national law and it's simply impossible twenty first century to put someone in. the. room. saying you have no right bush for moves to end the practices they are imposing a set of standards on our intelligence communities in terms of interrogating prisoners that our people think will be ineffective in a de classified memo gonzales did warn us gods it was legally safer to perform torture on foreign soil ministers in the european union were glad to oblige the e.u. agreed to help arrest and transport people to countries where they could be tortured in a meeting here at nato headquarters in two thousand and one detainees may or may not have been guilty since they never received a real trial we just can't know for sure. barack obama was elected on the promise to show. but he's even appealed us cool rulings which give detainees some royds

two years on the prison still open for business. all washington street guilty of criminal. crimes against humanity sociopathic ministration expose your people for participating and support these that executives from bush down no fear going abroad after foreigners food lawsuits over torture when the world lose what america's doing said bush's advisor we will all be ashamed the new bush will r.t. braman. we spoke to cory crowder from the charity reprieve which fights for prisoners human rights she visited detainees at guantanamo bay and says there's no end in sight for those being help there. at this moment the clients i go and see there are going on ten years in detention they've lost almost a decade of their lives and there's no prospect of

a trial no prospect of release and congress is going on saying we need to have gone forever so that's the real agony that they go through at this point uncertain future no prospect of leaving i think it's one of the saddest parts of the whole war on terror story the way various european nations for the kind of waiting around waiting handmaidens of u.s. torture practices we know about cia secret prisons in poland or maybe a little way in the u.k. is the u.s. its closest ally let's be clear and we saw time and again in the war on terror the u.k. getting just a little bit too close to the illegality of george bush and his cronies. you with see now ukraine's former prime minister yulia tymoshenko is in court to face charges for abuse of power she's accused of losing ukraine hundreds of millions of dollars in a gas deal with russia. outside the court in kiev for us. the atmosphere inside the courtroom and around the court building is absolutely electrifying around fifteen hundred supporters of unity much i can see here

gathered in central kiev to protest what they describe as a farcical hearing as a farcical case against their leader against you too much ankle now the i really give you credit politics herself started this child with a little bit of controversy she refused to stand up when the judge entered the room and then she said that this judge was completely unqualified for the case and that it needed to be dismissed clearly the tension is rising as this case and is its final stage for you to assemble has been summoned to the prosecutor's office for months now for questioning now this case has been taking tools to the courtroom and we will be hearing some developments in the next several weeks or so the crane's former prime minister yulia timoshenko is being charged with many different financial crimes including the amateur and professional as described by the prosecution gas deal with russia in two thousand and nine the prosecution claims that due to those deals ukraine lost more than four hundred million u.s.

dollars and this is clearly the main charge against the country's former prime minister it is something of a fall from grace for the woman who was once one of the most powerful and prominent politicians in the world several magazines describe you to machine glass as one of the most important female politicians on the planet now she she could become a convict and if convicted she could face up to ten years in prison even if this sentence would be suspended for her then still she would be unable to run for president for the next presidential election in twenty fifteen this according to thomas and co makes this case political and she describes it as the one being orchestrated personally by president viktor you have a quote which it is not the first time that you are to a shadow is that it is on the trial in two thousand and one she will. charged with smuggling the russian gas into ukraine clearly about the supporters of you to

assemble are ready to besiege the court building until the hear any news coming from inside and will clearly be seeing more public on the rescue this case in the next several weeks or maybe even months but we'll be following all the details and bringing you the latest details as soon as we get it. right there well still ahead for you in the program hear about from top brass to top spy u.s. army general patrol is set to become the next chief but opponents question if they are going come on duty in afghanistan is for the job. and what scares me what issues that are brought leaders of the nation to the world's oldest continent all those details in just a few minutes right here on c. it's cheaper effective and highly toxic endosulfan is a pesticide banned in most countries but still widely embraced by farmers in india however its use carries grave consequences with a whole generation of children suffering devastating health problems and while the

government claims there is no affordable alternative to the chemical ordinary families are paying the price you may find at some of the images in preassure this report distressing. this girl's body is the size of a baby but in reality she's five years old in her short life syria has endured an operation to reduce the size of her abnormally large had and she's not the only one suffering like this you know not the doctor said that we have to put a tube into our child's hand otherwise there would be complications. and serious mother thinks she knows what's caused it here in the cashew plantations in india southern state of carolina the government sprayed a highly controversial pesticide endosulfan on the crops during the ninety's that the people here say is causing a generation of deformed children. victims' groups believe there are around nine thousand children like syria with swollen heads and developing at only half the

rate they should first some parents that prospect is too much choosing abortion sometimes disturbingly late my daughter was alterations own in the eighth months of her pregnancy until recently india was the only country in the world which allowed the youth of endosulfan the agricultural ministry said there with employing no other cheap alternative to the powerful past the side but after mounting pressure at home and abroad the supreme court voted on an eight week ban of the past the third which is thought to expire in mid july while studies show that endosulfan causes severe developmental in reproductive problems in both humans and animals proponents of the past aside say their rivals are the ones pushing this ban these two cities only. because the e.u. . but the families of the sick feel that they've been forgotten for long enough.

there is no value for human life it's all about the money people don't care about each other these days people who have money are categorized as high caste and the poor people are counted as low caste and nobody cares whether we are dead or alive the families are drained emotionally and financially their life savings wiped out to care for their severely disabled children. i feel very sad when i see my child like this you know it's disturbing that we have to tolerate it. there's little point waiting for government relief repeated requests fall on deaf ears in the capital all these families can do is make the most of the short lives their disfigured children will have most will die before their twentieth birthday preassure either r t carola india. the outgoing come on tour of u.s. forces in afghanistan general david petraeus is set to become the new chief of the

c.i. a that u.s. looks to be moving away from his heavy approach to war as washington stands firm on a mass troop pullout from afghanistan and the generals ascend to his new role behind the wheel of global covert operations doubts that he can be impossible. for has more. then he's been called the rock star four star he is without question one of the finest officers and military minds of his generation the architect of modern counterinsurgency i may ask quite often those are all of those what do you think should happen in afghanistan and my first response is well whatever general petraeus says that's the direction in which we ought to go that's again a respect for you general david petraeus. betrays was on capitol hill to be confirmed as the next director of the central intelligence agency in truth my goal in uniform has always been to convey the most forthright and accurate picture possible i have

to be sure offered more positive assessments than the intelligence community did but although he's been lauded as the man responsible for america's strategy in iraq former c.n.n. pentagon correspondent jamie mcintyre says he has his detractors a lot of people see him as very ambitious very calculating playing the system telling the american people what they want to hear. and a lot of people also some critics also think that the success that the u.s. is touting in iraq is vastly overstated and despite his star power some in the military say patris is better at navigating the media and washington than a battlefield it's called the green zone hero. these are your senior officers who never actually saw any action who have never themselves been under direct fire and have never pulled the trigger and killed anyone in combat although president obama calls him a quote lifelong consumer of intelligence others are skeptical that the trainers will fit in at the cia their evaluation of iraq their evaluation of afghanistan have been generally diametrically opposed to what betray us has said his

characterization of conditions on the ground in that country bears no resemblance to what people in the central intelligence agency or say general petraeus spent thirty seven years in uniform but will hang it up to leave the cia as a civilian senate republican leaders praise president obama's decision for quote choosing competence in continuity but that same continuity means betrayers will be in charge of assessing his own success in iraq and afghanistan here in fort r.t. washington d.c. . now as the general slides over to the cia the nature of war seems to be shifting with him the u.s. president says the troop pullout from afghanistan was possible because the taliban's momentum has waned despite calls from top military brass for a more gradual drawdown and former cia officer jack rice says that washington's confused its enemies in the country. i think that the department of defense and the white house are probably mischaracterizing how this is successful

if you will one of the problems is that somehow the u.s. has broken the taliban or separated the taliban from al qaeda well the fact is is that the taliban and kind of were separate organizations from the beginning and to simply characterize them as bad guys as all the same guy was one of the biggest mistakes that the united states ever met i think you are going to see more instability and when i talk to people in other parts of the country they look at president karzai as a crook they see him as somebody who is doing nothing but protecting himself and his own democracy is not there but you know what at the same time anybody who thinks that the u.s. or the or the europeans can roll into a country and simply say we have decided we're going to have no into with democracy and you put it in people's hands i can't imagine any country in the world where a foreign army would walk in and say we're going to give you something who is going to accept yeah. you with us a lot from moscow where it's now a quarter past the hour if you missed any of on our stories just go to the dot com

they're all online plus there's always have more news and videos lined up for you let's have a taste and see what's a wedding for you right now a dutch court it's clear right politician hood builders of take charges against muslims saying his comments were within the scope of acceptable public debate. and the president meant it that launches our brand new documentary channel as a new vision of russia gets around the clock global reach you can see the new addition to the r two family at the dot. dot com.

it's good to have your company today this is our to you live from moscow now let's check out some other international news for you this hour the e.u. has pledged to help greece with its woes over a looming bankruptcy and that the country could gain vital bailout funds once parliament passes fresh austerity measures next week the greek government is to look further twenty eight billion euros in budget cuts over five years apart then greece could get another twelve billion euro in cash as part of the current rescue package from eurozone countries and i. think rwanda minister has been sentenced to life in prison for genocide pauline. was found guilty on seven

charges including incitement to commit genocide and rape as a crime against humanity she was a minister for family and women's affairs in one thousand nine hundred ninety four when eight hundred thousand people were killed most of them ethnic tootsies she was convicted along with her son and four other former officials after a decade long trial. the u.s. secretary of state has warned of an escalation of risk after reports that syrian forces raided a village near the turkish border hillary clinton said it could deepen the conflict and worsen the plight of refugees troops using snipers and tanks were seen on the syrian side of the border on thursday forcing more people to flee to turkey over ten thousand have sheltered in camps and at this point almost fifteen hundred have been killed since a crackdown on anti-government protesters. started in march. well she has her obstinate ball nature and be ready for that if you ever go to antarctica she shows

no favor to anyone this icy and inhospitable than treats all visitors equally from tourists to top officials sean thomas witnessed the world's call this continent playing host not one but two national presidents. as a military c one thirty approaches a gravel airstrip the people on land prepare for celebration and official ceremony . the presidents of both chile and ecuador are making an official visit to their respective research stations in antarctica where we don't know for at least it is a very important visit but it is also important for our people as we hear the gateway to the reception tactic and for chile it is very important to support the antarctic treaty you see and think it's. important thing. for president sebastian pinera his visit has the potential to be

a political hot point as chile holds a territorial claim over the antarctic peninsula clear down to the south pole but on this particular trip controversies were put aside in favor of a more international message that has been and should always be a piece of friendship and has to be very friendly with nature and the environment and very much committed with that and i'm sure that the russian people share these feelings so to get there we have to say that they've got because of the future of peace and also science and technology. and ecuador holds no boundary claim on the continent. visit does hold some national significance of this is a very impressive. piece here in antarctica. very very exciting is very important for us. hosting not one but two presidents is

a tricky business especially in antarctica when much of the planning can be changed at a moment's notice depending on the constantly changing and unpredictable weather we if we we have a saying about antarctica not only she knows who can and cannot visit her in fact last year both presidents been here and korea try to visit but could not land because the weather shifted and it was too dangerous. to organizing a presidential visit delegation of this size is quite difficult logistically they were able to fit in a little bit of russian culture with a visit to the trinity church. traveling with the presidents a delegation of both chile and ecuador's top military brass as well as chile's minister of energy. and while there were photo opportunities and press conferences the main message from these heads of state was one of international cooperation. an example of union power money we can work together. in order to.

improve. and as their presidential flight leaves the continent after a successful visit those who stay behind to continue their research to ensure that idea of unity is realized in antarctica sean thomas. and you can always i get extra videos and read more about sean's big adventures in all corners of the world on his blog that's on our website dot com. more than a month. in one of the most extreme environments on the planet this is antarctica and people have to be aware that they're far away from civilization. so special and attractive for many life in antarctica. and the. expedition to the bottom of the earth. well love him

or hate him you can't deny unique role in russian history and little later we explore the life of the man known as the father of the revolution. or street leader to change the course of history and starting off here on red square next to the magnificent moscow kremlin. as we take a look at his epic journey and visit various landmarks associated with his life. as here in just over an hour's time here on ars he said to stay with us for that but before that however. with the latest business news he'll be coming your way in

just a moment. welcome your washing business out sea oil prices are flat after dropping almost five percent on thursday that was after the international energy agency made a surprise announcement that sixty million barrels of oil would be released from strategic reserves so only the third time in history the i.a.e.a. has sanctioned the release of reserves the move is intended to offset the loss of production from libya can't be engulfed in a civil war meanwhile some opec members one of possible countermeasures to prop up the oil price christine discovery you know from stand and pause explains why she

thinks the i.a.e.a. has taken this on usual action. i think it's three things one it is trying to ensure that when the northern hemisphere is going to the driving season they will be enough supply now a lot of the opec member countries have said their recent of supply and that is correct but what you need is to make sure that prices don't spiral up the second is to ensure that there is a soft landing for the economy what they are trying to ensure is that the world economy that's not going to adopt the session and thirdly they have been a lot of frustration from oil barrels that have been taking out of the market on speculation so what the saying is listen guys we are going to dump oil in the market so don't try to get prices up because you're going to lose money so this should put a barrier to oil prices a cap which should hopefully ensure that the world continues to soft land and recover from the recession. all right let's take

a look at the current oil price. is and when it comes to light sweet crude it's up fifty three cents when it was a brand it's still down after a dramatic fall caused by the surprise announcement boeing international energy agency where light sweet is ninety one half dollars per barrel brant just below one hundred seven. european markets are up this friday after european leaders agreed to launch a fresh package for cash strapped greece miners are in the lead extras announcer for gas above more than three percent here in russia the final day of the week trading week rather is positive r.t.s. up one point three percent my six one point seven percent on the back of a rebound in some of the world gazprom is up one point six percent energy mages mainly are actually up this metals my m.k. is also gaining the company posted a net profit of one hundred thirty million dollars in first quarter of the beating

previous expectations banks are generally up but it was a data bank is down slightly that's often decent it's considering buying into the banks and not much support from that. russia may sell five percent in those burbank the largest bank to chinese sovereign fund for about four billion dollars the chinese newspaper twenty first century business herald says china investment corporation has received a proposal from one of the banks organizing privatization burbank and c.i.c. already in talks on a potential deal the chinese company has over two hundred billion dollars in management. the warning lights on europe's debt crisis are flashing red and that's the verdict of the president of the european central bank. his analysis might be a little behind the curve according to a number of commentators who think it's only a matter of time before the single currency collapses patrick young editor of the book the gathering storm describes the possible consequences of your integration.

there's a credible possibility i mean if the euro actually is going to collapse then there is a very very significant process because after all the euro is the second most important currency on the planet to mean roughly one third of all the world's reserves are in u.s. dollars something like twenty five percent are held in europe if the eurozone goes into a debt spiral that causes a huge problem it causes a fundamental crisis of confidence in the money that people hold in their pockets at the same time it quite possibly gives russia an incredible opportunity because in fact it may well be that other currencies such as even the ruble male timidly be regarded as being safer havens for investors and to that end the russian government is going to hold his considerable struggle to manage to keep the economy going but hopefully they'll be able to pull through. i called the katrina help she will be here in fifty minutes time with roy's next for the headlights stay with us.

culture is that so much given to each musician on the different takes it strategy mom as long awaited plan to start drawing down troops levels in afghanistan is in play but is it a real drawdown or just a real. it's

now a three thirty pm here in moscow you with. headlines now britain has revealed it neglected to protect prisoners from abuse as part of its role in the us rendition program this comes as american officials face lawsuits from foreign detainees who claim they were tortured in overseas prisons. ukraine's xperia is in cordova charges of abuse of power and literally losing her country hundreds of millions of dollars in energy deals yulia timoshenko called the hearing a political fall staged by. rivals hundreds rallied to our support side the court.

and the families in india accuse the government of allowing the use of a controversial pesticide which they say is killing their children groups claim applying the chemicals is causing a generation of deformed children who don't live to see their twenty. i know those are the headlines here on our next peter lavelle debate why president obama's announcement to withdraw thirty three thousand u.s. troops from afghanistan wasn't welcomed by either antiwar activists or military officials that's coming your way right now. ok. welcome to cross talk time peter lavelle exit strategy obama's long awaited plan to start drawing down troops levels in afghanistan is in play but is it a real drawdown or just a reduction of the so-called surge of eighteen months ago did obama capitulate to

public opinion over military needs and will american and nato troops ever completely leave afghanistan to afghans. can. cross talk us to afghan strategy i'm joined by gareth porter in washington he's an investigative historian and journalist also in washington we have sam side by he is senior director of iran programs at nonviolence international and in london we crossed the alexis crow she's a research fellow in the international security program at chapman house all right folks this is cross talk and that means cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want gareth i'd like to go to you first in washington details of obama's pullback from afghanistan are becoming more and more clear are you satisfied that it's legitimate or is it just all about domestic politics the united states obama is trying to satisfy public opinion without alienating the military.