Hello I'm Gerri Smits details have been released of tanks conversations between senior u.s. Diplomats showing that they discussed withholding security assistance to Ukraine while pressing Kiev to investigate President drums rival Joe Biden the messages were released by the Democrat chairs of 3 congressional committees conducting an impeachment investigation of Mr Trump Chris Barker reports in an open letter senior Democrats in the House Foreign Affairs intelligence and oversight committees accuse President Trump of being unethical and unpatriotic in encouraging Ukraine and China to investigate his political rival Joe Biden they were also published tax that they received as part of their impeachment inquiry in which the leading u.s. Diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor says that he thinks it would be crazy to withhold security assistance to try to ensure help with a political campaign I ever the American ambassador to Europe replies the president had stated that there was to be no quid pro quos the Hong Kong executive has banned the use of face masks in public in a bid to quell the increasingly violent anti-government demonstrations they've used a colonial era emergency law to enact the decree which was announced by Hong Kong's chief executive carry law we believe that the new law will create a deterrent effect against Master violent protesters and riot and where Sr the police and its law enforcement many activists wear face masks to hide their identity from the police and to help mitigate the effects of tear gas. Iraqi police have opened fire on a small group of demonstrators who gathered in Baghdad for a 4th day of protests in the capital there are no reports so far of casualties more than 30 people are reported to have been killed this week as thousands defied a curfew imposed by the author Artie's earlier the prime minister. They said the demonstrators were right to demand an end to corruption but added that it would take time to bring change a b.b.c. Investigation in Iraq has found evidence of the sexual exploitation of children and young women for money by some Muslim clerics it involves a controversial practice known as Pleasure marriage in which men are allowed to take a wife for a short period for sex this is sometimes permitted in Shia Islam but is outlawed in Iraq one girl told the b.b.c. a Cleric had used the practice to force her into prostitution from the age of 13. The Thai army has farts addition charges against 4 opposition party leaders and several academics after they discussed changes to the military bank constitution at a public meeting the forum was held in the southern province of Patani home to a violent separatist insurgency Well news from the b.b.c. . Senior government figures in the u.s. Britain and Australia have criticized Facebook's plans to encrypt his messaging services saying it could have security implications and open letter signed by the u.s. Attorney general and the British and Australian interior ministers calls for Facebook's chief Mark Zuckerberg to hold the inclusion plan under which only the sender and the recipient will be able to read the message it says encryption would severely erode the ability of tech companies to respond to illegal activity such as child exploitation and terrorism but Mr Zuckerberg has defended the plan and other types of security challenges that we have been fighting for as a collection integrity what we're basically figured out is that often it's not looking at the content that's most important look at the patterns of activity that even cryptosystems the British Government's Chief Frank says advisor has flown to Brussels to meet e.u. Officials who are skeptical about Britain's latest proposals on its departure the use chief negotiators says many questions remain over Britain's new plan which is attempting to take the country out of the e.u. While preventing a hard boarder on the island of Ireland a major wildlife study says more than a quarter of mammals in Britain and one in 7 of all wildlife species are facing extinction per Marshall has more details of this song that's just Schuyler this bird was once a common sight in the countryside now it's vanishing from our skies it's just one of the 40 percent of species studied that have declined since 1970 the state of nature report shows in grim detail that almost one in 5 plants and now at risk of extinction along with 15 percent of fungal in lichens and one in 10 invertebrates The report says modern intensive farming methods are a key cause of species loss along with climate change and that's the b.b.c. News. Hello you're listening to World update from the b.b.c. In London this is Dan Damon coming up later on our program will find out more about Chuni Zia after the 2011 uprising one of the most successful of those that took part in the Arab Spring that's coming up later here on World update 1st a b.b.c. News Arabic undercover investigation into marriage offices run by Shia Muslim clerics near some of Iraq's most important shrines has found that most of the clerics approached were willing to provide what are called pleasure marriages for very short periods of time to enable sex some were also willing to provide these time limited marriages to girls as young as 9 the b.b.c. Is now McGuffey has this exclusive report and I must warn you you will find some of the content of a sexual nature very distressing. This is cover media in central Baghdad one of Shia Islam's most important pilgrimage sites millions visit this holy shrine every year. In the streets around the shrine a marriage offices where couples come to get wed but they also hold one of Iraq's darkest secrets we've heard that some shock Erik's a performing a controversial religious practice called or pleasure marriage this allows a man to pay for a temporary wife they're illegal in Iraq but we found evidence that they're being used to exploit women and young girls it's impossible to know how widespread this is but out of 10 Carrick's we spoke to 8 said they performed it. Funnily enough say you had that ad was one our reporter told him he'd met a 13 year old girl and wanted to have hélène or religiously permissible sex for just half an hour of marriage a secret recording is noisy but there's no doubt say your dad said sex with a girl would be fine with a lot of them just be careful that she doesn't lose her virginity outside real marriage said the cleric but gentle sex is forbidden if the girl is still a virgin but there were other ways for what he called foreplay he went on to describe them in graphic detail. It. Was you can lie with or touch your body or breasts to calm penetrator from the front but anal sex is Ok just don't go to the front so she loses her virginity. We then went to. The biggest pilgrimage site in the wild. Like other media their marriage offices all around the shrine run by clerics but. One of them was a man called Chef celery he said he belonged to one of Iraq's feared Shiite militias are undercover reporter pretended he had met a 12 year old girl and asked if the chef was certain that sex with her would be allowed to go on yes 9 years old plus there's no problem at all. According to Shari'a there's no problem we showed our footage to an expert on Islamic law Laith to Mimi a former high ranking Kerik himself he fled Iraq after speaking out against the religious establishment. That. My old the heart of what this man is saying is a crime that must be punished by law they says it's one reason he decided to speak out against the clerics the more and the having But I realize that these rules were are glee and cruel and could not come from God or from anyone human after 15 years of conflict there are an estimated 1000000 widows struggling to support their children in Iraq for a poor family without a male guardian marrying the daughter off is often the only option making women and young girls vulnerable to the powerful clerics who have the access to aide. I met a woman we're calling the dream her husband was killed in an i.a.s. Bombing soon after she and her 2 children lost their home and came to rely on charity from a cleric modified lad and in his village and look at what he proposed to pleasure marriage with me sort of half of that method that is to be honest I accepted it I didn't want this thing. I was forced to do it in order to survive after a few months Ream says the cleric started selling her to his friends but just sort of a thought I thought she would just say wanted violent sex I felt abused so I was forced to do body rate. Clerics had told us pleasure marriages were a way of helping vulnerable women but stories like reams show they're being abused and used for sexual exploitation we sought a response from but he didn't reply I say that I deny that he offers any pleasure marriage is a tool both say they're followers of grand. One of the most senior figures in Shi'a Islam we put our findings to his office which released the following statements if these practices are happening in the way you are saying then we condemn them unreservedly temporary marriage is not allowed as a tool to sell sex in a way that belittles the dignity and humanity of women re managed to escape her cleric but she remains traumatized at home but still Monica hey if they want for them a woman is an object and when they finish with her they throw her away. She they don't see her as a human being with feelings they're like animals they eat the flesh and throw away the bones. Well. That remain and in that special b.b.c. News Arabic investigative report from now on our McAfee Well I've been speaking about that report and about the issues raised to Yamaha much as a human rights activist from the organization called Women's Freedom in Iraq this is something I've been witnessing in the past more than 10 years more than a decade and I see the victims who have no other venues in life come to our shelters and victims of the pleasure baggage as I have no alternative in life the young woman the girls as young as 14 have come to our shelters because the have nowhere to go they were treated as commodities who where like their best bet was to be that good tool of pleasure for the males and they were given away in marriage is that with closer to prostitution very short matter just for the pleasure of males and it is something that sounds for the woman or for the young girl that it is the matter of she has been waiting for all her life but then again it's done like buy and sell and she has no options in life this one phrase pleasure marries I mean it's the most clumsy euphemism isn't it because there's no pleasure in it for these women a toll and they seem according to the reporting that we've just heard to be tricked into it they're told that this is something that will give them security but it's the most insecure kind of relationship. Yes you need to consider that you are a person you are a female who are a widow of war or an orphan of war and you have no other alternatives in life and sometimes you have children to feed you have a family where the parents have been lost so when you are desperate and in need of that money and here we are speaking about hundreds of thousands of women in Iraq who says whose fathers and brothers were lost in the war or are still in the ongoing wars against ISIS or in the army so when they have no other options in life this is the only venue that they do and they don't do it in broad daylight it is done in the dark where the extended family doesn't know about it where the neighbors don't know about it and once a woman has been through what she has lost all her standing in the society all her let's call it a cold and cold on earth so she has to go in hiding and she doesn't have options Islam wouldn't be the only religion to use Scripture to repress women to undermine their status but is there any Koranic or. Basis for this kind of. So-called pleasure marriage pleasure marriages came around and became a sort of institutionalized with with Iraq which was put together after the war in 2003 and Islamist she a government government came forward this she a sect is the one that cares more for institutionalizing it and making it general practice I had that in Iran not with children but it is a similar sort of short time marriage is possible to make short term relationships . Although when we have children when you know when the history of. Founders lots of Islam when the founder himself has married 9 year old girl it has become a precedent where the sect follows it and they try to put it into the Iraqi laws many times in the past years that male can marry a female who is as young as 9 years and they try to bring the Jaffa the law and to pass it in the parliament but the people of Iraq did not allow it the demonstrations were on the streets everybody wrote about it they didn't get away with it but they are still doing it in the in the dark underground but their offices that make those pleasure marriages are certified by the government as we heard indeed they do marriages not just these types what kind of campaigning is possible for women in Iraq to stop this not just women men who are recognizing that this is an absolute abuse campaigning when you campaign against your government and you are down in the streets them and straightening and writing about it you are immediately treated as an outlaw as we see what's happening in the streets in all of the Iraqi cities now people are asking for their basic rights and they are being shot by live bullets and all sorts of hot water hoses are opened on them so for women to demonstrate against an issue that's been institutionalized while they were victimized in the original basis is not an easy issue the organizations of women are doing their best but then again they are also treated as outlaws in Iraq for example our organization acronym is Alfie we've had our shelters open in the past 16 years but we were treated as outlaws being told by the government. That our shelters are illegal and why because they don't want us to shelter their daughters they have wifes their sisters from their abuse and they also don't want us to shelter any female who is to be used as a tool of pleasure for the males they are bringing their medieval misogynous thinking to Iraq and they are institutionalizing it in the time that Iraq has had many generations of women who had degrees who are professionals and with whom this way of objectifying women does not work that I'm a hommage She's from the organization Women's Freedom in Iraq there is more of that reporting on the b.b.c. News website if you want to have a look at b.b.c. Than Damon on Twitter at b.b.c. Time Damon if you have a comment or your own information about that kind of story keep in touch with us this is the b.b.c. . And coming up a bit later on our program we're going to talk about the exoskeleton this is something that's been built to allow a man who is suffering from spine damage and therefore can't move his limbs independently now science and technology are beginning to help we'll have something about that in just a few minutes time our top stories from our news room at the moment you know released text messages between senior u.s. Diplomat show that they discussed withholding security assistance to Ukraine as part of efforts to get Kiev to investigate President Trump's rival Joe Biden and the government of Hong Kong is to make it illegal to wear face masks as it tries to deter pro-democracy demonstrators we'll hear from there later to hear on the b.b.c. You're listening to World update from London. This is Dan Damon in London it's nearly 9 years since a young market stall holder in Tunisia set himself on fire in protest at the authorities there Mohammed to Bower's easy diet from his injuries he could have had no idea that that fatal gesture would kick off further protests which ended up bringing down the Tunisian government and those protests spread across the region in what was called at the time the Arab Spring that spring didn't have the success that many hoped in many parts of the world democracy didn't come to many of those countries Tunisia itself though continued along the same path and it is about to hold not one but 2 elections a parliamentary contest on this coming weekend and the 2nd round of presidential elections a week later poll most is in the Tunisian capital tew News poll. Yes and it's quite something to be here in the middle of this lively election campaign and to remember that less than a decade ago I was outside in the street just 50 meters from where I'm speaking to you now watching police beat up pro-democracy protesters and in some cases I'm afraid shoot them down these past few days the only thing I've seen disturbing the peace was an election rally with definitely loud music blaring out as he said to his ear is having not one but 2 elections the general election this Sunday which was always scheduled to take place the presidential election was more unexpected it's being held because the man who was President beige he died in office in July now there's no way around it the 2 contests are happening and it's bitter cynicism about politics here in recent local elections and in the 1st round of the presidential election voter turnout was down to below 50 percent and it's very hard to understand why people are feeling disillusioned people complain that corruption is still endemic everyone who seems to want to bend your ear with tales of politicians or police officers allegedly on the take but more than anything it's the economy which is failing to deliver jobs particularly for young Tunisians was. A professor of economics at Carthage university he argues that his year's 1st democratically elected leaders got their priorities completely wrong. The government that came after the other spring neglected the economy and instead talk about identity about religion how we should govern the country following the Islamic or. Their marketing model and well after the spring the economy is growing but the growth is not enough especially in terms of employment and joblessness. Now I have met plenty of Tunisians who did knowledge their country's economic difficulties and yet they're absolutely delighted to be having an election at all I went along to the rally rally held by one of the main political parties here which is called Heart of Tunisia and was struck me was that people there of course wanted to tell me why they thought this party was the best of the bunch but more than anything what came over was their share to lie just to being able to come to a political rally like this I feel so happy so proud of my country because Anyway we have democratic country and I feel so proud that I living in a country that respects different idea of people that we practice democracy a new experience in Tunisia I think we have a good future of Tunisia My name is where it's been said thank you I will come. Very welcoming voters at a campaign rally you mentioned earlier that the Arab Spring began in Tunis year I should say that something people here a very proud of. And there are also aware that the larger Arab country to the east of it has recently been experiencing protests again I've had a couple of people suggest in hoping to they say that if they can conduct democratic elections here in Tunisia freely fairly and peacefully they might once again to inspire others in the Arab world to see what's possible Dan thanks so much people mass in Tunisia and only more reporting from him over the coming days well it's been a long hope that technology could help those who spines have been damaged to regain independent movement and now a man has been able to move all 4 of his paralyzed limbs with a mind control exoskeleton suit the remarkable creation reads the brain signals of T.-Bo that the only name we have his 30 years old his spine was injured in a fall in 2015 and the creation the exoskeleton on the computer converts those signals into movement only in a lab as part of a 2 year trial at a clinic tack on the University of Grenoble I spoke to Professor Alan Louis benar beads he's chairman after an attack one of the team who developed the exoskeleton So our intention was to prove that it could be helped quite a bit by implanting too where let's record is against the cortex of the brain in the motor aria and then record these data through specific softwares and they'll go rhythms developed by our team and then use it is the According to trigger the much tricity of an exhaust Colliton which is kind and our more which is equipped with motors and then debate action can by mind activated those motors and initiate some movements such as a walking and moving the pulling is it automatic Well part of the walking is still automatic so the patient has to. Decided by a mind to work and then when he stops the sign and continuously and when he stops doing this then he stops working of course what has to be said he said that the working for the moment is not a collaborated nobody knows how to do it in the world and this is the next goal so the patient works suspended to a security system which follows him from the ceiling right so you're saying that he still has to be supported it's not at the moment sort of standing on it it doesn't balance on its own no no absolutely not obviously that there's a lot of very early stage technology here the exoskeleton is very cumbersome all of that taken for granted but you're learning so many things what are you learning Well what we're learning is that it is possible and starting from that then we can initiate the other parts of the program been thinking about for years so the they can liberate them is our next challenge and working on it it's very difficult the other one is to come with a lighter softer I wouldn't say more beautiful exhaust Colliton but essentially something which is less cumbersome and using new materials and to allow him to be closer to the shape and the space look at patients than someone has I guess also you're learning a lot about the brain machine interface the implants and so on and what they can do absolutely this we have been working on the 1st place because we needed that and now we have a system which is able to record at the different sort of work is done has been done in square. It can record about a larger area of the brain cortex particularly the central part which is considered science so remote. From this that we have enough to Sheed the decoding mathematical systems of which we are increasing the capacity by having a computational time much shorter going to our diligence and also increasing the spatial resolution with the existing electrodes so in the next the very next year or 2 we will have a better definition of the core to collectivity related to do 4 limbs and also. Analysis of the country collectivity to provide a more usable and more efficient activity of this exist as well as the next one to come Professor Alan Louis Ben are buried from Clay not a cleaner tech that developed that exoskeleton suit this is World update from a. Distribution of the b.b.c. World Service in the us is supported by refine it is offering open platforms and advanced technologies to power the world's financial markets refine it if data is just the beginning and by fracture creating photo decor by printing photos on glass a fracture is image frame and mount all in one hand made in a carbon neutral factory fracture Me dot com slash b.b.c. . Support for 91.5 k. R.c.c. Comes from our listeners and from local organizations who want to reach a discerning audience that values quality through marketing on 91.5 k. R.c.c. Underwriters reach the people most likely to shop in their businesses support their non-profits and buy tickets to their shows to learn more about corporate support call Jeanette at 719474801. This is what update with day Minutes reported to us diplomats helped put together a request to Ukraine to investigate political opponents of Donald Trump adding more evidence to the inquiry that might lead to the president being impeached facemasks out to be banned in Hong Kong from tomorrow to try to keep pro-democracy actressy activists off the streets and Facebook is planning to encrypt messages on its platforms governments are saying that will make life easier for terrorists those stories after the news b.b.c. News where Jerry's made us Democrats have accused President Trump of trying to normalise his requests to foreign powers to dig up dirt on his political rival Joe Biden the Democrats who are conducting impeachment inquiry since of Mr Trump called his behavior on ethical unpatriotic and wrong they've released text messages which show that senior u.s. Diplomats discuss withholding security assistance from Ukraine while pressing Kiev to investigate Mr Biden. The Hong Kong government has banned the wearing of face mask in public in a bid to quell increasingly violent pro-democracy demonstrations a colonial era emergency law is being used mass protests is could be jailed for up to a year many cover their faces to stay anonymous and protect themselves from tear gas . Reports from Iraq say police have opened fire on a small group of demonstrators who gathered in Baghdad for a 4th day of protests in the capital the demonstrations against unemployment and corruption have led to more than 30 deaths this week thousands of demonstrators have defied a curfew an undercover investigation by the b.b.c. Has found that some Shia clerics in Iraq are involved in the sexual exploitation of children in young women for money b.b.c. News Arabic found evidence of clerics willing to conduct what are known as Pleasure marriages the Nigerian president Mohamed do Bihari who is on a visit to South Africa is holding a town hall meeting with his fellow citizens to reassure them of his government's commitment to protect them it follows a recent wave of violence and waged Nigerian owned businesses in South Africa were attacked Research's a man in France with Ted Ripley has been able to move all 4 of his paralyzed limbs with an external skeleton controlled by his mind the patient achieve limited mobility using a robotic suit b.b.c. News. You're listening to the b.b.c. World Service Hello this is Dan Simon coming up should your messages on Facebook whatsapp and other platforms be encrypted or will that help those who have ill intent to call each other much more easily will talk about that governments want the Facebook company to avoid doing the encryption that it says it will begin. 1st though according to reporting in The New York Times and elsewhere president Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani helped the u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine and the State Department's special envoy to Ukraine to write a statement in which Ukraine's new president would have agreed to investigate Mr Trump's political rivals the statement was never issued but texts between the special envoy. And the Ukrainians have come to light and Scott Lucas joins us he's professor of American politics at the University of Birmingham in central England also there have been texts between 2 u.s. Diplomats have and they're released as a parts it seems of Mr Volcker is testimony to the house yesterday what did they say. To be precise in part to preserve u.s. Ukraine relations and in part because of pressure from Donald Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to diplomats Kurt Volker the special envoy for Ukraine and Gordon Sunland the u.s. Ambassador to the European Union arrange meetings between Giuliani and Ukrainian officials it was pressing the line that he wanted an investigation the Democratic former Vice President Joe Biden who is also running for president 2020 not only that but Volcker in some land these 2 diplomats using language from Giuliani pressed Ukraine for a statement by President Selenski to say the investigation has been opened into Joe Biden and his son Hunter who was an official Ukrainian gas company what we have and this is through multiple text is that after President troops July 25th phone call it President Selenski repeatedly asking for the investigation that for whatever reason whether from pressure or from their own motives these diplomats were working with Giuliani to try to get this statement but in the end President let's he bought and said it would look too much like Ukraine's interference in the 2020 American election but one of the text. It has been released from Gordon's online to the u.s. Ambassador to the European Union as you mentioned he says the president's been crystal clear no quid pro quos of any kind so in other words the president was wasn't using undue pressure well we need to put that in context because that tax was put was in September after these events that we've talked about and it was after the Ukrainians realized that Donald Trump had personally ordered the suspension of military aid the other thing we need to realize is that they go and someone is not a career diplomat he's a political appointee who had given $1000000.00 to Donald Trump's not real committee so that text could be read as a lot of statement there was no quid pro quo that foreign aid was not linked to getting the investigation into Biden or it could be linked to someone's attempt to protect Trump once the facts are starting to come out in just a word or 2 Scott is this going to add to the possibility of impeachment Absolutely and beyond that word we're going to see more evolutions which means that I think Donald Trump is in serious trouble and at the very least there will be a vote for his impeachment probably by the end of this year thanks so much nice Scott Lucas who is professor of American politics at Birmingham University You're listening to World update from London. How much difference will the ban on face masks announced by Hong Kong chief executive carry law and actually make to the scale of protests this one as you confirmed face marks a face masks excuse me will be banned from Saturday tomorrow and the emergency decree would act as a deterrent the chief executive in council decided at a special meeting this morning so invoke the power under the emergency regulations organs and make a new regulation in the name of prohibit face covering regulation which is essentially an empty mosque long. We believe that the new law will create a deterrent effect against massed violent protesters and riot is and we assist the police in his law enforcement well to gather that just over the past few minutes in Hong Kong more protest is let's hear how that sounds. Hot. Hot. Hot that's a protest just building up in Hong Kong live coming from that island where many activists wear their face mask to hide their identity they want to mitigate the effects of tear gas as well and the mass protests have been demonstrating in Hong Kong again today we can speak to Kenneth long a pro-democracy legislator how effective will this mosque ban be well I think if people. Becoming very involved in protests I don't think a mole 'd can and that's a time from doing things. But on the other hand if people would like to come to a peaceful demonstration any if there is a concern about their employer would do something to the job I think I mean this law is quiet reasonable because people just want to you know protect themselves from being being made you know a kill press on on on on the job so I think if they say that law is trying to deter people from becoming violent I don't think it will make a big difference at all but also you are talking about peaceful protesters but we have seen plenty of images of people gathering peacefully but the police weighed in . Yeah I think they have the police sometimes are that the press just making people nervous and because the expectation bill has now transformed into a groove instant access abuse of power by the police the mere presence of police were sometimes acetate at the protesters and if the police can't pay for you know. Here to there to groups and procedures with that would make things better but it does fact that introduction of the team asking law in many jurisdictions you know they quote Canada and France and Sweden could be effective but I think they did it just it didn't law itself may not be a solution that approach problems we need more political maneuvering and solution to the whole scenario cantering thanks so much indeed pro-democracy legislator you're listening to World update from London plenty more reporting coming from Hong Kong over the coming hours does Internet privacy it matter to you Facebook believes it does after the Cambridge analytical scandal when Facebook data were used to try to manipulate voters in the breaks at referendum the 2016 u.s. Presidential vote and other political campaigns around the world so Facebook plans to encrypt messages but Britain's home secretary pretty Patel has joined the call by Australia and the United States for Facebook to rethink those plans messages sent over its Facebook Messenger Instagram and Whatsapp services will use the same technology to ensure that they remain unreadable to outsiders secretary Patel says this will make it harder for the authorities to fight crime online particularly child abuse in Christian is creating the spaces the spaces the terrorist individuals terrorist organizations child abuses the people that are seeking to do harm to others and children in. Davitt jewels and our own countries and our national security so I would really urge Facebook to engage with us in active dialogue which is something that has not happened last fall that's why we have issued this letter Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg however says the encryption would help protect dissidents and activists under threat and the values of privacy not only is that what people tell us every day that they want but also entangling corruption tips that will safe in other words rights are journalists who are operating in countries where there isn't freedom of press giving people the ability to throw an encrypted system into knowing that they can organize for the ideas that they care about and that the government is going to be all too easily hacked into that is I think a valuable thing let's talk to Socolow director of Big Brother Watch campaigning against what it calls the surveillance state for people to be free from unfair intrusion thanks for being with us on World update the argument often given not only by people like Home Secretary Talbott others is that if you have nothing to hide why do you care about the ability of governments to look at your messages or at least see you who you're talking to well that's an argument that says that citizens of democracies should and countries all around the world should surrender their rights and not care about the fundamental right to privacy so I think it's really a moot point and what we're seeing here is a proposal for a mass violation of privacy and security on a scale that we probably haven't seen before because of course the number of people using Facebook platforms is in the billions the majority of people here internet connected use Facebook whatsapp Instagram so we're talking about creating a backdoor into the modern communications infrastructure which would leave our private communications open to not only criminals and hackers but. Oppressive regimes and hostile states Edward Snowden explained and expose didn't see that this. It was taking place this mass surveillance some laws were passed to restrict that of those been effective. Well unfortunately the u.k. We haven't had laws passed to restrict that we had to the investigative powers Act passed in 2016 which really codify the extraordinary things that he revealed the massive valence 50000000000 communications a day being scooped up by. Even g Q our own signals intelligence agency. Web cams of almost $2000000.00 people creating a database of all of the Internet users in the world and their web browsing profiles it is that still going on because his exposure of it did at least to lead to some new laws passed by Congress in the United States there were some changes in the u.s. In the u.k. And for think we just made things worse so I would imagine that things if anything could be worse than what was revealed in 2030 and we would need a new whistleblower to know exactly the extent of it and whether those who want to escape this kind of detection anyway have other means I mean you don't necessarily need Facebook encrypt and there are all kinds of encryption methods that's absolutely right and it's a curious thing about this proposal which really aims at the mainstream kind of main artery of modern communications rather than the outskirts already there are multiple and so ending corruption tools that people can use and anyone who's intent on criminal activity will use but in my view quite rightfully law enforcement and intelligence agencies have targeted methods of getting around that so that's why I think the way that this proposal for encryption backdoor was delivered is a bit disingenuous because it's certainly not the case that at the moment you know law enforcement is throwing up their hands is just some communications they can't get to they absolutely can but they have to do it on a targeted unwarranted basis which makes me suspect and many others that actually this is a. More towards just getting into mass communications and it's not just us who are warning against it I should say you know a former head of n.s.a. The former head of he said that this me if would be disastrous for security so he thank you so he Carlo from Big Brother Watch the monthly magazine Gay Times is publishing its $510.00 a day $500.00 edition this month that makes it the longest running magazine of its kind in Europe Gay Times began in 1904 not long after the decriminalization of homo sexual relationships that happened in the u.k. In 1967 there was still differences from heterosexual relations then but now in several countries same sex marriages are legal and increasingly common Let's talk to Ben Hunt who is the B.B.C.'s bt Q reporter and what's the importance of getting times and 500 editions back what is this something that many magazines and publications weren't actually c. $500.00 efficiency is a big deal so for you times that now makes it the longest running l.t.p. t Publication in the whole of Europe started in 1972 as gay news and then around 12 years later it became. Now over the years it's gone through different spates of bankruptcy it's going for it legal challenges around promoting l g b t f as there's been such a journey for this organization and ultimately if you're looking at it as a consumer you'll see that back in the day or even just a few up or to a few years ago you would have white gay men on the cover showing their apps it was a very sexualized magazine the publication name of what's the l g b t community but within this 500 edition you're now see that actually that's not a single white person on the cover of that 5 different issues for for this celebrate 3 months for them and they're all people of color there's includes one lady Mani who's a quit out bisexual Muslim woman so it's been a real change and it's bought worldwide is it. Which can be very risky in some places yes Ok Times is actually distributed and it does reach people in countries where it's still a struggle to be l.g. Bt hams are talking like trying on the South Korea Pakistan places where people obviously exist but they may not be able to show their true identity or show their love to a partner. Or friend so it has become a lot less activist like as a magazine it's much more like a coffee table but a quick messaging is still there and it's still a huge thing for it to be reaching some of these places so I actually spoke to the chief executive of times tech One night he told me about the importance of this pretty traditional media to some we thing still seems to kind of fly under the radar in some of those areas countries where we know that I'll be taking rights that exist what's really exciting is knowing that some of the content the stories that we talk about the experiences of how to be people are when change other crap people around the world. So this actually is a message that they they continue to preach of that magazine was you going to places where people don't have those same rights as I do in the u.k. What's really interesting is that they've launched I am a something called amplifying which actually takes that ad that messaging to these places where they're on the bt right so they're partnering with organizations I am with in a variety of different different places where in Asia within Africa and allowing these these organizations to really have a wider voice from them so that promoting events step. Back as he did Titians they're promoting lots of different things that these organizations need to get a bigger reach for that it's also interesting as well that this magazine to see started as an activist voice so whilst in the u.k. We've now got a lot more outer beauty rights for the community I'm in these other places gay times really taking on that call and taking that challenge for them Ben thanks so much indeed that's Ben Hunt the l.g.b. T.q. Reporter for the b.b.c. If you've got opinions about that we'd like to hear them. B.b.c. Dan Damon on Twitter. We recognize that in some parts of the world these issues are not as easy to discuss that doesn't make them less valuable or significant to discuss so you can express your opinion at b.b.c. Damon on Twitter that's the best way you're listening to the b.b.c. World service from London. Headlines just now newly released text messages between senior u.s. Diplomat show that they discussed withholding security assistance to Ukraine as part of efforts to get Kiev to investigate President Trump's rival Joe Biden and the government of on Congress to make it illegal to wear face masks as it tries to deter pro-democracy demonstrators those at the top stories science writing should be entertaining and clear that's the advice from Cormac McCarthy the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Road No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian He's written a piece for Nature magazine offering advice to writers of scientific papers don't lean on semicolons he says keep ideas short and separate read your work aloud to your friends before publishing it to see if they understand it well Bill Bryson's latest book is medical scientific it's called the body a guide for occupants so I asked Bill if he agreed with common McCarthy's advice and 1st how did he make the transition from writing about Shakespeare and history to dealing with biological science I bring 2 things to it I bring curiosity and ignorance and you know I am I'm not medically qualified I'm not a scientist I come to this is it with the body I know no more about the subject than the average person and I try to make take advantage of that because one of the things that ignorance gives you is infinite capacity to be amazed by what you're learning whereas I think scientists themselves sometimes are slightly jaundiced or just jaded by the by their own fields because they're so used to working this is they don't see the magic of it anymore it's really just a question of being curious about things to try to understand as a subject whether it is Shakespeare or the human body of the universe and then just looking for the stuff that I think is wondrous about it what was the most wondrous I think the brain is unquestionably the just the most extraordinary creation possibly in the entire universe I mean certainly as far as we know there is nothing anywhere within our realm of knowledge that can match the brain this universe extra . A fact I came across into the research for the book is that if you took a single cubic millimeter of your cerebral cortex the thinking part of your brain which is an about the size of a grain of sand within that there's enough processing power to store all the movies ever made you know all movies are not just Hollywood but Bollywood Korea Japan every movie ever made anywhere on Earth since the Lumiere brother started cranking their cameras 100 years ago so that just gives you some sense of the scale of what the human brain is capable of it's a bit scary though why do we forget things if we well that the answer I suppose is that is that a lot of the brain is not focused on you to remember where your car keys are but actually a lot of a lot of your brain is not is not engaged with active thinking and it's in games with just running your body and keeping all of the systems purring and when you think of how complex the human body is and how many things are going on all at the same time most of it masterminded in one way or another by things going on in the brain neurotransmitters and so on it has a lot a lot else to do than just help you remember way put your car keys or parked your car in a multistory car park well comic McCarthy has given advice on how to write about scientific subjects don't use semi-colons he says read what you've written to a friend to see if it makes sense and what kind of advice would you give to those who want to approach scientific subjects Well you have the advantage of me there because I haven't read kind of Kathy's article yet but I certainly will because I could do with all the advice I can get myself I tend to agree with him automatically about the semicolon is there something. Distancing about them I think they're not a very it's not a very friendly mark of punctuation I think that the real thing is that he seems to touch started himself there is to have you know a friendly style I try to think the person I'm have in mind when I'm writing is someone like my brother or a good friend someone that I can talk to conversationally rather than than you know someone I'm lecturing to as if we're in a big hall I think friendliness is a really underappreciated. Tribute to him in serious writing and it makes a huge difference where is the human body going there's so much effort being put into keeping it going to give long life you know live to 100 and still be able to play squash or whatever Where's it going you know what this is going this is becoming a real a real problem and it's going to get worse before it gets better and one of the problems this is you as you say medical science can keep us alive a lot longer now and my mother dear old soul died a couple of years ago at the age of 102 and a lot of that was because you know she was getting medical treatments that kept her going but the same time she affected the cease to be a functioning human at about the age of 97 or 98 and I think this is going to become a much more common thing for all of us as we live longer and longer as science is able to prolong our lives it hasn't always come up with ways of making the quality of life matched That's Bill Bryson His book is called the body a guide for occupants Now imagine this here we are 2019 and it's the eve of the referendum British Prime Minister Ursula life sucked has returned to her hometown of Dublin to convince voters to remain within the United Kingdom there's a threat of chaos in the streets but the final t.v. Debate is to begin at b.b.c. Dublin should illand leave the u.k. Well course fake news but it is the premise of a new play called The alternative touring across the island violent at the moment and clearly touching on the Zite guy so we can speak to one of the playwrights Michael Patrick Michael thanks for being with us on Weald update an amazing idea and what did you find out as you began to write the script. Have a fun at lots of various things it's yeah it's a strange idea I guess to too many for us it was I co-wrote The play with Carney thrust it was sort of trying to marry the ideas obviously of Bragg's which are so you know in the mindset right now I are seeing is from one point on the border right in the border so that's obviously very much in his mind but it was also using this to look up its history and the relationship between Britain and its going up to 100 years of the creation of the other states description of Northern Ireland some partition and we were using this sort of alternate history to look back and sink What helping the successes and failures of the last 100 years really and have things gone differently 100 years ago then indeed Home Rule and island remaining part of the British Commonwealth recognizing the queen and so on might have happened John Redmond had a campaign he had a very effective campaign for Home Rule what happened Yes exactly because in our version of what we say we say Homer it happened and that was it but it was really because of war one over it wasn't implemented as and then. You had all the the War of Independence and then not way and lot of the times when we look back at history and we think it's preordained specially for us not and we look back we say that's what happened there was always going to be a war of independence it was always going to be Irish and parents but Queen all that sort of thing but it really isn't if you look back on route would have been the thing that most people thought would have happened. Well history's written by the victors you forget about all the other possibilities were leverage because said I think in the last few hours that one of the ways that the whole backstop thing could be done away with was that island could rejoin the u.k. Of course he said it's it's not going to happen. What is perhaps more likely is some form of Irish unification but it wouldn't be just Dublin being the center would it they would have to be a different kind of arrangement you can just forget that the North is different. Well it's this thing you know people in the north a little Many of them are very British are very proud of what Britishness obstreperous to be some kind of unification between the north and the search you have to have provisions for that and the number of months ago it was rock it was speaking in West Belfast of yellow there and so last about this in the sense you know we would need to be young and we would need a new constitution and the Irish people were in arms about this and said You know I don't want any ultimate don't need constitution but you do have to accept that there are many people and culturally silence is very complex issues with identity and you need to common it Michael thank you fascinating and I hope I get a chance to see the play The alternative as Michael Patrick who wrote it with machine Kinney Well let's go back to the story that's been developing while we've been on protests taking place in Hong Kong. Those protests taking place because the chief executive Kerry last announced that the government of Hong Kong will make it illegal to wear face masks and they're trying to counter these protest by pro-democracy activists of course a lot of them they do wear the masks not just because of the tear gas most of those who are going into the front line know where gas masks anyway but also so they won't be identified and arrested later just a few hours ago Chief Executive Kerry Lamb said this would act as a deterrent we are now in rather extensive and serious public danger. It is essential for us to stop violence and we stall calmness in society as soon as possible. We hope that the new legislation can help us to achieve this objective Kerry land while the ban comes into force tomorrow we'll see how effective it is about the protesters there today let's finish this edition of World updates by letting you hear the sounds from home mom. Was there listening to the b.b.c. World news on k or c c To southern Colorado's n.p.r. Station Kera c c broadcasts on 91.5 f.m. From our studios in Colorado Springs Colorado you can also hear cares you see in the following communities 88.5 f.m. In West Cliff and Gardner 89 point one f.m. In La Hunter 89.9 f.m. In Lyman 90 point one f.m. In Manitou Springs 91.7 f.m. In Trinidad and Raton New Mexico 94 point one f.m. In Walsenburg and love Fida 95.5 f.m. In Lake George and Hertz all 95.7 f.m. In saliva universe to envelope Grove and 105.7 f.m. In Canyon City for questions or comments please call 719-473-4801 during regular business hours you can always become a member of k. Or c c by going to k. Or c c dot o r g and making your financial contribution safely on line. Hong Kong bans the use of face masks as it tries to quell violent antigovernment demonstrations we are now in rather extensive public danger it is essential for us to stop violence and restore calmness as soon as possible this is Andrew ph in London also in the news room Iraqi security forces opened fire on protesters as the prime minister says he accepts that advance your voice was heard before you even started protesting we are following and responding to all right from demands as u.s. Democrats accuse Donald Trump of trying to normalize his requests to dig up dirt on Joe Biden we hear from the president's supporters if the man played golf every single day of his presidency I would still vote for him again and how too many trainers damaging the environment we don't jest but that change a culture of kind of unthinking endless by the way by inviting in in such a kind of nice way most stories on the way it's 10 hours g.m.t. . B.b.c. News Hello I'm Gerri Smit u.s. Democrats have accused President Trump of trying to normalise his request to foreign powers to dig up dirt on his political rival Joe Biden the Democrats are conducting impeachment inquiries into Mr Trump President Trump has now publicly admitted asking Ukraine for help as well as asking China to examine the Biden family's business interests Chris Buckley reports from Washington in an open letter senior Democrats in the House Foreign Affairs intelligence and oversight committees accuse President Trump of being unethical and unpatriotic in encouraging Ukraine and China to investigate his political rival Joe Biden they were also published tax that they received as part of their impeachment inquiry in which the leading u.s. Diplomat in Ukraine Bill Taylor says that he thinks it would be crazy to withhold security assistance to try to ensure help with a political campaign I ever the American ambassador to Europe replies the president had stated that there was to be no quid pro quos the Hong Kong executive has banned the use of face mask sim public in a bid to quell the increasingly violent anti-government demonstrations from Saturday the decree could see mass protesters jailed for up to a year reprieve Wingfield Hayes says the protesters immediately poured out onto the streets to express their anger there are hundreds of people gathering down here blocking roads just behind me here you were burning a Chinese flag down here a minute ago and decide they've been building barriers across the road blocking these streets there is a big crowd down this way.