huge fire in the not. parish bringing down the roof and. officials say that the main part of the structure has been saved. messages of condolence since of pour in from around the world as france reels from the shock of the fire. julian assange is now in jail for an m.p.'s hold a media conference outside to show their support for a man they see as a hero look at the media's shock over the whistleblower. human rights organizations cry foul after a palestinian activist is denied entry to the u.s. he spoke. about his experience with the u.s.

administration has been mobilized now. in trying to silence. international human rights defenders. the belgian government center for cyber security fails to find evidence of any threat from way despite the chinese tech giant having been accused of spying by the u.s. and its allies. good evening and welcome thanks for joining us here on r.t. and. we will start with the latest on the devastating blaze in paris firefighters are in a race against time to save the cathedral the building spire and roof collapse the two towers of the north belfry have apparently been saved and isolated from the flames as the declared the situation a national tragedy with details from central paris is our correspondent charles. a

round of pools rapturous applause from the hundreds if not thousands of people who've spent the entire evening here watching what's happening or not the news coming through that it looks like that they have been able to secure the structure we know the firefighters have been working throughout the evening trying to dampen down those flames we even heard that they had decided not to use aerial water powers is because they wanted to ensure that that frame didn't collapse and it looks like those reports coming through now that they have been able to secure that so some incredible news that it's definitely giving people here some. cheer in fact we've had people singing throughout the evening trying to keep their spirits up as they've been watching this fire unfold a jewel in the crown of not just paris but in rules heritage went up in flames we know that the trial century spire collapsed about an hour ago that is now

irretrievable it seems and the damage inside but we still don't know what that damage is inside because when the fire is finally put out then we will see what's happening they will start to assess that damage i do want to tell you a couple things that have also been happening tonight when news of this fire not spread out the church bells at certain churches across the city rang there bells in solidarity to show that they will all thinking are not our lady as it is in english now we also know that there's some other good news is being coming through and this is what we saw earlier which looked like the firefight is they were up with their lamps in two bell towers those iconic bell towers of not to the looking for anything that could be saved through industry and that a number of works of art have been rescued from this fire they are not damaged

that's. deeply good news in terms of the heritage to try and preserve that for not to dump and we also understand that the crown of thorns this was probably one of the most iconic and important relics that was contained in not to put on that has also been rescued that is a relic that dates back to at least the fourth century although catholics believe that it was actually the crown of thrones that jesus award just before his crucifixion so an incredibly important relic to the catholic church here in france and it's considered indeed to be paris's own the crown jewels of that crown of thorns as well as many works of art and of the relics have been saved by those firefighters who have been working tirelessly throughout the evening some reaction is well we've had an outpouring of sympathy from across the world world leaders saying that they are thinking of paris tonight thinking of not the tea pool here

describing it as being an utter tragedy we also know that president michel who is here tonight he came in described this as being a national tragedy president he was actually due to address the nation tonight to talk about what he would do in regards to the call that that's been going on in france for the last few months to try and stem the protests that we've seen on a weekly basis from the l a vest he was here he counseled that television address because not done cathedral is deemed to be so important and iconic building of a hundred and fifty eight hundred and fifty years old that was undergoing reconstruction at the moment restoration work that had been going on some of pointed and wondered if possibly that restoration work could have been the start of this place but we don't know yet we don't know what cause. states we've also been hearing from some

of the politicians force what field you may remember him he was a presidential candidate back in two thousand and seventeen and he said in a tweet he said paris in t. is we love it so much we will rebuild and that's the view of many people is no matter what damage has been done to not to put our people want to rebuild it because this cathedral it's not just the building it's the heart of paris it was built all those years ago to represent paris being the economic the political and the cultural a heartbeat of france and it remains just that twelve million people visit it every year it's the most visited site in paris possibly one of the most visited sites across the world but what we do know is that restoration work that was underway to try and stop it crumbling unfortunately hasn't done anything to stop this

majestic crown jewel of france this french got thick architecture and architecture superbly example going up in ashes tonight but that good news coming through in very much welcomed by the people here that it looks like the construction itself has been saved as well as a number of works of art and important relics all have been rescued from the grips of that fire. you all christians of france and elsewhere are praying for the building to be saved a local priest spoke to r.t. . people knew that the legal or somebody did you needed that legally for us catholics it is a symbol of unity if they chose a vision and if it is a place that has seen the great historical event. since it had thirteenth century and houses holy relic states in fact of his a central sun which we were about to start or easter celebration as there the pope

it did you did the world is sharing in francis shocked a night the russian orthodox church called the fire a tragedy for the whole christian world leaders of numerous countries have also expressed their condolences to the french nation these horrible images of not to dawn on fire painful notre dame is a symbol of france and of all european culture all thought so with all french friends not your damn inflames emotion of a whole nation thought for all catholic and french people like our compassionate same sad tonight to see this part of us burn so horrible towards the massive fire at the not today in cathedral in paris perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out must act quickly and following the not to die on for a minute by minute not today on the perry belongs to all humanity what a spectacle what horror i share the emotion of the french nation which is ours as

well our lady of paris is our lady of all of europe we are all with paris today the incident to notre dame is a catastrophe for france as well as for spain and europe frames a demotion eight hundred fifty years of history i could see a chip engine and sculpture it through a card to forget it france can count a mouse in order to recover the greatness of its heritage. of the not saddam cathedral was built in the twelfth century and to see multiple restoration projects over the years the latest one started just this year after officials had warned that the entire structure was crumbling and in danger of collapse the cathedral is one of the most popular tourist attractions in europe pulling in thirteen million visitors every year. and speaking out in anthropology professor charles are you in charles you coming on and i'm sure you can add a totally unique perspective on this you know you study you study societies

throughout the ages and as well as being you know we talk a lot about this being an iconic building and the religious aspect from a historical value what it means to the people how priceless is this is this structure so i think you hit it right there and he said priceless it's an iconic structure known throughout the world you know only in the united states there are lot of americans don't know what you got friends but they do know all the eiffel tower. and see something like this i was in my office one of my students just stuck his head in so dark you. could dance on fire and i quickly checked over on one and i'm just stunned they were able to save as much as it appears that. you here you are powerful a half empty kind of person here i mean this talk of the two north towers apparently being saved but he look at that sort of picture of a drone shot from above i mean it looks devastating the damage that's been done how

do you view. oh it's you know i'm i'm surprised that any of the outer walls haven't caved in and you know it's still not over yet i'm sure. but you know towards the end the fire was so large it looked like it was going to be completely gutted and i understand they got a lot of the. relics in the end the artifacts from inside out ahead of time but i'm sure the last many tapestries the the staying glass windows oh my goodness . that's a terrible loss do you think this can be be done if you keep the facade to the outside what people will recognize as the cathedral is that is that enough to kind of rebuild it put the end it's back in and people still see it for what it was well it's better than nothing i'll say that it will be exactly how it was. i don't see how it can be the loss of those stained glass eye but i know for many

years we've been able to actually duplicate it i'm not sure if that's still true but. just the loss is terrible and of course will root build it but and it will serve as a reminder for what it wants to it for just how important is this this talk of reports i should say of the three mediæval rose windows being lost you mentioned it there apparently just exploded in the intense heat i mean people talk about you know this structure they know it as you said maybe just by its name but there was so many artifacts in the just parts of the building that are considered historical artifacts of great value how much of a loss is that. it has a sort of surprise what so it's irreplaceable we can we can come close to showing what it was but but we're just going to i think for

a lot of it have to rely on all the documentation that's been done in the in the photography. maybe at some point we can do three d. a walkthrough is but how it's just. it's just terrible it's that i'm bottom without words for most of it and it happened during holy week of all all the times it's really is awful as i said you think you study societies throughout the the ages obviously this is a huge cultural significance as a meeting place for the catholic church. do you think it will rally people together i mean there must have been disasters like this in the past the thing that sometimes actually brings people closer well i think you make a good point there i think it certainly has that potential for pulled together to help rebuild and i think the rebuilding will also help you know the people of france and give them something. to rally around and the world if i can

add that as well. well this is there are some places on there some people will think of it it's just a large church others will see it as a french tourist attraction maybe not everybody is a catholic. oh i think that matters are the first i want to alaska doesn't matter at this times i don't think so i think certainly you know many catholics will or will certainly feel it deeply but i think this is such an iconic structure that the whole world will feel its loss what is it about a place like not a dam that touches people because you know people have been close to tears if not in tears we had people cheering just that the mere mention that some of the structure had survived what is it that pulls it in is it a sense of history that we're preserving something from previous generations is it just natural beauty of the of the the architecture all the above i think the fact

that it's been there for centuries and it took centuries to fish. and then that it's been in continuous use for all that time minutes it's symmetry it's architecture all of that you know coming together. is it a chance to maybe build something. new rather than just restore it adapt it for modern times from your experience is that a good idea or is it best to try and bring it back to its former glory. you know i think you've got. to stay with the original architecture but certainly as you build it back you can build it so this doesn't happen again. with materials that are less flammable and things like that and you know there's a lot more things you can do to make the building more official knowledge you have the opportunity but i think you have to stick with the original framework and then

how it looked i don't know that you know these kind of questions are beyond my pay grade. how important is a building like this for society in general a some people even in paris might not have gone too often but when the something like this happens suddenly they feel like a part of then has been taken away oh absolutely it's you know over here in the states we have all these fabulous national parks that many people never go to and yet having them close or something would be a terrible loss i think if the empire state building fell down. or you know the twin towers all that sort of thing it's you know even if you've never been there you you you you feel the loss and you know maybe it's off your bucket list now hopefully you know. we'll still be old and i'll say i've never been to notre dumb but i feel terrible. just knowing that i won't get to see it in its original state

. charles really appreciate your time my guest is a professor of anthropology charles. thank you. and some of today's other stories we can use co-founder julian sachs is now in prison ahead of a hearing next month about possible extradition to the united states the lawmakers have spoken to the media outside the jail have been shadowed to meet with the silence in the ecuadorian embassy of course in london that was until last week's arrest and i suspect he has the story. i'm outside belmarsh prison where chilliness songe is being held in custody it's a category a prison in south east london now earlier today members of the german bundestag and the european parliament were in front of the prison holding a press conference per testing against a sanchez arrest they believe it sets a dangerous precedent worldwide for journalists. journalists he's

a whistle blower and needs international protection and not the criminal criminalization we recently he gave. truth he delivered to provide the truth to the public about the war crimes you rock and afghanistan and therefore he should be awarded more criminalized if he says that most of the sins of the knights and states his accusers by. he can be in prison for all their life and it's not fair because he only the now's the cases that corruption cases the right information to society and to people read the wall now the spanish and make a an a memorandum of the times talking to area where she received an official invitation from the ecuadorian embassy to visit a songe on monday however this was of course not possible over the weekends we had there were many supporters head right outside belmarsh prison carrying banners with

the phrase don't shoot the messenger and since julian the sanchez arrest we've seen an outcry from an international audience regarding the potential extradition to the united states if anything though this is made people more aware about the revelations of wiki leaks and about questioning people and political power but the people i spoke to earlier the chairman and p's and the spanish i mean well they believe some kind of this information campaign is starting against the songe and they're very concerned about the. extradition haring to be held on may the second. debate over whether the wiki leaks co-founder julian assange is a criminal or a journalist is continuing to heat up in the united states in fact all to america's done cohen and the bitter exchange with some politicians firsthand account. well the house foreign affairs committee tweeted democrat eliot engels statement in

support of julian assange just prosecutions saying he is in fact a tool of lattimer putin and the russian intelligence service know there's never been any evidence that proves let alone suggest a connection between we q leaks and the russian state or russian intelligence furthermore we can actually published embarrassing information not only about the united states and its allies but also about russia we can expound file series revealed more than two hundred documents about russian surveillance contractors so i responded with a tweet saying angle statement is an endorsement of president trump attack on press freedom and i called it absolutely reprehensible now the house foreign affairs committee came back at me tweeting quote the first amendment protects free expression even for russian propaganda outlets like the one you work for it doesn't protect criminals who weaponized stolen information and i thought this was revealing for a number of reasons assad just charged with allegedly helping chelsea manning log

in to a department of defense computer under an alternate identity computer that manning already had access to not weaponized stolen information and that's a reference to publishing stolen or perhaps a leaked e-mails from the recent campaign to prove that the democratic primary was rigged in favor of hillary clinton and against bernie sanders but it also shows what many have argued that this charge is a thin veil for in the words of a guardian op ed to punish those who expose embarrassing secrets about its actions about the united states actions and on top of that assad has not yet been extradited if he even will let alone tried in the united states and there are two and. in the u.s. constitution talk about due process and there is a concept called innocent until proven guilty so the house foreign affairs

committee has declared songe is guilty for a crime that he's not even been tried for so this i think many would argue that this really reveals the true nature of his prosecution and we've seen many american politicians celebrating his arrest senator joe manchin even went as far as saying he's our property the property of the united states though a few like democratic presidential candidate tulsi gabbert have come out in his defense as has the american civil liberties union they've also criticize songes arrest but they have been in the minority. sun's isn't getting much support in the media well that's hailed as a hero let's now pay largely to have turned on him betraying him as a villain against if takes a look at what's behind the full from grace. you want to see just how radically the media you turned on a songe from champion of the press to

a leper an outcast all you need to do is watch saturday night live it's comedy but boy does it hit home. thanks to wiki leaks you can see how corrupt governments operate in the shadows and then lie to those who elect them thanks to facebook you can finally figure out which sex and the city character you are i've attacked the u.s. military. because i'm an actual james bond supervillain and i'm one step away from destroying the god. because reality is entirely less funny what i songes faced is a tidal wave of smear really ugly stuff a little over a decade ago the us military declared war on wiki leaks drop a plan which was actually neat a plan to discredit it and terrorize whistleblowers and it looks like they're winning. wiki leaks uses trust as

a center of gravity by showing insiders leakers and whistleblowers who pass information to wiki leaks personnel or who post information to the websites that they will remain anonymous the identification exposure terminations employment criminal prosecution legal action against current or former insider is leakers or whistleblowers could potentially damage or destroy this center of gravity and deter others from considering similar actions from using the wiki leaks website back then at the turn of the decade as sanj was a hero how the pundits cheered his leaks exposing bush era war crimes exposing the elites corporations politicians how they loved him for it was outstanding journalism their words he was given on or after on or including the economist's new media award back then we give leaks was news wiki leaks is an

online news organization that specializes in publishing documents alleging government and corporate misconduct we invited judean a song editor in chief of wiki leaks in pity. how times have changed what was news in two thousand and ten is enemy propaganda now journalistic hero or enemy agent asks the same economist neither reads the subtitle just a useful idiot who the economist awarded for his stellar journalism or take time magazine who gave their front cover to a songe in two thousand and ten now they run virtual hit pieces quoting and headlining anyone that doesn't like a songe it seems be it hillary clinton or a judge that met him once and labeled him a narcissist gets much dirtier uglier out. outlets that have historically

supported and cheered america's wars such as the atlantic put out feces packed hate mails or the equivalent of musingly enough the hack behind this story first calls out assad has permissibility with facts and almost immediately after says this artist tagline his question more and indeed one might inquire how it came to pass that the spin off of a kremlin propaganda organ and now registered foreign agent in the united states first arrived on the scene i stand ready to oncet your inquiry unlike other networks and publications who all learned that the same time that might be leaving the embassy we could leaks told everyone unlike them we took it seriously we went and documented what happened this is called journalism journalism

like what i songe did when he exposed various war crimes he's a publisher buz he's a journalist he. and the material that he leaked we know from the pedestrian mails from the logs is real and credible and was published by mainstream organizations once it was released by wiki leaks that very news organizations that over many days over several decades of which the documents that wiki leaks provided last instantaneously once those documents route turned on assigned him so ray prodding from the national security state so of course there was an effort to discredit and to carry out of very sustained and unfortunately quite effective. character assassination of a shah a songe to isolate him and demonize him in the eyes of. at the end of the day come

on we all know the exact moment these people turned against their former hero. maybe you're kind of picking up where julian a songe was before he went bad because we used to like you know we used to really be doing a good service and then something happened i guess his hatred for hillary clinton maybe is would turn to him basically into someone who was a russian. aid really yes yes of course as sanjay did hillary never did anything wrong she was perfect wasn't she. and speaking of hillary clinton she says that the songs should answer for what he's done however newly released f.b.i. documents obtained by the conservative activist group judicial watch suggest that she and her team also have things to answer for the worst oxides over four hundred pages of f.b.i. documents revealing evidence of an operation to wipe compromising e-mails sent by clinton it also says that the u.s.

intelligence community had concerns over classified information in some of the messages he's done off takes a closer look. email's the reason why you freddy krueger is dressed up as an i.t. guy in hillary clinton's nightmares the f.b.i. found almost fifteen thousand and released e-mails in two year long investigation of her private server the head of the f.b.i. called you out for careless handling of classified documents said she believed the c for confidential in some documents actually put the order of paragraphs some three years on when everyone thought it was all over and gone new f.b.i. documents reveal more juicy details like what happened to our half of the e-mails that were raised clean by the clinton team we're not talking just a few dozen or hundred or even a thousand e-mails here we're talking some thirty thousand all private according to clinton she did provide

a detailed and meticulous explanation of how she picked which e-mails to delete how and who exactly wiped her server that potentially stored top state secrets except clinton did none of that instead she felt like joking about it to do what the sort of like the cloth or something there oh well no this is what we do i don't know how it works digitally at all. it's because you know wipe has two meanings delete or cleaning off the wine stain from last week and it's funny because it's cold ever but ok now that you're all done laughing hundreds of newly revealed f.b.i. documents shed light on how that server was wiped a company called plot river networks did all the dirty works and these conversations between two of its employees leave no questions as to why.