three years and this speech the syrian city of d.n.a. results celebrates as government forces closed in on removing islamic state from one of its last strongholds in the country. in the united states george curatorial with a massive military response bridgeboro. and overwhelming washington isn't ruling out using its own nuclear capabilities if north korea continues to threaten the u.s. or it found lies that's not the pyongyang confirms it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. and ferrying persecution tens of thousands of muslims in myanmar flee the asian country as the minority community struggles against violent oppression by the state's own party.

there this is r.t. international broadcasting to you live from moscow and mickey aaron good to have you with us we start with breaking news this hour syrian government forces are closing in on i still positions near the city of de vore one of the groups last strongholds in the country and to discuss this further i'm joined in the studio by trying to if successful this would be a significant victory over islamic state within. again well first of all there is a city that has been able to survive a total tall siege by islamic state for some three years and that means that the only way to deliver food. there is air drops that also means constant fear of either being shelled by islamic state or being captured by arsenal fighters and right now it looks like the sea is closer to being broken than ever before.

least according to the news that we're getting from the syrian government the army are claiming that they're now approaching the city and it's clearly visible on the map it looks like they've only got ten kilometers to go journalists have been able to contact the governor of their resort and he claims that within the next forty eight hours or so the syrian army will be able to enter the city of. and of course in this case the government is really determined they're confident and no wonder the locals are celebrating we've already received the first pictures of that but here's something for you to understand the suffering that they've been through in these three years of siege. as you were on the very. as isis terrorists raided our house my thirteen year old cousin was staying with us i had here in a water tank so that the terrorists didn't take her as a slave it was obvious that. the situation in their resort is catastrophic

terrorist from iraq execute civilians in the streets and leave bodies lying there for up to five days by secretly drove my sons out of the city otherwise isis militants would recruit them by force inject psychotropic substances and use them a suicide bomber as. well actually the area around it is not the last islamic state stronghold in syria but you cannot underestimate the strategic importance of this area if it happens if it's state gets kicked out of the province that means essentially that said for their fighters in rock the de facto capital of islamic state they will have nowhere to run and here's the washington defense minister with more on that. today there are strategic locations such as which. have been courageously defending it for years now while food medicine and. to them the liberation of the city would be

a point in the defeat of isis and so really this is the case where the joint efforts by the russian military their air force and also the syrian government troops have really taken their toll on the islamic state fighters and we've put together a little compilation of a little reminder of the latest successful military ops and strikes by these two. ok thanks for that that's a tease that. we discuss the future of the war in syria with babies based journalist and middle east experts martin check. ok we don't seem to have that video for you right now what we do we're going to show you it right now oh i think it's an exciting poignant moment a real turning point in what we've we've known until this point in the last six years as the syrian war i think come once. the city is taken in the surrounding

region is flushed out of isis fighters we can start to really talk about the end of the war and a new chapter for possibly restoring peace in the country i think western media will play up. the u.s. but victory in iraq. but not report so heavily on the defeat of i saw. it in because you know it's mixed it's a hugely significant for just the last staging post now of all this terror organization there are no other huge cities or major towns so now the question is you know what will be the second stage of the of the syrian war will we see a problem now with syrian government forces on the rollo's like russia has blown and americans in syria. now washington says it will use any means

necessary to defend itself after the most powerful north korea nuclear test to date the white house says even using america's own nuclear capabilities is not being ruled out. president trump reaffirm the commitment of the united states to defending our homeland territories and allies using the full range of diplomatic conventional and nuclear capabilities at our disposal. we have many military options and the president wanted to be briefed on each one of them any threat to the united states george territories including. or allies will be met with a massive military response the response both objective and overwhelming that's actually kind of an unexpected and drastic change in tone coming from modest there who is really starting to sound more like trump now he did add that america is not seeking the annihilation of north korea but it's highly unlikely that those comments will be of any comfort to anyone in north korea given how quickly his

stance changed from there's always the possibility of a diplomatic solution to we don't want to kill you but we certainly can if need be now the statements are you made even more ominous given the comments made by president trump before he met with madison the other generals the president we checked with real. earlier on sunday trump did tweet that all options are being considered when it comes to north korea but it is clear that the military option seems to be becoming the favorite for the trumpet ministration meanwhile we have china and russia urging all sides to show restraint but it seems that team trump is going to stick with the aggressive rhetoric that we've seen from the president as of late they will be met with fire and fury. like the world has never see north korea better get their act together or they're going to be trouble like today should stare ever have been in trouble in

this world. and this may not get away with what he's doing and this is really already escalated past just a war of words we've already seen america bolster their military. presence in the region and continue to conduct drills with south korea much to the displeasure of their northern neighbors and trump has gotten a fair amount of backlash for some of his aggressive comments both here at home and abroad but the u.s. state department for their part has defended his comments saying that it simply the only way to communicate with the north korean leader exacerbating the president spoke to him to kim jong un in a language that secretary tillerson has said and said this morning in the kind of language that kim jong un will understand but clearly america really has no plans of changing their tactics despite the fact that all of their aggressive rhetoric and saying that talking will not work and attacking north korea has only lead to further threats from north korea and more missile tests but washington seems

unwilling to change their plan of action pushing the whole world closer to the edge of war. well shortly after pyongyang's nuclear test south korea conducted a snap military drill in response according to seoul it simulated a strike on the north nuclear testing site missiles fired from the ground from fighter planes reportedly hits their intended targets in the sea of japan well then another development that south korea is an environment ministry has approved the deployment of the american made thawed anti missile system and it was partly delivered by kma it later turned out that the necessary environmental checks were not carried out and that deployment was delayed however it seems to have been accelerated now with china only expressing concerns that the range of the system could reach its territory as well well earlier we spoke to gregory from the advisory board of the korea policy institute and some union from the council of

korean americans about the tensions in the region. i think the proper demonstration is painting itself into a corner so for instance trump recently tweeted that talks are not the answer and so just leaves the option of threatening north korea which only encourages north korea to accelerate its nuclear weapons program which in turn encourages the trumpeters straight into a pretty i mean you. know it's a very dangerous moment for him and for you didn't you just recently came out with a statement saying they're not willing to give up their nuclear weapons program unless the united states drops its hostile policy so there's a definite opening for a diplomatic move if the united states wanted to take this is a full scale diplomatic crisis and i think the president has not really framed this issue as such i think this is in some ways

a war of words we know he's very fond of twitter and saying provocative things the president and our gov. women is not devoting the resources the political will that are needed to find a solution to this problem we need to amp up the resources at the state department warm bodies people who understand north korea the culture the language get them working on this issue well these latest aggressive moves in the peninsula come right on the eve of the brics summit in china artie's kate partridge joins me live from sharman with the latest now kate how have brics leaders reacted to the incidents. my case is making in the studio would most go to trial those outbreaks leaders have reacted to the latest north korean in.

ok some connection issues with our correspondent kate partridge choose then sharman china for is there but we'll try to get her back for you later in the program or later in the day with the latest well meanwhile more than seventy thousand muslims are fleeing the majority buddhist country of myanmar fairing violence oppression we've got that story and more coming up after the break join us then. her. leg. length. or little. leaguer little.

leg. length of a warhawk still in you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battles they don't believe the new socks credit tell you that will be gossip and probably buy a file for the most important news today. off the bat has been telling you are not cool enough and let's buy their products lists. all the hawks that we along with our audience will watch the world. i. welcome back the south asian country of me is seeing more than seventy thousand of its muslims

fleeing the country fearing violence of question by the states or thora sees one muslim community has been clashing with police and the armed forces to protect its ethnicity from violent methods of persecution myanmar's leader has been held as a political hero in the majority buddhist country by his son but there's been plenty of criticism as well as an ado or two to reports what attributes do you think of when you envisage the ideal leader maybe a symbol of groundbreaking political revolution obviously a person who holds the interests of the people or do you visualize an individual hailed by the media as a hero she was an inspiration during the country's revolution in the eighty's and even won the nobel peace prize as well as a u.s. congress tional gold medal the leader of the southeast asian state of myanmar on sun tsu cheek this is. witness to history. three to six.

leaders talk. doesn't this sound like democratic perfection but sadly reality is far from perfect while the leader revels in glory the country is home to what the u.n. calls the most persecuted minority in the world the ranger a muslim community of more than a million people the minimal government doesn't recognize them as citizens of the country effectively making them illegal immigrants last year a series of brutal attacks were launched against the community after it clashed with police as the minority desperately try to draw the authorities attention to their horrific plight since then more than a. thousand civilians have been killed and more than twenty thousand internally displaced government forces have also been accused of wide scale human rights violations also and rape and murder.

and. the military destroyed everything after killing somebody injure the military burn their houses and shops now there's a danger to our survival that's why we fled all like that that later model we can still hear their screams and my heart and my ears we are really scared and we don't feel safe now don't worry very scared as we heard the sounds from here and there were security even when we eat my heart is beating so fast. i got a lot of really off to my husband who was killed i had no option but to run for my children's lives we spent two nights in the house and sneaks past the border my children haven't had any food yet and they keep crying we only got head because

people from the camp gave us the bus. refugees coming across the border they're coming across the border bullet wounds was shrapnel wounds quite clearly this is a scorched earth offensive by the burmese military the government hash to stop this offensive it has to. basically allow humanitarian assistance and also the journalists into this area we have to actually see what's happened because quite clearly human rights violations have taken place western officials have been vocal about the ongoing crisis including the u.s. envoy to the un nikita. really who's urging the need to step in and end the violence as burmese security forces act to prevent further violence they have responsibility to adhere to international humanitarian law which includes

refraining from attacking innocent civilians and humanitarian workers and ensuring assistance reaches those in need but the leader is not only making no attempt to stop the violence against the persecuted minority she has made the situation even worse by posting hateful content online one comment declares that revenge a makeshift army is a terrorist organization whilst the oppressed muslim minority fights to survive critics warn the west old favorite on sun suchi is doing everything but trying to resolve this deepening crisis. a petition to strip the country's leader of the nobel peace prize she received back in two thousand and twelve has been gaining online support we spoke to the chief executive of the ramadan foundation mohammed schiff eek who says myanmar's problems aren't getting enough attention. the international community is not doing anything and i just think it's disgusting it's a sad indictment of the international order there has to be an increased diplomatic

pressure against on sewing to clear her government and the idea that you've got somebody like sooky who is a nobel prize winner the bastion of human rights in terms of a struggle for freedom and democracy is turning a blind eye is ignored in the crimes of her government and her military is doing everything in their power to not resolve this issue if she remained silent as she has to she is complicit in the murder of so many innocent civilians by the good news authorities are bringing you the latest pictures from russia's chechen republic now at the capital of in where thousands of people have gathered in solidarity with the muslim community in myanmar the protests are against the oppression they're facing in the asian country the russian foreign ministry has already voiced its concern over situation and called on both sides to stop the violence is a huge police presence in the area to prevent any possible violence earlier

a smaller demonstration was held in front of the myanmar embassy in moscow. i get back to one of our top stories now the latest concerning developments on the korean peninsula which come right on the eve of the brics summit in china well our correspondent kate partridge joins me now live from sharm then kate or how have the brics leaders reacted to the latest developments in korea. yes i mean the latest nuclear test from north korea came. ahead of the brics conference here in china and has obviously overshadowed this as well i mean it's also a challenge to the political influence of the group here and will they be able to then instigate what they see as the only solution to the crisis which is a diplomatic solution or have to say about one that north korea's big neighbors which are russia and china and the other three nations that make up brics have all now roundly condemned the new testing but also the leaders also russia and china

who think that presidents putin and she they had already said we need to emphasize here that there is no prey officer in the korean peninsula we need to ensure that there is calm and also they're in agreement there should be no new clear eyes ation that this they say that having nuclear weapons that is totally unacceptable but what they are offering instead is a solution what they would call a road map which is something that the two presidents discussed when president was in moscow in july and they were at effectively saying the way forward the way to reduce tension is through mutual deescalation so what they're suggesting is that north korea stops with the missile testing with the nuclear testing and then with some of the u.s. and south korea should start with those military exercises that pyongyang considers to be a precursor of preparation for an invasion well i discussed all these issues a little bit earlier on with russia's deputy foreign minister said get out and he believes that the road map is the way forward coupled with when you to diplomacy.

there is no further we freshening the country we know there are some. around the world who believe there is nothing else to do but to pressure pressure and threaten their strong we we believe what we experienced before showed no result is achievable shrewd pressures and other pressures and it is there and is developed by russia and china and there is available and we will pursue this course we will try to convince everyone. now the german chancellor angela merkel's main rival martin schultz has failed to win over voters in. live debate that's according to a poll by the t.v. channel that aired their campaign battle the election is set for september the twenty fourth to bring in any new parliament and will also decide whether merkel the remains in office for a fourth consecutive term piece are the has the story. or this debate was set up as a a big stage for martin schulz the social democratic party leader and challenger to angular

merkel to be the next chancellor of germany where the debate though was ultimately scored as a fifty five to thirty five victory to angela merkel the big thing is that there's not too much difference between the parties on the major issues but when it came to major issues particularly the chancellor's twenty fifteen refugee policy martin schultz said that there were things done back in twenty fifteen that should there be a chance to do them again or they should have been carried out in a different manner if we always stressed that we need to find a common european solution according to the dublin convention they should stay with a first arrived and so they are not allowed to come to germany and those states couldn't manage the flow of things should have asked our neighbors for help in dealing with the refugee crisis so i definitely wouldn't say that everything back in twenty fifteen was done right last the key to our love. i see this completely differently and i know that mr schultz also knows that this is not right in two

thousand and thirteen we all knew that we've got a big problem here it's like a car but still we. couldn't find any consensus on a solution to the refugee issue because i acknowledge that and tuts if you think the decision was right there was a chance for obama shills to get a little more impassioned if you will when it came to talk turkey and what type of solutions could be found to dealing with president in the well frankly atrocious diplomatic state of affairs that exists between. korea right now martin schultz pulling no punches saying that turkey. needs to be dropped from all talks when it comes to the european union and joining the european union now i'm starting with the four hundred sixty and it's really hard now with the behavior of the turkish president as they move in prisons people systematically and if i become chancellor i will not only cancel the agreement with turkey would also stop talking turkey joining the e.u. because turkey has crossed all red line waves of refugees have been hitting us now

for a couple of days but for months. and south sea and turkey is distancing itself from all democratic norms that have gratz taking place there would be nothing worse than if we said we're stopping unilaterally all turks with turkey on joining the e.u. and we don't have any majority for that in the european union out of the twelve years that i'm glad merkel has been chancellor eight of those she has ruled as part of a coalition with the social democratic party so if martin schultz is to try and slam her legacy and policies and surely he would find himself slamming his own party and their own legacy as well so for the german people though what that means is which ever one of these two as i said it looks almost certain it will be on the local returned city office the german people almost certainly set for more of the same politically coming up over the coming years but on my colleague andrew farmer at the top of the hour the latest headline.

when else seems wrong. but i'll just don't call. me. yet to see palin this day come up to. and in detroit he was betrayed. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. here's what people have been saying about rejected in the. early show i go out of my way to. the really back to. the john oliver of party americans do the same we are apparently better than. the c.

people you've never heard of. back to the next president of the world bank. seriously send us an e-mail.

they were going underground is chinese president xi jinping the ninth annual bric summit in cheyenne today coming up in the show triggered a nuclear armageddon is to raise or make calls on china to put more pressure on north korea over its nuclear ambitions this try didn't make british taxpayers we speak to former member of the scottish parliament tony sheridan about spending billions of dollars on the mad theory of mutually assured destruction why is it that every time there's a terror attack in the u.k. militants are well known to intelligence agencies we speak of already like five major danny national about the failures of left surveillance plus do all roads lead to five award winning playwright an actor let's just say on thirty years of political neglect captured in his role in the seminal jim cartwright play a road running at london's royal court theatre until the end of this week the civil coming up in today's going underground but first there are quite a few issues lost in british mainstream media reporting of the north korea standoff

if we put to one side u.s. military escalation against russia and china and the fact that modern north korea is the product of u.k. u.s. killing of twenty percent of its entire population there is the issue of nuclear proliferation by britain to resume and blairite labor counterparts so focused on spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the trident weapons of mass destruction system in scotland that they are now scaling back conventional forces it's not something much appreciated apparently north of the border the scottish government is arching. the. key government to reconsider these cutbacks and it's calling for fresh discussions on the closures for those two particular in parts one sense is going to be the withdrawal of the armed forces for the first time in history highlands they're all needy in fife and the other aspect of course is the economic impact to pune a little later.