To secede from iraq heading also coming up german chancellor of the machall hits the campaign trail again just days after winning the general election this time around shes helping out in a vote and one of germanys states. And hugh hefner the founder of playboy dies at the age of ninety one did he empower women or was he just a peddler of porn. Im brian thomas welcome to the show iraqs kurds are facing growing political isolation after the massive yes to independence and mondays referendum airlines from turkey egypt jordan lebanon all saying theyll be halting flights to Iraqi Kurdistan at the request of baghdad now turkey has also warned it could stop cross border trade with the region and iraq. Central government has threatened its own sanctions. There were euphoric scenes among iraqs kurds after the official result was announced Kurdish Authority said that with a seventy three percent voter turnout the poll had been a resoundingly success. At this historic moment i want to congratulate you on the success of the referendum on the independence of kurdistan in our autonomous region and the areas outside the autonomous region which kurdistan claims. In baghdad the reaction couldnt be more different iraqs government opposes the kurdish push for statehood and has demanded an immediate an element of the vote. Iraqs government has already taken retaliatory steps threatening to halt flights in and out of the kurdish autonomous region its also demanded that those behind the vote including kurdish leader Massoud Barzani face legal consequences iraqs Prime Minister he said he wanted to keep his country united without resorting to the use of force but parliament has given him a mandate to deploy the military to the kurdish territories including the Oil Rich Region around the city of kirkuk that we will impose federal authority on the whole of iraq with the force of the constitution and the force of the law this is not a threat some people have made threats and some have used force to impose their will in the disputed areas we will use all the tools provided by the constitution and the law. The measures passed by parliament also called for the closure of Foreign Diplomatic Missions in the autonomous kurdish region. Neighboring countries turkey and iran are worried that the referendum will embolden their own kurdish minorities and are applying pressure with sanctions of their own. For the very latest on this lets bring in bill gates fans and he joins us on the line from kirkuk and one of the disputed parts of iraq where this vote was held. First off what do the people whove been celebrating in places like care where you are want to say are they expecting this referendum to bring independence. You have a morning now they dont expect this referendum to bring independence and the. Atmosphere in cocos was very much divided i mean there was the kurdish parties they were celebrating yesterday but not in the turkmen and not in the our parts because there were boycotting the elections so it is a very mixed and somehow a very critical situation in kirkuk because its cheer cooked to be the hot spot in all that so if this tank sions will imply and mr about he made it very Firm Yesterday that he wants to have full Border Control over iraqs borders to watch turkey and iran and poor bought full control over the airports in erbil and still money and kirkuk as well although in kirkuk you have what is only military airport and not a civil airport so the automatic yeah you mentioned the critical situation. Baghdad is threatening sanctions what should the region expect where the region will expect that first of all its a lesson for mr baez and this is how i see it its a lesson for mr burroughs i need that hes not an island hes not alone on this what in the past to consider the interests of others he has to consider the interests of baghdad the interests of the neighbors turkey and iran this is i think the lesson he has to take ok now. Is preparing for a deployment of Iraqi Government forces in kurdish territory are we likely to see that. Well i dont see the push matter much of a team order and before you have to consider that they are operating anyway in the into province of kirkuk just fifty kilometers south of your cook is how we judge and how we jet is still controlled by isis so now operating that together with the iraqi army and together with the shia militias just fifty people made us out of coke like you know the kurds are increasingly politically isolated on this do they have any backers for their push for independence the only backer is israel and the time yeah ill go the Prime Minister of israel has said that hes backing the kurdish will for independence but this is about the only otherwise barzani is against the rest of the World Everybody is against this because the risk that your wrath falls apart and you the wrist that iraq will have a civil war is very high ok very good friends and for us from care cook thanks very much for that update u. S. President donald trump is under pressure to do more to help puerto rico which has been paralyzed by Hurricane Maria the caribbean island is a u. S. Territory its people are american citizens supplies of food and clean water are low in many areas and the power remains out for most of the island this is kind of on us one week after Hurricane Maria and the efforts to clean up the rebuilding tentative most people here still just trying to survive. Federal emergency teams are going from house to house trying to assess peoples needs but the scale of the task is huge mud deborah and sewage block the streets the power grid is almost completely gone there are no communications and almost half of puerto ricos three point four Million People dont even have clean water. And lovely little truly this is the first water tanker that ive seen in this area its the first. Time they didnt bring any water to this place thats why youre seeing people going crazy like this. They say the eights coming from the u. S. But i still havent got any. The u. S. Government has dispatched the navy and the National Guard sent in millions of meals on bottles of water but Many Puerto Rican still they arent receiving the same level of help given recently to mainland u. S. States the islands governor has set clear priorities. Getting immediate resources here at the Port Authority go and getting aid package from congress that it is consistent with the amount the gravity of the situation that treats the u. S. The proud u. S. Citizens a puerto rico equally that if there were an event in florida our taxes already were else in the nation. To make things worse many here feel their president has abandoned after Hurricane Maria struck trump spent days tweeting about u. S. Football stars not until monday did he mention whats a rico now at least he has promised a visit im going to do it for a very. Good record breaking a record that place roid thats not a word but lets write up the order lets do this and then theyre. Really. Going. Meanwhile private a donations are flooding in from puerto rican communities on the mainland u. S. Basketball star j. J. Barea arrived with a plane load of supplies pop star Jennifer Lopez donated a Million Dollars the crisis has rallied Many Americans with roots on the island. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making the news at this hour a u. S. Air strike in afghanistans capital kabul has claimed a number of civilian casualties Officials Say the strike missed its intended target due to a missile malfunction it had been aimed at militants who launch rockets at kabul airport on wednesday shortly after the u. S. Defense secretary jim matters arrived there on a visit. To past Prime Minister shinzo abbay has dissolved the lower house of park parliament clearing the way for snap elections next month and oust the move earlier this week in a bid to capitalize on high Approval Ratings but it could face a stronger than expected challenge from a new Opposition Party launched by tokyos popular governor yuriko. Well here in germany just days after or worse than expected result in the countrys general election chance for all america is back out on the campaign trail this time out shes helping ahead of next months snap election in the state of lower saxony the chancellor is lending her support to the conservative Party Candidate whos trying to win back that state from the social democrats a strong showing by the conservatives there would strengthen mackerels position as she tries to forge a new governing coalition in berlin. And to talk about the chancellors options were joined now by hans braun from our political desk machall doesnt give the impression of being all that concerned about her partys historic losses in the general election can she afford a business as usual approach. Well in a sense you could say can she afford another approach at the moment of after all shes back on the campaign trail and she has to give some sort of form of confidence to her Party Friends in lower saxony who are trying to win back power in the state which they used to rule some years ago and which they had lost to the social democrats and where the social democrats have been willing in the past few years she has to instill some confidence in her party there specially after the worse than expected results in the general election recently and if in fact the conservatives the christian democrats do manage a good showing in this election in two weeks time that will strengthen americas hand in Coalition Talks for a new government here in berlin so she needs to instill confidence at the same time in the background discussions about how coalition might come into existence here in berlin obviously going on ok on one of the big developments since the National Vote is that the veteran german finance minister vote going choice blah will be leaving that position now he has been a tough taskmaster of a story austerity for europe the greeks will certainly be happy to see him go but but not everyone will be. Well not only the greeks will be happy to see him go and greece obviously sharply was one of the most hated figures from germany because of his policies of austerity but that also goes for other countries in Southern Europe and countries such as ireland other countries on the fringes of the European Union who felt that the german Purse Strings were held so tightly by sharply that many developments in the European Union according to their feeling were being blocked by that obviously sharply becoming hes going to become the speaker of the german parliament. Will no longer be finance minister thats clear thats part of the. Maneuvering for a new coalition here in berlin and the question is who will then be finance minister in the new government its not a given that the new fine and once minister will be someone who would be easier on countries such as greece and other countries on the fringes of the European Union so his leaving does not necessarily mean that things will become easier for the countries that have really dislike choy play in the last few years just one of many questions still open since that National Vote here hans brant thanks very much to the u. S. Now where hugh hefner of the founder of Playboy Magazine has died at age ninety one after this magazine became instantly famous from playboy first had to do stance back in one nine hundred fifty three both were symbols of the sexual revolution and the cultural changes that rocked america in the one nine hundred sixty s. After spawn the playboy brand into a giant multimillion dollar media and entertainment empires critics accuse them of degrading women and undermining the traditional family. Well lots of reactions on social media of course of the death of this controversy figure lets take a look american comedienne sarah fong writing in support jokes aside hugh hefner was a known feminist and civil rights supporter he gave women an avenue for expressing sexuality but many disagree with that including the portland based author April Daniels who writes you have there was not a feminist of any stripe he didnt make it safe to talk about sex he made it safe to commodify womens bodies the edinburgh based journalist of on the look clerk is also critical who have to or was not a feminist i repeat you have to know was not a feminist objectification is not womens sexual liberation and stand up comedian bob saget as simply tweeted a famous quote by the intrepid nor he writes you have a definition of obscenity racism war bigotry but sex itself no what is sad cold world this would be if we werent sexual beings i mean thats the heart of who we are thats all we have time for thanks so much for joining us here at news im brian thomas well see you again at the top of the hour by the. National list are on the rise with lloyd make your country great again is their slogan their focus put your nation first i am going to highlight different shades of nationalism and to find out. You. Join the conversation