julian assange says the u.s. must stop persecuting whistleblowers aiming to shed light on the crimes of the powerful. statement hundreds of police officers who were. coming up in just a moment. three members of the feminist punk band pussy riot in jail for two years for their stunt in russia's main cathedral the verdict resonates across the world and sparked demonstrations for and against the women in russia. prominent human rights activist. jailed for three years while the equal rights movement gains momentum in the gulf states. united nations observer mission wraps up its four month long presence in syria citing increasing violence. suggest

british intelligence is helping rebels fight the regime. recapping the week's top stories and with today's headlines this is our team with our weekly good to have you with us julian assange has called for the u.s. to stop its witch hunt against whistleblowers and also thing to ecuador for granting him political asylum he made his long awaited statement on the balcony of the latin american countries london embassy surrounded by british police who were ready to sweep in sweep in into custody if he set foot outside the building laura smith reports from outside that embassy in london. what's happened to this afternoon is being nothing left in a rally that was several speakers who came on the floor today in a sound sort of whom are packed his longtime supporters including tara cali the

renowned station list but of course there was a serious message behind all this that the old out to support innocence and he really wanted to speak to the people she thanked them he thanked particularly the supporters who are out here today in the hundreds and he thanked them from have for having been here on wednesday night as well when he says that when he was in bed he heard swarms of police coming up the fire escape inside the door an embassy building here and guns and but that they backed off at the last minute and presumably that is in response to the perceived threats by the foreign office head that they would not hesitate to break into the embassy try to reveal your kids diplomatic status and break in that two to arrest him but he said he knew that there would be witnesses thanks to the supporters and so he knew that everything would be ok he also thanked that could do it for holding the constitution of you know the constitution which includes universal citizenship he thanked the staff at

this very cramped embassy which he's been staying for the last two months presumably getting in their way quite a bit and he also one of the most important things he said was he called upon the u.s. to still put he called the persecution of whistleblowers that's just terrible the fact the united states must renounce its witch hunt against wiki leaks. the united states must assume its investigation. the united states must know that it will not seek to prosecute. or else the court of. the united states must quit before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful. i'm very lucky to be joined now by one of those with two players craig murray who is the full bush's ambassador to as pakistan and

a whistleblower himself he blew the whistle on government abuses involvement in torture craig thanks very much for talking to us now what do you think julian assange case tells us about the treatment of whistleblowers well i think of course and labor has a long history of whistleblowers being smeared and charged with crimes under later today it was all blowing because obviously it's quite difficult for states to convict people of telling the truth about state's misdemeanors so what you do is through. with other charges very often sexual charges because we had to stores for personal reputation the foreign office now insists that it didn't mean to say that it would storm the embassy to go in and arrest you in essence what do you make of of william hague's comments and of the foreign office attitude in general while upon the officers law and in its attempts to back down because it's found to solve so diplomatically isolated it most certainly did say about both in person and in writing to the government of ecuador. at the very moment it was saying about fifty

policemen moved into the building but not into the actual plant containing the ecuadorian embassy there's no doubt whatsoever that this was a deliberate to ditch the vienna convention on behalf of the british foreign office and what do you say to william hague. william hague nearly as major pulled himself he. first time he wants me to interview in which he said that as a student who used to drink fourteen points of beer a day i think he must have done twenty eight pints of beer before coming up with a threat to storm vehicle door an embassy. ecuador's decision to grant political asylum is being closely monitored in the u.s. washington has not admitted its planning to request a sawyer's extradition bud a number of american politicians are holding back some going as far as to demand of songs be tried and executed my reports from new york while julia saunders mother is calling this a victory for her son many see this as a small defeat for the u.s. and that is because many believe the u.s.

was hoping that julian assange would be extradited to sweden so that sweden would subsequently be able to extradite julian assange to the united states we have heard in recent years it's no secret former and current u.s. government officials equating julian assange to are terrorists and that was in the aftermath of him releasing cables and memos that were classified that belonged to the u.s. government as a result the integrity of the u.s. government was compromised a lot of secrets were revealed and it painted the u.s. foreign policy in a dark light it's no secret that the administration of u.s. president barack obama has been earning a reputation for waging a war on whistleblowers fiercer reputation than any of his predecessors many journalists scholars and activists in the u.s. have signed a letter of support for julie the songe one is including naomi wolf she's

a journalist and author first of all this is a white house now to weigh houses obama's and bush's which is systematically overclassifying everything especially wrong doing it specially anything related to what whistleblowers want to release specially you know torture that they've engaged in methods of torture like mafia tactics it's come to this the government same to journalists everywhere in america. we're going to do you and we're going to threaten you and we're we're threatening you with with serious legal penalties like prison time if you do your job when i was speaking with naomi wolf what she wanted to clarify for me and her position is that she sees julian assange to many do as the publisher similar to the new york times chilliness orange is the publisher the one that made the information available he is not the leaker she noted why isn't the u.s. government going after the new york times for publishing what wiki leaks published instead the u.s. government it is it presumed is all to me hoping to go after julian songs either

way she said that this is this would be a dark day for all journalists in the u.s. if he would be in the custody of america prosecuted held indefinitely or possibly even face capital punishment but he's been important reporting for us there now while under house arrest in london the world's top whistleblower invited prominent activists thinkers and news makers to voice their opinion on things that matter one of the guests was ecuador's president rafael correa while some of the others had never appeared on international television before you can catch every episode of julian assange his interview show on our website. dot com. on friday three members of russian punk group pussy riot were jailed for two years each for their performance in the country's main orthodox cathedral the court's verdict stated that the band committed an act of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred the decision drew crowds of people outside the court rallying both in

support of and against the women artie's peter over has the details. regarding prison as you move the finish line you possibly have another edge the end of any division if one would assume that one doesn't want any of the cars on you but obviously from british. chaff to their trial hit headlines around the world a global audience who is watching as maria. and you cut it in a somewhat sea of each found out their fate for their performance by a punk rock prayer in russia's main to phaedra outside the courts a large group gathered with both those supporting the women and those opposed to them turning up to voice their opinion the was amongst the crowd were prominent members of the anti-government protest movement who had allying the pussy riot cause with their own as the throngs massed tempers

flared and police announcements to keep calm were ignored as over fifty people from both sides were detained the public order offenses common damned by some celebrated by others their performance in this cathedral lasted for a little more than a minute and a half but it's perhaps made pussy riot the most recognizable russian music act in the world. but where did they come from under various guises the three women who were jailed on friday have been no strangers to controversy in the past pussy riot grew out of a performance art group which had staged an orgy in a museum filmed a woman performing a sex act on a chicken in a supermarket and kissed on duty female police officers to cathedral performance though took things to another level church groups burned images of the women and of madonna who had spoken out on the side of pussy riot i think they belong to some sect which conducts a tannic rituals they use elsewhere a church in russia was daubed with the slogan down with religious fanatics and in

ukraine a topless member of the. i mean could down a cross with a chain saw and offer from playboy for a photo shoot and pussy riot merchandise do law has led some to even question was this all an elaborate quest for fame they achieved their goal of. becoming really world famous by doing what they did and when they are released they were in fact travel the world to become famous they have achieved their goal after the two year sentence for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred was handed down the online response heated up with many shocked by the length of the jail term my personal opinion is to be honest usually for the thing they call whole again as on you get fifteen days from what i've heard so i really wish they would have gotten fifteen days the more standard punishment but the court in a group of my position with lawyers for the jailed women said to appeal the verdict don't expect the debates between supporters of pussy riot in those opposed to fade

away any time soon peter all of an r.t. moscow. the pussy riot sentence has sparked a massive international reaction drawing attention to the case from all over the world foreign government officials including of those of the u.k. germany france sweden and the u.s. expressed their disagreement with the court's decision in addition a number of gatherings backing the band were staged across the globe larry jacobs managing director of the world congress of families says the coverage of the pussy riot trial was hyped by the western media. i don't really expect the media to this is eerily. always report truthfully in the us and in western europe we have seen some of the same issues so it's politicized the issue that made it about objection in about supposedly a political statement but again. you know we have plenty of opportunities to make

political statements. but we need to be responsible for our actions and there's no question that they were that they were guilty of any group is free to protest. if it's again on a place where they. know they're not violating someone else's rights in this case they certainly violated the rights of the church they trust and other vandalised and so you have to expect a consequence is and you are with our take coming up in just a few minutes. a storm that may be nearing and the waters of asia pacific as washington's a growing presence in the region tries the patience and beijing. plus as muslims across the globe mark the end of the holy month of ramadan party look at how celebrations are going on in russia. a prominent human rights activist has been jailed for three years in bahrain nabila regime was found guilty of inciting

anti-government protests through his speeches and online posts for eighteen months protesters in the gulf state have been calling for democratic reform. and an end to what they claim is religious discrimination bahrain for a family has been accused of brutally suppressing the rallies with police reportedly using tear gas and rubber bullets on unarmed protesters journalist and author of chain restaurants and he says western support for the box reigning monarch and exposes their fear of a genuine democratic movements in the country. a responses indicative of a policy that is from some might argue dying powers because the united states and nato countries deliberately try to see the arab spring and try and put it through their prism the arab spring when it when they don't like it as we all know they will do everything they can to snuff out any type of democracy the united states wanted to explore fifty million fifty eight million dollars worth of weapons some of them presumably will be used in some weapons also from european countries used

against men women and children in bahrain the nation with the highest number of political prisoners but kept around the world meanwhile they're being groomed breeze in the. rain and the queen of britain personally as some people have said it invited the king of bahrain this ruthless dictator as i said thousands of people hundreds of people arbitrary arrest twenty physicians sentence for trying to heal the people injured and killed by these bahraini looked into. our team is working twenty four hours a day seven days a week to provide you with the best stories and pictures from around the world find them on our website dot com here's a quick look at what's waiting for you there right now big brother not only has his eye on you but he's listening to and it's legal american place are now allowed to track mobile phones and gather users' g.p.s. private data without court warrants. and the online of which hard to cursing and

enemy with a hex or finding a charm to make your lover for ever faithful has just become a little bit harder online our community bag. banned the sale of all forms of magic . and a drug addict's death in the u.k. from an anthrax infection sparks fears of a europe wide pandemic. the united nation observer mission in syria has ended three hundred un personnel are said to leave the country after four months of work that bore little fruit this as the un the new un envoy for syria has admitted his top priority now is overcoming divisions within the security council that undermined the efforts of his predecessor meanwhile president assad has made a rare public appearance at a damascus mosque where he performed prayers comes amid reports from opposition officials that british intelligence is aiding them to attack regime forces this as the rebels have claimed responsibility for this week's blast near the hotel where

you and observers were stationed despite numerous reports of violent attacks by the opposition the u.s. has persisted a libya style no fly zone over the country is needed moscow however insists this could be a recipe for disaster parties ochs on a boy who has been following developments in syria for us and the she says the ongoing violence hasn't provided with yet another arena. blasts and gunfire daily occurrences here in damascus but once the explosion right next to the u.n. headquarters was something of ordinary it took place at a heavily guarded army garage and you can probably see a fuel tanker on there which the explosive device was planted still standing over there in terms of the damage it was relatively minor a few shattered windows in this hotel and in the building next to us but this explosion definitely attracted a lot of media attention because of the proximity to the u.n.

have borders now the free syrian army already claimed responsibility for this blast even though they said that they never intended to target to you in observers and that they were aiming for the syrian army personnel in any case the explosion of really underscores how easily available and how widely used explosives have become these days in syria in the beginning of the syrian uprising the rebels primarily on small arms but over months they have become and precisely more sophisticated in bomb making and many experts attribute that to an influx of foreign fighters in particular iraqi insurgents who bring with them a lot of bomb making expertise the iraqi government even went on record to say that they have solid information that al qaida was crossing from iraq into syria to carry out those attacks on the top of that reuters news agency published a story a few days ago in quoted an f.s.a.

were saying that thanks to you at the expertise of iraqi insurgents they've been able to increase the debt to nation range of their bombs up to seven kilometers also the use of mobile phones to sad those bombs of something that is very common in iraq and that it was extremely rare in syria is now becoming more and more widely. what many in the west fail to recognize is that terrorism is not necessarily a derogative term it's a descriptive term to denote a reel of warfare a tactic that justifies the use of terror the use of violence for achieving political goals and at the same groups that must tara tactics and bomb making skills on iraqi civilians on the u.s. soldiers in iraq and now applying the same expertise here in syria i thought about r.t. reporting from damascus in syria reports suggest of the us and some of its western

allies are seeking to build more direct links with the rebels while trying to distance themselves from the syrian national council dr ibrahim from the university in amman says by backing the opposition washington is only adding to the violence in syria. the rebels as you have seen are made up of the front bands there are laws there are muslim brothers there are supporters and the from places they cooperate or they compete against one another sometimes using guns so the purpose here is to destroy the country and many syrians and arabs have come to see that for what it there is as syria is supposed to fall into chaos and fragmentation as has happened in somalia before and so the united states has been engaged and implementing that this sign of creation of

chaos in syria so what we have here is an armed rebellion that is being supported financed and politically covered why these people the dollars mainly money earned from selling oil and in the service of imperialism and these people have been raising and waving the flags of freedom and democracy but we have seen some of their these they have committed in syria i would say at least more than half the population are solidly behind. the regime now and these people may have grievances and they may have things that they want to change about that regime but they are definitely against the fragmentation of syria and filling syria's streets with blood as has been happening recently as you have seen. now to some other stories making headlines around the world for you this hour. demonstrations

shook cities across china and hong kong as tensions have flare up over disputed territories in the east china sea thousands took to the streets after japanese that nationalists raised to their country's flag over the contest of violence protesters shouted slogans calling on tokyo to back down on its claims that burned flags and attacked a japanese restaurants in cars. two people have been killed and several injured in twin new car blasts in the libyan capital tripoli a year after the fall of the city to rebel forces it is the first deadly bomb attack since the ousting of moammar gadhafi and his loyalists are believed to have carried out the bombings meanwhile the toppled leader's son saif gadhafi is expected to stand trial next month on charges of ordering the killing of dissenters . muslims across the world are celebrating the first a day of the festival which marks the end of the fasting month of ramadan it is a day to go to mosques pray visit and congratulate relatives and friends and give

to charity the past month has seen a time of spiritual improvement which is believed to be achieved through fasting and devoting more time to prayers and reciting the koran. in russia millions of muslims are also celebrating the end of ramadan greaves takes a look at how this holiday is marked here. millions of muslims around russia have been waking up very early indeed before sunrise putting all some of their best clothes as is tradition on this holy day also the flocking to nearby mosques and the greatest mosque in moscow is the one just behind me which is currently being referred hens of thousands of people normal less aligning the surrounding streets to listen servants it also be giving praise to god this is coming on the end on the back of the holy month of ramadan known for fasting and this question will this day shelf theater now actually translate as the breaking of the fast so we can expect

many peace to be taking place in moscow and around russia with friends and family now those have been somewhat marred by what transpired late saturday evening in the russian republic of dagestan there to government stormed a local mosque they shot and injured eight people in total also there was a bomb this is found containing forty kilograms of t.n.t. of explosives it took some time but the moment have managed to fuse that bomb threats also in the caucuses region a criminal case has been opened into another terror attack in the republic of english there a suicide bomber walked into a funeral of a local policeman and set off his killing his device killing seven officers and injuring ten others the blast struck as a group of policemen arrived at the ceremony of their colleague shot dead in an assault on saturday the attacker has been identified as a thirty four year old who was wanted. as a member of

a local gang. the geopolitical face off between china and america in asia pacific is causing widespread attention in the region the u.s. is concerned with china's increasing influence so is developing military ties with its neighbor parties alexy explains why the obama administration is paying special attention to nations which have territorial disputes with china. they are courting each other at official meetings but it's a different story under the table with the u.s. employing a return to asia policy ties between washington and beijing are getting tense. becoming. a crucial region the u.s. . is having a long war because the u.s. is in much in more trouble they are coming to this region. trying to. china. and that intention has already been felt

south korea the philippines and vietnam have already held nato military exercises with several more countries in the region expected to have similar war games soon during a recent extensive tour of the asian pacific u.s. secretary of defense leon panetta said washington will relocate at least sixty percent of its naval fleet to the region by the end of the decade the official reason for such moves has been china's territorial disputes with the philippines in the south china sea but experts say that's only an excuse the u.s. is now promising some kind of support for the armed forces modernization creating a so-called minimum credit credible defense posture but the end the end result would be more in favor of the u.s. than in the philippines seeing that the u.s. or so many economic and business interests in china it wants to keep china obedient to whatever dictates that you have at in store for china so all the treaty allies

from japan south korea australia the philippines you're being mobilized right now to encircle china and keep it subservient to the u.s. dictate in interests with a deeply checkered historic background of the u.s. military presence in the region many concerns have been raised the united states has for many many battles and so a pivot towards asia should be considered something of great alarm for the. people of the continent fearing full scale conflict in the region beijing is looking for a helping hand and it has look no further than its closest neighbor during the recent state visit to china. russia support with pledges to boost already strong ties all but making this point. in the face of china's growing military. openly criticize the new u.s. agenda in the asian pacific region all the statements by the officials so far have been mild declarations of dismay and warnings of

a destabilizing situation but both in china and abroad believe this is just the calm before the storm and that beijing in fact is growing less and less of washington's behavior. reporting from beijing in china. and thanks for being with us for those who missed anything don't worry stay with us for a recap of our headlines coming up in just a bit. good

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