Copenhagen. A very warm welcome to the program from all of us here at our church here in moscow thanks for joining us this hour. The president of iran has moved to quell mass anger over a 50 percent hike in fuel prices a sign rouhani said on sunday that the government would compensate those who were worst affected theres been trouble in at least a dozen cities with buildings vandalized and pictures of irans Supreme Leader burnt. The surprise fuel price hike announcement came on friday with the government saying the right. News which funds support for the poor meanwhile washington has voiced its support for the protest movement tehran slammed as hypocritical with more on this heres our donna and just a heads up his report includes our new feature a q. R. Code you can use to get more background on the story. Now for turan this can fuel prices is a lesser evil because they are saying that their economy is backed into a corner its falling apart because of all these sanctions that the United States has imposed against it and these 3 rounds of sanctions coming out of washington and targeting irans economy have been widely unpopular they have drawn International Criticism and europe for instance has been very vocal calling on the United States not to impose them to pull to pull back but they have failed so far to do any to take any action about it and that goes in stark contrast with what were hearing from washington because despite all the violence and all the riots on the streets of iran the United States have decided to side with what theyre calling peaceful protests as i said to the people of iran almost a year and a half ago the United States is with you the United States supports the iranian people in the peaceful protests against the regime that is supposed to lead them we condemn the lethal force and severe Communications Restrictions used against demonstrators but we certainly stand by the people of iran what youre seeing today is them standing up. To their government saying that you know we demand accountability now these words have been met with out reagent iran for instance the Supreme Leader of iran has said that he wont allow any foreign power or any outside force to pressure his country into the economics of mission and will not hire people who will not be taken advantage of by outsiders economic pressure in our nation there is that of course though theres defiance by on the part of the official government and again they have been taking steps to quell the anger like with subsidies and world saying that they will reimburse to those who were of added worst by this fuel price hike but still with all with the mounting pressure both from outside and now from the inside it certainly does look like that the american sanctions are taking its toll on the rein in economy. We spoke to political scientist. Who says u. S. Sanctions have had a devastating impact on the people of iran we are hearing increasing reports not just from you know reliable sources but also u. N. And other International Organizations about the devastating effects of the u. S. Sanctions on ordinary rain ians particularly with respect to import much needed medicine and you know you also have. The Overall Economic impact that is contributing to an employment and so on all of which mr perle conveniently ignores claims to be you know in support of the people are shedding crocodile tears for them while imposing these harsh and savage economic sanctions on iran that violation of the u. N. Security Council Resolution 2231 with as the International Agreement that the u. S. Unilaterally walked out of. The u. S. President has intervened in the cases of American Service personnel convicted or accused of war crimes in afghanistan and iraq dont try to pardon 2 u. S. Army officers and restored a navy seals rank Us Democratic president ial candidates have attacked his decision theres nothing promilitary about overruling military Justice System to prevent it from delivering accountability for war crimes the president has again dishonored our Armed Services trumps intervention in the American MilitaryJustice System to Pardon Service members accused or convicted of war crimes betrays the rule of law the values that make our country exceptional and the men and women who wear the uniform honorably he is not fit to commander troops. Despite the criticism from democrats its not just the republican president who has pardon atrocities Saskia Taylor has a smart. Victorious Election Campaign on a platform of non intervention but dont trump is still juggling dwarves at home against fake news and the democrats and far away against tara so its hardly surprising he has a soft spot for the dogs of war no not this one these ones. I. The. Walking free cut to see of the president s generosity and you know why well when youve got almost a quarter of a 1000000 soldiers aboard boosting morale and giving an incentive to put your life on the line in foreign lands its just what you have to do when our soldiers have to fight for our country i want to give them the confidence to fight for some dough trumps words fail to ring true against a backdrop of human rights reports questioning the morality and lawfulness of american activity abroad for those unconvinced these latest pardons can be added to the already bulging saw a labeled military activity with this use of his powers trump has sent a clear message of disrespectful or morality of the military Justice System and those in the military who are by and by the laws of war i would include the victims of these crimes but have no illusion he cares for them until a shameful trump might have been an outsider when he took the reins in 2016 but his policy of whitewashing quo. U. S. Military activity is a favorite white house pass time previous administrations were also busy putting up cia crimes and ducking accountability brought boma for example the very president who found the cias tool to techniques went around doing some pardoning of his own giving to soldiers who talked to detainees to death a freepost best not to dwell on the postie said on woods and upwards for those who carried out some of these operations within the 4 corners of. Legal opinions or guidance that had been provided from the white house. I do not think its appropriate for them to be prosecuted as a general deal i think that we should be looking forward and not backwards and apparently it doesnt matter whether you read or blue take george bush he was also pretty relaxed when it came to those secret cia silos and some believe our military and intelligence personnel involved and capturing and questioning terrorists could now be at risk a perp prosecution under the war crimes jack simply for doing their jobs in a thorough and professional way this is unacceptable. And while these soldiers might have been given a get out of jail free card despite having been tried and convicted by a court condemned by International Watch dogs and housing the blood of civilians on their hands i wonder if 2nd chance cards will be given so easily to those quoting out the crimes Julian Assange is engaged in terrorism he should be treated as an enemy combatant with you we should be closed down promoting indecisively but im not for the Death Penalty so if im not for the death i dont want to do it illegally shoot the son of a this is a man of this gone beyond anything i am aware of wiki leaks walks like a Hostile Intelligence Service and talks like a Hostile Intelligence Service u. S. Cyber warfare people should use wiki leaks for target practice it seems for u. S. Officials theres still plenty up for interpretation and that its safer to be trigger happy than day to expose someone with just the click of your mouse we spoke to joe lombardo from the United NationalAntiwar Coalition he thinks its wrong the u. S. Prosecute those who expose war crimes rather than those who commit them. It shows that tells the world that the United States can be lawless with impunity in countries all over the world that the position was held by clinton it was held by bush it was held by obama and is now held by trump its position it cant be justified under any sense of justice these people who deserve to be in jail these war criminals are kept out and over people that expose the crimes such as julian a son george szell segmenting those are the people we go after and prosecute theyre trying to kill the messenger but they dont say anything about the message because they cant see that one word that he said put out through wiki leaks was was untrue its not a very good policy. Now to denmark where officials have temporarily imposed checks at border crossings into sweden the move was prompted by a spate of bombings and shootings around the capital among the bombings of the tax agency in august the Danish Justice Ministry claims the perpetrators had traveled from sweden artes and also saw supports from the border between the 2 countries. Denmark has drawn a line in the bridge behind me they have put checks to stop and search anyone coming from sweden after copenhagen has seen more than a dozen explosions in the city this year alone the danes blame it on rival gangs mostly from sweden and hoping that these checks will put an end to it the explosion at the tax agency and the double killing in her leave are examples of the serious crimes that can flow across the border from sweden we will not accept that to counter the threat of serious crimes by the crime we are now strengthen in production of the border with sweden by introducing temporary controls and strengthened Police Efforts in the area and mark and sweden are both. Aerial members the or is on bridge used to be a free passport bridge for nearly 60 years but not anymore for at least 6 months it is this bridge that the danish authorities believe perpetrators crossed into denmark causing all the explosions. But as bombings become a worrying trend in the usually safe country here in sweden criminal gangs are on the rise according to official statistics there have been 38. 00 more explosions this year than 2018 but its only the explosions gun related crimes are fast becoming a concern to during the ninetys the average were 4 per year now nearly 40 and the public puts these incidents down to immigrants but a teligent chief says it is not correct to link newcomers to criminal organizations in sweden they do not. Make an official counts of who uses sweetest and who is actually an immigrant so in sweden theyve been on notice. But we make these counts in denmark and we can see that a lot of those who are that they are 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants of people who are arrested who are from the street and who did this these attacks in copenhagen are also 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants and of course it would be normal to show that if theres a problem with the 2nd one 1st generation immigrants and thats also why we do this in denmark because we have to know. What the problem is before we can do anything about it from the famously soft approach that once worked well d in sweden the government has gone on 180 degrees by announcing a plan allowing police to have greater stop and search powers but also making it easier for them to search suspects houses and access their devices and all of this with the backing of sweetness officials we welcome that denmark is taking action to fight crime in the orissa and region i have respect for the Danish Government strengthening Border Control you know this to keep criminals on a short leash the country of Little Mermaid bicycles and label had its fair share of violence in the past in the ninetys this quiet country solved bombings and shootings by rival biker gangs but no checkpoints were introduced well whether you blame it on the migrant crisis or law and orders in europe are becoming real again eventually steps us for r. T. You might have noticed a new feature we have started today certain stories have a q. R. Code alongside them which you can use to get more information on the story so if you get the chance give it a go were back with more news just after this break. Join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and ill be speaking to us of the world of politics or business im show business ill see you then. Come back Russian Media outlets r. T. And sputnik are allegedly named and they still classified u. K. Parliamentary report on moscow suspected interference in the 2016. 00 referendum the claim is made in an article in the british newspaper the sunday times their part also apparently states though that the impact of the supposed russian meddling is unquantifiable we go live now to east alley in london for the details how exactly did this channel earn a mention in the classified report then. Well over the weekend the murdoch owned sunday times published an article with a headline saying revealed the russia report although this socalled report itself hasnt been released but this times claims to have got access to it and seen whats within it and as far as theyre concerned met much of the focused is on sputnik the news agency and also all at sea and goes on to describe some of the numbers behind arties Online Activity in the lead up to the 2016 brecks it referendum social media analysis revealed that articles published by the russian sites had 4 times more social media impact before the breaks of vote than the official leave campaigns more than 260 articles posted by anson sputnik in the 6 months prior to the referendum was shared so widely on twitter that they could have been seen up to 134000000 times now across Party Intelligence and Security Committee who have been looking into this alleged russian interference into u. K. Politics it seems is come to the conclusion that journalism equals ference now the the there is some background to this report there were calls for the Prime MinisterBoris Johnson to release it that was before we hold in this current election period he negated to do so and negated to release that report and has been accused of suppressing it by members of the opposition. My secretary tells me that it is unprecedented but we should have had no response otoole explaining why any further delay is required in this case this is nothing less than an attempt to suppress the truth from the public and from parliament and it is an affront to our democracy if the report is being called for and written and should be in the Public Domain then what is it got to hide people will be justified in drawing the conclusion that the reporters findings are compromising or worse for the government and the tory party now the opposition say that some of the information within that report could be damaging to the conservatives particularly the electoral chances however number 10 the night any wrongdoing or any negative reasons behind it saying that the only reason this report hasnt been released is that the party are following normal procedures for doing so now we have seen regular open political interference in u. K. Politics by a number of us politicians going back to barack obama telling people to vote remain to donald trump just recently telling nadra frauds and Boris Johnson to form a leave alliance now yet another politician from across the atlantic has decided to weigh did im dumbfounded that this government wont release the report about russian influence because every person who votes in this country deserves to see that report before your election happens reporter like you and others should be absolutely relentless and trying to get to the bottom of it. Now that report hasnt been released in full yet and its likely that it will be until after those that actions are held on the 12th of december. Is alie bringing us the latest from london then carol. The number of people seeking sex reassignment surgery in the iranian capital is on the rise thats according to the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization we spoke with iranian actor and director salman or us 2 who is organize a small Theater Group staging performances to promote transgender awareness. I live in iran and i was a well known director and it is clear that during 36 changes a little unnerving but i overcame my shame and fears when i went through this procedure at the age of 40 want audiences in a theatre include family members of transgender people and workers who come and watch my performance im glad that they come here it changes their views on gender issues i think the influence of my theatre has been significant so we have large audiences and the performance runs up to 24 nights if we can reach just turn that around for 3000 people then thats a big step i have the chance to create something positive in the middle east i already have 6 projects going on internationally compared to many countries we all sentrys ahead but we are also behind some countries so we need to improve and we have the potential. Transsexuality was made legal and he ran in 1987 the government offers Financial Assistance in certain gender reassignment cases according to the state while for organization of iran 70 people apply for help every year that sex change is regarded as a medical disorder any round and is only permitted after a rigorous assessment process this includes medical tests and psychiatric examinations we spoke with a surgeon in the country about the increasing trend. I carry out gender reassignment surgery on 2 or 3 patients each month patients are fully supported some of their costs are covered by state funds but they need to pay the rest my colleagues are aware of what we do and i havent heard any negative views from patients who come in for other procedures kidney stone removal and so on they view it positively physical the patients attended least 10 therapy sessions with psychologists and psychiatrists theyve given full information on the operations possible side effects the pros and cons so when patients are accepted to surgery and come here they psychologically then they start home and therapy. University is in australia are being asked to disclose their overseas financial donors and Research Partners thats under guidelines designed to counter foreign interference artist ill quarter explains. Once a place for the Free Exchange of ideas now a battleground for political influence universities in australia have been ordered to reveal their Research Partners and financial donors to the state all in the name of combating socalled foreign interference weve got to make sure that we continue to because with the foreign interference threat at unprecedented levels it will evolve if we can get a change of culture in all campuses that is the best way that we can ensure that we deal with the threat of forward into ference this new federal directive isnt just targeted at any old interference congress convinced chinese influence is growing at an alarming rate how exactly is that putting the nation at risk well a new report says australias universities are too were alliant on Chinese Students for their economic survival its healthy to have foreign students the problem is when you have so many foreign students that you depend on them for your financial survival as a. Source of these training approach the guidelines. That this is targeted against any one country. But Everybody Knows that this who is trying to is the obvious the primary one but congress has still a need to beijings influence isnt only about economics back in july the attorney general called for an investigation into the beijing funded confucius universities in australia it coincided with a protest that turned violent at the university of queensland between pro hong kong independent students and chinese mainlanders now the government suspects students sympathetic to the hong kong protests are being silenced and while it admits a lack of evidence the states anti china attitude has been left unchanged the review finds that there are a number of specific facts is that could give rise to the perception that the Confucius Institute is or could be facilitating inappropriate for an influence in the department this review has found no evidence of actual political influence being exerted by the Chinese Government through the Confucius Institute in New South WalesPublic Schools no evidence no problem i guess University Staff will still have to follow the rules of this new directive to declare foreign funding but whether or not its a real issue is another discussion especially as reports of racism against Chinese Students have become more and more widespread as of late and as canberra has been stifling scientific cooperation with china by making it more difficult for scientists to get visas coordinated influence from beijing hasnt even been proven to exist and yet the countermeasures against it are already having a very real effect it has the potential of restricting this. In the nature of research having direct government interference recruiters already as it is and its very stern thats how these guidelines are going to operate in the workplace to. The various universities around the edges making comments over. Well time to make all of these ticket concerns see what research were going to start schools and what the end game is and the end game here is to try and grow at a very public and International Statement distribute wants to restrict and rein in the venture chinese influence whether actual read a lot slowly lets look at some world news and brief now theres been a fierce standoff at Hong Kong University between anti beijing protesters and Police Officers tried to inject the demonstrators from the campus but were met with Molotov Cocktails Police responded with tear gas and made numerous arrests. And the latest round of protests in chile saw demonstrators fending off Police Forces with laser pointers officers use water cannon and pepper spray to disperse the protesters then rest in chile erupted amid nationwide grievances over now scrapped transport hikes. Now before we go just a reminder that we are now using q. R. Codes and many of our reports and they will lead you to more information on those stories you can give it a try at the top of the next hour and let us know what you think. So seems wrong. Just dont call. If you get to see. These days become active. And engaged equals betrayal. When so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. Have. Already. The problem in venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented but that socialism has been faithfully employed not. Within a decade my country was ruined. It lost a quarter of its manufacturing. A 1000000 people emigrated and public debt kept rising. In 2015 a government claiming to be a left wing promise to