resident is often most part problematic in his public statements himself back to back as we've seen just this week and that certainly has caused some concern particularly when it comes to russia with hard core republicans like newt gingrich who was once the former speaker a republican speaker of the house of representatives even when donald trump has made what many would consider monumental mistakes he has stood by the president but even this seems to be too much for him at the wall street journal a very conservative newspaper here in the united states as well the fact that when it comes to russia and the united states they have been adversaries for decades and even while there has been improving of relations in recent years there has been this sort of historical cautious optimism about moving forward knowing full well that there is a sophisticated spy system just like the united states and the both countries are vulnerable the fact that donald trump seems unable to recognize that basic history seems to be just one bridge too far for many republicans and that's why you saw

yesterday donald trump on tuesday coming out perhaps with these very carefully scripted remarks sort of backtracking on his earlier statements but often it's when donald trump doesn't speak from his prepared remarks that you really truly understand what's going on his mind and that's what seems to be concerning so many hard core republicans and his democratic critics now we should point out will have a opportunity to clarify all of this at eight hundred g.m.t. when the press secretary sarah sanders will not only talk about the president's most recent statements but also what he said privately when he met behind closed doors with vladimir putin it was a meeting that lasted almost two hours many concerned i would like to see the transcripts of that given the fact that there were only translators present there are concerns about what may have been promised that has not yet been made public can really help with the latest there will of course be checking in with you after that news conference for the moment thank you. and so what happened this half hour

the e.u. hit school with a record five billion dollar fine for squeezing out its rivals when they change anything and tens of thousands of russian orthodox worshippers mark a hundred years since the killing of. welcome back let's look at the weather across the levant and western parts of asia is a fine picture in a pretty hot picture for many forty degrees in tashkent not far short of that in tehran baghdad forty four degrees but again southern parts of iraq could be pushing the fifty mark we've got temperatures there in excess of thirty all the way around the eastern side of the mediterranean we are losing the shower so across the caucasus still wanted to in evidence but generous slightly improved situation

picking up as well down through iraq could be some dust around moving down into the arabian peninsula certainly with the low humidity with that wind blowing down through the gulf the temperatures are now on the rise generally so forty five forty six degrees on the cards here forward on the other side the potential temperatures just below forty's recent days so not too hot there for mecca medina so let's move across into southern portions of africa we've got thirty bruce winds coming in towards the coast of south africa there so durban temperature twenty one degrees it should be fine for cape town for the most part patchy cloud around namibia but generally fine conditions are going to twenty degrees celsius and respecting fine conditions to prevail across much of zambia and zimbabwe although we may just see want to show it's pushing into the east coast of madagascar.

a remarkable portrait of removed japanese. in the aftermath of the two thousand and eleven earthquake and tsunami. seventy years later how has the community of miyako been able to move on and rebuild their lives. japan aftermath of a catastrophe on al-jazeera. welcome back here's a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera twelve teenagers and their coach were rescued from a cave in thailand have been recounting their ordeal at their first public

appearance the boys paid tribute to the diver who died trying to rescue them syrian activists say residents of the rebel held city of now why and there are a province have come under a frenzied attack by government forces and the u.s. president donald trump has again contradicted his intelligence community just a day after saying he has full faith in it he told reporters at the white house that russia would no longer poses a cyber security threat. saying the u.s. the justice department says a russian woman who's been charged with acting as a foreign agent poses a serious flight risk and should be detained until her trial maria bettina is due to appear before a federal judge in the next half hour she's accused of conspiring against the u.s. government and is alleged to have infiltrated the national rifle association to get more of this from heidi show castro in washington d.c. so i don't know how the first of all what's said you saw happen in court. hi

barbara in about a half hour's time maria boot in a is expected to be in federal court at which time government attorneys are expected to argue that she should remain locked behind bars until the time of her trial because as you said and as they laid out in court filings they consider her to be an extreme flight risk to russia behind the backing as evidence they cite her relationships with the money and political class in russia she has been under arrest now since friday when the f.b.i. took her into detainment as she was preparing to leave washington d.c. they say that this twenty nine year old russian national was posing as an american graduate student she is the founder of what she calls a nonprofit in russia called the right to bear arms in which she championed for the rights to own own weapons and guns in russia and the f.b.i. says that she along with her mentor a former russian senator alexander torsion who is with putin's party and among the

top russian officials named in those sanctions that were just released earlier this year the f.b.i. says that she along with her mentor were able to plan and to a degree succeeded in infiltrating the n r a the national rifle association a major political body here in the united states and a major donor to the campaign of donald trump in the court filings they allege that maria along with her mentor were able to rub elbows with the v.i.p.'s from these large conservative groups in fact even with the n.r.a. is former president and that she even went further to strike a romantic relationship and moved into live with a republican offered of who then opened doors for her further to network with powerful people in the american conservative movement now she also became a semi public figure of sorts appearing on conservative or. talk shows in the u.s.

and even having an encounter with donald trump himself this was back in two thousand and fifteen at a public candidate's forum in which she questioned him whether or not he supported sanctions against russia barbara it is your quest to with the latest there in washington of course we will touch back with you as soon as we have more news of that appearance in court that the organization of american states the top regional group for countries in the americas is holding a special meeting on the continuing violence in the qur'an seven member countries of the group including argentina chile and the u.s. request of the meeting it comes twenty four hours after security forces and supporters of nicaraguan president daniel ortega stormed a major stronghold of anti-government protesters police and medical sources sources in iraq say at least eleven people have now died in protests in the

south about the poor state of public services there the unrest began in the oil rich province of week and a since spread to several large of the city's demonstrators are angry about government corruption and the mismanagement of oil funds. who the rebels in yemen this say they've attacked an oil refinery in the saudi capital using a drone the drone targeted the state run around co refinery in riyadh the old company said it's contained the small fire which was due to an operational incident the iranian aligned rebels say the drone attack marks the start of a new stage in the turret aggression. and who these leader has told the french newspaper he's ready to hand control of the day this port to the un if saudi backed troops and their offensive the red sea port has been controlled by the who these since two thousand and fourteen it provides a vital lifeline to war ravaged yemen with seventy percent of food imports passing

through it the saudi led coalition supports the emmons internationally recognized government and launched an offensive to capture the port last month in the interview with a whole who the leader abdul malik who the also accuse france of encouraging the fighting by selling arms to saudi arabia and the u.a.e. well some good news now the first commercial flight from ethiopia to every train twenty years has landed safely drawing a line on the years of conflict hundreds of people boarded the flight hoping to reunite with family they've been separated from during decades of war the hum of the reports now from the suburb dignitaries journalists and businessmen board what if you open land schools it's but of peace it's the first flight from blitzer that a trained couple of this century. and

that is. the airline operated two flights within fifteen minutes of each other because of overwhelming demand the majority on board are people separated from their families by the border war which began in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight i don't know of foods of that how. we caught up with him hard to go a journalist with the state media as he packed his bags he was separated from his a trail wife and two daughters seventeen years ago she was forced to flee if the being sacked from her government job in ethiopia because of honest knowledge. he just got a dog and i will believe this is not a dream when i land in asmara i've never imagined the possibility of peace between ethiopia and eritrea during my lifetime the weight and lack of communication with my family was painful i felt like i had an incurable disease that becomes the one

hundred fifty of this notion for airlines which. twenty percent of the little known for. the role of linking the two countries as a way to evolve a call for allowed to fly again at a train has agreed to grant access to its ports a boon for ethiopia which lost its main group to the sea with the outbreak of the wall twenty years ago if we start to connecting our populations we have big market. by some token a chance with the push and. hope that the opening of the port relaunching to penalized was not good for the strings in the twenty first two years have been a threat. to new ties with its much larger with a population of more than one hundred million people also raises the prospect of revival for a trail ailing economy many are now hoping the tricky exercise of democracy to the

disputed border. quickly and smoothly as the process to normalize relations mohammed at all just a. google says it will appeal a record five billion dollars fine handed down by the european union has been investigating contracts with phone manufacturers which forced them to pre-install google services on android devices it says google use than droid as a vehicle to cement dominance of its search engine the find represents just two weeks worth of revenue for google's parent company alphabet so he has more now on this from paris. a record five billion dollar fine was imposed by the european union on to the tech giant google for what it said was unfairly cornering the mobile phone market the european commission ruled that google had killed off the competition by forcing phone manufacturers to adopt its services to use them such

as the web search chrome and maps as well as other services as well it also accused the tech giant of using incentives as a way of forcing these phone manufacturers to use their own services but this is not the first time that the e.u. has made such a decision on unfair practices back in two thousand and eight it fined microsoft one point three five billion dollars for its dominance in the software market as well taking into consideration that microsoft is still a market leader but at the time it had been dominating the market meanwhile this is not the first case where google has had to force to back down from its dominance in china and in russia it cannot be the only search engine provider for mobile phone networks it has to allow other competitors in the meantime there is the question of

whether this is too little too late perhaps this may only be a fraction of the tech giants revenues but the question is with this decision to be able to force google to change its future business decisions if it is to have any effect at all and we'll have more on that story about google in the news hour in just over half an hour now that tens of thousands of russian orthodox worshippers have marked the sentry since the country's last royal family was executed the deaths of tsar nicholas the second his family and his family ended a three hundred year old tennessee it also heralded the rise of communism in russia which would go on to shape the new world order for a chalons reports on the modern legacy of the killings. one hundred years on russia's faithful still mark the date and in this send ten or a year the crowds in here catherine burke are especially large first communion at

the church on the blood standing at the site of the remodeled execution then a twenty one kilometer procession where the bodies were first buried for these worshippers russia's last czar is a martyr for you here he's an example of the highest. noble who suffered through all of this but remains a real human with nothing broken down on as russia's revolution descended into a chaotic civil war the captive imperial family were moved from sin petersburg to central russia on the night of july the sixteenth one thousand nine hundred eighteen they were woken by bolshevik guards led down to a cellar and was shot and benetta to death for much of the soviet period discussion of the remodels was forbid now multimedia projects like this from a state broadcaster and the federal archive a publishing rap arsenal photos. but the ultimate fate of the three hundred year

denotes the that turn russia from a fragmented northern european backwater into a pan continental empire still brings up disagreements. internal rifts mean the russian orthodox church is still reluctant to recognise as authentic what forensic experts have long believed to be the romano's remains canonized in two thousand. and his family and now saints and symbols the church uses to preach the conservatism and self-reliance it wants russia to adhere to unite. only here with me will no promises of a new happy life or support from outside allegedly by more educated advance people who must tempt our people. but while the states has venerated other russian princes an emperor has recently the symbols of a strong and resilient russia analyst maria lipman says this last isn't one of them the reason for that maybe that nicolas the second is not an achiever he's

a failure he lost his own parking lot his family lost his life old russia was no war so to put in he is not an especially. attractive or a proper hero disagreement over the remand of his one of the many examples of the difficulty russia has in reconciling with his bloody past glory chalons how does iran moscow much more on that on our website the address al jazeera that call. and now a reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera the twelve boys who were rescued from a flooded cave in northern thailand last week have made their first public appearance the teenagers and their coach appeared in good spirits as they recounted their ordeal at a news conference in chiang rai the boys paid tribute to the former navy seal who

died in an attempt to rescue them at the scribe the moment of miracle when divers found them. and boy we heard some noises of people talking at that moment so we told each other to be quiet and listen to the noises we weren't sure so we listened and it turned out to be true i was surprised they were broken up the moment they emerged in the water they spoke to each other once we heard noises we went down near the water and they greeted us hello is anyone there at first i thought they were toy so we said the officials are here but they were not stifle and when they got out of the water we were surprised they were british. syrian activists say a rebel held town in the southern province of the ra has come under heavy bombardment by government forces there have been dozens of air strikes and heavy shelling in the only hospital that they have has been bombed with reports of dozens of casualties the finding has forced hundreds of civilians to flee west towards the

israeli occupied golan heights u.s. president donald trump has again directly contradicted his intelligence community just the day after saying he has full faith in it he told reporters at the white house that russia no longer poses a cyber security threat he's also still insisting his much criticized meeting with vladimir putin was a success the first commercial flight from ethiopia to eritrea and twenty years as landed safely the flight has been called the bird of peace and in iraq have been as morrow to a red carpet welcome those onboard included people seeking to reunite with family members as well as former ethiopian prime minister alimentary m. this early in the fight happened after decades of war at least one thousand people have drowned after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of northern cyprus turkish syrian officials say the boat was carrying one hundred and sixty people that sit inside story next.

the united arab emirates accused of helping to bring islamophobia in the media watchdog says he and the aussies mobilised opinion in the highest echelons of the british government against the muslim brotherhood the limits of political lobbying in the u.k. this is inside story. welcome to the program i'm laura carlisle the united arab emirates is being accused of

helping promote islamophobia in the u.k. the british media watchdog spin watch says the u.s. spent millions of dollars to influence political decision making the watchdog says pressured journalists and think tanks all aimed at influence in the bush government against the muslim brotherhood has been what says it has. volved in what's described as clandestine lobbying tactics in both person and the u.s. and it highlights the campaign against in the twenty twenty two world cup. with saudi arabia bahrain and egypt cut diplomatic ties with cattle thirteen months ago and imposed an economic blockade or guitar gas shortly but first here's more from london. the two thousand and eleven arab spring saw a wave of democratic grassroots protests which toppled longtime leaders and offered the hope of a new vision for the middle east the response by some of the kingdoms and emirates of the region was just as dramatic

a report by the spin watch group says that in the u.k. the united arab emirates mobilised a narrative against the muslim brotherhood in britain in the highest echelons of government it says the abu dhabi crown prince and the then prime minister david cameron had several undeclared meetings and it says through a combination of persuasion and threats the u.a.e. campaign produced results one threat which was made by the uni to david cameron was if you don't institute an inquiry into the muslim brotherhood we will cancel the typhoon fighter jet deal from bush's base i will stop british petroleum getting an oil concession in the law that was successful in extraordinary effort by the each actually cajole and bully the british government into a pursuing its foreign policy the success or failure of the other u.a.e. lobbying is less clear spin watch says that the u.a.e. put pressure on the b.b.c. over its coverage of the arab spring but the b.b.c. in a statement has flatly denied that it caved in to any political pressure it's been

watch also quotes a source suggesting that iraqi donations to the think tank chatham house may have affected that institute's research but chatham house is vigorously deny that it could be affected in that way but the u.a.e. foreign minister is known to have had close contacts with selected u.k. journalists meetings which led the u.a.e. piaf quilla to claim that views changed and the report highlights the ways the two thousand and seventeen blockade against katsa saw the intensification of the us p.r. campaign including bitter criticism of catalyst twenty twenty two world cup the lobbying rules woefully inadequate it seems to me and explain what the greater safeguards. to prevent the sort of influence which seems to be exerted on the on the risk of what's in the way which is has been and of course you know some of the only time the consequences have been the growth of islamophobia in this country and we're seeing the expression of that on the streets of britain the report notes that now

theresa may is u.k. prime minister abu dhabi's clout has diminished significantly but there seems little to prevent a possible slide backwards the central issue in all of this is one of transparency when does the jetsam at lobbying become undue influence and to quote the report itself promising billions in return for influence infiltrating the british media buying politicians loyalty donating to think tanks and trying to influence media coverage some would see as a step too far paul brennan al-jazeera central london. let's bring in our panel and joining us from london. university from brazil david miller founder of spin watch and also from london kevin craig c.e.o. of p l and all this political lobbying and media relations by war welcome to all of you david if i just start with you talk us through for you what were the key

findings of your report. well the key thing about this report which are many reports in the past on elite groups encouraging islamophobia but the key thing about this report was we did would be able to get leaked to us the internal. e-mails between quiller and some of the you the handlers and that was really quite dramatic because i like to see not just a specific question of transparency a lot of transparency or specific area of activity but i like to see the overall strategy which they were adopting and that struck she was really quite wide ranging as you heard in the report there yes they were trying to influence think tanks by funding them and trying to manage she was employed there yes they were trying to influence the b.b.c. by trying to mine and she was reporting from b.b.c. arabic yes they were trying to influence journalists by briefing them secretly and then giving them information about opposition groups and about qatar but they were also engaging directly with westminster in whitehall with secretly with the prime

minister with tory m.p.'s with the foreign affairs committee people with the zero party policy group splashing money on trips to five star hotels into to the gulf so we were able to see a really wide ranging lobbying campaign. even talk about the particular things which they might be cut out to write in that company ok so these emails just to be clear have are new to you because some of looked at this report and said there's nothing new in it that it's just a rehash of an old report back in two thousand and fifteen well if they've looked at the report and concluded that they haven't read the report properly because then again we have got. in the report is not rehashed it's new ok and kevin what do you make of the reports what was your conclusion is drawn from that. well just for the record because it's been so far moving i haven't been able to read every single page and wouldn't claim to but i have read the summaries and i do actually think that favors organization play of valuable role in discussions around

lobbying and transparency in britain and beyond but i am as the founder and chief executive of one of the u.k.'s leading lobbying firms i'm surprised by a loss of the content of it is not shocking to me that gulf states seek to maximize their relationships with foreign governments i am very skeptical of the suggestion that the b.b.c. who we deal with who is up there in terms of top to media as is al-jazeera but you can influence the b.b.c. they're taking phone calls from people of all opinions left right and center all the time so i'm very skeptical about the impact whatever the consultants claimed and i would say that i think there is scrutiny is a very important thing but in the u.k. since two thousand and fourteen we've had a law being registered we were the first to sign it which means you have to declare every meeting that happens with ministers where i think there is an interesting

area of debate which has been watch of uncovered here is that. some of these meetings haven't been declared and perhaps people weren't aware of how many times the prime minister of the day was meeting with a particular government but none of that shocks me because in global diplomacy people want to push their own agenda all the time ok there's a couple of points i certainly want to pick up on there as the discuss and unfolds just first as you want to pick up on that point that you make have been about the means about media the b.b.c. and chatham house i do think it's important to say that even again today members of chatham house strenuously denied to our team that there had been any influence by the usa within their think tank. so do you think perhaps david that the reporters rather overplayed that aspect of the story no no not at all i mean this is this is interesting isn't it i mean the the idea that the b.b.c. is invulnerable to pressure is manifestly ridiculous the b.b.c.

has been volatile to pressure from powerful institutions not recessions from the very beginning of the particular claims that we make in the report were very clear very careful not to overemphasize the queens that make it that's the case in the b.b.c. but also with with us it was we know that that. produced briefings to target particular officials and chatham house we know there was an attempt to influence the kind of people who were there we don't see that those attempts were successful but we do note that to the people who were targeted no longer have positions they were not making any claim that was a causal relationship between the two those that so we're being very clear what it is that we were suggesting that we have evidence that these people were targeted we do have evidence that they were causally that that was related to them no longer having positions on the question of transparency yes i think it's correct to say that there are meetings which are not disclosed in the clear and that should be looked at in terms of loving legislation but the problem is far wider than that as our lobbyist friend knows the legislation that we have is pathetic it requires

lobbying and i will only let me turn is a minister who will be looking very deeply at that as a key part of this discussion before we do i just want to pick up on one point that you made that that's a sense the usa was perhaps unsuccessful in lobbying or trying to lobby the b.b.c. and chatham house and there was no evidence that they had after what's the u.s. aim here and where was it successful but i think to raise it is no different from the a of any other country and this is one point i think this report perhaps hasn't made as well as it could have done and that is that the behavior of the u.a.e. is in line with the behavior. of every country including the u.k. influence is at the heart of politics what we are seeing here is the u.a.e. acting in its own interest its interest in this particular instance was presumably

the muslim brotherhood represented a threat to security and stability in the region and particularly to them and that was the agenda that they were pushing whether we agree with our agenda or not is irrelevant the fact is that that is what they believe and they were using all the leaves of influence they have in a way that is no different from the way that the u.k. the usa and other countries. deploy it i think the question here is when does that influence become malign when is it in in conflict with the interests of. a country such as the u.k. in this instance. and i think that is where we should concentrate and that is where we should. exploit the report it's positive aspect in generating the

debate but i think the implication there that and i don't want to be seen to be defending hury i don't agree with some of its foreign policy or tall but in this instance i think it would be wrong to suggest that the u.a.e. he was acting in any way that is different from other countries absolutely and if the usa had come on the show we did ask them they were they did not want to appear they would say exactly that but everyone that set gathered at what point let's talk about this at what point does lobbying become unacceptable. i think it becomes unacceptable when it verges into corruption and by the way i want to mistake by the usa not to take up the opportunity to take part and to debate today's discussion that's a real silly thing but it becomes maligned when it veers into corruption and i think you know one of the other good david i think so legislation in this country is prophetic baxley i think it's remarkable that we can find out so much about what

does go on if i want to find out what the mayor of london has had for breakfast he has to declare it if it's an external meeting and there are those trips that we talked about the u.a.e. when he attempted to make friends with british members of parliament and take them to the middle east it's all declared in the members' register of interest we have one of the most expansive records in terms of what members of parliament of all parties how they get hosted their hospitality and i think there are things we're not perfect but part of the problem is perhaps that globally there's not a parallel level of information i think the issue is when the things big become a line and corrupt it is normal that the british government is going to listen to a foreign government if there is over six billion pounds worth of contracts up for discussion at a time when brics is going to in the views of many do measurable harm to our economy of course the prime minister he or she is going to listen to people who

will inevitably seek to advance their own interests if they've got big business and big contracts to place they will at the same time we've into their own interests as long as we know about it as long as it's out there and that's the important thing and that's why you know i do welcome today's report ok david a what point do you think the airways actions one malign and corrupt. seems to be the problem here is that we are all trying to get to a position of saying that yes lobbying is noble thing we what's wrong with everyone does this well it's not normal for vested. to be able to secretly and covertly not adequately transparently pursue their interests let me just give one example of where this is a problem the problem is that what this country was doing was encouraging racism and islamophobia in this country for its own particular sectional interest back home is we've we've crossed a line the idea that you can. well yes it was i mean that the inquiry required into

the muslim brotherhood the designation of of a peaceful muslim groups in this country as it was hasn't had that back up closer than from what you're trying to do when it's not an impediment rather call it an attendant was and they definitely disagreed that those organizations as terrorist what the guest is the organizations the terrorists are perfectly legal peaceful political organizations in this country as part of a pact washington against muslims being active in political life today which means which is which result which results in tokyo with the supporters marauding in the streets in central london intimidating but bus drivers will try to go but really best this vast the result of it and that's where the normal lobbying i don't want any part of normal of being after would you agree with that that this lobbying resulted in a and a backlash against muslims i'm staggered you see i r i've been looking at terrorism and religious extremism since nine hundred ninety eight and islamophobia is a horrible thing and something that i've suffered from but to suggest that this

was the primary consequence i find very difficult to to accept without this instance we had islam phobia and i'm sure god forbid we will continue to have it i think the point here that david just made which i think is worth looking at is the issue of transparency and i think what constitutes. acceptable lobbying i mean i'm not defending lobbying i'm just saying that is the currency of international relations now if you want to change it we have to change it internationally but in the meantime we should have clear guidelines about when is lobbying except for war when it isn't a corruption of course is one of those but there are other things values. and laws if any lobbying forces ago our government to take up stances which affect our

values which affect our laws and that is. an area for scrutiny at least by parliament if not by the public and there is an issue here where security is affected and intelligence is involved in those instances that very comprehensive recording of public meetings and public. politicians activities may not be effective but there are other mechanisms that we should perhaps bring into place as the scrutiny of certain types of meeting certain types of activities certain types of lobbying by parliamentary select committees suitably security cleared committees or by other mechanisms we have scrutiny of our intelligence services by independent clear organizations i mean it's really not

about that whole when you have any you call israel not being in the title of your company do any of those so policing of lobbying exists i mean how do you in your eyes successfully and a well pull and not be a politician. there are a number of things it's about how you tell a story about the consequence of a policy or a legislative objective increasingly these days you get the ear and attention of politicians by mobilizing public opinion on a large scale especially in the u.k. currently with such a fee bridal. state in parliament where the government is covering governing with a. minority needs another political party from northern ireland to govern there are there is lots of scope for change in parliament you know some of it very progressive based on the fact that the government is vulnerable to small swings in

opinion but lobbying works when you tell a story when you bring it to life with the economic consequences the consequences of the human beings involved the consequences of policy on the environment and organizations public sector private sector charities pressure groups all have an opportunity to make themselves heard in an increasingly lobbying is more and more about mobilization of large numbers of people and the digital age. that we can have a bit complacent at all about corruption in the principles behind reports such as this and and important groups but it is now about how do you get politicians to act and they act whether they're left or right if it's if they're encouraged to act in line with their values and those that put them in parliament and what they are there supposedly to do ok david how vulnerable are politicians too aggressive not being well being. well i think that the opposite is the case too or just start

really that what we face that the last twenty or thirty years is a process of. minimizing the possibility of popular opinion on policy which means a smaller and smaller groups are able to affect policy and that's why it's so important that cabinet had the secret meetings or that didn't go to the policy that changed think tank can secretly brief current because he says framed without it be disclosed this is a not only the not knowing is a system which is institutionally corrupt that lobbying is a form of institutional corruption in politics and so the question of politics is we look vulnerable yes they're much more vulnerable than they were before if one wants to think of them in that way as being victims but they are also of course participants in the system they get the money they get the trips they get the sinecures after they leave office they become advisors for the multinational companies et cetera et cetera and so it's a real problem with with that with our whole system of government it's not a question just of of breaking the law or of corruption in the sense of which people are talking but it's an institutionalized milly's insight for us in making

which means that popular views are less and less listened to by government and lead course you get a government which would be able to do to listen to them ok just to pick up on that point how influence has the u.k. government being by the deaf an act as in its gulf crisis well i don't know i don't think there's a quantitative assessment of that but i think the point that it's just been made is a very serious one and it needs to be taken seriously the claim is that small and so small and numbers of single interest groups are having greater influence than the popular democratic opinion and if that is the case it is a legitimate point of concern for a democratic society and how do we manage that will we manage that by looking at threats in an objective. manner and holding politicians to account and and

calling them out when we have evidence that they've done this what we don't do is come out with innuendo and claim that it doesn't hold up to scrutiny even if it might be true it needs to hold up to scrutiny to give credibility to the point that the author has just made and i think he's making a very serious and important point but you can't make those points by suggesting that. anybody who criticizes or feels threatened by a political movement such as the muslim brotherhood is now causing islamophobia i'm sorry but other politicians both here in the u.k. and in the u.s. have caused more islamophobia concern than the u.s. attempt to show their perspective and it is a legitimate perspective from their point of view if we may not agree with this that the muslim brotherhood has been embryonic in terms of the

extremist movements such as al qaeda and others in the middle east that is a very well researched and well held point of view ok well that is something like we are running out of you on another being and you have to be able to like let me use shaking your head but in a show about clandestine lobbying many might legitimately ask who funds spend what some whether spent much has an agenda here. they may legitimately ask and that's why of course we publish on our website every organization that gives us money so we are transparent about that we the other organizations that were engaged in this dispute dispute and discussion were similarly transparent because think tanks the real we have are not similarly transparent they list some of the people who give them money but they don't list all of them so yes we're happy to do that in the years that the muslim brotherhood is an organization which has many different forms there is that there is no threat from muslim brotherhood in the there is a threat in the in the u.a.e.

and indeed it out other places like saudi for democratic reforms and that they have set their face against democratic reforms and that's why they're trying to do what they're trying to defend here and that the particular consequences yes of course is not only the u.a.e. which is causing islamophobia on this country the government as they can and sometimes i mean when exactly is it i've been to other organizations twenty seconds i have it my very helpful suggestion david is very helpful suggestion get one hundred thousand what it was read by others a brotherhood nice to get one hundred thousand people in the u.k. to sign an online petition in the house of commons it will force a committee of m.p.'s to analyze perhaps gust the british government response to attempts to campaign but let's see if that can happen gently has been a fascinating discussion today thank you very much indeed for joining us. david miller and kevin craig and thank you very much for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website dot com and of other discussion do go to our facebook page at facebook dot com for slash inside story you don't join the

conversation on twitter one hundred at a.j. inside story from me laura cottle and the whole team here it's my finale. where were you when this idea popped into it when they're on line it's undoubtedly chief cole. over the inequality in our society today or if you join a sunset criminal justice system is dysfunctional right now this is a dialogue what does it feel like bring you to go back for the first time everyone

has a voice and allow refugees to be the speakers for change join michael o'boyle conversation on our. next column that a lot of chess. after years behind ballasts he has to be strategic to stay out of prison with these friend and chess master he's planning his next move to give back to society and share the gate that saved his life discovering new filmmaking talent from around the globe if you find lots in america chess private lessons on the houses each.

and. every. this is. hello i'm barbara sarah this is the news hour live from london thank you for joining us coming up in the next sixty minutes incredible stories of survival the thai boys who were trapped inside a flooded cave for two weeks speak about their ordeal for the first time president

trump contradicts the u.s. intelligence community again and thanks to twitter to accuses critics of being the ranged eight champagne and roses all round on the first commercial flight between ethiopia and their trailer after twenty years of. i'm tatiana in doha with the sports well ahead from a lorry mcelroy as he prepares for the thief and back to golf major at the open championship whether form a wild number one has to once before. they survived on rain water for nine days inside the depths of a flooded cave now members of a young thai football team have spoken about their ordeal for the first time with one describing the moment they were discovered as magical the twelve teenagers and their assistant coach appeared in good spirits as they answered questions at their

first public appearance sept bassett has more now from channel. thank the happy faces of what is now one of the world's most famous football leaves the wild boars can finally go home well no not for the performances on the pitch but for demo regular survival and rescue from the pitch black of a cave in northern thailand. a try to go into the water and dig to see if we can go through but i could feel that the bottom was all sand and the top was just rocks a pulled the rope and the boys pulled me back afterwards i told one of the boys that we cannot exit this way and what was planned as a one hour visit to the cave turned into an ordeal for eighteen days and nights closely watched by news viewers around the world. we found a sunday hill and there was water dripping from cliffs and rocks so i told everyone that we'd better stay near the water so we decided to spend the night there before

we went to sleep i told him we should pray together before sleeping the youngest is only eleven years old maybe. i tried not to think about food otherwise i'd feel it in more hungry. after nine days they finally were found. and boy we heard some noises of people talking at that moment so we told each other to be quiet and listen to the noise we weren't sure so we listened and it turned out to be true i was surprised. a team of international divers finally managed to swim them to safety in what experts this cry by one of the most difficult and dangerous cave rescue operations ever remarkable stories of survival told by the boys and their coach for the first time with no food at all trying to fight any clean water they could drink all the time they were trying to find a way out as they became weaker and weaker by the day. the father of the fourteen

year old goalkeeper says he wants his life returned to normal as soon as possible i mean of course i am worried we can't see in the future but i will tell my boy there when he returns to the normal world he may face things he has never experienced before i try to encourage him to make sure he will be ready to face this issues only speak about what he wants to say things that hurt him he should avoid the wild boars will all become novice monks for a period of nine days to pay tribute to the former tiny baby diver someone who lost his life during their rescue. di artists have made this mural in chang right to honor the extreme bravery and international teamwork of everyone who participated in the rescue operation after sharing their stories with the world the boys can finally go back home step fasten al-jazeera chiang rai. the u.s. president has again directly contradicted his intelligence community just the day

after saying he has full faith in u.s. government agencies don trump was heavily criticized on monday for refusing to confront a flooding near putin over russia's interference in the two thousand and sixteen u.s. election he now says russia no longer poses a cyber security threat the spite his intelligence chiefs saying the opposite it's not hard. to make way i believe. very very well and we're doing very well probably as well as anybody has ever done with russia and there's been no president ever as tough as i have been or russia or you have to do is look at the numbers look at what we've done to look at sanctions look at ambassador is not there and look unfortunately at what happened in syria really isn't really. and i think president bush knows that better than anybody certainly a lot better than the media the understands that he's not happy about it and he should be happy about it because there's never been

a president as tough on russia as i have. let's get more on this now from heidi as you castro who is in washington d.c. it's almost remarkable isn't it president trump gets into all sorts of trouble even among his supporters for effectively believing lighting a poor seeming to believing at vladimir putin over his own intelligence agencies and then he sort of apologizes seeing he pokes and then seems to effectively do it again. that's right it really is baffling and it is extraordinary barbara this series of reversals from what we just heard trumps a jury in that cabinet meeting that he was when that reporter asked him whether he can tell you whether he believes that the russia continues to target the u.s. in these cyber attacks and his simple answer to that was one word no and it is a reversal from a day earlier when he was pressured into issuing a statement which he read in a hastily put together press conference saying that he did back the conclusions of

the u.s. intelligence community that russia interfered in the two thousand and sixteen u.s. elections and that he had misspoken a day earlier if you'll go with me one more day earlier when trump was in helsinki standing next to me or hootin and he said during a press conference that he didn't see any reason why it would be russia interfering in the twenty sixteen elections the exact wording of that important because then he later said that the would shouldn't should have said he should have said that he had no reason not to believe that russia was interfering it's very confusing not only for the american public but also for other world leaders and trans own own advisers who had pressured him to try to do this damage control and for him to seemingly undo all of that again this morning and it is drawing condemnation again from all sides of the political spectrum in the united states but trump seemed to

have. worked ahead of that this morning on twitter saying that these people who are criticizing him are hitters in his words who are suffering from trump the range meant syndrome barbara and we are waiting for a news conference from the white house spokesperson in the next few minutes or so we will of course take it here on al-jazeera but i also want to ask you about another story that could or couldn't. feeling the freshman woman who's been charged with acting as a foreign agent named maria boo tina she has apparently appeared before a federal judge and just talk us through a little bit about what exactly she's accused of and how this could also touch on trump. right so as a twenty nine year old russian national who according to the court filings from u.s. prosecutors was posing as a u.s.

graduate student in her attempts to infiltrate conservative groups including the national rifle association which was a major sponsor of the trump campaign now she was scheduled to appear today in federal court she was arrested on friday as she was attempting to leave washington d.c. and prosecutors are trying to argue that she should remain behind bars because she poses an extreme flight risk now government attorneys say that she was also a confidant and a former employee of alexander torsion the former russian senator who is who was it in putin's party and who was among the top russian officials who were saying against by the u.s. just earlier this year and the case against this woman. is that she tried to gain access to top leaders of the n.r.a. in fact succeeded in rubbing elbows with notables among the former president of the

n.r.a. and there she even went as far as to strike a romantic relationship with and move in with a republican political offered of who helped her open even more doors to gain more access to conservative elites among them donald trump in which she had a brief interaction with in a public candidate's forum in two thousand and fifteen that interaction was caught on tape in which she questioned him on his stance against about russian sanctions and then candidate trump at the time said that he was opposed to the sanctions and in his words he thought he would get along very nicely with putin barbara so a lot of developments coming out of washington and we'll of course cross live to the white house when that news conference starts for the moment castro thank you. the first commercial flight from ethiopia to eritrea in twenty years has landed safely drawing a line under a years of conflict hundreds of people boarded the flight to hoping to reunite with

family they'd been separated from during decades of war mohammed and the reports now from. dignitaries journalists and businessmen board what if you open land schools it's but of peace it's the first flight from the to there the trend couple of this century this is how. we are. and. that and that is that. the airline operated two flights within fifteen minutes of each other because of overwhelming demand the majority on board people separated from their families by the border wall which began in one thousand nine hundred i don't know of. how. we caught up with that is

hard to go a journalist with the state media as he packed his bags he was separated from his a trail wife and two daughters seventeen years ago she was forced to flee if the being sacked from her government job in ethiopia because of on this knowledge that he just got a dog and i will believe this is not a dream when i lived in asmara i had never imagined the possibility of peace between ethiopia and eritrea during my lifetime the weight and lack of communication with my family was painful i felt like i had an incurable disease as model becomes the one hundred fifty of the best emotion for ellens which was also announced because of quiet twenty percent of the little known at three am alliance the road linking the two countries has been renovated before vehicles allowed to fly again. at a train has agreed to grant access to its.