chief of staff has come to the defense of u.s. president donald trump's call this week to the widow of a slain soldier trump accused of making insensitive remarks during a phone call to the widow of the soldier who was killed in an ambush in the share earlier this month. european leaders are backing spain as the car crisis escalates in brussels prime minister money on little whore who received support from french president emmanuel macron and german chancellor angela merkel but the e.u. says it won't intervene in the dispute between madrid and barcelona. kurds in syria celebrating after their forces backed by the u.s. recaptured the city of raka that had been on the ice and control since two thousand and fourteen years of a strikes and fighting have left much of the city in ruins but the victory is a major blow to eisele followed by the fighters have killed forty three afghan soldiers in an assault in the middle of the night at a military camp the group set off two suicide car bombs that are based in the mile

on district of kandahar followed by hours of gunfight kenya's opposition leaders has his decision to pull out of next week so that action rerun remains unchanged ryle adinda made the comments after talks with top election officials are doing to head said he would reconsider his decision to quit if proper electoral reforms were carried out right those are the headlines on al-jazeera people in power is coming up next. ahead of the september twenty fourth that fall election survey showed a satisfied for the state of their economy this is easily estonia's biggest tech success story the company was bought by microsoft in two thousand and eleven we bring you the stories that are shaping the economic world we live in counting the cost at this time on al-jazeera. under communism the russian orthodox church was suppressed its property confiscated

its followers perished and imprisoned now a resurgent church is central to president putin's idea of russian identity an echo chamber to kremlin policies and to the group so what lies behind these ever closer ties. with. the russian orthodox church claims the allegiance of three quarters of the population. so it's no surprise that blood to me a peach in technology has its importance. or that its spiritual leader patriarch

kirill returns the favor calling the president a miracle of god. but some say the relationship between putin states and the orthodox faith goes far beyond mere recognition and expediency but it's a much made in heaven. that christian activist church has made russia today. others see it as an unholy alliance blaming the all the dogs church for everything from the war in ukraine to providing cover for intolerance and repression. with a stolen africa. to skirt or even name crazy so what lies behind these ever closer ties increasingly evocative of russia's pre-code meanest imperial past. president putin's our leader that. given to us by good.

clues to the synchronicity between church and state can be found in most corners of putin's russia take the mike nissen by the ministry situated on an island in the middle of lake led doga europe's largest despite its remoteness thousands of pilgrims come to the sacred monastery which according to legend stands on the site where st andrew planted a cross. but these days the island is also home to a private waterside the. used by president putin strictly off limits. it's a sign of the times since the collapse of the ceviche union the russian orthodox church the scene a dramatic rise in its fortunes. twenty five thousand new.

build or restore churches eight hundred one of stories millions of them believe us we are on the way and now the trend you from europe to question is goes down in venice and going down in russia we have moral trends back to christian roots. every week a staggering nineteen new orthodox churches are either built or restored in russian . many welcome this increase including president putin seen here opening a new church with patriarch kirill the primate of moscow and all russia. but not everyone is happy. you have kenny lebedev is part of a group of parents who oppose the churches illegal seizure and why frequent utilization of a mosque a park in order to build a new church. which is.

what it is it is not much and it shouldn't surprise you are. pretty sure that the most i see you the receipt. that you would need a pretty accurate but when you. look for your new. most sundays he and dozens of other locals gather to share their own position. but to openly question such developments carries a risk as any discovered in november two thousand and sixteen. his home along with eleven others was stormed by police office. as in much time raids across the capital. using them you know what is. what you are the bridge of my nation when you get to go because money is the place where you all for whatever money there were if you have the good work

that we go. with work he's also got what he did. they officers were investigating a possible violation of a relatively new russian law that makes it a criminal offense to insult the feelings of religious believers. the raids were broadcast on national t.v. with the patriarch denouncing lebedeff and his friends as pagans and cultists yes specially what was your last line of that thought was the but not with this for me but it was from hamas because that passed out of process of effect. really i mean it was for the ng is just so yes thanks for that from. richard butler peter king david of. three park when did. the new legislation was introduced in the wake of

a now infamous anti putin protest by punk band pussy riot in moscow christ the savior cathedral in two thousand and twelve. when members of the group mounted the altar to such a rise the increasingly k.z. relationship between the church and state. following the protest members of the band served two years in penal colonies. this laws are based on fear and actually all this power all. power based on fear to lose this power. that's why they try to vent everything it means that he afraid of that. we wanted to talk to the russian government to get a response to these claims and find out why they'd feel so strongly that insults

against religious sensibilities should be a criminal offense. blasphemy laws are still in place in some parts of the world europe and the west put more emphasis on protecting freedom of speech. the officials we contacted were prepared to be interviewed. critics claim the wide scope of this law has given a green light to religious zealots bent on stifling any views they disagree with. the country is now a war with groups who hold back to pre-revolutionary russia and the. like the all the dogs by now bearers whose motto is also dog see day.

perhaps the most controversial and belligerent of these groups is soros cough funded by most gay businessman on draco mukund which it was. was that i would surprise you but of us. the group holds this extraordinary event. their own of muscular brand of orthodox christianity is very evident. it's. obvious they used.

the cutting you. know aren't. so rocks are a cough are frequently compared to near no one sees they are unashamedly nationalistic and say critics openly intolerant of other faiths. before mr aslaksen at a lower level. addressing a. song or deployed to the protesters as church construction sites. but they are. here. but they are so close book.

about theirs which by the but they are. never never never put more liberal elements within the church feel uneasy about the patriarchs links to such groups. who do nothing go to enough to need a will of god who should move the observer system when the bush recently left the army and they you are. the one crushed under there and this is just doing the comparing. the question you're still dealing what chance he shows the other two are some of this worse of. the chemo kind it's around the corner of the school there. who criticize wrong doing from within the church can face chilling consequences. the new kid scheme ministry is russia's oldest. when a former monk mikhail bottlenose expat had his superiors that encouraged her husband to abandon his wife and child in order to join the monasteries choir he was

abducted and taken to a nearby forest hung upside down and beaten. she just said because i knew he was watching videos you look you know you because you are very like you're . from group he was there are millions of. what you must. now be via thought yes the iraq story where the give a little bit one thing the creature in the creature at least in the book of the statute is not. one of the if you're just now it's just the one you know we're all thinking the same. the romanov now runs a website exposing the clerical eyes ation of russia and was he ses is the church is involvement with near fascist paramilitaries. you see what's happening with the internet. the former monk believes it is essential to raise

public awareness before russia reaches the point of no return on. the mall church stuff like you dish it. over they don't trust the city. is fighting against the time. orthodoxy is becoming mainstream. grudged t.v. a staunchly orthodox channel was launched two years ago and posts russia's fastest growing audience. its proprietor kremlin connected investment banker constant in malaysia says he is on a mission to spread the word about god and to change president putin as our leader that given to our back court nobody could imagine that we would get a leader as opposed to. a leader who can. make so many

steps for russia to be back on. on its values. the horse topic dominating the show jules is matilda a film which portrays on nicholas the second i can annoy dressin overdog st as an adult for. these pictures can you still that he's going to ask you to take the shooting if you eat your own cinema has already been torched and last month the lawyer representing the film's director was targeted by also nests. that he will glasgow's like a hold of the soul of. the muscle size of the team simulate all. those things i. mean yeah i mean that's just a but almost

a. lottery ticket law. that would just let it take you know would just rather that they said. yeah but that's a lunge at the lights that create that video lots of tell us a lot it's the feeling you can get it that. there is nothing to ties or grudge t. the to the incident which it condemns but in general it makes no apologies for its mission to promote all. the doxy across russian life. that's how aim to help our church we believe now in russia in the pyramid of true for christianity look at the west and west becoming to be less and less religious and lose and any values . according to the channel's editor in chief alexander doogan democracy in liberalism is a satanic idea that spells a death sentence for humanity that is the ideal for liberalism and globalization

and political elites just. united states their western europe and that is. conversing putin is viewed as a blessed. is symbol he reflects their russian society and the russian people in my life but you. can imagine you. and you know me but you the. crucial point is he belongs to the globalist elite. in that sense he is an exception. because. he's not part of this. army of seven and it is enough to create. as

a kind of saint. grudged t.v. pushes putin's geo political agenda its proprietor has even been accused of fueling the pro russian rebellion in neighboring ukraine. pressure for which with ukraine with what's happening on the last are you happy to talk about that now please it is not a new page. and your film about. christianity. squeeze dumbass we don't talk about than hell. mother fear denies involvement in the war in ukraine but is on an e.u. blacklist of those deemed responsible for the conflict. indeed

two of my life yes former employees became defense minister and prime minister of the breakaway don't yet see people's republic. there is little diet that all the dogs church members all heavily involved in don't buy. is a priest as well as being a member of the russian imperial legion a paramilitary group who see it is their religious judy to retake ukraine. show when asked question should look at by just a third year the koreans. stay on the borders of just income taxes nationalization i mean we're going to marry sonia here is just. playing in the studio and. she has served three tours of duty in done by us seeing action on each occasion. but i wanted them cut off so you're still a cop but i think of what i want to see said alan we were open history. book was

a tory that's the worst of the city gets to be you will. never see version which it wasn't just to see but the most. was not imo sort of an accretion it was going to do us national not. when you want to look at something they said or thought you fit into that yes it does get sports where it's more than. that. but it's not just in matters military that the russian orthodox church is making its presence felt. a raft of new socially conservative legislation is turning back the clock. among the rules from. ated by patriarchal commission is one which effectively decriminalized domestic violence. lona and her three children are in hiding from an abusive father and husband even

starting right out of the last one but also new york. number you know what you know i was asked would you. are you more the books just you would always say yeah but you're also not in your own voice in your ideas i should be on the phone. he's not about such a lady gaga. as genius has asked a lot mom question have you got actually in your last a show moment or. under the new law a person is allowed to beat his spouse or child until she is bloodied all bruised as long as the injuries don't require a hospital stay. the most severe penalty for such an offense is a fine comparable to a parking ticket. the church five hundred three courage this idea yes. i. believe i believe in god. i don't go to church because

i just stopped believing in the people who work in the church because one of them said to me that i am treated the right way and it is all my fault that i chose the wrong man and after that i stopped going to the church. perhaps the most controversial law with strong religious implications introduced by the government of blood to me it is the anti terra rovio law aimed at extremists. it's sunday in moscow and we've been invited to a secret meeting by a group considered so dangerous by the russian government that activities have been outlawed. at any moment the police could drape this flat.

you on. your values and i usually just you might be surprised to learn that these people are in fact jehovah's witnesses. well you know that. yes every time you may think i have to read the bible what it is that i ask and frost as a good idea come i believe that's what. you. get would i be altered. but doesn't mean you will you could only put in the good news that says he had to leave. you want i do and say you have it not the last but will it. last june fifteenth f.s.b. officers raided a private home arresting dennis christiansen a danish yes he was witness to a russian. yes we.

went to. meet. a court ordered his pretrial detention for two months christiansen could face up to ten years in prison. for. his crime attending a premie to. one you just saw so he's a lawyer one more of. a chance and that's what you've got quit doing that and i just can't with you national candidate. crew or even increasing it. you have to get a little but. not that you could where did you explain but it was obvious that. it was a put city's. forgive to say it's come so used it already in his acts of doing it looks to me. the law imposes strict

restrictions on orthodox religious groups that hark back to the dog days of the soviet union. a nine hundred ninety seven government commission concluded that most top clerics including patriarch kirill were informants for the k.g.b. an organization in which putin was a senior officer and was ultimately control in its new guys the f.s.b. . the church i mean christianity was banned in the. people killed repressed. labor camps because they were christians they were oppressed. and now a church is like a forget everything. you're. going. back

to the. kind of. the irony is that this is only been achieved by the use of brutal methods similar to those ones deployed by the communists to suppress the russian orthodox church itself. one.

changing color as america struggles to contain its worst of a drug crisis four lines looks at the devastating impact it's having on the children to pick up the pace of. heroines children of this time on al-jazeera. and monday put it well on. u.s. and british companies have announced the biggest discovery of natural gas in west africa but what to do with these untapped natural resources is already a source of heated debate nothing much has changed they still spend most of their days looking forward to for a dry riverbed like this one five years on the syrians still feel battered or even those who managed to escape their country haven't truly been able to escape the war . navigating dangerous rapids from the time with the time we finished scared to the fisherman dicing with death.

i'm afraid of falling i'm afraid of dying but if i don't go a coffee klatch family meet the men who go to the extreme just to make a living. you have to be a stronger swimmer otherwise it's safer than risking it all vietnam at this time on al-jazeera. she was a society hostess in beirut in the one nine hundred forty she was in touch with a lot of people from the lebanese the request to make this work. was the power and she spied for mossad in lebanon or for. what she was doing it was something brave as a woman algis you know well douses stowing. the baby. at this time.

failing.