you. know what. the russian president appoints former chief. of the country's new prime minister after parliament overwhelmingly votes in favor of his seat. as western media suggest. to devolve power to the russian parliament part of up to stay in power beyond 2020. coming up on the program libya's rebel general. are reportedly agrees to abide by the cease fire currently in effect in the war stricken country it comes hours after president said turkey would be sending more troops to libya to support they.

just after 11 pm here in moscow on thursday january the 60 your company my names you know no need on this is r.t. international. russia has a new prime minister lawmakers approved to come to me. earlier on thursday with president putin then signing off on the appointment. as more and how the day for it. well it only took this country what was it slightly more than 24 hours to come from the point when the president proposed to tweak some elements of russia's constitution which by the way didn't automatically mean that the cabinet would have to step down to a moving towards the point when the russian state duma approved the name of the country's new prime minister that is mikhail so the result was $383.00 votes in

favor about 40 abstentions and 0 votes again so this is the kind of backing the and coming prime minister is getting which is very important obviously in his position and clearly we were listening to his speech right before the vote which was obviously filled with quite a few promises here are some of them. used to produce them i can do up to ensure you that all members of the new government carry personal responsibility for achieving national goals i know that some talks in this room can even an intensive and i believe it's very important that the government feels that it would always be question to monitor it so it means open and constructive critics help us improve and do the members of parliament give us regional feedback you know what they think what people talk about how they sense the situations and whether they think that there are changes needed for the past. just to look at the background of mr mishra stand

a little bit i can tell you that he was in charge of the russian federal tax authority for about a decade he rarely appeared on t.v. so when on wednesday the now former prime minister dmitri medvedev i can tell you that there's really no other way to put it shocked the country shocked the world by saying that his government was stepping down only a few hours after the russian leader delivered his annual state of the nation address pundits were calling out different names and. i can tell you that in most cases wasn't even on the list but then again boom the name. came out of the kremlin so you can't help wondering what are the reasons for this appointment why so much trust well i can tell you that the new prime minister while he was working in the federal tax authority managed to accomplish

a mission that seemed absolutely impossible at one point to get rid of a very painful state of bureaucracy and russia's taxes i can tell you that previously to pay taxes or to deal with some problems russians had to stand in line fill out hundreds of papers they say that at this point now it can all be done through smartphones or tablets p.c.'s you name it what then a matter of minutes and people say that this is really the achievement of me and in fact spoke to our t. a few years ago about exactly that about the digital izing the paper work in russia and how it's important for the development of the country he was talking about the younger generation that will shape the future of the nation it's important that the young generation whose form of whose future taxpayers to morrow use the friendly user interface which is suitable for the as we know the last resort just shows us

the young generation now not using a p.c. computers so the mobile phones mobile applications and then social networks so basically we should parts of the streets. to come we should come to the such is social networks and make sure that it's friendly interface for them so basically this is the maybe main reason why we collaborate can be the commissioners to make sure that we saw recent codecs piers because between service and confuse cool. parp over the next administration servicing part this not only more and more coming clearly there will be something for 'd the audience outside this country to point out russia's new pm is fluent in english that is something that we hadn't seen for a very long while now before the vote in the upper chamber of the russian parliament began i managed to catch up with some of russia's most senior lawmakers and i asked them why they are about to support the candidacy of me.

was thinking about official city. if you look at the different ministries in said russia the tax collection is one of the best it is also. in the uk. everything about every payment officially made it is said russians they created the most. useful and usable. government it has a ph d. in economics he writes books on economics he writes textbooks he teaches the financial university in moscow so here is an intellectual. very more than that intellectual a bit more than a bureaucrat who can. have a very systematic view on issues because he is actually.

at the university was systems and functional of the systems so. i think it's a good choice he has a i think a very quick. to remind me which i think is still supporting for a politician. in developed an efficient tax service one of the most efficient departments in the country he's a strong leader tax service management is being done correctly both in terms of leadership i'm cutting edge technology. for the 1st time the prime minister has proven business capability he's shown that with his work in the tax service and if you polishes all our ministries in the same way it would boost national income and streamline expenditure is an engineer you bring strong accu men in the sciences and innovative technology ideas politically is neither left nor right nor centrist we really have a specialist coming into power. another major shake up in russian politics this

week was the resignation of the government that came about following putin's suggesting of amendments to the constitution effectively diminishing the president's powers while boosting those of parliament. but it wasn't the amendments i suggested yesterday do not affect the fundamental basis of the constitution further in russia's development as a lawful state the goal is also to enhance the effectiveness of the country's institutions to strengthen the role of civil society and to enable the political parties in the regions to make decisions vital to the country's development or senior correspondent goes the explains more knowledge by the landmark moves and the reaction they received in the last. try explain this led putin and power as the office of president the media accuses of it seizing more power who control over

russia but when putin gives up that power and hands it over to parliament at his own expense it is also because he seizing more control over russia 1st to discover this syndrome i name it paranoid putin a friend here and there's a real epidemic. paranoid putin a for any aside he is what he actually proposed to guaranteed that new president ever wields as much power as he did including putin himself he's got 4 more years in office.

this is unprecedented in a quarter of a century every constitutional amendment was designed to empower the president for example increase the presidential term from 4 years to 6 years or give the president the power to appoint prosecutors and now he turns it all upside down it used to be that hooten appointed the problem. ministers parliament rubber stamp that now parliament appoints heads of government and putin rubber stamp set with no

power object. according to the constitution of the russian federation he's the president needs only the state duma's consent to make official appointments the president appoints the cabinet his deputies and all the ministers i propose shifting this power to the state duma and also the approval of the russian government's chairman and that the german suggestion all the deputy prime ministers and federal ministers will have to be appointed by the president with the right to reject any candidates yes this is of course all subject to a popular vote if these passes russia will be a changed country with a very different future russia is changing into a new face of democracy. and now this 1st. time when the president limits his old power and this is something in the later control the country is not known at all the president limits it's all the more and

once you let the people decide on the new constitution. to pave the way the government handed in its resignation it's worth mentioning it wasn't all that popular that failed at a number of fronts and their death the now caretaker prime minister said it was self it's time for something new you have all heard the address of the russian president vladimir putin as president he outlined the major priorities of our work for the upcoming year but he also outlined a number of fundamental changes to the constitution of the russian federation on these changes when they take place and this will be done after discussions and as was said they will significantly alter a number of past the constitution and change the balance of power if there's one thing we know about putin it's that we don't. you know him he loves to surprise and there was no warning not even rule is that the country was about to be turned on its head we now have

a new prime minister we heil michoud in an unknown quantity he's largely stayed out of the spotlight for the past decade head in the federal tax agency and i must say he did wonders teaching russians to pay their taxes fact some would argue he's done too good a job it is now clear putin hangs up the gloves in 2024 he will run for another term times change so does russia that is a revolutionary change from this distance i would say that it gives more power to the parliament but it downgrades the importance of the prime ministership the stability of russia's leadership and it quality which is not a separate issue has been one of the most positive aspects of world governance in the 21st century. donald trump threatened to impose

a 25 percent torah fine european carmakers if germany france and the united kingdom didn't accused iran of violating the 2015 nuclear deal that has been confirmed by germany's defense ministry those countries come plied with their request on tuesday iran's foreign minister zarif said this in response appeasement confirmed you're a trio sold out remnants of joint comprehensive plan a fraction to avoid new tram tariffs it won't work my friends your only work his appetite remember your high school bully if you want to sell your inter-group to go a hat but do not assume high moral legal ground if you don't have it. this missed moves by the european signatories to trigger the so name dispute mechanism over its alleged non compliance with the deal now just going through the day of a 30 day period to resolve the problem after which it will be referred to the un security council who has the power to reinstate sanctions on tehran here's

a quick reminder of what led to such a fragile situation between the parties the nuclear deal officially named the joint a comprehensive plan of action was signed in 2015 by around major world powers the agreement was to see to iran limit its nuclear activities in exchange for the easing of sanctions but washington polled in 28 drinan swiftly imposed economic penalties around then began scaling back its compliance which accelerated for the us assassinated 2 rounds most powerful general. well i'm happy to say we can go live now to scott ritter sculpts is a former u.n. weapons inspector and also next u.s. marine corps intelligence officer good to have you on the program sir this is a clear example that no appears clear of the u.s. trying to dictate the foreign policy of other countries through economic pressure

and they are allies of the u.s. how legal is such a move do you think. could you see the legal do you think such a move is what legal. it's not legal in all i mean it's bullying. i mean you know i mean. i guess it's not against the law to to threaten something i don't know if that you know what the standing is in a court of law. but when we talk about the joint comprehensive program of action. you know this is this is a direct violation of this agreement this is an agreement that was you know not just signed by these nations you know france germany the united kingdom the united states iran china russia but it was also an agreement that was certified by the security council of the united nations and in that case it takes on the weight of

law international law so for the united states to come and threaten sanctions if 3 parties to this agreement don't violate that agreement and do what the united states dictates. you know if there's not an international violation there should be germany has now admitted the white house did threaten them with why do you think skull 3 european union doesn't at least publicly stand up to washington. well i think we have seen that you know over the course of the time that's passed since may 2018 when president trump withdrew from the iran nuclear agreement that the european union has been struggling to to come to grips with what its options are and you know they've tried to come up with you know a trade mechanism that will enable iran to trade with you you members to sidestep

so-called secondary sanctions that would be imposed by the united states and they've been unable to come up with something the bottom line is the european economy is too closely tied to the american economy and they can't afford to confront the united states they literally have had no option and i think that's why they caved so readily and that's why there's no debate that's why there's no anger they have no choice they've they've proven that they're unfortunate little more than obedient poodles to the american master scott i appreciate there's a lot of what ifs in this next question but i want to ask it we saw the u.s. take out in the rain in general it claimed was preparing an imminent threat since rule. if they thought iran was near to completing a nuclear bomb what would they do would washington even wait for indisputable proof before taking action. no i think the

united states doesn't has proven that it doesn't wait for indisputable proof in the past they didn't wait with iraq they haven't waited with syria and they won't wait with iran if a conclusion remember this is more about domestic american politics than it is about genuine national security because it was about genuine national security there is no evidence that iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program and so there would be a lot more hesitance to engage in military action but in the united states. body politic has bought into the notion that iran has nuclear weapons ambitions and as such it's impossible for any american politician who is hopeful of staying in power to do anything other than be seen as confronting iran in the moment they determine that iran is pursuing this nuclear weapon there will be military action

scott what's your reading of the situation as it stands is there any real chance the deal could be saved maybe with a new group of members even without the u.s. . november 3rd 2020 can't come fast enough if you have any hope for peacefully resolving the differences between iran the united states and now the european union i think one of the reasons why the united states push to have these 3 nations invoke the dispute resolution mechanism is to bring this issue to a head in the security council prior to november 3rd in order to force a crisis that will compel both parties democrat or republican alike to support any move the president might take if iran is able to delay a resolution of this issue until after the election there's hope that whoever if trump doesn't win there's hope that whoever replaces him will come to their senses

come back and seek a nonviolent resolution to this problem but you know i'm very concerned that what's really happening here is a artificial acceleration of the crisis so that it reaches ahead prior to the november elections we saw this week britain's prime minister boris johnson say that if the deal is dead he's all for a new deal on it should be called the trump deal essentially allowing tello trumps administration to to carve outs and then britain will agree to it how real or otherwise do you think washington is about getting a new deal in place. look when president trump ran for office back in 2016 he ran on a platform that said he's the best negotiator that he will be able to negotiate a new deal so it wasn't just rip up the old deal it was come up with

a better deal because he's the ultimate deal maker. so you know from the british an american standpoint this is exactly the policy they want but it takes 2 to tango and you know iran would have to be willing to come to the table and iran has made it clear that the negotiation has already taken place that the deal has already been made and it is certified under a binding resolution of the united states united nations security council iran will not be compelled to to to to to go to the negotiating table if we didn't learn anything about how iran behaved from 2002 until 2015 when stringent economic sanctions were placed when their economy was starved and they never yielded iran got everything they wanted in terms of enrichment capability in the 2015 iran nuclear deal really the united states policy was not a single spinning centrifuge in iran emerged from that not only with over

a 1000 spit and sooner if you just but the potential for tens of thousands or more once once the agreement matures so iran isn't going to retreat they can't retreat they have legislation in place that won't allow that scott thanks for your time and your thoughts this hour scott's rather former u.n. weapons inspector live on the program from new york. the turkish president has announced the deployment of more troops to libya he ses to ensure the stability of the un backed government and its capital tripoli they will join a deployment already sent by un career earlier this month during a meeting with the german foreign minister general huffed or from libya's rival administration reportedly said he's ready to abide by the currency here's artie's middle east correspondent with more polis leader. well it certainly seems as if things are heading in the right direction that meeting in moscow was applauded by the international community is

a step in the right direction in terms of bringing about a lasting peace agreement in libya as you've mentioned we've just heard from the german foreign minister that highly for have tyler who is the commander of the libyan national army has agreed to a cease fire with the forces of the government of national accord now that is the u.n. back government that sits in tripoli this followed an earlier and nouns mentored by the turkish president air the one in which he said he was starting to send turkish troops to libya to assist the government of national accord there there are already turkish forces in libya but they they are primarily to train the forces in tripoli and everyone is saying that this is all part and parcel of a much bigger picture there are agreements between the 2 countries to this effect and that it will help bring in the long term stability in libya take a listen we are starting to send our soldiers to ensure religious my government survival and stability in libya starting with the idea that turkey security lies outside of its borders we will continue to mobilize our capabilities now all of

this comes just days ahead of a meeting that has been planned in the german capital for this weekend and due to attend that meeting our leaders from turkey from russia as well as from britain italy and germany the focus of the meeting will be a follow on from the summit that was held in moscow again a further step in trying to in train and bring about a long term security and stability in libya. from so has been brought to a standstill once again trade unions and public sector workers are piling the pressure on french president among the almost over his proposed pension reforms mass transportation strikes hit paros and other major cities across the country on for years but while ago she ations between the government and unions drug all some have managed to find the funny side of recent events. as a strike continues in fronts we've brought you the congo we've brought you the discontentment we've even poor you the violence the other thing that is quite

interesting about protests like this all the fine is that really brings the cholera if you just look behind me you can to get a sense of just some of these banners that are out today people are spending tireless hours creating these banners to try and get them for a moment say on t.v. or social networks to try and get their voices of course we're going to speak to use a ballot he's got this sad very nice sign i'm going to translate into a nice english basically saying my god loves to professors particularly at the age of 60 point i wrote an e-mail address friends to the fact he married a schoolteacher i has a plan. to be fair frank i. know personal. interests like everyone else but if this reform for the past will go up to 64 we've been moving from case for this man as the we are told to a president whose wife is

a teacher. so it's not just the black odds that we see at these protests we also see all the flags that are regular currencies like this one for che guevara and the flag of the palestinian territories over there almost a color that adds to almost every protest that we come to in front of just spotted what looks like quite a nice cargo placard here in paris it's a train let's have a chat to the person behind this. expect walk. we have been on strike for 42 days with the railway workers are striking against americans pension reform michel i think we're witnessing some sort of humorous show here we've got some. the huge looks like the son of margaret thatcher and mr mack all that hair style is. really the art of market share particularly with

what looked like to be pearls on the is around. for me no protest in paris is complete in till we have met this gentleman this is baptist and every protest he is out with a new so i mean in this distinctive color in so many 1st s. or. joining the fight for social justice the environment democracy democracy everything is going wrong this is a democratic emergency the politicians are not performing their duties and acting to help the people both on the simple message is to do more humorous messages it seems you can pretty much find anything on a plaque on a protest in front and from everybody we've spoken to it seems that the reason why people are really keen to get their protest band out here in showing is to make sure that they seen in the crowds show that you can ski r.t.

in paris. a new report has revealed that the u.k. failed to notify other countries about 75000 crimes committed by their nationals in britain according to the guardian newspaper the home office then apparently tried to cover up the mistake which was caused by a computer error. there is still uncertainty whether historical daily activity files received from the home office are going to be sent out to countries as there is a reputational risk to the u.k. . well the police computer system or it was not noticed for 5 years that men from 2012 to 2017 foreign convicted of crimes in the u.k. were able to return home without their own countries being aware of their records the home office has said it is working to rectify the situation. in the current told us that the scandal will prove to be highly damaging for both the u.k. and its european partners. law only bats the brits and that but it's

bad for the e.u. bad for all citizens but if you can only be you to have these convictions covered up by some civil servants the replication risk is why should you count share information with the u.k. if the u.k. cannot be relied upon to share information at that point in officially it's very serious because. it's put us in a very weak position it is really the 2 year period and once we notice we're going to leave you we should have been mauled in that time to come to a long term agreement but because we have some civil servants that didn't do the job properly and so now we've got the really silly position that endangered many people by the act so maybe a few people and it's totally unacceptable.