breaking news in r.t. after months of speculation president putin officially announces his bid for reelection in twenty eight c. he also commented on the unprecedented plan of team russia in the winter olympics. research without doubt we will not announce any blockade or prevent our athletes from competing if we want in a personal capacity to. see banned russia from the twenty eighteen winter games our three year police scandal that's despite a lack of concrete evidence to support the claims of the state sponsored drug program and after years of terror are still no longer holds any terror in syria the russian military says the group has been defeated there.

hello there live from moscow you're watching r.t. international. clock here now for start without breaking news because vladimir putin has officially announced his bid for twenty for the twenty eighteen presidential election in russia with more on this we can cross large nicky out and he's been following events nikki good evening what else has mr putin said then on this. well andy it was widely expected of course that vladimir putin would throw his hat in the ring for the twenty eighteen elections but he's played coy on the issue for so long in fact almost every forum he's attended in the past few months he's been asked that crucial question are you going to run again and he hasn't given a definite on so it makes one wonder whether he has been genuinely conflicted on whether to run again or whether he's just really good at keeping secrets and likes to play the media never the less you put us out of our misery

a few hours ago when he said this. but you go into current you for your support yes i will present my candidacy for the president of the russian federation. by civil war but sure thank you for your reaction but first of all for your work. and i was rumored that the big announcement was going to come earlier on in the day today in fact i was ready here and waiting to bring you breaking news and when he was also the question he just batted it away again but he did give those that the biggest clue yet so he does smile a lot and then ian still to seek validation from the audience and they seem very clear on what decision he should raise. in the course of years you're going to show your family if i make such a decision. and the people close to you support it. now

this comes of course as president person has record high ratings in in the year twenty seventeen in fact over eighty percent of people polled said that they approve of president putin as the russian leader nevertheless take should prove to be an interesting few weeks and months as we near closer to the march the eighteenth in one of the most prominent candidates in the race at this time around is because any a sort of shock she's a young girl who's been getting headlines all around the well she's anti putin has attended opposition rallies in moscow and she's also known as an it girl in moscow she's been referred to as the russian paris hilton and she's also a reality t.v. presenter or form a reality t.v. presenter and i was also interesting about this time around is that there are an unprecedented number of females entering the race if girls are side including guest

. the song writer and journalist are you caterina gould on which is interesting because it is the first time a female has decided to run for the presidency in russia in fourteen years and there's also the usual suspects entering the race as well including liberal democratic party headline near she were not scary the communist party is again andi zyuganov liberal yabloko parties grigori linsky and business. men boris tito are who's from the party of growth championing the rights of entrepreneurs here in russia so plenty of interesting or a collective opinions for the russian people to sink their teeth into cure is ok thanks nicky that was artie's force well let's continue this discussion with john posner she's a political commentator and he joins us now john good evening to you firstly i just wondered what you thought of the timing of this given the events of the i.o.c. yesterday and the big scandal over the lympics do you think there was anything in

the timing of president putin announcing the fact he's going to run in the presidential election. well i think that taking a look at the polls at the opinion polls even in the financial times of london president putin is leading all of the potential candidates added together so he's already polling far over fifty percent of the of the vote if you look at a poll conducted at least by the financial times and as we know the financial times is one of the most virulent li anti putin media in the world so i think he's picked the right time to announce that the people were waiting to hear from him he also picked the announcement date the day after isis was completely eradicated from syria so he went into a terrible war situation and he brought peace i think it's an excellent time to

declare one's candidacy a more sort of media media reaction would you expect your own from the. well i'm expecting from the west all kinds of negative reactions saying that it looks like president putin is going to stay on for life and so on but i think that we really have to look for some historic parallels here when president putin came to office the situation in russia was very much like the great depression in the united states and the people of russia were looking for a real leader well in the same situation the people of the united states elected f.d.r. franklin delano roosevelt to four consecutive terms as president the russian constitution did not allow that so president putin served one term as a prime minister but in effect what we're having now is a parallel in russia of what the united states went through in the great depression

leading out of the great depression and through a victorious world war two but i think you have to give credit to president putin that in every instance in which it looked like there might be a major international war president putin brought peace and stability a great power conflict so i think he's bringing the new deal to russia and i hope he's able to do to do a deal with president trump who's written the book the art of the deal or talking of the main you mentioned syria that the russian military also says it's ready to join the u.s. led coalition in western iraq to to fight i still think that will happen g. think we'll see a deal that. i think. we've seen just a small part of what president putin is able to do i think that president putin is not only the most popular politician in russia i think that he would soundly win

election in dozens of other countries around the world so i don't think we are even able to anticipate some of the positive things that will be coming not just in the region around syria in iraq in the middle east but on a global scale we are living in an era in which there is one predominant international politician and that is vladimir putin and i think there are a lot of us no matter whether we're inside russia or elsewhere around the world who are very very pleased to see that this man is offering again do you think to be greater cooperation with the fight in the fight against terrorism globally i mean we just talked about syria there but of course there's a fear that terrorists will locate elsewhere and fry. basically to regroup essentially what sort of global cooperation do you think we'll see involving russia

to perhaps in the fight against terrorism. i think it's become very clear around the world that the major terrorist organizations al qaida and then followed up by isis or i so were organizations that were being funded from within structures connected to the u.s. deep state we now have the budding partnership between the president of the united states and the president of russia and i think that the two of them working together will be able to strangle terrorism worldwide president putin put terrorism to drove the terrorists out of chechnya president putin syria controlled and supported the clearing of afghanistan he also provided bases to american forces to continue their work there he has now virtually singlehandedly eliminated isis is still from syria i think we are seeing the end of global terror

and i think we know who to thank for it and i think the russian people are going to send him back into office for another term at which time he'll be able to shake hands with president trump and create a real worldwide new deal. fascinating to see what happens john good to see we've run out of time as john both political commentator thanks. ok well let's continue without breaking news because the russian military as we mentioned there has announced that syria has been completely liberated from islamic state terrorists across this story first as you goes down off is not the latest eagle good evening. a landmark event isn't it and a landmark announcement here. evening and yes it is indeed a landmark announcement but there's one important thing you know you have to understand about it the fact is it doesn't mean that eisel is gone from syria

doesn't mean that every last terrorist has been killed or captured know what it means is that i still just doesn't hold any significant territory whatsoever it doesn't hold any cities at all and this is a picture this is a drastically different picture compared to what we've seen it to what we had seen in say twenty fifteen when the russian coalition stepped in when the russian coalition started bombing. and here are some of the key landmark points of the russian operation in syria. few.

now as i have mentioned i still used to control very large swathes of syria in fact before russia started bombing its position bombing terrorists there at the request of the syrian government some pundits some geopolitical experts voiced concerns that i still could very well end to damascus at some point now of course this is no longer the case at all used to hold cities like mosul like like palm myra and many other of the many other very key and strategic places now it is important to understand as well that russia has not been the only player has not been the only force. and terrorists of the us had had their role in coalition in the country for a long long time. conducting yes strikes against eisel before russia started its

operation and now with i still essentially losing all of its territory russia is saying that it could very well consider joining american coalition and conducting conducting joint strikes against i saw it well now before sleep ball is in america's court it's in washington's court and so we're still to hear to hear from them on that proposal. ok thanks. they're reporting from iraq. now i said i had seen this president putin says that russian athletes can participate in the twenty one thousand winter gangs in south korea and a neutral flag alang face that could have been perhaps a boy caught the details after the break.

up played for many clubs over the years so i know the game and so i got. the ball isn't only about what happens on the pitch to the final school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the shaper money kill you narrowness and spending to get to the twenty million. it's an experience like nothing else not to because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful game played great so well for chance with. the base. if you trust the mean stream media well then you're in the minority sadly a great deal of media today is not designed to inform but rather confirm political biases this approach of the news is not only polarizing but it's also lowering journalistic. this is why readers and viewers seek their news elsewhere.

though again i russian authorities will not stop at least that want to compete in the winter games under a neutral flag that was confirmed by president putin but he did criticize the i.o.c. saying that it that the whole decision was based on claims from an unreliable source referring to good god or a chunk of the former head of russia's anti doping agency. which. most of this has been certain accusations that are not proven and are generally baseless founded on the testimonies of a man whose moral ethical as well as psychological condition is questionable there's nothing more. the president there added that it was important that the i.o.c. had said it had no evidence of state sponsored doping in russia but says

a lot of questions do remain about the international olympic committee's decision. now on tuesday the i.c. banned team russia from the twenty eighteen winter games in south korea however it does claim that individual athletes who can prove they are clean will be allowed to compete under a neutral flag. these integrated elsley so will participate beating individual or team competitions under the name olympic else lead from russia. they will compete with a uniform bearing this label and under the olympics like. the olympic anthem will be played in. no one thought about what it actually means for the athletes to go to the olympics

under a neutral flag it's simply the murder of our national sport. russian athletes won't give up on their country or their flag as this is always in their hearts. while the scandal broke three years ago when german t.v. channel a.r.d. broadcast a film alleging a state sponsored doping scheme taking place in russia the world anti-doping agency then opened an investigation into those claims russian officials denied any claims though of state sponsored doping then in july last year while they did publish the mclaren report which gave a more detailed view of the alleged scheme but seeking a more independent view the international olympic committee also launched two more investigative commissions the same month russia saw a blanket ban on all paralympians and olympic track and field athletes competing in the rio olympics for alleged doping but that was not the end for team russia and

that was because after the rio olympics the situation escalated last december the second part of that mclaren report came out with apparently more evidence that resulted in the decision to recheck all the samples taken from russian athletes at sochi twenty fourteen this year the russian gaping scandal intensified for the fact twenty two plates were subsequently disqualified and stripped of their medals partridge and do you know neil discussed this a bit earlier. twenty five were banned in the buildup to this decision twenty two an hour and as i say not a great deal of time either to appeal all or to prove whether or not you were innocent to be able to say what the store was the great compromise was being able to compete on during neutral flying but there's a number of issues surrounding the time constraints that you just said absolutely as they said it's now in no way aren't you here to take part you're in your and the

olympics now from russia as we have now anthems no flags and also as you said that sense of prestige that sense of patriotism the whole point of what the olympics about these are all claims effectively is came its claim and counterclaim because you have to dodge and go off and mclaren saying this is how they this is how they did it then you've got schmidt saying yes we believe this is how you can do it as well you can replicate this but we don't see any photos we don't we haven't seen any cameras we haven't they haven't filmed it as what we seem to say ok yet this is the claim we can prove it and we're going to show you how to do it and this is cause a bit of consternation amongst the athletes themselves and one by athlete to said well if you're going to basically ban people on the basis of scratches and some elevated salt then i'm really worried and we can hear of him now. that we will be able to see some evidence for what they're being punished and that is not that there is some marks on the bottles because then i will be terribly afraid of giving samples was not only fear of giving samples there's also been some other sort of worries that have been raised by athletes and also across the organization as well by saying that this is a this is sort of double standards here because effectively you've got

a blanket ban for one country but looking over time as well we've known of athletes who have been banned tyson gay justin gatlin and they have been bang to rights they would prove there wasn't a presumption of guilt there they were actually proved to have to be guilty and banned and come back and that's what russian athletes will be looking at now what we're seeing on our screen justin gatlin who came back to win her silver medal after being what he was burned twice before this russian markets have never doped that majority of them proven that as well but now they're looking at a lifetime by exports but this is all because of the system all the levels that the i.o.c. demanded in terms of making their judgments and this is based on a presumption of guilt given what they consider to be all the different factors taken into account not direct evidence but all those different layers so what they're saying is that by being able to replicate they think the system of being able to override a tamper proof system by roger and covers diaries they say he wrote about all the things that were going on the time by the medal table the people who won medals by the the so-called duchess list of all the people who were taking who were meant to

be taking drugs they said by taking all these into account it's a presumption of guilt but as we were looking back over the past few days as i was covering before this is a presumption of guilt that covers that covers everybody and therefore it's a blanket decision but they're obviously they're going to be cause as we were talking about before four years ago there was skepticism that russia's first winter olympics would go without a hitch due mongers predicted not enough flights not enough hotels and not enough snow you're concerned about socially squalor in sochi double toilets and missing door handles the water that came out of the tower the problem with the door but the host games were. and so well even critics had to admit they were it three things going to mazing it's running like clockwork and everything's just going really really well as i'm being really present everything rush is done so far. which they care about. really so far well organized and people are really friendly here

having a good time through our accommodation our food almost four years later and russians who triumphed in sochi and now being stripped of their medals and given life and limb pick bans why in twenty sixty in the middle report explosively claimed russia used an elaborate system of state sponsored doping athletes officials and the ministers were implicated like the plot of a cold war novel the attitude to russia a return to skepticism then retribution as its track and field team and entire power limpy team were banned from the rio games which left the clean athletes wondering why. we care about how the russians completing it until they got it the right policy but sure there are a clean nation never mind cleaned out they ought to be a clean nation. the i.o.c. and i p.c. have now definitively backed up mclaren supporting the claims of former lab boss

cricketing don't think of who's under criminal investigation in russia and saying that infamous sample swapping system has finally been replicated but questions remain the i.o.c. standard of proof is not beyond any reasonable doubt but rather the balance of probability the presumption of guilt is enough it was logic of who was the original and only source the so-called proof against russian fleets this evidence has been grossly overvalued we can see we are seeing the results of a proper legal process it's a question of faith to believe broaching course or not it looks more like a religious inquisition. west on full bottles had no visible scratches they were presumed tampered with as the russians must have perfected their technique and left no marks and no argument basis for an on mass ban the clean condemned without any guilt no presumption of innocence for team russia what we see here is actually

a violation of the olympic charter which is. which stands against political national racial discrimination so it appears that in the name of protecting clean athletes they are actually taking away the rights of russian clean athletes and in my opinion the mclaren accusations are unfounded and they are very politically biased. surely any athlete should be denied a medal and banned from competition if he or she cheats it undermines others' lifetime's work as does abound slapped on the innocent who are simply presumed guilty. well despite some headlines saying the i.a.c. decision wasn't harsh enough a number of international athletes have been expressing some sympathy on twitter many points that the scandal has become a political symbol and that the move likely ignores punishment for those who have actually don't. want to

set in complicated situation i feel sick for the clean affected deathless and fully sympathize with whatever emotions they may feel. this decision by the i.o.c. is just a political symbol really does nothing to punish the actual cheaters there are still a large number of fleets competing dishes opens the door for them to continue through the olympics. it's a victory that only officially cleared in clean athletes will be able to compete in pyongyang chang but it's so sad that russian athletes weren't be able to compete under the flag of the country raise them. so that brings you up to date so that's why things are not here not see more news in about.

i. all see we have a great sea we need to strengthen before the free float world cold and your bets have been a legend to keep it so it's at the back. in

one thousand nine hundred two that much qualify for the european championships at the very last moment no one believed in us but we won and i'm hoping to bring some of the winning spirit to the aussie team. recently i've had a lot of practice so i can guard see that peter schmeichel will be on the best fall since my last will call him that story as well as the. thousand little joke. here i called rochelle. i fly strike strike left left left more or less ok stop that's really good. everybody i'm stephen baldwin task hollywood guy will suspect every proud american first of all i'm just george bush and honored to say just this. my buddy max famous financial guru is a little bit different. with all the drama happening in our country and that's fine every day americans. start to

bridge the gap this is the great american. greetings and salutation. in the quiet canadian city of montreal this week a fascinating and potentially future altering conferences taking place the ad hoc technical experts committee and synthetic biology may sound like just another brainy working group of the united nations convention on biological diversity but this year's debate and putting a moratorium on the controversial gene drive research has implications that could

not only change the face of the natural world but the future of warfare as well you see gene driver genetic extinction technology is essentially the ability to manipulate the d.n.a. of a species in order to control its population or or ultimately even in sort of genetic kill switch and wipe a species off the face of the planet while many scientists see this as a potential breakthrough in the fight against overpopulation of invasive species or even as a way to eradicate a mosquito mosquito carrying diseases like malaria which unicef estimates kills over one million people per year and many in the community the scientific community are still very nervous about this according to one you an expert who spoke to the guardian he said quote you may be able to remove viruses or the entire mosquito popular. but that may also have downstream ecological effects on species that the penned on them and other words ecosystems in nature are a lot like jenga the more blocks you were moved the more you know everyone's played

jungle but that's not the only appears on display at this year's conference because like flies on feces whenever words like manipulation mass destruction and extinction are thrown around you can bet your bottom dollar that the pentagon is not far behind me has the guardian has uncovered that the depends advanced research projects agency or darpa the good folks behind the creepy backflipping robots and other such horrifying things we've seen online well darpa has invested roughly one hundred million dollars into genetic extinction technologies making the us military now one of the biggest funders of gene drive research in the world think on that lovely lovely thought as we start watching the hawks. it's a. real.