Politics. With the top stories from the past seven days and right up to the moment developments as well this is the weekly on r. T. Welcome to the program the twenty eighteen a Winter Olympics in south korea came to a sparkling close on sunday a stunning fireworks display rounded off the night well as they traditional hundred over to the next Winter Olympics games host which will be chinas beijing in two thousand and twenty two summing up this months election. In. Time really does fly and i cant believe that its already the and of twenty eight thing weve seen the closing ceremony and the nations parade at it and ill tell you what it was much warmer than the opening on february ninth quite literally and the fans didnt have to freeze themselves that much to see the spectacle something that hasnt changed though is the fate of the russian athletes who were able to march with their National Colors there had been a glimmer of hope that theyd be allowed to do that but earlier on sunday the i. O. C. Decided not to lift the suspension of russias National Olympic committee after two of the all way our athletes tested positive for doping although the i. O. C. President has said that these two cases appear to be isolated these are cases off of negligence and there is no indication. I want to do so ever for a systemic or systematic. Doping affair here the astleys who failed the test though claim it could have been a result of salva taj or some sort of mistake they say that they have never taken banned drugs on purpose to improve their performance back to the final day of peeling chang twenty eight thing i guess if you asked the russian fans would they rather see their National Flags at the closing ceremony or would they rather have their mens Ice Hockey Team win gold for the first time in twenty six years most of them would still choose the second option and that is exactly what happened inside the gunning ice hockey arena on sunday the red machine b. Germany for three and a gripping final and then at the prize giving ceremony the olympic and then. Was played instead of the russian anthem obviously the bugs guess what the winners and the stadium sang then the National Anthem of course and that was quite a scene to watch this was the oh you are a second gold at these olympics the first one was won by fifteen year old alina as the gates of a in the figure skating and ill tell you what these Winter Olympics were really games of hope for russia with many more experienced star athletes having to sit out young chang twenty home the o. E. R. Still won a total of seventeen medals that is of course by far not the best performance but still and these circumstances it deserve a huge round of applause as for the whole medal table norway came first with fourteen gold fourteen silver and eleven bronze and thats of course a spectacular result. Yeah as ilya mentioned there sunday markdown exciting a win for russias mens ice hockey squad competing as a limb pick out from russia if they secured goal with victory over germany in a gripping final the decisive goal scored in overtime for a four three overall scoreline was the first time in twenty years russian players have reached the final and you have to go back to france in one thousand nine hundred two for their last gold in mens ice hockey that was also under a neutral banner the team didnt have its own flag at the time following the break up of the soviet union and here are todays elated exhausted hockey stars taking their bus back to the Olympic Village we spoke to one of the key men in the russian team. Game was very tough for the german who didnt get to the final for no reason for his great but we want to believe that we leveled the score and then the final point in overtime i think this goal brought joy to millions of russian fans everyone ready to go theres a. Lot for a less than smooth build up to the games to the delight of the travelling russian fans getting to celebrate their country second gold of the tournament well it was clear to see. Their goal at the my me of were going most lost it but anyway things turned out ok it was a super match and a super victory russia is the champion and we did. Hear that the germans were playing very well it was a beautiful game mainly to the german team and their russian team for such a wonderful final were so thrilled the russians other polls even making the journey there so indeed the Winter Olympics have wrapped up for another four years but it appears that the spirit of goodwill is continuing there north korea said that its ready for talks with the United States that was announced after the countrys officials met with south korean diplomats at the games finale n. P. R. In china but not everyone was happy to see the north korean delegation europe. Protests on a side korean border town against the visit scuffles also broke out between some protesters and the Police Independent china specialist through line to liz about the controversies that could shadow any north korea u. S. Talks. Spiral sentients a concern of course the United States want to trump up the sanctions and use military coercion as is what and i mean youre solving International Issues it depends on what kind of a deal the United States. Struck with a lot career with the United States was the one that North Koreans to abandon all its Nuclear Arsenal abandon all its capabilities to develop Nuclear Weapons and Long Distance the liberals as well and thats something which i dont think a lot of korea would necessarily accept that cannot be struck then were back to square one and back to confrontation. But the only other hand its quite possible that some agreement may be reached. The United NationsSecurity Council has passed a new resolution calling for a cease fire right across war torn syria its in response to a surge in violence in eastern which is occupied by both rebels and terrorists just id sign the capital damascus the truce must be implemented quote without delay and will last for thirty days its hoped it will allow time for injured civilians to be evacuated from conflict zones and for much needed aid to reach other stricken regions a number of terror groups such as islamic states. In the latest incarnation of al nusra are excluded from the ukraine meant operations against them will continue. Meanwhile Russias Center for reconciliation sees that even some groups that claim to adhere to the cease fire are continuing shelling the syrian capital and has more now on the un initiative. There has been a resolution agreed on by the fifteen member body that leads the United Nations regarding the situation in eastern guta this is an enclave to the east of the syrian capital of damascus and its a place thats under the control of rebels and terrorists that are working to overthrow the Syrian Government twenty thirteen it has been surrounded by Government Forces and the fighting there has recently intensified and were hearing allegations against both sides about human life being taken about civilians being killed were hearing accusations from the syrian observatory for human rights which is based in the United Kingdom there saying that if syria with the support of russia is hurting civilians and committing atrocities against civilians weve also heard reports from the Russian Center for reconciliation in syria they are pointing out that the area is essentially being used to shell civilians in damascus furthermore theyre reporting that the terrorist groups in eastern guta are working actively to prevent medical aid from getting to civilians and theyre using these civilians as human shield now after the unanimous vote we then heard from various countries we heard from nikki haley of the United States and she said she doesnt believe the Syrian Government will actually comply with the cease fire all of this on this council must do our part to press the assad regime as hard as we can to comply we are deeply skeptical that the regime will comply but we supported this resolution because we must demand nothing less nikki haley the representative of the United States walked out before the syrian representative could speak under u. N. Rules if the resolution pertains to you all countries have the right to address the Security Council we also heard from the representative of the Russian Federation now he addressed the Security Council and he emphasized that the fight against terrorism is not affected by this resolution that internationally delegated terrorist groups groups like al notes. I says that the fight against them is not restricted by this resolution and that fight will continue he also had some concerns about how the fight against terrorism seem to be serving some other goals a. Game of battling terrorism cant become a cover for solving geo political problems of dubious legitimacy and that is exactly what the u. S. Is doing in syria right now we insist that the socalled coalition and its attempts at occupation as soon as possible it would have among other things a clear humanitarian effect now the resolution has been passed so this thirty day cease fire that was agreed on by all fifteen members the council is going to be implemented. Investigative journalist rick sterling believes the russian amendments to the ceasefire with a lot of terror operations to continue on and painted. But i think a kid didnt get the resolution was the inclusion. That the Syrian Government can continue the fight against al qaida and isis. And i think that was the reason that it did pass unanimously with the support of russia the encouragement of the Syrian Government one good thing in the resolution is that its that weekly affirms the fact that the territorial integrity of syria needs to be preserved of course this is very relevant because right now the United States has illegally set up their bases and its not you by territory and Eastern Syria weve got to turkish soldiers even in Northern Syria so this is this is a very important to keep reaffirming the principle of territorial integrity on that final point rick was making despite the cease fire resolution which in compass is the entire country turkey says it is not going to halt its military offensive in Northern Syria claiming the decision doesnt apply to it and has been carrying out an operation against Kurdish Militia fighters there which it fuses terrorists and its push to dislodge the Kurdish Peoples Protection units from the border area the Turkish Military struck a convoy entering the city of on thursday night im chris ses it was carrying fighters and weapons but the Kurdish Forces insist that the trucks were carrying only civilians food and medicine and also say one person was killed in the attack. Just lets just. Let him out. Of that earlier in the week proof Syrian Government forces arrived in a friend to help try and repel the turkish offensive that came after the kurds appeal for support the developments in the region have put the u. S. In a difficult position as Jacqueline Bouvier explains. Two of americas Main Partners in the region are now at each others throats to put it mildly. And as the u. S. Tries to avoid taking sides in the conflict they seem to be losing on all fronts turkey a longtime ally looks to be getting increasingly impatient with washingtons inaction america has only dared to call for a reduction in civilian casualties in the fight prompting a vicious response from the turkish president. What disappoints us most in this process is the hypocrisy and even the legacy of some countries which we consider allies and so yes its a legal and military relations with turkey has had enough of law well some promises and delaying tactics and on the other side we have the kurds who have been essential to the u. S. Led coalitions fight against eisel and the absence of support from their American Partners against the onslaught of Turkish Forces the kurds have been forced to look elsewhere and that has pushed them into accepting help from proGovernment Forces this week militias loyal to the Syrian Government flooded afrin to bolster the kurds. We have come to a kaddish brothers to fight together to protect africa. We are the Popular Force we came so that we could help our kurdish brothers because we are one people. Now that surely ruffled feathers in washington where the syrian president comes only after i saw on their list of enemies the us has tried to shift focus to an issue that puts them back in the drivers seat battling eisel calling the situation in africa a distraction what is going on in a free and is taking away from the fight against isis it is a distraction as secretary mabus had called it is certain. Not helpful to have people take their eye off the ball of isis weve talked about that numerous times before but in reality many in the region have already recognized that arsenal is all but defeated despite that the us led intervention which is in its third year has no end in sight but they may be left there with no one to call friend as they continue to alienate their allies. Germanys best selling to help lloyd publishes a fake story about russian meddling in german politics we get into that right after this. Whats going on is only for just saying. No case it doesnt have any meaning unless it leads to real kids which can be. No guaranteed only by christina president. What politicians do something to. Put themselves on the line when they get accepted or rejected. So when you want to be president. For something i want to press. You to go right to the press this is what before three in the morning people. Im interested always in the water. Hello again germanys a best selling newspaper was tricked this week into publishing a fake bombshell story on russian meddling in the countrys politics the report in bill detailed how a mysterious russian agent but master called yuri and supposedly offered his services to the head of the social democratic partys youth wing kevin hart hoping to sabotage a Coalition Deal between his party and im glad merkels conservatives your sis nippert of the purse suppose it exchange did care for him im yuri id like to talk to you about supporting your new Group Campaign thanks for your mail j already told me to expect a mile from you but just to be sure could you name me g. s favorite beverage as you can certainly understand this is a delicate matter me oh me oh marty ginger oh dear yuri perfect thats a relief so what can you offer me basically we can offer you everything an Opinion Campaign with but schultz social bots on twitter and facebook or even a targeted Facebook Advertising cap per game but theres only one problem the whole conversation was fabricated by the german satirical magazine titanic the editors behind the hoax posted this triumphant photo online it shows one of the magazines employees posing with the transcript of the fake emails on the tabloid subsequent article the editor of titanic told me the hoax was all too easy to concoct less than an afternoons work in fact. We had to turn it over to a good magazine we worked with to say. Methods as it builds so we knew how to think like and boot editor there were no rumors about russian meddling and we thought this cannot be we have to make an alliance with the built tabloids and push a story about russian meddling a story that was techie like in the spine and we had a good feeling that this would work when theres a story like this for four built they dont care about the details its only interesting if the story is good and it was a good story indeed it was. Like a good movie i hope it will be made into a movie sometime well bill does now retrieve acted the story whats more they had a b. S. P. D. s youth wing insists that how he really been made such an offer he would have turned to time provide me its busy in this book i dont know but this group but of course with any of these offers would only work with social mobs and i dont have the information they would even received and you know. Now whenever you see meddling mention these days russia is usually being linked to it but it seems the United States is way ahead on that front a former cia directors admitted that washington interferes in other countrys elections and Domestic Affairs when its quote for a good cause right because he has been taking a closer look. No one likes a spoiler medlars interference especially when it comes to american elections theyre hooley pure and spoiled and unsullied or they were before the russians got to them they say but judge not lest ye be judged especially when you have a fetish for getting your fingers into foreign elections when i just dont mess around other people. Are only for the very good didnt kill vine video and those former cia for a very good cause. Said the former director of the cia its funny because and when america does it when someone elses even suspected of doing it no no no no bad bad did the russians break the rules or do something bizarre the answer is no lot at all said a thirty year veteran of the cia come on the cia root the book on meddling. Weve been doing this kind of thing since the cia was created in one thousand forty seven weve used posters pamphlets mailers banners you name it weve planted false information for newspapers weve used what the british call king georges calorie suitcases of cash add to that assassinations coups Information Warfare hacking and thats just the stuff we know about this the johnson that helped oversee the cias activities hed know the difference is they say when russia does it its to destroy the woold even when that meddling has no actual impact on the elections as even the Justice Department just admitted when america doesnt so the greater good democracy and all that you could ask of course how on earth overthrowing democratically elected leaders as the cia has done is helping democracy how sending billions of dollars worth of guns to gulf dictators is helping democracy but dont well the United States has been interfering in other countries elections since the one nine hundred thirty s. And in the caribbean and in latin america when i was in cia in the seventys and eightys in europe i would say that the that the cia and the u. S. Government basically were interfering in elections almost every election that was taking place in europe this was just routine that the u. S. Wanted a friendly government of a certain type and was willing to do certain things to enable that to happen if were going to claim that america has the right to interfere behind the scenes in the politics of another country. Its a little hypocritical for then america to say oh a russian intelligence has been interfering in american elections. You dont get to have it both ways are stories for naught but more updates quite literally by the minute can be found on our twitter page and dont miss a thing by done loading up easily find on your Search Engine of choice this is our team. To move. To. Fill in the hot day of a dear little bottle of saudi in china six oir. An estimated eighteen fastens arms or a trophy jeans are now living in greece. You know still more to go. Home in the euro for being. Many so just to make ends meet. For the second and all the sins in their. Lifetimes it. Also has turned to dealing drugs to make a living. Human being. Who. Gets manufactured consensus instinctive public wealth. When the ruling classes protect themselves. With the financial merry go round be the one percent told. To ignore middle of the room sit. In the real news is really. Hate everybody. Im stephen paul. Hollywood usual suspects. Proud american first of all im just george bush and r. V. This is my buddy famous financial guru well shes a little bit different. You know with the with all the drama happening in our country and brood. Meet every day americans. And hopefully start to bridge that gap this is the great american. Plan of welcome to the party rather than providing clarity and closure of the indictment of thirteen russian nationals on charges of conspiracy has further entrenched both sides of the russia gate narrative those who believe that kremlin tried to have democracy deep in that conviction as did those who insist that the whole story was an invention of sore losers whatever it was or wasnt russias role in the two thousand and sixteen president ial campaign perception is reality navigated well to discuss that im now joined by further one of russias top geopolitical analyst and editor in chief of Russian Global Affairs magazine michelle account if its good to talk to you thank you for coming over now first let me ask you about the socalled same petersburg troll factory in western media its presented as this huge ominous operation but if you look at the sheer number of peep. Involved in the size of the budget is not even a factor its a tiny little swatch of three employ more people at archies cafeteria than actually indicted why do you think its gotten this larger than life notoriety and maybe you should promote you. More well i think people cafeteria know english pretty much as well as the people who are running that fact. Disappointed. Disclosure because i believed based on what u. S. Media and western media are all before that. We are everywhere that our specialists including thralls are really comprehensive and overwhelming if it is only for doing this kind of business and i have no doubt that this business does exist because thats part of the p. R. And most communication and Strategic Communication activities anywhere and i think. In the u. S. Press some people who seriously analyze that this is basically what they did is part of it is of many commercial commercial Media Company as they called it but you know that the problem with the americans is that they believe that the person who is behind it is Vladimir Putin himself the president of russia and i know that most foreigners believe that russia is this very tightly controlled society and politically that may be the case sometimes but i wonder if you allow for a possibility of guinea pig origin who conceived and funded this operation who is sometimes referred to as former chef was actually doing that on his own as an experiment for social media rather than following or trying to execute direct orders from the kremlin. I have no idea both relationship between mr pretty goes on mr putin but based on my more this knowledge about how Russian Society and russians ministration work in general i dont because the specificity of current russian system unlike the soviet system where every scene was really centralized and very much well organized. Now we have the opposite situation yes the state. Only asli uses some how to call it nontraditional means sometimes to compensate for all those weaknesses of russian russian system because the