the top stories of the week the. president. said hundreds of american diplomatic staff to leave the country in response to u.s. sanctions. president trump is expected to approve new sanctions against russia are offering me a vote in the senate with the white europe warning of. a journalist working with. killed. from islamic extremists in syria. also the opposition run shadow election day in venezuela with one candidate in his

. life with me. thanks so much for joining us this hour president vladimir putin has ordered the united states to cut the number of its diplomatic softened by several hundred in response to u.s. sanctions. i. think that more than a thousand people both diplomatic and technical staff are currently working in russia which seven hundred fifty five of them will have to stop their activities and that's painful. because that is that america has taken a step to jeopardize u.s. russia relations and the important thing is that that step wasn't triggered by

anything this is a move to impose a legal restrictions to attempt to influence other countries including us 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 unanswered here is when there will be a political. yes can you say that 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 thirty or senate passed the sanctions but on thursday in the white house has said president from will give his approval claims the measures are in response to alleged russian

meddling in the u.s. election but scalable and find 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 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 but what does selling gas to europe have to do with protecting the sanctity of america's voting machines the point is has got to do anything with the political sphere with the frozen conflict in the ukraine though with syria and it actually hasn't got anything to do with an interference of russia into the u.s. elections this has to do with the approach of the u.s. 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 u.s. bill could have unintended unilateral effects that 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 ok let's take a look at some of the repercussions one of the key projects affected of course by the sanctions will be the nord stream two pipeline e.u. leaders have already said they could be forced to retaliate against washington firms from germany austria france and netherlands have all agreed to invest almost five billion euros that's where our hearts the projects total cost and once completed it will substantially boost russian gas supplies to the mainland europe via the baltic sea oil and gas giants including x. and b.p. have allegedly been lobbying against the new sanctions in congress so to have manufacturers like boeing and ford's piece all of this report. 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 christine care he posted online he said that politics and 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. meanwhile 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 now the russian embassy in washington has had something to say already they responded to that statement calling it puzzling at the embassy said the u.s. government has failed to understand that pressure doesn't work with russia and sanctions can't improve relations we spoke to a former diplomat and a political analyst for their views of the ongoing diplomatic scandal not the most logical thing to say we want to improve relations therefore we are imposing sanctions next to listen 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 or

for 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. and journalists working with artie's arabic channel has been killed by islamic state in syria. was covering a syrian army operation in homs province when his convoy came under mortar fire a syrian soldier also died in that attack three other people were injured including a cameraman khaled 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.

overhead of the arabic has expressed the channel's condolences to collets family and friends my mama said in a statement that we will support them in any way possible we thank god for his courage and bravery we can now take a look at his last report from the city of rockers. 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 claim 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 there was no more water for irrigation and all the land is burned in record profits and there is no harvest and if any cross did remain we were not allowed to use. the head of one of them there the coalition carries out and struck some schools so children don't study anymore many more civilians were injured when the coalition hit hospitals as well. and the just so now before going hellish

jets bombed ourselves so we struck on lots of civilians were killed in that airstrike as they were sheltering in fear at the time. at least sixteen people have been killed almost one hundred arrested during a weekend of rising in venezuela opposition supporters took to the streets as the election got on the way. quite dramatic footage there on sunday an explosion on a street in caracas injured several people.

which is what she was shot off an explosion in caracas in which several people were injured among them seven police officers at least twenty officers have been wounded in street clashes throughout the day six people were wounded when a grenade was thrown into a polling station and one count of it was shot dead in his home. now the venezuelan president nicolas maduro has called on his country to throw their support behind the new assembly which will be created after sunday's vote now it's got quite a task ahead rewriting the constitution and will also have the power to dissolve the parliament now the opposition has defied a bout of public protests they've denounced the election as just the power grab by president maduro they could look at how the situation has been unfolding. you know. i.

i. i. i was i got the shots to get an exclusive interview with the venezuelan president he told us that the opposition's tactics are alienating many venezuelans. europe we should do that he should join europe if you know 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 few use for them i really is no more the way to resolve

a conflict in our country rather than through democratic means. your through and how you weeks started him and the opposition to 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 many steps back we all know me right now the situation is dire. political isolation i don't know they're leaning towards the far right and they were trying to yourselves and the strategy of violent streets in the movement of people in the very district that voted for them the opposition is losing the support of the venezuelan people voted for them in the past. and i spoke earlier to as well frenzy a lawyer in caracas she told us the opposition only has itself to blame for failing to take part in the elections the past every nice day. election day. the people go to exercise their more nothing. can stop the

will of the venezuelan people to go and to exercise their warts and to apply the democracy the opposition and to choose to be out and to accept or to be out of this of this procedure what we have to wait. agenda of the opposition and if then we they will accept the result or not this is the issue right now. a rights groups and international observers have accused the rocky soldiers of executing dozens of suspected terrorists without trial of the claims came just weeks after a lengthy battle to drive islamic state out of the city of mosul. to international observers who are a group of iraqi soldiers who don'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 it 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 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 who may have to compensate it was not clear whether the captives who 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 crime 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 sixteenth division of the rocky all we know that so you get the played a big role in the liberation of mosul it's been trained by the u.s. military since twenty fifteen and international observers say there's no indication

that this support has stopped. well it was only after numerous calls from international organizations that the u.s. led coalition is 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 and we heard from journalists who have been covering the story they appeared to be quite skeptical of america's calls for a full investigation it's not even cynical to suggest that just because this division iraqi 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. 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 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. the u.s. military has conducted a missile interceptor test that's in response to the threat from north korea thank you according to the pentagon

a medium range ballistic missile was fired from alaska over the pacific ocean on sunday it was then tracked and destroyed using the terminal high altitude area defense system otherwise known as the bard which the u.s. has also supplied to south korea now this happened a couple of days after korea's latest missile launch into the sea of japan the u.s. missile defense chiefs grief said sunday's interceptor test will help the military stay ahead of the evolving threat. now the u.s. congress recently approved a new round of sanctions against north korea over its nuclear program and missile tests human rights attorney eric sorkin told us that washington hasn't yet figured out how to deal with pyongyang. you know this is something that seems to the ministration or sometimes to people around the world but really we have not tried anything new here we have been caught in this tire

circle or ism of one thread versus another and bolstering up what the us does not seem to get. this is the failure to engage it took hundreds of meetings and the. korean started it and the vietnam war it takes sitting talking and a lot of effort to build relationship and rebuild trust. through some of the west bank have seen two weeks of clashes over access to a holy site palestinians have been confronting israeli police say with security measures at temple mount. if israel was stripped of access to the area or off the two police officers were killed by a gunman. is in jerusalem for. 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 than

a 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 the israeli police reinforcements particularly around the old city many of the arab east jerusalem neighborhoods were closed off and at the same time in and out of the west bank will reinforce we're hearing from these weighty security officials that they will a harsh response to anyone who throws rocks or stones at this way the police israel says it will remove metal detectors that will put off the 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 with tunes to the way the status quo was before that incident but outside the temple mount compound the mood is jubilant people have been too. chocolate saying that this battle. has been won by the palestinians . now where the interior minister admitted his country is struggling to find

a way out of the market crisis there is no magic solution no nation can alone deal with the migrate reflux a new nation is shielded from it other countries become more vocal recently on the refugee issue lately it's been receiving the majority of newcomers from africa in fact just this year alone almost one hundred thousand people have reached the italian coastline r.t. they were trying to travel to some parts of italy where the crisis is impacting on people's everyday lives. a small town in the mountains which after a government decision was forced to accommodate dozens of migrants. i hope the mayor of this town mr cheever talk explain the system to me. on giordano. the prefecture didn't tell us in advance that migrants were coming i thought everything would work out so the government told us

that it would help us to cope with the migrants there are already many problems here like unemployment issues with infrastructure health etc that's why some people around here are angry because the government chose to invest money into the relocation of migrants instead of providing time with additional funds. this looks like the hotel we're looking for they entered through the gates but stayed outside because there was no electricity the hotel hasn't been used for years to host tourists my next step was to try and talk to the migrants inside but they wouldn't let me behind a locked gate was a dodgy looking man he claimed to be from a cooperative that had been put in charge by the authorities known filming he said the mayor said that a very low percentage of people who are here are actually refugees most of them are economic migrants is not true no that's not true the migrants are well integrated the mayor has never even contacted me he is lying i went on to ask where the

migrants were from the man claimed they were all refugees out of. nigeria niger guinea became a fast food just as i was negotiating we saw a couple with a tray of sweets turns out some locals were indeed glad to have the new neighbors finally he let me in without the camera the refugees said they'd only got warm welcomes from locals and were ready to become sicilians i can tell you that the migrants and refugees have everything to live a normal life there the question though remains whether they will be able to integrate into the local society and whether all the locals will be ready to accept that number of refugees our journey continued to another small community where migrants haven't arrived yet but the government's intentions have. already caused quite a debate in the usually quiet neighborhood. a very small abandoned school local government wanted to place sixty my gran's in that small building i think we

have a chance to talk to the lawyer who is representing the local community. past which i don't hope it will be that of the. putting migrants here into buildings like this is racism the risk is that the shelter could turn into again because the migrants will have nothing to do here having blasted the rest of the youth for betraying roman crisis italian officials seem to have taken up the strategy of a nationwide melting pot will be watching how it's put to the test of the triangle r t in sicily you're watching weekly here on the international my colleague will research shall be with the top of next hour of course you can get more on any of our stories on our website auti dot com. in case you're new to the game this is how it works the economy is built around.

preparation washington washington media the media the. voters elected to business to run this country business because. it's not business as usual it's business like it's never been done before. mechanism we describe it he's just a faith seed or a she knew this. so if you let me have this it is not the company and this is not this and this to get you ready but. that's just a big thing about the leaders.

you know it's hard to believe eight years ago i had a fully loaded pistol in my mouth ready to pull the trigger. used in working more than drugs i'm working more i just got to the point where i got to stop this or i'm not going to be alone for my kids i'm looking at all. of them. and one. of them to the law at the time saying. citizenship.