this is r t international headlining this hour the two men named by the u.k. as suspects in the script all poisoning deny any involvement in the incident they've been speaking exclusively to our editor in chief. of the headline news this hour donald trump signs an executive order to counter foreign interference in america's elections while at the same time insisting that there's never been any in the past. the russian defense ministry claims

militants in syria's province of film to stage a chemical attack and sent it to the un as well as circulating it online. live worldwide from moscow this is r.t. international i'm calling bray with the world headlines at this hour first up the two suspects that the u.k. is named in the poisoning of russian double agent surrogate scribal and his daughter back in march in salzburg have given an exclusive interview to our teas editor in chief margarita simonyan says the two people shown in security camera pictures from the u.k. contacted and of rejected giving interviews to any other news outlet alexander put . bashir off were identified by britain earlier this month now it's claimed the both work for russian's foreign and military intelligence service the g.r.u. here's some of what they told us. it's like you called me on my cell phone and

tell me that you're a slumber sheriff and alexander betroth you really look like the pictures shown to us by the u.k. who are you. because. that's . the person. we are those who were shown to you in the pictures of and i would send her pet through some of it there. are those here real names yes they are our real names. even now when you're talking about it to tell the truth you look very nervous. what would you like i said he spoke with us have you noticed it's not now when your life is turned upside down in a moment just one day and changed our lives. maybe on this is the t.v. footage from london you welcome those now famous coats and sneakers since holds very are this people you. you know that saw us. what were you doing there

and our friends had we not just for a long time they would visit this wonderful town we're so salisbury and wonderful town all of us to just go yes. there's the famous cells america famous not only in europe but in the whole world it's famous for its one hundred twenty three metre spire on this famous for its clock the one of the first ever created in the world that's still working. ok well those two men also told us he's editor in chief of the entire incidents turned their lives into a nightmare but they hope it will end soon now there's more in that interview which was still preparing for you when we get it all together for you we will bring it to you later in the program and in the coming hours. donald trump signed off on moves to tackle foreign interference in u.s. elections which he describes as a national emergency the president. issued an executive order which refers to any

attempt by individuals or countries to influence or alter vote results now the reason that he's so concerned about all this is because a lot rides on those crucial midterm elections which are coming up in november in the event that any meddling is profound sanctions will be imposed targeting strategic areas like finance defense through to technology and transport washington correspondents americans been taking a closer look. at the order will authorize sanctions against entities charged with election meddling this applies to a company's organizations and even individuals the term entity means a partnership association trust a joint venture corporation group's group or other organization now if they impose these sanctions will block assets limit access to the u.s. financial system and ban people from entering the country in the order trump admitted that no foreign power has ever successfully influence a us election but he signed the order anyway although there has been no evidence of

a foreign power old to ring the outcome or vote in any united states election foreign powers have historically sought to exploit america's free and open political system now it's also important to note that the order did not specify any country in particular the term foreign government mince any national state provincial or other governing authority and any political party or any official of any governing authority or political party in each piece of a country other than the united states these sanctions will also be imposed on anyone accused of spreading propaganda and this information and the authority determine who's been meddling has been granted to the director of national intelligence the state department the treasury department homeland security and the justice department with forty five days to do so legal and media analyst lionel believes the executive orders vague unlike previous documents of its kind. but a couple of things i want to bring up using the canons of of american law away

which i know a little bit about and whenever we look at any statute any statute law or regulation executive order p.t.d. you name it anything that is written one of the tenets that we always look to is are the behaviors are the prohibited actions are those intended. activities spelled out accurately enough and with specificity enough so that you were able to read that particular executive order read the statute and comport accordingly meaning may i read this and say oh i know what to do now the next thing is sometimes we have terms void for vagueness vagueness ambiguity what is enter a fair and and i don't want to do this the air quotes but imagine i'm doing it what is interference what is propaganda what is one team to if fact have

a good effect and i can come up with a lot of terms interpretations new ones if i tweak and leave the veritie veracity what does this mean i don't even understand how you would even apply this because normally when you look at the statute circus interference shall move this it means it does not mean this the dissemination of an idea discussion debate what is that what when any country has any discussion i think there is an effect so it's very concerned if it concerns me for vagueness in ambiguity what it is is the u.s. presidency responding to the domestic media and any doubts that people might hear of foreign interference in the election. the substance of it really is not material because. there are not going to be any measure of all indications of foreign

interference in the election certainly not with a vote rigging or go tearing it anywhere so basically this is a public relations exercise from the white house. russian military claims that extremists in syria's it led province have staged and filmed a chemical attack which they intend to blame on president assad's forces moscow says the fighters will send some of the footage to the united nations and circulate the rest online following the filming on the evening of the same day at a joint meeting between representatives of the white helmets and terrorists. out of the nine videos from the two were approved to be sent to the us and the or b c w the rest of the material was suggested for social media because of low quality or cording to the russian reconciliation said the preparations were made near the syrian town of qana shake hoon where an alleged chemical attack took place on the fourth of april last year its claim that filming took place in a nearby village where there's also a chemical stockpile of washington's ignored warnings from russia that the

self-styled syrian rescue group the white helmet are directly involved in staging the attack saying there's no evidence to support that claim and as the battle for italy province looms the u.s. is pouring troops into syria saying that if there is a chemical attack there will be a much stronger response than before tackling google looks into how washington's approach in syria has evolved over recent years. the deeper the u.s. gets sucked into the syrian conflict the more the continuity of time seems to change when it comes to decision making in washington back in two thousand and thirteen when allegations of chemical attacks arose barack obama was still in the hot seat and time still seemed minear we intend to investigate thoroughly exactly what happened. obviously in syria right now you've got a war zone we have to make sure that we know exactly what happened what was the nature of the incident what can we document what can we prove our common sense

review the evidence and attack if justified later the idea that investigations require time those were the good old days but two thousand and seventeen came and times changed syrian dictator bashar. launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians less than seventy two hours later the u.s. fired fifty nine cruise missiles at the airbase they suspected chemical weapons were launched from before any investigation took place. only months later did a un report come out placing the blame at the feet of the syrian government something they still deny so when the controversial white how much group released a video claiming to be proof of a chemical attack in april this year truck was able to pinpoint the culprit in hours many dead including women and children in mindless chemical attack in syria

area rich cities in lockdown and encircled by syrian army making it completely inaccessible to outside world president putin russia and iran are responsible for backing animal assad big price. so the area's inaccessible and yet those responsible have been found out already no ifs ands or buts how does the guy do it the u.k. and france also joined the ranks of the striking government sites in syria after an investigation you ask well three months later the o.p.c. w did put out a report saying chlorine may have been found but on nerve agents and the case is still open so all proof of the last attack hasn't been found the us is again using its crystal ball to determine what no one else can and is ready to act at least according to wall street journal sources brazil and bush are on the son of syria has approved the use of chlorine gas in an offensive against the country's last major rebel stronghold u.s. officials said so if and when

a chemical attack takes place during elipse liberation the guilty party is already known if there are chemical weapons that are used we know exactly who's going to use them that russia is warning of stage attacks is irrelevant that it would lead to exactly what the terrorists want also irrelevant but why look at every scenario when you have everyone else and time on your side. russia is at it again this time the media is pointing the finger following a spate of mysterious incidents that the united states says has damaged the health of some of its diplomats in cuba and china. intelligence agencies investigating attacks on u.s. diplomats in cuba and china now strongly suspect that russia is to blame that there is some place of blame or at least looking seriously at russia n.b.c. news reports that u.s. officials consider russia the prime suspect in their investigation into mysterious attacks on u.s. diplomats in cuba there's a new trend and it's been a buzz since march the american medical association published its findings about

twenty one work is that the u.s. embassy in cuba will fall victim to mysterious symptoms they experienced headaches vertigo had trouble sleeping and apparent. lee selfhood from auditory hallucinations the head of the team that compiled the report later said the likely culprit was a microwave weapon now multiple reports suggest that the u.s. intelligence suspects russia orchestrating the attack but apparently journalists got their hands on new details before the state department there is no known cause no known individual or group believed to be responsible at this time we are looking into it our position has not changed the investigation is ongoing we have not assigned any blame and we continue to look into this i want to be very clear about this in fact the initial scare over weaponized energy in cuba is being waved out of the window the f.b.i.

investigated the mystery but found no trace of a malicious plot both the u.s. and then u.s.s.r. are known to have pursued the type of weapon described in the initial report but as of now no microwave device capable of depriving the brain is known to exist for many scientists actually talk like this is akin to flat earth theories that kind of affected speed talked about with the embassy is really a theory it's only conjecture that microwaves are involved at all no one has measured microwaves in the embassy as far as i know and the only suggestion that this might be due to microwaves it's always a low level sound effect which people speculate might be due to my crew is that it's just speculation that there's anything at all on my who is this case i can't conceive the microwave weapon as is be thought about in this case and it's not clear that the symptoms are real i'm familiar with went deeper it was published by

a group that examined these subjects and the results route three inclusive. but who cares for scientific evidence right not this republican senator for sure cory gardner he's so scared by this fantasy weapon i urge the senate to pass my legislation requiring the state department to consider the designation of russia as a state sponsor of terrorism well mr gardiner if you are still in fear i've heard this helps. it's a look next on r.t. hungary's been dealt a dose of discipline from the e.u. over how it treats migrants have the details on that for you with a comeback. when

the u.n. was founded it was meant to serve as a forum for dialogue and conciliation. into a u.n. security council meeting and instead of robust debate you often see accusations and allegations of diplomats and just playing to the cameras as the u.n. really become a host environment. again

a group of european lawmakers are voicing their support for hungary after the european parliament voted to slap in the past with the blocks most severe disciplinary action from breaching the union's core values of a migrant populist leader good field is called the decision a shame while the outspoken british army pinata for raj warned of an authoritarian grip but as peter all of the reports hungary is not the only country backing the e.u. rule book. the european parliament has voted to put hungary on its official naughty list by starting article seven measures against budapest will you let it happen that a government that violates the values open which this union was built with out consequences or will you ensure that the values of the. union are more than just which unit is this daniel the elections this year were held in an atmosphere of aggression and intimidation and article seven of the lisbon treaty is the biggest stick member

nations have with which to beat members of the club not upholding e.u. call values if seeing through to its fullest and we are still some way away from that happening just yet it could result in a member nation having their voting rights suspended in the e.u. institutions essentially taking away their right to have a say hungary is charged with breaking a wide array of e.u. laws but when you look at them as a group there are many member states that aren't in breach of some of the same things being levelled at budapest individuals into government and rich themselves their family members difference from public funding from utopian taxpayer money bulgaria is also down there at the wrong end of the table when it comes to corruption and conflicts of interest transparency international puts them bottom of the list when it comes to e.u. member states but also down there at the wrong end of the table a countries like

rumania greece italy and croatia any piece reserved a real tongue lashing for the all bonds government when it came to the rights for minorities the council of europe's commissioner for human rights indicated that he was concerned about the deterioration of the situation as regards racism and intolerance in hungary when it comes to discrimination against vulnerable groups let's say for example here muslim migrants from north africa it's a far worse picture in the netherlands where almost half say they've been the victim of discrimination italy and france don't fare well here either another area where hungry has crossed the line for e.u. parliament tarion is arguably the biggest issue many had with viktor orban. it's the collision course the garion prime minister has been on with brussels over migrants we need more europe you know. i would like to raise the voice of the

people all over in europe that they are full of fear we need more union in our refugee problem is not a european problem we need a fair and just distribution the problem is a german problem it is not a problem to create a new legal situation at the borders saw it to be even more free than it was but now we're hearing similar messages coming out of italy. it's over we will go through deserve to be welcomed receive lives we save women men and children but italy will no longer be the european refugee camp hungary ticked to many of the boxes too many times when it came to breaches of core values and that is why any piece of voted to start article seven but what it may also there's a reminder and a wake up call to some of those nations who also find themselves not exactly whiter than white that they could well be next peter all over r.t.

the. government denounced the vote as a fraud and called it the revenge of pro migrant politicians journalists who grieve a told us that certain political forces believe it's their last chance to stop populism advancing in europe. the leftists furious is really a crisis to an incredible point as well as the liberals the globalists because they know it is their last chance to obtain that with a populist sop punished somehow the list grows longer you have the austrians you have the italians it didn't work it won't work and all day do is fit to mind or ban or ban will be reelected certainly one time comes with a big majority because he's a victim of europe the worst that europe can produce we heard yesterday and today today it was less important vote happened and that was it. but the report produced by mrs sargent was a green party activists from all and is is really

a piece of work and it's really incredibly aggressive in its content and she didn't even go to hungary to make this report this bullying will go nowhere you know article seven will never be applied italy austria poland will refuse of course that this be applied at council level if not at the parliament level so they are afraid of the next parliament after the may elections that's the thing. which is a vostok twenty eighteen military exercises are well underway and the country's far east that the largest drills in decades with hundreds of thousands of troops and combat vehicles being put through rigorous testing but the maneuvers are also proving to be somewhat irritating for the west with the pentagon saying they're watching it very closely president putin met an address troops at the drills earlier on thursday he also wants to join russia china parade of hardware and aviation but i guess the end is there for us. feel we are one of the most anticipated exercises of the votes talks two thousand and eighteen war games.

these scenarios russian paratroopers as well as their chinese counterparts assaulting a hardened enemy position may prove being wounded on any hope the spare drop it is now being supported by artillery as well as air strikes and helicopters doing the rounds. come. up with formation during the battle with he called the support the. reserves speak pushkin the battle. what's remarkable here at least the level of coordination required to keep

everything running smoothly with the showman even with a tree branch said he called his jets as well as troops from multiple countries to china from go to from russia and in such a confined and small area of course the exercise is simulated but the difficulties faced heel will translate it's a real combat experience. well this is an improved thing if dramatic sight thousands of tags personnel carriers helicopters and aircraft a raid on a vast field chinese and russian joint military parades to end the day's exercises. ok back to our breaking news the two suspects the briton named in the poisoning of

russian double agent so ghostscript holland his daughter back in march and solsbury have given an exclusive interview to r.t. is editor in chief correspondent daniel hawkins joins me now either dan you've watched through this interview or did they say well indeed. petroff two names that have been nonstop on t.v. on the radio in the newspapers and two faces that have become all too familiar to viewers both here in russia in the u.k. and other western countries as well quite a long interview to the decision to not edit any of the parts to only have two cameras so that we could see the whole thing obviously many of the key questions were asked that were on people's minds who are these men are they as they were in the past what are they who they claim to be what were they doing in salzburg what were their movements etc many of the questions that the public the viewers and the police had to ask as well they explain themselves as to why they were in salzburg what they were doing there let's take

a look at some of what these two bell had to say. you called me on my cell phone and tell me that you're islam bashir earth and alexander petrov you really look like the picture is shown to us by the u.k. who are you. but. we are those who were shown to you in the pictures of and i would say three of . them are those your real names yes they are our real names. even now when you're talking about it to tell the truth you look very nervous. and why would you. not know when your life was turned upside down in a moment just one day and changed our lives. name and this is the t.v.

footage from london you walk in those now famous coats and sneakers since holes very are this people you. you know that saw us. what were you doing there. our friends had been suggesting for a long time they really visited this wonderful town. called salisbury a wonderful town. yes. there is the famous. famous not only in europe but in the whole world it's famous for its one hundred twenty three metre spire streamers for its clock the one of the first ever created in the world that's still working. right now a britain is convinced that these two russian intelligence officers would have a say. it's clear that they've denied any association with russian intelligence services they claim to have their own business to do with sports nutrition they say they regularly went on trips to europe both for business and for pleasure indeed as

the u.k. authorities said. was one of the places they say they went to they didn't disclose too much more really no other about their past their lives their family affiliations friends or business they claimed for fear of some sort of repercussions they said that they find it very hard to even leave their homes that they recognize they feel under scrutiny understandably given the scale of this scandal that has blown over the past weeks and months they did say the. moderator did notice that they appeared nervous. as they mentioned in that video as well when asked what to do next the men also seemed at a loss as to how to waltz are saying they just hoped that this thing would soon be over the truth would be found this is another part of the interview. why do you think about the whole scruple case. here.

because it was a we are living in it you can't imagine what it's like we'd like if one day the real perpetrators are found and we were given an apology and then we. didn't know anybody. who the perpetrators. there's a play you'll hear the words i'm lost i don't know what day it is we can't go outside we can't go to the petrol station you can't imagine what our lives turned into we. are you being recognized. the most was not. going to be every day little baby talk about us on the radio every time we turn on the to leave and we see your faeces we need. to be able to live like that. i try not to watch the news it's over and over and over again every day. what are

you going to do next. it will be just one for this to be over. for these two of the legs of petrol. apparently real names like the u.k. police claim to be aliases they do certainly appear to be the men in the c.c.t.v. the other images published by u.k. or thought she is the interviews we say is i know the margarita simonyan. declined to give her impressions saying it's up to the viewer to watch this to decide and to make their own conclusions as to who these men are and whether to believe their version of the story or not for many this could leave more questions than answers of course however this is perhaps another piece in the puzzle that is this seemingly never ending saga of the screwball case and did ok all right dan thanks very much for updating us on that and we'll be showing you more clip from that in the coming hours like dan said it's a long interview if you want to see the whole thing it's available right now at dot com.