expel sixty u.s. diplomats and shots the american consulate in st petersburg copying washington's move over the script case ball the state department says it reserves the right to respond further. sources close to wiki leaks say the ecuadorian embassy has brought julian assange internet access to stop him tweeting about catalonia and designer vivienne westwood says we must get back on the line. it's really important that he's got access to the world by old we expose your manages to do. and netflix users threatened to boycott the online entertainment giant as it appoints president obama's appalling national security adviser to its

board of directors. this is r.t. international coming to you live from moscow i'm kate partridge thank you for joining us. russia will expel sixty u.s. diplomats and close the american consulate incident petersburg and relating washington's move over the script poisoning case foreign minister sergei lavrov announced the talent she measures against the u.s. and pledged to mirror a response to other states that have deported last year's diplomats. include the expulsion of the same number of u.s. diplomats and withdrawal of our consent for the us consulate in some petersburg as far as other states are concerned we will always give amir a response as it promised russia has responded tit for tat for every russian

diplomat kicked out from the two dozen or so countries one of their diplomats will be kicked out of russia almost all of those countries by the way the nato members who hopeful's the united states though may have to charter a jet sixty evidence diplomats have been ordered to leave russia the same number kicked out by washington the u.s. consulate in st petersburg is being closed down in response to the closure of russia's consulate in seattle and mirrors spawn's no more no less and again moscow has called on the united states to stop it is proposed to us our forty's inciting in fueling this merican pain against our country to think incurred their reckless actions destroying bilateral relations the sum up russia which remotely denies any role in this poisoning says never before have we witness such mockery of

international law it is also convened a special meeting of the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons would be c.w. has sent technical experts to examine the substance with which the former russian double agent and his daughter were poisoned but their vest the geisha will be technical. o.p.c. w. explosive arrived in london to analyze the substance used in the alleged poisoning of sergei and you'll script how this will only allow them to distinguish the chemical formula of the substance the o.p.c. w. technical secretariat doesn't have the mandate to verify the u.k.'s allegations by the way the investigation into the case is still ongoing and the u.k. and its allies insist that russia was behind this russia then eyes any such thing and says that this fair is politically motivated there's been no investigation no

trial no evidence only accusations which have taken a turn for the literary rather like the beginning of crime and punishment in really crime. lord man he was a tree full of hours at this point. where all confident about the identity of the culprit the only question is whether he will first confess or be quite brisk ashworth us have you read crime and punishment to the end you know unlike you we have read just a yes especially for boris johnson the just j.f.k. quote translated in english from a hundred tributes you can not make a horse hundred suspicions don't make it proof boris johnson went on to cement his case by saying that unlike russia which makes deadly poisons britain manufactures nonexistent imaginary fantasy weapons that don't work but you need to know.

about the difference between modern britain and the government let him. so i seriously they make novacek. we make light statements one is a hideous weapon specifically designed for assassination the others are employees of the theatrical prep with the mysterious bags they would know many but opinion is divided on what exactly boris johnson meant or how exactly he hoped this would help his case however the diplomatic standoff threatens to continue escalating as washington says it may respond further to moscow's moves reserve the right further to any russian retaliation against the united states so we are reading this we are reviewing it and will respond accordingly. well state department spokesperson has an out there also claims russia raise isolating itself through its response to the

expulsion of russian diplomats when the u.s. r.t. samir khan has more. well believe it or not the diplomatic spat between the u.s. and russia has escalated even further just after russia announced their tit for tat response the u.s. is now considering new options against russia and just to remind our viewers washington expelled sixty eight russian diplomats and closed russia's consulate in seattle just after london claimed without any evidence that russia was behind the alleged poisoning of a former double agent and his daughter on british soil and in retaliation moscow asked the same number of diplomats to leave now even though it was a tit for tat measure the state department or you had that there is no justification for the russian response and russia supposedly isolating itself from the world and reporter seem puzzled as to why moscow's move wasn't justified and continued to push for more clarification i want to remind you that there is no justification for the russian response and i'm not trying to understand you you

guys throughout sixty of their people we don't see this as a diplomatic tit for tat the american diplomats who are being expelled are not. spies and diplomatic cover i'm saying that they work for the u.s. state department they are our colleagues who have served there with great distinction but you but you're saying that these that your your action was justified there is wasn't because these people aren't the equivalent legs i think we're forgetting what got us to this place well now are dodging questions about whether the expelled u.s. diplomats were spies or not and then reporters pushed again to understand why the state department considers moscow's actions to be wrong and it seems that washington is forcing moscow to take responsibility and humbly accept punishment for a crime that there is no evidence for essentially you're asking russia to just admit that they did it and and take their punishment be the adult thing to do they're saying that they did it you are in fact asking them to you know admit to something

that they say that they don't you know what there's nothing wrong with. admit it meeting wrong doing well now or went on to make some very incendiary comments to justify quote expressing solidarity with the u.k. calling the expelled diplomats russian spies saying that the us is better off without russian spies when there's no evidence that they were spies either since a now we're just going to have to wait and see where this all goes from here former u.s. diplomat john graham believes there's no logical reason for russia to have chosen a deadly nerve agent as a method of assassination i keep looking at all of this going on that we haven't looked at the formulas for movie jointly with the nerve agent it's very unstable it's very dangerous not to handle you have to be an expert to handle your kill yourself so the question here is why on earth if you wanted to assassinate me to secure polish guard why would you use it to dangerous weapon he's sitting on

a park bench when i just go up behind him and shoot him in the back of the head. so i came to the conclusion that basically the nerve agent we use because the person that did it knew it would be traced back to the crumb because the stuff actually was. invented made with united your original lead by the russian i don't hear what the p.c. give you that international organization is this in two weeks it's pretty obvious because these stuff these things don't have a fingerprint on the stuff was the reach up to that doesn't mean the russians did it it was you visited by the russians. when we were all moscow has called the expulsion of russian diplomats a baseless sanction and u.k. allegations of russian involvement in the sky poisoning have been deemed a highly likely assumption than proof.

now we hear leaks founder julian assange has been denied internet access since monday and isn't being allowed visitors at the ecuadorian embassy in london where he's been staying for we're six years now sources close to the whistleblower group

told r.t. why the ecuadorian officials took those decisions as i was to say a chicken a reports according to sources close to wiki leaks we have learned that the ecuadorian government had police telling tronic jammers inside vehicles dorrian embassy right behind me where julian assange has been holed up for over five and a half years now and the idea of this was to block him from being able to tweet as well as communicate with the outside world hold telephone conversations or have access to the internet generally speaking we also understand that he's about how he's been banned from having visitors inside the embassy and apparently all of this comes following a publication in the equip dorrian press about julian assange just tweets concerning the cattle on issues pacifically the detention of cattle on independence leader a carlist which demands in germany earlier this. week and our understanding according to this source close to weaken leaks is that julian assange would have to has to his team have been informed of having to delete

a certain tweet that he had posted among others concerning the cattle an issue in one nine hundred forty the elected president of catalonia louis comparison was captured by the gestapo at the request of spain delivered to them and executed today german police have arrested the elected president of catalonia karl is put to munch at the request of spain to be extradited now julian assange did not delete this tweet and it's our understanding again according to these sources that are close to julian assange we can leaks is that the dorrian government has informed him and his team about their discomfort with his expressing his opinions about the catalan issue and following that information they did put those alec tronic jammers in place to have him stop communicating with the outside world and curiously all of this comes following a statement from a top official here in the u.k. describing julian assange as quote a miserable little worm let's take

a look at this because of great regret the jude innocent remains in the ecuador embassy it is people even deeper regret that even last night he was teaching against her majesty's government for their conduct in replying to the attack and so it's really it's about time that this miserable little worm walked out of the embassy and gave himself up to british justice well earlier we know that claims were made by the ecuadorian government who said that julian assange had signed some kind of agreement saying that he wouldn't weed or say anything about politics of ecuador as well as other countries but again according to this source close to wiki leaks those claims have been false. british fashion designer vivienne westwood is a friend of a song and gave him her support from outside the embassy on thursday she says she's worried about his treatment. we're very concerned about the fact that she can see our visitors at the moment and it's really important that he's got access to the

world by all the exposures that he manages to do he's a reserve war hero where he exposed american war crimes they want to be concrete and you know this is just my friend and he's brilliant an arm a fashion designer called vivienne westwood and i see him quite regularly and a supporter whenever i can well it sounds took refuge inside the embassy in twenty twelve after being accused of rape in sweden which was later dropped by stockholm sorceresses the whistleblower fears leaving the embassy and being extradited to the u.s. where he faces charges of espionage. well to discuss this i'm now joined by journalist and documentary filmmaker john pilger john thank you very much indeed for joining us the ecuadorians say a sergeant violated an agreement he was made to sign saying he shouldn't comment on foreign affairs while he signed deny that this happened so what do you think is the

real reason for these punishments. i don't know about an agreement what i do know is this in fact and you have to step back this is about a war on freedom of speech this man is playing to not the most basic rights freedom of speech it's not it's con why the wider war is against you know an enemy russia or is one of them china is another but at the moon that sack the propaganda stage and preventing jewel in the sun which is organization with the leaks has been has done soon much to expose the true nature of this war the rapacious sucked of this war. and the dangers that the president's silencing him taking away his basic freedom of speech is is part of that it's part of the the propaganda war the the attack in salt

represents here we have a western diplomats being expelled own all over the world on the basis of no evidence of no evidence and when julian assange tweeted recently he wasn't saying that the russians might not necessarily be innocents of this he was just suggesting that there was no evidence but that's what this propaganda war is about it is a war on speaking out it is a war on just sent it is a war on the very things that i've been saying about it's a war on journalism and requires elaborate color. aberrate that flight in the guardian is despicable journalist james oh who are who who wrote today and other collaborates these these are not journalists because this is about the public's right to know and it's the public's right to know what their governments are doing

the second part of this war is about a real you think get the whole trait or we've got the prospect of a real war and less this propaganda or he's seeing through that's why this attack home julian assange freedom of speech. the attack on him and wiki service years is so important because it does would join with some should be do it going back to just holding great power took count. do you think in this particular instance though there's something in the timing here being significant given the fact that the british minister alan dug out if you recently heard him say that assad was a miserable little worm in parliament do you think you said something significant about the timing right now we're going to reach this is just an abuse it's rather lowlights politician who stands up and parliament and says what he can't such

julian can't come a council back he's prevented from answering back well actually has the back already but that's that's a relevant you're absolutely right in terms of its timing its timing to do with this this but this propaganda. in souls pretty and that's what it has to be because something which has produced no evidence and yet has brought us so close to a provocative stage. with the world's second biggest with arsenal come true announcement nuclear house is is is something that we. i really have to seriously consider but they are all new to not only great conspiracy as such but they're all part of the same. propaganda war will lead to a shooting war and this attack on free speech was such a tack on a sound isn't total. here thing then that ecuador is feeling the pressure finally

feeling the pressure i mean he's been there for six years from other countries yes of course it is it's a tiny country it's a tiny country in latin america and most countries in latin america not all that long ago what passes for the united states the u.s. could do would could do it or wanted. and it was the previous president who stood up to. this government appears not to be stoned not up to is buckling to pressure but of course you do it is the great bully against a small country in latin america well the ecuadorian embassy has since warned of possible further measures against assad to reign what could these entail. what what can they do they know it's just cruel to you now be united nations it's the united

nations working own unlawful detention but as the highest colonel in the world has said but julian a son just obtained unlawfully. and that he should be separate and but his his his. his his his human rights his basic human rights are contravening day after day so what can the ecuadorian government do what can it do to make it even more cruel for him the fact that this man has withstood the pressure that he he has is extraordinary absolutely extraordinary doing the job that journalists should be doing but instead to become collaborate that's just truly to screens hope mutation that's. what real news gathering should be

people should be answering back you know this began in two thousand and eight really when there were a secret pentagon report which said that bat aim was to destroy the trust in wiki leaks and that's what they set out to do to destroy assassinations because and they made it quite clear this was their mission us they put us in a mission to do that was in order to destroy true journalism. a few years later we had a ministry of defense report on it in the in the u.k. which which we made sweeps. which said that there were three threats to the establishment so-called establishment of the u.k. u.s. that elsewhere in the west. russian spies was one terrorists was too but top of the list was investigative journalists and until journalists wake up but this is their moment and tell

a speaker and stop it best thing like journalists and giving the public the information but people have a right to know when we are headed for war i've been a journalist for many years i've been distinguished as a journalist i'm never been more certain of something i've never known a situation a walled some precarious as the one we're in at the moment and funny then john what do you think which legal options would you say are still open to julian assange to possibly leave the embassy a free man. well the legal option the british government is breaking the law they participated in a sixteen month loan investigation by the united nations it's. which came out with its report but it went along with it they didn't like the result so they didn't comply with it it's like walking out of a court you don't like the booking you know when you can often do that that's what

they've done the law is very clear a son has alone been vindicated the swedish case was bogus it collapsed. the political case against it. has been answered many times over and the international tax is is something but. it is there for all to see and to understand if they want to and that is that the united nations has called on the british government to buy by international law and give a son a political refugee free passage out of the embassy it hasn't that's what it should do. depends on whether that's going to happen doesn't jump out at genest and documentary filmmaker thank you very much indeed for your thoughts thank you. online entertainment giant netflix may pay dearly for

a high profile new appointment customers need to cancel their subscriptions after president obama's national security adviser susan rice joined the board of directors. or explains why the move is facing such a backlash susan rice is a big name in washington she served under presidents clinton and obama and was a u.n. ambassador slowly but surely working her way up the white house ladder and during barack obama's second term in office it looked like rice would likely become his secretary of state until she was forced to withdraw her name following the ongoing controversy related to the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi rice had made inaccurate public claims that the attack wasn't premeditated what our assessment is as of the present is in fact what began spontaneously in benghazi spun from there in something much much more violent rice was later forced to eat her words and admit they were in fact planned causing a massive backlash against her so she stepped back settling instead for national

security adviser a tale as old as time really well if you're not secretary of state that's what i wanted that's all i wanted that's what i was promised. and now it looks like rice is ready to netflix and chill with the streaming giant who announced that rice is coming on board on wednesday netflix co-founder and c.e.o. reed hastings put out a statement welcoming rice to the team saying that the company will benefit from her years of tackling complex global issues now netflix is the world's leading entertainment service and according to their site they have around one hundred seventeen million users and over one hundred ninety countries and are continuing to expand their reach which with rice's help could have a more political spin to it and while it's not yet clear what a lifetime politician will bring to a media company the naysaying has begun already with many users calling for a boycott of the service. hey netflix i've been a customer since they won that's just changed you must be absolutely insane to

think that americans are ok with you adding susan rice as a board member whole prize the obama's into liberals can keep you in business if anybody wants to boycott something because of an individual's actions i suggest boycotting netflix if a crew from netflix is filming and comes under attack what is she going to blame it on a film just cancelled my netflix membership reason susan rice they can have her but not me this is where our family takes a hard basket we're counseling netflix all together our kid will be better off instead of watching him chilling he'll be reading and waking up but perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that rice is making the jump from politics to entertainment we've already seen her former boss appear as a guest on the netflix show and rumors have been running rampant that the obama's may be in talks to produce a series starring the dynamic duo raising concerns over where the company is headed . the political cartoonist ted roll thinks netflix is making

a political power play by giving rice a leadership role. what we're really looking at here is a scenario that is that we see over and over again where people are brought onto corporate boards really because of their political and corporate star power it seems to me like this is more about building bridges about how to access to the rolodex not just the obama's but other people netflix you need to operate within the world of regular elation in that inside the beltway there's still a lot of people in washington who are more loyal to the democrats than to the obama administration they probably feel like they need a better bet going into two thousand and twenty two think that the democrats might win so they're probably thinking that this is a person who might be able to get them the kind of access they might need this is not about making good television it's about influence it's not about you know corporate leadership. the siberian city of camera there has entered

a third day of mourning after the shopping center fire that killed sixty four people including forty one children with more facts about the blaze emerging including on occasions of criminal negligence there are also stories of incredible courage. i might and i were putting together pairs of shoes or just plain i smelled smoke heard them i wanted to talk to someone saying that people are running out of these saw people rushing down just terrorists or there is an alarm. which we still didn't evacuate people are employees of first of the walk is the tours of the exit but i don't quite remember how i got out in the soon as i got outside i saw a man jumping out of a window from the third floor yes. yeah i am. mad. all our coworkers had already state when we looked at the escalator that it

was full of people they started helping people to get out of there we have a baggage or at the end of the storage room was still just cooling people to come to us when there were disease and as to why do our guys leave to there will cheer and help them to go downstairs everything i'm glad the clouds of smoke surrounding yes we breathed that heavily but why is it still be ens we just hose to save someone else do some people run upstairs in panic did you feel panic deep inside too of course we did there was no way to escape i don't know what would have happened to me not them i'm a father a son and a brother too so i can understand those people i wish one son would grow up the same be useful to human kind we don't consider ourselves rescue as we'll old married people if you were in our place you would have done the same we had the loss of men who were burnt to death then you say heroes you know my mother was

worried about me sure if it's a hospital and she says it was terrifying. we go to moscow every day and leave flowers and place candles. well meanwhile the investigation into what caused the fire is progressing the two main areas of questioning are the malfunction of the fire safety system and also the possibility of arson five people have been arrested and among them are two directors of the shopping center and the maker of the fire safety system the blazing camera ver was one of the deadliest in russia in decades it took firefighters over seventeen hours to put it out one section of the complex was completely gutted and large sections of the roof collapsed and the sixty four people who died almost two thirds were children because the school holidays had just begun.