mourners grieve for the victims of sunday's church massacre in southern russia which your best to gauge is think could have been an act of terrorism. turkey's president owen reportedly threatened consequences if syrian forces enter their own city of afrin after rumors they were preparing to help kurdish militias repel a turkish offensive. and in the midst of the alleged russian meddling scott a former cia director admits the u.s. doesn't interfere in other countries elections when it's for a good course. this

is r.t. international coming to life from moscow on cape partridge thank you for joining us . mourners have been gathering at a church in the southern russian republic of dagestan where five women were killed in a shooting on sunday five other people including a policeman and a national guardsman were also injured. this is the. group those are those. with the words. out of. the investigations are looking into various motives behind the attack and terrorism hasn't been ruled out daniel hawkins has the latest while the investigative committee at this stage is looking into possible it isn't over for them for today that terrorism is also one of the leads they are looking into the attack took place in the town of qusayr in the southern russian province of dagestan on sunday the attacker was identified as collateral for local twenty. old

residents by the local authorities he targeted christian church goers leaving an orthodox christian ceremony marking the beginning of a fast of a christian festival here in russia now bystanders managed to film this how ring footage shot as the gunman took shots at bystanders with a hunting rifle much. so well you should only does the school almost looks it clear. he's doing back a good his regime is doing. as we said earlier five people were killed in that attack four injured two of them critically were police officers as well we managed to hear from the priest who was actually taking the church service at the time he described how the churchgoers barricaded themselves inside the building to avoid being targeted by the attacker drenching as he said there was a woman here she was begging for money all the city knew her she hit the shooter with her bag and he shot her in the chest another man tried to stop the attacker

but was shot while this was happening we managed to close the doors of the church like the victims were search kind people one of them had taught her children and another who tried to stop him first started the victims were such kind people one of them had taught our children and others who tried to stop him yes if it wasn't for her people would have been damaged all because she managed to hold him back all of us to gators are now looking into any inspiration any links the gunman may have drawn from terror groups islamic state of course was quick to claim responsibility on their website for the attack as they often do after such incidents in the meantime the attack of course has drawn condemnation from both christian leaders and was the authorities in the region as well as the detectives continue their investigation. well brussels based independent journalist luke levey search security services don't exchange enough information about suspects but it's not enough connection between the police forces the should be more done to get

information to collect information collectively also with russia of course we are not shipped where we should be in trance of difference that is a great fear among the people that we will see more of the terrorist attacks that we had in paris brussels and other places we are of course very close to the areas where these people come from where isis comes from and we need to do more in terms of connecting our police force. turkey as president and has threatened consequences for the syrian government if its army enters its own city of afrin turkish media say the remarks were made during a phone call with russian leader vladimir putin it follows reports of a deal between syria and the kurds which hasn't been officially confirmed by either side well under this alleged agreement troops will help kurdish fighters repel a turkish offensive in the region this footage shown by a video agency ruptly on saturday apparently shows the construction of

a temporary kurdish military count you know from artie's poorness near has more on how ankara has reacted to the potential alliance between syria and the kurds this latest development follows a deal that was allegedly sealed on sunday between damascus and the syrian kurds now the turkish foreign minister has responded saying that anger has no problem with pro-government forces into an afghan but only so long as those forces are there to eliminate kodesh groups that are turkey considers terrorist groups if that's not their goal then so does have a problem. if regime forces enter the city to eliminate the begin b.g. terrorists then we don't have a problem with that however if we go there to defend the way b.g. . nothing and nobody can stop our soldiers now that's part of the region has been embroiled in but her violence for at least a month ever since and clear launched its military operation called olive branch

against could see it with guards as terrorists are on the thank you. was. now this fierce fighting has resulted in multiple casualties as well as civilian deaths on both sides of the conflict talking about civilians those who live in the afan region have hailed their potential entrance of pro damascus government forces into the area. work goes your car as a citizen of our friend i do not find fault with the syrian forces entering some points on the border as residents of our friends we never wanted partition sure.

there is a duty of the syrian government to defend its borders and protect a friend which is within syrian borders. and the launched its military operation after the pentagon announced that it was helping to establish a kurdish led security border force along the turkish syrian border and co responded with fury accusing the united states of essentially setting up a chord a terror army since then the united states has tried to backtrack but essentially it's too little too late and the situation on the ground is really beyond the point of being able to change the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov who's been following these developments carefully and has said that america's involvement inside syria has resulted in this bloodshed. we are concerned about attempts to partition syria and some of the grounds that the u.s. has already started to realize on the ground a worry the u.s. claims that their only goal in syria is to fight eyesore to preserve the country's

integrity but i think that washington needs to back it works with action because right now six actions look provocative the u.s. should use the kurds to pursue its own ambitions and that's led to a major conflict in africa now tensions on the ground continue to escalate despite the fact that in the past month the united states has tried on various occasions to try and deescalate the situation what remains now of course is to see how this latest development escalates tensions even further. military analysts come on alarm says the potential alliance between syria and kurdish groups could threaten washington support for the kurds an excuse to stay in syria over the consequences are that the u.s. policy of using the kurds for their own advantage could be could fall apart because essentially the americans have been saying that they are present in northern syria to help the u.s. the earth and the syrian kurds fight against the terrorists but there are no more isis in that area and if the syrian government is in the u.s.

have to move out so the consequences of the last remaining car that the americans had in the world and syria falls apart and if the turkish government realize that the syrians have a right to be there this could be a very positive development if however the turkish government choose to keep supporting the syrian rebel groups then there could be a conflict. russian curler alexander crucial need ski has initially tested positive for the banned substance mel dhoni and at the winter olympics in south korea he had earlier won bronze in the curling mixed doubles with his wife the court of arbitration for sport is now reviewing the case and the world anti-doping agency is expected to announce the results of his second test later crucial need to go and partner anastasio go. the norwegian path eighty four to clinch russia's first ever and then pick medal. reports from pyongyang well right now it is all down to that second doping test and if it happens to be

positive that will be a real disappointment for many people i can tell you that here and chang the crowds have literally fallen in love with the russian couple alexander crucial need ski and in this this year brazil are husband and wife they won the country its first ever olympic medal in curling and to watch their family team work on ice was something inspiring the media went on about them for a few days in a row and they were even compared with mr and mrs smith but now alexander is suspected of taken the infamous drug that hadn't been banned until a couple of years ago it once cost tennis star maria sharapova a year of her career after her team had forgotten to put it on the do not take drugs list and honestly alexander scase if he had made the same mistake or had

taken the drug on purpose that would just be ridiculous when the oh they are are under such a close watch here and peeling chang i don't really understand what what it would approve or what it would improve you in your game things. i don't understand what it will do for you personally that ski has said that he believes someone could have spiked his food or drinks with it was presumed you don't need to be a secret agent to give athletes of both will with any kind of banned substance that totally unprotected you just put it in a hotel room it's easy but you have to be really careful with all the food taking and all the drinks to taking. know pretty well that if you can see the bottle and it's like locked then it can open it you can see it was locked he open it drink it and as long as you keep an eye on the bottle that's fine

if you just like to turn around for a second tell me is this bottle in any case the international olympic committee have promised to launch a special probe but that will happen after the olympics are over in the meantime the olympic athletes from russia are getting on with their quest for medals and despite all the pressure despite some of the main stars missing out the zero eight are how secured some bronze and silver and the cross-country skiing squad who were teenagers just a year or two ago are doing particularly well with five medals so far no gold though well meanwhile the russian cutting federation has asked japan and south korea to hand over video footage showing crucial needs training it's also almost the russian investigative committee cynic into the case sports journalist alan moore believes it's unlikely the athlete took the banned drug if they take majority make use of a burst of energy burst of speed he could work hard because you curling is

a pretty olympic pretty pretty testing sport itself he will be supremely stupid to be caught for don't you know he has said this risk is said that's his point of in spite of training competition. it does seem on like he got he took it however it one bit of information commands over noise that his former or his coach but said that's all he has he stopped taking that don't you back in two thousand sixty two when it was bad and we have to give him the benefit of the doubt we still don't know to be. able to assess a positive we need to find out exactly what happened but again it goes back to you know it would be we we said last week you know you said he was using it to get caught for doping you leave because you have to be very. very silly and i don't think that christmas is silly. now about shipping group has been accused of selling vessels containing harmful waste to scrap yards in turkey and india the sale would

violate you know wars as well as on to the country's environmental and health issues. such. as. should. cut. cut.

cut. cut q. thanks so. much. well dutch prosecutors allege the ships contained various toxic substances which should have been removed and recycle safely but they were apparently sold to india and turkey to be broken up there they also cite the alleged impact of the chemicals would have on recycling workers and the environment and they're looking to the court to impose a hefty fine for breach of the e.u. waste laws if convicted shipping bosses could also face up to six months in jail in response the company c. trade has denied any wrongdoing their defense argues the ships only qualify as

waste once they reach their final destination and don't fall under e.u. environmental rules as turkey and india are beyond its jurisdiction and lack of proper regulation in the industry is one of the problems highlighted by environmentalists the trade it is a dutch company and certainly in two thousand and twelve the conditions that the in south asia were well known to any european companies so the choice the trade made was for the highest price. of a higher prices because they do not pay for the proper waste management the proper infrastructure and they use migrant workers that are not trained indeed unfortunately is a very common practice more than eighty percent of the world tonnage is currently broken on three title beaches in the world one in india one in bangladesh and one in pakistan this activity causes pollution to see. the groundwater

and is also very dangerous for the work is if they fall from heights there are explosions they will be crushed by steel plates so it's basically an industry which is very poorly regulated. a former director of the cia has admitted the u.s. interferes in other countries elections james woolsey said this only happens what it's for a good cause. yes and in the interests of democracy r.t.s. what i was going to give it looks at whether double standards are a play no one likes a spoiler medlars interference especially when it comes to american elections there who really pure and spoiled and unsullied or they were before the russians got to them they say but judge not lest ye be judged especially when you have

a fetish for getting your fingers into foreign elections when i just don't mess around other people. are only for the very good to do that through a vine video and former cia for a very good cause. said the former director of the cia it's funny because and when america does it when someone else's even suspected of doing it no no no no no no bad bad did the russians break the rules or do something bizarre the answer is no lot at all said a thirty year veteran of the cia come on the cia root the book on meddling. we've been doing this kind of thing since the cia was created in one thousand forty seven we've used posters pamphlets mailers banners you name it we've planted false information for newspapers we've used with the british called king george's calorie

suitcases of cash add to that assassinations coups information warfare hacking and that's just the stuff we know about this the johnson that helped oversee the cia's exhibits he's he'd know the difference is they say when russia does it it's to destroy the woold even when that meddling has no actual impact on the elections as even the justice department just admitted when america doesn't so the greater good democracy and all that you could ask of course how on earth overthrowing democratically elected leaders as the cia has done is helping democracy how sending billions of dollars worth of guns to gulf dictators is helping democracy but don't well the united states has been interfering in other countries elections since the one nine hundred thirty s. and in the caribbean and in latin america when i was in cia in the seventy's and

eighty's in europe i would say that the that the cia and the u.s. government basically were interfering in elections almost every election that was taking place in europe this was just routine that the u.s. wanted a friendly government of a certain type and was willing to do certain things to enable that to happen if we're going to claim that america has the right to interfere behind the scenes in the politics of another country. it's a little hypocritical for then america to say oh a russian intelligence has been interfering in american elections. you don't get to have it both ways. swastikas have been drawn on the entrance to poland's embassy in israel this comes after poland's prime minister one

of the at school claimed jews were among those responsible for the holocaust it's not going to be punishable not going to be seemed. to say that there were polish perpetrators as there were jewish perpetrators as there were russian paper three perpetrators are there were ukrainian not on the german paper turtles were in georgia of the polish prime minister's remarks here in munich are outrageous there is a problem here of an inability to understand history and a lack of sensitivity to the tragedy of our people the president of the conference of european rabbis has also criticized the polish leaders remarks what was said by the polish prime minister is totally unacceptable to call jews perpetrators of the holocaust is unacceptable to any person who knows history knows you and wants a bit of future and we did not expect the polish prime minister to say such things

well these comments come in the wake of a new polish law making it a criminal offense to say the country collaborated with nazi germany during world war two specifically the legislation prohibits references to water i'm not see death camps in the country as polish those violating the law face up to three years in jail and adviser to the polish president defended the legislation claiming israelis are ashamed of their own role and supposed sentiments in israel comes from the feeling of shame and the passivity of the jews during the holocaust. more than three million jews lived in poland before the second world war eighty five percent of them were killed in the holocaust around one million jews died in the auschwitz concentration camp built in poland by the nazis former israeli military intelligence officer mordechai kandahar says there is strong evidence for polish complicity in nazi german war crimes the polish. or lore to work against poland because there are many many many evidences

that the poles the poles to cook very active part in the holocaust nobody says that the point is that which was under occupation did it because this the it was dysfunctional those use of the war and they didn't function as a nation but many of the individuals. do good very active part in the holocaust. former cia whistleblower jeffrey sterling has been released from prison he revealed cia mismanagement of a classified program to the us senate and was convicted under the espionage act serling was freed after serving over two years of a three and a half year sentence but sterling wasn't jailed for what he told the senators he was accused of leaking the classified information he'd shared with them to a journalist his sentence was lighter than the usual nineteen year minimum this was

reportedly because all the evidence against him was circumstantial activists on one kone who petition for sterling's release explains how he ended up being treated as a traitor. jeffrey was a cia officer he has a law degree spoke perfect farsi and he was hoping to work in the middle east and stead prior to his assignment in the middle east they said that it was a going to work because he's too big and and too black and he said to them when did you realize that so they went from one job to another job to worry was dust jacking in new york and he decided at that point this isn't what he was signed up for in the cia when he came in in one thousand nine hundred three he backed off he stepped down from the cia and he pressed discrimination charges those discrimination charges had to be dropped in the early two thousand during that time period or times reporter james rise and now with the intercept was having about fifty

conversations back and forth with jeffrey and then james rise and released a book about two thousand and five called state of war in which he disclosed the cia's botched release of nuclear plans to iran even jeffrey tried to tell a senate intelligence committee about this information they tried to go after james rise and to find out who his source was just around that same time they arrested jeffrey they dropped the rise in case because obama did not want to go after a reporter because the heat was on obama in the obama administration because he was going after a journalist well the judge who sentenced an ng said one in a perfect world every criminal case will be decided using direct evidence often that's not possible on men kenny says there was nothing but second stachel evidence against any they went and took jeffrey to court the only type of evidence that they had was circumstantial evidence and cia agents saying that it was

a disgruntled employee that released information because of his discrimination case jeffrey has maintained his innocence for almost seventeen years. the new york times which originally published the story of sterling's lawsuit against the cia has not covered his release on mentone says many journalists have simply forgotten about jeffrey sterling journalist or never asked about are asking about jeffrey sterling or talking about it and this is a man who has become an invisible man out for about a man who was in my mind a hero that if the oh you with me even handled this case and so we have to reach out to other types of out which are unable to tell his story. international media outlets have accused russia of trying to raise crimean tartar culture after local authorities started repairing a crumbling mosque the big car the mosque is part of an historical palace in the

south of crimea the walled complex dates back to the sixteenth century and also contains a cemetery and gardens well it's one of the most striking examples of islamic architecture in europe and the subject of numerous works by russian writers musicians and poets sadly the palace and mosque fell into a state of disrepair after years of neglect we are specialist involved in the restoration project what is being done to save the site. completely lost their ability to support the building they are rotten all eaten by beetles and filled with fungus previously told were constantly sliding fulling off the building we're leaving everything as it was before but we're going to secure neutrals with special fixtures and nothing will fall off whenever you get a renovation of a historic monument or site there's always going to be grievances and complaints over the way in which it's done in the manner in which it's carried out but that's

a far cry from deducing from the existence of such complaints that there's some kind of ethnic genocide going on against the tires which is exactly what the ukrainian ministry of culture has portrayed this as so i think the interests are very clear ukraine and the west seem to demonize russia this is an ongoing campaign and secondly of course by creating a victim. then that allows the west to do to ride in a patrol itself as the savior. and the capital of libya is in danger of losing its cut historic heritage due to the current instability in the country tripoli is ancient science had been neglected and left out in the open a photographer from the city has launched a social media campaign to raise awareness. of the flooding the here to the old city is our history it's our past historically it

is the oldest trade exactly with africa. would think. its own again i mean i like to take photos of the old city is my passion. i mean the sand i know no fish if there is no restoration and preservation of ancient buildings. in this but also people took part on twitter their plated photos of the old city

taken by me and other people they wrote about the city so that was in fact. why as i write i'll be back with the headlines in just over half an hour meanwhile for more on all of us stories at watty dot com. this is boom bust and we are coming to you from the lincoln memorial on what is presidents' day in the united states it's a federal holiday and markets are closed in the u.s. but we are booming and busting it out for you the birthday of the first u.s. president george.