Broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our International Thomas have you with us. Germanys social Democratic Party leader Martin Scholtz has announced his resignation with immediate effect on his decision comes after he lost out in the german election to chancellor Angela Merkel and then faced criticism over agreeing to a grand Coalition Government for a second time he said his decision will allow the party to refresh itself and come back strong. Yes but you need a computer when you were a Police Organization including its personnel and this is. The Party Members with my resignation and also the relinquishment of my federal government i want to help bring an end to this debate and really focus on coalition agreement. Now with the background to this decision here is our trees Charlotte Benson we know that resignations is something that Martin Schultz has done well in the past he actually resigned his job as the president of the European Parliament last year because he said he wanted to fight the german elections and to become the chancellor of germany as we know in those elections in september he failed to do that in fact his party did so badly in those elections that they lost forty seats now following that defeat in the elections he turned around and said i will never be a minister. Led government and that led to Angela Merkel and her c. D. U. Having to seek out potential partners for forming a German Government that fell by the wayside and then of course Martin Schultz said he would talk to angler merkel about forming another socalled one coalition this was between his party the social democrats and the c. D. U. To rule germany now in that he said that he wanted to be foreign minister and he accepted that that would be his position if that grand coalition go ahead but he gave up on that too just in the last few days saying that he wouldnt be the foreign minister in the government if that government takes place now the current German Foreign minister had something to say about it all at least his young daughter did she was widely quoted in the media and they had a hoot about this as apparently turning round to her father and saying you know daddy dont worry youll have more time to spend with us talking about the fact that he could be losing his post and then turned around and said well that. Its better than spending time with the man with the hairy beard of course referring to schultz and his famous whiskers well back now to his resignation and moten schultz has said quite clearly that he hopes by resigning and leader of the social democrats he will be able to help heal internal divisions within his party his Party Members have to go to a ballot on march the fourth in which they are due to vote on whether or not they want that Brown Coalition to go ahead and there is a lot of division and chaos in the party the youth wing of the party are currently traversing around germany urging people to vote no to that coalition and if it is a no vote then we could see germans head back to the polls very soon will melt in short says departure those internal divisions or will it deepen the chaos and the division we have yet to find out earlier we heard from a geo political analyst arena rock flows he said of that Martin Schulz will likely continue his political career within the european union. The specialists of the advisers of the s. P. D. Have just understood that it is really important to have a party leader who is popular in the population a sympathetic person warm hearted that people like to see on t. V. And then they would also like to vote for such a personality so i think its not mainly a matter of competence its a matter of popularity and i guess that martin will have that back to the e. U. He will try to get opposed to in the commission in the coming years and this is a matter of course for a personality who is not so close to people because commissioners are not voted for and therefore it is a better career option for mark to choose. And on two other resignation at news in europe the Dutch Foreign minister has now quit after revealing earlier in the week that he had lied about a meeting with the russian president in two thousand and six when a full of. Let me give them both a lot of. People over for. The night foreign minister it was quite emotional when he announced his resignation he was supported by the countrys Prime Minister who was present during this announcement and ole so seem to quite moved by the situation and now what has happened today is the result of a big scandal that erupted when it was revealed gods the Dutch Foreign minister a lie back in two thousand and sixteen about an event in his life that when he described it didnt raise a lot of questions as back at the time russia was accused of all sorts of things moscow was accused of carrying out aggressive politics so his ally fit quite well into that contacts now back in two thousand and sixteen and the minister said that he was present at a meeting with the russian president Vladimir Putin and he heard the president speaking about unifying Russia Ukraine valorous the Baltic States and kazakstan into a single country creating great russia. In early two thousand and six i was about to make predictions come true so i had house i stopped at the back of a room or a meeting was being held but i could hear very well Vladimir Putin talking about a great to russia he said this included russia. Ukraine and the Baltic States and that kazakstan would be nice to have now these were his words back in two thousand and sixteen but when he was confronted about this he acknowledged that that was a lie that he wasnt even in russia back in two thousand and six and he only said that to protect his source a person who was present at that meeting and now the minister said that his credibility had been damaged he described these recent events as the they. Mistake in his political career now all this took place just one day before his official meeting where the Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov i was about to attend the sneezing as so many other ensuring less war and we had questions prepared for the Dutch Foreign minister of course concerning this particular situation but now it seems that this missing is off the table as the dutch side had officially cancel it we discussed of the latest developments in the netherlands with Mark Macaulay an author and russia analyst he said the false remarks from the former foreign minister sat well with the general anti russian sentiment in the west at the time there are two reasons why he made that statement one is that projected to me to the public newspapers the headlines and so on this was a sensational statement to make therefore the foreign minister was in fact a very important person and he was making a very important statement which would affect nato pulls the western policy and so on and the second thing would be that of course it fed into the new to. The native narrative the narrative of the west still is which is basically the russians seen. Reported as a threat to the National Security and it fit into that and therefore for these two reasons then it appeared to be from the dutch point of view this is a very good very good thing to do. The pentagon claims that it destroyed a Syrian Army Tank in selfdefense on sunday we. Are the team that took the shot at us. So we thought of the rules of engagement protect ourselves. That was something that we always had the right to do. Do that. Well u. S. Special forces operations in syria say this is the second time they have come under attack from pro assad forces in less than a week our correspondents american has more. The pentagon says that it was an act of selfdefense accusing Syrian Forces of trying to attack Kurdish Forces but apparently with u. S. Forces embedded they were forced to respond now on wednesday the u. S. Said it carried out defensive airstrikes in retaliation for what they saw as an unprovoked attack but according to reports more than a hundred fighters aligned with the Syrian Government were killed in the airstrike now this latest escalation is definitely definitely something to worry about on all sides especially considering that the syrian conflicts been a largely perceived as a fight against terror well against isis in particular which is almost wiped out but its also opened way to a whole series of new conflicts we have the turkish kurdish conflict the tensions between israel and iran and then american and Kurdish Forces up against damascus but even though isis is pretty much gone the u. S. Is still wants to stay in syria with the secretary tillerson announcing plans to maintain an open ended military presence in the country some two thousand troops or so to prevent a resurgence of isis and to counter irans influence lets take a quick listen United States will maintain a military presence in syria focused on ensuring that isis cannot really merge ours is presently has one foot in the grave and by maintaining an American Military presence in syria until the full complete defeat of isis is achieved it will soon have to do counterterrorism we will continue to work with allies and partners but surprisingly the us isnt the only one just today the french president said that france will attack if they find proof that chemical weapons were used against civilians promising to strike or chemical shipments originated so the question is are we seeing the syrian conflict enter a second stage well thats all unclear now so well just have to wait and see. Well antiwar activist Richard Becker told us that the u. S. Military has no business in syria in the first place there were seen the attention of the u. S. Government the pentagon to establish a long term presence u. S. Presence in side of syria so its clear that violation of International Law because the u. S. Has no right to be there. The Russian Forces were invaded by the Syrian Government by the United States has no right to be there it acts as if it has a right to be there and because of the way these forces are station and the way its forces are moving particularly in the eastern part of syria there are the critical oil fields. There could be more conflicts this is a very very dangerous game with the pentagon displayed and they know and they know very well that it is there in kind of going ahead and trying to establish this long term presence and perhaps to partition syria. The pentagon has published a chart that purports to show the u. S. Lagging behind its nuclear adversaries in the arms race chart was presented by defense secretary jim mattis and testimony to congress as part of the trumpet ministrations Nuclear Posture review and claims that during the last eight years russia china and north korea have developed thirty four new Nuclear Delivery systems in comparison to only one from the u. S. Side maddox was arguing for increased u. S. Investment in the countrys Nuclear ProgramNuclear Weapons experts have met the chart with skepticism stating that it might be worthy of a fact check you know earlier we spoke to greg mello head of the Nuclear Watchdog the Los Alamos Study Group he told us that some u. S. Politicians consider Nuclear Weapons a Political Tool against russia and china. There are those in the u. S. Government who would like to increase the nuclear military capability of the United States now some of that is just posturing on their part and i wouldnt say that this is necessarily a majority view the actual military is not for the most part that interested in Nuclear Weapons but there is a faction which is at the moment very powerful that you thinks Nuclear Weapons are an important symbolic tool for increasing pressure. Of the russia and china. Members of the u. S. Intelligence Committee HouseUs Intelligence committee usually do not need a reason to disagree however we see total consensus in the room when the conversation turns to russia. Russian activity in the lead up to the twenty eight thousand election cycle but yes we have seen russian activity in intentions to have an impact on the next election cycle here yes we give anyone else. Yes. We discussed the issue with political talk show host Brian Crabtree he says he doubts that some of the claims alleging moscows interference well i had there isnt public proof other than taking the word of embattled Intelligence Community and the f. B. I. I think when we say its russia i i i buy some of it but i dont buy it that its necessarily directed by the kremlin every single time and i think thats what the American People are kind of scratching their heads saying you know what is it really and i think thats the debt when you see trump being the backlash against trump i think trump is previti of that and he also knows that its not maybe appropriate to reveal that Intelligence Data in the sources and collection methods as to exactly who is hacking and using social media i think its happening but by whom i dont know that well ever know for sure. They four of the Winter Olympics have seen russia added to its medal tally with two bronze finishes secured in skiing events it brings the countrys overall haul to four bronze and a silver medal this is despite a reduced number of competitors from russia following decisions by the International Olympic committee and the court of arbitration for sports over doping allegations now cas overturned the lifetime olympic bans for twenty eight russian athletes at the start of february but then did a sudden new turn saying it actually supported the i. O. C. Is decision not to allow the athletes to compete in the winter games our correspondent in the trunk go spoke exclusively with the secretary general of canadas to find out more about the conflicting decisions. After the court of arbitration for sport said no to forty seven russian athletes and coaches just as the chuang winter games were getting underway perhaps the number one conclusion that came up on some peoples mind was that presumption of innocence doesnt apply to the russian doping scandal well the cast secretarygeneral did literally say that the key law principle didnt work for cas but see for yourself how much it applied to the russians the fact that the unable to show the guilt of an athlete doesnt mean that the truth has nothing to do although with the case really innocence this is a logical consequence and this is nothing bad about it mr reeve maintains that leaving the group of clean russian athletes on paper out of the Winter Olympics isnt a sanction also i found out that the refusal of the i. O. C. To get the dozens of russian athletes on board the olympics in some cases was a result of pure suspicion and other cases it was a result of some real evidence which however mr reeves hasnt seen after all he wasnt a member of the panel but the secretary general promised that this evidence will soon be published so lets wait for now lets have a look at the other highlights of my exclusive interview a cas has been shown something as a people here there was no review of every the sochi case was not discussed here the report was last discussed here its only the review of the process so it was not this sanction it was an eligibility issue i understand the reaction of the public in russia because it doesnt seem logical exactly the russian side doesnt see the logic here how is stripping a person of the right to compete at the olympics not a sanctioned this is. A special procedure because the created a special commission so the cast by the here reviewed these criteria and said they were fair please let me get this straight the tsotsi case and the chang case youre saying that there are absolutely no contradictions between the two decisions yes the fact that you cannot establish the give evidence. Doesnt mean that you have established the innocence of the athlete you see what i mean im sorry but i thought that was the exact job of cas to determine whether that suspicion is enough for that kind of bad maybe that they are suspicions which i know its. Confirmed by sufficient evidence i dont know if im clear because its a little bit skopec ated but it is you can have some elements which show some. Suspicious actions by the athletes but they may not be sufficient to convince the panel that for sure at least is guilty of an antidoping rules violation but it doesnt mean that if you did nothing at all there may be some. Some strange actions which could lead to some suspicion so you are saying there can be more transparency its possible its possible yes as you heard a couple of minutes ago when you cast initially overturned the i. O. C. Bans of the sochi athletes the International Olympic committee was very critical of the court thomas back demanded reforms and i asked the secretary general if anyone returned to these ideas after the final decision of the russian athletes was made and the answer was no so it turns out when the court of arbitration for sport came up with a verdict that fully satisfied the i. O. C. Nobody wants to reform cas anymore. You can see that exclusive interview with the cast and secretary general in full throughout the day on wednesday here on our team international. Israels Prime MinisterBinyamin Netanyahu could be facing several charges over his alleged involvement in corruption scandals are to america correspondent jill tells us more on the political crisis confronting the israeli leader. For over a year now tens of thousands of israelis have been rallying across the country on a weekly basis demanding the man whos now been their Prime Minister face some sort of accountability after the details of these Corruption Cases began trickling out in the media and we learned tonight Israeli Police believe they have enough evidence to open an official in the case against netanyahu for two cases the first one known as case one thousand alleges be netanyahu accepted lavish gifts such as champagne cigars jewelry and clothing for his wife sarah in exchange for political favors this includes apparently gifts from israeli american movie producer are known mil sean and in this specific incident and then yahoo supported the path the passing of a tax break even named in middle name which. Basically grants tax breaks to israelis who spend time overseas and then return to the country the second case case two thousand accuses netanyahu of making a deal with one of the main israeli newspapers thats. Not the and it suggests netanyahu essentially spoke with the owner of that paper and agreed he would repress circulation of a competing paper in return for favorable coverage now netanyahu has already addressed this recommendation to the israeli public speaking tonight saying hes always served the country as responsibly and faithfully and dismissing this case against him as baseless he also said its part of a Wider Campaign against him. Since the. Months. Since it isnt. Now in the hands of israels attorney general. Mendel believed to make a final decision on indictment we spoke to author and Senior Editor at the real news Max Blumenthal who thinks netanyahu is taking a page out of the u. S. President s playbook. You know netanyahu is opposed by that kind of metropolitan middle class very similar situation to what donald trump faces in the u. S. And netanyahu is tape taken trump in tactics of accusing his opponents of fake news he struck a very confident tone tonight he is the most sophisticated Political Animal in israeli political history hes going to fight this and you know if you talk to the man in the street in israel although netanyahu is historic unpopular by historic standards he remains the most popular figure in israeli politics today. What could be so offensive about a kids movie about rabbits to justify calls for a boycott. I just need to keep the wildlife out where they belong here to right. These guys. The animated film peter rabbit has angered the asthma and Allergy Foundation of america because of the way it portrays Food Allergies and there is a scene in the movie where rabbits attack their human arch nemesis by throwing black berries at him he is a virgin concerts choking having to inject himself to stave off the reaction scene caused some parents to call for a boycott of the movie claiming it makes light of a serious issue and paves the way for boeing Sony Pictures has already issued an apology earlier we asked a political analyst a schoolteacher and the president of the Allergy Foundation to weigh in on the controversy. Well we believe that Food Allergies are a very serious condition again two people die daily from life threatening allergies and there are probably two children in every classroom with this condition so making fun of it taunting bullying in any fashion due to a disability or a medical condition like enough locks those is simply unacceptable what wait a minute why does that assume bullying why do we assume that the consequence of showing this in the film is going to be bullying look we believe that again we understand you know that movies are to entertain but we just simply do not believe that entertainment should include harming another person making fun of one because of that disability or because of that condition or you know taunting or even putting them in that life threatening situation and making fun of it is really we believe irresponsible you know. Theyre watching these rabbits ganging up on mcgregor and throwing what they actively know is an allergen into his mouth and then celebrating that and i dont think that thats ok and i mean we can just simply not take our children to movies we feel are inappropriate for them. And furthermore the idea that we assume that this is going to lead to bullying is a false premise its a false dichotomy i agree everyone has the have their own right to take their children to the movies that they choose to see if you choose to take your child to this movie thats your choice i simply hope that youll use that to elevate the conversation in a positive way around food allergy awareness preparedness an anti bullying behavior the big issue here is that hollywood license and hollywood values are not necessarily going to reflect those of the larger viewing public and its incumbent on parents and its their responsibility to decide not only what their children see in theaters but to explain it to them and to give them proper context if parents are bringing their kids to the theater and seeing this movie its him its you know its a good conversation to have with them because it is important for kids to recognize that this behavior is not ok as a teacher in a school. Bullying is something you know that is talked about a lot and seen in many different different ways and when you know these types of. Messages continue to happen in movies its you know really making it challenging as educators. And that does it for me ill be back in about thirty three minutes with your headlines which are. Tens of billions hundreds of billions probably a trillion dollars of u. S. Government subsidies a shot on the Energy Industry yes government can subsidize mining of big claim rather cryptic currencies and put those into while its called american citizens going to each have an automatic wallet tied to their Social Security account and they can get a daily and weekly or monthly airdrop tripped up points that they can then years to boost economy with the government can easily do that. Reading and sell you to us last year the caribbean and the gulf of mexico saw one of the most aggressive and damaging Hurricane Seasons in history and one of the territories hit hardest was puerto rico the un corporator the territory of the United States was crushed under the Rolling Thunder that was Hurricane Maria strongest storm to hit the island in eighty five years and while the storm was devastating it was the response or rather lack thereof by the federal Emergency Management agency in the United States government that will leave a truly lasting damage on Puerto Ricans hurricanes maria herb could ever even dream of suicide spiked in two thousand and seventeen by twenty nine percent and according to a newsweek report many Health Specialists and doctors said the spike in suicides can be linked to the aftermath of the storm and the destruction of basic resources like food water electricity and housing. And today some five months since the last storm four hundred thousand Puerto Ricans are still without power which gives them the dubious honor of being part of the longest the blackout in u. S. History but what about the evacuees according the New York Times bedroll fizzles estimate that nearly four thousand families spread across forty states and puerto rico remain in hotels under the most Transitional Sheltering Assistance Program with more than fifteen hundred currently located in the state of florida alone William Booher of theme a spokesman told the media that quote this is a bridge to other longer Term Solutions survivors are responsible for their own recovery and to actively look for Permanent Housing Solutions and tragically time is indeed running out not just with the evacuees waiting to return home but for those still in puerto rico because remember the next Hurricane Season is just five months away june first and we still havent even cleaned up the last one or taken care of the displaced peoples from the last one think about that as we start watching the hawks. That i got. With