the pentagon reacts to accusations that washington has routinely lied about america's longest war made by the top u.s. official overseeing afghanistan's pre-construction. also this hour russian programmer alexander arrested in greece on washington's request write a plea for help saying he has been tortured and refused the most basic rights. plus a dramatic scene the french president is rushed out of a paris theater under a hail of boos as furious protesters chanting resign tried to confront him. and russia have marks 77 years since the breaking of the siege of leningrad one of world war 2 for most appalling humanitarian disasters.

you're watching our 2 international bring you your live news update from our studio here in moscow welcome to the program. the pentagon insists it's been honest after washington's own watchdog for afghan reconstruction accuse the military leadership of routine lies of the progress of america's longest war. has more. common cynicism aside most people would prefer that those responsible for leading the country tell the truth and this is most especially true when it comes to situations like war where the lives of the men and women in the armed forces are on the line well according to the special inspector for afghan reconstruction the pentagon has been lying for years the problem is there's a disincentive really to tell the truth we have created an incentive to almost

require or for people to la there's an odor of mendacity throughout the afghanistan issue and i know congressman connelly has heard me talk about this years ago mendacity and who bruce now the department of defense was quick to chime in and dispute this congressional testimony here is the response the idea that there was some efforts to hide the truth the reality on the ground just doesn't hold water this idea that they were somehow missed statements i don't think that really joe's it has been roughly a month since the washington post published the afghanistan papers this is a trove of documents from the office of the special inspector general showing a sensually among many revelations that the efforts of the usa against the taliban have been completely ineffective america's top military brass were clueless about

afghanistan and had no real understanding of what was happening on the ground and no real strategy this is how one of the top military generals under the administrations of both bush and obama explained it would trying to do here we didn't have the full goose newsham that would ruin the taking through the fundamental get up and distancing of the front and the stated objectives. in the military and the lack of understanding of the resources. internally the pentagon knew that the situation was bleak however that is not what was told. u.s. public bring years americans have gotten a steady stream of information claiming that there was progress being made in afghanistan we helped liberate an oppressed people. and we will continue helping them secure their country rebuild their society and educate all their children boys and girls. that i set to defeat al qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is within reach and we're doing

a tremendous job. and as you know a big part of the job is is certainly the biggest and we. we've got him down very low numbers wise lies and more lives the usa has been in afghanistan for 17 years now making it the longest military engagement in all of us history and despite the new revelations showing how bleak the situation is and that deception was part of the modus operandi for the pentagon it seems like top voices in washington still don't have an exit strategy caleb mop and r.t. new york. experts told us the watchdogs revelations come as no surprise we've been told so many times. we earned their everything is going to get better and stand that we've actually done in a circle. that explains why. people are.

informal and say sure be responsible who work. for progressives and are in a stand they don't want to jeopardize their career. it's not going well and we're not in progress i think it is definitely time for the united states to revisit its troops we've been there 80 years we have killed over 150000 afghans. more you know various militia groups specimen 3. majority are afghan civilians who only want he's here and there for free something they really here for care. the inspector general is speaking out after the documents he tried to keep secret were leaked those words leaked after year after year after year of this same nonsense being repeated so it's possible for these things to build and steamrolled but it's that the united states has a has a president who campaigned on ending this war and is that out repeating the tired

old lies that he's about to win it in a day which are not unique to this war that they come with every war every occupation and there's not even been a requirement that a victory be defined nobody has any idea what it would be a victory is to continue losing for another year. a russian programmer arrested on washington's request claims authorities are resorting to torture and an effort to break him i'm sorry nic is being held in greece on u.s. cyber crime and money laundering charges he's now written a plea for help. they're trying to use torture and psychological pressure to break me they do not allow me to breathe fresh air the last time they let me out for a walk for a few minutes was on new year's eve i'm a man without rights illegally imprisoned in greece for 30 months without charges they want to destroy me for my knowledge they want my head on a block just because of what i know and my technological abilities the case of

alexander vinick is a case of blatant violations of human rights it's an international disgrace this man is been imprisoned for 13 months without a charge in greece he's not being prosecuted in greece without a sanction without a penalty without a trial alexander is not a criminal alexander is someone who has extremely high skills technological skills in blocked chain technology he has not targeted for any kind of criminal behavior because it's very clear that what he has done is not criminal however what he has done is very very annoying to those who wish to control the economic. exchanges of the people what is worse is that during the last days the conditions of detention of alexander didn't make

amount to cruel and inhuman treatment which is a form of torture as we all know alexander is being denied the right to go outside his. hospital room he's been hospitalized in the last 12 months more than 12 months actually and today his mother who came to visit him from russia was the night the right to see her son. when he was arrested in 2017 the u.s. accuses him of laundering billions of dollars to abe. israel currency exchange is also wanted by france which claims meaning carried out cyber fraud from his prison cell and russia wants to question him as well now athens has already approved his extradition to all 3 of those countries over russia's acting foreign minister has criticised procedures warning that greece has completely failed to examine the evidence presented by moscow the next lawyer. told us why he should be extradited

to russia. i greece has not only decided to extradite alexander simultaneously to 3 countries but has also specify the order by which alexander should go to these countries the point is that the extradition of alexander to the united states cannot be fair as he has never been there and hasn't committed the crimes that the usa attributes to him work with new technologies cannot be a crime especially if at the time of the activity the legislation regulating these actions simply did not exist. concerning france they used only american evidence and investigators have never concealed it but today we know that france is not going to conduct any prosecution against him on its territory so the decision about the extradition of alexander vinick to france and then to the united states is purely technical the so-called greek trick is this to send him to france where he's

going to be rejected and then sent him to the usa. is the best ending for both alexander vinick and for every other party to this case will be of course his extradition to russia because russia is the place of the alleged crimes and because russia has all the information it is capable of creating joint inquiry commissions for conducting an investigation and any field. the french president has been rushed out of a paris theater under held as furious protesters chanting resign tried to confront him some demonstrators against pension reforms up past police into the hall to deliver their angry message. was was

was was her the was meanwhile more than air 100 protesters and the french comp what blocks the entrance to the iconic we've museo people have joined union calls to demand the complete withdrawal of mark ons put holes us aspired be governments promised to compromise agreeing to a drop some of the a pension reforms plus controversal aspects the french parliament is dear to debate the bell next month but there are mixed public feelings about the protests good tom calm that from maker to your i'm happy is that there are defending culture i left at 7 in the morning from to shell on where i'm from to see the lan artist of een chicks of patient but it's not a big deal because if they do not strike there one truly be a little for as we know it so i don't mind the strike i'm actually happy i support

a damn tops it or you know about lies shut if someone would learn math hand to i'm ready to break through the picket line because the situation is an acceptable i don't care at all that pension a shoes just a store in these day or uniting and supporting each other reinforcing each other so that's why i'm here milly's also cull we are against head they should not be here pick ting for an hour to strike to express their opinion ferry get but to piss off everyone old a long who comes to visit the comes from far way that's shameful while but yeah we understand the anger of the visits is about these angus should be directed that the governments who wants to feel suits pension reform projects through we are not the ones that are standing in the way we're not blocking the public cultural service on the contrary we're fighting for a strong public cultural service when you look at the support of the population of the strikers we're very surprised to see the government maintains its position is

of extremism that is unacceptable for a democrat like me who voted for manual macro in the 2nd round of the presidential election against marine. exactly 77 years ago the red army broke the nazi siege of leningrad with the blockade being fully lifted towards the end of the month about majority of victims and the city died not from the bombings but from hunger and hypothermia and the grads name may have been changed st petersburg but the horrific memories still run deep. was was. just us when it was me and my friend went to a store with food stamps there was a huge field and suddenly resort plane it dropped a bomb we were taught that if we see a bomb flying towards us you have to run in the direction of the bomb because that

way it'll pass so view but we ran away we got away and kept walking suddenly i realized i'd left her behind she walked towards a fence i came up to check on her and realised she was hanging on the fence already dead my friend what could i do i was barely alive myself some people helped me carry her home a good thing we weren't too far away from home. like uk i knew when my father died of hunger and we were going to bury him the weather was extremely cold it was about minus 36 or 38 degrees we owed thanks to our neighbor who constructed the casket for him and helped us to carry my father to the cemetery and the cemetery there was a chapel next to the chapel there was a pile of dead bodies higher than the chapel itself and every time i come to that place i still can see this pile of dead bodies in my head i still have this picture

in my head. was. that i knew after i buried my father i signed up as a nurse in the military field hospital once in january i came home from the hospital and my mother was lying on the bed hall for life but she said to me zoya i think i'm about to pass away i bought meat patties at the market and i think they're made out of human don't leave the girls alone don't marry to. and don't cut your head off to an hour she died. they always said the russians will win our pilot cool ship was shot down i remember

they carried him in sheets she was all around his skin was brown from bruising and we prepared a warm bath for him with medicine they load him into it and he exclaimed please save me i have to keep flying i have to keep fighting. who put your many lives in the city were saved by the ticks of a metronome. did . i do. the math your own fall by sirens were broadcast on 1500 speakers throughout leningrad a slow beat meant retreat well a fast one warned that german bombers were on their way and became a symbol of resistance to the nazi air raids and resistance to attempts to starve people to death row for national reports from the northern capital. and in grog

knowing today is st petersburg was a main strategic targets for nazi germany and the fates they prepared for this beautiful city were still laid to waste by bohrman 8 and also starred in its almost 3000000 population to death the horror of the siege was how desperate came routine when you walk down the street many remember it or rather try to forget you come across dead bodies carried on sledders all the time or dead bodies lying on the streets and at some point there was a law they simply stopped paying any attention to these horrific sights. i remember the 1st time i saw a corpse on the street wrapped in some rags at 1st it was scary but then people got used to it and just walked by i can't say the bodies were just randomly dumped in the streets eventually they took them away. from kids their childhood was

stolen by a merciless war bombs and hunger there was already too much for them but there was something maybe even more terrifying as lack of food became too dramatic children as well as many adults often became a target not for enough to germany for hungry people so do the worst thing was the hunger it was unimaginable at the factory they gave us just 200 grams of bread it was made from strange ingredients some a drop in cabbage others ate burnt sugar i don't know how i survived i think got saved my life. people struggled but even less so couldn't bear it anymore the water supply system froze and collaged bombed people hungry people freezing people they now became thirsty people searching for war to everywhere including sewerage system . we went to get water on for. with sledges it was very cold there was

a severe frost the river had frozen over but there was a hole and people were queuing to get water to drink people still wonder how we didn't die trink in this water citizens during tillery shelling this side of the street is the most dangerous says this sign one of many similar across the city these warnings became a symbol of the dangers faced by residents of let it grow during the siege and still today they stay as silent reminders of those terrible days. still to come phrases like where are you really from could now land you in trouble at leaving u.k. university or just bring students to snitch on classmates deemed to commit racist microbe russians after this.

the world is driven by dreamers shaped by one person or those with. no dares thinks. we dare to ask. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy the infantry shouldn't let it be an arms race to move his arms off and spearing dramatic development only really i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time to sit down and talk.

welcome back stop making everything a race issue comments like that could not get you in hot water at a top u.k. university which will pay students to snitch on people making what it calls racist microaggression sheffield university in northern england will hire 20 students as race equality champions and pay them more than $9.00 pounds an hour to report offenders other examples of unacceptable questions are why are you searching for things to be offended about and where are you really from we ask people for their reaction to the move sometimes they don't realize that you like

maybe being mean with someone and you don't even realize and i think it's important to tell them about it people often ask. what if so if i say for example. a lot of people so if you know you're tired of your terrorist i do get away you from because i know that i have a little accent and they always say oh i'm so sorry and i know why you apologizing because i didn't take a i was like a bad thing i think it is a matter of ignorance really. just not really being aware that someone might be offended by something. meanwhile there's been a significant online backlash to the university's initiative. the regime of the settled university have decided to police incidents of perceived rudeness with an army of bait student my group gresham detectors for police jobs at the university of sheffield how is this not illegal what the hell have i just read the author problematize is even benign curiosity is

a micro aggression and therefore as racist this is a recipe to create a climate of distrust and a breakdown of social relations these people do not speak for me the university for its part has defended the program saying its main objectives are to facilitate healthy open discussion and give students the tools to think critically about race issues the statement goes on to claim that micrograph sions have a real impact on minority groups talk radio host and columnist john grant told us that whatever the intentions the program could end up doing more harm than good. needs to be called the racism but recruiting students to do it like is if they're undercover i think it's horrible i think it's the sea in and of them that are very big wage and also will be very concerned about who does so eats what he is not allowed to he said it's another attack on freedom of speech and universities should be could see dru's of free speech each kids eventually going to go out into

the real world if they would get a factory if they were cool enough if they're going to hear the news they don't like. it's about challenging that of course and i just think they seized you know going to prepare them for the real world and tackle racism tackle six's tackle mitchell ji and cool homophobia of course and make sure you institution is inclusive but this is not the way to do it this is a great step this huge assume a deal to seek academic who's never lived in the real world themselves you need to get a life and get out of students' lives. now some world news in brief in greece tensions are high as dozens of protesters took to the streets following the stabbing of a 20 year old migrant from yemen according to authorities a suspect is another migrant from the same camp. plus thousands have gathered in the 2 lane capital for a 13 week of protests rallies began over metro fare increases based on friday

deployed water cannon to disperse crowds as demonstrations turned violent. and volcano remains a life threatening authorities warn after it suddenly and spectacularly erupted more than a week ago and continues to cover its running areas in ankle deep ashbery and mud around $20000.00 people have evacuated their homes and the region remains on the highest alert. the german foreign office has apologized after inappropriately trying to tap into the barrel hash tag subdue someone and for words government institutions around the world are trying their hand at humor in the latest twitter craze but for many users their efforts aren't exactly love at 1st sight. x. x. . x.

. x. x. . your he said court approved. if your visa application process did not make people feel less than human it might have been funny but it does so this is gloating in your discretionary power laughing at people who are subjected to it not cool and quite out of touch this is not funny playing on people's feelings is inappropriate there are thousands of people who are waiting for their visas that simply the real face of you guys period . being funny is apparently not always our strong suit we deleted this and apologized to all who were offended by this we know that the surprise is complex and these are decisions can deeply

affect people's lives our colleagues take the decisions very seriously. you shouldn't apologize the joke is actually good good now i am offended that you deleted the tweet because apparently offended someone with no sense of humor obviously. that's a global news wrap up for now but i'll be back at the top of the hour thanks for tuning in. just one magic bullet you could actually come up with some of the top of these baby talk about ways we get access to capital in capitalism cavil's important so we could actually have programs that actually help folks who want to do that but when you give everybody a $1000.00 i'm a poor person i'm going to consume that and if you're rich you're going to invest that equity the wealth the spirit is going to grow because you're not using your

money to do it can so you're literally buy more crazy things and then my landlord knowing that i've got a $1000.00 let me just go raise my rent so then you get your inflation going on and there comes. a man onions and money i'm not. the main thing about saving time about what it was about saving time that was in a sense is of on lot more than. one with more than the fact that from. seeing the following you can but i'm before. him but. you know by now i'm ready i'm not move on.

this is boom bust broadcasting around the world and covering all aspects of business and how it affects you i'm christiane and i'm bridgeboro washington here's what we have on. display the breakthrough in trans pacific trade talks the chinese economy is slowing but do the numbers tell the whole picture we'll dig into the details transport strikes in france are still raging on r.g.p. correspondent charlotte dubinsky brings us the latest from paris on the impact the movement has had on the nation's economy and later facebook is yet again back under

fire as the social media giant has found itself in federal court for anti-competitive practices r.t. correspondents and lunch as they are standing by to take a deeper dive into the controversy and what maybe it had for the embattled tech company. today so let's get to it. official figures where china shows the country expanded by 6 point one percent and 29000 year over year which is the lowest figure in 29 years last year china has struggled with weak domestic demand and suffered impacts from the bitter trade war with the u.s. the 6 point one percent is down from its historical double digit growth however policymakers maintain that this is within the government's target range policymakers have for many years been trying to gradually step down expectations and slow the unsustainable growth that has polluted the environment and led to an explosion in debt $29000.00.