in the stories that shaped the week witnesses of the aftermath of an alleged chemical attack in the syrian city of duma raised doubts over the video evidence has been circulated and r.t.t. has been speaking to doctors locally and some of those who are here in the footage . it will tell you the white house told us about the use of chemical weapons we saw no sign of that we run started clearing the water for the people but these seem to be ok. to wait without any help. a growing number of asylum seekers in germany are claiming to be terrorists in the hope of avoiding deportation allegedly exploiting loopholes in the system also ahead.

please clamp down on protesters in paris as the french rail network grinds to a hold over president mccrum label reform. as ari will welcome you watching the weekly here on r.t. international all the day's latest headlines and the roundup the stories that have shaped the past week first new witness testimony has cast doubt on claims that the syrian government used chemical weapons in duma earlier this month doctors the locals in the city have rejected a key piece of video evidence that was circulated by rebel aligned groups including the white helmets emergency responders in the wake of the attack medics we spoke to who say they were at this. scene told us the attack victims symptoms were not

consistent with exposure to a toxic agent and that the image is a misleading. people from the white helmets told us about the use of chemical weapons we saw no sign of that if chemical weapons were used against those people medical staff would also be no thanks to. people poured water it's really good thing that we had been attacked with chemical weapons and that when somebody from outside shouting about the chemical attack don't know that we heard an explosion and somebody said it was a chemical weapon we run to where the doors came from and started pouring water

over the people but they seemed to be ok and then walked away without any help but . confused somebody started pouring water is what people say it's like saying there had been a chemical attack but i was at the spots with my wife and daughter but none of us experienced any symptoms of chemical poisoning. also talks to a small boy who appeared in the white tel makes video how son is ok but he's still coming to terms with what happened he says he was outside when somebody took him and started pouring cold water for his head my gauthier's has more. on these harrowing scenes panic sheer terror soaked trembling children screaming adults and strange as it may seem many of them had no idea about what. was going on there and had act outside and they told all of us

to go into the hospital i was immediately taken up stairs and they started pouring water on me do you remember where it happened. here with the hose loose it. here it is. an addict who is water on me it put me here and then took me up stairs to my mother eleven year old ass and dia was one of the apparent victims in the white helmets video here he is after being drenched and sprayed he's fine if a little confused 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 and mechanically i did mostly d.n.c. i went upstairs and saw my wife and children and i was very surprised and asked

what had happened when my son's eyes were red and my family it was just about it was cold and he could of course sick and he was undressed when i took my son that first told me that they still needed him but i still to come away from them one of the doctors who was reportedly on shift at the time seemed surprised by the sudden influx some people come to. people in what. they say had. 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 building for example there's a lot of dust makes it difficult to breathe and especially affects people with

asthma 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. the credibility of the white helmets has also been questioned by a rock legend and co-founder of pink floyd roger waters he says the aid group and its affiliates have been lobbying him for support in two thousand and sixteen a public relations organization called the syria campaign which works with the white helmets sent the musician an e-mail inviting him to a fund raising dinner in the same letter the firm described in detail the work it claims to be doing in the country it insists its mission is to elevate the voices of syria's peaceful hair rose and to help bring about peace but waters' was less than happy with the invite i was quite suspicious after i was invited to that white

helmets dinner now my worst suspicions have been confirmed on the face of it it felt plausible that the white helmets were just good people doing good things but now we know they're trying to encourage the west to drop bombs and missiles illegally in syria and then just last week a day before he was due to play at an event in barcelona waters was contacted by a french journalist who was working for the white helmets the reporter asked him to deliver a message on stage on behalf of the children of syria well what is declined our request as well and instead hit out at the group during the concert. for no means. complete. with this to the pope groups two point zero mention of this we would be encouraged to encourage other governments to go and start dropping some serious. i've known roger waters for several several

years said that he had just grown so frustrated watching the white helmets footage and duma being cited by the us government and the u.k. government pretty much as their only source as their only source of intelligence to justify bombing a sovereign country that he decided to criticize this organization publicly to warn against its all teary or sectarian agenda this should be the stuff of a national scandal in the us the united states government has provided at least twenty three million dollars to the state department to the white helmets while the white helmets work hand in glove with job littleness row which is the syrian affiliate of the organization that attacked the united states on nine eleven al qaeda and that is considered a conspiracy in the united states although it's well established so you know i hope that this is that rogers broken the ice here but western media appears to be completely closed off to the facts about the white helmets. this weekend

a mission from the global chemical weapons won't start with the a p c w visited do most to investigate the alleged attack the team collected some pools which will be sent to in a bar or a tree in the netherlands however most go has expressed concern over some p.c. experts visiting a limited number of sites and interviewing too few witnesses however the u.s. britain and france chose not to even wait for the results of the official investigation citing media reports on controversial activist groups the country's accuse the assad government of gassings the villains and this month alone just an operation against syria u.s. state department spokesperson heaven now it takes planes that washington couldn't afford to waste time. the o.p.c. of you is something that we back strongly but it can also take quite a bit of time for the o.p.c. of you to gather its information and compile the report so i would ask you should

the united states and her allies wait around for bashar al assad to use more chemical substances honest people should we wait around for that formal investigation that could take months and months commentators on both sides of the political spectrum have been sharing their thoughts on the u.s. led operation with us some from supporters are disappointed i'm one of them by i like the trumps position during the election but i think a lot of people on our political left and people like me on the right think we should not be the world's police any longer that was one of the issues and main points the trust made during the campaign you know nobody likes to ascribe to any president whatever their political party killing people using munitions like this just as a distraction that's said i mean you can't deny that the walls are closing in on donald trump legally from the special prosecutor moeller from the united states

attorney in new york with his lawyer cohen so do i think that don't trump is that craven as to launch strikes to distract attention. no but the mere fact that it's a question that's troubling i would diminish that he has major issues as just described as a higher approval rating than did obama at this time in his presidency in some polls the economy is not credible jobs are coming back in the economy's growing great you have well that is it is true in america right now small business is for the first time look at the decade are excited if you look at the average of all the polls there's one poll that's been consistently in donald trump's rescues and in his camp every other poll if you average them out he is at historic lows for any president since the advent of polling in the united states of america democrats their complaint is what's the broader plan you say mission accomplished mr president what's the mission they see this as not pursuant to any particular plan and on the right it seems inconsistent with the the promises the president made

during the campaign to withdraw so as a result there's just not a big constituency in favor of what he's done mission accomplished was a popular phrase that turned very notorious with iraq and look at where we are now listen i i i find it interesting you have someone on the left and someone on the right politically in america here on r t and we sort of agree the worst case scenario is is assad gets toppled or killed and then we have another iraq for the next decade and then we really get engaged in a war because isis then overwhelms and takes over the country. the u.k.'s prime minister to reason may has been forced to defend her decision to join the u.s. led operation against the syrian government without the approval of parliament she still had to justify the me in front of lawmakers on monday. we have published the legal basis for our action the action was legally questionable we targeted it on

chemical weapons capability of the regime chemical weapons and have been used by other groups in the conflict for example. britain france and america sent a clear message to those who seek to rip up the international rule book stop and stop now prime minister is accountable to this parliament not to the whims of the us president i the elected representatives in this house should be able to debate the deployment of british military forces into combat but that does not mean it is always appropriate the executive must be the servant of parliament not the other way round members of this house seem to have less say in foreign policy of this country than president trump let no one in this house be in any doubt that neither i nor this government take instructions from any president. i. a british tabloid newspaper carried out

a poll following the strikes it found that of those surveyed most were against the prime minister's decision to bypass parliament on monday and tuesday hundreds gathered in westminster to protest against the operation. cruising the. protest is also demanded a halt to almost exports to the middle east anti-war rallies took place in several other cities too including bristol on swans a stop the i to this say the will of the british people is being ignored by the governments but she many things mistake i would we shouldn't dare to discuss this in parliament to be patient and wait see and. results and that's the. mission that we want but it's as usual in this country democracy goes out the window when you seeing their own pretty sickening interest why is it that the government is crowd out your chart with out to buy in the house of commons why is it that i

carried out is a chart that of our analysis of commons so that's where it's at on. while thousands of protesters are taking on government reforms in the french capital we've got footage from paris on all the latest details off the show play. by too many clubs over the years so i know the game and so i got. the ball isn't only about what happens on the pitch for the fun of school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the super money just kill you narrowness and spending to do the twenty million and one player. it's an experience like nothing else only because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful game but great so what more chance for. peace.

join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to get us through the world of politics or business i'm sure business i'll see you there. welcome back fifty seven people have been killed and another one hundred nineteen wounded in a suicide bombing in the afghan capital kabul according to officials authorities say the bomber targeted civilians who had gathered near a voter registration center it comes as the country prepares for a long awaited parliamentary elections in october islamic state claims it's behind

the attack. but after nearly six decades under the leadership of the castro family cuba has a new president miguel diaz canelo was the man chosen to succeed raul castro we take a look now at his path to the top job on the caribbean island. a new chapter has opened in cuba as miguel de can a live was officially named the country's new leader on thursday with a final vote in cuba's national assembly it's the first time in nearly sixty years that cuba is being led by a man not named castro that gives us an idea of the magnitude this change will have on the island the s.q.l. is fifty seven years old and wasn't even born when fidel castro led his revolution in cuba d.s. can now is definitely a product of his time he's an electrical engineer by training and he followed every stepped within the party has appointed as minister for higher education before

serving as vice president yes canel was selected as the unopposed candidate to replace weld castro and in his thirty minute speech he made it very clear that although changes are needed there will be no space for those who want to bring capitalism to cuba the levels are that of the monitor that i have not the first thing that we want to change the law is the economic it makes prices too high. i want the new president to think more about young people this is he doing what he ever let me grab my country become a better place i want to stay here the new president said the country needs to advance in its economic model and adjust to the new context of modern technologies as far as cuba's foreign policy diest canel said that in these times of uncertainty and threats to international peace and security cuba's foreign policy will remain an altar of all. thousands of french public sector workers have been

protesting this week in paris against president micron's labor reforms several groups including transport workers are refusing to back down in their long running strike so i do penske was at the demonstration on thursday this is yet another day of protests returning in. clashes between the police and the protesters unhappy with many of the reforms that the maqam government wants to make and they determined to make every sees heard and it seems that voices of being heard but yet again it's just clashes that what most people are speaking about. the process that he doesn't care about our movement but if he wasn't afraid at all he would not send so many national police officers who. have been happy with the government because the poorest classes are always the ones who are forced to give them their wages are always the ones who are being given today while fighting for public services for

medical services without good hospitals and the. i don't like the entity of micron's government towards the movements and the problems work is a facing a somewhat so to state head of state seems to be judging by his speech at the e.u. problem destroys book he thinks that he's in a position of power. we've just come away from the crowd and that's because if you just take a look behind me might say that a lot of the people have their faces covered they wearing black and that's because they known as being the black box of the anti father these are the anti capitalist say it in front of a don't like as a filming them close and that's because the security services might be able to identify them now it's this group of individuals that are the ones that we see clashes as you can see that are throwing project down at the police as the police are coming round and this is something that we have been seeing not just today but

in all of the clashes project just being thrown to optics bricks glass bottles anything they can go that ak at the hands of. the bat. well we're in the middle of what seems to be a standoff between some of the protesters and the police just take out a look behind me you can see a row of the police vans. and their riot gear blocking off this particular route and some of the protesters are told seeing them now they've also been using smoke flares to to attention to what they're doing the fires at some of the bins and they've also been throwing projectiles to wards the police this protest was meant to be about reforms of macaroons government it's once again turned into a clash between the police and

a small group of anti capitalist protesters. day before that unrest president mccrone issued a plea to those old strikes saying they should stop holding the country hostage and police there are taking an increasingly tough line officers in riot gear were seen pinning demonstrators to the ground whilst making arrests thousands also rallied in mass say on thursday in a stop mccraw march it was organized by left wing party leaders wrong. ok we're in a process where president marcos radicalism has pushed everyone together every week the head of state seems to distract us and go further with reform so we need to stick to we know one of those plain evil like this. in one thousand nine hundred forty three have to finally step back this is not to announce to the people i will pass over you i will destroy you these are ways to act the president shouldn't talk

like this story i could not stay silent and. transport energy public workers health workers all these sectors are represented today no need to make contacts who want to chain. but you will see when all the countries paramount will be forced to negotiate. terror related investigations of the southwestern german states have skyrocketed and it seems that many of the cases involve refugees turning themselves in peter all over explains. 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 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 that you have a death or

a seize on 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. berlin and germany is not the only country that seeing such a trend in greece hundreds of asylum seekers gathered outside a police station in the city of thessaloniki for the same reason many reportedly view arrest as an opportunity to stay in the u. as the fastest way to get the net. is there any paperwork started a large queue formed for days after a surge in illegal border crossings from turkey geopolitical experts rainer office believes the refugee crisis has been very costly for europe we can. of the european countries is simply not to you not to the challenge and.

the refugee crisis is in the past years by and twenty seven big. german government lloyd overachieved. she gets the axe birds to deal with the police in. cases concerning. about all. terrorism. leading. it means a sharp increase in employment costs. a developing story now from the former soviet republic armenia where over two hundred fifty people including opposition leaders have been arrested this sunday during mass protests seven people have been injured tens of thousands have been taking part in the ongoing action demanding the newly appointed prime minister resign the

country has been shaken by rallies for over a week tens of thousands of opposition supporters blocking the roads calling for a new government election the only rest follows the collapse of negotiations between the opposition and prime minister siraj sog psion with tensions running high riot police have been deployed in the capital and media recently changed to a parliamentary system where the president has a relatively symbolic role and the prime minister gains more powers suck science stepped down as president earlier this month. after a decade of ruling the country earlier he promised not to run for the prime minister's office but in april was nominated by parliament as the sole candidate. well thank you for joining r.t. international this hour with all the latest my colleague daniel hawkins will be with you in about thirty minutes.

palestine is getting international recognition with the help of israel at least in the world of zoos remember wolf it was dismissive to do it long before you like commitment to my cause years going up local sabiha maybe a bit of their old john going to a tough job or they should move the only palestinians who gets the most help from its jerusalem counterpart i don't think there is some of those who in the world on the location of not only could give us. i know it is a lot of knowledge to how to the study of the most knowledge to how i'm going to continue muslims you know do more commitments also don't put results.

back skies or financial survival they say money that the relatives love to do that this is the central plank so for diet governments don't call them right now so stop the. one place to go was all we have to be a person to plant the seeds and the books of the european soldier dog. if. it is you want to. go fast but stuff i can. feel being pretty. powerful. i want to stop jumping to the salutation. you don't i mean you saw the saw female

ballet speech on top was she was. actually that a model because as mr b s. i am. now working. in new york. you go. to go. anywhere feeling. is know. and see the. rounding.

up.