World

Podcast: Britain and Russia in nerve agent standoff

Xi Jinping’s efforts to clear a path to rule China indefinitely also discussed

British police officers stand on duty at a cordon near a bench covered in a protective tent, at The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, southern England, where Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found on March 4th. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/AFP/Getty Images

Jennifer Ryan
Tue Mar 13 2018 - 15:47

If the Russians are worried about being blamed for a nerve agent attack on British soil 10 days ago, they are not showing it.

British prime minister Theresa May has said it was "highly likely" that Russia was behind the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter with the military-grade substance.

On today's World View podcast, Denis Staunton has the latest from London, where May's midnight deadline for answers will not be met, as Russia demands to analyse the substance before issuing any statement.

Also on the podcast, Clifford Coonan reports from Shanghai, after China's rubber-stamp parliament cleared the way for Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely at the weekend, giving overwhelming approval for an historic constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits.

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British prime minister Theresa May says former Russian double-agent Sergei Skirpal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia. Video: Parliament TV

World View is a regular podcast from ‘The Irish Times’. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, on Android, on Stitcher, on ACast or on Soundcloud.

Clifford CoonanDenis StauntonSergei SkripalTheresa May