racing environmental and cultural change ah al jazeera well joined the regulars on board tech east in chi abbas analogies era ah, our response will be immediate. united and coordinate. the u accuses russia of blackmail after moscow stops natural gas supplies to poland and bulgaria threatened to cut off other countries. ah, i'm carry johnson. mrs. al jazeera live from don't also coming up. ukraine says the siege of mario paul is a humanitarian catastrophe. is more than 3000 soldiers and civilians besieged by

russian forces with the war in ukraine, affecting food prices globally. we find out why indonesia efforts to stabilize the cost of cooking up could cause problems elsewhere. plus, i'm tony chang on the tie coast where cobit 19 shutdowns have led to a rejuvenation of marine life. the return of tourists is a threat after cutting off natural gas to bulgaria and poland, russia is threatening to do the same to more you, nation's escalation. in economic hostilities over the ukraine war follows a refusal by both countries to use moscow's payment system for supplies to convert euro to roubles for the u. s. accusing kremlin of blackmail, or the mob of reports. it had been predicted by some feared by many more, but european leaders, c rushes, move to halt gas, surprised to poland in bulgaria,

because they won't pay roubles as aggressive. it comes as no surprise that the kremlin uses fossil fuels to try to blackmail us. this is something the european 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. is thought some countries have already done so that bulk area which gets the vast majority of its gas supplies from gas problem is not one of them. you want to put them in dublin and we will not succumb to such a racket, but gary ever is reviewing all agreements with gas problem, including the agreement on gas transit, 3 bulk area. because one sided blackmail is not acceptable to the polish president

just 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. now patricia, as i've emphasized many times, poland had previously prepared to diversify supplies and obtained gas from various sources. even before the bolted gas pipeline is launched, will be able to protect our economy. to protect public households from such a dramatic step by russia. some warsaw residents, if not all seem reassured, those 2nd thing to go to this man says, shutting down gas supplies might end up harming russia. he says his country has reserves in a bench with the parts. 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 for, to come and see, i can say that's our russian gas dependency, which was that 55 percent before the war and dropped to 40 percent a few weeks ago. 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 russia's move will play into the existing energy price crisis across europe. nadine baba al jazeera whitehouse says it's been in contact your opinion, countries over the energy requirements. this is the type of stuff, 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 guerria. 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. come, thing is from the university of tulsa, he says, most because actions are intended as a warning to other countries which rely on russia for natural gas supplies. it's interesting, it's trying to figure out exactly what this moves all about. it is kind of quite frankly pulled and really doesn't use a lot better gas. it's less than 20 percent of the energy that they use. and there are substitutes. mostly they use natural gas to generate power. you can use gas or oil. and of course they're saying they've got substantial reserve question is how you know, how long can they essentially hold out by just, you know, draining reserves or gary uses even less natural gas. both those countries are pretty dependent on coal, all and has some nuclear power plants. it's almost as if, you know, you wonder if, if the russians are sort of, this is, this is a hand slap and they're trying to basically put a warning out to other western european countries. you know, that this is an indication that russia is willing to do this. the question becomes,

are they going to cut off west germany? they got a lot of larger consumers of natural gas. in which case, yes, that, that, you know, we've been watching the crude markets because the threat it always been there, right? if countries decide they're going to boycott russian oil the ural spin, you're going to have a, you know, you could lose supply in the global market situation, which is already tight. so the same thing pertains here, if either countries, boycott russian in ports of natural gas, or russia, basically turns the tax off on other countries that's losing natural gas supply. in a global situation, it's already very, very tight. and i'm just afraid we're looking at high prices for an extended period that puts in his claim that ukraine was pushed to class with russia and moscow's reaction was just unfair. addressing politicians in saint petersburg, he won't have consequences for any country that interferes with russia's military campaign in u. k. vietnam, if anyone would want to interfere with what's happening in ukraine now from the

outside, they have to know rushes response will be sweet and soft. 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 dawson safari has more nor from oscar. the russian president is not so 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, at 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 at 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 the attempts that have 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 at 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. the un secretary

general has arrived in ukraine as he seeks a ceasefire. the 2 month war on tanya guitar ash was in moscow on tuesday where he met russia's president when the map hooted on his arrival in ukraine parish tweeted a to continue to try to increase humanitarian aid and evacuate more civilians is due to meet crenan president put him in to lensky. later in the week, russian, the forces have continued to bombard the last pocket of ukrainian soldiers holding out in the besieged city of mariel. within 2000 troops and a 1000 civilians are estimated to be trapped. as of style still works. on tuesday present, putin said they were no russian, but it's opperation being carried out that ukrainian officials, according to situation that a humanitarian catastrophe. earlier ukrainian commander whose inside the still was describe the scene was 50 right. and they put any, there over 600 wounded men in our group with different levels that they really need

medical attention and health care. there is no medical personnel or medication. there are also a wounded civilian, hundreds of people and dozens of children. 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 people are simply di here. or there have been demonstrations in tears, demanding safe humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from that as of stout steel pot, relatives of ukrainian soldiers fighting in mariano, attended the protest. ukrainian russia have so far failed to agree safe passage of fighters and civilians from the besieged city. russian forces have fired, stunned grenades and tear gas had protested in the southern ukrainian city of have son with they were rally against what they're calling a sham that referendum. ukraine says russia is planning to hold the stage to vote

in the region to show focus support the creation of a prayer that a song that has been occupied by russian troops from early on in the conflict the ukrainians holding regular demonstrations against their presence. thousands of ukrainians have fled as the fighting gets the close of those who remain rely on the bravery of workers who deliver their food. charles stratford reports from there to rescue in eastern ukraine. natalia has worked at this bred factory and the child of bach. morton, easton ukraine for 13 years. russian forces are slowly getting closer. they are 1st flowering artillery shells and rockets. then moving in or near boy villages. the closer they get, the more tempted the mother of 2 is to leave for your spend your son like why mitchell, and i'm very worried for myself, for my family, for the children, for my job is frightening. going to and from work because i hear the explosions in

the distance. i love my job and have many friends. i don't want to leave them either, but the bread factory is the largest and oldest business in town. employ around 200 people. they supply bread to many surrounding villages, but the amount of customers is shrinking as they flee the slow russian army of bombs. volunteered delivery driver. andre is a brave man. after loading up his van with freshly baked loaves, he heads out of town towards the front line. we follow him along isolated empty country roads, to a village near the russian army control town hall live cur. the village shopkeeper . few people still living here have be waiting for his delivery. was 3 days long. please exit was in school over there it lost it had taught us. the whole field has been shelled so heavily. it looks like they're digging it gravel look, but in so loud there in there. so people live in entities. i don't feel

particularly afraid that people need bread. they have to eat if they sell me, so be it. if this is warren was, the village sits in between the advancing russian army and ukrainian military defense dog in crossed the fields. the train stopped coming here in 2014, when pro russian separatists seized control of the next city down the tracks. desert national origins throughout nazareth, it's terrifying. there are explosions, constantly getting through till ice is dangerous and there's never enough. we feel surrounded because they shoot from the side and mat side. all of those who are left here are all. there are no medicines available. no buses, no transport here, not like it. we drive to to redskin swerving between piles of soil, heaped on the road to try and slow down any russian army advance. in a nearby village, we find homes destroyed. you create an army,

tell us that this village has been hit by russian artillery a number of times in the last week. they say at least one civilian has been killed in these strikes. the most recent strike was the smaller a number of civilians injured. the soldiers here tell us that the russian positions are around 7 kilometers from here. ukrainian soldiers say russian forces a tried to destroy a radio antenna. but so far, i've only succeeded in destroying lives. charles stratford al jazeera, eastern, new grade. still ahead on al jazeera, an airport in southern china is forced to cancel hundreds of flights. i mean mass testing of staff because the 19 ah

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, a saudi arabia, pushing over towards even us here and cut out. we saw few spots of rain yesterday. we may, will see a few more spots of fright. over the next couple of days. you can 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 iran, up towards the caucus, his waddle to shower, still there in place across sir parts of turkey, at least for a time, brighter weather does come back into events, temperatures in damascus at around $34.00 celsius. that is that sherry rain lingering around the gulf, he wait to see some showers. there we go with some shower, still on and off here in carter. then as we go on for friday and even on into saturday, meanwhile, it's generally dry on the other side of the red sea, up towards the northeast corner of africa, north western part, seeing some very heavy showers for

a time struggling to get to 16 celsius in re bat and algiers should be somewhere nearer 2021 degrees at this time of year for me, a shout was continued cross central parts of africa, charter, some shouting to the east side of madagascar, but largely dry for south africa. aah! from the al jazeera london broadcast center to people, unprompted on into updates. there is a form of knowledge which is kind of not acknowledged though, there isn't only one story to be told. even about colonialism, the other stories thought to of abdur, is that gonna? none that all 3 ought to aim, we can bring in all of these other ecologies are not necessarily structured in the ways that we've been taught them. i feel like that's potentially a really exciting prospect studio be unscripted on al jazeera lou.

ah, we watching out a reminder of our top stories this out. russia has threatened to cut off gas supplies to more european countries, or to turn off the taps to poland than bulgaria over their refusal to pain roubles either says the kremlin is using energy to blackmail countries. supporting craig, russian president vladimir putin has warned that any country that attempts to interfere with moscow's military campaign in newbury or face immediate consequences . russian forces have continued to pound, the last known stronghold, ukrainian troops and mary your pl. $3000.00 soldiers and civilians are still fold up. as of stars still works when conditions are set to be worsening.

with the international airport in china's southern going don't province has cancelled hundreds of flights due to the need to mass test staff for coping 19. it comes as a 40 struggle to contain a surgeon corona virus cases, despite strict measures been imposed in parts of the country that knocked down in shanghai is now in its 4th week. and beijing recently extended its mass test drive to almost all of its 21000000 residence under the countries 0 coverage policy. katrina, you has more from beijing. this is the airport in wander city, which is one of the biggest cities in china. it's a major transit help and by you in airport itself, it's one of the busiest airport in the world by passenger numbers. now on wednesday evening, airport staff said that they would be canceling $1111.00 flight that all domestic

flights. and that's following a few of the staff members at the airport tested positive for corporate 19 following for routine checks. now this is going to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of people. this is not the 1st time by you and what has had its operations disrupted because of covered earlier this month or arrivals into the city. were also council following the announcement of the lockdown in shanghai. so it's a very tricky time to be traveling around china. 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. maya bay on thailand's west coast was made famous by the hollywood movie. the beach area became so popular that authorities band tourists for 3 years to stop the environmental damage. as attorney chang reports,

the success of that decision has sparked a why the debate about marine conservation. if i could stop the world and restart life, put the clock back. i think i'd restart like this red alex garland, author of the beach. the movie released in 2000 and starring leonardo dicaprio was filmed here at maya bay and thailand. the flood of tourists that followed caused huge ecological damage. let boylen before the government closed the bay, there was nothing left. but after a few years of closure, you see more reefs that, that more see life is making their way back to the bay. we saw a black tip shocks which you can see during low tide. the re planted corals are now home to nurseries of fish, including juveniles. sharks, strict limits on the number of visitors are intended to minimize damage to the marine environment. swimming is now banned. after 2 years of covert shut downs,

it's hope that my a bay will tempt the tourist bag. but it's under water. you see how marine life has thrived in the absence of visitors. the adult sharks from my a base nursery flit nervously through the corals. huge shoals of yellow snappers, sweep along the edge of the reef, gently making way for uninvited guests. in the deeper ravines cracks and crevices full of life, a spiny lobster trying to avoid the dinner table. corals fanning out with signs of new growth. and if you want to find nemo, this is the place such a lazy, well there, there, it's thriving when you're lucky enough to get a chance to see it. you wonder why they don't do everything in their power to charge reserve? it. but just behind my obey, there are no limits or checks. the tourists are backed by the boat load in the clear waters, the coral is bleached and marine life absent. i don't know why that we vote each

other any will learn. so yes we, we don't have to wait for the course, or we don't have to wait for the corey to up and we can just live in front of the country. like we just learn to australia. we just learn how they manage the nation about in the us. i think the have even been regular sightings of do guns. a shy ocean mammal thought to be the origin of the mermaid mist. fishermen say they ventured much closer to the shore since covered head out why? because of the lack of tourist during the college condemning nature is less disturbed. the most important factor for the gangs is c grass, which is that mean foot source, you wouldn't but to do guns and now nowhere to be seen. scared off by boats carrying tourists back to the islands tourist that after 2 years of locked down, a coming to find a paradise that could soon be lost. tony chang al jazeera southern thailand. cooking oil prices have sought to record high partly because of the war and ukraine

. they're expected to increase even more as indonesia wells leading producer of palm oil stops. it's explore band started physically washing reports from jakarta in chicago, herself, some of the country's most popular dishes can be found in this small kitchen. fried chicken fried fish and fried toast. almost everything on the menu has one ingredients in common, pommel and the city and c opened this restaurant 30 years ago. but now she's worried, she could lose customers. but a lot of the unstable price of cooking oil affects my business. when it was cars, it was difficult now it's available but expensive. so challenging for small businesses. thomasville is the world's most widely used edible oil. for months, concerns about price and availability have been growing in indonesia despite the

country being the top producer. now the government is banning palm oil exports, including crude and refined palm oil oil. the cut up, i understand the state needs taxes along with foreign exchange and the country need to trade bound surplus. but meeting the people's primary needs is more important. it's a priority weak up with one. the move has shocked global markets. the price of cooking oil has been rising around the world for a number of reasons. disruptions in production, increasing demand for biofuels, and the war in ukraine. the world's largest exposure of sunflower oil experts say the latest moved by the indonesian government is likely to push prices. even higher . families also used in processed food cosmetics, cleaning products and more economists say the government strategies to normalize cooking oil prices have been misguided. focusing on supply rather than problems

within the industry. it may not solve the problem because again, the problem with the, with the cooking oil in the, in the, in the indonesian market right now is actually the in the distribution channel. there is a bought on and you know, because of this complex and long, you know, distribution channel seen an asian farmers association says its members will also suffer. what does i mean? it was this time period should give momentum to the government to reform the palm, oil industry and its production model. right now it's run by big companies and they said the distribution of palm oil material according to the market. now, my net beginner, the government intends the van to remain until prices reach around $0.97 per liter at traditional markets in indonesia. but it's unclear whether this policy will achieve that. jessica washington out a 0 jakarta. a colombian judge has rule that for president,

alvaro rebate will have to stand trial on charges of fraud and witness tampering. it concerns an investigation into abuses committed during the countries 52 year long civil conflict and asunder, grumpy anti reports from guitar and that 12 hour long virtual hearing the judge, carmen ortiz questioned. much of the attorney general's office reasoning to ask for, did this miss? so of this controversial case against the former president of columbia at the judge detailed at times in stark terms of how she believes that the prosecuting attorney, gabriela hi, miss. failed to present important evidence that indeed would suggest the possibility that that is responsible for crimes. in particular, he is charged with directing one of his lawyers and other people to try and bribe and change the testimony of some paramilitary

members and change the testimony where that link would you be at 2 d, illegal armed groups? now this case goes a ways back, it's actually 4 years old and it started and the country supreme court. but after the court ordered into home detention, he resigned. and that moved the case to the attorney general's office, a different legal body that some people here c as more favorable to the ex president. but now there's this new decision by this judge, which means that the case will indeed continue. even if there are still the possibility to appeal this late, this decision was also clear that this is also political defeats for would be, and his party coming just a month before presidential elections. us president joe biden is under 5 more sides

of the political spectrum. immigration policies, campaigners oppose. a trump, aaron measure that's been in place. they st allows the u. s. government to ignore local and international those government the process of granting assigned them. she have a time, she has more from washington d. c. the by the ministration has been criticized from all sides, left center and right for handling of title 42. because the health code invoked by the trumpet administration, once the pandemic began, which the trump administration claimed meant it no longer had to observe international domestic law. when it came to processing asylum requests at the board, up at the time, joe biden said, one of this 1st order of business would be to reverse that, return to a humane asylum policy. but almost a year and a half later, we still have title $42.00 in effect, and only now is the bite of ministration, doing anything to revoke it, apparently by the end of may. so my august the d h s. secretary college got a tough questioning and perhaps

a rehearsal of the sort of minds we're going to get from the republicans as the mid terms approach in a few months time. as the republicans make the case, the binders, flinging open the borders to immigrants. what information do you have in your possession that your frontline agents arista lives every day and some of them give their lives every day have don't have that will tell you that you won't lose operational control or some of the border at least one type of wanting to has lifted, we have a plan, we have a plan that we developed and that we are in preparing to execute 6 power plan implementing, implementing since september of this past year. the reason the left is angry with biting over its handling of title 42 is that they say this could all been avoided if the biden ministration had followed through on its promises to entitle 42 last year, well before the midterm elections. well, it could all be seen simply as reversing trumps policies. now, it seems like this is a bygone policy. he must own it. in addition,

the left say that the news that the u. f plans and the by demonstration pounds looks up 100000 ukrainian refugees. well, welcome shows the double standard biden hesitating last year about title $42.00, which affected black, brown or indigenous asylum seekers, but immediately accepting white refugees, white asylum seekers when it came to ukraine. for this, in the peru, have yeast tear gas to evict an indigenous group who refused to leave one of the country's biggest copper mines. the her bamberg community set up camp at the chinese run. last ban. bas mine 2 weeks ago halting operations. the testers say the mine is on the indigenous territory. they want a compensation for having to read and kate firm's owner and m g says it has fulfilled its financial obligations. ah.