Live from our studios in moscow this is R T International im john thomas certainly glad to have you with us we start with breaking news this hour reports say more than 40 people are dead with about 100 injured after a blast in the Afghan Capital of apparent suicide bomber struck a wedding ceremony which had more than a 1000 guests in attendance here some eyewitnesses to the carnage. Heard an explosion and said it was a very horrific situation a lot of guests were killed when the blast happened we heard a big bang and the power went out. But the explosion happened near the stage where the musicians were near all the youth children and all the people who were there some were killed some were wounded and now they are in hospitals and others are dead it was my fathers cousins wedding i took my uncle and cousin who were wounded to a nearby hospital and then they were taken to another Emergency Hospital there are so many dead and wounded victims my father and other uncle are still there to identify the other victims there were a large number of casualties around 1200 guests were invited to the wedding i was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then i couldnt find anyone everyone was lying all around the whole. And Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said that the attackers set off explosives right in the middle of the gathering authorities and Emergency Services are now working at the scene this comes just a few days after the end of the muslim holiday. Which many people coming that have seen many people coming to visit the capital and family there. Switching gears now wide reaching Domestic Surveillance Program could be back on the current state side the Trump Administration is calling on u. S. Lawmakers to permanently reauthorize the National Security agency to use it the request was made in a letter sent to congress on thursday signed by the now former National Intelligence director dan coats additionally his appeal also revealed that the controversial Call Detail Records Program had actually been suspended after collecting more information than was legally allowed spying program falls under a section of the usa freedom act which is set to expire in december tease reports. The Trump White House is speaking up about a high profile an asse a program that allows the record. Of americans phone calls and personal messages dan coats the outgoing director of National Intelligence is urging congress to reauthorize the law before it expires at the end of the year now dan coats has confirmed that the n. S. A. Has put the program on hold however he says its necessary to have the ability to get the Program Going again if needed as Technology Changes our adversaries trade craft and communications habits will continue to evolve and adapt in light of these dynamic environment the administration supports reauthorization of this provision as well a coalition of privacy and Civil Liberties advocates sent a letter of their own to the u. S. House Judiciary Committee and said of renewing the program they called for meaningful surveillance reform the governments implementation of the program further demonstrates both the privacy threats posed by the program and its lack of efficacy it is highly concerning that it took almost 3 years to detect the fact that the n. S. A. Was collecting records even beyond the broad authorization provided under the program the n. S. A. Should not be permitted to resume this program now the freedom act gives the n. S. A. The ability to build a network with the Telecommunications Companies to record the phone calls and personal messages not just of the suspects but of anyone that they are in contact with. Voted to allow it to proceed for debate i will vote against that it is better than the usa patriot act but it doesnt go forward off in my mind all in. Protecting our Civil Liberties we find that were spending resources for no benefit in terms of Public Safety in a real cost in terms of freedom and liberty and this is why i voted against the freedom act when they said it would fix the problems inherent in the patriot act just stop spying on innocent americans instead of trying to make it legal. When the freedom act came down it was a way to try to ease americans and say you know were going to make sure we work out the kinks but i think americans know better than that because and thats what dan coats is saying here is that anything the n. S. A. And sometimes the n. S. A. Just gets surveillance information thats just hundreds and pages of nothing and theyve actually come out saying that it doesnt really help resolve or solve any terrorism or investigate terrorism activities so because of this though now they can send out or they can decimate that disseminate that information out to the cia to other players to the f. B. I. And to people who might not have the knowledge of who really is a threat which is going to put a lot of americans at risk certainly these prizes violation so yes youre allowed to surveil youre allowed to keep your country safe from terrorism from these kinds of acts but at the rate that it infringes on the privacy rights of people who have absolutely no known ties to terrorism thats where it gets a little bit tricky. U. S. Justice department has issued a warrant calling for the seizure of an Iranian Oil Tanker released by thursday the document says the ship the oil it is carrying a nearly 1000000. 00 in cash are subject to forfeiture for violating u. S. Sanctions on iran war and also cites a Bank Fraud Money Laundering and terrorism related statutes alleges additionally that irans revolutionary guard unlawfully attempted to make use of the United StatesFinancial System to support illicit shipments of oil to syria. Earlier irans top diplomat sharply criticized the u. S. For attempting to block thursdays release of the ship which was 1st seized by British Royal marines off the coast of gibraltar last month. Having failed to accomplish its objectives through its economic terrorism including depriving Cancer Patients of medicine the us attempted to abuse the legal system to steal our property on the high seas this piracy attempt is indicative of trumpet ministrations contempt for the law having performed small maneuvers on friday the vessel remains stationed in job baltar or waters as the captain reportedly no longer wants to keep command of the ship baltars chief minister says the tension was lifted after the british overseas territory received formal written assurances from iran that it would not ship loyal to syria in violation of e. U. Sanctions. Grace one is that for now released from detention under the sanctions act by operation low on the 30th of august i received assurances from the republic of iran that if we leased the destination of the grace one would not be an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions i welcome the shirts the iranian authorities deny that the grace one was ever shipping oil to syria in breach of ease sanctions 2 weeks after the vessel was impounded iran seized a british flags tanker in the strait of hormuz claiming it had violated International Law the us then later announced its intention to create a Naval Coalition to combat socalled iranian aggression in the strait middle east analyst. Thinks the u. S. May have overplayed its hand with its british ally. Very skeptical that the u. K. And gibraltar officials will heed the call by the u. S. Car meant to continuing pounding and tank air and you know despite their legal sought it is a safe bet that given the fact that iran is also holding a british tank this is part of a quid pro quo whereby the release of the iranian tank it will be followed shortly immediate future by the release of the british tank held by iran we know that. Garmin and their boys john saw that as well as those in gibraltar. You know annoyed by this lingering crisis and they want to wash their hands off of it and the u. S. Is trying every trick in the book to lingard this crisis and to keep the u. K. As part of this so called time. Escort for the oil tankers passes through the strait of hormuz and they will says worries that once this crisis between iran and they use is resolved then they will pull out and yours will be a coalition one. A 9 year old german girl has been told by a berlin court that she cannot join the countrys most prestigious boys choir breaking down the case and the debate it has triggered here is our 2 saskatoon. Nobody likes rejection and no one wants to hear that not good enough but it seems for one family in germany no just isnt option picture a 9 Year Old Girl who just wanted to sing her mother says shes got the voice of an angel and that the best place in the city for her training is the berlin state and cathedral choir set up in the 15th century its one of the oldest and most renowned choirs in the country and its pretty much just got 2 rules you have to be over 5 to addition check and youve got to be a male ha undeterred though the god apply twice and was rejected both times but try try try again 3rd time lucky she got called back for an all dition before the door was once again slammed in her face but the choir is adamant agendas got nothing to do with the acoustic pattern of a choir is part of its artistic freedom the rejection was not predominantly about her gender and she would have been successful had her voice matched the desired sound characteristics of a boys choir out unsurprisingly of the decision struck a wrong chord with the girls mother who is now taking the choir to court over gender inequality she says shes got a letter from the dean of berlins university of the arts which the choir is affiliated to and which its written that aggarwal never sing in a boys choir boys also argue that as an institution receiving state funds rejecting female singers contravenes germanys gender Discrimination Laws now many have weighed in on the side of the choir saying that mixing it would bring an end to its traditional sound nobody has said girls can sing as well but the tumble is different and judging that should be left to the musicians and musicologists anyone who wants to misunderstood gender equality sacrifices a cultural essence this standoff between gender equality and artistic freedom isnt exactly new Music Professionals and academics alike have been debating the. Anatomical differences of boys and girls voices for years saying the former has a purity the latter just cant attain and just last year the famous british soprano signal Lesley Garrett called out all boys choirs for being stuck in the past backward looking traditionalist argue that theres an exclusive purity in the boys voice but i think thats just nonsense its an excuse to hang on male privilege and perpetuate a dominant male gender stereotype and male power but not ready to dump the carrot secure in his choir rolled out a very diplomatic arent we recognise different tasks to contribute to the tower female singers make to the choral scene here at cambridge were especially proud to follow mixed voice quiet kings voices which was formed 20 years ago precisely to give women students depart you need to sing choral music in the chapel we all know parents will do anything for that children but trying to shake up an institution that hasnt changed in over half a millennia now that dedication. Us democratic president ial hopeful Bernie Sanders has been forced to to clarify comments he made about the Washington Post on monday or month senator or was accused of peddling conspiracy theories by suggesting the papers editorial position reflects in the interests of its owner the billionaire amazon founder jeff bezos. Because you tube is all for all you girls for you because what you do. Doesnt work for what i think is. There is a framework you go through the course also c. E. O. Fritz. Anybody you know how more can i move on. When i talk about all the time and then i wonder why but Washington Home which is owned by jumping through on time i thought i thought right we got article about i dont know what senator sanders is a member. Of a large club of politicians of every ideology who complain about their coverage contrary to the Conspiracy Theory the senator seems to favor jeff bezos allows our newsroom to operate with full independence as our reporters and editors can attest on Bernie Sanders has long been a vocal critic of Corporate Media arguing that they misrepresent his views and ultimately act in the interests of the elite. The working families that should not have to subsidize the wealthiest people just big souls made a lebanon 1000000000 dollars last year they didnt pay a nickel in federal income taxes wealthy people should stop paying their fair share of taxes etc. Bernie sanders makes me skin crawl and i cant even identify for you what exactly it is because i see him as sort of a pro woman candidate or he could seriously bashers billionaires flaming which many of the problems that Many Americans most americans have suffered just missed most is he just man the world works and theres of course he is you know. Because hes threatening the class interests and work on trying to keep him through but you know elected president he would be even more static for the billionaire class and. Its definitely an obstacle because they have more dollars and conforms and they can reach almost all americans the influence all americans think about but who clearly has a discrete message from the book review that was resonating with his voters and supporters in the den already you could get the nomination he could be trying if you get that or general election but they are the Washington Post on the New York Times and the other south media would be great to offer who think were looking at all just democrats independents and even some republicans he would have to decide to send it up to him for the media who against him and against them would be quite. The media i think both candidates. And african spy scandal has thrust the chinese tech giant while way back into the headlines. After allegations were published in the wall street journal the newspaper allege that while weigh technicians and at least 2 cases personally helped african governments snoop on their political opponents uganda and zambia allegedly enlisted the companys assistance for wiretapping conversations cracking through encrypted communications and conducting surveillance walkway denies the accusations claiming it has never engaged in hacking activities here as part of an interview given to r. T. On the issue. We refute it quite vociferously. Again it just feels like its one of those stories that come up now and go to completely verify it it sounds like even though the companies that are being cited in terms of involvement have made it very clear they dont even have contracts in. One of the countries involved so it looks like that this story is unfortunately really just fake news and we have to suffer with. Way is currently the worlds 2nd largest producer of smartphones and has been in the spotlight in recent months over its large scale investment in developing 5 g. Mobile technology in may the u. S. Put restrictions on the company citing it National Security concerns after washington accused wall way of spying on governments for beijing which while way has also vehemently denied strategy Vice PresidentAndrew Williamson went on to tell us security is a top priority. Its a private Company Owned by its employees as i say theres about 100000. 00 shareholders and to me as someone thats come to this company i think its extraordinary the benefits of running an organization like that because people dont necessarily just pick up their paycheck at the end of the week of the end of the month they have a real vested interest in the commercial success you really have to check everything assume nothing. And trust almost nobody and thats thats a process in the system that we stick to and work with many of our partners around the world on that basis. On the hong kong now where the 11th consecutive weekend of demonstrations is taking place police and protesters faced off earlier in one of the citys busiest shopping districts rallies were held both in support and in opposition to the saudis in the chinese semi autonomous territory the months of prodemocracy protests were originally calling for the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill but have since adopted a much broader set of demands those include the resignation of hong kong leader kerry lamb democratic elections and an inquiry into alleged Police Brutality concerns are growing though the Ongoing Campaign is putting the citys special status in jeopardy and risking intervention from china. Meanwhile the lead actress in disneys upcoming remake of the movie movie law is facing a backlash for her stance on the protests. I also support the Hong Kong Police you can attack me now what is shame for hong kong. I was happy when decent studio is in the house and theyre making a new molon movie she was my childhood hero it is disappointing to see the actress who plays her does not empathise with the protesters in hong kong theyre fighting for their homeland like milan. Disappointed at wall dismay kompany for selecting and leading actress that supports Police Brutality and corruption she completely destroyed the good image definitely will not seen one life next boycott. How telling death do you have to be to support Police Brutality when you just roam the currents are supposed to stand against oppression is rule for. Hong kong and china are my birthplace and my home i love my country and my home. I really hope that hong kong returns to peace soon. Here we have someone who is standing up for herself you know shes a chinese american and i think she probably knows a lot more about what is happening over there in hong kong then most of us do here in the u. S. Are really other places like europe and shes taking a stance to support war force that i think its very important that we take notice of that these are not peaceful protests these are not people that are high. Being a positive message to get an answer to what they want theyre using violence theyre using force and shes saying you know what about post it out and i support the Law Enforcement thats going ahead and trying to restore peace so i think that shes a good illustration really of the character shes playing that character will live on and this is really something she should be celebrated for not criticized for. Germanys most Senior Police officer has voiced concern over rising levels of far right hate speech he warned it could it lead to the formation of new extremist groups and terrorist cells in the country. For several years now with fluctuations we have seen an increase in violent politically motivated crimes coming from the far right we are also seeing a risk of terrorist groups forming. German authorities registered more than 8600 right wing extremist offenses in the 1st half of 2019 that is 900 more than during the same period last year but despite the increase the number of Violent Crimes stayed roughly the same heres a brief look at the scale of the countrys problem with far right extremism. Well one case that potentially highlights the threat from the far right was the murder of the politician walter libby he was a member of the merkels c. D. U. Party and was a strong supporter of migrant rights he received Death Threats and was killed in june at his home with a gunshot to the head his suspected killer is believed to harbor extreme right wing views. Although the police say they are working hard to tackle extremism martin doctor from Germany Left Party does not believe enough is being done. And the problem is that the right wing extreme right wing. For violence lists as well only nice one busy group called do not call it specialist extreme right wing group and they had a list of 25000 people who do politics christians who do activism for refugees we have a saying in german which say that the authorities blind on the right that means they dont really know what the right wing of the real extreme right wing doing and during the last years they did a lot of Movie Division organization special we can be extremist and militarist and so we have the increase of. Crimes of the right when we as well we have a lot of scenarios people of color left bring people. Into dangers or abuse bring people in the last you. Few people would be willing to visit the site of a Nuclear Disaster if you were still you would think would want to buy products made in the exclusion zone but a group of british scientists well theyre looking to change that they have been working on it producing a vodka made with grain from chernobyl jim smith professor of Environmental Science at Portsmouth University says the atomic spirit is completely safe and has been tested in world class laboratories. But what we did we set up an experimental sailcloth in the main exclusion zone about 20 kilometers south of the power station and its not one of the most radioactive toss of the exclusion zone but obviously theres some contamination there and so we look 1st at the transfer of radioactivity into crops and we grew raw and so then when we asked cemented the grain and distilled it to produce alcohol we as we expected because. Any chemist knows that when you to still something you know you leave a lot of the impurities in the waste product and not in the distillate alcohol so what we found was that when we measured the distillate alcohol that we couldnt with very sophisticated equipment we couldnt find any radioactivity except a natural carbon 14 which would get in any spirit drink. The trouble disaster shocked the soviet union and the world 33 years ago almost 600000 people were affected by the catastrophe at the Nuclear Plant according to the World Health Organization professor smith says the vodka project is not about grabbing headlines but promoting recovery in the economically depressed area. We want to do is make make money in order to help develop that area and support the communities that have been affected its a long road you know 30 years after the chernobyl accident and there are still issues particularly around the perception of radiation risk and people worried about the radiation perhaps when we scientists think the shouldnt they instead things informs from that point of view to show that we can make a Consumer Product that hopefully people will want to drink so i have to say that this is technically this is not of god its more like a 30 high quality moonshine than what were producing is something using the more traditional way thats been done in ukraine belarus russia poland for many centuries to our distil that he thinks and i agree that this is a good way of doing it because it keeps more of the flavor of the original grain and weve had it at the tasting and they like the flavor. Of that as a for me i will be back with the headlines about 33 minutes there with. Home mom. So what weve got to do is identify the threats that we have its crazy to confront ation let it be an arms race off and spearing Dramatic Development only closely im going to resist i dont see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk. In a world of big partisan. Lot and conspiracy its time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that Mainstream Media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smart we need to stop slamming the door. And shouting past each other its time for Critical Thinking its time to fight for the middle for the troops the time is now were watching closely watching the hawks. A lot of people talk about ponzi scheme. Do people really know what a ponzi scheme. Hello and welcome to worlds apart the recent clashes on the indian Pakistani Border while sparking invite you over a potential war between Nuclear Rivals provided a curious lassen in political judo the pakistani leadership confronted to strikes on its territory not only managed to defuse tensions but also turned it into a minor p. R. Victory can it make it last while to discuss that im now joined by in the road by a hard pakistans former foreign minister and currently a member of the National Assembly but im hard its good to talk to you again thank you very much for a time so good to be here now the tensions between india and pakistan obviously have a very long history and there were times not so long ago when the one that was much more likely to col and on india exercising restraint and pakistan acting more belligerent fully now it seems the tables have turned what explains these dramatic reversal in posters. Its interesting that you point it out because weve been saying this for the last many years that pakistan has changed is changing for the better getting out of extremism which we unfortunately phoned ourselves and looked in because of you know the historical baggage of the war and becoming a more Progressive Society i think the democratic