8 percent rise last year and record numbers of journalist being imprisoned so the fact that jamal khashoggi has been murdered in cold blood no one has been held responsible and ongoing impunity sends a signal that even if we know who did it even if we know responsibility lies we're still going to give the benefit we're still going code and get off scot free i had as a chilling message right to be funny to you and if you could be really really brief these what would be the implications of the poaching of international. well i think what courtney said is chilling that is the most in court thing here if we do nothing it is setting a very very dangerous precedent states will all see that they can carry or acts like this and this is this is one of the worst things that we've seen but i think we also need to look at some of the very important points that that has has brought her and her report it's not just about criminal accountability it's setting up an institutional framework under the united nations for human rights defenders free of

expression all of those points are very very important the trial we we see in saudi arabia is a total farce it's not aimed accountability and i fully agree that that needs to be suspended that does like the to be accountability this is not this is not the murder of one man this is a chilling act by a brutal state and i think we should all be very afraid if nothing comes from that thank you all very much indeed a minute challenge in istanbul court. in washington d.c. and toby kevin in islamabad thank you all very much indeed and thank you for watching the program of course you can see it again any time you like by going to the website if you want more discussion there's our facebook page facebook dot com for a special agent inside story and there's a twitter sphere at a.j. inside story is our handle i'm at martinelli's from the whole team here in don't house by phone.

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this is opportunity to understand the very different way where there. is a we don't believe that. this is al-jazeera. but on the cloud this is a new life and coming up in the next 60 minutes. i made

a big mistake that is donald trump responds to iran shooting down an american drone we'll have the latest in a live report from washington. iran says the drone was known over international waters and it will take the dispute to the united nations. and maryanne demasi in london with the top stories from europe including a race tightens for britain's next prime minister johnson and jeremy hunt have picked as the final contenders to take over the conservative party leadership. and i'm peter simmons with the sports including a big overhaul of african football as the confidence biggest stars warm up for the africa cup of nations it's announced that fee for will take control of its governing body off to several corruption scandals.

the us president donald trump is warning that iran made a very big mistake after its revolutionary guard shot down an american drug us military says iran sought to disrupt america's ability to monitor the gulf trump says the drone was clearly over international waters and says it would have made a big difference if the aircraft was manned. this drone was in international waters clearly we have it all documented it's documented scientifically not just words and it made it very bad mistake ok. you'll find out and. you'll find out you'll find it to be easily obviously you know we're not going to be talking too much about it we're going to find out they made a very big mistake well the u.s. military has released video that it says shows the incident and the grainy footage appears to show a plume of smoke after the drone was shot down. so the u.s.

drone was shut down early on thursday but it's in iran to disputing exactly what happened the u.s. military says a surface to air missile was fired at the unmanned aircraft in international airspace over the strait of hormuz is believe the drive was being used for high altitude surveillance but iran's revolutionary guard says the drone violated iranian airspace home was gun province so they were well within their rights to attack it. what i was was one of can we how can joins us now from washington d.c. and kimberly we're hearing that the donald trump has invited congressional leaders to the white house. yes we're expecting that the congressional leaders both the house and the senate democrats and republicans will be arriving here at the white house have been about one hour's time in light of the escalation of events between the united states and iran but just prior to this sort

of announcement that there would be this very critical meeting we have had some very strong statements on capitol hill some in support of potential escalation others not so much from the senior senator lindsey graham a republican of the u.s. senate he says that here's what iran needs to get ready for severe pay for iran is itching for a fight it's going to get $1.00 also he went on to say that he would defend the united states would defend israel against any potential excell stansell threat confident that the united states will be there however in the house of representatives controlled by democrats controlled by nancy pelosi the house speaker arguably the most important and most powerful woman in the u.s. congress in american politics she had a very different message for the u.s. president one that the american public does not have an appetite for another conflict. i think it's a dangerous situation

a high tension wires are up in the region. we have to be strong and strategic about how we protect our interests we also cannot be reckless and what we do so would be interesting to see what they have to say whether the i don't think the president wants to go to war there's no at the charge for going to war in our country. they're trying to break our will intimidate us to come to the go shooting table the president made an offer to negotiate the response was to attack a japanese tanker the emissary of the person chosen the liberal offer and last night they shot down a drone so here's what iran needs to get ready for severe pain inside their country that their capabilities pale in comparison to ours we're not going to let them disrupt navigation of the seas attack our allies and u.s. interests without paying a price so if they're itching for a fight they're going to get $1.00. so a committee that's

a view of the views of the congressional leaders the throw in donald trump's remarks and where we are but. well it's important to point out that well donald trump makes these sort of very large overtures and speaks with a lot of bravado that in fact he does not have the power to go to war that is a power that only the u.s. congress holds it expect that these congressional leaders will remind donald trump about that now having said that the comments coming from the u.s. president in the oval office in the last couple of hours certainly show that he may not have the appetite for conflict but is the feeling that he is a tight spot if you will on the one hand trying to project the might that he has promised that he would he also promised on the campaign trail that he would get america out of endless wars and even reiterated his own 2016 campaign promise so it seems that the president is mindful of that and you have to remember the president also this week just announced his reelection campaign it's very difficult for

a president to go into a 2020 presidential election and say look at we've just gone into some sort of military confrontation with iran i didn't keep my promise that's not something he's going to want to do so it appears donald trump is leaving room for there to be air or what of what we know iran says that's not the case donald trump seems to be projecting that perhaps this wasn't the highest level of the iranian military that allowed for this to happen but instead of might be a mistake by a lower an actual on commander because again donald trump it appears that has he has said many times does not want to see the united states in another conflict so well the rhetoric of the escalation seems to be ramping up as it has in recent weeks of course remember just on monday the united states announced $1000.00 additional troops to the middle east it does still appear that there is very cautious tone in washington particularly coming from members like house speaker nancy pelosi on capitol hill thanks very much i can really see how it could be the

white house. from the rose port of your own foreign minister these remarks to. via twitter he said the u.s. wage is economic terrorism on iran has conducted covert action against this now encroaches on our territory we don't seek war but will delicately defend our skies land and waters we will take this new aggression to the u.n. to the united nations and show that the u.s. is lying about international waters right let's bring in james bays our diplomatic editor james so the foreign minister on foreign minister there saying that they're going to take it to the united nations to disprove the u.s. point of view. yes and what i've learned from iranian diplomats is right now they are finalizing a letter that they intend to send they're working on that letter not far from where

i am at u.n. headquarters in the iranian mission to the u.n. and we're expecting the letter to be sent shortly to the current president of the u.n. security council and to the u.n. secretary general iran i think are going to point out in that letter that it believes that this was a violation of its territory a violation of its sovereignty the u.n. security council if it does get to discuss this which is of obviously a possibility going forward i think some members will not only want the information that's already been given by the pentagon and proof of that into the information of the location of where the missile was shot down they'll also want to see the entire flight path because is it the case that this drone did at some point cross into iranian territory with regard to the u.n. secretary general even though they haven't received a letter from the iranians yet his official spokes person has been making their position clear. he is warned against. any escalation

of war and stress though that the world cannot afford a major conflict in that area think it's important that all parties exercise maximum restraint and avoid any action that could inflame the situation does there need to be an investigation to work out where this drone was and who should carry that out obviously the facts need to be established i know there are various. various parties are looking into the issue right now at this point i think we would call on everyone to avoid any further escalation diplomats are playing a guessing game as the rest of us are on what president trump is going to do next i've been trying to take the temperature in the coffee rooms of the u.n. i can tell you one arab diplomat told me take it easy it's politics both sides don't want more war and a european diplomat from a country that i think would describe itself is now ally of the u.s.

no one was killed the u.s. calibrates its actions carefully that's a snapshot of opinion here nick but worth telling you those 2 comments to me were before the latest comments from president trump james thanks very much they james bays are reporting there from the united nations. russian president vladimir putin is warning the u.s. not to use force against their own. political look at the schools i want to say it would be a catastrophe for the region at the very least because it would lead to an influx of fun and possibly to an increase in the flow of refugees from the region so. let's bring in jim the who is president of the national iranian american council joins us now from washington d.c. mr de welcome to the program so iran adamant that this took place iranian territory and the united states saying it was international waters what do you make of what's going on here. this was entirely predictable we saw the

tensions escalating what we have seen you know there's a chicken or the egg situation where it's unclear is the u.s. the one provoking this is iran provoking the us the fact of the matter is that donald trump the trump ministration put us on this path when he left the nuclear deal and began this maximum pressure campaign now if we're going with the maximum pressure campaign the united states needs understanding iran is going to push back and that's what we're seeing today i think the debate about where the where the drone was misses the point that there is a broader policy problem here and the 2 sides need to find a way to climb down and i think that begins with washington ok so yeah it begins with washington but how how how will they. enable a situation whereby they can try and extricate themselves from these tensions that are just ratcheting up all the time. well you have a situation where it does not seem that trump is coordinating with bolton is

coordinating with pompei oh it's disarray it's unclear what is the real policy here based on what donald trump is saying he wants to talk to iran and the japanese prime minister actually met with iran's supreme leader to convey this message and i think that iran sent a clear message back which was that. they are not going to negotiate under pressure iran views this as the united states accumulating leverage and that if you ron goes into those talks it will sort of do so under the barrel of a gun and so what iran is doing is escalating its own pressure to have its own leverage we have seen this cycle repeat in the past we saw this happen in the lead up to the nuclear talks between the united states and iran and what broke the cycle was in that case the united states realizing that this was heading towards war and the off ramp needed to be that the united states made a compromise and in that case it was on enrichment in this case it needs to be that maximum pressure is over the united states will go back to the nuclear deal and

then the 2 sides can actually talk do you think it's likely that iran would have shot this drone if it was outside its territorial waters i think it's possible i definitely think it's possible i think that iran is testing . what they can do in terms of provocations i think that that is a a credible argument but i think they're doing so in a way to try to avoid you know. to have some deniability and to avoid giving the u.s. what i think bolton in pompei a want which is an invitation for further retaliation and escalation towards military action in iran what about this explanation from donald trump the this was a mistake it was some rogue general person about. yeah i you know i don't know that he has a clear understanding of that i think that that that may be possible it may be something that was calculated it may be that the. drone briefly energy iranian

airspace i think it's very likely that this drone did set off air defenses in iran . and was definitely a provocation as to what the iranian response is i think regardless of whether this was highly calculated or if this was somebody sort of freelancing and testing what was possible we do know that both sides are engaging in these provocations and it's inevitable it's just a matter of time before something like this or something even worse happens while they feel each other out. there will be with the thanks very much jim one of the presidents of the maturity and american council taking. plenty more ahead on these are including. one of turkey's former top generals has given multiple life sentences over the failed 2016. i asked putin the russian citizens get a direct line to the president what he said about possible talks with u.s.

president donald trump. and in sport an upset for the world number one peter has the action as the top tennis players the world and. judges in britain have ruled that government leaders broke the law by allowing weapons sales to saudi arabia activists argued there was a clear risk that weapons fired in the war in yemen violated human rights laws the british governments must now evaluate how and where its weapons exports to saudia used reports from and. british weapons sales to saudi arabia currently engaged in a war in yemen a lawful the 3rd act of one of britain's highest courts. the case was brought by the campaign against arms trade it says the government license arms sales to saudi despite a risk that weapons could be used to kill civilians the u.k.

government has played an utterly shameful that in this terrible war from day one it's time to end the arms sales and trying to end the policies of the light was on sales to continue for so long the ruling doesn't mean the u.k. has to stop selling weapons to saudi but it does mean the government will need to scrutinize what british may weapons they used for the government says it will challenge the ruling and freeze issuing any new arms export licenses to saudi while it considers the decision to disagree with the judgment and the secret mission to appeal alongside this we are carefully considering the implications of the judgment for decision making while we do this we will not grant any new licenses for export to saudi arabia and its coalition partners which might. be used in the conflict in the. sun yemen october 26th and the aftermath of an airstrike on a community hall the building was packed with civilians attending a funeral when the airstrike happened $140.00 people died the saudi arabian led

coalition later admitted it launched the attack claiming wrong information. since the start of the yemen conflict in 2015 the u.k. slice and $6000000000.00 in sales to saudi including fighter jets and precision guided missiles exports the core beliefs of course indiscriminate deaths. saudi arabia says the deployment of british may weapons in yemen is legitimate and that only iran stands to benefit from ending british weapons exports to saudi. public scrutiny of british arms exports to saudi has been growing in recent years the government under mounting pressure to prioritize yemen spiraling humanitarian crisis with the u.k. also has lucrative weapons deals to protect british defense company b. a e systems makes 15 percent of its annual profits from sales to saudi $13000000000.00 deal to sell $48.00 euros fight at typhoon jets the country is

pending the ruling also has implications on other countries the weapons to saudi including for arms. sales to the kingdom by 30 percent and $28.00. the death toll in yemen is nearing 100000 people it is time secam pain is for britain to stem the flow of weapons and put people before profits. london. well the sale of weapons to saudi arabia is also being discussed in washington where the senate has backed several resolutions opposing president donald trump's plan to sell weapons to the kingdom and its allies during the debate senate minority leader that chuck schumer reference saudi arabia's implication in the murder of journalists. and said they should be more discussion on selling weapons to the kingdom. there now and everyone knows that that doesn't mean you let allies do the most horrible things and just treated as if nothing happened

but in the wake of such monstrosity the trumpet ministration is proposing another round of billions of dollars in arms sales to saudi arabia well we should least have a debate about whether that's the right course of action. well let's join our correspondent john hendren who is in washington d.c. john tell us more about what's been said. nic president donald trump has been able to rely on a republican firewall in the u.s. senate but there's one place where a crack is visible in that firewall and that is saudi arabia relations with the u.s. this senate has voted $5347.00 to block arms sales to saudi arabia and the u.a.e. billions of dollars in arms sales and it's over 2 things 1st they cited the death of jamal khashoggi killed by saudi agents and secondly the death of civilians in yemen in an emirate he and saudi led military conflict there those are the 2 things

that are keeping lawmakers from going along with president trump including and this is important a handful of republicans who insist they simply cannot agree with the republicans are with the president on this and that includes lindsey graham who you heard earlier is supporting the president on iran but he says no threat from iran is enough to make him go along with arms sales to saudi arabia mitch mcconnell the senate leader disagrees he says at a time when the u.s. is facing a potential military conflict with iran it is not a time to isolate our allies in the u.s. he said this is what he had to say there's no shortage of productive steps at members disposal but recklessly counseling u.s. arms sales to cure regional partners is not on the look so the question the senate will soon consider is really those whether will lash out at an imperfect partner and undercut our own operative bill cooperation shock around and achieve other

important goals or whether we'll keep our imperfect partners close and use our influence whether we'll push riyadh and away from the united states and push them closer to moscow adventure and. oh well we'll stay engaged and help our partners course correct where we go. this marks the 2nd time the u.s. congress is rebuked president trump on this issue inserted the funding in an emergency measure and this is congress coming back to him and saying no you cannot do that so ultimately does that mean saudi arabia and the united arab emirates will not get that money no because the president will probably do what he did last time and that is to veto the measure and neither house of congress appears to have the 2 thirds majority in order to override that veto so this is not an ultimate end to the funding for saudi arabia and the u.a.e.

but it is a shot across the bow a statement to saudi arabia and to president trump that the u.s. senate is simply not going to turn a blind eye to what it calls aggression by saudi arabia john thanks very much john 100 reporting that in the united kingdom the contest for the next prime minister has been whittled down to the final 2 contenders more on this let's cross live tomorrow in our european brokaw's and to morrow. hello there nic yes that's right the ruling conservative party has just held another round of votes to progress towards its next leader who will replace prime minister to resume a front runner and approach breaks at m.p. boris johnson will face off against foreign secretary jeremy hunt to survive several rounds of ballots by the conservative party members will now decide between hunt and johnson and the winner will be announced on july the 22nd joining me in the studio now is mo hussein former special advisor to amber rudd and staffer to

david cameron and tories in may and then there were 2. it looks as though this will be a fairly easy contest for johnson to n. number suggests that certainly that that's on his side year i think on the face of it yes you know he's won by a country mile in the m.p.'s and now its members he's very popular with the members so it's in the according to the polls and other kind of anecdotal evidence but i also think that sometimes boris his worst enemy is force himself in the next 4 weeks is going to be 12 or 13 public osteen's where he will be forensically challenge to 30 years will be tested who have to answer questions rather than maybe give soundbites so i think this is the time where. things could start to unravel perhaps i still think he will win but maybe you know this is a time it's all still to play for and of course there is

a sense that this is quite an existential time for the conservative party at the moment because their supporters being a row did on 2 fronts by nigel farage in the bracks at party but also by a very resurgent liberal democrat party given the sort of inconsistent sees of his performance in the past why is there so much confidence that or is johnson is the man to face down these challenges if we go to a general election it's an interesting point i think a little m.p.'s who have publicly supported him offer a marginal constituencies and i. i think he spends a lot of time going all around the country meeting people going to these particular m.p.'s seats and meeting their associations and he has one in london which is very labor leaning as as the mayor so i think he has shown and certainly these m.p.'s feel that when you are facing the specter on one side of german corbin and then i'm not so far edge and then the research in the democrats he's somebody who could not just win the party members but she win a general election maybe to the extent that they don't feel the same about other

people in the race so what about the how are they going to deal with a prime minister johnson who has done nothing to himself to brussels the thing dies the key question now you know we have been distracted by this leadership challenge and that will continue for a few weeks the brakes issue has not gone away and the 1st front tobar is time is ticking you know it's getting closer and closer. to be fair to boris all the different ideas that were on the table have all been rejected by the you in the e.u. have said they're not going to be open with broad agreement the negotiation cannot be between ireland in the u.k. has to be between the e.u. and the u.k. so i think what we will see if and when he does become pm which is looking very likely a lot to shuttle diplomacy between here in the i think are a bit more softening in terms of having a dialogue paris where he will try and kind of sell his vision and then i think as

we get to the 31st from tobar the reality will kick in and i think we will have probably some kind of recalibration of the strategy is a bit different to the harder deal or no deal we're leaving by that date thank you very much appreciate your thoughts on a story my sang journeys. when out russia's president has accused the us of attacking telecoms giant huawei to weaken china and called a possible. war with iran a catastrophe but in a putin made the comments during his annual question and answer session with the public but much of the questioning focused on domestic issues a step vasa now reports from moscow. for a reason why the taking direct questions from ordinary russians has become a way for president vladimir putin to boost his image and carefully channel any dissatisfaction at the same time and dissatisfaction there was among the 81

question selected from more than one and a half 1000000 sent in many were about falling standards of living low wages and poor health care put it in plain sanctions but also market fact us the real income of the citizens in situ has been on decline for several years the biggest of all was in 2016 income is occasionally beginning to recover but in sad other countries who are also suffering from sanctions and china was in a similar position due to the trade war with the united states. on the whole with regard to the attack come while way how did it come about and what is the intention . there's only one intention. of the chinese development globally digital so new to put in seti was ready to meet with president trump but that upcoming u.s. elections would have a negative impact on the already poor relationship between the 2 countries he warned against u.s. military action on iran. curious if we would not want even to evolve according to

this scenario that's pretty randall in general is a fully complies with. the organization which controls nuclear technology an issue does not violate anything we consider applying any sanctions to it on grand it. for more than 4 hours president vladimir putin has tried to convince millions of russians who have been suffering from the economic downturn that things will get better and that. this by the difficulties russia will remain an important international player but looking at the content of the questions and recent surveys people here are less interested in war rhetoric and international issues are more focused on making ends meet steadfastly al-jazeera moscow just one of the stories to bring you a hug area in kota sentence for human traffickers to life in prison over the deaths of 71 refugees and migrants the bodies of 59 men 8 women and 4 children were found

inside an abandoned truck off an austrian highway in 2015 had suffocated to death inside the tight refrigerated vehicle while being transported from hungary to germany a judge said the traffic has had shown a cruel indifference to the lives of those trapped inside. from london later now back to nic in doha merv thanks very much to go see you later still ahead here on al-jazeera shooting peeing in pyongyang the chinese leaders says the world hopes north korea and the united states can hold success to. the wrong place wrong time more details emerge about the shoot you have a baseball legend david ortiz. hello there we've seen a lot of heavy downpours ever parts of turkey recently reached.