they tell marks seventy years since its creation but the alliance is birthday bashes marred by numbers feuding over budget contributions and some buying russian weaponry. you an expert says that atrocities are on the rise in the west african country of mali with ethnic communities massacred despite a strong presence of french and american troops. iranian rights activists slums western visitors to the country who don't hate job saying that they undermine efforts to abolish the law that requires women to where the head covering we debate the issue. i think it's i think it's ridiculous i think asking women to come in when they come into the country to justice i'm black inside your mind there is

a role and there is a and because this is not mine unless you change the whole system. that evening thanks for joining us this is r.t. . nato has marked its seventieth birthday with a lavish bash in washington but the feud between two of the alliances members dampened the party mood a little as the u.s. threatened to uninvite turkey flirtation with russian made weaponry has turned rather more serious anchor though is standing its ground insisting it will go ahead with purchasing the four hundred missile defense system. 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 our allies particularly united states and we by literally if turkey completes its purchase

of the russian as four hundred missile system turkey roosts expulsion from the joint f. thirty five program turkey must choose. those who want to remain a critical partner of the most successful military alliance in the history of the world were doesn't want to risk the security of their partnership with his vice president hit back over twitter saying that it was the us that had to choose between friendship with turkey and continued support of the kurds in northern syria who anchor regard to be terrorists. turkey wasn't the only alliance member rounded though at the nato birthday party the us from its president lashed out at germany saying berland didn't cough up enough for nato especially given the size of its economy shortly after germany announced that it would contribute one point two five percent of g.d.p. by two thousand and twenty three still short of the two percent minimum set by nato the former turkish minister for e.u. affairs edge m n bugis believes that turkey has chosen russian hardware because

moscow was a better negotiator and that washington just has to accept it. turkey has to prioritize her national interests the sensitivities of her citizens and the sensitivities of the region that turkey is located and we have clear and present. against our security we need air defense system to protect our citizens we want to get that from the united states. we could not from abroad you have you know allies first in that they would help us with the missile defense system but at the end they failed however russia brought the negotiation we agree on we did agree on the financing m.b. the fine is one of the key focus of one to his latest gathering in washington as

not been relations with turkey but russia is also again painted as being a major global threat the nato secretary general got an enthusiastic response in the u.s. congress that long countermeasures against moscow and he's into trying to explain. 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 open 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 cashed of warring 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 birthday in nato and we see

a pattern behavior consistent cyber attacks on nato allies and partners targeting everything from paula months to poverty rates sophisticated this information campaigns and attempts to interfere in the more crissy 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 in nineteen only one made turtle has been wondering around without a purpose it's been looking for a purpose in the us it's gone out of the year or it's gone the try and. the berbers needs to find itself and what its relevancy is and it needs to remain as a military alliance. absent absent politics absent

economic considerations because it's not the job of nato they do a strictly military 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 tours to france russia's foreign ministry says that it's open to dialogue with nato but claims the alliance has shown willingness to says it's ready to deescalate tensions between russia and bloc members. of the security situation in the west african nation of mali is getting worse despite the fact french and u.s. troops have been on the ground there for more than six years that's according to u.n. experts who spoke out following the massacre of one hundred sixty civilians in what some fear is the start of an ethnic conflict marty charlotte dubin ski reports last month hundred and sixty people were massacred in central mali.

there are all categories children and pregnant women the elderly and young people. why well they were full army and ethnic groups have been accused of having ties to the hardest of course mali it's a number about three million around ninety percent a muslim and a number of did join al qaeda type groups as a result other ethnic groups have told all along with the same brush calling for the whole community to be labeled as a terror group that all of these. they are. and they have to be dealt with 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 from six 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. it is time to continue to invest in live chaco because of presence of the sea as virtuous effects 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 focus that efforts in rooting out terror many are concerned what's really happening i rise of ethnic tensions that some are likening to a genocide is taking place right and the noose is a large amounts of salamis they don't understand this war they don't they're not part of it they're not even part of our vision on this mission but many of their women and children in large numbers have been killed by government forces in front of u.n. officials in front of peacekeepers they have no way of getting out. out of this cycle of violence which seems to be between the government. there that's usually supported by some elements of the full 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 young brother of trying to attack. western women who wear the head jump when they visit iran are insulting the nation that's according to a prominent to rein in rights activist he says that regarding me his job as part of the country's culture goes against the hard work of activists like herself who are trying to abolish rules on the head covering they say that this is a cultural issue we're very 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 job low requires all women to wear it in public the activists condemnation of western women's mixed reaction online while women of the middle east 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

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 japanese brand 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 this issue up for debate with journalists. made from the council of ex muslims of britain. well why do i have to respect laws when i go to another country and when for example even as a veiled person i insulted i am stopped at airports just because i am a muslim woman because i choose to wear the his job and this is something that 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 just. not for one moment she even considered the women the thrown into prison. tortured raped by prison guards for choosing to remove you don't ever speak up 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 of 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

your outside of iran. and you are on cue that are removing the 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 it's all yours it islamic jihad that it was an artist you have you found was that a lot of it wasn't as. of illusion but it was a people's revolution i think it's i think it's ridiculous i think asking women to come. and they come into your country to justice and way you can't do that not only that are for women from you know my our country is they then start using that as a stick to beat them with they say to them look at these non muslim women they're coming into your country and wearing his job when you're in your country you have to be more pious and them taking away their choices those are the women we never ever talk about one the people choose the majority of the people choose to be

governed by islamic law one of them is to wear the hijab and the has not does not demean women it actually makes them become human beings and i'm not me saying no no unveiled we're not saying no now is that what you men than women who are veiled i'm not saying that there's another issue but inside iran there is a role and there is a lot of good. unless you change the whole system. britain's armed forces minister is facing a backlash after some thought he implied only a single civilian death was caused by seventeen hundred u.k. strikes in syria and iraq as the rush to clarify his position claiming he was misunderstood it was not our position that there has only been a single civilian casualty as a result of our military action what we're saying is that we only have evidence of what we believe to have been a single civilian casualty according to the british defense ministry royal air force strikes conducted since two thousand and fourteen have killed more than four

thousand islamic state fighters human rights organization amnesty international released a damning report earlier in march accusing u.k. being in denial of civilian casualties in mosul and. the u.k. is claiming to have carried out massive aerial bombing of densely populated cities with virtually zero civilian casualties this biggest relief and shows just how deeply in denial the movie actually is over its role in the mass bombing of mosul and wrecker. peace campaigner so whiting says it's impossible to distinguish and i saw a 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 none 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 but you do for another one i'm

afraid this just absolutely stinks of propaganda from our government i don't think the figures would change i don't think anything 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 retired getting the best thing to do would be to leave the people of syria to have their own destiny in their own hands and for british troops and british planes to come back to britain. 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 swept away key infrastructure laid organizations say that sanctions are preventing vital help from getting three. through the helicopters we try to move people from. area to the safe areas actually be set up the camps and we distribute the tents for the four temporarily sheltering of the people and as well as

a distribution of relief items well actually it is a living basically attempts were affected if they run their course on society they have their partner one hundred ninety one national society that our partner and somehow we receive some condolences from them and in some cases like jemera girls we are going to receive relief bullets from terrorist bras and talking about christian talk you should send us send relief items and that we have some some others just for you there are those that they announced their readiness to dispatch their relief items we have not received any one any any in in our accounts you to decide actions i can say 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 they cannot use our foreign currency as. they run in foreign ministry confirmed sanctions were hampering relief

efforts. since all the accounts of iran red crescent have been frozen by u.s. sanctions no one can send the financial aid from overseas but that statement by the iranian foreign minister came on monday and the u.s. government though says iran only has a sofa to blame for its failure to cope with the flooding rather than helping its company drafting fresh sanctions. these floods once again showed the level of the iranian regime mismanagement in urban planning and emergency preparedness the regime blames outside entities when

in fact it is their mismanagement this led to this disaster they even jail environmentalists for attempting to help iran prepare for these very issues.

the u.s. is developing a rescue plan for venezuela's economy is on to pump cash into the country through banks smart phones and apps but even though the trumpet ministration isn't rushing to reveal details the plan condition. the timeline is to get rid of my girl. i have no idea and 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 plans a rally in the capital caracas on saturdays it tries to keep up pressure to oust president nicolas maduro calls to install one goal i don't leader of the opposition are also being heard in the us though some there are being slightly canonical with the truth as to why they supported him more pain has details. 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 final is a social democrat appointed by the national assembly the only remaining democratically elected institution left in venezuela is 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 is 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 of argued videos 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 a c.n.n. q. and a with presidential candidate bernie sanders stuffed the audience with people tied to elite think tanks and 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. good evening. there's a lot of misinformation regarding your plans for universal health care. perhaps the most blatant example of media concealment was now europe and her tearful

testimony before the congressional human rights caucus they took the b.b.c. out of incubators. to think abuse to do it 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 from 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 cable up and r.t. new york. meantime venezuelans have been organizing themselves against the possible u.s. backed military intervention the red fish investigative project has released a new documentary on the country's people's militia is

a preview. would it be in good faith a. little bit of you would let me tell. you but i. would like you to. tell it. only all know the way to me and all the way to bed and so when you if you look at this thing i knew it when and where they were meant for but i'm not going to throw fits and other things to get in the mind of. the son of sam sam. the living is still a little so that is. not going to fly you say. is that you there you can link this info to make it think honestly and to put it to say for me and when you'll see before me that little no one. thing and i would i think if they buy anything i will get some get offended because the four support they'll probably have the same the core of me that. you go

about with the days where you would half an hour's time see them. break said count down. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. for something i wanted. you to write the first this is what the four three of the four people. like you do still falls in the waters of our. first civil.

hello and welcome to worlds apart the promise of a new dawn and you day and in your life it is a staple of any presidential campaign in ukraine usually resulting in the same old politicians clinging to power for another five years is that likely to hold when the ukrainians go to the polls again on april twenty first to choose between the incumbent and the increase in a poll to discuss that i'm now joined by ivan kitchen off key political scientist at the university of ottawa a professor good to talk to you thank you very much for your time. now i think it's now clear that in their round of the ukrainians will have to choose between.

is a pretty remarkable choice in many ways what does it tell you about the aspirations of the people about the state of the ukrainian society that this election has been narrowed down to these two very very different characters i think actually is also of the first. to discover publicist i was a political government because he came the second place of the value five behind the presidential. and as a professional can you there is a landscape become completely unknown in politics until this is basically. called. who is complete politics now almost all western observers blamed a comedian who shot to fame after playing a president in depopulation.