the waters of. nato mogs seventy years but the alliances birthday bash that was mauled by members feuding over russian weapons systems and budget contributions. u.n. experts says atrocities are on the rise in the west african country of mali where that's made communities being massacred despite a french and u.s. troop presence. and the rights activists debate by slamming western women who wear the hijab when visiting iran for supporting a discriminatory all guests debating the issue. i think it's i think it's ridiculous i think asking women to comment when they come into a country. inside iran there is a role and there's a lot of good. unless you change the whole system.

it's midday here in moscow what you want to international live from our studio with me welcome to the program nato has celebrated its seventieth birthday with a bash in washington but a feud between two of the alliances members dampened the party mood a little as the u.s. threatened to invite tookie whose flirtation with the russian made weaponry has now turned his of the s four hundred missile defense system. as four hundred deal is a done deal and we will not step back from this in any case we have been always. trying to improve and strengthen and deepen our relations with allies particularly united states and we value relations if turkey completes its purchase of the

russian as four hundred missile system turkey risk expulsion from the joint f. thirty five program turkey must choose. those who want to remain a critical partner the most successful military alliance in the history of the world. doesn't want to risk the security of their partnership echoing mike pence's words turkey's vice president head back over twitter saying it was the us that had to choose between friendship with turkey and continued support of the kurds in northern syria in ankara regards as terrorists but turkey wasn't the only alliance member or the nato birthday party in the us v.p. also lashed out to germany saying but didn't cough up enough to nato his budget given the size of its economy shortly after germany announced its defense spending will hit one point two five of g.d.p. by twenty twenty three a number that still doesn't meet the minimum two percent set by nato international relations expert hussein back she says nato is not as united as it used to be.

demand that until two thousand trained twenty. members seem particularly to pm countries have to give two percent of their g.d.p. for defense purposes on the other hand also that president trump said that nato is obsolete it means it's not any more functional before nato remains definitely. under nato america's umbrella existing regional organization but the other twenty eight countries they are not always happy with the american policies like germany and turkey the moment americans consistently. threaten turkey not to provide for. thirty five turkey on the other hand had to choose the russian missile system because out of necessity turkey is turkish borders do

not have any here defense systems however the key focus of nato has latest gathering in washington has not been relations with turkey but with russia with moscow again being portrayed as a major global threat the nato secretary general got and enthusiastic response in the u.s. congress as he outlined counter measures against moscow. as well. he might not even have had it in mind when he was doing it but the greatest businessmen of all presidents made sure everyone in the club opening their wallets for nato's seventieth anniversary the clear message from prison term. help is having a real impact we see that many more than a dollar meet the two percent god on the spending two percent of g.d.p. on defense can there be a better gift than money oh yeah but let's keep in mind if you will that vladimir

putin is the greatest gift to nato since the end of the cold war and it has provided a new reason for living if you will for nato that's right there needs to be an excuse for the existence of the gigantic cash devouring juggernaut and for keeping on getting new members on board weapon making firms need customers the biggest ones happen to be from where this man is in charge if you know what i mean though since to soviet union collapsed almost three decades ago even within the alliance there were some doubts about why nato still needs to be out there in research sponsored by the bloc you may have found stuff like this if they too was created notice to act as a deterrent to soviet imperialism and to counter communism and the perceived nuclear threat and what is its relevance today there was a point when a former nato spokesman gave lectures on how the alliance was struggling to find itself when the cold war was over even russia's nukes were no longer taken as

a big deal for the first time in almost fifty years the us stands on the verge of attaining nuclear promise e when mitt romney called russia out while he was running for the white house he was trolled by barack obama after all you don't call russia our number one enemy. not al qaeda russia. unless you're still stuck in a cold war mind warp well those were the days if you think of it. nato was big failures like afghanistan or libya kind of outweigh whatever the bloc would try to boast as its success anyway we even got to a point where someone from nato was daddy america the president i mean said they don't is obsolete it covers a soviet union which is no longer in existence and nato has to either be rejiggered reaching here changed for the better it didn't take long for mr trump to be reminded of russia i mean the scary version and that more folks other than saudi

arabia will have to buy garlands from his military industrial complex i said it was obsolete it's no longer absolutely happy cyber attacks on nato allies and partners targeting everything campaigns and attempts to interfere in the more crecy itself. oh you'll be all right for a very long time reexamination is called for for the existence of nato so is the. union and one thing only one made turtle has been wandering around without a purpose it's been looking for a purpose in the earth it's gone out of the euro it's gone the other places trying . to have her needs to find itself and what its relevancy is and it needs to remain as a military alliance. absent the absent politics absent

economic considerations because it's not the job of nato nato a strictly military the united states is trying to drum up the notion that moscow remains that threat in order to justify not only the continued existence of nato but actually to increase spending of their towards defense. security situation in the west african nation of mali is worsening despite the fact that french and us troops have been on the ground for over six years according to a un expert who spoke out following the massacre of one hundred sixty civilians in what some fear is the beginning of an ethnic war artie's charlotte do penske reports last month one hundred and sixty people were massacred in central mali. children and pregnant women the elderly and young people. whining well

they were flaunting an ethnic group you've been accused of having ties to your hardest of course it's a number about three million or ninety percent muslim and a number of did join al qaeda type groups as a result of their ethnic groups have told all of the same brush calling for the whole community to be labeled as a terror group. and you have to be the un has also warned that the following are being sought out for attacks these people are deliberately targeted women men and children simply for being part of the community mali is a country which has been ravaged by conflict for seven years strong our eyes and the un all have a foothold but as part of

a war on terror and to keep the peace but violence is multiplying not subsiding the threat from extremist groups has spread with a u.n. report outlining how attacks are going up often here so important is what's happening in the former french colony the president michael resisted in his first week of taking office showing support for french troops based there since two thousand and thirteen and while he may have been hoping for an exit strategy france is becoming more entrenched this week the country announced a new base for its anti jihadist force. this affects that i think that the population is still happy to see the french army investing in this region. not corn has demanded more victories on the ground against the hardest but as western powers that effort still rooting out terror many are concerned what's really happening i rise of ethnic tensions that some likening to

a genocide is taking place right and the noose is a large amounts of felonies they don't understand this war they don't they're not part of it they're not even part of his vision on this mission but many of their women and children in large numbers have been killed by government forces in front of the u.n. officials in front of peacekeepers they have no way of getting out of this cycle of violence which seems to be. when the government. there that's usually supported by some elements of the line yes i do is the wider fulani people who are being attacked in huge numbers as well they have been associated with al qaeda they'll be associated with them losing their loved ones by the government usually under the the umbrella of trying to attack. western women who wear the hijab or when they visit iran are insulting a nation that's according to

a prominent iranian women's rights activists she says regarding the hejab part of iranian culture goes against the hard work of activists like a self who are trying to abolish the compulsory head covering they say that this is a cultural issue where where it's out of respect to the culture of iran calling it discriminatory law as part of our culture this is an insult to a nation iran's mandatory head job law requires all women to wear it in public the activist condemnation of western women has stirred mixed reactions online while women in the middle is to fight for their freedom from this religious tyranny westerners think you job is a cultural good to. know they wear it because they're told if they don't they can't get in a state they're just being polite but everyone knows it's mandatory they know they have to otherwise they may never return as a woman fighting against a compulsory he job in iran it's more than painful to me when i hear people say it

compulsory he job is our culture it is not just look at the picture of the rand before deny nine hundred seventy nine islamic revolution we put the issue up for debate with journalist mariam sally and saudia honey from the council of x. muslims of britain. well why do i have to respect laws when i go to another country airports just because i am a muslim woman because i choose to wear the his job and this is something about is not mandatory for me this is something that i choose and this is part of women's freedom people who are standing against this only in order to i think promote the mass media. image of women as objects as sex objects is disgusting. not for one moment she even considered the women thrown into prison. tortured raped by prison guards for choosing to remove them

you don't ever speak for them you're not vul you have real value when you go when you are not forced to yes yes there was lots of proof but you're not going to take into account any of those women's voices because it doesn't fit your narrative you refusing to you're just lying about the about you know being made to take off your veil it's not an issue of lying look i don't know if i have the chance to talk to talk right now but you as a person you are insulting at least half a billion veiled women not inside iran outside iran as well it's not just about the veiled woman point is they have the right to your example and they have no right to yell outside of iran. if you are on a secu that are removing there is no law and they have the freedom what i do know is that iran after the one nine hundred seventy nine revolution everybody knows

that it was a people's revolution the i it's all yours it islamic it was an artist read about was that a lot of it wasn't as. pollution but it was a people's revolution i think it's i think it's ridiculous i think asking women to come in when they come into a country to dress and way you can't do that not only does. for women from you know my country's day then start using as a stick to beat them with they say to them look at these non muslim women that are coming into your country and wearing your job when you are in your country you have to be move them taking away their choices those are the women we never ever talk about one people choose the majority of the people choose to be governed by islam across one of them as to where the his job and the his job does not demean women it actually makes them become a human beings and i'm not going to unveil we're not saying america is human and women who are veiled i'm not saying that this is another issue but inside iran

there is a role and there's a lot of good. unless you change the whole system the u.k. claims it has evidence of only one civilian death from seventeen hundred of its middle east and bombing raids more on that story after this break. you know world big partisan movie lot and conspiracy it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door on the bats and shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for the truth the time is now we're watching closely watching the hawks. what politicians do

something anything. they put themselves on the line they get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. or somehow want to be. that are going to be cross it's like the three of them all can't be good. i'm interested always in the why. welcome back of the prime minister for armed forces is facing a backlash after some took attempt to be saying that only a single civilian death was caused by seventeen hundred u.k.'s rights in syria and iraq mark lancaster has clarified his position as follows. it was not our

position that there has only been a single civilian casualty as a result of our military action what we are saying is that we only have evidence of what we believe to have been a single civilian casualty according to the british defense ministry well effort. strikes conducted since twenty forty have killed more than four thousand islamic state fighters human rights organization amnesty international released a damning report earlier in march accusing the k. of being in denial of civilian casualties in mosul and rocca the u.k.'s claiming to have carried out massive aerial bombing of densely populated cities with virtually zero civilian casualties this beggars belief and shows just how deeply in denial the minister of the first actually is over his role in the mass bombing of mosul and roc-a peace campaigner russell whiting says it's impossible to distinguish and i saw fighter from a civilian after an airstrike. let's not forget the ministry of defense actually

only trained one civilian had been killed after months and months of claiming you know the idea that you can know whether someone is an arsenal fighter or a civilian after a bomb has been dropped on them the idea that you don't have enough boots on the ground for one category of people to be identified that you do for another one i'm afraid is just absolutely stinks of propaganda from our government i do think the figures would change i do think any figure that we've been given about our involvement in syria or afghanistan iraq libya have been accurate because we just don't know we keep rushing into these interventions with no idea about who we targeting the best thing to do would be to leave the people of syria to have their own destiny in their own hands and to british troops and british planes to come back to britain. the u.s. is developing a rescue plan for venezuela's economy to sign to pile cash into the country through

banks smart phones and apps but even though the trumpet ministration isn't rushing to reveal the details the plan has one condition. the timeline is the garrett a better oh. i have no idea when that's going to be that would begin immediately it's a question of. getting hold of the what i call the machinery of government the venezuelan opposition placer renew its efforts to oust president nicolas maduro on saturday and that data is nearer course to install while i don't know the leader of the opposition getting louder in the us so advocating for quieter that are apparently doing so under false pretenses as colorful perhaps playing. with venezuela in conflict the media definitely needs voices to explain you know analysts to assess the situation in the country and it also helps if they can speak perfectly fluent english so joanna hossam i'm speaking in an editorial for the new

york times about venezuela this movement on the american left against any u.s. involvement in this way that is gaining traction dangerously glorifying the brutal dictator and promoting inaction the way though is a social democrat appointed by the national assembly the only remaining democratically elected institution left in this way and she's venezuelan american and she's a comedian she loves to call out critics of u.s. foreign policy because how dare they think they might know more than her when she's an actual venezuelan and furthermore she gives full support to juan guede oh the self appointed u.s. backed president of venezuela but here's a detail the new york times failed to mention her father is ricardo hossam and the economics professor from harvard university and ricardo haas a man her father is currently the envoy of wand wedo to the interim merican development bank the biggest lender in latin america looks a lot like miss hosmer has a pretty big dog in the fight however the new york times presents or is just

a liberal minded venezuelan who wants what's best for her people it should be news or that her father has a lot to gain politically and professionally should regime change happen very cool of the new york times not to mention you know the fact that john houseman's dad is an economic advisor. now the folks who handle ethics of the new york times have a special section dedicated to possible conflicts of interest from contributors stuff members must be sensitive that perfectly proper political activity by their spouses family or companions may nevertheless create conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflict but in the end the new york times didn't really care they presented her as just another voice we were aware of her for this biography before publication but miss housman. is an independent adult woman has built a popular following on her own by producing a portfolio video about venezuela. and it wasn't just the new york times she made her rounds to buzz feed c.n.n.

and the four freedoms forum none of them thought that her blatant family ties to one grade zero were of any concern and not presenting the full picture is not all that uncommon in american media there was a lot of outrage recently when i c.n.n. q. and a with presidential candidate bernie sanders stuffed the audience with people tied to elite think tanks in the democratic party but presented them as just average citizens with tough questions how could a voter like me. feel confident in your ability to represent the party. there's a lot of misinformation regarding your plans for universal health care. perhaps the most blatant example of media concealment was now you're a and her tearful testimony before the congressional human rights caucus they took could think abuse to do because she failed to give her last name but her tearful

testimony plucked america's heart strings and it paved the way for u.s. support for kuwait during the gulf war it turned out that no year zero was actually the daughter of the kuwaiti ambassador and her story could not be verified and furthermore she had arranged to testify without taking an oath making it illegal for her to lie yes when it comes time to push for a certain agenda the media seems to ignore rather inconvenient facts but remember behind every face is a story a little up on r.t. new york. the number of people killed in flash floods in the southwest of iran has risen to sixty two the deluge which started two weeks ago has destroyed key infrastructure local aid. dorgan isolation say sanctions are preventing five poor help from getting three. through their helicopter as we try to move people from the . area to the safe areas actually be set up the camps and we distribute that the

tents for the poor temporarily sheltering of the people and affected people they run their cars on society they have their partner one hundred ninety one national society that our partner and somehow we receive some candle answers from them and in some cases like gen margaret wells we are going to receive relief bullets from generous brass and talk us christian talk you should send and send relief items and that we have some some others just for you there are those that they announced their readiness to dispatch there really fighting we have not received any one any any in in our accounts you to decide against and so there are a lot of people in our brought that wants to help us and want to donate their money especially iranian people who are living abroad but we cannot use our foreign currency. that statement by the iranian foreign ministry was made on monday the us

government meanwhile alleges that poor infrastructure is to blame put iran's difficulties in dealing with the fighting rather than assisting drafting fast sanctions targeting the iranian economy. these floods once again showed the level of the iranian regime mismanagement in urban planning and the emergence mismanagement this led to this disaster to even jail environmentalists for attempting to help iran prepare for these very issues.

with.

the news this hour i'll be back around thirty minutes with more updates but in the meantime to stay with us for the kaiser report which is up next here on our international. after the previous stage of my career was over everyone wondered what i was going to do next the whole different groups on one hand it is logical to sort of go from fields where everything is familiar on the other i want to the new challenge and the fresh perspective i'm used to surprising us all to one or three people. i'm going to talk about football not for you or else if you think i was going to go . by the way what is

it that sliding here. there was it. seems to do crack when i was a little kid my dad he was like oh just so you know like what i mean it when i was a baby boy i had a bad childhood. there's always playing single mothers and african-american community service and slavery. i think it's more of these teenagers having kids in you can expect a fourteen or fifteen year old first daughter now order for and then be a father and he said check out. we actually lost our place in october my car and breaking down and i was unable to get to work on time so they let me go in with my paycheck that i bring home i have nearly enough to pay my car insurance and gas in my car.