The independent regulator. Striking. The u. S. To close its consulate general in the city of chengdu in retaliation of the closure of his own consulate in houston says the state ratchets up pressure by pulling on the world to gang up on quote this new. And more protest in the city of portland the president sent in troops to stamp out nearly 2 months of racism protest local business and. She just wants the unrest to come to an. End you feel businesses like your city looks like a war zone. And were very disappointed were very angry. And in the city of hamburg a 2 year suspended prison sentence is given to a former concentration camp guard in whats believed to be possibly the last trial of a known. If you are a war criminal. Here in moscow great to have you with us here on r. T. To the. Elite suggests the u. K. s Opposition Labor Party is pushing for arties broadcast license to be revoked despite of com the independent regulator in britain supposedly being immune from political pressure earlier on taylor and daniel hoare can still the development leaked and i will say unverified laughs has come to light allegedly from stevens who is the shadow cultural secretary so high up in the labor party now that it was a party sent to off calm which is of course the independent u. K. Media regulator which essentially just follows all news outlets and makes sure that every single time that impartiality is our power now in that left a jury stevens requests that arties right to broadcast in the u. K. Be reconsidered. Im writing to you in the light of the troubling revelations in the russia report about the role of aarti inspired nick in spreading kremlin backed this information. I am writing to request it off calm urgently refuse arties license in light of this report in to request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss my concerns about the broadcaster was all he responded while this has not been verified of course undoubtedly for the child the main concern is the side to that a politician is actively interfering in the business of an independent organization that should be immune to such pressure it is wholly inappropriate for the leader of the labor party to make such request of the government and indeed a minister is like jay stevens to directly place political pressure on of com it isnt for the government to interfere in the role of an independent regulator nor is it appropriate for the labor party to seek to play on due pressure on an independent regulator we are concerned about the politicians not about of come and of course this is not just about our team we need to look at the white a picture here what else will suddenly be deemed worthy of being shot down and it is incredibly of course worrying that politics and independent media bodies are being dangerously untangled now walty was in this fall as earlier this week in the house of commons as well was that yes i mean unfortunately its beginning to look a bit like policy from the labor party on wednesday we saw that it may be a need to us a kiss on the face off with the Prime MinisterBoris Johnson and really that he echoed this letter he kind of requested atis license to potentially be revoked and set up with jeremy quote been gone hes now at the helm of the labor partys attitude towards r. T. Has changed on their own could be giving and hes so lets look at that exchange between those 2 distortions in the coverage provided by russian state and international costas such as russia to die. The high court has ruled that russia today broadcasts actually potential harm just the Prime Minister agree with me that its time to look at good but the licensing for russia today operates in the u. K. Its a very good this is because i think this would come more credibly from the leader of the opposition have equally doubt. The former leader of the opposition when he took money hearing in russia today i mean we should be protecting this is the protests did neither against the frame of your vision stands nor against his willingness to take money from russia today he flip flops from day to day this has become the trigger if you like for the debate in parliament for this letter if you like was the long awaited russian report just sort of boy what exactly was published while the socalled russian report had been in the works for 18 months there was so much hype around it people thought that after all of this time that would be some sort of bombshell revelation but it really failed. In that regard a bit like the middle report if you will came to the sensational conclusion that it was quote the new normal and that the kremlin was masterminding key decisions from brecks it to the Scottish Referendum to the general election and 29000 but it gave up sunni no evidence to substantiate those claims it was a highly redacted document and that was a key section that was said to contain crucial information that proved russia had been meddling in britains democratic process is now that section was missing it wasnt included so really the whole report was a lot of unsubstantiated allegations that left people with a lot more questions than answers and this latest development with the latter will undoubtedly in its own right raise a number of concerns not just of course about the future of the freedom of press in need k. But far more crucially about un jew influence. To comment on this story weve received no reply yet. Ok lets bring in a guest that in the story now with independent journalist martin summers good to have you on martin says close to home so its good to have an independent journalist to pass comment on it 1st of all get your reaction to the the story and the letter supposedly letter from Joe Stevenson of com what do you think of it. Well as its a its a leak so it may be deliberate or you know somebody is leaks it i think of the previous contributor that made clear that this is part of a general policy of demonizing russia really and of course its totally improper for the labor party to be trying to influence off coming this way but i think theyre probably likely to get you know theyll be echoed on the right wing of politics so were going to see im afraid quite a lot of. Necessary attempts to prevent your operating in the way that you do and i think what they really dont like is an alternative narrative to the war on which they would like to push and theyre not interested in debating with anybody and great believer if you break the rules and Everybody Knows the rules you should be punished in accordance with them and if i thought it was breaking the rules like any broadcaster in the u. K. So up to was come to the deal with that matter the fact that r. T. Still broadcasting there doesnt that tell us quite clearly that of calm hasnt found any kind of transgression of the rules big enough to stop them doing that. Yes well i mean obviously there have been interactions between off common azzi and the have with other organizations and obsolete intends to operate within those guidelines i think thats not good enough because weve created in the u. S. And and in britain youve got the Intelligence Services essentially tanking for their own power the that this kind of story that the russians are coming theyre trying to influence elections is essentially a canard i mean we know that some of the the. The the stuff about the hacking of the d. N. C. Computers in the u. S. Weve all the information we have about that is very clear that was a leak not a hack it was nothing to do with the russian Intelligence Services and what it showed was that date Democratic National committee were rigging the the elections that is a story and of course the story became russian hacking and that of course is a classic look over there theres a school on the same thing happened here with lots of contentious matters including the scriptural case and so on but youve got to be allowed to have a different point of view otherwise freedom Means Nothing and if everybody ablaze the rules and Everybody Knows arties the state funded organization just as a. B. C. Is in australia the Australian Broadcasting corporation or they demand to be say were not going to listen to them fox news is out rights trump propaganda should we ban it i dont think so does this create a problem for of comet self because i mean its reputation is based almost entirely on the notion that it is independent that it is impartial and the decision now that would follow immediately after whats perceived openly to be government pressure would would harm its reputation. Well youd like to think so its not a whole has a great big profile and im not really sure how theyre going to respond to this but one would hope that they will do what theyre supposed to do and dont take an independent view on it for r. T. Has done anything that requires to be corrected than let let let let it be stated and lets see what it is the this kind of innuendo is mainly a political gain the new the new more right wing leadership of the labor party wants to establish a kind of narrative in the public mind that the old leftism is finished and now theyre going to take a more extreme view on International Affairs more war like possibly in places like yemen where the British Military are engaged in a mass murder really that are we allowed to say that were going to find out in the future whether we are up with. Martin appreciate you coming out International Martin some as my guest independent journalist thank you thank you. China has ordered the u. S. To close its consulate in the city of chengdu its a tit for tat measure as earlier washington ordered beijing to shut up shop in houston beijing says its not looking for a fight. The Current Situation in bilateral relations which the u. S. Is entirely to blame for is not really what china desires to see once again we urge the us immediately to retract its wrong decisions and kriegel necessary conditions for bringing relations between the 2 countries back to track from. The Top Administration order china to shut its houston consulate on tuesday when i defended the move claiming beijing was stealing intellectual property as you can call the closure of its consulate a political provocation while its Foreign Ministry said the countrys embassy in america had received Death Threats because of anti China Sentiment it says was whipped up by donald trump as tensions escalate between the 2 geo political foes the u. S. Secretary of state has called on other nations to form an alliance against china. But we have to admit hartrick we estimate are due to should guide us in the years and decades to come we want to have a free 21st century and not the chinese century of dreams all paradigm of blinding gauger with china simply wont get it done the United Nations nato. And she 7 countries the g 20 are combined economic diplomatic and military power is surely enough to meet this challenge if we directed clearly and with great courage to free world must triumph over this new tyranny. We heard from china expert she says that the u. S. Is acting in fear. Many people in the United States are extremely upset with the very authoritarian way that the trumpet ministration is dealing with the protesters and basically china. Not following the norms and violating human rights a lot of people it probably cried. Oh you sound like youre being a hypocrite here us for all us the folks basically are worried that china would include the us economically and then therefore politically be and militarily over time and thats their biggest fear i dont think its because it into human rights. To remain high in the us city of portland over the deployment of armed federal forces i was sent in earlier this week by President Trump to quell racism protests the white house claims that the matter of portland has lost control of the city however more than a dozen u. S. Mayors most of them democrats voiced concern over the federal crime down more details his auntie america correspondent alex the heart of each. A protester beaten with a metal pole tear gas and rubber bullets shot into a crowd after nearly 2 months of mostly peaceful protests tensions have reached new heights now for president Donald Trumps administration ordered federal police. Cordons largest city just a few days ago porton spirted wheeler was not speared by the u. S. Government forces wheeler was tear gassed by the agents as he stood near a fence guarding a federal courthouse. Jeered at times by protesters the mayor showed solidarity with the crowd shouting black lives matter. Thats opposed the deployment of federal agents of his city from the start and the state has how does barack let me be very clear with oregonians when i spoke with the director of the depart. And of the Homeland Security and last week i told him to go home and to take his federal troops with him. This is a democracy not a dictatorship however critics of the portland mirror is to blame for local police using tear gas and other methods to disperse crowds prior to the arrival of the ferds some local Business Leaders also believe the mirror should have brought the night we protest under control weeks ago. Meanwhile the ongoing protests have affected portland shop owners with stores in the area vandalized and looted one of the targets was a Jewelry Store thats been operating in the area for 30 years inmate protesters broke into the premises and stole numerous items the owner know how to sob so is cancer afraid to go downtown because of the ongoing protests and she spoke to r. T. About the situation in portland. Are not the only ones many businesses in Downtown Portland are hurt its not the portland we know its not the city that weve been doing business in for over 30 years its just boarded up streets. You know lot of graffiti just destruction everywhere and were very disappointed with the city officials i dont consider what theyre doing its tutorship when you feel businesses like that when your city looks like a war zone doubts of failed leadership and were very disappointed were very angry and at this time we just dont know what the future of Downtown Portland will look like when you allow lawlessness when you allow the movie and we dont hold people accountable this stuff is going to continue and their leadership field the businesses the residents of Downtown Portland big time and just right this is happening there is no accountability being held right now against looters. Youre watching on t. V. The actual still to come this hour 2 new year suspended prison sentences given to a former concentration camp guard hes been found guilty of accessory to mass murder that story and others after the short break. You cant be both with the yeah you want. The blacklist to germany next to a youth court in hamburg 100 a sentence to a 93 year old age 17 he was an concentration camp guard hes been convicted of 15000 counts of accessory to murder our europe correspondent peter all of that has the story. This 2 year suspended sentence that was handed down to 93 year old bruno d. Could well be the last verdict handed down to a perpetrator of crimes during the holocaust he was found guilty of being an accessory to 5232 counts of murder while he was an s. S. Guard the tough concentration camp. Due to his age 93 years old as i said it was always unlikely that a judge was going to hand down a custodial sentence the 2 year suspended sentence though was greeted with mixed opinion by those representing the victims i understand how they reached the suspended verdict but i cant accept this its all because a suspended sentence for a mass murder even when the defendant was a teenager juvenile is basically sending the wrong signal this is the verdict is balance this verdict is also a signal to Foreign Countries namely that these crimes will be punished havent 70 to 75 years after a mass murder judge on my a good bring said that bruno de viewed himself as just a mob server in the killings that were going on and she also contradicted claims made by the defense team the 93 year old would have tried to escape from the camp himself if an opportunity had arisen the judge said he knew what was going on there and how people were being killed earlier this week we heard from bruno de himself who said how he felt about the actions that took place all those years ago. I would like to apologize to those who went through this hell of madness and their relatives Something Like this can never be repeated there are other investigations into the crimes of the holocaust ongoing but due to the well the amount of years that have elapsed since the crimes were committed and the age of those who were accused of perpetrating those crimes as well as the age of those who survived it seems that this trial may be the last one in the german court that will be seen through to completion. The iconic higher saffir in istanbul has reopened for muslim prayers with its 1st friday worship after a top to court revoked his status as a museum it is size of his 1st muslim prayer in almost 90 years of worshippers of file filled the nearby square for the inauguration to his president bridge of type one is also in attendance heres a quick look back at the history of the unesco World Heritage site. During prayers the christian frescoes and i cons of the former cathedral will be covered with curtains and other times only our works will be uncovered with the holy site open to tourists. Some World Leaders have criticized turning the site into a mosque again inside turkey the decision met with a mixed reaction on turkish pollster found that almost half of respondents saw it as an attempt to shift focus away from the countrys economic woes is what people in istanbul had to say. Hyas a few years a fundamental right of muslims its been converted into a mosque as a result of this victory no muslims can pretty freely but when hyacinth feel was a museum