i. days after slamming the syrian white helmets as propaganda pink floyd legend roger waters reveals the activist group had been trying to be his support also the. russian t.v. channel claims his interview the syrian voice seen in white helmets footage reportedly showing the aftermath of a chemical attack charging this far they give their account of how an event unfolded in duma that day and the u.k. and russia traded tough rhetoric at the u.n. over the script poisoning case of the london meats neither it nor the international chemical watchdog can confirm the origin of the nerve agent used in the attack and

also a new trend among refugees in germany migrants who claim to be terrorists so they're arrested and avoid deportation to their home countries. that are they welcome you watching r.t. international is just going to three pm here in the russian capital now just days after the name sing the controversial syrian activists the white helmets the pink floyd co-founder roger waters has revealed the rescue group had been trying to lobby his support for to find out more now we're joined by r.t. if you could start off in the studio you go so what exactly is mr waters claiming here well he's saying he has revealed in fact that a number of times the lobbyists for the white man's group have been trying to reach out to him and to promote the cause of the white house and to kind of get him on board with the group so broader waters of. course mostly known as the bass player

and songwriter and co-founder of the legendary pink floyd group he says that in one of the e-mails he was contacted by a group known as the syria come pain and apparently they are working they were working on behalf of the white helmets and that they what they did they invited him to a fundraiser in the united states and they went into great detail in that e-mail detailing how great the white helmets apparently are and the even invited and suggested that roger waters should watch a documentary on the white house describing it as a very powerful thing well instead roger waters did his own research and here's what he had to say i was quite suspicious after i was invited to that white helmets dinner now my worst suspicions have been confirmed. and that was nearly time not at the white helmets lobbyist to try to approach mr waters no indeed another time a french journalist who in his email openly stated that he was working with the

white helmet he reached out to urge waters asking him for a stage time with him apparently he wanted to go on stage with roger waters at one of his solo gigs and addressed the crowd addresses fans and disorder of make a case for the white helmets and ironically roger waters he kind of responded to all of those all of those e-mails indirectly though at a gig in spain have a listen. white americans. same broken association doesn't exist only very complicated. this week with this sort of talk to congress the point home it's in others we would be encouraged to encourage our governments to go and start dropping. serious. so there you have it the musician in fact didn't stop at this denouncing the group in fact

reached out and sort of with a call to other celebrities who have supported the white house and like for example we know that actors like ben affleck and george clooney they have been. in did they have endorsed the white how much as did the very popular british band coldplay roger waters in his turn he's called on them to renounce their support to denounce the group and not fall for what they're doing he's pointed out that indeed the white house who they self market themselves as a civil defense group they say the cell you save lives they post videos of saving children from under the rubble of what they say the syrian government airstrike but they're also numerous videos online showing them working for example jihad is to sites for example being almost like they are embedded with terrorists with the nusra front also there are videos of them just genuinely rubbing shoulders and

mingling with the terrorists too so they're a beautician is modern really and this is what journalists working in syria have been pointing out now roger waters. revealed those e-mails by sending them to to r.t. contributor max blumenthal by the way we have reached out to the white house and that's asking their comment on the situation we're still to hear back from them but as max blumenthal is pointing out roger waters is the first person of such scale to publicly to speak out publicly against the white helmets have a listen. for the first time a mainstream figure on an international stage on the eve of war has validated what we've been reporting how this western funded organization funded by western and gulf governments has basically been an instrument of encouraging regime change and it's not just a group of average volunteer rescue workers it's an international influence

organization whose representatives show up in congress to lobby for no fly zones and sanctions on syria as well as parliaments across europe while they're operating on the ground alongside al qaida and their allies that this was an enormously rousing speech by roger waters that has legitimized the journalism that we've been so mercilessly attacked for publishing and it's forced those who have attacked us and accuse us of being conspiracist to actually look at what we've reported look at the facts and they really have nothing to say back to us they can't simply dismiss it as a kremlin conspiracy anymore when roger waters is saying this however roger waters is now under attack particularly by israeli and qatari media israel wants regime change in syria and qatar does as well and has been a funder of the white helmets so the question is can he hold strong and will there

be public support will people support roger waters and what he said i suspect he's under enormous pressure right now to walk back his remarks in a very dangerously mccarthyite atmosphere monaco respond and from the russia twenty four t.v. channel claims to found a syrian boy seen in the white helmets footage said to show the aftermath of an alleged chemical attack in an interview which cannot be independently verified the child and his father recalled how events did unfold in duma on april the seventh on his motor gas see it breaks down the new accounts. these harrowing scenes panic fear terror soaked trembling children screaming adults and strange as it may seem many of them had no idea about what was going on. we were in the basement my mother told me that we had run out of food and wouldn't have anything to eat until tomorrow i heard noises outside somebody

was charging that we had to go to the hospital so we went there when i came in some people grabbed me started pouring water all my had. eleven year old glass and dia was one of the apparent victims in the white helmets video here he is after being drained and sprayed he was found in duma and interviewed by russian war correspondent. he's fine if a little confused and that's me in the video that's me. yes as were many other kids any child would be terrified ergo the panic which the white helmets were there to film he was eventually found though by his father who was none the wiser. i didn't hear anything about the chemical

attack i was outside but i didn't notice anything further my family was in the hospital. it does make sense a poisonous gas would be invisible you'd imagine everybody would want to take precautions especially when you're hungry and they give out food at the hospital. i went to the hospital walked up stairs and found my wife and children i asked them what had happened and they said people outside was shouting about some smell and told them to go to the hospital at the hospital they gave dates and cookies to the kids one of the doctors who was reportedly on shift at the time seemed surprised by the sudden influx of some people. in what. they say the.

symptoms the doctor and others did however say that some people came in complaining about difficulty breathing which is common when an explosion destroys a big. well being for example there's a lot of dust makes it difficult to breathe and especially affects people with asthma also people from the white helmets told us about the use of chemical weapons but we saw no sign of that if chemical weapons were used against those people our medical staff would have also been affected we've sent a request to the white helmets to comment on this but the received no answer yet what we have seen is more and more witnesses coming forward to say there was only panic and no evidence of chemicals. we heard an explosion and somebody said it was a chemical weapon we run to where the noise came from and started pouring water over the people but they seemed to be ok and then walked away without any help

people got so confused somebody started pouring water over people's heads saying they had been a chemical attack i was at the spot with my wife and daughter but none of us experienced any symptoms of chemical poisoning or it's remarkable how these scenes convinced three countries to launch cruise missiles at syria especially remarkable when you realize that so many of the people here had no idea about what was going on only that someone shouted about chemicals. well the u.s. and the majority of european countries say a chemical attack did happen in the town of duma citing their own intelligence sources they cue the syrian government to deploying a toxic agent over the area which at the time was held by rebels american british and french military's hit syria with an airstrike in retaliation targeting

a number of facilities which they claimed were related to chemical weapons production and also development. meanwhile allegations of a chemical attack and now being questioned even by some in the western media british journalist robert fisk here visited duma and wasn't able to find any witnesses for my counterterrorism officer charles bridge says that he's also seeing signs of backtracking on the accusations journalists that got him on the ground robert fisk is a notable person i'm thinking of there he. attended by syrian government employees and so on he spoke to ordinary residents to medical staff who none of whom confirmed the idea that there was a chemical attack where already i think saying i'm detecting science myself that there is a slight backtracking amongst government statements rowing back slightly so well actually we weren't completely clear that's why we we were lying on social media we were lying on activists on the ground and that's why we only carried out a limited strike so they're already i think preparing the ground for the

possibility at least that is so p c w a port isn't particularly helpful for example it may actually find that there were no trace of chemicals of chemical warfare. now russia's ambassador to the united nations is lashed out at the u.k. over its handling of this going to poisoning case missing in the men's ear traded accusations with the u.s. and u.k. representatives during a highly charged session after moscow was once again denied access to the investigation. russia has a proven record of conducting state sponsored assess the nation including on the territory of the united kingdom. they keep saying that russia has a proven record of assassinations proven by whom our western partners don't listen to us and don't hear us they don't need facts united states agrees with the u.k. the assessment that russia is responsible for the chemical weapons and sells very whether that is in their direct act or irresponsibly losing control of the agent

which could be worse good luck it will. be c w report has nothing that would help britain to incriminate russia what is more important the c.w. has confirmed the novacek can be made in any liberal tree with the right equipment and there are such laboratories in the us in the u.k. the formula has been known since one thousand nine hundred eight if you look at google patents and search for novacek you can find more than one hundred matches in the us alone well as we heard there then more than a month on from this poisoning and questions over the source of the nerve agent used in the attack to remain unanswered u.k. says neither its military lab nor the global chemical watchdog have been able to identify the country that produced the agent there a cheetah has more details. we've seen an awful lot of tit for tat and actually the accusations are coming from both camps now from the brits and the russians now the o.p.c. w. held a session behind closed doors at their headquarters in the hague it appears that

there was confirmation from the british side that there was no information about the source of that chemical agent that was used in the solsbury attack that's a quick listen to what was said. as the analysis of the o.p.c. w.'s report i did to find the country. of origin of the agent used in this attack there is no proof of alternative explanation for what happened in salzburg the russian state responsibility russia has responded because of those leaks and by releasing a rather strong statement the first being are we done to you that russia has answered all the questions that they've been asked to by the u.k. with regards to solve three and secondly russia provided proof that novacek was produced and peyton tidd in the u. s. as a chemical weapon back in twenty fifteen. russia will not accept any national

or international results of any investigation without access to full information including materials from the british probe without consular access to our citizens and most importantly without the obligatory participation of russian experts in all actions to establish the truth if all that happened in saul's on march the fourth so to clarify the situation to date there is no definitive independent evidence that basically points to the fact that the thought came from russia or indeed that the kremlin ordered that attack in the fall of three and so from the russian perspective this lack of evidence as they see it is being widely ignored by the wider community while the former my five agent only mash on says that even though the u.k.'s position has weakened somewhat london is unlikely to backtrack on its allegations against russia. they've sort of backed themselves into a corner and i can't see how they can they can rescind what they've already said

because particularly not only did they expel twenty three russian diplomats that she immediately before the o.p.c. w. had even had a chance to examine this so-called evidence but they encouraged a lot of their nato partners to do the same thing so they can afford diplomatically to row back from this position particularly a very vulnerable diplomatic time for britain with bricks looming so i'm not quite sure what they can do apart from to keep scapegoating russia but i suspect rather sadly this is going to sort of languish in the conspiracy theorists category for anyone who questions this very thread their official narrative that britain has pulled together. your c.r.t. international still ahead this hour wives and children of former islamic state fighters suffer from sexual exploitation and also find that they are being refused aid or have a look at that in detail just after the break. i

think obama drew a red line and never fulfilled his his threats i suppose are predictions. on the other hand i also don't support trump president trumps you know unilateral actions either but i'm in favor of multilateral responses not unilateral action we all hope for the syrian people that we can find a good resolution of this in fact we can develop democratic processes in syria and elsewhere in the middle east as well as time goes on.

with us a now the number of terror related investigations in the gym and state of baden has skyrocketed recently although it does turn out that half of the cases a self-supporting refugees peter all of a has been taking a look at what is behind the unusual development. as the number of asylum applicants coming here to germany decreases what we have seen is an actual increase in the number coming here saying that they were part of a terrorist outfit and it has politicians absolutely baffled i can't understand why someone would accuse himself of a serious crime in the hope of gaining an advantage in his asylum claim to particular reasons in the southwest of the country jump out because it's there that

one hundred fifty nine people have declared themselves as members of a terrorist organization already in twenty eighteen if we jump back to twenty seventeen while three hundred people saying exactly the same thing why would anybody claim to be a member of a foreign terrorist group well because maybe that investigation could be solved tomorrow but most likely never the investigations are proving to be very time consuming because they are almost always alleged foreign acts for example in syria iraq afghanistan or somalia if we look at countries like afghanistan which germany and all the e.u. nations have already referred to as a safe country to return to then you can see why people would come forward and say that they have information and would rather face a trial than deportation but you have an authority zone suggesting this is the easy

way out anyone who makes a false confession must understand that he is going to face criminal consequences all of which has its roots swayed back in the summer of twenty fifteen when angela merkel opened germany up to refugees peter all of r.t. . well this trend is not just consigned to germany at the moment so let's have a look at the situation in greece to hundreds of asylum seekers recently gathered outside a police station in the city of thessalonica for the very same reason many of you arrest is an opportunity to stay in the e.u. and the fastest way to get the necessary. paperwork started a large waiting line reportedly formed for days after a surge in illegal border crossings from turkey it follows an korea's military operation against syrian kurds geo political analyst and consultant run iraq first believes the refugee crisis has been very costly for europe we continually see the judicial system of the european countries is simply not true. to the

challenges the refugee crisis is in the past years and by and of twenty seven. the german government has to employ over two thousand further judicial experts to deal with the increase in line cases concerning about all. terrorism there's also all these is extremely the burden on the german traditional system it means a sharp increase also or in the event costs. now in other news this afternoon thousands of anti-government protesters in the armenian capital of yet ever have tried to prevent the new prime minister from reaching the parliament building it's led to clashes with police and a number of arrests being made. i was the

was the new pm is the former president for this oxiana who stepped down this month due to term limits set out in the constitution however his candidacy was put forward and approved for prime minister with the opposition has claimed amounted to refusal to surrender power that sparked a wave of mass protests which have been continually gathering momentum police are said to have used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse some of the rallies more than one hundred arrests have been made during the six days of protest. the. thousands of wives and children of former islamic state fighters in iraq are being sexually exploited and refused aid that's according to a report from amnesty international because they consider me to same as an islamic state fighter they will rape and return me they want to show everyone what they can

do to me to take away my honor i can feel comfortable in my tent i just wanted door to lock and walls around me each time i say to myself denied is and i am going to die for the amnesty report was based on interviews with almost one hundred women staying at camps in iraq they claim to have been denied access to food water and health care and according to the organization militia groups running the camps preventing the women and their children from returning home we asked aid worker mohammed cologne also radio host john korn for their views on how family members of extremists should be dealt with. people should be treated fairly we need to find out if these people are associated with cherish if they are associated with terrorism then toughest far as i'm concerned we need to send a strong message out we've got to be careful with this situation and often iraqis are going to treat these people with respect but by the same token they've got to but the protection of the majority of citizens first we're talking about these law

mixtape. this is just an hour long for us to pay attention of what we can do in the post isis so if their ministry has this will we because we asked for john we asked for the un to to send transparent independence. organization to you to look into making sure those camps regardless of the how the member of isis previously were not of how we can make sure the cycle of violence to not continue because those ninety two women or the children though tomorrow they're going to take arms against the government that abuse them and they come so it's not a matter of i'm sorry i don't have the. desire as a tool to there he actually interviewed ninety six people for them said they'd either been raped or chain rape you've got to be careful these people are desperate of course that i want to be in these camps i understand this but you've got to look at it in its totality and marco say i'm not condoning the way by not condoning abuse in any way shape or form but term the iraqi government have got to first and

foremost protect the rest of the citizens these people are accused of being associated with the islamic state the report stated precede those people associated with isis this is not this is not this is not the army this is an idea this is an internal displaced camp where people have feet from isis to be safe on the counter this is not a month this is not being instigated or being questioned by the police this is how the been treated this is how they get treated and become and this kind of camps build again and build another isis and this is we're concerned about. it was the last international thanks he company the staff the news programs will continue after the break.

this is boom bust broadcasting around the world from washington d.c. i'm bart chilton coming up today some banks up announce their first quarter profits as markets continue to even go west the c.e.o. of stroma the report which will weigh in and it's tax day in the united states if you drive a car the tax the street if you try to sit they'll tax your seat if you get too cold the tax they eat you take a walk they'll tax your feet george harrison we miss you r t correspondent ashley

bank report from ground zero on taxes is turning revenue service headquarters right here in washington and she's back lauren fix the car coach talks of global autos and trade and gives us her you on some of the new developments in the auto industry plus there is needy and merger news as these problems communications commission decides not to investigate sinclair media but there's another investigation that some members of congress see as sinclair tries to buy tribune media following cook posted the big picture here on r.t. america gives us his learned take on the media all the. ahead but first let's get to some headlines. it is tax day and the supreme court is hearing arguments about if states should be allowed to collect taxes from online purchases states cannot currently require online retailers like amazon for example to collect and then return those taxes to states from residents who order them online unless the

retailer does have a physical presence in the state in question the case south dakota versus wayfair incorporated is expected to be decided by the supreme in june. according to the wall street journal the demand for lithium what has been referred to as white petroleum since it's so valuable is gaining rekindled traction in europe particularly in germany and the czech republic where there are still areas to be mined as opposed to australia and south america where it is said that chinese companies have already secured rights to the large majority of mining areas lithium with it with it's very light weight is used in batteries for everything from phones to electric vehicles according to a report in two thousand and by two thousand and twenty five the lithium ion battery market will be worth more than ninety billion dollars. and earlier this month reported that serve martin sorrell the c.e.o. of giant advertising and p.r.

firm w p p was being internally investigated for misuse of company funds as a result of concerns of the w p p board well now serve martin is resigning and two longtime p.p. executives mark reed and andrew scott will fill his shoes the investigation is not yet complete and served martin continues to deny any wrongdoing also have notes or martin does not have a no compete cause in his arrangement with p.p. so at least theoretically he could start a competitive advertising and public relations firm. and joining us to talk about market moves of bank profits as the c.e.o. of straw mark org which hillary thanks for being with us there's been so much going on and markets in recent days that the trade stuff the conflict.