this is. better than. the c. . heard of. the world bank they. sent us an e-mail. all over america seizure of russian diplomatic property with the u.s. state department facing a barrage of questions from journalists over the. horrible diplomatic protocol you know what i don't know if you are working today or what but i think. also ahead this hour russia's new. credentials. i mean. the face. last convoy arrives in the war weary syrian city of.

mixed state. and. the situation. with germany's general election just a fortnight away speaks to the country's foreign minister who takes. a break. live from moscow to the world vis international my names you know me a welcome to the program our top story this hour the u.s. state department has been facing a grilling over the closure of the russian consulate in san francisco even accuse journalists of sounding too much like artie. that in programs are what's your name let's move on move on to something else if you still consider that sovereign russian property or were those properties searched because there was a concern that they were being used for intelligence purposes which would be like

a different issue i'm just not going to get into that let's let this let's move on to something else here in russia or any other country where u.s. missions that. would have been searched by the host. government you know what i don't know if you are working for r.t. today or what but i remember. in response to the artes editor in chief said the channel takes about comments from the state department as a compliment. spike last week when washington demanded russia vacate its consulate in san francisco two other diplomatic entities follows on from president trump's the session to extend sanctions against russia over alleged meddling in the u.s. election moscow responded by demanding that america reduce its diplomatic staff to the same number that russia has in america who earlier this week or putin said russia will take the u.s.

to court over the situation the state department responded to that to. become sure our american counterparts didn't let russia use its property it's a violation of our property rights i will tell the foreign ministry to go to court we'll see how well the highly praised she dishes system in the u.s. works welcome to the american legal system mr putin has apparently met the legal system that in the united states. new to the u.s. . u.s. president donald trump part of see him officially recognized as moscow's representative in washington we're joined live by a similar account who's in washington has been following the meeting tell us how many details emerged about it. well today new russian ambassador to the u.s. anatoly met with president in a friendly manner apparently at the white house seeks to build closer

relations with the u.s. and he actually agreed with president trump to continue the partnership between moscow and washington which is quite a positive shift from the rhetoric we've been hearing from both sides lately improve relations between the two countries seem even more promising considering antonov was a key member of the russian team who worked on the two thousand and nine two thousand and ten new start treaty which was a nuclear arms reduction agreement but let's take a closer look at his background. we did what we could to improve our relations with the u.s. unfortunately we still haven't reached a consensus. as

. containing russia seems to be the main focus of many western countries as the current crisis in international relations unveils the real nature of some western governments which openly try to dictate their will to the suitors democratic values of the. it's time to stop blaming the b.s. . we have to be made and how we'll find it begins. it's up to washington how far are they willing to good relations. so when your boss or formality it may be but of course there's also a lot of other issues surrounding not let's get into some of them and cross live to political analyst and writer know charles or tell charles good to have you with us

yeah i knew. you think that might be a good thing now at this point in relations between the nations. i certainly hope so i mean i think when you look back at the long sweep of modern american history and you think that this nation lost many millions of people or many people would have been killed in action fighting germany and then look now at the close relationships we have with germany one might imagine that the united states could find it somehow possible to rejigger the relationship the tortured relationship we have with russia and find at least one project to work together on for our common good strikes me that there are many out there so i'm delighted that there is a new representative here in washington d.c. and i'm hopeful that the close team a good team close to trouble not necessarily the obama holdovers but the team close to trump can work hard to you know to actually restart the relationship for the

common good there is an issue hanging over this though in the last number of days the seizure of diplomatic property in the u.s. where do you see that going. it's really you know difficult for me to understand why are either side is going down this path i mean you know we could quibble and say you know in terms of our population we have a larger population then you could come back and say well we have larger territory and whatever but i mean this is really you know i have two children and a case occasionally when they would fight over small problems and ignore great opportunities you know i would try to teach them a lesson or two i'm not saying i'm try to regard the united states and russia as children but you know with all the problems we face around the world in particular our joint problem radical islamic terrorism. and i caught i mean that seems to be you know still not finding its full potential like you go on and on and on with all those problems with with so many shared interests i fail to see the wisdom of going

down this path. how are relations going to turn around and what would it take to get things back on track. i think a common when you know a close team from both countries picking a problem and jointly solving it quickly together you know getting to know one another instead of relying on pundits like me whatever to you know a close team of trusted people on both sides piccy just one problem any old problem in the world working together to solve it quickly and effectively we do go a long way i think to you know stopping this ruinous path we're on now one problem from our side of course is that so long as special counsel moeller is in the in the background there the trump team you know is got to watch very carefully how it interacts with with russia which i don't really understand what mr bowler maybe up to just on not point do you think that if the ongoing investigations into

alleged collusion between team trump and russia which have been going on for some time nothing's being fined if nothing is falling in the future could not be the point things can actually alter. yes i would hope so i mean i truly would hope so i mean i think you know the notion of any nation our own yours meddling in another country's election is a very bad thing and neither of us should do it i think you know the u.s. has been accused of doing that around the world in many countries so we need to get this chapter behind us and i also think you know one what process we're probably going to have to go down in our country is whether mahler's going to look into the degree to which the clinton campaign may have colluded with foreign powers as well so you know that's a hairball but outside the united states there are so many places of the world the middle east for example where a joint effort involving the u.s. and russia could be so productive in europe as well. and you know i would have thought that that's what we want to spend our time doing for the common benefit of

both of our peoples charles or tell political analyst and writer always a pleasure to have you on the program thank you thank you. so one of islamic states highest ranking commanders. is believed to be among forty extremist militants killed in a russian air strike near the syrian city of daraa resort that is according to russian defense ministry who was the group's so-called war minister moved to syria joined eisel in twenty fifteen prior to that he was a special forces commander in the former soviet republic of to take a stand and had been to the us numerous times for training including with the notorious private military contractor blackwater known as academy here he is in a propaganda video. this. focal. length what's up another member thought to have being

killed in the strike was a blue mohamed challis who was of saudi arabian origin he was also finance chief he's suspected of organizing the twenty fifteen parlous terror attacks meanwhile a humanitarian convoy has reached areas or for the first time since ice holes three year long siege was broken back on tuesday forty trucks delivered food medical supplies to residents who had up to that point been relying on drops.

we spoke to a journalist who is now near derbez or is this what you have to say. i am a three kilometer away fill from the one hundred thirty seven brigade i am it just less than one kilometer of isel gatherings in this imaginary area bit just behind that building. now the residual area of desire is just about seven hundred meters it's worth mentioning that some medical equipment and other food supplies have just entered the city phew i was again be hearing the evidence in the sky now the side of me that there is the military air bolted a result it's a just a few kilometers and also it is witnessing some fierce the clashes between the syrian on me and eyes the militants.

moving on with less than two weeks before germany heads to the polls chancellor angela merkel's approval rating remains high however according to a recent survey there is one politician who's actually more popular than her and that's foreign minister signori. peter all of our file lists this report. well as the german election fast approaches the campaigns are really starting to kick into gear. the current german foreign minister of course also a former leader of the social democrats is part of the grand coalition between christian democratic union and the social democrats he's been speaking exclusively to r.t. we can hear what he makes of the election campaign where things stand at the moment when a group in the russians my advice would be to vote for a party that stands for

a good sense of community one that doesn't jeopardize jobs in germany the propaganda by a f.t. and sometimes by the left party against europe one should understand we live like we do only because we're a country that exports a lot of products to europe when our neighbors in europe do we do well to those who seek to destroy europe like the f.t. and some in the left party would destroy millions of jobs in germany and make this country poorer over out was german foreign minister speaking exclusively to r.t. but of course his party the social democrats aren't the only ones on the campaign march at the moment one of the party that's looking to enter the german bundestag for the first time is alternative for germany so we've called them far right they're certainly anti immigration some of also said that they're very anti islamic as well well they've been on the campaign trail on friday as well that they would joy and here in spawn doubt by the former leader of ukip nigel for. what was he at

the citadel in spandau that was the setting for the latest campaign rally for alternative for germany the anti immigration anti islamic party here miss bawn store pointed out the amount of times that alternative. germany's policies had actually been co-opted by other parties and. who wants to give parliament in a position for since the big election due to place without our. now the last dia gentiles discussed that to germany though they've certainly faced a lot of criticism but they all looking likely that they will and it's appalling and they're gunning for that third place however it does look like it's going to be closely run between them and the free democrats the f.b.i. to see who finishes up this time around in the german elections well staying in the country in the german capital one cultural center is taking on usual steps to help refugee children into great into society giving them kung fu lessons we went to

meet some of those involved. but don't mind my brother and my friends started to come through so i came to i wanted to learn more about the cultures about the country and. was. skeptical and if the little space when i first did a class was just a half you janice i saw that they had no interest i realize that conflict might help and still want to and that and help them into german society better one teenager who came here to train has some issues with the police specious of fighting us into conference last is trying to shield from and try and john why spiral because when nobody is around to use martial arts all acetic not one else who admits to that's the train helped him pull himself together and develop this

a person. who is good both for your body and mind and it helps me with. rush's upcoming military drills with bella roosts are alarming its neighbors in eastern europe the spider surance is from moscow about they are purely for defensive purposes but go francis santiago looks at why the alarm is happening. russia and bell the roots are to hold joint military training exercises this month i was planning to be real serious about this but hey how can i resist when the reactions pouring in are just so colorful what washington thinks russia does or about to do an exercise in be able rouge russia. that's going to tail up to one hundred thousand russian troops moving into into that country the great concern is they're not going to leave and that's you know that's not paranoia on did you get that one

hundred thousand troops that's just the russians not counting the forces and beller roofs i mean that's probably enough to storm europe and yes they are concerned what europe thinks russia does it is undisputed that we have seen a demonstration of the capabilities and power of the russians and one who does that has only to look at the high number of forces participation in the south but exercise more than one hundred south and it doesn't end there there are more fantastic predictions was that a neighbor's think russia does well seriously worried the head of the zappa twenty seven thousand drills is numerous aggressive forces taking part in it and there is a demonstrative preparation for war with the west now russia and belarus are allowing three nato observers to monitor the exercise even though the alliance thinks that is not enough but hey they are supposed to be a hundred thousand troops yet at the same time nato secretary general mr stoltenberg says there is no i quote imminent threat to any of its allies confusing

right and how this bell or see the upcoming drills we should just stop making excuses whether our drills are defensive or not we have an army we have a join russia and belarus military formation in the west and while it exists which we did make a secret off we're going to train it how to fight just in case now let's take a look at the real numbers from the russian ministry of defense in fact it's thirteen thousand soldiers around a quarter of them arriving from russia plus three hundred military vehicles and twenty five aircraft doesn't sound like a blitzkrieg now does it. paul ingram from the british american security information council believes that russia's neighbors are overreacting to the drills with belarus i don't think there's any reason for the neighbors to be particularly concerned there's no rational reason why russia would be wanting to actively

threaten those those particular neighbors so it's a classic case of. over concern on the on the part of those countries that are close every reason for russia to be to be exercising because otherwise what's the point of having a military but i think that this is particularly a storm in a teacup at the moment because people are paranoid we move to either be over reactive over paranoid or on the other hand to trigger that paranoia on the other side and take active steps to to to ratchet it down. florida's governor says everyone should be prepared to evacuate from this state as hurricane edges closer highways are already john there's thousands flee in what could become one of the largest evacuations in u.s. history. if you're told to evacuate leave get out quickly. the roads will fill up quickly so you need to go this storm is wider than our entire state is

expected to cause major and life threatening impacts from coast to coast. let's cross live now to marina portnoy who's in florida in miami which has been described as a ghost town marina how true is that what's happening in the city. that's a very good description in my neighborhood right now where i'm at brickell is part of miami dade is one of the many neighborhoods that been that have been put under mandatory evacuation and as a matter of fact this is the largest mandatory evacuation miami dade county has ever seen six hundred sixteen thousand people have been told to leave their homes in brickell where i am if you see two or three people walking on the street that is a lot i have never seen in this neighborhood like the state it is in right now if you go to miami beach very similar you go through miami dade county and other zones that have been told to evacuate either people are already staying indoors or they

have left forty three shelters will be set up in miami dade county but they can only accommodate one hundred thousand people there are many shelters that are turning away people because there is just no room left as you mentioned the governor said this hurricane hurricane erma which is expected to be category four when it hit south florida is the biggest this state has ever seen possibly the biggest america has ever been hit by a lot of floridians most floridians are terrified understandably because we have been warned that it will be catastrophic there are many concerns that range depending on what neighborhood you look at here in brickell what's been dubbed the manhattan of miami we have so many. i ride this that have grown in this neighborhood over the past ten years you could see them over my shoulder and there are a lot of construction sites those construction sites have essentially been abandoned

we have cranes better littering miami skyline that have not been taken down city officials have said the miami residents if you live around construction site leave do not stay home because those cranes have not been built to withstand a hurricane five when they could essential levy of fallen or taken down by these fierce winds and flying into buildings so you have neighborhoods that were billions of dollars have been invested that can be destroyed by this hurricane now of course so many people have been told to evacuate ordered to evacuate but we have also seen that these airports are filled with people that are trying to evacuate particularly fort lauderdale airport and people just can't find tickets or ways to get out of the state take a listen. fortunately i was able to buy a one way ticket to memphis all the tickets were sold out i kept trying all week

over and over again and lucked out now. i have never experienced this in my life in my entire life so i just thought it might be you know it's safe for me to get out because i have never been in this before and i just want to get out. now eighteen people have been killed in the caribbean by it makes its way to the sunshine state as we mentioned several times this is being considered as one of the most devastating hurricanes in history it's been described as the size of france coming towards florida obviously a very tense situation people are preparing the best they can be will remain here in miami to continue covering this hurricane and we'll keep our viewers updated as best we can you know the scenes simply are extraordinary as you're speaking we're looking at different images for on the state rena portnoy stay safe in florida thank you. no one come protect you that's the title of

a new international report on bahrain's violent crackdown against activists and their families over the past year the rights group has documented the deaths of six people including a child as well as numerous cases of our arbitrary detention and also torture take a look. the report also reserves harsh criticism for the international community for its silence over bahrain's rights abuses in particular it takes aim at the u.s.

and britain they were seen as being in the position to influence the kingdoms actions donald trump is also one busted for approving the sale of fighter jets to the gulf state and his dropping of human rights demands the report say that give a green light for further repression well bahrain denies the allegations made against it accuses government critics of trying to undermine stability in the country. a member of the berean freedom movement to a list of london and washington are essentially complicit in the crimes. of what i am doing is that he is bad sick you would think the people of the political. impact on the policies of the regime that if he knows that we go their support it cannot survive if without the support of the americans of course under through

these those you would have collapsed so i think. from. the need to improvement over the human rights situation and the broadly political transform it into those democracy but they don't want. the leader of a muslim organization in norway has found himself in the headlines after refusing to shake hands with the country's immigration minister because she's a woman the man on the left here who leads a group called islam that offered the minister a bunch of flowers at the beginning of a t.v. debate instead we got reaction to this from how much a feat from the ramadan foundation stephen maurice of the english democrats party. trying to do is push his religious beliefs onto other people and what he's doing he's actually not integrated he doesn't want to integrate shake hands it's just a gesture of friendship and it's not down to religion it's not religious based

however not shaking these hummed a real insult but well i'm not here to defend that particular remark but i'm here to defend the right of people to choose how they practice their faith we have in our country and europe many orthodox jewish people who refused to shake the hand of women so actually it's something which goes on it's not disrespectful it's a form of respect this is about religious freedom and you know nowhere in what i've just seen which one of the i'm sure. the june. well let me show it is not unlike their leaders story you believe an issue it let me finish let me let me finish ok it's not about you telling other people what they can and cannot say there and it's not about you to decide to determine what's acceptable or not if there is somebody within the jewish community orthodox jew jewish community are refusing to shake people's and do you have

a problem well when i run for mayor of greater manchester you could come that it was jewish refused to shake hands with women. and i said that was not right that was against our culture so it's not just against islam or what you're talking about it's one hundred friendship being given to somebody and it's been thrown in the face when we go to morse or we go to synagogues we expect to other women to have a headscarf we expect to take our shoes off and very sort of things which we do as a matter of respect are i'm saying to you you've got to understand that if somebody individually wants to express their own way of practicing their faith why do the jewish member of our society why there are muslim or a christian or whichever faith they're from all they have to do is decide it is their choice to do that and we have to respect our. to join me in half an hour's time for more world news here and twenty four seven r.t. international programs right ahead.