washington hayden said it could be open to talks with taliban militants in afghanistan trucks donna commander of the group jacks the possibility of any negotiations with. the americans never to cooperate with the taliban and the taliban has never asked the americans again to cooperate against islamic states. also ahead this hour double trouble professes his love for a north korean leader kim jong un young young remains koyo over america's hostile sanctions from the program.

focused returns on spain's restive. exactly one year on since an independence referendum which was met with a violent. wherever you are tuning in from right around the world this hour a very warm welcome to moscow and to r.t. international my names in needle after seventeen years of war in afghanistan the u.s. has been hinting multiple times of late that it is open to peace talks with the taliban widely considered a terrorist organization however it doesn't seem that the militants are willing to accept the offer especially considering the control the group is getting on the ground is in creasing are granted access to a militant commander. the americans never want to cooperate with the taliban

and the taliban has never asked the americans again to cooperate against islamic states the americans are bombing us but we fight against isis. double quarter has been looking more at this story this is his report. this is ministration has made it clear that it is prepared to engage with and participate in the go with both the taliban and the afghan government the leadership of the taliban doesn't want to negotiate with the americans and has never wanted to use us defense secretary james mattis just had a meet and greet with the afghan president in kabul they finally decided to play nice in a bid to get the taliban down to talks but just one day before their words of peace washington dropped a big f. thirty five b. bomb on the taliban looks like the peace process is getting off on the right foot especially when the u.s. has for years led up to this moment promising both talk and terror i want to

reinforce to the taliban that the only path to peace and political legitimacy for them is through a negotiated settlement to the taliban when their choices are to reconcile live in a relevant. we have the taliban willing to come to the negotiating table there's no talking to the taliban we don't want to talk to the taliban we're going to finish what we have to finish so it's no surprise the taliban is reluctant to trust promises of peace and why would they seek it anyway in the past several months the taliban has made substantial territorial gains their spring offensive took coalition forces completely off guard seizing regions all over afghanistan over one hundred soldiers and police officers were killed in just one week of the offensive and that's not even counting last week's u.n. report covering civilian casualties in battles between the coalition and taliban

forces. and as you. see in any just over the show you all these was you'll see so you can no differentiate between dollars and going to simply doing disk is not the first time the going to do this with the new time is still under the. wire. there's a lot of rumors. that. are going to. america's two thousand and one invasion of afghanistan hoped to oust the taliban from power but what materialized it was a seventeen year long war the longest conflict in u.s. history and now fast approaching are monumental peace talks to be held in moscow between the taliban and the afghan government but. we can confirm that we will attend the moscow conference we are waiting for the date and agenda then we will

decide what can be achieved from the conference. if successful these talks could mark a step forward in a conflict that currently has no end in sight donald quarter r.t. . serving after a roller coaster all off diplomatic relationship donald trump has openly professed his affection for a north korean leader kim jong. il is really being tough and so wishing i would go back and forth and then we fell in love ok no really he wrote me beautiful letters and they're great letters that was trying talking to supporters over the weekend describing how he and kim have gone from it's complicated to in a relationship a tale as old this time isn't it too volatile world leaders separated by thousands of kilometers first of each other's throats then over time and numerous heartfelt

letters magic happens so i've received two letters from jim and kim my personal correspondence magnificent very strong letter form incredible letters a letter that i gave one i showed one of the letters just to prime minister b. he said this is actually a groundbreaking letter so against all odds they're in love at least according to trump but the relationship isn't without its problems now is not the time to ease pressure verify denuclearization of north korean until such time as that occurs the economic sanctions the sanctions been put in place by the united nations security council will remain in place leaving one side or trust issues the perception that sanctions can bring us to our knees is a pipe dream of people who are ignorant about us but the problem is that they continue sanctions a deepening of mistrust. but all hope may not be lost

a second summit between the pair is still on the table but make no mistake about it there is real progress being made and we're going to continue to work at it until the point in time where as the president says it we could be wrong it may not happen but until such time as we conclude we can get this done we're going to continue to drive to achieve the progress continue the progress which we've already made but let's not forget how difficult getting that first date was summit that is nevertheless the to put aside their differences and have a magical time in singapore. thank you. and well team trump year for more the norse i could be stray kim

has already met with his south korean counterpart three times and to add salt to that one president moon was sent a pair of north korean hunting dogs by p.n. yang as a symbol of their warming relationship could this spell trouble in paradise for trump well donald trump seemingly warm words for north korea doesn't correspond with reality so sees the director of the nuclear studies institute in washington d.c. he's american university this is very bizarre we know that trump is mercurial you know that trump is ration of pulse. you know that trump is not a traditional diplomat in any way. so. better that we be talking better that trump is sending love letters to kim rather than hate tweets like you were doing for a while so then i says giving very very mixed signals one of the things that has

said it all does the administration have said is that they want to maintain the sanctions they want to keep the pressure on north korea the north korean foreign minister has said that the u.s. sanctions are a hostile policy so if you look at what the north korean foreign minister said it wasn't all love letters best friends he was saying that if the united states had it adopted the same attitudes that south korea had adopted and that we'd be well on the path toward peace and denuclearization. a blockaded palestinian enclave run by islamic militant group hamas has marked more than six months of with the protests on its border with israel more than one hundred forty people have been killed it's really forces say they defend their border from violent protesters who demand a right to return to the land which is not in israel well later in the day in fact

this summer we have a special report and resistance is channeled not only through demonstrations but also art. you know. on this day. he used the phrase down exactly. as the blood looked up look over here. we would be too cold to go fifteen hundred. in one days well he says a month it's pretty soon it's almost the truth to go as if you've got a while with you to the leader of a young. boy

who loves me. out of the one love i'm somebody you know how about no. missed us that is. the look of that a cone the saddle over there going to the. bottom. of the ethical to. maverick have signed with those. that we did it to show the world that we can make a funny thing that can make it die exactly what are you going from short of most of the losses. to the devastation of the. circle for a month but you know that i'm not one that we all saw in the bar this was yours and i'm going to tell you just from queens of course. i was there how did you deal. with. the smokey who are they over the new few notice that likelihood of

them. to another ever headline stories this hour it's a year to do. since the rest of spanish region of cuts alone here held an independence referendum hundreds of thousands voted to secede from spain while madrid branded the whole thing illegal crowds of people have once more been gathering to push for independence. over five thousand turned up at a rally on sunday some protesters threw projectiles at police though the demonstration went off without major incident activists have also been sharing their experiences of last year's vote with us. i think we all lost something that day and the feeling of helplessness that i had i think it does not go away easily

you know. we voted that we wanted the republic and the year has gone by and we haven't achieved a new result we come to ask the government to comply with the popular mandate and on the other hand we come to say that they are keeping forces have no place within the catalan republic this is not their home and we want them out medina cotch nova looks now at the region's bid to be free of spanish rule. a year after cats linus failed attempt to break away from spain the situation in the region remains deadlocked back than madrid called the referendum on independence illegal and refused to acknowledge it as a result of police crackdown on demonstrators left hundreds of people injured on the anniversary there are similar violent scenes on the streets of cattle on as capital.

we do know is that just two blocks away from here there was another polling station that at least raided that building and forcibly removed people out of there hundreds of people but he said useful voters really impressed down the street a lot of any people who are shouting at national police forces who leave the region to line up and i've read to seize on the biggest constitutional crisis and the country for decades and if we're twenty seventeen madrid took control of catalan government and put eight of the deposed members in jail and the oust catalan leader of fled the country to belcher with an international arrest warrant on his hat the spanish government dissolved the catalan parliament to control of local police forces and called for snap elections if this measure we go to implement has a lot to do with the goal of holding an election in catalonia or city markets

thirty percent what if your home with four hundred to five hundred three per second per second and one rose to twenty thousand dollars. china is building two point one billion dollars a are you industrial. but don't let the numbers will be. the only number you need remember one you know for the mid one. nineteen minutes past ten am this monday morning here in moscow welcome back a referendum on whether to change a southern european countries name appears to have fallen flat people in macedonia

were asked if they wanted to add the word north to the name but only thirty six percent of voters turned out on sunday way below the fifty percent threshold needed to make any change at all it despite that the country's prime minister is pledging to push on with a vote in parliament. the m.p.'s vote in parliament must be a vote for the decisive and responsible continuation of the process towards final ascension to the european union made i'm for a better life for our children and all the citizens of macedonia i expect that parliament will respect the democratic will of those people who voted today if not there is no other option but to use another democratic tool that is early parliamentary elections as soon as possible. while nato is general secretary was among those that welcomed the apartment yes vote here's

a look now at the possible changes ahead for macedonia. the republic of macedonia a balkan state in southern europe that could be about to go through a small name change it's a vote that's grabbed the attention of europe's powerhouse and even u.s. officials and it's all down to one word nor the change would bring an end to a twenty seven year long to speak with greece it's concerned about historical and territorial claims as it has a province called macedonia previously the territory of the macedonian state until the beginning of the twentieth century simple on paper but is it really. referendum ballots pose just one albeit double barreled question whether the macedonian people want to join nato and the u. and in turn support an agreement with greece to change the country's name to north macedonia. so it comes down to some in the country's desire to join the alliances

after previous attempts have been blocked by greece this time its neighbors seems to have found a bargaining chip for macedonia secession into nato but there are still hurdles to overcome the first sticking point is that the referendums outcome lacks any legal clout and is subject to approval by the states parliament the country's incumbent president and off is not on board either and has been urging the public to boycott the referendum. it is violence against our historical memory the aim is to limit the use of the name to macedonians to the smallest possible space and there is the space between the two is all while keeping on miles close to the republican macedonia is now asked to commit legal and historical suicide so the legal abolishment of the macedonian people can be interpreted as its own will. even if all this doesn't get in the way there's still one final step joining nato it won't be possible until the next alliance summit set for twenty twenty north macedonia

has a long way to go before it's even been. yes certainly a lot being debated in the region we also know that hundreds have been rallying here in the greek city of thessalonica key votes in the country's muster donia province protesters there virulently reject any compromise on the name change we took the chance to hear from both sides of the divide. there's a bit if you look at them for the most macedonians do not want to join nato or the essentially with this referendum with protecting macedonia centuries old name and the identity history and traditions of the macedonian people our party is against nato membership in this referendum is simply a question of the highest national interest western influence is huge here in the last ten to fifteen days we've been visited by brussels and washington's highest political and diplomatic representatives but we can't be bought and our will is unbreakable macedonians they want to change the name of the state and they don't

want to join nato. has free. will that be made by the european union and the us should. they settle on the main in a way that you ask what are they european union about in order to shape your. western but we've seen. worse than maybe of. fremantle and. they want. poor. european union. and with montenegro they're pushing it forward with. the former yugoslav republic of macedonia. it's not in danger of the balkan people. efforts by the french president among you will like to portray himself as

a man of the people have long been ridiculed by critics and the recent photo from a trip to the car a b. and has fired them up once again the president seen posing with someone making an obscene gesture. we can't even find words to express our indignation we can tolerate this it's unforgivably shreds of dignity that got lost in the night of the ball game. the. numbers have been going nuts because you believe little i know that.

a small fool for the fifteen year old boy who was told off and humiliated by micron because he didn't respect the presidency by calling him money. by hooking any case that macro call that last for me would have been called man on the one hand don't call me maneuver on the other the presidency is implicitly undermined. this is showing that he did is not a two faced this is the same a quote you just has a difficult season making the difference between the way he was six years ago what he really is and what he's supposed to be because he doesn't really know what i mean he's got no training for this and he just thinks he could continue being having the attitude of rochelle baker and go out and have to fight and then some he's going to topple over his shoulder said don't forget that you're president of the french republic and his results after your half are not true that out he's got bad results concerning unemployment bad results concerning criminality immigration

i mean all the indicators are read practically at the same time he's going out doing selfies as if he was some sort of rock star. all right to the big issues of the day debated within the words of one prominent politician fire and fury next in the latest edition of crossfire this is your party. going to accept the slow drivers will blast was right. along with. its. lucy. over television makes us see.

i don't buy the stuff i love me it. was i'm somebody how does know it's a mask you never know what's happening and whether they're shooting whether it's here. and it's left out of that it's. sad but it. was. also to give me a month. just because of that interview but i'm addicted to sit with us and in the most farms of all these clear when the. you know world big partisan movie lot and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door. and shouting past each

other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now for watching closely watching the hawks. make its manufacture consent to public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. when the final merry go round lifts only the one percent. nor middle of the room.

hello and welcome to cross talk or all things are considered i'm peter lavelle on this edition of the program we discussed russia's relationship with the west ukraine and a lot of history. knocking cutting the gordian knot i'm joined by mike is here moscow geoffrey roberts he's a historian senior fellow at the helsinki whom for advanced studies and a member of the royal i. to me and we have nick like petro he is a professor of political science at the university of rhode island all right gentlemen let's talk about cutting the gordian knot where we all know the poor state of relations between the west and russia we both know that very well. how do

we get out of this cold a sock or we just have to accept the status quo for a very long time to come. i'm afraid it's the latter. i don't see any political figure all on the horizon in the west who could take the lead and show that kind of in a.