alexei navalny sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison this tuesday in moscow but the silencing of navalny doesn't mean the protests against vladimir putin will stop. our report from moscow takes you to the heart of the demonstrations. behind the scenes of the anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by navalny. there are people prepared to risk all to make noise against the system. >> on sunday, all over russia, tens of thousands gathered to demand alexei navalny's lease and vladimir putin's resignation. >> there have never been this many road blocks in moscow for a protest. it's true but today they've blocked the whole city center. >> the police made more than 5,600 arrests, an unprecedented number. though already at demonstrations the previous weekend, more than 4,000 people had been arrested. >> this is anya, she took part in an action in defense of political prisoners and got sentenced to 10 days in jail. >> they didn't have enough space in the cell so i spent two days at the police station and now we're waiting. >> in front of this prison in moscow, four days after the first big protests

now we look to see how mr navalny and his - see how mr navalny and his supporters respond. he is a high—profile individual but is there an organisation below him? well. an organisation below him? well, there is an _ an organisation below him? well, there is an organisation, - an organisation below him? well, there is an organisation, they - an organisation below him? -ii there is an organisation, they have representatives in the majority of russian regions but the trouble is since there were two weeks of protests before this court decision the majority of his team—mates, the majority of famous figures in his team, have already been detained or arrested by the russian police. so the only leaders remaining are those who are outside of russia and also some low—key people from his team. but many people are coming to the streets not because of navalny as a political leader, people who are coming said that they want justice and they want a more fair state. we heard alexei navalny saying his trial was a warning to russians from president putin and whether that is the case or

navalny and his suppters spond. he's a very high-profile individual, but is there an organization below him? >> there is an organization. they have their representatives in the majority of russian regions. since there were two weeks of protest before this court decision, the majority of his teammates were famous figures in his team have already -- his teammates or famous figures in his team have already been detained. the only leaders remaining are those who are based outside of russia and also some low level, locate persons from his team -- low-key persons from his team. some people don't even support alexei navalny. people who are coming said that they want justice. they want safety. ros: there's a huge police presence in moscow. some supporters of alexei navalny are also out on the street, too, objecting to his sentencing. ♪ now, two important developments in the u.s. to tell you about. the democrats have laid out their case for impeaching donald trump for the second time. their pretrial brief damning. it says

alexey navalny is sentenced to more than three years behind bars. a moscow court found that he violated the terms of his probation while he was here and terminat -- here in germany, in a coma after the attack. scientists say russia's sputnik v vaccine is safe and effective against covid-19. early trial results were published today in the lancet. active activists in the u.s. -- activists in the u.s. demonstrate. -- finally reunite migrant children taken away from their parents. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching on pbs, in the united states and around the world, welcome. we begin tonight in moscow, where alexey navalny has been sentenced to 3.5 years in prison. he was detained last month for violating the terms of his probation. he failed to check in with authorities, because he was here in germany, recovering from a near fatal poisoning, which he blames on the kremlin. today's ruling has sparked an international outcry. reporter: the only goodbye alexey navalny could manage, his wife, before he heads to prison. he told the court the

. -- its top critic, alexey navalny. and america is back, so says joe biden. he emphasizes a more diplomatic approach to foreign relations and announces changes in policy on yemen. a prominent lebanese shiite publisher was found shot dead in his car on -- in southern lebanon. he was a vocal critic of hezbollah. thank you for watching france 24. we start this evening with the foreign policy chief of the european union, who begins a three-day visit to russia. that is the first such trip by talking you envoy since 2017. it comes after police arrested 10,000 people during recent nationwide protests. in support of opposition figure alexey navalny. the eu has been discussing imposing further sanctions on russia following measures in response to the annexation of crimea. >>'s visit to moscow is unlikely to change the sentence for alexey navalny, the country's main opposition figure was sentenced to three years in prison with several countries forcing stern opposition. >> [speaking forward -- [speaking foreign language] >> [spea

navalny. the kremlin has defended the actions against protesters who took to the streets. security forces arrested more than 1400 demonstrators. navalny was sentenced to prison for violating his parole while he was in a coma recovering from a poison attack. >> sharp criticism is the world found out alexey navalny was going to prison. germany condemned navalny's jailing and the police's treatment of protesters. the german government and chancellor personally call for the release of mr. navalny. the kremlin, meanwhile, defended the way the case have been handled. >> the hysteria we have heard over the trial process for the navalny case, is, of course, off the scale. >> navalny had remained defiant in court on tuesday and insisted his jailing would not deter his supporters. "all of these officers and this cage -- it's not a show of strength. it is a display of witnesses. they are weak." later, police arrested hundreds of navalny supporters who have come to show their solidarity. as night fell on

supporters of alexei navalny arrested en masse, demonstrations across russia. prosecutors are seeking a three year sentence for the critic in the moscow court next tuesday. angela merkel called on vaccine makers to pull up the stops. it is the result of the astrazeneca supplies and slow rollouts of the vaccination program in europe. this is life in paris. ♪ mark: thank you very much for being with us. hang sings hoochie is in detention as myanmar is under a coup d'etat. she is among the prominent politicians under arrest. the leader of myanmar's army says tens of millions of fraudulent votes cast in the november election. aung san suu kyi's party won by a landslide with 82% of the ballot. reporter: an uneasy calm as myanmar's commercial capital wakes up to news of a power grab by the army. but signs of disquiet are on the streets. a heavy police and military presence as people queue at banks and atm's to access their cash. later, truckloads of military supporters drove through the streets, waving flags and playing the national anthem. in the capital, surveill

navalny is a major figure. the regime is doing everything to show that he is a major political opponent of vladimir putin. he made his job to expose tremendous corruption in russia, and's to me, what they did today was a huge mistake. just as the regime in the 90's -- 19th century and early 20th century, every wrong move brought the russian empire to the disaster in 1917. when its own people rose against the regime, and brought the regime down. darren: you have met alexey navalny and know him personally. how do you think he is handling all of this? the poisoning, the harassment. now this jail term. >> after being poisoned and being in a clinic -- a state of clinical death, a coma for days, then being treated in germany for weeks. to stand up and to go back to russia, for the russian people, it is an act of tremendous courage. they respect courage. russians are courageous people. you will remember the russian heroism in world war ii when they were fighting the nazis, and defeated it. i think that navalny is demo

navalny. here is the secretary at his briefing last week very briefly. >> as you know, we've already express our deep concern for mr. novotny specifically and more generally, with the human rights situation. in russia. it remains striking to me how concerned and maybe even scared the russian government seems to be of one man, mr. navalnt. -- mr. navalny. across the board, at the president has said, we are reviewing all of these actions. whether it is the treatment of mr. navalny, and particularly the apparent use of the chemical weapon in an attempt to assassinate him. we are looking very urgently as well as solar winds and various implications. we are looking at the reports of bounties placed by russia on american forces in afghanistan, and of course, we are looking at these questions of election interference. all of that, as the white house has indicated, is under review. i don't want to get ahead of where we are on those reviews. as i say, we have a deep concern for mr. navalny's safety and

will navalny still be a rallying cry? - what we have been hearing i in the last day from protesters is that they are hearing from the navalny team| that they have decided to pull| back from the street protests, partly because of the brutality of the russian police, - but because they want to save their fire for. the upcoming elections at the rest of the year, | seeing that as their betterj opportunity to actually get real power, if you like. and what has really been - remarkable in this is how will organised the navalny team was. they were all there - when he came back, the list of people who should be sanctioned were given . out, the instructions| were given as to how to organise the protests. they thought this through. this was not just _ a spontaneous, impromptu act. ian, i do not know what you have been hearing about about whether process will delay their fire, and again, it was incredible watching people being dragged off the streets this week, young people not willing to give up. it is in many ways quite inspiring w

navalny team was. - this is how will organise the navalny team was. they- this is how will organise the l navalny team was. they were this is how will organise the - navalny team was. they were all perpetual— navalny team was. they were all perpetual when _ navalny team was. they were all perpetual when he _ navalny team was. they were all perpetual when he came - navalny team was. they were all perpetual when he came back, . navalny team was. they were all i perpetual when he came back, the list of— perpetual when he came back, the list of people — perpetual when he came back, the list of people who _ perpetual when he came back, the list of people who should - perpetual when he came back, the list of people who should be - list of people who should be sanctioned _ list of people who should be sanctioned were _ list of people who should be sanctioned were given - list of people who should be sanctioned were given out, i list of people who should be i sanctioned were given out, the instructions _

they watch navalny's videos. i'm concerned the only option putin has is to crackdown harder which we are seeing him do through the demonstrations with the riot police. and obviously this is something that is clearly alarming to him. and he pushed up against the wall and he fierce that his -- his reign in russia is coming to an end. and when his back is pushed up against the wall this is when you may see a more authoritative side to him. >> i was going to ask collar clarissa what is your your concern with putin given he is feeling his back end against the wall and elections in september, are you concerned that will fuel the crackdowns, the harsh crackdowns we have been seeing in russia? >> i think, look, there is no doubt about it. president putin sees alexei navalny and his movement as a threat. and he wants to draw a line under it. and he is going to do whatever it takes to make it clear to people, that it is not in their best interests to participate in this movement. one of the most effective tools he has at h

inside, mr navalny locked in a glass cage. he'd been accused of a parole violation in a case he insists is politically—motivated. a hard sign to his wife who was there with him in court —— heart. when the verdict came he put on a brave face, but the kremlin�*s most vocal critic had been put in prison for 2.5 years. up until today the authorities had avoided sending alexei navalny to prison, so he would not become a political martyr. but the calculation has changed. now he is seen as a bigger threat at liberty than behind bars. shouting that's because in russia he has become the face of protest, a catalyst for political change. mr navalny�*s arrest had brought people onto the streets across the country. now his prison sentence has sparked international condemnation. we reiterate our call for the russian government to immediately unconditionally release mr navalny as well as the hundreds of other russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights. message not received. this is moscow tonig

moscow expected international outrage over the jailing of alexei navalny. there's talk in the west of possible measures that would target vladimir putin's inner circle. the kremlin, though, has long taken the view that sticks and stones may break its bones, but sanctions will never hurt it. shouting. meanwhile mr navalny�*s supporters have decided to pause their protests until the spring. in the last two weeks across russia, thousands of protesters have been detained. with police cells full in moscow, hundreds have been locked up in this deportation centre. like dmitri and sergei, who we managed to contact. sergei, on the left, is a journalist. he wasn't at the protests but he retweeted a post about them and was jailed for 25 days. "the authorities see journalists as part of the protest movement now," sergei says. "we're coming under pressure." outside the makeshiftjail people have been queueing for hours in the cold to deliver food parcels to their loved ones. "i used to vote for putin," says yulia, whose husband was arrested. "i never will again." the r

alexei navalny tried to be upbeat. but his appeal was rejected. the result? 2.5 years in prison for fraud and parole violations — charges widely seen as politically motivated. this was mr navalny a month ago, flying home after recovering in germany from being poisoned in siberia. he was arrested on arrival. that sparked nationwide protests, but the russian authorities were in no mood to listen. and there's been a cold response here to international criticism. this week, the kremlin rejected a ruling by the european court of human rights that mr navalny should be freed. as for talk of more western sanctions, the kremlin has been exploiting that to its own benefit. in vladimir putin's russia, this is how it works. western criticism over the jailing of mr navalny, western pressure, western sanctions, the kremlin takes that and holds it up to the russian people and says, "look, we told you so, the west has got it in for russia." in other words, the authorities try to use this to bolster their claim that this is a country under siege. and that is precisely the m

"we all know it's the west pulling navalny�*s strings", yulia tells me. "as for navalny being poisoned, he probably poisoned himself." where is this taking russia? with "blame the west" the official narrative, there is little chance of a thaw in relations with america and europe. russia is facing the prospect of growing isolation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, vladivostok. to stay with us here on bbc news. still to come... new york diners will soon be allowed back into restaurants ahead of valentine's day celebrations. there's mr mandela, mr nelson mandela, a free man taking his first steps into a new south africa. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini, has said he's passed a death sentence on salman rushdie, the british author of a book which many muslims say is blasphemous. the people of haiti have flocked to church to give thanks for the ousting of their former president, ba by doc duvalier. because of his considerable value as a stallion, - shergar was kept in a special secure box in the stud - farm's central block. shergar was driven away. in a ho

"we all know it's the west pulling navalny�*s strings", yulia tells me. "and as for navalny being poisoned, he probably poisoned himself." where is this taking russia? with "blame the west" the official narrative, there's little chance of a thaw in relations with america and europe. russia is facing the prospect of growing isolation. the united nations human rights council has passed a resolution deploring the military coup in myanmar and calling for the immediate release of aung san suu kyi and others who have been arbitrarily detained. hundreds of thousands of people are protesting in cities around the country for a seventh day, also calling for her release. more than 300 people are reported to have been detained in the days since the coup, according to one monitoring group. john sifton, the asia advocacy director at human rights watch says more needs to be done on an international level. it is time for the international community to really step up. i mean, there have been special sessions of the un human rights council, meetings at the un security coun

inside, mr navalny was brought into the courtroom, locked in a glass cage. he'd been accused of a parole violation. a case which he insisted is politically motivated. his wife was in court alongside him. when the verdict came he put on a brave face, but the kremlin�*s most severe critic had been put in prison but the kremlin�*s most vocal critic had been put in prison for two and a half years. as for alexei navalny, until today the authorities had avoided sending him to prison, so he would not become a political martyr. the calculation has changed. in russia, he has become the face of protest, a catalyst for political change. alexei navalny�*s arrest had brought people onto the streets across the country. now his prison sentence has sparked international condemnation. we repeat our call for the russian government to immediately and unconditionally release alexei navalny as well as the hundreds of other russian citizens wrongly detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights. message not received. this is moscow tonight, police are out in force. po

inside, mr navalny was brought into the courtroom, locked in a glass cage. he'd been accused of a parole violation. a case which he insisted is politically motivated. his wife was in court alongside him. when the verdict came he put on a brave face, but the kremlin�*s most severe critic had been put in prison for two and a half years. as for alexei navalny, until today the authorities had avoided sending him to prison, so he would not become a political martyr. the calculation has changed. in russia he has become the face of protest, a catalyst for political change. alexei navalny�*s arrest had brought people onto the streets across the country. now his prison sentence has sparked international condemnation. we sentence has sparked international condemnation.— sentence has sparked international condemnation. , ., ., ., condemnation. we repeat our call for the russian — condemnation. we repeat our call for the russian government _ condemnation. we repeat our call for the russian government to _ the russian government to immediately and unconditionally

navalny's release. >> my visit coincides with the rest of the sentencing of alexey navalny. and the arrest of 1000 -- and the arrest of thousands of demonstrators. we will reiterate our appeal for his release on the launch of an investigation of his poisoning. >> in response, the russian foreign minister criticized the european union as an unreliable partner because of its threat to impose sanctions on moscow, following the imprisonment of mr. navalny. >> we have become used to the fact that the eu is increasingly resorting to unilateral restrictions or have no legitimate basis. we are going on with our lives on the assumption that eu is an unreliable -- that the eu is an unreliable partner, least of this country. >> well our moscow correspondent says the timing of the expulsions announced by moscow was not coincidence. >> quite a message to the eu, mo broadly, from russia's foreign ministry. this was announced during the meeting but was only made public afterward. if he came here with a strg message for russia, telling the foreigninistry the eu condemns the treatment of ale

navalny was detained by police month. sparking mass protest in freezing weather in cities across the country. thousands of protesters were taken into custody by the police. but none of that stopped navalny from releasing this video accusing russia's president vladimir putin of corruption. receiving this opulent seaside mansion as a bribe. it has been watched more than a 100 million times. putin denied the palatial home is his. do you think the protests continue? >> the anger will only multiply. >> reporter: even behind bars, alexei navalny could be a powerful symbol of dissent in putin's russia. >>> the city wants the kids back in class but teachers insist the buildings are not safe. meg oliver has the story. >> we have to count. >> patty wagner in second year teaching in low income neighborhood of chicago. it's her passion. >> my students are my breath. >> reporter: the veteran teacher is worried about her students' well-being and

"we all know it's the west pulling navalny�*s strings", yulia tells me. "and as for navalny being poisoned, he probably poisoned himself." where is this taking russia? with blame the west the official narrative, there is little chance of a thaw in relations with america and europe. russia is facing the prospect of growing isolation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, vladivostok. the latest from myanmar with the united nations human rights council passing a resolution deploring the military coup in the country and calling for the immediate release of aung san suu kyi. and others who have been arbitrarily detained. hundreds of thousands of people are protesting in cities around myanmar for a seventh day, also calling for her release. than 326 people are reported to have been detained in the days since the coup, according to one monitoring group. the asia advocacy defector at human rights watch joins us now —— director. thank you for coming on the programme. day after day after protests now in myanmar and nothing much seems to have been changing so what do you

yes. about alexei navalny�*s arrest and no i him i:are afft combination es. about alexei navalny�*s arrest and no i him i:ai people'stbination es. about alexei navalny�*s arrest and no i him i:ai people's standard as. about alexei navalny�*s arrest and no i him i:ai people's standard of a few years. people's standard of living _ a few years. people's standard of living has — a few years. people's standard of living has been falling for years. it's living has been falling for years. it's much — living has been falling for years. it's much worse since covid. they resent _ it's much worse since covid. they resent the — it's much worse since covid. they resent the lockdowns, the unemployment has grown, negative growth _ unemployment has grown, negative growth rates. and then there is the new constitution, which will enable putin— new constitution, which will enable putin to _ new constitution, which will enable putin to be — new constitution, which will enable putin to be in power until 2036, so a lot— putin to be in power until 2036, so a lot of— putin to be in power until 2

so suddenly navalny's everywhere. there is an aggressive smear campaign and they are trying to explain to their audience that this guy emerging from nowhere, his american agent, a spy, a traitor, however, and they do like quite hysterical. in an hysterical way and believes it will be successful. also because everyone knows that alexei navalny is now in prison and can't answer which actually causes some solidarity and compassion and sentiment toward him. >> well, one of the ways he's been getting his message out there was when he was in the courtroom. and i wonder if you can talk a little about his speech in which he talked about putin as a this evening little man in his bunker and that, i mortally offended him by surviving an attempt at my life that he ordered. and i wonder how that plays into this battle. because not a lot of people have come out on the winning end of a fight against a major smear campaign by the kremlin. >> yeah. you're right. so kremlin is building up a smear campaign and it is trying to always go

"we all know it's the west pulling navalny�*s strings", julia tells me. "as for navalny being poisoned, he probably poisoned himself." where is this taking russia? with "blame the west" the official narrative, there is little chance of a thaw in relations with america and europe. russia is facing the prospect of growing isolation. steve rosenberg, bbc news, vladivostok. an attempt to disqualify the founder and former directors of the high—profile charity kids company from running any other organisations has been rejected by the high court. camila batmanghelidjh and seven former trustees of the charity, including alan yentob, were accused of failing to run the charity, which collapsed in 2015, on a financially sustainable basis. i'm joined by our legal affairs correspondent, dominic casciani. what did the judge have to consider? well, what thejudge had to well, what the judge had to consider was a question from the official receiver, who looks into winding up companies. the official receiver said, in essence, the trustees knew a few years before collapse

so, navalny�*s team have switched tack. across russia tonight, his supporters formed heart shapes in the snow in their own backyards, a protest both peaceful and riot police—proof. they then flooded social media with the images. filipp and ignat came out tonight too. they were both arrested last month at the first street rally for navalny. locked in the same police van, they then shared a cell for ten days. undeterred, theyjoined the flash mob in filipp�*s yard. we want to feel free, we want to say our opinions, we would like to change something, yeah. but you don't feel free now? no, no. so the protests have moved off russia's deep frozen streets for now, but it seems the protest mood hasn't faded here. sarah rainsford, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. early results in spain's semi—autonomous catalonia show separatist parties increasing their representation in the regional government. with more than 60% of the votes counted, the socialists of the spanish prime minister pedro sanchez look likely to wi

the leading russian opposition activist, alexei navalny, has beenjailed for more than 2.5 years. he returned to moscow from germany last month, after treatment for a near—fatal nerve agent attack in siberia. his supporters have called for more protests. russian authorities detained another 1,200 on tuesday. amazon founderjeff bezos is to step down as chief executive of the e—commerce giant he started in his garage nearly 30 years ago. he'll become executive chairman — a move, he says, will give him time and energy to focus on his space project and the paper he owns, the washington post. you are up—to—date on the headlines. it's about 4:30am in the morning. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. alexander lukashenko still sits in the presidential palace in belarus, six months after an election which he probably lost. europe's last de facto dictator continues to brutally repress protests and imprison political opponents. my guest is sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, the woman who believes she won last august's vote, and who, from exile, calls herself

say they back punitive measures aimed at those responsible for the jailing of kremlin critic alexei navalny. we will go to brussels for the latest. also coming up tonight, more eu sanctions, this time on myanmar's military. it comes after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets amid a general strike. plus, boeing grounds dozens of its 777 aircraft following a catastrophic engine failure that left a denver suburb littered with plane debris. and from global warming to a glacier warng. how climate change is melting away iceland's famous landscapes, possibly forever. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. tonight, europe is holding russia to account. today, foreign ministers of the european union agreed to sanctions against four senior russian officials who they say are responsible for sending opposition alexey navalny to prison. the sanctions are expected to be formally approved by the eu in march. russia has called the move unlawful. reporter: protesters in brussels reading aloud just some of the names of

they are demandsing the release of alexei navalny. mr. navalny was detained two weeks ago. he recovered from poisoning that he blames on the kremlin. russian officials deny that. they say he is being held for violating parole. president biden discussed the navalny case with president putin this week. ambassador mcfall, good evening. >> thanks for having me. >> the secretary of state tweeted a condemnation of what he called "the persistent use of harsh tactics against peaceful protesters and journalists by authorities and he has been calling on the release of those exercising their human rights, including alexi navalny. that is what secretaries of state have to say. what do you expect the biden administration to do? >> first, that's what normally secretaries of states say and presidents say. we have had a period over the last several years where president trump never criticized human rights abuses. it's a good change back to the norm and i applaud what secretary blinken said, the harding thing is to make putin and others in the regime to pay for the crimes. that is the harde

>> yeah, it's not about navalny at all. yeah, of course he is the person who is the hero in russia right now because he's the only person who could be brave enough to come back to russia after he was poisoned and after he understood and it was absolutely clear for him that he would be detained. and he knows, and he understands that he may be poisoned or someone can try to kill him again, and now he's behind bars, and we understand that he is in terrible danger. that's why he is some kind of a, you know, russian new century, new kind of a hero, a new myth and symbol in this country. but, you know, a lot of people, including my friends and lots of people around me, journalists, political analysts, just citizens, they really are fighting now not for him, but for him to have an opportunity to be on the elections. and to vote against him, for example, the problem is that he is banned from the elections during this, you know, years and years, and he's fighting and nothing happens. and other opposition leaders are -- you know, som

this marks t second straight weekend of protests calling for the release of navalny. the opposition politician was arrested earlier this month after returning from germany where he was treated for a nerve agent poisoning. navalny accuses russian president, vladimir putin of ordering the attack, a charge putin denies. for more on the protests, the russian response and what the biden administration may be facing, i spoke with newshour weekend special correspondent ryan chilcote who joined us from london. so, ryan, given what the russian government was trying to do to tamp down the protests today, what do you make of what happened? >> i think it was pretty extraordinary. i mean, you hit the nail on the head there. they did a lot even before these protests today began. in fact, they started a week ago when the opposition announced they were going to have these protests. they detained a lot of navalny's closest allies, at least those allies that weren't already detained, were already in prison. they searched their homes, their offices, and they warned people that if they p

> thousands of supporters are demonstrating in russia for release of putin opposition leader alexey navalny and. >>> girl scouts are forced to think outside the cookie box this season. it's the first of the month grab your box and come on, "early today" starts right now s rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. one and three americans are in the path of a major winter storm hitting the northeast, it already burpied the mid-west, more than 250 flights cancelled in chicago where over a foot of snow fell. snow emergencies declared in wisconsin. drivers with i tough time in virginia with mix of heavy snow and freezing rain. those slick conditions were no problem for the giant panda as the national zoo in washington, d.c. absolute blast, on the hill, playing in the snow. >>> right now all eyes on the northeast, blizzard-like conditions are possible, new york city could see historic amounts of snow and now a live update from nbc meteorologist janessa webb, out there braving the storm for us in time square. janessa, good mo, good morning d good morning everyone. things have kind of calmed down in time sq

navalny. mr. navalny was put on trial again. the foreign affairs chief said relations with russia are at an all-time low point. german chancellor angela merkel condemns expulsions as unjustified. she attended a security meeti with the french president. turkey has refused an appeal to release prominent philanthropist -- the latest from our correspondent in istanbul. they fled war and famine. freezing temperatures make life harder for syrian refugees sheltering in idlib province. ♪ i am full gale. welcome to the program. germany has summoned the russian ambassador over the kremlin's expulsion of swedish, polish and german diplomats, accusing them of taking part in illegal protests against the jailing of alexei navalny. the russian announcement came as a top diplomat was in moscow describing the bloc's ties with russia under severe strain. reporter: t gl is to keep communication chanls open as there for an representatives visit moscow. there are opportunities for cooperation. during his meeting

it's not just navalny. it's the hack, the massive hack of fortune 500 companies and the data breach of basically the entire government, the - its a bounties to the tal ban for the taliban to hunt do you think american troops. it's a whole slew of things there were left unaddressed by the trump administration, and president trump who never publicly criticized putin ever. the question is whether the sanctions do anything. in the past we've seen it hasn't done much, and putin just factored it in, and decided the small amount of pain that the sanctions cause is worth it. moreover, a lot of the people who have been sanctioned are people close to him. it's kind of a pact over there. all those people go down with the ship. moreover, the people who were hurt by european and u.s. sanctions after 2014, for example, putin introduced a raft of measures for them to be compensated out of the russian federal budget. i think there's a lot of reserve left in it. >> we only have a money left. what can we expect from the pa r