from the east. coast. from. washington orders u.s. officials in iraq to evacuate as soon as possible after raising the alarm on the international stage over supposed increased threats coming from neighboring iran. also this hour the u.s. attorney general investigate the legality of evidence seized in the russian trunk collusion probe although it doesn't question the findings of the report. because the latest campaign in norway sparks anger from some as it features a crescent moon as part of its logo to coincide with ramadan.

you're watching art international coming to you live from the russian capital where it's just turned 4 pm welcome to the program leave iraq now as fast as possible that's the dramatic warning that's been issued by washington to u.s. employees in the country it comes amid a heightened sense of urgency from the american side over what it calls the increased threat coming from iraq's neighbor iran i'm joined now live in the studio by daniel hawkins who's oppose this development for us now dan the u.s. seems to have gone almost in panic mode here it's about getting people from neighboring iraq what's going on well i mean u.s. civilian relations do have a complex history to say the least but certainly now this is taking things to a roll the new level the united states has issued a security alert to all its normal emergency personnel in iraq so i think what they call a substantial risk related to a raid in activities now we don't know what shape or form this risk takes actually what is changing the recent times for this escalation but certainly washington

wants to show that it's taken this threat seriously and wants to show there is some sort of clear and present danger now of course u.s. forces and other personnel in the region in iraq in syria do face a certain amount of risk just in the background due to the vote. absolutely the recent conflict the presence of many armed groups in the region this is something different it calls for the immediate evacuation of the embassy of most u.s. personnel from the embassy in baghdad and from the consulate in erbil as well specifically because of iraq and so certainly the situation does appear heated. their neighbors are spread instability or terror everywhere we go in the middle east it's a rare and or ran around major destabilizing in influence in the middle east to spread death destruction and. the leaders of iran are racketeers so as. death. and destruction behind every problem is

a rare and what we've been trying to do is to get iran to be him like a normal nation it's not all talk of the u.s. has been pushing a military build up in the region they've sent an aircraft carrier strike group with bombers to the gulf as well iran has labeled that move psychological warfare with the iran also saying they don't want war with the united states that it won't conflict but they do reserve the right to respond to aggressive u.s. moves now this recent trouble does have its roots in the ministrations withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal that was criticized by the other signatories to that agreement that's been amplified by labeling each other's militaries as terrorist organizations by the threat of new sanctions and by comes the verbal spots between tehran and washington. to see what happens with the run if they do anything it will be a very bad mistake if they do anything i'm hearing a little stories about iran if they do anything they will suffer greatly we'll see what happens with the run of some of those stories mr trump's referring to

relations. with each one the tension seems to get wrapped up on the u.s. rhetoric also seems to get ramped up a little thing. for instance drone attacks on saudi arabian oil facilities just west of riyadh by huth the militants in drone attack that was preceded just days ago by some form of attack against oil tankers just off the coast of the united arab emirates that was described as sabotage by amorality officials now to iran has denied any involvement in those oil tanker attacks they've even said it was a provocation designed to spot. conflict they've called for an investigation but certainly these incidents don't serve to reduce tension and rather escalated in that region now the situation is also of grave international concern russia has said they have received no reassurance from what from po regarding those tensions with iran they anticipate an escalation as well germany the netherlands they've just come in with news saying they're suspending their military training operations

in iraq again specifically because of risk of potential attacks from iranian proxies finally a bit of a split also in the carrier group spain has withdrawn its frigate from that group because of what it describes as a change in mission and concerns over a confrontation so certainly this is the situation that many feel uncomfortable with and it shows no sign of the escalating anytime soon and increasingly tense situation daniel hawkins thank you. amid the alarm over iran a senior general in the u.s. led coalition in syria in iraq appears to have refuted the idea of a heightened threat level kate partridge joins us now live with more on that we're getting some rather mixed messages here aren't way. hi there jackie yes there does seem to be rather a difference of opinion a breakdown in communication between the u.s. military central command and the coalition's 2nd in command over the threat posed by iran. you know there's been no increased threat from

iranian backed forces in iraq and syria where aware of their presence clearly. and we monitor them along with a whole range of others because that's the environment we're in. we're british major general chris cake of the coalition's deputy commander for strategy and information seems to refute the trumpet ministrations claim iran is mobilizing groups in iraq and syria to attack american forces with his comments also seem to contradict the claim tehran is an escalating threat u.s. national security adviser john bolton has long promoted action against iran but the british general says there's little to fear. there are a range of threats to american and coalition forces in iraq or syria we most of them all reading about forces is clearly one of them. are going to go into the detail of it but there are

a substantial number of militia groups in iraq and syria and we don't see any increased threat from many of them at the station. well pressed to explain the discrepancy gekas seem to limit his earlier remarks to a group of militia in iraq called the popular mobilization forces while some are backed by iran but the coalition considers them compliant yet later a u.s. military central command made a terrifying statement stressing iran is a threat recent comments from oh i asked depth. he commanded a run counter to the identified credible threats available to intelligence from the u.s. and its allies regarding iranian backed forces in the region also said they'd be counted bill he added is now at a high level of alert as we continue to closely monitor credible and possibly imminent threats to u.s. forces in iraq well but as a senior british come on to and america's central command share the same intelligence have similar information on terrorist locations as strikes and danger

zones how can they give statements that are so different to help clarify this r.t. has sent requests to operation inherent resolve and the u.k.'s ministry of defense so far there's been no response kate partridge bring us the latest from london the . demonstrations and rallies have been held in gaza to mark the 71st anniversary of nakba day it commemorates the hundreds of thousands of palestinians who were expelled in the war that led to the establishment of israel in 1948 now as you can see on your screen here there's a huge fire burning near the border with israel with clones of black smoke visible from kilometers away protesters have been throwing rocks and burning tires and a number of palestinians are said to have been injured already israeli forces have reportedly used tear gas and rubber bullets against the crowd. top level talks continue in the russian city of sochi on tuesday u.s.

secretary of state mike pump met with both president putin and foreign minister sergei lavrov global issues were discussed including the venezuelan crisis syria and the iran's nuclear deal now on wednesday putin met with auster and counterpart alexander vender bone biological ties and international issues were on the agenda for the meeting the austrian president declared that the 2 countries agreed global problems can only be resolved with patients and over time the 2 leaders will give a news conference following their discussion. it's expected putin will also comment on the results of monday's talks with pale will of course be bri more information on that when it does happen. the u.s. attorney general william barr has launched a probe into possible misconduct relating to the miller report specifically he will see if the law was broken when trying to establish whether donald trump colluded with russia however it bars decided not to subject that part of the investigation which concluded there was meddling by moscow to the same scrutiny and picks up the

story. since 2016 the democrats have been pushing an investigation of donald trump for allegedly colluding with russia in order to win the $2016.00 elections well now the report is out and the verdict is no collusion and at this point it looks like cable news will not stop the noise about trump and russia despite the report being released well now we've got a new investigation to cover it seems the republicans are now pushing to investigate the investigators u.s. attorney john durham he is not a rookie by far he investigated the cia and revealed that they had destroyed tapes and evidence of their torture program he also investigated the f.b.i.'s relationship with mafia boss whitey bulger so when it was announced that he would look into whether or not federal officials broke the law when investigating donald trump the democrats got antsy so did former f.b.i. director james calming and feared personally i feared as

a citizen right the investigation what investigate that investigations were conducted what would be the crime you'd be investigating so it's a terrible cycle to start perhaps the f.b.i. does have a reason to be concerned after all they did send an informer who posed as an assistant in order to meet with trump's aide now this informer stephon helper has a long history in fact he was involved in cia spying during the 1980 elections trump says that his campaign was spied on however those who oversaw the operation strongly object to that wording you know. the dictionary definition of spies surveillance or spying a term i don't particularly like it's not a term of war used by intelligence people that has a negative connotation of a rogue operation out of control not in compliance with the war and that's not the case at all now let's not forget that the feds clung to the now discredited steeled cia in order to apply for a warrant to surveil donald trump now

a full 10 days before they applied for the warrant they were already questioning christopher steele's credibility and here's some language from a memo that surfaced. there is a technical him an operation run out of moscow targeting the election payments to those recruited and made out of the russian consulate in miami it is important to note that there is no russian consulate in miami but the intel community presented christopher steele as being credible when they applied for a warrant to spy on trump now at durham will no doubt be looking into whether or not that is legal now let's also not forget that chuck schumer waived his fist on behalf of american spying agencies take on the intelligence community they have 6 ways from sunday of getting back after everything related to the trump russia investigation seems to be a widely contested the words presented by one side are presented as false by the other side and amid all these allegations of dishonesty biased partisanship we're

expected to believe by both wings of the establishment that what they are saying about russia and their allegations that it meddled in the 2016 elections is absolutely true. well i guess the american people will have to decide what they want to believe caleb mup and r.t. new york political analyst lou rockwell says there's little to no appetite among the u.s. public to question the russian meddling narrative. they all know there is no evidence of republicans democrats malar. barr i know that there are a lot of americans who have same view i do want to know where the evidence is. but i think the you know the it's the establishment the media both political parties. they're all saying one thing and i don't know that the american people will ever see it will they demand it like to think that they would but i'm i'm afraid i don't believe that i'm afraid this is just going to go on and on and on and pompei oh

bolton. and the administration the democrats the republicans and congress the media they're all being the same drum and they're all lawyering and we just have to hope that. president trump will pull back. we just have to see coming up controversy in norway after coca-cola launches a special edition of its logo to mark the muslim holiday of ramadan the details after this short break. i'm max kaiser one more of my guide to financial survival this is on a the mice used by professional scallywags to earn money. that's right these hedge

funds are simply not accountable and we're just getting more and more to the. totally destabilize the global economy you need to protect yourself and get in for a while because we will. join me every thursday on the alex i'm unsure when i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then.

welcome back activists rein in venezuela's embassy in washington d.c. despite an infection notice they're trying to prevent the venezuelan opposition from taking up residence opposition figures have the backing of the u.s. which recognizes their leader one guardo as president of venezuela meanwhile but it's one embassies and other countries are often becoming the subject of controversy as bitter over explains. just a few moments ago the big players on the world stage were tripping over themselves to come out and recognize one as the legitimate president of venezuela we are ready to recognize. as interim president we will recognize him as constitutional interim president and we stand ready to recognize one why don't as the interim president of venezuela. even said representatives to different nations

around the world despite them not receiving diplomatic credentials in some countries like here in germany where we have a situation that the ambassador who sits in the embassy just behind me represents a government deemed illegitimate while the representative of the government deemed legitimate holds no diplomatic runk here in germany though that hasn't stopped quite those man from at least calling himself ambassador. in venezuela we're living under a dictatorship there needs to be international pressure to end the a separation of power when we can have a real transitional government so we can hold elections then we can have our consulates and embassies full steam ahead for regime change as politicians and news networks cheated each official that defected from the madieu road government but then there was the failed coup attempt at the ball of aryan republic and the standoff outside of the venezuelan embassy in washington.

i. bring efficiency internationally and she. she stopped us then delayed any internal affairs and that is what we're trying to say in the end it mentions in international law now with the german palm entry inquiry finding that germany's recognition of quite though is president was shaky at best on the international law the foreign ministry here is less than committed when it comes to talking about furthering relations and talks with the representatives of the man who would be the leader of that his way it's a similar story in all the e.u. nations and spain for example they also welcomed the representative of one without conveying any diplomatic rank basically it means the mistake why does

representatives get meets and talk with foreign ministry officials with very little else despite european leaders joining in the cheese for change early on in venezuela the reality today is they have taking a position it's much more on the fence but one of these days they're going to have to come down on one side of the other as they find out it can be quite easy to make big political statements but if you don't think through how they're going to be put into action can just cause more problems down the line. underhand in m.p. for germany's the left party thinks east states have good reason not to recognize white house ambassadors. foreign policy always recognize states but not with their persons and though we see all the. costs coming out of the situation because of why there was no real power tool has the real power this. for pragmatic reasons. in the recording of the durable embassy here

and dealing with with them and called sort of story issues on the other hand the representative of the or mr gates is recognized as a political representative of quiet all but not as an ambassador issue of. foreign minister is cooperating with. of course which oh it's because you cannot deal with real issues with a president who has no power in the country. ukraine has offered to free a journalist working for a russian news agency as part of a prisoner exchange with moscow camille missions q who is ukrainian was arrested in kiev on charges of treason russia's presidential human rights council has expressed concern over his treatment journalists and public figures rallied outside the ukrainian embassy in moscow to support him if he is the head of the news agencies

office in ukraine he was imprisoned in 2018 accused of supporting separatists in eastern ukraine stand boss region at the time he appealed to russian president vladimir putin for support asking to be made a russian citizen. which he actually when you have no good friends today it's a year since our colleague was imprisoned on the monstrous charge only because he carried out his journalistic work it is a shameful page in the history of modern ukraine we hope that the new president will dimmers alinsky will find the strength and be able to wrest the beach from the history of modern ukraine that's needed now was tomorrow will be the stilts of cruel 2nd year in the ukrainian 2 chambers without. medical assistance in conditions equivalent to torture this brings shame on the country shame on legal authorities and shame on you korean society and we do hope that there will be forces inside ukraine that can say pick up the keys to his cell and set the journalists free. coca-cola has launched

a ramadan version of its logo in no norway it features the crescent moon to celebrate the holy month but not everyone has welcomed the idea. shame on you for promoting women oppressing homosexuals terrorizing. did you also make adverts with the cross in saudi arabia easter this is getting too stupid if your company is using the crescent moon of islam in norway as a marketing tool during ramadan i will have no choice but to boycott your products they appear research center says the number of muslims in norway is on the rise in 2016 they represented almost 6 percent of the population now coca-cola has defended the ramadan logo saying it's part of the brand commitment to diversity and it's not the 1st time the company's tried to appeal to muslims and to promote campaigns. this for example last year its dutch ring ran a facebook and in which a muslim woman gets scornful looks but ends up making friends with

a stranger political and social commentator my aunts are believes coca-cola wants to be seen as engaging with muslim communities. i think that is a really cynical i think at the end of the day most modern progressive multinational companies around the world would have policies to reach out to diverse communities colin particular you know the history you know they've had a history of about 30 odd years of being boycotted in the arab league nations after the u.s. would seem to be supporting israel since then they've tried very very hard to try and reach out to diverse communities and i think those people who are complaining about the faith of islam or their misunderstanding of the faith of islam really haven't got a leg to stand on and remember that norway is you know 5 or 6000000 people we're talking about 5 or 6 percent 2 or 300000 people muslims really this is a relatively minor thing there are lots of marketing campaign whether it's to do with the olympics whether it's to do a different times of the year so i think i have had

a fair crack they want to be seen as somebody engaging with most in communities where traditionally they've got a very low penetration rate very low traction. the russian president vladimir putin is holding talks with his austrian counterpart in the black sea resort city of sochi they're expected to give a joint news conference shortly but our team is broadcasting it brings us up to date on what's happened so far. and another big day here in sochi this has been something of a marathon 3 days of high profile meetings 1st it was the chinese foreign minister with his russian counterpart sergey lavrov the next day yesterday was my compelled u.s. secretary of state meeting with again and then vladimir putin lot of headlines coming out of that meeting for example both might compare when the russian leadership agreed that something has to be done that despite the fact that we disagree on venezuela on iran and many other issues that we can keep the

conversation up we can continue talking trying to find common ground and that was really the big takeaway yesterday however at the end of the day during the meeting with vladimir putin and might compare also present was the head of russia's foreign intelligence. and it's a little interesting tidbit came out of that for example he said that urged the american colleague his american counterparts to do more to restart communications restart. talks between russian intelligence and american intelligence specially on counterterrorism and things that make booth countries safer we know of a secretive meeting that took place earlier this year in february where russian intelligence heads went to the united states to talk about isis isis fighters returning from syria from iraq and preventing them from staging any atrocities in

europe for example in russia in the united states so ties have been present but they've been much lower profile than before today we've got a lot to me a putin meeting with the austrian president relations between austria and russia historically even at the worst of times been relatively good austria has been. neutral power in europe like me putin will be taking questions at the end of that meeting during a press conference and i can tell you there's a lot of journalists that are just iching was glad to meet putin about the meeting yesterday about further plans about the possibility of improvement in relations with europe and with the united states will be keeping you posted that's a wrap up of the day's top news for now thanks for tuning in.

if we ever needed an anti-war movement it's obviously now trying this hyper aggressive foreign policy faces little resistance from the mainstream media in fact numerous liberal news outlets function as a cheering section for the president where is the moral outrage. after the previous stage of my career was over everyone wondered what i was going to do next the book different clubs on one hand it is logical to sit in the home field where everything is familiar on the other i wanted a new challenge and a fresh perspective i'm used to surprising and i saw one on t.v. . i'm going to talk about football not the or else you can sink i was going to the.

by the way ways of the. time after it had said we're going on the ground $48.00 hours after swedish prosecutors reopened their investigation into wiki leaks founder julian assange we're going to be waiting for a response from britain's crown prosecution service as to whether they once again contacted the swedish government inaugural attempt to change the course of justice in the case of the most famous publisher in the world coming up on the show on neck with a we speak to warning casseroles south africa's former intelligence services minister who fought apartheid alongside nelson mandela about why the new enemy of his country is neoliberalism and backstabbing spying in the struggle for power from the west or offs. so the british parliament has game of thrones and you're only moved ahead of the show's final episode but how soon before trump's warplanes run after

the unprecedented deployment of the u.s.s. abraham lincoln to the persian gulf. in today's going underground a 1st to britain's old colony of south africa whose apartheid regime was sponsored by both main u.k. parties until the full of the berlin wall in 1901 the crucial fact of our ongoing anglo-american support for an institutionalized racist nation in africa was perceived strategic power against international communism and while nelson mandela arguably sold south africa out to the i.m.f. he never forgot the debt he owed to for instance cuban communism when he was finally freed from 27 years of defacto u.k. backed detention for going to group photos papers and there you go about incidents that he didn't do cause i want to go on for a little bit. to get a grasp maybe you're going to be on top architects are. not one of their

own or. someone you don't. know and now about who are pretty yeah i want to get some with me where arafat loud. that is very hard to be. arrogant. mandela and fidel may no longer be alive but in south africa a 3rd party in elections that's all mandela's a.n.c. perform at its worst has now emerged the economic freedom fighters of judice malema we want to be like fidel because when we take over our government we want to increase. our people because. their life expectancy. is. because the. prices.