this is actually shrinking inside the still gets weaker in the brain still small. the pain is indescribable it's feels like a really really bad chemical burn but it goes through your skin in your muscles down to the bone. there is no relief. we're not sure this is. still friends donald trump is willing to save america's partnership with saudi arabia despite accepting that riyadh may have known about plans to kill dissent dissident journalist and jamal khashoggi back in october.

mass protests over the friendship president's times reforms on fuel leave one person dead and five hundred others injured including dozens of police officers. there's an outcry in western capitals as a russian official looks set to take over the reins at the international criminal police organization. and flying high for twenty years the international space station celebrates two decades of plane nearing research we go behind the scenes and take a look at it's both in orbit and on earth. are broadcasting live direct from our studios most of this is our international i'm sean thomas glad to have you with us. now the white house appears to have given saudi arabia the benefit of the doubt as. washington looks to continue its

partnership with the gulf state despite a statement saying riyadh could have been aware of a plan to brutally murdered journalist jamal khashoggi he went missing after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul back in october. our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information but he could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event maybe he did and maybe he didn't that being said we may never know all of the facts surrounding the minute mr shoji in any case our relationship is with the kingdom of saudi arabia they have been a great town in a very important fight against iran well this statement was very long awaited people were anticipating to see what president would say now the statement that was released indicates that the united states will continue to cooperate with the kingdom of saudi arabia the title of the statement is actually standing with saudi arabia now in the lead up to today's statement donald trump has not been willing to

admit that saudi arabia may have had a role in the actual killing of jamal khashoggi however donald trump has been emphasizing all throughout this process that he indeed intends to maintain the relationship between the two countries especially trade. they are ordering military equipment everybody in the world one of the border we got it and we got all of it every bit of it i don't like stopping massive amounts of money that's being poured into our country spending one hundred ten billion dollars on military equipment and or things that are created like. others for this country now it's important to note that a large portion of the document is dedicated to rhetoric regarding the islamic republic of iran now that's interesting because iraq had nothing to do with the killing of jamal khashoggi this took place in turkey and was carried out by forces from saudi arabia the document blames iran for the conflict in yemen despite the

fact that it's saudi arabia that has attacked yemen and continues to bombard and be involved in yemen in the yemeni conflict and little evidence of iranian involvement has been presented now regardless of the documents. goes on to talk about how heavily invested saudi arabia is in the united states and the many contracts and deals that exist and argues that it would not be in the interest of the country for those contracts and deals mainly with defense contractors to be broken the document from there goes on to talk about how saudi arabia is actually the largest producer of oil second it only to the united states now in addition to that donald trump cites what he calls representatives of saudi arabia it's not clear who they are who argue that because shoji was a member of the muslim brotherhood and an enemy of this state now he does not confirm that that is true but simply cites these unnamed representatives of saudi arabia as accusing him of being such now the president of the united states

essentially arguing that the maintaining of the relationship between saudi arabia and the united states is in quote consistent with the absolute security and safety of america it's important to note that the documents first opening line it says the world is a very dangerous place and essentially the document goes on to argue that the united states benefits from this relationship with saudi arabia and that despite the fact that this journalist was murdered despite that fact the united states will keep this relationship intact because it is in the national interest the document ends with the phrase america first with an exclamation point and essentially argues that this brutal murder does not change the nature of the important economic and military relationship between the two countries investigative journalist rick sterling told us that despite trump's claims washington's financial ties to riyadh don't benefit the american people. u.s. foreign policy is basically driven by the military industrial complex which as he

reports in this statement is due to receive one hundred ten billion dollars in weapons orders from saudi arabia so that's what it's come down to the united states under president trump is first and foremost a weapons an arms dealer that president trump starts and ends with america first and i would just suggest this is not in the interests of the american people this kind of poll a sea of just of making the us into primarily a weapons and arms dealer is really against our interests lockheed martin and raytheon and boeing like this but for the rest of it it's it's a disaster. protesters wearing a yellow vests have come out across france in response to president menu micron's tax hike on fuel people have been blocking roads and burning tires as well as clashing with police demonstrators also tollbooths on fire on the highway. in

france's south east on tuesday night of the buddhas as well as gates and lights were heavily damaged with the highway currently blocked. as taking a closer look at what the protesters are doing. here just on the outskirts of ruin where as you can see behind me there are a group of around a hundred yellow vests wearers these are the they've come out to protest against the high tax on carbon and so on fuels he in france which is increased by more than twenty percent in the last year if you just take a look you'll see that there's another group over here and what they're trying to do is they're trying to blockade roads around abouts like this this is one of the main arteries that would go from blue on all the way to paris and as you can see they've brought some of the traffic to a relative cool some people have described it as operation go the idea is bringing the traffic to as standstill or

a crawl but not actually completely blocking the roads one of the reasons that they've changed they tackled when these protests started back on saturday four days ago they were actually trying to block the roads but that's caused them problems with the police so the idea here now is to bring the traffic to a snail cruel and to protest against not just the high price of fuel here in france but also the high cost of living in france let's have a look back now at the protests over the last four days. the burning fires to keep themselves warm here you might be able to see there's a fire just in the background there and if we walk around this roundabout you're

going to see that there's another point here this is also where they're trying to stop the traffic and then again further in the distance they really have got this entirely covered and what they're saying is that the president might call has said lots of things he said he's going to come into power he's going to make reforms he's going to change the french economy for the better but the people here say there is no magic formula and so for corn hasn't brought in a magic formula let's have a listen to what the protesters themselves are saying we don't want this president and his government to be useful anymore we don't want them anymore and we want to change the system. responds with new laws every year every month laws that are worthless we have to say stop we're not dumb sheep we have no choice. that's right i spend the night here to show that we're all in this together and that we're going to make it to the end we're going to make it we're going to

make it we are going to make it we won't let go i'm here all night again. as long as micron keeps clowning around with his pal and pimp and powder as he likes to say well we'll do the same we'll stay here. the protesters here say that they are all going to stay this is now the fourth day of the protests and they have set up some sort of campaign that giving out food and drinks and they saying they determine that they will dialogue with the government the president might call his said that he's prepared for dialogue but he hasn't said with whom and we've also heard from the interior minister christophe customer today who said that he believes that the demands of the protesters. incoherent these protests continuing across france full day now and we also know that there is a very big or at least that's how it is a big protest on saturday where the yellow vests will continue to cool for a reduction in the price of fuel and

a reduction in the price of living here in france or meanwhile on tuesday around one hundred nurses gathered outside the ministry of health and paris to protest the government's planned health care reforms they say they feel neglected and want the importance of their work to be recognized they are particularly unhappy that two hundred million euros are being spent on the creation of four thousand new medical assistant positions and believe the money would be better spent elsewhere or also protests in other french cities including say graham and. a group of u.s. senators are putting pressure on washington's international partners not to elect a russian official as the next to head of interpol claimed that alexander. who is a leading candidate for the presidency will use the organization to target the kremlin's political opponents taking a look at the concern and controversy here's artie's karen. in supposed

a politically neutral alliance of international police working together but now the agency's top job is up for grabs and things have turned political maybe because the next ted could be a russian and the response has been predictable a wolf at the door of fox in charge of the hen house chilling warnings that some courtesy of u.s. thermoses who issued their joint statement urging for members to oppose the candidacy of alexander procket chick and they say there's a very valid reason to be concerned russia routinely abuses interpol for the purpose of settling scores and harassing political opponents dissidents and journalists there's a lot that can be said about mr brown a man who claims that russia has been trying to use in supposed to arrest him since twenty thirty he's a u.s. born british businessman had an investment fund which at one time was the largest foreign portfolio investor in russia and accused by russian authorities of grave

crimes from embezzlement to excess are ready to murder he denies all charges saying they are all politically motivated such attacks on russia have only helped him build a reputation of a brave man who stands for human rights it turned out that in putin's russia there are no good guys no empathy and no morals to threaten me with death they threaten me with kidnapping the russians will do anything they can get away with even stuff they can't get away with to arrest kidnap torture and kill to take people's properties away the russians are liars and who doesn't love a guy that accuses russia of being a baddie not ukraine who also have a problem with the russian leading interpol russia's possible presidency interpol is absurd and contradicts the spirit some goals of that organization a russian being placed in charge of a major international organization you. yes totally absurd and i was despondent

procket chuck's own brother being the ukraine representative for an e.u. security organization all that aside if russia isn't the right fit for interpol's top job then who is well not china apparently the previous head of interpol was heavily criticized with concerns that he would arrest every single chinese dissident on the planet which of course never happened so maybe just maybe the idea of interpol voting independently could actually work out ok almost two hundred nations each with one foot. ukase defense secretary has taken a stand against the use plans for a joint european army saying it won't happen on his watch we'll have details after a short break watching our two international.

you know world of big. law and conspiracy it's time to wait to dig deeper to hit the stories that made history 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 we're watching closely watching the hawks. have the china economy in the last fifteen years is different than other countries emerging that were once emerging economies that became big economies like the united states did the same thing they were export exporting at it with unfair advantages until they got big and then they transition to a consumer economy so china and britain before then did the same thanks china is

just following history and now they want to become a big consumer economy and so far so good. at the back this is our team international now officials in afghanistan say that over fifty people were killed and at least eighty more wounded in a suicide bombing in kabul on tuesday it had targeted a wedding hall where hundreds of islamic scholars had gathered to commemorate the prophet's birth no group has claimed responsibility as of yet although the taliban says it was not involved with more details here's a local journalist. this was a religious gathering by a religious elders celebrating the birth of the prophet muhammad and the attackers somehow got inside the forest floor of the wedding hall and detonated a suicide vest or so we went out to get water for the gang. while we were walking

down the stairs we heard the sound of an explosion from inside the hole when we went inside there was smoke and dust everywhere there were dead bodies all around. i heard the explosion and managed to get my cousin who seriously wounded out of there when i got here i realized that he had been injured too we have confirmation from one senior afghan counterterrorism official that poured in explosives were used but the tragedy of this country i think lies and the fact that the front line is everywhere the major cities including kabul is the target of such deadly attacks over the last four years almost twenty eight thousand five hundred twenty nine casualties are also there among afghan national security forces i mean look what you have to really see is that peace really remains elusive in this country for well over forty years now so that statement by u.s. officials the gathering and moscow and other statements have really created some

sense of optimism but at the end of the day everyone also knows that every side wants to really grab more territory we haven't really seen a ceasefire yet but there is expectation there could be a cease fire and on any normal day you're actually talking about a lot of coffins soldiers getting killed in bigger numbers civilians and as well as the taliban at the end of the day there are so the impact of all of these coffins and deaths on the afghan society is simply catastrophic. european foreign and defense ministers have agreed on seventy new projects for developing in the e.u. army and despite the fact that the u.k. is getting ready to leave the european union it seems london's still very interested in its affairs including defense gives us more. well he's definitely rubbish the idea there in fact appears to be following in the first steps of the us president donald trump who last week tweeted that provisions were learning german

or preparing to learn german and till the americans came and saved them from occupation jaring world war two say he didn't take well to the idea of a european army either gavin williamson similarly forceful in his words saying he said he's told a u.k. newspaper that and we certainly won't be happening on his watch take a listen it is an absolutely crazy idea nato has delivered european security for the last seventy years and we should feel very proud of it should we undermine not by forming a separate military force absolutely not you can absolutely rest assured that britain will never become part of the european army on my watch while some might question gavin williamson having an opinion to troll on any. new endeavors given that the u.k. isn't planning to be part of them they are leaving the european union nevertheless the idea for an army has been floated in the past by several leaders but it's

always kind of been a taboo subject but all that changed last week when muckle and emanuel microland both expressed their support for the idea as part of the world war one centenary commemorations take a listen to what each of the leaders had to say that. we need to show that europe is moving forward on social economic issues reinforcing the euro zone tax system for the additional six are our investment policy in invasion in order to show intelligence for the common defense and security of course through which we have laid the foundations for months our moves in future one has to say that either we manage together to find solutions step by step sometimes too slowly we don't have to also consult. the question of the defense of europe and the question of a long term and codifying to european army. well the message coming from the u.k.

defense secretary today is that france and germany already belong to one military alliance along with the u.k. the u.s. and a swathe of other countries remember nato and gavin williamson's point is that france and germany should be aiming to meet their two percent g.d.p. target of defense spending on nato before they start thinking about forming any alternative armies now france at the moment spends about one point eight percent g.d.p. on defense and germany spends about one point two and the e.u. is very much part of nato in fact just today the e.u.'s top diplomat. she met with the secretary general of nato in brussels and reaffirmed how important the military alliances take a listen cooperation with nato that is strengthening i would be pleased to welcome or to go to the general stoltenberg again this morning with us and our cooperation with nato and strongest ever so disagreement over an e.u.

army maybe but there is one thing that all these countries agree on the u.s. the e.u. the u.k. is part of it still all agree on the need to defend themselves against russia said it when making this e.u. army proposal and nato officials repeated like a mantra that there is growing russian military activity and they need to be able to counter it we spoke to political analyst chris bambery he told us that governor williamson doesn't want the u.k. to be left out of the called by the u.s. . britain is once to keep nato as the sole game in tone because of its links the united states that's why the united states wants to keep nato and they don't want this european army so britain does not want something else rivaling that but i don't think there's any really serious commitment crazy if you like as a rival to nates or as i say would involve

a huge amount of defense spending the reason why britain britain is backing america of course is that britain and actually friends with the two european countries which had a relative military weight unlike germany and intervened in afghanistan or iraq in goodness knows where where else britain wants to keep and doesn't want to see itself be frozen frozen which you would be if this when this went ahead the strange thing here of course is one of the destabilizing factors in europe has been the expansion of nato itself into eastern europe in the former soviet union that has led to deep worries in more school about this process the feeling that the americans and nato have originate on promises made at the time of the when the soviet union collapsed to gorbachev and it's strange that you know the nature of the need to expand sesay has these stabilize the situation in europe and know we have this other idea that i did to this issue or another european army.

twenty years ago russia launched the first module of the international space station into orbit the i s s is the third brightest object in the night sky and the largest manned object in space first here is an adversary message from the crew currently up there. we are proud to serve in such a ship. the international space station is a unique scientific platform. mirror heathenish of course because of the means that it's nearly as if course most of. our mission of all this may just be a stunt seeing. space

is cool more than two hundred people from eighteen countries have visited the space station over the years it has become an example of close international cooperation and a beacon of warm relations between two former cold war rivals here's a look at how the russia u.s. friendship developed to the moon and back. so you did ski american ski is enough to get the experience that you let it beat you to. structure your book yet. you moved

out of the motion that. the mission were to me it was a supporter of i think the population rather better or for more of the feel. the fear and see if there's less to her girl all these years i could sit there all that's enough we are all for our brother for what. they were cutting new ground he said well gosh let's see if we can build a bigger space station and what can we do one of the problems that might come up and what you learn. some more money interesting and doesn't just give you more in them some listeners for falsely media literacy will mean. that you suddenly choose the media

team of those sixty two people were seen still in your least fifteen similar. many of the nations that have not always been from. the cities are a problem but the financing of. the other hear me back from this from together we are the possible for the future and forget the.

i'm a geek for that kind of stuff i have to admit here watching our two international god had with us me back in. twenty two and a half. just manufacture consent to stick it to the public well. when they're moving closer to protect themselves. with the final merry go round. we can all middle of the room six.

dollars. dollars. dollars. a dolly is what i will be. when we got garrett over here we carried the music with us. we are here we were dragged here. by your love going to get rid of those who are not go away we will not die quietly. real the hard what we do is the truth.

hello and welcome to cross top for all things considered i'm peter lavelle to briggs it or not to briggs that that is the question of may's plan to exit the e.u. has been roundly criticized from virtually every quarter and with a looming deadline the u.k. could face a hard break without an agreement even early elections how do they get to this point. talking brags that i'm joined by my guests in london marcus papadopoulos.