the biggest and best ever that's russia's promise for the twenty eight hundred football world cup as it gets of official endorsement to host the planet's largest sporting event. i'll have 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 wilco finals. and a look back at the week's top stories poland will stage a reconstruction of last april fatal presidential plane crash that claimed the russian claiming the russian lead report leaves some questions unanswered and. russia pledges of support to rebuild war torn afghanistan as president karzai visit business moscow. and protests in oslo as norwegians lend their support to a russian born immigrant about to be deported despite being brought up in the

country and voted a model citizen. two am in the russian capital i'm mad très are bringing you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t russia is promising to stage a tournament like no other when it hosts the world cup in twenty eighteen earlier the president officially handed over the biggest sporting event on the planet to the country sports minister or he's peter all over of course from st petersburg where 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 the first 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 their 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 eighty as you say the first time bush has ever hosted it the first time it will ever be hosted in eastern europe now before the signing ceremony said blatter the the president met with prime minister vladimir putin and believe me putin during that meeting talk 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 prize you can take part in the

entire process of preparing for the twenty world cup 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 honor there now mr blatter was talking about the russian said he was speaking with prime minister vladimir putin as well as 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 the russian delegation when they put across their bid to fee first to host this tournament they really focus quite a lot on the potential that could come from having the toll of it 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 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 now the beads 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 to expecting a must've 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 on hotels so that they have a good time when they come here at the football is what everybody is talking about come two thousand and eight a. turnout of the rest of the week's top stories poland is planning to carry out a reconstruction of the plane crash that killed president kaczynski and his delegation in russia april. the russian led probe into the tragedy which blames pilot error leave some questions unanswered but our team's catarina zoravar reports calls for a new investigation may be politically motivated. polish prime minister donald tusk attempting to calm an increasingly angry parliament this week. the polish government wants the truth to be complete and we realize 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 on avoiding full responsibility for april's plane crash there flooding the polish media with conspiracy theories and enraged accusations. that in light of what we know today about the crew of the plane there wasn't necessarily a new pressure they were radically misled and warned 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 surefire way to win voters but even those who accept the findings have issues with the way that they were presented the poem has been very critical of the report commissioned for instance for not publishing including this report in the stands or transcript of conversations off air controllers with the plane the commission has now post that transcript on its website as if post-fact recognizing the address sooner for 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. one 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 it is hard for post to handle a difficult truth and this is a difficult truth we have calls things in these ripples 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 in russia and poland have called for the memories of those who lost lives a 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. moscow. stay with us here on r.t. coming up playing the transatlantic blame game. a u.s. court sets of data for the trial of alleged russian arms dealer victor boot but his

lawyer is crying foul saying the government may be breaking the law we'll tell you more plus. you're doing anything about it. now larry mandarin. the resident finds out if it's business as usual for americans as china continues to rise against a weakened u.s. economy. first though israel has ruled out any military has ruled that the military raid on a gaza aid flotilla last may was legal nine turkish activists died when israeli commandos raided a ship sparking strong international condemnation the panel looking into it was made up of four israelis in two foreign observers turkey's prime minister has already criticized the inquiry saying it has no value or credibility sorry back to you from the legal center that protects the freedom of movement of palestinians tells r.t. the main concern is that the royal court fails to criticize the blockade which is titled life in gaza new 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 a 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 in gaza 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 promises to support afghanistan after coalition forces withdraw from the troubled region in three years president medvedev pledged came out of talks with hamas karzai and moscow leaders also promised to clamp down on the floor about gang drugs from which russia suffers the most artes and he said now it has the details 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 to russia and the the need for russian afghanistan to engage with. not only in russia helping afghanistan rebuild itself and re re develop its institutions capacity but also by way of trade value of 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's 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

a 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 hoped that international forces could crush extremism in afghanistan and russian officials hope that maybe they could be able to stop the influx of drugs common frush that now is see if the americans. let's. say it clearly has failed in fighting extremism in afghanistan so now of course russian officials have to deal with the problem of talking directly to the leaders organise them with the two main threats coming out of afghanistan drugs and. or is the no one feels that it closer to home more than 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 president karzai gave r.t. an exclusive interview during his visit to russia we'll bring you his thoughts on cobbles mounting problems and moscow's are all helping solve them in just fifteen minutes here on r.t. . president had better observe reaffirm russia's commitment to an independent palestinian state with a capital in east jerusalem this comes after talks with the palestinian president mahmoud abbas in the west bank on tuesday abbas for russia's humanitarian financial and security aid to the palestinians middle east peace also came up when a russian when the russian president later met with king abdullah of jordan in bed bed of the middle east told was initially supposed to include israel but a walkout at the foreign ministry of their meant that was former palestinian foreign minister nabil shaath believes russia can play a big part in establishing regional peace. but they're trying to convince netanyahu to stop through their occupation through build a new sense woman the gaza blockade to stop the measures they're taking in jerusalem the americans failed to do this they admitted and now put more pressure

on us trying to bring us back to the negotiating table and if you know who uses the current government as an excuse so you cannot make a decision under this government russia recognize the independent palestinian state in one hundred eighty eight with the nine hundred sixty seven borders and with its capital in jerusalem and never denied that decision in other words many things show that russia is serious about its intentions it keeps reminding the world about the decisions that have been made before but in no forgotten. the case of a russian born asylum seeker in norway has brought the plight of illegal immigrants in the country to the steps of the parliament in oslo civil rights groups have turned out to show support for maria who is awaiting deportation despite being brought up and educated in norway or his lawyer and explains. 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'm really could be sent to russia within days leaving behind her friends the land she grew up in but this is no longer just about money 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 money i mean leave very few talks about it but they are now every so there are going to have the possibility to have to have the same rights now i think. this movement in support of her specific case. can develop into movement supports 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 their split in family has to get through the one more immigrant there 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 many learned to speak fluent norwegian to most his 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 lucia very optimistic at the moment. there's still. the immigration authorities might rethink the case but whatever happens to mark has been made these people are mobilized in violence 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 maybe i merely has succeeded in highlighting the plight of asylum seekers in norway they were previously seen as a group with little to offer new resources to protect themselves but amélie has a huge number of friends and the ninety thousand members of her facebook page a testament to the level of support she enjoys doubleday the influence they enjoyed . with her deportation almost a certainty. oh it's made. more on this and everything we cover on our website r.t. dot com here's what's just a click away right now. take a look at possibly the coolest examination in the world where the temperature is never about minus four centigrade. and should he stay or should he go out of your land and still manages to provoke controversy with debate raging over what to do with his body. lawyers say they're ready to challenge the

u.s. government decision to prosecute the alleged russian arms dealer in september if found guilty but faces a minimum twenty five years in prison his defense is also arguing the legal grounds of his extradition from thailand to the u.s. in november are he's honest i see a church has more from new york. one of our own for every twelve people. you know we question. how 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 of 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 boots 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 tie 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 boots thai and russian lawyers his case to this moment remains in a thai court would you mean there was no official decision of an extradition meanwhile dubbed an international arms trafficker by america if your boot is in solitaire. he 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 victor at friday's technical hearings but 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 because what happened to him kidnapping yeah. i can accept the possibility that victor boot might have some information that might be of interest 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 onto their territory defense team is set to file motions questioning how and why the man was brought to the u.s. as well as whether or not recordings used against a picture were obtained in accordance with the thai law picture but stands confident that he is the victim of a propaganda war launched in america and maintains 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. you. take a quick look now it's on today's top stories across the globe you know ireland the green party leader has quit the coalition government and called for the march

general election he brought forward john gormley says his party's patience had run out after weeks of political turmoil in the country but promised to support next week's finance bill from opposition benches the latest resignation comes a day after prime minister brian cowen stepped down as leader of his party i mean pressure due to 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 were injured. car bombs appear to be part of a warden even attacked that targeted police and shia pilgrims in your busy roads in the city officials say the attacks were designed to show that iraq is unable to provide security ahead of an arab league summit in march last week more than one hundred fifty people were killed in a wave of explosions cost the. police in tunisia have arrested two allies of ousted president ben ali i made renewed protests against the interim government demonstrators are demanding that the prime minister resign immediately mohamed

ghannouchi has already valid to quit after fresh elections were held transitional government promised to hold a vote within six months but still hasn't set a date the political chaos follows a month long uprising that deposed the country's leader seventy eight people were killed during the rest of. the chinese president wrapped up a four day visit to the united states on friday hu jintao is talks with president obama followed the opening up of trade between the bank of china and american investors there's a lot at stake for both the economic powerhouses even though they don't see eye to eye on many issues it's also comes as china's world influence shows rapid growth online talk show host laurie harvest also known as the resident has been gauging thoughts in new york for whether americans should be wary of the rising drive. as the u.s. debt and time is that both continue to grow china could potentially surpass the

u.s. g.d.p. within a decade is it time to start taking mandarin last this week let's talk about that their technology is. beyond us. economy does that worry you. yes yes it does you know you doing anything about it no i'm not now learning mandarin no no i'm not going to be i guess i should believe that discipline in direction are the things that we need now the borders and ship as as much. public and the democrats know 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 everything 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 if you just if it's a sense of deserve i think we just america needs to get into but. you know we should be ok maybe china's going to give us a good kick in the but that's what they need over in the white house is to understand that that's really what it's all about trying to 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 exactly i mean do you have nuclear powers all over the place and it's not like nobody's going to

anybody's going to talk to anybody oh and worry 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. stay with us here on our team coming up shortly our exclusive interview with afghan president hamid karzai i'll be back first with headlines after a short break. the

close up team has been to the homes to return to the land developed by cossacks in ancient times. now wattie goes to the center of russian defense production. with christianity and shamanism existed side by side for centuries. people in remote villages a cut off from the basics we take for granted welcome to the routine republic russia close up on r.t. . wealthy british style. is not on the.

market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kaiser report on r g. please easy. peasy.