and rivals alike warned him against war. for more on the story we have on with us he's a foreign policy expert at the german institute for international and security affairs here in berlin sasha thank you for joining us we hear both sides here saying we do not want war what do you make of that does that mean that there will be no war when i think that's true that nobody actually wants war and the question is is this process where in or at least we're getting in is that controllable and the sad truth is it hardly is because both sides are operating increasingly on worst case sometimes and scenarios and they in this situation will not be able to kind of perceive signals being sent from either side as intended so for example a move or a step in a direction which is essentially intended to be defensive might be perceived on the other side as offensive so in this kind of situation and absent official and official communications if we believe news reports it's really. it's really hard to communicate intentions and this increasingly has kind of the effect of creating a really controllable environment yeah these tensions that have been escalating how do you parse

and policies which would then be a potential precondition for justifying more military response to possible attacks all right sasha loman an expert at the german institute for international and security affairs thank you for sharing your analysis with us thank you for having me. to some other stories making news around the world clashes have broken up between palestinian demonstrators and israeli soldiers along the border of the gaza strip and israel the skirmishes took place at rallies for not 5 day when palestinians marked the founding of the state of israel in 1988. new zealand's prime minister just joined other world leaders and technology leaders in paris to explore ways to fight the spread of hate speech and violent online content the initiative is called the christ church appeal ahead of the meeting facebook announced it would tighten access to its live streaming feature. san francisco's board of supervisors has banned police and other municipal authorities from using facial recognition technology it's the 1st us city to do to pass such a measure but the ban does not apply to private businesses and federally controlled facilities like the city's airport the technology is used to ident

and now for the 1st time we see littering and on top of the political thank you. all right marcus kind of senior fellow at the german institute for international and security affairs thank you very much for joining us thank you. now to some other stories making headlines around the world u.s. president donald trump has defended his tariff policies after imposing duties on $200000000000.00 worth of chinese imports on twitter he wrote we are right where we want to be with china trump accuses beijing over negative on commitments in trade talks and sri lanka has temporarily blocked access to some social media networks following anti muslim violence over the weekend muslims have been targeted in the aftermath of the easter sunday bombings carried out by islamist militants more than 250 people were killed in those attacks. voters in the philippines have been casting their ballots in midterm elections the vote is considered a referendum on president. territory and his controversial policies including his war on drugs the most crucial races for half the seats in the $24.00 member senate which 2 total is expected to fill with his allies the upper chamber is considered a ch

and now for the 1st time we see littering he'd been on top of the political leg. all right mark is kind of a senior fellow at the german institute for international and security affairs thank you very much for joining us thank you. now to some other stories making news around the world swedish prosecutors have said they will reopen a rape investigation against wiki leaks founder julian assange he had taken refuge in the ecuadorian embassy in london to avoid extradition over the case a request to pursue the rape probe was filed last month after his arrest for jumping bail a sanchez deny the allegations. u.s. president donald trump has defended his tariff policies after imposing duties on $200000000000.00 worth of chinese imports on twitter he wrote we are right where we want to be with china trump accuses beijing of commitments in trade talks and sri lanka has temporarily blocked access to some social media networks following anti muslim violence over the weekend muslims have been targeted in the aftermath of the easter sunday bombings carried out by islamist militants more than 250 people were killed in those attacks. in india voters have been casting their ballots i

and now for the 1st time we see literary games went on talking and political language. all right mark is kind of a senior fellow at the german institute for international and security affairs thank you very much for joining us thank you well as those tensions rise iran is topping the agenda in brussels where e.u. foreign ministers are meeting today on the block is determined to keep the iran nuclear deal alive faster washington withdrew from the pact and we imposed sanctions on tehran the u.s. is urging the e.u. to walk away from the deal u.s. secretary of state mike pompei o is reportedly making a surprise stopover in brussels to discuss iran with the ministers. and our correspondent teri schultz is in brussels covering the story for us hi terry good to see you so my comp aoe is set for talks in brussels today what can we expect. well it's not so sure yet sumi that he set for talks he's definitely set to arrive here within the next hour or so but he was warned in advance by you side that they had a very busy schedule today and they didn't know when they'd be able to make time to speak with them that said i believe they will make time if he's if he's come all the way here

military response to possible attacks all right sasha loman an expert at the german institute for international and security affairs thank you for sharing your analysis with us thank you for having me now lawmakers in the u.s. state of alabama have approved the nation's toughest abortion law the state senate voted 25 to 6 to outlaw abortion at any point during a woman's pregnancy except when a woman's life is in danger the bill must still go to the state governor for her signature but it has already polarized opinion. emotions were running high both outside the alabama legislature with pro-abortion activists rallying against the bill and inside the state senate where lawmakers engaged in fierce debate you know why you all want to control our bodies. i would never ever know. and i know that many of you have daughters to wagner republican senators say this is about alabama's abortion law they want their bill to change u.s. legislation. what this bill is designed to do is to go to the supreme court and challenge particular precedents that say in 1973 that abortion is a legal on demand essentially any time anywhere for

military response to possible attacks all right sasha loman an expert at the german institute for international and security affairs thank you for sharing your analysis with us thank you for having me. and we're hearing germany has now joined the u.s. in suspending some activity in iraq it's put on hold its training mission of local troops bought the defense ministry in berlin says it is not responding to any specific threat. now lawmakers in the u.s. state of alabama have approved the country's toughest abortion law the state senate voted $25.00 to $6.00 to outlaw abortion at any stage of pregnancy even if that pregnancy resulted from incest or rape it would also send doctors who perform abortions to prison for life outside the legislature women's groups protested the bill it will now go to the state governor for her approval now the minority democrats denounce the law but the majority republican supported it and they say they want this bill to end up in the u.s. as talk ort so that it will rule on whether abortion is legal hopefully get to the supreme court and have them revisit the actual decision which was is t

police and troops across jakarta as it braces for more unrest i am for more on this let's bring in felix hi doc indonesia researcher at the german institute for international and security affairs thanks so much for joining us how did we come to this point where there are now clashes in the streets of jakarta well right after the election day warranty cry foul described the elections as richt and declared himself winner so and at the same time he also insinuated or even indirectly threatened with 3 protest were the electoral commission in jakarta to decide against him and forge of course all the door while this has happened yesterday and now we have riots that aren't spontaneous i would argue there rarely ever are in indonesia to put pressure on and for me the interesting question is why busy is it because of horse trading from probabl was point of view to basically write raise the price for his acquiescence or sensually or is the 2nd is that the real power struggle and this remains i would argue at this point with all these latest developments how widespread is the support now for the opposition well not even trouble was running mate supported him challenging the election resu

united states will not sustain and therefore a serious blow for any kind of number of proliferation efforts marcus' come from the german institute for international security affairs thank you very much for that and that is. turning now to pakistan and to the christian woman who spent years on death row on of blasphemy charge she has now left the country according to her lawyer she's arrived in canada where two or four daughters up for two have already been granted asylum for baby aasia bibi it marks the start of a new life in safety far from the islamist hardliners in pakistan wanted dead. she's one of the most talked about women in pakistan as a baby pictured here shortly after her conviction in two thousand and ten the christian mother of five sentenced to death for alleged remarks about islam during an argument with fellow farm workers who refused to share their glass of water with a non muslim she was acquitted in october twenty eight hundred and went into hiding not on death row but still in constant fear for her life and this is why hard line islamists calling for her to be hanged. this supreme court's decision triggered days of nationwide protests. for her

for conflict now pump a.o. has returned to washington on his european tour allies and rivals alike warned him against war. let's get some analysis now as sasha loman america expert at the german institute for international security affairs welcome to the show thanks for joining us having is this the start of a deescalation in the gulf well i feel no these processes hardly controllable and it's a huge potential for missed perceptions so steps on both sides are perceived to be offensive even if they essentially meant to be defensive do you think it's reassuring tehran nonetheless that pales but out there talking to people talking to russia talking to the e.u. well i think it's kind of reassuring that he's so far unsuccessful unsuccessful to garner support for the so-called my small precious strategy but at the same time the u.s. is deploying new military assets in the region and i think that's highly unstable ising for also the reigning leadership what do you think about this shuttle diplomacy on behalf is it a one off effort or do you think america will be keeping. up the pressure for this maximum pressure strategy that that you just mentioned will basically pay was trying to garner some legitimacy from allies in europe