four american mercenaries involved in iraq that left fourteen. convictions sentences turned a decade. also in iraq russian speaking children. in an orphanage after their parents allegedly died fighting terrorists they tell us their story. to the russian lawyer who controversially met with. the issues surrounding.

the whole story surrounding my meeting with has been manipulated by. this question. around the clock across the world. international from the team and myself you know me a welcome to the program our top story this hour the legal battle over a massacre in iraq a decade ago has returned to the u.s. courts judges have ordered three sentences of three operatives from the private security contractor formerly known as blackwater indicating the sentences were too harsh a fourth man faces a complete retrial. day in two thousand and seven the contractors open. fire with

machine guns and grenade launchers in baghdad were square fourteen on civilians were killed and seventeen others injured the blackwater guards argued they were under fire from insurgents but no witnesses support the claim the carnage drew widespread condemnation and raise serious questions about the military's accountability in iraq. i wonder if there are. there were dead bodies everywhere. among the dead. seven years old.

during that period the firm was known as blackwater in turn billions of dollars from the u.s. government secured a contract after the two thousand and three us invasion of iraq operating as part of the us occupational authorities blackwater gain notoriety over its security flaws and disciplinary problems following the massacre of the company rebranded but it is still operating well the scandal has done little to dense washington's appetite for working with military contractors they're still thriving artesia jack to look more into the story. 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 taxpayers that would largely 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 yet 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. . well political analyst done glazebrook believes the case proves the u.s. allows impunity for its own forces and mercenaries. 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 u.s. forces have impunity and and that extends to their mercenaries as well remember this really interesting this this trial in the u.s. 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 so very very troubling development i think. forty eight russian speaking children are currently stranded on an orphanage in iraq after they were rescued during the battle to liberate the city of mosul from islamic state and artie crew has been to the shelter to visit. yes but. even this this is for the pilot. the leader of the current move caucasoids. has so eloquently put there by some of the kids the children do appear to be unsure of their own names and indeed how will be are it's believed they were taken to iraq by their parents he joined us

let me state and i presume did russia iraq and jordan are working to track down other family members some of the children helping the scribing the harling or david's the injured. now. that it seems that the. sallies let. us leave one is still a doughboy dalmiya mom. do. bits of wood known as. i'll go and you'll slip in the service of selecting me was just good good looks and does just look. like to me i mean you have a list. of each. i need to show you it's still. not on that not only.

this is not. it only oh we. only have five. commonly there was only. one thing well. he's someone else those deliberative case could just put someone who knew as over the. years those will money. may know that. our correspondent if you're a cheater house details of more heartbreaking stories which have emerged. 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 in their 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 youtube video with her son on it and she contacted the russian authorities can you actually have to see any of this man in the shares still or. there's a slab a good look at their list there's got rich is there but so much to. do with national. stand in the douglas. 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 harry 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 of the children grow. parents and 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 threatened 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 clues. is that when you get out of there that this was. a moment since. the raid in you know to. new deal and then. the newest and could you would you call with. me. most of the prepared it was most birth 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. we got in touch with iraq's child well

for a commission which sees the children of eyes the militants are victims. i don't give you would not talk to 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 among them there are the iraqi children of the z. the mothers the right chechen children chinese there is one friend child all these children have been placed in the shelters they're 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. the special counsel overseeing the investigation into alleged russian meddling in the us election robert miller is reportedly using a grand jury for the case it will be allowed to interview everyone involved in the

controversial meeting between donald trump jr and russian lawyer tell you a vessel in the sky which drew a huge amount of media attention we all know her name now and tell us about sky italia vessel in that sky natalia vessel needs sky and the tally of the cell in the sky and italia vessel at sky i. have to wake up one morning and find you are the focus of the all the fire and kin stream media. turns out it was nothing. the telly of us will need sky spoke exclusively to r.t. we asked her what she thought about the possibility of a grand jury being involved in the investigation into be alleged collusion between russia and team trump. yet in their store. i don't know what exactly mr

miller's going to investigate regarding my meeting with his president's son i can only say what i know that my meeting was determined by my duties as a lawyer i was defending a russian citizen in the united states of america if it turns out the defending a russian citizen in the us is a crime in that case there is a subject for mr miller's investigation you see it's interesting how the u.s. media machine works the new york times sent me a request with the list of questions on the eighth of july i was very surprised by these questions they were focused on my meeting with mr trump at first i couldn't even remember when exactly that meeting happened it was so fleeting and in consequential but here's what's interesting after receiving a quite detailed response from me the new york times published only a short part they needed today this article has changed significantly if you open the first story they had on this matter and compare it to the original version they published on the eighth you will see how dramatic the difference is i understand

that the whole story surrounding my meeting with trump jr has been manipulated by whom i see only one answer to this question if you find the motive you'll find the explanation we got so close to the truth behind the magnitsky act who was pushing it and why for years we found out so much about what was happening in russia between one nine hundred ninety six and two thousand and six we found out so much about the real cases of them battlement of russia's budget and considering that i publicly challenge mr browder the man behind this story i think it's all orchestrated by him and his team. well american financier william browder emerged as a central player in the scandal between intel the vessel and donald trump jr and even testified to the senate committee leaked u.s. state department e-mails reveal that broader was actively gathering information and personal details. she believes brought her has

a personal vendetta against her because he lost the court case to her which opened in two thousand and thirteen then vessel and sky was representing a cyberspace company prednisone holding owned by a russian businessman broader how to accuse the company of money laundering the case was settled in may this year and cleared of any guilt so we have to credit. the international committee of the red cross says it is alarmed by the number of yemeni civilians being killed and injured by our strikes echoing a statement from the united nations following a deadly or a strike on saturday at sais that the laws of armed conflict are being broken and that civilians are paying a far too heavy price in the war after the latest aerial bombardment which was allegedly carried out by saudi arabia disturbing video emerged showing the bodies of a family being dragged from the rubble please be warned it is highly upset saying local officials say nine people died in the incident including six children the u.s.

strike happened say dawn raid was carried out over the rebel stronghold of. riyadh denies it was responsible saying it does not target civilians earlier we spoke to the spokesperson for the international committee of the red cross in the near middle east and she sees the situation in the country is getting worse and that more and more innocent people are being killed. but we know that it's very disturbing trend but it passed months we. believe difference not to make a difference between. to do. laws of armed conflict but is at war i have to meet at most efforts to make sure that the. military objectives and not to be ans homes or markets he would do would select to remind the audience about. could it be the meat that's going on in yemen right now over

one hundred sixty thousand suspected cases close to two thousand dead the largest such of our day which is that day when it's over so the end of the week is being reached at the beginning of the year it was. seen on television it's. a burst open light in the last months because a lot of attention and we certainly do hope that disorder that we accorded to it by just this could be. germany is to resume sending asylum seekers back to greece ending its six year moratorium it's returning nearly four hundred newcomers under new rules which dictate where immigrants should be processed the move comes a little over a month before germany's general election artie's peter all over reports. but 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 will be 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 my current minister. we accept there was pressure from several e.u. 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 improved so far so we're still waiting for the reasoning why germany has taken its decision right now to return those almost four hundred asylum applications to greece. a white house adviser has warned north korea not to test president trump saying the country is tiny and irrelevant in comparison to the us and its capabilities. this is a little peugeot the nation if you compare it to our capabilities they don't come to being even close to. at all so this is this is nothing else except black mail. comments come after north korea lashed the us over they latest

round of sanctions imposed. it said washington will pay dearly for what they came regime sees as crimes against the country on the its people 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 it also means that countries will not be allowed to increase the number of north korean laborers they employ on foreign investment will be blocked it's thought the measures will dent the north's economy to the tune of around one billion dollars per year. giving the growing tension inside korea is now seeking permission from washington to develop more powerful ballistic missiles on a bilateral agreement between the u.s. side korea seoul can only develop missiles with a range of up to eight hundred kilometers and with a marksman payload of half

a ton on sunday side korea's president president trying to change the restrictions the pentagon has indicated that it's likely to accept the request we discussed the issue with security analyst and former u.k. army officer charles should bridge. 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 could possibly kind of deterrent against the north assuming of course that the north everything. hence to use its weapons and of course assuming that the target of those weapons would be the south rather than perhaps targets further afield they will lash out. and will i'm certainly not put a halt to the. missile and nuclear weapons program at least not for the forseeable

future. the syrian army is clearing the eastern town of of eyes of terrorists it was captured by government troops at the weekend is being regarded as one of their most significant victories in recent months we spoke to the syrian army's information chief. military units have encircled in the suburbs of mira new advance in the last stronghold and 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 movement the ice and snipers in fights the syrian military is the last i saw a terrorist from the city as soon as your permission to wipe out the militants is over the syrian armed forces were officially declared the liberation of the city are video news agency has filmed exclusive video from inside the time. of the last

this law makes that stronghold in homs province the retaken time is about fifty kilometers from the border with terrorism or province which is still mostly under control explaining the significance here. syrian war geography the south east is where the color coded key is least complicated government controlled red vs eisel held the black divided by won't a long desert front line and it's just shifted to the right of a town called no. there is plenty to soul break for these protests troops and 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 four provinces taking control of this province will mean wiping out impromptu oil production no more cash for the terrorists from. the government troops can also push to the north and if they can reunite with fellow soldiers and the rock a province isolates forces will end up cattle in the geographical heart of the. but the beginning of the ups and the ice in syria or the rug but definitely potentiality of superman is only fifty kilometers away. taking up a take with the. actually opening the route and the road there is a door now the option is practically top of the forces coming in from the north west that would create a huge pocket of remaining. i think the army will potentially link up with

what's left of the other forces and push for their resort in the quickest to form a new way 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 breeze momentarily with relief but there is still a long way to go well as the you just mentioned tour is or has been under siege for years locals told us about the dire conditions there faced by living in the shadow of. 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 use them

as suicide bombers to brilliant don't have access to regular good to commodities to services planes are always able to reach the iraqi power through the equipment of the food which is needed that is old is on the outskirts is one lawyer front line you've got thousands of syrian forces fighting i think some of the bases there in constant need to resupply. a devastating six point five magnitude earthquake has hit a region inside west china hundreds of people are feared dead thousands more injured that is according to local media a preliminary analysis says that over one hundred thirty thousand houses may be damaged it happened near the site of a similar quake back in two thousand and eight that registered eight on the richter scale of it left eighty seven thousand people dead or missing. hate filled graffiti has been sprayed twitter's offices in the german city of humbug but

it's not the work of political extremists it's instead part of a stunt to highlight the abundance of offensive posts on twitter on the company's seeming reluctance to talk to the artist by me action used real tweets of racist anti semitic homophobic messages to make his point on public hate speech more clear are to share her shapira c.c.'s reported three hundred hateful tweets to twitter but ses the social media giant us feel to delete most of them and not prompted him to take radical action to get the companies that. the law forces companies like twitter and facebook to delete those kind of comments after twenty four hours or to at least process them twitter is a huge company and they have a bunch of wrist resources and i think considering how much how many resources they actually have i feel like they're not doing everything in their power to stop this

problem which is the big problem isn't it interesting that i have to spray those things on the whole street for people to actually notice them while those tweets of those tweets it's been on have been on twitter for years the only response i got when we were dare was you know after we sprayed everything. someone from the building i'm not sure if it's twitter or one of the other offices that are there and they hired someone to clean up but he cleaned up only in the front so we only cleaned up the interests of the building while all the other hate comments were. were still there and i thought it was a it was a nice symbol to how twitter approaches things. we have been in contact with twitter to get its wrists reaction response to the story when they get back to us we will tell you what the company says and will do add to the debate on any of those stories.