They. Are broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is Art International im john thomas certainly glad to have you with us as we recap the weeks top stories are we start at the g. 7 summit in france where the Iranian Foreign minister made an unexpected visit on sunday. Met with the french president and later tweeted the road ahead is difficult but one worth trying her earlier my colleague colleen bray got an update from our correspondent tamara goes to give. Well it was a certainly a surprise and judging by what trump had to say not a very welcome when asked what he thought about the arena and foreign minister coming over all of a sudden you applied coldly no comment and start of surprise the United States stands by its approach by its strategy regarding iran and that is maximum pressure on getting iran to submit and do what the United States wants to sign the deal it. Wants nevertheless the europeans and that since the United States pulled out of the nuclear deal last year the europeans have been doing everything they can to try to salvage what they could to try to keep iran to abide by its Nuclear Commitments the sort of prevented from from getting anywhere near a Nuclear Weapon and this latest step is just another part of that. That no member of the g 7 wants iran to develop a nuclear bomb but also the g. 7 people who want stability and peace in the region and therefore do not want to take actions that could affect it in this context we discussed our various initiatives. Has taken initiatives towards iran i have taken several initiatives and we have reported on them the g 7 is an Informal Club there is no formal mandate given within the g 7. Regarding all those initiatives trouble has come out and said outright that the french and the japanese can talk to whoever they want ron to anyone else but they dont speak for the United States he said that the United States stands by its position stands by its approach because this is no longer about an Iranian Nuclear deal this is no longer only about Nuclear Reactors and the pursuit of Nuclear Weapons this is now also about irans Ballistic Missile program which the United States wants doubt this is also about irans role in regional conflicts the United States one wants a raw. The pullout of them completely trumpets offering the iranians a baggage that by all appearances they would accept and now were than where the United States is strangling the iranian economy applying military pressure on them the europeans are trying to save what they cabin the iranians swear that they wont bend. Are we have been getting reaction from tehran and europe about what the potential results or repercussions could be. By the beginning i thought like most journalists that it was an order p. R. Stunt Public Relations effort of mr micawber to make his summit a success but the fact that. The Foreign Affairs minister of iran is there is in doubt its a few meters away from the trial is is astonishing is astounding and it seems there is more to it if germany and france have discussed with the iranians over the last few days and are discussing now with the on of those in beats it was the french they came to the ukrainians that vince them to stay in the deal and essentially what that did it actually prolonged the period did iran fully of lies by the deal and that was very good for the americans i mean it will definitely have an impact iran is plain a major role in the discussions in the g. 7 in donald trump actually meeting yesterday that major decisions will be coming in the next few days so i think it is important nevertheless i think its very very early to talk about an actual agreement between iran and the United States. All right protests were held throughout the weekend in southwest france against the g. 7 summit in the resort of. Hundreds of social and Climate Change activists took to the streets of nearby sunday they could be seen tearing upside down and wrapped up portraits of a manual man the demonstrators are demanding that the g 7 take urgent action to tackle poverty inequality and Environmental Concerns at least 9000 demonstrators turned out on saturday the 1st official day of the summit. International aid group oxfam is also accusing the g 7 nations of failing to address inequality in a new report it says that in the u. S. The poorest 50 percent of the population own one percent of the countrys wealth and the numbers are similar in germany and britain spoke to oxfams head of Government Relations about his charitys findings. Why do you think the g 7 dont work properly what are the main problems more widespread as well. So we think one of the kind of Major Barriers is how wealth is distributed between people across the world and in g 7 countries so that the 7 biggest economies in the g 7 hold nearly half the worlds wealth and actually if g 7 leaders implemented a new tax a new wealth tax where they to tax the top one percent of richest people in g 7 countries an additional not point 5 percent on their wealth then it could raise 200000000000. 00 pounds a year now thats a huge sum of money thats enough to educate the 262000000. 00 children across the world who are currently in school and also you to have enough money left over to put money into health care and to fund. Enough health care to save the lives of 2000000 people. Russian president has ordered the military to prepare a symmetrical response to the United States testing of a previously banned missile last weekend avoiding near putin stressed though that moscow will not be drawn into a new arms race with washington following the collapse of the i. M. F. Arms control treaty. I ordered the ministry of defense the ministry of Foreign Affairs and other cool offices to analyze the threat level created by the activities of the United States and to undertake comprehensive measures to prepare a symmetrical response besides russia is still open to an equal and constructive dialogue with the United States to recover trust and to reinforce International Security the pentagons test of a modified tomahawk Cruise Missile came just 2 weeks after the u. S. Decided to kill off the longstanding intermediate range Nuclear Forces agreement projectile test it would have violated that accord which banned the production of certain land based short and mid range missiles. Americas development of new weapons appears it to be part of a broader attempt to counter a rising china just this month of the u. S. Defense chief said he wants to see missiles deployed in the Asia Pacific Region drawing the ire of both beijing and moscow with a look at the growing tensions here. To try to go. That was quick only last month this ground law inched smoking toy was illegal. Its already wiping out makeshift targets off the coast of california just like that and the intermediate range Nuclear Forces treaty is now part of history so soon be ready to see those in different parts of the world the pentagon boss was even quick to say they want to start with the Asian Pacific but russia is already worried about a different part of the world to Eastern Europe right near the russian borders as you can see american officials have said theyre launching systems in romania and poland are different from the m. K. 41 used in California Well the russian governments not buying it i mean you can see it too but the american stuff leadership todays plane into the ground based m. K. Fools who will know inching system was allegedly unable to launch tomahawk Cruise Missiles now the fact of the violation is evident it is impossible to disputed they themselves. And of course the question arises how can we now understand what will be located in remaining poland with the Missile Defense systems or missile strike systems sufficiently long range so why was the i. M. F. Treaty signed by the u. S. And russian leaders more than 30 years ago so crucial to make sure that europe where nowadays americas nato allies and russia actually share a border doesnt turn into a vulnerable danger zone dotted with launch pads one following the test in california the u. N. Security council convened this week the russian representative threw a question in european diplomats are you actually ready to find yourself in between 2 rivaling Cruise Missile arsenals. Are you going to avoid responsibility for what is happening to future generations forgive you for this. Russias present actions are in line with a pattern of aggression that represents a clear threat to International Peace and security of the Russian Federation because the sole responsibility for the reason demise of the media was it would have been diminished do you not understand that by your responses to the americans you are returning to historical situation when missiles will target european cities from different sites. Well so far most european states have a grade with the us line d. C. Kept blaming russia for violating the i n f deal and that was exactly how they explained their own pull out theres nothing that russia can say osho to change the fact that russia has already tested the 979 Cruise Missile to ranges beyond 500 kilometers in violation of the i. M. F. Treaty moscows message has remained the same all claims that they were breaking the rules are a lawyer and on friday Vladimir Putin had a real go at the Us Government for whats seen in russia as completely twisting their reality in favor of uncle sams ambitions to the worst of it is pretty instead of fixing and an exam to situation and returning back to compliance with the treaty the americans of all castrated a Propaganda Campaign alleging violations by russia as is now clear this was just a smokescreen to hide washingtons own breach of the treaty and its intention to leave it but it leaves there any doubts about americas real intentions having got rid of the existing limits is now free to deploy previously forbidden missiles anywhere in the world as i said earlier though in the 1st place washingtons thinking over a bold chess move in the asia pacific not that brush is far from that area either but its clear want countries on the mind of strategists and the seen in the 1st place people in the trunk administration. Yell that. They need to push back on beijing and a hard way they feel that theyre running out of time feeling that china is getting stronger and they need to act fast to provoke china into some kind of military conflict all the things that involve china right now is really just a bigger is just a piece of the Bigger Picture of political tensions between us and china whether its a trade war whether its taiwan whether its hong kong protests. Russias biggest show will be kicking off on tuesday ahead of max 2001000 donald quarter took to the skies with an urban explode take a look. The russian team is preparing for an International Aviation and space this is a major air show thats going to take place at the end of august and theres going to be there ted and pilots from countries all over the globe the pilots are going to be showing off their bets and thats a bad and we were lucky enough to get invited to a plane to join one of those pilots so i hope youre not afraid of. That but. After we returned in one piece our pilot constantine told us all about the International Aviation and space so long. I have been training for more than 10 years and ive been in the pilot for 4 years the air show include the mock featuring aerobatics performance and the standard maneuvers championships rolls and loops etc the International Tournament features competitors from. Many European Countries and known European Countries including the us the air show is not a contest the contest happens at the championship with the aerobatics and other events so when the air show each group shows its skills and this big daters decide for themselves what they like of course we will show what we do best and whats new. The lebanese government and the armed Group Hezbollah have issued a stern warning to israel that story much more im sure break this is our international in the weekly. Join me every thursday on the alex simon show and ill be speaking to us from the world of politics. Im showbusiness ill see you then. We found our to international and lebanon has voiced its outrage over 2 suspected israeli drones which crashed in a residential area of beirut on sunday Prime Minister. Described it as an attack on the countrys sovereignty and a threat to Regional Security this video allegedly shows that the damage caused by the drones which were laden with explosives one hit the media offices of the iranian backed militant Group Hezbollah and israel has not confirmed or deny the incident merely saying it does not comment on foreign reports that hezbollah leader promised an imminent response saying the era of israel bombing lebanon while it remains at peace has ended. This happened shortly after israeli warplanes bombed targets near the syrian capital on saturday Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said in the raids were aimed at preventing an iranian drone strike. If someone rises to kill you rise up and kill them. In a complicated operation by all Security Forces if we determine that irans quds force dispatched a special units of shiite militants into syria to kill israelis in the Golan Heights with explosive drawings with great determination and imperfect israeli Army Operational and intelligence fashion we preempted them and thwarted this attack which. We asked political analysts for their views on the israeli operation and how it could affect the region. Benjamin the thing you know what has been generally cautious and has it been he has learned from past experience mostly by hes british that hes not used fool for a Prime Minister put being incompetent to launch a campaign immediately on the eve of an election because usually depravity resent it and the public is going to punish if it is true that israel did violate iranian airspace and there is probably a very good reason for it because iran is a global supporter of terror iran is a country that has denied the existence of very existence of the state of israel i think israel has every right to defend itself israel has mentioned that in the past and israel will protect its citizens whatever that means when it comes to the iranian threat if its in a really Iranian Nuclear threat iranian Terror Threat israel will work to stop that threat and make sure that it cannot be successful. Clashes erupted again in hong kong on sunday as the cities of protest Campaign Continues some activists were seen throwing bricks and other projectiles well if you cover under their umbrellas Police Responding with tear gas if that hes in hong kong appeared to be taking a hardline approach as they marched at the demonstrators in huge numbers it comes after the semiautonomous chinese territory was rocked by violence on saturday night which resulted in 29. 00 arrests people in the city are protesting what they see as the erosion of the one country 2 systems policy and beijings influence over the citizens affairs. Britains Prince Andrew has broken his silence on his friendship with geoffrey abstain insisting he knew nothing of the convicted pedophiles illegal behavior described american financier killed himself in jail this month while awaiting trial. On sex trafficking charges but despite the dukes attempt to put an end to speculation about their relationship he didnt explain why he continued to see epstein after the multimillionaire had served a sentence for soliciting prostitution from a minor at no stage during the limited time i spend with him did i see witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction i met mr epstein in 1909 during the time i knew him i saw him infrequently and probably no more than once or twice a year i stayed in a number of his residences ive said previously that it was a mistake and an error to see him off his release in 2010 epsteins death has raised plenty of questions and prompted a huge amount of speculation so much so that his lawyers say they are not satisfied with the coroners findings and plan to carr