medical and scientific established for what's driving the obesity epidemic. it's corporate. mm hm. washington wins. it's appeal against a ruling blocking joint. a sancha is extradition to the west. his case may now return to a lower court to be re heard. we speak with ricky leeks, editor in chief, snuff, a case that is being pulled on the basis of that law. this is an absolutely travis to any legal process. a sanchez case sparks anger around the world with rights groups noting it comes as britain take part in a democracy summit that hales the west. suppose of freedom of the press and the provocative and threatening action. russia slams ukraine over an attempt to dangerously approach its maritime borders near crimea, taking tension between the 2 states to a new level. we get

a reaction from residence on the peninsula there. what god says blatant provocation . they wanted to paint brushes guilty where they always blame russia for everything . so when you deal with the program, they're likely doing it on purpose to anger, russia. all the shapes of the jets is just a pleasant way, provoke with broadcasting live direct from studios in moscow. this is our to international. i'm john thomas. certainly glad to have you with us. are now a london court has ruled that wiki leaks of founder joint assange can be extradited to the u. s. washington. one. it's appeal against a previous ruling. the blocked assange from being sent to america to face trial on espionage charges. his fiance described friday's decision as a grave miscarriage, of justice. julian exposed the crimes of cia tortures of ca

killers. and now we know that those ca killers were planning to kill him too. how can this court how can these courts approve an extradition request? under these conditions? well to the phone just now or step closer to being expedited to the united states. as the u. k. high court has decided that it will be overturning a decision not to expedite to him to the united states. that decision was based back in january on medical grounds at the time the judge said it would be oppressive as during the sanchez at a high risk of suicide. of course, back in october, that was a 2 day harry, i was the united states trying to appeal over numerous grounds, including the fact that it offered an unprecedented package of assurances, as i saw it would not be held under the maximum security the strictest maxim

security. conditions in prison and that he isn't as well as being, he's made out. well. judas sanchez have continued to say that he is indeed a suicide risk. and that all of these assurances are meaningless and vague as they put it. they said that the united states can reverse any decision at any point. class is also concerned about the trustworthiness of america's guarantees to pointing to one of those reports in the year that the cia had talked to kidnap during the saw and put it to kill them. on even was spying and bugging him during his time at london's ecuadorian embassy. now june assigned as noise. what they say is, this is ample enough. evidence to not only throw out the court case entirely, but they say it's a 100 percent politically motivated. plus they of course, all give it to you and the son should be walking free. when did you go my sidney to fight for sanchez freedom. it is unfair to keep him in custody when there is no

crime or punishment for him to continue to fight. and this latest decision is not yet final. it's will take time. i remind you the takes tradition hearings have been going on for almost a year and it may take us long again to get a final decision. however, sanchez health continues to deteriorate and all of this affects his physical and psychological condition. a journalist is being prosecuted for publishing, reliable information about especially great war crimes committed by the american military in iraq and afghanistan. and it is worth noting that the american cult is not prosecuting the military who committed these crimes. but the journalist who published information about serious human rights violations. therefore, everything that happened became very indicative of the violation of freedom of the press by the american justice system in relation to other countries. now the united states on june is on for what they deem is one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the united states. and if found guilty and

convicted, he could be sent to prison for up to 175 years. that's because the us of indicted him on 18 counts under the espionage act for publishing. i classified military documents overnighted to the war in iraq and afghanistan. but most crucially, i got included, claims a minute to even kill thousands of innocent civilians. now, speaking outside the high court here this morning, we've heard from stella morris the partner who's incredibly disappointed and she is saying why and how is this happening? how long can this really go on for? and many people have been supporting her outside here. many, many protests is that also are similar questions there who is a glimmer of hope that you know, the british justice system might actually prevail for once. the british judiciary has assisted on every level the u. s. campaign to get

10 years, 10 years in the streets of london, public opinion, and i found, but obviously the judge's decision is not on the side of public opinion. it's absolutely devastating, especially this time of year to another christmas without. do you know that is children without lead? stay on the site to free judy on the phone. we will prevail eventually. well, interestingly oh, i run it cli today is international human rights day, and many people outside as a high court say, where is the human rights? in the case of june, assange obviously was did on the grounds of the royal court of justice that they call it the royal court of injustice. and just as it was being announced, a protest even through eggs at this side, directly behind me, which just goes to show the sentiment and feeling here on the streets of london. it is a complicated back story. but briefly,

this is how the assange saga has been unfolding and recent years. in 2019, he was forcefully removed by british police from the ecuadorian embassy in london after quito terminated his 7 year asylum there. he had sought refuge in the building following sexual assault allegations in sweden, which have now been dropped. america wants the wiki league founder extradited on claims of conspiring to hack and government computers and publish classified material. in january this year, a british judge ruled against extra diving him to the u. s. over fears about his mental health, but also rejected his bail application claiming he may flee. earlier we spoke with wiki leaks editor in chief christian presents and was actually unbelievable. and so i run a good decision should be handed on the united nations human rights. the united states had all opportunity in the madison court to make those so called assurances

it did not. it simply press them forward after the last in the menus of court in general, the united states had given assurances that the they would to treat the julian fairly. and he would get that treatment and be housed in an adequate to jail and could even server the new sentence if he gets one in australia. all of these so called assurance and have been and been investigated by human rights organization such as amnesty international and found that the, those us, you are so small to work the paper they're written on. they are simply not reliable . we are dealing here with a nation where individuals on the top level in the junior, the top level of the cia and in the white house, contemplated kidnapping or killing julian sons. this is not a case that is being fought on the basis of the more this is an absolutely travis

to any legal process. this is a political case, and the julian arrest us we have said many, many years is a political persecution. the us has been pursuing a songs after he revealed classified information on american military activities during wars, and i've counted 10 and iraq ah, [000:00:00;00] with the mileage mm.

i mean, a major publications like the guardian in london, a new york times, dare spiegel. they all published this material, in fact one awards for it. ah julian, in fact it was leaked the material and did what any publisher would do, which is to put it out. he's never been charged with publishing. material that is false or incorrect is a pre amazing track record i. but yes, it's very myopic on the part of a u. s. media outlets not to understand that if julian is extradited, which is unfortunately looking more and more likely are this will set a legal precedent that any journalist who has in their possession classified material or any publisher that publishes classified material can be held in

criminal contempt. it changes the game completely and eviscerate any investigation into the inner workings of power rushes foreign ministry has slammed. the court's verdict highlighting that it coincides with the end of the summit for democracy hosted by the us. this shameful, vertical political case against a journalistic and public figure is another manifestation of the cannibalistic worldview of the anglo saxon tandem. the west marks international human rights day and the end of the summit for democracy with dignity. this news is devastating. the persecution of julian sanchez, the disgrace, meanwhile bite in his holding his cynical democracy summit and the hypocrisy and the cruelty. we condemn today's u. k. high court decision to allow the expedition of julian songs for the us, which will prove historic for all the wrong reasons. we fully believe that julian, a song has been targeted for his contributions to journalism. meanwhile, classified documents have been laid bare showing how the u. s. appears to have

broken diplomatic assurances in another extradition case, similar to that of joint such david mendoza says he only agreed to be expedited by madrid to america on the condition he be allowed to serve the potential sentence in spain. he says he even signed a document with the american and spanish governments, assuring him of that condition. but the us held him in jail for almost 7 years before eventually returning him. and only after he took legal action against america, we spoke to journalists, richard met hers to release the documents. in the case, you know, they've told a song that he can serve at any potential sentence in his home country, australia. they said the exact same thing to mendoza, they told him just just let him come to the us and he can serve any sentence given back in spain. in mendoza's case, the united states signed a contract, an explicit contract with mendoza, and with spain saying that he must be returned to spain. he cannot be given

a life sentence, he kinda be tried for concert structuring. they violated this, the u. s. kept him for 6 years and 9 months, the only reason mendoza was allowed to go back to spain is because he sued spain twice in the spanish supreme court. and he won. and spain threatened to cut off the extradition treaty with the us. that is when the u. s. felt pressure, they wanted to keep extra dining people from spain. and so it's only because this was imperiled and in danger of being cancelled that they then sent him back. mendoza was, was extradited for drug trafficking and money laundering. and he told me, if they did that to him, if the united states did that to mendoza, what are they going to do to julian? i thought this is a common practice. the united states violates is assurances it's diplomatic agreement, whether it's iran, nuclear deal, whether it's, you know, a prison transfer assurances for a saundra window that they're going to violate the mark my words. this is going to happen. mendoza, certain of this, can i interviewed him for this? and he's seen dozens of people from spain, from columbia, from mexico, from all over the world who've been given assurances. and once they get to the us, it's violated these documents that i published. they weren't seen by the court yet

. they weren't submitted in court. and i'm convinced that if the judge had seen them, if the judge's study these documents, they could not let this extra sure go ahead because they've accepted that a song just suicidal. they've accepted the judge, apply the test correctly, that he would be even more suicidal. he would, he would drive an extradition to deal with, drive him to take what except it all this. so the only reason they allow the appeal to go ahead today was that the judge should have allow us to give assurances before and that they trust the us assurances, well, i'm very sorry, but these classified documents say otherwise you potentially fatal explosion has erupt at a palestinian refugee camp in southern lebanon blast reportedly occurred at an ammunition storage facility used by hamas militants in the port city of tire. a local news agency reputed to maintain close ties with that organization said it was not a munition that exploded, but rather an oxygen canister used for treating covered patients. lebanese

authorities are investigating right now. feel the coming program as the u. s. it tries to promote democracy abroad. it may need to place more emphasis on its shortcomings at home, according to a new study that story much more of a short break. this is our international stay with oh, he was president joe biden is hosting a virtual global summit on democracy. apparently, washington intends a nuclear said to save the world for democracy, at least as the foreign policy blob understands this political term. critics of this study claim, it's all about strategic polarization and an attempt at values based diplomacy many was full. the delta would be the sort of peak, high deductible. you're not going to get a shoulder any more transmissible than delta and not what's happened. you got

something which has popped up with more than 30 changes in that spike protein that we're all interested. it's accumulated. all the mutations we've seen in different varies all in one virus. and that raises some very interesting issues about where did it come from in the 1st place. is it possible to get even more mutually sure what's going to happen in terms of disease severity and maxine protection? so it is suggesting that know the virus is still got some way to go through the more surprises ah, ah, welcome back. this is our teacher national. now russia's foreign ministry has criticized the west for its behavior after ukrainian worship approached russian territory. warning that it could even lead to conflict in europe. my colleague,

kevin owen, got the latest from our correspondence, kill him up in new york, and usually a shop of oliver, who is in caribbean, where we had to 1st. and not so long ago, we heard from the russian foreign ministry regarding the latest incident in the crimea, cursed trade whether ukrainian a ship called don bonds had approached russian territory, voices, and then turned bank without reporting to the russian coast guard. also on thursday, december, the 9th russian flies his is hooted, find us in french miniature aircraft over the blank. see, according to the russian national defense control center. and the russian foreign ministry added that nato supports ukraine and its aggressive actions instead of holding it back. moscow is concerned that nato complain was trying missile systems with a minimum flight time to russia on ukrainian soil. so let's take a listen to the ministry. had to say, a cruise has been sent to draw ukraine into nature. such irresponsible behavior is an unacceptable threat to all security provoking serious risks for all parties

involved up to a large scale conflict in europe. earlier they f as b has called the actions of the ukranian ship, don't boss in the sea of bizarre, a provocation, and a threat to the safety of navigation back. just to remind you not far away for where i'm standing in the crime me and see to have courage, a collision between the russian and ukranian fleet and the curse trade have nearly happened. it started when they don't boss ship, lead the port of mar you poll says day morning and moved towards the curse trade. the ukrainian defense minister said they don't boss ship was in this see a result legally since it was a shed water area. express his surprise that moscow saw a threat from an unarmed searching rescue vessel. and also the ship incident took place at the same time when the talks between the president of the united states and ukraine, joe biden, and of la demi zalinski were on the way crimea officials expressed consent and urged the you unsecure to counsel to discuss the problem that can lead to a wide spread confrontation. meanwhile,

here encourage local people also see the latest incident as provocation, and he has some of the opinions at the youngest of all of our costs. this is blatant provocation. robin. it was intended to show that as biden's lensky spoke, russia was restricting passage for ukrainian shelley through the car. right? or could i am confident that there was a t b, a chrome board ready to comb recorded ball as it acts as people and they wanted to paint russia is guild cream school. they always blame russia for every medium thought. fornia yellow that looking a lance less rock, arkansas. but the word that he crane would continue with the provocation or, and they are likely doing it on purpose to anger rush. i mean, all the sheet of jets is just a pleasant way, provoke leave her a see you? yes. for corner i am at least with russia. so for example, you told me to, and i say very widely, you, you would were heard freely of ever have feelings are running high and over the go see a sions and the diplomacy them going on that very day. so was this unexpected, this incident last night, given everything?

julia's said, these provocations haven't simply been going on for a couple weeks. they've been happening for quite some time. there's been quite a pattern of escalation of the u. s. media has been playing up this idea that russia is planning an invasion of ukraine, or russia has been adamant that they are not doing any such thing. we now have joe biden coming forward and saying that as a result of his recent talks with putin or the threat of russia supposedly invading ukraine, a has been lifted up. but we have various voices in u. s. media who are saying they're not so sure about biden's effectiveness in terms of diplomacy, and they think there could be a danger of war on the horizon. here's some of what we've heard. do not discount no matter how far fetched it may seem. a hot war with russia. yes, that is a lunatic idea. but that doesn't mean joe biden won't do it. now these statements don't seem baseless. if you look at what's actually been taking place along the border, you can talk about the intensification of activity from

u. s. strategic bomber aviation, and russia has come forward and said that the united states is actually, we're her sing dropping, dropping nuclear bombs near the ukranian russian border. this point, members of the u. s. congress are coming out and saying that they would consider bombing russia. now, there's been a firestorm of criticism from their colleagues. i would not rule out american troops on the ground. we don't do, you know, we don't rule out 1st use nuclear action. any one who would propose or even consider what he is saying as an option, must be insane. a sociopath or a status launch a nuclear attack that would start a war that would destroy the american people, our country and world, so that we can save ukraine's democracy. i mean, it, it literally is insane. now, the backdrop for all of this is the intense division within us society. i, we have

a situation in the white house, says one thing, other politicians are saying something completely different, will be waiting to see how this further develops. this comes as ukraine's president zalinski says he doesn't rule out a referendum on the dumbass region breaking away. meanwhile, the u. s. revealed on thursday that 30 javelin anti tank missile systems were delivered to ukraine in october. our t senior correspondent, but i just have takes a wider look at the ukraine. tensions the situation on the ground in ukraine is perhaps worse to war because that is where people are dying. people are dying. people are suffering. people are going through through al and have been going through hell for many years now. we have, we have seen of the united states pacifically pumping weapons into ukraine for the ukrainian military. and these are weapons b, b, b, they a javelin miss are supplied by the united states or by dr. drones supplied by turkey. these are,

these are weapons that are flowing into ukraine and immediately going to the conflicts of where the civil war is being fought in the east of ukraine. there are more than 2000000 civilians are trapped in the conflict soon in east than ukraine. and they're just having to break it out, people going to sending their kids to school. they will have to worry about a tang cello, a mortar, round landing. they're on the grounds of the school. vladimir putin is like and what is happening to a walker. so she, i should say the risk for me as the 1st step towards genocide and what's going on and on bass now very much resembles genocide or see it and we know about it or we hear about is these potential plans emanating from the she i, the white house, the british government, these plans that no one previously knew about that russia was planning to invade. a huge area of ukraine does unclear how they would be able to achieve this with,

with, even if we believe the see i and others with, with such a small force. but let's look at what is happening again on the graph. you have the os c that reporting on c's for violation, so their work is constant and round the clock. ukrainian artillery enforces destroyed or damaged 5 times more civilian infrastructure at schools at workplace as that is people's homes. 5 times more infrastructure was destroyed and damaged by ukrainian forces, the vice versa. you also have the situation in which you, ukraine, still still 6 years on, refuses to negotiate with the breakaway republic. aside from that, there are also all manner of promises and assurances that you can keeps on hearing from, from britain, from the united states, that they've got their back, that thou help them, that they'll keep the russians awake. and what i, what that does is it emboldens you credit. and unfortunately,

the situation is such that aside from very one sided coverage, you have a situation in which piece simply isn't desirable. we spoke to journalist and author thomas fast bender, who thinks of the escalation over ukraine must be stopped before it spirals out of control. there is something that has not been here for decades. that is the perspective of the re perspective of a major european war. so even now the key for a potential war in europe lives now 100 percent with the, the key of government if key, if the sites to provoke russian invasion. and there will be a russian invasion as soon as key of starts a major offensive against the break of a republics. in that case, automatically. busy the blank check will be full of western support for the ukrainian side. so the wisdom narrative says that whatever crimea,

whatever key it does to reclaim or even reconquer the breakaway republics, or even crimea, would be executing their sovereign rights on this sovereign territory. we should hope that, that both washington and moscow and of course, also also paris and berlin, understand that there is a real risk of a european war here. as u. s. conclude the summit for democracy, a virtual event billed as a confrontation against the world dictatorships. joe biden underscores that maintaining democratic values is a defining challenge. the democratic world is everywhere. autocracies can never extinguish the embryo of liberty, and burns and hearts of people around the world, and every portion of it knows no borders. but while the us is busy promoting democracy in other countries, it might need to pay more attention to what's going on at home. that's

a stock home based a think tank published its annual review of democracies around the world. and for the 1st time, put the u. s. in the backsliding category and the democracy summit guest list has also raised some questions with participants such as zambia pakistan and nigeria classified by the index as hybrid regimes, not democracies. participants, iraq and nisha were even declared as authoritarian, and the democratic republic of congo was nearly at the bottom of the list of the least democratic countries. i meanwhile, the us national security adviser says american policies are less and less guided by the revere to global institutions. of the un i m f and the world bank. he says the u. s. needs more flexibility. we have entered a phase, i believe in foreign policy and international relations where it's no longer the formal, you know, the united nation and the i,

m f and the world bank and so forth. we now have more of a complex mix of structures. there is no power the united states isn't you know, establishing its authority. it's a guy, it's a nation on the decline right now. and the amount of trickery will change is divided ministrations. attempt to, you know, put its imprint on the role that the theory of american democracy plays as if the world today is ready to rally behind a model that failing as we speak. there was a lot of people who told joe by not to hold this summit focused on repairing american democracy here at home. that before you go out and you sell. busy a product to, to an international community, you have to make sure that the product is actually does what is advertise to do. and as we've seen, the united states has a lot of problems with this democracy is an illusion. it's hypocritical in the

extreme. it's not, it's not achieving what the bad ministration wanted to achieve. coming up our show cross talk examines washington's virtual summit on democracy that we just mentioned and how it could actually have the opposite effect as intended. unfortunately, leading to greater riffs between countries, stay with us. ah, ah. back breaking toil forced labor

stress industrial injury corporal punishment. oh no. words with which we are all familiar are you certain that the world you live in abolish slavery, long ago? joined me every thursday on the alex simon sure i'll be speaking to guess in the world of politics spoke business i'm show business. i'll see you then ah