of the united states of america a national holiday when politics are put aside to make room for picnics and parades with marching bands and fireworks but u.s. president trump is rolling out the take so long with fighter jets and some 5 star generals this year a salute to america which america tonight protests are already underway against the independence day that president the producer in chief is calling the show of a lifestyle i'm bringing off in berlin this is the day. i don't think this is because she's learned you know this is great speech beautician towards the country and the tanks in the street you think you'll scared it's kind of what we saw and what he actually this is the point of it is. the celebrations at the 4th of july that i've ever seen is being independence day i

suppose the military aspect of the fight during the pendency does sort of ordinary with a. display that. is set up basically to stroke my ego and that is assisting terrorists to take me down and. also coming up tonight an exclusive report on wife after jihad d.w. talks with former islam is militants in somalia getting a rare chance at a 2nd chance. here in southern somalia in a town once under siege by al-shabaab a program is being implemented to rehabilitate extremist fighters with the hope of peace reintegrating them into society. to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world well we begin the day with america's birthday party that. this year some americans can't wait to attend some americans

are boycotting and it's a party with v. i.p.c. for some and no invitations for other that's right on this 4th of july americans have been gathering on the national mall in washington d.c. as they do every year but this year the declaration of independence and $776.00 the founding of the country well they're not the stars of the show this year the military might of the u.s. is center stage and it sharing the stage with the u.s. president trump has said that his salute to america parade was inspired by the us steel day parade that he witnessed in paris 2 years ago we're now an american version of the show i'm still is a that we're going to see on constitution avenue but rolling out the military hardware it has the hallmarks of what we expect to see on red square in moscow a soviet or a russian show of military muscle some former u.s.

military officers have even compared today's parade in washington with the parades that north korea loves to show the world soldiers not citizens displayed as goose stepping symbols of military and authoritarian power. humphrey is in washington she was amid the crowds watching the independence parade here's what she said. the president promised a show like no other on the parade wrapping up now was just the start is certainly a departure from history with its display of military hardware including an air force one fly over and 4 tanks stationed around washington d.c. not since president truman 7 decades ago when the us was at war with korea has the country seen such a presence of military equipment many out here today a wearing make america great again hats they're waving trump 2025 anas

a veteran of the vietnam war told me that this is the 1st time that he feels that the military has been properly on it but not everyone is happy the democrats say that this patriotic day should not become a political one with particular reference to trump's salute to america's speech later protests groups like the antiwar group code pink are also outs with the trump baby balloon not seen since protests in london this is a show like no other a costly one in a divided country where the president clearly believes it's worth the hefty price tag. and that was helen humphrey reporting from washington my 1st guest tonight says that military parades are nothing new in the united states especially during the 1st half of the 20th century his book welcome home boys military victory parades in new york city from 899 to 1906 examines how military victory parades became part of u.s. cultural memory and even helped to define concepts such as the nation state the

best in europe is a professor of u.s. history at the j.f.k. institute at the free university here in berlin and he joins me tonight here at the big table professor dobbs it's good to have you on the day i want to talk about this parade in washington today just a moment but 1st i want to ask you about this this tradition i mean america does have a history of military victory parades doesn't it absolutely i mean it goes back at least to the end of disavowal war when union troops marched for 2 days through washington d.c. if you think about the spanish-american war or both world wars or last seen in 1901 after the 2nd gulf war american troops marching for victory parades in new york city so there is a longer tradition of that but we have to be honest it has a different kind of thrust and we see or that at least i expect for today's parade because soldiers are center stage and soldiers as citizens are performing on the

street and today as you mentioned earlier i think donald trump a political leader will play a central role in that parade and it's kind of deviating from the american model it deviates in the me ask you then how would how would you define the parade that we're seeing today. there is a big emphasis so 1st of all what's interesting is it's a combination of the 4th of july rather peaceful so the bracing that is being celebrated rather by local parades a picnic you mentioned that earlier and bringing in the military element is kind of new jew this peaceful event community event in washington d.c. on the national mall usually a fireworks in the night and you have people hanging out to be honest enjoying their free day their day off so this is a new element in their kind of militarism we're going to witness that i expect we're going to witness this kind of old fashioned masculine. military intervention

that is different it's interesting you say that i want you to take a listen to what a former colonel in the u.s. military said today about trump's injection of the military into independence day take a listen listen military equipment is totally inappropriate to be here on the 4th of july which is a national on political holiday for the united states to get president trump still in it to be the national holiday president probably means issues several things there she is saying that this is about the cult of personality around president trump but she's also saying that he's he's militarized independence day do you agree feel. i mean as i said bringing in tanks and fighter planes is something that we have not seen recently on the 4th of july on the national mall it connects to traditions but that were form of the that are present

in us history of victory parades and the celebration of national holiday but what is interesting is that what i find important is that soldiers don't take the center stage because if you go back like 100 years of the one you saw parades where wounded soldiers were presented in the parades where the fallen soldiers were represented in the parades and parades where an event to build a community but also to take care of these citizen soldiers yeah i mean you bring up a good point too we're not seeing soldiers in the parade and we know that leaders at the pentagon were reluctant to give the president what he wanted to day and we also know the president from. used a medical reason to get out of serving in the vietnam war so all of these elements that are that have nothing to do with the military are coming together for the military. and so what does the message there then you have a president who's never served in the military insisting that the generals sit

around him i mean that is a conversation that goes on and on with various presidents you had that with president clinton the ninety's who also did not serve in vietnam and military people were talking that but i think there is a history to that donald trump has been using rather nonpartisan events for political purposes if you think about the boy scout jamboree a couple of years ago where he trash talked about them in france or his visit to iraq to visit the troops where he trashed democrats so it's what i expect honestly today as well that he will be using it for his own political gains and you quickly you're a historian do you think that the discussion today would be different. if if people were more aware of their own history i mean do you think the u.s. president is able to manipulate the public because they they don't know when the constitution was signed for example things like that i think we have an informed public there are protesters today in washington d.c.

protesting this and it's and this kind of coming nation so i'm hopeful that there is a discourse going on a critical discourse about this we're hopeful as well professor is a must in europe with the free university here in berlin 1st we appreciate having him for thanks for having me share your insights thank you thank you. the somali militant group al-shabaab has been waging a violent campaign in somalia for more than a decade their aim is to replace the un backed government in to impose radical islamist wall and african union force controls the capital mogadishu but al-shabaab still controls about 20 percent of the country the government is now offering amnesty and rehabilitation to some militants who are willing to leave the group the w.'s melanie curie the ball was given rare access to one rehabilitation center in you belong province she spoke to former militants there about why they decided to

leave al-shabaab and the nightmares that they still have. that they were part to fit killing machine terrorizing somalia's population but now they're asking for forgiveness this facility in juba land is home to 86 young man who used to fight for one of the deadliest islamist extremist groups in the world. here in southern somalia in a town once under siege by al shabaab a program is being implemented to rehabilitate one extremist fighters with the hope of peacefully reintegrating them into society. the former fighters here mostly men aged between 24 and 29 have been granted amnesty and are seeking a 2nd chance 2 of them are willing to share why they decided to defect. for their safety and security we have withheld the location and real identities but calling them that the cell was just 15 years old when he joined the group 5 years ago but

the order in book could be you know at 1st people join because the religion they say they're promoting religion but this is just a front actually they're killing innocent people for no reason or to fight in this could be. similarly who joined us at the age of 16 it took them 8 years to escape from the group just. because they also killed muslims in their tack when i saw my people dying i decided i had to break away of the. many men growing up in disenfranchised and poor parts of the country into joining for financial reasons and a sense of belonging. to address this these men now receive locational training in hands on group classes. i did not know how to live within society i learned that here i've learned how to support myself. but many

here are still haunted by nightmare. they struggle to fathom how they were capable of such violence. just 70 kilometers away from this now peaceful town peacekeepers mandated by the african union are still waging overall against the minute and crude . but. it's. fought a lot and liberated several areas in the past 2 or 3 months. we are also working on a plan to liberate the areas still under the control of al-shabaab and hand them over to the somali army. to be. back at the rehab any taishan facility these young men receive professional psychological support. but above all it's companionship and leisure time that are helping them to overcome that trauma. but we can talk to each other about all the things we've

done wrong and give each other support about how not to fall back into our destructive winds. for somalia i hope for the birth of a united government and for my life i hope to work for the benefit of my country and for my people with the new skillz he sent men to intend to make a positive contribution to society again. to help other young people than the stake of joining up in the 1st place. their report was produced by my colleague melanie cure of the ball she joins me now from nairobi good evening to you melanie i mean that's an excellent reporting in a story that most people i think would not expect to hear this is attempts to rehabilitate former jihad is how successful are these rehabilitation programs.

it seems very much they are lacking it's of course impossible to get your hands on official nationwide numbers statistics in a war torn country that is currently still experiencing an ongoing conflict but in this facility that you've seen in the report almost 300 former fighters have been in rehab and taishan and i have on their way all have already gone back to their communities and to start a life that if the government grants and misty terry one who wants to leave there is an incentive to do so but of course it's incredibly difficult to do that to break from the group the man i've spoken to they told me that they were warned numerous times that they had threats coming their way that lethal violence would be waiting for them if they did the for the group but still they wanted to talk to us because they want to send out a message to those who are out there maybe considering leaving us about and show

them that it's possible to do so you know it's amazing that they're even making the effort considering that. many somalis really realize that they're still battling in that war with al shabaab how do somalis feel about these programs considering they've had very bad experiences with the power in the reach of al-shabaab. i asked many somalis on the ground how they feel about these programs and surprisingly many told them that they believe this is the only way forward amnesty needs to be granted and there needs to be forgiveness and then needs to be programs such as this one is the only way that somalia can achieve peace and that can be defeated in the end many have experienced tremendous amounts of violence but many women told me about watching the husbands being killed in front of them they told

me about years on the run about being desperate wanting to go back to their villages which isn't possible because al-shabaab is still controlling these areas and it's heartbreaking to see that despair fear there is no feeling safe in somalia just yet but there is hope and this program is one of the reasons why there is hope . new reports the former members that you spoke with they were all min what about the women and what role do they play in all of those. many people believe there are no female members but there are despite the rigid gender norms al-shabaab has women form very important social hive in this base social base in this insurgency they generate funds they spy they smuggle arms they help recruiting in many ways people are surprised because yes women experience a lot of violence under but at the same time in some ways is able to offer

some benefits that the government isn't to these women for example physical safety very hard to come by in a country where they are often exposed to physical violence so this is something that the government is aware of as well as n.g.o.s and there are programs implemented now for women as well they are about to start and hopefully we can bring a report from that since you speak to the bank the big government cannot guarantee the safety of all the women in the country you know that brings us to this overriding question why has the government managed to do. i think we have to still control of the country. there are many factors contributing to this but one big one is money country plagued by poverty us about has money in many ways you could call them the somali

mafia being able to extort money from the local population and making money by illegally print using and exporting coal another reason is the weakness of the somali state it's not able to provide basic services to many somalis who have to tend to. in the absence of these state institutions and finally yes african union peacekeepers have been able to flush out about from many cities important strategic cities across the country but experts say there are not enough troops in the country to be able to defeat thousands of fighters out about still you know that's right is still a lot of work to be done that's for sure the only cure to bowl reporting from nairobi venality thank you we appreciate you bringing a very very important story to the world thank you. for tensions between iran and the u.s. could be drawing in britain as well a british royal marines seized an oil tanker loaded with iranian oil off the coast

of gibraltar it is suspected that the oil was on its way to syria in violation of european union saying since the marines reportedly descended from helicopters in the early hours of this morning seize the ship which is known as the grease one now the taker was loaded with oil that sits believed to have come from iran and from there you can see the course that this bessel took longer than usual traveling around the continent of africa before being stopped in gibraltar authorities suspect that it was planning to cross the mediterranean and headed for a syrian oil refinery tonight there are reports that the united states asked britain to stop the taker iran's state run news agency says the seizure was illegal . to grace one has been at anchor and under god since the early morning british authorities stopped the ship as it passed through spanish territorial

waters at gibraltar at the tip of the iberian peninsula they say the oil was bound for syria in breach of e.u. sanctions against the war torn country authorities also say the ship loaded the oil in iran putting the vessel in breach of u.s. sanctions against tehran. deal was patrolling the zone but we're studying the circumstances in which this is taken place there was a request made by the united states to the united kingdom and we are looking into how this affects our sovereignty in the sense that it took place in waters which we understand are under spain's sovereignty. is that. the ship is registered under penalty flag and belongs to a singapore based company gibraltar says the vessel and its cargo have been confiscated. over nor now i'm joined by michael friedman he is the co-founder and executive director of the media lie news agency he has reported

extensively from the middle east he joins me tonight from jerusalem michael it's good to have you back on the show i want to ask you what do we know about spain saying that the united states requested this seizure. well i would actually expect exactly that to happen this is part i believe of the series of events that began with the he sanctions with which began with the united states pulling out of the nuclear agreement when that happened the europeans were very quick to come to the iranians and in they wanted to replace the united states actually they want to replace united states in the worst way and then here's the way it's happening. the iranians are sharp they're sly and they saw an opening here and they said basically go bring us the witches broomstick and by that they meant find us a way to sell our oil even though it violates the sanctions and find us

a way to circumvent american financial institution international trade both pretty much impossible in this day and age but as long as the europeans were willing to try to do such a thing they were happy to let them do it although they did put a timeline on it and the time is just expired right now not coincidentally at the time of this incident so i really view this incident as going back to the iranians and the americans more so than the spaniards or anybody else and are you are you surprised that the u.k. the u.k. was willing to you know immediately stop this vessel i mean it appears that there were no questions asked they did what the u.s. asked them to do. well there has to be a self interest in order for that to happen and for the u.k. to do it that quickly means it was predestined prearranged you know a contingency plan and if this happened then we would do that and it appears that

in this case the white house and its ducks in order and everybody knew what they were going to do when it happened and they also obviously expected it to happen. and the what what is more the story here iran trying to sell oil for syria trying to get its hands on or or are they both equal here i mean how do you read this. whether the story is just kind of confirming what we've known for a while. the hammocks in the middle east have changed new alliances and been drawn it's still dynamic but the testing in the prodding in the message sending in all that stuff that happens in any real transition and this is part of that transition so we're going to see quite a bit of it. where the great fears come in are the unintended consequences that if the wrong button is pushed at the wrong time or the wrong message is sent to the wrong party or in the wrong way to the right party something unintended and

disasters happen and that's probably a very accurate reading of the situation for sure. joining us tonight from jerusalem michael france and with the media line news agency we appreciate your insights tonight michael thank you always a pleasure. well the day is almost gone but the conversation continues online you'll find us on twitter either at u.w. news or you can follow me at brant off t.v. don't forget to use the hash tag of the day and remember whatever happens between now and then tomorrow is another day we'll see you then everybody.

coming. into the conflict zone with tim sebastian gemini's farai go position. takes its place in the new and be expanded populist group of columnists my guest to speak is bastards from the school. column magic option because you know except. to close out some of the highly bunch of us the rest of the conflict so far snipped off the doubling of.

hurt for student school in the. first clinton lesson and then gore's grand moment to run and join the arena. tang on her journey to freedom in our interactive dungeon measuring the torah and arranging returns home. i'm secure that volume or not hard and in the end this for me you are not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you back. are you familiar with this. new smugglers when miles. what's your story. ready ready and what numbers and women especially are victims of violence. take part and send

us your story we are trying in all weathers understand this new culture. you are not of it or not and yes you want to become a citizen. in 4 migrants your platform for reliable information. in. germany is so great anger muslims are spread to juice islamisation of our culture is something which is dangerous for our culture germany's far right of his issue in part to the a or d. takes its place in a new and expanded populist group in the european parliament but if a few serious precious hope not least accusations by some quarters that has contributed to the atmosphere of hate in which a senior german politician was murdered last month my guest this week here in berlin is very after expunge thought i had of the parliamentary faction because you

know.