visit. president. seeking to crippling sanctions. while u.s. . american. russian vodka in protest of the country's. propaganda. from fiction and what's widely being a crackdown on gay rights. at the live pictures for you is a nearly three hundred people in turkey. as a court behind the. judgment. of.

the world. this is with me thanks for joining us today. iran's new president has called for a dialogue with the west but warned the language of sanctions will not work. his inaugural address softer being officially sworn in as the islamic republic of the moderate cleric who won june's vote by promising to put an end to the country's international isolation over its nuclear energy program but long awaited steps to ease tensions with the rest of the world not finding much response from leaders in the west. this report. iran's new president hassan rouhani is widely seen as a moderate politician particularly significant detail where western leaders are concerned after years of strained diplomatic tensions in what is seen as an attempt by terror to ease of that isolation the government had sent out invitations to e.u.

countries including britain to withstand the a swearing in ceremony. excluding the west and israel now the position was that only. diplomats would attend but the u.k. had not sent anyone at all the reasoning given by the british foreign office is that it does not have an embassy in tehran but this has been criticized by members of the opposition party here particularly of the shadow foreign minister douglas alexander had called this misjudgment as well as a missed opportunity adding about diplomacy involves meeting with people with whom you disagree how in light of the steps up for that to run appears to be taking it moving this invitation to european leaders as well as appointing a foreign minister with relations with washington a summer reading. really wanting to rebuild those relations with the u.s. and europe well we spoke with labor m.p. barry for more on this the u.k.

foreign minister william hague he had said we will respond in good faith to positive action by iran and improve relations on a supply so basis without remark shouldn't this invitation to attend the president's inauguration in iran have been accepted i think it would have been a very good opportunity to say look he starts with. a clean sheet as far as we're concerned we want to take him as we find him and it would have been a good opportunity for to go to have informal discussions are around the inauguration. and to do some sounding. too he was going to behave in office so i think it's an opportunity missed. i hope that there are conversations going on that are beginning to try and work out a new relationship with what is after all a new president at the end of the day in this very careful dance between tehran and

a western leaders every action and non-action will certainly play a part in vatican on where relations are we headed reporting from london and test ourselves. now the main challenge that us on the road on a face is the new president is that of easing the economic sanctions that continue to grind hard on the iranian people just over the past two years the country has faced his toughest most comprehensive western penalties to date and the most painful have been punitive measures by the u.s. and e.u. targeting iran's oil export its trade its banking sector as well crippling of the country's economy in two thousand and twelve alone iran is thought to have lost at least fifty billion dollars in oil revenues the resulting economic recession has caused a significant rise in prices for the basics bread milk and meat and now the country's medical institutions claim the sanctions make it difficult for millions of people with serious health problems to obtain the drugs they need in fact now reported

last year six million iranian suffering from diseases like multiple sclerosis hemophilia and cancer could not get access to the medicine they so desperately needed for treatment now despite signals from iran's new leadership in washington for its part has shown no inclination it will abandon any sanctions on the contrary now just days before rouhani as you know gratian a u.s. lawmakers passed a bill toughening them and the bill would see iran's oil exports slashed by another million barrels per day jamal up the from the national iranian american council he says some in washington are simply more interested in a war with iran rather than trying to settle and he type of nuclear issue. the fact that they would vote for new sanctions before the new iranian president who has been saying positive things and who is going to himself face so many obstacles for the house of representatives to go forward with this vote demonstrates that this is a chamber dominated by politics instead of pragmatism and is dominated by ideology

instead of. an actual desire to resolve the problems that the laid before the united states now the reason that they went forward with this vote was because of immense political pressure from pro sanctions groups and neo conservative and hawkish organizations that are more interested in seeing a war with iran than seeing a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear standoff. there are proven to have an easier relations not only with the west but also with many countries in the middle east tensions with saudi arabia came into focus recently after an incident with the president of sudan's plane which was heading for to run but was barred from entering the space above the gulf kingdom independent researcher and right. there she explained earlier how saudi arabia might actually benefit from the conflicts in the region. historically saudi arabia has been you runts rival more importantly

than that and if aside from the fact that saudi arabia serves the united states and israel and carries that through or does in the region and saudi riff should there ever be peace with iran. coming from the west it would really threaten saudi repeat it feels very secure for as long as it can be of service to the united states saudi arabia benefits from war and conflict in the region so there's no reason for them to change and this is smart enough to know that down the line is that to be there that they're not going to be accepted no matter how hard they work for israel and america no matter how steve who is housed in how will they carry out do or do isn't work with them they will not be want to and eventually. their time will come to. an r.t. so if you have an answer you discussed what's in store for iran under the new president with otoh i criticise a lot of our mucking with madonna judd among other issues so the interview focused

on tyrone's controversial nuclear program but also recent allegations by the israeli prime minister that iran is pursuing an arsenal of two hundred nuclear warheads so his full program coming away a bit later this hour for now though a quick preview. iran is going to have two hundred warheads that's what he says yes. it. is if this is something that i've said many times before that you know it's not of any use to us to have nukes to. use it's nuclear weapons that's the good news they're useless because it's so twentieth century. thank. you. thanks for joining us here on our see today armed robbery sushi

a russian vodka down the drain it's the latest protest move against what's seen in the west as russia's crackdown on gay rights activists in the u.s. and europe have been out for a shoot a new lore against quote propaganda of homosexuals to minors a name often shortened by the media to the ominous russian and t. gay law they've also been calls to boycott the sochi winter olympics to which moscow is said that the law won't affect guests or participants now supporters of the law argue that ultimately it reflects the general view of the majority of russians let's bring up some stats here on the program and see if indeed that is accurate the most recent poll coming from the levada independent polling organization basically the overwhelming majority of russians are closely divided between seeing a homosexuality as a perversion or a bad habit or as a condition gained as a result of psychological trauma only twelve percent believe it's

a sexual orientation as good as any other interesting to know that the same polled are regularly conducted over the past fifteen years has basically been returning pretty much the same results year in year out for example these are the stats right here from one thousand nine hundred ninety eight perhaps something to try and contradict the western media as claims of a so-called sharp rise in anti gay sentiment due to the propaganda lower in russia well let's get some facts all fictional and here we go now with these and he said now if you filed this report. there is. no stoli no sochi. dumping russian vodka and calls to boycott the olympic games the l g b t community in the west is furious with the passing of a new russian law banning gay propaganda to minors a detail almost never mentioned lot of here putin signed a law and some very strict anti-gay measures these laws absolutely obscure they're

not clear in what they mean of course it will not have a wide ranging gretzky's of being applied everywhere and to everyone and members of the gay community have been attacked and arrested you cannot say that there is massive suppression or massive that against gay people in the streets and that wherever you say that you're gay you will be killed or beaten russian gay activists are taking their case to the european court of human rights and say the law is meant to target specific individuals but see the picture of gay life in russia from abroad is warped these pictures being shown and being portrayed just because this little became a symbol of a protest against the suppression of l.g.b. community in russia supporters of the law argue it represents the russian majority . if there is a large number of people who believe the law is too soft thirty years ago there was criminal punishment for being poor if you take examples from some states in the

u.s. the relationship is much improved and stricter and this propaganda law. says well. it's important to remember this law is about gay propaganda to minors and it will be enforced with fines not criminal punishment russia is still a very traditional conservative country and it wants to hold on to that. this is one of moscow's many day and night clubs yes it's in a discreet location but it holds three thousand people it's. it's on the weekends and it's full of foreigners it's owners asked us not to film on the inside to protect the privacy of its clients but we assure our business it's a group there's a happy arriving excitable you know wonderful gay community which is great martin andrews is british openly gay and living in russia for eight years he opposes the law but won't be dumping his russia is dominated by the church in general far more

than the u.k. i think if you compare america for example you can't look at some friends cities and new york and then look at the middle part of texas and that's what russia is especially moscow you've got the old meets the new and you've got soviet mindset he's with this up to this with excise to the west lifestyle homosexuality is illegal in over seventy countries across the globe so martin asked why russia why do the western media why do people in and the west never mention cats are the world cup is coming up going crazy about lympics i was in such a last week filming as a gay community there was a great day seaman but the west has a b. and its on it regarding russia politically. state repression got together and he's now a r t moscow. well let's try and break down the facts the myths on the figures of the new law against gay propaganda first and foremost is being gay a crime in russia no over preaching nontraditional sexual relationships to minors

is a crime nontraditional defined by this lord's relations that cannot produce children can then you'd all get you arrested yes but only if you are suspected of promoting gay propaganda to children an example of this a dutch film crew recording themselves quizzing teenagers in russia on their views on homosexuality charges brought against them they were dropped later can you go to jail for gay propaganda. no the maximum penalty is about a fifteen hundred dollar fine for individuals there were thirty thousand bucks for organizations only any foreigner violating the law will be deported and may be detained for up to fifteen days for more details on this law on our website at r.t. dot com. are still ahead for you on this hour here on our remember this big guy apparently all that made an enlightened russia. had some

friends maybe late to the party but they're still. details on that in just a few moments also. in america as protesters hit the streets calling for a full stop to the big brother watch still being conducted on a daily basis by the government and a lot more. we

speak your language. news programs and documentaries in spanish as to you. use. stories. spanish. visit. pleasure to have you with us here on alt. after a trial last in more than five years almost three hundred people in turkey will finally discover their fate today they're accused of belonging to an underground network which was plotting

a military coup however the case of spot concern whether exposing the illegal movement was simply a witchhunt or let's show you some live pictures right here these are just outside the silly pretty complex west of istanbul that's where the final verdicts are expected to be delivered these live pictures we're getting a couple of different feeds here at r.t. this is the front of the building of the around the sides you can see a huge protest a police appearance right there well let's get some more details on this and cross over to our teams are going to go to scope who's been following this for quite some time really good to see you today what's happening as we know it at the courthouse right now. well what's happening at the courthouse is that there are three or four thousand protesters there at the moment and i couldn't get through because at the very last moment the turkish officials have ruled that only those who have a turkish media pass on them could get inside and that means that for a journalist if they have a camera and don't have a turkish press pass are essentially are essentially left out of luck in the cold

and that is exactly what happened to me i sort of bowed in front of the gates and then turned around to go back to istanbul of course the tear gas is already flowing that was to be expected a lot of people were saying that that considering the amount of security forces in the security measures which were taken in advance we're talking about thousands four thousand of them brought in we're talking about six thousands of police officers in place of course the water cannons thirteen of them in total and truckloads numerous truck loads of rubber bullets tear gas canisters of course water keep in mind that that water is actually diluted with special chemicals which make your skin age four days after you've been doused with that water that is essentially what's happening. side of the courthouse which is also on the same side as the prison in which all of those who are on trial for this so-called they're going to go on trial are being held now you have mentioned almost three hundred two hundred seventy five to be precise defendants are on the bench today more than

sixty of them are facing life in prison all of this began back in two thousand and seven when the case of weapons was discovered when the first indictment came into place people and especially the intellectual elites were actually supportive. of this case because they said that apparently a large huge underground network which sought to overthrow the current government government with the military coup was something that should have been persecuted but as the years dragged on more and more indictments were added and the people who were arrested in connection with are going to they seemed to have been increasing. according to their statute it culminated in two thousand and twelve when the former chief general and former chief of staff of generals was arrested and also. put on trial he's actually one of those who are facing life in prison along with a former navy commander. and also among the military who comprise the largest part

of the defendants we're looking also at lawyers professors and journalists going to the only among them are two very prominent turkish journalists one of whom who is openly aligned with the opposition and another has actually written a book about the organic on the case and was arrested promptly afterwards we have also spoken to both of them prior before just several months ago and they have said that they're expecting they're not expecting a guilty verdict they're expecting to be accused and tried and of course. before during the trial but as i said the majority of those who are in trial of the moment are military you have to understand that turkey is a country which has which has gone through at least four and military coups in the second part of the twentieth century and a lot of people are saying that it is actually one of the largest fears that's just couldn't feed itself he could be facing a military coup again because the military has been viewed as and then strongly supportive of a secular state where is there do on a lot of. shows is actually supportive of

a state which is slanted towards islam as. as you say the sentencing coming down today at the courthouse just west of istanbul two hundred seventy five people most of the most you say members of the military facing prosecution or being part of the opposition. because recent months we've seen a trend of people disagreeing with the turkish prime minister take us back a bit where you. exactly two months ago just a little over two months ago it all started as that protests surrounding the gezi park as days went by. i became clear that a sense of we were not protest against the demolition of because we parked by protests against the policies of the prime minister and it was really a sight to behold because those protests have united thousands of people across turkey. actually couple of weeks and they still continue we are actually expecting people in istanbul to come out on the streets today as well and people are saying

that they do not want to go the same way that everyone seems to be pushing the country that is towards islamization they disagree with a lot of his policies they're saying that he's dividing the country purposefully into secularists and more of the religious majority and they want to see everyone out and a lot of people are really watching this case closely and they believe this could very well be the last coffin the last nail in the coffin of the government because the country could just very well break out in. protest movement and really it's a time bomb just ticking away in a region that's already very volatile why don't you say we're going to go thank you . it's good to have you with us on the program today the panic scene in the russian your rules last winter when it meets you all the sides about how so exploded in this maybe for a repeat do you remember this. you

know the colossal gloss to trigger that debate ranging from. about to be apocalypse now scientists say the shooter role may not have been flying. but rather as a part of a group of asteroids which still pose a threat so just a bit earlier in the program i spoke to want to use lindsey from. it may be hard to believe that an eleven thousand ton eighteen meter across meteor made its way to earth undetected but that. exactly what happened which is why scientists are leaving no stone unturned even in space now to figure out how the chelyabinsk media right made it to earth scientists ran billions of orbital simulations and came up with the apollo asteroid family that may sound a bit intimidating because it is it's a two hundred metre wide cluster of rocks that according to scientists broke up

around forty thousand years ago now it's still at large it's our it's orbiting around the sun now to find out if it is actually the parent cluster of the chelyabinsk meteorite scientists would need to then to send a tool to the asteroid and take a core sample that's not going to happen any time soon and the cost is extreme although if this cluster of meteorites any one of those fragments show itself to be on a collision course with earth you can bet that action of some sort will be taken until then this cluster of asteroids is still under observation to make sure that something like chelyabinsk does not happen any time soon. are there many more stories waiting for you right now online including flagging resentment american blood. with tomatoes right here the basis.

of these fifteen crimes committed in america. the very agency that was designed to protect people. the surprising revelations about the secret of the. the program of the u.s. still reeling from edward snowden's revelations of the n.s.a. snooping surveillance schools of people taking to the streets across the country to protest against domestic spying and the violation of privacy. with the demonstrators to find out exactly what the. so we still bought them that i did the auction over a dozen cities across the u.s. inspired by george orwell's novel nineteen eighty-four an anti utopia written over half a century ago about mass surveillance so frightening it sends shivers down a reader spine these protesters say apparently the u.s. government has been using it as a manual theme of this one is about the surveillance and the fourth amendment you

know we're losing our country and i'm really sad about that this is one of many demonstrations conducted might have changed americans are out onto the streets to make their lives right what do you think we're to specifically you guys can do about us and i mean do you think the subways can be bunched the rest this is one part of the process right here marching on the streets raising awareness for calling congressmen letting them know that this is not something that we stand for and it should not be done in our name problem of course comes out every weekend with the help of a thirty year old former n.s.a. contractor edward snowden that we on national security agency was has been conducting sweeping surveillance are millions of americans and foreigners around the world and these people are now marching the streets of new york to say they want to talk to the story of the city of venice is collecting information of every american regardless of whether they're suspected the jury is wrong or of any

british stationary illegal there's going to everyone's information and of the fourth amendment says if they care to get a patient that was ever reason to believe that you are have committed a crime i am very concerned about the volume of surveillance that is not performed by the national security administration we know more and more about what's going on but we still don't understand a lot of the technical details underlying it protesters are now chanting outside eighty in t's office is one of many companies that the n.s.a. was able to retract information from about u.s. citizens phone calls being made. messages being sent the length of the phone calls being made as well as where the people were speaking all of these major concerns for u.s. citizens now coming onto the streets basically tell the government that they've had enough and they will not stop coming out to protest until their mates message is heard we are outraged we're outraged that we're still learning to what extent all

of our contacts telephone calls are. shat on line are being monitored and we're not happy with this not just urbanized by a group called restoring the grassroots privacy rights movement that's demanding the restoration of the fourth amendment to the u.s. constitution. and searches all these people are now on the street because the government has really not been playing this role that we should and has forgotten about the rights of its citizens. and into the day we go starting with nineteen u.s. embassies across the middle east and africa remain closed until the tenth of august due to an unspecified threat by al qaeda and washington's travel alert for u.s. citizens in the region will also remain in force for an unspecified time u.s. officials said that based on intelligence evidence they are particularly concerned about the diplomatic mission in yemen i mean while in pakistan the country's

capital has been placed on its highest alert level following reports of terror. and in egypt the country's military has ordered the former deputy chief of staff of president morsi to remain under arrest for two more weeks now facing murder charges the appeals court has also set a date for the trial of the muslim brotherhood officials who are accused of inciting violence in egypt has been embroiled in chaos since the military coup with thousands of morsy supporters define the government's calls to abandon the sit in protests. well it's been a pleasure having you with us here on r t today just a moment on sophie shevardnadze she sits down with iran's of former president mahmoud abbas with images of life from moscow inside saying.