melinda: thank you. that is super helpful. i would love for you to write for us about the process, as well. someone wrote some important articles about the process. i recommend them. i am so glad you are able to join us. you have offices in the donbas and you are keeping your eye close on the situation. the greatest humanitarian needs in ukraine -- shortages of running water and not enough food. can you paint a picture of what life is like for us? who lives across the line and what is their daily life like? >> thank you for the question. we have offices close to the contact line. i encounter people very close to those who live there. i think stories of people trying to survive in these extremely difficult conditions. it has been -- it is a very small village in the region. it is very close to the line. it has lost 90% of its population. about 20 people live there who have survived. one of them is 40 years old. she does not have a steady income. she is unable to find work because of her health. that has significantly deteriorat

okay, well, thank you, melinda. we're going to go to some live pictures that now. 07, these big department, valid? 12, valid votes. 1425. and abstentions. 6. 86. it's fun. now it's getting exciting, isn't it enough? i think because according to the and from i to co, 54 will actually 1st let me say the results with individual candidates different. oh dr. dr. stephanie gay bower 58 loads. oh yeah. dr. gad, i but 9 to 6 months. oh yeah, and dr. mark, dr. max, utter 350 votes. oh yeah. and dr. franco, dash down, maya. 1045 votes. he stood up and hugged. i believe that was his wife, melinda crane. here, the city. okay. i have confirmation and anglo merkel. ah his and it was the former chance, sir, making her 1st appearance in public since she left office ah, clapping and cheering, all kinds of applause as their selection comes to an end of the speaker part. i read the results for other candidates because this was not a one kennedy race. ah, and i think i'm gonna go to our correspondent. oh, i think we're going to go back

melinda, thank you so much for laying it all out for us. that was melinda speaking to me earlier. now, even before friday's official opening the beijing winter olympics, are mired in controversy. concerns about human rights abuses and the high number of corona virus cases threatened to overshadow the games. almost $3000.00 athletes will be competing for glory. but is the actual sports at risk of becoming a side show? billions have been invested into making beijing 2022, an extravagant festival of competition. but the build up has been about so much more than sport politics. for instance, some nations including the u. s. and the u. k. you have declared a diplomatic boy called over, schumann writes issues and wilson competitors, but no ministers or officials. meanwhile, organizers have threatened athletes with punishment for any behavior or expression that they deem in breach of chinese law, and will expect the audio see to rigorously enforce its own rules limiting protests . they show the same now in neil in pic charter there are very strict rules. so for the meadow ceremonies and

i am sorry i called you melanie, melinda, this is an unusual format evenin melinda, this is an unusual in british newspapers to have bullet points on the front page, but it's quite an effective one, particularly the one that strikes me as frustrated moscow changes its tactics such as perhaps the most encouraging thing that we have seen recently, the sense that maybe it's not going as the war game phot it would. , , ., not going as the war game phot it would. , i. , .,, would. temper your enthusiasm, thins would. temper your enthusiasm, things look— would. temper your enthusiasm, things look pretty _ would. temper your enthusiasm, things look pretty good _ would. temper your enthusiasm, things look pretty good right - things look pretty good right now, but the _ things look pretty good right now, but the ukrainian army is fighting and its _ but the ukrainian army is fighting and its volunteers are fighting a very heroic fight. the russians really— very heroic fight. the russians really haven't rolled things out yet. _ really haven't rolled things out yet. so — really haven't rolled thin

okay, melinda crane are chief political editor. thank you so much for that insight on on frank walters time, our speech and we have nina has a, has been attending the election there at the buddhist egg. how. how, how did it all unfold for you though, dana? well, i've been listening to the speech by frank, fight us by a stone my. our old and new president together with newton meet. now he's a foreign policy expert for the social democrats and i have the opportunity now to discuss on fight. i stand my speech with him. so what did you make of this message that from fight i stein maya gave essentially, directly addressed to vladimir putin. don't underestimate the democracy's, wasn't it high time that such a sentence came from a high ranking german official? well, it was a very powerful speech, i must say. very seldom have you heard of fun for the fun, my distressing feet residency talking so directly to the current 1st in international politics. this was quite a speech i must say. and i think that she has not only chosen to send a very

melinda, it's a difficult one, _ devastating. melinda, it's a difficult one, this, - devastating.ne, this, it - devastating. melinda, it's a difficult one, this, it is - devastating. melinda, it's a difficult one, this, it is the l devastating. melinda, it's a - difficult one, this, it is the war, innocent people die, certainly families will be involved, these are not battles on front lines of old—style wars, wars are now far inside countries, sometimes between countrymen and country women. but there is a value in this kind of thing, notjust in shocking people, notjust in playing, you know, to the heartstrings, but actually reminding people that some of the actions involved in modern warfare kind of seemed to breach what we used to think of as standards of acceptable conduct in war. that's exactly right- _ acceptable conduct in war. that's exactly right- i — acceptable conduct in war. that's exactly right. i think— acceptable conduct in war. that's exactly right. i think five - acceptable conduct in war. that's exactly right. i think five of- acceptable conduct in war. that's exac

now let's get more now from our chief, little correspondent, melinda crime. melinda. so another issue that, of course, being the banning of this channel has been added to chance for the shelters. agenda . what has the government been saying so far? germany's federal commissioner for culture and media, claudia, quote, criticized the decision as, quote, unquote, wholly unacceptable. and said, russia had drawn false equivalence between r t, germany and d, w basing her argument on responsibility for content. she said quote, d, w is an independent organization. this means that unlike our tea, russia today, the german state does not exert any influence on programming. and germany's foreign ministry said moscow's measures had no basis of whatsoever. a spokesman also firmly rejected the comparison between door to villa and broadcaster rti. and in fact, foreign minister under lena bear buck already conveyed that message to her russian counterpart, sergey love rough. when she visited in january and she pointed out that because of the central role that state media had played und

now let's get more from our chief political correspondent, melinda cray. melinda b is another issue there, added to chancellors a chance, a shelters agenda. what is the government been saying? so far, where bo sat, germany's federal commissioner for culture and media and germany's foreign ministry have roundly criticized this decision. and in the words of the culture, commissioner claudio, it is wholly unacceptable. and both she and the foreign ministry said that russia has drawn false equivalence between russia today in germany and deutsch avella. and in the words of the culture, commissioner, she, she said, germany a d. w is an independent organization, meaning that, unlike russia today, the german state does not exert any influence on programming. and germany's foreign ministry. likewise said these new measures, the band has no basis whatsoever adds to the strains on german russian relations. and as you know, deutsch avella is a public interest broadcaster finance by taxpayer funds, but in no way answerable to the german government. and in fact, foreign

i'm joined in the studio now find a w chief, political correspondent, melinda crane. melinda. very good to see you. so we just heard a few short excerpts of a sty myers except in speech, and it was rather sharpened, quite a political 1 may even say, how unusual is that? indeed, he's sometimes said to be a bland communicator, but he defied those critics and gave what i think was one of the strongest speeches of his career. and the office of the president is also often said to be largely ceremonial, but in fact as head of state, he does represent germany abroad. and he made it clear in this speech that he does take that role very seriously. so his overarching theme was challenges and threats to democracy. and he used it to essentially say to listeners both at home and abroad, that he is clearly on the side of those who are fighting for democracy. he also sent very clear messages, both to president putin and to germany's allies, to put in, he said, do not underestimate the strength of democracy's. andy said president putin loosened the noose around the throat of ukraine. strong w

w. chief political correspondent, melinda crane. and nina hazard, who is at the parliament buildings in downtown berlin. nina, shy mar, was re elected with a large majority, but were there any surprises? well, in terms of election results and there were a few minor surprises, of course, of fun fight. i sign my being re elected was not a big surprise after all, he did have the backing of all the parties that are involved in the current government coalition. so the stds, the greens and the if the piece, but also he got the support of from the conservatives from a homely angle on michael's parting of the glitch. massive party. and that gave him a solid majority, got more than a 1000 votes. now 1400 or more than 1400 votes were up for grabs. what was interesting though, in terms of results, and i'm sure that we'll get to the details of his speech later. but just in terms of results was that the candidate who had been nominated by the free voters, the only woman in the race, she got more votes than many people had expected z m would have

hi, melinda. so germany hosted diplomatic talks yesterday aimed at jumpstarting the piece process for eastern ukraine, which we know has been stalled. did that meeting produce results? well if 9 and a half hours of talks and a commitment to continue them amount to progress, then yes, after a 2 year pause, this was the 2nd round of normandy format talks between russian and ukrainian representatives under franco german auspices in just 2 weeks. these talks and the 2015 minsk agreements, that that is the focus are aimed not to address the current build up of russian forces, but to resolve tensions and ongoing fighting in eastern ukraine between government troops and pro russian separatists. no concrete outcome was reached yesterday, but d. w has been told by those involved, that the talks were difficult, that they revealed divergent positions, but that all 4 parties definitely want to keep talking and plan to do. so in march and ukraine's negotiators said that this, the of the last round produced a c

and joining me here in studio is chief political correspondent, melinda crane. hi melinda. good to see you. we're just waiting now to cross over and see and hear from at the native sector. general, yan schellenberg and the commission president ursula funder line. but before we go over there to munich on ask you how united do you see the western allies? i think we saw a very concerned convincing display of unity yesterday, particularly as the foreign minister on a lena bear box sat on the stage with her american colleague, the secretary of state. and abe lincoln. and that there had been some doubts as you know, over the past weeks and months about whether germany is really fully aligned with you and nato partners. not least because of germany's reluctance to send defensive weapons to ukraine. but also because it's been unclear whether germany would put the gas pipeline nordstrom to, which would bring gas directly from russia to northern germany on the table in the sanctions package. and we heard the german foreign minister say very clearly, there is no daylight between us an

very thorny issue that you outline of their melinda. and i understand that there have been other reports of a right wing extremists who work as lawyers and civil servants. um, put this in perspective for us. how and demick is this, how pervasive is this issue? it's an absolutely grave a problem regardless of the numbers. because the fact is that whether serving in the administration or sitting in parliament as mr. meyer did, these members of the a, f, d have a platform for expressing views that do call rule of law into question and, and work to subvert democracy. they use democratic institutions for that purpose. last week, the a f d is somewhat more moderate. co leader york. martin announced that he was quitting his post and leaving the party because it is becoming increasingly radical. it's heartbeat's ever more to the right. he said in pounds, ever louder, so the party has been in disarray for some time. and in the last election, it didn't do well in the west of germany. but it had resounding success in many parts of the east, which

our chief political correspondent, melinda crane. thank you so much. let's get some more headlines now. at least 25 people are reported dead in the democratic republic of congo after a high voltage power cable snapped and foul. the incident happened on the outskirts of the capitol kinshasa. at the what he say, the cable had several homes and a market killing. several people instantly us actor and t, v presenter what the goldberg has been suspended by the a b c network following her remarks about jews and the holocaust. goldberg had said that the holocaust was not about race, but about man's inhumanity to man. she later apologized after a backlash. and in australia, 2 large bush fires have prompted evacuations on the outskirts of perth and emergency warning has been issued with blistering temperatures and high winds threatening to intensify the blazes in the coming days. the fires have burned through some 100 hector's of land since they began on tuesday. beijing will become the 1st city in history to house both a summer and winter olympics. when this ye

melinda, we've seen a flurry of diplomatic efforts this week aimed at ending the crisis. has any progress been made? well, amongst those efforts was a german hosting yesterday of talks between russian and ukrainian representatives co hosted by germany and france. and in fact, this is the 2nd round of such talk. so within just a little over 2 weeks after a very long break beforehand, this is known as the normandy format and has as its focus the 2015 minutes agreement. and that these talks are aimed not at resolving the current build up of russian forces, but at trying to address tensions and ongoing fighting in eastern ukraine between government forces of ukraine and pro russian separatists. so yesterday's talks did go on for 9 hours, no concrete outcome was reached. but german media reporting that negotiators said the discussions were difficult. revealed deep discussion and did a division over the very substance of the agreement. but that all for parties said they absolutely want to talk to continue and cranes negotiate or confirmed that the talks hadn't rob progress but

hi, melinda. what are the chances of jens meyer returning to his job as a judge? well, it's hard to say as we heard there, the threshold is in fact quite high. the fact is, there are a few legal avenues as the report pointed out, but precisely because germany is a country where rule of law is taken seriously. the hurdles, the hurdles are significant of the fact is one of the absolute central measures is precisely the one that the authorities had been pursuing in regard to myer himself . namely that he was under observation by the domestic intelligence service, the office for the protection of the constitution and a and thereby that there's awareness of the risks. and then there are measures like the ones we heard about in the report. injunctions indictments, all of those, essentially represent vigilance on the part of all democratic institutions. and that absolutely is what is called for here. going forward. melinda, there are also have been other reports of right wing extremists working in the judiciary as lawyers, as judges, as civil servants. how big of an issu

melinda. another issue not added to shoals agenda in moscow. wat has the government been saying so far? the german federal minister for culture and media. claudia hote, criticized, did the decision quite emphatically yesterday saying it was wholly acceptable and that russia had drawn a false equivalence between russia today in germany and deutsch avella. and she went on to say, and i quote d, w is an independent organization that means that unlike russia today, the german state does not exert any influence over its program. and germany's foreign ministry also said that moscow's measures had no basis whatsoever represented a another strain on german russian relations. and they too firmly rejected this comparison between d, w and r t. and as you know, d, w is a public interest broadcaster financed by taxpayer funds, but in no way answerable to the german government. whereas russia today is a state broadcast or in fact, foreign minister barbara, the german foreign minister, had conveyed that mess

melinda herring, the in dc. thank you, peter. with the blue so clear, the remaining protest isn't vehicles from a bridge on the canadian border with the united states, but the crossing is not yet open to traffic. the blockade was part of protests across canada against cooper. 19 vaccine mandates and b. c correspondent, cal perry has more now from windsor ontario, just under a week now since the ambassador bridge has been blockaded and shut down. and this is really the 1st time that we've seen police be able to get protesters physically out of the area. you can see the intersection that we're talking about. we are about a mile from the ambassador bridge. and what's happening now is police are reinforcing this road, this road leads to the bridge. it's about 3 kilometers from the bridge to one of the major interstate in canada. so this is the main thoroughfare and police are clearly trying to get it. not only this open, but to have it secure. the question for police moving forward is going to be whether or not they continue have to,

and one more question, melinda, on what more the west can do. we know the ukrainian foreign minister essentially issuing a list of, of what ukraine's needs are at the moment on twitter earlier. one of them was, of course, to isolate president putin holy and completely with such sanctions, but also financial assistance, humanitarian systems, and so on and so forth. so what more support can the west provide? in fact, the, you already pledged this week additional financial assistance for ukraine, their economy also obviously very, very badly hurt by these developments. so that money will be flowing. undoubtedly, we will see additional offers of financial economic support. then there's more discussion on going about defensive weapons for ukraine, the baltics insisting that we must send additional defensive supplies to ukraine. frankly, the ukranian forces are vastly outnumbered by the russian forces. how much that would then, you know, prolong the conflict hard to say, but that will be an ongoing topic until yesterday, german leaders were saying the

melinda, as i said, some really quite emotional woods there from all 3. if you can, sum it up for us. what were the most important messages starting with the the speech, the chancello love, shall it's made. we really heard all 3 speakers, recognizing that this is a wrenching moment for the german people that people are sitting at their table saying what's going on? how can there be war once again in europe? and so what we're seeing here from all of them is an attempt to really put this in context as judge both the chancellor said and the opposition leader in different words. the world today is different from the world before the 24th of february. and in some ways what we're looking at is for germans, the end of the thinking that has been a continual theme throughout the post war era. germany having learned that lesson from world war 2 never again, never again war. that meant to many germans, that germany in a way was renouncing military action. of course, it's part of nato. of course, it does have a military and, and it does commit some spending to milita

i listed on his chief political correspondent, melinda crane. now, the russian invasion of ukraine has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing back home since last thursday. huge crowds have been waiting at train stations to travel to the border and cross into neighboring countries. these scenes from the live in western ukraine show the fear and the frustration there is not enough space on the trains to carry every one to safety. men of fools to say good bye to their families . they're not allowed to leave because they've been called up to fight. many of the refugees all headed to poland in our report and monica shariska sent us this report . the pool is ukrainian border, and medica and southeastern poland. since russian forces invaded ukraine around a 100000 people cross the border seeking refuge. they say there are long lines of cars trying to enter poland. many of the new arrivals are met by friends and relatives on the polish side, including oksana, dable, vent girl. she and her family have a grueling 30 hour journey behind them. most of th

melinda. so another issue has been added to chancellor sold, says agenda, what has the government have been saying so far? well, the german federal minister for culture and media, claudia, quote, criticized the decision quite emphatically yesterday and said that russia is drawing a false equivalence between russia today and deutsch avella. and she said that the broadcasting band that russia has now imposed is wholly unacceptable, quote unquote. and says that d, w is an independent organization, meaning that unlike russia today, german government does not steer broadcasting content. as you know, again i d, w is an independent broadcaster funded by tax payers. but we are not a state broadcaster, as russia today is. and the foreign ministry of germany made the same point yesterday saying that moscow measures have no basis whatsoever, quote unquote, and add up to a new strain on german russian relations. and they 2 rejected that equivalence between r t and d w. and you know, the german foreign min

i mean, melinda, what, what do you make of michael's comments just there? well, she's certainly not alone with those comments. she has joined a broad chorus of voices from all across the political spectrum here in germany. we also heard the remarks by the president of frank vault to shine my a little bit earlier with a very similar take saying, you know, breach of international law, territorial integrity and so on. both of them illustrate the ambivalence of german policy. these of the russia over really over decades. the ambivalence on the one hand is that from fall to shine meyer, as you mentioned, stood on the my down that central square in key of when there were massive demonstrations against the countries pro russian backed president in 2014 and attempted to moderate between the demonstrators and the president and thereby prevented further bloodshed. he was later accused by vladimir putin of helping fo meant a qu, namely, bringing in to power a government, an independent government, not backed by russia. he did not push back on that he did not contradic

and i will certainly be keeping a close eye on that, melinda. thank you. they w melinda crime. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news. nato secretary general yen stoughton berg will become the head of norway's central bank. when his term finishes. at the end of september, critics say his next appointment could weaken the banks. independence stop berg has previously served isn't always prime minister and finance minister. people in germany have observed a minute of silence for 2 police officers shot dead during a traffic stop. the officers were killed on monday in the western town of carousal, after finding 2 men with poached animals in a vehicle. the suspects already known to police, were arrested hours later by the british prime minister boris johnson has lost a 5th key aid as his popularity plummets over a slew of controversial lock down parties. johnson's chief of staff, private secretary and communications direct to have all resigned policy unit chief mentor emerged. so also quite over comments johnson made on monday attacking opposition. labor late

right, melinda, thank you. they'd have his chief political correspondent into crime about him why beijing winter olympics are officially opening to day after a troubled run up in which the sport itself has often been pushed out of focus by other issues. a groan of ours pandemic and china's human rights record have dominated headlines until now. oh, with less than 24 hours until the games officially open, the bullets go clouds over beijing showed no signs of clearing. despite the repeated efforts of, i will see president thomas back to resist what he views as the instrumental ization of the olympics. pct, danger greeks, you with that the, if for the games would be used for good would come in between those that the political tensions which were higher at the time between as part i now things and, and then others. if her there, the games would not be conceived to be neutral. they would not have her survived. therefore, 1000 years australian open spectators were accused last month by china of politicizing sport. af

and i will certainly be keeping a close eye on that, melinda. thank you. they w melinda crime. let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world. nato secretary general again, stolen bird will become the head of norway's central bank when his term and the alliance ends on the 30th of september. critic say his next appointment could weaken the banks independence. schellenberg has previously served as noise. prime minister and finance minister, british prime minister bars johnson has lost a 5th key aid as his popularity plummets a wrestler of controversial lockdown parties. johnson's chief of staff, private secretary and communications director, have all resigned policy unit chief than aramis that also quit ovo comments. johnson made on monday attacking opposition. labor lead, a kiss. thomas, hello, and columbia had arrested 5 people after a large hall of cocaine was found hidden inside an ambulance police search the vehicle after the driver claimed he was transporting a cove at 19 patient to hospital. but couldn't name the facilities location. some

melinda, nick, thank you both very much. but with a crate, our tree political correspondent nick connelly are correspond in sketchup on some of his stories making headlines around the world today. president manuel mccourt of france is calling for a renaissance for the french nuclear industry. he wants to build up to 14 new reactors, the power frances transition away from fossil fuels. critics of race concerns about cost and problem of radioactive waste. germany plans to close its last nuclear plants this year. the head of london's metropolitan police priscilla dick has resigned, after london's mayor said she had not done enough to address sexism and racism in the police force. received a dick head faced intense criticism over the met response to the 2021 rape and murder of a woman. by serving police officer, the australian government has listed co wallace as endangered in 3 of its states. the native marsupials are planning to survive amid bush fires, land clearing and drought by one estimate. koala numbers have been cut in h

ok, well d, w chief political editor melinda crane. thanks for that insight. and we're just going to recap, the latest developments on the 2nd day of russia's invasion of ukraine. ukrainian army says its forces are battling russian troops on the edge of the capitol. and there are reports of gun fire near the government district. air raid sirens have been sounding in kiev and other cities. and apartment building in the capital was partly destroyed apparently by shell fragments. ukraine says it shot down a russian fighter jet and 2 missiles above the capital. overnight. people are again taking shelter and metro stations today. more than a 130 people have been reported since russia's invasion began yesterday. they chewed for continuing coverage of brushes for mackenzie crane ah, with a g, which it was more well which knitted thin mansion did rob me some way. i see who is the aggressor poon chose this war. people and trucks injured when trying to flee the city center more and more refugees are being turned away at the border. families playing ball with extreme gro

but we anyways can discuss melinda what the main message was there. and we understand that there has been some movement, some speculation now already about what the european union is planning in response . what can you tell us about what you've been seeing and hearing we, we have some unconfirmed wire reports coming in that provide a bit more detail, but not a lot more detail on what we heard earlier from the you commission vice president ursula funder lion, who said the next package of sanctions will be significantly harsher, that these will target major russian banks, thereby denying russia access to european capital markets. that's important because every government needs to finance and refinance its activities, it must be said they could potentially be somewhat blunted by the fact that russia has been struggling for some time to sanctions proof it's economy. it has a big pile of foreign currency reserves. for example, none the less, these are expected to, to cause pain to the russian economy. beyond that, the commissioner vice president talked abo

join our by our chief, political correspondent, melinda crane, or melinda. you were following this all along over the weekend. are a major turnaround in german foreign and security policy. walk us through this. what changes are we looking at? well, 1st of our concretely, we're going to see a germany, a break with the long standing prohibition on sending weapons to a conflict zone. so very direct support now for ukraine. secondly, harsh economic sanctions on russia not only the exclusion of some russian banks. from that swift payment transfer information system, but also freezing the reserves of the russian central bank a very big move indeed. and thirdly, a massive increase in defense spending something you and i have talked about for years. but that always looked like it was somewhere out there in the realm of hope, but wasn't going to happen. underlying all of that, this is the most important thing is indeed a tectonic shift in perspective, away from essentially a post world war 2 and post cold war consensus that saw germany tie its own hands militarily, a

w as chief political correspondent, melinda crane. good morning, melinda. now this is a major, you turn for the german government. what was it that finally pushed it to change course on alms deliveries to ukraine? absolutely, it's nothing short of a small revolution in the german security policy. germany had been resisting the pressure to send weapons on the basis of a law that reflects this country's very long prohibition on delivering weapons to conflict zones. that, in turn is a reflection of lessons learned from world war 2. which of course, was a war of aggression that germany itself initiated. so the prohibition included a taboo on german weapons being delivered to a country where they could be used against russian soldiers in particular because of the suffering that germany had inflicted there during the 2nd world war. until now, the view in berlin has been that diplomacy is the tool of choice, and the commercial relations will bring moderation on russia's part. but there has been increasing recognition that these assumptions are unrealistic, not to

he political correspond melinda crane. now let's catch up on just a few other stories making headlines around the world today. more than 60 people are dead after an explosion that a market in the west africa nation of or king of faso. the blast was so powerful. it brought down nearby homes. investigators suspected happened in a store selling explosives and chemicals for minors and have detained the owner. chilly and fire fighters are battling dozens of blazes and the country's central south region. the fires have been burning for weeks, but 1st responder, se they are now facing the worse conditions all summer. several homes have been destroyed, and many more are threatened as the fire spread hong kong authorities to announce compulsory covered 19 testing for all of the territories. $7400000.00 inhabitants next month. executive carrie lam also extended strict social distancing measures. she said help from mainland china was required to tackle a record surgeon to run a virus cases driven by the only chron variant. dutch poli

now to talk about all of this, melinda, it's been developing so quickly. we just heard statements from the german foreign minister and from the german chancellor. we have heard certainly a message of unity from the west and we just heard analynn about there say we are shocked, but not helpless. we have prepared for this moment. how prepared is germany is its european allies, is the west in general to deliver this economic and political punishment that they promised. what we know is that for weeks they have been working, as you say, with their nato partners with their you partners and with the united states to create a stage by stage plan for these sanctions. this is why after the recognition of the self proclaimed eastern, a self proclaimed breakaway republics in the eastern part of ukraine. the 1st package of sanctions was a limited, a targeted package, criticized by some people as being too little. but it's clear that they now plan to take a very significant step toward what left sholtes referred to as sanctions. that will exact a bitter toll that will c

melinda, thank you for joining us. that this is a major, you turn for the job and government, what was it that finally pushed it to change course? you know, as you, as you said, germany has steadfastly resisted appeals and also criticism. saying that it does have these long standing laws that prohibit any delivery of weapons to war zones. and those laws essentially reflect lessons learned from world war 2 when germany initiated its own war of aggression. and they even include a taboo on sunday, particularly on sending weapons anywhere where they might be deployed against russian soldiers, because germany inflicted so much suffering on russia. however, as you know, germany has been facing increasing pressure for its resistance. it is a major weapons exporter and the fact is that german weapons often do find themselves to war zones. so, to many people, this looked almost hypocritical, certainly in the face of what we are seeing in ukraine. the valiant fighting by slee out numbered force. many people also within the germa

the debris is chief political correspondent, melinda crane. well, i'm gonna hand you over to my colleague go william glue, croft who's going to give us a wider picture of what's been happening today in ukraine. although we've been seeing as many as 190000 russian troops building up on ukrainian borders for the last many months, actually still, let's see how things have developed. if we can show a map of ukraine here up on the wall behind me. there's been a number of developments they started will remember in the east, in this separatist held region that russia recognizes now, but the rest of the world does not this don, bas region. that's where putin on monday said he was going to be sending forces to so called protect them from what he saw as ukrainian aggressions the ukraine denied . but since then, what we're hearing out of ukraine has gone way beyond that with attacks around the country, including air strikes in cave, the capital, also in major cities like car cave in the east. and we've been hearing about amphibious landings in strategic

is melinda harring, deputy director of the atlantic, cancels eurasia center. melinda good to talk to you again. welcome back to our continuing coverage of events in ukraine. can i just 1st off, get your thoughts on these reports that we've seen and heard of a column of tanks? 1012, maybe 15 kilometers outside of kia. they've got there from the border with bella. bruce a good morning. dear. yes, the situation in here is very hard to watch. here is under attack right now. the russian forces are in the city. there's reports of firing. there's been missile strikes this morning. and there's also reports that civilians have been hit. there's a lot of push on twitter of people taking refuge in metro stations across kia people as the train stations tried to get out of here the soon as possible. and then also the road, the major road to connect to louis, which is one of the big cities out in western ukraine is chock full of cars as well . so there's a lot of desperation and a lot of fear right now. and amongst that desperation and fear correspondent andrew was doing th

and, melinda, you first. reading the tea leaves, your experience recently there in ukraine, how do you see this ending? what does your gut tell you? >> alex, i wanted to jump in and say one other thing about zelensky that shocked me from the trip to kyiv. >> sure. >> so, they're not ready on a military level, and they haven't gotten the people ready. but on a political level, zelensky hasn't called all the opposition parties together. and i really don't understand why he hasn't done that and why they're not presenting a unified face. he needs to do that. and other opposition parties have expressed a willingness to do that. so that needs to be something that he does today, not tomorrow. there's a real need for a unified face against the russian threat. how does this play out? so, the worst-case scenario is a conventional land war. the worst-case scenario is that it brings in other partners and it becomes that there's 2 million or 3 million-person refugee crisis in europe. unfortunately, that's not out of the q

welcome back to the studio, melinda. this has been quite a day starting quite early. perhaps you can talk us through it and eat, called the darkest. stay in europe for many decades by a number of european leaders and a day on which russia trampled on, not only the country of ukraine, but on the entire post war security order, which is based on the integrity of territorial borders. and clearly, this is an attack as both the president of the united states, the secretary general of nato, and german leaders have said that was premeditated, that is unjustified and unprovoked. and that vitamin putin is absolutely directly responsible for the german chancellor called it pertains war. so as you just summarize, this is an attack that's been multi pronged, a layer land, and sea russian forces bearing down from the north. and from the east, toward the capital key of vladimir putin said in the night that his forces would move toward kia with the objective of holding the government. they're accountable. and he of course, has accused that government of general side in eastern ukrai

melinda, thank you so much. thank you for 932 g m t. that means is $1132.00 in kiya if you're watching al 0 without continuing coverage of the russian attack on ukraine. let's get you across the latest developments. russian force is a closing in on key of blood explosions and gunfire sent, pedestrians running for safety in the northern district of o malone citizens had been ordered to stay at home. pierre was hit by mo rocket strikes over night. there have been further evacuations off to residential buildings were hit. the ukrainian army says russian forces fight on civilian areas, but a defense systems repelled the effects. russia's invasion of ukraine has led to global condemnation and more sanctions. western nations have targeted banks, oligarchs, and other wealthy individuals, but ukraine's president says they aren't enough to stop the russian advance. let's stay with that idea. the concepts of sanctions which largely have now kicked in because they kick in immediately. e leaders have agreed to impose sanctions that target 70 percen

melinda ramping up military capabilities is a slow process. what kind of time frame are we talking about here? and is it, can it make any difference to the current conflict? well, a 100000000000 is double the current defense budget. so we're looking at a massive increase just within this fiscal year that will begin to remedy some of the gaps and deficits in the bone despair. and the chancellor talked about gaps and deficits, basically in all areas, hardware skills and capabilities. technology meaning as cyber logistics, airplanes, boats, the name and basically everything. and that reflects the fact that germany essentially is an economic giant been a military midget. so no, that's not going to happen overnight and he and he absolutely acknowledged that and said, that's why we will now be investing more than 2 percent. 2 percent is the nato target 2 percent of g d, p on defense spending. he said we will now be doing more than that now. currently it's 1.5 percent of yeah. yeah. way below. been promising to do it for years and years since 2014, e

i just thought i should say, melinda, when we talk about sanctions, it's always the question of who's going to hurt most. and in this case, you're using north stream to as a tactic against russia. does germany have an energy plan? does germany know what it's going to do now at this sudden point in time, he was at pains there an answer to a question to say, look, a natural gas makes up only 25 percent of our overall energy mix and russian natural gas is around, off as that germany is very dependent on russian natural gas. but as we know, there have been plans being laid for weeks now to ensure that there will not be a major interruption of supply to this country. that as you know, it's an industrial power house. it consumes a lot of energy. we heard from the you commissioner over the weekend at the munich security conference, that the energies, they are liquid, natural gas has been diverted to europe and therefore there will not be a major disruption. so presumably that includes germany as well and, and the chancellor was at pains to lay people's fears to rest on that score. linda cran

melinda crane, thanks so much for that context. a pleasure. as always, to have you in the studio, i'm joined now by ukrainian. it's singer rose lana. some of you may know her as the winner of the 2004 eurovision song contest. she was also a leading figure of the 2013 pro e u. protests known as euro. my don roslyn. glad to have you on the show. sorry, it's not under better conditions. you are joining us today from care of. can you tell us what is happening there around you now? so as 1st time when he is and you create a key which is the most old and unique and it's all over the world. so her attacks are from goodness rockets, drug, 2nd war. that is why i can bring the message that i know because we are facing the work and nobody know that we can slap and nobody knows before much of all of this work. but i'm, i'm, i'm sure this is on the war against civilization and fries. there, i mean after the relative success of the people's movements, could you imagine this happening yet? we are shocked because nobody prepare for that. so we read about that

i think we may have lost connection with melinda. i'm not sure of melinda still there. but, mueller that did you hear my question? yes. go ahead. >> yes. absolutely. germany is waking up. we are not going to see this immediately. it is probably going to take a couple of years. but i expect to see greater defense spending. i expect to see a greater instances on energy independence. so, it may not make a difference in this immediate crisis, but things are changing in europe. and that's a very good. thing you are right on nato. nato was sort of a organization struggling for a purpose. it knows what it's doing. now and it's going to have more members. i fully suspect sweden and finland to join as a result of this crisis. >> all, right we melinda haring thank you so much for joining us this morning. greatly appreciate your perspective. coming up, are putin's motive clearly political with hopes of increasing influence. my next guest says his aggressions are races plain and simple. we'll be right back with that special coverage. temperature balancing so you both sleep just rig

he is a chief political correspondent, melinda crane, who joins me now in the studio. hi, melinda, thanks for joining us. once again, according to diplomatic sources, the e. u has perhaps already agreed a asset freeze for putin and his foreign minister survey lover of is that the case? that's what we're hearing at the moment. it's being reported by the financial times and bloomberg. so we don't have an official confirmation from the you. but apparently the, you leaders discuss the possibility of an asset freeze on putting and laugh rough yesterday evening and i guess they decided to hold back the news or they haven't fully agreed this asset freeze will not include a travel back at the moment that so that theoretically, if negotiations were to occur, put in and lever of could travel for, for talks, but an asset freeze. it's somewhat unclear exactly how many assets vladimir putin has in europe itself. on paper, he makes a salary of about a $120000.00 a year. and has a couple of cars in an apartment, but as we all know, he is a very wealthy man. his regime in russia is co

melinda: yes.rently there is slower growth, low inflation, and we expect pboc to ease monetary policy to support the economy. the chinese government is emphasizing boosting consumption. the ministry of commerce has also encouraged online promotion. credit policy adjustment could benefit will estate funding and property loans, and lending is expect it to accelerate. so we think all of this is indicating a more positive implication on consumer sentiment, wealth, and disposable income, and that may lead to an improvement in consumption. we read this as a positive signal and more of a tailwind for consumer companies in 2022. so in terms to your question about earnings contraction, i think this is more radio because aquatic -- this is more 80 on socratic -- i think this is more idiosyncratic. there are some headwinds facing the company rather than sector specific. rishaad: and on that very quickly, what is the one industry group, or indeed stock that he would absolutely put your bets on, and one that yo