british foreign _ prison yet again. when you talk to the british foreign office - prison yet again. ce about that turn of events, where they are surprised as you were. i that turn of events, where they are surprised as you were.— that turn of events, where they are surprised as you were. i haven't had direct communication _ surprised as you were. i haven't had direct communication with _ surprised as you were. i haven't had direct communication with them. i surprised as you were. i haven't had | direct communication with them. we have been getting updates to other members of the familyjust have been getting updates to other members of the family just to have been getting updates to other members of the familyjust to say they are working very hard and they will give us update as and when they are available. pare will give us update as and when they are available-— are available. are you able to speak to our are available. are you able to speak to your dad — are available. are you able to speak to your dad while _ are available. are you able to speak to your dad while he _ are availabl

against the turks on the side and the world fizla after the first world war he served in the british foreign officethe father, or rather the first british guardian of arab nationalism , thomas lawrence, independently spread the story about how he was allegedly brutally raped by turkish soldiers during one of the reconnaissance raids. however, lawrence was distinguished not only by non-traditional sexual orientation, but also by non-traditional forms of love for his to the wards of the arabs after the arab revolt of 920 , lawrence writes to an abserver in london. it's strange that in such cases, we do not apply poisonous gas. one of the brightest participants in the updated big game from the soviet side was yakov blyumkin chekist with pernicious inclinations, who shot the german peace ambassador during the left sr rebellion of 1918. after some time, blumkin was forgiven and returned to duty in the foreign department of the gpu, where, inspired by the example of lawrence of arabia, for several years he created an extensive intelligence network in the middle east in central asia. in 1920, under the gu

ros: when you talk to the british foreign office about that turn of events, were they surprised as youi have not had direct communication with them. we have been getting updates rough other members of the family just to say that they are working hard and that they will apprise us of any updates when they are available. ros: are you able to speak to your dad while he is going through this? >> sadly, not directly. we have been lucky that on occasion we have had sporadic contact through my mother, who gets to have contact quite intermittently. she will occasionally put him on speakerphone so that we can hear his voice and either with him in that way at the very least. ros: in terms of what can be done now, he is trying to apply pressure by taking this extreme measure of going on a hunger strike. beyond what he can do individually, what can the british government do, do you think, to try and shift the iranian position on this >> as i'm not a politician, i'm not in a position to give advice as to what can be done. all we can ask is that they keep their promise and uphold their side of the d

i mean the prime minister no, what prime minister is she the head of the british foreign office yes , the balaforin of the office is really about 2 hours ago. e board. uh, russian foreign minister sergei lavrova landed here in new delhi, and perhaps on the eve of a truly historic and such a long-awaited moment for the two countries, we will not. uh, while we hurry, we will really refer to the indian media. but at least the indian press , citing its sources in the government , says that the two sides have passed the final stage of agreeing on a mechanism for bilateral trade in national currencies. this is in the group and in rubles. here in new delhi. sergei lavrov will hold a meeting tomorrow with his indian counterpart , foreign minister subormonian jai shanhar. and, indeed, it just happened. it is known that tomorrow, uh, sergei lavrov will be received by the prime minister of india for rendering fashion, and it is possible that following the results of this meeting already. really. we can officially say that an agreement on ruble-ruble trade has been reached on payment for this, an

the head of the british foreign office has a completely different position where the price of gas jumpedy 20%, and the british ndbandon writes that some residents of the kingdom have to make a difficult choice to heat the house or cook food for the child on oil and gas in the uk has already pledged to stop. from russian oil, by the end of this year, we must agree on a schedule with our partners around the g7 world will forever end dependence on russian oil and gas, but while the contracts are still in effect, their attitude to buying russian gas for rubles is expressed mainly by politicians about non-european private business, which will eventually have to buy russian currency, or not to buy , newspapers whether the war is definitely. we are not going to do charity work and supply gas to western europe for free president putin insists on paying in rubles europe insists that they will not pay in rubles my question are you planning to turn off the gas. it depends on the circumstances. no payment. no gas gazprom will offer to change one point in the contracts, the currency of settlements, e

the british foreign office refers to the sanctioned instagram star as lavrov stepdaughter.estroyed a russian landing strip ship in a port controlled by russia. it could hamper russia's ability to supply troops. ukraine's military continues its gunner fence, of pushing russian for sivs further away from kyiv. ukraine's military says that 50,800 russian soldiers have been killed since the war began. u.s. have said over 4 million children have been displaced by vladimir putin's war. that has so far, according to the official count, killed 128 children. today, president biden announced the u.s. will accept 100,000 ukrainian refugees and provide 1 million and humanitarian assistance. in a new video addressing his country tonight, president zelenskyy said, quote, with each day of our defense, we are bringing the piece that we need so much closer. we are approaching this victory. because, in this war, it is simply impossible without victory. so, it will be. and you cannot stop for a minute because every minute is about or just in, it's about our future, about whether we live. 30th

that's the sort of thing that should be anticipated by british foreign office officials, and by the couples and staff. they were very badly prepared, and it's so humiliating for a couple, who i think, are just wonderful. they try their hardest and do their best for britain, and they were put into an immodest bowl position, by the head of the foreign office -- those two officials should have known what was coming. they should have prepared the ground, they should have made sure that every -- was perfect and they should never have allowed the couple to stand before the prime minister, so he can make his chief political points. it's been an absolutely humiliating disaster for them. >> what's next, with those two officials, was likely to happen to them? are they likely to have a bit of a reshuffle in the role? >> unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. -- i was 11 days away on halloween day during the afghan crisis. he's presided over the foreign office and not done very well in ukraine. -- who got ahead of the curve and help the ukrainians prepare for the battle. he's a man who should not be

a billion dollars, dating back to the 1970s. 0ur correspondent simonjones is outside the british foreign officen of those two?- to the return of those two? firstly, here at the — to the return of those two? firstly, here at the foreign _ to the return of those two? firstly, here at the foreign office - to the return of those two? firstly, here at the foreign office they - to the return of those two? firstly, here at the foreign office they are| here at the foreign office they are describing this as a good day. there are smiles on faces and that's what we saw earlier this morning at raf brize norton as the plane touched down. in recent weeks there has been an increase in diplomatic activity. we've had diplomats and officials sent from the foreign office overtook tehran to out negotiations. the big sticking point in recent years had been this debt of $500 million. that was money that britain bowed to tehran for a deal dating back to the 1970s for some tanks that weren't provided. britain had always said in recent years it was difficult to repay the debt to iran because potentially it could breach

one other piece of the puzzle, and none of this has been confirmed by the british foreign office, iss. picking up on that debt, is _ has unlocked this. picking up on that debt, is it _ has unlocked this. picking up on that debt, is it something i has unlocked this. picking up on that debt, is it something that l has unlocked this. picking up on i that debt, is it something that we are likely to know whether it has been paid or not? possibly not. it is still the case to this day that the british government does not acknowledge the connection between the debts and the fates of what it calls unfairly detained british nationals in iran, what many other people have called hostages. it doesn't recognise that is, but we do know that there had been concerted efforts to try and address the legal issues surrounding the deaths. the iranians have been rather more open in making that connection, particularly in recent years. will we find out that indeed a payment has been made? if it has, it will have had to have gone through all sorts of legal hoops, almost certainly involving some kind of clear

nationwide amidst reports the security funds with handcuffs, used to take certain british workers off the boards. >>> the foreign officeays that this man who has british, iranian citizens has been at a hotel in iran, freed from jail last week. at the same time as nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe and anoosheh ashoori. he was not able to leave the country with the other two detainees. the foreign office says they are working to get him back to the u.k. >>> two men have died, while waiting for hours for fuel in sri lanka as they deal with the most severe crisis in history. millions of school exam have been canceled due to a lack of paper. the international monetary fund has indicated it will e-would be willing to discuss, it would be willing to discuss a financial bailout for the nation. >>> the villagers in belize refused to let the royals on their land but as you can see, things did improve. the duke and duchess of cambridge managed to get the spring back in their step divisionally enough. william and kate dancing with locals. one doing better than the other. and we'll leave it up to you to decide which. and working with cocoa

and according to foreign secretary, tenacious british diplomacy. >> i do pay tribute to foreign officeirelessly for years to make this happen. >> reporter: for her family, the wait for her return has been long and difficult. now, their fight for freedom is finally coming to a close. >> i think, you know, it's the beginning of a new life. >> reporter: cnn london. >>> well, wednesday was my freedom day around the world. a day when students in more than 140 countries hold events to raise awareness about modern slavery. usually, we bring you many of those events live throughout the day here on cnn but because of our extensive coverage of the war in ukraine, we are putting them all on our special my freedom day website. you can find it at cnn.com/myfreedomday. lo here is a look at some of those student-led events we love so much. >>> my freedom day. >> freedom to me is being able to be surrounded by those i love, being able to support others, and also having an opportunity to speak for what i believe in. >> freedom means being able to express myself. >> i feel free when i can play football.

obviously, there are british nationals involved, the uk foreign office will be there to support. we do remind people that the travel advice is that they shouldn't be going to ukraine. we completely understand the urge to help and be supportive, but obviously, we are telling people it is not safe to travel to ukraine. but obviously, of british nationals have been hurt or killed, the government is there to support. >> the government can come from this morning whether or not british nationals have perished? >> no, indeed. i can't speak about those details, i don't have that detail at the moment. but as i say, the uk government is there to support people and they do need our help. but we do urge people, whether they're tempted to help militarily, or whether they are trying to be supportive and humanitarian sons, our devices that people should not be going to ukraine. but there are other ways that they can help. and we advise them to donate to a recognized charity rather than put themselves a risk. >> okay, explosions and kyiv again overnight, it looks as though another residential bu

foreign office says that british u.s. and iranian citizenship is now been buried -- the same time -- mr. sub as was not able to leave the country, the other two detainees, they are working to get him back to the uk. a union came's a new crew working on piano vessels will be paid at a rate well below minimum. wage as anger grows over the sanction of 800 workers, by the company. the royal maritime and transport union claims replacement crew will be on what they call, poverty pay. the company says it's acted within industry practices. and make time today to listen this guy daily podcast a few skin that you are quote on your screen, you will find it. in our science and technology editor takes a look at the current covid situation, where the virus me will be going next. he will be speaking to the uk health security agencies doctor susan hopkins. find it where you find podcasts, or if you have a phone in your, and quickly skin that cure code. now, it may have gotten off to a shaky start, after villages in belize refused to let

a lovely photo from a british diplomat the middle east direct in the foreign office, these are some ofy after years and years of campaigning in that time spent in prison. i am sure it must — that time spent in prison. i am sure it must have _ that time spent in prison. i am sure it must have spent - that time spent in prison. i am sure it must have spent a - that time spent in prison. i am sure it must have spent a very| sure it must have spent a very surreal, i'm sure in their minds they must have imagined this moment for so long, losing hope it would ever happen, now they are finally sitting without relief. of course this was a diplomatic effort as well? ., ., was a diplomatic effort as well? . ., , ., well? that what you said in terms of — well? that what you said in terms of losing _ well? that what you said in terms of losing hope, - well? that what you said in terms of losing hope, you | well? that what you said in - terms of losing hope, you have touched a nerve there, both of them went through such different ordeals, difficult ordeals, anoosheh ashoori at one point thinking of

this is from a british diplomat, the middle east director in the foreign office and these are some ofthe moment that those two found out that they were leaving tae run. they were on the plane, finally, after years and years of campaigning in that time spent in prison. i'm sure that must have felt so surreal. in sure that must have felt so surreal. , , surreal. in their minds they must have _ surreal. in their minds they must have replayed - surreal. in their minds they must have replayed this - surreal. in their minds they - must have replayed this moment or imagine this moment for so long, losing hope, i imagine that it would ever happen and finally that they are smiling and sitting with that relief. and of course this was a diplomatic effort as well. it is. and what you said though, in terms of losing hope, i think you have really touched on a nerve there because both of them went through such different ordeals to difficult ordeals. at one point anoosheh ashoori tried to take his own life and had huge depression issues for naranin zaghari—ratcliffe at different points and at one poi

joining us, lord rickety, former permanent undersecretary at the foreign office, and former british permanent representative tornado. thank you for joining us on the program this morning. let's talk about the alleged poisoning, first of all. the americans, pouring a bit of cold water on it. but, there is previous, obviously, from russia, on poisoning people. how concerned should those taking part in the peace talks be? >> i think they should be careful, indeed. we should know what happens, it's quite mysterious, but the problem is, it could well have happened. the russians have a long track record of, fascination's with poisons, and chemical weapons. so, it is entirely possible, somebody made an effort to disrupt this informal mediation, which is only what abramovich is trying to do. so, i'm sure the ukrainian negotiators in turkey, and indeed the, turkish house, have been extremely careful. >> one is your advice to people taking part in peace talks with the russians? >> i think depending on the who turkey house today, this is an initiative by president erdogan, and i'm sure he will do everyt

british negotiating team was that right now. none of this has been confirmed by the foreign office, theyjust say this has been confirmed by the foreigncontinuing to explore all options to resolve this case. borisjohnson sounded like he was conscious that something was going on but also conscious of his role in the past in which he inadvertently complicated situation by suggesting she was working in a run as a journalist. he said that the rule is to say as little as possible until it is concluded. i don't want to do anything, he said, to interrupt the conversations. he clearly thinks we are at a very delicate stage. what might have broken the logjam? intriguingly, an iranian journalist based intriguingly, an iranianjournalist based in the uk has reported that a 400 million p debt that britain has uman around since 1979, the tail—ender the military deal with the shah cancelled the islamic revolution occurred, that debt has now been paid. the british government has never acknowledged there was any connection between that debt and the fate of nazanin and other dual nationals, but if that debt has been paid, which would probably have invo

british nationals being involved in that. if there are, the uk government and the foreign office will provide support that we do to british nationalsbritish public to do more?— the pressure from the british public to do more? throughout this the uk has sou~ht to do more? throughout this the uk has sought to _ to do more? throughout this the uk has sought to be _ to do more? throughout this the uk has sought to be as _ to do more? throughout this the uk has sought to be as supportive - to do more? throughout this the uk has sought to be as supportive and. has sought to be as supportive and as effective in our support as possible. we moved very early with targeted sanctions which hits the russian financial services sector which has meant that the money supply to putin's war effort dried up supply to putin's war effort dried up very quickly. the uk led calls to exclude russia from the swift banking system on which they rely. we have introduced a scheme there where people can host ukrainian refugees in their homes. the response has been absolutely amazing, i think it demonstrates the national generosity of spirit of the uk. when i spea

office, my work from home space, if you like — which we are going to be redecorating. british families opening up rooms and hearts to those desperate enough to plead for strangers in a foreignated when you've escaped russian shelling. what was it that made you decide that you wanted to have refugees come and stay at your house? ijust, i think... it's just impacted us quite a lot, and you can't stand by and watch something like this happen. it's a humanitarian crisis, isn't it? and i think a part of it may be feels like we are standing up to huge bully. i just don't think we can stand by and just let it happen without doing something. and what impact do you think it's going to have on you and your family, day—to—day? i don't think it will be a detrimental one. i think also it will probably demonstrate to our daughter, you know, kind of compassion, sympathy and empathy, which is not a bad thing. the system to bring ukrainian refugees into british people's homes has been simplified. now they'll have to go on the home office website, fill in their details, their sponsor's details, and provide a passport photo. problems? well, the checks on those people they are staying with are

british foreign minister in years. we agree to work together to resolve these two issues in parallel. i dispatched a team of foreign office0urambassador in february resulting in this agreement. 0ur ambassador in tehran has also been in constant talks with iranian ministers and senior officials. and i spoke to the minister in iran in october to advance the talks. in september, i met the minister and secured iran's assistance in this important work. in february, i met with the minister again to drive to talk to a final conclusion. we will push to talk to more partners to secure morad tahbaz�*s permanent release home, which is overdue. we will continue to support other british nationals in iran who have asked for our help. we will work closely with our international partners to urge iran to end its practice of unfed attention. it remains —— unfair. the agonies endured by nazanin anoosheh ashoori, morad tahbaz and their families must never happen again. our efforts to settle the imf debt have also reached their conclusion. after a highly complex and exhaustive negotiations, the more than 40—year—old debt between the internati

british courts to silence critics. our top story this morning, nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe and anoosheh ashoori are back on uk soil. that was after years of detention in iran. the foreign officeleverly, has been an interesting part of that negotiation. for years, i asked him why it took so long to pay a debt that you cannot iran for more than 40. use >> we had been looking at ways to settle the debt that we conceded that we owed. we owe this, debt we accepted that debt, obviously, the sanctions made incredibly difficult. you cannot just write a check it doesn't work like that the details of how we have done it, of course, as i say, have to remain confidential, but it's taken a huge amount of work to come up with a method of ensuring that money is for humanitarian purposes, and it conforms to the sanctions. >> we said as much of the foreign office for us. hi amara, good morning to you. great news, although there is one bright still to come home. >> yes. that is more ride, tap has. -- back in september of last year, she made it clear that her priority was to get all three released. now, in the early hours of this morning, those wonderful scenes of nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe and

safety on board ukrainian officers on their way to the front and foreign fights looking to join an international brigade. ah, this is what we're thinking about. jack is a former british soldier. what is it that made you come like, how did you reach the decision? oh, so i was a finish. yeah. i was thinking about it was into mindset. and then there was a video of the version jet that launch missiles at the civilian house. and you had let go screaming and then us what basically turned off to to know is we're in the frozen outskirts of keys. then the sprawling city itself, home to 3000000 people before the exodus. ah at the station, a train on the next platform waits to evacuate more women and children the heading west, trying to get as far away as possible. as the russians tightened, they moved around the capitol. ah in station concourse, a woman in clear distress seesaw camera yelled little holy in the view school we will learn better. amanda gordon goes out of where you have my do believe one of them so strong minded them. broad minded them. george. their money suitable did. should them she's via was in the my as yes. do you think the minute the you to whom when you t

british right now. >> where is the log jam? >> yes, it's with the united kingdom, visa application center. the home office. but i mean i've been calling the home office, the visa centers, the foreignommonwealth development office. everybody. you just get diverted to the same phone line. and you get an automated message saying they can't look into your application. or somebody takes your email and your phone number and says someone will get in contact. but it's just not working. the reality of it is totally different. >> and in the meantime, what's happening with the family? how are you coping? >> well, fortunately, the 25th, the day of the invasion, i managed to get them into, a hotel, a lot of the hotels and asias were fully booked so did -- and airbnbs were fully booked and they're there at the moment and they're safe but they're massively frustrated and feeling let down by the u.k. government, as am i oochs. you know and everybody i speak to, is the u.k. government, remove the red tape, make it simple, do what every other european nation is doing, and you know, the u.k. visa, visa free travel, it's very frustrating, as you can imagine. >> i can't imagine. i really can't. so we

office — my work from home space, if you like, which we�*re going to be redecorating. british families opening up rooms and hearts to those desperate enough to plead for strangers in a foreignt�*s a humanitarian crisis, isn�*t it? and i think a part of it maybe feels like we�*re standing up to a huge bully. i just don�*t think we can stand by and just let it happen without doing something. and what impact do you think it is going to have on you and your family day—to—day? i don�*t think it will be a detrimental one. i think also it will probably demonstrate to our daughter, you know, compassion, sympathy and empathy, which is not a bad thing. the system to bring ukrainian refugees into british people�*s homes has been simplified. now they�*ll have to go on the home office website, fill in their details, their sponsor�*s details and provide a passport photo. problems? well, the checks on those people they�*re staying with are going to be basic, and it�*s still a diy refugee system. you still have to find your own matches at the moment. and how did you go about trying to find ukrainians to help? it has been really difficult, actually, and i think there�*s a lot of frustrated

height of the iraq war, the british foreign minister could have walked around the corner and no one would have batted an eye but rickey martin or richard gerr comes to the officeould be a victory for a woman who has decades in congress before she is retired, instead she is rhyming with bono. maria: yeah, exactly. joe and christian stay right there. the next hour of "mornings with maria" begins right now. ♪ maria: good friday morning, everyone. thanks very much for joining us. i'm maria bartiromo. it is friday, march 18th. your top stories right now, 7:0e east coast. today, relentless thuggery, multiple explosions reported near the ukrainian city of lviv. early morning blasts causing massive smoke plumes near the city's international airport as the russian forces also try to take down the city of mariupol. the pentagon says russia has now fired more than 1,000 missiles on ukraine in the three weeks since this invasion began. we are taking you live this morning to ukraine with an exclusive interview with vladimir klichko. he is fighting on the front lines, along with his brother, the mayor of kyiv. joins us as we take you live to kyiv coming up. meanwhile, presi

about why it took six years to bring nazanin home and the foreign office needs to look at its policies on consular assistance on how to protect british who has been reunited with her husband and a mother who has been reunited with her daughter. in husband and a mother who has been reunited with her daughter.- reunited with her daughter. in terms of communications _ reunited with her daughter. in terms of communications with _ reunited with her daughter. in terms of communications with iran - of communications with iran specifically, given how long it took to get to this point, is it incredibly difficult to try to have any kind of communication with the iranian government beyond the governmental discussions that go on? our work was largely focused on putting pressure on the uk government to take action in nazanin's case and that is because engaging with a regime like the iranians regime is so difficult. we saw how they were willing to do whatever it took to keep nazanin in iran until they got what they wanted from the uk government and so it is difficult as a lawyer, we need to engage with the legal processes in iran because they are

office — my work from home space, if you like, which we're going to be redecorating. british families opening up rooms and hearts to those desperate enough to plead for strangers in a foreignwanted to have refugees come to stay at your house? it's just impacted us quite a lot and you can't stand by and watch something like this happen. it's a humanitarian crisis, isn't it? and i think a part of it maybe feels like we're standing up to a huge bully. i just don't think we can stand by and just let it happen without doing something. and what impact do you think it is going to have on you and your family day—to—day? i don't think it will be a detrimental one. i think also it will probably demonstrate to our daughter, you know, compassion, sympathy and empathy, which is not a bad thing. the system to bring ukrainian refugees into british people's homes has been simplified. now they'll have to go on the home office website, fill in their details, their sponsor's details and provide a passport photo. problems? well, the checks on those people they're staying with are going to be basic, and it's still a diy refugee system. you still have to find your own matches at the moment. and