choosing between the late leader's closest ally and an opposition leader who aims to completely change direction. clashes at guantanamo bay. hunger striking prisoners being taken to isolated. war all the lists russia bans eighteen americans suspects of links to torture entering its territory in response to a very similar move by washington. and concerns over the escalating korean crisis spread further afield as the north threatens to strike. russia as war all sides against the military and.

with the top stories of today the week this is the weekly tea with me will receive . venezuelans deciding today whether they want to continue the legacy left by the late leader. heading to the polls for a snap presidential election triggered by his death from cancer last month pitched against each other chavez's heir apparent nicolas my daughter an opposition candidate and. a free market devote. reports from caracas. leading the polls throughout this campaign has been the last mughal he is the chosen successor of the board and many people that i've spoken to who support mother will say that out of loyalty for thomas. for mother lawyer they also want to see something in all the social programs that are already in place in the country however this bill is plagued with a lot of problems and the big question there is if motherhood does win this election will you be able to solve problems of crime for example shortages place in

the economy which people have already been bringing up and these are large shoes to fill for him and he's being watched and scrutinized very closely now second to him is and we could do the same with the opposition he's a young guy who's coming in the plume i think is the basically many of the supporters want to vote for him because they want he said if they didn't get it in israel that the seeds for the past fourteen years and they want to something new and this is also being paid to someone who is a bit more u.s. friend who said this will be interesting to see if when israel a good teaching relations with the united states if he's voted into power they do let's not forget that israel is sitting on the world's largest oil reserves of the world is watching closely how this vast wealth is going to be moving forward but also people tell me that they want answers to all the problems that they see on the ground the big biggest concern being prime food shortages again. want to

see answers fast. and i just remind you are. following developments at the polling station as well as all the latest updates available on how twitter feed one of the most recent posts saying that the queues are getting longer as millions prepare it's a cost it's. campaign endgame. chooses a new president chavez choice runs against a free market poster boy for possible venezuela choose after coming down to self-styled socialism or free market model venezuela votes open fourteenth. now a fresh attempt to break a months long hunger strike at guantanamo prison camp has led to clashes between guards and detainees inmates tried to resist being forcibly moved from communal living quarters to a single man cells so the officers responded by firing non-lethal bullets

a cup of fish or say they were trying to prevent hunger strikers from persuading other inmates to join the protest artie's guy nature can picks up the story. this was apparently a pre-dawn operation that took place hours after the delegates of the international committee of the red cross left the island left guantanamo a statement released by the u.s. military says the guards at guantanamo have byard four rounds of prisoners from non-lethal weapons they say the detainees covered surveillance cameras windows and partitions to prevent the guards from observing them during the ongoing hunger strike the guards allegedly clashed with the detainees which military officials say led them to move the captives from communal to single cells the military says the detainees used improvised weapons to resist the transfer they say that's when the guards started shooting at the captives one hundred prisoners have been starving for more than two months now trying to bring public attention to their plight because they sense did mr would rather forget about them the state department

closed the office that was working to transfer the remaining captives half of them have been cleared for release their attorneys are saying that the president has been doing all possible to stop the hunger strike they've been force feeding the strikers there were claims that they brought down the temperature into cells to make it harder to endure the strike and now we hear that they put them in solitary confinement and shots of being fired a gun a kind reporting that i will we also spoke to a lawyer for one of the hunger striking prison is a city put newco told us that measures like solitary confinement only aggravate the situation. michael counsel who represents a bio like derek poteat visited him just two days ago at guantanamo and. looking like a village which had been decimated by some sort of attack with men just walking around very feebly very weak barely i mean have any energy to even communicate with

each other it's a very very sad difficult situation and the reaction of the u.s. is the opposite of what it should be this strike the protests could have been resolved with not violence but by simply agree to allow the men to return the qur'an to the u.s. government to surrender them so that they did not have to watch them continue to be desecrated and searched. keeping a very close eye on the hunger strike. we've been gathering comments from officials lawyers and international organizations so you can see what they all have to say but the special section of our website ots heat on cold. is.

far from moscow this is r t a number of former u.s. officials linked to the legalization and up location of torture out kuantan a bow feature on a blacklist that russia put together this week that moscow names of alleged human rights violators it was placing on the travel and economic sanctions after a very similar move by the united states got a pretty good offer takes a closer look. what we're witnessing now is really game of political pingpong first washington published a part of its so-called magnitsky a list eighteen russian official suspected there of being connected to human rights violations they have been subjected to various economic and travel sanctions including the ban for them to enter the united states and shortly after this list was published a symmetric reaction came from moscow which published a part of its blacklist of eighteen american officials linked to human rights

violations at the guantanamo bay detention center and the violations of the rights of russian citizens outside the center but since both lists have been published only partially we may expect more nene's to be put on them the american his character was by american lawmakers at the end of last year and was named after city my good ski and employee of the hermitage capital investment fund he was suspected of fraud he got himself claimed that he had uncovered a massive corruption scheme but he died in prison in two thousand and nine before a court could make a decision on his case moscow has been accusing washington of using his unfortunate death as a political tool to apply pressure on russia or the foreign ministry's called the mike needs to act in unfriendly use of four week a lot we've heard from prime minister dmitry medvedev saying that u.s. authorities have the full right to deny entry visas to anyone without even having to explain why not to mention passing any controversial laws or black lists and

many or more sed russian lawmakers believe that the magnitsky act harms america's own interests is like shooting oneself in the leg so i don't really see the rational for this from the point of your bum administration which claims to be an administrator that is paying attention to multilateralism to international partnerships it was definitely a blow to the relations between moscow and washington and now this is happening ahead of a visit by a senior us foreign advise. or to moscow on monday for talks and these lists are definitely not going to make his job any easier. r.t. correspondent you go to prison off reporting and in the meantime are stephen cohen a professor of russian studies at new york university he believes that president obama has become a hostage to anti russian moods among us cold warriors. obama did not want magnitsky act it was imposed on him by the american congress

a congress that included is our own political party the democratic party it's changed and poison the atmosphere it's going to make it harder for example. president obama to make concession to let's say missile defense the president because there is this added russia doesn't deserve any concessions and i'm guessing president putin would like to modify his position on missile defense and i mention that because it's on the table the moment it's an issue that there will be forces in the russian political. system. so it's not a sarge. as always here it out see we love getting your opinions on the stories we're covering in particular this one we're doing today and we're taking your vote at r.t. dot com ultimately what's the next step if not what's the off the math in this exchange of blacklists between washington and moscow to spring up the numbers for this hour still though the majority of all voters from ati dot com forty two

percent saying it's just going to lead to more minor tit for tat measures let's pay attention to the changing numbers though between the lower two coming in now and now the final fourth position the eighteen percent of all voters saying it will escalate tensions severely affecting ties and now the majority that was being lost all day with minimal numbers now up to nineteen percent saying this will be a death nail for the u.s. russia reset relations we are still taking your votes absolutely the numbers fluctuate every hour just head over to talk.

thank you for joining us here on artsy it's a day this week tensions around north korea's nuclear threats reached a new high with pyongyang putting tokyo on its potential hit list japan was threatened after it said it was preparing to shoot down any missiles the north might launch and the u.s. secretary of state john kerry he's in japan now the last stop of his asian to it to rally support against pyongyang its nuclear program washington tokyo and seoul of all indicated that talks with the north can only happen if it's ready for a d. nuclearized nation and the apparent deadlock use wiring not only the countries involved in the dispute but moscow as well as aussies alexy to shift the reports. the city with a population of around seven hundred thousand people is the closest russian big city to the border with north korea literally two hundred kilometers away is the place where the russian the chinese and the north koreans meet at the same place of course the escalation of tensions on the korean peninsula has led to some serious

only in the far east of course in moscow as well because should anything happen between the two koreas especially if nuclear weapons would be involved russia would be one of the first countries affected. by the possible consequences of a nuclear war if we remember the fukushima several years ago traces of radiation were felt. which is also just a stone's throw away from here so all the latest developments in the north korean conflict in the escalating tension. serious. concern from the russian president mr president we are again. on for the denuclearization of. there because we are neighbors and if something happens there we will make the. children. but of course not only russia is concerned with the current situation on the korean peninsula the u.s. state secretary john kerry said that. if

it decides to hold. this would signify that it no longer wants to listen to the international community the most interesting day here clearly will be monday when. its biggest holiday the. birthday of the late korean leader. north korea kim il sung some reports are suggesting that it's. actually conduct. what china is perhaps the only country with influence over a reclusive north korea and has committed to ridding its neighbor of nuclear capability. and. believes the growing alienation between north korea and its historic ally china is ultimately playing right into washington's. the obama administration is taking the bush administration policy of provocation escalation increased tension to a whole new level they want to create pressure on china to break china away from

its historic relationship with north korea by creating a military confrontation or in your confrontation the united states is saying to the chinese look the stakes are very high time for you to change time for you to abandon your your ally in north korea and i think they think that that could be the the prescription the precursor to regime change in north korea if they could break china way china doesn't want to do that although you can see the debate going on right now within the chinese establishment about still ahead for you here in the program on our nation in the span decades since the fall of baghdad we look at iraq crushed by the war brought us for the future. of the death of a quarter of a british prime minister margaret thatcher has provoked scandal in the u.k. as the song ding dong the witch is dead rockets up the music charts the population shows its political legacy it's all coming up. short.

well with. technology innovation all these developments around russia. the future covered.

the international airport in the very heart of moscow. flight from moscow this is r t with me will receive shape it is now up been ten years since the statue of saddam hussein which washed over central baghdad was torn down by u.s. troops it became the symbol of other regimes fold and marked the beginning of a new war a decade of instability sectarian violence and terrorist attacks claimed thousands of lives sassy's lucy catherine off reports fear of the late dictator has been replaced by the horror of the un. but.

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 a kook. this oil rich city has been described as a long line a symbol of the country's most intractable escalating violence the conflict among ethnic and religious groups and the fight over iraq's resources roadblocks and concrete barriers to find the new iraq checkpoints like this one are a dominant feature of life and they are everywhere aside from the household they're also frequent target of attacks for us is a blatant visual reminder of a country still very much at york. but 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 the business as normal vendors seemed busy families did their shopping

beneath the surface there are scars today 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 and. you know. we don't know who the enemy is or women next. but it's a daily fears we've got used to it you know 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 was heard. such precautions didn't help sixty year old mood who says that a decade of war has ruined iraq he happened to be in the wrong place at the long time. a bomb blast went off injuring his leg for him daily life has become

a painful struggle for somebody in the dream probably i have to say what benefit did the your bring democracy only explosions shootings and kidnappings people should feel free to go out and come back safely where is that a job where i can leave but there's no guarantee i'll come back a lot of harm but sergeant you. know it's not about the sectarian differences unfortunately it's both the black gold the oil and behind this oil is the hidden interests of politicians pawns in a political game playing with their livelihoods and lives for conflicts not of their own making the iraqis we met didn't hate their neighbors or care about who controls the oil just like fall they simply want the peace of mind of knowing they can go out and return to their loved ones alive lucy captain of our team iraq.

and watching the weekly on r t the death of former prime minister margaret thatcher this week reopened old divisions among the british people. grieved her passing socialist students and anti capitalists were joined by x. miners in london's trafalgar square on saturday to bid a not so fond farewell demonstrators said they stand against the legacy of patcher and during her time with the top of british politics took on the unions and privatized state services her detractors though are finding creative and provocative ways to show their anger at the mark she left an online campaign has rocketed the wizard of oz song digging dong the witch is dead to the top of the music charts and the b.b.c. radio show that plays out the weekly hit list has said it will only air five seconds of the song as part of a new story for fear of offending people author and journalist toby young believes the full shong song should be played just out of principle. i think it is

very cool but i don't think that's a reason not to play it i think that we should hold people's rights to free speech and that includes the right to offend people as a conservative and as someone who greet lee at night margaret thatcher i absolutely stand for the principle that something shouldn't be banned and still shouldn't be not play because some people find it offensive if conservatives want this song banned all grounds of taste and decency on the grounds that they're offended it will be a hostage to fortune because there are plenty of things which conservatives will want to say in future which the b.b.c. may be discerned that she actually always took some satisfaction when her opponents attacked her personally and stooped to low tactics like this because it meant that

they had no other or commence left they were. reduced this because she had a complete beat and you know open debate but i have to say that those of us who are and love to moderate sacha have made a shelter at it we're borrowing a song called i'm in love with margaret thatcher by the not sensible and we're hoping that will pip which instead to the noble and. or perhaps the reason margaret thatcher was so controversial is that she turned the u.k. into a totally different country r.t. dot com where you can read the divya with artie's contributor afshin rattansi on the lessons the iconic leader helped britain and the entire world. anti euro sentiment is going mainstream in germany the launch of a new party dedicated to pulling the plug on the struggling single currency of the group called alternative for germany says it has already received thousands of membership requests and the political establishment has

a rather concerned about the newcomers popularity. all of it was at the party's a first official convention. germany's political new kids on the block alternative to deutschland claim to be able to provide the german people with just not an alternative to the current political status quo the main item on their agenda though regards the euro something which they say is being kept alive artificially for too long it's coming time to pull the plug the euro is dead actually the euro is dead what we do right now is we put in and it's pressured surgery we give them. such things but actually it's already dead but our politicians have drifted nice that yet despite current personal popularity here in germany alternative the deutschland say that mrs merkel isn't handling the european financial crisis the right way that what she's trying to do is trying to tell people in greece and in

italy and in spain that they should act more like germans we find it ridiculous that our federal chaunced tries to turn the lovely people of greece italy and trench into prussians she will never manage to do that it will not work i need to bring disunity instead of unity in europe alternative for germany is certainly a small party but they will be hoping to try and push the political big guns when it comes to the general election here on the twenty second of september they may also be facing a few challenges from other stop alicia political parties that want to pull germany out of the euro two want to see the euro go by the wayside the m.p. they have said that they are the real. policy and that they're going to challenge alternative so they're going to have a lot of work on their hands that we hoping to try and pick up a few votes the people disillusioned with the way things are going when germans go to the polls on the twenty second of september. and into the aussie world update we

go now starting with five people that have been killed in a bus crash in the belgian city of and twelve. among the fatalities was one russian teenager two adults and two polish drivers and the bus was carrying dozens of russian used on a european tour and was reportedly traveling one hundred kilometers an hour when it smashed through the elevated highway that god rails and plunged over the side. four italian journalists held captive in syria have been released and flown home the group working for italy state t.v. network were abducted when filming in northern syria in a town servings of base for the al nusra front a rebel force linked to al qaida the journalist said it turned out to be a misunderstanding the kidnappings whether to demand a ransom or for religious or political reasons have become increasingly common in the chaos of the syrian conflict. so many people have to fly into space but here in russia space flies to you coming up next our special report from the euros which

was hit by a massive me to your earlier this year. you know i always try to stay clear of falling into the trap of fake outrage on this program people love to come on t.v. and be angry over this angry over that just to fill air time but trust me seeing obama signing into law with that wacky lobster like way he has of writing the bill marked the month santo protection act well it does not put a smile on my face that's for sure not only does this bill effectively bar federal courts from being able to halt the sale or planting of g.m.o. seeds and crops no matter what the health concerns are according to ib times but the bill was also written by senator roy blunt who's gotten sixty four thousand

dollars for his political campaign pain from the g o giant monsanto itself so that's what it costs to allow companies to possibly poison millions if not all americans with risky and proven g.m.o. technology sixty four thousand dollars that's not even enough to buy a decent house sixty four thousand dollars is chump change well citizens of america now you know how much your lives are worth in washington but that's just my opinion . thanks. ira.

makes. the book about international air force in the very heart of moscow security code which will both see. her see. the sleepy. kids or. he'll hear. the people solicited a. whole day when they get a little of your. your system or a. structure. to deal with. some breaking news this.