this is. rome. a journalist working with are a big channel has been killed by shelling from islam a state in syria. or a few of the week's main news one signature away the new. bill only needs. to come into force. behind the move. threatens economic retaliation against washington european businesses. human rights watch claims one u.s. trained iraqi army unit numerous extrajudicial killings of suspected

kurds. voting is well underway in venice whale is controversial to change the constitution but nationwide divisions two official shot dead on at least five others killed in furious opposition protests. with the top stories from the past seven days on right up to the moment developments as well this is the weekly an r t international a little unwelcome some sad news to begin with a young journalist working with our channel in syria has been killed by shelling from islamic state our correspondent daniel hawkins explains what happened. he was a stringer working for r.t.

in syria for those unfamiliar with the term that's effectively a local contracted journalist often working in dangerous environments in case in homs province where the syrian army is trying to actually liberate the town of which is close to where the incident took place his group or his convoy came under shell fire from isis we understand that he was hit by an antitank missile that's what caused his death and indeed injuries to his cameraman who's also in hospital right now started working with r.t. towards the end of april he did many reports from homs province interviewing the families of victims of refugees affected by fighting from all sides sure in those months those months and those battles he was also active on social media especially on facebook and we can have a look at one of his last posts in fact a very chilling poignant post just saying god just a few hours before he was tragically killed most of all khaled was only twenty

five years of age he was studying at the university of damascus in the faculty of media and journalism this is some of his last work he filmed before he was killed. and what was it. said i mean. now as we said before the camera and working with him at the time the motto as you . he was injured as well in that attack he's been evacuated to a hospital in the hobs province we don't know what his condition is as of yet but

of course we'll have updates as they come in and we can also confirm that it is the first worker the first worker part of ologies extended family ever to be killed in a conflict zone so a very sad day not only for his family and friends but also of course for all of us here at r.t. as a tribute to khaled work in one of syria's most dangerous locations we want to share with you one of his most recent reports on the suffering of families in the city of . those who use the u.s. led coalition planes and those who give the orders to travel long think about the consequences of their actions civilians have been killed or forced to flee because of them and the infrastructure has been destroyed civilians claim that the pretext of fighting against terrorism and extremism is used to justify the actions of the coalition. that you have our houses were. destroyed there was no more water for irrigation the land is

burned in record province and there is no harvest and if any crops did remain we were not allowed to use them. to hurt us there was the coalition struck some schools so children don't study anymore many more civilians were injured when the coalition hit hospitals as well. and i can just say i'm now in fourth grade hellish and jets bombed our school so we stopped going there lots of civilians were killed in that airstrike as they were sheltering in fear at the time.

a new round of until sanctions is just a signature away as congress waits for president trump to put pen to paper the senate passed the bill on thursday washington say they're in response to what the call russian aggression in syria and ukraine for alleged meddling in the u.s. election but as kalam up and found out there might be much more in the initiative. the sanctions bill that was passed it targets many parts of russia's economy it targets mining targets finance and russia metal manufacturing but one part of the bill that was specifically singled out was the energy sector of russia's economy the bill penalizes any company that cooperates with russia's pipeline projects it's about sending a message to russia to hold mr putin accountable for his actions we will take tough action against russia the bill is targeting the construction of

a key natural gas pipeline into europe citing what it calls detrimental impact on european energy security furthermore in the same paragraph the bill talks about exporting more of america's resources in order to create american jobs strengthen u.s. allies and strengthen u.s. foreign policy now that all agrees with a key component of u.s. energy strategy america's global dominance energy policy. is not just a vital element of u.s. economic policy but it's also a viable element of u.s. foreign policy and one of the most important actions we can take is to use our massive shale gas resources to begin shipping liquefied natural gas overseas so there you have it but what does selling gas to europe have to do with protecting the sanctity of america's voting machines the point is it hasn't got to do anything with the geo political sphere with the frozen conflict in the ukraine though with

syria and it actually hasn't got anything to do also with an interference with russia the us elections this has to do with the approach of the us administration to make deals to get their economy going and so this is very commitment rather than political u.s. leaders say that they don't like russia for all kinds of reasons but one thing they don't mention is that russia is a key exporter of oil and natural gas competing with the big monopolists america's european allies are now crying foul saying that the usa is interfering with their energy policies with these sanctions the us bill could have unintended unilateral effects the impact the e.u. use energy security interests america first kind of mean that europe's interests come last at this point russia counts for thirty eight percent of the european union's natural gas while the usa only accounts for two percent of the e.u. is natural gas imports you can bet some slick wall street syndicates would like to

reverse that lineup so when you hear this explanation of the sanctions the mere fact that russia tried to affect our elections this stunning breach of our right as a sovereign nation decades of unchecked russian aggression whether it be in the ukraine in the crimea in syria don't forget about this one we must continue to focus on how we get our gas here in the united states our natural gas to europe to our allies so they're not so dependent on russia. well as you heard their leaders have reacted angrily to washington's proposed new sun chin's on its attempt to free europe from its reliance on russian gas they say their economic interests are being ignored germany has even warned the u.s. of country measures here's one reason why europe's leaders are be. the sanctions could impact on the north stream to pipeline

a major project between european companies on russia's energy sector firms from germany austria from the netherlands have agreed to invest almost five billion euro in it around half of the projects total cost once completed it should provide northern europe with russian gas according to reports multi-national businesses in the energy sector like b.p. and exxon mobil have been lobbying against the new measures in congress so to have money fuck sure is like boeing and ford with more here's peter all over. all of the potential impact that these sanctions could have on both the the business and energy sectors here in europe that has e.u. officials hot under the collar there are potentially huge fines for e.u. businesses that would enter into energy projects with russia many of those blue chip european companies of course are heavily involved there what we've heard from the german foreign ministry is them saying that it can't be accepted that the

industrial policy of another nation be passed off as sanctions while the german government spokesperson also came out saying that e.u. industry can't be targeted and if there will be a response if the sanctions or when the sanctions go through it's not just the germans though the french foreign ministry issued a statement saying that well they believe that the sanctions impacted upon the rights of private individuals as well as corporate entities to an extent that they believe may go beyond international law the austrian chancellor christine care he posted online he said that politics and a business should not be mixing when it comes to making decisions like this it's not excluded that they also follow that they also follow their economic interests. we don't complain about that unless it does not affect our own interests

but right now it really affects our own interest negatively impact of the plan sanctions notice a very negative form of especially for the energy sector because of the sanctions under the threat of sanctions especially energy pipeline exports from russia so what options remain for the european union when the sanctions or if these sanctions come into being the european union could decide to impose sanctions of their own on the united states now this could take the form of e.u. bank suspending u.s. companies ability to take out short term loans but let's be realistic this would be a nuclear option. well russia's patience has also waned president putin says that moscow cannot tolerate offensive actions anymore so when the news of these sanctions are completely illegal they go against international law and the rules of the world trade organization we're being very patient and very reserved but we

can't endlessly tolerate aggressive behavior towards our country these actions can be perceived as aggravation and i would even say exceptional cynicism or moscow has already had by its asked the u.s. to reduce the number of diplomatic staff it hers in russia it's estimated that between two and seven hundred people will be sent home or fired at the american embassy house and given an exact figure moscow ses the number of staff must speak up to four hundred and fifty five which is the same amount it has in the us russia has also said the two diplomatic properties used by washington will be seized next month it will take back a warehouse in the south of moscow and a riverside retreat in one of the capital's parks it was used by staff members for leisure activities and get together. to viet nam is that this is a response to the unlawful actions of us and most importantly to the anti russian

mayhem in the us congress the rest of the setting the tone on capitol hill and we're not ruling out any steps to bring them to their senses this bill is a tool of intimidation for the entire world it's a consequence of our unwillingness to follow america's political course the us secretary of state has explained the thinking behind the bill he sees russia should take steps to improve its ties with the u.s. and hope sanctions won't be needed in the future. of the russian embassy in the u.s. has said it's puzzle by rex tillerson is comments on the sanctions we've got some expert opinion on that. it's not the most logical thing to say we want to improve relations therefore we are imposing sanctions next to listen to his statement was trying to be diplomatic and lessen the impact and be less insulting to russia than the he might otherwise have been so that i think that's why you have a logical statement explaining these sanctions to which was not really any sensible

justification at all we think about american foreign policy from like one nine hundred forty five forward it's tough to find many great examples of what we've accomplished so what the american force and foreign policy it's stablish meant expected what they're trying to do you know i think it's time for a total and complete overhaul of how we conduct our international business weekly continues in a few moments with an update on all of today's headlines stories the device the vote in venice we are happening no which is seen deadly violence we get into that after the break. make it is described it is that if a seed or a seed you'll see you are so that you can be this is

not the company and the state is not theirs to get you ready but they thieve that's the big thing about the leaders. to make this manufacture consent to public wealth. when the ruling class is to protect themselves. in the final. we can all middle of the room sit.

back with our t.v. rights groups international observers have accused the iraqi soldiers of executing dozens of suspected terrorists without trial the claims come just weeks after a lengthy battle to drive us let me state out of the city of mosul. two international observers who are a group of iraqi soldiers who didn't find themselves as members of the sixteenth division the true naked men down an alleyway to which they had multiple gunshots they saw through the doorway of a damaged house the bodies of a number of naked men lying in the doorway they said one of the dead men was lying with his hands on his back and appeared to have been handcuffed and there was a rope around his legs. to sixteenth division soldiers the school to one observer and showed the severed heads of what the soldiers said was an american female isis sniper whom they had to compensate it was not clear whether the captives were alive or after her death all the iraqi forces that are involved in this fight against isis has been committing rampant abuses including war crimes and

unfortunately in the face of all of these abuses by many different units and many different elements of the iraqi military structure we have yet to see a thing the incident be properly at investigated by the iraqis or any commanders to be held accountable for human rights watch report claims the executions were carried out by the sixteen the vision of the iraqi army a unit played a significant role in the liberation of mosul it's being trained by the u.s. military since twenty fifty international observers say there's no indication that this support stop. after numerous calls from international organizations the u.s. led coalition is now urging iraq to investigate claims of war crimes committed by its military there and been consistent reporting of alleged laws of armed conflict violations recently any violation of the laws of armed conflict is unacceptable and

should be in it investigated in a transparent parent manner we meet routinely with our partner forces to advise them on the expectations for throwing transparent investigations and accountability for anyone found responsible for abuses and public disclosure of findings and actions taken or we spoke to a number of experts who appeared to be very skeptical of america's call for an investigation it's not even cynical to suggest that just because this division the rocky division were trained by the u.s. military that they wouldn't have done this we have to remember the u.s. torture after the during the two thousand two thousand and three invasion. in bag ram and abu ghraib. and i think all of those techniques have been taught to the standing army that was created after the after the u.s. invasion looking at what we know so far as can be very difficult to specifically

accuse any of those american soldiers fool for training iraqi soldiers specifically in the craft of torture but i think it paints a very poor picture puts the americans. under a very poor lights in iraq generally i mean we've you know what are they doing there exactly i mean this sort of euphemistic term advisor i think the the mrs been busted on one exactly what those devices do in iraq. torture un killings allegedly courage by the iraqi army have previously been documented by a cameraman embedded with one of the units a warning what we're about to show you those demonstrate graphic violence ali our county claims to film the abuse an extrajudicial executions some of which he said were recorded by the officers themselves last month artie's murat guess the spoke to him again there are some disturbing images. i understand the dark background is intended to conceal the way you walk how serious is the threat to your life after

you made these revelations about all this torture and wrongdoing in iraq. my family received many threats from the especially from captain mourners are she wrote to my father on facebook he said they would come in the night and kill them of course i understand that my life is in danger what was your position with the emergency response division and how to work together every day we all slept together i spent more time with them than with my family but then i saw the other side the torture the raping the killing first they didn't want me to film the torture and other bad stuff but eventually they relented and gave me permission. but after that it all changed it affected me my psychology thinking about the torture of those people and their suffering it got worse and worse and after five weeks it became so horrible that i decided to publish everything.

it was unbearable but i made myself continue to film because they knew it was important he tortured people and killed them over and over. you know a story we're closely following this hour a number of officials have been shot dead as venice whalen's cast their ballots in a key constitutional vote one which the opposition is calling a power grab by the country's president just hours before the polls opened a candidate was gunned down in his home local media reports that three members of the opposition have also been killed the polls have now been open for a number of hours that turnout will likely be crucial after the opposition called for a boycott earlier president maduro was one of the first to cast his ballot things. like country has seen massive demonstrations with the opposition still calling for more protests this spite about in the last week alone it's thought at least eight

people have been killed during riots. mean. i. i. i. i. i. well what the country in the economic doldrums on experiencing political deadlock president maduro has called in venezuelans to elect a new body its role will be rewriting the current constitution over five hundred

representatives will be chosen from various groups in society however the opposition believes the president is just trying to extend his powers and is undermining democracy r.t. got an exclusive interview with the venezuelan president he told us that the opposition's tactics are eliminated many people you're going to. get not only the opposition has been saying the same thing for eighteen years but used to say about hugo chavez you know about me for the last full use for there is no other way to resolve a conflict in our country than through democratic means. for three and a half weeks starting in maine the opposition to engage in a direct dialogue and join the national constitutional assembly but they refused but since then the only thing the opposition has been doing is taking most deaths back with me right now the situation is dire they face political isolation they're

leaning towards the far right and they've trapped themselves in this strategy of local acts of violence restricting the movement of people in the very districts that voted for them the opposition is losing the support of the venezuelan people voted for them in the past. today marks navy day in russia and president putin has congratulated the fleet in the country's northern capital for petersburg thousands of spectators turned out to see the latest seagoing hardware that russia has to offer there for us. i'm.

the four fleets of the russian navy are celebrating the navy as a powerful surface ships and still the submarines will take part in netflix ill as involving one hundred vessels old around the country st petersburg is hosting the biggest event with forty ships taken part in the parade right here on the net voght river battle cruiser and the ballistic missile carrying a nuclear submarine which are among the biggest nuclear propelled ships in the world have taken center stage and of course smaller cruisers destroyers submarines and surface ships are on display here as well as navy war planes and helicopters some other russian port cities like several more six of a stop loss rate in light of all stuck lower seas are holding may day facilities as well but of course the biggest ones are right here in russia's northern capital of st petersburg among cost for for r.t. .

yes in petersburg looking beautiful there are more of the stories which shape the week in half an hour's time with me here. fleur used to be a professional hockey player who won a stanley cup and the moment the girl who was living the dream but who sits in a dark side. time i was fourteen to sick. i mean i was raped one hundred fifty times by a cold trayvon i was mawson in a dark room and so you know every time i close my eyes i couldn't sleep after many years of silence he speaks up and unites with other victims so you are going from toronto to ottawa walk in an hour walking to the victor walks to create awareness

and from oh she'll you're on the subject of child sexual abuse this type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable because the sentences that are handed down through the justice system. seem wrong. but all. just don't hold. any. get to shape out this day become advocates and in against women equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. whether they are.

in with a day when we have time to meet. the minimal. bill to move to take more time as a team to. leave me. alone or the mean looking north. east. north of you. but again. it was i was. lucky. i did but i don't think. he. would. be months rituals.