International our start with breaking news because syrian militants backed by Turkish Forces have launched an offensive against the syrian army in the water on province but russian airstrikes did help to repel them youve done off join me earlier with the details basically what happened terrorist factions launched an offensive on the Syrian Forces who were holding one of the villages a village in that Northeastern Province a very large scale offensive supported by artillery strikes by the turkish army so that offensive or that was of such scale that the troops the syrian troops on the ground could not withstand it on their own so the ask the Russian Air Force to help out so it did but again that offensive that terrorist offensive was supported by turkish artillery so moscow had to intervene and reach out directly to an. And ask them to stop the support to prevent militants from moving deeper into syria into the sea you 24 aircraft of the Russian Air Force at the request of the syrian command have carried out air strikes against the vance and armed groups this allowed the syrian troops to successfully ripple all attacks Turkish Ministry of defense has confirmed that 2 of its soldiers have been killed as a result of the airstrikes and 5 more wounded now it is not clear yet who fired those deadly rounds or what were the those Russian Air Force or the Syrian Air Force but still the situation is very very explosive given that now 3 independent 3 sovereign states have been engaged in a skirmish effectively in a deadly skirmish in one of those states being a nato ally as well its been a rapid escalation hasnt it just over the last day or so how did it reach this point well essentially turkey has been very vocal about the situation in libya and earlier one to turkish president earlier one has been telling syrians to get out of italy to move out of that province behind the troops line that had been preagreed back. Hes been the one who has been giving deadlines to the syrian army by the end of february then we never going on the demand and saying that theres no deadline they should move to made immediately or the attack or the turkish attack would be imminent if. The operation is imminent. We will not leave it to the regime which is not yet understood our countrys determination on this issue and those who are encouraging it refuted to making it live a safe place for both turkey and the people of the region at all costs as. Well it seems the push has come to shove now in that syrian province and interestingly turkey has been encouraged from abroad it has been encouraged by its main nato ally the United States. Theyve been sort of cheering anchor and saying that they are all along standing by their nato ally also literally hours before the advance whether or not it is a coincidence we dont know but an official nato twitter account an International Twitter account posted a promo video saying that we are nato and thats in the turkish language now russia has been all along saying that turkey has failed to deliver on its key promise ankara being. One of the guarantors of the Peace Process in libya has been tasked with delivering a clear distinction between radical hardline jihadists and those groups who are ready to engage in dialogue and sit behind a table and talk to the Syrian Government and russia has been saying that ankara has failed to deliver on this key promise and key tasks so well certainly have a look whether this this mess in todays mess and will see all sides back at the negotiating table. Joining us now is daniel academies hes the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute good even see dan what do you feel about this latest clash do you think it could be a precursor to that major offensive that was threatened by the. Well this is really a high stakes gamble on the part of air to one and its hard to understand exactly what he has in mind of course its offensive was doomed to failure because the russians have made clear a couple of very important things number one you cannot use air power in italy to the to the turks you cannot do that we wont not allow it and the 2nd they made it very clear when they were called in by the syrian army they fired back they came in the sense of migs and they fired back so its very clear that the russians mean business here what is the game that erda one is playing. He knows that he will be pushed out perhaps he is raising the stakes in the hopes that in his loss hell have a better position in the region its hard to know but this is significant because its the 1st time Turkish Forces have fought alongside alqaeda against syria and even Russian Forces so it really is a see huge uptick in the stakes and he seems to have done it with the blessing of the United States to mean the havent got directly involved in this conflict but they do say they support his position in syria what are the chances of them getting involved the u. S. Well and as bloomberg is reporting there to one is asking for some patriot missiles to be installed in turkey to quote deter the russians thats very unlikely especially now that they have the us for hundreds it is extremely unlikely but youre right the neo cons can never give up on a bad policy im sure theyre encouraging this but everyone hey be ware because at the same time youre getting sweet sense from the neo cons the americans have ramped up their delivery of weapons to the p. K. K. Kurds in syria so be careful what youre doing here because youre going to end up losing on both sides do you think both sides are trying to just increase that leverage around the negotiating table what are the chances then were getting back together discussing how to sort this out i mean are we going to see military movement if the flare ups before that happens to think. Well i think that that is certainly anyones game i would guess otherwise that it doesnt make any sense i mean he shoots from the hip but hes not a stupid man so i think thats exactly what hes doing the real issue here is that as your reporter pointed out it took a phone call from moscow to ankara to halt the offensive of turkish proper military how with servers against the syrian army what happens next time if that phone call is made and doesnt pick up and thats d the real danger of whatever the one is trying to do in the region lets not forget this is a comma syria its not turkey. Struggle still at this stage to try and work out what it wants is doing what hes going plan is because he says hes doing it to prevent refugees from heading into casey but if he escalates the situation thats only going to get worse i dont quite figure out his game plan and how will it change his goals. Well theres a lot of propaganda involved as well because the western media is reporting a 1000000 refugees streaming out of it theres only i think one and a half 1000000 in the entire province so theres a lot of propaganda going on the fact of the matter is everyone has not lived up to his sochi commitments that is the reason why things have deteriorated you have to ask yourself why the key one of those commitments was to separate al qaeda from as your reporter said those forces who are willing to look for a political solution maybe the reason they havent lived up to those obligations is that they are incapable of separating the 2 because the 2 are hopelessly intertwined and maybe even the same entity ok damn were going to have to leave it always good to see that was democratic executive director at the rome paul ince cheat in the United States thank you. Now please man he was believed to be leading the school to prayer at a mosque in Central London has been stabbed in the neck well get more on this now from mr ali he joins us from london. Good evening what more can you tell us then about whats happened. But what we know so far is that the gentleman the marzan is that schools at this mosque in Central London this is one of the 1st mosques to be established in the u. K. He was reading the call to prayer for the afternoon prayers around 3 or 330 in the afternoon when he was stabbed in the neck by another person who has since been arrested the 29 year old now just the gentleman the victim in question is said to be in his seventys and hes in hospital now where hes expected to survive that attack despite it being a starving attack in the neck now weve spoken to some people who have been inside the mosque earlier this evening and in the afternoon and they say that according to officials here at the mosque the gentleman whos been arrested the man whos been arrested was seen here before he had been a visitor here but had perhaps been seen as somebody of an outsider was suspicious in some way so its unclear whether this is someone who was an attendee of the mosque or someone who was possibly staking out in preparation for an attack like this in any case the police have released a statement they say theyre not treating it as a terrorist that at this time but of course tensions and fears will be high in the u. K. And specially amongst the Muslim Community in the wake of that terrorist attack in germany which killed 9 people after shootings number of shisha cafes there just last evening so of course tensions are high but at this point anyway police saying that they dont believe this is terror related. Ok thanks a. J. Sorry that was the latest on that story from london thank you. People in berlin a holding unofficial think joe for the 9 victims of last nights shooting in the west of germany the suspected attacker. Is believed to have had center motives with 5 victims being turkish nationals so for more on this now were joined by our europe correspondent peter oliver whos with us from berlin good evening she paid peter whats been the reaction then in the city after last nights attack. I hope peter can hear is paid to just 13 whats been the reaction in berlin to last nights attack hello hi. Well weve seen people coming out onto the streets here in berlin as well as in the city of harwood here in berlin at the Brandenburg Gate of course one of the most iconic. Hello yes i can hear that well what weve seen is people coming out onto the streets here in the german capital as well as in the city of hama where the attack took place at the Brandenburg Gate here in berlin we saw people forming a human chain saying that they were here to protest against racism against anti semitism and against right wing terrorism that was also reflected and another demonstration in a different part of the city where people saying that theyve come germany was uniting against this hatred in the city of hondo itself. The german president was present at a vigil thats been taking place there other politicians are being coming out as well this has. This tragedy has really gripped everybody across germany with just how terrible it is that these 9 people were shot dead that happened at 2 different she should bars in the city of hanau late on wednesday evening the main suspect in that shooting was later found dead at his home easy be described as a 42 year old german man alongside him was found his 72 year old mother also deceased at that scene now the investigators and the attorney general a looking into links to right wing extremism this is after a 24. 00 page manifesto understood to be written by that main suspect was found that the suit was found in his possession a not manifesto well it outlines a hatred of foreigners and nonwhite people it talks about the extermination of countries and nations in the middle east in north africa and in central asia its riddled with racist troops its also full of of. Theories things like eugenics mentioned quite a lot in there there was also a video published by the main suspect a few days ago thats come to light on thursday now in this video he makes. No clue that he was intending to carry out this attack it was seen very much as being directed towards those in the United States he speaks english in the video and its full of of conspiracy theories. As i said this tragedy has gripped germany not just the public but politicians as well political sessions were canceled across the country today and angloamerican the german chancellor has been saying that no stone will be left on turned when it comes to investigating how this came to happen. Its too early to give a conclusive assessment everything is being done to find out what was behind this murder but a lot already suggests far right reeses north of the of the attacker hugh parrotlet acted out of hatred towards people of different descent religion. Racism is a poison hatred is a poison and this poison exists in our society and has led to many crimes. To. The you asked me at the top there what the feeling was like here in germany its very much a feeling of sadness mourning but also anger at how this was able to happen in the 1st place a lot of that anger directed towards the far right towards the right wing in general of german politics and people very shocked that this has been able to happen 9 people they say killed at 2 separate locations the main suspect and his mother found dead at a separate location as well. Ok thanks peter peter over there live for us in berlin. And in the wake of the shooting the chairman my chairwoman of the ruling c. D. U. Party was quick to bash rivals from the alternative for Germany Party in them of having extremist tendencies. Imminently to ensure its trial if you look at their texts profile it seems like he had racist xenophobia as well as far right motives and this strengthens me my belief that for the c. D. U. You should always be clear not only for the c. D. U. But for all parties in germany that they can be no corporation with a party which tolerates far right extremists and lets call a spade a spade not since in monitoring so we are resolved to have no cooperation with the f. D. A. In any shape or form its important to keep the spirals. Tentative for germany its more or less the parliamentary wing of a right Wing Movement and if not the right wing terrorists if they want or not they are the ones who give the key. To terrorists and every collaboration by other parties with the what. But give this party more credibility in the eyes of the followers so we have a level in the public debate that is more of a child than a rational political debate and when i hear it yesterday night about it shooting i instinctively knew that our opponents would blame us for being responsible for it it is completely ridiculous and i can only ask everyone to read that money festa of this crazy terrorist and then compare it to what we are doing and then its all views that its nonsense but no one reads that money 1st 2. 00 and so opponent think if they only repeat and repeat and repeat that we are somehow linked to that or that that this terrorist had links to us than enough people would believe in ok maybe that happens but its just fake news and of course we fight against fake news. Well as the german chancellor vowed to battle racism in her country the president of neighboring france has announced hes fighting islamic separatism by pneumatic wrong made the claim while campaigning ahead of next months local elections challenged reports now from paris. It was a long awaited speech from president mcewan outlining how his presidency will rally against a political islam. We can advance in a credible way to fight against a political ideology this islam is separatism which is incompatible with freedom and equality incompatible with the indivisibility of the republic and the necessary unity of the nation. 1st in the firing line is foreign interference corn has vowed to end a program that allows countries such as old jewry and turkey to send moms and teachers here to provide Services Without supervision this scheme in place since the 1970 s. Allows those foreigners to provide language and cultural lessons to help children maintain a link with their country of origin around some 80000 children attend these classes every year. Im not comfortable with the idea of having women in many schools of the republic who can teach without the Education System exercising their right as controlling and we no longer have control over the programs they teach you cannot teach things that it clearly not compatible with the laws of the republic or with history as we see. Instead mark on wants to have more trained on french soil that would also be an end to the hundreds of additional religious leaders who arrive in france during ramadan mosques will be funded in a transparent way we need to know where the money is coming from who uses it and why he said interesting lead this echoes a policy from his political rival Marine Le Pen during that head to head in 2017 per mandate said this. Close all the extremist mosques identified by the ministry of the tarea and prohibit foreign funding of place of the washer and their personnel strong words coming from the president or is it just a last ditch attempt to woo voters ahead of difficult local elections in just a few weeks. Always trying to do to shore up his position with the right wing electorate also with some of the left of course the question of. The secular state in france is important right across the. Relationship with the parties on both sides of the spectrum. Is important and he needs to make this sort of statement of municipal elections neutering those voters could be a double edged sword france is home to europes largest Muslim Community there are said to be around 6000000 here thats about 8 percent of the population and back in 2017 this Community Overwhelmingly voted for president hes already showing that hes moved away from those centrist ideologies that he once espoused when he outlined a tough stance on immigration another policy direct from the playbook of the pen so by grasping at ideas that some see as being from the hard right wing is he likely to lose voters from the left and from muslims but there are some areas particularly some local municipalities some towns in areas where this is a concern for french voters and so what is doing the context what it is is to try to reassure that where there are law muslim communities muslim communities that the republicans still searching the values of the secular republic. The election whether that will succeed or not remains to be seen in the opinion polls are not dont want. In my goals for next months elections are seen as being a referendum on mcewans presidency and on his party on the move could they signal the beginning of the end of my. Paris so to come well tell you how the corona virus is causing a major hysteria in ukraine thats among the stories just after the break. Join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and ill be speaking to guest of the world of politics sport im showbusiness ill see you then. Hello again with r. T. Now histeria is spreading in 3 ukrainian regions where protests have been held over the countrys nationals being brought back from the coronavirus epicenter in china the flight carrying 3073 people evacuated from we were on eventually landed in the ukrainian city of harkov now demonstrators though have clashed with police in the time the passengers are meant to be quarantined. Oh i. Was no no no no no no no no no. Oh. God. The. God you have it. Was. So far ukraine has yet to see one case of the corona virus but many people clearly are quite scared of even taking that chance in the region of lavals groups of protesters worse were seen blocking the streets to a Major Hospital where the passengers were supposed to be quarantined after arriving in the country riot police were quickly sent to the scene they could be seen dragging people from the streets and even some of them were hospital workers themselves now for the past couple days other skirmishers between protesters and the police have become widespread across the country but the ukrainian authorities are saying are trying to reassure people that none of these passengers were affected or infected by the coronavirus about half of them were ukrainian or ukrainian and the rest come from a number of Different Countries but all of them have been screened twice before being allowed to board the plane now the governments been trying to find a quarantine area for a while now and amidst all the chaos of these new protests president selenski says that these reactions are not really something to be proud of these reactions to something that was supposed to be a gesture of goodwill to help people in need is a shame the not all of us can be proud of the humane reaction the efforts to show to find ways to blow a close spittles not to let ukrainians back to ukraine we want demonstrating the best of our character here especially given the majority of the passengers are under 30 to most of us they are almost children now the passengers are bound for a Health Center in the Poltava Region of ukraine but with such a negative reaction to something intended to be a gesture of goodwill well have to see how similar attempts in the future to fight the coronavirus fair if there are any at all. The norwegian concrete firm has lost its legal bid for damages from the government over a botched attempt to recruit its employees working in russia spies. As more details it drains like an unlikely story a government with quite literally a concrete plan for spying now we join intelligence they used one of the countrys Successful Companies to snoop on russia but when caught red handed the company has been left empty handed with its hugely lucrative contract ripped in pieces. But dont blame the now we just saw a taste for that and filed a case against them but lost now is preparing to appeal were earning it twill affect the countrys business and its relations with russia is will for sure have great impact on other Norwegian Companies plan and activities in russia norway has a very hostile attitude towards its business in russia. It is unclear whether the alleged attempts by the Norwegian Intelligence Services were successful or not but the company had been the only one to get the hard to win contracts with russia that surprised many people from both tongue tough guys when i was minister of Foreign Affairs we were in contact with them he struck me then there was actually no one who succeeded in russia except for one they did not come from the russian neighboring region nor did they have any of the natural conditions for success in the more months but they got it it seems that the battle is not yet over not until the courts final decision is set in concrete or if an option are there so that brings you up to date as have a nice looking so far today who are back with more though in 30 minutes. The nobility arts teacher. The kind of good intentions of architecture. Chris may be useless 40 years ago. Simpy evaporated. In a pleasurable life. Welcome to the alex im unsure where we return to a subject which provided one of the crunch votes of todays amazement or to government the plight of unaccompanied child refugees seeking to join family members in this country in 2017 when the house of lords held an enormous way in the house of commons is finally balanced the issue of unaccompanied child refugees was brought to the center of the bricks to beat large up some self brought to this country as a child refugee from nazi germany seized the opportunity to propose an amendment to the may withdrawal bill which the make government were then forced to accept as i arrived in this country in the summer of 939 as another company child if you jade in fact this comes at the time i put safety to some 10000 children and it is thanks to see