of moscow thanks for. towards the center that's when i really felt bad i didn't know was going to happen. i didn't know what was going to happen. the soviet period of georgia's life had ended but a new russian one in just started during this time a lot of bents of happened both happy and sad and george joined our team and became the main voice of the t.v. channel his beloved brother carle passed away george became a grandfather twice only one film is certainly not enough for us to describe in detail the entire incredible life of george watts it is so bright and full of events proud father husband and grandfather for whom the family always comes 1st a brilliant professional at his work having gone a long way from a factory worker to a well known translator and speaker he forever remains a man of 2 countries when i speak to russian. to russian affairs and specially of russian official. saying to go anywhere when i'm traveling or to english speaking people i am george wallace and so. nothing to hide though of

and steve in moscow, thanks. doctors, teachers and police officers will get above—inflation pay rises in what the chancellor, rishi sunak, said was recognition of their vital contribution during the pandemic. labour says the rise would not make up for years of real—terms cuts. during the day, it was revealed that the uk government borrowed nearly £130 billion between april and june this year — a record amount. our economics correspondent dharshini david reports. after months on the front line, almost a million public sector workers are set to get financial recognition. from september, prison staff and police officers will get increases of 2.5%. as for doctors, they‘ll get 2.8% backdated to april. teachers, too, are included. they‘ll get 3.1%. other groups, for example nurses, are included in existing deals elsewhere. that doesn‘t mean, however, their incomes will be back up to rude health. once you take into account with cost of living, the real pay for some might still be below the levels of 2010 du

overthrow was made in moscow. baron but he was playing one lake than the twangs i had to drive out to the countryside to pick up my mother in law and my daughter i believe we were in there because we didn't know what was going to happen we didn't know what was going to happen we didn't one who wants a part of our family to be split away from us if anything got worse. and i was driving i drove. a 5050 kilometers one way 50 kilometers back and when i was approaching moscow. already on the outskirts of moscow thanks for. towards the center that's when i really felt bad i didn't know was going to happen. i didn't know what was going to happen. the soviet period of georgia's life it ended with a new russian one just started during this time a lot of bents of happened both happy and sad and george joined our team and became the main voice of the t.v. channel his beloved brother carl passed away george became a grandfather twice only one film is certainly not enough for us to describe in detail the entire incredible life

and moscow police tracking down on a protest against constitutional amendments that could give president putin another 16 years in power. i'm brian thomas good to have you with us today spain has been paying his respects to those who've died during the coronavirus and demick spain is one of the hardest hit countries worldwide with at least 28000 people dying of covert 19 thankfully pay the prime minister no other guests including relatives of those who died laying flowers at the royal palace in madrid in remembrance of short while ago the ceremony was broadcast live on t.v. and online. along with the grief there is anger at the way the government's handled the pandemic did only as young philip schultz met one woman who lost her mother and is determined to bring to account those she believes are responsible. rose unlike a studio always found peace of mind in caring for houseplants but not anymore thoughts keep circling around the 7th of march the day she learned of a corona virus outbreak in her mother's retirement home her mother had a loss for life even in old age even if dementia had w

1st as the country heads into the final hours of a big vote on its future constitution warning from moscow i mean i know you wish me a great thing. seemed wrong. but all roads just don't. let me. get to seep out these days actually. and in detroit because the trail. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. we go to work see you straight home. the one guy up here he was a may found him literally dead like this standing up the guard here his girlfriend they were found in their apartment that they'd just got. cut old up and they were dead for like 3 days holding each other this wall so people who have lost their life's early to addition yeah this is from akron. that crown is better known as the meth capital in ohio it's a city where the number of drug addicts keeps growing every year. i've came across 14 in my whole family were drug addicts who. throughout much of the 1990 s. and beyond and the doctors were incursion in some cases incentivized to overprescribe. i mean that enough to sedate the small country when are you shall so hear about people by all t

i'm brian thomas good to have you with us today antiproton protests in the russian capital moscow have ended with more than 100 arrests demonstrators have gathered to collect signatures against changes to the constitution passed earlier this month police moved in quickly and put an end to the gathering. dozens of arrests follow anti-government protests in the russian capital where officers in riot gear forcefully rounded up protesters people took to the streets to protest the outcome of a recent referendum on constitutional reforms that allowed president putin to govern for another 16 years. we do not accept the results of the constitutional reforms vote we believe it was all raked we are against the crackdown on independent journalists we are for a rotation in government and we want our country to have an opportunity to live well. it's going to. be controversial votes that amended the constitution earlier this month also included populist measures such as an effective ban on gay marriage as part of their campaign protesters also collected signatures against persons new measures $5000.

moscow did, today, what moscow a lwa ys moscow did, today, what moscow always does in this kind of situation, when accused by the west, and that's to deny everything. so we heard the russian foreign ministry dismissed the russian reports as russophobic and fake. we heard the kremlin say, well, russell's never meddled in any election in britain, america, anywhere. but i think, privately, the russians will be quite pleased with the contents of this report, because russia comes out of it looking strong. and we listen to some of the language used to describe russia, an accomplished adversary, a highly capable cyber actor, in comparison britain looks weak in face of the russia threat. so will vladimir putin be quaking in his boots? i don't think so. i think more likely russia will look at this report as evidence of proof that its methods are working and that means that we can expect more attempts by russia to undermine western democracies, western institutions, to sow division amongst western allies, because that's how moscow believes it can gaina that's how moscow believes it can gain a geopolit

they didn't then anyway to day the long and short of the story was they transferred us to moscow with commendations which had a translator's department we were welcomed with open arms by the teachers of very good teaching staff in moscow the 1950 s. were a time of great change in the soviet union and on the world stage after joseph stalin died in 1983 to khrushchev would initiate a political fall with the west george was in the right place at the right time. to who should of came to power. there a hill beyond norse invited business men flooded into the us a certain time hence the big demand for interpreters and translators here late january after the final the christmas exams there was a correspondent from radio moscow. course your vishnu best ski later on i met we met him and spoken very wine boy he was saying interviews from. english speaking students and one of the students told and says why hey why don't you interviewed 2 canadian boys here is what canadian boy. that's how just my accidents cost of vishnu best pieces you give me an interview sure why not. and so we had a very fine

thought as i know moscow is looking for ways to improve relations with the u.s. and took operate whenever it's possible for example in syria and on counterterrorism so i don't think of the moscow will release heaven and no other round town surreal ations with the west just to make some strange to achieve some strange goals in afghanistan i say could be commuted nobody understands what what will these kind of behavior i mean providing bounties to taliban fighters what will it bring to you to russia what kind of benefits well let's find out from a fund of some we have a halo 'd here is the foma. afghanistan to islamabad welcome to the show now it's an interesting question isn't it. afghan governments have been negotiating now with the taliban for a long time those negotiations have gone very slowly the taliban have been emboldened because they do have a lead support from pakistan for example and now these allegations that they may have had support from russia as well has this emboldened the taliban and do you believe the reports of russian support to the taliban. 1

launched a program called come to moscow for the festival by carl and george. to us but they changed our name from watts to the igor. russian sounding and that's why how we ended up in radio moscow and later on when we finished studying at institute. we managed to get a job there. i translated interpreted in the kremlin crew shot of lenin brashness thing going i didn't translate not much of. because he never would finish a sentence never. but i have voiced him in the r t. 3 or 4 times sigh. he said i was voice again and he waved to me. and i waved back at him in a way i translated and then the kremlin and even song he sang. a very eloquent speaker i never i never translated and drop of. the editor going by never translated turning the made you wish something atrocious. he didn't know what he was talking about. translated can translate only what he understands. that's the basic and that's the bottom line. you can translate only what you understand. time after time called parisian to repeat the same mantra sustainability it's very important to excel or a transiti

this is deja vu news live from berlin protests in russia calling for a future without president putin moscow police cracking down on the demonstrations more than a 100 people arrested after protesting against reforms that could give putin another 16 years in office also on our show rising waters behind the renaissance danny theo pierre threatened water shortages downstream in egypt and in sudan could the breakdown in talks over water between these countries lead to a war over the not. and many of india's migrant workers left their jobs in the cities to flee their coronavirus now back at home they risk living into crushing debt so they can just feed their founders. i'm brian thomas good to have you with us today and he putin protests in the russian capital moscow have ended with more than 140 arrests demonstrators gathered to collect signatures against changes to the constitution passed earlier this month police moved in quickly and put an end to the gathering. dozens of arrests follow anti-government protests in the russian capital where officers in riot gear forcefully rounded up protesters

from moscow. moscow police to detain more than $100.00 people and an authorised rally against the recently adopted constitutional amendments of thought they were under 1000 people at the protest which was largely peaceful of those didn't intervene though intil a group around $200.00 protesters split off and tried to march along central moscow streets disrupting traffic there the protesters were gathering signatures in favor of revoking the constitutional amendments which were approved by a nationwide poll but by nearly 78 percent of voters among various social and economic guarantees the changes a low vladimir putin to. to run for another 2 presidential term those. residents in the ruined ancient iraqi city of mosul have a new battle on their hands after emerging from the shadow of what was the former stronghold of the self-proclaimed islamic state now they're dealing with a pandemic and it means some are again risking their lives. my job is to help people stay positive give them the best availabl

president vladimir putin was probably the only person who came to this moscow polling. without a mask it was the last day of the nationwide vote the kremlin even declared a bank holiday so that as many people as possible could take part in the constitutional reform had already been formally approved by the country's national and regional parliament puton turn to a public vote to validate the move the amendments and shrine many popular social changes including regular pension increases and a minimum wage but they'll also allow putin to keep running for president directly he could remain in office till 2036 this man voted no he says i don't need a new tsar. i like it because i'm afraid of change whenever things change in russia we end up worse off than before you started playing some voters only had to show their passports as proof of identity the election observers were not allowed complete access and well voting was still in progress the 1st results were published with the procedure is highly questionable the vote itself the whole process was invented solely for this pu

in moscow for us thank you evan. the british city of bristol has a new skull and paste a statue. pulled down last month a sculpture of black players who helped topple him now stands in his place the all clear was installed without permission and the on wednesday. if. if the moment that sparked a nationwide to pay supposed head to deal with britain's colonial past. the 17th century slave trader at work colston was pulled down by black lives matter protesters in bristol and june. and tackling the face of many of his victims thrown into the sea. the print he once looked down from now has a new occupant local resident chen read. the artworks inspired by a viral instagram post but read the and picturing her shortly after the coast and statue was toppled you know for me it will not play you know i raise my fist and i raise my fist to give power back to the people back to the slaves who died at the hands of pollsters and titled a surge of power at the sculpture was installed without the local councils approval and intervention dreamed up by our says mark quinn you know we had to keep it

honesty in moscow. you've been not dismissive of this but you said that this is britain trying to flex its muscles and and therefore russia is taking it that way but what happens if other countries sign up to the magnitsky act if they try and do their own versions of that surely then that becomes a worry for russia. in fact there were attempts by the european union to introduce its a version of the magnitsky act so it could expect it again. because. now we're even in the sanctions war we see that the united states introduce more and more sanctions debate against china sold. i'm pretty sure that it will be received calmly but it will force russia to work out some symmetric measures which is not in russia's interest in fact because well currently facing cruelty to corunna crises and so on it is better for countries to unite other than to find ways to introduce aneurin heuristic sions especially given the fact that they are ryssdal fun used to magnitsky was not disputed even by the european court of human

opened in 1957 baikonur cosmodrome was moscow's gateway to the stars. after the launch of several sputnik satellites and unmanned moon probes in the late 1950 s. the whole world assumed that the soviets would also be using baikonur to send cosmonauts to the moon. there were certainly concrete plans but nothing was leaked there were no official statements nothing to indicate the soviet union's plans separate. all decisions on the space program were classified top secret including the moon program. should one day program much and in fact if you browse the newspapers of this time you won't find anything not even iraq the plans for the unmanned probes were flipped and there were no america. nowhere did it indicate we were working on moon projects . that. secrecy was the order of the day there were no preliminary briefings before the moon probes in 1959 nothing was to be revealed until the sensational mission was complete. sergei kind of the off the father of the soviet union space triumphs had been wondering for some time how to approach a moon landing was.

hopes although police have so far left the much as in peace moscow has a habit of coming down hard on dissent. journalist i've been going to call which has been covering this story for us and he sent us this assessment of the protests in russia's far east it's truly one of most surprising protests we've seen in years in russia in all of putin's 20 years the 1st protests that took place here 3 weeks ago was 40000 people a week later last saturday we saw 50000 and today estimates around as much as 90000 and to put that in perspective there's about 600000 people who live in the city of karbala so it's like 10 percent of the city is coming out to protest the main thing that the protesters have repeated day after day is that they feel that their choice was taken away they feel that even if the governor is guilty of these crimes he should be tried here and about if they voted for him they feel that moscow the kremlin has taken him away for a political reason these alleged murders were 15 years ago so if they did take place they believe that the kremlin would have dug this up a long time ago

here in moscow last week dozens of people protested in individual single person protests against the arrest of a journalist many ended up detained themselves. single person protests do not require a police permit. yet human rights observers say that in the last 4 and a half weeks 270 russians have been arrested for demonstrating peacefully. this is the state's answer to the civil courage of a citizen exist who dare to resist restrictive and repressive measures citizens are showing their rage and the state oppressors them for it. all of this the silencing of political activists the jailing of government critics and of protesters is nothing new but what is striking is that such cases are becoming increasingly frequent again yet activists like honest as you have refused to let these repressive tactics shut them down. is soon to say if we don't organize ourselves to have some influence over the situation if we don't decisively say no. i don't want to then nothing will change then we'll be stuck in prison cells again after our statements from our posts are like some tweets. this week the

the latest now with to their views if joining us from moscow good danger of on a walk you tell us about the police arrests. i was quite interesting yesterday being on the square for the 1st 2 hours or so police sort of just stood by and watched and let the protesters gather it was quite quiet signatures were collected and then at the end few young teenagers started flying a gay pride parade gay pride flag against the ban on gay marriage and the crowd started getting rowdy here in about 2 hours into the protests a group of the teenagers group off the square and they started marching through the city center they collected something like 20300 people along with them and as i was following them along overheard one of the cops say we're going over you know detain them on bats and that's essentially what we saw we saw about 150 people detained and out of around the 300 and so that was you know quickly cleared out of the streets and the by the arrests as they are usually most of these protests are quite violent you see people ripped off into the police wagons and taken away most of these peopl

in moscow for us thank you evan. and now to some other stories making news around the world the u.s. secretary of state. preparing new sanctions against a russian gas pipeline project any firms that help construct the old scheme to face penalties the trumpet ministrations phase the pipeline from russia to germany would make us more dependent on russian energy. new satellite images show that ethiopia has been filling its controversial grand when they stand on the river nile the move is likely to spot prices from both egypt and sudan which depend on water from the now talks between the 3 countries on the issue ended in deadlock this week. iran says it needs 7 ships have been damaged in a blaze that broke out at a shipyard in the 7 course. there has been a string often explained fires and explosions at military nuclear and industrial sites across the country since late june. and flooding is continuing to take its toll on north eastern india is a some stage over 2000000 people have been displaced the floods also inundate

and it is fuing suspicion of moscow. the governor -- the city is closer to china then it is to the russian capital. moscow is more than 6000 kilometers away. it is not just the distance which is big but so is the sense of resentment here towards the kremlin. they are not calling for a revolution. all the protesters want is for the governor to be given a fair trial in the city. tr>> we are jusng to show moscow that he is our man and he has to be here. even if he dn't which we don't think. he has to be here. steve: the city's mayor told us the protest should stop. >> im against the protest because they are illegal. also, today we had 80 five new cases of coronavirus in thean cy where do you find coronavirus? in large cwds. steve: but feelings are running high. the supporters have vowed to continue theemonstrations. unsanctioned protests like this one are normally viewed by those in power here as a legal and have been broken updated what's interesting is so far, local police have been keeping their distance. a perhaps that

all of this buys moscow influence, according to one witness who gave evidence to the committee. there is a lot of russian money sloshing around london, and it creates an enormous conflict of interest, and a conflict of interest creates political pressure. and i think the reason why things haven't been done is because there's too many people who are feeding at the trough. there had been speculation that one former russian official, now a british citizen who has given more than £1 million to conservatives, might be named in the report. but he was not, and he told me there was a russian threat, but it's about more than money. it's not a report about me, it's a report about us, because they are really a threat, the russian threat exists, absolutely. my point is that there is a more serious threat of cyber attack. existing laws may be out of date and new powers needed to counter russian spies and influence, the committee said. but today's report also raises questions as to whether the british state has notjust the tools, but the desire to confront moscow. gordon corera, bbc news. st

the government is very willing to stand up to moscow and has done so. just very quickly, before he move on. you talk about your belief that the british government will stand up to moscow. a little thing in the telegraph, it says the russian intimacy fired a warning shot across number ten by saying any unfriendly actions against russia will not be left without a proper and adequate response. what you read into that? my response. what you read into that? my worry is the same with huawei this week, the british government's decision to strip huawei out of our 5g network. russia, masco, beijing could attack us with cyber warfare —— russia, and moscow. to ensure that these regimes can't attack us like this individually and pick us off one by one. this is the new nature of global conflict. it's not in the old—fashioned way. a lot of this is electronic and we need to invest usually in protecting ourselves from it. let's move on to the daily express, the russia story. on the side it says the russia story. on the side it sastihadi bride the russia story. on

the new and normal that's the conclusion of a long awaited parliamentary report and westminster into moscow's allergic modulating in british. donald trump son's troops onto the streets of the city of portland to quash on grass all claims his moves in legal as it wasn't just we need good local authorities. to cross the line russian claims it's because the vaccine is good to go all the questions are raised in the west over how it made such progress. police in the u.k. want to draw is the best of all jihad this would refer you to acts of terrorism amid fears it breeds hate towards muslims need to face here. when we give these labels to them we get to their auctions and there to receive these people on to the specific reason because they believe in this extreme islamic view. bringing your news around the clock this is our team international a very welcome from the whole team here in moscow well let's head straight to the u.k. where a much anticipated report into a large and russian interference in british politics has finally been released and it concludes moscow's influence because the new norma

when they join the rallies in moscow. if there is no desperation from critical they don't have the support for that. is is there any possibility? of course, we don't have the other possibility. 28% say they will join the two years ago. 30% promised to join the protests, but there were no protests that all. depends on the possibility of the political elites, for political opposition to come together in some kind of consensus. bet that theuld idea will unite them is not corruption, but rules and rules of law. here is the irony. even in the case of fragmentation, there is a possibility that we will have a regime change in the regime change could only prolong the life of the system. this is the bitter irony. >> thank you. very interesting analysis. , as an active member of the opposition, what does the opposition do next in light of the plebiscite and what was just outlined? >> first of all, i think it is important to remember the lessons of what happened in 2009 and 2012. announced and and said that this had been the plan al

earlier i spoke to our correspondent in the show there in moscow and asked her what was happening where she was. well i'm in the center of moscow at pushkin square where opponents of the these constitutional amendments have called on people to kind of gather for what they say is a public discussion people here have said that these amendments essentially will mean that they hope that russia will have an eternal putin and they said that this whole vote is a farce that's what people here have been telling me that's what the people who called for people to gather here have said as well there aren't that many people here as you might be able to see behind me and that's because the opposition here in russia is very divided and including on this vote some people have said that you should stay home that you should boycott the vote some people have said you should come out and be counted to kind of say that you are against this vote now the situation here is pretty calm there is a lot of police at this where they were preparing i guess for more people to come out but the police even have been ha

i see you you say can you head there and some of the comments dimitri beveridge made in moscow. do you believe that this that russia has a case to answer for. listen just because an investigation wasn't conducted in the united kingdom does not mean that there is not evidence of russian interference not only in the united kingdom but across central and eastern europe for the past decade plus and here in the united states we know for instance thanks to the advertisements released by house democrats in may of 2018 relating to the us election that some of those advertisements purchased by the internet research agency headed up by all of our privilege and then in russia were targeting the united kingdom with anti immigration messages before the brags that referendum there is open source evidence of this interference and the fact that mr bobbitt is suggesting that just because an investigation did not happen which you know the report is damning in its conclusions regarding that that doesn't mean there is an evidence for this long term interference you know i've looked at this interfer

broadcasting live from our studios in moscow this is our international i'm sean thomas and certainly glad to have you with us the chinese foreign ministry has accused the u.s. of violating international law by breaking into its consulate in houston beijing has vowed to retaliate american agents were seen forcing their way through the back door right after chinese officials were required to vacate the building the raid happened on friday president trump ordered the closure earlier in the week accused beijing of stealing intellectual property while the justice department claimed consular staff were obstructing an investigation officials said that they had been implicated in a fraud probe at a texas research institution meanwhile in the chinese city of chengdu the american consulate has been shut down in a tit for tat measure there have been allegations that both nations were seeking to get rid of sensitive information some footage captured a man taking rubbish banging out of the building in chengdu one of the bags split and appeared to contain shredded paper. in a related development a

in parliament over the russian report which condemned the government for its lack of action against moscow's allegedly influence over u.k. politics. the people of this this country didn't vote to leave the e.u. because of pressure from russia the russian introduced the prime minister's son told this report for 10 months and failed to come to get it over with not the security for a year and. the highly anticipated are much too late report also claims russia remains a top security priority we get reaction on the streets of london. i just think we can't get too carried away should be to feel. it's got nothing to do with it but they were trying to play for sure with the just buy. a new loris proposed in the netherlands that could give elderly people the right to euthanasia even if they are not suffering from any magical conditions we debate the issue. on the u.s. accuses china of sponsoring hackers to spy on american companies walking on a box in the post at 90. 8 pm here in moscow a very warm welcome from the whole team. h.q. plot to have your company at this hour while starting * us off boris

sure it's a lead just from moscow thank you. you're watching the w. news live from berlin monica jones is up next with this mystical real chilly run for. girls to get over now live. in support of. saving. over. the river. and gemini live. at any time any place using news media man as yet.

hopes although police have so far left the marchers in peace moscow has a habit of coming down hard on dissent. we shift now from russia to a legit russian influence in foreign democracies this week the british government published a long awaited report into alleged interference in his political system by russia or its agents the report criticized the u.k. government for failing to prepare for or fully investigate possible attempts to influence its elections and referenda the british parliament intelligence and security committee looked into the influence of bots and trolls which are fake accounts used to spread misinformation on social media. and a reporter i even him has been following the story for us and she's here with me in the studio for more and hello to you i am so firstly maybe if you could just explain to our viewers what exactly is a troll or a troll campaign so researchers at the university of princeton who have been looking at this issue have come up with this definition that a troll campaign is a cord needed group of accounts that simultaneously spread a specific mean

sir tony brenton was the uk's ambassador in moscow between 2004 and 2008. we spoke to him earlier for his thoughts on whether uk and russian relations could improve. i am not optimistic. 0ur relations with russia are as bad as they have ever been and they were pretty bad when i was the ambassador, and they have got steadily worse since. and here also, i have to say, he has a point. we, the uk, are a leading member of the international community, we're keen to play an active role on issues like syria, libya, ukraine and cyber warfare, and on all of those issues, we cannot play as effective a role as we would like to if we did not have some sort of dialogue with russia. so, while they have behaved appallingly in international life, while this espionage and interference in the election and all of that is almost certainly true and is very damaging, of course, nevertheless we need to build up a working relationship with them in a way that we don't have at the moment. morally, how do you set all that to one side? one of the last surviving leaders of the civil rig

sir tony brenton was the uk's ambassador in moscow between 2004 and 2008. we spoke to him earlier for his thoughts on whether uk and russian relations could improve. i'm not optimistic. 0ur relations with russia are pretty bad and they were pretty bad when i was ambassador. they've got steadily worse sense. here also have to say i think as a point. we, the uk area leading think as a point. we, the uk are a leading member of the international community. we are keen to play an active role on issues like syria and libya and the ukraine and cyber warfare. and out of all of those issues, we cannot play as effective a role as we would like to if we do not have some sort of dialogue with russia. so while they behave improbably an international live, all this espionage and interference in election and all that is almost certainly true and is very damaging, of course. nevertheless, we need to build up nevertheless, we need to build upa nevertheless, we need to build up a working relationship with them ina up a working relationship with them in a way we don't have at

they're just gone 4 pm here in moscow you're watching international now the u.k. government does claim it has recognize. the threat posed by russia for a long time considers moscow a security priority it also says to you it has a 30 year strategy for dealing with the kremlin well this was london's response to report on alleged russian meddling in british politics was released on tuesday at a key to the u.k. a failing to take the threat seriously who is protecting the british public from interference in our democratic process blue note show we found no one is the u.k. government tributes are you off the ball because of its focus on the country terrorism we found the defense of the u.k. democratic process is a hot potato the government had badly underestimated the response required to the russian threat and is still playing catch up the outrage isn't that there was interference the outrage used no more want to know if there was. well the publication of the rush report was delayed by the government for a year and a half before it was finally released the party's down