i. the headlines an artsy berlijn react angrily to the latest u.s. sanctions on russia is no stranger to gas pipeline to germany branding it an interference in domestic affairs that is the project's main swiss can try to pull over washington's tough penalties it's also become a u.s. school rules it is ok for american spy agencies to collect data on citizens without a warrant if done by accident that is the lessons of the n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden has lifted the lid on u.s. mass surveillance seem to have been forgotten. can you tell us who edward snowden no wait a 2nd still is not the. not the brooks the guy that he the summary information on a man accused of stealing burning a rainbow flag from the u.s.

she's jailed for 16 years our guest debate whether it time fits the crime. 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups in america when it came to court he did not express any regrets and justify his actions based upon his particular extremist interpretation of the christian faith. hello good afternoon you're watching r.t. international now our top story this hour there has been strong reaction from berlin more scope over the latest u.s. sanctions targeting north to the russian gas pipeline to europe that's almost complete. the german government has regretfully taken into account that sanctions

against north stream 2 and turks stream initiated by the us congress are coming into effect today after donald trump signed them off their effect german and european companies and are tantamount to interference in our domestic affairs a country with 22 trillion in state dept forbids credit worthy countries from developing a real sector of their economy the american ideology of living alone has failed to stand against a global competition something that's been demonstrated again and again by the u.s. treasury department issuing new orders for economic arrest soon they will demand that they stop breathing at once and many of their will while the e.u. slammed washington's punitive measures saying that it projects to any penalties against european companies that are conducting legal business becomes as the main swiss contractor of north trying to pull out over washington's tough penalties earlier saskia taylor gave me more details. the trumpet ministration sanctions have

become a political tool of choice now often simply an automatic reaction to anything that the president takes issue with and this case is apparently no different because president trump has officially signed a bill which will require him to impose sanctions on any foreign companies and individuals which are involved in the building of nordstrom to no money of course no no $2.00 is a huge $11000000000.00 pipeline over 1000 kilometers long running from russia to germany and essentially it's going to flood the european continent with russian gas at a faster and cheaper rate than anything else currently available on the market but since the very beginning washington has had a bit of a problem with the project the united states commands all our european partners who have taken a strong stand against north stream 2. and we commend others to do the same germany is totally controlled by russia because they were getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from russia and they knew by the way this pipeline if completed would

make europe even more dependent on russian energy would generate billions of dollars for putin billions of dollars that would fund the russian military aggression. we don't want your energy supplies to be. so many see this bill as a last ditch attempt by the u.s. to stop trying to end its trucks the pipeline was originally due to be completed by mid 2020 but it seems they're ahead of schedule the only 2 weeks out from it being done in fact there are any around 60 to 70 kilometers left of the pipeline to lay now one of the many companies which will be affected by this bill is the swiss organization. and they've been providing vessels for the construction a couple of days ago they in fact received a very aggressive left to from the republican senator ted cruz which can only be described really as a letter of blackmail he gave them an ultimatum either you stop participating in this project or we're going to freeze all your assets in the u.k. in the u.s.

and we're going to. have your employees from coming into the u.s. so unfortunately they count out and and have stopped all the operations america has made it clear is concerned it says about europe's energy security but of the. wild card pipelines between russia and europe run through several european countries such as poland but to russia ukraine. this means that of course they get a very hefty transit fee for allowing these pipelines through. the baltic sea meaning that these countries will be bypassed washington maintains that this is unfair and specifically with regards to ukraine says that it's somehow politically motivated it's very important to note here is that just a few hours before the bill was signed into effect russia and ukraine decided that they would likely by the end of $29000.00 sign a new 5 year agreement on russian transit pass a value crane to europe so that completely undermines what washington saying that

somehow russia is trying to cut ukraine out of a deal and it's led many to suspect that really what washington is up to is is trying to eliminate fact competition and its dominance in the. markets especially considering that bill also impose sanctions on another russian pipeline which is tucked stream which runs through the black sea to touch so it's quite a patent being established here if you're so exporting its own gas to europe as a result in europe's reaction to all of this while of the e.u. and u.s. standpoint on this issue couldn't be more different european countries call this an economic project that benefits everyone involved russia agrees germany 5 and particular has consistently said that european and that you policy is europe's business and it's asked us to stop meddling so it's probably on surprising that these latest sanctions were not welcomed. professor of political economy and also

jim to cross a former u.s. diplomat say that the u.s. is trying to prevent russia from becoming more economically integrated with europe . well it's kind of ironic that the u.s. is saying they don't want germany and europe to be dependent on cheaper russian gas but they wanted to be dependent on more expensive american gas you see and what you see here in this latest move is that they couldn't us couldn't get germany to. pull out of the nordstrom too so it's going after smaller companies building some of the products of nordstrom tows kind of an act of desperation in a sense the u.s. is getting concerned to some extent trying to keep russia from being economically more integrated with europe which is the big strategic objectives the u.s. is trying to achieve washington policy establishment is a big dinosaur that can never admit that it sailed north stream 2 will be completed i think that this this latest round of sanctions on merseyside cessation of war is

a hick up it will be finished it will go into operation but these people are washing cannot and met their policy has failed we don't know how to adjust ourselves to a reality we don't like we only have one reality that is russia is bad and i think that connects russia to europe is bad too but we must do whatever we can to try to stop it and if we can't stop it let's just make like typical. american spy agencies are not permitted to gather information on citizens with acts have warned in certain situations the u.s. court of appeals has ruled that this can happen if a non-national he was in egypt many being monitored abroad makes contact with an american the case was brought by an american citizen arrested in 2011 he had paid guilty to attempting to give material support to a terrorist organization however he did question whether it was legal for the n.s.a. to collect information on him without

a warrant former intelligence official and whistleblower weemba an intelligence that the ring link does not reveal anything particularly. it doesn't made a difference in. all it was all under executive order 122 or 3 section 23 c. which they used that been signed. into effect since the reagan years the reagan presidency so they've been using them as early as they were and also the use the excuse that they are unable to separate their data as an outright lie to so they've been lying to the courts are wrong and they have the capability to sort that stuff out it just they don't want to because it gives them power over everyone the ability to look into our political opponents like they did the president drop by the n.s.a. single mass phone and internet surveillance of the same citizens for failed by edward snowden a former contractor at the agency back in 2013 he's wanted in the u.s. for leaking classified information but was granted asylum by russia.

the alphabet soup of government agencies was it carrying out all kinds of wild spying and violations of privacy it was all pretty clearly a violation of the us constitution or that meant that offers protection from unreasonable search and seizure however at the time the n.s.a. tried to fight back pretty hard does the n.s.a. collect any type of data. on millions or hundreds of millions of americans. no sir. it does not. not wittingly 7 years on u.s.

federal courts have ruled that edward snowden the whistleblower who feel this apparatus of surveillance won't be able to make any money from the book that he just published the ruling argues that edward snowden violated his contract with the cia and the n.s.a. because he didn't submit his book for prepublication review who don't want to see books linked to skip written especially don't want to see books like this get rid of from it is still pursuing that case point strongly they're more focused on that of the financial censorship side of it this court ruling comes as federal courts have also ruled that it is now acceptable to monitor the communications of americans with a quote foreign interest without any procedure or warrant so while u.s. courts have ruled that it is now acceptable to continue carrying out practices once considered to be scandalous they have come down pretty hard on the man who revealed

the. practices to the public so do americans even remember edward snowden we decided to ask new yorkers can you tell us who edward snowden is the no name doesn't ring any bells hope it weren't snowden i don't know edward snowden is. it's . way to 2nd snowden's not the. not to brooks that guy adam he is the wiki leaks not like the wiki leaks guy but the guy who was working for the government here and is over in russia now now that he leaked some information he leaves office. basically the government spying on us and watching of our things and gave a detailed report as to what the government's doing yes there was massive outrage back in 2013 when this was 1st revealed but it seems that since then this is all becoming part of the new normal in the united states what was wiretapping of

civilians will continue in the united states and american leaders will also continue to boast that they have the freest country in the world we're going to do we need assuming they're incapable it's in the mission that the unit and i say is incapable of collecting only targeted data off a large fine lines that they're monitoring so i mean to be that know is not a problem even in the 99. but they decided not to do that they wanted to collect everything but they're not saying here is that the cia the f.b.i. and the d. e a and other law enforcement people have access to that data to search for a common crime in the united states and they use it against u.s. citizens in and in criminal courts without the without telling the coup or anybody else in the court lawyers included so they're fundamentally violating the rights of those of us citizens and every year and they do this without any oversight whatsoever or even attempt to move or say to us in the united states of any of the

intelligence these is any good anyway it's just it's over look kind of a conversation it's not an oversight and all. of us democrats do have an axe to grind when it comes to propaganda which is perhaps why they have released a guide on how to spot and fight it top tips to include doing what charts say and for george orwell and how can some small. the us democrat party is concerned about the information people are consuming so they've created a handy guide to make sure you can distinguish right from wrong we've seen what happens when does information goes unchecked it threatens our democracy and makes us less safe that's why we're making sure you know how to combat bots troll farms think accounts dissin from asian and propaganda it's short and sweet and prepares you on how to fight fake news and use social media properly and responsibly so

let's take a look actively seeking out information online from multiple authoritative sources firstly you should actively look for news don't just absorb but there is one caveat you should try to find only authours of sources if you can't decide what those are just use the ones approved by fact checkers and don't go near the blacklist speaking off fact checkers news guard is one plug in the list recommends it's got several high ranking officials on its advisory board where previous cia director x. the nato secretary general to former us government officials and leading media figures and it marks many mainstream outlets as trustworthy despite any scandals they may have been embroiled in while r t is a big no no so change channel right now before it's too late. ask yourself who the author of online content is where they posted the information and what they're hoping you will do with it next check is the author factuality and objectivity seem

to be prioritized in the guidelines something one can argue with until they mention social media transparency features as one tool to help find the facts there's a link to facebook's transparency guidelines which separate the real from the fake but it's fair to say not all those telomere objective truth get verified and all those verified stick to the objective truth. rules 3 and 4 go without saying of course one should never be manipulated nor let blatant fakes go unchallenged the void to be manipulated by divisive or dishonest content if you see something untrue and social media try to inject truth into the debate and then we move on to the final and most comprehensive point educate yourself on the tactics of online manipulators as a whole list of recommendations of what to watch and read and perhaps unsurprisingly the emphasis is on democratic leaning outlets from n.b.c.

to the new york times they also have recommendations for you to watch projects launched by loyal media you can learn all about internet outrage on the right wing's role in fake news controversies on a podcast by the daily new york times enterprise also in the recommended reading list of pieces on russian interference the $26000.00 election and trumps alleged collusion with moscow as even a special warning reserved specifically for right wing disinform ation though no mention of the same risks on the other side of the political spectrum and if you're short on time and can't read a lot there's some quick links the democrats supported social media accounts although if you do have a bit more time on your hands you can always delve into longer reports where you can mainly learn all about russia's efforts to attack and destroy worldwide democracy always a classic democrat narrative it was borrowed short who said if you teach

a man you will never learn or this god may go even further not teaching but telling in no uncertain terms where the truth apparently lies to be found only in acceptable narratives and only trustworthy sources and summing up that list george orwell's 1984 though i only lost there and hawkins our chris hedges is a pulitzer prize winning host of the artie chair one contact he says the d.n.c. vice there is designed to shut down alternative. the guidelines are meant to tarnish or discredit critics of the system unfortunately because they have a megaphone and a platform it's somewhat effective we now have lived with since the beginning of the trumpet ministrations so this is 3 years this is a whole demonization of russia which has been a convenient for oil to attack social critics they want those voices shut down and

they have of course facebook twitter or you tube have created algorithms to shut us down independent of anything to do it's a combined assault against critics and they use the idea of us working as foreign agents or. influence or manipulation of a foreign power as a kind of excuse that's nothing new we saw the cold war still to come after the break president of the commission could be in trouble back home in germany after she did anything messages that had been requested as evidence for a probe into her time as the country's defense minister that's among the stories to come just after. the world is driven by a dream shaped by. the

day or thing. we fear. understanding of shell is that it's a money loser from day one. one but it doesn't matter in the u.s. because all the creditors to lend money into the shell industry are constantly being bailed out by the central bank that prints money that's why they do it for the fees it's great for the banks but it's not an energy play at a spot of business it's a sinkhole but here as you point out in argentina so they can't just print their way out of a losing situation and the economy is already a bit fragile they don't want to add another loser into the mix like shale drilling

voided completely. a man accused of stealing and burning in the flag from the us church has been sentenced to 16 years in jail after being found guilty of committing a hate crime although for martinez was 1st arrested in june and accused of desecrates in the flag belonging to a local church and i were earlier in the week he was also convicted of 3rd degree harassment i'm reckless use of and admitted to he's against homosexuality but the end of his sentence has caused debate. why does the left cheer when the american flag is burning no one goes to jail for that but they do for burning an activist movements flag wow he got more years than murderous gach in the u.k. unbelievable so burning

a rainbow flag is hate speech burning an american flag is freedom of speech. he should have been the american flag then he would have been praised statues dedicated well i think in principle people should have the ride to behead flags a flag is a symbol and people have a right to disagree with homosexuality they have a right to disagree with denied states or britain i don't think that should be a crime per se but i would say that the flag is a bit different from the american flag because it days ignites a specific community in the same way as maybe burning a jewish flag might designate the jewish community you look at the report of what happened he was kicked out of the strip club he grabbed the flag he set it on fire outside of the strip club and started ranting about i was going to burn down the club i was in there i don't know it sounds like maybe he was wasted i don't think i don't think this is that they just would go around doing even if that weren't the

case it still is extreme and hate crime laws are silly anyway they should exist no a crime happened here it is absolutely 100 percent are institutionally protected speech to burn the gates the gay pride flag in the same way that according to the supreme court's also protected speech to burn the american flag well i'm gay and much of my human rights involve supporting the human rights of l.g.b. plus people but i've got to say this sentence is excessive it is disproportionate it is not commensurate with the crime committed however there are some disturbing elements a he was not given the sentence purely for stealing the flag and for burning it there were also. accusations and claims of arson and threats to burn down other properties namely a strip club when it came to course he did not express any regrets and indeed justify his actions based upon his particular extremist interpretation of the

christian faith now i don't believe that this flag necessarily represents the rainbow flag i don't think it. it's gay individuals maybe at one point attempted to but it's we've come to a point where the rainbow flag and all the symbolism represents an l g b t political ideology which is becoming increasingly authoritarian increasingly toxic increasingly anti-christian so people are going to have gripes about it i mean this is actually proven that people are are millennial is there's a study done recently that young people millennia old are less in favor of now they were a few years ago now the left in the gay lobby would say that is due to hate speech on the internet and trumps america blah blah blah no i would say the real reason is probably because this movement that is symbolized by the flag has become authoritarian and ridiculous we see it with the insane trans narrative in the bathroom transfer people in women's sports we see it with the children with the transylvanian the drag queen story many of you can think of and this is just

another example 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups in america. the president of the commission is facing a scandal back home in germany to the data was deleted through the requested as evidence in an investigation into her actions while she was jim and his defense minister peter all of a small. on the line is looking to stumper authours on the e.u. commission presidency right from the off. the former german defense minister has been dogged by a scandal from her past and lin she doesn't seem to be able to shake off while in charge of the german military her ministry was accused of massive overspends on outside advisers it was revealed that the fonda line defense ministry was spending 155000000 year over year on outside advice that's more than all of the

other branches of government combine and a federal audit office investigation found the defense ministry couldn't sufficiently justify why that external advice was even needed for the lions phone was thought to hold the answers to whether she was involved or even knew about any impropriety but it's emerge now that all of the data on her ministerial phone had been deleted the data from the form of form the line was already deleted in august the phone had a factory reset and the data was lost with no possibility of feed being restored but the data was deleted from the phone after it became part of the body of evidence in the investigation opposition parties and those in the ruling coalition in germany are demanding answers i expect defense minister crown current bar to take action now on those responsible this is destruction of evidence and must also

have personal consequences this is an annoying delay tactic by the government 1st the ministry said that people were looking for a mobile phone then it was announced that it was still pinned locked now the government has admitted that it had already been white the investigative committee has still not received any s.m.s. and the mobile phone has still not been examined there is simply no preservation of evidence the consequence is. the defense ministry gave the people concerned every possibility to delete as messes and messages the german defense ministry hasn't exactly made things crystal clear with its statement on the phone data being deleted the types of communication and official mobile phones that are subject of interest for the investigation committee are covered by evidence decisions the federal ministry of defense provides the committee of inquiry with all existing documents relating to the subject of the investigation this is far from over the

investigation continues and as long as it does has the potential to throw mud on angle americans christian democratic union party who are in overall charge and ursula fall into line herself which could well spell a short honeymoon period for the new e.u. commission president as the media and eventually her colleagues in brussels question how involved in these payments she was one thing is for sure silence and the deleting of data is only going to raise more questions peter all of a r.t. berlin. now the rock musician turned political activist roger waters has a lot to get off his chest at the moment especially given the state of british politics he is the guest on the latest episode of going underground in which he does rail against the mainstream media's influence on the u.k. election recently you can watch it in full day today here on r.t. but here's a preview. it's becoming more and more apparent that propaganda is almost the

most important thing in our lives and the fact that the mainstream media is owned by very rich and powerful people and in consequence they may be that big coming closer and closer to controlling everything not just all the elections but everything and obviously the elections they can't control they send in the troops you know and stop killing people what was interesting to me is that here we are what 500 years since columbus and just now this is the only thing that makes me. that gives me the strength to carry on in this fight and it is this 500 years later it seems that we the people are just beginning to rise up now against the settler colonial actually to disappear last 500 years and that gives me heart that of course are not in the streets of new powers being shot or in santiago in chile being blinded or by the pinkerton men. so

that is your nice wrap for this hour that's how things are looking more from us in about 40. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line. to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president. or somehow want to be rescued. that's a going to be press that's what the 43 in the morning can't be good that i'm interested always in the water using my. question. so what we've got to do is identify the threat.