if dropping an ally is the way to status a leak shows the agency has been monitoring the german chancellor cell phone for over a decade adding fuel to europe's frustration over u.s. surveillance practices also this week here on r t. i remember flying out of the window and suddenly i was in the street and in a panic. talks to survivors of a suicide blast that hit a crowd a bus in the russian city of volgograd. america's a man killing machines draw condemnation from amnesty international human rights watch who conclude that drone strikes in pakistan and yemen should be classed as war crimes. and the syrian government submit to its plan to destroy its chemical

weapons to world powers well nineteen opposition groups refused to attend a long awaited peace conference in geneva. this is already coming to you live from moscow i'm reading josh welcome to the program. the german chancellor has been a target of u.s. surveillance for over a decade according to a leaked anis a document obtained by german media that follows earlier reports of american spies tapping the phones of dozens of world leaders and a phone call to president obama merkel said the monitoring would be a breach of trust if confirmed she also said that spying among friends does not work obama reportedly claimed to have had no four knowledge of such practices however germany's billed newspaper goes as far as suggesting he actually encouraged the bugging of merkel's phone leaked documents now show that her number was on the

n.s.a.'s watch list since two thousand and two three years before she became chancellor former french prime minister domany develop and says he never expected american surveillance to go this far we knew that. some of what existed but the search over all. this came as a surprise for everybody in fact what we are seeing today is that big credible privileges of the u.s. administration over the control of the world system we knew that the u.s. were controlling the financial system through the banking domain and so some big banks through the dollar currency reserve currency but controlling internet controlling the formation you know well this is it privilege and monopoly if we are going to follow up in the same direction then confrontation might be the . e.u. leaders are demanding explanations from washington france and germany are pushing

for a new deal on transatlantic surveillance angered over the reports that the n.s.a. has been tracking the phone calls of thirty five. statement warned a lack of trust could harm its partnership with washington and germany is also teaming up with brazil to push for a un resolution restraining u.s. surveillance. from ma the new american foundation think tank says the spy scandal is dealing a huge blow to america's image this has. created a massive reputational crisis for the united states the entire populace is now in essence on edge about what is the united states government doing what is the n.s.a. doing what is being surveilled and so in essence what we're saying is everyone's a suspect everyone is being surveilled and this is probably not just france and germany and mexico and brazil this is probably globally certainly we've lost

a lot of credibility as an ethical internet steward domestic shock waves are being felt as well thousands rallied in washington d.c. on saturday venting their anger against the nic and demanding reforms of federal surveillance laws the protests was billed as the largest privacy demonstration in american history artie's get it she was there. thousands of people gathered here on the anniversary of the signing of the patriot act twelve years ago they believe that was the day when in the name of fighting terror their rights have been taken away from them they believe that the tradeoff between security and privacy is a false one people here say that they are tired of lies that the government has been telling to cover up their mass spying after all just a year ago the director of national intelligence james clapper said no when asked whether the n.s.a. was collecting data on millions of americans edward snowden's revelations of course confirmed that was a lie and the latest i've heard was that just within

a month the n.s.a. spied on more than one hundred and twenty four billion phone calls worldwide that means that every single person on earth is facing the risk of being caught up in the n.s.a. dragnet and the person edward snowden thanks to whom this protest is happening is now holed up in russia because here in the states he would sure be in jail by now people at this rally dows of people in fact demand a meaningful surveillance a long way for him they came with a petition signed by more than five hundred thousand people demanding congress investigate the n.s.a. spying programs the senate judiciary and intelligence committees planned hearings on those programs so they want to make sure that their voices are heard actually one of the main messages of this rally is watch the watchers but the question is is it really possible because so far any light that's been shed on the watchers was through whistleblowers in washington i'm going to. have to r.t.

dot com now for more details and updates on the battle for privacy as well as expert analysis on the n.s.a. leaks and the outcry there triggering. a suicide bomber killed six people in russia's southern city of volgograd on monday dozens more injured what were injured when the bomb went off in packed boss lindsey friends to retrace the events of that day. october twenty first started just like any other monday here in volgograd people woke up with places to go and things to get but heavily using bus stations just like this but for several people needing bus number twenty nine they could never have foreseen how quickly their lives would change when they took that ride. the route ran without incident from morning till afternoon until one person got on board thirty year old lie you see all of that is when things took a tragic turn and

a star student there on the plane was on his way home from classes at the university laughing and talking with the other students crucially it was pete he did it at the bus which say training like. the roof when the blast hit everything around me went flying and then i don't remember anything but i remember flying out of the window and suddenly i was on the street and in a panic i understood that something happened with my hands i was covered in blood but it was right here at about two pm local time that a blast ripped through bus twenty nine filled with about forty people first responders thought it was perhaps a malfunction of the bus fuel systems but aside from the shop they felt they asked themselves if this was a gas explosion what was the fire. and exactly zero was the same rock or they'd seen that everybody in the blast was touching their faces and heads asking what happened what happened there was a lot of blood on them and a lot of flesh everywhere i was very afraid i got out of my car and i saw

a headline there me and my friend took a young boy and his father to the hospital the remnant of an explosive device told to change shrapnel t.n.t. and a grenade the accident site became a crime scene while edgy hottest from republic of dagestan became the central focus of the investigation and then the story took another twist the attack wasn't meant for volgograd at all as the all of a had apparently taken a detour. she had purchased a ticket to moscow and boarded an intercity boss that passed through volgograd when the bus was almost at the city limits i see all of our gotto and went back to downtown belgrade right now investigators are trying to find out whether this move had been planned in advance or altered the plan along the way looking for a place packed with as many people as possible also under suspicion are three men believed to have helped in the plot to attack the russian capital two from dagestan

wanted for twin terror attacks there in two thousand and twelve were said to be waiting for her in moscow on his way there was a see all of us husband dimitri sokol of an ethnic russian convert to islam missing since two thousand and twelve some reports suggest the couple had an argument shortly before the attack which may have caused the last minute change in her deadly plans authorities will be keen to find her husband in the hope he may have the answers lindsey france r.t. in volgograd why america isn't going on man dariel strikes in pakistan and yemen should be regarded as war crimes according to records released this week by the human rights group amnesty international all this despite the u.s. government's attempts to play down the civilian death toll from its drone campaign let's now take a look at some of the figures here well it all began in two thousand and four under the bush administration that number of drone victims soared dramatically in two thousand and six when almost one hundred people were killed another escalation came

in two thousand and eight with seventy five lives lost the toll in two thousand and nine reached one hundred sixty two the year barack obama took office and a record number of strikes from a man jets were recorded over the next twelve months that's one hundred twenty two and the drone war continues all the obama administration is responsible for about ninety percent of all the strikes carried out since two thousand and four and almost a thousand civilians have been killed including up to two hundred children according to some astronauts the total number of drone fatalities in the region tops three selves and our team of looks into the latest report from amnesty international. the predator drone remotely controlled and heavily armed it's the weapon of choice in the cia's undeclared war in pakistan that's where the u.s. is believed to have launched more than three hundred strikes since two thousand and four the target suspected taliban and al qaeda militants the white house says

better drones then boots on the ground and justifies the covert program as both affective and legal america does not take strikes to punish individuals we act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the american people not so according to amnesty international in a damning new report the human rights group warns u.s. drone strikes could amount to war crimes documents recent killings in pakistan's northwest tribal areas and the lack of transparency surrounding drones this is a secret program in fact in our case we've found at least in some cases they've clearly killed civilians and some of these cases might be war crimes that really concerns us one such case is that of sixty eight year old. killed by a u.s. drone last october she was picking vegetables with her grandchildren when that attacks took place a double strike the children miraculously survived. most it was so then i heard

that. the first hit and the second hit my cousin. but her grandmother's body was pulverized these missile fragments are all that remain amnesty documents other such cases but its main point the need for transparency and accountability the u.s. must explain why these people have been killed people who are clearly civilians must provide justice to these people compensation it must investigate those responsible for those killings now in a separate report a un investigation looked at thirty three drone strikes around the world not just in pakistan that violated international humanitarian law and also resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties that report also calling for more transparency and accountability from the united states reporting from moscow i'm lucy catherine of. now in the midst of syria's brutal conflict and information a war is also being fought syrian rebels desperate to silence pro-government media

have put several employees on a hit list after the break we'll be bringing you witness accounts from some of those journalists. for. great hopes for freedom and democracy. substituted by great disenchantment. what was expected to be a blessing to the country. turned out to be its curse. georgia the story of a disappointment. dramas that can't be

ignored. stories others refuse to notice. faces changing the world light snack. food picture of today's new life on demand from around the globe. dropped. to fifty. a madrid thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against the european court ruling in favor of the basque separatist movement their opinion court of human rights has ordered spain to release the tory is a member of the armed group and as the rio who have been jailed since nine hundred eighty nine for her role in twenty three killings the spanish government accepted

the court's decision but warned that it sets a dangerous precedent to discuss this list now across life to john laughlin from the inside of democracy and cooperation thank you so much for joining us here in our team to discuss this so in your opinion why would the strasburg court intervene to secure the release of a convicted terrorist well i think your question as it were contains the answer it's incredible isn't it that european court of human rights should intervene in this way to alleviate the sentence of a woman who has been convicted to due process of the murder of more than twenty three people this woman is a mass murderer and the idea that a forty european court of human rights which was set up to safeguard citizens against the abuses that could be committed by states against their own citizens that such a body should now be as it were to beaning in favor of people who have themselves

grossly abused the rights of citizens by well during that but you know here we have a situation where the european court merely appelle the the decision that was taken by a spanish court to grant her an early release so you know how to do that adult. it didn't it has interpreted it its own way a practice on parole which was introduced after there was a considerable amount of shock when an earlier terrorist was released early her sentence the sentence of the pres to the lady that we're talking about was three thousand years. to the spanish law required that she serve at least thirty years she was imprisoned in one thousand eight hundred nine so she should even according to the indian spanish will serve until two thousand and nineteen the issue turns on whether or not her parole can be deducted from the original sentence that is to say from three thousand years or from the practice of not imprisoning people for more

than thirty years while looking at let's now take a look at you know the broader sort of a meaning in actions of accords and specifically the european one in your opinion how much authority does it actually have over the council of europe's member states . it doesn't have the authority that a lot of people believe all it can do is impose fines on its member states and those member states are of course free to leave the council of europe and leave the european convention if they want to and many people think that the european court of human rights is some kind of supremes court which has rulings have immediate effect over national judicial systems that is not the case so countries can take the hit you know the fine and imposed on spain is thirty thousand euros it's peanuts by british prime minister david cameron has recently hinted that britain may pull out of the european our convention human rights what do you make of this and could other countries follow suit while britain has not hinted david cameron

has not hinted david cameron has given a promise that the conservative party at the next election will rescind the human rights which is to say he will if a pretty if a conservative government is returned in britain at the next election then the human rights act which brings the european convention into british law will be rescinded he has not yet threatened although there have indeed also been hence to withdraw from the convention entirely these are legal niceties but the reason why even the british have made this kind of threat is that they too have been the victims of these kinds of rulings there was a famous case a few weeks ago whereby various murderous including multiple multiple murderess were found in favor of a by the european court of human rights in ways which caused very deep outrage in britain and the problem with the european court is that having been set up to safeguard basic human rights it has now become a militant political organizing which is ensuring

a sort of dictatorship of the minority over the routes of the majority in this case in this case of peaceable citizens who do not go about committing murder and like to defend them sort of take a decade is destroyed. all right john long gone from the inside of democracy in cooperation thank you so much for your thoughts here on r.t. and. two other stories now the syrian government has submitted its plan to destroy its chemical weapons meeting an internationally imposed deadline however peace efforts in the country have been dealt a setback nineteen opposition groups are refusing to take part in a long awaited geneva conference which was supposed to bring all sides to the negotiating table for impound an official michael maloof says the rebels including extremist factions have been emboldened by continuing western support the united states cannot be caught in the position of giving arms to the moderate so-called moderates when in fact most of those weapons would go to the opposition they just

take them away it know the out the extremists already control about seven of the eleven palestinian camps already and. in syria and they're using them as the base of operations and they're intimidating the moderates in the moderates of course are can't stand up against the more extreme elements and they just don't have the the capability in the fight in the fighting fighting power to do that. syrian civilians are syrian journalists rather are increasingly finding themselves in the crossfire of the country's civil war several state media and louise have found themselves on the hit list of rebels who want to gag all pro-us and voices are just fall asleep or met some of those at risk. these pictures were a long time coming syria's state t.v.

headquarters in flames but the attack occurred just hours after rebel groups warned they'd showered damascus with mortars. and young women phone calls i think their main goal is to intimidate people to stop us from working they want us to think twice about working for syrian t.v. like other employees of syrian state t.v. this woman is afraid to show her face she is one of the names listed in this website set up by the rebels and each a name and photograph is the word one tid those with crosses through them are people who have already been killed. the irony is that those who make t.v. are now too afraid to appear on it this video editor was given an ultimatum either come work for us the rebels threatened or we'll kill you he managed to escape but a few weeks ago he came home to the message wherever you are you dog of the regime we will find you painted on his front door and this witness i've lost the feeling

of fear after i saw a man beheaded in front of me and mortar shells falling all around you forget what fear is but the pain and heartbreak remain idea buses brother ali carmel was an editor in chief of the syrian news agency he was killed by four bullets shot at close range after masked gunmen broke into his home and got a victim of id the strange thing is that we were never afraid for him we were afraid for my other brothers quine the army without our lives a severe in he'll be safe but they kill him because they don't want anybody to tell the truth even just those appearing on t.v. are being threatened they call a couple of time to adjust to say that your body will be shut off from the head they said we know who you are we know the location. we cannot kill you we are going to cut your head from the body you are. this is what they say

exactly the fear for many is that this list is long there were many names on it and scenes like this could well be repeated until every last one of them is deleted policy r.t. damascus syria. now the curtain is about to come down on the house saakashvili is decade long rule as people in georgia are heading to the polls to decide who will be their next president was twenty three names on the ballot experts predict a runoff vote between three candidates meanwhile tempers are running high at the polls with one of the front runners accusing prime minister but denied a shrilly of violating campaign rules analysts say the country is moving closer to a parliamentary democracy with keep power as being handed to the prime minister's office but is still far from overcoming political instability are his wary of a national looks into saakashvili is controversial legacy. they are among the maize determined detractors of georgia's i would go in president.

they follow me how selfishly everywhere to leave him in no doubt of where they stand. so kish really was the once popular leader of the rose revolution the first color evolution which so power change in post soviet republics. in the last days of his near ten year presidency even former allies are on the attack. after his success he started building an authoritarian regime the media was attacked one million people fled one quarter of the population went through the penal system they were either arrested or interrogated in two thousand and seven police used tear gas and rubber bullets against protesters want in such a shrill is government to resign. in two thousand and eleven they did it again. boudin i'm ugly there are people who are afraid to express or even have their

opinion if they faced injustice they failed to report it as it could affect their families. told me his brother used to run the state audit office and claims he was tortured in jail when he took his case to the human rights. walton's strasburg told nikki says he too was arrested over a fabricated case becoming another recognised political prisoner. i got eight and a half years if it wasn't for new premie ivanishvili i wouldn't have got out in just one week i saw they took out four dead bodies from jail they said those young men died from diseases but that's nonsense days before last october's parliamentary election videos showing yun inmates being humiliated and beaten became the last straw for the georgian people selfishness party lost but this georgian media veteran says the public you for rio is defeat is tempered by how much the people had already lost individually and. promoted georgian people astelin and they should

with history and we started to live in it we started moving away from our soviet past be our heroes of the hour jenius he managed to convince then tile world and under the flag of democracy we got fascists as george's electoral votes for many here it's less about welcome in the future but saying goodbye to their past the law prevents me from running for president again now has a mission is life far away from politics in the wine business but the public seems in no mood to simply let him fade into the background there is a strong desire here in georgia for circus related to be broad justice and it seems his detractors won't stop until that thirst is quite changed. now r.t. tbilisi georgia. another thing the our going to oregon president members for are his calls to boycott the sochi two thousand and fourteen winter olympics his latest

comments came earlier this month right after the kickoff of the games torch relay. a prominent russian t.v. presenter georgian origin tina kind of will be among the team carrying the flame through the streets of sing pittsburgh and she believes sports and politics should be kept separate. but. georgia does not have many winter sports combatants there it's people who have been working hard to take part and you're going to them makes had nothing to do the politics so no matter what politician so i am absolutely sure that sport is beyond political against georgia and russia will certainly leave the friendship and i hope that nobody and nothing proven in georgia for taking part in the environment x. and such. and staying with georgia up next is a report on the dashed hopes of the rose revolution and the checkered legacy of the nation's outgoing leader.

new zealand is boldly going where no government has gone before and according to reuters has decided to create a regulatory body to oversee recreational drugs that is their opening pandora's box it have at least temporarily given approval to fifty substances for sale at special stores which are bad and most other countries the body is trying to take a more scientific approach and determine which substances are actually harmful to the user you know i've heard the argument that the war on drugs just wastes massive sums of money for and lives of the need turn a futile battle which is true it does but the only option people give is just legalize all drugs there are a few problems with this one something is legal that tends to make it ok is it really ok for you to spend your whole life in

a trance to avoid reality is it really ok for everyone in town on friday night after work to go on an ice crystal. for rampage the other problem is that the war on drugs fails because as fighting the drugs and not the reason why people take them which is to escape reality why do people want to escape reality because in modern times or post modern times we live a soulless pointless isolated consumeristic existence of working in a pointless office job just to get poor so we can scrape by and get some cheap plastic junk at walmart when people's lives are empty they will fill them with something through a needle but that's just my opinion. it's .