children. in the future. on r t foreign intervention in the arab unrest will just fuel use civil war says russia as it blocks you and condemnation of syria's government and listen asking who's next in line analysis coming up. also in the program front springs a new security measures to counter possible revenge terror attacks from the bombing of libya but with soldiers on the streets and illegal wiretapping critics say the public's more scared than safely today. also this week saw the twenty fifth anniversary of the chernobyl disaster the site of the worst ever nuclear catastrophe may still pose

a danger again raising doubts over the safety of atomic energy. and a fine line between artistic protest and vandalism a controversial russian art group wins the highest state award for a work that many dismiss as an obscenity. below its ten pm sunday night here in moscow you're watching the weekly our roundup of the top stories of the last seven days here on out with me kevin no into night and first revolutionary fever in syria shows no sign of letting up around seventy people have reportedly been killed since friday and military crackdowns against anti-government demonstrations that's on top of some five hundred other deaths in two months of upheaval in the wake of the latest bloodshed the u.s. is tighten sanctions and intensified its rhetoric. against syria's political elite

his ridiculous has been falling out whether some of the closest allies of damascus may be next in line for a western backed popular uprising. some like it hot but this spring things have heated up perhaps too much in the arab world egypt tunisia libya now syria northern african region and the middle east and often brutal civil wars with the western powers playing an important hand some believe this won't stop anytime soon so who is next in line for the great upheaval in the region the answer may lie on the surface. president assad is disingenuously blaming outsiders while at the same time seeking a really an assistance in repressing syria's citizens this need to be a human being with him and that's where exactly the united states is looking to get involved i think iran has been targeted for some time and if you watch propaganda

about syria or washington is now claiming. iran is helping syria oppress protesters what's different about syria. protesters there in both cases we know for a fact. the united states government was supporting opposition groups and so it's only those two countries where washington has an interest in. t.v. and has been a longstanding alliance with syria in this strategically important region right next to iran's arch nemesis israel syria syria isn't the same as libya geopolitically we've always realized that syria is iran's springboard in its fight against israel this is why it will eventually make a powerful sunni jesica impact on iran's positions this brings us back to the question what country will follow syria if it ends in syria progress according to.

the libyan scenario we will probably see a similar development in iran unfortunately that is iran will repeat the syrian scenario iranian ships have dropped anchor in syrian ports enormous proximity to tel aviv with damascus crippled by crisis iran we lose its footing in the region this is again a continuation of the idea that you use the international machinery to achieve your national objectives under the pretext that you are actually trying to protect human rights should the u.s. and its allies decide to go through with a habit of knurling in aiding revolutionary forces in the region the result may be catastrophic that if there is foreign intervention in syria yes iran's intervention in response that is a definite and very real possibility just as much as it interfered in iraq when the us invaded that country and if the citizens prove true the world need be in for an entirely different ballgame if iran and the u.s. get involved in

a very real hot. it in house quantity. the u.n. failed to pass a statement condemning violence in syria summations block the move expressing concern the country could face a libyan styles an aria russia or indeed was among them saying that outside intervention would only lead to further destabilization of a fully fledged civil war as the scar sort of future holds or maybe for the uprising region journalist north and returns is on the line with us. with our two years we've just heard in that report many experts believe if nato does get involved in the syrian uprising iran will have to respond how likely is that scenario and if it did what kind of response could be expected you think. i think age is already in a lot of disarray i think the last thing on their minds is any intervention in syria they're frankly too frightened i think the military would be too frightened of anything involving syria it is notable that former license agent alastair cook has been quoted here in this country saying that the reports from on the ground in

syria don't match what the wire agencies are saying it was to what's happening in syria of course any later attack on syria would result in. so much disastrous. consequences for. the straits of hormuz palestinian groups people in egypt would probably rise up against it because syria is such a linchpin of. everything that is against us. in the middle east and certainly i was in a five thinking about iran's principal enemy israel some analysts say the jewish state being harmed by the support the u.s. has given the popular uprisings in the region to think is knowledge and. i think definitely as they call it the zionist entity is in deep trouble because of the rise of democratic movements and the success of democratic movements in the arab world and we see that with fatah and. hamas getting back together again

the israelis so quick to respond by saying they won't give money that's owed to the government so really bad times ahead for israel as the arab spring continues and in the last twenty four in libya another nato airstrike targeting a gadhafi compound their lives continuing to insist it's not after his life that does seem to be some inconsistency there. i think the big inconsistency i think prime minister vladimir putin put it quite well when he went frankly what a no fly zone got to do with bombing palaces this is a complete disaster we don't know we don't have the confirmations get that it is the three granddaughters of khadafi and his youngest son killed in an age of attack moreno ocampo is going to be from the international criminal court is visiting new york to the u.n. security council on tuesday around the same time as as clinton comes for the room

contact group meeting i wonder moreno ocampo will raise any objections to nato bombardment of civilians basically. this week we saw the u.n. failed to agree statement condemning the syrian regime why do you think this time around russia and china decided to block it unlike with libya because i think most countries in the world the international community i became unity outside of washington power believes that the real criminal country in this region is of course israel the idea of israel continually killing thousands over the years in violation of so many resolutions and the idea that one is going to criticize one of the few countries that is actively trying to restore some kind of justice for the palestinian people could be condemned i think it's absurd that's not to say there are real problems facing cultural. they've got it all the wrong way and over here the british prime minister seemed hysterical when he was talking about the libyan

involvement i think there's a fair degree of hysteria all around western capitals as to what's going on and if there was a lot of about a word some sort of game plan going on here from america about what's happening in the middle east what's happening in north africa or is it playing out as was expected. i think very very unexpected i think obama was at the white house correspondents dinner in d.c. with robert gates and they were telling jokes really have to leave the dinner party because they heard about this attack on the gadhafi palace seems like they don't know what's going on we have the world food program saying there's going to be a big food crisis perhaps in forty five days this is talk of destabilization of the entire region al-qaeda in the islamic magreb the self-styled al qaeda group is worrying the regional countries of mali in algeria mauritania this is completely spiraled out of control that's why i think presumably the prime minister here was

so hysterical and we have from moscow people like the head of the foreign relations committee again the house. going well we know that the u.s. is going to send ground troops because they're sending in drones normally to send ground troops into libya meanwhile in bahrain in saudi arabia the big allies the big dollars saudi arabia sending thousands of troops to pull people out of hospital beds after being wounded by their troops those sold to them by western governments the real news is happening under under the under the line and we won't see much of that international corporate media pressure times it could have coming from you as always journalist and author joining us from london tonight on out thank you. france fears its leading role in nato as libyan campaign makes it vulnerable to attacks on its soil in response new security measures including searching emails about permission putting soldiers on the streets to get introduced but critics say

france is being turned into a police state now. soldiers on the streets with machine guns this is france's vision peer at fist of europe's most expensive anti terror program to fight what it called the growing terrorist threat the government claims troops make a public feel safer but that's not what people think they look a little bit dangerous they can. use the force and the other way but there is a good fright in it to guard the. premier francois feel says troops are required because france bombing libya threatens a terror attack at home you'll never find soldiers at shops tourist sites government buildings train stations airports schools and churches but experts say the system doesn't even work and the main feature of terrorism is that it's impossible to foresee video here as

a real target is not to catch terrorists says one investigator but to monitor the public it's easier to persuade people that they can be a terrorist it's natural station it's easier then for people in friends to believe well then they have a right to listen to my phone calls which they do they do do it they have a right to monitor my emails and facebook because they're really protecting us troops are only the visible part or storage fees can now read people's emails under a law passed quietly in february president sarkozy also signed a bill for police to tap phones were built getting judges authorization to justify the invasion of people's privacy says one author because he makes france's six million arabs a scapegoat he has to make them afraid thinking that there is an arab with a bomb here down down. the government recently branded muslims

a problem and burn the muslim food. some already mocked the band and what they see as an arab witch hunt by going out in virgil's and miniskirts there's also the large cost world workers continue to be laid off in the economic crisis. estimated prices eighteen billion euro each year enough to create a million new teaching jobs and embarrassed government and lists a tries to hide the amount. is very expensive because the executive can move resources from one area to another quite quickly it's very difficult to find an exact figure critics like michelle cologne have dubbed the video system vishy pierrette vishy was france's first just regime in the second world war it spoiled and informed people and told that it ethnic minorities. the french government today stands accused of

doing the same to its own citizens the new bush or r.t. paris coming up with a program may day russian style a we join those marching on the streets of moscow on labor day and look at history over there as it's been celebrated in russia. so as we mark the twenty fifth anniversary of one of the worst manmade catastrophes in history the chernobyl disaster even today the thirty kilometer exclusion zone is a grim reminder of the dangers of nuclear negligence lies cold and desolate and this is a legacy as esky reports next will for centuries to come. it's not every day you can see the chernobyl exclusion zone in ukraine as crowded as this hundred singling the russian and ukrainian presidents came to the monument beside the nuclear plant to mark the date which changed the world the twenty fifth anniversary of the chernobyl fallout. i believe because of the huge amount of

citizens from ukraine and russia was put in to deal with the aftermath of this tragedy in the face of such disasters we should be honest it's the government's obligation to tell people the truth we need to admit a good back then the government was not always doing the right thing nowadays the zone looks like this deserted streets and abandoned houses however a quarter of a century ago it was the place to be in the soviet union salaries for the residents of the town of p.p.h. were higher living standards better and infrastructure more developed the communist paradise changed on april the twenty six nineteen eighty six when the chernobyl reactor exploded the result of an experiment left in the wrong hands. with the reactor was almost completely out of control april twenty fifth but it could still have been saved the management pushed for the completion of an experiment personnel hesitated and were reluctant to but eventually couldn't go against the authorities we all know the result. meanwhile the town's population had no idea

about the disaster people were enjoying an unusually sunny saturday outdoors with me and my friend we ran away from school the pleated beach we returned home and called in mud and my mother asked me where i had been i lied that we were cleaning the school yard and she was shocked as she had already heard rumors of some accident the nuclear station both already started the evacuation only thirty six hours after the last that's why many of those who stayed in the town later died or suffered radiation sickness but their locally uncle was among the evacuees from the thirty kilometer zone just several years after the catastrophe she returned to the first bit inland having lived there for more than two decades she says she wants to see the end of her days in the land where she was born because they gave me a flat and the pension but i found it impossible to survive like that in q hey i have a condo and i grow every clean radiation yes there is

a little here but you can find a place without it anywhere we are not scared. despite this optimism from recyclers the world still seems concerned about that you're not go through that especially in the wake of the fukushima disaster that's why ahead of this anniversary countries invested more than five hundred million euro into constructing a new confinement daum destined to seal the exploded reactor for another century this is probably the last time we have managed to see the infamous chimney of the fourth walk of the chernobyl nuclear power station people behind the news reports say that next year it will be dismantled then the station will be covered with a dom and that will end the existence of the children or build nuclear power station but the former residents of this area say it matters little to them their life as they knew it had ended twenty five years ago let's see russia. reporting from the chernobyl exclusion zone in ukraine a quarter of a century ago with rumors of an explosion of every street thousands of healthy

young men were ordered on the planes and helicopters and flown to that side. of the winner seize my order i didn't have the understanding of what was happening there i knew the explosion happened the site was in ruins that's about it watch out exclusive interview if you can with one of the men who became known as the liquidators and it's on our web site r t v dot com there's also plenty more about your novel there for you including special documentary lectures put together from the heart of the exclusion zone. if. this week russian security forces carry series of attacks against the terrorist network in the north caucasus the latest operation sauterne militants including two high ranking warlords killed as

it is we're going to have a report from the region next the old code of the group believe many attacks. this biggest achieving operation was carried out on the border between the region and about the republic when ten militants including at least two women were killed and among some high profile terrorists with links with the international terrorist group all in this region further d.n.a. task would probably be required to identify some of the militants or some leading figures in a so-called box on gang were already identified as big the truth was believed to be involved in a number of terror attacks across the area now another thing among terrorists ascared jump who if it was believed to be involved in attacking tourists from moscow in the district in february twentieth love and then earlier in the week and now the special operation was carried out. and the leader of the public ramadan

could be that of was personally in charge of this operation the militants that were killed were later identified ask close associates to russia's most wanted terrorist the mind of khan's in the neighboring dagestan a leader of the so-called actor guys there was also killed in a special operation this wave of terror raids was launched here after a number of high profile terror attacks in russia. and if you want to know the background of this story you can get it on our website all about russia's fight against terrorists and r.t. the point. of such operations will continue until we have eliminated the terrorist underground in the republic we speak online to the president of dagestan one of the regions facing ongoing militant attacks also while you're online take a look at these stories as well. as the multi-billion dollar supplies that crashed

into the pacific ocean and also crash the career of russia's top space boss take a look at how that. deal with charts to name them to take part in a competition to pick some names for these exotic judge you or one of the subpoenas are just some of the stories getting a lot of attention a lot of clicks tonight at r.t. dot com. the decision to hand the national arts award to a controversial piece of group graffiti that's been drawn in the historical center of some petersburg a sparked some degree of debate here in russia where you see the giant phallic symbol is obscene others say it's a sign of an emerging civil society of a bennett looks at both sides of the argument. and this is award winning aren't according to russia's ministry of culture the sixty five we to phallus whitewashed on a draw bridge in st petersburg has won the twenty ten innovation prize for best visual artwork self-styled aren't terrorists by now meaning war in russian are the

unpopular with us. i think it's essentially vandalism a bridge is a cultural and historical monument and to paint anything on it is an act of vandalism and it should be punished not rewarded and already here in the center of contemporary art can see the other entries for the award nothing is stimulating or a shocking or innovative as viner's and according to the jury that's why they won purely artistic merit but now it's not as simple as that the same symbol the ministry rewarded is now being brandished in mocking protest these russian youth group is angry four hundred thousand rubles of taxpayers' money we've given to a group it calls vandals for vyner the protest only legitimizes their own but. it's a very awkward situation when the state award goes to a group that in fact organizes an action aimed against the state but this is

a very important signal artists always express society's pain and a healthy society accepts these. but there's been no acceptance of binah as dark until now two members still face trial on hooliganism charges for this little stunt british graffiti artist banksy to pale glance they could still face seven years in prison. so why this sudden show of state support. the minister of culture was afraid of being accused of political censorship and i think he was right in our country is better being afraid of imposing political censorship than to actually impose that breezewood. a sea change from four years ago this image of two kissing policemen was banned by the culture ministry from international exhibits fearing embarrassment pick your eat it back exhibit was handed a year of fear back then he lost his job but this time he was on the jury so why is

this art than. the turing is a graphic and expressive example of how an artist reacts to a social climate when he doesn't specify the target of his protest he simply says that strong protest is brewing in russian society but how do you draw the line between saying this and arts and vandalism because this is going discomfiting. the streets aren't is minor vandalism but it's not hooliganism a disorder it may cause is compensated hundreds of times by the meaning of the pictures of the which is painting could be restored on the bridge to become a symbol of some petersburg's culture because it's the first work that is proof of a civil society. by no courts controversy usually at the expense of the authorities whether it's art or not they've achieved what they wanted to know to writing they say they'll donate the prize money to political prisoners either bennett's r.t.

. elsewhere around the world tonight the late pope john paul the second to be beatified before more than a million worshippers in rome it means the pontiff is now regarded as less than one step away from center to receive that status for allegedly healing a french nun of an incurable disease certainly was led by the current pope benedict the sixteenth and succeeding john paul six years ago. a battle of public gatherings in bangladesh has caused mass demonstration the place trying to disperse hundreds of protesters with water cannon and tear gas a ban imposed on saturday prohibits any public rallies and processions if an islamic group in bangladesh called for ongoing protests against the government. and police would have been injured in clashes with far left demonstrators in germany protesters setting car and waste contain is on fire and through bombs and stones and paint bombs and police who used water cannons authorities of stepped up security across the country in order to prevent further violence at traditional

companies may day celebrations. so which the traditional made a show of workers solidarity has been little quieter than usual here in russia the country has a long lasting tradition of rallies that used to show social and political affiliation on labor day country desire of a join the crowd. a very rare occasion that central moscow is completely empty and this of course is john ford these people's twenty five thousand members of treaty and who on this day are celebrating their professional holiday as part of that celebration marching through the heart of moscow oh all the way down through the kremlin and of course it's not just a tree getting kicked to their things anyone and everyone is on the streets of the capital including some of the more extreme organizations like of course the old stove right movement in moscow some go as far as to call them neo nazis or even as far as fascist they of course are standing and walking down the streets of the

russian capital with slogans such as russia hold russians. very few people could have imagined that these guys would be allowed to walk the streets and yet here they are with their betters their slogans and of course their unconventional covered up faces but they're not the only ones who are allowed to walk the streets of moscow on this day we know that many other groups that wouldn't traditionally be included in the first of may parades did walk the streets of the capital we know that the russian gay community also took to the streets and fortunately for them perhaps they chose to join a communist rally and they were not well received there but luckily no scuffles ensued and of those respective parties simply went their respective ways but as well as those groups we know that various other demonstrations took place and even one monstrous now that is a specific group created by an artist called for the most absurd slogans of banners

to be brought to the streets of the capital while indeed cities across russia that is exactly what they did standing in the heart of the capital with slogans such as bring back the sun which is of course not exactly a very feasible thing to do. no but they had fun and that was many say is what matter is that seems to have become the spirit of may for a while some like these people take their own more seriously for others it is just a day when everything is possible and they do have a chance to speak their mind or maybe even have a little fun. the truth is out of reading into it all now the president of yemen that talks to r.t. in a couple of minutes time also ahead this sunday night we got support for you in twenty minutes and richard has got the latest on another unconvincing performance by russia of the world i spoke in championships in slovakia but so the next pans out then this sunday night the first of may here in moscow.

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