donald trump dares russia to try and shoot down u.s. missiles over syria and suggest that a strike is imminent the us president goes on to say that relations between the two powers are worse than during the cold war. the us is threatening military action against a mask over an alleged chemical attack yet a probe into the incident has yet to take place with an international fact finding mission not even due in syria till the end of the week. the us has approved a grant for a media company started by a palestinian journalist killed last week while covering clashes at the israel gaza border. and facebook's boss is probed over election meddling and data leaks but it turns out those grilling the c.e.o. have been financially supported by him in the past meanwhile the social media giant faces a fiery battle from some of its blocks users. do what they spoke to be stopped solidly

on what he thought. the body is. a warm welcome to the program for me jacqueline murtha and all of the crew here at our two international banks for tuning in the situation around syria seems to be escalating by the minute with the us president sending a chilling warning get ready russia has promised quote nice and new smart missiles will be fired at syria in response to the alleged chemical attack in duma he also said relations with moscow are now even worse than during the cold war russia warns any strike on syria will get in the way of investigating the reported chemical incident that sparked the current crisis. and by the way worthy of the c.w. experts warned that those missiles my destroy all the evidence of chemical weaponry used in the ground or they just want to quickly hide the evidence of the

provocation by those smart missile strikes so the international experts want to have any proof to look for for more on the latest in syria i'm joined live by artist than of now a lot has happened since saturday when this all reported incident took place break it down for us well this exchange on twitter is just a continuation of what we've had since the first allegations up over this alleged chemical attack for example yesterday we had a u.n. security council session and you know tensions were flying high there as well both the united states and russia put forward their rivaling resolutions as to what should be done in syria and then russia vetoed the american resolution and the united states vetoed moscow's resolution so a deadlock a diplomatic deadlock and this really what happened at the u.n. security council it really seemed as

a very heated confrontation over different approaches towards the situation have a listen. clearly explain to me what this alleged chemical attack was necessary for the massacres especially for most all militants were. today they vetoed for the sixth time a resolution condemning assad for chemical weapons attacks on his own people the room only you have already a point to guilt in such cases bush in the wrong. way we are not able to support the tax it would be like watching a fire and identifying that and doing nothing to put it out fortunately american partners and colleagues the real investigation. so with this latest we don't know trump it seems has burned his last bridge towards a diplomatic solution here because what options does he have now he can either

launch strikes like the ones that he did last year when they attacked the when they attacked the syrian air base after an alleged chemical weapons attack in one she who which didn't achieve much but only aggravated the situation on the ground and worse in their relations between russia and the united states he could do that he could jump into an all out confrontation with russia and i mean i can't even i don't don't know even where to begin why this is bad and finally you could of course backtrack even after promising in imminent strike but then lose face in this situation but the bottom line here is there could be a potential conflict between the united states and russia and these are two nuclear states of course at this point we really don't have that much concrete information of what may or may not have happened on saturday in syria doing a no we don't know much let me put it this way we do know that the accusation was put forward by a group known as the white helmets it is self branded civil defense group in syria

they work exclusively in rebel held areas though they do admit to the acknowledge that the a not impartial the have a very anti assad stance and also while the praised for their work in the west some people who have worked on the ground the criticize. the white helmet because they say this group has ties with terrorist organizations so that's that is their reputation is marred by that and so when they put forward that allegation the russian military moved in to the city of duma in syria to have a look to investigate in the russian military saying well they didn't find any traces of any chemicals that the could. find any victims of a chemical of a chemical weapons attack but the word it wasn't like their word should have been taken as it was you know as some gospel the said ok let's have international actual

chemical experts on the ground and have their professional opinion on that and this is pretty much russia's position has been all along washington's position has been we have a role in intelligence we do not need the o.p.c. w. on the ground to confirm that and we do know that the chemical attack took place and we believe that assad is behind it although with teligent didn't really even provide the us student partment as to which exact which particular chemical was used in duma apparently have a listen. now we do know that some sort of a substance was used a chemical was use we're just not sure at this point today exactly what was with you. so clearly the state department is convinced that what happened what they believe is exactly what happened and now we have these tweets coming from donald trump it really does feel like action is going to be taken before an investigation

even has a chance to begin yes the o.p.c. w. experts are set to arrive on syria only by the end of the week trump's wording indicates that the strike could come much sooner than that and so there's all sorts of risks they could destroy the potential evidence they could destroy the site of attack potentially they could destroy a chemical weapons facility and risk contamination of the neighboring areas so but the biggest risk of course is a direct confrontation between russia and the united states in an atmosphere when really emotions overshadow facts figures don of say across this developing story thank you for the update. trump may be rushing to act now but it wasn't always like that back in two thousand and thirteen he was highly critical of then president barack obama's approach on syria saying bad things will happen if washington launches an attack but after becoming president trump dropped tomahawk missiles on

syria and is now seemingly gearing up for action as well here's one possible reason for such a change of tune. bunny brown the flag effect and increased popular support of the president during war accompanied by reduced criticism of governmental policies. any nuclear missile launched from cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack by the soviet union on the united states. progress is now being made towards the restoration of peace in the caribbean. the use of terrorists and its holding hostages. political to me. to continue along with other nations and with the official. resolution of the crisis. i have therefore directed to reject the iraqi army from kuwait.

is president i can report to the nation aggression is defeated the war is over. american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger. united states and our allies have prevailed. and i ordered a targeted military strike for the airfield. i think. became president of the united states i think this was actually a big moment for some european countries have already pledged support for washington stance. they have

a defense that chemical weapons were used there is very very clear as far as i'm concerned that can be checked over again but it doesn't help us as we condemn this attack you know we will continue the exchange of technical and strategic information with our partners especially the british and the americans and in the coming days we will announce our decision meanwhile the british prime minister theresa may has reportedly said she needs more evidence in order to back a military response and france has said it's not yet determined what measures it's ready to take. part is an associate certainly joins me with the latest on that so and to say it doesn't exactly look like a united front here. well look jacqueline it certainly doesn't look that european leaders along with the white house are necessarily seeing one hundred percent i to y. it quite yet what we do know is that according to reports citing u.s. officials the white house london and paris have had some kind of consultations

where it's understood that the white house would like to come forward with a unified front with its allies but there doesn't seem to be a common approach that those leaders are ready to put forward on the table quite yet what we do know of course is that following this tweet from donald trump that has now everybody questioning what's going to happen next we know that emanuel that france would like to see a strong and joint response and that some kind of decision would be announced in the coming days and it's going to keep in mind that he does have the power to go ahead with any kind of action without necessarily parliamentary approval but his approach is not necessarily one that's being applauded throughout france you know everyone knows perfectly that in war time the first victim is truth what happens on the ground it's almost unknown to us the chemical attack which evidently took place is abominable we must condemn it but we still have to find out who committed it so it sounds a lot like an excuse for the united states of america and their allies to get back

in the game and to engage in an armed conflict i think that's currently france is contributing to the creation of the recreate a certain form of the cold war with russia it's pointless because it doesn't benefit france or its economy or international relations to let the u.s. seeking to stir up a conflict with russia boss around. well in terms of plans about how to move forward here we have heard that downing street and theresa may has basically made it clear that she's no fan of rushing into action right this minute that she would like to see more evidence about the allegations of assad's involvement and there is an understanding that this was a conversation howled with donald trump and downing street have said that they are of course going to back an international response but they want to find out exactly what happened and it also has to be said that here in one of westminster of course there's plenty of debate about whether or not this would be something that would

have to be put forward in terms of a vote at the house of commons this is something that's understood to be common practice following the iraq war however to rescind me does have the power of the authority to go ahead by herself however it's understood that this would be something that would be favored some kind of discussion at the house of commons to take place which is not something that's expected to necessarily happen this week since technically just pure reasons that the house of commons is recess until monday so it remains to be seen whether or not this is something that is going to take place sooner with m.p.'s being called to vote before that happens so really lots of questions about whether or not there is going to be some kind of unified common response taken by the u.s. france and great britain quite a lot still up in the air artie's on to see a church in the reporting live from london thank you for bringing us that report u.s. shares dropped one percent in pre-market trade on wednesday after trump's syria tweets meanwhile the president's actions have sparked harsh criticism from u.s.

senator tim kaine. fifteen months and the trumpet administration has no serious strategy threats tweets one off strikes are not a strategy but eighteen russia is not a strategy this is why congress needs to reassert control over war powers during tuesday's security council meeting the us ambassador nikki haley proclaimed russia's hands are covered in the blood of syrian children and added that shaming russia with the pictures of those kids hasn't worked r.t. if you are trying to go takes a look at the pictures of the children the u.s. envoy chip chose not to show a word of warning you might find the following images upsetting to shame the russians all u.s. officials think they have to do is say one word kids who are some reason you who are all covered in the blood of syrian children cannot be assumed by pictures of their kids victims. we turn for you see mrs haley said it out loud there

used to telling the world about kids russia's friends killed with the latest chemical attack call like always the american media were there to spread the word these images are so disturbing the children the families in such distress what you see around them out of the phone that's a sign of a chemical attack hundred thick images of syrian children fighting for us accusing russian and syrian president. ruined children's lives thousands of graves that weren't meant to be dug so early stories from war ravaged parts of the middle east will make you cry and all of them must be told but i can't help asking why for u.s. officials or journalists these agonizing stories from mosul iraq or rocca in syria don't exist.

no on some channels you'll never see their stories maybe because they're scars or how america's top military man puts it a fact of life civilian casualties are a fact of life civilians will get caught in the crossfire civilians will get hurt civilians will get killed if you want to liberate your towns and cities it comes at a price the responsibility for civilian casualties in iraq and syria lies with isis that is on them not on us we are the good guys and munitions people on a battlefield know the difference kids lives in another arab country yemen have turned into a disaster that's a fact so say humanitarian groups and it is a fact of life in a sense that washington is pretty much at hand when saudi arabia is bombing civilians. across the border the saudis have spent billions on what sam has to

offer and donald trump loves selling guns to riyadh in terms of dollars very very you know of five hundred thirty three million dollars five hundred twenty five million dollars to you. besides in case someone forgot the americans themselves have for years been taken away innocent lives in afghanistan must have been explosions happened i was with my uncle and cousins american soldiers opened fire and a bullet flew by my face would you say this is my younger brother. he was killed by u.s. troops this is my brother shot of. and this is my father's jihad group he was killed as well i want the government to avenge my father and kill his killers arresting regime whose three rounds are all kurds and the blood of syrian children are not being screamed by pictures of its victims. before. franco

and moscow. discuss the situation in syria further we're now joined live by ali risk an expert on middle eastern affairs now we have this announcement coming from donald trump but it was written on twitter how seriously should that be taken how much weight does that have is that akin to an official statement. it's not akin to an official statement but i think it also was of the same time syria so i think the whole process you know told trump was scheduled to go to torun for a visit take counsel that to oversee the american response so it does appear that we are headed towards something but what exactly are we headed for i think that is the big question in my own person mr minister mation i think that the possibility of an american strike on syria is about fifty percent you know i hope i'm mistaken

but we do indeed appear to be headed towards something and i think that you know trump in one way or another is trying to respond to the demands of the deep state to israel you know there are pressures from israel from the deep deep state in america as well to do something about syria and sort of for that reason i think indeed it quite likely that he will go ahead and do something that turned out and that russia should stop an arms race from developing developing in one of his tweets would you agree with critics who think that trump is the one provoking an arms race with his nice and new smart missile threat. oh well yet the trump you know has been talking about building the american nuclear arsenal that was one of his one of the statements he made during his campaign he continued he continues to boast about building america's nuclear hostile so yes i think that the if you want to refer to co-produce when it comes to building good

will toward provoking a missile race or a nuclear rights call it what you want i think that both will trump is the biggest culprit even looked at the it is the united states which is selling weapons to saudi arabia at the same time and certainly we're starting weapons to cut out of the qatari i mean it is currently in washington so it's also creating an arms race i think in the persian gulf region sort of the last one to make such accusations i think when it comes to arms and the proliferation of these weapons would be that it's the. earlier mention that you believe there's about a fifty percent chance that america will strike syria why do you think that is and if they don't strike what needs to happen for trump to then backtrack on these threats. well i think that it's exceeds fifty percent simply simply because how will trump climb down from that what i mean to say is that you know he's made these statements he says for example russia get

ready for missiles smart missiles when you do make some statements it is quite difficult to backtrack you know it's difficult to save face if he doesn't go ahead after making these threats that would make him look quite bad and i think that trump his personality doesn't want to be portrayed as a weakling so that's why i say it's quite likely that he will go ahead with the strike that being said you know anything is possible back in two thousand and thirteen everyone thought that the obama instruction was going to launch a strike under the pretext of a between brackets chemical attack and used on the water or bottle went back and he referred the issue to congress then there was an american agreement regarding syria's chemical weapons so it's possible maybe that you know there won't be another agreement you know you ask a question about how it was a possible that. we would be spared from by the military strike i think one of the

means to prevent a military strike would be for some kind of the new understanding to be reached between the erections and the americans are similar to that one which was reached between the obama administration and the russian government back in two thousand and thirteen however it has to be said that two thousand and thirteen is different than in the situation today so there you had this escalated cold where cold war story rhetoric this russian phobia which has spread throughout official washington that wasn't the case and because this russia phobia i think that you know reach out instead understanding between the trumpet mr asian and the russian government now would be quite difficult not impossible but at least a lot difficult than it was back in two thousand and thirteen when we didn't have this russia from russia phobia which was spread throughout washington many of districts described as being rather impulsive but i think he's really willing to take it this far to possibly risk an all out war.

i'm not sure he's willing to risk an all out war but i think he doesn't intend to do something as i've said now the big question is what is that you know what is that something which he intends to do. doesn't intend to launch a similar strong similar strike to that which was launched back in back last year the shah about recall when the americans launched the tomahawk missiles trump back then you know he was also president he decided to launch these at this time if you read the american media outlets the coals or the case being made by them is that this time and some tomahawk missiles won't be enough you have to do more in order to deter the syrian government from using chemical weapons that's according of course to the western version of events so this time there is pressure to trumpet to go ahead with an escalated response now with a willing to go ahead and do that and risk war i'm not sure i think that trump is

very intent on not doing anything which would cause the loss of lives of russian soldiers in syria that is something completely sure of that but would he go ahead for example and target somebody raney and personal aide in syria likely israelis did just a couple of days ago that's a possible scenario of some attacks maybe in damascus some. sensitive locations and that's also something which is possible as i said to the juice of the pressures which are piling up on the trumpeter ministration not just to do something but to do something which was more than what he did last year when he launched those tomahawk missiles the world is without a question watching and waiting to see what happens next ali risk expert on middle eastern affairs thank you so much for your time and your unique insight on the situation thank you. a military aircraft has crashed in algeria killing two hundred and fifty seven people that's according to the country's defense ministry these are pictures from the scene the aleutian seventy. six plane came

down shortly after takeoff from an air base around thirty kilometers from the country's capital the aircraft had been carrying algerian military personnel and members of their families. a media company started by a palestinian journalist killed last week while covering protests at the israel gaza border has received a grant from the us government. well a palestinian journalist was killed last week during the clashes along the israel gaza border between israeli soldiers and palestinian protesters yes it was thirty years old he was a camera man and also the co-founder of a palestinian production company in gaza known as the palestinian media he was just a few hundred meters from the border. shot in the torso and it was very clear from the pictures we've seen that he was wearing a bulletproof jacket with the word blazoned across it we have subsequently heard

from the israeli defense minister avigdor lieberman that he was a member of a must which israel guards is a terrorist organization and therefore a legitimate target his colleagues of course deny this saying these claims are ridiculous but this is what israeli defense minister had to say. this is a veteran terrorist of the hamas military wing he was a rank you quivering to account to he received a regular salary says twenty eleven those remarks from the defense minister confuse the situation a little because we have heard from the israeli army that he does not intentionally target journalists at the same time it also contradicts statements that we receiving from the united states which provided him with a grant of nearly twelve thousand dollars now this is under a program that supports private sector development and wants to help his production company in gaza the u.s. state department does not deny the claims my understanding is that he was vetted according to u.s. government guidelines but i don't have anything more for more tucker was shot last

friday and died early on saturday morning he was buried later on saturday and at his funeral her must political leader is not here spoke saying that he was a martyr and quickly as well that there would be one hundred thousand more martyrs who would rise up to take his place all of this comes amid growing tensions on the ground we expect that this friday yet again there will be clashes between israeli soldiers and palestinian protesters. us social media sensations diamond and silk say facebook still hasn't inform them why it suddenly restricted their viral pro trump page. well. yeah yeah. that's really at. least a piece of what the five percent who. want to see this course is about the people and i see these two and shall. i say they are the greatest new values of our.

earth yet it's not easy when you see the dual became a web sensation after comments on the two thousand and sixteen u.s. presidential election but it's not the first time they've been blocked online you tube to monetize almost all of their content a year ago meanwhile this was facebook's response we have communicated directly with diamond and silk about this issue the message they received last week was inaccurate and reflective of the way we communicate with our community and the people who run pages on our platform we have provided them with information about our policies and the tools that the ripley people to their page look forward to the opportunity to speak with them however the duo say the social media giant cut notifications to their millions of support subscribers without explanation the company claimed the content was unsafe before clarifying it was due to inappropriate behavior we spoke to the pair who accuse facebook of discrimination. i didn't understand it and when he said that our content and our right hand is

unsaved to the community our brain is dying to still die i mean the circus to black chicks that's down with politics that's right not only of that we are conservative we love our country we love our president ok so when i said that i was offended by it we was all caught by it we look at this has been censorship discrimination defamation of character and even a byelection of our civil rights to black women as if we are some type of animal as somebody just out there just get out and say that is appalling to me facebook is going to have to answer to that why what was the reason because we don't know that's right and we can appeal that they said that we could not appeal that and this was final but it's because of the huge entity ok it is an entity that people from around the world join facebook so we don't want to get into this here our lane

where you have one person dictating what people can see and what people can hear right on this platform when a star has millions our round the world not just in the united states but millions around the world because that's where it gets dangerous that's right do not stifle our silence people's free speech that's where i stand is that you've got to be balanced and we know that they want to say that they are private entity but you are open to the public that are you are open to the public you cannot discriminate that's a wrap up of today's top stories for now but i'll be back in about thirty minutes.