in the in the czech republic there are several scandals about you know czech agents in moscow or there was a journalist who was arrested on suspicion or corporation with a check security services and so relations between the congress are good very late our relations with the czech intelligence service are not very good or yeah we will wait to see what way this turns out to me tree thank you as all of us for giving us that insight into a lot of issues surrounding it to be true bob its political analyst live on the program. global tourism crippled by the pandemic is scrambling for ways to get travel started again some agencies are hoping to turn a crisis into an opportunity by offering vaccine vacations and russia is among the most popular destinations. they stink today we have around 80 people in moscow who if they want to can be vaccinated tomorrow and fly back on sunday we expect now every week the same quantity so long as the vaccines in germany escape us. i have no fears because it's a recommended vaccination from the w.h.o. it has a good international reputation so from the outset

there are 18 members of — czech republic saying?embers of the russian _ czech republic saying? there are 18 members of the russian diplomatic| members of the russian diplomatic corps in prague who are now packing their bags. they have been given 48 hours to leave. the authorities say those 18 are the members of the embassy that they have identified as members of russia's security services. eitherthe members of russia's security services. either the gru or the svr. they are on their way back to moscow within the hours that come, but this comes at a very delicate time for relations between russia and the czech republic. tomorrow, the deputy prime minister was due to fly to moscow to discuss the reordering of the vaccine against covid. that is now not happening. there were also plans to modernise a nuclear power station and that is under question now because relations between russia and the czech republic, this is perhaps their lowest since the fall of the iron curtain. tell perhaps their lowest since the fall of the iron curtain.— of

the czech republic, 2014.osion at an arms depot leaves two people dead, damages nearby homes and sends smoke rising from the ruins. following years of investigations, the czech authorities allege these two men were behind the blast. alexander mishkin and anatoliy chepiga, also known as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov, the two russian intelligence officers the uk says in 2018 carried out the poisoning of a former russian agent on british soil. announcing the news on saturday, the czech foreign minister said 18 russian diplomats would now have to leave the country. translation: as foreign minister of the czech republic, i made the decision to expel all personnel at the russian embassy in prague, identified by our secret services as officers of russia's secret services. within 48 hours, 18 staff of the russian embassy must leave the czech republic. the czech prime minister said the two suspects were members of the gru, russia's military intelligence service. a senior russian parliamentarian called the claim

this is the biggest dispute between the czech republic and russia since the end of the communist era in 1989 the czech prime minister says the circumstances are unprecedented and scandalous it goes back to an explosion of the nomination store in 2014 about 330 kilometers to the south of prague in which 2 people were killed and the czech government says that these 2 men travelling on the names of alexander touch of and russian ambassador off bashir off were in the area of this explosion 6 days running up to it and including on the day of the explosion it says they are members of the russian security services and it wants to speak to them it's very unlikely to get the opportunity to speak to them russia does not extradite citizens who are charged with crimes on foreign soil the 1st deputy head of the upper house here in russia of its international affairs committee says progs claims are absurd and russia's response should be proportionate i mean fox news agency says the czech republic has apparently decided to close its embassy in moscow and i guess that's because with the czech republi

be in the larger picture behind this diplomatic crisis in the czech republic or between the czech republic and russia is the timing peculiar because the russian intelligence services are being linked to a huge ammunition depo explosion back in 2014 in the czech republic no why has it taken so long to make this move. well. in my view it is at least possible that the depot explosion has virtually nothing to do with russian interference of g.r.u. and that the czech republic knows about it at least we have to assume this possibility that it has just been used as ammunition against russia at this convenient point of time because the evidence has not been presented and if we look at the media reporting we see that also prime minister under this once he said they have found an active vocal evidence and at a nother point he said that there is reasonable suspicion that the russian secret agents were involved so what is right now is that is just a suspicion or is there evidence before such evidence has been presented in a convincingly way we have to assume that we are dealing with yet another diplom

i mean this is the biggest crisis in relations between russia and the czech republic since the end of the communist era in 1989 czech prime minister under it says the circumstances around it are precedented scandalous and it goes back to an explosion at an ammunition store in 2014 now now check security services say 2 men shopping on the names of armed i was on the patch of a muslim spent 6 days including the day of the explosion in the area of this i mean nation depo 2 men traveling on these same names are wanted in connection with the attempted murder of sergei scrap all in solsbury in the u.k. in 28 seen those 2 men have subsequently been named alexander miskin and anatoly chappie gosar is believed those are the real their real names according to the british security services the russians of course of never formally identified these men although they have been interviewed after the attempted murder of people they were interviewed on russian television saying that they were in the area for tours . so what is likely to happen next to what might do in response. well the czech republic

is a continuation of a series of russian actions conducted over the last several years by the czech republic one cannot also fail to notice the american influence by trying to win washington's favor is the us imposes sanctions against russia the czech authorities have even outdone their american masters so many diplomats were forced to start packing their suitcases in recent days because of expulsions and counter expulsions 1st of all america ordered 10 russian diplomats to head back to russia moscow's response was then almost identical then poland announced a similar move but there are sanctions only targeted 3 people and then eventually we heard from the czech officials who announced that prague decided to expel 18 people working for the russian embassy that is even more than that then america originally chose to punish you understand that this is a very significant share of the embassy staff so you'd have to think that there must be a very serious reason for it well the czech authorities have accused this group of 8 saying of working as intelligence operatives and also blamed russia for b

she in for a change here for the czech republic let me remind you of the president you will resent it. considered to be a also file. alben lee often expressed sympathy for the idea or by the russian big scene now of course the president has to you know be patriotic actual that the prime minister bobbish says that you know the president is behind him even though you know you martin explanations from russia on what happened i didn't see this evidence it has not been presented really to us so what i can assume is that it also is just handy to present them as the suspects because they have already been presented they were already in the mind in the consciousness of public. due to the case and this case in itself has never been really. explained before such evidence has been presented in a convincingly way we have to assume that we are dealing with yet another diplomatic crisis between the western european and also america of course indirectly involved partners and russia and there is just the geopolitical rearmed which offers us really explain agents. or russia's federal security service

and now linked to an explosion at an arms death in the czech republic. the controversial plan in indonesia digging up the dead to make way for a great strike. we begin in south asia the new epicenter of the pandemic infections in india a still surging with daily cases reaching record numbers it's reported more than 261000 new cases in the past 24 hours and $1500.00 deaths with a highly contagious variant of the virus suspected but while india has been helping other nations as the world's largest vaccine manufacturer it's been running out of its own supply so now it's delaying exports and will prioritize immunizing its own population. thailand has also seen a rapid rise in cases more than 1500 a day anyone who test positive is now being transferred to hospital or supervised isolation with no at home cornered allowed tony chang is at a newly built field hospital in bangkok. this one's going to open tomorrow they've got 350 beds here it seems like a lot but bangkok alone announced 357 new cases day so in effect this could well be filled within the next 24 h

continuation of a series of anti russian actions conducted over the last several years by the czech republic one cannot also fail to notice the american influence by trying to win washington's favor as the u.s. imposes sanctions against russia the czech authorities have even outdone their american musters. joins me now in the studio to talk more in this furley recta words there really aren't there from from tickets through this new diplomatic crisis if you will while you know and so many diplomats were forced to pack their suitcases and their lot in the last few days because of these expulsions one after the other america ordered 10 russian diplomats to head back to russia then russia responded adventurously poland announced similar measures but they were only targeting 3 russian 3 members of the russian embassy in warsaw but then eventually we heard from czech officials who announced that fragged prague decided to expel 80 people members of the russian embassy there that is even more than the u.s. and this is a very significant share of the embassy staff so you probably think there must be

the czech republic has expelled 18 russian diplomats who it says are military spies the russian embassy staffers or staffers pardon me are being kicked out after a check official said they found clear evidence that moscow operatives were involved in deadly explosions at an ammunition depot in 2014. the blast that claimed 2 lives a military ammunitions warehouse in the east of the czech republic explodes in october 24th team causing widespread damage. 2 months later another similar explosion. 7 years on the czech government says it found a link between the explosions and russian secret services. based on clear evidence of teen during the investigation conducted by our security services i can say there is well grounded suspicion about the involvement of officers of the russian intelligence service g r u. the people who want to see. if such. and these are the key suspects believed to have been in the country at the time of the blast both men are also wanted in the u.k. in connection with the 2800 poisoning of sergei scruple a former russian spy and 18 russian embassy staffers accused of be

now moscow has warned its war retaliate against the czech republic after its own of 18 russian diplomats with sas military spies for access spreads they were behind deadly explosions at our nomination devil 2014 at last to discuss the case at a meeting of e.u. foreign ministers on monday. the blast that claimed 2 lives a military ammunitions warehouse in the east of the czech republic explodes in october 24th teen causing widespread damage. 2 months later another similar explosion. 7 years on the czech government says it found a link between the explosions and russian secret services. based on clear evidence of tain during the investigation conducted by our security services i can say there is well grounded suspicion about the involvement of officers of the russian intelligence service g r u. people who want to see if. these are the key suspects believed to have been in the country at the time of the blast both men are also wanted in the u.k. in connection with the 2800 poisoning of sergei scruple a former russian spy and 18 russian embassy staffers accused of being military spies now ha

the czech republic has expelled 18 russian diplomats who it says are military spies the russian embassy staffers are being kicked out after a check official said they found clear evidence that moscow operatives were involved in deadly explosions at an ammunition depot in 2014. the blast that claimed 2 lives a military ammunitions warehouse in the east of the czech republic explodes in october 24th team causing widespread damage. 2 months later another similar explosion. 7 years on the czech government says it found a link between the explosions and russian secret services. based on clear evidence of pain during the investigation conducted by our security services i can say there is well grounded suspicion about the involvement of officers of the russian intelligence service g r u. the people who want to see. such. and these are the key suspects believed to have been in the country at the time of the blast both men are also wanted in the u.k. in connection with the 2018 poisoning of sergei scruple a former russian spy and 18 russian embassy staffers accused of being military spies now ha

as regards to czech republic as well as in the recent past regards the u.k. great britain actually and. no one can prove that russia actually was trying to intimidate someone or was trying to do any harm to anybody so i think that in the end though the day russia feels a self like a victim awful the propaganda and awfully. hostile actions of the western countries ok so i think of a great to get your through your views on the shore thank you so much for joining us from moscow and talking to us here on al-jazeera appreciate it and just as we were speaking there we have now learned via the foreign ministry in russia that they are expelling 28 czech diplomats that's 20 checked it limits are being expelled from russia as human retaliation for the expulsion of the 14 russian diplomats these 20 must leave the country by april 19th that's the r i a news agency citing the russian foreign ministry more on this of course as it comes in for now though gyptian the egyptian health ministry says at least 11 people have been killed in a train rail mintz the only 100 others h

czech reublic? ~ , , ., republic? when this explosion ha--ened republic? explosion happened in 2014 _ republic? when this explosion happened in 2014 it _ republic? when this explosion happened in 2014 it was - republic? when this explosion i happened in 2014 it was assumed republic? when this explosion - happened in 2014 it was assumed to be an accident, killing two people and only under the salisbury poisoning that investigators started to go back over some pieces of the puzzle and re—examine them. one of the things they found was an e—mail requesting access to the arms depot, which blew up with the names of two people who wanted to visit it and when they looked at the pictures attached to the passport scans requesting that access, they could see these were the same images as the men who were alleged to have carried out the salisbury poisoning. they entered the czech republic using the same cover names that they used when coming to the uk in 2018. a trail of evidence built up suggesting the same unit of russian military intelligence carried out this blast

russia has announced that 20 diplomats from the czech republic will be expelled from the country. ador to london told the bbc that russian opposition leader alexei navalny won't die behind bars. mr navalny has been on hunger strike since the into march and is demanding access to independent medical care. he's been held behind bars since february. in brazil, of study found six and ten household face food shortages. government hand—outs introduced last year have been reduced as public debt rises. shops and churches in brazil's most popular state has reopened after eight month of lockdown. —— after a month. now on bbc news, hardtalk.

much of the crystal meth that's consumed in germany comes from the czech republic here czech police carry out a drug raid meth is also produced in other countries. they're flooding the market. in. dutch drug gangs are pushing into the european market filling the gap left by check drug operations that have been busted. it is meet me this isn't smuggling it's a sophisticated highly profitable business and dutch police sees only 5 to 10 percent of total production and that gives you an idea of how much is actually on the market and. crystal meth is easy and cheap to produce and the profits for dealers can be enormous. believe it want to discover still here we see a typical meth lab. it can produce 20 kilograms over a 2 day cycle. and on the street a philo of meth sells for 600000 check crowns and cougar. and that's just over $23000.00 euros so 460000 euros for that in just 48 hours the average price per gram is $65.00 euros crystal meth normally $10050.00 so we've reached the point where people at all levels of society are using this drug in one's lucas has just become is a bit comes amid. t

a diplomatic standoff after the czech republic implicates russia in an explosion and finds a link with 2 men charged for poisoning attack in the u.k. . well again i'm come out santamaria here in doha with the world news from al-jazeera 8 people killed almost 100 others injured this is a train de railing north of cairo. also india's covert 19 infections rise to more than a quarter of a 1000000 a day surging well ahead of its capacity to supply vaccines to the world. and germany pays tribute to the nearly 80000 people who died even as it struggles to control contain new outbreaks. so the united states has told russia that there will be consequences so quote if kremlin critic alexei navalny dies in prison president joe biden's national security advisor jake sullivan says the message has been delivered after the u.s. imposed its new sanctions on moscow in the wake is in the 3rd week meanwhile of a hunger strike in prison and according to his personal doctor it's actually close to death my canner in washington d.c. to start us off hi mike anything more specific than consequences or an idea

the czech republic is expelling 18 russian diplomats after russian agents were allegedly involved inion at an arms depot. and president biden is under pressure after he tries to keep donald trump's cap on refugees. good evening. eight days after his death, his royal highness prince philip, the duke of edinburgh, has been laid to rest at st george's chapel windsor, in the presence of her majesty the queen, and a small congregation of family members. the service, in line with the duke�*s wishes, was restrained, with no tributes paid, as the queen sat alone, a widow, after 73 years of marriage. the dean of windsor paid tribute to prince philip's �*kindness, humour and humanity'. ahead of the service, more than 700 members of the armed forces had take part in a military and musical tribute, before a nationwdie silence was observed. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell was watching the day's events. it was at windsor castle that they fell in love. it was wartime. the young lieutenant philip mountbatten spent his leave at the castle visiting the then—princess elizabeth. they were marr

were moving on to other news the czech republic is briefing nato and e.u. allies about suspected russian involvement in a huge explosion it's linked to man charged for a separate poisoning attack in the u.k. 3 years ago the ammunition depot blast killed 2 people back in 2014 russian intelligence now implicated the czech republic is expelling 18 russian embassy staff check police say 2 men who were there before the blast had russian passports the names were alexander petrol and bush of now those aliases were used by the pair accused of poisoning the former russian spy it's so gross cripple and his daughter yulia in the u.k. back in 2018 russia's foreign ministry says the czech republic's allegations are absurd also has promised to take retaliatory measures for the expulsion of its diplomats calling it a provocative move so let's check in with our correspondents rory chalons in london in a moment to take us through that link 1st of all it's been at smith in moscow more russian reaction what are they saying. this is the biggest dispute between the czech republ

the czech republic- john. yeah, so this is the two cited scored. the czech republic says i john.nd exploded that happened behind a facility in 2014 and we saw the world coming together again. this idea, this registerfor foreign agents has been kicking around for a while. remember last year when the intelligence and security committee came up with the russian report, and one of the criticisms and there was the government hadn't been building enough to tackle the aggression of russia, so this was suggested as one of the possible ideas that the government could take forward. let’s government could take forward. let's look at the guardian. _ cut poverty to reduce crime. this is andy cook, the chief constable a merseyside police. he's stepping down, i think this is an interview he's going to mark his retirement. usually when you hear from police officers and chiefs, they're calling for more money for their particular part of public service. but he says if you have £5 billion to spend on cutting crime, he would spend £1 billion on law enforcement and the other 4 billion on tackling pov

body anything over 51015 or 20 kilograms is now produced outside the czech republic. not was i mean ixtapa. in some raids officers have seized up to a ton of crystal meth but this work often involves cross border co-operation with police in other countries. it works closely with european customs author already is and the european law enforcement agency europol. and there's a new factor that's complicating the effort. the news was that we mexican drug cartels are now setting up operations in the netherlands. here fleet which conducts an inspection tour along the czech german border. he explains that the mexican cartels have moved into the european market for crystal meth mostly because the czech government has cracked down hard on local drug dealers. freight lease department has been expanded over the past several years and they're making life difficult for those who produce and distribute crystal meth in the czech republic so the mexicans have stepped in to fill the gaps their network even includes some of the vietnamese immigrants who used to make their own meth. dut

russia has announced that twenty diplomats from the czech republic will be expelled from the country. him at prague's decision