the surveillance control. in the u.k. amid new revelations naming three telecom giants who allowed a british intelligence agency to look through private data of millions of clients. and in the u.s. debate over mass surveillance has swept under the carpet whistleblower edward snowden dominates the headlines. in america calls on its citizens to stay away from the middle east in light of a major al qaeda terror threat but some experts saying washington's policies in the region continue to fuel resentment. international news and comment this is r.t.

within twenty four hours a day live from moscow where it's not just turned nine pm ten pm i should say there being further revelations in the ongoing spy scandal in the u.k. the world's major telecom companies have been working alongside a british intelligence agency handing over swathes of private data documents leaked by u.s. whistleblower edward snowden suggest that the rise in business vodafone cable and british telecom were among those who gave g c h q unlimited access to their network of cables and collaboration allowed the agency to harvest millions of phone calls e-mails and facebook conversations now this comes in the wake of reports of america's national security agency is generously funding british surveillance details now from sarah. well some big names in there for the telecommunications companies bt vodafone cable verizon business these three big companies along with four other smaller companies have been named now those companies operate a huge share of the high capacity undersea fiber optic cables and that carries data

for millions of uses now back in june the guardian newspaper has revealed details of an operation named tempera that heads it was alleged been looking at the data hoovering programs from the british spy agency g c h q and that had said that you were able to access these companies fiber optic cables and access that huge chunk of information that was being carried in and store it for thirty days data that's being released by whistleblower edward snowden prior to his gaining asylum in russia not some of the companies have actually come back in the wake of these claims and have said that the questions relating to national security are for governments to answer not for the telecommunications companies but bt spokesman reported as having said they can reassure customers that complying with the law and not disclosing customer data in any jurisdiction and less legally required to do so

now under the one nine hundred eighty four telecommunications act these companies can be compelled to cooperate with the government and pass along that information and legally required to do so the question of privacy advocates right now is going to be whether or not these big companies are actually challenging enough when asked to parse over this big chunk of information and of course this is just the latest in a search of revelations that look into the level and scope of snooping by u.s. and u.k. teligent say agencies and indeed the degree of cooperation between the two countries now so some of the recent revelations say that t.c.h. key had actually been fun. by washington to the tune of a hundred million pounds now that was for a period of a the three years and these payments made to secure access to british intelligence gathering programs and in return it's alleged that he were required to quite pull

it wait another way of the bassman a real headache for downing street and the situation of days communications companies obviously going to be fearing a backlash from the customers a that they say let's break your privacy earlier i spoke to british intelligence analyst glenmore turney harvey who says that the u.k. u.s. tip for tat spy affair is nothing new. back in the one nine hundred fifty s. there was an arrangement between the united kingdom the united states canada australia and new zealand for new concert where they all shared information n.g.c. h.q. like the n.s.a. and here say very very pleased in their operations in fact there are three main locations in the united kingdom menwith hill arrogant. we don't. know not as they call it it shows them and when so formal these have all been funded in the main by the national security agency and. there

are seven hundred fifty national security agency american employees working now so they meld together they might as well be known as the n.s.a. g c h q there are so close among the scope of american that surveillance is raising eyebrows across the world nothing has been done on capitol hill to curb the practices on he counted to con explains what the government is doing to plug the voices of discontent both at home and abroad. while edward snowden as the messenger remains the focus of everybody's attention the u.s. government is trying to kill his message or at least contain it senior intelligence officials have testified in congress suring everything is done in accordance with the law congress has already killed the bill that would make the n.s.a. walk back some of its powers so as of now no concrete steps have been taken to rein in n.s.a. surveillance but call for reform keep coming lawmakers are putting forward new

initiatives earlier this week the president met with members of congress specifically to discuss conspiring to stamboul of course attacking snowden is much easier for the white house defending this surveillance state and here's what president obama said about that just in the wake of snowden's revelations and if people can't trust not only the executive branch but also don't trust congress and don't trust. federal judges to make sure that we're biding by the constitution due process and rule of law then we're going to have some problems on that trust issue a gallup poll shows fifty three percent of americans now disapprove of the government surveillance programs thirty seven percent approved another poll by the queeny a pack university conducted just in the wake of snowden's revelations shows forty five percent of americans say the government's anti-terrorism efforts have gone too far restricting civil liberties three years ago that percentage was twenty five so

it's a massive shift in attitudes but is longer snowden's own destiny remains the top story it will be much easier for the government to sweep the debate under the rug in washington i'm going to. and from reporters without borders thinks washington's tough stance on the snowden is aimed at dissuading any potential whistle blows from coming forward but just would like to remind you there. the last fare of war of war against we saw glowers scenes. was abducted in one thousand nine hundred seventeen. prosecution have been launched against we saw glowers have been under the obama administration it's clear that the obama administration hopes that the war will discourage any potential we saw glow or to reveal any information but you also have to understand that here and us any information related to national

security is considered a secret is considered classy fight so everything is classified so it's really easy to become a creamy now in the eyes of the obama administration if you're revealing any information which are related to national security when it would snowden is not only made headlines he's also become a hero in a new video game and you small phone app called snowden run three d. puts a digital version of the whistleblower in the never ending choice from look likes what looks like a cia agent in the game the man on the run is collecting u.s.b. sticks and laptops containing secret information if caught the digital snowden gets a one way ticket to guantanamo bay and a cool uncle putin option which drops a hydrogen bomb on the chase however can help him avoid this scenario there's always a restart button available which allows players to try a. a

suicide attack on the indian consulate in afghanistan has left at least nine people dead and around twenty injured in the latest case of violence against civilians a recent un report shows a staggering hiking casualties among non military in the country with the media told suppose that one thousand three hundred people but a bit de from the university of the thumb says the taliban only want sympathy points among locals because of the u.s. military operation there but western horses the two need. couldn't actually. engage. and never try to understand their needs and instead try to implement their defined. who is of the mission in running a state it was not. created.

in the first you have to actually in our. tradition the local or you have to be in the country didn't it is only one stage to. the developing countries are. all problems. when afghanistan is among twenty one countries where the u.s. has decided to close its embassies on sunday and that fears of an al qaeda terror threat most of the nations are in the middle east and it's not yet clear when the facilities will reopen washington has also issued a worldwide travel alert author and historian gerald horne says america's regional policies of backfired. i think that what this alert basically reflects is the fact that the united states' policy in that part of the world has backfired for example in syria united states has basically encouraged if not supported

a war against the damascus based regime of all assad this is involved a number of u.s. nationals and european nationals going into syria to fight with the so-called jihad this is given a shot me armed to our. back force this is such as they are in syria which is tied to al qaeda and iraq which in the last month has been engaged in a spate of car bombings in baghdad in the surrounding region so it seems to me the state department alert basically reflects a failure of u.s. policy. to respondents in the middle east is also taking its toll on smaller communities in the region a militant jihadist group affiliated with al qaida is holding some two hundred kurdish civilians hostage in syria following an attack which claimed the life of one leader. has this report. considering the complexity of syria you have to understand that there are dozens of groups of people who are divided by either

faith or nationality or ethnicity all of them are also involved in this bitter battle which has been going on in the country for the last couple of years kurds are among the biggest ethnic groups kurds are actually the largest nation in the world that does not have a date the dream of statehood is something that kurds have entertained for hundreds of years they are originating in iraq turkey and in syria now increasingly kurds in syria are coming under under extreme pressure from the radical groups which have permeated syria and are affiliated with al qaida recently severe clashes broken out in several villages on the border between syria and turkey primarily in the northern all that province several hundred kurds have been taken hostage by fighters of a loser front and they are also helping videos posted on the internet which claim to be pictures of kurds who have come under attack from the from the extremists truly horrific pictures now the kurdish militia house call them kurds in the region

to unite in their struggle against the radical islamists or to lead it with al qaida forces are also dreaming of their own state and it's not other than syria that they're planning to initiate their state out in fact they're saying they're going to get right to it's immediately after ramadan ends and that is just in a week's time so the situation in that region is in creative incredibly harsh and literally boiling at this point as we're having this very happening again hundreds of people of ducted from their homes. we're also hearing about people being killed just for the simple reason that they're kurds and it really doesn't seem like anybody is especially paying attention primarily the western media there is very little information on the subject if you try to look for it. or to annan simo is a representative of the foreign affairs and relations office of the kurdish democratic union party in syria and he thinks militants are now resorting to brutal tactics through desperation it would be for that could not mean is that as that

these terrorist groups are using. and they cannot. resist. that didn't defend of the kurdish forces because the kurdish forces on the ground protecting themselves they are not that at getting anybody and all the kurdish people now are supporting them and they are defending themselves and these groups are failing and they are running away from their acts and out for they are using this as a method to kidnap and lost people. and in that end of the day there will exchange be survey of the arctic meet to exchange. a new president has taken the reins of power in a role as sandra honey has been officially endorsed by the country's religious leader and the questions about whether the west is really trying to make the most

of a fresh start. and punk rock band the bloodhound gang might want to restart their relations with russia after one band members show the country's flag into his underpants during a gig. at all the stories coming up after the break. we

speak your language and out of. school music programs and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little tonnage of angles keaton's stories. are you here. to try to alter the spanish find out more visit actuality. a little bit. of gold in. the world i live. let's treat. her.

with a. little bit. of . a little. kick right to see. her straight. and i think your. orders.

he continues here in our t. has son rouhani has just been endorsed by iran's supreme leader to become the country's next president and officially take the oath of office in parliament on sunday rouhani promised reform and an end to the country's international isolation as part of his election platform this comes as more than seventy u.s. senators have sought the letter calling on president obama to tighten already draconian sanctions against iran political analyst professor mohammad marandi says the importance of the presidential post in iran should not be underestimated. what's interesting is often when in the western media when it's convenient they say

he's powerless but when it's not they say he's a thread like the former president ahmadinejad but he is a very powerful figure he is the second most important person in iran and he has the vote over half of iranians and then there are elections that had a very high turnout over seventy two percent almost seventy three percent if the united states is willing to take this opportunity to reevaluate its policies towards iran and take a serious step forward the iranians and president rouhani will definitely be willing to make a positive move themselves and to move towards rapprochement. you can read more about the iranian election and check out the latest footage on our web site r t v dot com also there for you the moment more than two weeks of war games as russian and chinese armies a symbol for massive joint drills check out photos and videos on r.t. dot com right now and also anger boils over in the moroccan capital after

a convicted paedophile is pardoned dramatic photos are online and altie dot com. now to a stunt that appears to literally wiped the burned off stage american punk rock group the bloodhound getting been scattered with eggs and tomatoes. performing in russia after the. country's flag was. discussed a story with correspondent alexiev. famous american punk band the blog gang had a concert in the city of odessa in ukraine several days ago and during that concert will be able to see that in the video now the bass player jared hasselhoff took out

a russian flag all of a sudden and put it into his trousers before taking it out and throwing it into the crowd the front man of the band jimi properly later intervened said that he did not support of this action which is hard to believe because several days before that concert they had a gig in key of and during that concert jimmy properly was shouting the f. word russia from the stage now this story gets even more crazy because this band was supposed to perform this weekend in russia in soudan part of the country during the combine a festival they came over there they were told that they will not perform because the ministry of culture deemed this act is very offensive and that and they canceled their performance still they received their money and were on their way back to the airport when they were thrown at their bus to majors and there was even a small demonstration in front of the front of the bus so they arrive to the airport went into the v.i.p.

section when several men stormed into the base of the section and attacked the band reportedly one of the members of the band was strangled with this american flag so we can definitely say that this time lot ongoing would not need any water to let things burn because their bridges with russia are totally torched so after getting clearly a very angry reaction after arriving here in russia earlier you said you weren't too sure what the motivation was did they try and explain what happened because obviously they're all sort of the. questions when they arrived in russia why did it happen while they try to apologize and said they did this simply to their fans in a day or so of course they are a punk band they're no strangers to different sorts of controversies and during concerts in moscow and they've had lots of concerts in russia i've been to several of them personally they've been chanting something anti-american so this is like maybe their definition of controversy another time but definitely the antics with the flag putting it into the trousers this is something unseen before just as the

attack on the musicians in russia something and seen before as well so it's interesting it's not just a reaction from the authorities this is it genuine grassroots reaction from people who are offended here in russia exactly the tomato and throwing incident proves that and so where do they go and they're meant to be arriving are they not well they've arrived in russia now they've got to get out pretty quick i imagine indeed their plan now is to leave the country we know that they're transiting through moscow to the united states the biggest question now is whether they will stay in russia because what they didn't address that is in fact a crime in this country the desecration of a national flag is a crime so there is a consideration among the authorities to launch a criminal case against the bloodhound gang and maybe they will have to stay there maybe they will have they will be detained at the moscow sheremetyevo board this is quite possible. more news from around the world now tens of thousands of people have staged a rally in taiwan demanding further investigation into a young soldier's death the army conscript was punished for possessing a camera phone and was forced to do tough exercises while being denied drinking

water he died of heat stroke only days before completing his military service his death has triggered outrage across the island as people cast doubts over the military investigation the defense minister has already resigned and nearly twenty army officers have been indicted on charges related to this case. in the south of england a protest against oil drilling has entered its tenth day or the exploration operations of finally begun after a delay caused by new. stop protests by local residents those who live closest to the drilling so if you concerned that if oil or gas is found a draw to fracking will be used to extract it destroying the environment in the area. to stumble down a large number of police a blocked off tax him square groups of protesters are being forced away from neighboring streets by water cannons and tear gas activists called for action against the closure of a park near the square going to protest near the security barriers set up by v.

thora t s. in a series of attacks across iraq have left at least fifteen people dead gunman killed several people in two different cities near baghdad including a woman and her two daughters in the town of baquba a roadside bomb in tikrit also left a man and his eleven year old son dead as they were walking in the city center more than four thousand civilians have been killed in iraq since january and the most deadly violence for five years. i think one person has been killed and up to fifteen injured when a train had a bus in the south of the country the collision happened as the bus was attempting to cross a railroad line a crossing ramp malfunction has been initially blamed for the accident. so that brings up today for the moment i'll be back with a news team with morphine just over half an hour from now in the meantime it's abby martin from our washington studios with breaking the set.

to music city good lumber tour to mccurry was able to build most sophisticated robots which will unfortunately doesn't give a dollar amount anything to ends mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and world this is why you should care only on the dog. if you. economic ups and downs in the final month the love the feel and the rest because i think the case you will be every week on all things.

is eve. eve eve. you live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food because you know how fabulous. i mean. ten pounds i know you guys i've seen it doesn't really know. or it's. a. little worse if you put a little a little light on the. radio guy for

a minute. what we're about to give you never seen anything like this and. what's going on guys i'm abby martin welcome to breaking it this is that so an effort to extend a personal introduction to pakistan's new prime minister secretary of state john kerry made a special visit to the country this week the trip was supposed to focus on strain to the relationship with pakistani leadership but instead it kept getting overshadowed by just one little issue drones it's a topic heavy on the minds of pakistani citizens who've been subjected to the terror almost daily drone bombings for years a practice that has only grown exponentially under obama's leadership in fact according to government officials the u.s. just launched another drone strike in the country this week killing at least six

people don't worry though they were all suspected militants which we already know means absolutely nothing so understandably kerry was hounded repeatedly by pakistanis wanting to know when the u.s. would end its drone war there and it's not just the locals in kerry's pakistani counterpart. stress that the answer isn't a slow draw down but instead an end to the strikes altogether and finally on able to avoid deal with it in the room any longer carry respond to the question on pakistani television. the old time line that you and the sausage fought are ending this. strike with i think the president has a very real to and we hope it's going to be very very soon. oh my god very very soon it's amazing it was almost a legitimate answer almost but even that vaguely positive affirmation was too good to be true say only hours later the very agency kerry oversees backpedaled issued a statement assuring that there would be no change in drone policy.