on r t a world cup show stopper like you never see rushes promise now that it's officially hosting the planet's biggest tournament. of all the latest from st petersburg where the president sepp blatter has put pen to paper on the document confirming russia is the host of the twenty eighteen world cup finals. and running of the top stories that shape the way poland plans a reconstruction of the events that led to last april's presidential plane crash insisting the official report leaves unanswered questions. pledging support to war torn afghanistan and violent to tackle the flow of drugs the russian president meets his afghan counterpart in moscow during the first visit in decades . and alleged russian arms dealer vic to boot will face

a jury in new york in september but his lawyers say his us trial is illegal. this is r t welcome you're watching our news review of the week with me kevin and first russia is promising to stage a tournament like no other when it hosts the world cup in twenty eighteen surance came as the fee for president officially handed over the world's biggest sporting event to the country's successful bid team peter all of those and some petersburg with the ceremony took place. it's all official now they signed today a specially a three headed contract between the russian football union and the russian government well essentially that means is that if they say that they will guarantee that the world cup will be held in russia in twenty eighteen the russian government

say that they will provide the russian football union with all of the required help that they need to be able to put it on and the russian football union say that they will put it on no this comes after we heard just a couple of months ago that they would be given the chance to host the tournament in twenty eight say the first time she's ever hosted it the first time it will ever be hosted in eastern europe now before the signing ceremony said blatter the fever president met with prime minister vladimir putin and belive me putin during that meeting talked to journalists and said they'll be able to put on a fantastic told him and. we would like to use the experience we've already gained in preparing for the store to winter olympics in twenty fourteen we've been working closely together with the international olympic committee on this and we've build up a very constructive business relationship with them i would like to ask you to point to specialists from fee for to come and work here together with us to be present from the very first day of our common interest rise you can take part in the entire

process of preparing for the twenty. blasts of the fee for president talks and often an awful lot about the world game is football and he's really trying to make it part of his legacy to take the world cup finals as far flung corners of the world as he possibly can here the first time will be in eastern europe and after that the world cup goes to the middle east for the first time with guitar taking the on of there now mr blatter was talking about the russian said he was speaking with prime minister vladimir putin as well as the the heads of the russian football union and he seems to be fully confident that russia can put on a show. i'm very pleased that the russian government is playing a direct rule in oregon. i can assure you that we will work together very closely on this joint venture who will provide support but the lion's share of responsibility rests on russia i'm certain that the world cup will be held at the highest possible level and will turn into a truly magnificent event initially when he is seven years it sounds like quite

a long time but then you look at the work that needs to be done the russian delegation when they put across their bid to for the first two to host this tournament they really focus quite a lot on the potential that could come from having the tournament here in russia now a lot of the stadiums haven't actually been built there will be used in the in the tournament in seven years time a massive undertaking there of course what he does have some great footballing stadiums already luzhniki in moscow hosted the champions league final a couple years back did a great job there they'll be getting a major facelift but they'll be stadiums built brand new stadiums built in cities around the country but it's not just the stadiums who are looking at is a world cup being held in the biggest country in the world and fans have to be able to get around to make sure that they can travel efficiently and safely and quickly to the different areas where the tournament is being held you know the big had in place a massive proposal to build

a high speed train link between the cities where the games will be held also airports will be refitted out motorways relate we were expecting a massive influx of people from all over the world coming here and they're going to have to make sure that they can have in place a transport system that they can get around and hotels so that they have a good time when they come here and at the football is what everybody is talking about come two thousand. peter all of our correspondent in other top stories now that have shaped the week just gone poland is planning to carry out a reconstruction of the plane crash that killed president kaczynski it is delegation in russia last april is conducting its own investigation in response to the russian led probe which blames the tragedy on pilot error also refuses to accept those findings though as artie's catarina explains. polish prime minister donald tusk attempting to calm an increasingly angry parliament this week . the polish government wants the truth to be complete now me realized this would

be inconvenient for many there's a complex number of causes for the crash it's convenient for some to blame the pilots that were under pressure for others it will be convenient to blame the russians but it won't be the whole truth the organization that seeks the truth mustn't be influenced by forces in poland that want it to be convenient for them. but opposition leaders don't seem to be heeding the call intent and avoiding full responsibility for april's plane crash there flooding the polish media with conspiracy theories and enraged accusations. in light of what we know today about the crew of the plane there wasn't necessarily a new crash or they were radically misled. and this was a cause of the accident in relations to cause the fault is on the russian side. but is this grief talking or shrewd political ambition with a parliamentary election not far off it suggested that claiming the interstate

aviation committee's report was biased and incomplete is a sure fire way to win voters but even those who accept the findings have issues with the way that they were presented polling has been very critical of the report commissioned for instance for not publishing including in its report in the stands a transcript of conversations off air controllers with the plane on the commission has now that this transcript on its website as if post fact recognizing the address the sooner the polish people it's a painful subject especially as it brings back some uncomfortable memories about the flights of high level officials. in august two thousand and eight a presidential air crew with threatened with the sack after refusing to land citing bad weather conditions there's also a question of insufficient training raised after crash also in two thousand and eight which killed a number of polish military personnel that's why some feel that accepting full

responsibility for this millions tragedy would be almost like admitting it could have been prevented and you up for good or for me it is hard for post to handle a difficult truth and this is a difficult truth we have calls things in these rules which help us to shift some responsibility away from us and the situation the pressures clear the drive to keep politics from interfering with improving relations between moscow and warsaw while amounting domestic agenda makes that a tough task regardless of who is to blame the share magnitude of this crash and the human tragedy of it are undeniable that's why officials both and russia and poland have called for the memories of those who lost lives and smile and to be respected for the polish opposition however the promise of potential political leverage could turn out to be a lot more tempting. kashrut as are the r.t.e. moscow. and still ahead here on the news channel the story of

a fine citizen being for spam support rally for a russian woman who's lived in norway since childhood but now faces deportation for asylum requests rejected plus. doing anything about it. now larry mandarin. every resident finds out if it is business as usual for american china continues to rise against a faltering u.s. economy. next though israel's ruled that the military raid on a gaza aid flotilla last may was legal in turkish activists died when israeli commandos raided the ship sparking strong international condemnation the panel looking into it was made up of four israelis and two foreign observers turkey's prime minister's already criticised the inquiry so it's no value will credibility earlier i spoke to from a legal center which protects the freedom of movement of palestinians she told me the main concern is that the report fails to criticize the blockade which is

stifling life in gaza. no commission of inquiry in the world can justify deliberately restricting the passage of people and goods in order to paralyze the economy and prevent normal life from taking place in gaza and i'm sorry to say that's exactly what the israeli policy did we think that the lesson from the flotilla incident should be that israel has a right to prevent weapons from entering gaza but it doesn't have a right to do what it's still doing which is to prevent surely civilian goods from coming in and out in order to punish the population you have to remember israel controls gaza's borders and that control creates obligations when you control the civilian population you're responsible for their rights and the law of occupation says that even under circumstances of security risks you have to allow people to lead normal lives so students need to be able to travel from gaza to the west bank in order to study families need to be able to travel back and forth in order to be to be reunited with each other and merchants and god. they have a right to sell their goods outside of gaza israel can certainly inspect the goods

and make sure there's no security threat but that's all it can do and i'm sorry to say that that's not the case right now and the commission made a disturbing finding when it said that those those civilian restrictions could be legal under international law that's what we disagree with. russia's pledging to help of gunstar recover from years of war once nato forces withdraw from the region in twenty fourteen the promise came during the afghan leaders visit here to moscow which was the first in generations president medvedev and cars i also vowed to tackle a problem of afghan drugs most of which flow into russia and this scenario for r.t. followed the talks on the first official visit of an afghan leader to moscow in two decades russia promises to lend a hand after western forces leave the war torn country. russia would like to see afghanistan as an independent and prosperous state with an effective government that's able to provide the development of afghanistan for decades to come. u.s.

led coalition forces have been in the country since two thousand and one and are planning to withdraw combat forces in three years leaving afghanistan on its own russia has been watching us operations very closely from a far more providing necessary transit routes for supplies and plan to continue support once the pullout is complete both the ability of russia and the the need for russian afghanistan to engage with. not only. russia helping afghanistan rebuild itself and re re develop its institutional capacity but also by the off trade investment by interaction between or businesses which is very strong but you countries signed a trade in business cooperation deal over the past few years russian afghan trade turnover has increased more than four fold and is now half a billion u.s. dollars president carter i mentioned that his country's developing economic

relationship with the united states but that the relationship with russia is developing at a larger scale again we should come back to history more than one hundred forty enterprises were built by the soviet union driven karzai agreed to prioritize the fight against narcotics since russia bears the brunt of afghanistan's vast drugs production industry russia hope that international forces could crush extremism in afghanistan and russian officials hope that maybe they could be able to stop the influx of drugs coming in for russia for americans. let's. say it clearly has failed in fighting extremism in afghanistan so now of course russian officials have to deal the problem talking directly to the leaders organise them with the two main threats coming out of afghanistan drugs and ten. arizonan no

one feels that hit closer to home more than russia was pledging to help develop support for the war torn country without ever having a russian soldier stepped foot on afghan soil and he's now a r t moscow. you might like to know the president karzai gave us an exclusive interview during his visit here to russia and we'll bring you his thoughts on cobbles mountain problems and moscow's role in helping to solve them in just over an hour's time here on r.t. . a judge this week told alleged delivered to boot that he will go on trial in september the russian businessman labeled in the west as the merchant of death is charged with conspiring to kill americans and supporting terrorism is lawyers say the u.s. has no legal right to put him in court he's innocent reports. one firearm for every twelve people on. your record. or we are in the other eleven. that's hollywood's take on forty four year old russian cargo dealing businessman

victor boot but in real life is he really the merchant of death or the lord of war or simply a victim of propaganda u.s. prosecutors are not thinking twice about which label to pick the so-called merchant of death is now a federal inmate the american media months ahead of trial also have their mind made up this is the lord of war. the merchant of death right and you've got him in your hands right he's in custody it's a great feeling but presumption of innocence out the window all these nicknames exist for one man. who has not committed any criminal activity and has not been found guilty neither in the us nor in any other country in america however he faces four charges. one conspiring to kill united states nationals two conspiring to kill united states officers and employees three conspiring to use an acquire anti-aircraft missiles and for conspiring to provide material support to the for

the united states has been eager to lay hands on for almost a decade there is no osama bin ladin no al qaida no problems in afghanistan no problems in iraq there is only victor boot the evil man upon the request of u.s. officials victor boot was arrested in thailand in two thousand and eight after two years of fighting for freedom in a thai court and found not guilty twice who was snatched up by american officials and taken to the u.s. with sirens and an airplane in the middle of the night building all the hype of a hollywood blockbuster but curiously boots case technically remains in thailand according to russian lawyers his case to this moment remains in a thai court hearing there was no official decision of an extradition meanwhile dubbed an international arms trafficker by america picture boot is in solitary confinement in a manhattan prison his wife who was held at the airport for almost three hours upon

her arrival to the big apple got the first glimpse of viktor at friday's technical hearings i don't think he's in the best state i'm worried about his health both physical and mental the family believes the case against it was fabricated and calls what happened to him by kidnapping the full sky i can accept the possibility that victor boot might have some information that might be of any. to someone but why is it that other countries don't just think to themselves that there is someone who has some interesting information and why don't those governments just drag those people on to their territory defense team set to file motions questioning how and why the man was brought to the us as well as whether or not recordings used against picture were obtained in accordance with the thai law picture but it stands confident that he is the victim of a propaganda war launched in america and mean thousands his innocence the defense team now has forty five days to present for motions to judge him awfulness of the

extradition of a tribute to the united states is one of the key elements among them a trial date for now has been set for september twelfth if found guilty by the u.s. federal court victor boot could face up to a life sentence behind bars and thirty year. you for interested in that story one of quite yourself or more the background we've got a lot of it on our web site plus plenty of analysis as well about the whole of the affairs of our tivo also there tonight americans left scratching his head a very expensive but on a popular afghanistan mission. as we report on lloyd while india may not be contributing as much cash to the cause its contribution to the. nation is really leaving a bitter taste in u.s. mouths right more about that on line also on a much lighter note one of the profit outlook a crock of ukrainian zoos bitten off more than it could chew after swallowing a female but it is the creature became lost its appetite refused to return because

. i say that. hundreds of norwegians are really showing their anger against what very see as the treatment of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants has been highlighted by the threat to deport a russian born or things like this and she was a child was even awarded for being a model citizen as it is laura reports next from oslo maria case has the country facing up to issues its been reluctant to touch before. the clock is ticking for many as her supporters gather in central oslo for what may be the last time to protest her deportation from the country she's learnt to call home as things stand i merely could be sent to russia within days leaving behind her friends the land she grew up in but this is no longer just about maria with her book illegal norwegian and her activism she's managed to draw attention to the plight of all

people struggling to stay in norway those without papers have no access to work education or health care and can't even get married before maddie i'm really very few talks about it but they are now irish of their own have the possibility to have to have the same rights now i think. this movement in support of her specific case. can develop into a movement supporting all the people in her situation it's a cause that unites different groups from organizations that campaigned specifically for illegal immigrants and asylum seekers to renowned human rights groups like amnesty everyone here has a story to tell and this family and their friends are no exception we are here today with a mother and two children who has a legal stay in their way but their father he was not that said to. when he. came to seek asylum so we're here to protest that they're splitting families to get

through a one more immigrant they're demanding better rights and they see emily as their poster girl born muddiness salam of a north a settler her family fled when she was twelve they were denied asylum in norway but stayed anyway over the years emily learned to speak fluent norwegian demosthenes degree and a job offer but the government insists she's illegal and must go her lawyer says that could happen within days it doesn't clean up. i missed it at the moment but the doctor is still sure. the immigration authorities might rethink the case but whatever happens to emily her mark has been made these people are mobilized invalid to protect all those without papers in no way which could be as many as twenty thousand out of a total population of only five million media i merely has succeeded in highlighting the plight of asylum seekers in norway they were previously seen as

a group with little to offer and no resources to protect themselves but emily has a huge number of friends and the ninety thousand members of her facebook page a testament to the level of support she enjoys a little though the influence they enjoyed looks limited with her deportation almost a certainty that lower emmett's r t o's laid. that world powers couldn't mask their disappointment at the outcome of the latest talks over iran's controversial nuclear program this last week the go see asians in istanbul failed to reach any agreement or even set a deadline for future discussions these foreign policy chief says iran isn't cooperating enough and will remain under strict u.n. sanctions and iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad's says he expects positive results from any further talks to run insists it will not freeze that she read in richmond program saying every country has a right to peaceful nuclear power the international community is still concerned that iran is trying to develop an atomic bomb which it denies russia's deputy

foreign minister says even though a deal wasn't reached the negotiations were not completely in vain. i wouldn't agree that these talks for you i think it was an important opportunity that was used by both parties to move. forward i would say i am encouraged by the outcome but to put it better i'm squarely disappointed would be in the worst statement my hope is that after the stumble round. the rainy and party will consider in a very serious manner these eight years and specific proposals that have been put forward as well russia says as i believe many in the world. equally. share this view there is no other way there is no alternative to the negotiations and then gauge minute effort everything else sees you know.

deadlock we need to continuously further negotiations effort and this is what russia intends to do in the period after eastern. russia's deputy foreign minister sergei lavrov off look at some of the day's main world news headlines first while and there the green party leaders quit the coalition government and called for the march general election to be brought forward john gormley says his party's patience have run out after weeks of political turmoil in the country but promised to support next week's finance bill from the opposition benches the latest resignation comes a day after prime minister brian cowen stepped down as leader of his party have made pressure over the country's economic crisis. at least ten people have been killed in a series of bombings across the iraqi capital baghdad more than thirty others have been injured five car bombs appear to be part of a coordinated attack targeted police and shia pilgrims busy roads in the city

officials say the attacks were designed to show that iraq is unable to provide security head of an arab league summit in march last week more than one hundred fifty people were killed in a wave of explosions across the country. to chin is the latest there police arrested two others about president ben ali amid renewed protests against the interim government demonstrators are demanding that the prime minister resigns immediately to choose already quit after fresh elections are held the transitional government promised to hold a vote within six months but still doesn't set a date the political chaos follows a month long uprising that deposed the country's leader seventy eight people killed last. the chinese president wrapped up a four day visit to the united states on friday hu jintao talks with president obama followed the opening up of trade between the bank of china and american investors and there's a lot of stake for both of the economic powerhouses too even though they don't see eye to eye while many what is it also comes to china's world influence shows rapid

growth online talk show host larry half and it's a big gauging thoughts in new york over whether americans should be wary of the rising racket. as the us debt and time as assets both continue to grow china could potentially surpass the u.s. g.d.p. within a decade is it time to start taking mandarin lessons this week let's talk about that their technology is calmly to balance beyond us and that's a big part of. me does that worry you. yes yes it does yeah you doing anything about it no i'm not now learning mandarin and no matter what i mean i guess i should know i believe that discipline in direction are the things that we need now the but the bipartisanship as much as i'm a staunch or more republican to democrat now they need to work together and get a common goal and move forward much like you do at home with budgeting your bills

and doing everything else is what we need to do in the government as well do you think that socialism or capitalism promotes that kind of discipline more. i believe capitalism if not looking for a handout promotes that war when donald trump runs for president i heard him last night he's going to charge china for that comes in here twenty five percent surcharge and we're going to pay our debt off with that surcharge so we need a whole new kind of businessman we don't need a politician what made america great at the time it happened was what the times call for maybe china's doing more of what the times call for right now. but also maybe it's maybe it's their time maybe it's their turn and is that ok with you yeah do you think china kind of deserves to surpass us because they have a harder work ethic of if you does if it's a sense of deserve i think we just america needs to kick in but. you know we should be ok maybe china's going to give us a good kick in the buy me that's what they need over in the white house is to

understand that that's really what it's all about kind of rally the troops and say let's get with the program right now and everybody can take a step forward we're not stupid people here. are just lazy at times are you are now and that worried. even if they even if they did take over and they were a huge power i still don't see what the reason to be worried about as our nuclear power is all over the place and it's not like nobody is going to turn anybody's going to talk to anybody. one word about whether or not you're ready to sign up for mandarin lessons the bottom line is china is indisputably a force to keep an eye on in the future. surely snidely meet the terms of a residential building that stands close to the kremlin and harbors just as many secrets that's after a blunder of our top stories in just a few moments in our news review of the week with me kevin owen here are live from moscow.