breaking news on r.t. international a russian military transport plane crashes while landing at an air base in syria killing all thirty two people on board. the british news media goes into overdrive speculating on the kremlin involvement in the suspected poisoning of a former russian double agent in the u.k. and despite hard facts the government's threatening retaliation. just proved to be well thought we take whatever measures we deem necessary to protect the rights of the people in this country. and. the us holds ground operations in eastern syria after its kurdish militia partners head to the north of

the country to repel an incursion by washington's nato ally turkey. and a hundred days to kick off our world cup team guides you through some of the host cities making final preparations for russia twenty eighteen. it's six o'clock here in moscow and you're watching r.t. international live from our studio with mina david welcome to the program and we start with the breaking news from syria where a russian military transport plane has crashed while landing killing all thirty two people on board to give us more details we're joined by our team in the studio. another terrible tragedy jacqueline what do we know so far well russia's defense ministry has come out saying that there were twenty six passengers on board along with six crew members and as you said they did all die in the the crash. it in

itself took place as the aircraft attempted to land at the russian operated him in air base on syria's west coast and crushing about five hundred meters from the runway now the plane itself was in the twenty six and that's a military transport aircraft that was designed in the soviet union it's capable of carrying up to thirty eight passengers and has a payload of over five tons the defense ministry has says that it's of course looking into all possible causes of the crash but that initial report suggests a technical malfunction may be responsible they also did add that there is nothing to indicate that the plane itself was shot but of course they're going to be looking into all possibilities and will be letting everyone know soon what we know so early days yet and i'm sure you'll keep us across the new details as they come in thanks talking. to people remain critically in hospital in the u.k. after being exposed to an unidentified substance they are a former russian who'd been convicted of spying for britain and his daughter so to

get a script used to serve in the russian military's intelligence service in two thousand and six he passed the identities of russian secret agents in europe to the u.k. he was subsequently court and sentenced to thirteen years in prison but in twenty ten he was released as a part of a high profile spy swap with the u.s. and flown to britain. the russian embassy in the u.k. has contacted the british foreign office requesting more information about the incident involving and his daughter but the unclear nature of the incident hasn't stopped the u.k. foreign secretary making some bold declarations as polyploid reports but just goes to show how these stories can snowball now the foreign secretary boris johnson has had to answer an urgent question in the house of commons about the government dancing again. and boris johnson did say that it's not clear what happened and this

is still an active investigation however if it's linked back to russia the kremlin is going to have to pay the sixty six year old man. and his thirty three year old daughter. were found unconscious outside the moat shopping center on sunday afternoon and while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation i can reassure the house that should evidence emerge that implies state responsibility then her majesty's government will respond appropriately and robustly. well it is remarkable how this story has developed over the past few hours the media took the few facts that we had on this story from the police and it's now splashed everywhere security experts speculating on every angle of how surrogates his daughter may have come to be sick on that park bench in solsbury there's not much new wants to the analysis it's got to be said despite this being an active

investigation we've already got politicians waving their face saying that russia can turn the u.k. into its own personal killing fields and on the other hand it's not surprising that this story is causing the for rory that it is it's got all the hallmarks of a spy thriller script was a double agent convicted in russia for selling secrets to britain swapped in two thousand and ten in that very famous spy swap for among others on the chapman that so-called femme fertile from russia who was on mosque in the u.s. and it's all been conflated here with the case of alexander litvinenko the other former russian spy who was poisoned by drinking radioactive tea in a sushi restaurant back in two thousand and six of course script file is being speculated may have been poisoned by eating some pizza in a pizza place in solsbury eleven inquiries widow maria has been giving interviews

talking about how russians in exile here in the u.k. need to be better protected that they might not feel safe air and suggestions also in the papers the big headlines about putin never having forgiven script for what he did and that. may have feared for his life in recent weeks after the death of his wife and his son both ostensibly in car crashes take a listen to how the media is covering this. back to two thousand and six that was one of my. legs and. was poisoned and died a slow horrible death. was poisoned really do questions about kremlin involvement given that russian alexander litvinenko was murdered in two thousand and six using really want to polonium immediately people's minds go back to alexander litvinenko polonium two ten and everything similarities will be drawn with that case which an

inquest found led directly to the kremlin and there are already outraged commentators banging their fists on the tables saying that the u.k. cannot be allowed to become the kremlin the killing fields amongst all this there are some voices urging caution one former ambassador to moscow a british ambassador to moscow was saying this morning that this narrative of the kremlin murdering script file needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. police in the city of solsbury say several officers needed medical help after having worked at the scene where the two were found is reported the sources in the u.k. emergency services at first suspected the pair may have been exposed to a powerful prescription painkiller a synthetic drug called fontanel fifty to one hundred times stronger than morphine and has a similar effect on the body overdoses from the drug caused at least sixty deaths in the u.k. in twenty seventeen. let's bring in mary into cesky

a british world affairs writer and broadcaster mary welcome to the program now if we look at what boris johnson so he's threatened to pull the england football team out of the world cup in russia if moscow's link to the incident in salisbury why do you think he's being this so soon when no links have been established as yet. well i think there were two things that when boris johnson was what was said to be an emergency question in the house of commons he said well of course you know we're not jumping to any conclusions right now but there will be many members of parliament who will make links with the case that they'll remember that union could case and they'll draw their own conclusions and he said if it is found that russia is somehow involved then we will take measures now i have hot news for

you on the football front because although what he said about the world cup was interpreted as meaning that maybe. england would take its football team out of the world cup it was later clarified by his staff that this was actually not what he intended to mean what he meant was it is it that the representation of england the dignitaries the ministers and those sort of people who might go and support the british team. that their presence would be very much pared down if it was considered there was a russian link so it doesn't seem that the england team is actually going to be pulled from the world cup never married he said it nevertheless another classic boris gaffe do you think. well i think when you look at what he said he said representation and of course if you're a foreign secretary that means one thing in your mind but to the mass of people out

there it means nothing other than the england team so everybody it seems was out spinning within minutes his members of his staff were out there saying no no that's not what he meant so i think we have to take the sort of semi denial that's probably what he meant well we've just heard from the u.k. counterterrorism terrorism policing network is now investigating the circumstances of the incident in three. what do you make of. well i think that other thing that is an unexplained death with some sort of substance that either hasn't been identified or maybe has been identified and that it's an out of the ordinary attack then i think that the antiterrorism police are going to be involved you know in our minds we tend to think of the terrorism units

as being directed towards terrorism with islamic. connotations but actually it goes much wider than that and recently they've been looking at white english extremist attacks as well so i think any unexplained attack that looks as though it may have a political dimension is going to be directed to the terrorists and police as you mentioned before marian and if you've been following the british media like everyone else has the comparisons are being drawn with the alexander litvinenko case his wife's been giving interviews that the former russian intelligence agent killed by radiation poisoning in london. in your opinion would there be as much attention if it were a former intelligence officer from a different country other than russia. that's a very difficult question to answer because the only cases that i'm aware of have

been to do with russian exiles whether they have been intelligence operatives or whether like for instance boris berezovsky they were exiled politicians and tycoons so i think that's that's quite a hard question to answer but i think the obviously the shadows and the resonance in so many people's minds are going to be from the alexander litvinenko case because that dominated the british had lines for so long and it seems at least superficially that there are parallels here at least in the the russian intelligence angle ok mary to jeff the world affairs writer and broadcaster thanks very much for coming on to the program thank you. football's world cup will be the biggest sporting event of the year russia twenty eighteen kicks off in one hundred sixty four matches and eleven cities played in twelve brand new or revamped

stadiums. events to mark the countdown milestone in taking place across russia with more details. it's a pretty chilly snow covered day here today in moscow but of course the world cup will take place in the heights of moscow's warm summer it seems so long ago now that russia was bid to host a fee for world cup but as time has moved closer to the event it's really flown by and today marks the first martyr one hundred days till the start of football's biggest festivals preparations have been well underway twelve stadiums across eleven cities from khazan in the east to kaliningrad in the west and fifo officials have been keeping a close eye on those preparations on those developments so far so good from them

it's been a thumbs up this is very important for fee for and for the local organizing committee to make clear to everyone every fan around the world that the walk up is going to be an inclusive event an open event a welcoming event for everyone who respective of their background or region nationality gender sexual orientation or skin color it is an event which is for everyone and this is the year the commitment that we have made in the local authorities in the local organizing committee that are behind this as well together with us people have complete trust in the security preparations and the security concept people looked at by russian authorities to the local organizing committee and we had also a great opportunity to test all this. security arrangements on the concepts during the confederations cup last year and everything went well we will promote what point of view now organizers have put found comfort at the center of all the

preparations those tens of thousands of fans coming to russia from all across the world will be able to get a special fine idea alongside that tickets now that means they can come into the country visa free as what does get free travel on special transport between the host cities and in the host cities as well also of course giving them peace of mind about safety and security now of course the fines have been the main priority but it's the sports teams themselves who are taking center stage many of the world's greatest stars coming to russia and it's fair to say those teams have had requests which have been let's say a little bit more unusual. will

come. will come once in a while to prepare the nigerian knew this doctor will enjoy them so that the boys can recall to him once in a while and be able to give the best we're going to come for you. very much full steam ahead here. as the countdown begins and what better place to watch all the art should be with a star studded lineup of pundits and commentators bring you the latest updates. and

if you think playing top flight football is difficult enough try doing it in water with the marine animals in russia's southern resorts of she had to battle the skills of having a kick with a few of the visitors at the city's aquatic center. throughout the day here and also international with taking you around some of the world cup host cities as the hundred day countdown gets going to the opening match for russia twenty eight thousand. plenty more this i would say that is progress in relations between north and south korea but not everyone is ready to celebrate the details after this break . you should. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected.

so we want to be present. to go right to the pros this is what before three of the more people. interested in the water. there should.

welcome back to the program north korea has performed a political one hundred eighty saying there is no reason to further pursue nuclear weapons if it gets a security county the country even promises to halt nuclear testing proposed talks with the u.s. this latest development came after a visit to north korea by a delegation from the south the head of the group says he was told. there would be no need for a nuclear program if there is no threat of invasion referring to the u.s. military presence in south korea as a result the two korean nations will hold their first joint political summit in decades in april and yet even with the now by and cautious prospect of peace on the horizon not everyone is happy the winter olympic games have seen an unprecedented thaw in relations between north and south korea and now the games are over the two countries have not given up on their road to better relations for the first time in more than a decade south korean envoys are meeting with kim jong un you won't hear any

celebrating in the u.s. though take donald trump's tough talk as far as the risk of dealing with the management is concerned that's his problem not mine while warhawk neo-cons talk about a military solution all the damage that would come from the war would be worship in terms of long term stability and national security to be fair u.s. leaders did pause there rehearsal for all out war during the olympic games but almost as soon. as the closing ceremonies were over the tanks and planes were out once again and they were rehearsing for mass death new york times reports that a classified u.s. military exercise examined the number of u.s. troops that would be involved in a potential conflict on the korean peninsula according to their estimate roughly ten thousand u.s. soldiers would be wounded in just the first few days of a new korean war the brutality of this war will be beyond the experience of any living soldier in the north and south korea may be tentatively moving forward but the reluctant united states will only sit down with conditions trump says that

a meeting can only be arranged via beijing if the north will give up their nuclear weapons that according to pyongyang is a ridiculous and preposterous demand we've waited so long for this to come up there's no leadership in south korea that is recognizing that this has gone on for far too long and this leadership under president moon who is a progressive lawyer he knows what dialogue can do and has seen how it can get interrupted by one side or another wanting to engage in this ongoing type of tug of war of the united states has not necessarily had an interest for peace in korea really. it doesn't seem like the leadership wants to create a real atmosphere for peace that brings us back to the beginning full circle to the vitriolic war of words which is not exactly been helpful in previous years caleb

mop and r.t. new york. america's kurdish allies and syria have confirmed that sending almost too fast and fighting with the anti still coalition to repel turkey's minute chief and sit in the north it follows an announcement from the u.s. military saying it's being forced to pull its ground operations in the east of the country some forces operating within the east. have decided to leave a prey sions in the middle euphrates river valley to fight elsewhere possibly in africa they're not fighting isis anymore and that basically meant that the not taking territory burnt from isis is quickly as they had been in the past the syrian democratic forces mentioned in the pentagon statement all predominantly composed of kurdish militia fighters they've played a crucial role in combating i saw in syria and have been receiving support from washington but now a spokesperson for the militia has said that protecting people in syria's northern city of afrin is more important than aiding the u.s.

coalition turkey launched an offensive against the kurdish militias in the african region back in january and quote considers them to be terrorist groups and says it wants to dislodge them from the border area three or khan reports but according to u.s. officials u.s. backed a ground operations against islamic revenants in eastern syria have been put on hold now that's because kurds who had spearheaded combat against extremists have shifted to a separate fight with turkish forces in a free the kurdish region of a free and in northern syria has become a new geo political pivot point in the conflict turkey launched an offensive in a frame in january to expel syrian kurdish forces what it sees as a terrorist group and as an extension of a kurdish insurgency at home while the parties in the region are trying to figure out what to do exactly the violence in the region continues.

for weeks now defense secretary jim matheson other u.s. officials have called turkey's operation a distraction from the anti isis campaign you know you've got the. distraction of what's going on africa right now it distracts from international efforts. ensure the lasting defeat of isis what is going on in freeing is taking away from the fight against isis it is a distraction as secretary mabus had called it is certainly not helpful however it seems that for kurdish forces the fighting in a frame is more than just a distraction kurds have been washington's key allies in the fight against iceland one of the most effective forces combat ing extremists in the region the pentagon has already admitted that the potential costs of their destruction from the isis site is severe now we just have to wait and see how this will affect the battle against isis in syria and whether or not this will extend u.s.

operations in the country. the executive director of the wrong peace institute thinks relations between the u.s. and the kurds are unlikely to normalize well it's three months of the old saying it's better to be the enemy than the ally of the united states because if you're the enemy they may try to value but if you're the ally they certainly will sell you and that certainly seems like what they're doing with the kurds perhaps the kurds are understanding that they will be sold out they were sold out at rocca as well and they will be sold out in the eastern part of syria where the u.s. is operating and they're coming to the aid of their allies dizzee us hope that the syrian government gets further drawn in to the fight with the kurds against the turks then the u.s. can swing back around and help it struck his ally in fighting the syrian government and the kurds as well maybe that's the move that would mean the big question mark is what will russia do in a situation like that talk about a disaster. that's our round up of the news for now next up is watching the hawks

i'll be back at the top of the hour so. jamie diamond no matter how much he tried to talk down because the matter how much he tried to. get his buddies in washington out whopping gone i mean the fact is he's lost is lost the battle of big climb these guys now come crawling back to the market and say you know what the whole banking industry has been fundamentally change we need to adapt.

readings and salutation well the oscars may be over but the tricks here in washington d.c. might never end this week and the house intelligence committee had. republican out of california put his best dramatic foot forward while making the news media rounds all weekend in response to a recent skit by late show host stephen colbert or which saw the comedian hit the how the halls of capitol hill to push his own version of the trump russian intelligence memo which he subtly titled. devon newness is a blank redacted fill in the blank you know whatever you'd like it to be the offended congressman sounded off the fox news host neil cavuto declaring i think this is the danger we have in this country this is an example of it he went on to lay out a vast left wing conspiracy against him and other conservatives saying the left controls not only the universities in this country but they also control hollywood in this country in the mainstream media so conservatives in this country are under

attack and i think this is a great example of it but miss oscar weekend cable news carousel wasn't finished with just a little a little cut owing no new new new new new no intelligence committee chairman sound off yet again this time to light liberty in levying host mark levine telling his fox news sunday audience that quote the media in this country is dead it no longer exists and the american people need to understand this well. in the words of john mcclane. welcome to the party pal because golly gee whiz congressman newness anyone who's been paying attention could told you that much which is why most of us have said farewell to your left and right wings of news media and started watching the hawks. but you get the.

real deal with. as you get to the bottom. like you that i got. this. week so. well for the watch of the hawks i have with her and i'm top of the list and joining us today is american radio and t.v. host and conservative commentator steve malzberg welcome steve great to be here guys steve always a pleasure now can it be called ironic that congressman newness was was describing those of those supposed to you know suffocating chokehold the liberal media has of us airwaves while appearing on one of the biggest most popular news travels in the world that. is the bullhorn for conservative politics and values and is it really

that imbalanced. between yeah. oh yeah i mean it's overwhelming it has been forever you know we used to have the three networks a.b.c. c.b.s. n.b.c. where you could get your news from and they were all in retrospectively doing left their host because of those coveted news shows that had such gravitas we find out later we're all left this but today yeah i mean as you pointed out fox right away you think conservative and they are more conservative but i gotta say they have true liberal contributors on their payroll when if you look at the other cable networks they don't go to true conservative contributors they all have rhinos republicans in name only who bash and they're called republicans so i mean i have no at no no what legions to fox here but fox is more fair and balanced than any of the others but look it's the media it is the universities i mean look what happens

when a conservative speaker wants to speak at berkeley or here in new york there are riots there i mean.