now the freedom to crash. in this edition of the weekly we look at key events across ukraine including the conflict in the east and more protests in the capital central. moscow imposes a food import responding to e.u. sanctions while you korean considers halting russia's energy transit to europe. israel and the palestinians agree to another seventy two hour cease fire after talks in egypt said falls a week of violence that has continued to take lives. and also u.s. jets complete before runs of strikes against iraq amid accusations that washington

is fighting the same group. in syria. we're watching and we keep hearing our team international wrap up of the top stories from the past seven days on right up to the minute developments as well i'm you know neal welcome our top story kiev's army has surrounded the city of nearby the regional capital which was shelled all day on sunday. there were similar scenes earlier in the week two apartment blocks in the city center suffered significant damage from constant bombardments local residents describe the horrors of the deadly attacks. futile floodwaters if you insist you know i did not ride.

i feel them into the photo work of road destruction have. given up looking. for you it was a national. poll. we were. government activists internet say they're ready for a ceasefire with care forces in order to prevent further civilian deaths just about every neighborhood in the city has been bombarded on there are food and electricity shortages now not so long ago was a completely different place let's look at some facts about the country's fifth largest city to cut a population of nearly one million forms named the best place for business in ukraine last year it's been one of the nation's key economic hub the center of its

mining industry got a couple of years ago the nets coasted euro two thousand and twelve football championship matches today driving around the nets could lead to things like this you are watching a missile hit a highway with the driver who filmed that extremely lucky to escape on harm and many others have fled the impossible city and ended up here in russia refinish them at some of those refugees at the border. in each of these cars individual stories of anger uncertainty and loss. these ukrainians are fleeing their homes for russia after months of conflict has left well over one thousand civilians dead and reduced whole cities to rubble the people in these cars have already spend six or seven hours sitting in line waiting to cross the border which is still a kilometer away but they say they're ready to wait as they practically have no

other choice but below book rule. will be a lesson in should not be made up of the national police you. can even use moco got more snow with this don't you don't usually many of the cars here have a sign saying they've got children on board the war doesn't discriminate between age or gender only no trouble i no choice it's a. two to three. mitchell get as close to his nose the what little it. cost to play you know which of you wait a minute this is where many refugees will end up when they make it across the border to russia and people here are angry. because i saw them also but also my but i still not all to worship should abortion so i maybe try measure what it really could be so but i'm floored different scopes of it all started. with the quarter the dr says he's planning his need to go back to the moon or store the money drawn

. out your thoughts enjoy your rush for abortion rights group over for. most women are you when you get here thirty years if you could be after. he invites me to see where they found shelter the rest so many refugees many don't have a proper place to sleep. his wife also doctor tells us how she lost her home and is therefore does a story before i know. it didn't have to be a regular dorm before. you get up the. pressure this could be achieved this camp is designed for a thousand people but there are at least twice as much in every afternoon officials managed to send up to three hundred refugees from eastern ukraine to different parts of russia but every evening even more iraq these people have managed to

escape but they fight for peace from alone is just beginning. to meet motion from russian ukrainian told. the u.n. say seven hundred thirty thousand refugees have fled to russia from eastern ukraine since the beginning of the your moscow also offered aid for those displaced inside ukraine but washington says there's no need for that type of help given that ukraine has allowed international humanitarian groups to deliver aid within its territory there is no logical reason why russia should seek to deliberate. almost. apparently un philanthropists think children a better. ignores pleas from russian human rights groups to move youngsters to safety and what is the un think kids deserve to be safe. because of this week more than four hundred ukrainian troops crossed into russia because they

didn't want to fight for the kiev government anymore it has happened before but they were never so many soldiers laying down their arms at the same time. well we have all witnessed so many deaths and other terrible things all of us are be very happy to be here we've been given new clothes and managed to rest and we're very grateful for that which. we were encircled we had no way out so to keep the manpower safe our commanders decided to escape to russia i think for no clear reason the ukrainian population is destroying itself because on both sides we and they are the same people are not. the soldiers were hobbies than a special camp nearly half of them of since returned home he is having a hard time recruiting new soldiers those already fighting have been complaining of

terrible conditions faulty equipment and incompetent commanders. the army says it needs eleven billion dollars to update its weapons for other needs but ukraine struggling to provide the cash and the soldiers are now running out of food there's a charity website set up to help them out and ukraine troops are being paid far from good wages as well and citizens are being forced to fund a military tax. the offense that are happening in ukraine now can be traced to protests in kiev independence square which led to a government in the winter on the iconic landmark has seen a new wave of violent clashes and demonstrations this week just like back in february people are refusing to leave the camps that they set up on the square back then the violent clashes led to the overthrow of president which many of those who are still camped i believe the revolution isn't finished they are on the beat with

some of the people who came to power in ukraine. some in the crowd burned car tires and others even set the room and some a number of police officers were injured when they clashed with the demonstrators. he has merit to telling such color came into hell just a month till the tent camp he was an activist on the same independence square just months earlier some say that people are so large in my town because they haven't seen the changes not the expected situations quite ironic to say the least since the revolution seemed to take a three hundred sixty degree turn the government they have right now it's simply replaced the other and they're simply at a point of exit right now where it seems like nothing much has changed over all plus there's a civil war in east some forces from the might don have gone on into power and they are now acting against those that are outside of power that have political

differences with the regime that has come to power and so we see a lot of ideological differences petty personality fighting and really a power play among different factions. russia's ban on western imports could cost food producers billions of dollars and it comes in response to the e.u. the u.s. on some other nations imposing sanctions on moscow following what they say is russia's influence in the ukrainian crisis peter all over the systems. no bucket for those that sanctions russia's ban on the imports of certain food stamps from the u.s. canada australia the way of the u. as it responds to the economic sanctions imposed almost sco the bun will block meat fruit vegetables some dairy and fish imports for one year those watching international trade say this shows that russia is a different other mo to other nations sanctions recently what's striking is that

when the sanctions were ramped up against iran there was very little could do the west didn't. that's not the case with russia and i think russia has made very clear that it will retaliate in a proportionate manner with european culture set to bear the brunt of the import ban e.u. leaders that backed sanctions against russia look likely to face farmers and export is demanding compensation for their losses there's no money and it's going to affect us all for us it will take two or three months to collect all remaining crops of oranges and we don't know what will happen if no one buys them from the national put it it's a disaster for my company will need to stop production the money will receive without imports to russia won't even be enough to pay for the buses that bring our staff to work. i don't know what we're going to do if this continues. being

threatened in our region we have dedicated to good part of our produce to this market and so this is very dramatic force and european food exports to russia were worth over twelve billion euros last year it's a win year and then land with the first to contact brussels about compensation some estimates suggest the ban could cost the finnish economy four hundred million euro mostly from dairy exports elsewhere the german trade union that deals with wholesale foreign trade said the ban posed a risk to the economy in his country in greece the opposition party says accuse the current government's actions of being detrimental to farming and in ireland the minister for agriculture said there was real worry particularly regarding cheese exports which were valued at four point five million euro in twenty thirteen european analysts a warning that sanctions aren't the way to find a solution free trade is a key for peace we shouldn't be in this game of tit for tat thing or we sanctions

we we should be negotiating on the same table but as it stands russian consumers are going to have to go without certain imports and western export is going to be locked out the bush market peter all of our party. ukraine is considering its own sanctions against russia on tuesday the parliament is expected to vote on measures odd line by the prime minister which could include stopping the transit of energy supplies to europe let's now take a look at want that could all mean for buyers of russian gas in the u. right now the bloc gets about a third of its gas from russia with the most about delivered via ukraine cutting the roots off could be harmful for the industry of some european countries take slovakia or bulgaria for instance which are almost entirely powered by russia many others rely on its gas as the main sources well of course this scheme could be

replaced by sight stream a pipeline project bypassing ukraine right down here now its construction is being hindered by e.u. lawmakers but southern nations say they're ready to push through construction foreign affairs expert in abortion mileage believes washington is pushing for a gas blockade with little regard for the use well being. well it's not a question of what you have wants it's what people who are running want because let's face it the government. the question is how much it's be controlled from washington not if if the regime in kiev is entirely under control washington this is an attempt another attempt to make the sanctions. the e.u. far more than the russian sanctions already have. and it's basically the european union is paying the price of washington's attempts to research the cold war. still to come on the program

a small passenger plane crashes in the arena in calcutta thirty nine out of the forty eight people on board are reported to have been killed us they are craft came down right after takeoff plus. afghanistan was hit by several violence a tux we take a look out of possible reasons behind the violence but house are up to the stories and more coming up after the break. i asked for a. in december two thousand and ten. more likely to be raped in college than in the real world. i don't think people did that to each other when they knew each other i thought rape was a stranger in the bushes. girl complaining about the son of an alumni gives millions of dollars to the school why listen to somebody who's going to lose money

at the school of schools that make money based decisions are much more common than they would ever admit publicly. do we speak your language i mean some of the will are not a. new. programs and documentaries in spanish what matters to you breaking news a little too in the. stories. you hear. this story all teach spanish for a visit. to the program special forces loyal to iraq's prime minister deployed in the center of baghdad according to sources the military is controlling entrances to the city

a curfew is expected and guards at the presidential palace have been put on high alert after nuri al maliki gave a tough speech accusing the president of violating the constitution he failed to support maliki third term bade us prime minister on sunday a constitutional deadline to nominate a new prime minister expired and meanwhile the u.n. and the u.s. repeated third calls for to come up with an all inclusive government to discuss this we cannot cross live to independent journalist or third laurie everest thanks for joining us this hour there's already been speculation of a coup with these troops in baghdad how do you view the situation. well i knew it first and foremost as a nightmare for the people of iraq of all the different ethnic religious and national groups. the molecule regime has was put in power via the

united states is a product of the two thousand and three invasion it is a pro imperialist very reactionary very repressive regime it is fueled sectarian tensions carried out vicious crimes against the sunni population but what has prompted this massive intervention by the united states now you referred to the u.s. calls the u.s. ambassador recently just today tweeted that the u.s. was in full support of the president on iraq who's kurdish and is obviously part of an effort to oust maliki this reminds me of the nineteen sixty three who'd a thought and vietnam that that was part of beginning the escalation there of of the the angry and the u.s. has also done bombing iraq once again yesterday so.

i would not doubt that the united states is maneuvering behind the scenes to put in power are reaching that it is more comfortable with it is couching all of this in the name of humanitarianism and the unity of iraq but more you i am not at all supportive of the maliki regime know our. u.s. intervention military political covert bring anything good to the people it's outrageous that the united states is claiming to be an actor for humanitarian ism at the same time that supported israel. a massacre of thousands in gaza and turning this open air prison in tehran will but i think they're just going to be a serious battle. behind the scenes and perhaps openly

over control of the iranian government directed at the iraq government not a political deadlock coincides with a jihad ist offensive in the north how does it affect iraq's ability to bottle militants. well this is one reason first of all this is a terrible outcome of the u.s. invasion and it's actually served to you all religious fundamentalism both sunni and shia and and increase the sectarian divisions of this and this as well as u.s. and involvement in afghanistan and syria has fueled this very reactionary john hottest movement across iraq and this as well as syria and throughout the region which is committing terrible crimes against christians yazidi. other or

other religious groups and one of the reasons that the iraqi regime has been unable to mount any sort of a counter offensive against isis or islamic state forces is because the government a has been paralyzed and the does not represent the interests of the people and is not really mobilizing the iraq people the fight over something that is genuinely liver atory now the u.s. in the u.n. are both calling for a unity government do you think that iraq's parliament will be able to overcome the divisions and come up with a prime minister i suppose they'll be able to form such a cabinet. well that that remains doubtful it's certainly possible but let's not forget that when the u.s. overthrew the hussein regime and installed and tried to create

a new government you did so on a sectarian basis and the basis of the governing howards the governing party has been. religious sectarianism in particular. shia sectarianism so essentially you're asking the government the parliament to overthrow that whole nearly. chand years ten plus years of those developments what's really urgent now in iraq is a genuine alternative to imperialism reaction and fundamentalism and this is something. where i write and people can see my reading that we dig into and a lot of ok laurie everest independent journalist on or thought we appreciate your input this hour thanks so much talk to you soon. the deepening political crisis comes just as washington authorized

a new military operation in iraq this week u.s. jets carried out four rounds of strikes on to how this militants sweeping iraq's north and approaching the capital of this semi autonomous kurdish region f. fifteen fighters on drones targeted militants artillery positions and vehicles aiding the kurdish military in their attempts to push the islamic state group back as a result of a summer offensive the jihadists have seized oil rich territories in the north west of iraq play into this law mikala face there. hundreds of thousands of people from the city religious minority how to flee the militants who are threatening to kill them on lest they convert to islam seeking to escape to turkey refugees ended up surrounded by harvest in a month in this region. of five hundred years of peace while scores more reportedly died stranded on the mountain the u.s. president named protecting minority groups as one of the main goals of the country's military involvement but some of our guest suggested just how does the

fence of was inadvertently aided by washington in the first place we really have to look at the real deal of western foreign policy in the middle east that has to take place because right now we have a situation here where it is opposing isis rebels in northern iraq and rightly so but has been tacitly ordered personally supporting them in syria is madness these are u.s. weapons u.s. weapons on all sides in this that just as three years ago in libya and in so many wars when you are the top supplier of weapons to the world seventy nine percent of of weapons transfers into the middle east or from the united states you're going to have u.s. weapons all that on all sides which is just on for absolutely are weapons makers looking for a profit fuels just struction. islamists have reported. we just captured another city in the north of iraq earlier a suicide blast killing ten kurdish fighters there the so-called peshmerga forces

were defeated after days of fierce clashes with militants according to reports kurdish fighters earlier regained control over two other towns in the north and did in berlin when a rally against the advance all of islamic state fighters was itself a type by a group of islamist supporters the violence broke out around three hundred people voiced their support for kurdish by radical militants in iraq on a similar protest in the hague so a dutch police intervene leaving one officer injured fighting once again triggered by a gang backing the militants who chanted slogans six people were arrested. by new seventy two hour cease fire between israel and the palestinians came into effect at nine pm g.m.t. on sunday this week witnessed a fresh wave of violence with civilians in gaza again bearing the brunt of the sides had restarted hostilities after previous talks to prolong

a cease fire brought little result. he was. i was. not i mean i didn't do it and yet. when. i was made did i lay over again let me know. a month long conflict that has claimed more than nine hundred lives has left cows in ruins and the return of hostilities brings the region even closer to humanitarian disaster tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged by israeli strikes universities hundreds of schools and mosques were turned to rubble reports say half a million people were displaced that is almost a third of the population for more than a million civilians there is no fresh drinking water and this correspondent hari fear reports among the thought of injured only the look he wants get proper medical

help. every day patients arrive from gaza to palestinian hospitals in jerusalem and the west bank the market said hospital in east jerusalem has received dozens of cases since the latest conflict erupted in this room he is six years old patient that was two weeks ago he has multiple business skull fractures after the bombing of his house here deceived unconscious of the environment. in his first few days here khalid's life was maintained by a ventilator he's made a solid recovery doctors say and is now able to move his leg his mother nihad has been by his side for almost three weeks only one relative is allowed to accompany such medical cases from gaza but the only granted one day's access to israel.

i cannot sleeve the hospital because my son in because i have permits to remain in israel for just one day but when i leave i show them the medical records of the crossing and they let me pass into gaza it is not easy to come out of gaza it is not easy to be coordinated there is checkpoints that are procedures that israelis have and therefore we're not getting enough patience although there are thousands upon thousands of patients we need support and help forty two year old pfizer was in her home preparing dinner for have family when her house was suddenly demolished upon her i asked if she felt lucky to be outside of dallas or receiving expert treatment yeah it was situation in the gaza strip is an absolute disaster how can i feel lucky when my people are dying. over one thousand palestinians have been injured in gaza getting medical treatment outside of its overstretched health system is like winning the lottery three year old young mean

a boob job or survived an attack on his family home in gaza as they gather for the first night of the islamic festivals someone thought. he was wiped out leaving just this one child little yeah i mean still calls out for his favorite sublime his older sister he doesn't know she's being killed along with all the others a relative. has lived through six wars between the palestinians and israel. no i do see only the israel of the palestinians is winning we the citizens of the full to fool everybody is a loser who have the things of peace is the true human being. these patients are lucky to have temporarily escaped gaza to receive the very best in medical treatment many of looking forward to returning to their families in gaza but it is a horrified and devastated community. human rights

organizations say gallus is witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe with some branding israel's operation a war crime you know gaza is a very small it's seven you know maybe. you don't need those high so it's one point seven million people living in these very small area and still even in this area we have every night eighty percent c.b.s. there has been such massive destruction in areas that the israeli military declared a no go zone that covered almost half of gaza's territory we've seen cease fires in the past be held up as justifications when western countries or the israeli military claims that hamas violated the cease fire in the past that has been held up as a justification and a claim that any future civilian deaths would be the responsibility of hamas for violating the cease fire the laws of war need to stop being violated and that

finally for once in gaza there needs to be criminal accountability for war crimes. moving on a small passenger plane crash has reportedly killed thirty nine people on the iranian capital tehran the aircraft came down right after takeoff and authorities say that forty eight people were on board including at least five children it crashed in a residential area five kilometers from the runway during several people on the ground as well an engine problem is believed to have been the cause of the accident there have been at least seventeen fatal crashes involving rhenium plane since two thousand with the country perhaps dead from buying new aircraft if experts crissy its things western sanctions have undermined the safety of iran's passenger jets but talking about an aging fleet we're also talking about the fact that. lines within parts of the world have long been starved of the spares needed to

maintain those. fully. primarily because of the sanctions to be imposed so the fleet getting old the bits for the. in short supply all normal existence and already being false on the black market for which there is no. safety guarantee. lots more news coming your way after a short break. it was recently revealed that under the guise of an hiv prevention workshop and as tourists you know latin americans were sent to cuba by the u.s. government to overthrow that government yes the u.s. agency for international development organized for these young people to go to cuba

to recruit and set up new political activists however the infiltrators were not very good at their jobs and the cuban authorities were able to nab these well funded travelers in their country this is nowhere near the first time that the u.s. government has tried to meddle in cuba in two thousand and nine usa he tried to set up a twitter like program to organize people in cuba and we can't forget about the ill fated cuban television airplane that was supposed to bombard the island with western media that was totally blocked by the government during the cold war i could see the justification to dominate cuba if the us didn't have influence in a country that automatically the soviets did but now what is the justification why does the us need to infiltrate cuba and by what right do you want doesn't have nukes put in america and they have limited industrial capacity they can't do anything to anyone just leave the poor island alone and let the people there figure out their own future without the us state department's help but that's just my opinion.

but with economic sounds in the final. say on the deal sang i and the rest because i think we need to be extremely. i'm abby martin the stories we cover here you're not going to hear any right other big story that i'm sure that like the same time there's a reason they don't want you to morrow morning for no reason that we don't think. now let's break the set.

you're watching our to international law combine a foreign submarine thought to be american was chased away from russia's shores this week a part of a navy spotted the vessel in a northern bar in sea and sent a strike group to intercept my call shred house the story the american submarine was detected near russia's northern border in the bering sea and was shadowed by a navy strike force and an aircraft then you can air powered virginia class submarine is capable of launching twelve tomahawk missiles among other armaments after about half an hour over radio contacts there merican were pushed away from the border by the northern fleet reconnaissance of russia continues from under the water and in the skies in july an american spy plane the rivet joint was reportedly conducting surveillance of the russian military when detected by radar it was then forced to illegally cross into swedish airspace after being chased by a russian fighter jet swedish an american authorities kept silence about the incident for nearly

a month but were pushed to admit swedish airspace had been violated after reports in local media over the a staunch u.s. ally sweden is not a member of nato so they infringement cause some anger the swedish press so long with their foreign called leagues made sure the violation of the country's borders was firmly made public knowledge ramon called r.t. moscow. as always we have plenty more on line few including teach them young. children just three years old could be vulnerable to extremism the u.k.'s education secretary say to. learn more in london's plans to ensure youngsters are taught british values. the brightest moon in twenty years on the annual perseids meteor shower i mean this august the sky is even more spectacular than usual on our website we've got photos we've got video on all the catching details.

a suicide bomber has targeted a nato convoy in kabul killing four civilians and injuring at least thirty five others it comes after a high ranking u.s. general was shot dead during a brazen insider attack by an afghan soldier at a military university this week several other nato personnel including a german general way to the pentagon say the officer is the most senior military official to have been killed in action overseas since the war in vietnam the assailant who served in the afghan army for three years was also killed an issue that the taliban praised the attack but didn't claim responsibility the fence on the list believes the incident reflects the mood among many afghans after years of having an international military presence in the country this highlights large discontent among the afghan population for the presence of international military forces for over

a decade in afghanistan and. you know this latest incident and student it's just a boiling over of that frustration of military presence military operations that haven't necessarily work to provide afghans with basic security and you know the human security needs but the population needs livelihoods education and. infrastructure that provides roads and sanitation. and then say whistleblower edward snowden was granted a three year residence permit in russia this week student fled to the country more than a year ago offered telling the world that bought the global surveillance projects maintained by the u.s. and the u.k. now is in hiding with his whereabouts unknown he claims there's a threat to his life according to his lawyer he will not be allowed to move freely across the country or abroad could even get russian citizenship after five years. to all the global headlines starting in turkey where the current prime minister

receptive to one has won the first ever direct presidential elections. over fifty two percent of the foods his two rivals were little known diplomats and kurdish politician the presidential vote took place just three months after ruling conservative party won local elections. french forces have launched an earth strike on the northern region of mali where separatists and al qaeda linked militants being active bombs were dropped in the as a county region to the west of the city of tim book to the operation started in january of two thousand and thirteen when france intervened in the country to neutralize radical islamist groups. person believed to be infected with ebola has been hospitalized in romania the fifty one year old showed symptoms after returning from nigeria almost a thousand people have died in west africa from the largest recorded i break of the disease so far nigeria and liberia have already declared

a state of emergency as the virus continues to spread. has been hit with its worst strive to in thirty years with a food shortage expected the lack of rain could wipe bite the majority of crops rice corn and of peanuts and have a huge impact on the country's i could cultural based markets the government is looking at ways to diversify the nation's economy and reduce the impact the droit will have on the population. a serious escalation in a long term conflict in a disputed region. presidents to the negotiating table with russia as a mediator this week since the end of july two thirty soldiers from both sides have been killed in the violence in the south caucasus the region of not corney is an ethnically armenian enclave in azerbaijan at the beginning of the ninety's the region wanted independence which led to

a war between the nations the conflict claims some thirty thousand lives before officially ending in one nine hundred ninety four when a ceasefire was proclaimed the independence of the region still was not recognized since then there have been ongoing yet occasional shooting incidents. in least an escalation is among the worst so the leaders of both countries i'm absolutely shit in the russian city of soft cheek volleyer putin was also there and said take some things sides have shown the will to violence and russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov offered reassurance that moscow will work to keep the peace between the nations close to its southern border. with north but isn't the pursuit of the presidents of armenia and azerbaijan have confirmed they will seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict and respect to rhetorical integrity and the right of nations to self-determination it won't be easy to find a solution but is ongoing and russia will contribute to shoots

a. little coming up after a short break the latest from the world of economics venture capital. when the european union promised to net ukraine become part of that it clearly contributed to the bathtub ration of tensions within ukraine ukraine will not become part of the european union so long to tell tales ukraine absolutely doesn't have the economic level to become. part of the e-mail all been. played. placed series of explosions going off base and try to play the same luck a polygamist community want to get fired for just

a short changing every minute. claim cuts made no law no weapons. like the pain of. the trusting the simplicity of all time low for most cases the most elite moments played sometimes from nothing playing this song it is simple it's just such as look just keep up the story kids will be just if you could you see a stage eight looked to be. but speech was still. playing. your friend post a photo from a vacation you can't afford college the difference is. the boss

repeats the same old joke of course you like. your ex-girlfriend still pens tear jerking poetry keep. ignore it. we post only what really matters at r.t. to your facebook news feed. hello i'm katie proclaimed and you're watching venture capital coming up roughed up by we took food as most their response to international sanctions and we also looked into the potential consequences of banning european flights crossing airspace to asia also russia and iran team are agreed to an oil trade deal understanding to ease the impacts of such sanctions and tim curley joins me later he's going to be talking about they are but first the russian government has

imposed a one year restriction on the import of agricultural products on the countries imposing sanctions so beef pork poultry fish cheese milk vegetables and fruit imports from australia canada the e.u. u.s. and norway all off the menu but the drinks menu is still ok alcohol is not affected neither is baby fruit now in twenty thirteen russia imported six point seven billion dollars worth of meat meat products in total so talk about a lot of money here so to discuss this issue the new bite back measures i'm now joined by alexi is sokoloff head of the learning center who trades dot com alexei these measures are designed to hit back the question is how hard are they going to hit back and who are they actually going to hit back.