five hundred meters away they could see that civilians were around a few minutes later they began bombing the area killing people. and strike in afghanistan killed fourteen people including children are he speaks to witnesses at the scene. investigative journalist or group redfish shines a light on germany's arms trade claiming that not everything is above board. no mention. to tell and some. western powers welcomed the evacuation of the white helmets from syria to jordan and you look at the controversy behind the move.

for broadcasting from our studios and moscow this is r.t. international i'm sean thomas certainly glad to have you with us. fourteen people including children have been killed in an air strike in afghanistan in what was meant to be a military operation against the taliban it's not yet clear whether it was carried out by afghan or u.s. aircraft or to spoke to witnesses at the scene but of warning you may find some of the following images disturbing. the peace when he's gone because no one knew one of them because no one was even the next but you're going to want to look at the moment you're here though not to look at this so we're not going to. afghan officials say most of the victims are women and children and the u.s. military has admitted that it did conduct airstrikes in the area but it claims

there were no civilian casualties are. comments. after seventeen years the nile is propaganda by the enemy foreign troops are our friends and we don't target civilians u.s. forces did conduct strikes and on the ground assessments of those strikes reveals no indications they caused civilian casualties. taliban propaganda they claimed with an on the ground assessment to prove it who can argue with that almost sounds like the results of a scientific experiment would have helped of course of that actually visited the place. the americans never visited this area and i'm witness to this national defense forces visited the area to check at first they wouldn't let us drink out the dead and injured. no foreigners didn't visit this area. they are lying a delegation came here from the local governments and security officials ok so if

you think that locals all of them at their word it's the afghan army that lied to the american troops it wasn't until the neighbors relatives erupted in outrage that authorities admitted to potential civilian deaths even the un is on the case so what actually happened. the reconsider standing five hundred meters away they could easily see that civilians were around a few minutes later they began bombing the area and killing people. i saw the bombardment with my own eyes the americans first used artillery they bombarded my home and my aunt's home without giving us a chance to flee. then they used a big bomb and we felt like we were in hell all around us was covered by gunpowder and dust my sister and all my family members were unconscious. on the first shell

the area where there was an aircraft bombarded it with three bombs there are twelve and one wounded we dug out the victims from the rubble with one missing were found the hand and shoulders and the few other parts of one mark and buried him. the victims in the house owner's wife and daughter in law. three daughters four grandchildren two sons and more difficult to spin them as enemy fighters even with the pentagon's notorious guilty until proven innocent casualty counting mechanism and locals survivors don't have a lot of faith in justice. my expectations are that they would tell us it was an arson so and no prove that there were taliban fighters here this is not the first time. they always kill civilians and never give us a chance to speak up so that they can say that they killed the taliban. no no i've

seen no one help the family i've lived here for a long time during care which times and now and i've never seen anyone given eight condos province which is partly controlled by the taliban has a history of airstrikes going astray in two thousand and fifteen when the us had the doctors without borders ospel killing forty two the pentagon denied that at first until eventually barack obama himself had to apologize in november last year when the u.n. investigation found that the u.s. had killed ten civilians in a different air strike again denied that even offered a thorough investigation and again eventually ended up apologizing. for germany is one of the world's largest arms makers and exporters but to give reporting group has claimed if not all german arms are being sold illegally here is

part of the report from red fish which can be found in full on the group's you tube page. mentioned. as a. germany gets a lot of praise for its reasonable approach to politics but the german government has a dirty secret while germany prides itself on having some of the toughest arms export laws on the planet it's actually the fourth biggest arms exporter in the world lawyer holder wrought by hour has taken one of the country's major on's manufacturers and one of the world's biggest small arms producers infamous heckler and koch to court they stand accused of illegally shipping weapons to conflicts on

the heckler and koch trial. is not using that word too often it's historic it's a really historic because it shows the i would call it blasphemy this is seeking off at the codes of the german government because the german people even legal on shipments they're accused of include sixteen batches of g thirty six assault rifles some of which ended up being used in a tragedy which shook the world. in two thousand and fourteen forty three students became collateral in mexico's bloody war on drugs when they were kidnapped by corrupt police who handed them over to the new tory is a good read also needles drug cartel at least several of the students were killed by the heckler and koch rifles the company is incredibly hostile the media interest and public attention it didn't take long for the police to arrive to stop us from filming in the town's residents were particularly enthusiastic to speak to a seal we approached heckler and koch multiple times to discuss the allegations

cited in this report unfortunately despite all our efforts we're very happy to see us. out. you don't want to say something. to get an export license german arms manufacturers have to go through several government ministries who will check that the shipment destination isn't subject to any sort of ban by german law if it is in the arms company's application fails then they have another option they can appeal to the federal security council and here's where things get interesting this council is made up of a handful of senior ministers who sit down with the german chancellor angela merkel in a secretive meeting where they review the application and decide whether to approve it or not the details of this meeting are never made public there is no media

presence or independence group. company says it is fully cooperating with the investigation their lawyers say the guns were sold legally to a well controlled police department in mexico. germany has agreed to resettle eight members of the controversial rescue group known as the white helmets as well as their families after they were evacuated by israel from syria canada britain and france have also pledged to receive some of the four hundred twenty two people are to go earlier discuss the story with my colleague. well the praise that this massive relocation effort has received in the west from some of the most senior people in charge seems absolutely unanimous it is of course but barely anyone of those joining in the course has actually spoken to civilians on the ground and r t how has done that and i'll tell you what there really is

a rather strong contrast between what the big names are saying now and the things that we heard when we talked to these syrians that we've been able to get these brave people and their families out of syria after the extraordinary work they've done saving lives all of this video shows them helping the people but they only help the rebel fighters they really those close to them the last thing they cared about is civilians we complained for the ever creation of the white helmets and i were grateful now that this was successful and that some of these people and their families can be accommodated here in germany where no one did anything out of humanitarian concerns it was all about money the join the what helmets and others only for money no one cared about the syrian people and what was the urgency behind this relocation well right now the syrian government troops are making some serious

advances in the south of the country and that's where areas have long been held by the militants that are seeking to overthrow the assad government and i can tell you that there have already been attempts successful attempts i should say to move some of these rebels to the country's north where areas are held by some elements of the syrian opposition but now it seems it is turned to relocate the white house although they are being moved abroad and this is perhaps another sign that these people have long had some political connections with the west and after all it is no secret that the group is being kept. afloat with cash from western countries and some cases that's taxpayers' money which means millions of dollars and they want how much have been working very hard on building and maintaining not just a positive image but an image of heroes their networking their p.r.

efforts to visualize their rescue activities are really impressive but all of this may backfire if you cheat all that was used in april by those trying desperately to prove that the assad government used chemicals against children and duma was. video but later the very same people who featured in it insisted that the entire rescue operation after the chemical attack this day. we were in the basement and then heard someone outside scream go to hospital they were scared they started to pour water on me i don't know why they did this. you can easily think of other controversies for instance videos with jihad as holding exit queue sions and then suddenly out of nowhere men wearing white helmets showing up or videos when people wearing white helmets were waving flags plus you can just take

a look at some of the things our correspondent saw when he tried to trace the footsteps of the natori as a group on the ground in syria here's what you'll find in one of the rooms of the former white helmets headquarters here in stomach acid aleppo bomb elements. as well as detonate does hundreds and hundreds of empty bullet casings this was by all appearances a weapons factory a ball making factory over here shrapnel. this is what they put in bombs to cause horrendous casualties over there you'll see an industrial mix up again. what they used to mix chemicals and gunpowder so clearly there's a lot of inconsistency is here have these concerns been ignored by western governments altogether no not in all cases you may remember when the white helmets

won an oscar for a documentary about the things they were doing when that's when their leader was invited to the u.s. for the awards ceremony but then he was banned from entering the country and that was something that led to a rather awkward situation at a u.s. state department briefing is the u.s. taxpayer supporting a group whose leader you have banned from coming to the states i mean if you have reason to revoke his visa that he could be a security threat or something like that why would again you just support it again trying to separate this individual from their roots so the government is saying that basically that he is suspect which is. well again i can't say this is a gallon gas against america i'm sorry. so it might indeed get complicated when it comes to some elements of the white helmets group and the security back home. donald trump has once again lashed out at iran warning that the country will face

serious consequences if it continues to threaten the u.s. never threaten the united states again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before we are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence and death because. america should know that peace with iran is the mother of all peace and war with iran is the mother of all wars. are u.s. senators have a go the criticism of tehran they took a similar stance before the iran nuclear deal was hammered out back in two thousand and fifteen the run supports terrorism iran has been listed missiles iran tramples on human rights the things that they are doing to support terrorism ballistic missiles their human rights violations yes they are on is a serious threat. presents iran deal would allow the world's leading state

sponsor of terrorism. to retire and thousands of centrifuges this is a regime that funds terrorism all around the world all right meanwhile u.s. secretary of state might bump aoe has accused iran's elite of enriching themselves at the expense of ordinary people gave a speech about the country highlighting many problems some of which are far from unique to iran.

parties possibly or has more on the war of words between the u.s. and iran and the latest accusations from secretary of state my pump. there cobra plotting terror attacks in the heart of europe destroying israel at the core of the regime's ideology it has committed support of many acts of violence and terrorism against both countries now the united states is undertaking a diplomatic and financial pressure campaign to cut off the funds that the regime uses to enrich itself in support death and destruction the b.b.c. is launching a new twenty four seven four c. language t.v. channel that will span not only television but radio digital and social media format so that ordinary iranians inside of iran and around the globe can know that america stands with them. the situation between the united states and iran remains extremely tense and as we see now happening the u.s. has set its sights on the us media in terms of how to deal with this we've heard

the announcement from the u.s. secretary of state that they are launching a twenty four seven saucy channel now it will be under the banner of the b.b.c. which stands for the ball crossed in the world of governors this comprises different radio and t.v. outlets and back in two thousand and sixteen it was seized a budget of some seven hundred and fifty million dollars now what we're hearing is that this new fasi channel will also be available on digital and on social media and we hope the u.s. secretary of state say that for forty years the iranian people had been subjected to hearing from their leaders about what a great satan the united states was and that now finally they wouldn't have to subject themselves to fake news but tried to saying this also say that you know states was undertaking tough measures against iran of course these comments has prompted an immediate angry reaction from tehran. do not play with the lines or else you will regret it. now compare also said that the united states was not

afraid to challenge you ran with sanctions at the highest level and he called on other countries to also jointly combine in these economic sanctions you also went on to say that the united states was undertaking a diplomatic and financial pressure campaign against iran that they were planning on cutting off funds so that quote the regime would no longer be able to involve itself in death and destruction you also said that they will put in maximum pressure on the regime's ability to regenerate and move money now of course we're waiting to hear what other measures the united states is planning on putting in place we know for example that the next round of sanctions goes into effect on the fourth of august so certainly relations between the two countries increasingly tense. chinese president xi jinping has arrived in rwanda as part of his four nation trip to africa to establish deeper trade ties here earlier

visited senegal which is the first to west african country to be involved in china's belt and road infrastructure projects beijing has been expanding its presence in africa in recent years in two thousand and sixteen alone trying to invested thirty nine billion dollars in the continent bringing the total to more than two hundred billion that is roughly twice the amount that the united states has invested in africa. earlier this year u.s. ties with several african countries were put under strain by some infamous remarks from donald trump the president of the united states is racist he really is the devil this is an actual quote from the actual president this is the gift that he decided to give the american people they're not whole country for one donald trump isn't their president. johnson founder of viewpoint africa believes the u.s. government's policies on africa have encouraged countries to china. the united

states' influence on africa was already doing well before don't want to show came into the play and it will continue to do because of some of his comments he was africans and he's position on africa in general he's only interested in an issue basis and africans i'm afraid very much interested in him talk to ship and those that take them seriously and i know it was like a liberalized continent it's voting with his free time is changing the united states in every sector that i know of in favor of the chinese all of course china already had a huge presence and influence and that includes i've just grown to levels for which even if the americans were to try and now like you to ever catch the the chinese in my lifetime. u.s. president is considering revoking the security clearances of several former intelligence officials the white house press secretary gave a statement explaining the move the president is exploring these mechanisms to

resume. security clearance because they've politicized and in some cases actually monetized their private service and their security clearance clearances and making baseless accusations of improper contact with russia or being influenced by russia against the president is extremely inappropriate and sarah sanders named six people including former heads of the cia f.b.i. and n.s.a. who may lose their access to classified information all of them have openly criticized the donald trump policies last week former cia chief john brennan accused trump of treasonous behavior. he was referring to the president's summit with vladimir putin in helsinki he went on to accuse trump of being in the pocket of the russian leader and vice president of the eurasia center think tank believes some former intelligence officials may have gone too far with their comments to the media. it's very it's very disturbing.

usually those people. you know take a take a step back and people ask him advice but seldom do you see them taking so much. of a role. talking to the media openly lecturing and giving comments like that so does it really matter whether or not they have a clearance or not probably not. doesn't limit maybe some of the discussions they may have with former colleagues and stuff perhaps. but but they should not be receiving access to that information as it is even if they'd have to clear so i see very little impact on on them they're still going to make their statement maybe even be even more. make more statements. you propose plaque to be added to a statue commemorating

a famous merchant involved in the slave trade has divided locals in the english city of bristol edward colston is a prominent figure in the city's history for his philanthropy however much of his wealth was acquired through the royal african company which was involved in the slave trade during the seventeenth century now residents say people need to be more aware of colston's past and a second plaque mentioning his role in the slave trade is needed we discussed the story with racial equality campaigner leigh jasper and stephen morris from the english democrats. why are we got the statue of a man who sold millions of africans into bondage and slavery ripped african babies from their mother's breast separated families killed maimed and murdered millions of africans but he gave some money to charity so we should have a statue of him in our town square we have to look at the full history of the of the slave trade was going on for thousands of years before europeans arrived

africans were enslaved africans and selling them to the arabs way before we got there and it's actually quite unfair to judge the past by today's standards and today's models so for me eight eight is part of the history but it really got to be showing the full history of what was going on at the time and not just to be a scene and to your opinion. actually the fifty million people is a lot or not a ransom thing going to go on for what we know and redesign and find it that the historians of the time are all consensual around that figure so i think is you need to get your facts straight all depends what the plots going to be saying because you've got to put things into context of what was happening at the time now you're the guess is this man is already and all the ground so that's what i. wanted before i moved trying to put forward i'm going to pluck there then you have to make sure that you put it into context of what was happening around the world we shouldn't be

imagining and celebrating colton it should be either a bristol museum of shame which he can go in and all the ardor of colonial aspects and relics of the past can go in but i don't way it should be called textual eyes as the most horrific period in bristol's history you cannot george historical events by today's standards you have to look at what was going on at the. a devastating wildfire has killed at least twenty people near the greek capital it is the deadliest blaze to hit the country in more than a decade the seaside resort of monte to be the north east of affluence has been the worst hit more than one hundred people are injured including sixteen children and officials say that the number of casualties is likely to rise several other fires have broken out across greece amid soaring temperatures the government has declared a state of emergency and is asking for assistance from the e.u. . the german football star of the turkish descent has retired

from the national team saying he feels unwanted in his own country. was subjected to widespread criticism after posing for a photo with the president of turkey in the run up to the world cup. there's. your infuses chantelle a national lampoon polls and a long president and nothing celtic photogram do from the beaches of muslim congress someone down that is not german and someone who does that should not play football for the germans national team such a photograph has a symbolic value and it is definitely not what is needed at the moment it is clear when you play for germany you represent the country the german values. the first

serve also with a plan was a mistake it is still a mistake to say the reason the president also gave did not convince me so he speaks of respect but that raises the question of how is respect for the victims of crimes policy of respect for john mr imprison and you because they have done that joe. manchin. man. just as you know the chance who holds mr president in hi steve vizard rosalie's and weight has done a lot for the national football team he has now made a decision that must be respected and in any case the truth is on the pitch the fact of the germans were knocked out of the world cup has little to do with mr

russell having his picture taken with the president i don't. as it was all said his decision was down to the abuse he received after germany was knocked out of the world cup in the group stage and german football chiefs have denied his claims of racism but admitted they could have done more to help and produce tact the footballer international relations professor peter shields believes the case reflects broader trends in german society what what we have seen here in the german team is basically a reflection of what is going on in. government german politics we have to we have to lift you kates on the be imperfect all smooth as a mode you can turn this and was basically the. elements of the media off the green party off the a step of this our social credit party on this is business with the ring the way it is getting senate and senate especially after two thousand and fifteen we have set

the influx of one point five million. refugees migrants from north africa and i'm from sub-saharan africa and while i'm elsewhere. and that does it for me i'll be back with headlines in about thirty minutes stay with us. join me every thursday on the alec simon show and i'll be speaking to guest on the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. greetings and salutation. welcome home all talk watchers while many of us.