stories that shape the way you can r.t. edward snowden welcomes guests from home we report on the long awaited arrival of his father to the former u.s. officials who came to moscow toward him his whistleblowing. hungry for a change hundreds of cities across the globe see protests against genetically modified food and the company scene is the face of the industry. and as washington faces the looming threat of a national default we look at how the government shutdown has become a matter of life and death for those outside the political arena.

and i welcome you watching the weekly here on r.t. with me andrey pharma our top story edward snowden has broken months of radio silence after being granted temporary asylum in russia the n.s.a. leaker received an award for integrity in intelligence from a group of fellow american whistleblowers and the video from the ceremony became the first public view of him speaking since july shortly after snowden's father arrived in moscow to see him. met him at the airport. i cannot speak for my son and really the legal issues i'm a father and i don't want to really share my opinions at this point in time i'm simply thankful that my son is safe and free i'm going to follow mr coo trainers advice and if the opportunity presents itself i certainly hope that i'll have an opportunity to see my son another negotiator is the same lawyer who's been

consulting and representing edward snowden in russia he promised the two would meet the next day and so they did at an undisclosed location one of the precautions many journalists have already gotten used to throughout the story but it wasn't only his father that the former n.s.a. contractor got to meet with this week a group of other former u.s. security service officials turned whistle blowers also flew into moscow to award him with the same atoms prize for intelligence and integrity the emmy whistleblower awards. you know places to go where we have an executive for just this one last. night. live to. long but they'll sell the. first song for the. edward snowden arrived in the transit zone of airport in moscow in june after leading thousands of documents with details of how u.s.

security services spy on officials and ordinary people all across the world washington has been calling for his extradition and using him of espionage but russia granted snowden temporary asylum and that of course means snowden's dad may not be the only family member heading over to visit particularly because it's unclear whether edward will ever be able to return to the u.s. again you want this going off moscow. the fulfullment u.s. government officials turned whistle blowers who awarded edward snowden also made it to the r.t.c. . this week later in the program we'll bring you the highlights of our discussion on snowden's revelations the consequences and his current life here in russia. activists across dozens of countries held rallies to call for the permanent boycott of genetically modified food by tech giant monsanto the main target of. hundreds of cities across the world from a stranger to europe were involved demonstrators claim crops produced by the

company could be harmful to humans even resulting in death some of the biggest rallies took place in the u.s. where people also accuse the multi-national company of aggressive lobbying and suppressing food safety research and he is in washington for r.t. . many cities across the u.s. took part in this second organized march against the agricultural giant monsanto protesters rallying against the company's use of genetically modified organisms and trying to raise awareness about its corporate practices some protesters told us that even though the government is shut down monsanto lobbyists are hard at work here in washington many pouncers by actually came up to activists what we were standing there holding and signs and asked what is the g.m.o. so where this is very low in terms of what exactly genetically modified foods are let alone the dangers they cause in the capital the protests began with activists

going into large grocery stores and retailers trying to ways raise awareness about controversal insecticides which affect the nervous system and have been repeatedly linked to. well the demonstration then made its way to the white house all sorts of activists students even young children our farmers caterers chefs so real wide range of people there are a lot of veterans actually showed up to talk about the dangers of g.m.o. just outside the white house they then began to march made their way to the i.m.f. world bank. eventually to monsanto offices here in washington d.c. now other cities across the us los angeles portland denver orlando just to name a few how similar demonstrations also up in canada and vancouver british columbia there was quite a large turnout for their march against monsanto organizers say this is just the beginning that momentum is going to pick up and they will continue their fight against the g.m.o. giant monsanto reporting from washington and you see now

a artsy. well the company itself insists it is playing a key role in feeding the world's rapidly growing population on sunset also maintains that many people already consume g.m. food with no ill effects but jeffrey smith who has written extensively about the dangers of g.m. food thanks to differ. when you look at the animal feeding studies on genetically engineered foods the american academy of environmental medicine they said there's gastrointestinal problems immune system problems think celebrated aging organ damage reproductive disorders there's massive infant mortality multiple massive tumors early death there are so many things that are going wrong with the animals that are being fed g m o's and now we're seeing those things rising in the u.s. population seems geos were introduced the current generation of g m o's has nothing to offer feeding the hungry world or about a cave in poverty so this is just been

a public relations fan and they spent two hundred fifty million dollars over five years trying to convince americans that they needed to accept because it would feed the world i ask farmers all the time what do you think about santa even those farmers that use monsanto seeds often hate monsanto or fear might said oh. so that's why monsanto has been continuously voted as the most evil company on the planet year after year with stiff competition. it's less than four days until the u.s. runs out of money senate leaders from rival parties still come find a way out of the budget deadlock most of the government has been shut down for two weeks with the world bank chief warning the crisis could become a disaster if not resolved decisively in the marina portnoy and i reports politicians are accused of ignoring the effect on everyday americans u.s. president barack obama's signature health care legislation is supposed to provide

millions of americans with the medical coverage they desperately need but the political debate over obamacare has also ironically created a life or death situation for hundreds of citizens for each week the shutdown continues roughly two hundred patients cannot be accepted for clinical treatment at the national institutes of health that's nearly four hundred sick americans desperately in need of medical treatment and the and i age says among the patients being turned away includes roughly thirty people with cancer and many of them being children about seventy five percent of and i was employees thousands of people have reportedly been furloughed because of washington's self-inflicted shutdown as a result michelle langbehn who is battling sarcoma a rare form of cancer was supposed to begin receiving medical treatments at the beginning of this month until the october first shutdown forced and i to

temporarily turn her away langbehn a new mother started an online petition to put pressure on congress to reopen the government the movement has garnered more than one hundred thousand signatures in an interview with r.t. langbehn says she's been able to restart her treatments after receiving financial donations but says hundreds of other people in her position have been denied a chance to live because of washington's political partisanship it's a matter of life or death it's not a matter of inconvenience or just an air taishan for us i have. heard a couple of instances where they find that this is just the game between them and it's a matter of winning and i'd like to say that it's not a matter of when or louis i mean it's a please listen to the people and know that it's affecting so many u.s. leaders who have the power to change this situation have so far failed to agree on a budget a political deadlock leaving the lives of cancer stricken adults and children in

limbo reporting from new york marina artsy. meanwhile renowned american political commentator named chomsky told us he believes u.s. politics is too inherently corrupt to deal with the budget deadlock. from in the history of entry democracy. to seem to see which. there have been significant economic changes in the past generation. but one of the sorts of the street groups specifically the neo liberal programs and they're having the same kind of if there were. direct wealth to a very narrow so there's increasing inequality it doesn't make you politics. democracy is harder because it's more concentrated

political or as well. right now elections are almost boy it's so plutocracy. both political parties are to the right. of one party state the business forty. well truck driver of the capitol to protest against president obama who they say is abusing the constitution his one try to solve the country's problems out of our agenda is we're counting for his resignation or impeachment just like marci an agent and if we raise one hundred million americans across the country we will demand his resignation or pressure of the house and senate to call for his impeachment own treason and frog. the protesters on wales condemned obama's policies since he came to power support for al qaida raising of the debt ceiling and the government's notorious spying program all came under fire the campaign received

a large amount of support on facebook and twitter. coming up china uses its growing economic might to penetrate the ailing markets. because it's not going on that but it shows government policy for a long time now as encourage foreign companies to take over our british companies after the break we investigate how beijing's investment plans have affected the pride of one of london's most iconic symbol. of the. economic downturn the final. days of the old saying i and the rest because i. believe if we.

would. choose your language. we could with oh if you're going to steal some of. the consensus. choose your premiums would you be grateful to. choose the stories that impact your life. choose the excess to. i. am back with r.t. now china based investors are using global economic uncertainty to their advantage

in buying up ailing european firms not even iconic london taxis are out of reach for cash rich businessmen from beijing is artie's party boy reports. this time last year it looked like the iconic london cab would be consigned to the history books after it's made because the financially troubled london taxi company went into administration chinese manufacturer g.-d. which already owns volvo has stepped in and bought the company for eleven million pounds the factory is now back in business this part of the assembly process is called the marriage of the carriage where the shape of the taxi. meets with the shafi of the taxi here but it's a marriage between the chinese manufacturer and she on the london taxi company that's managed to save a british icon from going out of production g.-d's pledge to invest hundred fifty million pounds into the coventry based business over the next five years promising

to create jobs and develop new engines to the future really previously when we were an independent company with the financial resources to continue to develop the product as we would like to. and gives us the ability to develop. i wish we could have only dreamed of financial analysts have called it a win win situation comes back from the brink of extinction while a major chinese manufacturer gets to invest in an exciting new project but what does it say about the state of british industry business secretary vince cable called the chinese buyout a clear demonstration of the strength of the british car industry but the london cap is just the latest in a raft of u.k. businesses being sold off to foreign companies cadres chocolate is now american indian and the british airports authority spanish to some it represents

a hollowing out of corporate britain and i'm happy that it's not going on but it shows government policy for a long time now as encourage foreign companies to take over our british companies that means our british companies are not competitive across the globe. so we're not putting in the right tax policies we're not dealing with regulation that hinders these companies welcome to have new investment it always is in the long term this takes away economic productivity from this country it means that staff and jobs are more liable to go because there's allegiance between the companies that are owned by foreign entities and their country rather than britain piece has been a cabbie for over forty years in a scene the london taxi company goes through several british owners i hopped in for a ride and asked him how he feels about turning chinese this is a shame that it's not owned by a british company but it's better than going to the wall a day lemon the companies they're still british they won't be faced with anything seen. i see london. and here's the picture of some of china's recent

lucrative investments the european car market is increasingly attractive to beijing's enterprises and in twenty ten they snapped up sweden's troubled manufacture manufacturer last january china also helped one of germany's top make his of concrete palms in that same month italian yacht builder ferretti moved into chinese hands and even a top french fashion brand has moved under the control of a hong kong based raja nightingale founder of an economic strategy consultancy says many european countries believe chinese investment poses a threat. a lot of european countries are very nervous about except seeing chinese cash who many of them and i think you find this in southern europe you find it in france you find it to some modest degree in germany also some countries think that they are threatened if china buys into their

industrial base my own view is that that is entirely wrong my own view is that the industrial base of these countries will fail if you don't get the investment into them that all allow them to raise their productivity and to raise raise the profile of their products it's something comparable to that which afflicted the africans earlier they think that by selling out their assets they actually somehow undermine their capacity to have an economy that is viable in the future i think they're wrong but time will tell it's coming up to twenty past twelve here in moscow some other world news in brief now at least fourteen people were killed in a with the injured when a car blew up in iraq's northern city of samarra the attack was on a crowded street as people shopped in preparation for a muslim holiday iraq has been struggling with

a record spike in violence this claimed davis six thousand lives since the start of this year. a bus carrying fifty one people has veered off a two hundred meter high cliff in peru killing all on board the passengers including children and many members of a single family were on their way to a local celebration the cause of the accident is yet to be determined the high altitude roads in peru notorious for bus disasters with over four thousand people dying in similar accidents last year. i. remark in spain anti-fascist activists of staged a march to counter groups of far right supporters that took to the streets in the country's national day while in barcelona a rally was held against independence for catalonia people chanted slogans begin ity and again secession from madrid despite overwhelming support for separation among the cattle and population. in the powerful side clone that has claimed at

least seven lives in eastern india is weakening hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes in the path of storm phailin winds in excess of one hundred twenty miles per hour triggered severe landslides disrupting communications am forcing roads and rail closures rescue workers say the full extent of the damage is still not clear. now around will sit down with american negotiators and five other world powers for a fresh round of nuclear talks on choose day made a recent thaw in relations the move could lead to a process of lifting the economic restraints on taran despite israel's demanding even more are put in place sanctions have hit iran's oil sector particularly hard but there is one industry that's been performing very well despite the restrictions well one point six million cars are produced in iran every year place in the country is the world's thirteenth largest automobile manufacturer the industry

accounts for ten percent of the country's g.d.p. and despite a ban on shipping parts some of the most. popular persia and rare models are still made in iran and the country produces the same cars based on french designs were despite official business not being allowed between the u.s. and iran until sanctions are lifted american companies such as general motors are already said to be moving in to secure their positions and journalist you're just now bruno police the u.s. is just waiting for the right time i think already there i've been. secret contacts between us for and iranian counterparts in order to to prepare or to anticipate a political deal between iran and the united states mainly these contacts. in the automobile sector and fortunately for us in france we are the brother the last one in europe who tried to do to go to iraq because for the last the last

years france was extremely active in the in the fighting against iran from was exerting a lot of pressure you know for the last twenty years the us were outside the the french businessman i do quite good position in iran to. know the automobile sector and now they're afraid that these all these years of the force will be cleaned by the new deal which will happen between us and iran for sure the european companies will be most probably losers in this kind of agreement. of course we've got plenty more stories on our website so you were on there at the moment maybe we're not alone after all the discovery of a water heavy asteroid reinforces science is a belief that there might be more in habitable worlds beyond our own solar system you can find the full story online also there death row prisoners in america face

execution by drugs used to kill animals amid a shortage of supplies of the usual form of lethal injection to find out what's behind this at r.t. dot com. this week the olympic torch began its long journey from moscow to sochi and the twenty fourteen winter games the flame embarked on a four month relay covering more than sixty five thousand kilometers across russia and also space it was lit last sunday in greece before traveling by plane to russia . and the flame was met by a group of bikers who were on hand to escort it to the kremlin. and then president putin looked ahead to the games by hosting the ceremony to start the torch relay after visiting nearly three thousand cities and towns across the country be limping symbol is expected in sochi on the seventh of february to open up the games and you can enjoy the highlights and see the reports from the relay ceremony over at our

website at r.t. dot com. after the break we've got all the latest economic news from around the world in venture capital with eighty people. millions around the globe struggle with hunger. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge. they can they're very strong against g.m.o. and we think that's. right and i think any more the right products are priest. there is no. evidence that there is any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese always in

a mouse trap i don't believe that. free. enterprise is profit. for these golden rice barkeep. as afghanistan prepares for a presidential election many in the political and media mainstream speak with the country's first democratic transition but it's less talked about is the dire security situation on the ground where the karzai is angling to succeed him so the powerful presence of the taliban and whether the u.s. will ever actually leave afghanistan. kind of weapons that's kept on case you believe this week we talk about the u.s. sat down and the effect it has on it as well is that we are facing

a poll based on this the his take on the situation the view of a russ and all of the clubs courtney's a comment on a house investment his own thomas he's back he was ticked off week but we're going to see how healthy he is told by always professes so with this story that has been dominating the find out who had lines at this. leak so the day that the u.s. will exhaust their boring capacity is looming but what does the ongoing deadlock mean for china the largest foreign holder of u.s. debt china's vice finance minister voiced his concern earlier in the week saying that the u.s. has a responsibility to resolve the debt ceiling round china's premier league chairing them expressed his concern the chinese leaders are calling for the situation to get resolved in order to ensure the safety of chinese investments in the united states which stand at around a course at over one point two trillion dollars taking over from japan in two thousand and eight is now added to this china also have a three and

a half trillion dollars worth of u.s. dollars or another reason for beijing to worry about a potential u.s. default now in total china has roughly sixty percent of its foreign currency reserves invested in u.s. assets let's get over to singapore now and hear from what for finance david icke for more insight into this david can you tell me what are the dangers for chinese investments right now. china is concerned china is very conscious of the fact that it is holding a lot of u.s. treasuries and china wishes it wasn't in that position in any case so therefore it is consciously trying to move into economy where the next four to one that is going to be consumer led i mean this is a very important point who previously were seen as the factory of the world's a good producers goods and i think it's great for in u.s. dollars with all of us dollars there's no want to do with it so therefore it has to

go and buy u.s. treasuries so which is it wasn't in that position unfortunately it is and it is actively trying to move away from that and trying to make its economy more consumer which is great news for investors who are looking to. supply consumers so it's looking to diversify its funds but it's not the u.s. where else can china park its its huge amount of cash. that's an interesting point in china is already doing this because if you have a look at some of the investments that china is making right now a lot of people may not know this but it on the percent of. i mean even around what used to be the preserve of the investors but now and spend of that has been sold to china that is gone with which china is very aggressive fire in general using some of the reserves in order to buy assets but not always a recent acquisition in america where i bought. a pork producers in america called smithfield so that is

a number example of how are you trying to diversify example where you just simply holding u.s. treasuries then it's also got investments in africa investments in south america so all of sorts of china is desperately trying to diversify away from just putting all its eggs into one basket so given that china does have a large bulk of its assets in the united states would you say it's fair to say that they are at the the mercy of u.s. lawmakers at the moment then david. well candy is not just china is a pillow at the mercy of the u.s. u.s. no make is that everybody in the world that is that the mercy of u.s. lawmakers right now we just have a look at the stock markets around the world everybody is frankenstein's back what would happen if america wanted to soften its debt because so many people are holding on to u.s. treasury not just china and in trying to all over the world i wouldn't some man just sold it all over the world and the private and individual about holding it so therefore that it is not a gift that america works default.