it. was. mark's exactly a year of refuge in ecuador's london embassy vowing to stay there for many more fear of being shipped off to the u.s. over espionage. president obama gets a lukewarm reception in berlin he's met with protests against washington's exposed global surveillance programs of which germany was among the worst affected. the u.s. gives the go ahead to peace talks with the taliban as insurgents rockets claim more victims among american troops in war torn afghanistan.

good morning it's good to have you company you're watching r.t. with me andrew farmer. now wiki leaks editor julian assange says he'll remain in the ecuadorian embassy in london even if the sex crime allegations against him dropped he fears being snatched in extradited to the united states especially since washington were new to its assault on whistleblowers wherever they are sara firth reports on the stand your struggle and his now year long confinement. well it's been one year since julian assange first walked out. of the ecuadorian embassy here in knightsbridge in london now the wiki leaks founder had sought asylum after the u.k. supreme court refused to really pin his appeal against extradition to sweden where he's wanted for questioning over allegations by two women a sexual offenses allegations which he denies it's been one year but is the end any nearer in sight and does julian

a son still it's all been worth it when you very rarely get a glimpse exactly what goes on behind those we've been able to speak to today in his son's himself to find out how you feeling one year old. every day that we've rebuilt principles we truly. consider this when i was in solitary confinement. prison here in london for about half an hour. or so it is worth one mustn't of course. throw away your ability to act it's very important to keep your ability to act in various ways and i have kept my ability to act you know what i say. preserves its ability to act. to these struggles but i'm very comfortable and happy with what we have accomplished and i'm sure history charge and just to many very very well with. all the other day and feeling the sonship the window by the balcony behind me with those foreign minister he's been

visiting him a heads all this meeting with his view take counsel part william hague's not safe with the press conference tells by acquittals foreign minister and media the all stewards and in that mr putin had said that when he'd spoken to deal in a song he'd been to see mr sontag the spring for five more years in the embassy and also gave assurances that the end could do. we're going to continue offering protection. during government will continue to ensure the truly innocent keeps receiving the protection we're giving him under asylum in our country protecting his personal integrity and particularly his freedom of expression his confinement continues but the wiki leaks founder hasn't stopped he's made numerous appearances throughout the world's media and has hosted so on r c where he

interviewed some of the big names that have been making headlines and of course continue to make sure that his message to support for whistleblowers continue to be heard and perhaps even providing inspiration for some of them all recent high profile whistle blows in fact speaking recently about the n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden julian assange is called. indeed many to describe. you can get up to speed on julian assange and his battle for asylum and what led to it r.t. dot com has the background as well as updates and analysis but. blockaded by britain i am here today because i cannot be. a year of asylum. awaits his fate at the ecuadorian embassy to other prominent whistle blows face the full force of the u.s.

government. reports on washington's far reaching attempts to keep its affairs private while watching everyone. america is split on edward snowden traitor hero mixed in between but regardless of what anyone thinks about snowden his revelations have shed unprecedented light on the u.s. government's massive spying program even if you're not doing anything wrong you're being watched and recorded a former n.s.a. employee william binney was prosecuted as a traitor when he blew the whistle on the government's sweeping collection of data and communications it's setting up a tele tarion state. when the government has that much information they can do those things they can use the i.r.s. to intimidate people or anything else they can send the f.b.i. . what they did to me and some others bradley manning too is being prosecuted as a traitor although it's still his war logs that the public learned about the switch collateral murder was committed in iraq the obama administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers under the espionage act than all previous administrations

combined but it was a lower say it's not government persecution that they fear the greatest fear that i have regarding the outcome. for america of these disclosures is that nothing will change the administration is not trying to convince the american people that government secret programs are a trade off they have to make in the name of national security they always have the same stories about you know manning is known you know psychological stories what is wrong with these people cause them to do this i mean the real question is what is wrong with everyone else from who doesn't see what they can see but whistleblowers are not the only targets magnitude there is an obligation both moral but also legal i believe against a reporter that was the chairman of the house committee on cutting teligent and terrorism peter king calling to punish the journalist who exposed the government surveillance programs in its hunt for meeks the obama administration has already

targeted its it's trying to set the precedent for the communicating with the media is the same as communicating with the enemy and it's a death penalty offense the administration doesn't have to go after each other or he certainly it's enough to create an environment of fear but will that fear stop information from coming out here that were snowden to answer that question. kone in response is simply build better whistleblower he said in washington i'm going to take on. well thomas streicher he was a former n.s.a. senior executive told r.t. what he had to endure after exposing corruption and mismanagement of the agency. we're all whistleblowers we're all for freedom of information we fundamentally object to secrets that are not necessary we funnel object to those who would want to rule over us or control us in secret i became a target of the surveillance system in two thousand and six i was

placed on a criminal investigation for having blown the whistle on the secret surveillance programs billions and billions of dollars in fraud and waste and abuse at n.s.a. all of that combined put me on the target on a target list as a primary target after that blockbuster article was published in the new york times in december two thousand and five revealing for the first time the existence of the so-called warrantless wiretapping program which caused quite a stir i knew then that it was inevitable because of the very small number of people and if they even knew about the secret surveillance programs i knew as a matter of of when not if. president obama's reception in the german capital where he is on a twenty four hour stopover could have been demonstrators in berlin showed what they felt about the revelations of washington's widespread surveillance programs of which germany was among the top targets. when to take

a look. five years ago when barack obama came here to berlin he was welcomed with a regal reception treated as the great new hope for a better future well five years old and five years of drone wars whistleblowers and continuing economic strife as well seen barack obama receive a very different reception we've seen demonstrations outside against the eavesdropping that's been going on particularly the prison here in germany germany was one of the country's worst affected by this snooping into of phone calls and e-mails the country appears orange on the map of nations that have been investigated this is prompted a lot of people to come out on this the slogan yes we scanned it a parody of barack obama's election promise of yes we can when he came to power those years go now to talk to me a little bit more about just why the reaction is being very different. parts of the

free bradley manning network thank you very much for talking to me why is it a different reception to president obama since leaving this time i think this is the second term we expected a greater transparency and the fact that he had said that he would go against the wiretapping and surveillance of americans isn't exactly the opposite and i think it's a scandal because it's a taboo in the german society surveillance generally after their experience with totalitarianism and yeah i think it's really important i'm glad that this is now we have a global scale and it's just not the american citizens that you know it's not the target it's actually all of us in the major. sample yeah it's not just data protection it's an issue for demonstrating. what else is the. you wanting to bring to be the u.s. president show that you're not happy with what he's doing i just think that these attacks on free and free speech on the fourth amendment on the press and the attacks that we've had on the press like james rosen and these people and these

preposterous aiding the enemy when the protections of sources and so forth and no longer have no longer whistleblower protection to the u.s. i think this is an aberration yeah i think these are the things that we should be bringing to light and say no it's just not acceptable. to one of the members of the free bradley manning network talking to me about why people are demonstrating in wanting to show the u.s. president their own happy they're calling it yes. they want him to stop reading their e-mails listening to their phone calls. while the u.s. president's you are a trip started in northern ireland the g. eight talks not expected there was a clash over a series ongoing civil war despite a show of unity at the end. was that the summit then the final outcome hailed a success in the deadlock of the syria yet for some of the summits participants it was a better experience than for the others it had been billed as

a game of seven against one but the final joint statement made by all the leaders at the summit about syria perhaps an indication that russia's stance isn't that easy to ignore the focal point of the outcome a peace conference to bring together both sides of the syrian conflict and get them around the negotiating table as soon as possible but what that joint statement didn't include was a call for bash our side to step down something that david cameron and barack obama have been very vocal about neither was there mention of the so-called red line that barack obama has talked of last week when he claimed that the u.s. had evidence about the syrian government's use cash of. nicol weapons and that they had made the decision to arm the syrian opposition however what did become clear that russia isn't the only country that isn't convinced by the u.s.a.'s claims that the syrian government have used chemical weapons lattimer putin said that all the g

eight leaders want to see more proof as well the russian leader also reiterated that russia's arms shipments to syria that have caused so much concern in the west are entirely legal we provide supplies in line with a fictional contract to the legitimate government of president assad when the possible work in supplies to syrian rebels by european countries the british people recently witnessed an outrageous tragedy when a soldier was butchered in broad daylight in the streets of london many in the syrian opposition not all of them of course criminals like the ones that conducted that violent killing do europeans want to supply arms to do these people what will happen to these weapons on the global these arms and it could end up back in europe that's why we call in our partners to think twice before they take this extremely dangerous step that the same time on another edge of the resort david cameron had a few quick questions to answer about why the leaders final statement didn't

contain any of his usual anti assad rhetoric what we don't want to happen in syria is for the regime to go in for chaos to follow that is what happened in iraq and no one wants to repeat that one thing that everyone agrees on is that the only way to solve the syrian crisis is through diplomacy and peace talks but that's exactly what this is being talks about more talks and with no date for geneva two pencilled into the calendar leaders leaving a lot heard might well be wondering what exactly they've achieved probably boy kerry r.c. northern ireland and as world leaders debate a diplomatic solution the co-founder of the organization syrian youth says the rebel fighters are not up for talks. this opposition is now infested with al qaeda the now the syrian national council is almost disintegrating we don't really know

statements from them essentially what is keeping the insurgency going is the is the funds coming from qatar and saudi arabia be insurgents coming from turkey syria is very different to how it was six months ago now syria is the top world's destination for jihadists and it essentially turned into a hub for extremism so the fact that on the ground there are no real legitimate rebel forces the moderate free syrian army has now been exposed as a facade for the muslim brotherhood and they're on the rebel movement on the ground who would negotiate because the majority of them are radical extremists many of them are now fighting for an islamic state there pathway is not just to change the regime in syria but to actually fight for a regional islamic state it's turned into a very complex proxy war and this will ultimately limit any attempt that russia or iran or trying or any states who seek a real political solution have in terms of actually finding a real negotiation settlement. and after five hundred insurgents on afghan soil for twelve years the u.s.

decides it's time to find answers to security in the volatile country repaste talks with the taliban and we look into the prospects shortly. while a town in southern russia is in a state of emergency right now after a series of large explosions and a major blazes an ammunition death it happened in some injuries are reported and the area has been evacuated well artesian the area for an hour is following developments what is the latest what can you tell us well notice the ministry is saying that more than fifteen hundred people rescuers and fire man have been trying to fight the place overnight but they haven't succeeded so far good news though is that there are no more explosions that it may look like their worst is behind this thing with this particular incident is that you cannot no one can guarantee that it will not happen again because as you know it happened at the site where weapons. have been stored and no one can say for sure how many to repeat is have been stored there have been at the site when the incident happened and we've been hearing

different reports from six thousand pieces to thirteen million these are of course two completely different pictures well even if you know exactly how many pieces have clean at the site when the explosion happened i guess anyway it would be very hard to say well i think they're in there all now exploded so that's more left unexploded that could explode at any moment well while the situation is very hard and i guess the whole mission right now is to wait and. see how the situation develops and wait until the whole thing goes down by itself and as we understand it there have been some injuries but we're not quite sure of the details of those yet but the whole area has been evacuated that is correct at the moment is it yeah it is and the major concern remains whether there were people at the scene at the moment when explosion happened there are reports that they could be from three to eight people trapped at this side and given especially since the side of these kind

of incidents it's not for the first time that we see something like that happened in russia. over the last three years dozens of incidents like this happened in different parts of russia claiming lives of both military personnel and civilians well given the date of course a major concern of of emergency ministry but of course it's just impossible right now to get in the area because of the fire and because of the potential danger that there could be still unexploded shells left there that could explode at any moment well it's like i mean you can do little in this situation ok we're out of we will keep abreast of all the developments on that story that's. in turkey police have detained dozens of people to try and then the ongoing antigovernment protests the crackdowns been widely condemned for its violent

intensity and even riot control methods are not quite what they seem as a ridiculous reports nothing like some cold water in the heat of the moment to ease tension or so you'd think in turkey however when water is being used to quell street riots it can prove to be a health risk is water cannons have appearance at almost every single road at the last two weeks in turkey and the water is supposed to have a somewhat cooling effect on the crowds but lately the protesters have noticed something different about the stream it's not just its bright orange color but the aftereffects that the water leaks on people who come in contact with it. i felt water on my back on my right arm at first i didn't get any feeling i just got wet and then it started to burning and i asked my friends what should i do they said take off your clothes and i did it and i saw that my skin had turned red and it was itching and it started to burn red and it was itching and it started to burn pictures from the internet allegedly shows something called janick sabine put into

the water tanks of the cannon the manufacture is based in istanbul but when we got to their office we found a vast array of area fresheners and no one who would talk to us about the substance on camera the manufactures website claims it's not harmful to people or the environment but turkey's association of medics disagrees of course that is not acceptable and even the go no if you stumble at methods that something was added to the water cannons and he described it well yes a drug is being added but is that a chemical and nobody knows what that means but a chemical is being got its effects from the chemicals it may last for several hours to a couple of days doctors however remain worried the combination of pepper spray and tear gas as a means to control the crowd may have a long term effect some people's health. forgot that it was the culprit in the first effect of what i experienced in the park is

a psychological effect i'm not able to sleep or to drink also i have many injuries from police violence i still feel down sometimes i have a headache and i feel like i'm not a healthy person anymore on top of that medics question the legal aspect of chemicals used by the government during civil unrest some how many countries including thirty are still considering tear gas. it is not construed as a chemical weapon but in one nine hundred sixty nine these gases similar gases are regarded as chemical weapons and now we have to start with you comparing to prevent the use of is in turkey but until such you complain comes into effect people in turkey early after wondering just which chemicals will they be showered with every time they hit the streets in protest in istanbul. r t. twenty more stories on our website the cargo space ship that recently dr b.

i assess may had some may have had something else on board apart from the fuel water and equipment the space station may have suffered possible bacteria contamination and you can head to our web site for more details on that story plus this volcano in mexico. here it is has sent locals within twenty five kilometers to safety to fahri footage and the story is a dot com. for american troops have been killed in what's being reported as a mortar attack on the u.s. military's bag air base in afghanistan but it is insurgents take more soldiers' lives washington is setting out to peace talks with the taliban more on that now with artie's scott paul so what are we looking at here well the latest deaths occurred on the day that nato officially handed over security responsibility to the afghan authorities that's the latest move ahead of

a full troop withdrawal at the end of next year but the attack also came hours after the taliban opened their first overseas offices in doha that's where talks between the taliban and the u.s. are to begin on thursday prisoner exchanges are up for discussion but the first few weeks are expected to be a case of both sides sounding each other out putting forward their agenda this is a bit of a change of tune isn't it coming from washington well barack obama described the prospect of two. with the taliban as an important first step towards reconciliation which is in contrast this statement in two thousand and nine when the president declared it's impossible for us or for pakistan to have impunity with folks who kill women and children over sixteen thousand civilians estimated to have lost their lives in a five year period from two thousand and seven to two thousand and twelve but this didn't stop obama changing his mind saying last year we are pursuing a negotiated peace in coordination with the afghan government and with the taliban we made it clear that they can be part of this future but it's not only the

president who has had a change of heart of dealings with the taliban four years ago then secretary of state hillary clinton said and you cannot hopefully see this quote here that the taliban poses a mortal threat to security of our country and of the world before leaving office though she also decided talking to the taliban was the way forward saying we're committed to afghan reconciliation only goal is to open the door for the afghans to sit down with the other afghans so that they can work out the future for their country the taliban is to make their own choice but the u.s. is prepared to work with all afghans so despite this war being waged to rid afghanistan of the taliban a peaceful withdrawal now seems the main objective of the us regime to them to what kind of countries nato leaving behind but at the moment it's an extremely poor country over forty percent of the population live beneath the poverty line and with such a high rate of poverty the illicit production and sale of opium has become

a major problem afghanistan sells more of the stuff than any other country in the world the u.n. estimates three hundred seventy five tons of heroin leave the country each year cannabis is also sold in vast quantities with up to three thousand five hundred tonnes produced h.-e. in other booming black markets it's a vast accusations of corruption afghans paid two point five billion dollars in bribes over a period last year now it's the equivalent of almost one quarter of the country's entire economy thanks paul thanks for that course. i stephen seen as a professor of politics and international studies at san francisco university says the plan until our likely to fail or more violence will follow the spike the large scale presence of foreign forces through nato despite the heavy bombing the taliban continue to fight in resisted many of them are fighting the same reason that their fathers fought the soviets and same reason their great great grandfathers fought

the british show they have issues with foreigners in their land the foreign presence actually provokes an even greater reaction we've seen many cases where we're fighting has continued even to peace talks began and unfortunately given how are the two sides are given how extreme and reactionary the taliban is in their politics and in tactics and given the strong imperative the united states and its allies out for human control the situation clearly any kind of negotiated solution is a long long time away and unfortunately many people are going to die in the interim coming up top our state hair in moscow and up next is abby martin and brighton assess.

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white house or to the. radio guy and for a minute. what we're about to give you never seen anything like this i'm telling. you guys i'm not being welcome a break in the set some americans are probably rejoicing today over afghanistan president hamid karzai announced a transfer of security control from nato to afghan domestic forces and the media is hailing it as a major milestone hundred thousand forces taking a backseat to afghans as they hand over control of ninety five districts within the country so sure afghans will be in charge of their operations but it's still nato play a huge role of just six air support and combat scenarios when necessary and what about u.s. involvement long other than the fact that the u.s. funds the mage.