countries although they were allowed to because they were really angry when the baltic countries were being admitted into nato and also into the opinion and also into the euro zone so what they're trying to do is a little more subtle. of course in direct attack on the whole system on the whole european currency system and all these to be as well of course it would be if it's true make out that it was still thank you very much. venezuela's painful economic crisis has prompted the government to come up with a rather unusual solution a new crypto currency called the picture that is your currency will be backed by commodities like oil and is weighing in president nicolas maduro has already hailed it as a big success he says that they have received more than seven hundred million dollars worth of bits and a private pre-sale but not everyone is convinced. venezuela's president nicolas maduro has been promoting the country's new digital currency even going as far as putting it against an american superhero. today marks the birth of a crypto currency that can take on superman the petro not ev

the north stream pipeline linking russia and germany directly across the baltic sea see here is set to be joined by second connection to construction is due to get underway later this year the new pipeline will be able to transport some fifty five billion cubic meters of gas equivalent to two thirds of the gas transiting ukraine on average in recent years the project critics in ukraine dream to would mean more than just empty pipelines and transit income. they say will increase europe's dependence on russian energy and allow the kremlin to put political pressure on its former eastern european satellite states by halting supplies without endangering deliveries to its big western european customers feel that something nordstrom's backers including former german chancellor and current chairman have consistently rejected saying the deal is purely driven by economic considerations and provides additional capacity rather than replacing the existing pipelines ahead of ukraine's state energy company is adamant his country has more to lose than just transiting called if north dream too is built

and besides waves in storms baltic sea fishermen now have to contend with an up the follows their every human. race is your business update i'm helena humphrey in berlin good to have you with us in the u.s. a stronger than expected inflation data set wall street stocks mostly down consumer prices well haul five percent in january driven by higher closing costs and the spike in the cost of car insurance the annual rate held steady at two point one percent still equities aren't going crazy with a pool retail sales report going some way to offset those inflation fears. so let's bring in our financial course want to see fisherman who is in new york for us good to see you sir if you bring us up to date with the latest on how the markets have digested this data. yeah well hellenized seems like the markets have recovered after they this is each in these plans as a first reaction to these numbers but i think most people expect as the consumer price index to buy them the key indicators for inflation growth only slightly more than expected in january and at the same time the dollar is weakening a

one the transatlantic alliance has encroached on moscow's spear of influence poland romania and the baltic states which were occupied by soviet forces sought nato as protection. nato carried out a series of large scale maneuvers in response to putin's nationalist rhetoric a rhetoric that worried his neighbors. the united states pushed ahead with plans for a new state of the art missile defense system throughout eastern europe putin saw that as an unacceptable challenge to his quest for power. in june twenty twelve he confronted the western alliance at the g twenty in mexico and economic summit that brings together heads of state once a year. behind the scenes these summits

erode trust in the eurozone state and influence upcoming elections investigation has rocked the small baltic nation which is pointing the finger at close neighbor and former political master russia. says he's a victim of a smear campaign he's accusing private latvian banks of trying to get revenge for tougher financial regulations by accusing him of demanding bribes of one hundred thousand euros a month. i have become a target have an obvious and well coordinated campaign of some latvian commercial banks to discredit the latvian state. but one day after him ship which was suspended from office the defense ministry said the accusations appeared to be a foreign disinformation campaign in a statement it said there is a high possibility that this is a white information operation from outside and its aim is to show latvia as an untrustworthy ally. to ministry didn't say which country was behind that campaign but there's little doubt it meant russia the russian foreign ministry in moscow refused comment but the bribery accusations come from a russian businessman and with elections due later this y

news as if life on the high seas it wasn't rough enough baltic sea fishermen also have to contend with an op that follows that every move. as stories coming up in d.w. business with ben facility in just about which i'll be back at the top of the hour with more of the day's headlines the doc. every journey begins with the first step and every language but the first word published in the. nico is in germany to learn german why not learn to tell a simple online on your mobile and free stuff for d w z e learning course the acoustic german made. dangerous and while. venture of. the trip by airplane seventeen thousand kilometers in six weeks breathtaking landscapes. get a. touch of strong symmetry. first recounted starting february twenty seventh. i think about it's have been waiting for with bated breath you way it's january inflation is stronger than expected but stock markets haven't panicked yet. investors pledged billions more to rebuild iraq but it's nowhere near enough as donor fatigue makes its mom. dad most of asia is on the move trying to get home for the tet festival. i'm good for

the pipeline goes directly across the baltic sea, set to be joined by another connection.onstruction is due to get underway later this year. the new pipeline alone will be able to transport some 55 billion cubic meters of gas. the project's critics in ukraine argued that it would mean more than empty pipelines and lost transiting income. they say it will increase your's dependence on russian energy and allow the kremlin to put political pressure on its former satellite states by halting supplies without endangering delivery to its big western customers. that is something that backers have consistently rejected, saying the deal is purely driven by economic considerations and provides additional capacity rather than a replacement to existing pipelines. the head of ukraine's state energy company is adamant his country has more to lose than transit income if it is built. >> we believe this will clear the way for a full-fledged russian aggression against ukraine. we are fighting to stop russian troops at the eastern border. but if there is no risk of interaction, we believe rus

i remember bacon -- -- baker baker trying to differentiate the baltics. you see this in bush's caution about the breakup of the soviet union. this was a controversial issue. it was a model of dealing with this prudently. also, different people will differ about this, you have to assess realistically what the u.s. can and can't do. i'm surprised that after recognizing with trillions of dollars, we have not been able to remake afghanistan or iraq. how confidently where we that we -- were we that we would be able to remake russia? in today's contrast, as opposed to prudence of respect, i think trump seeks confrontation. he creates uncertainty. he will act impulsively as part of his dealmaking. so the reliability of the united states is an issue today. finally, again, this goes back to the idea of what one would believe the use could do. -- u.s. could do. i have always sense that the future of russia is in the hands of russians. the way you can help and support , you have to be careful not to assume you can remake their world for them. again, from a historic

the governor of the baltic nation central-bank faces allegations of bribery, while the u.s.uses a latvian lender of money laundering. and they call him the flying mustache. norway's new social media sensation steals the show at the winter olympics, and source to glory in south korea. -- soars to glory in south korea. i am sarah kelly. welcome to the program. human rights monitors say the syrian government has stepped up its bombardment of a rebel-held area close to the syrian capital, damascus, killing scores of people. the syrian observatory for human rights says that government air raids have killed 71 people over the past 24 hours, and injured 325. the suburb has been under siege by regime forces for more than four years. the united nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis in the area, which is home to 400,000 people. elsewhere in the syrian conflict, the state news agency says pro-regime forces will soon be entering the northern region of efrin to help kurdish militias repel turkish troops. turkey has warned it will confront syrian government forces if they enter efri

the metals index is the baltic dry index.t also does fall in january as orders slow ahead of the chinese new year. they have seen a disconnect between the index and the crisis of industrial. and julie wille know this where we talked about the baltic dry index on a regular basis. not so much now. how's it looking over their? julie: i guess it's all bit point out. we are looking at a dramatic turn in u.s. stocks as all major averages fell out of the gate. they have been pulled back from the abyss. the nasdaq is really what pulled them back. we have the big cap tech stocks that have now been dancing. on an look at the nasdaq intraday basis come you can really see that huge swing that we saw. out of the gate trading sharply lower than bouncing higher as the early session progress. the catalystr what might have been here, but if you look at the large-cap tech stocks, you can see the strengthen them. week ofuncing after a concerns over the iphone x. amazon.com continues to trade near a record. it has been teflon to a large degree.

ukraine and the baltic states and that kazakstan would be nice to have now these were his words back in two thousand and sixteen but when he was confronted about this he acknowledged that that was a lie that he wasn't even in russia back in two thousand and six and he only said that to protect his source a person who was present at that meeting now the minister has said that he has a credibility had been damaged he described these recent events as the very. mistake in his political career now all this took place just one day before his official meeting where the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov i was about to a tanda sneezing as so many other ensuring less war and we had questions prepared for the rich foreign minister of course concerning this particular situation but now it seems that this missing is off the table as the dutch side had officially cancel it we discussed of the latest developments in the netherlands with martin mccauley an author and russia analyst he said the false remarks from the foreign former foreign minister sat well with the general anti russian sentimen

governor, you instead of going on vacation, you go to -- you have been to afghanistan, iraq, the baltics. tell us what takes you to war zones when the rest of us are on the beach. gov. coyler: growing up in kansas, i believe in service, making a difference in people's lives. i first -- volunteered when the soviets were occupying afghanistan. we were training medics, taking. we havepeople in afghan been at about 22 -- difference conflict zones. difference.ake a you can, on a humanitarian basis. to me, that service animates me. that's what i think is so special about kansas. post: what are you looking for two during your next couple of days? gov. coyler: water of course. i've got a number of meetings here area or working in a whole bunch of different areas, anything from transportation, trade, medicaid, dealing with those issues. it's going to be a good week. host: think you very much and congratulations. thank you for joining us. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its capt

you have been to afghanistan, iraq, the baltics. tell us what takes you to war zones when the rest of us are on the beach. gov. coyler: growing up in kansas, i believe in service, making a difference in people's lives. i first volunteered when the soviets were occupying afghanistan and we were training medics and taking care people in afghanistan. since then we have been in places, i served in southern rwanda during the genocide, we have been in libya, the central african republic, the balkans, about 20 different conflict zones. i have seen the worst in people and the work -- and the best. we need to make a difference. you can, on a humanitarian basis. is whathat service animates me and that is what i think is special about kansas. that sense of service. these kids are doing exciting things. are you looking forward to in your next couple of days in the swamp? gov. coyler: keep our head above water. i have a number of meetings here and we are working in a bunch of different areas, everything from transportation to trade to medicaid a

plus lothian bankers under investigation the governor of the baltic nations central bank faces allegations of bribery while the u.s. is accusing latvia lender of money laundering. and they call him the flying mustache norway's new social media sensation steals the show at the winter olympics and source to glory in south korea. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks for joining us human rights monitors say that the syrian government has stepped up its bombardment of a rebel held area close to the syrian capital damascus killing scores of people the syrian observatory for human rights says that the government air raids on eastern good ta have killed seventy one people over the past twenty four hours and injured three hundred and twenty five the suburb has been under siege by regime forces for more than four years the united nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis in the area which is home to four hundred thousand people. and elsewhere in the syrian conflict the state news agency says that program forces will soon be entering the northern region of africa and to help kurdish militi

ukraine and the baltic states and that kazakstan would be nice to have now these were his words back in two thousand and sixteen but when he was confronted about this he acknowledged that that was a lie that he wasn't even in russia back in two thousand and six and he only said that to protect his source a person who was present at that for me saying now the minister said that his credibility had been damaged he described these recent events as the biggest mistake in his the little career now all this took place just one day. before his official meeting with the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov i was about to attend this meeting as so many other enjoying less war and we had questions prepared for the reaction pouring minister of course concerning this particular situation but now it seems that this amazing is off the table as the dutch side had officially cancel it. the pentagon claims that it destroyed a syrian army tank in self defense on sunday we. are the team that took the shot at us. so we thought of the rules of engagement protect ourselves. that was something that we al

the north stream pipeline linking russia and germany directly across the baltic sea see here is set to be joined by second connection to construction is due to get underway later this year the new pipeline will be able to transport some fifty five billion cubic meters of gas equivalent to two thirds of the gas transit in ukraine on average in recent years the project critics in ukraine stream to would mean more than just empty pipelines and lots transit income. they say will increase europe's dependence on russian energy and allow the kremlin to put political pressure on its former eastern european satellite states by halting supplies without endangering deliveries to its big western european customers feel that something north streams backers including former german chancellor and current chairman have consistently rejected saying the deal is purely driven by economic considerations and provides additional capacity rather than replacing the existing pipelines the head of ukraine's state energy company is adamant his country has more to lose than just transiting called if north dream t

you see this in the baltics, where bush was cautious about russian recognition. i remember baker actually trying to as a good lawyer, differentiate the baltics in a discussion, so that they may have their own ability for end up in his. in bush's caution about the breakup of the soviet union. this was a controversial issue. but it was again, a model of dealing with this prudently. also, different people will differ about this, but what the u.s. can and can't do. but it was again, a model of dealing with that had to be assessed realistically. after recognizing with trillions of dollars, we have not been able to remake afghanistan or iraq. how confidently where we that we -- how confident are we really that we would be able to remake russia? for today's contrast, as opposed to prudence or respect, i think trump's six confrontation, creates uncertainty. he will act impulsively as part of his dealmaking. so the reliability of the united states is an issue today. finally, again, this goes back to the idea of what one would believe the use could do. -- would believe the

the styx is the baltics is the river of the dead right from the beginning i like that toss a lot because it really gets to the heart of the matter this separation of the living and the day and that really appealed to me like. a severe storm develops and the situation is bad. both skipper and sail boat survived the night intact the next morning the doctor sees another boat nearby west . it's full of african refugees. zebul i applied and she stays but her staying there causes people to jump in the water people who can't swim and i think there's that conflict where you want to help but you realize that you can't help everyone's just it's an incredibly awful situations just like it is it will it's all. and it's a situation that demands much of the dr strength and one that seems inescapable. issue. sticks is one of the most intelligent films yet on the refugee crisis. of course the burden oh it's not just about the movie stuff the posses to place the actors directors and producers to meet at the mingle in a relaxed atmosphere since my town my first you meet everybody and. you talk to a lot of

you see this in the handling of the baltics where bush was cautious about russian recognition. i remember baker trying to -- as a good lawyer, differentiate and distinguish the baltics to have them sort of have their ability for independence. you see this in bush's caution about the breakup of the soviet union. this was a very controversial issue. that fit the model of dealing with this prudently. also, i think, this is again -- reasonable people will differ about this. you have to assess realistically what the u.s. can and cannot do. in some ways i am surprised after recognizing with trillions of dollars we haven't been able to remake afghanistan or iraq. how confident are we we will be able to remake russia. for today's contrast, as opposed to prudence and respect, i think trump seeks confrontation and creates uncertainty. i he will act impulsively as part of his dealmaking. the reliability is an issue today. again, this comes back to the idea of what one could believe the u.s. could do. i have always had the sense that russia's future is in the hand of russians. while there

the small baltic republic of latvia has in the last years developed into an important finance center for the region many customers from russia or bellerose for example now use latvian banks as they believe their money is safer inside the u. . but let vs good reputation took a serious hit this week when its top money man central bank governor did muslims have edge was accused of soliciting one hundred thousand euros a month in bribes. on tuesday he was temporarily suspended from office although he refused to resign and continues to deny the charges. as your five been targeted by a coordinated campaign of some lacking in commercial banks in order to discredit the latvian state. the bank scandal has morphed into something of a political thriller after latvia's defense minister accused russia of pulling the strings on the scandal behind the scenes at the end of the week however that accusation was withdrawn again due to lack of evidence. the european central bank is now also under pressure as a member of its governing council rimsha bitch has access to sensitive e.c.v. information and eu

for the first time since the cold war russian jets buzzed american ships in the baltic . but that brought putin nothing but contempt from the president of the world's only superpower i think the overwhelming majority of the world rejects russia is a regional power. that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors. not out of strength but out of weakness see crazy you know if you play best of all too much the you know best to look at the globe the few read anything in the history about style and growth you know he really believes that we have regional power they are the only poet in the world he shares equal. power minute apollo to the united states of america at least it would be wise even if you think so don't tell it then yes but i say to them let's look at this look at the look you did you did over in your little in need it in using you yeah but if you didn't that she's good for you that's it still sort of middle of shit which is who you saw in two years yeah because they got stood. at the end of summer twenty fifteen in his luxurious villa on the black sea putin su

an emergency session not because of him but it has a lot of other things on its plate one of the baltic nation's biggest banks is accused of doing business with north korea and that the spite sanctions. the lottery an anti corruption agency is starting a criminal probe against the country's central bank chief. he suspected of taking bribes calling it the rules of the game for successful banking in the country he allegedly demanded one hundred thousand euros a month in bribes from the owner of a life in bank morphic bucca the financial institution then filed an international complaint not be as finance minister sought to offer reassurances. welcomed. i can assure you that they're not in finance system is stable banks don't have the credit of the issues so depositors' can feel completely safe to say ok that's the order to protect the finance sector stability and reputation i think that room seven should resign from his post while the investigation is ongoing. as a result of a second scandal the e.c.b. stopped all a.b.l. the bank payments on one of the country's biggest banks it was accuse

a dream for the harsh reality the others the life of a fisherman on the baltic sea not only do they have to brace for rough winds and stormy seas a special up now monitors their every move not protect the fisherman but the caught . blustering southwesterly wind here on the island of means any low tide fishing is the question today from now before the fisherman even step aboard they're both they have to activate their new morphy up it registers every net put eye to see to make sure they don't fish deeper than twenty meters and to start the car during the two month breeding season for the fisherman it's a step too far religion or hidden god will work with nature every day we know how deep we can fish there's no risk that a couple of fisherman are going to endanger the cod population. if you don't have any internet than the op turns itself off which means you have to write in the log book how can you manage to do that in time when you're busy out on deck. the federal agriculture agencies say they created the op to make the fisherman's lives easier the fishermen say they'd have preferred to

of a some it's a dream for others everyday reality the life of a fisherman on the baltic sea not only do they have to brace rough winds and stormy seas to bring in their catch they also have to be equipped with a special app that monitors their every move not to protect the fisherman but the caught during the breeding season. a blustering southwesterly wind here on the island of food means any low tide fishing is actually the question today from now before the fishermen even step aboard their boats they have to activate their new muffy up it registers every net put eye to sea to make sure they don't fish deeper than twenty meters and to stop the cause during the two month breeding season for the fisherman it's a step too far religion for him government to put in the tour we work with nature every day we know high deep we can fish there's no risk that a couple of fisherman are going to endanger the called population that we're also watching where. their guard the new scheme also means that every fisherman must have a smartphone the first few tests have highlighted some teething problem

central bank the government's been meeting in an emergency session it has a lot on its plate or the baltic nation's biggest banks is accused of busting sanctions on north korea. top banking official from savage arriving at the country's anti-corruption agency rim savage seen here wearing a cap was questioned by authorities after they raided his offices and property authorities say he is being held for demanding a bribe of at least one hundred thousand euros the news comes a week after u.s. authorities proposed banning one of latvia's largest private banks a.b.l. the bank for allegedly money laundering that he as finance minister sought to offer reassurance. you know just to stand up i can assure you that the latvian finance system is stable banks don't have liquidity issues so depositors can feel completely safe because. the flow of this moment i'm going to use this only involved watching you not just in order to protect the finance sector stability and reputation i think the term savage should resign from his post while the investigation is ongoing. now cops know that. the latvian prime m

members in latvia estonia lithuania of those small baltic countries that were once part of the soviet union they can't do that so they have to be more subtle they have to find other ways to do it i'm as i said before i'm speculating here but if russia wanted to meddle they would have to do it in the most subtle way such as this putting a wedge between lots of other european union euro currency countries for example what is the response from the kremlin. well there hasn't been a response yet as far as i know there won't be i think all there will be just all we do have nothing to do with it because if they did it and we have to stress this point we don't know yet but if they did it they don't have to do anything more those days so the seeds of distrust between lotfi and the european union and it's going to be a success for them but. it's not clear yet the other interesting thing here is that latvia as a you as a member so wouldn't this be not only an attack on latvia but also an attack on the e.c.b. well you know that's absolutely true. if they did it that's what they were trying to do