the biggest and best to ever that's russia's promise for the twenty eight hundred football world cup as it gets official endorsement to host the planet's largest sporting event. of all ages 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 claiming the russian lead report leaves some questions unanswered. and russia pleasures of support to rebuild war try to ghana stand as president karzai visits moscow. lawyers for alleged russian arms trafficker viktor booth set to challenge the u.s. government attempt to prosecute them and by the western media the merchant of death

. it's three am in moscow i'm mad treasure bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on our t russia is promising to stay should tournaments like no other what it hosts the fifo world cup in twenty eighteen earlier fifo presidents president officially handed over the biggest sporting event on the planet to the country sports minister or he's peter all of our reports from st petersburg where the ceremony happens. 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 those your 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 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 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 cup. 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 if you 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 the two for you for two 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 she 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 the 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 page 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 muscle of 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 and at the football is what everybody is talking about come two thousand and eighty. two you look now at the ways other top stories here on our team poland is planning to carry out a reconstruction of the plane crash that killed president kaczynski and his delegation and irrational last april warsaw insists that the russian led probe into the tragedy which blames pilot error leaves some questions unanswered as. 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 not warrant 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 polling has been very critical of the report commissioned for instance for not publishing including reports 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 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 it is hard for post to handle a difficult truth and this is a difficult truth we have calls things in these records which help us to shoot 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 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 as we continue our look back at the week's news here on r t still ahead the story of a fine citizen being forced out supporters rally for

a russian woman who has lived in norway since childhood but now facing deportation after her asylum request is rejected. first though israel ruled that ruled that the military raid on a gaza aid flotilla last may was illegal nine 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 has already criticized the inquiry saying it has no value or credibility sorry about you from the legal center that protects the freedom of movement of palestinians tells r.t. the main concern is that the report fails to criticize the blockade which was 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 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 civilian restrictions could be illegal under international law that's what we disagree with. russia's promising to support afghanistan after coalition forces withdraw from the troubled region in three years

president medvedev has pledged came at talks with karzai in moscow leaders also promise to clamp down on the floor and drugs from which russia suffers the most artes and he said now why 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 over 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 u.s. operations very closely from a far more providing necessary transit routes for supplies and plan to continue support once the pullout is complete there is 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 we offer to 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 got as i mentioned the countries developing economic relationship with the united states but 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 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 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 talking directly to the leaders of the two main threats coming out of afghanistan drugs and. arisen no one feels that hit closer to home more than russia is 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 role in helping solve them in a little more than an hour here on r t. victor boots 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 quarter century behind bars his defense is also arguing the legal grounds of his extradition from thailand to the u.s. in november but he's honest has more. i want to borrow for every twelve people. only 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 to 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 far 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 you know what basically according to boots thai and russian lawyers his case to this moment remains in. court 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 booth was fabricated and calls what happened to him kidnapping the full sky 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 on to their territory defense team is 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 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're a member you'll find more on this and everything work covering a click away at our dot com here's what's online right now. to take a look at possibly the coolest exhibition in the world where the temperature is

never above minus four centigrade bus. a crocodile how do you pray in unison was little more than a few after swallowing a female visitors mobile phone creature became depressed. and turning. thank find out more at our team. in the case of a russian war an asylum seeker in norway has brought the plight of illegal immigrants in the country to the steps of the oslo parliament civil rights groups have turned out to show their support for maria amalie who is awaiting deportation despite being brought up and educated in norway laura and it has been. 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 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 talked 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 or 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 little say in their way but their father he was not that certain. when he.

came to seek asylum so we're here to protest that their split in family has to get through the a one more immigrant there demanding better rights and they see emily as their poster girl born medina 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 lose very up. at the moment. they're still sure. the immigration authorities might rethink the case but whatever happens to mark has been made these people are mobilized in fount 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 believe 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 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 the influence they enjoyed looks limited with her deportation almost a certainty. oh it's late. former british prime minister tony blair faced the country's iraq war in korea for the second time to explain his decisions leading up to the invasion it was to clarify his previous answers after witnesses question parts of his testimony the hearings are designed to establish exactly how when and why britain was dragged into the u.s. led conflict where expressed regret for the loss of life but emitted that he ignored his top lawyers advice that the war may be illegal protesters gathered outside calling for a blair to stand trial for war crimes at the hague british politician jeremy corbyn

whose party was in power at the time of the invasion so the investigation would be more credible at an international court. if a european politician former head of government in the case of tony blair was actually brought before the. international court in the hague and investigated the rest of the world would have far more respect for the international process because the moment the most prominent people who've come before it have been. attempts at arresting the president to see the current trial that's going on with charles taylor from liberia and the past on milosevic and the situation in yugoslavia but the perpetrators of this war. cool are in the united states and in europe and i think it would do for the standing of this because there is a bit of

a feeding around ok you go to big guys in small countries you won't go to big guys in big countries take a look down at some other stories making headlines across the globe in ireland the green party leader has quit the coalition government and called for the march and general election to be brought forward john gormley says his party's patients had to 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 made 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 five car bombs appear to be part of a coordinated attack targeting police and shia pilgrims in you're a busy road 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 across the country. police in tunisia arrested two allies of ousted president ben ali amid renewed protests against the interim government demonstrators are demanding that the prime minister resigned to leave yet leave mohamed ghannouchi has already valid to quit after fresh elections are held the transitional government promised to hold of it 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 unrest. european union ambassadors in belarus have boycotted the inauguration ceremony of the country's incumbent president alexander lukashenko the e.u. member nations left the state for neighboring lithuania in protest over december selection the president arrived at the ceremony in the capital minsk hand to hand with his son all twenty seven. refused to send representatives in response to claims that the december election was rigged the result sparked a violent reaction that saw opposition leaders activists and journalists attacked

by police the u. has proposed sanctions including a ban on reserves and a freeze on bank accounts belonging to senior government officials some experts believe by a violently suppressing the opposition rally. that any hopes for democracy and others. that are patient of president lukashenko has already suffered a serious blow i think that president lukashenko has made a big political mistake precisely on december nineteenth when after. after the presidential elections he started that down on a position he lost his temper i think he shouldn't have done this thing because by doing this he has undermined the credibility he's more just attempts to show that there is. any movement towards democracy let us be frank the. last election campaign was more democratic in other wants but these actions during several days he completely destroyed what he was creating for yourself so he's

actually quite logical if he doesn't throw a position just just to do act independently or partly independent that they would be no no way just to integrate into world community and this is also the question of political so while for him hi how he's going to so why totally isolated. in a couple of minutes a story of israelis desperate for their country to work towards peace with palestinians but who find themselves facing growing condemnation for their nonmilitary stance stay with us you're watching r.t. live from moscow really this morning on the twenty fourth of january.

very first verses of the bible that all human beings are created. in god's image and it doesn't say just jews or knowledge is. sixty to seventy percent of what i did as a combat soldier and united by territory was to do with deterrence doing what we call making our presence felt you go out should some bozo they hear

a knock on some doors run to the other corner and they don't know how religion the nationalism not just judaism have been a part of the problem they've been part of what leads to. bloodshed a few one. thousand four hundred people in a month and you want to expect that this will have no effect until the fee. you have to be either extreme. religious jew calling another. wealthy british. scandal. happening to the global economy.

hungry for the full story we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news make. the strangest attempt to take on. the us president trying to overthrow a foreign country's government but his strategic game. and america recognized its defeat. if cuba managed to cope with its. pain.