that's not a meteor watching you crash down to the earth that's a drone being shot to out of the sky by a u.s. navy laser it's the future of anti drone technology and its first stop is the persian gulf so is this a sign that tensions between the u.s. and iran are about to heat up once again. and one man's art is another man's a criminal offense a twenty year old woman in montreal was actually picked up by police officers for posting a picture of anti police graffiti online a look at the sketchy situation coming up. and good for snooping bad for business in the past it was high taxes that scared companies away from american shores now a slew of amendments that promote government snooping could be costing the u.s. a lot of business we'll take a look at consumer privacy and how it could be costing us jobs.

it's tuesday april ninth five pm in washington d.c. i'm maggie lopez you are watching our tease so let's get straight to today's top stories well science fiction meet military fact the u.s. navy is boasting that it now has a huge technological advance an airborne technology a prototype of drone deflecting lasers is actually being deployed on a docking ship in the persian gulf this laser is capable of turning you a visa to fireballs and rendering em an enemy patrol those useless take a look at this the laser can perform two main tasks one is burning a hole through an enemy vehicle with ultra hot ultra focused b. the other is a non-lethal burst of energy that actually dazzles the adversary's computer sensors to stop them without causing any physical damage now this technology is a game changer folks the congressional research a research service office itself actually described this as the biggest navy.

advance since the shipboard missiles came into play all the way back in one nine hundred fifty s. but there are two important issues to address here first is the fact that it was deployed to the persian gulf instead of anywhere else in the world second is the american dominance over the skies to talk more about this i was joined earlier by alexandra toma she is a nuclear nonproliferation expert and a truman fellow and i asked her how big of a deal this technology really is. well as you mentioned it as the congressional research service report mentioned it is a game changer what i will mention though is that it is a prototype as well this is the first time we're pioneering this technology in so many remains to be seen how effective it will be ok now is this a chairing a change in the pace in the way that the u.s. is currently dealing with iran up until this point it's been diplomatic sanctions or hasn't really been any kind of strategy in terms of military physically so is

this a change of pace i don't i don't think so i think again we need to sort of see what happens and what the reaction is from iran obviously to what we know to the laser but i think this introduction of this new laser is not going to shut the door on diplomatic efforts nor should it i mean we should have and we should be pursuing all types of relationships and relationship building with iran what kind of a message do you think that this type of laser entering the persian gulf actually sends to i mean i think it's a message saying look we're not going to allow you to sort of use your swift boats to come close to us and sort of. play with our ships like they did back in two thousand a year member that incident and so it's more of a defensive measure i think it says you know don't do that we're here we're serious you can't mess around with us and as you mentioned back in two thousand and eight it was a couple of quick moves and luckily no shots were fired so that that was a quick way to get out of something that could have potentially turned pretty

damaging really fast let me ask you this what it is firing this type of laser even if it's the one where you dazzle them without actually hurting it can be considered a first shot yeah i think you're right i think it could be but i think a but the main point that i mean is that you can sort of use this sort of razzle dazzle instead of i'll poke a hole in your ship function of the laser if you know if it works as it's supposed to work so i think it has. multi-functional and that's good it's cheap which we like and members of congress will like with the sequester in the budget crisis we're undergoing right now so i think it will be interesting to see how it actually plays out and what the are going to do so what that will look like so even though nothing would technically be damaged it could potentially be still considered a first shot but something else to mention is that this technology is by no means perfect and it has a lot of problems the first of which is the weather bad weather one affected so if there's raindrops if there smoke if there's dust in the air it will not work

properly also it cannot it's not powerful enough to take down fighter jet missiles it anybody that puts a reflective. face on their machines it can actually confuse the laser so it's not perfect there's a lot of flaws in it so what does it possibly mean that we are putting ourselves into a political posturing with iran before the technology is actually ready for that kind of thing yeah you know it's a really good point i mean you know the thing you know you need to have your. insight. and it's a cloudy day it's dark it's it's at night you know oh those sorts of things there's certainly and again it's a prototype so there's certainly a lot of things that you need to work the kinks out for but i think yes i think it's a signal i think to signal as i said it's a single saying you know it's defensive we're here you can't skirt around you know as you've done in the past and you know i think that we should continue to focus on

the policy but it's also it gives us another tool in our tool kit for the types of really complicated negotiation that we're now undergoing over there and they say is still just about a year out from actually being fully functional even more time possibly for diplomatic talks but the laser obviously gives the u.s. near limitless control over the skies they can control their own drones because we do. by far the most the vast the biggest. range of drone technology and also the stealth mode that we have is unlike anybody else but at the same time we can also shoot other people's technology down what they slayer's so do we have unprecedented control the skies and if we do is that fair necessarily i mean i think i mean look our allies in the region i was there we need to make sure we're protecting them no matter what we're doing and i think we're doing that and this again is another tool in the tool box to be able to do that. you know i don't know that you were i sitting here can know all of that and

a lot of the technology obviously is classified and so i'm not sure about whether our adversaries have things that match us right now but i do know is again sort of to repeat is that this is something new to us and something that will give us a leg up in the region and in the necessary diplomatic talks that need to continue to happen over there and finally just talking about those diplomatic talks now as i mentioned you are a non proliferation expert what can we possibly do right now that's not sanctions that's not anything else now in terms of diplomatic talks what would we present or that they could present to get the ball rolling again in terms of these talks i mean i think we just need to keep i mean it's sort of blood is sort of what you would expect someone who believes in. and believes that a war in iraq and i agree with the president i agree with the military leaders that a war in iran in the region would be devastating so i think we need to keep keep the door open keep continuing to talk with with our allies in the region including israel. and figure the figure this out but we do have another i mean i think maybe

we'll be taking a little bit more seriously now by the iranians. nuclear nonproliferation expert and a truman fellow thank you for joining us. well a twenty year old canadian woman found herself on the wrong side of the law last wednesday after she posted a picture on instagram of some graffiti art she passed by while she was walking police showed up at the doorstep of montreal. resident jennifer pollock with an arrest warrant in hand after she posted this picture this is a depiction of a police commander even less funny a with a bullet in his head he is the head of communications division at the police department now keep in mind jennifer pollock did not create this art she just posted a picture of it as a result she has an april seventeenth trial date and has been issued a restraining order that forces her to stay away from both the commander as well as the montreal police headquarters also in the news last week nearly three hundred

protesters were arrested and fined over six hundred dollars for not providing the police within ten or area of their protest by law p.-six made these fines possible but now city lawmakers are looking at repealing this measure so earlier today i was joined by criminal defense attorney eric sutton and i asked him if it's illegal to post a picture online. well that will be determined if the case goes to trial. i was quite surprised to hear that she was arrested and she's actually charged with harassment. specifically she would have allegedly engaged in conduct that would make this officer fear for his safety. we will see if if the case goes to trial i'm not convinced the prosecution once they really think about this case will necessarily necessarily want to take it to trial but it seems to me very dubious and i felt the police were really just trying to send a message to the public really do intimidate the public to ensure that they don't

do anything that might tarnish their their image because i have doubts that this officer really feared for his safety i'm not sure he was simply pressured into into into pursuing this by way of a criminal prosecution and they were not the only one that has expressed this kind of doubt over the tars of harassment but now jennifer pollock says she should have been arrested for the step all i want to play a recent part of an interview that she did what c.b.c. news. too so i. think it's a little thin here because of the picture i took she says i believe the person that created the graffiti should be in my place so it's not like i wanted to get the artist and trouble i took a picture because i thought it was well done but it's me that stuck with being arrested so let me ask you this when does art go too far to the point where you can actually be arrested for it because of this considered a threat. well look at first let me say that you know i'm somewhat sympathetic to

the officer even say it's a rather tasteless picture i mean this man is really just a spokesman for the place and has a picture of the group cd with a bullet in his head and blood coming out of his forehead i mean i understand that it's it's distasteful i don't think it's really a criminal act but. brits express themselves much like in the united states so we have the same protections you have the united states but there's limits on that if you express yourself in a way where your conduct becomes criminal that's where the line is drawn and that's where the question in this case arises has had she gone across that line i'm not persuaded tree had and did did battle will be will in fact be between what is freedom of expression and when does preventive expression go too far and cause and individual to feel he's a victim of a crime or the subject of. threatening conduct or harassment that is the issue and like you mentioned i mean obviously this could be taken very seriously as

a police officer with wallet in his head the police also said that this was not the only reason that they had for arresting her but they declined to comment on the other reasons now this young woman was a part of the mass student demonstrations that happened a little bit ago shows rested then as well could that play into it. well she may have a profile with the police i really don't think her presence in previous demonstrations should influence the police in any way. she has the right to demonstrate some people are arrested some were given what we call the tickets they're not really arrested criminally but they have to pay fines. i don't think that there should be any presumption of the part of the police the people of protests might need demonstrations the students have been very active in the past year in montreal and demonstrating very vigorously complaining about student fees and see hikes and and . and other issues that they feel they're entitled to but i don't think that they

should be profiled in such a way that they would be seen as more threatening because of subsequent conduct they might be involved in as opposed to someone who may not of participate in the demonstration so i really don't know what the police about their sleeve but i hope if they have something that is it's more than the fact that she merely participated in student demonstrations and i want to shift the conversation just a little bit to talk about the past six bylaw that i actually spoke about a little bit earlier if forces protesters to submit an i ten or it's a police before the march begins and bans people from wearing masks and now obviously this was a new it was way back in two thousand and one but the new measures were added last year is this in your opinion and infringement on canadians constitutional rights well you know it's hard for me to really take a position without having seriously studied the issue the issue wearing a man. has resonated with some people there and there are a lot of people who feel that that's not an unfair imposition on demonstrators that

their faces should be should be revealed. there's been almost a comical arrest of someone who's wearing a panda bear costume and he was he he was arrested as having violated the by law and in reading the police looked very foolish so you know that's debatable the issue of an attorney or aries not unheard of there are many major metropolitan areas that insist that the demonstrators are providing a tuner week otherwise they can they can be the demonstration can can can can become quite chaotic and can paralyze the downtown core that hasn't really happened for the most part the demonstrations have been reasonably peaceful last week and perhaps a bit cumbersome for the public but i haven't noticed that there was any need to insist that the press why didn't the tenor every and if there isn't a good basis for it it's could well violate their constitutional right to peaceful assembly. right. and if we do know that both of montreal's main opposition

groups have agreed that they say that this law infringes on people's right to assembly over seven hundred people have been arrested that case against the by law is actually up for debate on april twenty second criminal defense attorney eric sutton thank you for joining us going through every well entrepreneurs be warned american online privacy privacy practices might not be as good for business as you might think that's because laws like the electronic communications privacy act open up the door for governments to actually snoop through your clients' personal data and that is opening up the door for competition archie correspondent liz wahl takes a look at how the government practices could actually be making companies think twice before investing in the u.s. . well as we've reported here at r.t. the government has made several moves lately regulating the internet and getting access to online data we see this in cyber security bills like the foreign

intelligence surveillance act allows the government to tap into international e-mails and phone calls without a warrant similarly the electronic communications privacy act lets law enforcement access online and with a court order no warrant needed and perhaps most well known the patriot act a law passed after nine eleven which significantly expands the government's ability to surveil citizens now these laws have raised red flags when it comes to our privacy but turns out government snooping could be having an effect on the economy now foreign companies are cashing in boasting that their service is guaranteed privacy that american companies can't take german telecommunications company telecom for example. to the tune that's working. very very little. and over in france bull s.a.'s markets itself as a cloud company that makes their clients' privacy a top priority the company's c.e.o.

says quote the cloud must be a secure sovereign space where no gadgets or risks and data communications or transactions and that has to be guaranteed. now these foreign companies can boast they're able to ensure users that their data and communications are safe from prying eyes essentially trying to distinguish themselves from the giant internet companies you see here in the states this some of these companies come under scrutiny for selling users' information and lack of protection from government accessing data so if lawmakers are serious about getting the economy back on track it may be wise to take a look at the literal cost of failing to protect privacy in washington liz wall r t well today marks the tenth anniversary of the fall. all of baghdad we've all seen the pictures the ones of the statue of saddam hussein being brought to the ground as a symbolic gesture to the end of the dictator's twenty four year reign marine corporal

edward chin was one of the men who actually helped tear that statue down r t international correspondent more in a fortnight i actually have a chance to sit down with chen this week to reflect on the significance of that event as well as a look ahead at the future of iraq here's part of that interview exactly ten years ago a u.s. marine from new york city made international headlines for his actions in baghdad edward chen tied a large snoops around a massive statue of saddam hussein wrapped the face of that statue of an american flag before that monument was eventually toppled right now i am joined by mr chen for a one on one or c should thank you for speaking with r.t. today oh you're welcome ten years have passed since that. moment where you essentially became a symbol for the u.s. occupation and invasion in iraq you were twenty three at the time when you climb that statue what you know about that you brought more now that you know that.

what i know about was this massive ten years longer than expected. they're still struggling to rebuild their country to have a stable government in that statue of saddam hussein and wrap the face of the statue in an american flag looking back on your actions do you think it was the propre thing to do as as a foreigner coming in and invading a country climbing the statue of a man who was the leader of that country wrapping the face an american flag. you know iraqi civil. suit. simple there's. no. reason why we did you know it was really. hard not to. be going to rule going to go into a as we want to once we have a scene or. so we do just to show you kind of something want to push on

a country just the way a spur of the moment what you know about us foreign policy now that we didn't know that we're not we're not going to tell the truth but what happens because that's how it's going to harvard. you just come out some of the public will go to war. through you know control of the oil without regional course you're not going to come out and and how many people are going to sign up to risk their lives as an actor is acting weird military here we do what we're told and. we hope that you know this you know this right says i mean it's we're going wasn't there you know we're going to fight but he thinks the war was for him i personally think it was for. us to you know to gain a foothold here to most civilized region and i don't believe. he told me that it was for you to love us and that mass destruction so all those lives lost is the

work that robs you know now today there was still no weapons to be found you know it will be won't work there was to. free a country of a dictator yes but that if there was a reason that there's a lot of dictators and a rule that has to be taken out to hope that i would it was part of my reason i look for the right reasons and because how can i not in a way. it would be to say. to resist you know we're justified. thank you very much for your time. iraq war might be over but that doesn't mean the region has actually achieved stability bombings then violence are still near daily events in the country sectarian squabbles and underprepared iraqi army and the fight for oil are just a few of the problems that the government continues to struggle with r.t. correspondent lucic half enough recently visited iraq to find out what they life is like in iraq here's part of that report.

the iraq war is supposed to be over but these pictures tell a different story chaos and confusion the aftermath of yet another deadly blast here into your kook. this bridge city has been described as a. symbol for the country's most intractable woes as collating violence the conflict among ethnic and religious groups and the fight over iraq's resources. getting there was our first challenge a group of kurdish soldiers had agreed to take a sin both baghdad and the kurds lay claim to care kook and are sparring over control aside from the danger those entering from the kurdish side need special permission to get past the iraqi checkpoints when have it. roadblocks and concrete barriers define the new iraq checkpoints like this one are a dominant feature of life and they are everywhere aside from the house they're also frequent target of attacks for us it was a blatant visual reminder of

a country still very much at war. inside your kook we drive quickly to avoid danger we're told to look out for a black b.m.w. is apparently they've become a favorite for iraq's insurgents who didn't pick the best day to come to roadside bombs exploded here earlier that morning around the same time that baghdad was rocked by a series of deadly blasts but kirkuk has been a flashpoint for years now and in the city center it's clear that life doesn't stop just because of the threats we were expecting empty streets but people continued to go about their business as normal vendors seemed busy families did their shopping beneath the surface there are scars today there could continues to be an incredibly dangerous place shortly after the city without the help of a military escort residents here say that a toxic happen at any time in any place in fact it's not really safe to stay here for too long so let's get inside. we need car want to his family there kurds who

say they're happy that saddam is gone but their fear of political repression has been replaced by fear of the unknown. we don't know who the enemy is where women next bomb will go off but it's a daily fears we've got used to it i do small things to feel safer like driving with all the car windows down that way if there's a blast at least the glass won't hurt us. such precautions didn't help sixty year old fellow mahmoud who says that a decade of war has ruined iraq he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time a bomb blast went off injuring his leg for him daily life has become a painful struggle. is what benefit did the war bring democracy only explosions shootings and kidnappings people should feel free to go out and come back safely where is that i can leave but there's no guarantee i'll come back alive. no it's not about the sectarian differences

unfortunately it's book the black. oil and behind this oil is the hidden interests of politicians. in the political game playing with their livelihoods and lives for conflicts not of their own making the iraqis we met didn't heat their neighbors or care about who controls the oil just like they simply want the peace of mind of knowing they can go out and return to their loved ones alive to see confidence r t iraq. a question for you what do you call a lawyer with a degree from one of the most prestigious schools in the country unemployed sounds like your typical lawyer joke with that's the reality for thousands of recent j.d. grads looking for work but once for a very profession is beginning to look like it's past its heyday twenty twelve law school graduates have been on the job market now for just about nine months and according to the american bar association only fifty six percent of them have found

stable employment that's one percent better than the class of two thousand and eleven faired now according to the u.s. bureau of labor statistics between two thousand and ten and twenty twenty nearly seventy four thousand new legal jobs will be created ten percent job growth is standard but with forty five thousand j.d. students graduating annually in essence those jobs have already been swept up just over the past three years this graph shows the increase of life since lawyers through twenty eleven although we're turning out legal professionals at an exponential rate the number of jobs is clearly not keeping up and prospective students are taking notice the new york times reports that as of january law school applications were down by thirty eight percent from two thousand and ten these applications could be headed toward a thirty year low if this decline continues and that fact could present a challenge for admission officers. at law school across the country no need to

commence project prospective students that it's worth taking out more loans for a profession that leaves every tuesday graduates of mine for just one job and that's not to mention the six figure debt that these students take on when they enter law school or how this number could actually be adding to a growing student debt bubble one thing law admissions officers can still say however is that there is one place these lot of groups still count and that is capitol hill. who are you feeling sad sensitive mad or low on energy those emotions could just describe just about everyone who's ever had a bad day but now you have to worry about more than a barrage of antidepressant commercials coming your way targeting your softer side that's because a new system for your x. box can actually diagnose you for depression the system is called sim sensei and it uses interactive avatars to conduct verbal interviews with your user in order to

monitor your answers and your body language to determine if you are depressed take a look at this when was the last time you saw a really happy. when was time. i don't know. i'm not someone who's really like i don't have any real. i feel like i'm a level person it's just. now obviously this is not a licensed therapist a of therefore not a clinical diagnosis of depression just another secure outlet for users to express their emotions without the awkward this of telling their secrets to a stranger that being said program creator say the system has a ninety percent success rate for diagnosing depression it is

a huge step forward from the allies a software of the nineteen sixties but don't go expecting these a systems to hand out prescriptions to patients any time soon for that you still need to go to a traditional doctor and that's going to do it for now for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r t america there we post all of our interviews online in full so don't forget to comment and leave us your feedback and story suggestions and for the latest and greatest information coming out from around the world check out our website r t dot com slash usa our digital producers are always working hard to connect you with the world with new stories so check it out and don't forget like i said to use your feedback and to find out what i'm doing when i'm not reporting the news follow me on twitter add meghan underscore lopez i'll see you right back here at eight pm eastern.