the top stories of the week here on the international president putin orders hundreds of american diplomatic staff to leave russia as a response to u.s. sanctions. and little trump is expected to approve sanctions against russia after nearly unanimous vote in the senate we look at why europe says warning of countermeasures. and also this hour a journalist working with r.t. is our big shot was killed by mortar fire from islamic states in syria. opposition overshadow election day in venezuela with one candidate in his own home

. thanks for joining us here live at all to international i'm daniel hawkins wherever you are you're very welcome with us this hour. president vladimir putin has ordered the united states to cut the number of its diplomatic staff in russia by several hundred that's in response to sanctions. the. thousand people both diplomatic and technical staff currently working in russia seven hundred fifty five of them or have to stop their activities and that's painful. because then that america has taken a step to jeopardize u.s. russia relations and the important thing is that that step was triggered by anything this is a move to impose a legal restriction. it's to attempt to influence other countries including u.s.

allies q which are interested in developing ties with russia but on the us. and on longer. we've been waiting for quite a long time so that maybe something would change for the better we had hoped that the situation would change but it looks like even if it does change and it won't be in the near future quarter i decided it is time for us to show you we will not leave anything on answer to. that and of course we have more to say here there are fears that we could restrict use here which would be painful for the united states but i think we shouldn't do that and it's only going to harm us russian relations as they are but it's also going to affect us as well. now the u.s. senate passed that sanctions bill on thursday in the white house had said president trump will give his approval washington claims the measures are in response to allege the russian meddling in the u.s.

election that's kind of more been found out there are plenty of other factors at play. the sanctions bill that was passed it targets many parts of russia's economy it targets mining it 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 in 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 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 of russia into 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 come up with 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.'s 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. use 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. and i want to the key projects affected by the sanctions will be the north stream two pipeline e.u. leaders have warned that they could be forced to retaliate against washington firms from germany austria france and the netherlands have agreed to invest almost five billion euros it around half of the projects total cost once completed it will substantially boost russian gas supplies the mainland europe via the baltic sea now oil and gas majors including exxon and b.p. have reportedly been lobbying against the new sanctions in congress so to have manufacturers like boeing and ford artie's piece all over as the details. well it's 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 kristie in 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 i mean while the u.s. secretary of state has explained the thinking behind the anti russia bill. the near

unanimous vote for the sanctions legislation in congress represent the strong will of the american people to see russia take steps to improve relations with the united states we hope that there will be cooperation between our two countries on major global issues and these sanctions will no longer be necessary. the russian embassy in washington responded to rex tillerson statement calling it puzzling the embassy said the u.s. government has failed to understand that pressure does not work with russia and sanctions cannot prove relations we spoke to former diplomat a political analyst for their take on the latest diplomatic spat. 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 less from the impact and be less insulting to russia than the he might otherwise have been 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. journalist working with artie's arabic chattel has been killed by islamic state in syria. i was covering a syrian army operation in homs province when his convoy came under fire a syrian soldier who's not yet been identified also died in that attack occurred and started working with r.t. back in april reporting on the plight of families caught up in the war he was just twenty five years old. the

the. other head of the arabic has expressed the channel's condolences to condit's family and friends my mana said in a statement we will support them in any way possible we thank god for his courage and bravery we can now take a look at one of canada's most recent reports coming from rocca. 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 the civilians claimed that the pretext of fighting against terrorism and extremism is used to justify the actions

of the coalition. and how much of the houses were. destroyed but there was no more water for irrigation and all the land is burned in record province and there is no harvest and if any crops did remain we were not allowed to use. the head of one of them there are the coalition carries out as struck some schools so children don't study anymore many more civilians were injured when the coalition hit hospitals as well. and the just sign now is for going hellish jets bombed ourselves so we started going there lots of civilians were killed in that airstrike as they were sheltering here at the time.

coming out one as well as election has been marred by deadly riots that story and more after a short break stay tuned here on out international. that

. you. have this. company. that's. in venezuela on election day that's been a sea of opposition riots also one shot dead in his own home.

video you just saw was captured after an explosion in karaka in which several people were injured among them seven police officers the opposition has defied of ban on public protest site has denounced the election as a power grab by president maduro according to local media at least thirteen people have been killed in the riots in the past twenty four hours alone including one opposition activist you've been casting their votes for a new assembly which will be tossed with rewriting the constitution let's take a look now at how the rest has unfolded.

i think. president nicolas maduro has called on one of the violence to throw their support behind the new assembly which will be created after sunday's vote as well as rewriting the constitution it will have the power to dissolve the parliament now the opposition has boy course of the vote they say the president's media trying to extend his powers and stifle dissent. sat down with the venezuelan president for an exclusive interview he told us the opposition's tactics are alienating many people in the country. you don't get up we turn to your deputy in the lobby the opposition has been saying the same thing for eighteen years they used to say about hugo chavez i know about me for the last four years and it's not for them i really is no other way to resolve a conflict in our country than through democratic means. you are through and how

your weeks start in him and the opposition also engage in a direct dialogue and join the national constitutional assembly but they refused since they are not the only thing the opposition has been doing which is taking almost gets back with me right now the situation is dire and you think face political isolation get out on that they are leaning towards the far right and they were trapped in cells and 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. we've been hearing from both sides on the crisis in venezuela. purpose is not all it's a right there comes the jewish and the purpose is to get rid of the nationalists on the we're to war with two thirds of the bow does precisely the reason and they have now but they did five percent of rejection of the regime so they resorted to the c.b. go. in unconstitutional there's

a presidential election in two thousand and eighteen were made during is going to be up for a vote in the opposition is going to run for president regardless of the outcome of the constituent assembly it's an open democratic process the opposition can run their own candidates and they can participate in it but they've called to boycott it instead of taking part this is not of them. and we're just not trying to legitimize. any league. last summer than twelve days. and seven minutes so that's a lot of the lives that it is you know people about fifteen hundred have been wounded and we have almost two thousand people in jail as being the price of a civic protest but it's really this is just another lie that is just constantly to justify foreign intervention in the country vast majority of those deaths that over one hundred deaths are caused by opposition violence over a dozen assassinations by opposition protesters against people first of just for supporting the government i mean do you condemn those horrible political lynching

surge you condemn those horrific political assassinations we are a peaceful opposition behold the whole world recognizes european uni's not all of the united states trying to go in to set up in america the people. who have been so they say they have been killed by the by our own people that's really rover's and i think it's very unfair to say. let us in the middle east now where rights groups and international observers have accused the rocky soldiers of executing dozens of suspected terrorists without trial the claims come just weeks off from lengthy battle to drive islamic states out of the city of mosul. two international observers were a group of iraqi soldiers we 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 door of 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 peers have been handcuffed and there was

a rope around his legs. to sixteenth division soldiers the school to one observer and showed the severed head to the soldiers said was an american female i says sniper whom they had to capture seated it was not clear whether the captives who are 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 go incident be properly act investigated by the iraqis or any commanders to be held accountable. that's a human rights watch report claims that executions were carried out by the sixteenth the vision of the iraqi army that's a unit of played a big role in the breakdown of mosul it's been trained by the u.s. military since twenty fifteen an international observers say there's no indication

that this support has stopped. of the 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 law 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 and we heard from journalists who have been covering the story they are paid to be skeptical of america's schools for an investigation it's not even cynical to suggest that just because this division the rocky division trained by the u.s. military 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. 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 in under a very poor lights in iraq generally and it was 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 into rights of torture and killings allegedly carried up by the iraqi army have previously been documented by a cameraman embedded with one of the units we should warn you know scenes of graphic while it's had. well audio quality claims to film the busa an

extrajudicial executions some of which he said were also recorded by the offices last month spoke to him again there are some disturbing images in the following report. i understand the dark background is intended to conceal where you are 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 morningstar she wrote to my father on facebook he said they would come and kill them of course i understand that my life is in danger what was your position with the emergency response division of men 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. after that it all changed it affected me my psychology i kept 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. our jerusalem on the west bank of seeing clashes throughout the week over access to a holy site palestinians have been confronting israeli police over the new security measures temple mount also known as the reef is a restricted access to the area after two police officers were killed by a gunman is in jerusalem for r.t. . i'm standing here in front of the dome of the rock which has been the scene of violent clashes for the past two weeks we are hearing that more hundred people have

been injured the number of palestinians who've been killed in the last two weeks of violence has now climbed to six israeli police reinforcements particularly around the old city many of the arab east jerusalem neighborhoods with clay. as dolphin at the same time roadblocks in and out of the west bank will reinforce we're hearing from the israeli security officials that they will see a harsh response to anyone who throws rocks or stones at the israeli police israel says it will remove metal detectors that will put up after two security guards were killed two fridays ago but the palestinian president mahmoud abbas says this is not enough and he insists it is well returns to the way the status quo was before that incident but outside the temple mount compound the mood is jubilant people have been throwing sweets and chocolate saying that this battle for al aksa has been won by the palestinians r.t. jerusalem or fortune r.t. international live from moscow to join us for more news where on the world at the

top of. with little make its manufacture consent to public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. in the final. the one percent. we can all middle of the room sick. flurry used to be a professional hockey player won a stanley cup and the moment the girl was living the dream but his success had a dark side. time i was fourteen to sixteen i was raped one hundred fifty times by

a coach i was mawson in a dark room and so you know every time i close my eyes i can sleep after many years of silence he speaks up and unites with other victims so you are going. to. walk in it from now or walk into the victor walk us to create awareness and promote healing around the subject of child sexual abuse this type of behavior is absolutely acceptable because of the sentences that are handed down through the justice system.

yes. yes. so much on the.

five am. daily training session. this is. just a couple of months she'll graduate she and twenty seven close mates are all running to start the day with. up. in the dark we somehow managed to lose john in the crowd. no. that's. not something. that. i.