our headline story. of the group rejects the possibility of negotiations. doesn't want to negotiate with the americans and has never wanted and the leadership never gave permission to any. north korean leader. remains.

exactly what. independence referendum which was. right around the world a warm welcome to moscow international my name's o'neil. after seventeen years of war in afghanistan the us has recently hinted it's open to peace talks with the taliban on more than one occasion widely considered a terrorist organization however it doesn't seem that the militants are willing to accept the offer especially considering the increasing control the group is exerting on the ground. was granted rare access to a taliban militant commander and raised the subject. the americans never want to

cooperate with the taliban and the taliban has never asked the american again to cooperate against the islamic state the americans are bombing us while we fight against isis. well the latest suggestion of direct talks between the taliban and washington came from the state department on friday. 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 under the leadership of the taliban doesn't want to negotiate with the americans and has never wanted this and the leadership of taliban never gave permission to any member to negotiate on their behalf u.s. 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 living a relevance toward the 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 un report covering civilian

casualties in battles between the coalition and taliban forces. on. the scene in any dust over the show all these was you can no differentiate between going to soon see you in disk is not the first time the dog or the civilians. time is still under the. door to get over. that. look in the. americas 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 if 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. . now after a roller coaster off diplomatic relationship donald trump has openly professed his affection for a north korean leader kim jong. i was 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 cam have gone from it's complicated to in a relationship a tale as old as 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 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 to diddle diddle pre-booked 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 deepening our 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 and 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't 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 while summit that is nevertheless the to put aside their differences and have a magical time in singapore. thank you. and well team trump years for more the north i could be straying kim

has already met with his south korean counterpart three times and to add salt to that one president man with such a pair of north korean hunting dogs by p.n. yang as a symbol of the warming relationship could this spell trouble in paradise for trump donald trump's warm words for north korea doesn't correspond with reality so say he's the director of the nuclear studies institute of washington d.c. american university. this is very bizarre we know that trump is mercurial you know that trump is ration of pulse of you know that trump is not a traditional diplomat in any way. so. better that we'd be talking better that trump is sending love letters to kim rather than hate tweets like you were doing for a while so you know it's as giving very very mixed signals one of the things that trump 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 did nuclearization. turning our attention to the middle east where blockaded palestinian enclave run by islamist militant group hamas is marking six months of quickly protests on its border with israel more than one hundred forty palestinians have been killed in the right to return demonstrations israel say's it's not being on its right to defend its border from violent protesters later this hour we'll be bringing you a special report on hard palestinian resistance is channeled not only through

demonstrations but also art now one. of. them. just days to tell me. exactly. has the blood looked up look over here. we were able to quote fifteen hundred. in one days well this is mine it's the streets homeless there's truth to the wow. yeah. i don't know but it's good of me to. want somebody know how.

i missed us that it's just. the luck of that of the sad. thing they're going to say . a little too. much more. maverick have signed with. him it's just. that we did it to show the world that we can make a funny thing that can make a guy. who come from a shot of course about. the dedication of the moment for almost three months. and that was for the good part it was your son i'm going to tell you just sometimes the closest. i was to how to give. my. ok your body. dysmorphia who are they over the notice the likelihood of them.

it's exactly a year since the rest of spanish region of catalonia held an independence referendum hundreds of thousands voted to secede from spain while madrid branded the whole thing illegal crowds of people have wants more. being gathering to push for independence. yeah what you're seeing here are five or so people turning up at a rally in general not on this sunday some protesters threw projectiles up police though the demonstration went off without major incident activists have also been sharing their experiences of last year's votes. 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've 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. well medina been following the story for quite some time she now looks at the region's bid to be free of spoilers for. a year after catalunya as field 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 the police crackdown on demonstrators left hundreds of people injured on the anniversary there are similar violent scenes on the streets of catalan as capital. we do know is that just two blocks away from here there was another polling station at least raided that building and forcibly removed people out of fear of hundreds

of people as but he said. voters really right down the street a lot of people are shouting at national relief workers to leave their we have 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 to control of catalan government and put eight of the deposed members in jail and the oust catalan leader of flab 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 this measure we go to implement has a lot to do with the goal of holding an election in catalonia the region will have to hold an election within six months the minds engineers to hold it as soon as we recover but that didn't bring the relief madrid had hoped for and stats catalan

poor independence party has held their absolute majority in the vote and put in power a hardline separatist leader bringing an end to seven months of direct. from a treat and june this year spain welcomed its own new prime minister who adopted a softer tone towards cattle on air and offered a fresh start to negotiations on its status the catalan leader wasn't so flexible and insisted only on holding a legally binding referendum on independence the issue of independence remains divisive and the region with poor suggesting kept loans are almost evenly split on whether to stay part of spain. the truth is that many people feel disappointed because they thought everything was heading towards the final goal of independence yet despite some people feeling tired many of us are determined to continue forward . will continue to fight for independence despite all the many difficult we'll do

it day by day i'm very much against it now is not the time for cattle on it to be coming. for me it would be better to leave things as they are moving spain and we are spanish maybe now fear is that failure to find common ground in catalonia would likely spill into and other. well nato is general secretary was among those that welcomed the apartment yes vote and here's a look at the possible changes ahead for the nation. 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 north 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 neighbor seems to have found a bargaining chip for macedonia as a session to nato but there are still hurdles to overcome the first sticking point is that the referendums outcome lacks and the legal clout and is subject to approval by the state's parliament the country's incumbent president. 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 created. while hundreds have also rallied in the greek city of thessaloniki in the country's macedonia province protesters there are very mentally reject any compromise on the name change we heard from both sides of the pike. and now this is over they can work it on for the most macedonians do not want to join nato. 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 and 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 who we know 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 u.s. should. they step on the main in a way that you ask what are they european union about in order to bullshit you all the worse than what we've seen. maybe of. they want. borsch. in a european union. with montenegro they're pushing it

forward with. the former yugoslav republic of macedonia only it's. not in danger of the balkan people. the british government is facing a challenge in court for not launching an investigation into alleged russian interference in the twenty sixteen breaks that vote well let's cross now to london and get the details from our teaser alycia churkin hi there tell us indeed who's pushing for this legal action is it likely to escalate. well you know comparing the combiners from a group dubbed fair vote u.k. are indeed preparing a legal challenge to be brought to the british government demanding a public inquiry to be had. into the bronx that referendum of twenty sixteen this to the likes of the miller investigation that took place in the us following trump's election and we do know that in the pre action letter sent to the u.k.

government they've cited quote irregular and unlawful conduct so they want to know whether or not there was any potential political or any outside interference in the bronx that referendum and amidst the concerns they're citing is potential russian descent from ation data campaign data companies involvement as well as electoral spending and they are claiming this is based of quote significant public concern and it has to be said that theresa may had already previously rejected any such possibility of a public inquiry into bracks it describing it as quote a thinly veiled attempt to overturn brock's it now this campaign does have a crowdfunding page going to try to get enough to be able to pay those legal fees they're aiming for one hundred thousand pounds however it has to be said that at the time of this live report that amount is just over thirty thousand pounds and of course all of this comes during in on the heels of an increasingly uncertain times about what is going to happen with drugs that exactly not only has brought some

division within the u.k. but of course within the tortie tory party government itself that is in charge of making it a reality proving even more so during the tory party conference that's ongoing as we speak so there is really a big question about amidst all of these could numb drums whether or not potential blame the russians campaign could really be the solution to all of these problems thanks for breaking that down for us this hour alissa see you church there live in london. promise palestinian resistance in the spotlight next but not through bombs on bullets rather the power of art this is art international. join me every first day on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to us from the world of politics or business i'm showbusiness i'll see if there.

is a. church secret indeed catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children can get away with it quite literally i like to call this the geographic solution so what the bishop needs to do then he finds out that the priest is is a perpetrator is simply moves him to a different spot were the previous standards not the highest ranks of the catholic church help conceal the accused priests from the police and justice so something that you know that's not as the i intend. to use this out and. this. through.

this is gaza's current status it's one of the most overpopulated places on earth and on the brink of collapse. with troops forces in two thousand and five but still keep some news on that with air ground and sea blockades it's also under economic sanctions is often described as an open air prison. locals elected hamas as their leaders here they don't believe that israel should exist so naturally both saw its regularly bomb each other israel tends to send

a warning leaflets before stroy. mostly state puts many countries classify hamas as a terrorist organization and the qs the most potent people at risk. schools and mosques by encouraging them to join protests. around the clock march don't. know if. you can. do that. on saturdays there's often a funeral here the whole village comes out to pay their respects another kid has died at the protest some of them up with yasser as some are turned on you know you look at the you know the in the lower. level my mom's my mom's on the yes and the cloud is that no one to touch the water and not the bottom of the.

neck and the full can never been done before so i knew clot mohamed i must you know nuclides. big deal first. lady muscle and then maybe fluffy that gets on. the employees. can hold up a little bit. come from and how many among the female the lab the muslims the media and final final court of. public would be a party of the taliban out of saudi of all sultan cafe just live in say yes i'm in the halls of. the budget for many years the in the bad luck the ball may look for also the hospital i. know years ago let me name so israel has launched its biggest offensive against gaza in years the united nations is urging as roll to hold success a force amnesty international accused to set open fire lading international law but

this isn't the first time we tried to talk to the i.d.f. and they refused our requests for comics as their stance hasn't changed over the years here's what their spokesperson told me in twenty fourteen.