Jim Duggan Al Jazeera once more head on the aljazeera news hour including we take a look at the situation in the syrian province of there are one year after rubble surrendered to government backed forces. More than 20 countries signed a letter to the un condemning whats to be chinas mass the tension off were muslims and Serena Williams and to another wimbledon final paper has been actually its. The 1st france has passed a controversial tax bill targeting tech giants the 1st if its type from one of the worlds Major Economies lets get some real care reaction to this and over to Lawrence Taylor with more from our european broadcast answer. Thanks arena yes the 3 percent tax affects Companies Like google apple facebook and amazon and the movers angered the white house u. S. President donald trump has ordered an investigation into the planned tax move that could result in retaliatory terrorists but reports from paris. A show of hands and a display of defiance french senators passed a law taxing tech giants despite threats by the United States washington says the levy on thoroughly targets American Companies and its opened an inquiry a move condemned by frances finance minister i think that the best way of dealing with that kind of difficulties between the u. S. And france is not through it is not opening a procedure under section 3 or one for the 1st time you history of the friendship between the u. S. And france it is to build a compromise at the g 7 level. So that we can have a concrete and effective solution on the docks issue of digital activities the tax targets firms with the global revenue of more than 800000000. 00 including 30000000000. 00 in france at least 30 companies will have to pay 3 percent tax on their french revenues because most are american including amazon and apple facebook and google washington says the levy is discriminatory in a statement the u. S. Is trade representative said the President Donald Trump had directed that we investigate the effects of this legislation and determine whether it is discriminatory or unreasonable and burdens or restricts United States commerce the u. S. Investigation could lead to washington imposing retaliate tree tariffs on france thats something the french government would want to avoid but theres little doubt that there is a growing sense of frustration amongst many french politicians with trumps approach to international disagreements who should mr trump threatens everyone in all areas hes become an article amity when youre head of such a power you have a responsibility you dont amuse yourself by threatening states that are as responsible and democratic is france and that seek to the find the sort of regulation needed to address todays new economies its. So that there can be justice also that the European Commission has been pushing for tech firms to abide by e. U. Competition law rules and pay more tax in Europe Frances new law is a major step in that direction it also fulfills one of the french president s Campaign Promises emanuel mycroft moving to the u. S. But taxing wealthy Tech Companies was one of the yellow vests main demands so French Public opinion is likely to be on macro side. Aljazeera paris a man at the center of frances right to die debate has passed away after spending more than a decade in a vegetative state 1st of all bear was paralyzed from the neck down and suffered severe brain damage in a motorcycle accident in 2008 he died after doctors removed life support something judges blocked multiple times at the request of his parents his wife and some of his siblings supported the end of his treatment his case sparked a long running debate in france over keeping patients alive in situations like this. At least 7 people an hour confirmed dead after a Violent Storm hit a tourist region in northern greece it struck beaches on the whole could be cuban insular just southeast of the city officials on a key 6 of the dead were tourists or 7th man was or was a fisherman whose body was found at sea after he was reported missing 23 people have been treated in hospital a state of emergency has been declared. One person has died in russia and 13 more are being treated for injuries after a major fire at a power station just outside moscow a faulty gas pipeline is believed to cause the fire at a Thermal Power Station 27 in the northeastern suburb of. 150 firefighters were needed to put it out of the victim has been identified as a female security guard. Italian prosecutors open an investigation into possible corruption involving deputy Prime MinisterMatto Salvini it from his media reports that his Ruling League party saw millions of dollars fire secret Russian Oil Deal or you obtained from a meeting in october and involves a close aide of salvini and 3 russian men discussing a deal but theres no evidence the transaction took place really has denied that his party received any money from moscow. European Council President donald tusk says russias decision to ban flights to georgia is unjustified and disproportional to excuse attending a conference on the e. U. And Eastern Europe and the georgian city but to me relations between tbilisi and moscow have deteriorated further since the visit of a russian politician to the Georgian Parliament 3 weeks ago which as angry about the continued presence of Russian Troops in georgia. Says that the new is ready to support georgia to withstand current challenges under simmons has more from but you me. Is the last thing russia wants to see in this dispute a gathering of east european states among them georgia and the European Union dealing going on a financial agreement worth 53000000. 00 investment for georgia russia is continuing with its flights doesnt appear to be flinching although not amir putin has watered down in fact stopped any further sanctions being passed by the Lower Parliament but. The president here the also the the Prime Minister politicians generally dont want to up the ante in terms of any rhetoric towards russia the only person who openly really went for it was donald tusk. Russia he says this is. Unjust. This is russia thats your country the 1st of the 1st for the us so if. The venue for this conference is a major resort in the black sea and if democrats were to walk out of here down the road to the problem all over theyd be quite shocked to find that there are hardly any russian tourists around aljazeera has been told by the tourist board here that occupancy rates for hotels is down by up to 80 percent mainly in the midmarket there is a colossal effect of the flights to georgia from russia and there is no sign that its going to be lifted more from london nation version now back to darien into mine thank you earth least 8 people have been killed in a car bombing in northwestern syria another 35. 00 including children were injured me explosion happened near the city of a city in the wall its been a year since rebels in the southern syrian province of that surrender and since then un human Rights Groups have documented cases of arbitrary detentions and arrests and now security is worsening as reports from beiruts. Need to more to fall are lit was a symbolic moment in syrias war when the opposition surrendered in july 2018 the Southern Provinces where the prodemocracy Movement Began back in 2011 we taking it had special significance for the government even though the opposition remained in control of some towns as part of russian brokered reconciliation deals that avoided further fighting a year later state control seems weak. Well the situation in that has really regressed over the previous 3 months where weve had a spate of different assassination attacks by unknown gunmen attacks on syrian Army Checkpoints which is something which we havent really seen in areas which have been agreed upon reconciliation the state hasnt been the only target for rebel commanders particularly those who joined units of the army as well as civilians who joined state institutions have been killed its not clear who is behind the violence the opposition believes the government has much to gain. There have been many assassinations of civilians and former leaders of rebel groups who agreed to reconcile theyve been killed the aim is to create a state of fear eventually change the socalled reconciliation deals. Some say the rest and there are is linked to the battle for influence between government allies russia and iran they have been recruiting locals and former rebel fighters into the different government affiliated military and security branches they control. Rising tensions between the reigns on the russians across syria on on Different Levels 1st militias attacking each other and do senior positions the latest of which was basically changing all of the heads of the security agencies in syria in all different sides on the rainy and within the Iranian College are reporting rising tensions with russia and its allies. The return of the state to the Southern Province has not improved peoples lives syrians have shown their anger they have protested in towns where Security Forces arent present speaking out against the lack of jobs at essential services as well as the arrests and detentions international Rights Groups have accused president bashar assad of reestablishing repressive rule but people continue to strive for freedom in the birthplace of their revolution senator beirut ambassadors from 22 countries have condemned chinas treatments of ethnic and religious minorities in an unprecedented move they issued a letter calling for the detention of muslims to stop cattle lopez had a on reports. This fun stuff building is called a Vocational Center in china critics say its more like a prison one of many detention camps run by the government. But target they say are ethnic and religious minorities mostly weaker muslims in the Northwest Region of chink young activists say at least 1000000 people are detained in similar camps were extreme surveillance force assimilation and abuse. Are common the camps have long sparked International Criticism in an unprecedented move 22 nations signed a letter to the Un Human Rights Council condemning disturbing reports australia canada and japan are among the signatories along with britain france and germany they call on china to stop the mass detentions respect religious freedom and grant independent experts meaningful access to the region. Countries that did not sign the document raised just as much interest out of the 22 nations assigned as none of them were muslim majority nations which is really quite telling because china is using their pocketbook to gain influence in many of these nations as well. China defends the practice the government says its not about eliminating peoples identity but about teaching employment skills and pushing out what it calls extremism year far surely by ceasing up for occasional education and Training Centers in accordance with the law we aim to education save those who were influenced by religious extremism and committed to mine it legal or fix it. The letter is not tied to a vote or a resolution but it will be published as an official document of the uns Human Rights Council activists say its a good sign but chinas government has long stood defiant against foreign criticism katia locus of the young aljazeera. Still ahead on the aljazeera news our warnings that just a small daily glass of sugary soft drinks or fruit juice could raise your risk of cancer. And the extreme runner is looking to go up in the worlds peter has the details in sports. Hello once again more hot sunshine across the middle east no surprises here largely clear skies with a little more cloud over towards all the parts of pakistan a little more cloud to just sliding outs of the caspian sea crusts towards the black sea have pushed way down across georgia or armenia azerbaijan this week i want through the next couple of days mid fortys for baghdad and for kuwait city getting to around 30 celsius there in beirut 32 forgeries slim then warmer than that in aleppo over the next day or so plenty of sunshine and then as we go on into sas takes a few of those showers just spreading their way a little further southwards just around the caucuses but too much of the showers across iran potentially little more cloud to the eastern side of me into that eastern side of saudi arabia pushing a little further south which might catch your spot of right i think its more likely to evaporate before reaching the ground 45 celsius here in doha still quite a stiff wind hifi that when these in back as we go on into saturday by sassed i just notice a little more cloud into that western part all saudi arabia not too much across Southern Africa at the moment in fact we are looking at more very hot weather to get to the eastern side of south africa a 21. He lived in brazils largest favela. One day the police. Like thousands of others he disappeared. Witness follows a familys epic struggle for justice which became a National Cause and sent shock waves through the upper echelons of the political establishment in the shadow of the hill on aljazeera. Its my privilege to name aljazeera english the broadcaster of the year the country has a fight each other and weve been told that we can still be yes this is the largest demonstration thats been held i want you to refugees sit over 700. 00 to buy beer with some of the nicest losers on the planet earth here or they think of it could be put to him. Here into the show from percipient to the new crystals gold coast of the year lord of the say. Hello again the top stories on the aljazeera news our police have arrested 2 crew members from a detained iranian all tanker theyre accused theyre reaching a new sanctions on syria iran has been demanding the tankers release since it was seized last week meanwhile the u. K. Government says a british warship has intervened after a rain in boats tried to obstruct a british or tanker in the strait of hormuz on wednesday to iran denies there was any confrontation. The philippines has. Rejected a resolution by the u. N. Human Rights Council to investigate thousands of people and president. Drug war Human Rights Watch estimates at least 12000. 00 for the. Campaign in 2016. A u. S. Congressional committee has voted to authorize subpoenas for a dozen current and former trump aides as part of its investigation into the president s conduct a senior white house advisor and. Former attorney general. Former chief of staff john kelly is on the list the democratic led House Judiciary Committee also approved subpoenas for documents on testimonies related to trumps immigration policy more on this will bring in mike hanna whos joining us from washington d. C. So i suppose all eyes will be on the chairman and what he decides to do next. That is correct its up to the chairman jerry nadler to decide whether or not to formally issue those subpoenas now that the committee has approved them now why is he may wait is because there is likely to be court action following and the courts are going to demand that every attempt was made to ensure compliance before the sun is issued now congress has the right to enforce a subpoena to carry out any punitive action should it not be observed however congress hasnt done so for more than 80 is so it will most likely be left to the courts so the chairman is going to be very careful to make sure that he has made every attempt to get compliance from these individuals before formally issuing the subpoenas now there are 2 sets of subpoenas here one relates to Ongoing Investigation into russian collusion it also another part of that relates to the payment of hush money which could contravene Campaign Funding laws and then of course theres a whole other set of subpoenas which have to do with the committee eliciting information about the trumpet ministrations policy of separating children from parents at the border now President Trump reacted even before the Committee Meet admit its decision and he was so angry that it took him 2 tweets to make his point he said now the democrats have os to see 12 more people whove already spent hours of. And spent a fortune on lawyers in so doing how many bites at the apple do they get before working on border loopholes and asylum they also want to interview the high e. Conflicted and compromised milla again he said he was done off his last 9 minute speech and that he had nothing more to say outside of the no collusion no obstruction report anough already go back to work now this is a significant step in the House Democrats of temp. Its to get all sorts of documentation out of President Trumps followers to continue to investigate any allegations of russian collusion and also to clean up the issue about whether or not president did receive illegal Campaign Funding in the form of hush money paid to women who he was alleged to have had affairs with but as i said the chairman of the committee who will now decide whether to formally issue these subpoenas will take it very carefully the whole process itself is very likely to end up in the courts should the subpoenas be issued and that is going to take a very long time ok mike can i thank you all governments and media organizations are proposing the creation of a global fund to support journalists in danger zones the proposal was made at the global Media Freedom conference which is being held in london to lauren now from our european Broadcast Center for more on that story. Is during can canada and the u. K. A cohosting the event which aims to shine a light on Media Freedom everywhere they hope other countries will contribute to the fund its focus will be to improve the safety of journalists and media workers and their ability to work without interference china angela was at the conference. At the close of this summit on Media Freedom weve seen some concrete promises emerge one the creation of a Global Media Defense Fund that will support journalists in their legal battles and also give them training in personal safety in the promise of a formation of coalition of governments that can put diplomatic pressure on countries that try to suppress Media Freedom and act as a type of Rapid Response unit weve also seen the creation of an International Task force that will advise countries on how to rise up the ranks of that World Press Freedom index and that will be reviewed by the un each year one journalist who i spoke to who could definitely benefit from some of these new mechanisms is maria ressa she is the cofounder of rappler investigative online News Platform in the philippines and shes been investigating the Human Rights Violations and murders authorized by president to test. How his government was blocking the work she does. In about 14 months weve had 11 chases at least 11 cases and investigations filed against me and rappler ive been arrested. Twice in about 5 weeks ive had to post bail 8 times in 3 months in order to be able to travel i have to pay at least 60000. 00 in bail and bond its primitive i feel like my rights have been violated and i will fight this another outcome of this conference has been the signing of a declaration defending freedom of expression signed by a number of nation states who attended but all governments on the face of it support press freedom its even enshrined in the constitution of north korea the problem is enforcing that right and human rights lawyer clooney whos heading up a panel that is looking at strengthening the protection of journalists legally said that it is judges who must comply with that own noise 90 percent of crimes against journalists go unpunished and when the summit meets again next year. Ill be hoping to see those numbers drop down drastically. Leading rights group is warning of a severe deterioration of Media Freedom in russia Human Rights Watch says the arrest of journalists on fabricated charges is now a common strategy to silence critics of the government journalist. Is among the latest to be detained in the such and such Southern Region of dagestan step fashion reports from the regional Capital Markets kyra. Colleagues of abdul movement i g a protest in front of the Supreme Court in dagestan permits to hold mass rallies against his arrest have been denied a cheer was arrested on june 14th and charged with financing terrorism shortly after investigative journalist even got a note was detained in moscow on drug charges while the much quickly released and several High Ranking Police officers were dismissed for involvement in planting trucks on the journalist their response to guy g. If case has been different. We call on our colleagues from all over russia and around the world to support him to the us there is no difference between the 2 cases fabrication and false accusations can take place regardless of the charges. This has become a familiar image a silent protest against a new arrest of a journalist in moscow the public outcry led to the release of investigative journalist even gotten up just a few weeks ago but this time around these protesters here in dagestan after so far not been able to free up the moment i jihad. Is a senior journalist at one of the last independent Media Outlets in dagestan jenin afic weekly according to his chief editor the arrest is part of efforts by authorities to close down the newspaper he says got enough release doesnt mean freedom of the press has improved. Golan of lives in moscow and the government there does not like when something dodgy starts there if it happens in dagestan its far away but it happens close the kremlin is like a red flag they try to remove it instantly. 10 years ago in another part of the carcasses chechen journalist Natalya Estemirova was murdered killers have yet to be brought to justice Human Rights Watch sas since then journalist and press freedom are in even greater danger. Here can clearly see the to. Given the number of independent Media Outlets was higher the level of selfcensorship in the press was more the level of fear among jordan others and attitudes was also not. As it is today despite their fear journalists a germ of it continue to provide news to their audience in darkness done and beyond with god you facing 20 years in prison they have little hope you enjoy them again soon step fasten aljazeera douglas down russia. Theres tension in german chancellor Angela MerkelsRuling Coalition over the nomination of defense minister for the lion as European Commission president macros says governing is proving difficult as her junior kurdish and partner at the social democrats oppose the appointment but shes working to ensure for the line is elected early america decided to sit rather than stand at a public ceremony after a 3rd bout of shaking thats raised concerns over her health. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of an italian teenager 36 years ago has deepened after 2 graves at the vatican thought to possibly hold her remains were discovered to be empty investigators were looking for the remains of emmanuel old randy the 15 year old daughter of a vatican clark who failed to return home following a music lesson in rome for the jews did not even contain the bones of the 219th century princesses it was supposed to be there well and his family says that they were sent a letter with a photo of an angel above a tomb in the vaticans teutonic cemetary. So for me for now back to derry been tough for him thank you will the u. S. President donald trump is hosting what he calls a social media summit at the white house on thursday trump is facing criticism for the event which includes a lineup of online personalities from across the right wing media and Google Facebook and twitter officials are excluded from the gathering trump has accused them of bias against him and other conservatives this week to felipa travis and hes an assistant professor of communication at the American University in washington d. C. Hes joining us via skype good to have you with us on the news hour as so what message does this send to the country when the president is hosting what some say is a right wing conservative summit at the white house excluding social Media Companies. Well thank you for having me on your program and you know i think it kind of it nailed it then when you. Reminded us of the 5 only a right way personalities were invited to. This event today at the white house you know allegedly this is what the president himself very coldly said on twitter the event today is to discuss partisan bias on social media and particular to come up you know an appropriate discussion of debates really we should see all sorts of stakeholders involved in this conversation and instead what ready were seeing is the exclusion of the companies which obviously have a large stake in this that there is a sort of them a crowd of lawmakers who are not present at this event and instead we focus on republican lawmakers look right there on controversies with social Media Companies in the last few weeks as well as a range of really right wing years that theyre kind of being brought into the spotlight but you know that. Ministration to that and of course the white house has declined to release any information about the event and its really unclear what is going. To take place but what we do know is that it takes place as the race for the white house heats up and social media will be playing a major role so some say this looks like an obvious attempt to gather support for trumps candidacy are there any ethical issues here that you see. Well it is really really difficult to rebase you know into the our actual objective and what the outcomes that they the outcomes that the administration would like out of this event today from the limited information we have and publicly about this taking place behind closed doors but really we can see perhaps we can speculate in this case that you know there may be an attempt to legitimation some of these concerns and also it in my some of these political figures as well as maybe prepare the ground for some sort of measure in the near future iraq. Social media regulation for example we know that you know the Technology Companies have been out there pressure from the federal trade commission at the last few weeks with trust investigations and we may see some sort of measure of margin there are sellers now we need to be reminded of the fact that facebook. The other Technology Companies have become that great pressure from congress and from the militias of privacy issues but this is not an issue that were talking about today is this to do with political biases and i said before it is difficult to see basis up generally in attempt to you know toss their debate between different parties that are involved nice issues or rights we thank you very much for speaking to us from washington thank you very much. The us labor secretary alex acosta has dismissed calls for his resignation over his role in striking a plea deal with the u. S. Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein more than 10 years ago obscene had pleaded guilty to prostitution charges and has now been charged with trafficking underage girls for sex acosta who is a florida prosecutor at the time is being criticized after his office approved a lenient deal across the disputes that and says if his office had not stepped in that epstein would have faced only one charge from state prosecutors a team of forensic scientists in argentina is helping to bring peace to families who lost their loved ones in the socalled dirty war that was a period in the 1970 s. And eightys when government death squads hunted down and killed political opponents to risible reports the work to identify those who disappeared is ongoing and scientists are lending their skills to other conflict areas abroad. Truth and justice have been for decades the Main Objective of the arch in time entry point of view Forensic Team thats why they continue to work to shed light on what happened to the thousands of people who would disappear during argentinas duty war over 40 years ago. Yet it would take samples from the relatives and create forms with information from the donor and the relative disappeared that would compare it with the band samples we have the team was created in 1906 when argentina embarked on a process of exhumations of the many unmarked graves found in the country believing that many of them could well contain and identified victims of forced disappearances the argentine and a Forensic Team believes that with their work they can help the relatives find justice but also some type of closure theyre currently working