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

suggest british intelligence is helping rebels fight the regime. and broadcasting live from our studios in central moscow recapping the week's top stories this is r.t. with the weekly. has called for the u.s. to stop its witch hunt against whistleblowers and also thanked ecuador for granting him political asylum he made his long awaited statement on the balcony of the latin american countries a london embassy surrounded by british police who are ready to sweep him into custody if he set foot outside the building laura smith reports from outside that embassy in london. what's happened to the soft news being nothing left in a rally that was several speakers who came on the floor today in a sound sort of whom are packed to 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 rip the you kids diplomatic status and break in that to 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 i 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 bad as pakistan and a whistleblower himself he blew the whistle on government abuses involvement in

craig thanks very much for talking to us now what do you think julian assange as this case tells us about the treatment of western players 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 be often sexual charges because were destroyed 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 julian assange 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 yourself so diplomatically isolated it most certainly did say that 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 during an embassy. good doors decision to grant. political asylum is being closely monitored in the u.s. washington has not admitted it is planning to request a song his extradition but a number of american politicians aren't holding back some going as far as to demand a son should be tried and executed or he's going to reports from new york while julian assange his 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 a song to our terrorist 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 a fearsome reputation then any of his predecessors many journalists scholars and activists in the u.s. have signed a letter of support for julian a 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 employed it's come to this the government is same to journalists everywhere in america. we're going to interrogate 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 chilliness sanji 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 assange 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 tease merino porno reporting for us there from new york 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 would have to do is president rafael correa while some of the others never appeared on international television before you can catch every episode of julian assange his interview show on our website a song about r t v dot com. on friday three members of a 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 all of her has the details. did he give any reason that you move the finish line you possibly have another edge the end of any division if one would assume that one doesn't bring in the cows on you but obviously she would usually. have to their trial hit headlines around the world a global audience who is watching as maria. tolokonnikova 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 court 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 calm demba 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 site of pussy riot i think they belong to some sect which conducts a tannic rituals and elsewhere a church in russia was daubed with the slogan down with religious fanatics and in

ukraine a topless member of the. them in down across with a chain saw and offer from playboy for a photo shoot and pussy riot merchandise deal 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 the cogon is on you get fifteen days from what i've heard so i really wish they would have gotten fifteen days more standard punishment but they are court in a groove 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 in 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 those of the u.k. germany france and 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 u.s. based journalist don de bar believes washington should look at its own problems before judging others. the united states has other double standards that bear on this case to first let's look at the one nine hundred eighty nine case of st patrick's cathedral where act up members came into the church about forty five of them were arrested before they could really voice their own protests and numerous times since the beginning of the iraq war around the united states people have tried to go into churches to speak to the congregations i know nick modern for

example an activist in the united states has done it about thirty times to try to say look your religious beliefs are so and so what's happening violates them please join us and they've been threatened with arrest arrested and worse so the united states does exactly the united states which has more incarcerated people than the next three countries on the planet and that's only in absolute terms in terms of relative terms more than any other country on the planet the united states as well these people in jail and it's going to lecture other countries about how their legal process should work i just think it that has no credibility around the world and i think it's shameful. two people have been killed and several injured by a twin car bombing in the libyan capital tripoli the attack comes a year since the fall of the city to rebel forces loyalists of former leader moammar gadhafi are being blamed for the violence but for more on this we are now joined by. an international affairs and defense analyst mr zazi thank you very much for joining us thank you now two explosions taking place on the same day why now

and what does this tell us about the security situation in a country where. there is still so many security. after there what year that. tape record no gaddafi was also from power there still is easy q. repeat even. though despite the fact that are there are recent successfully take us. through the president has weakened like this. we can see that there is uncertainty out there is it your. pro forces that are part of the both recognizing these political process that there are taking. these to be the result or for your program people you at least it are trying to call a patron to show that they are still around especially after safely.

he's going to be he has been he has been the easy is going to be put on trial. if he's if he's followed or for the repression against revolutionary septembers of the opposition last year did he so this could be said for this reporter so if he is there still that there are going to cause trouble that's what books of course there might be or there are at least two. fair bit of will to reveal i think they kills their attacks against russia if the red cross it big gussied for instance is so. it's a possibility that a piece could have thought if it's nice to be this great that even grapes you don't get to see the western european soul of the earth if a war to. be this. fight is against this you don't. grow up he also recruited by

a they say shows success or the type of the type look like what they are so these rebel fighters a quarter. if they were eventually would believe i have followers so that they don't like a western style system there certainly are going to challenge is so big that his followers could be there is let me just as well well you mentioned it could be. followers it could be islamists as well the country is now flooded with weapons still in the hands of different rivaling factions given this will we ever see a stable libya someday well that's going to be up to believe people are they going to give support to for. a. fisa followers you know to followers of the late for that's what i mean or are they going to. support to east of east or if these two groups are going to remain in the

fridge for the society they are to get this support the backing off. these people. i don't think they're going to be really process both know the kind of. the potential threats not only from for. at least from islamist. groups we pride of groups we. really should. fall. be very happy if we fight this through which of power is so much by feel that it really is so could be that some of these groups could also cause trouble i think the end is going to be about there just to be a society that rejected these groups with. a fifty percent to settle. settles so the throat security forces loyal to the core.

of the show the there is so that's going to be very. piece of this debate that the future is going to be. the ability of the government to establish itself said i don't believe you know people rejected this kind of dark forces. you and briefly yes or no do you think this invasion and the war was worth it. well i think it's up to the libyan people to decide are there are these going poorly in the future. even though there have been these instances of violence except of other key like belief surely there are some beliefs or groups called proly or for instance one of the stifle is that they didn't want to be simple creepily to be privately has to be. tried the result is so it's i think that for the levy of people it seems those far

it has to be worthwhile they want the change they wanted to get control of their own destiny let's hope that the. elected to the future process you know like having a constitutional assembly future elections for a prison that the eight year or so is going to succeed. anybody who is supposed to these process that that certainly they want to be they want to succeed but again it all depends on the choice of the libyan people those four i see it i mean those far i think story it looks like the libyan people are pretty much in favor of the process of cities but that those meetings perfect i mean there are obstacles along the way and appreciate your thoughts on this day international affairs and defense analyst thank you very much for your thoughts and for being with us thank you. now 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 at r t v 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 in as well and it's legal american police are now allowed to track mobile phones and gather users at g.p.s. private data without court warrants. we all mind which cursing at an enemy with a hex or finding a charm to make your lover forever free fall has just become a little bit harder online auctioneer the bay has 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 epidemic. united nations observer mission in syria has ended the last of the three hundred contingent are set to leave the country after four months of work that bore little fruit this as 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 out of damascus mosque where he performed to you the prayers this out and comes amid reports quoting opposition officials suggesting that british intelligence is actively aiding in the rebels' find against regime forces but logistics information isn't the only kind of help the opposition fighters receive from the western powers parties getting to comments on the rebels fundraising schemes. ever thought about adopting someone why not a syrian rebel as this headline says for just one dollar a day you too can help a syrian rebel oust president assad these days you have a good number of organizations which present themselves basically as charities where you can make a donation to the rebels in syria this is the website of one of the rebel groups there saying among other things they are seeking. military equipment then there is another organization which collects donations based the here in washington and

supported by the u.s. government they're called syrian support group we try to reach out to them and ask how they plan to distribute that money we never heard from them another web site one called adopt a revolution they also present themselves as a charity but it's organizer admitted that it's hard to see where the money goes as far as who the donors are he said they range from corporations to retired couples and students possibly those mentioned retired couples who've seen videos like this one where the rebels singing a backstreet boys song oh see. i. think i'm lying. but what the pitch for donors does not say is that not all rebel fighters are some romantic backstreet boys fans probably not these ones and this footage shows an apparent mass execution of assault supporters by the rebels in cold blood. reports on the ground show that various experiments groups are doing

the fighting including al qaida but it's not to say that all of them are all either or it's a full blown civil war where the degree of hatred is so high that people commit atrocities on all fronts i spoke with one of america's leading experts on counterterrorism and he told me the bloodshed will be even harder to stop as more outside forces get involved it isn't any more simply a question of sunni versus our it's a question of saudi arabia versus iran and it's a question of turkey's increasing role in the middle east all these things make this more and more complicated and make it less and less likely they were going to have the peaceful resolution instead we're going to have a winner take all solution one could say the danger is in simplifying things putting them black and white supporting people who kill can be called anything but charity in washington i'm going to check on. this week the u.s.

defense secretary accusing iran of training a program militia in syria and aggravating the conflict but analyst eric draitser says the statement is nothing but a sign of desperation what panetta is really saying is that the iranians are meddling in the internal affairs of syria but that's precisely what the united states qatar turkey saudi arabia and the rest of them have been doing all along so essentially to say that the a rainy ins should stay out and that syrian should be allowed to determine their their future for themselves is to say that the united states must do the same thing but of course panetta won't say that this really demonstrates the u.s. is desperation in syria they know that they're outmatched diplomatically they're outmatched in terms of the foreign policy and so what they the only thing they can do is use syria as an issue to demonize the iranians which is the ultimate enemy in the region or the u.s. establishment if they were truly interested in letting the syrians determine their

own future determine their own fate the united states would stop sending in al qaeda forces the united states would stop using turkey to smuggle weapons into syria the united states would pull back from all of these ventures then you would see the syrians determine their future outside of u.s. meddling. 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 some of their best clothes as is tradition on this holy day also the be flocking to nearby mosques and the graces mosque in moscow is the one just behind me which is currently being referred fish were seen tens 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 special this day shelf

theater now actually translates 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 watch transpired late saturday evening in the russian republic of dagestan there two masked gunman stormed a local mosque they shot and injured eight people in total also there was a bomb misses 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. there are a suicide bomber walked into a funeral of a local policeman and set off 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 on a wanted list as a member of a local gang. now to some other stories making headlines around the world for you this hour. demonstrations shook cities across china and hong kong as tensions flare up over disputed territories in the east china sea thousands took to the streets after japanese nationalists raised their country's flag over the islands protesters shouted slogans calling on tokyo to back down on its claims burned flags and attacked japanese restaurants and cars. muslims across the world are celebrating the first day of the festival which marks the end of the fasting month of ramadan it's a day to go to mosques pray visit and congratulate relatives and friends and to give to charity the past month has been a time of spiritual unproved meant which is believed to be achieved through fasting and devoting more time to prayers and reciting the koran. thanks for being with us

and if you have missed anything don't worry i'll be back with a recap of the headlights and that's coming up in about two minutes time. the world of. science technology innovation all the moves developments from

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