safety warnings were ignored. a german tourist who took the trip in 2021 said the submersible had electrical programs and lost one of its stabilizers during the dive. with the issues we had on our trip, i have to say it wasn't thought route and we should not

have continued with what we know today. the timing of the disaster, some hope, will inspire regulations of the fairly new industry for extreme adventurers undeterred by risks. >> expects we will continue to see this kind of industry grow. there may be because for regulation, better understanding of how these sorts of vehicles are designed, built and certified for use in deep-sea environments. this is a relatively new field with a relatively short history of trying to cater to deep-sea tourism. this is the first tragedy of its nature. reporter: the titan was up ring in -- operating in international waters so it did not fall under one particular countries regulations. the fragmented nature of ocean governance could make it

difficult to deliver the regulations. anchor: how did the wreckage site of the titanic become a tourist attraction? i posed the question to a professor that has researched what is known as dark tourism. >> the titanic is unusual in that there are thousands of wrecks on the ocean floor but this one exerts a particular fascination for us. it's because it's been represented so many times in media -- television, film, documentary. it has become an icon, if you like. and the narrative around it, the largest ship, the unsinkable ship, it makes for an interesting story. it has occupied a special place that perhaps other ships that continued their voyages and did

not make it, that just don't get that kind of coverage. but actually visiting such a wreck is very expensive and very extreme for a form of tourism. that's a small part of the overall market. think in terms of continuum, adventure tourism, that goes from soft stuff to harder stuff, to the very end, which is quite extreme. that would be something like the underwater thing we've been talking about but also trips to things like the marianas trench, what you can also do, which is almost seven miles underwater, at about $750,000 u.s. anchor: the titanic site, it's also the last resting place for people not able to get off the

titanic. it's where their remains remain should private companies even be taking tourists to the site? john: well, we live in a liberal democracy and there are regulations covering access to such sites. thus far, they are not prohibited to do so. it's like many sites of atrocity or loss of life or mass killing -- people are drawn to these places, they exert a dark fascination. that's what i talked about in dark tourism. often visitors will go on the base of learning, educating themselves about what happened, and hopefully emerging from the visits, that experience in a better place, having

contemplated the very worst we can do, very often, as a race. anchor: is there one lesson we can learn from this tragedy and do you think there will be consequences for deep-sea tourism? john: i think in my world, dark tourism, these sites are important because they provide evidence that such events occurred. they provide documentation to prevent deniers. but in the case of the titanic, it is an important totem for the thousands of people who tragically lost their lives. i think we have thus far in the treatment of the sites been quite reverential and careful in looking at it as what it is, the

final resting place for many of those souls who lost their lives. anchor: professor john lennon, we appreciate taking the time to talk with us. thank you. how to get investment money and financial aid to economies that need it most? that was one of the main questions at a summit in paris this week aimed at overhauling the international financial system. development banks planning to unlock $200 billion in lending to help emerging economies. reporter: the vips of international politics and finance in paris to debate and negotiate with leaders of low income countries. delegates agreed the aging financial system underpinned the world bank and international monetary fund are ill-equipped to tackle modern challenges made worse by climate change and the covid pandemic. >> we have never had the appropriate discussions for the

dismantling of an imperial order. whether it is in the united nations system or the multilateral development banks, regrettably we continue to see first-class and second-class citizens. reporter: how that should be remedied is still up for discussion, although two milestones were announced. the imf said old nations finally made good and it all pledge to help low income countries borrow more cheaply, money needed to battle climate change and poverty. >> we made a commitment to mobilize 100 billion. that commitment is now fulfilled. we want to thank all those countries, developed countries as well as emerging market economies, who have pledged to provide part of their special

drawing rights that would allocate, so we can lend at highly concessional terms. reporter: leaders also said development banks would be expected to free up $200 billion to help low income economies by running balance sheets more tightly in taking on more risk. >> recall on the world bank to identify improvement to increase speed, agility and responsiveness. we've called also for strengthening the world's efforts to mobilize private capital at scale. reporter: but there was little movement on a measure known close to the french president's heart, a carbon tax on the international shipping industry with the proceeds used to fund climate change adaptation efforts in low income countries. >> we need a large number of countries doing this with us.

but if china, the u.s. and key european nations home to large shipping companies are not with us, the new tax would be to no avail because the people targeted would just go to countries that don't enforce it. reporter: protesters outside the summit, including swedish activist greta thunberg, want more. they are demanding higher taxes on the fossil fuel industry. >> icy entire communities consumed by flood, waiting on rooftops for days because the global north government has decided we are not important enough to stop spending on fossil fuels. reporter: without the support of the world's richest nations, who are pulling the strings, the protesters's demands will keep falling on deaf ears. anchor: some of the other stories making headlines around the world -- voters in mali have

backed constitutional changes in a referendum that the ruling military says will eventually restore civilian rule. the electoral authority says more than 97% voted in favor of reforms. there were reported security incidents and irregularities during the vote. the you in security -- un security chief has met with russia, and says they discussed the safety of the separation of power plant. -- safety of a power plant. kyiv alleges russia might be planning an attack. pro-government lawmakers unanimously approved an amendment that tricks say is aimed at stifling chances for those in exile in a country. the prime minister is running almost unopposed in the next election. academics in mexico calling for

an investigation into the killing of a researcher and environmentalist. earlier this month, they were attacked with an ax and an environment of education center. his colleagues say it appears to have been premeditated, over his work in water resource. germany lacks skills -- doctors, teachers, tech workers in short supply. the government is looking to recruit new talent and make the country more attractive to foreigners with needed qualifications. that means changing laws around immigration to bring in more people from outside the european union. reporter: it is a step toward making germany a more attractive destination for immigration. members said yes to changing the skilled workers law. >> we need to be more open to bright minds and hard-working hands.

we need to get better at competing for global talent, and this law is making sure of that. reporter: experts say each year germany needs about 400,000 skilled workers to come to the country from abroad to fill the gaps. the hope is the new law with its more flexible moves, could entice more professionals. the changes mean people with a university degree and job offer will find it easier to get a residency permit in germany. i.t. specialists are in high demand in in some cases won't need a degree to come work here. the new law promises less bureaucracy in a so-called opportunity card for skilled workers who want to find a job after arriving in germany. there are also new rules for qualified asylum-seekers who are already here. those with qualifications will be able to access the labor market. >> this has to be about making

it possible for people to participate here and treating them with respect. that's the only way it can work. reporter: what may look good in paper could be different in practice. critics warned that by lowering the salary threshold, people could get paid unfairly or be excluded. and how quickly authorities can process the applications? this is a country where many government agencies still use fax machines. germany was recently awarded the worst place for foreign workers to survey -- in a survey looking at housing and digital infrastructure. there is a global competition for skilled labor and germany has some catching up to do. anchor: we spoke -- this move to ease immigration comes as the anti-immigration party has reached its highest ever approval level. a survey found 19% of voters would pick the party if elections were held this week, making them the second strongest

party in germany, two percentage points ahead of the social democrats. olaf scholz is a member of the social democrats. the conservative cdu came out best in the poll. our political correspondent told me earlier what topics might have caused the shift to the right. >> migration is still the leading topic and the main motivation for people to move to the right in germany mobilizes this part of the voters. it's also a topic in the news in germany quite a bit recently. we've seen headlines about local authorities struggling to deal with ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, and there are talks about asylum reforms at an eu level. the result goes to show the public is disillusioned with the

current government. there's a question of dealing with economic fears stemming from inflation, high cost of living, but also fear of transformation in the government has had communication problems in the past, increasing the insecurity with internal fights. anchor: talking about what we've seen in italy and hungary, far right parties have been getting traction in other european countries. is this part of a common trend? catherine: we do see that. far right parties have been on the rise in europe and also non-european countries. just recently far right parties voted in in italy, sweden, and poland. austria is seeing similar poland results to germany, to name a few countries. the specific raises to the

right diverges, but populists give easy answers to complex problems that we are facing worldwide. anchor: that is almost an understatement. catherine, thank you. ♪ in basketball, a frenchman is the first overall pick in the 2023 nba draft, making history as the first freshman and the second european to be the top selection. there was no debate about who the san antonio spurs would choose. the larger-than-life 19-year-old has been called the best prospect since lebron james came out of high school 20 years ago. reporter: at two meters, 20 tall, or 7'4", he is head and

shoulders above most on the basketball court with the agility of a player have his thighs. -- half his size. he's often described out of this world. the last player with this much hype was nba superstar lebron james. fans in san antonio have been waiting for him to make his entrance. now he has arrived. >> cannot describe it. it is still fresh. best thing in my life, you know? probably the best night of my life. i've been dreaming about this so long, it is a dream come true. reporter: victor has already made a name for himself off the court in the u.s. recently he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch during new york yankees baseball game. before he hits the hardwood, his

new coach is focused on helping him settle in texas. >> because of the hype, he will have a target on his back. we will be most interested in setting a framework and environment where he is comfortable, where he can be victor. he is not lebron or tim or kobe. he is victor, and that's we want him to be. reporter: the spurs have banked on his success. the city that worships basketball, san antonio, believes the hype is real. anchor: a big weekend for european fans of american sport with major league baseball's third london series returning for the first time since before the covid-19 pandemic. the last time was 2019. this time it is the st. louis cardinals taking on the chicago cubs at london stadium.

fans delighted by confirming major league baseball will be back next year as well. >> all of us in major league baseball are thrilled to be back in london. we had a great trip with the yankees and the red sox in 2019. we are really excited to bring another majorly a small -- another major league baseball rivalry. we are committed to london as part of our program and i am happy to announce we will be back next year with the mets and phillies, i think it is june 8 and ninth. we will make this part of our regular program and looking forward to be back. anchor: a reminder of our top stories -- the head of the russian mercenary group wagner has declared war on his countries military. prigozhin posted a video in which he accused them of

launching attacks on his troops. and all people in the missing summer civil have died after a catastrophic implosion. debris was found near the wreckage side of the titanic. you are watching dw news. after i will take you through the day. we will be right back. ♪ it♪

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>> welcome to the france 24 newsroom in paris. these are our top headlines this hour. the head of russia's wagner mercenary forces takes aim at the regular military's top brass, accusing them of shelling his men and causing many casualties. could the same cavalier attitude to safety that sank the titanic also have been responsible for the titan explosion more than a century later? investigators looking for the causes of the accident after it is confirmed all five people on

board perished beneath the sea. dozens of world leaders agreed the international financial system is not fit for purpose in the era of global warming. consensus coming at the two-day climate day -- two-day climate summit in paris. thanks for joining us. we begin with the latest from the war in ukraine and the infighting on the russian side has taken an extraordinary turn this friday evening. the wagner mercenary chief publicly questioning why the conflict began in the first place. his forces has -- have led some of the most significant offensives.

he says the operation was based on lies concocted by top brass. >> and invasion based on lies -- that is according to a stunning tirade from the leader of the mercenary group wagner. in this video released by telegram on friday, he appeared to question the reasoning behind the war. >> the defense ministry tried to deceive the public and the president to tell the story that there was a crazy aggression from the ukrainian side and that they were joining with the nato alliance to attack us. therefore, the so-called special operation of the 24th of february was started for other reasons. >> he reserved particularly strong criticism for the russian defense minister, who is name check in the video.

>> what was the point of the war? the war was needed for the self-promotion of a bunch of pastors to show off what i strong-arming it is -- what a strong army it is. >> the video comes against the backdrop of a ukrainian counteroffensive which according to kyiv is picking up pace. ukraine's defense ministry say the armed forces have halted a russian offensive in the east of the country and are separately advancing in the south where everything is going to plan. >> in the military, according to their reports and positions, everything is moving according to plan. >> these claims contradict the kremlin's assertions that the ukrainian counteroffensive has failed and many areas of the country are still under russian attack. the city of kherson was targeted by shelling with at least three civilians killed.

>> this is a breaking story on the updates still coming through in the latest series of audio messages on his official telegram channel, he went on to accuse russian leadership of shelling his own soldiers and declared that they must be stopped. the wagner chief calling on russians to join his 25,000-strong force. this has prompted the defense ministry to issue a statement saying the accusations of the shelling do not correspond to reality and are in provocation. the latest information we have is that russia fsb security service has opened a criminal case against your guinea pig ocean for his courting of armed mutiny. a freelance moscow correspondent joined us earlier. >> very little coming from official sources, but to start

with the latest, the head of the wagner group has accused the russian defense minister of arriving in a province south of russia to launch what he says is an air and artillery strike on the wagner camp. he posted a video on social media showing some signs of some sort of strike with fires burning, with shouting in the background. it is quite impossible to figure out what's going on, really, but he says that wagner reserves the right to strike back. in a series of bizarre and escalating voice notes posted on the wagner news channel, he said that wagner is going to do away with the military leadership of the country, that it needs to be stopped, that wagner is 25,000 strong, asking nobody to stand in their way, and that they are going to do what he describes as

a march of justice to sort out the mess that the country is in. this caused a lot of chatter, a lot of speculation on social media. the russian minister of defense denied all of what prigozhin is set -- has said. the official line is that everything he says is nothing more than provocation. nevertheless, the chatter coming out this press service is highly worrying. this is a massive escalation from what we have seen before. the dispute between him and russian officials has been well publicized over the last year or so. what we are hearing, this time

it is very much serious, and certainly got news channels here worried. >> follow all the latest developments as they come through. for now, we move onto world news, starting with emotions continuing to flare following last week's migrant boat disaster off the greek coast. this friday, pakistan's interior minister announced half of those on board were from his nation. only 104 people were rescued alive, including 12 pakistanis. 82 bodies recovered. the rest assumed missing at sea. it is the first time a senior official has reported so many pakistani citizens were missing since the boat sank last

wednesday. >> so far, 281 families across pakistan have contacted us saying their loved ones could have been in this incident. we set up camps for dna testing and contacted all the families. dna samples have been taken, and the process is in progress. all efforts are being made to ensure that as soon as the process is completed, the dead bodies can be brought home. >> moving over now to the atlantic, a day after confirming the titan submersible imploded near the titanic wreck, killing all five on board, tough questions are being asked about who was responsible. the u.s. coast guard led the search-and-rescue operation in international waters, but now that the official investigation is needed, all agencies involved are trying to determine who has the authority to lead an

inquiry. this is complicated due to the international nature of the disaster. the titan's mothership was from canada, and the people on board from the u.k., pakistan, france, and the united states. >> it was meant to be a voyage of a lifetime, but the trip went horribly wrong instead with all five people aboard the titan submersible lost at sea. the likely cause -- a catastrophic implosion. >> the implosion -- it is a negative explosion, but it is the same pattern. it exploded inwards in the matter of point 001 second. >> the mothership lost contact with the crew -- the titan lost contact with the crew of the

mothership sunday during its dive. the navy said it heard sounds consistent with an implosion shortly after they shut lost contact. officials say the data on its own was not considered definitive enough to assume the worst, and the rescue mission continued. filmmaker and deep-sea explorer james cameron it is clear what happened to the sub. >> a loud bang on the hydrophones, loss of transponder, loss of comes -- loss of comms. i knew what happened. the sub exploded -- the sub imploded. >> sounds came that officials hope from that hoped were from the missing vessel. the noise is now believed to have come from other ships in the area. on thursday can the grim discovery of debris from the titan on the ocean floor, putting an end to the massive

search-and-rescue operation that involved ships and planes from the u.s. and canada with assistance from france and great britain. >> for more on this, were joined by the former director of the irish coast guard. thank you so much for being with us. first of all, do we have any clues as to what has caused this accident? >> it looks like catastrophic failure of the whole. looks like the whole itself -- the whole ashley h -- the hull itself imploded. it looks like it is the centerpiece that fractured and imploded. >> what can you tell us about the company that was running this exploration, and is it indeed regulated in any way, these kinds of exclusions -- implosion's? >> you can regulate submarines. this classification by size, and you can do that to get

insurance. where the courts will take this will be either the jurisdiction of the owner of the vessel, which would be america, or the jurisdiction of the vessel, where it launched from, and that is canada. >> what about those regulations? sorry, i have already asked you that. we heard earlier on that james cameron in that report was saying he knew immediately from the sound of the implosion what had happened. what do you make of the search-and-rescue operation that dragged on for days? >> we all knew. any professional in this business knew from the sequence of what happened the first day the vessel was gone. there was no other real option. however, there was two minor

possibilities, and when there's even minor possibilities, you still have to follow these up. it was right to keep searching even though we really kind of knew from the first moment. >> was there any hope that they could have been found alive, do you think? >> no. >> chris reynolds, thank you very much for that analysis. i'm sure we will continue to speak to you later on as new information comes through about this disaster. a group of some 40 world leaders gathered here in paris for a two-day climate summit earlier, and they have concluded that the international financial system is woefully inadequate in an era of global warming. the brazilian president said the 18-year-old mechanisms -- 80-year-old mechanisms ensure the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor.

the french president held a complete consensus on the need for reform. >> a restructuring of the global financial system to combat both climate change and poverty. it is an ambitious objective for the paris summit, bringing together over 40 world leaders in the french capital and international financial institutions. >> the world bank's vision is to say we want to eradicate poverty but on a livable planet. >> debt relief has been a key demand from poorer countries, and though the world bank's pledge only applies to new loans, some progress has also been made in relieving at least a handful of countries of the debt that has been crippling their economies. >> we do have now the common framework delivery for chad or

zambia, and also countries outside of the common framework, sri lanka, suriname, benefiting from bringing creditors, public and private, together. >> some lenders, including china, have agreed to restructure the country's $6.3 billion debt, covering about 1/3 of the tab after the country defaulted following the pandemic. the imf said it reached its target of funding available for poorer countries. it was an opportunity to share ideas with french president emmanuel macron floating the possibility that global taxation on things like maritime transport in the aviation industry. >> i'm all for attacks on financial transactions against poverty and the climate. we have done it in france, but who else is doing it?

it does not work when you do it alone. >> the summit has been a way of putting together a road mark for leaders ahead of the cup 28 summit in dubai later this year. >> our senior reporter was at that summit and spoke to the director general of the wto for world leaders. >> this summit in paris looking for a new global financing packed wraps up. i'm joined by the director general of the wto. thank you so much for joining us. first of all, i would like to get your reaction please to this summit. in concrete terms, has enough been achieved, do you think? >> i really don't think so. actually, maybe more has been achieved than i expected. first of all, there is a consensus on what is needed to be done. everyone agrees that poverty,

climate, food security, and equality -- all these things are part of the same problem, and there is a consensus they need to be tackled, and the financing to tackle them must be put at the table. leaders have been very vocal at this conference in articulating that they do not want to be "helped." they want to be part of the contribution and the discussion, and they would want investment, and there are investable projects on the climate side that they would like to see supported, but they are skeptical. >> from your point of view, you are the head of the wto. do you feel enough has been said about trade? we have heard about debt reduction, climate issues, global health issues. we have not heard a lot about trade.

your organization helped to pull people out of poverty a great deal. >> absolutely. that was the point made in my panel this morning, that missing from the conversation -- most of the conversation. all of the financing can come, but if trade policies are not right, you are not going to get the impact you want. you are not going to get to net zero by 2050. trade is part of the solution. you saw what happened during the pandemic when people had financing of vaccines, but then some countries put export restrictions. now what i'm saying is we need to be careful about the trade policies. trade can help make sure that we get to net zero by making technologies cheaper and helping to disseminate those technologies. we can also have an environmental trade agreement that lois tariffs on renewables and other environmental goods.

we can also look at subsidies at the wto. we are actually looking at agricultural subsidies. over $600 billion in agricultural subsidies. those could be -- trade-distorting agricultural subsidies that could be refinanced for climate. we are looking at $2.4 trillion already if we did something with those two numbers, we would be over one trillion that could be redirected to climate finance. at the wto, we feel trade is a solution. >> how worried about -- how worried are you about the shift towards protectionism in the west post-covid? western countries looking to

boost their own economies. does that concern you at the moment? >> absolutely. i think the shift towards protectionism is worrying. i think we have populist movements and tendencies because people have been left out of the first phase of globalization. you have poor people in rich countries who did not benefit. you have poor countries that were left behind. we are saying now, instead of thinking of more protectionism or fragmentation or decoupling, it is time to reimagine globalization and to think about using our desire to build resilience in supply chains in the world to bringing those people and those countries who are left out -- in a rich country, if there is a region where people are not benefiting,

one not incentivized supply chains to go there? morocco is doing well with aviation supply chain. senegal, kenya, nigeria -- they are countries that you can go to. bangladesh, brazil. this, we are calling it re-globalization. that is a better way to go than to be protectionist and to fragment and to think of decoupling. when they talk about this de-risking, people ask me what does this mean. that's what it means. let's build our resilience by diversifying supply chains. i must say that chancellor schulz -- chancellor scholz nailed it when he said let us diversify further supply chains. that way we build resilience for food security.

>> i want to ask you about the proposed levy on maritime traffic. it would not be monitored or installed by your organization, but it could have a big impact on global trade. are you in favor of such a levy on maritime transport? >> i think it is better for the international maritime organization. we actually have another organization that looks at these issues for the shipping companies themselves. i think that having more direct, transparent levees is actually better than anything indirect. to that extent, something simple and direct may not be such a bad thing. the idea is to tax fossil fuels, to make it more expensive to use fossil fuels. i think this is one way we can both tax fossil but also raise

resources which can then be channeled to developing countries to help them have a just transition. if those moneys are levied in a transparent, direct way, and they are channeled to help developing countries be able to transit, that helps with the just transition and climate finance. >> we have to leave it there, i am afraid. thank you very much indeed. the director general of the wto here at the summit on a new global financing packed in paris. >> we had to sierra leone where voters are gearing up to head to the polls this saturday for presidential elections. the incumbent is currently forecast to win 56% of the vote. he is seeking a second five-year term. his main challenger is treading behind in the polls with 43%. both say they will prioritize boosting agriculture and food

sustainability in the country dogged by economic woes. >> skyrocketing inflation, massive unemployment, and a depreciating currency -- just some of the reasons voters in sierra leone are desperate for economic change in saturday's elections. >> talking about the dollar to drop, that is not the real issue. >> high cost of living is topping concerns with year on year inflation hitting 43% in april. the ruling sierra leone people's party blamed fallout from the pandemic and the war in ukraine, but many point the finger at the president, yet the incumbent is

seen as the front runner in this race. he has promised to create 500,000 jobs for young people if reelected. >> we are responsible people. we made a promise, and we deliver on our promises. >> the 12 contenders beg to differ. the president's bumps -- leading opponent says he will revamp the economy as well as the agriculture and mining sector. the 32-year-old is currently on trial but denies any wrongdoing. there has been some violence leading up to the election. police resorted to using tear gas to disperse crowds of supporters of the apc as they demanded that the chief electoral commissioner step down, accusing him of bias in favor of the ruling party. several countries, including the

united kingdom and united states , have called for peace. >> we are going to take a short break. do stay tuned. we have more world news coming up. ♪ >> reverse side, then the -- the louvre, versailles, well-known stars of french heritage, but france houses many other well-known treasures. come along with france 24. discover france's living heritage. young apprentices to accomplish craftsman and farmers to michelin star-sporting chefs. meet these people whose passion for their professions drive french heritage. >> you are here on france 24 and france24.com. ♪

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06/23/23 06/23/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> it is with much sadness and sorrow that i think of the victims of the very serious shipwreck off the coast of greece. it seems the sea was calm.