this is from. 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. if those suspicions prove to be wrote this government will take whatever measures we deem necessary to protect the lives of the people in this country all drug use and all freedoms. the u.s. is forced to halt ground operations in eastern syria after its kurdish militia partners head to the north of the country to repeal an incursion by washington's nato ally turkey. and ninety nine days to kickoff parties at top the world cup team guides you through some of the host cities making final

preparations for russia two thousand and eighteen. are broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is our international i'm sean thomas glad to have you with us. now the sixty six year old man and his daughter remain a critically ill in the hospital in the u.k. after being exposed to an unidentified substance the man is a former russian colonel who hadn't been convicted of spying for britain and sergei screwball used to serve in the russian military intelligence service in two thousand and six he passed the identities of russian secret agents in europe to the u.k. who subsequently only caught and sentenced to thirteen years in prison but in two thousand and ten he was released as part of a high profile spy swap with the u.s.

and flown to britain. and the russian embassy in the u.k. has contacted the british foreign office requesting more information about the incident involving sergei screwball and his daughter moscow's representatives in london say that they are concerned about the way it has been covered in the media but the lack of clarity concerning what exactly happened has not stopped even the u.k.'s foreign secretary from making some hawkish remarks as artie's politico reports. well it 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 the sixty six year old man. i do thirty three year old daughter. were found unconscious outside

the move to the 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 how surrogate script how his daughter may have come to be sick on that park bench in seoul's barry 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 best 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 pal 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 femen fertile from russia who was on mosques in the us and it's all been conflated here with the case of alexander litvinenko the other former. spy who was poisoned by drinking radioactive tea back in two thousand and six of course script file it's being speculated may have been poisoned by eating some pizza in a pizza place in 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

a 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 should lead me to believe russia under suspicion of planning and executing an attack two thousand miles away britain 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 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 are british police chiefs have also confirmed that quote due to the unusual circumstances the counterterrorism network will be leading the investigation local authorities in the city of salisbury say several officers needed medical help after having worked at the scene where the two were found. you know it was reported sources in the u.k. emergency services at first suspected the pair the pair may have been exposed to a powerful prescription painkiller a synthetic drug called fentanyl it's a fifty to one hundred times stronger than morphine and has a similar effect on the body overdoses from the drug cards at least sixty deaths in the u.k. in two thousand and seventeen commentators we've spoken to say that they don't believe russia was involved i always ask myself in the

circumstances would russia 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 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. the turkish president is pushing ahead with plans to buy a russian as four hundred anti-aircraft missile system despite the threat of sanctions from his nato ally the united states president and i want to cues the military alliance of double standards 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 tell us that this is a wrong step what kind of alliance what kind of solidarity is this. you know has repeatedly urged to turkey not to buy russian weapons earlier this month a top official stressed that the s. four hundred does not integrate with current nato systems yes four hundred would give turkey a new level of control over its airspace and beyond it is a surface to air anti-aircraft missile system and it can engage up to eighty targets at a time up to four hundred kilometers away can also hit fast moving targets travelling at speeds of four point eight kilometers per second. turkish international relations professor hussein by she told us needs russian weapons more than western support we live. very interesting crisis between

turkey and united states of america by literal terms in nato terms invited to i think the turkish position. four hundred. from the turkish defensive plus a point of view russia seems to be one of the possible partners for future despite the fact that 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 of this type of new structure as nato does not provide that. north korea is willing to freeze its nuclear program if the u.s. engages in talks that's according to south korean officials returning from a meeting with kim jong un in pyongyang killam up and has more on the surprise you turn. 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 you used some rather extreme words to describe north korea calling them an extreme threat north korea threatens the 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. u.s. a back to kurdish forces in syria have announced that they are sending seven thousand five hundred troops into the country's north to repeal a turkish military offensive now the forces had been assisting the u.s. coalition in the fight against eisel and now the pentagon says it has been forced to hold those operations because of the kurds departure. some fighters operating

within yes yes have decided to leave oppressions in the middle east river valley to fight elsewhere possibly aren they're not fighting isis anymore and they're basically meant to the not taking territory back from isis is 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 or left to do their own thing and the guys still there in theirs or incapable it seems of beating the little isis on cleef left there 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 these 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 destroyed 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. and we can cross alive to admin agree akademi. and middle east expert thanks for being with us here on r t international . so as our reporter just mentioned there the u.s. is planning to train and equip up to sixty five thousand syrian opposition militants to fight i so how do you see that working out. well i think there's no doubt that this is going to be a difficult. goal to achieve primarily as your reporter mentioned where are

these people going to come from in the united states has in the recent past has relied on the kurdish forces the p y d. which are kurds living in the area near the borders with turkey whether it's in our premier warren. commission a call by me and that that area and therefore the u.s. has been supporting these however the support that the u.s. has provided to the kurdish fighters older group what's known as the kurdish. syrian democratic forces which is a combination of kurdish as well as a smaller number of arab forces fighting together against isis now we are seeing that there is a major split a major conflict going on between some of the syrian opposition forces which are cooperating with turkey and are attacking our free while we are seeing now. latest

reports have come out we have seen some with depending on which report one listens to the somewhere between seventeen hundred to close to three thousand fighters leaving the area. it's members dollars offering of kurds who some arabs fight with them more are going to fight against the turkish forces and that shows the complications the complexity of this conflict and. what kind of challenges the united states for is facing in this area of course the challenges are not only facing the united states they're also facing to a certain extent the syrian government from salas and certainly it's facing turkey you. challenging indeed it's almost impossible to figure out who's fighting who and who's supporting who in this case it's really a mess there in syria that's an understatement but in the past the u.s.

has admitted that weapons supplied to the rebels have actually ended up in the hands of terrorists how can they be sure that the same will not happen again. well this is this is a very good question that's a very an excellent point because in the past we have seen for example some of the groups was a recipient of u.s. aid and either taken over defeated by some of that adequate forces on the ground in syria some of the extremists or some of them have ended up joining with these extremists and they took their weapons with them so this is again another difficulty that the u.s. faces and that's why i think the significance of what we're seeing now going on on the ground in syria there's no doubt that the kurds have been unhappy because of what they see as the u.s. trying to both maintain a close relationship with an ally that is turkey which is one of the most important

allies the second most powerful army in nato while had the same time we are also hearing that the united states is backing the syrian democratic force and this is actually an eighteen turkey they are striving to hold the stick in the middle trying to keep both sides as its allies has shown at least up until now that this is a very difficult question very good difficult issue for the united states and i don't think the situation looks as if it's going to improve anytime soon because the united states for example today we have seen the u.s. saying that that will continue to support general muslim was one of the real manders of the kurdish forces of the syrian democratic forces the same time turkey considers this general to be a terrorists and that is going to put the two parties are. going to have to be felt cross-road exam and so so this is

a challenge right edmund ghareeb i wish we could talk about this at the entire hour i'm sure that we could have plenty to talk about interesting to hear your thoughts i could then again middle east expert thanks for being with us here on out to international. all right more news after break it was. jamie diamond no matter how much he tried to talk down because the matter how much he tried to. get his buddies in washington and out popped it. mean the fact is he's lost he has lost the battle of big point he's got it now come crawling back to the market and say you know what the whole banking industry has been fundamentally change we need to adapt. and. it's been almost fifty years since we've had human beings on the surface of

another planetary body and i hope that we could actually put together an international lunar exploration initiative much like we have the international space station consortium and together the countries of the world cooperating with the private sector could afford to get back into real space exploration and i think that would that would create a real a lot of excitement. welcome back this is our team international now football's world cup will be the biggest sporting event of the year and russia two thousand nine hundred kicks off in ninety nine days there will be sixty four matches in eleven cities played in twelve brand new or revamped state.

now as the world cup countdown clock reached of the one hundred day mark on tuesday events were held across russia with an official ceremony here in moscow. what i do know. russian football officials world cup volunteers and fans all got together to mark the milestone with more on the tournaments and the build up here's our to tell you how. it's a pretty chilly snow covered day here today in moscow but of course the world cup will take place in the highlights 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 mark 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 walkup 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 the security arrangements and the concepts during contributions cup last year and everything went there we will promote what point of view now organizers have put found comfort at the center of preparations those two . ens of thousands of fans coming to russia from all across the world will be able to get a special find all idea long sought 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 army this doctor will enjoy him so that the boys can recall to him once in a while and be able to give your best room to comfort you.

very much full steam ahead here in russia as the countdown begins and what better place to watch all the action than t. with a star studded lineup of pundits and commentators bring you all the latest updates desire to stay with us. that.

both the united states and russia have announced their nuclear weapons posture both countries are entering a new age of war the age of hypersonic weapons are we now in a new arms race. the new global economic war is unfolding in the realm of education the right to education as being supplanted by the right to access education loans higher education is becoming just another product that can be bullet and sold under small just about education anymore it's also about running a business and what you're good at bruges not good is also the kind of couldn't you. want is the place of students in this business model before college i was born now i'm an extremely more higher education the new global economic

wall. hey guys this is boom. bus broadcasting around the world from washington d.c. right here i'm bart chilton. coming up today we talk with bartlett naylor a public citizen about the trumpet ministration and all those efforts on capitol hill to reduce financial firm regulations and perhaps increase risk and it's a big energy we speak with chris martenson of prosperity dot com about global oil and energy related issues on the front burner all that's coming up but first let's get some headlines. stocks are once again edging higher in the u.s. after investors sought refuge in safer investments for two days in the wake of

president donald trump announcement on tariffs on imported steel and aluminum today's rally seems to be a response to a south korean diplomatic delegations report that north korea is willing to hold nuclear talks with the u.s. and to suspend testing during any talks which have lowered fears of conflict meanwhile investors seem to be taking some solace on the broad pushback against mr trump's announced tariff plans today the aluminum aluminum association sent a letter to president trump that says quote unfortunately the tariffs proposed will do little to address the fundamental problem of aluminum overcapacity in china while impacting supply chains with vital trading partners who play by the rules will have more on this later. the committee on foreign investments in the united states has moved to hold off a hostile takeover bid for u.s. chip maker qualcomm by singapore based broadcom the u.s.

treasury department which chairs the committee invoked national security concerns and told hall com in a letter to delay a shareholder meeting to consider the one hundred seventeen billion dollar bid that had been set for today until the committee can fully review the bid the committee sees qualcomm's five g. wireless technology. g.e. as sensitive to national security and is increasingly concerned about keeping such advent technologies out of the hands of chinese firms the decision to review the deal was in response to a petition from qualcomm to the committee after broadcom as hostile bid escalated to nominating six candidates for qualcomm's eleven board member the review means the deal is unlikely to proceed. the federal trade commission is challenging j.m. smucker company a proposed their acquisition of west and cooking oil brand from food and egg giant con agra brands smucker already own.