the the the, the the top headlines right now here we're not into national the us put 8500 troops on high alert pentagon, so say ready for deployment in eastern europe. if russia attacks ukraine white moscow continuing to say it still has no such plan with a british government municipal quit while slamming their prime ministers, quote lamentable track record and tackling claims of the massive fraud and the government. covey loans were heating out a julian assange. when's the right to appeal to the supreme court to prevent his extradition to america on espionage charges?

the ruling has been welcomed by his family and support. and what happened in court today is precisely what we want it to happen. but we are far from achieving justice in this case, because julian has been incarcerated for so long and he should not have been a single day in prison. me busy busy here on a monday evening in moscow, some big hitting headlines. few tonight. welcome to them. some news just in right here at ortiz, national, the pentagon has a know that it's putting 8500 american troops on high alert to counter the supposed threat from russia. pentagon spokesman, john coby says, those forces could be sent to eastern europe if russia attacks ukraine. the russia has repeatedly denied any such plans. in the meantime, nato was considering deploying additional troops ride along russia's borders without his peter oliver now explains an awful lot going on on monday concerning

nato troop movements and planned movements as well. what we can expect is that there will be more nato troops arriving in the east of europe. later on monday, us time, they'll be a call between the u. s. president and european leaders. but earlier, we heard pretty much confirmation of this from the nato secretary general against dalton, beg, natal, will not compromise on court principles. we stand for the right of each nation to choose his own alliances. and naples door remains open. we are considering to further enhance our presence in east on part of the lions. this could include the deployment of additional nate or battle groups, while those navy wargames continue in the mediterranean involving the ag yet the american aircraft carrier, the u. s. s. harry truman. we've also heard on monday from france, denmark, the netherlands,

and spain who've all either committed or said they're considering committing moving military hardware or troops to eastern europe. now dmitri pest golf, who's the the kremlin spokesperson, said that moscow as playing very close attention to these movements, a dog reduced to such nato actions and increase nato activity. now, borders cannot be ignored by a military who are responsible for the security of our country. there is a constant process of drills, maneuvers and military build up, which has never stopped and will continue. e u foreign ministers were meeting in brussels on monday. they had a lot to talk about, including proposals by the you commission for as much as what could be 1320000000 euros worth of financial package for ukraine. but one thing that jo, several, the a u foreign policy chief did come away from the meeting, saying was pretty much what he said when he went into the meeting, which was there would be no pull out of

e u diplomatic staff and their families from embassies in keith, similar to what had been done by the united states and the u. k. i don't think we had a tele clash as far as the negotiation going on and they are going on. i don't think that we had left the plane and i leave. there was an awful lot of pressure on germany and therefore minister analynn a bare bach in this meeting of foreign ministers on monday. journeys come under a lot of pressure because it's refused to send weapons to ukraine. now, germany has said it will provide financial aid. it's also said little provide medical aid and that it would increase s surveillance operations carried out from romania. what we've also heard coming out to germany is the, the chancellor here all our shows saying that should that be an invasion, that there would be strict stream consequences for russia, but amongst senior politicians including those no longer in government, of course. and they, in the terms of marcus voter,

the leader of the state of bavaria. he's been speaking to the press saying that europe shouldn't talk to russia as if it was an enemy. we must reject aggression and avoid escalation. nobody wants a war in europe. in doing so, the territorial integrity and independence of ukraine under international law must be respected, but constant new threats and never tougher sanctions against russia alone cannot be the solution. on the one end because sanctions have had little effect for a long time. and on the other hand because these new sanctions would often harmless just as much. meanwhile, boars johnson, the british prime minister, has been having his se that's up to london, sent thousands of anti tank weapons to ukraine just last week, as well as a team of special forces to train people how to use those while barry and ukraine. now the british prime minister saying that an invasion of ukraine could be a disaster of historic proportions, but we also need to get a message this invading your crime, promot from

a rushing perspective is going to be a painful balance. and this is, this could be menu check, awful lot of movement in this story. throughout monday, most of our movement seems to be in the form of nato military hardware item moving or planning to be moved further towards the eastern frontier of the alliances boundaries is paid of all of our reporting right there. well, in the meantime, authorities in the self proclaimed republics in the dawn bass region, claim that kia is deployed heavy rocket artillery right along the border. that does they say more than a $100000.00 ukranian soldiers are currently stationed in that immediate area that's going to stand villages and towns in the republics of tonya. it's going to cancel. they've been getting shelled for years from the other side of the border. the end of the day, thousands have been killed. i

want to change that simplest county, but there are times when i come to sleep. we go to the basement to shooting. if i'm next to my house fall on my way to school. under a shot. i run home. if i'm near school, i can hide in this cool basement. you need more than i was born during the war and maybe i will die in the war. i don't know how to far of it. it's painful and insulting. you go to bed and wonder whether your house will be destroyed me. ah, jewish. there are no shells lying here. you walk carefully, you run the household. what else can we do? first? every day they show us the heat in the village. i

. people are suffering, many of them have been natural caused by the fighting. my husband died to the child during the stilted, my son died in 2015 in combat. ah, was a senior, conservative minister has resigned in the u. k. in protest at the government's handling of fraud allegations and multi 1000000000 pound cove, it contracts a theodore ac news exit has power further pressure on prime minister barak johnson . already reeling from scandal over lockdown parties at downing street a short short time ago. i did discuss this with isa ali john list in london to the resignation of a peer in the house of lords, lord agnew of olson, who served as both a cabinet and treasury minister and his role was responsible primarily for

investigating cases of corruption or fraud. and to take his frustration which has led to his resignation, today is linked to the governments of bounce back loan scheme. now this was a scheme which was hugely popular in the country at the time. loans being given to small businesses of a height of the pandemic in the lockdown. to help save businesses to help save jobs, the treasury doting out 47000000000 pounds of money to desperate businesses all across the line to give them a lifeline. but as the national audit office estimates that up to potentially 5000000000 pounds of that could have been, fortunately claimed lord agnew spectacularly resigning the dispatch box earlier saying that his attempts to try to get these instances of alleged fraud investigator will mess with nothing. but in action by other government officials, it is my deeply held conviction that the current state of affairs is not acceptable

. given that i am the minister for counter fraud. it feels somewhat dishonest to stay on in that role. if i am incapable of doing it properly, this is not an attack on the prime minister, but a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance freezes the government machine. now we heard the lord agnew stating that his resignation was not intended as a attack on the prime minister, but it's hard to see how it could be anything but a huge blow on bars. johnson, who's under immense pressure following revelations of a number of incidences of breaking of lockdown roofs by himself and others within his government at the highest levels in downing street while the rest of the country essentially locked. and there were new reports emerging that forest johnson had a birthday party held for him, organized by his now wife carry. and that revelation states the poorest johnson

attended. that's parked in the cabin office in down the street at a time when the country was in the fast national lockdown and indoor gatherings were strictly banned. and we've heard and seen this prime minister shrugging of accusations of racism shrugging off accusations of corruption within his administration. but it could be these revelations of parties and other events which broke lockdown rules, which could cause an end to his premier ship. and we've already seen him having to be humiliated, essentially, politically, and apologize at the dispatch box in the house of commons. i want to apologize. i believed implicitly that this was a work event. but mister speaker with hindsight, i should have sent everyone back inside. i should have found some other way to thank them. and i should have recognized that even if it could be said technically

to fall within the guidance, there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see that way. a senior civil servant within the government, su gray, has been tasked with investigating those instances of rule breaking. and what the prime minister alleged role in those events were. and it's thought that su grey's report could make or break forest. johnson's political future, no doubt to the glee of his political enemies, those who oppose him on everything from his locked down policies. those who say that he hasn't been harsh enough with the lockdown policies, and that he scrapped things like vaccine passports to those who oppose him. on the question of briggs, it, but importantly those on his own back benches as well, who are paying for his blood. and so all eyes will be on what sue great reports. i live now to put him seek a member of the house of laws. joining us here,

what are you into national a very good evening to you. so thanks so much to come on the program here. if i understand you are actually in the chamber when lord i knew made this bombshell announcement, they did a catch you by surprise at all. well, good evening. yes. i think it caught everybody by surprise in a way. it was a debate for 10 minutes about the coated fraud. the normal thing is that the opposition which asked the question speaks are about a minute. then the minister would speak a minute or 2. but as the, as his a speech lasted longer and they started criticizing the government, we sensed that something was up. but then it became more dramatic on the slime. there's a resignation letter on the dispatch table and actually walked out of the chamber. i not really see anything like that before. and indeed i spoke to some seasoned members off the house and they said they can't recall anything like that either. so

it is really a very, very strong criticism of the, of the government because a normal claim of the conservative government for decades has been that financially it is competent. here the minister is saying it hasn't got a clue what you don't want to see. and so he used the words, he used to word our guns, indolence and ignorance. he said that these words were, were freezing the government machine a. does that sound accurate? so you, there's a pretty strong word. as you said, well, i think it is a way he summed up what the government is doing, but i think many people from outside have already sense that something is seriously wrong with the government. when you look at a, the government remove the support for the poorest people is called universal credit . it deprived the pension of a diesel engine rise, which would have cost of my $5400000000.00 universal credit that is support for the poor are $4000000.00. and load our new mentions in

a speech that fraud across government department equals about 29000000000 bio. i couldn't imagine if a government managed to collect even half of that or managed to avoid even half of that life. or many people could be a bit more bearable. so i think, you know, it is a very, very serious indictment and insight into incompetence at the heart of the government. and we have to remember that the chancellor wishes to neck is being counted as successor to boris johnson. but it is his department which has been hammered by lord agnew and let's, let's talk about, let's talk about if we can that the timing of the resignation from lord agnes is, comes at a time. and boris johnson is still reeling from the whole part he gate scandals also taking a lot of abuse for the mishandling of the kobe crisis. can you see anything in the timing here? i don't think so. i think the these issues about the cobra trolls have been brewing

for some time. lots of questions have been austin, parliament about it. and minister have really been struggling to explain why. last amounts of money have vanished. obviously, the fact that the prime minister is injured or weakened at the moment that may have emboldened, emboldened some people to speak out and maybe put their own views on the record than that for their own position on the table. you say bar shelton is injured and, and, and weakened at the moment. a lot of people are saying he's just going to survive his scandal like he has all the other ones. water off a duck's back, your thoughts? well, we have a local government election coming in may, where it is very likely that the conservative government would be trounced. and i think they need to blame somebody for that. it wouldn't make much sense to have a new leader in place who immediately has to explain the trails and at the local

elections. the chances are, if possible, they would like to continue with boris johnson and jill may. but on the other hand, if things look very bad, the conservatives are very good at getting rid of their leaders that did that to, to resume and also did it to margaret thatcher. or do you think the public is viewing this at the moment, or latest number showing only about 16 percent of the population, even trust their prime minister? that's a corner latest polls and it's not looking like it's getting any better. i think that is a fair reflection, but let me add the sort of bit of coal wishon simply replacing one prime minister with another prime minister, believing in the same ideology. values on policies is not really good enough. what we really need is a complete change in the way this country is governed, simply replacing one sort of gods with another god with another set of gods isn't really going to do much of the country. so we need new people centered politics.

and that is not really an offer of the moment by any political party. having is a very fair statement as well from premier seeker, a member of the house of lords. joining us live on the monday evening program from moscow. thank you so much. we appreciate it wiki league sound a during a song as one the right to have is extradition case reviewed in the u. k. supreme court. of course, he's wanted by washington on charge of espionage, but there's still no prospect of a song being released. and his fiance says his health is worsening every day, particularly after suffering our recent stroke in prison. that's the latest. now his anti correspondent shoddy ad was dashed, unison has been granted permission to take his case to the court. of course, that means that he can now appeal to us extra addition decision that was great. you don't the end of last year we start with a much decision whether court or rule to overturn a previous decision. not extra, right? doing this on, on the basis, it would be oppressive, considering how high

a risk of suicide he may be if he was sent to the united states and held in cost center throughout the year. last year, the courts then changed their mind following a 2 day appeal. as the u. s. offered a packages, assurances to the fact that he would not be held under maximum security conditions . in the last few minutes we did hit got announcement, and indeed morris is the partner of the sergeant child this as a victory. what happened in court? today's precisely what we wanted to happen, but we are far from achieving justice in this case because julian has been incarcerated for so long and he should not have spent a single day in prison. as long as this case isn't dropped, as long as julian isn't freed, join continues to suffer for almost 3 years. he's been in bellmarks prison, and he's suffering profoundly day after day, week after week,

year after year. we also heard from the, with the lead editor and chief, he says, again, this is a school victory, but of course, you know, some still remained behind the prison, the last prison. what we need for this is case can be dropped entirely. that is, that is, that is the only real victory for war for journalism. but for julian, this is of course, as a pro long incarceration is already been for more than a 1000 days and most prison. we've always been protesting vigorously. the fact that after the united states lost in the lower court, they were allowed to, to submit the so called up. so sort of assurances with, i mean it, in general purpose perspective. it's just absurd since the ruling in favor of the united states months ago. so just team off the high court directly behind me to allow this case to be sent to the supreme court. now, not all cases go to the supreme court. there must be an all people point of law. advocates needs to have a public importance that now has been deemed

a public importance and the sanchez teams were all queuing those implications for the future of public interest reporting, unless the ability to defeat politically motivated cases, they argue that this case is absolutely politically motivated. we look throughout the year last year, all of these reports of the c, i to kidnap kill assassinate a judas on spy. on him, while he was hold up in london, ecuador, and embassy. they all this deems that a politically motivated case and as we well know onto the u. k. u, as an extradition treaty, nobody can be extradited on political grounds is that is indeed enshrined in that lower in that treaty. then, of course, on the grounds of future reporting, many of us on just supporters. i didn't do the defense. they argue that the united states is simply making an example of june assange for revealing these legible crimes of documents relating to the war in iraq and africa. stone

who's who ah, come on with . so what we see now is a decade long sog or a legal, elaborate the horror story. i said you in a song. well, he goes through,

back and forth, various court systems here in the united kingdom. all of these protests is when they heard that announcement some few minutes ago. they all are opted into child saying free, free at eunice, orange. of course this isn't the end. he's still behind boston. there's still a long way to go to june, a song to try and fight against expedition to the united states. just a short time ago in this program, i spoke with ashton, returning to the host of ortiz going on the ground. he thinks the way julian assange is being treated ultimately amounts to that of a slow execution. julianna's psalms, documented nature, war crimes, all around the world. no one can save the 10s of thousands killed in afghanistan and iraq. what we're worried about is now saving him. corona virus was spreading through that prison. there was no mitigation despite so julian sanchez lloyd desiring it when he, when corona virus killed, perhaps in,

in his high security at prison, he had a stroke in october. the 1st the court said yes, he is a suicide risk razor blades being talked about. this is a motion execution, the vision of all we can hope for now, really to avoid the law for, for him to die in a bell. marsh is for joe biden, or certainly, boris johnson or the judiciary here to say this whole process is a sham. why should the united states be able to go around anywhere in the world thinking a person of any nationality who reveals war crimes under the un, georgia. and just basically, a sentence him to a de facto deaf 175 years in prison. or let's go back to our top story for you here. we're not he. the u. s. is putting 8500 troops on a high alert to counter the supposed to threat from russia. a pentagon spokesman john kirby says the units could be sent to eastern europe if russia types ukraine,

although of course, moscow has repeatedly denied any such plans. these would be additional brigade, combat teams, logistics personnel, medical support, aviation support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as transportation and, and maybe even some additional capabilities after that the secretary wanting to get ahead of the potential activation and making sure that these units have the time to prepare if and only if they're deployed. but the more about this brought out here on the program of crossing locked a david swanson, executive director of the peace movement world beyond wool. great to see you today . what. what do you read into this announcement? why? why would washington put thousands of his own troops on high alert over the situation in ukraine? well, i think it's a sort of a self fulfilling of belief of this notion that russia in response to all the militarization within ukraine and neighboring countries by nato. a put all of these

troops months ago near the border and hasn't used them, hasn't it invaded ukraine? the notion that russia would do that, and that therefore you justify sending more weapons and more troops, odd to eastern europe, i and into ukraine at great profit to weapons makers and campaign funders. i. and of course, if you're building up the hostility, you're increasing the likelihood of war under the pretense of preventing it, discouraging it. but it's a vicious cycle. well why, what do you, what do you think the average american is going to think of this announcement by john kirby that 8500 american troops are ready to be deployed. so to ukraine, what was the average american does the average american have the appetite for a war with russia at this point? well, most people are not in the military have nothing to do with the military pay. very little attention to the news at all. and certainly if asked whether they want to

major war or not, would say no, but are generally aware of small scale us war making going on constantly eternally around the world and are horrified of vladimir putin or having nightmares about vladimir boot and have been ward that that the evil doctor pollutant is trying to take over the world and something must be done to stop him. it's another munich, it's another appeasement. it's another moral failure to launch a war quickly enough. this is, this is what they're fed. a constant diet on us television. so it's not just the united states, not putting all the soldiers on jaila for ukraine, but nato was also strengthening its presence in eastern europe and right on thong rushes, borders. you know, you see these headlines and the tabloids and the newspapers calling russia the aggressor, russian aggression this, that, and the other. but who's provoking who? here you've got nato soldiers and nato boats all around russia's borders, whether it's in the mediterranean, all the bowl tickle up and on the western border of russia,

the troops on the ground as well, rushes not expanding its borders. russia is not putting its troops anywhere near america or at the moment. how do you see when it comes to the the tabloid propaganda, zation? i guess, all provocations who is provoking, who? yes, very clearly, the provocation begins with the west. and as you say, no one's asked to us public. no one's asked for a referenda in any european nation either. and there is some resistance in germany resisting, allowing the baltic states to send weapons to ukraine. the president of france suggesting some slight possibility of resistance. but there is no question that if there were a single russian missile anywhere in the western hemisphere, in cuba, in canada, in mexico, the demand that the united states would be making would be identical to the demands that russia is making. keep your troops in your weapons and your military alliances away from our border. it's not a crazy demand, it's not a, it's not

a criminal. outrageous, immoral demand. it's, it's exactly what the united states would be saying if the roles were reversed. david, i guess i've only got a few seconds left very quick on. so if you would please, sir, it's a pleasure having you on. but do you think that the end of the day is there going to be a russian invasion of ukraine? it's not inevitable. it says this is the myth that were being fed in the united states. it's unpreventable, it's inevitable. so you're better off starting it sooner. no, it's a choice. war is a choice, and it is always a bad joyce. david swanson, the executive director of world beyond war, a great pleasure having on the program. thanks so much. be a commentary. thank you. i thanks for you as well. joining us here for the monday evening program live for moscow. it's just about half past 11. 20 more stories till the come when we return to use the join me every thursday and the alex simon show and i'll

be speaking to guess in the world, the politics sport, business and show business. i'll see you then me ah ah ah ah

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