it's the reason. the stories that shaped the week tantamount to torture that is how russia describes the conditions in which of the us is holding a news kremlin agent maria booth and i will speak to her lawyer. very difficult situation a bit jiggly for someone like her someone who i don't think ever envisioned spending a day in jail or a life to be you know it's pretty tough still of the. u.s. and turkey tensions get worse as a warrens relations have almost come to a complete halt. and the syrian city of aleppo one of the worst hit by the war is undergoing extensive reconstruction after years of conflict.

broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is r.t. international i'm sean thomas certainly glad to have you with us as we recap the week's top stories this week there was another twist in the latest alleged russian spy scandal in the u.s. the russian embassy in washington says the marine is being subjected to conditions that are tantamount to torture she is charged with being an unregistered agent of a foreign entity and was recently transferred to a different prison meanwhile crowdfunding campaign has been launched to pay for her legal fees were updated us on her condition. i was unaware that she was transferred until last night at around midnight i received a collect call from her at home and the phone was disconnected before we could get through but i knew it was from alexandria jail so i drove down and tried to get in last night and could not but is able to get in this morning and visit her so she is in alexandria detention facility at least for now for this weekend it's

a smaller facility than the d.c. jail as respected facility but it's hard to know why the move was made where there was made for medical or other reasons or in response to complaints about the conditions in d.c. she does have arthritis in one of her legs kind of a history of problems with that leg so she sought treatment for that and so far has just received tylenol and nothing else and i think she has also been a little bit frustrated by policy when people are in protective custody they do bad checks every fifteen minutes at night to check on detainee safety and i think sometimes depending on who the guard is you know the lights are turned on every time there's a check and so it's very hard to get proper sleep when you're being woken up every fifteen minutes she's segregated from the general population of the prison facility you know no contact really with outside people besides her lawyers and occasional phone calls and when you're being held. in some isolation like that it's difficult because every every thing she wanted to do is kind of a one off request there isn't

a very set schedule and so it was very difficult to make sure she was getting a proper exercise and. trips to the library and things like that because everything she did she had to do by herself and doesn't anyone would have an easy time in prison but in this is an accomplished student you know someone who i don't think ever envision spending a day in jail or a life to be in you know it's a pretty tough facility. butanol was refused a bail after pleading not guilty as she is also accused of offering sex in an attempt to get a job with an unnamed special interest group if convicted boots on the faces up to fifteen years in prison and no date has been set yet for the trial however her lawyer remains optimistic. she's in very good shape she's helping actively with us to prepare the defense she's confident in her innocence there's no allegation of espionage there's no allegation of classified information childish and she was paying anyone off there's no allegation she was recruiting spies none of the things you would typically see in an espionage case the allegations are fairly vanilla

that she attended meetings of various groups that were public that she had dinners with various people and she took a lot of selfies as i think a lot of people are twenty's do with with people she met and posted them on facebook so this is not a kind of a typical this is no comparison to what the allegations were against for example at a chapman or others where there was actual whether they were true or not their actual allegations about use of sophisticated equipment and payoffs and spy ring and things like that there's none of that here we at some point may try to get her released pretrial again we're just looking through documents trying to find the proper evidence to do that i think we may be able to do that hopeful in the next couple of weeks. as the u.s. turkey economic standoff goes from bad to wars with both sides slapping big tariffs on each other president has one of them is ready to challenge washington.

somebody they can threaten us with the economy sanctions exchange rates interest rates inflation is what we tell them we've uncovered you'll schemes and challenge. tensions rose after all courage attained an american pastor for alleged terror links washington then put new tariffs on turkish metals sending the liard to record lows against the dollar in turn rates on key american products including cars and alcohol the u.s. now insists its sanctions will stay even if the pastor is released. fortan this this one american to put global financial stability at risk. put u.s. base presence in turkey at risk put a nato ally alliance with a nato partner at risk for one american who's being put through the turkish just so you're saying this is our faults turkey is a financial situation has been in the works for quite some time and it dates prior

to the imposition of sanctions on august i believe was august the first so this is been in train for quite some time and you cannot blame the us government for that stepping in on turkey's side is qatar which will pump fifteen billion dollars into the country's economy is done quarter look at how the decades old alliance between the u.s. and turkey has come to this. the country was built the entire entire if the no leaving goes to great trade deals as opposed to the horrible food trade deals the drawing heritages your president of the country should not be allowed to come in and steal the wealth of all great you any longer what countries could he mean are stealing could be turkey the countries lira shed a quarter of its value against the dollar in just one week after trump's tweet about doubling existing tariffs investors are running away screaming inflation surging and turkey's leadership is bracing for an all out trade war the reason for

such a calamity against an old nato friend was ankara's refusal to release an american pastor accused of both terrorism and espionage it's punishment time for a rebellious ally that tariffs that are in place on steel would not be removed with the release of castor brunson and president heard a wand lashed out in defiance calling the us move an attempt to force turkey to surrender and make them a slave to the greenback this is come through of doing things. to come more. and they want to use this for political purposes but turkey is just one example of how the trumpet ministration treats longtime allies in fact many of america's friends have already been forced into the fray in a war of tariffs and sanctions canada had heavy steel and aluminum tariffs imposed

earlier this year and trump perhaps thought the stars and stripes needed some protection from its northern neighbor who didn't take too kindly to it that it's kind of insult to move forward with retaliatory measures on july first applying equivalent tariffs as if that wasn't bad enough the us president went and slapped tariffs on europe today i'm defending america's national security. by placing tariffs on foreign imports of steel and aluminum brussels tried to hit back with restrictions of its own tried to appeal to the transatlantic solidarity special relations bonds of friendship but to no avail and it begs the question with such a long list of enemies the us is currently fighting from iran to north korea russia china why can't your allies i think this has become a real tit for tat thing and i do not for

a new york minute think that the pastor is really what is going on here now of course our washington strives with that are a bit strained for some time ever since the coup attempt against terror go on i suspect there is something good going on with the regional politics maybe with regard to syria that is really the reason behind its competitors like beijing and moscow attempting to pack as much heat as the u.s. these days sanctioning and scaring everyone in view may be the only way for the u.s. to impose its will on friend and foe alike donald quarter r.t. in protest against washington's actions some turks decided to destroy their i phones and posted this footage. no no no. no no no no no. i.

with the syrian army regaining control across the country efforts are underway to rebuild the shattered nation artes you go to travel to the city of aleppo to see how locals are slowly picking up the pieces. much of the city of aleppo still ruins reviving it to its former glory is a task of gargantuan proportions and of immense political and economic importance the citadel of aleppo has become the symbol of the city's resistance. but aleppo is much more than just a maze of antique streets and attractions from history books.

the militants have stolen computer units with sheeps for the machine they destroyed the factory on purpose they want to damage syrian industry as a whole and specifically industry reviving this sex out. with. one trevor to go over this area. and basically raid this hunger. but now this is the industrial have been slowly getting back on track things are finally looking up for the people the last. two years ago during the war we couldn't even open our

shops the shelling snipers were everywhere you couldn't live under such circumstances we covered the roof of the building back then so that we could take cover it was unbearable we took shelter for about half an hour whenever the shelling started we just locked ourselves in here thank god now we can work peacefully day and night we just hang around smoking just like they. good all day. on the job a little the atmosphere is really good around here the weather is nice everybody is feeling safe and it's only getting better you can see getting better day by day lanham up let in that i was lucky enough not to leave my home the wind this is the district the rebels couldn't get to about the time there was a blockade once but it was firmly lifted now same god things about are this part all the same as we've been through we're no better up on one of them when you know it's safe and you can return home to feel that if your house lies in ruins you can still fix it the main thing is it's safe now. just a couple of years ago these tents used to protect people in the street from falling

shows and debris well now they're sheltering them from the sun historically the city of aleppo has been the economic capital of syria and now with the war gone finally some traders are coming back to the streets. don of reporting from aleppo in syria. this week a highway bridge collapsed in the italian city of genoa killing at least forty three people including three children in response the country's prime minister has declared a twelve month state of emergency in the area. all. different

outcome especially. if they come to something. like as i call it the. oval office via. a devil at the doorway it was almost impossible to. i want to come on both of you are dead if you listen to that's a little over him up up close because of the with the music down the coast. was it covered a lot of you know when i was jimmy. saw those by the window invited to bust me going to be. as the investigation into the tragedy continues the company which manages at the bridge has set up a fund to help the victims and has pledged to rebuild the crossing is also apologized to the people of genoa and all those who suffer. watching the weekly large international mourners of trowbridge for the first.

time. we have no idea what safe is doing on a vacation but she will be back on air in september. this manufacturer can be sensitive to public wealth. when the ruling classes protect themselves. with the famous merry go

round. we can all middle of the room see. this is our international now a young girl from the u.s. state of maryland who has reportedly reprimanded for only during the pledge of allegiance at school has won the support of hillary clinton the former presidential candidate tweeted that it takes courage to express disagreement with injustice eleven year old american and taylor hopes more people will join in. this important .

marianna said that she was inspired by an american football quarterback who knelt during the national anthem before a game in two thousand and sixteen that would be called. he said it was against racial inequality and police brutality is silent protest soon a spread among other athletes that provoked a fiery political debate which reached all the way to the white house would you love to see one of these n.f.l. owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a up the field right now out the sky that was not against our anthem or our flag that was actually kneeling is a reference position. responding to the girls actually american civil liberties union urged to all maryland schools to guarantee students freedom of speech without punishment meanwhile the girl's school has issued a statement saying that it is not aware of any students being disciplined for such

behavior. we put the issue up for debate with former missouri state senator john loudon and richard goodstein former advisor to the hillary clinton presidential campaign. football's about football schools about school and if you have a protest protest in a constructive way this girl can write letters to the editor she can arrange a little march but protesting in your classroom to irritate your classmate mates and virtue signal and that's what she's being taught mom's teaching her mom is so proud you're taking to the streets is that bothersome to people is that annoying to people when you get when you get arrested disproportionately when you get shot disproportionately when you get put in jail just proportionally that's not just annoying that's totally ruining your life so the fact you're taking to the streets is not merely disruptive you're trying to make a point in less you have a goal and something that you actually have

a path to accomplish then you're just disrupting you're just being an antagonist to your fellow athletes or the fans or in this case to her classmates what does she want what's going to make her stand peace on earth and you know will we ever get to the point where there's no discrimination no there are bigoted people let's stipulate that there are people who are bigoted they will be bigoted forever donald trump is giving them a voice but the fact of the matter is it's not to say it's wrong for them to basically stand up for what they believe in that's what this little girl was doing that's all the democratic party the united states gets her power on dividing people and separating us versus them there's class warfare gender warfare they want to show that everybody's got a reason for injustice and they need to vote democrat to war in order to fix it and that's all this is it's just it's pure politics and hillary hillary clinton got millions more votes than donald trump did and her campaign theme was being

together not dividing people she wasn't mocking hand. people she wasn't telling punch him in the jaw i don't pay your legal bills that's not what our theme was our theme was about bringing people together. for a large fire in a commune in a suburb of paris has reportedly left at least twenty two people injured seven are said to be in critical condition including five children fire started around seven pm on the top floor of a three story building around eighty firemen fought to bring the fire under control eight police officers who were first on the scene are among those who were injured the cause of the fire is not yet. the afghan government has announced a cease fire with the taliban in light of islamic holidays being celebrated world whine at the truce comes after a significant escalation in fighting between the two sides hundreds of people including civilians have been killed.

you know. i saw my friend dying he was among thirteen people including children and women who were killed during an airstrike last night and there's no attention from the government you know facilities for the residents are you going the dead bodies are still on the road i've also been injured. the city of gaza where the taliban offensive started has strategic importance due to its location close to the capital kabul and we are trying to look at how after almost two decades of the american led war afghanistan is no closer to achieving peace. but this is what's happening just a little more than one hundred kilometers from the capital kabul there's barely

a camera. in gaza any available to film this dreadful battle locals say there are stronger descriptions than simply the tele bed is back in action and if it wasn't for u.s. air strikes the afghan army could have been in far worse trouble so it makes you wonder do american diplomats and their military keep in touch there is nothing that precludes us from gaging with the taliban we're doing everything we can to ensure that our actions help the taliban and the afghan government does the same table everything they can only a few weeks ago the state department said talking with the taliban was a good idea and regardless of how hostile their actions the extremists say they're forward to this is what we wanted and were waiting for to sit with the us directly and discuss the withdrawal of foreign troops from afghanistan the rumor is there's already been some direct contact at least we know for sure alice wells went to

qatar last month where the taliban's got a political office i'm confused the armed group has all but regained its might which not so long ago are in them a reputation of outright islamist barbarians in america and pretty much all over the world we acted and the taliban no longer is in power in afghanistan which is not only good for the security of the free world it is incredibly good for the people who suffered in afghanistan on the barbaric rule time flies us administrations come and go fair enough but the things the people in charge say about insurgents today could be totally different tomorrow taliban this taliban that the taliban are fighting isis and we encourage that because isis needs to be destroyed. oh so they're good for something at least if it's about knocking out

islamic state yet just a few months earlier general nicholson said the taliban's fight against dyess was a piece of russian propaganda we see oh a narrative that's being used that grossly exaggerates the number of isis fighters here this narrative then is used as a justification for the russians to legitimize the actions of the taliban and provide some degree of support complicated hol of ghana's stand business as usual and the american strategy for afghanistan see above the american strategy from the beginning of this so-called war on terror which was launched off to the september eleventh attacks as this war has turned out to be an utter failure. you know i was we all know it was in a stronger position than it was. two thousand and one. so and so i think it's proof that the u.s. has been pursuing a wrong strategy in defeating terrorism on the contrary i think that the u.s.

involvement up until now when the focus on military force in the region has the growth of terrorism the taliban is not just pulling out a gun it's firing it it could be time for the pentagon and the state department to hunt for ideas together and to be more precise. on monday greece finally exits the financial bailout program which has sustained it through an almost a decade long debt crisis more over the course of the bailout put together by the e.u. and the international monetary fund of greece received more than three hundred billion euros month the crisis has dealt heavy blows to the country's economy more than four hundred thousand people have left the country pensions have been dramatically cut and taxes raised while debt has risen to one hundred eighty percent of g.d.p. athens is expected to be repaying the bailout loans until two thousand and sixty

and while there are now signs of recovery e.u. officials supervising greek finances admit there is still a long way to go. clearly the reality on the ground remains difficult the time for a stare at sea is over but the end of the program is not the end of the road for reform there is still much work to be done so that greece can stand on its own two feet we also underestimated the deep crisis facing the greek state and economy. tensions between greece and the e.u. reached a peak in two thousand and fifteen when brussels demanded austerity measures to deal with the debt crisis most greeks voted against those measures in a referendum yet the government was pressured by the e.u. and implementing them as a result the e.u. approved a key eighty six billion euro tranche of aid dimitris jamar policy former press officer for greece's then finance minister believes the country's partners did not take the right approach to the debt crisis. and are trying to do it wouldn't be the

drastic reduction of the debt to make it sustainable in two thousand and ten eight wouldn't require a lot of restructuring in order to make the debt sustainable day but at that time neither europe nor the united states or the world economy was ready to deal with the debt effectively and that's why people view tomorrow's date with some relief in the sense that they would not be there saying stand up and i was they were in the past eight years on the other hand greece was still have to continue with it in a separate judiciary which is going to make life difficult for the majority of us i mean when you read that does it for me are we back to what say about thirty two minutes plus just a little bit with another look at your weekly watching or to. when

a loved one is murder it's natural to seek the death penalty for the murder i would prefer and it's meaningless in the death penalty just because i think that's a fair thing the right thing research shows that for every nine executions one convict respond dennison the idea that we were executing innocent people is terrifying the is just no way to present and that we want even many of victims' families want the death penalty to be abolished the case we have to keep the death penalty here is because that's what murder victims' families what that's going to give them peace that's going to give them justice and we come in and say. not quite enough we've been through this and this isn't the way.