eyewitnesses. in the syrian city of claim to this channel there was no chemical attack but now even being raised in the western media. members of the european parliament voiced their anger at the french president over the action taken against damascus while the u.k. government faces a backlash from the role in the strikes. members of this house seem topless saying foreign policy in this country the president trying. to do so is of a documentary in the execution of a shot to claim the u.s. death penalty.

it's about one minute after midday here in moscow you're watching international thanks for joining us we have the top stories for this hour. experts from the o.p.c. w. chemical weapons watchdog are expected to arrive in the syrian town of duma in the next few hours the probe will look into the allegations of a chemical attack that have most on april seventh meanwhile more doubts have been raised over this footage filmed by the white helmets group in a local hospital video claimed to show the aftermath of a chemical attack. visited that very hospital in duma and spoke with the doctors as well as the locals they describe what happened on the seventh of april claiming they saw no toxic agents being used.

people from the white helmets told us about the use of chemical weapons we saw no sign of that if chemical weapons were used against those people medical staff would also be no thanks to. people poured water it's really good thing that we have been attacked with chemical weapons and that when somebody from outside shouting about a chemical attack don't know. we heard an explosion and somebody said it was a chemical weapon we run to where the door is came from and the started pouring the water over the people but they seemed to be ok and then walked away without any help but a little confused somebody started pouring water over people say it's like saying

there had been a chemical attack by i was at the spots with my wife and daughter but none of us experienced as you said in terms of chemical poisoning meanwhile even some western media of letson are calling into question the allegations of a chemical attack so after a british journalist robert fisk visited the hospital and spoke with the doctors there and found no evidence of any use of any chemical weapons however those who still have no such adults are washington and its allies the u.s. britain and france chose not to wait for the official investigation before launching air raids against syria and the early hours of saturday u.s. state department spokesperson heather now it said washington is decision not to wait was justified the o.p.c. got us something that we've back strongly but it can also take quite a bit of time for the o.p.c. of you to gather its information and compile the report so i would ask you should the united states and her out. wait around for bashar al assad to use more chemical

substances honest people should we wait around for that formal investigation that could take months and months this is you know actually scandalous that the u.s. has launched a strike based on insurgent tied social media sources well this is exactly what defense secretary jim maddest said at a briefing several days ago where he didn't have solid intelligence on any chemical attack in duma what he did have were social media reports people saying stuff on the internet and who were those people the same people that state department spokesperson heather now it's referring to there the syrian white helmets which has been funded to the tune of at least twenty three million dollars by the state department. and the lack of concrete proof that the attack took place has been praised by some officials and academics but such questions are often dismissed by the media as russian propaganda for example take a look at this b.b.c.

interview if he has used chemical weapons it's absolutely right to do rough across his knuckles but i just wonder you know we have had some bad experiences on intelligence given that we're in an information war with russia on so many from still you think perhaps it's inadvisable to be stating this so publicly given your your position and your profile isn't there a danger that you're muddying the water well that was retired senior officer of the royal navy allen west questioning whether there was enough intelligence to claim assad had used chemical weapons or the b.b.c. presenter suggested such comments should not be made publicly because they fall into line with the official position of moscow we've requested a comment from the channel we'll let you know if they respond. but it's not just the b.b.c. the times newspapers publish an article labeling those who have questioned the evidence of a so-called attack as apologists. has been taking

a closer look one of the people pointed out or singled out in the times article is louis all day the times said that he had written a tweet calling into question the account of previous chemical attacks mr all day has since gone on twitter and shown that he never sent the tweet and has demanded an apology from the times another example is tim hayward he's another academic here in the u.k. and he's been seen as being guilty of association because he's written for. publication called twenty first century wire whose deputy editor has also come in for criticism by the times that her name is vanessa beanies so all of these kind of examples showing that to stray from the dominant narrative all of the war in syria will lead you to being accused of being an ass of apology apologise that's

been the criticism of some here in the u.k. and there are those who say that this current environment again resembling somewhat of a witch hunt isn't conducive to free speech and to free investigation an inquiry over the events of not just the weekend but the past seven years of the u.k.'s policy towards syria and its support of the opposition groups there international politics lecturer dr tara mccormick reveals what it's like to be one of the academics on the receiving end of the times a time. what i mean is not the ridiculous you know within the working group we have a range of different opinions all in international relations and so clearly i have tweeted various things about the alleged chemical attack tweeting to it's not signify necessarily into it that's also a different thing from academic research that it's a sort of bizarro attempt to smear guilt by association piece social

media tropes ridiculous attempt simply to shut down the working group that presumably may be asking questions that the times doesn't think should be all its it all in all it's already to british journalism and threats academic freedom and free speech in the new carry. british prime minister to resign and french president emmanuel mccrone have come under heavy criticism from u.k. and e.u. lawmakers often the decision to strike syria without consulting the national parliaments for example these are members of the european parliament during president speech that many of them holding up signs calling for an and to military action in syria and there are today reports about the backlash the leaders are receiving. what phrase or touch of only three countries have been to be for the honor of the international community in a legitimates multilateral framework you know it's all gets a. speech was

a monument of political cynicism. when we want without any approval. of the polls months why have we hidden the fact that the area of eastern ghouta where the alleged chemical attack took place is controlled by radical islamists not jewish islam shop or you'd be there it's been done already in iraq and libya why should we be aired in syria to the list but there has been a backlash for him for emanuel. the fact that he didn't also palmas permission i don't you know people have not necessarily backing that decision that you can call it but he was actually grilled in parliament on monday these strikes demonstrate the irresponsible behavior of the three global powers that yet again gave into the temptation to play the role of world's policeman now over in the u.k. theresa may the u.k.'s prime minister has also faced a group of parliamentary is led by the opposition leader jeremy corbyn that was

a bit of the pool table tennis it went on for over eight hours on day one and pretty similar day to the parliament should have an absolute minimum in trying to in law the opportunity to ask questions with all the government can order planned military action the elected representatives in this house should be able to debate the deployment of british military forces into combat but that does not mean it is always appropriate the executive must be the servant of parliament not the other way round members of this house seem to have less say in foreign policy of this country than president trump that no one in this house in any doubt that neither i nor this government take instructions from any press was. i despite tourism is fiery remarks and hard to friends we gauged reaction on the

streets of london or people seem to think parliament should have been consulted if it was an emergency situation where there was no room for maneuver you think that this is not an urgent it could've waited one two days more at least i don't think it's something she should have made a decision based on how general principle going into war should be a lot of it you buy i think in this particular instance it was in a war situation and the mars rover then paid discuss it and now you're coming. back anyway are you doing much more consideration than everyone else when it's important decisions like this everyone should have a say like i do think parliament represent everybody they know that you actually discussing doing it then you just immediately this is not a constitutional. democracy as it used to stand on so everyone in power and yet i think she is the scariest one in. following the weekend bombing graves in syria

a bipartisan group of u.s. senators has unveiled new legislation aiming to limit the white house's power to continue its global war on terror. for too long congress has given presidents a blank check to wage war we've let the nine eleven iraq war authorization stretch to justify was against multiple terrorist groups and over a dozen countries from nigeria to the philippines a proposal finally repeals those authorizations inmates congress do its job by weighing in on where when and with who we are. the proposed legislation would require the president to give congress forty eight hours notice ahead of any new military action congress would then have sixty days to review that move and it doesn't set a limit for any military action however it includes a congressional review every four years of the proposal also expands the president's authority to take action against al qaeda isis or the taliban but not

a state in particular but the current war powers of course have been in place since nine eleven and have been used nearly forty times and at least fourteen countries we discussed the proposed overholt with former u.s. congressman ron paul i absolutely and i have to say that i voted the i voted for that resolution it gives the authority to the president to go after the people responsible for nine eleven so they've used that ever since they claim they have to rewrite it we don't believe there's anybody even living today hardly had a thing to do with the nine eleven attacks. it more or less is defining things slightly differently but one slow up i think the effort to go to war i don't think it really repeals their war powers resolution but it does say that congress gives the president authority to go to war against radical violent groups like al qaida and i says and maybe taleban but they say not i country. i really don't

think it's going to pass. we'll see i only welcome the debate but i think they'll wake up and find out it's not doing anything and that when they pass these resolutions most of the time things hit worse so this whole idea that you can fight radicals any place in the world that's what they're doing already it just gives more authority to the type of policy that we've been following and getting us into trouble. are still to come here on the program the white house says the administration is in direct talks with kim jong il of north korea details off the price.

wrong. just don't hold. the keys to shape our. selves worlds apart. to look for common ground.

it is good of you to join us today opposition protests in the armenian capital over the next president's bid for the seat of the prime minister. momentum comes a day after the country's parliament voted in favor of social appointment. clashes with police over the last few days have left dozens injured and as of monday more than eighty people have been detained so kissy and had served as the country's president since two thousand and eight but had to step down this month as me due to the time limits set out in the constitution as the country recently switched from a presidential system to a pot of entry won his party nominated his kind of a seat with the post of the prime minister instead the opposition claims. is merely trying to cling on to. a new

documentary called in the execution as shadow pulls back the curtain on the subject of capital punishment through three different stories claiming that race is at the heart of decision making when it comes to the death penalty in the united states. my team members take. this person. who. said he. didn't. even do anything. you don't know because you would not choose. recent figures reveal black people make up around forty one percent of those on death row making up only about thirteen percent of the inside u.s.

population in addition they are far more likely to be given death sentences in cases of interracial killings and we spoke to those behind the film. the racial application of the death penalty is the out. that not to look so much at skin color the perpetrator of the skin color of the victim if the if the murder victim is white. then the prosecuting attorney is four to eleven times more likely to seek a death penalty and if the victim were black and so what message is the justice system send to society. one way that can be answered is that white life is worth more than black wife we're going to punish people who kill a white person. more severely and we are. going to have their more black forever nine executions there is one exoneration so for every nine inmates executed one

person is found innocent i think that's the most startling in the in the context of the innocence and how egregious this could be and as our executioner. the jury givens are the former executioner of the state of virginia states one of the things that i think is really. something that he expresses so well in the film and is this idea that it's it's an imperfect system works human we make errors and there are errors being made in the criminal justice system and as long as that straight we should not be executing people. twenty past the hour here in moscow he is due to hold unprecedented face to face talks with north korea's leader later this year but donald trump appeared to suggest they've already been talking. with north korea directly to her.

during a press briefing with the japanese prime minister said discussions with north korea were at almost the highest level although the white house later clarified saying the administration was in direct talks with kim jong un not the us president himself it all comes as reports claim the cia director mike pompei o paid a secret visit to north korea over easter a human rights attorney eric cirrhotic and believes it doesn't really matter who's been talking to pyongyang as long as the intentions are good. you know at this point in time there is a lot of optimism in the optimism that they were talking the optimism that they see this as a legacy issue for him while undergoing incredible group scrutiny and tough times here in the states and so with that in mind we don't know quite what can come up

with this what we do know is there have been talks at the highest level whether you believe the washington post story and the cia director visiting north korea but we do know that they're laying the groundwork groundwork for talks but we don't know is how sincere they are in bending in. mutual compromises in the context of international agreements and that has yet to be seen. there are now less than two months before the curtain is raised on the world cup in russia the tournament's host city is already preparing to welcome guests small around the world and legendary danish goalkeeper and host of ati's world cup twenty eighteen coverage peter schmeichel has been to one of them that is the city of simyra on the volgograd.

come to some arena it looks a bit like a u.f.o. from the outside so who's going to be flying high as a kind of behind this what it is when he takes columbia here all very hungry i assume those two hours returns to world cup action but what else is going on. on peter schmeichel and i'm here to find out. the walking on a frozen river walk and people are kite surfing not really kite surfing it's kites knowing some people are having a little bit of it. this is the peak winter playground and it's difficult to imagine that only in a few months this is going to be a place where people are sunbathing swimming watching football drinking beer and

just having a good time in. america big claim to fame is a role that it played in the space program it's where everything was produced including the rocket not this one but a similar one that good guy and went into space as the first man ever on but they also make good p.r. here and i'll come back to that a bit later. i could never be an astronaut i'm simply too big to fit into the seat this guy here he's half my size and i understand why is half my size because the food receding which is this. i could he survived.

i'm not going into space just but i'm going to have a. very . very. good at it. my dad is a fabulous accordion player so i grew up with that and when i realized looking at the list a few for ambassadors at sac i had called this

a world champion i said to myself this guy. i want to be taught something something . uselessly used to be at the premier league with well.

as i told you before they make a good idea here and some on this group is called secretly and you know that feeling when you all day you've been dying to have a beer. when you find that empty but i'm an optimistic person i'm going to continue my search. to. follow you through whereas if. nobody here. looks official.

i know this and i know it's a good beer follow me comes and goes that way which is those. definitely smells like i'm getting close now eaves. loads of i. am good. of course the world cup kicking off in russia on june fourteenth with saudi arabia taking on the host country i hope you will join us for our special coverage on our

two international we're back soon with more. in the philippine city of angeles when the u.s. military moved out the six tourists moved in. and now a whole generation of fatherless children is growing up you. claimed that an opinion one month a couple simple that uncle. i've been a decent gen-y. you like our son i know your. son. that isn't the first time in the t.v. crew you see you and takes you were no don't answer is wrong but no one that it's

true or. that's it the better you want my god found it. a bit better you can take the gilliver but you can't take a little girl such a woman you know oh. oh i love you like i did it you did it did you. join me every thursday on the alex salmond chill and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics or business i'm showbusiness i'll see that.

a low in welcome to cross talk we're all things considered i'm. as american foreign policy possesses a specific d.n.a. it would seem so it doesn't matter who the president is it doesn't matter which party controls the white house one can easily ask the following question is trumps time in office serving george w. bush's third term or barack obama's third term the neo cons are firmly in the saddle. across talking american foreign policy i'm joined by my guest and washington she is currently c.e.o. stratego a political risk consultancy and co-author of the book going to to run also in washington we have michael flanagan he is president of flanagan to.