elections in lebanon this happened on the social results for surrogate and the political honors made significant gains. for just over half of all parliamentary seats so what did britain do after hezbollah as success at the ballot box in lebanon it proscribe the democratically elected political party of hezbollah as terrorist little wonder arguably as his bullet together with syria's allies have been fighting u.k. attempts to overthrow president assad an hour and a half away as drive from lebanese capital beirut in damascus this is what has been a leader shake told julie in the sun join our t.v. just one year into what would become the u.k. war in syria move on no it's also in syria everybody knows the fed. says regime oh i'm afraid has supported their own to the resistance in lebanon supported the resistance in palestine and as it takes knobs back down in the face of its radiant american pressure. for this is a regime which serves the palestinian cause very well my mother oil

a few swirly what he was what we called for in serious negotiations dialogue and reform at liberal mr be carried out because the alternative to that no one cause of the 1st things about it was inside syria because of the sensitivity of the situation in syria the alternatives to hysteria into civil war and this is exactly what america and israel want for syria since the hezbollah aerated victory of president assad of syria against washington and tel aviv london is arguably been shell shocked by donald trump's decision to signal the end of the war could lebanon be an anglo israeli consolation prize state mandated u.k. media just as it did with protests in damascus and 2011 is eagerly covering the protests in lebanon but while the protesters like in syria have legitimate grievances is the coverage a little too eager you can see the sheer size of the process here in beirut smart a square yesterday on sunday the process were triggered in part by a. and to attack calls on whatsapp and other messaging services that have turned

into a revolt against a weak government ailing services and a looming economic collapse collapse not a word you'll hear on nato nation media in respect of jelly xion demonstrations in france after a year of protest and of course protests can be infiltrated here's what president assad told me about protests in lebanon in the past few days after explaining the infiltration of legitimate protest against his government in syria back in 2011 of course the one we believe the spontaneous demonstration to be spontaneous but where will it go that depends on the. people well some of the awareness of the people in lebanon today will arguably me down to our next guest joining me from beirut is melon reality former communications minister from the lebanese forces party melhem thanks for coming on the show how bad is it in lebanon parliamentary speaker nabih berri says your country is like

a sinking ship and it's going to go under if something isn't done tuesday's parliamentary session shut down by protests according to reports across the western world the situation in lebanon is. like a new. birth. in the streets and beirut and all over the country are preparing a new coming for lebanon and the chamber is closed because they are doing something against the constitution they try to make legislations without. before forming a new government it is illegal and it is until constitutional and we ask for just a new election of the committees in the chamber because you are asking for a new government and you technocratic government. with a new premier to relaunch and restart. the

work in lebanon. but why is it that lebanon is suffering its worst financial crisis since the civil war we spoke to president assad of syria in one of his 1st interviews for a year and a half he said that what happens in lebanon and the protests depends on the awareness of its people can you see that there is something strange about the timing of all the protests in lebanon and the financial crisis it's very different between what's happening now in lebanon and what happened in syria. at least not at the beginning because in syria in the beginning it was a peaceful demonstrations asking for change but they'd transform it into another thing unfortunately what what's happening now in lebanon it's because of. 12 or let's say 15 years after the. end of the

syrian edge of money over lebanon and we still are without electricity we have around $20000000000.00 deficit because of the electricity of those we have. many corruption in our administration and our government and we are fighting against this corruption and the people has fed up to move because they need to change because corruption is destroying our country so you don't see it is for instance hezbollah which runs its own massive social services program in lebanon that economic sanctions from western institutions they have helped create the conditions for these protests economic sanction again in lebanon are against some there's ignited people in yes but even in the area where hezbollah exists there is the most rationed because the

people the whole of binny's people. in. poor hood situation because of the corruption you have the problem of the electricity the problem of. seeking jobs and women and the problem of big deficit in the. general situation and especially in what we call the public services i'll get to the electricity in a moment but why do you think britain the united states france perhaps israel why do you think they are supporting the protests in lebanon britain is explicitly said the voice of the protests must be heard i don't know many maybe they have their own reason but we don't care about what others are saying we are supporting these demonstrations this many stations because we are early binny's

party and our leader said some days ago that please do to the 1st secretary mr pompeo that it is a lebanese affair and it will stay. lebanese affair we are fighting for freedom sure but we are fighting against corruption we are fighting for a new government that the government from specialists without political figures. because their people didn't trust those popular political figures anymore we are in a big shift between. times and the new times are coming we are a little bit afraid that some interventions will destroy this. shifting or this or manage it against our purpose do you think us secretary

bombero listened to your leader beirut famously historically no cia agents in this city and in the past 48 hours pompei are saying settlements on palestinian land are to be judged illegal by the united states in violation of un resolutions do you think pompei 0 is on the same pages as your party let me be frank with you. directly. united states. lebanon and support the lebanese army but in the case we we want that nobody will interfere in our. most asians because it is not the demonstration of lebanese forces it is a demonstration of the whole live in these people what is happening in palestine

what's happening in palestine is very different and very different in the case is very different in the approach the. violation of the united nations. security council resolutions is. against our conviction and we insist in this case that the palestinian case will be held by the palestinian people and resolved by your un security council ok but when it comes to electricity which you mentioned earlier do you not think that it is obvious washington will want to privatise the electricity system fully in your country the world bank is advising your politicians on how to run the lebanese economy why don't look to china instead of washington now it is not the problem between washington and china it is

a problem between some companies that we need that the ministry of. electricity work on and bring electricity to our people what is happening about this is not a problem international problem it is a problem to choose a good. company to work with the good people and to put the push off the corruption because some are saying that britain and the united states has been trying to overthrow the government of syria for 10 years now britain recognizes hezbollah politicians as terrorists. lebanon could be a consolation prize for these powers that have been trying to destabilize damascus you don't think they could use your financial crisis for game i think if we stay strong in lebanon and unified nobody can use us they will help us because they

need. the country and they need a model that lebanon can present to the whole world and this model between communities and between unite unified people can make the difference. in the holy word as john paul 2 said one day that they've been on is a message of truth and their freedom for the whole world and what is happening of the demonstrations in the in the streets now. muslim christians jews is everybody is demonstrated to find his power and do he of of the day well just finally has saved lebanon arguably from israeli bombing a few years back do you think instability in israel benny gantz trying to form

a coalition today in israel do you fear that israel could again bomb lebanon during this financial crisis and this political instability. it's a good question but we have to wait is. trying to make his own interest and she will it will continue to make it. an enemy of lebanon but. i don't know what dance will do if you will be the premier in israel because the kind of war i think it's not. it's not in the vision because it's there and now has another problems to resolve inside the sack. now the iraqi thank you after the break as sweden drops its investigation into wiki leaks founder julian assange sizing insufficient evidence of activist or national bulk of turco from a joke or

a tells of what he found when he visited the world's most famous publisher detained in britain's belmarsh prison for revealing u.s. war crimes all this part 2 of going underground. join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics small business i'm showbusiness i'll see of that. description sound up a tasing even for the owners so how to choose the pet food industry is telling us what to feed our pets really more based on what they want to sell us than what's necessarily good for the pet turns out that food may not be as healthy as people

believe and we have animals that have you know diabetes in arthritis they have auto immune disorders allergies we are actually creating these problems it's a huge epidemic of problems all of them i believe can be linked to fairy simple problem of diet and some dog owners so heartbreaking stories about their pets streets to larger corporations are not very interested in proving or disproving the value of their food because they're already making a $1000000000.00 on it and there's no reason to do that research. welcome back about one we have about alleged u.s. backed protests in beirut well later nation backing the so-called color revolution has been a focus. of the whistleblower site wiki leaks its founder julian assange has now 70 years of torture at the hands of british authorities according to the u.n. joining me now is activist or national broker turk ovando joe korea who has visited

the president 30 miles away from this studio here along with his mother fashion designer vivienne westwood as tirelessly campaigned to raise awareness of his case is now appealing to the wiki leaks founders former lawyer and u.k. special envoy on media freedom amal clooney to pay some attention to assad just case joe welcome back to going underground so no one of this general election in britain is talking about the most famous publisher in the world what's your understanding of his condition because as i said no political coverage in this country of you know i think that's a picture that's been repeated of the last 7 years where he's been sort of ignored or. sidelined in many cases and vilified and the rest of it in terms of how he is silent same in march. a month ago i mean you have to understand the conditions that he's in he's kept in solitary confinement.

when he sounds on the wing they clear the wing of any other prisons or anybody else in the way so he never gets to speak to anybody or see anybody he's literally not in one place to the other and so that on going the un special rapporteur on torture has been making allegations against the british government we think that certainly very were experience they made sense as his report i think the biggest form of thought he's through is the isolation and the persecution and i think it's affecting his mental health more than anything else i mean his physical health is not great he looks. and those people who know 'd. in his family and friends know that he has the personality which shows characteristics of being on the edges of autistic spectrum

. of personality traits where people become obsessive things. or shows in characteristics and i think that in my experience i have seen those things because i have other friends other people i know that have that and i think people that are on that spectrum have this they have a real sense of sort of justice what's right and what's wrong and they find it incredibly difficult to deal with things that fall outside of that belief raising under 35 years of you know states prison coverage here is just well is there awaiting extradition proceedings to the united states you're appealing to something called the cluny foundation that it's really because the wife of george clooney amal clooney used to represent julian assange tell me about that appeal the clooney foundation is set up really to look at miscarriages of justice and this is trial

watch trial watch looking at how put it putting a spotlight on the legal systems all over the world where there are causes for concern that there might be miscarriages of justice human rights abuse that type of thing we know that a lot of that goes on all over the world in lots of different places where perhaps the legal system is not as famous as the british system i won't say as robust because i don't think that that's the case because what we've seen so far in terms of his. let's say you know his courts appearances it's become so kind of confusing because he's not really charged with anything. and we still in the united states and israel are charged recently in the united states that's why. i mean i don't understand why the

united states needs to have these sentences of 175 years 250 years i mean it's an effective death sentence that's what it is in fairness to 2020 presidential contenders willy sanders and rose again for the democrats are saying that they want to not prosecute for that i did 70 in the espionage act why do you think then when this country after all is being detained not far from this studio it's outrageous it's absolutely right is this main. is a whistleblower and a publisher is probably the most important case in all of life it's only about press freedom about whistleblowers and about holding the powerful to or can't through the media that's what wiki leaks does that's what julian a sense does that's what he's even managed somewhere in some respects to continue

to do over the last 7 years. but. you know what what this is turned into is something that is essentially like saying it's a crime to expose american war crimes and for that crime we're going to take him and put him in concrete for 175 years the maid the public the judiciary the politicians should be outraged 1st of all i think people need to understand that when he claimed asylum it was against the threats of this very thing that has now been made public with america saying they're going to prosecute for all these crime us all of the media. the media kept on talking about sexual allegations. i think that now everybody can see that that was just a fabrication and set up in order to turn public opinion against him and we now

have the evidence of the miles from the crown prosecution service. telling sweden don't you dare drop these charges of good far from what you're saying alexander downer the former australian foreign minister himself himself as allegations against him about spying and working as dole trumper the we've heard of this program voices australia can't intervene because julius articles is in australia this is just a normal extradition case and she retreated is that. not this is this is. potentially the biggest crime if we let this poor woman who has exposed america more crimes than is now being treated in the most the riff it y.i.t. . i mean it's exceptional the crude see that this country is putting on this guy i should say was we gave leaks exposed crimes alleged crimes. every country whether

it be russia so i'm going to is not a hard is an ever not pardons out there is it about us press freedom this is about information this is about whistle blowing this is about holding the powerful so the can that's what this is always being you know and when he claimed asylum in the ecuadorian embassy that trumped anything about jumping bail you know asylum claims trump anything but in fairness to him or gloomy you spoke at a media freedom coverage here which i should say this program was banned from the caribbean protect journalists individuals as your game. for that one i was really did mention julian as i just case very little reporting of the fact that she did so and we had a reply from a well clooney only earlier is that i as yet but we are really asking. and flew new organization really watch what's going on here because we are about potentially commit one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the world is a sane 175 years in concrete for telling the truth i mean it's ridiculous

and the fact that elements within the british establishment and government are aiding and abetting in this is absolutely shameful and we need to do something about it we need to get people out we need. i don't know i think we need to get as many people so the call as possible we need to really up the stakes because this is crucial what would it and what did it mean for the world it will mean if he is extradited to the united states is he won't be a person anymore he will become a symbol a blob. in 175 years of concrete that symbolizes this is what happens to you if you report the truth about america more crimes we always add sway will become a symbol for the and that's it. on this program of a boss former boss headed out the street foundered street as ever over the gums ah

but what if she doesn't say yes to using the trial watch organization to highlight the cause can you understand that she has to fear quite a bit if she talks of a jury as a result of it i don't think you can play favorites in miscarriages of justice i don't think you can play favorites with people's freedom and what is potentially a death sentence for this man in the united states and say well it's not popular we're not going to talk about it because we're not going to get involved because it's the british legal system and they should be untouchable i mean when you see some of the comments the the. magistrate made about julian calling him a narcissist and things i mean this is a joke this is a kangaroo court just finally what about the fact that t.v.

journalists the journalists that gave the story to all the crimes alleged crimes were the guardian new york terms which bigger others how do you account for their silence relative silence about what you're calling a possible death sentence for your innocence of wiki leaks well i think it's a bit shine for and i think. some of it's caught up with people's own personal opinions about whether they think he's been. somebody that's been on their side enough. the point about the whistle blowing organization is that it's nonpartizan in so. you know some people in america are on the left or on the democratic side for instance can't stand him because of the clinton name people can't stand him on the right because releasing. american military footage i mean this

isn't about what you like and what some may do wrong nissim about core principles of whether or not you can have journalistic freedom in the world if the american government can come to the u.k. that supposed to have a very robust legal system to protect rights supposedly. a we're going to really be a party to sending this guy to a death sentence for publishing the truth about america more crimes that's the question that we need to ask ourselves and and if that is what we decide to do then in my opinion that will be one of the worst crimes this century. joe corey thank you and that's it for the show will be back on saturday in the past 72 hours one of the greatest photographers in the world terry o'neill died here he is talking to going underground the full interview one of his last is up on going on the grounds

you tube channel see on saturday there's nobody i want to shoot anymore to be based in the whole world changed. seems they all seem fake you know all the politicians in their life actors playing a role done about 4 or 5 prime ministers in my time and i have access to them and i still don't. you know there's no. great english politician but you know they couldn't figure out why they. go where they go i just show them how i see them you know that's that's the secret of my photography i think show people how they really are.

the tense situation in venezuela is still all over the news the problem in venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented but that socialism has been faithfully implemented for inside venezuela things look different we're going to announce sanctions against petroleum to venezuela associate. in the school that have a son of a moment to think that absent that sort of polling data to stay on the path to come up with a moment of focus the who story isn't new nixon called in henry kissinger to tell him that it would not be tolerated that in latin america. an alternative that konami and social system could take hold and therefore the policy would be to make the chilean economy scream so wants now making the economy of venezuela screed.

yeah them belong to be some of us them some of the most needy and put a monument to you stuck in the middle of the screen because lucy disconnects he thought the. fish are good for him for much is the feeling not to mold for normal which. donna suspects will and don's of the. message will. be with the infant daughter of dr no looking in on yahoo.

talk with. discardable paul mitchell with the body. but a report in the house titled the global economy a sanctions and relations with the us top form in russia. how is she sent to military police to kill us like animals we're not animals for them to kill us like now the death toll in bolivia anti kook protests rises to $27.00 of the country's self-proclaimed leader gives the security forces impunity when it comes to dealing with unrest. and french police are accused of using weapons of war a by a journalist left with severe facial injuries who claims he was hit by a tear gas grenades reported.