building more prisons you seem gerrymandering all sorts of democratic practices. in that world are well into. question the. 10 am thursday morning the 30th of july in the headlines from us the u.s. is pulling nearly 12000 troops from germany payback the white house says for not paying enough into nato although the defense secretary's choice of words is being something of an eye opening. points of the nato any alliance sharing the burden so we can all deter russia and avoid peace in the board. big tex for most powerful c.e.o.'s get a grilling by the u.s. congress over political sentences ship and competition. and hundreds of british health workers march on downing street to demand the pay rise for all of the

sectors saying this still battling the pandemic on the front line and getting only applause in return. from arts international's world view center in moscow kevin 0 in here for the update for the next 30 minutes if you can stay with me too maybe for all of it so the top story this morning the united states is slashing its military presence in germany it's withdrawing all redeploying nearly $12000.00 personnel it's part of a long running dispute donald trump has with dylan at the moment claiming it's not paying enough into the nato military alliance although a slip of the tongue or could one by the u.s. defense secretary raised a few eyebrows. i've said that very privately to my counterparts as well about the importance of nato any alliance sharing the burden so we can all deter russia and avoid peace in the board. clip is probably going to come back to haunt him all

still a bit of a worry though for germany isn't it but we've all had them kevin haven't we where we've said something just slightly wrong and let the words get away from us but mania of never being the defense secretary of a nuclear state 12000 american troops will be leaving germany 6400 of those will be returning to the united states 5400 will be redeployed elsewhere around europe donald trump the us president has called germany delinquent in the past over it defense spending and they seems to have been the trigger that's prompted this troop withdrawal. but. let's be clear i think germany is the wealthiest country in europe germany can and should pay more to its defense it should certainly meet the 2

percent standard and i would argue go above and beyond that the number of troops to be withdrawn is higher than the $9000.00 that was quoted by the u.s. president earlier this month the minister president of bavaria markets a man who's also taped as a potential replacement for angle of merkel when she steps down from office next year has said that this move will damage german u.s. relations the u.s. government's decision was very regrettable use of blue stream in the u.s. german relations it's not clear what the game is from a military standpoint. of the us itself in the long run but it's also a problem to the lot of domestic politicking in the united states democratic senator from new jersey bob menendez has said that champagne would be paul. putting in the kremlin this news that despite the reality that moscow is less than happy at this it will almost certainly mean that u.s. troops will be stationed in poland right on russia's borders but we've heard from

the foreign minister and the chancellor here in berlin is that donald trump being voted out of office in november won't automatically fix things that the relationship between germany and the united states that those problems go much deeper we grew up in the certain knowledge that the united states wanted to be a world power should the u.s. now wish to draw from that through all of that cerebral would have to reflect on that very deeply everyone who thinks everything in transatlantic partnership will be as it once was with a democratic president underestimates the structural changes there you go the united states to withdraw almost $12000.00 troops from germany and what would be so any one of the biggest shake ups in nato since the cold war is donald trump continues his policy certainly seems like a policy anyway of how to lose friends and alienate people diplomatically the let's get reaction though from economist mag's ots also

a member of chancellor merkel c.d.u. party and you might think so make of the time for us today i mean this is been brewing for a little while it's not gone down well we know in germany but should germany have seen this coming it's happening now. where one could have seen it coming all the more since donald trump has have the same position since 1987 and 88 when he wrote the article below you published last one page. advertisements new york times. because of sparklers he's claimed or you demanded for the you work for the allies to pay more or he would withdraw troops vies and the us president withdraw our troops for more than 30 years 35 years now almost a long time i mean this is this is just about money. is it just about money well i guess it is indeed it's also populist it's populist in the sense that trump knows this girl's world dharmas electorate. the money is just

a symbol by that significant of one 3rd of the remaining troops in germany and i for one then welcome it in the. interim a new well comes an official policy or policy makers don't want most of them don't want to it's a chess we've heard europe talk about making its own private army its own army to replace nato the various talk by that over the years but you know of course it was america saying well you know when there's trouble guys britain europe if there's trouble you call on america you should therefore pay the money for it can you see that so the argument is not in europe. well there's a very populist argument of cost goes down the world will see american electric turbot trump trump said in the statement it was the italian prime min of the president a couple of months ago but there's a he doesn't want the military to be involved all over the globe he wants to keep it not to spend it on police actions who want to fight the fighting machine not a police police machine that those are his words so he's been delaying most you

know the of troop withdrawals. for a long time and he's done so and syria and done a starlin there's a significant minority that thinks that's right of them are among the common people i think support for this idea is much higher the elites of course want the u.s. to be involved in this they seems to have a german elite so those are the issues of here max i think you've got you told me just before that our chatter you got joint citizenship so you're part american part german with your ear to the ground in germany what are the general public your friends your family what are the what are the people on the street think about this about nato about its position these days about how it can best defend that if needed or maybe they think they want to go their own way what is the thought well i haven't made a survey really but. of course the year political elites and also corporate lives mostly think that we should keep it the way it is but there's a significant stream in the general public that should say that once

a year lists that's reduce it of course it's also a contentious issue and also an issue between east and west because i would say in the east of germany former g.d.r. most people would say that's the most strongly to this ourselves. because this small established tie to russia in the west again it looks it looks different looser the country is divided on this is through and over of from the political structure we've heard. trump's moves about movement that used energy relate. as you saw official policies supporting nato as this we have the u.s. defense secretary this slip of the tongue saying nato role is to avoid peace of which he didn't say that but we don't look it we're in the 21st century what is the role for nato briefly in the 21st century is there a future for it but to me it's a indeed an absolute power structure. but i'm in the minority you know most would

say it protects europe and. europe and for us but another way is there a better way of doing it. well europe's economy is as large as the us economy i mean if need to work to dismantle was true company italy or france will have nuclear weapons so i mean the threats to europe are not so much military or at least in my point of view of course being this is r t you don't mean that that is of units probably would be more to pro russian in the west but to stop progress and send them up a list of the situation so that has more of me migration of cyberwar and some kinds of things and no think europe should be able to take care of this by itself. the us is on paper the strategic ally but is it an alliance of equals if you think about it washington seems increasingly annoyed at germany for not just what is paying into nato but there's also the russian energy around the list goes on it's not

a bit of fun like it's never been close to an alliance of equals of cost because the us has nuclear command so it's never been an alliance of equals but now of course been turned and twisted into different directions and then people try to cling on to all structures for lack of imagination or maybe far for fear of the unknown. cause it's not them so he's not us and i almost be orders only a concern for stability i mean if you think about me to members like turkey and greece and. made top actions outside area in which the bundeswehr was strictly forbidden according to all german policy doctrine until the ninety's. bundeswehr was a treaty army to protect the whole territory periods we've redefined it in ways that probably were not intended in your original mission salt. or if you thinking has to be done and i think. what trump is doing now is will bring about those.

farts and the thinking and that can only be for the good. this is all about on the face of it. germany not paying 2 percent of its g.d.p. which is what trump wants but of course it's not just germany that's not coughing up that much money there are a lot of other members as well that aren't able to get or willing to pay 2 percent so why this focus on germany when germany used to the pivotal power still in the middle of europe and it's still big decisions even global decisions are made here all of germany's a weak country doesn't know what itself what it wants really big decisions are still being made here with germany's was one way or the other could be swayed one way or the other. of course does pretty much more than 2 percent of g.d.p. in support of all kinds of. normal things really the e.u. and then also in the way we transfer wealth to the us troop private would you truly

wholesale some our of our industries i mean there's there's a lot of things germany pay isn't under your radar screen that should be counted for tools because with so much money these days all around the world on so think so huge covert $19.00 what to do without but that's whole nother story isn't it max obviously economist mark so tearin a member of the chancellor merkel city your party thanks make the time for us have a good days there. from to see those 2 hotels to office blocks the name we're talking about in just now trump is plastered on many prime addresses isn't it but israeli settlement named after the u.s. president as a thank you for his backing in a territorial dispute is looking much less resplendent these days artist paula slayer of mideast correspondent went to take a look. what does president trump love more than seeing his name in golden letters on a big sign while praising recognition one would say and here in northern israel he's got both trump heights in the middle of nowhere and thank you from benjamin

netanyahu to his american body for doing what most of the international community would not recognize this is the golan heights as part of his role you've been an incredible friend for israel and you've done extraordinary things for the jewish state which we are eternally grateful to much bad for in celebrations you might imagine an idyllic place the 1st thing you see is the settlement gate which doesn't close completely and there's a gap here through which i can just go into the but jari gets into it and then you find that no boulevard or fancy entrance leading into the village instead of hot overgrown with weeds and piles of stone a far cry from what you'd expect the entrance into trump heights would look like when you think a place like you had a 2nd chance you see this this building used to be the common law say to full view original village for him and now 80 although he's been a fantasy name change a new settlement his filter attract many residents today less than

a dozen lives here and right now no one seems to be. so alone is there any one poem hello. it's all captured this territory from syria during the 19676 day war and later and next to 981 now most of the international community considers that annexation illegal and does not consider the golan heights as part of israel locals don't take it seriously either and this was i think it's not a good location it's very hard it's a neglected area and i simply don't know why people go to live there for us a job so we're going to this is going to want to see it because we think it's all roads are going to get. sued. it was a very group which is this is an american issue. through. the israeli government says plans and

a way to eventually house $300.00 families but in the years since trump prices beeman overrated nothing's been done maybe it doesn't even matter the un has been bestowed the facts on marginal after all we live in an era of fake news says president traffic likes to see. r.t. heights northern israel. the most powerful bosses in big tech got a dressing down from u.s. lawmakers over there are market power and claims of political censorship. the heads of facebook google and apple face congress and so too did the world's richest man and boss jeff bezos who made his 1st appearance notes a little wonder there are monopoly concerns the combined market value of the world's big 4 is greater than the entire german economy plus with political advertising regulations increasingly in place it's suspected that the social media giants play a crucial role in elections and perhaps biased towards the democrats is the thought

has been discussing those concerns. what about the timing of all of this why is it happening right now is there any significance to that well they definitely isn't the chairman of the subcommittee spoke out today when the hearing started and he said that this is even more important now because as we're still dealing with a lockdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic it is really hit small businesses the hardest and in turn it has actually made these 4 big tech companies there they're talking about even more powerful than before take a listen to the code 900 demick these corporations already stude out as titans in our economy in the wake of 9 where they're likely to emerge stronger and more powerful than ever before as american family shift more of their work shopping and communication online these giant stand to profit locally owned businesses meanwhile mom and pop stores on main street face an economic crisis unlike any in recent history now as we know these tech companies are no strangers to privacy concerns and so there have also been

a lot of questions about how they use all of the information that they gather from their users that are on their platforms and where that's going to go in the future yeah i think that's a really good point i think you have to look at the fact that essentially all these different companies could be i believe they are but could be violated antitrust laws in the fashion in some way or another they do seem to be engaging in very similar conduct which is essentially keeping competition from rising up using data to hold back competition all competition goes away no one is big enough or rich enough to be able to compete and also as we all know these companies are kind of the say in that they're all data companies that's actually what they are their companies that mine our data and then sell that data that's how they're so powerful is anything actually going to be done by congress to address this or is this kind of an opportunity for those on the hill to do some grandstanding and ruffle their feathers. i think it's a lot of grandstanding i don't think much is going to come out of this and there's a couple of reasons for that you and i have been talking about this for years that

essentially these companies are abusing section $230.00 and. the not as platforms but as publishers there's really no discussion right now of removing that even though some members of congress want to do that the president has talked about doing that it's not happening and so the question becomes if you really want to get these guys in line there's a couple of things you can do and one of them is to say you are in violation we're going to revoke it from you. good morning from moscow this is our international i'm kevin and it's 18 cause the irish will want you to close this morning coming up the steps in south korea that's really testing tempest in tokyo it's a memorial marking japan's. and it's reviving a decades old dispute plus the prime minister is taking it personally and we'll tell you why about. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of

the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see if. you can be both with yeah you. know every crisis in america has been packaged as a bond and sold into the junk bond market with a longer maturity at a slightly lower coupon rate and they've been doing this now for 40 years to the point where america is indebted this says. they engineered to the point of an

extinction event as have many countries as the global. fellow every week at the height of the pond to make them people across britain tend to applaud health workers didn't they it was very much appreciated but medical stuff munching on downing street wednesday said what they really could do with this well is the applause is a decent pay rise across the sector the message to the government is clear clapping won't pay bills national health service stuff and you to get a pay rise but none till next spring you can say the money is needed now especially as exhausted health workers are bracing for what could be an imminent 2nd wave of covert complain to say they know money is tight right now yet they say existing funds should be spread more fairly. you know i completely agree that we're in a very tricky situation at the moment and things are move precarious and they were

you know you know the last 10 years we've seen a star if he cuts he's seen a lot a lot of damage done to certain sections of the workforce in our society now we've also seen in recent times billions of pounds being on his companies and private companies and businesses you know there are priorities that we can see the n.h.s. is clearly not a priority in fact is seems so ironically or you know quite scary really the n.h.s. is being you know is continuing if you can continue on the value despite being. here and has to do with a british government's response the pandemic is still getting see a screw to the new report to says that. suffered the most reflections of those deaths were quotes wrote to the wolves here's our london correspondent show the average dusty. the 1st glimpse the 1st real look into how the sector has been

treated since the height of the pandemic though it found that the government's approach was inconsistent and out worst negligent now according to make here here's the chairwoman of the cross party committee she says the national response was simply not good enough our care homes were effectively burned to the wolves and the virus has ravaged some of them putting all else aside the government must use the narrow window we have now to plan for a good wait lives depend upon getting a response rate slow inconsistent reckless and appalling were used to describe the way in which patients were discharged into care homes without any knowledge of whether or not the patient had to prove it 19 now a massive 25000 hospital patients in england and wales were moved to care homes to free up beds spaces as i say that 19 test it also found years of inattention and funding cuts by successive governments have left social care worse for wear and that the government was aware of this but failed to change its policy and then more

recently boris johnson the prime minister at the start of july shifted the blame someone on to the care homes saying that they were not doing their jobs properly we discovered too many. didn't really follow the procedures in the way that they. now the report has suggested some recommendations including improving the discharge process and it wants the government to respond by the end of the summer because that is a crucial time when we do expect to see a 2nd wave of the coronavirus pandemic. next story a statute a tonic a botanic garden in south korea is rigged nice in an unresolved bitter war time with japan and it shows a man kneeling in front of a girl who symbolizes military sex slaves euphemistically called comfort women from japan's imperial colonial era nearly a century ago was really annoying japan about all this right now on top of the spot was going on for years is that the man looks

a little bit like may be prime minister shinzo rb himself no stranger to inflaming said dispute japan says if it is based on our way it will seriously impact relations with south korea. does god look at deal with you and i think such a thing is unforgivable in terms of international courtesy if the reports are accurate it will have a decisive impact on japan and south korea relations while the other side the bigger issue behind this is over reparations for the so-called comfort stations in use from $132.00 to the end of the 2nd world war women were lured with the offer of work only to be forced into providing sexual services to japanese imperial army soldiers it's thought around 200000 of these women were mostly korean were enslaved attempts to try to resolve this dispute have gone on as a mention for years and still not really been solved is a really sore point a treaty to try and normalize relations came about in 1965 but it took japan until

9093 to finally apologize and admit that women were forced into sex slavery by 2015 a formal apology and deal was agreed with the fund to compensate victims but it didn't go far enough as for a south korea was concerned that deal to almost fell apart let's go live to seoul next and korean affairs analyst gabriela banalities with this there gabrielle nice to see you this morning the garden where the statue is displayed has been a bit opaque about whether or not this was kind of based on it says it's symbolic it could be it could be anybody what do you think's going on here. yes thank you for having me. well the statue looks like it could be any man in their fifty's or sixty's it's not specifically doesn't specifically resemble exactly the manager of the botanical garden also said that it was never his intention to cause a diplomatic spat between both countries that according to him and it's not but

he has given very flip flopping statements to the media to various international media just like rotors one to one and he says that it's not new but on the other hand he says that well if it were. given the seriousness of all this the fight is going on since the 2nd world war i mean anything that could even be remotely resembling is not going to help build and bridges and finally sorting things reparations of this argument between south korea and japan this is yes that's true that mentally but in korea it's still a very much a fresh wound a very fresh issue despite it being already over 70 years koreans take this problem very seriously they believe japan has not adequately apologized or compensated the victims so to damn it's a problem that still needs to be resolved shoes are obvious fear import of this is well in the 1st in 2007 he said that the comfort women want to reply to that

statement was it wise for him to get involved like this in such a sensitive issue. no not not at all if you mean if you're not going to say anything that would help you you should rather just stay quiet especially with something so sensitive so it's never helped his statements have really over the years just made things more and this most recent statement by japan also will definitely not go well go down well in south korea this deal 2015 pound apologized sort of it was a multimillion dollar firm for survivors but a career put them through a lengthy review was it time for south korea to keep it here and say well ok you're making the offer decades are going on here knows the time that we settle this what was wrong with it as far as south korea is concerned. yes or no administration the current south korean administration practically deal that was made under the past ministration they do not think that it was sincere enough apology and comfort women

themselves the survivors today do not think they did not want money they said that what they want is not money they want to have legal responsibility and they say that i'm not telling the last about just that they will not be satisfied with any kind of agreement that the government's signed. gabriela but no accrued of make of the time to be with us today much appreciated see again sort of a good day. here thank you and thank you for being with us too i can tell you that's the way things are looking so far for the use of this are we keeping a fully covered of course throughout the day our various studios and great anchors i have to say that we'll be keeping you fully posted but for now reporting from moscow this thursday kevin in the saying thank you for watching this program have a great day.

we go to work. straight home. welcome to the alex salmon show back in our studio where today we take stock of

this year's dramatic developments in irish politics almost unnoticed in the shadow of a well pandemic selection breakthrough by shin fein has sparked an historic realignment and i this politics whether i'm president today alliance between tribal cinephile and finnick you today we discussed with key players from shin fein and the greens how this will shape the future violent postbag sit and post pandemic and to ask given mali alan's most respected commentator to give us an overview of what these developments in the senate this mean for the politics of the north now and last week show we asked the 2nd longest serving tea check or prime minister says irish independence for his assessment this is what bertie ahern had to see my jewish not that we should never do wish of course i mean republican. it is ga but one day much to the fall the party i led for years and it was actively involved at every level at that unification to.