it was. the battle for arctic riches heats up as climate change opens the region to increasing economic political and even military competition. the presence of u.s. troops in afghanistan beyond two thousand and fourteen is thrown into doubt afternoon latest killing of civilians by american forces. as the n.s.a.'s mass surveillance and textron lock in comparison to the stasi of east germany r.t. talks to a veteran of the feared and revere cold war spy service about the parallels between the two. you're watching r t international live from our moscow studios where it's just

after nine in the morning i'm lindsey france thanks for joining me. as the arctic sea ice melts away at an alarming rate access to vast oil reserves is opening up and countries bordering the region are determined to defend their slice of the pie the polar seabed may hold as much as fifteen percent of the world's undiscovered oil and thirty percent of its gas let's take a closer look at how nations hope to benefit from the receding northern icecap now while the lion share of the arctics natural wealth is still hidden five nations are leading the charge for its resources that's canada denmark norway russia and the united states the other arctic council members are finland iceland and sweden they're also trying to expand their influence in the region the organization also has twelve observers states most of them european but in may last year several key asian powers china india japan singapore and south korea established links to the club and the economic rise of asia of course means that its influence on what

happens in the arctic could be crucial but as art is more important i have found out the battle for the region could take a dangerous turn. melting ice caps in the arctic have ignited a military build up over the world's smallest ocean and the riches buried beneath it the arctic circle is believed to contain thirty percent of the world's undiscovered natural gas and fifteen percent of its oil the future of the world economy to some extent is dependent on the arctic and i think you know russia and canada the united states and norway and denmark are very interested in exploiting these resources last month canada abruptly claims that it owned the north pole while the united states with its alaskan outpost has plans to boost its military there claiming it lacks operational experience and needs to police the thinning ice as it's replaced by fuel filled maritime traffic but that's not all.

actually u.s. submarines are deployed not too far away off the norwegian coast it would take us missiles sixteen to seventeen minutes to get from there to moscow so we really hope that with all the things that have been happening in the world over the past few decades we put the cold war confrontation behind us in all five countries bordering the arctic sovereignty rights to resources within two hundred nautical miles of their territorial waterways but a growing opportunity for a bigger slice of the pie is what many fear can inevitably spark a twenty first century cold war in the frozen waters there are also unexplored resources that we don't know yet to which country belongs which could be of course of interest to many countries i do think that. smaller things could spark. both tension and maybe more tension that we would like to see. r.t. new york. now trade wise as you can see here the northern sea route offers

a highly attractive short cut for russia and europe to ship fuel and other goods to asia due to thawing ice this passage could. take as little as twenty two days and slash transport costs for comparison then they southern voyage through the mediterranean and across the indian ocean is roughly twice as long we heard earlier from christopher parry a strategic forecaster and former british naval officer he thinks disputes are unavoidable in the race for the arctic where i think we could have some disputes is there a number of other interested countries such as india china korea japan all getting very interested not just in the northern sea route but also in the resources that exist up there in the arctic already the chinese are operating greenland to places like that and i think there will be a scramble by some of the other countries for some of those resources whether the ice does recede to you not just going to the northern sea route across the top or

russia and the northwest passage across canada you're also going to have a route around twenty fifty straight across the top of the north pole now that means that the countries in the past of face each other across the north pole that i see waste they can have open water for quite a few months of the year and that will introduce different perspectives different geometries to that you're going to see canada and you know the states also entering into the arctic so it's going to be an interesting situation point of view probably around twenty forty five twenty fifty people were getting ready for that of course it in the years leading up to that. relations between the u.s. and afghanistan are in jeopardy have to the latest killing of civilians by american troops in the war zone the afghan president says seven children and a woman died in a u.s. airstrike on wednesday nato claims the incident took place during an terror operation and admits that at least two civilians were killed by mistake the rao has

cast fresh doubt on whether kabul will sign a key security pact with washington that deal would see thousands of american troops remain in afghanistan for another ten years some analysts say the afghan government should demand reparations for the killings that's always the argument that the foreign powers make they always make it sound like they're invading a country just because they care so much about the people that are under attack but all over the world you can see the fruits of us foreign intervention in these kind of massacres are really built in to foreign interventions you can see it wherever this happens whether in the middle east africa asia anywhere the result is poverty misery suffering never improve the lives of the people of the people have the right to run their own country a president karzai if he represents the afghan people should be demanding that reparations be paid to the people of afghanistan for the so many crimes that have been committed there for all the people killed for all the lives lost for all the poverty and misery created by us intervention and those reparations shouldn't come from ordinary working class americans it ought to come from halliburton it ought to come from general electric and all the military contractors that made so much money

off of the destruction of the people in afghanistan and so many other countries in the world. on archie dot com right now cheating in class was never more dangerous it turns out that thirty four hewitt thirty four u.s. air force officers responsible for launch nuclear weapons are not as highly trained as you might expect they're only able to pass their monthly competence test after receiving the answers via text message. and also on our web site tells us for odd it's not the alps or any other world famous skiing destination it's actually north korea's attempt at a top class winter resort all you want to know about kim john this pet project is waiting for you on line. right to see. first street. and i think you're. on our reporters were very. instrumental.

in the. when leaked files from the u.s. national security agency reveal that the american spies had been keeping close tabs on a key ally germany the government there was furious comparing the practices to those of this stuff the east german notorious secret police artist peter all over met with a veteran of that service to find out just how similar the two really are. finding out that the united states attempt to private mobile phone cool confronted president obama with this claim. former offices in the east german secret police which was known as the stars of a warning for the n.s.a. if they think must surveillance is the solution to

a nation's problems who quote if it's good even the best qualified and most advanced secret service cannot save the state we showed you that away from the professed shock of the politicians at the n.s.a. spying ability how does it compare with the actions of the east german secret services cheering the cold war this can now assume this is exactly as illegal as some of the tactics that the stars are used to employ it is a breach of human rights but the government machine is so powerful that you can't stop it edward snowden's leaks about the shape and scope of n.s.a. surveillance show in germany as one of the top targets for u.s. snooping again. on top of the communist leaning devil's mountain life the remnants of the last major n.s.a. spying program to look into the private lives of the people of berlin or its abundant now back in the day this post with ears to listen in normally private phone calls of thousands of citizens in both the east and the west of the fifty

then it was thousands of calls now it's millions sometimes tens of millions of data connections that are tracked and logged with them electronically mukesh the way they do it now is much more intensive your web browsing history credit cards they can build a profile on you way easier than was ever possible in my day. didn't have access to this type of technology they rely on developing personal contacts mendelssohn's even those who are working in counterintelligence in the west were ours even they said it we were pretty good even then the fear of being listened into is taken seriously as one former officer charged with looking into nato told us you mind those fires my superior office. is there any technology that i can use to stop eavesdropping on my calls yes yes just don't pick it up these veterans of the spy game might be impressed by the capabilities of the n.s.a.

but they cautious about the quality of the information collected for dozens yet they relied too much on technology that technology might let you locate a person or listen to their calls it doesn't let you know what they think with the usa doing all it can to justify its intelligence gathering the operation dubbed two point zero by critics looks set to continue for some time yet peter all of a germany. president obama is expected to release a proposal this week on limiting the n.s.a. surveillance practices attorney kevin zeese says that the agency in the manner in which it operates has to change to avoid alienating u.s. allies. i think or shows is that the germans are the rest of the world as well and it's now what they're doing they're doing with a technological peeping tom that doesn't care about body by law were respecting other nations ro hers and i think the world has to unite in some way. to deal with

this issue of privacy invasion the united states needs the world the world have to say we're not going to deal with you you're going to be behave this way with your world history your extreme militarism and it includes the this dragnet surveillance record the moving along. you know state of the world i think it becomes a very clear choice for our leadership i think the reform. wonder standard i think we need a new york world community with them in a way of respect and things need to change. all of the n.s.a. revelations came courtesy of edward snowden who is hiding from washington's prosecution in russia later this hour we meet a woman who set up in support of him and his fellow was in her own unique way. previously peacekeepers were profoundly concerned with monitoring peace deals in

that post conflict environment nowadays they're increasingly asked to operate in a high risk of violence while believe bibles are still illegal to stay. motionless with these people have closed over almost twenty years for me when people killed millions of displaced and refugees tens of thousands of women raped tens of thousands of children recruited those soldiers who were slaves no. millions around the globe struggle with hunger each good. what if someone offers a life time food supply no charge they carry said they can the very strong position against g.m.o. and we think that's. the genetic anymore the right products are priest to

tool there is no. evidence to this any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese always in the most crap i don't believe in that destroyed poor and that free. enterprise is profit not. for social justice golden rice monarchy. on june sixteenth one thousand forty one we had a graduation party at school and the war broke out. the shops were always full of goods. in september

leningrad was blocked. one day mom went to sort it all the shelves were empty. in november the. warehouses it was the main storage place for all the food in the city people eating the earth because it had small traces of sugar in it i tried to eat it as well but i couldn't. credibly every bombing. it was a direct treat on that very shelter and everyone was buried underneath. all of them .

over ninety five percent of egyptians who voted in favor of a new constitution put forth by the military backed interim government that's according to early results from this week's referendum announced by the interior ministry is the most appointed opponents boycotted the vote claiming the no campaign was never given a chance by the authorities well true reports from cairo. how many people thought this would be the case is there's been a huge drive by the government and the military pushing people to participate and very yes as well as multimillion dollar purse to campaigns by businessmen across the streets calling on people to ratify this constitution and this is what the government really be looking for is a big yes this would basically be a seal of approval on the political right now and would see basically pave the way for elections and possibly also pay to brace for a presidential come this kind of the seat of egypt to fight to lead a general ability to tell sisi who said he might run if the people want him to so this will be a huge blow to them is the brotherhood in that regard the situation is basically

illegitimate and they've been boycotting the very it's this yes the constitution basically be making even harder for them to be able to function on the streets to give the dismissal of the government to move forward with elections so we'll have to see what's going to happen next but the most brotherhood and supporters have said they will start step up the process so expect that in the coming days. they vote on the constitution followed a month long military crackdown on members of the muslim brotherhood and other after vess who objected to the course taken up by egypt's new rulers protests without prior permission were banned the muslim brotherhood also found its hands tied as the group was branded a terrorist organization the president of the lawyers association told us that this new constitution puts egypt on the road to becoming a dictatorship once again. as a lawyer i've read the constitution the present constitution and the one before this present constitution the biggest problem in it is that it puts the and the

armed forces above the state and above the constitution people have to understand that egypt is the only out of country that actually is in control beyond any other country all the people who rose against mubarak are now being offered and you situation in every sense of the word even. at the present moment i think the government in egypt at the present moment it's gone way beyond the previous regimes and its treatment to the citizens who do not support it . western intelligence agents are reportedly negotiating with the syrian government about cooperating against jihadists syria's deputy foreign minister confirmed western spies have indeed been in damascus for talks it's not clear which countries are taking part in the negotiations and the u.k. has denied any involvement meanwhile the syrian opposition says that if the reports are true it would expose double standards in the western camp which had until

recently been openly opposing for the mascot's government one intelligence expert told us that western nations have no choice but to work with assad. and us in recognition of a number of factors one of those is the inability of the syrian opposition and the rebels to get our act together politically but also i think there's a recognition that militarily the rebels are unable to deliver on their promises in any case perhaps of more immediate concern to the west and this is a particular case in the european capitals it's clear that elements of the syrian opposition comprising fighters jihadist fighters of going from countries such as britain germany spain etc to certify it with al-qaeda linked forces that actually pose a threat to european countries themselves so this recognition has meant that security services have of course been forced to feel like to address this in the best way to their national interests and of course inevitably that means

particularly since it's likely more i think recognize now that assad will be around for some time to actually make those links even if discreetly with back with the regime's intelligence services. some other world news in brief this hour mass around the clock protests are raging in thailand capital where crowds are refusing to leave the streets for a fourth day it's a bid to disrupt bangkok and force the government to step down overnight gunshots were fired at a crowd of demonstrators injuring at least two people the prime minister has confirmed that she will go ahead with snap elections in february in an effort to calm the situation. in iraq government forces have regained control of a small town in the city of fallujah following an air offensive the advents the advance is being hailed as a major success for iraqi troops who have been struggling to force militants from the area fighters from the islamic state of iraq and the levant and al qaeda linked group have been controlling most of the avatar province for nearly two weeks now

they've also been stepping up violence across the country forcing the prime minister to issue a plea for international help. around ten thousand people have attended a peaceful march in the spanish city of burgos locals are continuing their protest against the government's plans to revamp the area which opponents claim were displaced residents and waste public funds the sendoff spilled into violence in the last few days and solidarity marches have been held in the capital forcing the mayor to suspend the project. numerous protests in support of whistleblowers such as julian assange bradley manning and edward snowden have taken place around the world in recent years our team meets one woman who chose a different way to show her support for the movement. she's a lawyer she's got a ph d. in international law and she was a lecturer but she's also posed for. what some would say would be provocative or racy photos of her age she says is to raise funds and awareness for the works of

whistleblowers and other activists like that today we're joined by dr rolls with a fuller thanks very much for joining us today but what i'd like to know is why did you choose this matter of getting awareness why not another way well actually i have written articles on whistleblowers in the military so i have actually written quite a lengthy article is not going to be published but i really thought that. in order to make a difference to. you as we know are in jail or you know at the moment i needed to involve myself in a more material way and i thought well how can i do something that isn't just a matter of talking i think there's quite a lot of consensus on this issue that we've talked enough i do think that something that was a glowing review in violations of international law is very empowering i think there is attention given to these issues obviously however i do think that people hear about these issues and they might you know complain in private or perhaps say

that they've been unfairly treated in private but what i'm trying to do is give people a way that they can contribute materially because you can sit and you know complain in the poverty something like that but this is a way to actually make a contribution to funding the legal defense or for example organization or awareness or organizational help for was a bloggers not necessarily i just wiki leaks or. also we're finding out public internet work and fair which is a canadian initiative reforms also workplace with blowers are very important as well so this week it's a way for us to basically put our money where our mouth is and help the people. with roughly sixty percent of the world's population living in countries where the death penalty is enforced abby martin takes a look at the issue and today's breaking the set. with the u.s. sitting just behind china iran iraq and saudi arabia in the number of state sponsored executions death penalty opponents have plenty of motivation to end

capital punishment in this country and while many of these prisoners are indeed guilty of heinous crimes consider this since one thousand nine three hundred twelve people have been exonerated by d.n.a. evidence alone and of those prisoners eighteen were facing death sentences of course hundreds if not thousands of convicted prisoners have no access to d.n.a. evidence virtually ensuring that they will never be able to prove their innocence which is why the decades old case of fourteen year old george stinney is so important nine hundred forty four said he became the youngest american citizen to be executed in the twentieth century for killing two white girls in south carolina is being the jim crow era cells the justice system completely failed stinney the moment he told officers that had talked to the girls on the day of their deaths without his parents or a lawyer present and he was taken into a room in terre gated in according to police confessed to the crime within an hour however no written confession exists and reports at the time say that the officers offered stinney ice cream in exchange for the confession fast forward to today

where a group of lawyers are trying to clear his name and force the state of south carolina to admit this grave injustice but of course for every person trying to create a more just society in this country there are those who want nothing more than a return to the middle ages. i'll be back with more news in about thirty minutes but up next sex on a boyko is coming up with worlds apart. we speak your language anybody will not advance. news programs and documentaries in spanish more matters to you breaking news a little turn to angles the stories. you hear.

in troy all teach spanish find out more visit. tito's comb. the playing. field limbic spirit travels with the flame from its place in greece. spring for an elementary and picture. and beyond. where art thou.

hello and welcome to walt a part of the u.n. peacekeeping budget has never been larger and did not leave the race missions around the world keeps on growing but the prospect of global peace seems to be more lucid than africa is preventing war still the best strategy for keeping peace what to discuss that i'm now joined by. the u.n. undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations mr what's the state you very much for your time. you are the fourth frenchman in a row to hold this position i wonder what is it about the french diplomats that gets them selected so often for this role i don't think it is. a problem i mean just the secretary general sort probably that was a suitable person for the job but you know it's more about doing the job done that

is what it's about so you don't think that the french diplomats bring anything special to the. able in this regard i think maybe experience because. professional diplomacy is and that sort of job i would say well speaking about experience and professional diplomacy you're worth for your friends diplomatic service for a number of years before joining the united nations and forgive me for saying but some people would find the french and gauge went into world affairs not always conducive to peace and what i mean here is in a french role in this suez crisis in the a wand and genocide more recent engagements in iraq in libya in mali some would say even the recent sabotaging of talks with iran and i'm not going to ask you on the french polish as i know that you wouldn't comment but i would like to ask you how challenging did you find that transition from being

a french diplomat somebody who has to defend french policies to being an international official who has to defend peacekeeping because some would argue that these two objectives may be at odds sometimes well on the first part of your common let me just remind you that in mali early this year if france had not intervened we would know of a potential afghanistan right in the heart of a. very close to europe so i think from this is a country that can take its responsibilities and live up to them but mr let's us i think some would argue to that point that if france didn't intervene it wasn't so active in intervening in libya may not have had the malice situation later on oh i don't think there is direct connection there is a problem in libya that is clear but again go back to three years ago two and a half years.