live and maintain some normality in a reality. turn upside down. a rare glimpse of life under the ukraine city under siege on it just either. ah, our response will be immediate. united and coordinate. you accuses russia of blackmail after moscow stops natural gas supplies to poland on bo. guerria threatened to cut off other countries. ah, i'm carry johnston. this is al jazeera, alive from doug. also coming up, ukraine says the siege of mario paul is a humanitarian catastrophe. more than 3000 soldiers and civilians besieged by

russian forces. russia in the us exchange prisoners despite hostile relations due to the ukraine. as an american marines swapped for russian pilot, thus, the largest exodus of cubans this century is taking place. i'm lucy newman in havana. cuba and coming up, i'll explain why and how after cutting off natural gas to bulgaria and poland, russia is threatening to do the same to more you nation's, the escalation and economic hostilities over the ukraine war hollows, refusal by both countries to use moscow's payment system for supplies to convert euro to roubles the u as accusing the kremlin of that mouth. 14 baba reports. it had been predicted by some feared by many more. but european lead of c rushes, moved to halt gas surprised to poland and bulgaria because they were pain rubles as

aggressive, comes as no surprise that the kremlin uses fossil fuels to try to black. my last, this is something that your team commission has been preparing for. in close coordination and solidarity with member states and international partners, our response will be immediate. united and coordinated. moscow says countries can still pay for gas imports in euro's or dollars, but only if they open russian bank accounts, which then convert the currency and make the final payments. it's thought some countries have already done so, but bo guerria, which gets the vast majority, if it's gas supplies from gas problem is not one of them. now one is to put them in dublin and we will not succumb to such a racket. but a great gary. i was reviewing all agreements with gas problem, including the agreement on gas transit, 3 bulk area because one side to blackmail is not acceptable. the polish president has promised to take legal action,

but the prime minister is insisting there's no immediate threat saying storage facilities a 3 quarters full higher than in most of europe. in patricia, i've emphasized many times. poland had previously prepared to diversify supplies and obtain gas from various sources. even before the bolted gas pipeline is launched, will be able to protect our economy. to protect publish households from such a dramatic step by russia. some water residents, if not all seem reassured, the 2nd thing to go to this man says, shutting down gas supplies might end up humming russia. he says his country has reserves 11. she was at the watch. while this woman one does how much pose like her will have to pay for developments linked to the ukraine war, saying things are already incredibly expensive. the use biggest economy germany has been the most reluctant to end gas imports from russia, but a wednesday. it said it was speeding up efforts to find alternatives, including liquefied natural gas or to come and see. i can say this are russian gas

dependency, which was 55 percent before the war and dropped to 40 percent a few weeks ago. because now it's 35 percent and retreat. so for now, the common message is there's no need to panic, but it's hard to say how rushes move will play into the existing energy price crisis across europe. nadine barbara al jazeera, the white house says it's been in contact with a pin conscious over the energy requirements. this is the type of step, the type of almost weaponized energy supplies that we had predicted that russia could take in this conflict. that is why we of course, have been in touch with europe, including over the with these countries, including over the last 24 hours with leaders in poland and gary s. and we have been working for some time now for months with partners around the world to diversify natural gas supply to europe, to in anticipation of and to also address near term needs and replace volumes that would otherwise come from russia. but even putin has claimed that ukraine was

pushed to clash with russia. moscow's reaction was just and fair. addressing politicians in saint petersburg, he warned of consequences for any country that interferes with russia. then she campaign in ukraine. you know, if anyone would want to interfere with what's happening in ukraine now from the outside, they have to know, rushes response will be sweetener and fast. we have all sorts of tools that the west cannot obtain, and we will not post of our weapons, but we will use them if need be, and i want everyone to know that you are such a bar has more in this now from moscow, the russian president is not really passing up this opportunity to reiterate, are the reasons that he felt it was necessary for him to make the decision to send the russian troops into crane in what he calls a special military operation. that is now, in its 63rd day vladimir putin, as we just heard, a had

a very strong and stern warning for those countries that are assisting ukraine in the fight against their russian troops. he said that they are basically a fair game for the russians, and that there, this is a fight between russia and ukraine and that's the 3rd countries that are getting involved. really, i have no right to do so. and that it, he feels that he will be forced to make a decision as to whether or not to use all the tools that are at his disposal to ensure a victory for the russian military. now vladimir putin was also ed speaking quite a bit about the objectives that he set out for his legislative officials about ensuring that russia's economy stays intact. and he said that to the attempts that had been made by the western powers to try to cripple russia's economy through severe sanctions, have failed. and that to russia is standing still or, and they are not going to allow its economy to crumble. he also urge the officials

that he was speaking to. he said to it, they have to work on anti crisis measures and also they have to strengthen their country sovereignty. there's a lot of emphasis on trying to basically ensure that russia's economy stays strong and that the rubel doesn't plummet like it did. a few weeks ago. you and the secretary general has arrived in ukraine as he seeks a ceasefire and the 2 month war. and tanya terrace was in moscow on tuesday, where he met russia's president vladimir putin. on his arrival in ukraine. quoterush tweeted that who continued to try to increase humanitarian aid and evacuate war. civilians used you to meet ukrainian president vladimir zalinski. later in the week, the russian forces have continued to bombard the last pocket of ukrainian soldiers, holding out in the besieged city of marble or the 2000 troops and a 1000 civilians are estimated to be trapped in as of style. steel works. tuesday

president hootin said there were no russian military operations being carried out in the city, but ukrainian officials, according the situation there at humanitarian catastrophe. earlier, the ukrainian commander who's inside the plant described the see. only brittany are there over 600 wounded men in our group with different levels of work. they really need medical attention and health care. there is no medical personnel or medication . there are also wounded civilians. hundreds of people, dozens of children with many people have limited mobility. the situation is very difficult. there are huge problems with water and food completely extraction procedure. today is not 19 forties. 2022 new people will simply die here. with the international criminal court, chief prosecutor says he's received no response from russia about his investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the war in ukraine. speaking at united nations kareem at con, said the world is holding its breath, waiting for

a resolution to the conflict. this is the time when we need to mobilize the law and send it into battle, not to not on the side of ukraine, against the russian federation, on the side of the russian federation against ukraine. but on the side of humanity to protect, to preserve, to shield people who are children, who are women, and who are men who have certain basic rights. and at that age at those people, whether they are russian or whether they're ukrainian is absolutely relevant. their families and their lives are being torn apart. so if this moment is not a moment for us to define and strain our sinews and come together, what moment will we wait for? and will we be alive to see it? this was russia's response at the un international perception of isis. his role and stance was well demonstrated by ukraine is declaration on acceptance of his jurisdiction date of 8, september 2015 represents on your famous attempt not only to limit the court's

jurisdiction, but also to assign the blame in advance before a formal investigation, even started like we said, i c, c is a nearly political instrument and has nothing in common with justice despite being deeply divided over that ukraine war. russia in the u. s. have completed the surprise prisoner swap, rushes of foreign ministry, says former u. s. marine trevor read has been traded for a russian pilot, who was serving a 20 year sentence. mike, hannah has more from washington. trevor, each family is preparing for his return at the home in texas. his father joey hanging, an american flag. his mother, paula struggling to contain her joy. finally, after waiting all this time, we're going to be able to hug my kid from our arms around them. i had a little bit of a panic attack when he told me he was gonna spend the whole summary. russia,

so 9 months and then now it's been almost a 1000 day, so i'm just excited to see him. the former marine was sentenced to a 9 year sentence. in july 2020. it was accused and convicted of tracking the assaulting russian police officers, though he insisted during his trial, he had no memory of the event. his family described the charges as deeply suspicious and last month held a protest at the white house before meeting with president biden. to ask him to help secure their son's release in a statement, president biden has praise the safe return of read as a testament to the priority. his administration places on bringing home americans held hostage and wrongfully detained abroad, adding it required the difficult decisions that i do not take lightly when he referenced the tough decision in his statement this morning. he was referencing the

decision to commute the sentence of constantine. you're ashamed go. i would emphasize that this individual had already served the majority of his prison sentence for non violent drug crime. the press secretary would not be drawn on the fate of other americans being held in russia. have been in touch with the plan to reach out to paul wheel and family brittany bryan or family and family to have worked west attained in russia. we have, of course, been in touch with their families over the course of time. i'm not going to detail those conversations. further. after being released from prison, read was transferred from a russian plane to a u. s. one at a turkish airport. the primary concern of his waiting family is his health. as his parents, we know he does not look well. he's very thin. he was walking straight or what my dad to help him get up in the airplane. yeah, he didn't look good. so i understand there's some medical personnel on the plea with him in there checking him out. so that's our main concern right here in the debriefing and all that stuff that can come later. we just want to make sure that

he's not this guy, but the parents have returned into their home content that their son is free. the prisoner swap would have been remarkable even in times of peace. but it's all the more surprising, given that russia's invasion of ukraine has driven that relationship with us to the lowest level, the century. my cannot al jazeera washington still ahead on al jazeera. you borrow hulu moines a home and do a quarter of a 1000000 worship. said the holiest knights of ramadan and alaska mosque and occupied east truce us wildly. this past and present bid farewell to madeline albright america's 1st female secretary of state. she's to rest ah! the journey has begun the fee for world copies on its way to catherine book,

your travel package to day. hello. well, i don't often get the chance to say this, but i think dahlan damp sums up the weather across a good part of the middle east, over the next couple of days. not a cloud there in 2 central parts of saudi arabia, pushing her, which was even us here and caught our be so few spots of rain yesterday. think we may, will see a few more spots to fright. over the next couple of days, you see shari outburst possible in to a good part of saudi arabia, western parts of yemen. further north, while a shout running across iraq, western parts of a run up towards the caucus. his waddle to shower was still there in place across passive turkey, at least for a time bryce up whether it does come back into advance temperatures in damascus at around $34.00 celsius. shall we re lingering around the gulf key. wait to see some showers. there we go with some shower still on and off here they cut, then as we go on through friday and even on into saturday. meanwhile, it's generally dry on the other side of the red sea,

towards the northeast corner of africa, northwestern part seeing some very heavy showers for a time struggling to get to 16 celsius sinbad and algiers. shippy somewhat nearer 2021 degrees at this time. if you give me a shout, continued cross central parts of africa, charles to some shouting to the east side of madagascar. but last you dry for south africa. i saw official airline of the journey. healing the debate, there is no, he job bad political, you know, if anyone here talks about women that i took was the justice this, the bill seemed of been says no topic is of the table. we were taught to see abortion one way ticket street to help all of the companies need to know any responsibility, even though the of the resources and the power to fix that, where a global audience becomes a global community. the comment section is right here. the part of today's proven 3 are now to sierra, ah

ah, you're watching out a reminder of our top stores this out. russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to more european countries of turning off the taps of colon than bog guerria over their refusal to pain roubles. in use as the criminal is using energy to blackmail countries supporting the crate. russian president vladimir putin has warned that any country that attempts to interfere with moscow's military campaign in the face, immediate consequences. russian forces have continued to pounds and asked mon stronghold ukrainian troops. marius, more than 3000 soldiers and civilians are still. aston still works. the conditions

are set to be worsening. the international airport in china is southern one. don't province, has cancelled hundreds of flights due to the need to mass test staff. a coven 19 comes as authorities that struggle to contain a surgeon covering the bars cases. despite the strict measures being imposed in parts of the country, locked down in shanghai is now into its 4th week. and by jean recently extended its mass testing drive to almost all of its 21000000 residents under the countries 0 coded policy. let's cross now to katrina you who joins us live from beijing. katrina, what more do we know about these flight cancellations? well this is the airport englander city, which is one of the biggest cities in china. it's a major transit hub. and by unit one, itself is one of the busiest app, what's in the world by passenger numbers. now on wednesday evening, airport staff said that they would be canceling $1111.00 flights at all domestic

flights. and that's following a few of the staff members at the airport testing co, a positive the corporate 19 following some routine checks. now this is going to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of people a. this is not the 1st time by you and, and what has had its operations disrupted because of covered earlier this month. all arrivals into the city were also cancel following the announcement of the lockdown in shanghai. so it's a very tricky time to be traveling around china at the moment, especially ahead of the may labor holiday, which was going to take place for a few days next week. so were expecting, instead of traveling, a lot of families will be staying put because of all these difficulties. yes. as you say, there are still ongoing measures in other places like shanghai in beijing over that's right. so beijing where i am, it's quite tense. here people are in edge expecting that

a look down could be nouns any time. and this is because 138 cove cases have been identified in the past week, which doesn't sound like much as just a few dozen cases reported in the capitol. every day over the past few days, but because china is still implementing at 0 coven policy, we're still seeing restrictions are being put in place as these numbers slowly climb. so on thursday morning we had 2 districts in beijing. tom, dro and chai, young announced that all of the schools would be closed. that o classes would be taken online. many companies or have their employees working from harm, including our own team. we're working from home and entertainment, then use and tourist sites across the city. have also been closed now, the neighborhoods that are affected by these cases that have been restrictions put on them, but authorities here are very anxious to avoid a complete city wide lockdown. the likes of which we've seen in shanghai since the

beginning of april, at least now they're in shanghai. the numbers are going down slowly just over 10000 cases reported on thursday, which is about half the number we were staying on a daily basis last week. but still, the restrictions are very surveilled or suddenly boons have loosened some of their movement restrictions and people are free to maybe walk around the compound and maybe go out into the street for a few hours. the vast majority of 25000000 people living in shanghai remain confined to the homes. ok, katrina, you live in beijing? thank you. one of the earliest nights of the year in his arm is being observed and occupied east jerusalem. earlier they were an estimated quarter of a 1000000 worshippers at the mosque for layla alcantur, which marks the 27th night of the month that it follows israeli raids, her the sites and the killing of at least 17 palestinians and a crackdown across the occupied west bank. 2 of them in the last 2 days,

stephanie deca sent us this report from occupied east jerusalem. it is the holiest night in the a slam, a calendar for muslims and a quarter of a 1000000 worshippers are now inside the compound, carrying out prayers. i'll let you had take your little closer. you can see the courtyard filmed, filled with worshipper, as they are now going to be carrying out prayers throughout the night until sunrise, the lady at the others. you mentioned. there is the night that it's believed that the court on was revealed to the prophet mohammed by god. it's believed that the prayers that people's prayers are heard that the heavens open and angels come to earth. this is why you see so many people gathering here. they've come from the occupied westbank from north israel from all over really there's been a lot of traffic during the day around this area. roads have been closed and it's the largest number of people that we've seen over the last couple of years. because

of course, the corona pandemic, and also last year you had the escalation, you had the tensions on the compound which led to the gaza war. and i think also a reminder that this is as many palestinians will tell you as many muslims will tell you a red line alex, a mosque is a red line and it has the ability to trigger a much wider conflict. what happens at this site, but certainly to night on the holiest night for muslims going very peacefully with a huge amount of people on the compound praying. and we are expecting them to stay there and more to come throughout the night. police in peru abuse, tear gas to evict, and indigenous group refused to leave. one of the country's biggest copper mines or a chinese run numbers or 92 weeks ago, halting operations. just to say the mine is on indigenous territory. we want to

compensation for having to relocate firms owner and then g says it feels its financial obligations. now the head of the organization of american states, louis or margaret, has hit out of nicaragua as governments, after it took over the bodies headquarters. the move comes off, the central american country, exited the block and expelled some of its government over christ interest on your own. hagar also claims that organizations offices in the capital. zach had condemned ortega's reelection of the several decay. now the 1st woman to serve as you are, secretary of state has been laid to rest. hundreds of politicians and diplomats round the world. hey, their respects to madeline albright washington national cathedral petticoat lane was there. the status of those in attendance said much about who madeline albert was and what she accomplished in life. current and former president

and vice president, secretary of state cabinet members, congress and diplomats and politicians from around the world celebrating the life of the former us ambassador to the united nations. and then the 1st female secretary of state, a fierce advocate for women in national security. she didn't just help other women . she spent her entire life counseling and cajoling, inspiring and lifting up so many of us who are here today. her work remembered as a hawkish proponent of u. s. military power. pushing her then boss bill clinton to take action in kosovo. she tried to stick up for people who were left out and left behind, and in spite of all of its em perfections. and we all know them, i'm very grateful that a piece is held in bosnia for now, more than 26 years. madeline was a big part of the region. nato was still strong and

galvanized as it is today. madeline never missed words or wasted time. when she saw something new, 60 or someone who needed helping. but she was also controversial, among other things, pushing for tough sanctions on iraq, the critic se led to children dying of hunger and medicine shortages. and we have heard that a half a 1000000 children have died. is the price worth it? i think this is a very hard choice, but the price we think the price is worth it. still here, she was remembered by those who knew her best. as a diplomat, mentor, author, and mother, and all that she accomplished. much of the focus was on what a truly remarkable life madeline albright led. firstly in europe twice coming to the united states. eventually rising to the top position. the 1st woman,

secretary of state, a leader and national security and foreign policy that lasted for decades. she died at the age of $84.00. patty calhane al jazeera washington. cuba is experiencing the largest exodus of people this century, driven mainly by worsening economy. the government blames u. s. economic embargo or latin america editor lucy newman has this special report not from cuba, capital, havana, but old mary maurice 76 year old cool young gonzales has been making shoes by hand since he was 12 nor go from bothersome. but i made this paper as a gift to my son's friend. that friend will be giving him temporary woman board in argentina to where he is about to migrate. he tells me it will be hard to leave behind his home, even though it is literally falling apart. his children and his wife migrated long ago. but he never wanted to leave cuba until now,

and we will under the same diagnose for the last 60 years, our leadership has told us things will improve but will overcome all obstacles. but we see the contrary. everyday things get worse, health, less food, more social problems, go. seattle, go by senior gonzales's. lucky he has a visit to enter his country of destination. vast majority of cubans don't. so they try to fly 1st to nicaragua, the only country where cubans can enter freely. but to get there, they need to transit through panama, which is now demanding a transit visa. cubans from all over the country. wait near the panamanian embassy to apply the majority in vain. monarchy novelle camico has been out here for 23 days. we'll give you more than what we said are you, i'm a human being and i look on a round and can't understand that any human being can be treated like this. i feel humiliated, messy,

and only oh wow. at the airport. another equally desperate group has become the latest victim of a scan, an alleged travel agency that sold in tickets for a non existent charter flight to nicaragua. oh margaret. oh everyone. you see here the whole family was leaving today. and what were you going to do when you arrived in nicaragua? i asked her, i love it. many of us have nowhere to gary because we've sold the house everything . cubans economic crisis has unleashed the largest exit has since 1980 when former president, fidel castro, allowed 820000 cubans to sail to florida. if the cheapest government blames the trump and biden administrations for the latest crisis, thought i heard by the recipe is to taught me economic embargo and cuba to provide more hardships on cuban families. reduced salaries provide hunger and desperation, and the overthrow of our government off me to heal. since cuba government repressed

and unprecedented social uprising by disgruntled cubans, last july. exodus has increased this despite the new obstacles placed by panama, which appears to be cooperating with us efforts to reduce the sucks of undocumented cubans. whatever the reason cubans are telling us that they feel trapped. and as a result, many are resorting to a far more dangerous method that hadn't been seen since the 19 ninety's. and that is to attempt to cross the shark infested, florida straits that you see behind me in a raft or in a boat in an attempt to make it to the united states. in 1994, during the so called rafters crisis, nearly 40000 cubans attempted to sail to florida. many drowning in the process to day history is beginning to be repeated back at the airport. the lucky few who had managed to get a transit reserve prepared to leave cuba, final destination still unknown,

but the pain of leaving their loved ones behind is agonizing. a scene that is being repeated all over the caribbean island. see a newman al jazeera havana. now fossils from a dinosaur that lived around 70000000 years ago have gone on display in argentina. these are the remains of that my at micro thorax, the mega raptor stood 10 meters high, weighed about 5 tons and had a blade like claws. the fossils were found in santa cruz province 2 years ago. ah, this is al jazeera and these are the top stories that russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to more european countries are turning off the taps to poland and la guerria with their refusal to pain roubles. he says the kremlin is using energy to blackmail countries supporting ukraine. i.