the winter olympics in south korea has officially begun the games kicked off with a grand opening ceremony in the host region pealing chang nearly three thousand athletes from ninety two countries took us in the i think seventy of the fifty said winter games and yet the trying to report from south korea the n.p.n. chang is flashing lights i've heard it roar few times it is happening at the opening ceremony of the winter olympic games twenty saying oh the korean these guys definitely know out of put up a show and done the audience just take the famous rapper psi who wants to rock the world with his hand of god but to this opening ceremony is special for many other reasons so let me just name a few that is the north and the south korean team marching under the same flag then the oh a our team or the olympic athletes from russia marching without their flags and

this is the first time we don't see them wash and black out and a little bit opening ceremony in the one nine hundred ninety two back then the athletes from the former soviet republic march under the i.o.c. flag after the collapse of the soviet union also at today's ceremony the american team consisting of exactly two hundred forty two athletes the biggest national gorilla gays in the history of the winter olympics i can tell you that most people don't have that seeing around me are three or four perhaps the only reason why they're a little bit disappointed is that they're not inside that arena but believe it or not just meters away from where i'm standing right now locals are protesting instead of watching the opening ceremony of the olympics being glued to their t.v. and just a couple of hours ago i saw. punchers flags being burned and the pepper spray being

used by police. just hours before the opening ceremony protests have erupted outside the olympic stadium as you can see this group of people that's carrying american and israeli flags south korean flags as well are protesting against the invitation of the north korean team to the piano chuang a lympics. though it looks like the samples are trying to get the opening ceremony to deliver their message we have two countries. north korea we didn't make we are not together in the group the regime's brutal rule read him.

trying. to he's now at the very same time on the other side of the street there is a rival protest it's a much smaller one but the slogans there are completely different it says against war for peace young to go home so these people it looks like they're in favor of the steps that the governments of north and south korea have made to make sure that something is happening between the two countries during the winter olympics and young chang the number of police officers is growing so is the number of protesters these people are definitely going to stay here during the opening ceremonies so this is going to be the background of the opening of young chang twenty eight. well the conflict table the korean peninsula is constant a shadow over the games and it's not me and to miss clashing and the crisis but

also politicians. it's cruel to put a little bit of. today's military parade will show off the powerful status of the democratic people's republic of korea as long as hostile policies from the u.s. continue the mission of the korean people's army could never achieve. the united states of america will see to stand shoulder to shoulder in our effort to bring back from the pressures to bear on north korea until that comes from the

finally a permanent in your reversible abandon their nuclear and ballistic missile and. the north korean leader kim jong sr arrived in south korea on friday to attend the opening ceremony top south korean officials greeted her at the airport where she arrived on her brother's private jet in north korea kim jong is responsible for

propaganda she's the first member of north korea's meeting formally to. the south since the one nine hundred fifty s. . when we watch south korea's president shook hands with north korea's ceremonial head of state after reception before the opening ceremony where the two koreas marched together under a single flag that decision was reached early last month a breakthrough talks initiated by the north well earlier a last minute appeal from forty five russian athletes and two coaches against a ban preventing them from competing failed the court of arbitration for sport secretary general announced the ruling with just hours to go before the games got underway the athletes lawyers have branded the decision sanctions in disguise just arbitrators of concert that the process. to establish an invitation list of russian athletes to compete. from russia would not be described

as a sanction but rather as an eligibility decision. not demonstrates that the manner in which two special commission system established by the i.o.c. was carried out in a discriminatory. my colleague mickey aaron discussed cass's decision with artie's daniel hawkins. balraj water certainly would have been positive they would perhaps have viewed this and water certainly would have been positive they would perhaps have viewed this as a victory for sport as a justice served against doping if you will from those of appeal from the laws of course perhaps when one of surprise those forty seven russian athletes and coaches have appealed based on the grounds that a large part of the group initially didn't face any sanctions from the i.o.c. whatsoever and another part of the group of course did receive bias had their medals their awards from social twenty fourteen taken away but those were subsequently overturned because of lack of evidence by that cast this isn't just

about a week or so ten days ago the coach is representing the athletes of course pulled no punches in criticizing this cast this isn't a take a listen i don't know what to say i'm really disappointed i can't understand the cast decision first they cleared the athletes and now they say sorry you can't go to the olympics this is some kind of madness it's terrible not just for athletes but for all of international sport did i expect cas to reach this decision fifty fifty especially after thomas back in one of his latest speeches pressured the court of arbitration for sport after ruled in our favor he was literally threatening the court he was almost seeing he would dissolve the court if it ruled again in favor of russian athletes who have been claims from the head coach of russia's news team that the i.o.c. was pressuring cathy this decision is that the case that the i.o.c. president thomas spock was certainly scathing about the decision when that came through it would have been viewed very much as a decision on the mind of the i.o.c.

it or thirty and also very much put a spoke in the wheel of water their investigation and undermining also the credibility of the mclaren report house a decision it is a extremely disappointing and surprising for. the i.o.c. we would never have expected these for these a decision of shall we. the virtue and the need. for reform. in though the internal structure of class that i was taught sparks reporter that original cast rolling which effectively upheld the principle of innocent until proven guilty saying that there was insufficient evidence that those russian athletes had been doping this was the original cast recording in twenty eight cases the evidence collected was found to be insufficient to establish that's looking through violation it was committed yet concerned it's been such an emotional roller

coaster of ours and for these athletes the real saugor after months weeks years of preparation they had this glimmer of hope last week with the cast the situation that they could go to the games represent their flag their country their of them etc although that's been overturned there are still legal routes appeals they could go down but of course the opening ceremony has now just finished the games are about to begin whatever legal options are available they simply won't have time now to budge them here's some reactions from those athletes many of whom were hoping to even make a debut at their first winter olympics i have no words. i was hoping that cas would rule in our favor right now i don't know what to do i'm disappointed but of course i won't give up on sport i've still got a lot ahead of me i will compete and win medals for my country until the very end we were hoping that the decision would go in our favor now i feel sadness and so rude but i will compete in every competition i can if i have enough strength in the

opportunity to compete in the next olympics i will prepare for them. i had no emotions left we had all our bags packed and were just waiting for a decision i think such situations make you stronger emotionally. lawyer phillip birch is representing the russian team he says the i.o.c. has failed to make any distinction between clean and guilty russian athletes play in may view those decisions are legally wrong and just yes i call them disguised sanctions because that's what they are those athletes are being denied participation to the olympic games when they are clean athletes in fact they are being put in the very same situation as athletes who have developed and who have been sanctioned and suspended when they are clean athletes they don't even know exactly for two reasons they were denied access and they were not given the opportunity to prove these allegations wrong so yes those or disguised sanctions.

france is unable to confirm whether the syrian government has used chemical weapons that's what the country's defense minister said in a recent interview when asked about a chlorine attack outside damascus. when they're designed guess you. do. absolutely the french defense minister saying that there is no reliable evidence to suggest that koori mail was used in that attack contradicting what we heard just a few days ago from the french foreign minister who had stated that for an attack it being carried out by the syrian government. will. result. will be a turk of the minister's referring to allegedly took place on sunday and it's not the first time the syrian government has been accused of carrying out or in attacks in the areas in the country in january it was accused of doing so by

a number of groups including the syrian observatory for human rights which some people have questioned the organization which is run by a businessman in the u.k. and also by the white helmet so voluntary group which some people have accused of aiding with the terror executions that have been carried out in syria by taking away the bodies at the end of the execution will the u.s. government has also spoken out about these alleged attacks in syria with the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson when he was in france last month same regardless of who carried out these attacks the blame was on russia whoever conducted the. russia ultimately burrs responsibility for the victims and. countless others targeted with chemical weapons since russia became involved in syria well the secretary of defense in the u.s. james mattis actually went even further than that suggesting that it's not just

chlorine attacks but also that sarin has been used in other chemical agent in these attacks although he did also admit that they will in europe and other groups that. could back up those claims now the u.n. is of course investigating the allegations all these attacks in syria on some of the areas in the country but it remains to be seen whether the probes will ever be able to identify any concrete evidence as to whether those attacks indeed took place in who indeed was behind them and of course whether they will be able to agree and find a result objective enough for everybody to agree on. with the international probe into syrian chemical weapons stored late last year until november it was handled by a body called the joint investigative mechanism but that probe was shut down when russia vetoed a u.n. resolution to extend its mandate moscow criticized the body for using second hand

sources and failing to send weapons experts to the sites of chemical incidents in syria well back then russia drafted a u.n. resolution calling for a new investigative body to be created the document says experts must visit the sites of alleged attacks to collect samples and conduct eyewitness interviews with the planned collapse after the u.s. said it would block the resolution defense analyst ivan eland thinks the issue has become highly politicized. the problem is with these things is that one never knows for sure there are multiple sides on the battlefield takes a long time to get the investigations done for administration always likes to. put on a tough facades the one is we don't care who did this but the syrian government is responsible for it that's kind of a strange statement i think if they accuse rusher and syria of

something that either didn't happen or somebody else did it maybe their evidence is that great that's probably the reason they don't have anything to back it up and they do it they don't want. any independent investigation. hundreds of supporters of the far right party have clashed with police in a central italian city just a week ago much outer suffered a racially motivated shooting which left six people injured it. was. like a lot of. the shooting was targeting african migrants police found a copy of hitler's mind can fit in his apartment as well as a flag with a far right symbol the shooter said he wanted to avenge the death of an italian woman and logically killed by a nigerian asylum seeker. the incident has fuelled concerns about the

rise of neo fascist forces in italy national as well as foreign media have weighed in the shooter's lawyer told journalists that his client was greeted as a hero in prison police say racial and religious violence has soared in recent years well these are the shocking numbers from the italian police force hate crimes have jumped ten fold in just four years and the issue is raising concern at the highest level italy's justice minister has revealed he was threatened when he visited the match on to shooting victims in hospital. i received threats against me and my family but i was the first is to go away when the time comes to take action so i know. meanwhile a video has appeared in the media showing the much harder shooter shaking hands with the media of the right wing move the needle party while the shooter stood as a candidate for the party at local elections last year

a councillor for the northern league told my colleague neil harvey that the party rejects all violence. if this guy did what he did he became a creaminess so we. are very strict about that and our . we pons pencil in the next election the people will use it to vote and this is the only way we act any violent act carried out by an immigrant it seems like the response is is also considerable surely this is not good for the country as a whole how do you feel about what's been reported the rise of nationalism and fascism in italy we are just telling you the people we need lo we need content of account to be we cannot lose our identity because italy if these mood of immigration will rise and we will lose.

the ally of your party the former soviet belasco and he's called migrants a time bomb now is fairly aggressive rhetoric it's only going to further divide people you say your weapon is your pension shouldn't be trying to bring people together we've found always the right way to act together and when we have been in the government the last time in two thousand eighty two two thousand and eleven we particularly stopped the arrival of illegal immigrant. in two thousand and eleven we had only four thousand a rival in one year in last year we had the more than one hundred forty thousand arrival of illegal immigrants in italy so you can see the difference and this is a bomb because at the most of those people are illegal they will never go get the.

refugee because just the five ten percent of them is a real refugee. a double explosion in libya has claimed the lives of two people and left seventy five injured bombs were set off inside a mosque curing friday prayers in the city of benghazi according to the military the explosives were placed in bags and were detonated remotely using a mobile phone so far no group has claimed responsibility two weeks ago another twenty bombing in benghazi killed thirty five people. a woman in california who's been a prominent face of the anti harassment me to movement is now herself at the center of a sexual misconduct storm she's been accused by at least two men of inappropriate behavior r.t. jacqueline vigor reports. democratic assemblywoman christina garcia has a reputation as a fierce advocate for women and has gained national recognition for condemning sexual misconduct all over the place is that the best story thank you we should not

be on your shoulders to make this case but there are places like the power that they can protect their time magazine's silence breakers issue centering on speaking out against harassment even featured garcia's face in the artwork and inclusion that garcia was humbled by posting on twitter that she was proud of the work being done and that she was clearly personal in october revealed to the new york times that she has also been sexually assaulted by men in her workplace multiple people have grabbed my bottom grabbed my breasts we're talking about cd and all b.s. . earlier this week garcia even helped pass a bill granting whistleblower protections to legislative stuff who are victims of sexual misconduct announcing after the bill's approval that you were not standing alone and yet news has now broken up two men accusing garcia of sexual harassment one of the alleged victims is a former legislative staffer highly ironic considering the bill she helped pass is meant to protect legislative staff probes already been launched into the incident

alleged to have happened back in two thousand and fifteen after an assembly softball game daniel farrow claims that while she was intoxicated garcia rubbed his back and squeezed his buttocks before attempting to do more than reportedly quickly extracted himself from the situation and it looks like this may even be a pattern for garcia as a second accuser story is eerily similar an unnamed lobbyist alleges that a drunk accosted him last may making graphic sexual proposals while trying to grab his crotch she was whispering ru close and i could smell the booze and see she was pretty full she looked at me for a second then sit acidic goals. he says he adamantly rejected the offer at this point garcia's camp has only responded to the first accusation the details of these kinds have never. been brought to my attention and till today i can also say i have zero recollection of engaging in appropriate behavior and such behavior is inconsistent with my values but if we've learned anything from the me too movement

it's that accusations carry more weight than denials and once one person comes forward the floodgates tend to open. the u.s. ambassador to israel has lashed out at the israeli newspaper ha'aretz after it published an article critical of his support for jewish settlements that israel started after a rabbi living in a disputed jewish settlement was killed by an hour of israeli it was the second murder of a rabbi in the space of a month hundreds of people attended the funeral with prime minister binyamin netanyahu value in the killer would be hunted down for the day after the attack israeli forces carried out a rage searching for the assailant but it resulted in clashes that left one person dead and several more wounded while the killer is still at large reacting on twitter to the rabbi's death the us ambassador recalled the time when he donated an ambulance to the area where the rabbi was killed. thirty years ago gave an ambulance to harbor hoping it would be used to deliver healthy babies is that

a man from harbor was just murdered by terrorists leaving behind a wife and four children palestinian leaders have praised the killer praying for the bengal family were following that tweet israeli newspaper ha'aretz published the article suggesting the ambassador spell answer appears selective and doesn't seem to cover palestinians and also accused him of encouraging war crimes and violations of international law well in response the ambassador tweeted what has become of her tits for young children are sitting shiva reading the morning ritual for their murdered father and this publication called their community a mountain of curses the hebrew name of the dispute is settlement translates as the mountain of blessing well at the time of the tweets the ambassador asks have they no decency. we put that question to you gideon levy the man behind the how that's article which upset the american diplomat he told us u.s. policy on the settlements has complicated an already difficult issue that's quite

unusual that then bus or the or by the take a local media but they seem i used myself we will stay in this criticism the united states declares at least the clears the against the settlements project and here we have been a bus ago who is one of the biggest friends of the occupation one of the biggest friends of the settlements project contributing money to the settlements of the most extreme ones this by itself his legs or lack of this is a question good gets back to his excellent see them bastard all doesn't the united states have no decency and i think that if harbor how would have been there in the other settlements would have been seeing for most of the israelis would have been much easier and much more simple and same for the palestinians obviously. with legendary rock band queen recently honored with

a lifetime achievement award at the latest grammys artie's action returns he spoke to brian may who also happens to have a ph d. in astrophysics and you can watch their full discussion which ranges from the influence of music in science and i live to fake news in the latest episode of going underground on saturday here's a quick preview. you said that one of the major issues facing humanity is fake news from wall street yes all of the yeah i think so because you know as of i know you want to be able it will not say which world leaders but which were which were what it is. is full of people there for the wrong reasons. i spent a lot of time lobbying in our own parliament in england and i have to say so many people are there for reasons that you don't want to know and it's hard to find people who actually have a mission to make the world a better place and look after. people and animals rather than look after themselves i mean i hate to be critical but i do think the whole system encourages the wrong

kind of people because encourage people who want power and make money for the themselves and their friends you know i would love to see it all shaken up. i'll be back with news headlines in just over half an hour meanwhile for more on all of our stories at watty dot com. i'm. all over her mother her mother. was gone. i'm glad i know.

the pentagon recently released its new nuclear posture review its critics are stunned not only the use of nuclear weapons is now more thinkable but it's also but threshold for their use has been lowered dr strangelove would be proud is the world facing another dangerous arms race. the bond market will not crash and this time it will continue to go even lower and negative yields on various bonds will increase from the multi trillion dollars worth of negative yielding sovereign debt now the even more multi multi multi trillion dollars of negative yielding sovereign debt and we're going to go down the rabbit hole even further but it certainly smells like what the panic cash withdrawal in places like china and the sell off in

all these various markets and what the oil prices climbing higher in gold looking better that we've got here fashion reversal. the shevardnadze. between the north and south korea is becoming a possibility but will the american hard line stance hinder or help the resumed korean peace talks we ask special advisor to the president of south korea for foreign affairs and national security. nuclear north korea is now a reality despite the tough sanctions and international pressure. has managed to

procure the bomb and its means of delivery but with other neighbors pursuing a new deterrence policy using everything from talks to support to avoid confrontation is there hope the crisis in the korean peninsula. can diplomacy offset a situation that looks poised for conflict and is washington saber rattling helping the process reeling it. chang going to a special advisor to the president of south korea for foreign affairs and national security welcome to the show it's really great to have you with us sure enough korea will participate in the winter olympics and will put its team under one banner with south korea and it's clear p.r. move on the part of pyongyang to show that there are good guys who can be talked to what makes you trust kim jong. trust. of trust. on this you have to do kinds of interactions with north korea you can trust with no .