we're highlighting the week's top stories here on artsy welcome to the program an artsy crew spent about thirty two hours in a u.s. jail after filming a peaceful protests near the so-called school of assassins in the state of georgia reporter kalen ford says she and her camera man were brutally handcuffed and put in the same cell with criminals and despite condemnation from human rights watchdog the o.s.c. e the case was ignored by the media. it started off as it actually still rally outside a us training camp a latin american military and police officers followed this nonviolent protest everyone by surprise dozens were arrested police targeted journalists along with the active it soon i'm a member of the brotherhood through good and i'm

a member of the program sorry ok i'm sorry among those arrested in tahrir r.t. correspondent killem and our two cameramen john conway both there on assignment covering the protests that brought together thousands of people. i asked the officer to please remove the hancock's these plastic handcuffs and i'll leave one on that was a little bit looser he took out a hunting knife to remove my handcuffs and that's actually part of the reason i have the cuts on my wrist for now we're still in had no clue what the charges against her were we asked on the bus what are we being charged with and one of the sheriff said don't worry no charge the ride is free we're taken to the county jail and we ended up spending thirty two hours there students tommy were mirrors she was there as an activist tells a similar story i kept asking them what did i do telling my rise tell me why i'm getting a wrist i kept asking them and i never got an answer from them every year thousands

of people gather at the gates of the training camp dubbed the school of assassins calling for its closure officially there to train latin american little train and yes it's called many of latin america's most notorious torturers mass murders are dictators this anger at the establishment violence has never been part of the protests so why the mass arrests now we feel like the message was look you know we really want you to be there we're going to make it dangerous you know to make you think twice to even show up despite the outcry from many at the rally that their rights of freedom of speech and assembly were trampled upon. it's not a story that's caught the eye of the us media and we can see the newspapers of this country editorialized in favor of free speech and first amendment give stirring in passionate defenses of these core american values but when another journalist from another media outlet is arrested without charge without provocation and put onto

a paddy wagon those media outlets are largely silent and i think it's because they feel like these are stories that aren't supposed to be covered at all i guess so much for covering stories ignored by the us mainstream media the incident at fort benning left some guessing what would have been the extent of the media coverage in the west had a member of the foreign press been treated in a similar way in some other country say russia the remarkable thing about a good thing you know in moscow here a b.b.c. correspondent or a c.n.n. correspondent had gone to a demonstration where there was a legal permit and was roughed up by the police in the case of our correspondent she was almost sexually assaulted those are her words that would made headlines all around the world it would have been a diplomatic row between countries but no in the case of the united states the international community is can damage what's happened and called on the us to

respond even the organization for security and cooperation in europe sent a letter to secretary of state hillary clinton calling the journalist the rest disturbing. while it is clear that police play a crucial role in maintaining order during public demonstrations the indiscriminate media in bringing charges against them goes well beyond what's necessary to keep the peace but the u.s. state department which is usually quick to condemn freedom of speech violations in other countries as we made surprisingly tight lipped about its own aren't going to shake out r.t. washington d.c. . so just how much freedom should journalists have while covering events like protests laurie half a nest also known as the resident took to the streets of the big apple to find out what people in new york think about that it's coming your way next hour here on our but here's a quick preview. we need to be more thoughtful about how we allow the press to

capture what's happening so we can get a legitimate true view without encouraging people to do to things that they wouldn't otherwise but the fact is if you're going to go someplace to protest to get that really hot story you've got to be prepared for the fact that life is going to sometimes intercede and about a lot of force but if should they intercede if the people are being i really owe a hell yeah what about it the press are being unruly the pressure being on really same things apply if you break the rules that's what happens if you're not willing to accept the consequences for your actions don't take the actions of. twenty six suspected terrorists where the alleged links to al-qaeda were arrested in europe this week eleven of them suspected of being part of a chechen islamist network planning to commit attacks in belgium the group is also thought to be raising money for terrorism in russia's volatile north caucasus region those were detained in connection with

a separate probe targeting an extremist group recruiting jihadi fighters for iraq and afghanistan british security analyst peter powers says one suit said last clear that of russia and the west all fighting a common enemy the potential for cooperation is of august. let's not fool ourselves al qaida is somehow great regiments of uniformed soldiers marching over the horizon it is in fact much more of a franchise yes there's a strong power base in the foothills between afghanistan and pakistan and it's clearly as a strong kabul now operating in yemen but we're now seeing this creeping out under this broad term of al-qaeda but it doesn't necessarily mean it's got the official stamp on it but we are now seeing a commonality that we haven't seen before whether it vindicates totally all that russia has been saying for many years that terrorists a terrorist you can be if you killed by the ira or chechen terrorists all al-qaeda you're just as dead we are now saying something which i've never seen before i'm

president of cooperation but as a security analyst peter power talking. well russian president dmitri medvedev has urged the country's political system to be shaken up in his latest video blog he said there are signs the country's stability is threatening to stagnate. if the opposition has no chances all of winning a fair fight it degrades and becomes marginal if the ruling party never loses in a single election is just coasting ultimately to degree just like any living organism which remains static for these reasons it becomes necessary to raise the degree at least i didn't say should buy but i maintain six the task of any democracy is to improve the quality of portfolio of representation make sure that the political maturity is not just static or broad but that it does not become the majority consisting of actors as dummies but dr of political science and united

russia party member dimitri pollack outof says the opposition should draw a conclusion from the message as well. i think he was trying to say that actually they should deal with relates both to united russia and opposition parties in united russia have already started a lot of the innovations such as primaries. the development of the. discussion of dissipation the open public debates and so on and so forth i think the same should be done by. boeing and says well it will be very important because as we all know the quality of decision is taken by the authorities depends on the quality of criticism playground so they need to have very good feedback. both united russia and other city bodies should provide this kind of feedback in order for system to be sustainable that was dimitri volved the united russia party well

you all with aussie coming to you live from moscow and still to come here on the program russia pledges of more help nato has come. on many experts in the world can be one of. those should understand what you're going to leave the heat didn't care he didn't give it you would say yes' to. energy efficiency advice coming from blood to me during a business visit to germany stay with us. in switzerland people are heading to the polls for a referendum on whether a foreign criminal should be expelled from the country nationwide ballot was initiated by a right wing party the proposed measures have raised questions over whether the swiss saw discriminating against immigrants. reports from iraq. just a year after the swiss voted in favor of a controversial law banning the building of new minarets and mosques they're going

back to the polls for another yes or no decision now this time it's in relation to the mandatory expulsion of foreign criminals who have committed serious offenses such as murder or rape the proposal for this law was put forward by the a swiss people's party people with. hand the criminal courier there is no place for them in switzerland that is the idea they're getting a lot of support actually from the people according to initial surveys because of all these stories of swiss nationals being attacked by foreigners who may follow fight trying to get to. keep other people lose rule didn't do anything and have no you wouldn't wonder switzerland has the highest per capita rate of immigrants that that twenty percent of their population are actually foreigners so it's a very sensitive topic here in switzerland so. you can't keep them all out we need

immigrants period so aware of the backlash from the european union and the wider world the government has put forth a counterproposal they amended the list of crimes it's different from the proposed by b.s.p. pete and also they are saying that it has to comply with international and swiss laws remanded tarion laws it also states that expulsion must be limited to convictions of a year or more so it's kind of a softer version of the s.p.p. as a proposal if the s.e.p. is insisting that a hard bike is necessary now critics of this proposed law say that this is very unfair that in the eyes of the law everyone should be treated equal can you make a difference between a drug dealer who was from the judio from russia from india or he's a swiss is a drug dealer drug dealer a better one so i don't make a difference between someone who is doing something wrong the law should not look where the he's white brawling black or what the they are also questions of the

separation of time b. should a prisoner convicted be sent out of switzerland what happens to his family if they've been living here for more than four generations for example but don't have the papers what is going to happen to that to there are a lot of questions coming from the other side the critics of this proposal and so we're going to have to see what the swiss are going to vote whether it's going to be a yes or no. adding that negotiations between finance ministers and the irish government on a multi-billion euro rest go deal now concluding in brussels the country's economy went into meltdown this week under the weight of its banking debt and there's been public outrage at the government's handling of the crisis about fifty thousand people marched through dublin on saturday protesting against harsh austerity measures being introduced to cut the country's huge budget deficit demonstrators say ordinary working people are taking a hit for the rich and the banks elsewhere in the eurozone there are fears portugal spain may be next in line. german economist marcus kerber told us here at r.t.

that europe's biggest economies are one be able to pay the debts of office for. the german taxpayer is no longer willing and this is very very becoming very reluctant to bail out countries like greece where as an example of very bad governments and we are no longer willing is neither to bail out island to fuel an ailing banking sector i think this is a general incentive system which the. heads of government have created in under the minutes of the president of the european central bank this is so large that everybody wants to be protected and the more it's raining cats and dogs the more they want to be protected and the portuguese. prime minister and the finance minister pushed island to put themselves under the umbrella to be under the umbrella themselves as quickly as possible this is an inflation of claims to be bailout which will ruin the eurozone sooner or later and germany is economically

not a bill to. bail out. the german taxpayer who has a word to say in all that is no longer willing to do saying something like that. currency union between russia and the european union is a possibility russian prime minister vladimir putin and german chancellor angela merkel have now admitted the statement was made during putin's visit to germany on friday the russian crimea said the euro is much more reliable than the dollar despite current regional difficulties putin also said he no longer sees any obstacles to russia's accession to the world trade organization with russia and germany agreed to clear the path to increase business links sun to develop science and technology together and in a meeting with german businessmen the russian prime minister going to try to lighten the serious. energy. so the german community doesn't like nuclear power i don't want to make any

comments. don't understand what you're going to use for heating. he don't develop your nuclear what are you going to use. it was enough to get it through to thank you all with r.t. it's going to join us today and still ahead for you this hour from the basin of life to the deserted wasteland. the air all sea has become a wasteland of sand cell dust and pollution and when the france joined me in kazakstan to investigate how this transformation has affected the people here and how it's put its stamp on the environment forever. this week russia decided to give more help to nato struggling campaign in afghanistan it agreed to allow the alliance to transport vehicles through its territory but transit deal was confirmed

by russia's foreign minister during this afghan counterpart here in moscow and it will allowed nato to reduce its reliance on volatile pakistan sort of a left off also pledged. russia will continue to provide the tools to battle drug flow from afghanistan last month russia and the us destroyed one ton of heroin in a combined anti drug operation in the country of despite successes like that many experts still believe the war in and of itself is essentially an one of. my basic view is that the war is completely unwinnable russia may be making friendly noises towards nato now because of that as we know there's a rapprochement between the alliance and russia but in my view it's basically formal in other words these are gestures but they're. meant well i don't think russia is playing a double game i'm not trying to say that i'm simply saying that the war cannot be won the soviet union learned that lesson in the one nine hundred eighty s.

the british learnt it in the nineteenth century and the americans are in the process of learning it although it seems that they haven't learned yet so i don't believe that a military solution could in other words the shipment of arms could pacify afghanistan no. meanwhile the latest pentagon report shows that violence in afghanistan has increased and the insurgency is strong and expanding u.s. the military chiefs also admit progress is uneven and with just modest gains against the taliban as paula slayer has been watching troops in iraq gearing up for their move to afghanistan to boost american led forces there but many worry that more troops means more violence. i will quote just time in iraq is coming to an end he's part of the american forces who stayed behind to train assist and equip iraqi security forces the police sure there was a bomb that's for sure no one knows whether once they hear the genesis not just

movement of troops and equipment since world war two the u.s. army is moving its supplies from iraq to afghanistan certain equipment such as r m wrapped. mine resistant vehicles our humvees are those types of equipment a lot of our rolling vehicles rolling stock of vehicles and some generation that equipment yes will be dedicated towards. the mission in afghanistan but critics warn that moving troops won't help much that due to the mood of the worded little we're not going people see this forces inside their country it brings in paganism and makes them turn to terrorism but al qaeda so is more american troops come here from iraq that will just make things worse i don't believe the americans will leave for another fifty years so that they have two of them main military bases here and then building the americans leaving iraq also

sends the wrong message to insurgents the afghans seeing the americans withdrawing from iraq and they think themselves ok they're going to withdraw in a year or two we got a hold on things will take control in a year or two it doesn't matter i will quote she's already been to. will you be going to leave that to afghanistan it will be his second time there and he's not looking forward to it i would definitely say that afghanistan is a lot more difficult and so the terrain is a lot more heavier in the mountainous region so we have to do a lot more walking there and we did the beefed up presence in afghanistan will help troops meet mixtures did nothing to come out and make it more difficult he stood on the guns and just come back from the patrol everything went to a company. that. i will be discussing the american effort with afghanistan's foreign minister that interview is coming your way in just over an hour's time. there are two issues that has created tension there would be sure

of detainees the shoe of civilian casualties. for nitrates in the house moving more afghan forces would be in charge off to combat less and this would be discussing the problems. while turning our attention to central asia now the home of the our all see it was once the world's fourth largest lake but now only is polished ground. or soviet era irrigation projects the sea water has receded steadily caused a drastic change to the local climate and destroyed the majority of marine life and water uncovers something dangerous to people's health as well as aussies lindsay france reports. the arrow see is a shadow of its former self those in the kazak city are wants had to see at their doorstep but are now confronted by the haunting sight of abandoned ships the water

is twenty kilometers away and from the dried up remains sickness comes one local woman who chose not to be named remembers when friends and family started to fall ill when you hear new diseases a match that you have never seen in high numbers especially related to breathing my husband's good chronic bronchitis that's how i believe you can see salt in the air but you feel it on the skin and you can feel it on the tongue. fields planted to make the soviet union completely self-sufficient in cotton consumed the rivers feeding into the air will see decade by decade it nearly disappeared now what was once the world's fourth largest landlocked body of water is reduced to a pit of sand salt and pollution. the salt clings to the moist seabed like here at the harbor in are all tsk as soon as it's dry enough even the

slightest wind carries it into the town and across the country into the lungs of men women and children who don't even know they're breaking up before the ground cotton skinny erroll scene was one of the most picturesque places in central asia as it disappeared along with the soviet union the task of regeneration fell to the heads of newly independent central asian states in the early one nine hundred ninety s. it was then that people learned the extent of the seized the mines that until that point was known only to those close to the cultivation project pesticides used to yield cotton leached into the rivers making the water a silent killer. who has been growing heavily polluted as well. in essence we're living in it is not in the area. or infectious disease ward had one hundred fifty to one hundred sixty patients and it's ok show your children with a string of diseases per year it's about five per year and it was the exact same

with viral hepatitis this is all franks to serve. three years ago a group called the international fund for saving the arrow c. stepped in to protect the people from the tainted water. the fresh water project souls' many shias when possible they lead tap water pipes to the villages and to distant villages with a great local water pipe system but the pesticides aren't just in the fresh water they're blowing across the dusty seabed as well. in addition multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is on the rise exacerbated by this toxic combination special rehabilitation warrants are reserved in area hospitals. our government pays fifty percent of what it calls ecological extras to our salaries they throw an extra for living near buchan or with the rockets launched and the aerial see we have serious problems with the draft. come in unfit to service.

small dams now trapped what little water flows into the upper air all see irrigating the desert little by little but walking through this place that's been given a new lease on life one can see the legacy of mismanagement it begs the question is bringing the water back enough to overcome the years of neglect or is the pollution too great to turn the dust bowl back into a thriving basin. lindsey france r t kazakstan. well there are some signs that of recovery that are already being seen and the next hour will discover what else is being done to save the aral sea. well also in the news this week china is taking action to ease tensions on the korean peninsula by sending a high level envoy to seoul to speak with the south korean president beijing one sign emergency meeting of the six nations involved in north korea disarmament talks

it's a diplomatic initiatives come as the u.s. and south korea militaries are conducting a war games in the yellow sea john yang has reportedly deployed surface to surface missiles in response just days after a five artillery on an island belonging to the south that killed four people guilty to a writer director of the korean studies at the institute of economics at the russian academy of sciences says the drills in the yellow sea can only serve to heat up tensions. yes character who is in the yellow sea water with south korean sheep i think that's not a major would could lead to reduction of tension in korean peninsula rather or increase of them of course and nobody is really we soon to have a full scale war conflict but any incident can help but what if the korean ship or the american ship would heed the underwater mine and be

a softer we and american side can decide this is a north korean attack and would really it would really lead to an unpredictable consequences so i think that this is not a reaction that is now desirable if us wants to exercise what it's called a strategic patience that's mean in having no dialogue and interest and sanction that you know way hold that north korean regime would collapse it could only lead to more incidents and to more appropriations and more tension. the reactor had a nuclear power plant in iran that began operating on saturday after decades of waiting the russian built facility is expected to start pumping electricity into iranian homes next year the country's atomic energy agency says the reactor is fully loaded with fuel and there is just a fuel for a few final tests to be completed the construction of the plan began some forty years ago but was halted after the islamic revolution in one thousand seven hundred

nine and russia took up the project uncompleted it iran is currently under un sanctions over its nuclear program. from the center for policy studies says it's russia's role to ensure that the plant is safe to be run. we why do well know all of that of there will be a russian engineer is present. the facility of that of the facility is quite well controlled by russia iran will get both electricity and experience from the safety and security viewpoint russia provides some may think there may be a proliferation concern there is none of the opposite it opens a new avenue for in gives them an iran in talks about peaceful uses of nuclear energy and transparency that. and i will check out the week's top stories in just

a few moments do stay with us. he. says.

we are running down the top stories all today this week here on our. arrest of an artsy news crew covering up peaceful protest in the u.s. is criticized by organizations as a crackdown on media freedom but ignored by the mainstream american news outlets. so it's all in votes on a proposed law to expel foreigners charged with serious crimes a measure that sparked discussion over whether a house and nationalistic motives. democracy should not stagnate russian president's calling on the opposition in his video blog to act so that those in power stay awake at the wheel. plus once one of the world's large.