richard branson gears up for a summer trip to space head of his pain. thanks for joining. e.u. leaders are to decide on the future of the controversial north stream two pipeline project later today it will run next to an already existing pipeline from russia under the belting sea and supply gas directly to germany now it is set to go into operation later this year critics say the pipeline will make germany dependent on moscow and undermine european security and in a surprise move germany's ally france has spoken out in favor of more european regulation on projects like this threatening what some say is a key part of germany's energy strategy. for more insight on the story let's bring in terry boss he is a senior research fellow of the oxford institute for energy studies and he joins me from paris via skype good steady good to have you on the program now e.u. leaders are likely to agree on tougher rules for projects like north stream two under which circumstances and how would this regulation impact this project its reputation within this project if it comes to the project being

branson wanted to start with space tourism years ago but serious accidents caused delays. still seven hundred super rich have already bought their seats. going to space should never be taken for granted at least not with the current technology. branson himself plans on going into space this summer after that other billionaires will follow. and finally the bank of england has slashed its forecast for u.k. growth this year blaming what else but its star rate of growth from projects in one point seven percent to just one point two per cent predicting the worst performance since the financial crisis the banks governor mark carney put it down to a global economic slowdown and what he called the so called far the brics u.k. growth slowed at the end of twenty eighteen and as we can further so far during twenty night. that's it for me and the business team here in berlin thanks for watching and have a successful. it's time to. take a closer look at modern culture from. culture. hey listen up. that's what video game music sounded like thirty years ago. today's tracks take the exper

to thank the commenters of our youtube page for bringing it to our attention so let's look at why branson is suddenly as though interested in venice way first richard branson owns just about four hundred companies many of which do business in south america majoris ousting could open some big capitalists doors for branson as companies second aside from chile and mexico virgin mobile latin america has a division in colombia in fact virgin service in colombia is one of the largest virgin mobile clients in all of latin america and has a very high rate of mobile phone usage it's expected that the vainest wayland market could be even larger third branson's fifteen percent of the new virgin mobile company which would move into this area and the profits pretty sizable for him alone however the fourth but i think most important thing to realize about richard branson is that he founded in helps run virgin atlantic airways what do they do they fly planes all around the world would have planes need gasoline in fact most airlines will tell you that rising fuel costs are what eat up most of their poten

richard branson there.he us singer r kelly has been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in illinois. the 52—year—old has faced claims of sexual abuse against women for decades. he has never been convicted and denies all allegations. the attorney general of cook county, kim foxx, said the charges related to the alleged abuse of four victims, all under the age of 17. she says the singer is expected to face court tomorrow. aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a class two felony with a sentencing range of a 3—7 years per count. it is also a probation double offence. we anticipate that mr kelly will appear in by court tomorrow afternoon. nada tawfik is live from new york. tell us what it is we have just heard in the proceedings so far. we just had that news conference from the state attorney kmberly foxx for which you refer to each of the victims by their initials. she said that nine out of the ten charges actually relate to three victims who we re actually relate to three victims who were

sanctions which are causing so much damage i mean while billionaire richard branson organized a benefit concert for the people of venezuela that was held across the border in colombia correspondent ben cohen who was the. don't be forward by this be festive atmosphere all around me where we see a music going on this is actually one of the most geo politically hot spots in the world right now behind me on my right you can see the t.n.t. to. bridge crossing between colombia and venezuela i'm on the colombian side where this concert is happening it was organized by richard branson the british billionaire let's take a look at what he had to say. and then soon. to be with one who was all skiing for the world to help and i decided to pick up the phone and speak with him. and see what we could do to help wonderful frequency on the board to illustrate. through music the importance of letting letting relief into the country that the venezuelan government is holding its own concert on the other side of the border and that is why the president nicolas maduro has said that he will actually use accep

well for richard branson side it's about raising funds raising awareness and supporting this push to bring aid to venezuela but for my guru it's to counter that he wants to counter this message he wants to say oh look i can also stage a concert i can also bring my people as well and to sort of battle with you say with public opinion as well but we haven't received a lot of details from the from the mother rose side about what this concert sales who's going to be in it and so but we have received a lot of information about the other concerts so it will be interesting to see both play out and just how the government tries to compete with it was there richard branson. richard branson concert was going to be huge so i mean that's the situation on the border but let's talk about what's going on in the country itself because madonna has government has been preventing aid from entering the country it has shut the border with brazil as we know talk with us a little bit more about the current humanitarian situation in venezuela was its mission is dire in particular with the with the situation

you can see this concert taking place behind me it's thrown by the british billionaire richard branson who is using it to pressure in the last month is humanitarian aid now the organizers say that they're expecting three hundred thousand people to be here but so far i estimate there's about five thousand venezuelan government has thrown its own its own concert on its side in the name of under the banner of hands off venezuela denouncing it says it is an intervention by the united states and its allies it also offered it also said it would send its own humanitarian aid to colombia to the impoverished residents of kook but colombian president has rejected this and refused to let that aid in while there's certainly the possibility of things it has to go leading as they have done on the brazilian venezuelan border for now there's no sign of any kind of violence but there are there is the presence of some extremists figures on this side putting lawrence was actually. found guilty of terror attacks inside venezuela and this is the figure was actually taken money from the american government

a colombian city on the border with about a swell of british billionaire richard branson is backing the opposition concert people have begun streaming into the venue a quarter of a million are expected branson is hoping to raise one hundred million dollars for food and medical. aid and the other concert is being planned by venice famous embattled president nicolas maduro earlier my dodo closed venezuela's border with brazil to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid and he says the aid is a pretext for military action. tempers run high as soldiers and opposition supporters scuffled out a security checkpoint outside of caracas. would be under my coat up. the lorries are part of an opposition convoy organized by self-proclaimed president juan wedo to pick up aid at the colombian border. along the colombian venezuelan border many people are crossing the frontier to pick up desperately needed supplies. there hoping to see change soon. but most said he wouldn't we want to be free. we want to be able to cross the border more. we want freedom we want the government to fall i got it is what we

now, branson told us he felt many people we re branson told us he felt many people were unaware of theds inside venezuela. he said babies were dying, people are suffering from malnutrition and that aid was urgently needed. he also said he hoped the troops, the venezuelan troops nearby, would hear the music and would accept white roses which he said would be given to them tomorrow. the key issue here of course is whether or not the opposition is able to actually bring any aid through to venezuelan. president majuro —— president nicolas maduro has sent you make sure that doesn't happen. he issue will be put to the test tomorrow when large numbers of opposition supporters are expected to gather at the bridge very near here and they will be facing their own troops, venezuelan troops, who have orders not to let them through. the us singer r kelly has been charged with ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in illinois. the 52—year—old has faced claims of sexual abuse against women for decades. he has never been convicted and denies all allegations. the attorney—general of cook count

war against another country and richard branson pink floyd's roger waters slams richard branson for fronting u.s. trojan horse aid to venezuela short version here is richard branson has put together a massive musical concert to raise millions of pounds apparently to in defiance of the red cross and u.n. aid but in support of the u.s. attempts to finally bring aid into venezuela he's stumbled into a quagmire of politics here and doesn't seem to understand the nuances which you've already in fired in your introduction to this piece is you don't get this you know the four i should say the foreign minister who did this week mr area has been on this show says the three million refugees fleeing venezuela he denied that figure he also denied inflation is one million percent in venezuela and says negotiations are continuing with the trumpet ministration well known reporting on the world that's how biased the reporting is nobody really knows exactly where to draw the line in terms of what the americans are saying and what madeira saying waters in rather colorful language is saying that branson is doi

affecting their families but branson is involvement his efforts have critics chief among them on twitter at least as musician roger waters from the band pink floyd water says that this concert has nothing to do with humanitarian aid at all it has to do with richard branson and i'm not surprised by this having bought the u.s. saying we have decided to take over. for whatever our reasons for may be that it has nothing to do with the needs of the venezuelan people it has nothing to do with democracy it has nothing to do with region and it has nothing to do with age so we just need to battle to chile richard branson now that clip has far more views when you compare it to richard branson's and look on twitter and you tube and the majority government has pretty much been saying the same thing about that event it's organized arrival concert just a few hundred meters away on the other side of the border with you organizers call it concert for peace and one for life they say it is to denounce aggression of the venezuelan people and i must say on venezuela trends this concert is one of the top tre

it has to do with richard branson and i'm not surprised by this having bullet the u.s. saying we have decided to take over and his way for whatever our reasons might be that it has nothing to do with the needs of the venezuelan people it has nothing to do with democracy it has nothing to do with freedom and it has nothing to do with a so we just need to back off the chip killer the.

the concert is backed by british billionaire, richard branson. helping to raise $100 million to aid venezuela. ♪ >> the festival atmosphere belies the tensions building on the colombian border. opposition leader juan guaido is urging venezuelans to make their way here saturday. he wants them to pick up aid provided by the u.s. it is stored in a warehouse nearby. a steady stream of venezuelans have been crossing the border on foot in recent days, to collect whatever supplies they can take back. if the vehicles are two, and transpsport large amounts of aid back into venezuela, they will need to cross this bridge. itit is being blocked and guguad by the venezuelalan military. the opposition is helping people power will persuade the military to stop supporting president maduro. his supporters gathered on the venezuelan side of the bridge, ready for a smaller, rival concert be prepared by the president. nicolas maduro is supported by russian and china. both accused the united states of politicizing humanitarian aid. >> if so-calleded aid material s fo

british billionaire richard branson says he's organizing a concert to raise money to help the people of venezuela he said the event could take place next week in colombia branson is hoping the public city will pressure socialist president nicolas maduro to allow much needed aid into the country. a body representing the mobile telecoms industry has called on european governments to introduce security tests instead of excluding certain companies from the market this as the u.s. urges its allies not to do business with china's weiwei operators say that a ban on weiwei could delay next generation five g. mobile networks. the largest bank in the us j.p. morgan chase is launching its own cryptocurrency the new j.p.n. coin will use block same technology and will have a fixed value of one u.s. dollars j.p. morgan is the first major bank to launch its own virtual currency it says it wants to cut costs and risks for customers by making transfers instantaneous. the head of the international monetary fund received god has called on spain italy portugal and greece to fight their high youth unempl

you know if you know or are richard branson or the venezuelan opposition had any interest in helping the people of venezuela in helping the cause of economic recovery in venezuela we pressure for an end in a needy end to us which are causing so much damage. that has been held on the columbia and as well in border. town cohen reports. don't be fooled by this festive atmosphere all around me where we see a music going on this is actually one of the most geo politically hot spots in the world right now behind me on my right you can see the bridge crossing between colombia and venezuela i'm on the colombian side where this concert is happening it was organized by richard branson the british billionaire let's take a look at what he had to say. i then saw. an interview with one who was asking for the world to help and i decided to pick up the phone and speak with him. and see what we could do to help wonderful free concert on the border to illustrate. through music the importance of letting letting relief into the country for the better as well and government is holding its own concert on

venezuela's live aid concert, richard branson organizing that.e wants to raise $100 million for humanitarian aid. another concert in panama to help venezuela, too. let's bring in the president and co-founder, have necessaria noiman. >> you guys have been great covering this for the last three years. appreciate it. what's going on is we are expecting more clashes. the violence you covered. the civilians they covered on the colombian border with indians. they are shooting unarmed indigenous tribes people looking for food. they are retaliating. they set fire to the national guard post in retaliation to the people shooting them. this is a preview of what we can expect tomorrow and next day and onwards from there across the brazilian and colombian border. liz: the indigenous people set fire to the airport. we have have itio of them marching hundreds of miles barefoot to protest in caracas. here is socialist bernie sanders dodging a question on whether guaido is a legitimate president in a univision interview. >> i think what has to happen. there are s

the concert is backed by british billionaire richard branson. he's hoping to raise one hundred million dollars to aid venezuela. on. the site but the festival atmosphere there lies the tensions building on the colombian border opposition leader. is urging venezuelans to make their way here on saturday. he wants them to pick up aid provided by the united states it's stored in a warehouse right nearby a steady stream of venezuelans have been crossing the border on foot in recent days to collect whatever supplies they can take back. but if vehicles are to come and transport large amounts of aid back into venezuela they want me to cross this bridge which is being blocked and guarded by the venezuelan military the opposition is hoping people power the military to stop supporting president maduro his supporters gathered on the venezuelan side of the bridge ready for a small arrival concept being prepared by the president nicolas maduro is supported by russia and china both accused venezuela's opposition of politicizing humanitarian aid. if so-called a

and from richard branson in this crass political spectacle it's very apparent that not only is that money a drop of a drop in the bucket comparatively speaking but the motives behind it are nothing but cynical it's you know if the united states or or richard branson or the venezuelan opposition had any interest in helping the people of venezuela in helping the cause of economic recovery in venezuela they would pressure for an end an immediate end to u.s. sanctions which are causing so much damage while the venezuelan opposition blames the government for severe food shortages one investigative journalist in caracas says everything is that it seems a maximum of all visited a supermarket this is what he found. i feel lost in the supermarket coming here in. the caesars there's a lot of cheeses and meats here fish heads fish heads roly-poly fish heads ok we've got congealed meat we've got like so much meat there's a lot of meat here this is the fruit section and we've got a lot of mangoes oh that will go that will match with my toilet paper that. my shampoo and conditioner took me like a while

on the colombian side british billionaire richard branson is organizing a concert to raise money for the opposition in response president maduro will hold his own concert on the opposite side of the bridge let's get more now we're joined by jennifer communal gonzales so jennifer tell us what does each side hope to achieve with the concerts on the border with colombia. well for richard branson side it's about raising funds raising awareness and supporting this push to bring aid to venezuela but for my guru it's to counter that he wants to counter this message he wants to say oh look i can also stage a concert i can also bring my people as well and to sort of battle was you say with public opinion as well but we haven't received a lot of details from the from the mother rose side about what this concert entails who's going to be in it and so but we have received a lot of information about the other concerts so it will be interesting to see both play out and just how the government tries to compete with it was there richard branson which is going to ransom consumers is going to be huge

british billionaire richard branson has big plans for the colombian border town of coke. he says his goal is to raise money for food and medical supplies and ultimately get it across the border to venezuela. meanwhile the everyday struggle for locals goes on many cross the border here regularly to pick up desperately needed supplies there hoping to see change soon big a player more said he would have we want to be free we want to be able to cross the border we want freedom and the government to fall. it's what we all want i got an election so we can have a new president to get d.n.a. from what don't look at him with everyone obviously and. some however i've lost all hope and they're taking extreme measures describing how it feels to be leaving their country for good. anything. right now i'm sad. this is degrading for a human being they need and about a very degrading with anything and the. president nicolas maduro is also taking extreme measures he sees any attempt to bring in aid as a pretext for military intervention on thursday he closed the country's border with brazi

meanwhile the british billionaire businessman richard branson is organized a concert in colombia is being dubbed venezuela live aid in this meant to persuade the country's military to defy duro and let aid into the country but also aims to raise one hundred million dollars for humanitarian aid to the state there would be a counter concert this weekend on venezuela's side of the border his concert will take place two days later than branson is but is aimed to counter the efforts to defy the door let's get some reaction towards this now with lukas for the he's a political analyst he joins us now good evening she lucas the reports are coming in that there have been quite severe clashes on the borders there with humanitarian aid stockpiled and obviously big arguments about whether it should be allowed in or not i suppose this was inevitable do you think given the tensions that have been building. i think we have to see this as an attempt by united states annapolis should to correct these kinds of situations a provocation and certainly we don't know all the details of what happened on the bord

and you know if the united states or or richard branson or the venezuelan opposition had any interest in helping the people of venezuela in helping the cause of economic recovery in venezuela they would pressure for an end and immediate end to us ancients which are causing so much damage meanwhile to us were held on different sides of the venezuela colombia border one against any foreign intervention in venezuela the other supporting choir days humanitarian relief plan supporters of the last a claim in it. in the spirit of the legendary nine hundred eighty five live a concept which raise money for the victims of famine in ethiopia and cohen was there. don't be forward by this festive atmosphere all around me where we see a music going on this is actually one of the most geopolitically hot spots in the world right now behind me on my right you can see the bridge crossing between colombia and venezuela i'm on the colombian side where this concert is happening it was organized by richard branson the british billionaire let's take a look at what he had to say. i then saw. an interview wit

why not branson?ichard: i was 15 years old, 16 years old, we were sitting in the basement with a bunch of girls. we were throwing out ideas. we got down to either slipped disc records, because of the black vinyls that always had scratches and slips, and virgin. one of the girls laughed and said, we are all virgins, you are a virgin at business, why don't you call it virgin? david: did she get a finder's fee for that idea or not? [laughter] richard: i can't remember who -- if she is out there, i would be delighted to give her one. but it is very fortunate because we have gone into so many different sectors and businesses. we have been virgin in all of these different sectors. slipped disc airlines would not have been good. david: you started a record company, and initially it is a record retailer, right? richard: initially it was a mail order, selling records much cheaper than anyone else had done. we were the first people to sell records at a discount. so there was a mail order strike for six weeks, s

i'd where this concert is happening it was organized by richard branson the british billionaire let's take a look at what he had to say. then. an interview with one who was asking for the world to help and i decided to pick up the phone and speak with him. and see what we could do to help the wonderful free calling on the board to illustrate . through music the importance of letting letting relief into the country for the better as well and government is holding its own concert on the other side of the border and that is why the president nicolas maduro has said that he will actually next year's accepted humanitarian aid through the european union through the united nations now that humanitarian aid that the u.s. has in a warehouse just off to my right is said to be worth twenty mil a drop in the bucket when you look at the beef thirty eight billion dollars but u.s. sanctions have cost venezuela the red cross and many other major international humanitarian organizations have refused to participate in this saying it is in the words of the red cross not janet tarion aid. so. you know th

well the first concert as you already mentioned it was called by richard branson it is expected to have an attendance of about two hundred fifty thousand people that are going to get here. including some very known guests in the latin american music scene like or when we get out we will also see some presidents of the latin american region like the president of chile who is going to attend here of course a big challenge for this country and for this city particularly now on the other side trying to make his concert as symbolic as possible extending it twice as long it's going to take place on friday and saturday and he will also deliver humanitarian aid to colombia a symbolic gesture to show what he calls is a hypocrisy by the colombian government giving aid to toobin as well and organizing it despite the fact that the country has problems of its own have here in conclusion what about one point zero is going to turn up where you are. he has been traveling for about four hours he is planning to arrive this evening to the venezuelan side where the venezuelan concert is going to take place

on the colombian side british billionaire richard branson is organizing a concert to raise money for the opposition in response president maduro will hold his own concert on the opposite side of the bridge. and covering those events for us we have our very own javier i gave us who is standing by where the concerts are due to take place soon so on javier tell us how are these being seen i mean are these really a sideshow to the other events the political tension there in venice fail or are they seen as a sign a further confrontation between the two sides. these are definitely signs of more intense confrontation at least between colombia and venezuela let's not forget that colombia has taken about a million immigrants from venezuela and the country has a very strong interest in making sure that venezuela prosperous in its very own interest and this bridge where we are standing right now the border between colombian as well it still is and will probably continue to be the most important spot where the crisis in venezuela is with visible where people cross every day to provide basic good

charity concert in defiance of the venezuelan president aid blockade the british billionaire richard branson who organized the event on the colombian border wants to raise one hundred million dollars to help venezuelans suffering food and medicine shortages also coming up. disappointment for kenya's community when a potentially landmark decision on decriminalizing case is postponed will hear what it's like to be a lesbian in a country that has rights to persecution and hatred of homosexuals. and pope francis outlines new steps to stop sexual abuse of children in the catholic church the move comes as a summit in rome here is harrowing testimony from survivors of rape and assault by members of the clergy. welcome to the program. restart in venezuela where the standoff between the country's rival leaders is playing out as a battle of the bands groups from the opposing political camps have organized rival concerts. a colombian city on the venezuelan border british billionaire richard branson is backing the opposition concert which we're looking at live pictures of right now started in the last h

meanwhile billionaire richard branson is planning a concert to raise one hundred million dollars for emergency aid to the now as well he says a wonderful lineup of international and regional artists will perform and the colombian city of kuta near the even as well and border on february twenty second in response to the opposition's request. dora's regime was responsible for this crisis is currently refusing to allow any humanitarian aid into the country we must break this impasse many venezuelans will be on the verge of starvation. well that's just life now to legal and media analyst to lynelle welcome to the program here on our to international so why do you think of the so nouns months by richard branson that he plans to raise one hundred million dollars for humanitarian aid and that he appears to be working with even as well in opposition. well first i i don't want to necessarily start off with a snarky comment that this is another celebrity involving himself or herself it's something that usually they know nothing about i would love if at all possible for there to be a rudimentar

on one end of a leading to the colombian border city of cook a top british billionaire richard branson is sponsoring a concert with more than a dozen musicians while just a few hundred meters away on the other side but there is government is due to hold a three day festival called hands off venezuela. but in other news more trucks are evacuating civilians from last pocket of territory in syria hundreds of people have already been rescued from the eastern village of but u.s. backed syrian democratic forces say around seven thousand more a still trapped in the besieged enclave it's feared many civilians there are being used as human shields and israeli forces have shot dead a palestinian teenager protests on the gaza border the fifteen year old was shot during a weekly march overturned demonstration at least forty others were injured palestinian protesters are demanding an end to the gaza blockade on the right to return to historical palestine. you're up to date with all of our top stories much more on everything we're covering in the news hour do join me then that's in twenty five minut