♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation. pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. woman: and now, "bbc world news".

ros: welcome. reports in germany suggest the government has agreed to send leopard tanks to ukraine. poland's prime minister calling on berlin to be raised. -- brave. >> this is why we talked to our german partners to not procrastinate, not delay just take brave decisions. ros: several ukrainian officials sacked. we will update you on that, talk about afghanistan. tell event or officials saying more than 120 people have died during the coldest winter in a decade -- taliban officials let's start with the war in ukraine.

german media and the reuters news agency reporting that olaf scholz has dided to send german-made leopard tanks to ukraine, something they have been asking for. we have not heard formal confirmation from the government yet. when that happens, we will bring it to him. one of the countries who has been pushing for the tanks to be sent to ukraine is poland. it's prime minister has been speaking to the bbc and had this message for germany. >> i hope this reply can come as quickly as possible. well germany played a key role in building to the huge aggression funds for this north by buying russn gas, trading with russia big-time. now thspecial disposability is on german shoulders. we do expect their contribution.

we expect quick decisions, more openness toward ukrainian needs. ros: let's take a look at germany's role in this aspect of the war. the leopard is operated by about 20 countries, it made in germany, but it gets more complicated because other countries that operate the tanks have to ask germany for permissions to donate them to a third country. the leader of nato has been meeting germany's new defense minister in berlin. let us hear from nato's secretary-general. >> consultations among allies will continue. i am confident we will have the solution soon. germany plays a key role in our alliance. the announcement from chancellor schulte is historic. with a special hundred billion

euros defense fund for aircraft, you -- helicopters, tanks and ammunition. ros:they were originally develod in 1979 but have been upgraded many times since then. it is not known as a world leading battle tank. there are loud -- rumored to be around 2000 worldwide. volodymyr zelenskyy has said around 300 and that would help ensure russian defeat. some impact is widely accepted. norbert rock n is an mp from germany's main opposition party. >> this is a position of the chancellor. he does not have the backing of his own government. two parties are rejecting him, but he is resisting blockading the delivery of weapons.

now the international pressure is mounting. then you will be forced to change course, but he has lost a lot of time. ros: here is more from our berlin correspondent. >> according to numerous german media reports, it does seem germany will deliver 14 tanks, a big step forward in german military support to ukraine. and also allowed the reexport of other german-made tanks belonging to other countries, because as you said, that is part of the export rules that goes with these weapons. you could see this is chancellor schulte bearing down to pressure. pressure has been enormous for months. within his own government, even within his own party as we heard just now, or you could see chanr

because what reports are also saying is that the u.s. is going to deliver their own battle tanks. this is important for chancellor scholz. his it mantra has always been do not go it alone. germany and europe cannot handle the delivery of battle tanks without the u.s. because it would lead europe expose. that seemed to be scholz's idea. very but also serve reports of arguments between washington and berlin about whether america would deliver these tanks. last week, washington said there are logistical reasonshy this is not possible. now it seems washington would also deliver those tanks and you could see this as a victory for chancellor scholz, because he has brought in the americans. ros: next, an important development inside ukraine. several top officials have ukraine -- have resigned as part

of the crackdown on corruption. we know that tackling corruption is one of the european union's key demands if ukraine were to join. this is the ukrainian prime minister. >> the goverent continues to conduct reforms necessary for our country. this concerns building and anticorruption effects -- edifice. ros: let's look at the issue of corruption. it is not new. in 2021, ukraine was ranked 122 out of 180 countries in its ranking of corrupt states. that made it the second most corrupt country in europe after russia. i have been speaking to katerina. >> everyone in ukraine and outside are talking about these resignations.

the fact that allegations of corruption came to light in ukraine, especially about such high figures as deputy defense minister and deputy minister regions, it is to show that the system of anticorruption measures and checks and balances is actually working. if the go back before 2014, no such cases will ever be discussed by the public and the media. now we have the possibility to see anticorruption infrastructure work. i am hopeful it will g accused people to justice and there will be a verdict of the court. ros: when you talk about anticorruption infrastructure, can you help us understand what that movies? -- what that means?

ukraine >> started later than other european states >>. the last 10 years, ukraine they progress in building, creating this infrastructure. we can ukraine created a number of agencies that specifically deal with these issues, fighting corruption for example. an investigative body, a prosecutorial body and a court that deals exclusively with corruption casey. -- cases. we created the system that has special rules to select employees of these agencies. they are more independent and effective in their work so that corruption cases will have proper attention and all due

process issues will be followed. ros: i also need to bring you this update -- we have been reporting on two british volunteers, chris perry and andrew bagshaw's, went missing in ukraine. we have now had this statement from the u.k. foreign office saying they were both killed while attempting a humanitarian evacuation. ♪ next, we will spend several minutes talking about afghanistan. it is freezing and the weather has already killed 124 people. temperatures have gone as low as -34 degrees celsius. this is afghanistan's coldest winter in a decade. we will hear from a number of people experiencing this. this is one man in the mountainous hindu region. >> it gets so cold.

you cannot see the road. the heaters in cars to not work. ros: snowing in afghanistan's mountains and the curve which occurs through afghanistan and india pakistan is not a stranger toarsh winters, but this one is different. >> it is so cold, but he said it is going to get colder still. we have been just for minutes and having face feels like it is going to fall off. imagine if you lived in conditions like this. ros: it is also estimated that 70,000 livestock have perished. this man lives in a nearby region. >> i have heard people have died as cold.

my kids wittingly got sick. some of my animals died. till now, i've have not heard of people there. ros: many areas completely cut off because of the snow. military helicopters have been unable to man in the most mountainous regions and a lack of outside support makes the hardship worse. many aid agencs have had to suspend operation in recent weeks after the taliban banned women from working for nongovernmental organizations. that edict will not be changed. >> in our society, men are responsible for supporting their households, providing for women in the family. we do not see any problem if we do not deal directly with women. our main concern is the family cap we provide assistance. the head of the household tells

us how many people live there. ros: here is a response from one women's rights activist. >> men do not allow women to walk into houses and give aid to the family. they need women to walk into the houses and have contact with their whites. --wives. ros: since the return of the taliban in 2021, women have been pushed out of public life, with condary school barred and women barred from parks, gyms. last month, the taliban stopped women from attending university. the international community has been grappling with how to deal with two this is how one german foreign official put it. >> germany does not recognize the taliban government. we are not on the political

level in discussions with government. i believe that reflects international consensus. but if we can use the united nations, they still have not been in afghanistan but a repetition on the political level, the european union, these are important tools for the coordination of support tha we are given to the afghan people. ros: the bbc has two women in afghanistan. i asked 12 compared how this winter looks compared with previous years. >> the winters are always harsh here. afghanistan is a mountainous country where millions get cut off by the smells, and where lives are on the edge. it is a battle to survive, but we have not seen a winter like this.

temperatures are at record lows. and you have men main hurdles are going up by the telling -- by the taliban, in particular the government saying women cannot work with aid agencies, saying then this is a -- some say you know that they need women to give help to the women, but the taliban will not give in. what you are seeing with aid agencies, including senior unr officials, they are trying to work around the ban. there are taliban within this administration who are more pragmatic, who understand that i have to work with the international community and not against. ros: given that that is the situation, is it unlikely to change in the next few days. assumedly an encrypted policy will come too late.

-- presumably, any shift in policy will come too late. >> the clock is ticking loudly. we had the un's of second-in-command here last week. that is why the un's humanitarian chief is here today. he had back-to-back meetings with taliban leaders. yazidi fractures in this taliban unity. weekof the acting minister for disaster management. he was categorical, we will not reverse this the date -- this edict. hour later, the minister of the economy was saying in the future, women will be able to work with nongovernmental agencies. this is a hierarchical, deeply conservative organization, but there are people within it who will find ways to make this

work, but he urgent question is whether those working around it is enough for afghans to get through this winter alive. ros: as you see them going about the day, challenges they face, can you see a visual difference, a culturalifference in how they are living compared to how they would've taken on winters a couple of years back? >> there is an extraordinary reality about afghanistan. it sometimes seems to be racing ahead withhe latest in technology and social media, but it is also a country where time seems to stand still. we went to visit a family in the mountains. they were getting their house with a stove and wood chips. they had a blanket over a wooden

structure. inside, there is a charcoal burner. derek great-grandparents -- there great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents for centuries, that is how afghans that heated their homes to this is a country stuck in the past. ros: thanks. many a few minutes, we are going to turn to the oscar nominations n through who is up the most. also, all quiet on the western front has nine. we will hear from its producer. ♪ >> the shuttle challenger exploded soon after lift off. there were seven astronauts on board, one a schoolteacher. all believed to have been killed.

>> bite the evening, the heart of cairo was in the hands of demonstrators. they were using the word revolution. >> the earthike outbuildings and brought them down in seconds. the search for survivors has an increasing desperation as the hours passed. >> the new government is finally in control of the republic of uganda. >> survivors of this concentration camp have been commemorating the 40th anniversary. they relived horrifying experiences. ♪ ros: here in the bbc newsroom --

lawyers for mike pence have disclosed that classified documents were found last week at his home and have been handed over to the fbi. the justice department has began an investigation. this comes after several batches of classified materials were discovered at two locations connected to president biden from his time as vice president. >> i imagine there will be politicians hunting through garages and home offices as we speak, looking for anything they have retained. it is a serious matter. these documents have classified markings. there could be an impact on national security. they were kept in and secure locations, found in joe biden's brush near his spokes car.

those documents in ke pence and so were not innate secure location either. there is a lot of work to do, but this seems to be a systemic problem. this step is meant to be handed over at the end of your period in office to the national archives. there are laws that govern that. you are seeing politicians not following them. ros: help us understand what documents we are talking about. do we know what mike pence had kept? >> no. we do not know the level of classification. there are a number of levels from top-secret intelligence that couost lives in the wrong hands, down to briefing documents that you just do not log widely circulated. the scope is brought. we do not know in either case what the nature of the classification was but we know that in the case of donald trump

that some things you took to mar-a-lago were top-secret. that is why he is not just looking at potential charges of violating the presidential recos act but they are talking about charges under the espionage act and obstruction charges. donald trump failed to ask dashcam the back when asked there was a subpoena and an fbi search. let's switch to the west coast. the film award season has kicked off with the oscar nominations. thecience-fiction movie everything, everywhere all at once leads the way with 11 nods. the banshees of inisherin, a dark company set in ireland, received nine nominations. in the running for best actor is

the actor who plays elvis. cate blanchett is in the running for best actress for her lead role in tar. also receiving a lot of nominations is the netflix going all quiet on the western front. we has received nine of nominations and is the first german cinematic tatment of the 1929 novel depicting the devastation of world war i from the perspective of a german soldier. the producer malte grunert told us about when he and others decided to go ahead with the project. >> i was sent the script. our screenwriters had been trying to set this film up together -- as an english

english film and had failed to do so for a number of years. when i came across it, and it is been in part novel for me. it seemed that such a blind spot that this not be done as a german language dome. --german language film. me and edward burger felt this was such an obvious thing to do in them during -- in german. ros: was netflix immediately supportive? >> very much so. we went to send and a couple other parties. netflix were very supportive and insisting that it had to be made remain german. it is a very german novel,

best-selling german novel of all time. still today, he feels contemporary in his language and relevant in its message. they were immediately barred. -- on board. ros: how has the phone been received in germany? >> it has been received while. -- well. the german film industry and the general public viewed it with awe and intimidation. you tackle something -- if you tackle something that was made as part of some history, he 1929 adaptation, there is a certain element of respect and even fear

of not being true to the novel or not doing it well enough. ros: best of luck to that film and all the nominated. a reminder of our top stories -- german media reporting that a lot of shots -- chancellor scholz has now decided to send 14 battle tanks to ukraine. other countries, including poland, will be permitted to reexport german built leopard tanks to help with the fight against the russian invasion. that ends this edition about sensors -- other ou narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation.

pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. ♪ ♪ narrator: you're watching pbs.

♪ ♪ narrator: funding for presentation of this program is provided by.. the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum-kovler foundation. pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you, thank you. woman: and now, "bbc world news".