a major prisoner swap between russia and ukraine is heralded as an important step by the international community. so heralded as a significant move forward. russian journalist carol missions to be released was widely called for by among the 35 to arrive in moscow the same number were returned to care. you know the news this saturday the u.s. state department confirms it tried to bribe the din of the new iranian all trying to the center of a diplomatic crisis and they could seize the vessel. and ongoing xenophobia in south africa as foreign owned businesses and looted in the country's

largest city honestly. think up one sunday night that i'm being told it's a big day he said and to stand by your plates to be in something for your schools because the people thought. a little bit of them a little of middle of the interview. here most and you're watching all the international live from austin to looking into the program. first in what's being described as an historic step 70 prisoners have been exchanged between russia and ukraine following months of talks the ukrainian president met the plane which brought 35 released prisoners back to kiev some of their relatives were also there to welcome them while in moscow a plane carrying the other 35 new the freed prisoners. at the capital airport.

was there for us. 2 buses part of a special motorcade have left this terminal for governmental flights carrying $35.00 people $35.00 people that ukraine swapped for an equal amount over what their role now among those people is to real machines he was head of the ukrainian branch of the news agency and he was accused by key of state cheese and without a guilty verdict he spent more than 400 days in ukrainian jail just awaiting his trial just during the trial and for all those more than 400 days russia has been adamant that until the court is guilty and declares his guilt the man should not be staying behind bars and in fact just weeks before this. he was released on bail that was seen as a very positive sign so this another very positive sign comes out on the heels of

that one and in fact the real visions he had a chance to talk to journalists to the to the russian journalists who were allowed behind these gates yes you know i know how all of you worried about me and thanks a lot for that i feel that i was not alone i feel that i have people who are member me who are trying to do something for me now because of i am. because i'm a journalist who was unfairly arrested now together with drilled the shins get on that plane and on and on those 2 buses was legitimate so much he was one of the field commanders in the dinette screeching over one of the from what we understand one of the defense the tally and the dutch led investigation into the mh 72 tragedy believed to be one of the key witness says that could shed light as to what happened back in 2014 this what has been a very very long time coming back have been false reports false alarms. finally has

happened and the russian foreign ministry has already raised this saying that this shows kiev's reading this for compromise we see the agreed mutual release of people detained in russia and ukraine as a positive signal we should see another important step to breaking the deadlock in the current russian ukrainian relations unlike its predecessors selenski new administration has shown a sensible approach and a readiness for compromise some experts say that this is also a positive sign for the implementation of the minsk remains which are effectively the only viable option for you as viewed by russia and ukraine too and the bloodshed to end the civil war in the east of ukraine. some are saying played out in the ukraine capitalists 35 other freed prisoners arrived in camp earlier in the union and discussed the develop with the with the doll quarter. this prisoner exchange was a very significant moment for the young political administration of ukraine's

president vladimir selenski and he actually went there early to the airport to visit the prisoners as they were coming down from the air from the airplane to greet them and he even gave a small speech talking about the significance of this exchange for the future relations between russia and ukraine. ukrainian president voted dimmer zelinsky and russian president vladimir putin have done everything we have promised and did not change over agreements that. will ship and we heard this kind of sentiment echoed pretty much all over the world actually we heard the council of europe say that this was a really important step in normalizing relations between russia and ukraine we also heard from russia's human rights commissioner who said this was a historic step she said and even donald trump commented on twitter he gave his congratulations to both parties involved give us a sense. well at the beginning it was all speculation you know there were it was

unknown who the prisoners were there were blacked out windows on the buses but now we have identified them and let's go over the main ones one of the primary prisoners that was there were exchanged was ukrainian filmmaker all legs sense of now he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in russia on terrorism charges during the crimean referendum of 2014 he was accused of being part of a terrorist organization that plotted bombings of civilian installations during that time now he already served 5 years of that sentence and we saw him and identified him as he was stepping out of the airplane and we have today reuniting with his family and moving on to other people we saw were some sailors that were involved in the current strait incident that took place in november of last year and now those were 24 ukrainian sailors that were identified that were traded the current straight incident was when 3 ukrainian. vessels were trying to enter the sea of oz of and they were met with the russian coastguard that warned them to turn

back that they were perhaps and going to be in violation of russia's territory on the high seas they gave no response and so the ukrainian vessels were fired on and see so now that they have been returned this is a really historical moment for both russia and ukraine and perhaps a great leap forward for their future relations that have been tense to say the least. by mcdonnell joins me now to discuss this further thanks for coming on the program now the top seems to be getting the thumbs up around the world so do you think this could be a key turning point in russia ukraine relations. well this is the 1st time for about 5 more than 5 years close in 6 years that russian ukraine a basic read and i think that could be seen as a positive i mean obviously decision also has been made at the highest level between the 2. the new president there in ukraine. and the president in russia so it seems that the 2 presidents have decided upon it's a very high profile prisoner swap i suppose like the fact that all expense of his

being released is a big boon for as a landscape because it'll become a bit of a cause celeb in ukraine and the fact you know and from the russian perspective a little bit more muted because the majority of the prisoners who were released to moscow are actually ukrainians only 12 of them are actually are actually russians the other 25 are ukrainian so that means that obviously in russia here the mood is far more muted but you should sorry but but in ukraine it's it will be seen as a victory for israel inskeep it will be seen as a concession here's one from the kremlin and you know the kremlin would be. really well received by france and germany in particular where you know emanuel my corn and angela merkel have been talking about trying to get the peace talks started this month i mean they basically they fell apart in the poroshenko years simply didn't want to couldn't or didn't have the mandation internally in ukraine it wasn't strong enough but he definitely was unable to move the peace talks so

basically we're pretty much no further right now than we were 5 years ago but this is been a serious gesture of good will it will win a lot of political capital for example ski and ukraine and it hasn't really cost the russian side much either you know brian the i mean you say it's weighted in moscow but if we look at the international community and what they're going to be think this is it this is a huge message there isn't it how do you think they're going to be reacting to this . what it depends on what part of the international community because the part of the international community represented by emanuel that once you crane in russia to make peace and you to end what has been at basically a frozen conflict on the edge of you know on the edge of europe for the last 5 years they'll be delighted by it of course there are certain elements particular united states who might not be too happy i mean obviously the dutch government are not happy because they are upset about the release of. who they believe was a witness to the mh 17 disaster 5 years ago in eastern ukraine he although

apparently has been questioned by to investigators and you know what like the fact also one thing that will go down well in russia is the fact that cuba. who was a journalist ria novosti. bureau in kiev has been released i mean that's probably what the russian news of mainly because he's the most recognizable of the prisoners released here but look anybody that wants to see peace between in eastern ukraine and normalization of relations between russia and ukraine after this you know 5 and a half years of of bio and hostility and it's just long interregnum period where there's been no progress whatsoever will be like should of course yeah do you think this could have happened and ukrainian president petro poroshenko. know why now i mean. as i said a couple of minutes ago i mean petro poroshenko. basically didn't say this but he basically ran an ethno nationalist government for 5 years and ukraine i mean he was

elected on a mandate that he would bring peace to donbass and he made no real effort i mean maybe he did for the 1st month or 2 when there was a couple of talks held in minsk whatever but he made no effort in the last 3 or 4 years really to bring peace to donbass because he was either unwilling or unable to fulfill the site of the bargain that he had signed up to i mean maybe he made a mistake in minsk maybe he agreed to stuff he would never been able to implement there's that site too but the point is that we had to come in the last 3 years of. we had no nationalism we had an obsession with all kinds of weird stuff that ukrainians was particularly interested in like an independent ukrainian church in ukraine is a largely agnostic country i mean that was never going to win votes he campaigned for reelection on a slogan that said army language faith so for him a strong military in the aggressive posture sense the ukrainian language having primacy over russian which about half the population still speak and faith which is not really important to most ukrainians were the 3 things he campaigned on he was

not campaigning on bringing peace the donbass i mean zelinsky from the outset of his campaign where he's come from nowhere as a television star to being president of ukraine a sort of hyper donald trump like story and he pledged you know during the campaign that he would try to resolve donbass he also pledged to bring prisoners home he's fulfilled that part of the problems promise and it's clear that he does want to negotiate with that the mere putin and with the separatists in eastern ukraine to see if something can be done to resolve that conflict i mean these are all positive signs but to answer your question if petro poroshenko had been reelected in the unlikely event that he'd been reelected nothing would happen another point well let me as a landscape has an incredibly strong mandate in ukraine i mean he won something in the region of 70 percent of the vote or even more in the election he's. party has a massive majority in parliament in the as it's known in kiev you know anybody can do something about donbass he can do a persian go simply didn't have that kind of strange i mean in portugal was you

know reliant on all kinds of you know outfits to prop him up be. ok while we could go on brian what we're going to have to end it there journalist brian donald thank you for coming on to the program to discuss this with us thank you. u.s. state department has confirmed it attempted to bribe the captain of the iranian oil tanker and area one which is at the center of a diplomatic row in order to detain it the vessel previously known as grace one was held by the u.k. in july near gibraltar it was released in august despite protests from the united states which is increasing pressure on iran it's been heading east since then and this pinpointed it in the eastern mediterranean region but it's tracking device is now being switched off his artie's daniel hawkins. if at 1st you don't succeed try try again so keen with u.s. authorities to get their hands on a rainy you know. they used everything at their disposal 1st came the stick

accusing the tiger of moving the world to syria in breach of sanctions they went to the u.k. for help british marines are pounded the ship while it was passing through the strait of gibraltar the spanish foreign minister said the arrest came after a demand from the u.s. to the u.k. . but on the 15th of august gibraltar released the vessel its soul into the mediterranean a few days later after being renamed from grace one to adrian doria one then came the carrot we've all heard one of those emails i'm writing to you with good. news what might you expect a surprise lottery win perhaps a huge inheritance from a long lost royal family member in africa well that's exactly the email that the

ship's captain received but this wasn't the regular spying for the junk folder this came direct from the state department this is brian hook i work for secretary of state mike pump a 0 and serve as the u.s. representative for iran the offer really ins of dollars for captain kumar to dock his own tanker in a u.s. friendly port that would allow it seizure by washington after the possibly confused captain failed to reply a 2nd the email hit his inbox the tone now less friendly with this money you can have any life you wish and be well off in old age if you choose not to take this easy path life would be much harder for you what lay behind this thinly veiled threats was left to his imagination to ron was understandably roiled having failed at piracy the us resource to outright blackmail deliver us iran's oil and receive

several $1000000.00 or be sanctioned yourself sounds very similar to the oval office invitation i received a few weeks back it is becoming a pattern incredibly the state department confirmed to this unusual strategy even adding this was no one off we have conducted extensive outreach to several ship captains as well as shipping companies taps and kumar meanwhile is only us naughty list how differently the story would have ended if only captain kumar had cashed in and just aren't that good news email. meanwhile u.s. national security advisor john bolton has tweeted that the tanker has now been seen entering a syrian port iran previously denied it had made any definitive statement about the ship's final destination. anyone who said the adrian daria one wasn't headed to syria is in denial terror on thinks it's more important to fund the murderous assad regime than provide for its own people we can talk pretty runs not getting any sanctions relief until it stops lying in spreading terror the fact that they try

to bribe a captain of the tanker and then subsequently threaten them is extraordinary and it should be something that people in the united states. would be kept talking about day and night but there are also out there issues as well bolton wants to intimidate iran and the very fact that he has failed and the supertanker is alongside the syrian shore reveals that failure so he's outraged at another level he wants to make that syrian people suffer as much as possible because that's been u.s. policy for many years now and on their hand he wants to. prevent iran from carrying out trade with other countries to bullying and threats and illegal behavior so there are multiple reasons for the u.s.

behavior towards iran towards syria and towards all independent countries but i think it's only harming the united states in the long run because the united states is increasingly seen as a rogue regime. still to come this hour described as a national emergency by police we take a look at the way from santa fe a big fines that's hit south africa we'll tell you more after this break. compared to centuries of chinese history 2 years is no thing unless burbs it's 2 years a donald trump with years another round of terrorist being added to the u.s. sino trade war this last week buz china's strategy oh waiting out the enemy likely to work with the current american president

and with nor make gives manufactor can censor still to of public welse when the rooming plus a some project over themselves what the finer larry go around to drinking nor middle the room sick room

welcome back to the program in south africa's biggest city johannesburg a foreign owned businesses have being looted amid a wave of done a phobic tensions across the country on monday the country's police minister describe the situation as a national emergency pulis leah reports from a city where foreign a say that increasingly living in fear killing see if you in johannesburg which the the courts to day at the in some of the worst a vibe it is against foreign is south africa as you can seat get new so i'll take kids what if the they can just stop it was over by non because that's not where all of that it didn't fit any moment now with the entire building can come tumbling down because really hammering out the structure now the mood on the ground is better but e.g. we don't feel 100 percent comfortable filming we've been told the photo is nowhere to be seen and no doubt he is trying to stay as far away from these kind of scenes as possible because one still gets to stay in that b.

situation has not returned to complete calm i know it's hard to believe but this was a bottle store one of the questionnaires working there was a hero who comes from zimbabwe what actually happened make up one family and made to have found a cold world when the great vision of the dead north up was that you said monday night the big gone by then they been. implementing a lot from a good well known names the big dig between the thames to school. across the road here is ellen who owns a hardware store and when did you ever think that you would see these kind of scenes happening so close to a business own for she will bring through it before in groups of them. with similar experience to the chemist's secret company already going through. for most of last year wonderful the room what do we do with it in the large ludo book for families with we've read from. do you think showing your south african identity protects your kid is going to give you this week with why what happened are you going to go

look close the emotional gun law deal little are the police and the government doing enough given that we're not doing enough or the nose and blaming would be lonely government the government won't work the nobody wants the growth of lone wolf we'll get a little problem it's not just foreign owned stores that were targeted here you can see a 2nd hand car to the ship that was broken into and the cars sitter lice not the result has been offered by the nigerian foreign ministry for any nigerians living in this country who feel unsafe to be able to fly back. for 3 this is the worst spate of them a phobia of violence that south africa has witnessed since 2008 police ista most adjacent some 8 people have been killed and more than 300 have been detained as we say the violence a sad reflection on what where he is and and tenable situation. where you from the world your plates to be in south africa the flow you have to close the

build the people thought the good will last sunday and no good news for of middle of the rounds you're given to be given the blows and how many years and even some of the years to say you stop at your school. and now you have no business no move this finish it is true if you compare the cost of families all the more over how this shop which has been completely boarded up was owned by nigerians and there is no way here to be seen of course they are very afraid the shop is completely solid but this shop too has been looted also owned by nigerians lock on the door completely sealed up the people here definitely afraid that the violence will continue you welded up the shops why played me the whole you would and did they take everything you go through. and where all the nigerian owners in the foreign owners are always on the way they can come to believe the country they wrote your book or to talk to a great group. ever quest went out today for nigerians in the

country who want to be free of charge i able to do so and there is at least one flight today leaving at this stage the situation is extremely untenable unstable and i continue being on the streets there's a lot of uncertainty so when we what what will happen remains to be seen of course we are our team johannesburg the head of the province where johannesburg is located insists the situation is now under control. i am confident that the police are on top of this situation. i have said but if the police are not coping i would have asked that the south african defense force must rainfalls the police but so far they are dealing with the situation in. provinces calm. and they really spat over a wall residents of the cherries the neighborhood enraged by an almost 6 metre tall

barrier that's being built around the new u.s. and the same thing they say it will block their view of the area and originally the american embassy received a permit to build a wall 3.2 meters high but it was recently authorized for the barrier to be needed double the height locals are urging that construction be halted. i'm. very upset i come out my house and i want to be able to see the view over the desert i don't want to look at a big stone wall here anymore to the image i got up one morning and saw them doing demolition and construction work so i asked what was happening and they said they were making the wall higher why would they do that doesn't exist seymour high enough what was the problem the wall now through his entire view from my house. were very upset we were part of a group of neighbors were trying to see what can be done to stop this i. like consulting with us it's going to block our view it's going to blow up and it's

going to turn our. way now uncomfortable corey door and we don't want to live with that. in may the united states embassy was relocated to jerusalem after the trump administration recognized the city as the capital of israel the owner of a construction company said nubile is a 5 tallest city. i understand that the american embassy is requested to build a wall 5.8 meters high but the maximum height of a wall in jerusalem according to the authorities is 3.2 minutes it's 5.8 meters is too much and they disregarding the neighbors there are many beautiful houses here in the center of jerusalem and a wall like that would be an eyesore. the authorities in jerusalem to comment on will let you know what they say as soon as we get a response and i will be back with more updates around 30 minutes time so to stay with us.

i'm max kaiser one more of my guide to financial survival this is a hedge fund and it's

a device used by professional scallywags to earn money. that's right these hedge funds are simply not accountable and we're just getting more and more into the. totally destabilize the global economy you need to protect yourself and get informed skies were clear. this was boom bust broadcasting around the globe and covering the world of business and finance in the fall under and i'm christy i'm in washington has a lockout what we've got for you today. got rages on as the days take away toward

the hollowing deadline and tensions are rising really there's a there's a contest going to make sure that we come out of the e.u. or 31st and there are people who play the 2 to block it seems that he called it the s. and p. i think their role with the people of this country which is to get old do. tell me far which is a british american business that sensation is standing by to break down what this week's negotiation and pilot might mean not only from britain but for the global economy. verily more than a decade out of the 2000 a financial crisis u.s. is already looking upon the ties it's made major mortgage finance giants international regulatory authority miles edwards won this one as a ham today to play down the proposals and what this could mean for the future of housing in the united states got a pound show today. let's go over it is. the people's bank of china announced on friday that it will cut the required reserve ratio for all commercial banks by 50

bits this would essentially free up $126000000000.00 of liquid capital that could then be used to increase lending support consumption and boost business investments this move came after the globe them announced earlier this week its intention to increase economic stimulus measures as china faces increasing headwinds and met the escalating trade war this is the strongest loosening signal from any policy meeting year to date and these measures should provide the support to the real economy and reduce the risk of a dramatic slowdown in the 2nd half this move was certainly antagonized especially since the p.b.s. he indicated recently that they are wary of larger scale easing measures and have so far refrained from cutting benchmark interest rates meanwhile just when the 2 sides have agreed to resume trade talks treasury secretary minutiae and has been quietly pushing the i.m.f. and independent body to endorse his view that china is a currency manipulator this is happening just one.