crunch time looms for the british prime minister as she secures some assurances from europe bad of a crucial parliamentary vote. as well as national assembly grounds opposition leader the authority to declare a state of emergency as an extensive blackout in the country continues. and is fatal stabbings reached record levels in parts of the u.k. a leading supermarket chain says it will stop the sale of single kitchen knives.

from moscow this tuesday the twelfth of march is now one of the afternoon here in the russian capital i'm calling international world news this hour first for you the british prime minister has agreed several important changes to her brics it deal with the president of the european commission theresa may travel to strasburg for last ditch talks with the e.u. ahead of tuesday's crucial parliamentary vote on the agreement opposition leader jeremy corbin's called the negotiations a failure and he's urging the house of commons to reject may's deal in a few hours time his party boy with some possible outcomes of today's ballot. on tuesday night british politicians once again get to vote on some form of withdrawal agreement that the prime minister has negotiated with the european union so what happens next if the government wins the vote the prime minister will have had a lucky escape the u.k. will be leaving the e.u. with a deal on march the twenty ninth but not scenario is looking increasingly unlikely

is expected that politicians will reject terry's amazing beleaguered withdrawal agreement just like they did in january tries to the right two hundred into. the nose to the last four hundred and thirty two. in that case they'll be more votes to decide what to do next on wednesday parliament would be whether it would approve leaving the e.u. without a deal that's not likely to be approved by politicians either pretty much the only thing there appears to be a majority for in parliament is the option of excluding no deal and the potential calamity it might entailed priority is to stop no deal that would be hugely chaotic because the original ruling nor do you under any circumstances so by midweek the u.k. is likely to have ruled out to raise a maze deal and no deal as well and then politicians would face another vote on

whether to extend article fifty in other words delay britain's departure from the e.u. something that until recently to reason may had said wasn't an option with all the attention on march i'm clear that we would extend to fifteen that we will leave the on the twenty ninth of march any delay is a delay it doesn't address the issue it doesn't resolve the issue to reason mase said that that would be a short and necessary delay just to keep talks going with the e.u. on a potential deal but critics say it would just be. it's also a potential cliff edge brags that by another month or so he would be highly dangerous for our country to go cap in hand to the european union at the eleventh hour and beg for an extension it is not an ohms to the situation we face the cliff the term people will do you is really being moved all of this would leave the field open for anti brags that politicians to advance their parliamentary maneuvers to

thwart britain's departure from europe one thing. it's going to be a busy week for politicians a week which could define the brags that process or even ground it to a halt. international relations professor thinks that the europeans won't accept a delay to break without good reason. the prime minister loses the vote by say fifty votes this might allow her to continue to push for a third meaningful vote on a slightly altered deal just before d.-day but you know this is hopeful thinking by the prime minister's office i think the europeans are going to agree to an ability and they have to agree to it we can't do it unilaterally unless there is some substantive reason to do so a general election a new referendum but it can't simply be for theresa may to continue to kick the can down the line week on week day on day.

breaks it comes down. venezuela's national assembly has approved a state of emergency declared by opposition leader and self declared interim president he says it's necessary before he can request international aid for the country and it comes as the country struggles on with that power blackout and humanitarian crisis president maduro says the power cuts are the result of cyber attacks by the united states adding that his government is working to solve the issue he also claims that two saboteurs were court trying to damage a hydroelectric dam on monday and investigation into that is underway meanwhile says the crisis should be tackled and on. if this catastrophe needs to be addressed immediately no we cannot turn our heads elsewhere no we cannot abandon our people and you are in the states you have the right to protest you have the right to demand you have the right to raise your voice you have the right to protest for

your relatives you have the right to go out to the streets and demand our rights it's not true that there is normality in the streets in venezuela there is not. this is a lot of psychological pressure on the venezuelan people to be dealing with the humanitarian crisis and now the crisis with the electrical grid think the man on top of back to have the assembly declare a national emergency this is really designed to create more chaos and more here and more division within the venezuelan people live plan of the opposition is to find any way that it can to bring things to a head and i think the military remains pretty much consistently on the side of euro and so this is another attempt to push the military back to and to deep in the crisis. gabriela gear from the committee of international solidarity believes the united states is exploiting the humanitarian crisis for its own ends.

in samples. we think the concept of the humanitarian crisis is the fundamental all . human to use by us imperialism around the world wherever they develop the plans of intervention and interference to overthrow the national government and violate sovereignty self-determination and independence in order to take control over the strategic resources of countries and we think that is part of the plan. we cannot uphold the concept of humanitarian aid which has been specifically defined by the us in the country like the missouri we're seeing the crisis of the capitalist system which many other countries in the world also face and based on this argument of the humanitarian crisis other countries also want to legitimize their intervention either direct or indirect. there's been a steep rise a knife crime in britain and according to official figures last year thirty five percent of all crime involving a knife or shop instrument happened in london prompted

a leading supermarket chain to stop the sale of single kitchen knives here's artie's honest to say a. knife crime has become a major source of concern in the u.k. even described as an epidemic these days since the beginning of the year forty one stabbings have been reported beadle with both adults and teens among the victims and attackers a huge debate on how to tackle the problem has been pushed to the forefront the u.k. home secretary has been holding emergency meetings with chief police officers last week to find a way forward as the surge in knife attacks gets dubbed a national emergency meanwhile this british supermarket chain seems to be adding its two cents to address the problem they have announced they won't be selling single knifes anymore by the end of april with no single knives are the most common knife products to be stolen and that is why we have chosen to remove these items from our stores the office has welcomes the move we'll find out if locals think it can actually make any difference it's

a very good idea because they're not going to spend fifty pounds to buy ten and i think the problem is that it's. time because the charge of the sea stopped selling two hundred eighteen but that doesn't seem to work they can stop selling now i. hear and there are people who are older he might need it and i perhaps it is a good idea to know. we're going to cut our reporter short and go live to the russian and austrian foreign ministers who are giving a news briefing following their talks in moscow. and the intensive dialogue the top level plays a key role in it. we are micro. contacts between our parliaments between different agencies between our regions we believe we need to rely on existing platforms for dialogue so we. reaffirm the commitment to looking for other platforms for trade investment is a priority for us those shares been

a key economic partner for us we have welcomed the growth in neutral trade. last year saw an increase of up to forty two percent almost six billion dollars so despite the sanctions. the so-called sanctions or straining investors remain operating in the russian markets and the level of investment mutual investment is growing. trade and economic cooperation commission in the form of excess. returned to the practice of convening sessions that is un's there's also the russian austrian business council that has been operating we reviewed progress in major. projects including the vienna rail link.

or energy sector is very important and found gas crum have been traditional partners a name a series of infrastructure projects that we have been seeing dynamic sharp ration that is the culture. of. last year we had the new year of music and culture we have. commission of historians. were also discussed the year of youth exchange. that's been celebrated this year there were multiple concerts festivals and exhibitions taking place this free. will be issued which i thought of for the organizers of the event and the participants of the event you're going talk of well you know washing of the law we are ready to expand operations between civics

aside see between sciences and researches this is why we have signed. the declaration on the set up of the sort of dialogue. civil society forum that decision was made last year when president putin visited vienna. and before cinco an aide to the president. well look and. the committee chairman of. your chambers of industry and commerce. will be. co-chairs of this saatchi platform and we hope that the first session take place these year when we reviewed the situation around the globe what's happening in europe so you will. be if that is to go to go through russia and the e.u.

we would like to go back to the your traditional path in our relations with seeing a crisis in the council of europe. the russian delegation as was stripped of legitimate rights. parliamentary assembly of the council of europe in the last year we also discussed the ukraine crisis. school projects we pushing forward to the full implementation of the minsk accords with we pointed out. to the actions of the kiev authorities that they had been trying to undermine the. minsk accords. and by the un security council resolution we talked about africa talked about the middle east. peace we also talked a little. probably

a new civil. war syria crisis is we believe that resolution. two fifty four needs to be our pilled to actually talk to the what's being done to restore the infrastructure in syria talked about humanitarian support we talked about water that has been done as part of the us than our dollar platform you russia supported syria's to do mine its territories. the strategic stability. your english the while the u.s. is pulling out of key international treaties. in this area we believe that we hope that this discussion of the sea. national should use up in the book was one of the poor students and the war during darkon

gauche asians with our european partners or if it is that we hold that we will be able to preserve the mechanisms that are three years linchpins of security in the year in atlantic region and have been deployed at the pillars of european security for decades overall we will have agreed to continue contacts thank you. and so good luck with. that good afternoon i'm home to. see all of you i would like to thank the russian hosts for their hospitality that's clear to. me to you on the outskirts. of the negotiations now as minister lavrov said these sorts of dialogue. will be set up we just side the memorandum. or we'll

put in place. this issue was discussed back in two thousand and eighteen during the summit between the two leaders we need to expand our cultural schmidt cover up ration and also ties between suits decide to. talk to the members of n.g.o.s human rights organizations. i believe that dialogue would help to us to overcome some barriers. and i. don't allow us to. car produce in the areas that i just mentioned. traditionally we've had one default on our own by the troll tries. to march up and. we need to deepen trust and restore trust obl and as you know we have

a mutual year of culture. buzy can use exchange there are there years where we'd like to cooperate. washing vajra mental protection. that last year we present. a joint historical publication. you tend by russian and austrian historians you know. these measures help to bring our countries together and the sochi dialogue for we also serve the same purpose. also like to mention the rolled by the. bird tree committee. and also a concert mr litle who is the chair of the chamber of commerce and

industry of. the russian president they will be co-chairs of the dialogue forum we will try to engage as many civil society leaders as many policymakers in research as possible i we hope that finally these brainchild is. promptly. put into life and we also hope to develop corporation not just of the level of big cities we hope there will be between regions when we know that russia is a. country and it is in our interest to work not just with other regions we've had he met important initiatives in this regard. or in terms of funding. existing economic

projects existing cultural projects. will enjoy financing from the austrian foreign ministry. and then we will have to look for external investors. to promote these projects further started to put into context. we believe the saatchi dollars platform will be similar to the saatchi you talk to the st petersburg platform and other platforms. we have now started our strategic dialogue with my counterparts in the u.s. and i believe in the fish and sea search platforms. you know we need to further exchange. the actual level that will then contribute to solving issues so that the multilateral level we need to have

a very good network of contacts and this platform will serve this purpose we're also expanding the network of our consulates. and specifically i would like to mention. and. we hope that the russian side were to get this book. and. prove the. establishment of the team in general consulate. work and we also have a consulate a new cutting board. in the urals of russia right now we have the year of youth exchange. we hope to engage. the creative community from both countries and both the russian embassy in austria and the austrian embassy in russia have been working very actively worlds

with would like to have a year of theater. and yesterday i visited the boogaard museum. so i enjoyed the cultural event and a lot and that helped to open up another door into the world of russian literature for me. i also had a chance to meets with the russian. all for. someone who represents modern russian literature. going back to a corporation between the consulates. or it's like we work hard to make sure that visas for students common yet. you have are exempt from any fees i think after this we also of our russian counterparts went. with that on the very soon one down. let me agree not

as much on soc disaster because of void names. if i mean i will take effect. without them demanding most of the sixty percent itself. let's see are we can develop cooperation in the energy sector two thousand and eighteen would have been very successful year in terms of tourism . the number of studies. that hotels. reached one point two million of russian tourists often talk that was it like you all in the twenty fifth of march will hold a year of russian regions. except that starting with chamber of

commerce and industry of vienna so you can see there's a lot of potential that we need to tap into. for us of six coal mines minyard and oil industry to want to start i think six and come thick on the side note all street investment into russia. amounted to six point one million base scenes and russian investment total twenty six. billion we have a lot of points of convergence there are still issues that we need to discuss and you are aware of austria's stance on the ukraine crisis lightly. you're aware of the dual approach and lawyers committed to principles but we also try to preserve strong ties with all the parties involved.

and it's all here understood song is a blot on. you know when. i was in on the sets on the sort of dialogue so i hold point. bring it forward and also expend times between civil society in our members social as part of the always see the corporation on we also exchanged opinions and we didn't fall on the ukraine crisis and that's what's important to us is that on the thirty first of march. ukraine holds its presidential election without any flaws. was the start without any variance we expressed regret. over the home reluctance of the ukraine to allow russian observers to take part. in monitoring the election

stand by the city. we will still have some of the from the oas see it's a very important monitoring element seen. it on to your in negotiations with ukraine we are looking for a solution and we have got all the parties. all of the forces to demonstrate the political will. if we are. afforded the amend the carriage prices went is. all. we have. expressed concern over the seizure of the.

but the sailors. that's were not cranial boats. this. austria. also intends. to keep russia as an important actor. in the council of europe us. i strongly believe this saatchi dialogue forum. will contribute to exchanging opinions between the two countries for human rights as our. chance to meet with some human rights activists some of those. as we've you all n.g.o.s all human rights activists as important as who might help us to find new ways to get out of the

stalemate. that we are facing. of least and now. if you remember history. up this is. nineteen seventeen and nineteen. nineteen and the whites guard the book. garko of. now i didn't fully understand the book but there are still issues that. come up time and time again that there are some some things that. remain the same regardless of the century that we live in that overall i would like to thank russian hosts for in a very exciting exchange insightful exchanges. opinions. on behalf of

my delegation i would like to express my gratitude. to you for your initiative in demining syrian territories we also have technical consultations on the issue what's important for us going forward is the. efforts to do you mind the territories would also. help to bring back refugees displaced people after city so that they could come from neighboring countries back to the home so that they could. start. living a normal life. we also discussed other issues in the middle east like to thank. the russian delegation for the ideas. and the opinions which we find very valuable i know that minister lavrov of.

deep knowledge and is very well versed in these issues. conflict this is their conflict the middle east is very close to us. and we have an interest in prosperous and secure middle east that it's not just about the suffering of the people who live there but it also talk about the chip geopolitical issues. but. good afternoon my name is. r.t. . i'll start off. by saying that just recently donald and present. the last congress for five hundred million dollars. to be sent to europe. to with stand. with

russian meddling russian interference. with what's the cost. weapon against russian interference in europe. well on a more serious note i understand that. there will always need money but still i mean. what's your stance on it and also on the i.m.f. treaty what do you suppose the. initiative by donald trump and does it truly fit with. european security interests and. do you think that europe could. countering what has been called as russian interference and are the u.s. actions an interference in itself.