in the week's top stories the leader of north korea hosts a meeting with russia's foreign minister r.t. was the only international channel granted access to kim jong un's palace for the event. if only someone told me where exactly we are right now this is how suddenly you get treated. residents. i can barely remember being given such access other locations around the world. says his summit with north korea is back on after receiving what he called a very nice letter from kim jong il and. the european court finds that e.u. countries complicit in the torture of terror suspects at cia black sites. the european union canada and mexico to retaliate against the u.s.

over a hefty tax on middle imports. are broadcast live. on thomas glad to have you with us. made a dramatic u. turn this week saying his summit with kim jong un was back on the talks will take place on june the twelfth in singapore that announcement came after russia's foreign minister met with the north korean leader in pyongyang our correspondent. traveled with the russian delegation and was granted rare access to the north korean leader's residence. we were told to leave most of our belongings and all our mobile devices. out there taking us somewhere. so we're here in this band just to keep our men one

photographer and myself rolling a lot of state in. this area is completely deserted and it looks like we're in circling something that appears to be the palace. if only someone told me where exactly we are right now but we are being told to fold us now because . the group. i don't really know what exactly this place this but it looks to be area where it came john who will be greeting. and the reason why i think so is because just through this door i saw him john wayne sr and she was having some sort of conversation with the guards but nobody speaks english here hello. lou hennessy

far as i understand this is sergio. feelies. believe this is a bit of a historic moment we still don't know whether the temple from meeting is going to happen but at least is here having direct talks with the supreme leader of north. sergey lavrov and kim jong whom are talking behind this small we were asked to wait in this room so let's just have a walk around and take a look at what they have to offer the. dark north korean chocolate i can tell you.

that it tastes just like any other. anywhere around the world. so this is how suddenly you get treated to cranberry juice at the rooms residence. but i can barely remember being given such access at other v.i.p. locations around the world we were just told to see the president which is just outside the doors. of the city. and given the fact that we're inside the residence of the north korean leader kim jong un again i'm just going to say i'm absolutely shocked. and. it is really disappointing that we won't be able to find out exactly what's being said behind these stories but just a few hours before mr kim and mr lavrov met the russian foreign minister said in

making the korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons is a very delicate issue maintains that the interests of all sides must be respected. so that said it all ended with. russia so let's see whether the north korean leader will accept the invitation for now we're heading back to the airport in the russian foreign minister's motorcade. go right from. residence and. all that was happening a north korean delegation was in the u.s. meeting the trump administration and also pass a private letter from kim jong un to president trump who described it as very nice however it isn't clear that he had actually read it at that point. a letter was given to me by him. and that letter was third nice letter would you like to see

what was in that letter would you like how much how much how much it was a very interesting letter and i haven't seen the letter yet i purposely didn't open the letter. i haven't opened it i didn't open it in front of the director the letter was passed to trump by a former north korean intelligence chief who was part of the delegation in the u.s. the upcoming summit was earlier called off by trump due to what he called open hostility. all this by the latest promising signs pentagon chief james mattis has said the sanctions against north korea will remain in place unless the country takes irreversible steps to end its nuclear program but experts we spoke to agree that the ultimatums are unlikely to solve the situation but speak of where there are a lot of people here in washington who do not want this summit to take place and they certainly do not want any kind of accord between north korea and the united states

idea that this could be a gradual process is a realistic one but i think here people here would like to present the north koreans with an ultimatum which of course will will will not solve the problem doesn't understand anything beyond the fact that this could be a good photo op and possibly a boon for his ratings the u.s. has never taken north korea very seriously i mean the idea of the greatest military power in the world sitting down with a country that they've already always considered impoverished and backward i think is anathema to many people in washington the message that kim jong un is sending you know he's meeting with lavrov he's meeting with xi jinping. signals to trump you know i have friends in the region and you're the one that is isolating yourself by pulling out these international agreements and so you know i'll be fine with or without you. here appear in court of human rights has ordered two countries to pay

compensation to victims of torture romania and lithuania hosted cia black sites between two thousand and three and two thousand and six one of the suspects in the case was a key al qaeda figure according to the cia but no charges were brought against him during his interrogation though he was water boarded eighty three times cia says the other man led operations in the gulf for al qaeda our europe correspondent peter oliver has more on the suspects treatment after the european court of human rights had this to say. there had been held in these facilities and the domestic authorities had been aware that the cia would subject them to treatment contrary to the convention now what we have heard is a little bit about the conditions in which they were kept in lithuania insight with getting a little bit of a glimpse into what was going on there and how prisoners were held up this this hearing now it prisoners were kept in blindfolded all time they were put in solitary confinement and they were forced to wear leg shackles at all times debate

it gave an account of what was done to him while he was in detention must warn viewers that this clip comes a company with some of his own sketches that have been released as part of a freedom of information request some viewers may find them disturbing they unchained my hands from the bars and chained them with short chains to the chains that were around my legs which kept me in a bowing position at all times they brutally dragged me to the cement wall he started brutally banging my head and my back against the wall i felt my back was breaking due to the intensity of the banging he started slapping my face again and again meanwhile he was yelling and then he pointed to a large black wooden box that looked like a wooden casket he says from now on this is going to be your home he violently closed the door i heard the sound of the lock i found myself in total darkness. we saw a few of them accompanying that clip just there but the sketches zubaida made well

they really paint a very disturbing picture quite literally of the conditions in which he was being kept the two men are currently being held in guantanamo bay now since the detention facility opened there in two thousand and two it's been open to prisoners scandals over abuse now the current u.s. president donald trump peace supports the you solve waterboarding he said it many times however this is something that the rest of the world pretty much considers torture when donna marbury which by the way which by the way we are keeping open which we are keeping. and we're going to load it up with some bare dude split we're going to load it up would i feel strongly about waterboarding as far as i'm concerned we have to fight fire with in fact donald trump doubled down in his support for waterboarding as he promoted the woman who is in charge of the cia black sites to the top job in agency gina hospital who says well referred to by her

detractors in the media particularly here in germany as either the torture queen or bloody gina well she took over as the new cia director and with him when he may appeal the ruling we discuss the case with former guantanamo bay prisoner was a bag. the reality is that these are war crimes and he was prosecuted for this and nobody will because it's because there's no prosecutions the new president can come along and say i believe torture works a lot more water boarding is a great thing because there is no precedent if it is in prosecuted for the crime that it is a war crime then he would never dare say such a thing so imagine that somebody's going to sub-saharan africa we we. we. all we're doing it it's up to it's in our country imagine what would happen if they said that and indorsed court or. the e.u.

canada and mexico are vowing to retaliate against of the new u.s. tariffs on metal imports. but. to fully accept this in the measures carries a threat of a spiral of escalation that will result in damaging everyone nobody wins in a trade war there are only casualties now that the european response will be united and it's not in we will take measures equivalent to those taken by the united states we are imposing the dollar for dollar tariffs for every dollar levied against canadians under the new rules the e.u. countries will have to pay twenty five percent tax on steel and ten percent on aluminum to sell on the west market the european union wants to answer with equal tariffs on at least two hundred american products in a matter of weeks the list is expected to include peanut butter orange juice levi jeans bourbon whiskey and motorcycles a former prime minister of croatia told r.t.

how america's move could damage the global economy. i believe that move for a doesn't have any real basis because if you're looking on the job see in the u.s. steel industry it's shaved incline status we heard much more much import that in the us three or fewer us economy and didn't bring any good. free trade in the world. that spoiled pretty great and the global economy by unilateral moves the staged murder of a russian reporter in ukraine has shocked journalists around the world a story much more a short break this is our international. in

the. mood. 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 is a huge tournaments and the huge amount of pressure to come out you have to go i mean eight percent of the problem here with you and we'll show you all the great game the greatest good you are the rock at the back nobody gets past you we need you to get the ball going left go. to a low. and i'm really happy for drawing down to him for the two thousand and three and world cup in russia meet the special one come on girl to. me to just write the reno biagi team's latest edition to make up

a bigger certainly better jersey look. about your sudden passing i've only just learnt you worry yourself in taking your last bang turn. to you as we all knew it would i tell you i'm sorry finally i could so i write these last words in hopes to put to rest these things that i never got off my chest. i remember when we first met my life turned on each breath . but then my feelings started to change you talked about war like it was again still some are fond of you those that didn't like to question our arc and i secretly promised to never. like it's one does not leave the feeling on the same as one enters the mind it's consumed with this one to. speak to us every now we're there to. think that mainstream media has not it's naked.

and welcome back this is our two international and the weekly journalists worldwide have rounded on the ukrainian government for faking the death of a russian journalist are caught it bob and kim the staged murder of journalists are kinds of bumps and could by the ukrainian security service is distressing while the reappearance of the reports may be a great relief it is deeply regrettable the crane's authorities have played with the truth no matter what the motive relieved that a comedy but it was alive i deplore the decision to spread false information on the life of a journalist it is the juicy of the state to provide correct information to the public. on tuesday ukrainian police claimed to have found the journalist with gunshot wounds outside his flat in kiev they said he had died on his way to the

hospital but less than twenty four hours later it was revealed the murder had been staged ukrainian security forces so it was carried out to foil a russian plot to kill the journalist quarter reports in the fallout from the case when a russian journalist was pronounced murdered in the ukrainian capital it didn't take long for the ceremonial finger pointing at russia to begin he was only working on things that were critical and investigative of russia and of the russian government as well he said there was nothing that was critical of ukrainians of course that network and its boss placing the blame on the kremlin and on russia journalist known political leanings have led some to point the finger in one direction it was a calculated deliberate international terrorist crime committed on the direct instruction of the russian authorities who can blame them when the story has all the perfect ingredients the russian totalitarian machine putin's regime going after the kremlin critic except the guy turned up alive and well imagine everyone's

confusion what on earth is that we want to read all these developments in just the last hour or so i know that's absolutely gobsmacked what is second so what the heck actually have been here russia said it was relieved that are alive but also fiore us and understandably so after being falsely accused of murder questions of life and death in ukraine as well as the international community's trust and its politics are nothing more than a bargaining chip for the kids regime just their apparent tie russian he syria. fellow journalists were outraged too when a state says a prominent journalist who had received threats was murdered i think the media have to report it but with the fake news in ukraine have reduced all of our credibility trump would be proud had learned not to trust ukrainian authorities on. but assumed on something like this for. confirmation was solet apologies it's on wikipedia is most notable fake death so what gives while the murder was staged by the ukrainian

secret service to foil in a legit kremlin plot they say they did it secretly not even his wife imagine what the poor woman went through but one ukrainian lawmaker thinks this is ok because surely a cone successfully used the method of staging his own death to effectively investigate difficult and complicated crimes well if it happened in fiction must be good in real life too whether ukraine will produce evidence that there was ever a russian plot in the first place remains to be seen but after a stunt like this it's hard to imagine many will take anything he says at face value most only when someone manipulates information they deceive the rhodium it's it is clear that they are deceiving their own sits for us the actions the ukrainian authorities are absolutely unacceptable and the free media have suffered most from this i can't comment on what it did or didn't do i don't know the exact circumstances do know that he's participated in a big circus

a masquerade which is of course a big problem for him and for the credibility of journalists. has responded to one article in the british media which said the staged murder may have done more harm than good for ukraine he posted a comment on facebook using offensive language and saying that if the british people wanted to help him they should actually have just given him a u.k. passport and protection. german chancellor angela merkel has ruled out any possible debt relief for italy that is after a new euro skeptic government took power in rome on friday following months of political turmoil antiestablishment five star movement and the league party concluded a so-called government of change deal they're pushing for anti russia sanctions to be lifted saying moscow is a partner not a threat also high on the agenda is reforming europe's migrant policy and renegotiating italy's crippling debt to be parties medina question over as more on

the political shakeup. italy has been left hanging this past three months since its election faced with the several candidates for prime minister but it seems the political uncertainty in the country has finally come to an end with the euro skeptic collison speak condé busy forming his government but his path was a thorny one he was first suggested by the five star movement and league party two weeks ago and it seemed all was good until the president vetoed conti's choice for finance minister at that ala the italian president who was installed by a previous pro e.u. government refused to accept the ministry he saw as to brussels to put him in his view i asked him about ministry of political figure who is not seen as supporting the line. in the year. and that was that contact quit leaving the government in limbo well you know one can say no to

a minister where there was named goofy or donald duck because he's not approved by the stock market world the financial world or some european capitals is this a joke and it seemed the only way to avoid a constitutional crisis was to had back to the pools so the president suggested his own candidate former i.m.f. chief got a look at that only a more popular choice in brussels where you just simply i reiterate my friendship and support for president who has an essential task to undertake ensuring the institutional and democratic stability of this country that is known as mr a scissors for his willingness to cut public spending making him an unwelcome choice for many italians more over seventy percent of the country voted for the euro skeptic parties back in march tired of a stereotype and the migrant influx. that i think italians expressed their choice

and it seems like this choice is being ignored so we're left with a bitter taste. i wasn't expecting this situation but in this country nobody wants change because they can't see what they want so we don't get to a solution that would help the citizens of the country don't want to be sold for nothing i voted but my vote has been trashed and it was the president not the coalition or whoever else you want to bring the president has decided my vote is worthless but perhaps unexpectedly entrain prime minister that only refused to form his own government well that left conti once again in the best position to guide rome forward with the president this time accepting his cabinet picks for now average ones happy and even brussels will work with condi in power last disappointed the new italian prime minister being unknown hey. either off their rockers say what we've been seeing during these ears is that for example the jam

money is making for a sure on the other states like greed is a lie spain. italy and giving are. like it was like. you look at this isn't or acceptable either at least the third largest state. either lisa found or calling it is to be respected the. people we post to be respected and italy can stay of course have to walk in the european frame war for years about the playing the role that it serves that we are not going to be the call on the of the gyre money and we can accept the kind of artist with. the ball which is to be used in the opening game of the two thousand eight hundred four world cup is finally back on earth was brought back by a crew of three from the international space station where they spent six months before their journey back crew got a chance to have a kickabout of their own up in orbit.

either doesn't mean i'll be back in just under thirty five minutes with a final look at your weekly stay with us. join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to us from the world of politics or business i'm show business i'll see you there. in july twenty seventh team hunted i'll set up a freelance journalist working with on t.v.

a militant shelling in syria. on his second fight scotti has established a holiday also to have a memorial they will recognize more reporters who often risk the months with the sake of the truth and through that peace you can submit to your published works in a video well written form until june the twelfth go to a little dot dot dot com. you never know what's around the corner you never know what's in the pub even to walk into an ease that excitement is that not knowing that's where the adrenaline in much comes from. and you can easily move by definition and the extremes the world will support. the violence is a part and it's almost a schizophrenia gang culture where you can do all these things and behave badly.

they're born of people of course qualify that a lot. more so for the last. punishment and infirm for their role. in the thought. i would rather where not really did a poll down down went up a little get. the meaning in reason is that at least if you don't and the evolves it's constantly evolving. hello and welcome to crossfire where all things are considered peter lavelle to the

summit can donald trump and kim jong un start a meaningful peace process as well as what's italy's democratic process means for the e.u. and much much more on this edition of cross. cross-cutting the summit i'm joined by my guest mark skoda he's an international affairs and security analyst we also have dmitri bob it is a political analyst we spoke nick international and in london we crossed alexander make your us he is a writer on legal affairs as well as editor in chief of the duran dot com all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate let me go to london first let me go to our i did still a quick update on what's going on on the korean peninsula this time last week a trumpet said no now he says yes what i think is in play is really the enter korean dynamic here this is where the real peace process where there is one going

to be one it originated there and it's going to continue there and we'd have to see where the u.s. stands but even if the u.s. does change its mind once more it doesn't mean a peace process is over go ahead alex in london i think that is absolutely right and i think you are correct to point out this is actually starts as an insecurity in dialogue the koreans first started to talk to each other properly back in january when kim jong il basically made a speech in new year address he said let's go to the olympic games and it seems. now i also you're absolutely right to say that each is the united states which has been cool all there are some people in the united states who only think are not happy with this process but ultimately what can the u.s. do. south korea agrees to does north korea agrees to desire to get rid of its

nuclear weapons and south korea says the u.s. troops must go does the u.s. say no to. where on think people would like it might not be you know what i think it's really interesting to me that in dealing here i mean you know in looking at the mainstream media it is the nuclearization of the korean peninsula not north korea only also the north korean leadership has made it clear very wisely from a diplomatic point of view is that they're not demanding a complete immediate withdrawal of american troops that would be part of some part of some kind of process here i mean they are displaying a step by step process donald trump through his last. about it seems to be picking up on that he said there won't be a deal made in one meeting smart ok because there won't be one on top of it we have an international charm offensive going on you usually don't say north korean charm .