world needs w way, turn, making a healthier world for you. for everyone. ah view, i says it has information. russia has pre positioned operatives for a false flag operation in easton ukraine to create a pretext for an invasion. this comes out after a massive cyber attack brought down dozens of ukrainian government websites. ah, hello, i'm marian watching. ouch is era also coming up on the program? no like jokers which faces detention and deportation again after the australian

government cancels his visa 1st. second time. you k prime minister's office apologizes to queen elizabeth for a party. the night before her husband's funeral, where coven rule saw her morning alone. ah, he sent an easier use of water cannon to break up a protest against a president. on the 11th anniversary of the countries revolution, ah, blown welcome to the program or the u. s. as one that russia is preparing a pretext for the invasion of ukraine white house press secretary gen saki said the u. s. government has information that russia has positioned a group of operatives to carry out a false flag mission in easton ukraine. now saki said the operators were trained in urban warfare and could use explosives in fake attacks on russia's own forces to

justify an invasion. she said misinformation of false provocations being placed in ukrainian social media to so division within ukrainian society. saki said similar operations preceded the conflict in 2014 their equivalence as the sabotage operation claims were unfounded. well, the warning came hours after a major cyber attack targeted around 70 ukrainian government websites. before these sites went down, a statement was flashed across a morning ukraine is that all their personal data would be made. public government said it's now fixed, the websites, a no personal data was stolen. the attack coincides with week of talks aimed at ease intentions over russia's build up of troops along the border with ukraine, nato, the u. s. in the you of all offered side this support to ukraine. me, lucian, my down is actually, we strongly condemned this attack. we have called for an emergency meeting if you

ambassadors to see how we can help you crane. when faced with these incidents, we will also mobilize the rapid response side, the unit which has the capacity to act quickly. as i said in a moment, will be tied to a matic editor james base 1st. so i want harsco corresponding kimberly how kit any more information or detail about these incredible claims from washington that there is a pretext for an invasion being prepared by russia. well, in addition to the statements that were made by the white house press secretary gen saki, we got a similar account from the pentagon spokesman john kirby, the feeling of the biden administration. is that a building upon the intelligence that 1st indicated that russia was preparing for some sort of invasion of ukraine? evidence by that amassing of tens of thousands of troops, a long russian troops along the border of ukraine. ah,

is now this intelligence that in fact, the of russian authorities are essentially putting in place the conditions to justify the invasion that the west has all this weekend for weeks. even months indicated would be completely unacceptable. now in terms of the actions and the intelligence that has become most relevant in the last few hours, what we're hearing from the white house is in fact that in addition to trying to so these conditions through social media, social media post at the white house says are up some 200 percent since november, the white house press secretary also saying that they have seen these tactics before. as part of its plans, rushes, laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for invasion. and we've seen this before. we saw this before leading up to 2014, just to know, including through sabotage activities and information operations by using ukraine

of preparing an imminent attack against russian forces and eastern ukraine. and the russian military plans to begin these activities several weeks before military invasion, which could begin between mid january and mid february. again, we saw this place before including the wide spread effort to push out misinformation, not just in eastern europe, but around the global community. now he should point out that the u. s. president joe biden has spoken directly to the russian leader in recent weeks. once again reiterating the message that has been delivered from various levels of government that the united states will respond in the strongest possible terms. if russia decides to invade ukraine, the u. s. has not detailed what that might look like, but has indicated that this would include punishing financial sanctions. so the

highest levels of the russian government, but the u. s. senate this week going even further drafting legislation to not only put in place those punishing sanctions, but even to level them towards vladimir putin, the russian president, himself. thank you very much, can be how can the latest from washington. meanwhile, the russian far mississauga lover of says his country's prepared to respond. if western nations reject moscow's security proposals, he wants a detailed answer in writing to the demands that russia has made. a main one is a nato commitment that ukraine will never be allowed to join the defense alliance. nato argues that countries should be free to choose their own alliance, says russia wants a band or nato deploying weapons and forces in central and eastern european countries that join the alliance, often $997.00. these include a stony out poland and the check or public nature says the demand place is russia security concerns above those of the former soviet republics. russia also once

intermediate range missiles, banned in europe, saying nato miss l stored in ukraine would be within striking distance of moscow. nato concedes this could be a point of compromise. and then fourthly, russia proposes autonomy for eastern ukraine and ukraine to help and the fighting with pro russian set protests. the u. s. broadly supports this, but there is concern that russia is being rewarded for stirring up the conflict. look at phyllis, things of piled up with appeal. as soon as they pop up over the period of the ninety's. when the promises made about nato's non expansion about its military infrastructure not being moved eastwards and about the non deployment of substantial military forces to territories of new members was simply thrown into the been by our western friends in the most flagrant way, a little dish. let's discuss this now to panata editor james base his at the land. so us claims here that russia is laying the groundwork to further invade ukraine

under false pretences, james's, any diplomatic efforts underway to try and diffuse these tensions. well, the u. s. has certainly been having a big effort and it's going to continue in the coming days here at the united nations. they're not just briefing their allies from the e, u and nato, the briefing. lots of other countries like minded countries, other countries, they say they're sharing their latest intelligence with those countries here at the united nations. and they say countries that have attended those briefings. a shocked by the intelligence that they've shared with them about what the situation actually is on the ground. now i've also been talking to a stony as ambassador to the united nations here in new york. estonia, i think is interesting. it's just served on the un security council for 2 years. it's a frontline state with border with russia, the ambassador span johonson was born in the country, which was once part of the soviet union. so i think his perspective is interesting

. he said, yes, certainly russia has backed itself into a corner, and i has made all sorts of demands, which he says are impossible. but despite that, this is what he said when i asked him whether he thought that russia was going to invade ukraine. whether there will be war, nobody knows. i would personally say i doubt it because everybody knows how much there is to lose, you know, including put or we are not living in the thirty's, any more, you know, or the forty's of last century. and what, you know, moving in and trying to invade some parts of ukraine proper. first of all, the ukrainian military is much stronger than it was in 2014. so it's not an easy task to do. but secondly, also, you also have to govern, you know, you can't occupy your country and, and, and continue, you know, for a long time. so the ambassador doesn't think it is likely

that in the end, russia will invade you crane. i can tell you there are some other high level sources who told me they do think it's lightly. and there are others that are saying that they honestly believe that vladimir putin hasn't at this stage decided yet. all right, thank you very much. in the united nations or diplomatic editor james base aah! with just 3 days ago before the australian opened the walls number one man's tennis player, another joke of it is again out at the tournament. australian government cancelled his visa for 2nd time. 4 days after a federal court overturned their initial ruling, jock of which is not vaccinated against curve at 19, and now faces detention in the coming hours and then deportation. sir clark has minus with just days until the astronomy an open novak joke of

each was in training to win his 21st major tournament. but hours after he was seen on court in the rod laver arena. the federal government canceled his visa for a 2nd time scuttling his attempt to defend his title. immigration minister alex hawk used his discretionary powers to make the decision in a statement he said the ruling was made in the interest of public health and good order. the prime minister scott marson stated, australians had made many sacrifices during his pandemic, and they expect those sacrifices to be protected. a point he made when the federal government cancelled docket, which is visa for the 1st time. last week. rules are rules where i said yesterday, that's the policy the government, and has been our government strong, border protection policies, and particularly in relation to the pandemic. there is unsure the destroyer has one of the lowest death rights from cove it anywhere in the world. on monday,

a federal court overturned the government's visa cancellation only now to have it revoked once again, australia has had some of the toughest border restrictions in place during the pandemic. with 90 percent of australians out population now vaccinated the a morrison government has being about border control. and doug, this is been this great tension around celebrity is not only in sport, no film stars, and jimmy's doors numbers on coming in to australia as a time when people were forbidden from a from australian citizen, permanent residence, were allowed to visit sir, like their home country jock of it's his well known for his opposition to mandatory vaccinations and his in the past refused to reveal his status this week in a stipend. he confirmed, he had tested positive for covered 19 last month and requested medical exemption to

play in the australian open. he now could face a 3 year burn from re entering australia. this ministerial ruling could see jock of each to portrait before the australian open begins on monday when he faces the 1st round of the torment. his legal team says it will appeal the decision that could take the matter back to the federal court. sarah clark al jazeera crispin, australia u. k prime minister's office is apologized to queen elizabeth after reports of another party which broke corona virus restrictions. this time on the eve of her husband's funeral, leaving drinks were held at downing street on april 16th last year. when socializing in doors was banned, a nation was an official morning for prince philip. the next day, the queen attended his social distance funeral, sitting alone, or as johnson did not attend the party, but he is now facing growing calls to resign. with 9 different lockdown gatherings reported at his residence and other government departments. if barker has the

latest now from london, the government's voice on some already very much in crisis mode. and now this which isn't going to do the prime minister any favors. i mean picture the scene, it's april. the 16th 2021. it was a warm evening. i know where i was that evening and to inside the doors of number 10 downing street in the basement. we believe a come to report the telegraph newspaper around 30 people had gathered for a double good by bash. there was drinking, there was dancing, and according to that telegraph report, at least one official was sent off to local supermarket on a booze run to keep the party going on. of course, only the day after the country and national morning flags across the land flying at half mast was the funeral of the duke of edinburgh, prince philip, and that iconic pitch of queen elizabeth, cutting a lonely figure. the pews of saint george's chapel is, remember by everybody in this country. i remind

a symbol of perhaps the sacrifice that lots of people made during the pandemic. while there has been 2 apologies, the 1st of from one of the officials who's leaving do it was he said it was bad timing. he is now a deputy editor in chief of the sun. newspaper. james slack is his name on the 2nd coming from a number 10 spokes person. this apology aimed at the palace to say, sorry for these parties happening at a time of national morning. no apology. personally though from bars johnson anger from opposition. m. p. 's who say that the buck essentially stops with bars johnson, and he should be the one bearing the brunt of all of this. it out is here ally from london. most delightful you on the program says if a super spread it event, as thousands of hindu pilgrims gather on the banks of the ganges river,

despite india's cove, it's surge. and marty's military rulers organized nationwide protest against the sanctions imposed by the countries west african neighbors. ah, hello the weather slots dry across a good part of europe. now we have got a big area of high pressure across western areas. i'm are seeing things gravity, calm down over to was used to the moment we do still have quite a stiff wind hair blowing in from the baltic. states feeding some snow across that western side of russia. that wintry makes, will gradually clear away. as we go on through sass day, some more the way of sunshine coming through on the cold side though. oh, from moscow months to moscow and january as pretty warm actually goes on when she,

whether they're just out towards the se, pushing into those northern areas of turkey. but for much of the continent as you can see, it is dry, fog, and frost does remain a problem across surg. the low countries pushing into germany, easing across into poland hopefully less the where folk and frost over towards that western side of the region. a little more in the way of a bree started to pushing some rain here as we go on through sunday. maybe some of those showers just sliding their way down to ward. so the low countries at this state easing into germany. what should the mediterranean will be quite by this stage? although we have got a few showers still lapping the shores of northern libya, a little bit of wet weather coming through here for a time. just one or 2 showers to into egypt, and one or 2 showers around the gulf of guinea. ah, the americans are increasingly saying authoritarianism might not be so bad. there were several steps along the way where the chain of command,

it seemed like tried to cover what's your take on why they've gotten this so wrong . that to me is political malpractice, the bottom line on us politics and policies, and the impact on the world on al jazeera, revealing eco friendly solutions to combat threats to our planet. on al jazeera lou. ah, welcome back the main stories now. the white house says that russia is preparing a pretext for the invasion of ukraine, pre positioning operatives to carry out a circle, false flag mission. russia says these claims are unfounded. now that joker,

which has had his australia visa cancelled for a 2nd time, he's not vaccinated against coven 19, and could be deported if an appeal fails in court. the u. k. prime minister's office has apologized to queen elizabeth after reports of another party which broke corona virus restrictions. this time on the eve of her husband's funeral. al germany is reported a new record number of covert cases in a 24 hour period fueled by the army. crohn variant 92000 new cases reported on friday out from 81000 a day before which itself had been a record. pandemic is also pushing germany to the brink of recession. europe's largest economy shrank at the end of 2021, with output falling by up to one percent in the last financial quarter. hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in india are attending hindu religious festivals, or using fears they could become super spread events organizes taking extra precautions. but the sheer numbers of people involved is worrying medical experts.

and it comes as india registered more than 260000 infections in 24 hours, driven by the amik wrong variant. poverty metal reports now from new delhi o tarzan's of him, the devotees, had thrown to the banks of the ganges for the and with dipping the river. the week long pilgrimage has continued, despite covered 90 cases surging throughout the country for who not upon either the holy water was brought and sprayed on the water. yeah, we practiced social distancing on batches of only 50 people out loud at his calendar. we also use drones to sanitize the place where people across india celebrate and various festivals and mid tight restrictions. the largest of these is in west been going by only vaccinated, pilgrims are allowed, testing camps are open, even as public places and schools have closed. despite these measures, new coven 19 cases in the state are breaking audio records. hospital admissions and

india, however, have remained relatively low in the country's largest coven, 19 facility in new delhi. most beds are empty, and not many patients are on a ventilator. we have enough oxygen, we have enough. i hubert, we have enough medicine and we have all the infrastructure in the same time, you know, also drained our doctors, nurses and better medics technician to how to deal with the increasing number. so this time we are better prepared than the 2nd of you. authorities expect the omicron field such to stream resources, but are taking steps to address the impact they are now advisory asymptomatic contacts of coven 19 patients to avoid testing and quarantine at home. what the advisory signifies is a low is a degree of pragmatism. and i understand this is a relatively short term thing. it's not that that it's giving up on testing. it's a short on.