america's top diplomat suggests that moderate taliban members could make up a part of the afghan government marking a stark shift in u.s. policy there and its security concerns. are see social media successes singled out as a good chief executive was criticized for appearing on the channel back in twenty. or so to come the v.i.p.'s family feuds over catalonia independence standoff that's causing division not only in spain but now in neighboring france and china plays out his leadership plans for the next five years cementing president she's power and forecasting where the country is headed.

welcome you with r.t. this wednesday afternoon our top story this hour rex tillerson secret visit to afghanistan has not only signaled a significant shift in attitude towards the taliban it's also left reporters a little bit puzzled because spot the difference here here's the official picture that was released by the afghan government following the president's meeting with the u.s. secretary of state but later the u.s. also put out a photograph and you'll notice that in the afghan version on the right here a large clock and a fire bell raised the state department thinks though the photo was altered to make it more attractive. i think if the afghan government had changed those photos

probably to make it aesthetically more pleasing we never like doctored photos but i also understand that perhaps they wanted to present a better image than having that bob graham but again that's that's really all i have for you on that well there was more to it than that because the meeting took place at the heavily fortified u.s. military base although it was previously claimed it was in the capital kabul former pentagon official michael maloof thinks the photo editing was done to mask the true location well i think it was done for security reasons. what was taken out was. a clock with zulu time and that indicates a military base i think what president got he was trying to show was that he held the meeting actually in his presidential palace but that was not the case it was actually at a very secure military facility and bodrum does underscore how fragile the security . if not throughout all of afghanistan. well despite the security concerns rex tillerson claims the reason for the taliban in the afghan government the very same

fundamentalist group that america has been fighting for the last sixteen years. there's a place for them in the government if they're ready to come renouncing terrorism renouncing violence and being committed to a stable prosperous afghanistan. explains what brought about such a key change in america's attitude. while on an unannounced visit to kabul on monday secretary tillerson told reporters that washington things moderate factions among the taliban exist and that there is a place for them in the country's government so long as they were announced violence but this presents a bit of a dilemma as to how the us will be able to differentiate between the moderate and radical factions since it didn't work out so well in syria there has been. intermingling of some of these groups we need to separate them we need to clearly delineate who is where. can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters.

that are in the fight. is is we're talking four four five. let's not kid ourselves that's a joke. we have to acknowledge this is a total failure it's just a failure on. this train and equip program has not. frankly lived up to what we had initially thought with as an expectation. but the u.s. is no doubt wary of the pattern could repeat itself in afghanistan now tillerson also stated that the fight against the taliban should still continue quote in order for them to understand that they will never win a military victory but after sixteen years of war neither side has achieved victory so that could possibly be the reason secretary tillerson is now pushing for the political option on previous occasions however when the u.s.

urged the taliban to negotiate the taliban's reply was quite clear. we call on the taliban. to enter into a peace process a legitimate process a real process. i want to reinforce to the taliban that the only path to peace and political legitimacy for them is through a negotiated settlement. theoretically it would be nice if they could come if the taliban would decide to want to join the

government question is will the afghan government allow it number one but number two i think the taliban have already made a decision that they're just going to wait out the united states they've been quite successful in taking over half the country now before it was far far less it's not certain that the taliban well remain a moderate force if they see that they're winning but after visiting afghanistan the u.s. secretary of state then settle for a rat where he may have got a slightly chilling reception off to these or vox a few days ago. lucia's. you know the five years. this is going to be a close those losers need to go in it for the fighters in iraq you need to go oh well a source close to the iraqi prime minister has criticised rexx to listens calls saying is no right to interfere in iraq's affairs and the prime minister himself later

defended the role of the iranian backed fighters as did the iraqi foreign minister in exclusive interview with us. the us is playing its own game. and with its own followers were as iraq acts on its territory to the best of its abilities supported by its own or is it a political parties and movements a most people who sacrifice themselves food good of their country the militants of the popular mobilization forces have suffered huge losses shed their blood for the sake of their homeland with their actions during the liberation of so many iraqi cities even cities they don't live in. let's go to syria next to morty is left of the city of rack although the u.s. backed campaign to liberate the area from islamic state is now all but over a human rights groups are concerned about safety there still as residents try to return. the united nations stands ready to assess people with the immaterial

assistance in iraq and its surroundings however at the moment we have no access and therefore no humanitarian convoys or assistance can reach. the humanitarian situation is dire there is no sufficient water or health clinics and it's not save as many unexploded reminiscence of this war still remain so that needs to be cleaned up first before any civilian can go back isis has done a lot of harm not only to the inhabitants but also to the social fabric of the city and now it has empty unit of doctors nurses teachers and all things that are badly needed bird by probably should add to this that the u.s. coalition has waged a year of bombing campaign that have priority. isis over the need to protect the city's infrastructure so now the lingering questions is who will get the hospital

who will rebuild it doctors maintain equipment will rebuild schools roads and all that has been destroyed and it appears that there are little no plans for reconstruction and that is our major concern or meanwhile russia's defense ministry says that isis grip on syria has now been cut to just five percent of territory they're having control seventy percent of the entire country before syrian government forces have been supported by russia's air force in their operations to clear out the terrorists and the process of restoring paces in many areas well underway the statement does outline that almost a thousand terrorist training camps and over five hundred munition factories have been destroyed but the battle to free syria is nonetheless come at a huge cost. and i can. say that i was more than a father to them we were friends and i always told them i supported them and i

would do anything for them. i am sure and my husband used to say that if something happens to him the only thing that matters is that he died with his homeland you know. a lot of the loss of our pride there were times when i wanted to burst into tears in my mother's arms but she told me that i'm a man and i should be strong she said that we must all be strong but i would miss the shins to death of lima my first son i was never left alone all of my family stayed with me and so i don't have any that's what is called responsibility. now there are some changes at the top in the world's second largest economy with

china unveiling its leadership team for the next five years one man though he's not going anywhere as president xi paying who stays at the helm shuttling bigger explain to kevin own what this might mean for the country's future. today's lineup announcement really does give us a glimpse into china's political future just not in the traditional manner not in the way expected what's happened in the past one of the six men who are on the standing committee apart from she himself usually in the past one of them has been designated as the successor to the title of party chair but this time around everything's a bit different the fact is that all six of these men were born before in one nine hundred sixty which means none of them do it in the albeit unwritten rule of retirement none of them would be young enough to take over for the title in two thousand and twenty two. sixty eight exactly exactly so with this kind of departure from. the question obviously is there

a long future for she was president maybe in some of the high standing role within the government well that's what all the speculation is saying right now and of course there is a law that says as president he can only serve two terms but when it comes to his other two titles that a party chair and the head of the military those restrictions are just sort of based on tradition and that's just the custom that it's only been two terms by it of course this time given that it's just a suggestion he could go around that and that's what it looks like is going to be happening and of course those two titles out of the party chair and head of the military really are arguably more significant have more sway more power than the president and of course yesterday it's also important to know that she's name and his political ideology were actually added to the communist party's constitution and that elevates him to the same down this does huge that elevates him to the same status of heavyweights like chairman mao and that really does cemented his grip on power and his legacy in the country so obviously none of us has

a crystal ball we can't say really exactly what's going to happen over the next five years but he'll be very interesting to watch and see if he continues to sway from tradition how that plays out and obviously he just has no plans of fading into the background any time soon but politics professor joseph chang in home told us that he thinks the new lineup plays well for president xi. there are no young members who by the time of twenty twenty two can still serve for another ten years in the polls so this means. season paying to have a third term or on new song or he may decide to choose his own. in the coming two or three years or he may even choose to split the ship positions by three and t twenty two and he may still claim one or two propositions for himself it is also all the years with the retirement of the elder the leaders seat

in pain now has a very solid majority support at the political role standing committee and the police. chief business officer has been scrutinized by the media to his appearance on this channel four years ago robin so has been accused of having a cozy relationship with. our presence online while the new york times has been sifting through the archives and dug up the interview that we had with mr quinn so back in twenty thirty that was the year incidentally we became the first news channel to reach one billion views on each you told us what he thought was behind that success. i think i would use generally appreciate its authenticity it's very apparent from everything that's going on on youtube so instead of having aspirational programming or agenda propaganda us people really respond to

authenticity what you saw happening with arab spring for instance was authentic the audience that watches this was with them to city and with those who provided to them and that interview there was actually the interview blamed for building up r.t.s. ratings and console isn't the only person to be named and shamed for appearing on our network british foreign secretary boris johnson recently attacked opposition m.p.'s for being our two guests however some work quick to point out that johnson's own father was one of them and then also last week a european think tank compiled a list of thousands of people who have appeared here on our channel branding them he's full idiots now from being marked out if you have ever been linked to russia through to other channels treating t.v. audiences with contempt is some of the reaction we've been here. it's a witch hunt for anybody that has any relationship with believe anything to do with russia or anything anything russian it seems you know the fact that because they

were successful and you should be somehow in bed with you cheap in their food. i mean it's just madness like you would you chuck him out accusations without any real evidence whatsoever just because he appeared in an interview. many years ago it just seems bizarre to you how. the people want to see it and people are going to watch it it doesn't matter who you all or who supports you c.n.n. is no wailed why i was to clinch a news network the b.b.c. is the voice of the remain. concerned. it's what it says on the chain you know you are backed by russia people take that into account these new york times from people like the to shimon people it is these are t.v. people apparently you're doing something that a lot of people are finding interesting because it services people that because of some kind of brainwashing or yen or whatever it is that you do because after all

that you've got trouble acted by brainwashing sixty three million americans if there is propaganda i would respectfully submit it's pro r d because every time the new york times talks about you i think it's out of jealousy both your popularity you're watching i see things with this is softening still to come for you catalonia is fight for freedom is spilling over to other parts of europe we've got the details on that after the break. when else so seems wrong. but i. just don't. get to see. this day. active. and engaged equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground.

in case you're new to the game this is how. the economy is built around. washington washington the media the media the voters elected a businessman to run this country business equals power you must it's not business as usual it's business like it's never been done before. hello again you. push for independence says dividing families across spain but

surprisingly it's doing the same in france as well a former french prime minister who has roots in the breakaway region is concerned about the repercussions it could have for a broader europe. to dismember a state like spray this beginning gradually to dismember europe it is also progressively weakening europe. box to the collapse of europe. former french prime minister files that mincing no words when it comes to catalonia independence he was one of the most staunch supporters of course you have spanish unity and he was actually born into a catalan family well given his heritage some might say that val's should be on the other side of the argument well that's at least what his sister thinks she's feeling and that reflects him on twitter. for god sake for

the sake of grandfather mcgee this is not democratic and neither is article one fifty five since when has there been such a horrible thing as the suspension of freedoms bulbs isn't the only one he's been put into a somewhat embarrassing situation by close relatives oh but catalonia got along the president himself was also left red faced after his cousin chose to make a very pro independence move in the wake of the referendum. is moving the headquarters of her company to madrid citing political uncertainty. dear client due to the current political situation invacare would like to inform you that we will soon be changing the location of our headquarters well we all know that nobody can quite squabble like your own family and when politics gets involved as well it may lead to some rather awkward dinner it seems that's how the vowels

and the pitch to malls could end up. in skiing aussie. now with all the nations to. twenty eighteen football world cup in russia close to being. back to launch a new sport i used and former england international stan collymore made some of the greats of the game and also looks at what to expect from the show you pace tournament in a brand new series starting here on friday november the third the i mean it's simple really rushers a great country. many times before joining the world cup was announced in russia. a sense to look at russian cities in the cold. life in russia so we did it is a droite run relay before the confederations cup which was so much a scrawny very very well of

a fantastic so i mean. so we thought we'd do it again we sat down with people in their own homes. in environments that i felt comfortable in and with the contacts that i have in the guy we've interviewed. all people of the greatest player to ever play the game we sat down at dinner with him in london are you looking forward to the world cup in russia. will be very important. to do through this who grew up. in the world cup with france now a manager in new york what advice would you gave. also about the burden of being hosts we might have to turn the pressure. as a motivation and they would have to do that because it's not going to be easy because of the expectation most football shows are technical football shows how long the game was he played well they know messi scored three goals christiane are

rinaldo schooled for goals this is the stories beyond the guy so for example the syrian national team we follow. to play malaysia syria at the moment is gone through civil strife. international team can still qualify for the world cold having not played a game in syria for over two years we go on the team bus after they won and they would dance and sing game we go into a team meeting before the game those are all little things that all the holy grail of football you don't usually get to say some kind of behind the scenes look at the game look at various issues there's a great story from the silly islands in the u.k. which play for the world's smallest trophy which is the same size as my little finger so lots of big names talking about the major issues of the day break hooliganism could be a cultural issues real behind the scenes stories chats with some absolute football legends but we're all doing

a ton of filming and we hope people really enjoy the show. and she is starting the week on friday night a professor in the us is landed himself in trouble for calling mathematics racially discriminating michelle gutierrez from it annoy you know the city has published a book in which she claims that aspects of the subject are on the privilege of white people. on many levels mathematics itself operates as whiteness who gets credit for doing and developing mathematics who is capable in mathematics and here is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as white. as a scribe what she calls the use of political knowledge to teach mathematics and she

argues that studying the subject is perpetuate white privilege because its laws are largely ascribed to europeans like by thank you but that idea hasn't sat well with some of the students here's some of the negative reviews she has got on the website right my professors some students to accuse her of racism claiming that she said no white privilege in their classes and that she makes assumptions about languages spoken by ethnic minorities we spoke to a marketing professor who told us it's important that students get equal access to learning but we can't expect everybody to achieve the same i think it really comes from this idea of identity politics so truth becomes said in their e two protecting so-called marginalised people's right so in that case to the extent that say mathematics is dominated by one racial group more so than another then there is something wrong with it and we need to address it you should have equality of

access but that doesn't mean that we have equality of outcomes and that's the problem with identity politics is it wants that the outcome be equal and that simply is not in line with the meritocracy my rebuttal to this is if you look at the one hundred metres olympic champions in the olympics over the past thirty years you'll notice that there are no more overweight middle aged lebanese jews i happen to be lebanese jew none of them are the winners on the podium right yet i don't complain that i feel marginalized because it would appear that the winners of the hundred meters olympic tend to come from one racial group. so that brings you up to date that's how the news today here on our say you can learn more about these stories to. call back with more in just over half an.

when i'll go. to maine is this and that i'm not to run. with him but if he be theo out in the us. i'm just. using this will suppose it's. something to do much but if you have

a lot of the other side of the. bus she does that count she did it yes you know this isn't going to. kill the no more than it is be done of this not just of the this not to be but on the. look. get they would up with. greetings and sally you. from dropping bombs and actively fighting in conflicts ranging from syria to iraq to afghanistan to having military bases from germany to south korea japan and that whole asia pivot policy mess i tell you hawk watchers

trying to keep track of when and where the us military is operating in this world is a full time head spinning headache. headache of a job so is any wonder that one for us special forces soldiers are killed in the line of duty in the africa country of niger the number one question on people's minds across the united states was truthfully ways. we we have troops in niger what in the hell are we even doing in niger even our own members of congress apparently have no idea what our military is up to these days and that stretches across the aisles both senators chuck schumer and lindsey graham were clueless about u.s. operations in niger with graham telling n.b.c.'s meet the press quote i didn't know there was a thousand troops and. this is from a man who actually sits on the senate armed services committee thankfully senator rand paul of kentucky said would need to be said about.