is this from. just to midnight in moscow headlining this hour the british media goes into overdrive speculating on credibility involvement in the suspected poisoning of a former russian double agent in the u.k. and despite hard facts still more forthcoming than the less the government's threatening retaliation. if those suspicions prove to be well for this guy who will take whatever measures we deem necessary to protect the lives of the people in this country our values and our freedoms also the news this morning the u.s. is forced to hold 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. that's going to pan out and ninety nine days to kickoff

our top world cup team they are top through some of the host cities making final preparations for russia twenty empty. wednesday morning now here in moscow my name's kevin and welcome to this latest live thirty minute news update from r.t. international in th q. . first and the focus on the united kingdom what's happening there over the last twenty four forty eight hours or so a sixty six year old man and his daughter remain critically ill in hospital in the u.k. after being exposed to what's being described as an unidentified substance the twist is the man's a former russian colonel who'd been convicted of spying for britain is name is sergei scripts we used to serve in the russian military intelligence service in two thousand and six though he passed the identities of russian secret agents in europe over to the u.k.

he was subsequently caught and sentenced to thirteen years in prison because of it but another twist in twenty ten he was released as part of a high profile. spy swap with the u.s. and flowed to britain and the russian embassy in the u.k. has contacted the british foreign office requesting more information about the incident involving sergei script and also his daughter in sol's breed down in wiltshire moscow's representatives in london say they're very concerned about the way it's been covered in the media so far in the u.k. but the lack of any clarity still concerning what exactly happened as unstopped even the u.k. foreign secretary for making some pretty hawkish remarks as police report. well 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's dancing on surrogate power 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 sixty six year old man. and use thirty three year old daughter. were found unconscious outside the motif shopping center on sunday afternoon and while it would be wrong to prejudge the investigation i can reassure the house that should evidence emerged that implies state responsibility then the 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 house. and his daughter may have come to be sick on that park bench in seoul's very 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 faced 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 hall 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 all others on the chapman that so-called fend for tell from russia who was on last in the us 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 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 and souls very living in caves 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 forgive in the 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 take a listen to how the media is covering this sounds chillingly familiar russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack two thousand miles away which similarities will be drawn with that case which an inquest found led directly to the kremlin the broader question here is dealing with some sort of economic sophisticated plot. was poisoned it will move really do questions about kremlin involvement given that russian defector alexander litvinenko was murdered in two thousand and six using really want to polonium well amongst all this there are still a few voices caution among them the former british ambassador to moscow also

some commentators hesitantly adding that perhaps the kremlin wouldn't be so keen to murder someone who they themselves had given away many years ago and all this on the eve of a big presidential election. polly boycott their wall of the more british police chiefs have also confirmed their quote judy unusual circumstances now the counterterrorism network will be leading the investigation be to local authorities in the city of souls pretty say that several officers needed medical help after having worked at the scene where the two were found on a bench it's reported that sources in the u.k. emergency services at first suspected the pair could have been exposed to a powerful prescription painkiller a synthetic drug that's making the rounds on some of the streets in britain call friends it's really strong stuff fifty two hundred times stronger than morphine has a similar leave most of the body overdoses from that drug caused at least sixty deaths in the u.k. and twenty seventy but either which way that aside cause aside commentators we've

spoken to say they do not believe that russia was involved here i always ask myself in these circumstances would rush up be stupid enough to carry out such an act two weeks before the russian presidential election and exactly one hundred days before the world cup in russia after all russia if it wanted to could have killed this man at any time obviously that 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. also the headless night america's kurdish allies in syria have announced that they're sending seventeen hundred troops to the country's

north to repel a turkish military offensive there the fighters up till now been assisting the u.s. led coalition in the east which according to pentagon is now having to hold because of this new departure. some fighters operating within the us have decided to leave operations in the middle east river valley to fight elsewhere possibly aren't they're not fighting isis anymore and they're basically meant to the not taken territory back from isis as quickly as they had been in the past the kurds america's most reliable allies in syria have ups and left go on to make war with america's fellow anti isis coalition member and nato partner turkey not the friendliest coalition in the world but that's besides the point you know you've got the. distraction of what's going on up front right now it distracts from international effort to ensure the lasting defeat of isis what is going on in

a free is taking away from the fight against isis it is a distraction as secretary mabus had called it is certainly not helpful problem is while america's anti isis coalition butchers and cannibalizes itself the war against the jihad ists has stopped the kurds all left to do their own thing and the guys still there in theirs or incapable it seems of beating the little isis on plea for their so washington is building an entire new army one key element of the strategy to defeat isis is to train equip sustain and enable elements of the vetted syrian opposition forces are projected to total approximately sixty to sixty five thousand. sixty five thousand these spared army would be bigger than the canadian or straightly and militaries and don't forget there are already three warring armies in syria the pentagon is

planning on equipping and providing this puppet force with everything but there are underwear tens of thousands of new rifles machine guns mortars millions of rounds of ammunition thousand vehicles don't forget this seemingly going to pay their salaries two to four hundred dollars a month it's all in the new counterterrorism fund request it says clearly once isis is the straw it this new army will stabilize and patrol the territory it holds near enough a third of syria which measures well with washington's plans to stay in syria indefinitely keep the country split up and prevent asaad from winning but there are questions like where is the us going to find thirty thousand more moderate rebels when it couldn't find ten can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters remains

it's a small number. the ones that are in the fight. is we're talking four four five the last time the us trained equipped and sent forth a rebel army they all promptly gave up their guns and joined al qaida they spent hundreds of millions on that by the way it was really embarrassing any way you look at it this means more war it says so in black and white the us will only train and equip vetted syrian opposition and hope that this time they don't all turn out to be islam ist radicals. i will close one of our guys do reporting the executive director on paul pease institute meantime things relations now between the u.s. and the kurds alike unlikely to normalize anytime soon 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 buy you 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 does the u.s. 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 change a story no change of pace to talk football football's world cup will be the biggest sporting event of the year and russia twenty eight in kicks off in now ninety nine days which is two hundred are going to keep up with the times they'll be sixty four much is an eleven cities played in twelve and you will read the stadium.

so as the world cup countdown clock reached the one hundred day mark that was just a couple of hours ago my shift events were held across russia with an official ceremony here in moscow. what i do know. russian football officials are world cup volunteers who found got together to mark the most with more autonomy in the build up the huge stars are about to tell you about taking part in it in a minute. 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 won the bid to host the fifth world cup but as time has moved closer to

the event it's really flown by and today marks the first marker 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 and 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 great opportunity to test all the security arrangements and the concepts to bring to the confederations cup last year and everything went well we will promote what point of view now organizers have put found comfort the same. proper ations those tens of thousands of fans coming to russia from all across the world will be able to get a special fine idea alongside their tickets now that means they can come out of 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 news about the will enjoy and sort out a boy's recalled to him once in

a while and be able to give the best room to comfort you. very much full steam ahead here in russia as the countdown begins on what better place to watch all the action than tea with a star studded lineup of pundits and commentators bring you the latest updates i'll go into some detail about that in a moment. first we just want to show these pictures if you think playing top flight football is difficult enough get this do in the water within this good excuse to show you these this is pictures in from sochi the rain animals in the rushes the result they have been wowing their football skills and a bit of a kick. ninety nine days to go with a few visitors at the city's aquatic but they're pretty good of a. bad stuff now let's talk about the stars of the show come to an art international we're going to be bringing you promised the spectacle of russia twenty eighteen what why wouldn't we cause we're going to be we're going to be the place to do it and we have got maysan the some of football's biggest names the come on board we're so please on board already former manchester united goalkeeper great

peter schmeichel also former liverpool england striker stan collymore you are seeing stan over the last few months it was great you show and as of yesterday one of the most decorated coaches of the modern game shows emery neo's with us too. for a world cup twenty eight team coverage we've signed one of the greatest goalkeepers of all service but there was one more question by the way was going to be our coach . guys i know you are there was a huge tournaments and a huge amount of pressure you have to go to the center of the beach but how would you. grade the grid if you are the rock at the back nobody gets past you we need you to get down there we have to go. alone. and i'm really happy to join the fall of two thousand and three in the world cup in russia. this special what was also appreciated needs to just take the real

p.r.t. teams the latest edition to make up a bigger better just look. but it's nice top stories now more developments but the turkish president is vowing to press on with purchasing the russian s four hundred missile system despite the threat of sanctions from his nato ally the united states president there one is also accusing the military alliance in return there for a double standards now let those who criticize us for purchasing the s four hundred to fight terrorism look at themselves why are they silent about the s three hundred which greece has and they tennis that this is a wrong step what kind of alliance what kind of solidarity is this. well nato has made its dissatisfaction clear every step of the way earlier this month. rose gottemoeller pointed out the problem at the desk four hundred system doesn't integrate with current nato are where there's four hundred would give turkey

a new level of control over its airspace and beyond it's a surface to air anti aircraft missile system developed back in the ninety's but state of the art it can engage up to eighty targets at a time to four hundred kilometers away apparently and apparently the boffins say it could also hit fast moving targets up to the story four point eight kilometers a second it's impressive stuff anyway hence the turks want it turkish intelligence international relations professor hussein but she told us that he thinks ankara needs russian weapons more right now the western support we live in the moment they're very interesting prices between turkey and the united states of america in by literal terms as well as in major terms in bioethical terms i think the turkish position to. four hundred is. from the turkish defense policy point of view russia is seen to be one of the possible partners for future despite.

this type of missile system is not applicable to the nato structure but this is one nine hundred ninety one first gulf war turkey is always in need for this type of new structure as nato does not provide. the next maybe this is the surprise story of the year a diplomatic breakthrough on the cards for the two koreas you hear me correct the north officials now reportedly told the southern counterparts after everything is going on that pyongyang would be willing to abandon its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees kalam open has more on the surprise about. it's been yet another breakthrough in the possible warming of relations between north and south korea we now hear an announcement that the democratic people's republic of korea would be willing to give up its nuclear arsenal if their security were protected if furthermore they have promised that they will never attack south korea and there is

now plans in the works for a summit between north and south korea to north korea has clearly expressed its willingness to launch the denuclearization of the korean peninsula in the tweet don't trump talks about the possibility of peace on the korean peninsula now this is quite a different tone than he has taken in the past donald trump's tweet has itself a mixed message he talks about possible peace but then he also talks about the fact that the usa would be willing to go either way now we've also heard from rex tillerson hugh used some rather extreme words to describe north korea calling them an extreme threat north korea threatens entire global community through its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs and political activities including its arms exports to africa so as there is a thaw in relations and the two governments on the korean peninsula seem to be moving closer toward each other and many are wondering what will be the next move as the united states remains a question there's

a huge military presence by the united states in south korea and all eyes are on the negotiations that are taking place the world is anticipating and hopeful about the possibility of peace but what role the usa will play in antagonizing or intensifying the conflict remains in question you know we put that to political science professor joseph chang he says the biggest challenge is next indeed will be to get double terms of ministration to the table had probably. is considerable doubt on the part of the united states but i think the cost on the table and the real challenge of course is for the united states to decide whether to engage north korea. or not while recognizing the nuclear weapons capability open and indicating is spread to talk. about north korea's all to me objectives. russian military transport plane crashed or learning

to syrian air base today killing everyone on board it's now known the aircraft was carrying thirty million people seven more than initially reported. as the deed to. pull the latest information that we're getting from the russian defense ministry is that there were in fact thirty three passengers along with six crew members aboard the plane they were all military personnel and they all perished in the crash of the incident took place as the aircraft attempted to land at the russian operated he made him air base on syria's western coast it crashed about five hundred meters from the runway now the airplane itself isn't until nov and twenty six a military transport aircraft that was designed in the soviet union the defense ministry has also confirmed that the plane was not fired upon and while they are looking into all other possible reasons behind the crash initial report suggests that a technical malfunction is to blame here. shocking pictures next an israeli border

officers been caught on video throwing a stun grenade at a couple carrying an infant in the west bank. the because of. that footage was released by an israeli human rights group it's been reported that the palestinian couple were fleeing a confrontation in the village at the time it which soldiers targeted homes with smoke grenades the son gregory seen in data exploding right next to them by the looks of it now the i.d.f. responded by saying dozens of protesters were throwing rocks at the time it troops in the area on the officers didn't spot the couple were carrying a child the statement went on to say that if a baby had been noticed they would have acted accordingly the rights group which released the video says violence by israelis against palestinians is what comes under occupation and it was done to prevent it because of the reality of the occupation the israeli occupation over the palestinians and this incident as well as in many many others in recent weeks we're seeing in this collision of violence

by israeli citizens or certain towards palestinians the terrorist in the civilians who are not citizens despite these many many incidents. public awareness is still low and more importantly the military is failing to provide provide. these tightest indians the security that they are required we're seeing that many many of the violence of settlers and military personnel starts palestinians go without any trials without any investigations or with feudalistic ations and many of them closed down due to lack of the police failure to investigate as they should and this is the case and this is the reality that we're in. and that is a snapshot of just some of the big world news stories happening around us all tonight thanks for watching out international for this round up i'm kevin owen back with more in thirty minutes on the programs continue for you right after this break .

that. the new global economic war is unfolding in the realm of education the right to education being supplanted by the right to access education. higher education is becoming just another product that can be pulled and sold so this not

just about education anymore it's also about running a business where you good. luck with these songs. really couldn't be. more just the place of students in this business model for college and more now on an extremely more higher education the new global economic war. jamie diamond no matter how much you try to talk down because no matter how much you try to. get his buddies in washington to wap it guy i mean the fact is he's lost he has lost the battle of big point 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.

if. if if if. if. the sick sick sick. sick sick sick sick sick. the spawn of pigs are. on the team is the. goal of

the. make up because. i think if and. if it. does in the years later a level to something was in the making headlines i might just make a name thanks afghanistan's not it's not dark and good place is not good gentry and i always feel that i'm dying in afghanistan because it's not safe place . at all snug little. i mean one on top. and you know off.