the governor of russia has come out of the region resigns over last sunday's shopping center fire which killed sixty four people including forty one children. italy cries invasion and summons the french ambassador after a dramatic cross border raid by french police on a suspected migrant drug traffickers. and the diplomatic spat over the screwball case that intensifies both the u.s. and russia close one of the others consulates while moscow expels american diplomats in a reciprocal move. by broadcasting live deborah from our studios in moscow this is our team international

as we recap week's top stories with our weekly program glad to have you with us now the governor of russia's chemical region has resigned over last sunday's deadly fire at a shopping center it comes after investigators found a series of violations in safety procedures which left over sixty people dead most of whom were children here's a recap of that tragic day. but . i knew going to my seat. in years and. it's was a new vision mulcher which you go. to and she knew. why

our. first of that. whole. give you a look at sixth grade you take it that it is a vision. you used to just walk to the ship if it's. closed. there was no

alarm no siren no sprinklers the whole fire prevention system was off fire exits blocked people inside this shopping mall well left on their own to find out about the beginning inferno why they think stench in there knows this shopping mall used to be a confectionery and in fact it conducted fire drills just last week so a lot of. a grave and outrageous flaw is missed in those drills and so the investigation is looking into how this horror became possible lattimer putin who landed here in camera in the morning and he has already laid flowers at the vigil and talked to some of the citizens to comfort them over their lost son over. the internet he said i'm going to trick you that's good with a mission and was that i mean you can do it. quicker with permission but you know with this particular exclusive interview i thought i would be ok look at everything

that he said three days on since the tragedy the families of the first twenty two victims have said there are large goodbyes to their loved ones with burial ceremonies as the nation mourns the victims the investigation is working to hold those to blame for the catastrophe accountable right now investigators are looking into the mixture of factors the first and foremost the sirens did not go off when the fire began neither did the water sprinkler as if they were there in the first place and the fire exits were locked so people when they followed the designated paths to safety they found themselves the doors that were shut also the stuff of the morgue reportedly was untrained how to handle an emergency like this almost two thirds of those who perished in the blaze were children some parents lost all of their kids the fire also took the lives of nearly an entire class of eleven year

olds from a village near the city they traveled to the regional capital to watch a film with their teacher but their big day turned into a tragedy for them and their entire community. they were such a good girl squire com choice they started really well it is such a tragedy for everyone who has this cousin their own was no children of this age left in our village there aren't many children here only our granddaughters scene that is alive she didn't go and also three boys when no one else their age is left in the village the number of victims could have been much higher had not been for the courage of people nearby some even lost their lives trying to get children out of the burning building while others were lucky to survive his job tells their stories. on sunday a tragedy and i said berry and city turn teachers shop workers students and scores of others and heroes for some it cost them their lives like to challenge arsala an

english teacher and mother who was out with her fourteen year old daughter when the fire broke out she managed to get her child safety before selflessly running back into the burning building to try and help others trapped inside many survivors have spoken of how they would never have made it out alive if there weren't people like top down of their seventeen year old team apolo him is a student at an emergency services college with smoke filling the air he made it to the exit but heard a woman crying for help on able to find her children she pointed towards the fire and dimmer ran back inside. i saw nothing there was thick black smoke everywhere her children crying and shouting and that's how i found out where there are three children were sitting in the corner of a room terrified trying to her girls and the boy as all the boys grabbed my bow to hold it tight and took the girls by the collar and carried them out stuff at the winter cherry center risked their lives trying to get as many youngsters out of the building as they could. because it already when we looked at the

it was full of people they started helping people to get out of there we have a back door at the end of the storage room still it's calling people to come to us there were dizzy people to our guys lifted their wheelchairs and helped them to go downstairs everything went black with clouds of smoke surrounding us i don't know what would have happened to me not them we don't consider ourselves risky was will people if you were in our place you would have done the same we had lots of men to death then here and there are no doubt other unsung heroes in the city strangers without whom even more people both young and old would have perished. well from the u.k. to finland people across the globe have been joining russia to mourn the victims of the deadly blaze vigils have been held in more than thirty countries with people bringing candles and toys in remember it's. but in the camera itself anger has been running high shortly after the tragedy authorities in the city are confronted by

crowds of locals and victims' relatives the demonstrators were demanding the truth from officials with rumors circulating that the death toll could be as high as three hundred these claims though or objective by the investigation committee and later by protesters as well. i think. europe is. so far superior you. i. thank. you. you know look i was. lucky to look at you.

it was. like yeah it was it was a look i didn't see her name to look at it was like. like i need me i get there and there are enough for you to be up and down to come anytime you want to hear interesting really i was your personality up for sale and you say are you going to give your marriage was a pedophile. american still it was or was it the mayor of a you're going to see her going to see what was easier for you because you're going to be in the band the opera the feeling of being i mean you can never get a tax cut because you have it wasn't going to do it through what you're going to.

meanwhile the investigation into what caused the tragedy is progressing the two main theories are malfunction of the fire safety system and arson five people have been arrested in connection with the tragedy among them two directors at the shopping center and the producer of the fire safety system the blaze is one of the deadliest in russia in decades it took firefighters twenty four hours to put it out

the victims were mostly children celebrating the start of the school holidays. by the international fallout over this case it has seen mass expulsions of diplomatic staff over the week with both russian and american diplomats having to pack their bags and leave for home. and russia's seattle consulate was closed while the americans were ordered to shutter their mission in st petersburg moscow had announced on thursday it wouldn't retaliate to washington's move expelling sixty u.s. diplomats and shutting down the diplomatic compound. and washington russia's ambassador to the u.s. and north saw his expelled colleagues as they got on a plane bound for russia on sunday the plane carrying russian diplomats arrived in moscow sixty ordered to leave america have now come back on u.s.

diplomats are also expected to leave russia soon following moscow's mirror response here is how russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov outlined the steps taken so far . its return its or emerges include the expulsion of the same number of u.s. diplomats and withdrawal of our consent for the us consulate in st petersburg as far as other states are concerned we will always give amir a response. for every russian diplomat kicked out from the two dozen or so countries one of their diplomats will be kicked out of russia almost all of those countries by the way either nato members or hopefuls the united states though may have to charter a jet sixty evidence diplomats have been ordered to leave russia the same number kicked out by washington though what the u.s. consulate in st petersburg is being closed down in response to the closure of russia's consulate in seattle and mirrors spawn's no more no less and again

moscow has called on the united states to stop. it is proposed to us south or eighty's inciting in fueling this merican pain against our country to rethink incurred their reckless actions destroying bilateral relations with russia which remotely denies any role in this poisoning says never before have we witness such mockery of international law it is also convened a special meeting of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons would be c.w. has sent technical experts to examine the substance with which the former russian double agent and his daughter were poisoned but their best the geisha will be technical. o.p.c. w. explosive arrived in london to analyze the substance used in the alleged poisoning of scrip oh this will only allow them to distinguish the chemical formula of the

substance the o.p.c. w. technical secretariat doesn't have the mandate to verify the u.k.'s allegations by the way the investigation into the case is still in the u.k. and its allies insist that russia was behind this russia then eyes any such thing and says that this entire earth air is politically motivated there's been no investigation no trial no evidence only accusations which have taken a turn for the literary it's rather like the beginning of crime and punishment in many crime. i lord man he was a tree full of ours at this point. where all the confidence about the identity of the culprit and the only question is whether he will first confess or be called specially for boris johnson the dusty esky quote translated in english from

a hundred tributes you can not make a horse one hundred suspicions don't make it proof boris johnson went on to cement his case they make novacek we make light states one is a hideous weapons specifically designed for assassination the others are implausible theatrical prep with a mysterious buzz plenty would normally work opinion is divided on what exactly boris johnson meant or how exactly he hoped this would help his case. but not everybody seems so sold on russia bashing for example nine states chose not to take punitive action austria's among them the vienna says london tried to pressure them to go along. well a presentation that sums up the basis for why the u.s. and half of that you backed britain's expulsion of russian diplomats was leaked earlier this week with all six slides focusing on accusations against moscow it begins with the description of the nerve agent allegedly used in the salisbury

assassination attempt with the blame being placed squarely on russia the so-called evidence includes allegations of previous malign activity by moscow among them are cyber attacks alleged interference in elections and what the presentation calls the occupation of crimea crimea and numerous countries chiefly in the western hemisphere have backed london's allegations that russia was behind the poisoning of sergei screwball and his daughter and have joined punitive measures against moscow and though that sentiment wasn't shared by every nation even in europe some british and american politicians were quick to equate their allies with the entire world. but the world is saying today is that these patterns of behavior has become an acceptable and what you'll see in these huge diplomatic expulsion is a desire to correct that and to say right russia enough is enough to wiltz patience

is wrong wearing thin with president putin and his actions we stand with our british allies and the rest of the civilized world it has become clear that russia is behind this effort to kill innocent civilians with the banned nerve agent. cross lives are all rasmussen the executive vice president of the eurasia center thanks for being with us here on our team international. as we were talking during the sound check that things are just getting crazy here why do you think boris johnson another british official say that the world quote unquote is behind the u.k.'s position on the screen paul case when in fact it's only western countries is this international community. put international community in quotes they're limited to the west or china a pretty good question and i think. i think it kind of centers on the whole perspective that. certain countries have thinking that the world their world balls

around them when in fact it doesn't i think. and it's and i think also there is a perspective trying to shift even though we've got no evidence so far and it's really there's no basis on just the case and why logically on why russia would go ahead with this but there's no justification whatsoever there's no evidence of coming out we're not following international monica think primarily it's to try to try to spin the public in promoting a word the leaders of the world. and lynn really really being led by the u.s. in the u.k. and i'm not sure what partnership in there who's taking what what role in that but really that's that's where it is most of the world is not behind this and even the people of european countries i think for the most part realize that this is. really kind of there's no justification whatsoever i mean who did it who knows but it

clearly does not look like it was russia well let's take that idea a little bit further about the people of the european countries is europe really as unified as it seems i mean that first glance in this current round of lashing out well sco it seems like you politicians for instance let's say the president of the czech republic they've voiced their doubts about london's account of events. i think obviously europe wants to show unity and it's you know that's important i understand that. but if you really look at the numbers that diplomats expelled through you really look at some of the underlying negotiations and partnerships that are continuing. in the czech i think the czech president said well show me the evidence and they have the bennett and i think you see countries that are traditionally neutral are remaining neutral. and that just has not been convincing if we saw the look close at the presentation that was supposedly

convincing there's no evidence that it's a huge bunch of accusations so i think in in in some ways i think the next steps that are occurring may backfire i think they're creating more divisiveness within the within europe europe is already upset with the existing sanctions that are that are occurring especially on the business side is that they're losing billions of euros a year hundreds of billions and. this kind of adds to that and i'm sure the businesses are not very pleased with with this and and i would hope for putting some political pressure on their own representatives now this is one of the biggest expulsions of diplomats that we've seen in years i mean even harking back to the cold war we didn't see something this dramatic how dangerous is it for international relations given that these are the very people supposed to be working to strengthen ties between the countries and that and that's with sheer sheer numbers between the u.s. and the u.k. that that. question with our previous thirty five that were done last last year

it's in retaliation for election meddling that there's been no proof of. the. i mean dip diplomats. are your source of peanut cation their the your source of understanding your their source of interpreting different actions back and forth in each country their critical and and when you withdraw so much and it really starts to indicate there seems just naturally is going to be a fall in communications we have so many good problem programs at least if you look back a couple years ago twenty two different working groups with russia addressing everything from culture to terrorism to nonproliferation to human trafficking and those types of programs as well do of our relationship start to decline i saw that embassador still reached out to wanting to cooperate still wanting to to keep those open line

second occasions in and that's critical and i think when you start to expel diplomats you're really there's a danger there you go potentially expect you to protect against a dangerous spiral downward which which puts you in bad corners and bad situation for all who benefits from all of this i mean if we want to talk about a diplomatic crisis who becomes a beneficiary well it's it's it's risky direction obviously it's not russia russia is not the beneficiary on this. and i'm not going to say for sure it was the british government maybe it was some row. you know criminal elements maybe there's some issues there that was behind it but they basically have jumped on it and they're been leveraging this i think. the clear. if we look at who's benefiting here if you're if you think about the situation we've got bad brecht negotiations we've got

a need to show reliance that we don't want europe to get too close to russia. we need to show that. europe needs the u.k. in the defense posture and their role within nato stayed. important i think. clearly the u.k. is the one who at least in to supporting they're going to and i'm not going to say u.k. people that's completely wrong but i'm going to say u.k. from a political perspective is looking at right now has the potential depending how what direction this goes the potential of strengthening their position and having the most benefit of though this could really really backfire badly upon prime minister may and her cabinet then. we may see new cabinet in the in the u.k. within the next year. the world may not be involved in being a part of the sanctions or part of this oppression but the world certainly is

interested in seeing what happens next or rasmussen executive vice president of the eurasia center thanks for being with us here on arch international. all right yet another diplomatic standoff is unfolding between paris and rome italy threatening to kick out diplomats from france and we have that story coming up in a minute stay with us. they put themselves on the line they did accept it or reject it. so when you want to be president i'm sure. wanted. to go on the press was a while before three of the more people. interested always in the waters about how . to.

apply for many clubs over the years so i know that. the ball isn't only about what happens on the pitch for the final school it's about the passion from the families it's the age of the super money. and spending suited to the twenty million . it's an experience like. the beautiful just. great so. i welcome back this is our to international and to the weekly italy is crying invasion and even threatening to expel french diplomats over a dramatic cross a border migrant raid roma some in the french ambassador after french border police

entered in a tally and train station forcing a suspected drug trafficking refugee take a drug test. prosecutors have now reopened and investigation into the incident and while the foreign ministry in rome has kept a civilized tone some politicians did not hold back. the behavior of french agents in better than a case very serious matter remind micron that no foreign agent can come here and i so their authority we are a sovereign country not a province of france we are not micron's toilet on top of expelling russian diplomats we should expel french ones that had no rights no rights this would be the first and the last time i'm very angry about what's happened now paris claims a bilateral deal out them to cross the borders in such cases however italian police insist that the deal says france must notify them of its plans and it failed to do

so authorities add that the room inside. rail station was a migrant center and often it's. more of a migrant center officials are outraged calling it the raid interference and adding that french officers intimidated to the doctor and lawyers there however france says that it asked permission to enter the facility and that the migrant agreed to take the urine test political science a lecturer lorenzo school who is in bodies on next year told us that the french police are in the wrong. angio which is running the migrants center in the neck up by the way i'm a few hundred meters from there i am a bit of an anchor right now at the. end declared the french authorities where you know way acting in an intimidating manner and so this act has been seen by many flotations and i would say by a large portion of the time in public opinion as an act of defiance and

a violation of sovereignty when attorneys for what has been said very clearly by italian authorities is that. italian police with an option for by by french customs agent. about your peroration which is against the provisions of the by national agreements. and this is just their latest migrant related scandal on the french thai and border it comes just weeks after a volunteer was summoned by french police for saving a heavily pregnant migrant in the alps. we were doing an ordinary patrolling to as we have regularly done since the beginning of winter to bring aid to people who passed the pass in difficult conditions during this patrol we spoke to the group of people who were walking in snow there we saw that it was a family was two young children and pregnant women we gave them food and drinks and

dry clothes i took my come to take it to the hospital. they all asked for my documents and they catalogued my personal belongings they notified me of a hearing on wednesday and released me at midnight. if the situation repeated itself tomorrow i would act in the same way i did the right thing by this is the week we are to international will be back in about thirty minutes that us.

i. i. this is a sure a day when show muslims mourn the death of to say the prophet muhammad's grandson. when security is stepped up in pakistan because of the heightened risk of terrorist attacks. themselves with. a even with. recreating the way the ancestors suffered and hundreds of years good. fathers teach the press's to sons and so the tradition is passed from generation generation to .