so. the u.s. court overturns the sentences of mercenaries who work for the controversial military contract blackwater ten years on when the tourist massacre in iraq. also to come dozens of broken speaking children are found drowned in all from the general their parents allegedly died biting for terrorists we hear their story. ok. i. feel. it. in germany sending almost four hundred asylum seekers back to greece after six years suspension the move comes just a month before germany is set to hold elections.

hello there coming to you live from moscow you're watching r.t. international's good to have the company now the top story this hour the legal battle over a massacre in iraq a decade ago was returned to the u.s. courts judges have ordered the recent unsing of three operatives from the private u.s. your security contractor formerly known as blackwater indicating that the sentences were too harsh a fourth faces a complete retrial when the full gods opened fire with machine guns and grenade launchers in baghdad or square fourteen unarmed civilians were killed and seventeen others were injured the guards argued they were under fire from insurgents although they witnesses support that claim the carnage drew widespread condemnation and also raise serious questions about the military's accountability in iraq. i no wonder

the pair. were dead bodies everywhere are. going to be with you people and so are among the dead bodies of those who are. seven years old.

during the period the firm was known as blackwater and it turned billions of dollars from the u.s. government and secured a contract bonanza after the two thousand and three us invasion of iraq operating as part of the us occupation authorities blackwater gained notoriety over its conduct security flaws and also disciplinary problems following the massacre the company rebranded but it is still operating seems the scandal has done little to dent the u.s. government's appetite for working with military contractors who are still thriving is. now expects. meet erik prince the founder of blackwater a private military company with a controversial reputation with its legacy you might expect prince's career to be over but this cannot be farther from the truth there's no backlash for him no shame the man's gun for hire business is booming what i care about is its taxpayer is that large you wasting food say five billion dollars a year in afghanistan i don't think it's appropriate to pull out completely with

all the wars the us is waging abroad times are lucrative for private security firms you'd struggle to find one with an untainted slate dyna corp for example for over a decade the u.s. state department was giving almost seventy percent of its funding for afghanistan to this particular firm this company's record features a sex slavery scandal in bosnia a male prostitution scandal in afghanistan and also there a botched seventy million dollar worth construction project were also means big business for sally port global who were paid nearly seven hundred million dollars to secure an iraqi base they allegedly turned a blind eye to alcohol smuggling theft security violations and allegations of sex trafficking and then fired investigators who uncovered wrongdoing that's all according to an associated press investigation the list of controversy goes on yet private security firms are doing just fine and filling their coffers with the spoils of war. r.t. washington d.c.

political analyst on glazebrook believes the case does prove the u.s. allies impunity for his own forces and mysteries. well i think it's part of a broader move by the west and especially in britain and the usa to really make it absolutely clear to the rest of the world that they have impunity so i think this is really the broad trajectory of proving to the world showing to the world that british us forces have impunity and and that extends to their mercenaries as well remember it's really interesting this this trial in the us is it was from two thousand and seven when the u.s. forced on the iraqi government an agreement that their troops and their mercenaries would not have would not be able to be tried in iraqi courts so they had to make some semblance of some kind of show that they were going to try soldiers in u.s. courts and now even that seems to be being rolled back a very very troubling development i think. meanwhile forty eight russian speaking children are currently stranded at an orphanage in iraq after they were rescued

during the battle to liberate the city of mosul from islamic state create he's been to the shelter to visit the. yes but. even the specific orders to follow. the leader of the current. caucasoids. as you saw some of the children do appears to be i'm sure of that i mean the names in high. relief they were taken to iraq by their parents who joined islamic state and then i received day russia iraq and jordan working to track down of the family members some of the children had been describing the obvious thing to which you might find some of them upsetting to listen to now. that it was time that the. families let. us sleep through one is

sick illiberal boy don't need mom it's a good. one none of us. will and you'll slip endless aflac to me just get good looks and does just look it up which. flights and i mean you have a list yet. she. can't. i need to show you still. it should. not on a not only time the only. time we needed it only a week. only a. common one. was still. each someone else goes through it but in case call just took. if close will

money. we know that. they did which has details of more heartbreaking stories which have been. there are two stories that have come to light in particular that really paint the horrors of what's happened and how innocent victims particularly children and i were bound and in a foreign country without those identification papers what will happen to them they got no support of anybody no adults the first story i actually came across has a happy ending it involved two years of hell for the mother and her husband a native czech new color on target of he went to fight alongside islamic state. and basically he first went to syria and then to iraq and he actually kidnapped their son and took the son along with him that was back in october twenty fifth now four year old mother had not seen him for two years so you can imagine the trauma that

she's gone through she had no idea whether he was dead or alive and actually she coincidentally saw a you tube video with her son on it and she contacted the russian authorities can you actually have the end of this man in the chair still or. there's a slab a good look at their mistake there's got religion is there but so much that. there's loose afterward yashpal. enough that beast. i don't know you know. but russian authorities are now seeking to cooperate in trying to repatriate a lot of those children there are dozens of them apparently there who are russian speaking whose parents decided to join isis and so you know at least something is going on and happening hopefully some of those children will also be saved now the second story is equally harrowing it doesn't have such a happy ending it's about

a girl called howie she got married in two thousand and nine and six years later her husband decided to move to turkey they had three children at the time and then later michael contacted her parents so the children grow. parents i'm told that told them they were moving to iraq she gave birth to a fourth child there and she apparently cried when she contacted her parents and said that her husband to threaten to take the children away from her which is why she went to iraq she then stopped calling her parents so they didn't hear from her after that and apparently her husband was recruited by ice or he had a month's training and then he was sent off to fight and then michael was told that he was killed in action now the grandparents have contacted the russian authorities playing for their help now and they want to find their daughter and grandchildren they know nothing about her they don't know where she is would serve some. is that i knew. that this was. a moment.

to. mutually deal. to neutralise an accord with you called. me. the nurse to an appropriate it was more to do. so as you can see there that's an example of a not so lucky family and now i would imagine there are lots of families like that dealing with this situation who knows what the outcome will be just an example of how horrendous the situation is right now. dearest chewed there we got in touch with iraq's child welfare commission which says it regards the children of vital parents as victims. some children have broken legs or hands this is because they were abandoned by their parents and for a long time has stayed without any further care and manned them there are the iraqi children are busy the mothers right chechen children chainless there is one french

all these children have been placed in the shelters they are treated with care and attention there is no difference between them and the others our aim is to guarantee them a safe environment we consider them to be victims they are not guilty of anything if the child's father is from i so of course the child is not to blame. germany is set to resume sending asylum seekers back to greece ending its six year moratorium it's returning nearly four hundred newcomers and the rules which do dictate where immigrants should be processed the move comes a little over a month before germany's general election with more his peter oliver we understand is that three hundred and ninety two asylum applicants will be returned to greece under the dublin convention. it will only affect those that have a rival here in germany and of made up locations for asylum since the beginning of

the middle of march of this year well back in twenty eleven the constitutional court here in germany ruled that migrant asylum applications would not be returned to countries like greece this was simply because in the ice of the german constitutional court greece could not cope with the numbers that the situation in camps wasn't up to standard well that has changed in the announcement that germany would be returning asylum applications to greece was made on german television by the greek migrant minister. there was pressure from several you countries on greece to resume returns i understand that e.u. governments want to show some results to their voters does seem there just a month ahead of germans going to the polls here to elect the new chancellor what we're going to see is germany going back to the dublin treaty and returning those asylum applicants it finds in the country but the situation in greece well it was

deemed unfit back in twenty eleven it hasn't really. we're still waiting for the reason why he has taken this decision right now to return those almost four hundred asylum applications to greece. german football club over ninety six has promised to fully cooperate with british police after violence marred one of their pre-season games over the weekend the match against english premier league side burnley saw german fans attempting to attack their home supporters and the game was abandoned at half time on the advice of local police on this now we can cross live to r.t.c. or smithies in london for a good afternoon to you laura lower this is a going friendly fix you which was there any think but. it's pretty extraordinary isn't it and why it would happen in a game like this but the german club over ninety six is taking it very seriously and they have now issued

a statement saying that they're going to fully cooperate with british police to bring the perpetrators of this violence to justice here they are violence has no place or one over football club together with the british authorities one over ninety six we use all legal possibilities to identify and limit potential violators. well how did this unfold it happened on saturday during a pre-season friendly between the lancashire team but only a german side hundred ninety six about forty minutes into the game we understand a small number of fans about three hundred ninety of whom were visiting and just forty five of them we understand were actually violent they started throwing missiles including chairs into the home fans. this doesn't like an impromptu piece of violence because the hooligans were apparently wearing masks gumshield some of them were reportedly carrying knives even this meant that home fans including a crowd of women and children were forced to flee their area to stand and move into

another place in the ground to get away from these people again was then called off half time one police officer was admitted to hospital with a head injury and three other people were injured as well now the police had intelligence that something was going to happen but unfortunately they weren't able to prevent it and they ended up having to draft in reinforcements from elsewhere here's what they had to say about it. although robust policing operation was in place for the match based on pre-game intelligence additional resources have now been brought in from across the country to ensure no further disorder occurs as you say though this whole incident was a bit of a mystery it wasn't an important game it was a pre-season friendly and added to that one of the ninety six doesn't really have a reputation or a history of violence but of course with the football season starting later on this week this is bad news for bosses police and of course fans not a great start ok thanks for that was your smith for us in london. you're watching

r.t. going to take a quick break now but don't go away because when we come back we'll have exclusive video from inside the last islamic state stronghold in syria. it's. just manufactured consent to public wealth. when the ruling class is protect themselves. when the five. percent. can all middle of the room see. real news. there are already. more than that.

welcome back with aussie now the syrian army is clearing the eastern town of. terrorists it was captured by government troops at the weekend and this being regarded as one of their most significant victories in recent months we spoke to the syrian army's information chick. military units of encircled in the suburbs

palmira in advance in the last stronghold they may still be snipers there are still terrorists as usual leaving behind land mines and unexploded shell rounds making it difficult for the syrian army to move food troops monitoring the city and tracking every move of the ice and snipers in fights the syrian military is quite true to last i saw terrorist from the city as soon as your permission to wipe out the militants is over the syrian armed forces were declared the liberation the city. video news agency has filmed exclusive video from inside the town is the last islamic state stronghold in holmes province the retaken town is about fifty kilometers from the border that is a war province which is still mostly under control explains the importance of syrian war geography the south east is where the color coded key is least complicated government controlled red vs i still held the black divided by won't long desert front line and it's just shifted to the right of

a town called no. there is plenty to so great for these problems solved through their commanders saving. edges them closer to their ultimate goal in this part of syria dare as zoar where one to two hundred thousand people are completely surrounded by islamic state and a few more months the siege will have been ongoing for three years in strategic terms is the last stop on the way to dare as or province taking control of this province will mean wiping out impromptu or production no more cash for the terrorists from. the government troops can also push to the north and if they can reunite with fellas. orders in the rocket province i suppose forces will end up

kettle in the geographical heart of syria. definitely the beginning of the absolute end of isis in syria where there are definitely two potentiality of superman is only fifty kilometers away from the retaking that particular city is of vital importance to actually reopening the route on the road to their resort now the other option is to actually link up with the forces coming in from the northwest now that would create a huge pocket of remaining isis forces i think the army will potentially link up with what's left of the other forces and at the same time push for their daughter in the quickest to form possible we've seen the syrian army gaining ground and then relinquishing some tough lessons in war geography have been learned those trapped in the arizona or can breathe momentarily with relief but there's still a long way to go but as you mentioned there it is all has been under siege for

years locals told us about the dye conditions they've been facing living in the shadow of isis. however i learned very late in the navy as isis terrorists raided our house my thirteen year old cousin was staying with us i hid her in a water tank so that the terrorists didn't take her as a slave terrorist from iraq execute civilians in the streets and leave bodies lying there for up to five days i secretly drove my sons out of the city otherwise isis militants would recruit them by force inject psychotropic substances and later use them as suicide bombers to billions don't have access to regular good to commodities to services planes aren't always able to reach their lives or rightly power through the equipment of the third which is needed as orders on the outskirts is one large front line you've got thousands of syrian forces fighting i think on a day to day basis they're in constant need of resupply. north korea has lashed

out at the u.s. over the latest round of sanctions imposed on pinning young says washington will pay dearly for what the kim regime sees as crimes against the country and its people. does it alter the route of the nuclear issue on the korean peninsula and the deterioration of the situation lies with the united states as long as the united states refuses to stop its hostility and nuclear threats towards the tb arche the deep yorkie will never bring the nuclear and ballistic missile program to the negotiating table. while on saturday the un security council unanimously approved sweeping new sanctions against north korea they restrict its exports of coal metals and food to other un member states and they also mean that countries will not be allowed to increase the number of north korean laborers they employ and foreign investment will also be blocked it is thought the measures will attend the north's economy by around one billion dollars per year. given the growing tensions

south korea is now seeking permission from washington to develop more powerful ballistic missiles under a bilateral agreement between the u.s. and south korea seoul can only develop missiles with a range of up to eight hundred kilometers and with a maximum payload of five hundred kilograms were on sunday south korea's president asked president trump to change those restrictions and the pentagon has indicated that it is inclined to accept the request let's get the views now of security analyst and former u.k. army officer charles bridge to a piece a joins us. what do you make then of this latest development that south korea might have those limitations lifted on the missiles that can develop. i think what we're seeing is more and more probably both sides reaching further into the bucket to try and find negotiating tools that they can reach that i haven't already deployed for example in sanctions in terms of increasing military exercises for example in the

u.s. and south korea's case and now also saying that south korea would like to have more powerful weapons at its disposal but these are unlikely to make much difference on the ground but of course they ratchet up the tension some would argue but others say the negotiating position to show that. south korea and the united states isn't just going to stand idly by and that's the message they want to send along with of course these enhanced sanctions there's also of course some talk amongst the in the south and even amongst. us politicians and military that south korea should be encouraged even let alone allowed to actually develop its own nuclear arsenal some talk about that in the last few days and again of course that again would no doubt ratchet up tension increase instability but of course can count as a as a deterrent or could possibly come to town against the north assuming of course that the north ever intends to use its weapons and of course assuming that they

target those weapons would be the south rather than perhaps targets further afield and indeed we should remember in that respect that actually trump himself has passed after katie korea south korea and japan should perhaps take on a role more of a role in defending themselves and less be less reliant on the united states yes sure how do you think north korea them will respond to this latest development they will respond in the same way as they teach every development its. position but it will. and will. not put a. nuclear weapon program. but for that it's clear because when we look at u.s. policy over the last for especially twenty years but arguably much beyond that. it's clear at least start to pull the degree to which that policy has played in the situation that we have seen develop on the korean peninsula for example on the one

hand the u.s. has shown itself over recent years particularly to be a very fickle an unreliable partner enemies or rather allies if you think about iraq libya syria and others with the united states policy allies very quickly turned into enemies and that makes united states an unreliable partner but also all of those countries that have been attacked by the united states haven't had all clear weapons or weapons of mass destruction charles we've just run out of time there we could talk a lot longer we're going to have to leave it there that was pretty cute here analyst and former u.k. army officer thank you. you're here at international we'll be back with more news in thirty minutes. i need to forgive him but he said he was holding up

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