i. i. but as well in troops fighting gases protesters throw stones and light fires in the bid to break onto a bridge near the border with colombia demonstrators one present let us say through but he fears it could also contain weapons. also to come to gas fired at mass demonstrations in albania where thousands have rallied there against government corruption however some western governments are condemning opposition and protests as undemocratic and we speak to a german pensioner being evicted from the flat he's lived in for almost a quarter of the century to make room for refugee. i cannot believe that i seventy four year old pensioner was moved out and suffer all these troubles

even the one paying my rent all asylum seekers getting it for free. oh good afternoon welcome you with art international this saturday which just gone five pm here in moscow and the venezuelan president nicolas maduro is calling on people to go to the streets and defend the country's independence as tensions flare at the border with colombia troops there have fired tear gas and stone throwing opposition protesters trying to cross the frontier reportedly to let us aid shipments pass through. your door has closed all the borders but the self-proclaimed leader. saturday deadline to let us aid into the country livery said when amassing at the border but

the trucks are blocked by me do. they may contain weapons venezuelan foreign minister says external forces are trying to push his country towards violence. in brief the country is at peace and is calm but there are those directly from the united states who want to force a situation such as the one of the venezuelan border with colombia and generate violence in venezuela violating venezuelan sovereignty. the evidence where the colombia border has really become a flashpoint in the ongoing power struggle in venezuela what we have here is a situation whereby hundreds of tons of u.s. aid has piled up at the border leading to increasing pressure and condemnation not just from the u.s. but dozens of nations who have sided with the self-proclaimed leader one kwaito so it's easy to paint a picture of president nicolas maduro as an evil desk part you know denying his country this vital aid given we're led to believe that his nation are on the brink of starvation however on the flip side material is insisting that there is no

crisis this is all a u.s. orchestrated show today is the deadline set by one grade zero to let that aid into the country although it's not entirely clear what will come next it's looking very likely that it will not be letting that aid into the country wedo has vowed to rally his supporters on mass to go and physically bring that aid into the country but on the other hand there's also the looming possibility that these hostilities could lead to armed conflict donald trump has previously said that all options are on the table including a military one and one kwaito has shared those sentiments but i don't know we would do everything possible once again this is obviously a very very controversial subject making use of our sovereignty and within our jurisdiction we would do what's necessary nikki recently the european union offered to send to venezuela which the elected president nicolas maduro said was most welcome but why of the deliveries from the united states not so welcome or concerns

are that these trucks carrying u.s. aid could contain hidden weapons which does sound overly paranoid but it wouldn't be the first time so. the thing had happened the u.s. insists that is mission is peaceful calling such claims preposterous now what is seems it's the wild versus madeira head there are those who are calling for more balance the south african ambassador to the u.n. for instance is that that no deliveries should be made into the country without their president's permission and then there's russia he has concerns of a possible u.s. all teary emotive the speckle grows of the delivery of the weapons to venezuela is planned for the beginning of march of this year in several stages by the neighboring country using the cargo planes over international companies so it's all eyes on venezuela now to see what will come next whether we will see one kwaito rally his supporters to defy the president and bring this aid into the country really does rely heavily on whether they can sway the military which are currently

loyal to president nicolas maduro either way what we have here is a highly combustible situation with venezuela teetering on the brink of civil war here and there while the bolivian president evo morales has echoed daughters concerns branding the u.s. aid a trojan horse while in cuba more than three million people have reportedly signed the hands off and why the petition urging washington not to intervene historian kevin young believes washington is using a delivery to provoke and do it all into action which could be used as a pretext for military intervention. what's very clear is that what washington is trying to do and what the opposition led by the way though in venezuela is trying to do is to provoke the venezuelan government to violence into repression into extreme action try to provoke it to do something which could be used as a justification for. the u.s.

military action. against the economy. illegal under international law of course have cost them as. billion dollars so when you compare that to the amount of so-called humanitarian aid that's being pledged from the u.s. and from richard branson in this crass political spectacle it's very apparent that not only is that money a drop of a drop in the bucket comparatively speaking but the motives behind it are nothing but cynical. and you know if the united states or or richard branson or the venezuelan opposition had any interest in helping the people of venezuela in helping the cause of economic recovery in venezuela they would pressure for an end and immediate end to us ancients which are causing so much damage meanwhile to us were held on different sides of the venezuela colombia border one against any foreign intervention in venezuela the other supporting choir days humanitarian

relief plan supporters of the last a claim in it. in the spirit of the legendary nine hundred eighty five live a concept which raise money for the victims of famine in ethiopia and cohen was there. don't be forward by this festive atmosphere all around me where we see a music going on this is actually one of the most geopolitically hot spots in the world right now behind me on my right you can see the bridge crossing between colombia and venezuela i'm on the colombian side where this concert is happening it was organized by richard branson the british billionaire let's take a look at what he had to say. i then saw. an interview with one quito who was asking for the world to help and i decided to pick up the phone and speak with him . and see what we could do to help wonderful free concert on the border to

illustrate. through music the importance of letting letting relief into the country for the better. well and government is holding its own concert on the other side of the border and that is why the president nicolas maduro has said that he will actually excuse accepting humanitarian aid through the european union through the united nations now that humanitarian aid that the u.s. has in a warehouse just off to my right is said to be worth twenty million dollars now that sounds like a lot of money to you would be but that's a drop in the bucket when you look at the thirty eight billion dollars that u.s. sanctions have cost venezuela the red cross and many other major international humanitarian organizations have refused to participate in this saying it is and the words of the red cross of niger had a tear in aid. so. you knew they've also joined the mercy corps and

who is who said this actually violates the principles of humanitarian aid in terms of parsing impartiality. well meanwhile at venezuela's border with brazil two people have reportedly been killed in more than a dozen injured there in clashes between the venezuelan military and protesters the incident comes amid confusion over the status of the border president do it oh close the frontier is part of the standoff over aid but his rival ordered it to be reopened with the venezuelan opposition blaming the government for severe food shortages one investigative journalist in caracas says what everything is as it seems like spring in full went to a supermarket and this is what he found. i feel lost in the supermarket this jesus there's a lot of cheeses and meats here fish heads fish heads roly-poly fish heads here we've got congealed meat we got like so much me over twenty dollars that's the

problem here the problem is a scarcity the problem is inflation and speculation brought on by the capitalist class the fruit section. i learned this in. my shampoo and conditioner took me like a while to do that because there are so many varieties. my video was a response to u.s. media which is embedded with that that it's way that opposition and with the usa i d right now on the colombian border and and doing this humanitarian intervention propaganda show where they're actually claiming that there is no there are no basic goods in venezuela at all and i was showing that in a fairly upscale neighborhood in caracas the supermarket looks just like the supermarkets in my hometown of washington d.c. i can also tell you that i was out today in some of the poorer areas of caracas and i actually encountered the vice president of venezuela del cielo rodriguez and the

mayor of caracas erica at open air food markets around the city where food is being distributed basically for free to the poor and working class communities the problem here is with speculation there are high prices on foods and random situation that has to do with actually the kind of capitalist class here that supports the opposition the u.s. sanctions are actually allowing them to hoard goods and to make maximum profit and those so that's the irony here is that many of the supporters of the opposition and the big business forces behind the opposition are actually cashing in on the economic crisis. meanwhile at a gas has been fun to put up in the capital of the small balkan country of albania which is in the grip of intense anti-government protests to people want to get rid of the current cabinets alleging corruption and links to organized crime opposition

m.p.'s have resigned on mass demanding new elections it was done of a small. the of. the it was. is on the fire the small book a nation has been engulfed in a massive anti government protests which literally left a stain on the face of the country's prime minister. those are top of. the country's opposition decided to destroy their parliamentary mandates no kick the system out of order so what is going on well the allegation the authorities face is no joke a lot of people are certain the government is working hand in hand with the drug

lords parliament that is not the product of the vote of the people but is a product that has been exposed by a judicial wire tapes published by the international media. organized crime operating openly with the current government alleged leaked phone calls of one of the country's most notorious cartels revealed dozens of albanian m.p.'s were happy to use the gangs influence and well persuasion skills to buy votes in the general election which the ruling party won by a landslide wiretaps also led to the official investigation into albania as former interior minister he stands accused of passive corruption drug trafficking and of being an active gang member and here comes the twist the prosecutors can't really do anything but prowl around him since albania's prime minister has refused to revoke his diplomatic immunity shielding him from the law there fishel position was

to deny everything we do every allegation of corruption you know they were to do. i meant it evidence in there is allegations and but in this instance there are significant documented in evidence links between the current government organized crime money laundering and the trafficking of drugs and i think it needs to be ascertained as to whether the two thousand and seventeen elections were free and fair or whether there was buying and vote rigging going on and i think that is why people that were sort of the cherry on the cake you know white people feel that they need to be said action taken and it could be a case of just a few bad apples but the opposition says it is not the sheer scale really of the drug operations in colombia of europe is mind blowing this tiny nation has become one of the biggest transit hubs for heroin cannabis and cocaine smuggling

racketeering a server police force in the pocket of crime lords politicians enabling the drug trade instead of fighting it this is what albanian protesters say drives them to the street yet so far they've mostly been told to shut up and know their place for the democratic party the socialist movement for integration and other opposition parties to abandon their members in parliament undermine the basic principles of democracy yeah a political protest is apparently a violation of democracy in the us rulebook the same us by the way that suffers from a severe drug problem of its own europe but albania is mafia have turned into a dirty money cash cow doesn't seem to mind of backing the elites to the lawmakers go against the democratic two as a full band citizens and undermine the progress the country has made on the european union path yes the e.u. seems eager to overlook the opposition's cry for help and set the nato nation and

europe as a drug den on the course of integrating into the union. what they're doing is provided for in the electoral college i'm a constitution of this country therefore what they are doing is completely one hundred percent democratic yes it's causing a political crisis but this political crisis is only happening because there are serious allegations of election rigging. i think that the e.u. and the us i don't know whether it's in ignorance or whether they have some other agenda but there is i don't i mean people are shocked at the way that they're behaving and they've systematically failed to address any of the protests in albania over the last year the protesters are angry about this civil society is angry about this me as a journalist i'm angry about this because the fact forty three opposition m.p.'s resigning is democratic it's the pinnacle of democracy just gone

a quarter past five her mosque and asked her to come for you this hour a german pensioner is evicted to make way for refugees and also tensions between taiwan and china grow we'll have a look at those stories for you just after the break. i would normally guess manufacture consent to protect themselves. with the famous merry go round be the one percent. we can all middle of the room sick.

my daughter could be is that i will accept the idea of course this will be ocean without palestinian i was there when the borders of sixty seven was there was about as it's covered up we are going to be slipping i i don't live slipping don't go one still feel it be and i underline be early which means that we will be living living in it before one is did situation there four years later will find itself neither jewish i was a big limb north korea woke up because they're clear. again now a german pensioner has been told to move out of the house he's lived in for almost a quarter century to make room for migrants with. i cannot believe that i seventy four year old pensioner move out and suffer all these troubles even the ones paying my rent while asylum seekers are getting it for free it's wrong. klaus

roth there was given a nine month of the authorities there have promised to find him a small a flat his previous one hundred fifty square metre apartment in the small town nearest it got when i go to six migrants but the time with a population of four thousand is home to fifty five migrants already both says he used to work with refugees helping them to integrate. i was involved in refugee work myself three years i attended meetings with asylum seekers at the cafe international to help them integrate into our society i was actively involved and nobody told me break them that they needed my apartment. taiwan's president announced she is seeking reelection this week it does follow to a sudden spike in her popularity after she rejected a peace deal with china in contrast the taiwanese opposition party leader has promised to sign a treaty with beijing if his party is able to regain the presidency in twenty

twenty vangelis cips us has more. for china this island is part of its own territory but for taiwan china is a threat if you believe the western media narrative that this free democratic land needs to defend itself from the imperialist the bishan of changing things governments china's threats to forcefully retake the island not just engaging in belligerent rhetoric it's trying to cut taiwan off further from the business community making the redraw their maps that taiwan is part of china it has long refused to rule out the use of force to achieve that goal taiwan has looked to the west ever since it split from mainland china in the wake of the civil war in one nine hundred forty nine but the vast majority of the year when members have never recognized that as an independent country and beijing in has always stuck to its one china policy on from going up and taking responsibility for the nation and

future generations both sides should pool our wisdom resolve the political rivalry and bring about sustainable peace across the taiwan straits with a long term vision for reunification of the motherland now taiwan's opposition kuomintang party is the chairman to finally resolve the dispute but it will have to wait until the presidential elections in two thousand and twenty assuming talks between the two sides a successful future cumin tang government would be within its rights to sign a cross street peace treaty to formally end the chinese civil war but taiwan's current leader has a more aggressive stance after announcing her reelection bid president. made it clear that she still views china as a menace. that china's ambitions and aggression are not just targeting taiwan but also other countries in the region or even worldwide chinese state media says she's playing a dangerous game the editor in chief of the global times a chinese state run news

outlet called the taiwanese leaders reelection bid a quote crazy progress of escalating tensions. and the public support for the local government seems to be slipping the ruling party suffered a significant loss last november in the mid-term elections which forced china and when to step down as the party chair so maybe washing the support is not going to be enough meanwhile in menlo and china people are optimistic the ship that day. has to relationship given all the possible and cultural ties pressured be peaceful ways to bring men in china and taiwan together. supposes. china is a very strong country now and taiwan is small by itself without any help from outside taiwan wouldn't last long china has the power to protect income come with the next elections just around the corner this is a hole that these elections might bring a possibility of lasting peace they're friendly overture all right that party

is there it's not surprising at all that's always been the way or particularly in more recent decades president franklin's popularity is slipping they have been grooming that loss of popularity as an opportunity to course for strong relations with china if indeed it's about taiwan i think what they should recognise is that it's. time with people have very a clear view are going to look at the view state if your economy about the fact that their economy is tied sharp so any sort of fear mongering around what it's trying to choose is not have much effect at all on how timely it's people themselves feel about the situation. the cities across the country the south the name it is the fifteenth weekend in a row such demonstrations have been held in today's event is a paling for calm after the violence seen over the past few months and so far

things have remained peaceful for five separate demonstrations were organized in paris alone hundreds gathered on saturday for a march through through neighborhoods the vest movement began last november as a stand against planned increases to fuel taxes however it hasn't evolved in some process against government policies seeing as favoring the bridge online and then its means for saturday's marches appeal for pings from action as support for the movement has dipped in recent weeks and the continued outbreaks of fire. so that brings the. that's how things are looking so far today here in our back again as usual at the top of the. join me every first week on the alex simon sure and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm showbusiness i'll see you then.

as far right parties obsess about the danger is the ampersands to the western lifestyle some islamic scholars are concerned about the opposite are no advantage on argues the dead muslims don't step up their game within the next twenty to forty years islam may vanish from europe are those fears really justified. from a loss leader why it's no good to the salaam do you force me to do the focus on the us to do so e.j. . i want. to see in the draft on more stuff from for the most good moment in.

your home or. more. it all changed when you don't let us. know what. if. not after times are we going underground as africa's biggest oil producing nation nigeria attempts a presidential election for the second time in a fortnight coming up on the show we investigate arguably u.k. e.u. breaches of international law from the middle east to lobby america was one of the world's greatest human rights lawyers jeffrey robinson hands did jeremy called in

a blind eye to his own m.p.'s now revealed as those who would jump into bed with extorting to budget for welfare cuts that have led to one hundred twenty thousand deaths plus be quiet now on for the rest of the session you used to practice is a barrister you didn't make there's also a room for noises in the courts or if you did and i want to unite on the practice that u.k. parliamentary chaos is elected officials abandon the policies that got them into power all the support coming up in today's going on the ground the first even before the broadcast of wednesday's episode we were inundated with tweets over a clip featuring journalist but disobedient allegations that the white helmets have been involved in the trustees including human trafficking and organ harvesting in syria in fact the allegations had originally streamed on the united nations t.v. channel as part of a un discussion on the british backed white helmets organization in syria the clip being commented on was actually part of a whole going on the ground episode i think challenges against unverified claims and invitations to the u.k. government the white helmets and others that did not stop elliot higgins of the

belling categorisation infamous for exposing alleged chemical attacks in soles re tweeting i wish i could say i was surprised russia today would broadcast this does gusting insane propaganda about the white helmets but it's actually just very own brand for them another staff member of belling cat nick waters tweeted of the twitter organization against going underground complaining that the clip we posted was against their rules he wrote her a twitter and at twitter support this tweet is a flagrant violation of your rules this tweet is a perfect example of a state sponsored act using your platform to spread this information putting lives a first responder. that risk this has real world lethal consequences twitter responded to complaints against going underground saying we have received a complaint regarding your account underground underscore r.t. we have investigated the reported content and could not identify any violations of the twitter rules so accordingly we have not taken any action at this time for

billing cat which has received grants from google and george soros we invited both elliott taken to nick waters to appear on the show both declined and hagen's did they respond with this tweet russia today has just asked me to go on going underground because of this tweet probably defeat impartiality for the inevitable off calm complaints i'm not going to let the channel that promotes conspiracy theorists any credibility by appearing on some show no serious person watches of our interview with journalists and as a barely a birmingham university professor scott lucas also reference u.k. regulator ofcom he said liar shameless liar being used by hashtags russia's state and its outlets like. underscore komati dot com has take syria hash tag propaganda when i ask birmingham university about awareness of u.k. defamation law professor lucas tweeted sorry i can't chat i'm with some folks from off gone right now they say hello to you and your buddies has that russia has tracked propaganda hash tag syria so far we've not heard from the u.k.

media regulator ofcom about wednesday's programme but scrutiny of a different kind was levelled at british t.v. interviews this week of a so-called isis bride trapped in arguably rented stay close by to resume home secretary such a java joining me now is one of the world's greatest human rights lawyers geoffrey robinson q.c. jeffrey welcome back to going underground just before we get on to other things what you make of the child abuse summit it's the top and the pope is the top and boy does he have a problem because there is now so much evidence out there that child abuse was in demi tens of thousands who did not hundreds of thousands of children have been abused by catholic.