i. i. i. i. i i. i i. i. three people are dead and twenty confirmed injured after a van plows into a crowd in the german city of munster. as the double agent script bell and his daughter begin to recover after last month's attack in salisbury his niece from russia has refused a visa to britain. party speaks for the former head of the international

organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons about the script case and also i was pushed for these seats because he was against the u.s. invasion of iraq. i got a phone call from john bolton from washington said that i had instructions to resign said your management style was not agreeable to washington. also us journalists voice their concern over plans by the department of homeland security to create an extensive media monitoring database. harvey this is r.t. international great to have your company deceive me. we'll start with our developing news story this hour in which three people have been killed and twenty others confirmed injured after a van rammed into

a crowd in the german city of munster let's cross live to berlin and our your food correspondent peter all of it on the line peter bring is right up to date with the latest details police yes this vehicle rammed into a crowd of people who were sat outside of a popular restaurant cafe in the old town of munster it was a hot spring day people out and about enjoying the weather and this tragic event is taking place the vehicle there leaving four people dead including the driver who police have said took his own life six people are described as being in a critical condition with as many as thirty reportedly been injured some sources saying twenty injured in that no police a police spokesman the police spokesperson at the scene had this update for us it's too early to confirm an attack as investigations are ongoing at the source big killed himself in the vehicle but at the moment we have no details about his

identity. well the police not revealing too much detail there but what we have ascertained from media reports on the ground is rather a lot more about who the driver of this vehicle may well have been he's been named locally and widely in german media as yens are now this is a common practice here in germany of just giving the first name in the first letter of the last name of a person who is a suspect in a in an ongoing inquiry now they describe him as a forty eight year old german national is local to the area he has been described as having a history of mental illness no known tara links or and also no previous convictions no previous police records of the vehicle that was used is understood to have been his own in a search is currently underway by police special forces at his residence trying to ascertain what the motive for this was police at the moment saying they have no

idea what was what caused him to do this however there has been widely it has been widely reported locally that this man had attempted to take his own life in the in the recent past now in terms of reaction to this we heard from the german president frank. who described it as a discussing act of violence we've also just recently heard from chancellor angela merkel who said that everything imaginable is being done to clarify the facts and to support the victims and their family she said that she was in constant contact with the interior minister. as well as other members of the cabinet as they try to piece together what has happened here this was a it would have been very full at this area at that time it's of been a part of popular location a warm sunny day it's coming to the end of the the school easter holidays here it's a popular location for for tourists and locals alike this area. so really it couldn't have come at

a worse time in terms of the. attack taking place in the amount of people that would have been there at the time as police try to ascertain what drove this person to run their car into a crowd of people they've left three people dead on the scene there and then taken their own life as it seems in the vehicle that's the very latest we have on a very tragic day here in germany and very tragic scenes in the months to rich south happy to all of a bring is right up to date with our breaking news story from berlin many thanks. as the poisoned double agent surrogate script recovers from last month's attack on him and his daughter in the british city of sols bring his niece victoria russian citizen has been refused a visa to visit her sick relatives in the u.k. she says that she was not surprised by that decision she was questioned whether the british or thirty's might actually have something to hide if they're preventing a relative from visiting might easily be trenker takes

a look into victoria's story imagine your cousin and uncle are hospitalized and in critical condition you'd likely freak out and rush to their sides this is victoria script surrogate screwballs nice to do just that she has a russian citizen needs a u.k. visa but she was denied we have refused a visitor visa application from victoria scruple on the grounds that replication did not comply with the immigration rules victoria says she saw it coming just before the no from the u.k. there was this phone conversation allegedly between the script cousins. did you know us with us or you're not a minor. not of my list of potential users are. you yet you know we. are all unique when you just move forward and yet those. already. knew the will to use it the doc told me

in august the book is called almost. doing it which is really going to a yes no money and yes we don't know if this leak recording is real but it's been shown played and quoted by everyone what could victoria mean by i know perhaps something london doesn't want anyone else to know anyway forget feelings sympathy human things that toria was obviously on a kremlin mission to reach the u.k. that's what you read in the papers in britain croman pawn get it reports are now coming in setting and then sources in british are going to the foreign office there are various theories some even say she was denied an answer because london allegedly things that week terrorist group also because it is organized by the kremlin that's absurd as long as the british authorities are in top of the whole screwball case and they have the facts what the media says might be irrelevant but

basically officials haven't shared any facts that will make you scream russia did this russia did that too now that visa thing the pawn so when did speculation like this become a new british tradition like talking about the weather. so guess capellan his daughter was found unconscious on a park bench in the city of solsbury on the fourth of march british officials later revealed the pair had been poisoned with a military grade nerve agent named novacek a type which used to be produced in the soviet union it was said at the time that prompted some harsh words even from the prime minister to reason mayhew said those subjected to such a powerful nerve agent might never recover but as we've now seen both victims are out of coma and in a stable condition these cripples gradual recoveries raise questions about how they managed to survive after reportedly being poisoned by a nerve agent of such strength we discuss this in exactness with former director

general of the o.p.c. w. that's josie bush standing. from my point of view. after a distance of sixteen years of course i believe the decision by the u.k. he was premature you can decide in twenty four hours what type of poison was used and where it comes from why didn't they call immediately do b. c w and why didn't the opposite w volunteered to take action because this is the role of doing decision immediately to go and identify and allies the victims take the blood samples and allies and try to identify because they have the capability to do that there are experts from all countries it's committee of people that are very expert very capable of doing this work so i was surprised and to see that it was so premature decision to identify the poison idea to fight the source of the poison without giving

a chance to the specs as though the international going to which is after all the the national organ with the mandate to do this type of job many questions related to the use of this poison for example how do you control and limit the use of the spores into only two people if it's know of a truck as the announced it was it's not something that will not affect much mini more people. even those who are. used to the poison gas. does it will start he's a brazilian diplomats and was the first elected director general of the international and chemical weapons body of the there's been much speculation into the reasons as to why he quit his seat just as he was leaving his post it came to light that either washington by encouraging iraq to become a member of the o.p.c. w. which would mean iraq having to destroy all of its chemical weapons was apparently viewed as an obstacle to the u.s.

intention to engage in military action in iraq in an open letter supporting bustani many activists demanded it but will pay south of us unilateralism it was one minute particularly against as it was standing being head of the o.p.c. w. john bolton at the time was the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs he's since been appointed as the u.s. national security advisor shortly take up that position as a persone says his intentions to make iraq a member of the o p c w stood in the way of u.s. ambitions. i got a phone call from john bolton from washington the first time i had contact with him it said that i had his structures to to to tell me that i should resign from the organization and i asked him why he said your management style was not agreeable to washington to dick cheney the vice president cetera said no way i don't accept that so he came to the hague and you keep to my office and he said you have to resign

and i give you twenty four hours this is what we want and i said no way i don't have any reason to doubt it over to you i was elected by acclimation by all the member states of a good decision it's only you you out there sees the challenge my management style and they said but then again i tell you we have already discussed with your government that you should resign and said i don't nor any agreement with my government and then they said ok so they'll be retaliations and appear to do to accept the consequences we know where your kids are and that moment two of my case kids were in new york the studied united states one of them is american put it matter was born in new york is a brazilian american and i had another daughter in london. and i said i'm not at the pier my family's is my family is is a whale that's going on to spear to fix the water was so go ahead and he was a little bit shocked with that and he left his not them and you can have

a dialogue with. evacuation of civilians militants from series eastern ghouta has been suspended according to the russian defense ministry this is after one of the militant groups which had previously agreed to lead the enclave violated that agreement this to it's been under siege by government forces since twenty thirty when it was retaken by rebel groups the rebels have carried out multiple attacks on nearby residential areas of damascus causing numerous civilian deaths so in based journalist mohammed ali joined my. with the latest. coding to the russian ministry of defense militants obstructed the deal of their evacuation with their families from doing many eastern will cut from northern syria they also according to a syrian official military source blocked the ins from accepting from duma via humanitarian corridors and open gunfire at demonstrators and side who are calling

on the militants to leave of course this comes after a sub for members and senior commanders are. turned against this evacuation deal reached last week over there inside. and those senior commanders actually ousted the other commanders who were negotiating with russia on this deal after of course such developments the syrian government forces stepped up their military actually attacks and started a new ground offensive against militants and human order to militarily get rid of those militants and particularly of course. whether the full the deal was violated it proved fairly effective as thousands of people both civilians and militants as well as militants family members had used the code was to leave the district.

thank. you we'll go live. with the most. freedom of speech concerns a race as the u.s. looks to keep tabs on media around the world that story and others after the break . the tech sector that's leading this rally we've seen for the past five or six years requires a logistics on a global basis to work in perfect sync so if there's going to be a fallout if some countries are going to go to war with each other but they can be trade wars which can be cyber wars that means that platforms that require

president's thinking fall out and drop out and crashing in different areas so their revenues have got to suffer as a result. we try to deconstruct all of these manipulated by cuts and he's showing the world that islam is a religion and it's a peaceful religion and it's possible to be a practicing muslims who believe that the koran is the word of god and at the same time and then ber of secular societies it is possible. to. welcome back the united states will not be offered

a military base in going to the president of the west african nation officially announced on the day. ghana has not offered a military base and will not offer a military base to the united states of america statement comes after mass protests in garner's capital against the military deal with the us demonstrators but worried such an agreement would give washington too much influence over the country's sovereignty but is it is done of looks that the u.s. and some other nations have been trying to gain a stronger foothold in the continent. is wooing africa boasting about their strong historical bond a family tree washington's key argument is seven thousand strong. scattered all across the continent the impression this mouse makes is an ambiguous africa is no one's playpen but america's this impression is wrong in fact many african nations prefer relations not secured by the u.s.

dollar and ghana is the latest country on the u.s. troublemaker list and for washington it couldn't have come at a worse time the pentagon understands hearts and minds are there for the taking external actors may diminish u.s. influence by undermining our development and diplomatic efforts in africa nonetheless as the strategic environment becomes more crowded and competitive are engaging with external actors like china and russia will continue with an open and clear discussion of intersecting interests and differences beijing's clearly stepping on americans tollways in africa chinese firms have invested billions of dollars into the continent's infrastructure their contribution has been the catalyst for a continental free trade area somewhat equivalent to the european union but much bigger soft power has got washington in a twist with sales pitches attempting to undermine china's expansion in africa partner with. good governance to meet long term security and development goals.

this stands in stark contrast to trying as approach which encourages dependency using opaque contracts predatory loan practices and corrupt deals rex tillerson then washington's chief a mystery went on a charm offensive to africa back in march his trip coincided with russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov visit a clear sign more school is fast to do business with africa to their diplomatic marathon across the continent set off from the same hotel in. but there's no indication whether rex tillerson managed to tip the balance of power during the visit after all why would anyone listen to a man who was shown the door the day he returned to american shores if i were a betting man i would bet the united states would lose the competition not only with china but with russia turkey perhaps even with friends. because in part

united states has a very arrogant attitude that it takes two people from africa and that's to set aside which is a states does not have the economic right nancy to compete with china in any case then finally there is. nation on the african continent with regard to u.s. interference in the internal affairs of african continents all in all i would say that united states prospects going forward or rather. a new proposal by the us department of homeland security is seeking to compile a database to monitor thousands of media outlets and journalists all around the world under the plan the government will track more than two hundred ninety thousand global news sources in more than one hundred languages think chinese arabic russian russo focus on so-called influences on social media the many genitive of the plan is described as identifying any and all coverage related to

the agency or a particular event but the database is raising concerns. maybe the trump homeland security forces would like dissidents we're monitoring bracelet and submit themselves to tatsu to cool the office of homeland security wants to docs all the journalists in the country this isn't bad at all when you have a president who has called the press the enemy of the american people i think in sunder standard for people to be concerned when d.h. asked announces that they want to create a media monitoring platform meanwhile a spokesperson for homeland security has pushed back against suggestions that the plan will compromise freedom of speech saying that media monitoring is standard practice while comparing critics to conspiracy theorists we spoke to political talk show host brian crabtree for his take on the plan i'm a little puzzled why everyone can't look in their own mirror in the united states

and realize we do have a media problem here are a big one think we've got to do something to dis incentivize fake news which is basically lying or creating a disingenuous presentation to the american people which is ultimately misleading as to the facts i don't think that that should be outlawed but i think it should be frowned upon enough that society just doesn't tolerate it we've got to hold our media accountable to the truth whatever does that i'm for if we step one one bit over that line i'm against it. modern day slavery is on the rise in europe according to a report by the council of europe and some countries labor exploitation has overtaken sex trafficking we spoke to one of the authors of the report. there is an increase in the number of people who fall victim to this not enough but now there are a number of countries where labor trafficking emerges as the main farm in the u.k.

a party girl cyprus a few other countries there are more victims of labor trafficking now being identified and sexual so this is a new trend and the report is actually talking about this. report covers the period starting from january twenty seventh seen in mentions forty seven countries migrant workers are mostly at risk with male victims found in sectors like group culture and hospitality and women in the most the work roma people and homeless children are also reportedly susceptible to being exploited report calls for countries to improve their laws as well as work with n.g.o.s and businesses is pitching nurse. so really the these are people who. they come from countries in europe countries where the canonic problems currently make a lot of people unemployed and the problem is often they have debts they have for example a community of debts in order to travel to all to another country. on their plate

and fees to the agency which employ them their passport is taken the way they're not made the salary never promised or they're not and anything they're made to work very long working hours there are a lot of people who are from within the european union countries who moved to other countries stable gerunds going to spain well mania streatley but they're also people come from countries in africa and asia and latin america so to truly a transnational phenomenon. finally on a much lighter note we've got a story from kazakhstan about the rescue of a baby squirrel. oh

you enjoyed that you're right up to date elsie with the latest at the top of the. franking gave americans a lot of new job opportunities i needed to come up here to make some money i

could make twenty five thousand dollars as a teacher or i could meet fifty thousand dollars a year truck so i chose to drive trucks people rush to a small town in north dakota was an unemployment rate of zero percent like gold rush is very very similar to a gold rush but this beautiful story ended with pollution and devastation a lot of people have left here i don't know too many people here in the mountains and slow down so much they lost a job got laid off and the american dream is changing that's not what it used to be . and that's a tough reality and. for a world cup twenty eight team coverage we've signed one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time but there was one more question and by the way who's going to be our coach. guys i know you are nervous he's a huge star and the huge amount of pressure you have to go i mean eighty percent of

the beach but probably with you and do so with all the great british you are the rock at the back nobody gets past you we need you to get down going let's go. alone. and i'm really happy to join the for the two thousand and three and world cup in russia meet the special one i was also cliched needs to just say the radio theology team's latest edition to make up a bigger. better just look. he sees being treated as a major incident involving a tentative. administration of

a nerve agent it is now clear that mr script khan and his daughter were poisoned with a military grade nerve agent of the type developed by russia this was attempted my down in the most cruel and public way if russia is behind this is a brazen. war the government has concluded that it is highly likely that russia was responsible for the act against segue into the script can we just stop russia today broadcasting its propaganda. we need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with russia rather than simply cutting off contact and letting the tensions. and divisions get worse and potentially even more dangerous we got into a big night tonight to clear up the matter of russia used radiological substances and its barbaric assault on mr that there is no alternative conclusion other than that the russian state was culpable for the attempted murder of mr script and his

daughter and for threatening the lives of other british citizens in including detective sergeant nick davies of the united kingdom will now expel twenty three russian diplomats who have been identified as undeclared intelligence officers. welcome to going underground special on a historic day for london moscow relations in the wake of the atrocity in wiltshire in the south west of england in a moment we'll hear from the chair of politics society and political journalism at the university of sheffield professor pearce what robinson but now i'm joined by broadcaster i'm former liberal democrat member of parliament member to pick the big let's just start with what you thought of tourism is performance in the bus for you i was in parliament it was let's use the going word today robust she made it absolutely clear that she's pointing the finger of blame for the incident and souls pre russia and not just at russia but at the russian state she left no doubt at all that she's made her judgment

a point when we still haven't had any legal investigation no formal inquiry but quite clearly the prime minister visors have decided this is the time to take on putin directly and try to provoke some kind of either a justification a confession or denial irrational security state getting more efficient than when the atrocity happened in mayfair in central london because jeremy corbyn. from him and his spokespeople they still seem to be expressing some doubts over the w m d use yes well there's a big schism going on in british politics now. on the one side you've got the government and some labor m.p.'s saying well russia is to blame take our t.v. off air that skep the sanctions going and then you've got a more cautious jeremy corbyn who spokes person previously said and i think opens back this up well this is a time to build our relationship with russia rather than.