other but what would israel's motivation be i mean they have carried out strikes in the past against syria but this is way away from their border it's way way from anything that. would really be a threat to them why would they carry out these strikes well there are some reports that they were also hitting hezbollah media unit again we without knowing that i would say in general the united states government with john bolton is a national security advisor my son pay him the new secretary of state and of course donald trump and he just canceled the joint comprehensive plan of action are gearing up for a regional confrontation with other players in the area who they think have been prevailing that would include iran that would include the syrian government because it's their mind. and hezbollah which is getting stronger in lebanon and really i think the united states pentagon the trumpet ministration and the israeli government have the same solution which is to intensify military power of pressure

on all of these entities that they consider to be part of their resistance friends i guess there are plans for his agenda in the region so whether it's the u.s. or israel at that point we know that there has been a strike what about these specific syrian targets why would they hit these government targets kind of on the middle nowhere. well this is one this is a resource rich part of syria is also where the united states the united states is the query in essence. and i'm not saying that this explains what happened but i think to see this clearly based picture this entire area is being cleaned by washington as a permanent americans fear of influence inside of syria that allows the united states either to have an effective fragmentation of the country to create

a run government i don't touch on this government or give the united states is certainly relevant that it was lacking. in advice we were iran turkey and russia where they were the guarantors of a post war syria in terms of the what comes next america by by imposing its own military occupation in syria and carrying out what is now fairly routine violations of syrian airspace a good thing the bombing of syria syrian targets it says to the others we're here you can't make this leap and we are going to be relevant meaning we are going to be engaged we will have a voice and what happens next in syria you just mentioned the importance of this region that the united states is specifically trying to carve out like a mirror of influence there how important is this area to determining the future of the conflict. well you know it's not decisive i mean the decisive parts for syria would be in the west and around damascus but here's here isn't me point is if the

us is in syria permanently dead means the us has created de facto military bases inside of syria that means for syria to ever contemplate the recount west of its own sovereign territory it has to deal with the united states it can either try to oust the united states or it can negotiate including the united states in a post-war syria and settlement negotiation so in other words by asking why this territory the us says you cannot ignore us we will be here our voice our perceived or our articulated interests must be taken into account it's a part of it here realist aggression of course but i think that is a fan of the us game plan so again going down the rabbit hole is there any chance that the syrian government positions were not specifically the target and that they were actually trying to target some of the islamic state forces that were gathering

there. possible but i have to say that from all the initial reports including the reuters report that does not seem to be the case it's possible we don't really know all the details so it's a little bit going out on a thin lives in trying to determine exactly what happened mine is really hard as it isn't hard facts but what we do know is that the u.s. is engaged routinely as a military force a military presence not just in the air but also on the ground in this part of syria and again we're not talking about just one area even if it's in the populated area even if it's a remote area we're talking about a contiguous piece of territory that i believe the u.s. considers to be is sphere of influence inside of syria. to what extent brian do you suspect these attacks like this will increase or the chances of major escalations

will come in the near future. i think they will increase because i think. my tribe canceling the joint comprehensive plan of action and by it might pay you know the new u.s. secretary of state articulating these twelve unmeetable damien's for a run demands that have been set now because us actually wants around to meet them but because i was in precisely because around cannot meet these men and they're so far reaching so broad so illegal what the u.s. is really doing is setting the stage for a confrontation that won't mean initially a war in iran against iran but it will mean a full court press against iran and iran's allies in the region that means inside of syria most importantly and perhaps initially the battle against iran and its allies is taking place in the territory of syria i think that's the trump

ministration being planned. so what do you expect the response will be from syria i mean this is an attack on a sovereign nation after all. i mean syria and i would say its main allies russia and iran and it has. been in a way very prudent in the face of the u.s. for israeli aggression because there is a concern that any provocation by the united states air force or the israeli air force for that to air force is the gather if there is a response that's not fully understood or fully calibrated it could be the trigger for an even larger aggression so this point of the player is sort of shadowboxing because the bombs are real the missiles are real people really don't but there's a sense of. sort of caution so as not to overreact in different provocations

that we don't become the rationale for an even larger aggression. and we're getting some information just in right now that the pentagon itself has said that it has no information about these strikes so it's not necessarily denial but it is a bit worth mentioning brian becker thanks for being with us here on the r.t. international from the anti war answer coalition. all right let's switch gears a bit now to the u.k. where you'll be a scrip all has appeared in the media for the first time since she was poisoned along with her father the former russian double agent sergei screen they were found unconscious on a park bench in the english city of solsbury on the fourth of march more details from our london correspondent on associate truckin. now in this particular media appearance she does give a statement to reuters news agency of an undisclosed location in london so her whereabouts are being kept under wraps and she appears to make

a brief statement in russian which then she provides in written form in both russian and english to waiters and in the statement among other things she says that she is going to eventually be returning to her homeland of russia but not quite yet as reasonable a bit as a child to come to terms with the devastating changes thrust upon me both physically and emotionally i take one day at a time and want to help care for my dad to his full recovery in the longer term i hope to return home to my country well paul importantly had also said that her recovery had been slow and extremely painful and that she for now will not be turning to the services of the russian embassy again as a reminder this has been something that russian authorities had offered over and over again to the script palls any kind of cooperation or being able to get access to them which according to russia they should have been able to do given the

conventions that exist on matters on this issue but there's not much else that she did say she only made that very brief statement and then did not answer any questions on camera this is definitely quite a development since this became the first media appearance that yulia screwball has made ever since that poisoning took place on march fourth when this whole saga unraveled created creating a massive ground between the u.k. and russia and of course this was the first time we're seeing a video of. her father sergei is also currently out of the hospital so now the next step we should be expecting is some kind of statements or information or appearance that he could possibly be making next. russia's foreign ministry has a look to to reassure you saying it has repeatedly attempted to get in touch with her and her father we want u.s. cripple to know there wasn't a day that the russian foreign ministry the russian abba's in london didn't try to contact her the main goal was to ensure she's not being kept against her will that

it wasn't another person posing as her to get firsthand information about her condition and her father's. north korea is gearing up to close its nuclear test site in the country's remote and north east there have been six nuclear bomb tests there since two thousand and six which were carried out inside a mountain of all places now it is the world's last officially active nuclear test site north korea has described how the site will be dismantled saying that there will be a controlled explosion to collapse all of the tunnels that will result in all the entrance points being blocked as well after that the above ground facilities will be destroyed some changes have already been observed by experts on satellite images taken in april and earlier this month buildings have been demolished together with a railway line parties you can run off as among a group of international journalists who set out on an arduous journey to see the nuclear facilities shut down so we're currently on

a train someone very strong but want to thank you don't even know the you know the nation as to where we go we don't. think so good for you so we were in the four o'clock that means you have compartments to. notice that all we know are shots well so why you got shot so we come from and you will be going to be all over but that phrase. well the train journey will take of the journalists eleven hours in total and as you go to mentioned they have been given strict instructions not to open the blinds and following that the crews will have to spend several hours on a bus and then an hour trekking to the final location before boarding the train even sent us this report documenting his journey from china to north korea's one saw. we're in the beijing international airport and as you can see behind me we're being greeted like celebrities you have those who go to north korea we've been here for the past

couple of days and all journalists spots of this press tour have been amassed in the chinese capital because that's where we got our visas that's when we where we got our tickets and now we will be proceeding to check in to our flights those are the windows that we're waiting for the personnel and so i'll be signing off hopefully greeting you from north korea itself next time so this is the choreo flights we will be taking to get inside north korea thing is we aren't even exactly sure as to where exactly we're headed because according to our media to documents we're going to the southern port city of one sound but according to our boarding passes we're headed to the north korean capital pyongyang so i guess the north the option but to find out on board the plane. at the same time it seems to do no good going to pyongyang or two once on. one time ok thank you.

so there are roughly twenty john that's here on this plane and so as we're going to one son i just want to point links of what's going on on board would be given out press releases like this one for example the only on time it's mostly about politics but also features pieces like recipes for this right scent month or in the case also we've been given and this very very current colorful kolby a magazine which features everything from the latest one as to what's been going on like you know like you can on the supreme leader of north korea but also hard to teach itself around so young and the likes of pieces like the ones for example and how the bullets will be beat.

so you walk out of any airports what's the first thing you expect to see it's a bustling crowd people pushing and shoving a taxi drivers offering often overpriced services well check this out nothing of this sort here it's just an empty parking lot and three buses that will take us to the city. solicitor one of whom. we're saying. this is a. very very. slow start to move. when the meantime you can follow igor on twitter where he is posting details and photos from the reclusive country whenever possible find out what kind of food you might expect in north korea and to have a look around local hotels to see what they are like. it

is been two months coming but italy has now named its next prime minister just has been approved for rome's top job by the italian president after emerging as a compromise candidate put forward by the euro skeptic five star movement and the far right league party the appointment and an eleven week long political impasse argues daniel hawkins has more. italy's new prime minister is neither a familiar face nor name in fact googling conte will bring up an altogether different leader world football manager at least which has already been the butt of much humor of course while one continues to try to steer chelsea to trophies do separate conti has a tougher job taking the reins in italy and he's already been accused of lacking experience and even exaggerating his quite impressive twelve page academic c.v. . law professor nominated to become italy's next prime minister he's facing

allegations. his c.v. now question. time and. new york. there are a lot of questions swirling in both the italian and international media about his background some of the inflated elements of his curriculum his resume about where he may or may not have studied but that hasn't put him off the scholar law professor has already promised a government of change taking his biggest legal case yet as the italian people's defense attorney well italy first is the slogan of the day after all. i am a law professor over the course of my life i took on the causes of many people my aim now is to defend the interests of all italians on the international and european stage i am proposing to be the defense attorney of italian people being the figurehead for the i'm easy coalition of the populist five star movement on the

right wing likud party won't be an easy task they must implement an ambitious anti austerity government program deal with a shaky stock markets and an even more nervous brussels which will be keeping a close eye on the euro skeptic government described as allergic to bureaucracy he's affirmed his commitment to slashing what he calls as useless laws in the country a pet hate of both anti establishment parties. the choice the italian people have made is a step towards freedom for the whole of europe away from constraints and insecurity we want to rebuild europe based on people not bureaucracy we want to be listened to otherwise all these sectors and industries that are suffering from injustice because of european treaties and directives will have to be reimbursed his first task will be to form a cabinet after a two month deadlock in italian politics there is now some momentum but can conti deal with the pressure with brussels on its block weighing down on him is the question many are asking today i think it will be so the agreement of the coalition

agreement put together by the. are sweet which has been quite an interesting hallmark in terms of of the of a political agreement because they basically. including the stance towards the euro including taxation and pension reform the problem however is how much crimea will be a leader or only somebody who puts in action a coalition agreement who together by. now quick recap of our breaking news this hour or so. news agency is reporting that the u.s. led coalition has bombed two syrian government positions in the eastern province of debra's or the strikes are said to have taken place near an energy facility close to the iraqi border where the u.s. alliance has been supporting rebel forces against islamic state the pentagon says

at this hour it has no information about the alleged attack and that does it for me i will be back in about thirty one and a half minutes time with a full look at your news you are watching r.t. international with us. those who know the middle east understand that the decision to bring tens of thousands of palestinian marchers to our border is the work of hamas the question is does a country like israel have a right to protect its border internationally recognized border if you say no it doesn't you you will be exposed.

joining me everything on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to the world of politics or business i'm show business i'll see if. we're going underground is the man who until recently oversaw us espionage in china mike pompei oh now secretary of state we took chinese foreign minister when he had to avert a multi-trillion dollar global trade war coming out of the show against all the odds that a propaganda in britain nicolo my daughter wins again in venezuela a nation with the world's largest known reserves of oil and gas what now and was it

fair we speak to an election monitor joseph carol on the board of the u.k. center for investigative journalism and an associate of wiki leaks and the head of this week's un report on fracking we speak to a former advisor to the u.k. pm david cameron wants fracking could mean earthquakes in england from the headlines a porch of debates about the new cia chief and who's going nuclear over ethical investments all the support coming out today is going underground but first britain's foreign secretary boris johnson after seemingly acquiescing the u.k. minority government needed to raise a maze of bricks it customs union begins a tour today on his itinerary peru argentina and chile that starts with the last of those alleged washington proxies chile it's in from its leader pinochet was backed by johnson's political hero margaret thatcher when the former dictator was charged with genocide by spanish examining magistrate judge baltasar garzon on pinochet does not enjoy from the crimes that judge him for in spain those are

taking genocide and extra territorial murder siham were. killed every year and give it out. on the whistle sunny where. you see not men. them begin with down. in new orleans took our luck. getting. it on the door not equal little came out. after the cia backed killing of the democratically elected socialist leader of chile salvador allende forty thousand were killed or tortured under pinochet boris johnson's hero margaret thatcher believed pinochet though should be rewarded for his friendship with britain when after being arrested in the u.k. he was released by tony blair's government is reborn from this guy wants to be held prisoner for sixteen months. in the meantime there's

a problem with. the red tape. joe de chile is in the grip of more neoliberal change that opponents believe will further impoverish the country's poor as for argentina where thatcher can arguably take credit for destabilising a us proxy dictator after winning the mel venus for clint's war the bad old days could be returning in the past few days as president mccree has sought loans from the i.m.f. . but even. it is even easier to combat this request for the military to mess around and as for peru's its president hasn't even been elected martin his kyra has been appointed president after his predecessor resigned over corruption it was vickery who welcomed us vice president mike pence to the capital lima in the past few weeks now let me be clear. the responsibility

for the venezuelan people suffering can be laid at the feet of one man nicolas maduro yes the us vice president at the invitation of a leader who is not elected in peru calling up president nicolas maduro of venezuela who just won a landslide on sunday no surprise then that britain's foreign secretary or strengthen did not congratulate president maduro and that his five day latin american tour is exclusively to the nation. pivoting back to washington responsible for decades of covert destabilization got of the days when the poor of london used to benefit from cheap venezuelan oil thanks to one of labour's most popular politicians ken livingston allegedly forced out of his party this week well joining me now from caracas is a member of the board of the u.k. center for investigative journalism joseph erroll who was an independent monitor at sunday's venezuelan elections joseph thanks for coming back on going underground was the election fair i don't see how anybody who was present could think it was anything out i know there's plenty going on in the news about how unfair it is that

whenever any questions are posed as to why then the answers are certainly not technical that come back here really. what exactly is the process of voting in a ball they're very in venezuelan election it's an extremely robust system you have to go into a polling station you show your id card which they pushed through the number of id cards from michigan and that brings up their version of the id card so then they verify that you are the person on the right. they then get you to put your thumb for it on the machine. it's a double verification from then you go to an electronic actually where you put in your vote circuits your option c. e. you click on it you want it prints out about those records your vote and it was a printout a ballot with an x. in the box if you voted for which you then put into the ballot box and after that you go and sign that you done your vote. so there's so many moving parts that

at the end of the day they look at the numbers on the machine and they compare that with the numbers in the ballot box the physical ballots and also the opposition and and they signed that off with all parties present so they had witnesses from all the running parties who have to agree on that count number and on top of that the the powers you have the right audit fifty four percent of all the addicts on a first machines i mean that's not just a sample that's a huge huge sample as close to being a population i went to many heard in stations i even try to fudge the system myself where i got somebody who just voted to go back in the queue and put their i.d. number in and it popped up on the screen saying this person has already voted then i got somebody else who is who hadn't voted to put their id number in and then i asked if instead of them putting them in front of i could put my area on and i did

and it said this doesn't correspond to the south person so that mean people have been saying over there are these machines that can print out different parts it doesn't matter unless it actually corresponds it's not going to work maybe those ones voted them adorable as johnson says the elections are neither free nor fair so if your state calls them a sham which will change nothing you are just one of the election observers with the other election observers that you made today broadly agree with your view of these elections are i mean i haven't come across anybody who disagreed with this i mean there were over two hundred independent observers they were there was a delegation from the african union election observer observatory there was set out which is an international latin america. expert observer of actions and i mean it was a resoundingly. concurrence that it was sadly sad to. thank you

robust. there was no sight of any intimidation of people being trafficked in. or people being paid to vote for i mean there was there was a significant abstinence that's true but on that note i mean that's the opposition that said previously that they were going to abstain but they still had a candidate around. why would a government try and fix an election that's not going to be contested that in itself doesn't make sense and you know there's another point that's worth noting is that we went to a recent prior to the elections with the. with the main campaign managers of all candidates and. only if i recall it was the main opposition candidate actually said that they agreed with the electoral system they thought it was very vast they had witnesses in all the polling stations that also so they couldn't say

or it was a fraud or it and he said that they were they would recognise. the results until such time as the votes actually came in and it didn't recognise that exactly file calls people are certainly not saying that they accept it now i'm not sure the new york is going on the western borders with venezuela but colombian president sound all says he's not going to recognize the victory of a doritos colombians were given then as way the idea is to vote well you said it i mean it's not just haven't you of course argentina brazil chile even canada the whole of human group have come out with a statement saying how they're not going to recognize that and in that opening paragraph of that statement it says because they were not free or fat now i don't understand how they can argue that and the statement carries on another as i've said i don't get technical reasons as to why it wasn't for your pair of action you know. everybody in this country has the right to vote. before chavez cattlemen

station from individuals forty seven kilometers away and they have to travel through the jungle and swim across a river mouth if you want your parking station is a thousand meters away i mean from any individual in the entire country so everybody has the right to vote and their guns are electoral commission which is its own branch of government something else that happens to it was that there were three branches of government before which was judicial legislature a good executive and groups of the citizens of there and an electoral one so that he had this independent commission that it go you've people their rights back but there's boris johnson i've appointed munson's you mentioned gallagher justin trudeau didn't allow thousands of venezuelans to vote in the consulate so we should thousand you know travis in south that is as far as i understand it it's a complete.