u.s. military says that friendly fire has accidentally killed afghan security forces who were hit by an airstrike. three people have been killed in fresh clashes that erupted between protesters and israeli police. have been alarm bells in the west over the first joint russia china drills in european waters that just a day after the united states and twenty other states completed massive war games in the same region. from the next presidency to the colonize ation of

mars has been answering the questions of russia's brightest young minds with a special question and answer session. good evening and welcome to the party studios here in moscow my name is neil harvey you're watching our international. first this hour the united states military has confirmed that one of its airstrikes killed an unknown number of quote friendly afghan forces afghanistan based journalists as more. the governor of helmand province. has been confirming this incident to the local media i have been speaking to helm on counter-terrorism in a police commander in the district of grace and they're confirming that at least

twenty five members of the police force including two commanders are among those killed. the policemen wore not wearing their uniforms something that police often do in helmand that is to deceive the taleban when did try to liam bush's but we're also hearing the look asian that was provided to the nato pilot by the afghan forces was identified as a taliban position for the strike today whether it was a mistake by the afghans or whether the police men should have been wearing their uniforms it is a big blow for a force that's a lot of that's hundred a lot of pressure every day the afghan national security forces are paying a very heavy price when it comes to fighting against taliban and in the last twenty four hours for example afghanistan has lost that nice one hundred twenty member of

its afghan national security forces so a huge blow and we are being told that there will be an investigation to find out exactly what happened along with promises to investigate today's incident the u.s. military also expressed deep condolences to the families something that we have in the past articulate more pain breaks now friendly fire incidents in afghanistan. we're hearing condolences from u.s. officials in response to the afghan security forces that were killed but the numbers that we're seeing being released by the u.s. air force confirm that the situation in afghanistan is escalating and that the risk for these kinds of incidents is rising as of now according to the numbers that we have from the u.s. air force as of june thirtieth the number of air strikes u.s. coalition aircraft have either dropped or expanded has been one thousand six hundred thirty four since the beginning of twenty seventeen there been one thousand six hundred thirty four different instances of munitions expended from u.s.

forces in afghanistan keep in mind that in two thousand and fifteen the total was only two hundred ninety eight and in twenty sixteen it was only five hundred forty five now this number of munitions being released this number of airstrikes actually brings the situation in afghanistan to the level that it was at in two thousand and twelve when u.s. forces were all across the country getting into skirmishes with taliban forces now at the moment we're hearing a lot of different reports keep in mind two thousand u.s. troops have actually died in afghanistan and a number of them have died from friendly fire incidents like the one that just recently took place there was the famous incident where pat tillman the celebrity football player who had volunteered to fight in afghanistan was killed by friendly fire now at this point there are eight thousand five hundred u.s. troops in afghanistan alongside five thousand other nato forces that are in the country and we are waiting to see what comes next but as the escalation of

airstrikes continues more airstrikes are being carried out more munitions are being fired the risk for afghan security forces as well as for u.s. troops in the country is rising. because of the former pentagon official month joins me on the line welcome michael. the u.s. senate to chairman of the senate armed services committee john mccain saying that the you know if you stay there's no losing in afghanistan first of all let's hear exactly what he said. we have no strategy and we are losing when you're not winning you're losing and the eight and a the afghan national army is taking unacceptable losses and we're going to have a new strategy you know they're coming to us and asking for additional funds for additional people and additional missions so just putting the latest incident to one side would you agree with john mccain that is the u.s.

losing in afghanistan. i think so and it really reflects the fact that we don't have a strategy even though we've been there going on to our sixteenth year and it's been strictly military we've we've pulled troops back we increase them then we pull them back now we're going to increase them again and when we had them up two hundred thousand it didn't make any difference anyway at one time we we had we had the taliban defeated in afghanistan this really now and now the decision by the trump administration is do all do we send in more troops and what will be the outcome what will be the result will clearly that's not going to be the answer and unfortunately the trumpet ministration doesn't have geo strategic thinkers looking at this with a very critical eye and it's my view that. we need to bring in. the countries surrounding afghanistan that have a vested interest in afghanistan's future to sit down at

a table and work this thing out once and for all now i'm talking about members of the c.e.o. for example every participant in afghanistan right now is somehow affiliated with the c.e.o. china russia pakistan even turkey can bring in nato participation on this kind of thing but we need to also bring in india pakistan as i said earlier and all these countries and china they all have a very vested interest in the future of afghanistan and why that has not happened is beyond me yet it becomes it still remains a u.s. war and that's got to change and i have spoken to individuals. who are very familiar with the battle scene there and they say you're right military is not the answer the military solution is not the answer but we don't know what the u.s. wants to do way that they're not going to find out because we haven't annunciation the strategy in sixteen years and that's why i believe. that those countries that

surround afghanistan need to take that initiative finally and do something about it and if that means bringing in their own peacekeeping forces or working with the afghan government to bring in another. two to bring in more representation so be it at least we will have other countries that are in gauged and can deal with the future of afghanistan right now however what is going on is not working and it's very unfortunate what happened with this latest development of the bombing of these. police officers and it's just going to go on and on and on with that increase in bombing it really reflects the fact that we don't have the troops there were taken the word of the afghans and things shift on the battlefield very very rapidly and clearly we're going to continue to get all these reports. followed by

all of these investigations and what's the result it's the same thing over and over again and scott to change michael as you mentioned an increase in the number of arab bombardments being carried out quite a considerable one. does that suggest that as you've already said not only the losing but also the willing to take more risks is that why we're seeing more and more innocent people killed. well when you're shooting from when you're bombing from on high or sending in drones they're going to and evidently be some. civilian casualties involved because it's not as precise as having people on the ground i mean if you're going to take the military approach that's what you need you need people on the ground that can guide the forces the forces in the air to be accurate and we don't have that and given the number of u.s. troops are in highly remote areas they are in they are sparsely. sprinkled around

unlike the way they were before and their primary goal now is to try to contain and secure kabul the capital which itself is continuously under attack whether it's by taliban or even isis and so it's clear to me that. there needs to be a new direction a new strategy that needs to be undertaken because what is happening now just is not working. michael great to hear your thoughts michael maloof former pentagon official joining me on the line thank you. another palestinian has been killed in fresh clashes with israeli police that's according to palestine's ministry of health it brings the number of palestinians killed just today to three the protests erupted after israeli authorities had installed security cameras and metal detectors at the revered mosque for the deadly shooting there last week.

i i i. i i i i i. i. i. i i i i was i the palestinian spiritual leader warned the israeli government of the potential for an explosive situation the middle east correspondent paula slit has the latest on what's happening right now in jerusalem. it comes as a week of protests over the israeli increased security measures around are taking place if you remember last friday there were two israeli security officers who were killed and israel responded by closing all many of the entrances to iraq so today they stopped main until the age of fifty from entering to pray they also stopped

the buses that were making their way from across israel with israeli arabs who were hoping to go and show their defiance not wasn't just a day of prayer today friday is also the main day of rage it was called for by the spiritual leader of the al aqsa mosque and he said that it should be a day of hate and protest that people should abandon their regular mosques and come and pray at the al aqsa mosque but not actually go into the mosques instead stand outside with a metal detectors that israel has put into place in the last few days to try and beef up security on not present he said to quote otherwise the situation would explode i was caught in some of those clashes and they were on neighborhoods in east jerusalem that look almost like a war zone you have israeli security officers charging forward with rubber bullets and tear gas and also a machine that sprays liquid duty liquid on people the protesters surge in the opposite direction and they have huge rocks and stones that they've been throwing at the security forces now all of this comes as the israeli cabinet hold an

emergency meeting and they decided to keep these metal detectors in place they believe it's for security but of course the muslim worshippers believe that it is a way for israel to change the status quo of the temple mount which is a huge the volatile and important religious site that comment he has custodianship by jordan the clashes are ongoing and we do expect the situation to remain extremely tense. temple mount or her omar sharif as it's known by muslims is one of the most contested religious sites in the world for jews it is believed to have been the site of two biblical term bulls. a mosque which is located is the third holiest site to poor mountains administered by jordan based islamic religious or thorazine. now news just in breaking news we're hearing that president abbas has reportedly said that he's going to cut all ties with israel

let's get some reaction to this and much more on this story from our guest my stuff above bootsy joins me on the line he's the general secretary of the palestinian national initiative moustapha that information that we're hearing it to be confirmed just hearing. that a bus has said is going to cut all ties with israel the surprise that that. no i'm not actually should have done that sometime ago because there isn't really behavior is a behavior that wants to kill any potential or possibility for peace in this place and it's a policy that is directed at destroying the two state solution either by the measures they are taking the locks on most coaches a very provocative act or by the law they've just passed which prohibits even negotiations over jerusalem or about the increased settlement activities which has exceeded any previous expansion before all these factors have led to this reaction

and you've seen today we've killed three of our people and injured no less than four hundred thirty two demonstrators all the people who were just praying peacefully i was there myself and i saw there was no violence from palestinian side and suddenly with bullets we build with. clubs and in and we were there were very aggressive towards the palestinian for. the obvious have been deaths many on both sides over a long period of time can you understand israel's nervousness and stepping up a security given recent deaths of israeli policeman. no i think you know head of his own security people are devising him to take over these metal detectors and stop changing the status quo and almost but he didn't listen to them he proceeded. by by listening to the extreme ministers in his

cabinet and that is and is this explosion that we see not only in jerusalem but all over the west bank you must understand this is not at religious conflict this is about national rights this is about the right of the palestinian people to be free from occupation to get their freedom after fifty years of occupation which is the longest occupation in modern history this is about people rejecting to be treated. as third class citizens this is about a district and a system of apartheid and additionally the nation that israel has created by people injured as well and the rest of the palestinians the people are saying enough is enough we cannot take it anymore we want our freedom we want our independence this is the essence of what's happening. can you foresee a situation in which the mosque could be opened up in a way that would satisfy both sides. should. need to do is to open all doors to the mosque at this moment israel has closed down

completely of the ten and princes and then they impose these metal detectors and. gates all they need to do is to open the gates and remove these metal detectors and allow people to come on pretty freely as they did before and also to allow the palestinians in the west bank and gaza to be told to come and put it here because since many years they have prohibited almost ninety five percent of palestinians from being able to come to it was a limb from being able to come to prayer freely whether they were muslims or christians by the way but distinctions are muslims and christians and both muslims and christians produced and used are not allowed to have free access to religious sites. in the full summer stuff about the general sector of the palestinian national initiative thank you. and. move on to other news now while italy has been begging the european union for help in dealing with the

brecourt influx of refugees austria's foreign minister is urged roe not to allow the newcomers to make it to the mainland he declared that even if they are plucked from the sea they shouldn't get quote a ticket to central europe as the bearer of palermo said the indifference of some states in the block to the crisis equated to fascism. mirador part of. europe will be on trial for genocide this will be a second nuremberg trial maybe not in the courts but in the history books because of this ongoing genocide in the mediterranean and it's all because the indifference of certain states in the european union the e.u. has to recognize the freedom of movement as a human right this is very serious and i think the european union should can i say feel ashamed. almost ninety thousand migrants have arrived in italy by sea this year alone and more than two hundred twenty thousand are expected by the end of the year marriage palermo also condemned an anti islam movement the so-called identity

tarion saying that they should be ashamed a group of either to tarry in the mission to defend europe in the mediterranean sea they say the mission is to expose humanitarian groups they say they are working with the people smugglers to provide a so-called taxi service for african migrants into europe. to overwatch. and inform the libyan coast guard about the doing and you were trying. to get them as well signal to the west to the people in distress and make sure that they would be brought back to the libyan cold.

on a mission is being carried out on board a four hundred twenty two ton vessel that carries twenty five crew members it's already crowd funded more than one hundred twenty five thousand told us here on our map you can see the route the ships taking it set sail from the east african nation of djibouti it's heading towards the italian city of kut tanya where they're going to patrol the waters auntie's correspondent any patrolling to spoke with the robot tim is a spokesperson for the german branch of defend europe and he will shortly be going to join the mission here's what he had to say. i've spoken to many people here in italy locals and officials and even if they have issues you know the migrants there tell me that the ngos are doing a good job and in some cases perfect and you are here to do something that is that seems to me as blocking what they're doing but there's. a wrong wrong conception about our mission or main ambition is not to block off migrants illegal migrants coming to europe on main ambition is to document how the n.g.o.s are working

because there are quite some indicators showing that they actually cooperate with human traffickers in often africa and there is of course something that people should know about if this is taking place because a lot of people are spending their money on the nation's there how are you going to act when you find these n.g.o.s that as you are saying are potentially. people who violate the law we will just document the way they work if they also need like a helping hand when they have when there are so many people at the risk of drowning we will of course also come to help them. but we will make sure that we are not also bringing people to europe we will try our best to bring the people back to where they came from how do you faced any problems with the officials how much under pressure from the media have you been you know well obviously in terms of

media we are very much under pressure. pretty much every news outlet in europe is reporting about us in a very one sided and negative way and as you've seen to false accusations i was shocked ship has been stopped in. egyptian territory but we are still optimistic and i think a lot of people will be surprised by the end of result of our campaign. but the mayor put in a shed light on what he might do when he's done with being russia's president he was fielding a wide range of questions from russian youngsters at a special event in sochi and hawkins followed the q. and a. it's been a marathon three hour long q. and a session just wrapped up here behind me this audience was very keen to know specifics about the president's personal life and what plans he had for the future

of potentially stepping down as president of the russian federation. and yes what are you going to do when you leave the president's office. you're back and usually i still haven't decided whether i want to leave it's. only after i have an answer to that question i will be thinking about the next steps there are a lot of things to do in this world i don't necessarily have to sit down and write memoirs i can leave the president's office but staying gauged in politics there are a lot of things i can do like ecology for example i think there's a lot of potential in that and surprisingly perhaps given the young nature of the audience social media was something that came up does the president perhaps have some sort of online presence perhaps a secret one using an alias which the president also gave quite interesting response which took a. piece of that as for an online nickname and nickname is the same thing as alias

as you know i started my career in furn intelligence and sometimes i had to use an alias but using a man would be foolish i would use my own name and that should go for everyone i think why would you want to hide behind a nickname when i studied intelligence school my alias was plateau off and everybody had one because that's just what our job demanded but why hide behind a nickname and when a person is proud of what they do there's no reason to hide those a whole host of more serious issues touch that one of course as well from future space projects the colonization of mars to the development of high technology in russia and funding for the arts something quite unexpected perhaps from an audience so young and what are the most interesting questions you faced was which value c. holds dearest to his heart to which he gave an equally interesting reply life itself love and freedom and freedom particularly that last point. very salient because another issue touched on perhaps unsurprisingly was the issue of the

opposition in russia corruption what of. you ask what the value of other political parties not represent. in the state duma it's well they come up with new ideas and criticize those currently in power what you can do is simply speculate on those issues you can't speculate on the problem of corruption because it's globally widespread especially in emerging countries look at what happened to our neighbors ukraine there is gold corruption all the audience here today was at the serious some account in children from all over russia come here the most talented ones and those this in a session with the president was a particular highlight something most of them were very much looking forward to perhaps something that will happen again next year if they're lucky enough given the success of this q. and a session here today. the first ever joint to russia china drills in the european waters have begun in the baltic sea the military exercise between the two

countries is set to last for a week but before even getting underway the event triggered an outcry aaron explain . western media is in a spin over the joint the twenty seven thousand naval drills starting today between russia and china headlines have been lifted with words like invasion and war was warning of a challenge to nato so what sparks the panic well first of all it's the location in the baltic sea right in the heart of northern europe and next to nato bases secondly chinese warships are making their debut tour in this part of the world.

and if that wasn't threatening enough that teaming up with russia but joins the drills are nothing new they've been held annually since twenty twelve but this first stage of the baltic coast has already caused a frenzy as a trio of chinese vessels made their way there leaving the british danish navy's scrambling to shatter them out of their water is much to the amusement of the russian ambassador to china the baltic states repeat their usual incantations but at the same time they take for granted the fact that nato is deploying large forces on their territory but then wasn't this response predictable in october last year a russian fleet sailing around europe sparked headlines like these leading some european states to even consider sending vessels to intercept the group and this fear of

a russian ship has been around for some time already you can just ask sweden a country that spent twenty years insisting that russian submarines were sneaky. around its coastline until they realize that the only thing lurking their mics now we can confirm that as of this moment no minks are scheduled to take part in joint c. twenty seventeen. meanwhile the united states and allied countries have just finished their own massive exercise in that region saber guardian it's called took place in eastern europe on the total of three countries it was aimed at deterring so-called russian aggression some twenty five thousand personnel from more than twenty states to part in the biggest thrills of their kind for five years despite the nato allies are worried by the upcoming russian war games in belarus they will be in september the u.s. army's top general in europe this is ben hodges he suggested moscow might carry out a so-called trojan horse maneuver the fear is is fear the russian tanks and

soldiers could be moved to belarus and then left behind just forgotten in the region in an attempt to square up to nato all that they could actually exceed the planned size and scale political analyst chris bambery told us that fears about china's potential might are being revived it's not surprising to anyone that china and russia are our allies i mean is this news to anyone is it news perhaps this general of the most because they haven't been following the news if that's the case and it's also the case that queer if nato and the americans carry a military exercises in this region that there was going to be a response i think what sent the west into a tizzy is the fact that chinese warships have entered the baltic which is unprecedented and is a demonstration that while china is not yet able to match america in terms of military capacity but that is something which is going to develop over the over the years and the russian chinese.