waste this has turned into an ecological catastrophe. you are with r t as we are running down the top stories of today and of this week an artsy crew was a locked up in the us jail for thirty two hours after filming a protest against a controversial military training facility it's in the state of georgia and dubbed the school of assassins reporter kaitlin for described treatment as brutal and international organizations condemn the use of police violence against members of the media but despite all the outrage american the mainstream media has remained silent he's gotten a chicken reports. it started off as a rally outside a u.s. training camp a latin american military and police officers followed this nonviolent protest

caught everyone by surprise dozens were arrested police targeted journalists along with the activists i'm a member of that right. i'm a member of the program sorry ok i'm sorry among those arrested were r t correspondent kayleen support and r.t. cameramen john conway both there on assignment covering the protests that brought together thousands of people. here the only thing i asked the officer to please remove the handcuffs these plastic handcuffs and at least put one on that was a little bit looser he took out a hunting knife to remove my handcuffs and that's actually part of the reason i have the cuts on my wrist for our worst killing had no clue what the charges against her were we asked on the bus what are we being charged with and one of the sheriff said don't worry no charge the ride is free we're taken to the county jail and we ended up spending thirty two hours there student tommy were mira's who was there as an activist tells

a similar story i kept asking them what did i do to tell you my rise tell me why i'm getting a wrist i kept asking them and i never got an answer from them every year thousands of people gather at the gates of the training camp dubbed the school of assassins calling for its closure officially there to train latin american military and police it's called many of latin america's most notorious torturers mass murderers and dictators despite anger at the establishment violence has never been part of the protests so why the mass arrests now we feel like the message was look you know we don't want you to be there we're going to make it dangerous you know to make you think twice to even show up despite the outcry from many at the rally that their rights of freedom of speech and assembly were trampled upon. it's not a story that's caught the eye of the us media we can see the newspapers of this country editorialized in favor of free speech in the first amendment and give

stirring in passionate defenses of these core american values but when another journalist from another media outlet is arrested without charge without provocation and put onto a paddy wagon those media outlets are largely silent and i think it's because they feel like these are stories that aren't supposed to be covered well i guess so much for covering stories ignored by the u.s. mainstream media the incident at fort benning left some guessing what would have been the extent of the media coverage in the west had a member of the foreign press been treated in a similar way in some other country say russia the remarkable thing about a good thing you know in moscow here a b.b.c. correspondent or a c.n.n. correspondent had gone to a demonstration where there was a legal permit and was roughed up by the police in the case of our correspondent she was almost sexually assaulted those are her words that would made headlines all

around the world it would have been a diplomatic row between countries but no in the case of the united states the international community is can damage what's happened and called on the u.s. to respond even the organization for security and cooperation in europe sent a letter to secretary of state hillary clinton calling the journalist the rest disturbing. while it is clear that police play a crucial role in maintaining order during public demonstrations the indiscriminate rounding up of media and bringing charges against them goes well beyond what's necessary to keep the peace but the u.s. state department which is usually quick to condemn freedom of speech violations in other countries has remained surprisingly tight lipped about its own going to shut down r.t. washington d.c. . twenty six suspected terrorists with links to al qaeda have been arrested in europe belgian police suspect the group of being part of an international terror

network which was planning a series of attacks over christmas across the continent those held are also under investigation for seeking recruits and funding for terrorism in russia's republic of chechnya british security analyst peter powers says that once it's at last clear that russia and the west are fighting a common enemy the potential for cooperation is vast. let's not fool ourselves that al-qaeda is somehow great regiments of uniformed soldiers marching over the horizon it is in fact much more of a franchise yes there's a strong power base in the foothills between afghanistan and pakistan and it's clearly. a strong cobol now operating in yemen but we're now seeing this creeping out under this broad term of al-qaeda but it doesn't necessarily mean it's got the official stamp on it so what we've seen is a tremendous increase in european cooperation and it most crucially an increase in not just intelligence gathering but intelligence sharing. i've never quite seen it

like this before but you know something really bizarre about this i went on to the b.b.c. website i found it impossible to find this story and it's been overtaken by the events of north and south korea but also by the pope talking about condoms in the royal wedding coming up in the u.k. strangely enough it's called off the front page of big quickly in the u.k. and many people see this is very significant. security analyst peter power speaking well the russian democracy is improving but its political system still needs stirring up in his latest video blog president dmitri medvedev called for more opposition voices to be heard to avoid the ruling party becoming complacent. yes. if the opposition has no chance a tool of winning a fair fight it degrades and becomes marginal if the ruling party never loses a single election it is just coasting ultimately it too degrades just like any

living organism which remains static for these reasons it's become necessary to raise the degree of political competition but on main tasks the task of any democracy is to improve the quality of pulpy of representation make sure that the political majority is not just static but that it does not become the majority consisting of activists and dummies but the major part of can all fall thought united russia party says the opposition should consider this message and change as well i think he was trying to say that actually if they fought this should develop bad with relates to united russia and the opposition parties and united russia would have already started a lot of the innovations such as primaries such as the development of the inter-party discussions such as the dissipation of open public debates and so on and so forth i think the same should be done by. opponents as well and it will be

very important because as we all know this one issue of decision is taken by the authorities depends on the quality of criticism they get so they need to have very good feedback and both united russia and other free projects to provide this kind of feedback in order for system to be sustainable. dimitri pollack of the united russia party well you always are too good to have your company today and still to come here in the program as a nato get more help for his afghan campaign from russia many experts question whether it's a war that can ever be one. you really don't understand what you're going to use for heating. develop new nuclear power what are you going to yes'. as germany grapples with how to meet its energy needs. only green solution details coming your way in just a few. switzerland is heading to the polls on sunday to

decide whether foreigners who commit serious crimes should be expelled from the country a nationwide referendum was initiated by a right wing party but critics claim the proposed measures are racist. for. just a year after the swiss voted in favor of a controversial law banning the building of new minarets and mosques they're going back to the polls for another yes or no decision now this time it's relation to the mandatory expulsion of foreign criminals who have committed serious offenses such as murder or rape the proposal for this law was put forward by the a swiss people's party people with. heavy criminal currier there is no place for them to treat so at least idea they're getting a lot of support actually from the people according to initial surveys because of all these stories of swiss nationals being attacked by foreigners. by trying to get

to. keep other people lose who's didn't do anything and have no respect for the one that switzerland has the highest per capita rate of immigrants that twenty percent of their population are actually foreigners so it's a very sensitive topic here in switzerland so. you can't keep them all out we need immigrants period now where we have a backlash from the european union and the wider world the government has put forth a counterproposal they amended the list of crimes it's different from a proposed by b.s.p. pete and also they are saying that it has to comply with international and swiss laws humanitarian laws it also states that expulsion must be limited to convictions of a here or more so it's kind of a softer version of the s.v. peace proposal if the s.t.b. is insisting that a hard line is necessary now critics of this proposal are saying that this is very unfair that in the eyes of the law everyone should be treated equal can you make

a difference between a drug dealer who was from the judio from russia from india or resist who is is a drug dealer a drug dealer a better woman so i don't make a difference between someone who is doing something wrong the north should not look where. he's white brown black there are also questions of the separation of families should a prisoner convicted be sent out of switzerland what happens his family if they've been living here for more than four generations for example but don't have the papers what is going to happen to them so there are a lot of questions coming from the other side the critics of this proposal and so we're going to have to see what the swiss are going to vote whether it's going to be a yes or no. reporting that while the economic crisis gripping the eurozone continues to force worried and angry demonstrators onto the streets tens of thousands marched in dublin to protest ireland's harsh austerity measures protesters want cuts to be directed at the rich and the banks ordinary working

people. confirmed it's negotiating with the e.u. the international monetary fund for one hundred twenty billion dollar loan to save its people to ponder me elsewhere in the eurozone and there are fears portugal and spain and maybe next in line for a bailout german economist told us here at r t that europe's biggest economy is one be able to pay off the deaths of others forever. the german taxpayer is no longer willing and this is very very becoming very reluctant to bail out countries like greece where there is an example of very bad governance and we are no longer willing is in either to bail out ireland to fuel an ailing banking sector i think this is a general incentive this umbrella which the. heads of government have created in under the menace of the president of the european central bank this is so large that everybody wants to be protected and the more it's raining cats and dogs the

more they want to be protected and the portuguese. prime minister and the finance minister pushed island to put themselves under the umbrella to be under the umbrella themselves as quickly as possible this is an inflation of claims to be bailout which will ruin the eurozone sooner or later and germany is economically not able to. bailout. the german taxpayer who has a word to say in all that is no longer willing to do saying something like that germany's financial support for countries was also touched upon by prime minister vladimir putin during a visit. we have often used the experience of our german colleagues in things like the cash for clunkers program but i guess it is mostly the french. so it turns out germany worked for the good of the european union again which is great i thank. you and held talks with chancellor merkel where they admitted

a currency union between russia and the european union is possible but to also clear the path for increased. develop technology together and also said he no longer sees any obstacles to russia's accession to the w t o denigrating way of german businessman he managed to lighten the serious mood over energy supplies with a touch of humor. so the german community doesn't know nuclear power i don't want to make any comments. don't understand what you're going to use for heating. he don't develop new nuclear power what are you going to use to would. have to get that from siberia to. thank the way because if you don't have forward only the.

well still ahead for you this hour here on r.t. from the basin of life to the hot bed of death. metal monsters like this pitching vessel stayed here abandoned waiting for the sea water to return to the deserts and counting down with the international rehabilitation effort taking us back in the air also proves it may once again return i'm one of the friends to join me in central asia to explore what you can be one of the world's largest landlocked water. this week russia stepped up its efforts to help nato struggling campaign in afghanistan and decided to. allowed the airlines to transport armored vehicles through its territory the transit deal was confirmed by russia's foreign minister during talks with his afghan counterpart here in moscow it will allowed nato to reduce its reliance on volatile pakistan the two also pledged more joint action to battle drug trafficking last month russia and the us

destroyed one ton of heroin in a combined anti drug operation in afghanistan despite successes like that many experts still believe victory in the total war is impossible. my basic view is that the war is completely unwinnable russia may be making friendly noises towards nato now because of those we know there's a rapprochement between the alliance and russia but in my view it's basically formal in other words these are gestures that i'm sure meant well i don't think russia is playing a double game i'm not trying to say that i'm simply saying that the war cannot be won and the soviet union learned that lesson in the one nine hundred eighty s. the british learnt it in the nineteenth century and the americans are in the process of learning it although it seems that they haven't learned yet so i don't believe that a military solution could in other words the shipment of arms could pacify afghanistan no. us military chiefs also admit progress is uneven with just modest

gains against the taliban are you support has been watching troops in iraq gearing up for their move to afghanistan to boost american led forces there but many worry that more troops means more violence. i will took what she's trying to do is coming to an end he's part of the american forces who stayed behind to train assist and equip iraqi security forces definitely sure there was a home that's for sure no one knows whether want to stay here but then it's not just movement of troops and equipment since world war two the u.s. army is moving its supplies from iraq to afghanistan certain equipment such as r m wrapped. mine resistant vehicles our humvees are those types of equipment a lot of our rolling vehicles rolling stock of course and some generation that

equipment yes will be dedicated towards the mission in afghanistan but critics warn that moving troops won't help much that. when people see us forces inside their country it brings in paganism and makes them turn to terrorism and al qaeda so as more american troops come here from iraq it will just make things worse i don't believe the americans will leave for another fifty years they have to have their main military bases here and then building the americans leaving iraq also sends the wrong message to insurgents the afghans seeing the americans withdrawing from iraq and they think themselves ok they're going to withdraw in a year or two we have a hold on things we'll take control in a year or two it doesn't matter i will quote she's already been told he'll be going from iraq back to afghanistan it'll be his second time there and he's not looking forward to it i would definitely say that afghanistan is

a lot more difficult when it's over the terrain is a lot more heavier and the mountainous region is we have to do a lot more walking there and whether the beefed up presence in afghanistan will help troops meet mixtures deadline to pull out or make it more difficult it's still unclear the guys and just come back some of the call everything went ok cover next one. will be discussing the american effort with afghanistan's a foreign minister the interview is coming your way in just over an hour's time. so . there are two or three issues that has created tension because the issue of detainees the issue of civilian casualties i did a show for nitrates in the house more and more afghan forces will be in charge off to combat less than this would be this kind of problems. twenty minutes past the hour here in moscow you are with r.t. to central asia now the home of the aral sea it was once the world's fourth largest

lake but almost disappeared half a century ago due to ambitious so if you are irrigation projects the receding waters rob the region of its economic lifeline for the people who remain living on its shores one day the sea will return as artie's lindsey france reports so there are signs that wish right come true but there are people living at this harbor who have never seen the water which once lapped at its walls the former port city of a raskin kazakstan was once a bustling hub of business and human activity but beginning in the one nine hundred sixty s. rivers feeding massive cotton fields for the soviet union diverted water away from the rivers that fed the erroll sea they have to hope rio colors and i came here to see was close to the city my husband and i have baits and we would swim to the islands for picnics on the weekend we swam and lay in the sun place of the sea started moving away the watches became shallow and then just joined up my children

so it only in the pictures and tell the waters were so aggressively diverted the air all sea was the size of ireland. the disappearing sea took with it fishing jobs commerce and an entire way of life just a few decades ago where i'm standing now as far as the eye could see was bright blue water ships just like this bobbing up and down bringing in the day's catch now when you drive across the former seabed all you see is abandoned villages abandoned ships and camels now people here call it errol coom or errol desert. out of school more to soviet planned economy is largely to blame for the dying of the aral sea all decisions are made in moscow which took no account of the ecological balance of that region the consequences of that could be felt as early as in the one nine hundred sixty s. the r.e.c. region the fines the terms pre-crisis crisis and disaster. it was after the

collapse of the soviet union that people were faced with the seriousness of the disaster the sea have split in two in two thousand and five experts harnessed what little water still flowed into the lesser erroll see from this river by building the cocoa. and eighty seven million dollar project funded in part by the world bank the smaller body of water had become the great hope of the future. we had over two hundred people here from russia stand in his back to stand the work was very hard in many of us lives here on site for two or three years but now we're happy to say the time has come to pack up the structure is working perfectly. welcome to news after years of failed dam projects and wasted water in just a few short years these small downs have turned parts of the kazakh desert back into a seascape dotting it would be. the hope is that as the project progresses the dams

will be built even higher keeping more water in extending the boundaries and the boundaries of the lesser air all see back to the city of r l. when the sea left us my husband did not want to leave this place he used to say our children would grow to sea with zero nine even before he died he believed that the sea would come back . now as the excess water flows through this sluices it disappears out into the nearly empty greater peril seen no grand scheme for saving that this act for the one million people living in cassocks stands poorest region measurable improvement will only come when the shores once again fill with dogs lindsey france r.t. kazakstan. and that was the latest in our series of reports on one of the world's worst ecological disasters in about an hour's time we'll look at how the prospect of the are all seas return is putting fisherman back in business. or china has

moved east tensions on the korean peninsula sending a high level envoy to seoul to speak with the south korean president but he wants an emergency meeting of the six nations involved in north korea disarmament talks the situation deteriorated with the u.s. and south korea beginning four days server joint military exercises in the yellow sea john yang has reportedly deployed surface to surface missiles in response just days after a fired artillery rounds on an island belonging to the south killed for your view toronto director of korean studies at the institute of economics at the russian academy of science says the drills in the yellow sea can only escalate an already tense situation. character who is in the yellow sea water with south korean sheep i think that's not a major would could lead to reduction of tension in korean peninsula rather or increase of them of course and nobody is really we soon to have

a full scale war conflict but any incident can help but what if the korean ship or the american ship would he underwater mine and the south korean american side can decide this is a north korean attack and would routinely let the bully lead to an unpredictable consequences so i think that is not a reaction that is now desirable if us wants to exercise what it's called sorties you patients that's mean and having no dialogue and increasing sense in that you know way hold that north korean regime would collapse it can only lead to more incidents and to more appropriations and to more attention. and time to get some other headlines from around the world and hundreds of brazilian police out soldiers have begun an assault on a guying stronghold in one of rio de janeiro's most dangerous slums the entrenched red come on drug faction ignored an early offer to late. brenda heavy fighting has

left at least thirty five dead and caused hundreds to flee or barricade themselves indoors brazil meantime is just trying to bring rampant crime under control before it hosts the two thousand and fourteen football world cup and the two thousand and sixteen olympics. a georgian owned a cargo plane has crashed in pakistan killing up to twelve people eight crew members and four on the ground it went down five minutes after takeoff forcing an explosion and fire in a housing complex for naval offices the russian of made ill seventy six was heading from karachi to sudan or least one russian was reported to be among the crew the exact cause of the crash at this point is i'm not. the u.s. government has it demanded wiki leaks in return millions of classified documents said to be posted online the cables reportedly include communications with the dissidents son politicians from around the world american diplomats have been

scrambling to warn allies of potential embarrassment the u.s. says the leak could endanger lives and cause permanent damage to foreign troops. and i'll be back with the headlines in just a moment. for

six months russian capital was in a state of siege. days and nights people lived in fear of occupation and were preparing for the desperate defense. those took a heavy toll on. the summit on me switch to the offensive line was the first su near defeat of the where moms would. battle for most go on or keep. down the official placation. ipod touch from the. life on the go. see video on demand on t.v.'s minefield costs and feeds now in the palm of your. question.

we're running down the week's top stories here on aussie and the arrest of an artsy crew covering up peaceful protest in the u.s. on the silence from american news outlets leads to question so over the freedom of the media. crisis of multiculturalism in europe switzerland is holding a referendum on controversial plans to deport foreign criminals the proposal already is being branded as racist by many. and russia's democracy is far from perfect but it is improving the country's president said in his latest video blog called for a strong showing from the opposition to prevent complacency from those in power. while up next we take a look at some of the.