berlin react angrily to the latest u.s. sanctions on russia's nord stream to gas pipeline to germany branding and interference and domestic affairs as the project's main swiss contractor pulls out over washington's tough penalties. plus the us court rules that it's ok for american spy agencies to collect data on citizens without a warrant by accident that the lessons are and i say whistleblower edward snowden who lifted the lid on u.s. mass surveillance seem to have been forgotten. you tell us who edward snowden is no way to say soon not to. knock. down with a. formation. and

a man accused of stealing and burning a rainbow flag from a us church is jailed for 16 years our guest debate whether the time for the crime . 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups in america when it came to course he did not express any regrets justifying his actions based upon his particular extremist interpretation of the christian say. you're watching r t international coming to you live from the russian capital where it's just turned 2 pm welcome to the program. there's been a strong reaction from berlin and moscow over the latest u.s. sanctions targeting north stream to the russian gas pipeline to europe that's almost complete it. the german government has regretfully taken into account that

sanctions against north stream to 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 our terms amounts 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 on loans 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 them will. also slammed washington's punitive measures saying it objects to any penalties against european companies that are conducting legal business it comes as the main source contractor of nordstrom to hold out over washington's tough penalties earlier saskia taylor gave us the details. but at 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 in 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 now many of course know nordstrom too 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 to. 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 the new pipeline 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 suppliers 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 that in 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. cheese 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 all the. while current pipelines between russia and europe run through several european countries such as poland but to russia ukraine. this means that of course that 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 and specifically with regards to ukraine says that it's somehow politically motivated by what'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 2019 signed a new agreement on russian transit gas 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 that many to suspect that really what washington's up to is is trying to eliminate competition and its dominance in the e.u. . markets especially considering the bill also impose sanctions on another russian pipeline which is turks stream which runs through the black sea to touch so that's quite a patent being established here 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 energy policy is europe's business and has asked us to stop meddling so it's probably unsurprising that these latest sanctions were not welcomed meanwhile russia and ukraine seem to have found common ground over the energy question on friday the 2 sides agreed to prolong cooperation on gas transit we're not going to cross live to dr icon our political commentator

an economist what do you make of the european reaction to the u.s. sanctions well the euro. seems to be quite hopeless it seems that the european. one and the u.s. the europeans know no other choice but installing a new new. new energy sources all over the world especially to russia and it was totally not true this increases the dependency on russia to have an infrastructure to. do. this on the. supply so. it's probably don't need to for reasons that the europe the drafts that germany has made it loud and clear that it's opposed to

these sanctions and not just today why did the u.s. ignore its key ally belin. because i think the u.s. doesn't take overland for granted i think they regard to germany else as eventual state that has to follow the orders and if they don't follow the orders and they are they are and i was in this case i think the us has several israel the 1st interest is that they want to keep germany and europe. independent of america because america built out military bases in the baltic states in their parliaments and in your prey and thus they can cut off the energy supply for europe any time they want and this is a situation where they can blackmail europe and especially germany it and that germany can get and they get through the eastern sea well 60 and directly

with them apart from the american bases and american soldiers so this situation is one thing and the other thing is that america wants their new military bases in poland and the bell think states and europe great to be faced by through the. trend there's no fee for on the old pipelines plus the american people i can tell by the sign from joe biden the foreign our official from the us is in charge of the ukrainian. economy so there are many things coming together not and the sort of thing it magically your in the u.s. industry is declining since the $950.00 and bust their energy supply out of. energy is increasing so they have no nowhere where they can sell their

far too expensive natural gas and that they want to force germany. to take it of course europe to take it if europe and germany can get cheaper gas from russia they don't have to take the parking expenses and actually trick us from the us so many trips are to go now washington says that the north stream to think sions are justified as ukraine might economically suffer from the project and yet kiev and moscow are starting to make progress in that front so the us position hold up then no the vision is a total lie these are only i meant who are so ridiculous that every everybody knows that they are a group with germany already paid the ukrainian government's of to them a war against their own zebo we have spent millions there and they would even be able to suspend a. 1000000 who is

a no this time be an argument the argument is much deeper and part of this ukraine is not a coup or country they have very good sario they have gone they used to have a good industry so now totally on many other possibilities how you create and get money from the international community to pay for the american occupation. dr i come our political commentator an economist thank you for your time and your comments your what about thank you very much. america's spy agencies are permitted to gather information on citizens without a warrant in certain situations the u.s. court of appeals has ruled that this can happen if a non-national who is legitimately being monitor abroad makes contact with an american the case was brought by an american citizen arrested in 2011 he had pleaded guilty to attempting to give material support to

a terrorist organization however he questioned whether it was legal for the n.s.a. to collect information on him without a warrant former intelligence official and whistleblower william bennett told us that the ruling does not reveal anything new it does it made no difference at all it was all under executive order or one to 2 or 3 section 23 c. and which they used to signed. into effect since the reagan years the reagan presidency so they've been using that as leeway and also the use the excuse that they were unable to separate their data as not a right line too so they've been lying to the courts or wrong they've had to keep believe sort that out it just they don't want to because it gives them power over everyone the ability to look into political opponents like they did the president. the n.s.a. is a legal mass phone and internet surveillance of its own citizens was revealed by edward snowden a former contractor at the agency back in 2013 he's wanted in the u.s.

really can 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 really 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 like to skip written especially don't want to see books like this get rid of from it is still pursuing that case quite strongly they're more focused on 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 for an 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 these 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 now and doesn't ring any bells hope that word snowden. edward snowden is. it's. way to 2nd snowden's not the. not to brooks that guy on his. wiki leaks not like the wiki leaks guy but the guy who was working for the government here and is over in russia now know that he leaked some from ation he lead. 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 sense 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 n.s.a. is incapable of collecting in only targeted data off a large fine lines that they're monitoring so i mean to me that now is not a problem even back in the 99 he could have done that 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 others 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 and many of the intelligence these is any good anyway it's just a it's over look kind of a conversation they have it's not over so i don't know still to come the u.s. democrats have released a guide on how to combat propaganda details after the break. understanding of shell is that it's a money loser from day 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 and it's not a 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 you don't want to add another loser into the mix like shale drilling

voided completely. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race. theory dramatic to follow only loosely and. i don't see how that strategy will be successful very. time to sit down and talk. welcome back the u.s. democrats have an axe to grind when it comes to propaganda which perhaps is why they've released a guide on how to spot and fight it top tips include don't watch our t.v.

and read george orwell artist and hawkins delves deeper. 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 dissin from ation 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 fake accounts dissin from ation 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 seek 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 god is one plug in the list recommends it's got several high ranking officials on it's a doors or a 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 he is a big no no so change channel right now before it's too late. ask yourself who the all through online content is where they post 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 guideline. 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 telling the objective truth get verified and all those verified stick to the objective truth rules $3.00 and $4.00 go without saying of course one should never be manipulated nor let blatant fakes go unchallenged the only to be manipulated by divisive or dishonest content if you see something untrue and social media trying 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 election and trumps alleged collusion with moscow as even a special warning reserved specifically for right wing this information 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 bought of shore 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 only trustworthy sources and summing up that list george orwell's 1984 the only loss there chris hedges is

a pulitzer prize winning journalist and host of the r.t.e. show on contacts he says the d.n.c. is advice is designed to shut down alternative the. 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 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 in the cold war. a man accused of stealing and burning and l. g.b.t. flag from a us church has been sentenced to 16 years in jail after being found guilty of committing a hate crime martinez was 1st arrested in june and accused of desecrating the flag belonging to a local church in iowa earlier in the week he was also convicted of 3rd degree harassment and reckless use of fire and admitted he's against homosexuality but the length of a sentence has caused debate. why does the left cheer when the american flag is burning no one goes to do for that but they do for burning an activist movements flag while he got more years than murderers get in the u.k. unbelievable so burning a rainbow flag is hate speech but ending an american flag is freedom of speech i

see. 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 fly it is a symbol and people have a right to disagree with homosexuality they have a right to disagree with did i did 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 if 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 gonna 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 so they just would go around doing even if that weren't the case it still is extreme and a hate crime laws are silly anyway they should exist no a crime happened here it is absolutely 100 percent our 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 all the 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 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 movements that is symbolized by the flag has become authoritarian and ridiculous we see it with the insane trans narrative in the bathroom trance people in women's sports we see it with the children with the transylvanian the drag queen story i mean if you can think of and this is just another example 16 years for offending probably one of the most privileged groups

in america. the rock musician turned political activist roger waters has a lot to get off his chest these days especially given the state of british politics at the moment he's a guest on the latest episode of going underground and which he rails against the mainstream media's influence on the u.k. election and you can watch the interview in full in just a few minutes here on our team but for now here's a quick preview of. 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 arizonan boy very rich and powerful people and in consequence they may be that they 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's what's interesting to me is that who 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 this settler colonial attitude ship the last 500 years and that gives me heart that of course are not in the streets of the powers being shot or in santiago in chile being blinded or by the pinkerton man. that's a global news update for this hour but don't forget you can always had to our website r.t. dot com for the details on all the stories and many more. world is driven by a dream shaped by some person. in

the day or thinks. we dare to ask. time after time as you were going on the ground in our final show of this season coming up in the show time for the rich to have a cigar legend repeat floyd from what you will have a coal mine up and sold yet it's not.