the american people the majority of whom are against the u.s. involvement in libya there is also an interesting point that some experts have made with regards to the public perception of the war in libya it's off the headlines american use channels have been focused on congress one winners quite shut for weeks now and there's fear that certain inertia develops in a public perception with regards to the war in libya inertia which some say could be very dangerous going to check on their will phyllis bennis from the institute for policy studies told me earlier that president obama's action goes against the american constitution earned public opinion both of these votes were really symbolic the vote would have been very significant if the house had voted to cut off funds but even that would not have had any direct impact on the ground because of course the senate dominated by president obama's own democratic party would never have approved that one the earlier vote was in some ways more interesting the

vote that refused to endorse or give permission to the commander in chief president obama to continue the war in libya the law passed in one thousand seventy three at the height of vietnam requires the president to get congressional approval when he sends troops or military resources abroad within sixty days that sixty days has passed days ago and he has not asked for approval and this was a statement from the congress that they don't want to approve it that makes it a very illegal action within the context of the u.s. constitution itself what we've seen in the last days regarding afghanistan of course in a similar situation without the congressional aspect but where public opinion has turned decisively against the war in afghanistan it's now sixty four percent of the american people say that the war is not worth fighting. that u.k. failed to track detainees handed over to the us neglecting to protect them from

possible torture in america's secret prisons and that's been revealed often agreement between the two states on the treatment of terror suspects captured in iraq was declassified twenty eight year old pakistani units is one of the victims of this deal he was seized by british soldiers in iraq in two thousand and four as a suspected insurgent and secretly sent to a u.s. detention camp in afghanistan a process dubbed extraordinary rendition the man's lawyers are calling on the u.k. to help free him as britain was the detaining authority british labor party m.p. and peace campaigner jeremy corbyn says despite the close ties between the two countries u.k. had no excuse for allowing prisoners to be sent to the us for torture. there is an extraordinarily close military security and foreign policy relationship between britain and the united states we have sharing of security information and so. i suspect it was quite willingly done by members of

a security services in britain who see themselves as being very close to the united states my view is that every country should have its right to its own independent foreign policy and that means that if you believe your partner in a foreign policy relationship is doing something wrong imprisoning people illegally torturing them taking them illegally to guantanamo bay as was done by the usa then you should say so and i think it's quite appalling waterboarding and torture completely illegal in britain and the completely legal within the terms of the united nations convention on torture they're not illegal within the u.s. jurisdiction in the same way george bush specifically authorized waterboarding in what they term as robust interrogation techniques my suspicion is that the british security services were happy to keep quiet about extraordinary rendition happy that these poor people should end up in u.s. jurisdiction where they were being tortured and so this is an issue that is going

to come up again i'm sure in parliament next week it will be further inquiries into this because it's quite extraordinary that apparently there are people who allowed prisoners to be taken out of any jurisdiction that covered the convention on torture to the u.s. where the waterboarding took place. on our website following the story of a former inmate of the new tourist town in the bay prison he's fighting through three u.s. just to be tortured of sanity and then released without charge after five years behind bars also on the web site of the moment small move all nonsense that the general david petraeus gets the top job at the cia we find out what it means for the u.s. . the

euro is dead and buried quite literally according to skeptics who held a mock funeral for the ailing single currency in brussels they argue that attempts to bail out greece a little too late and athens economic failure will leave the eurozone dream the members have agreed on the terms of pressing the greek authorities to tighten their purse strings once again if the money's to be handed over the government will vote on a proposed twenty eight billion euro budget cut over five years next week if approved it will mean another twelve billion euros in rescue money. join those morning euro coming. this is a funeral procession in the center of brussels where the european leaders are meeting to discuss the future of the greek debts and of the eurozone itself they believe the euro can be salvaged but most people including euro skeptics believe that it is impossible and there will be no resurrection of the euro well to me and i think a lot of people it's beginning to collapse around the really bailouts billions of

pounds of taxpayers' money especially from the germans of this bill and i think the public about enough of it and i think if the leaders of the european union have presented greece with draconian conditions in order for the country to receive the remainder of its bailout unfortunately for greece they will have to take extreme measures which are incredibly unpopular in the country and that presents a major challenge for the greek government right immediately after it has just been for shuffled the leaders are unanimously wrong again. they'd be wrong about greece from the very start she should never have been allowed to join the euro in the first place she wasn't suited to it they were wrong to bail her out first time they're wrong drawn by the second time and if the greek parliament on tuesday except this package then this time next year i'll be talking to you i'll be a third bailout so while these european leaders are extremely excited about the

fact that the future of the could still be resurrected most of the people in europe do not believe so and unfortunately for the european leaders the common europeans believe that the end of the euro is near. the third block of sanctions by the european union over syria have come into force the new round of measures target syrian companies but also members of iran's revolutionary guard for high ranking syrian officials were put on the black list which includes thirty people the syrian president and his brother top that list as international pressure on the current regime grows violence still continues in the country at least twelve people have been killed the security forces opened fire and used tear gas on crowds of protesters a three month crackdown against those opposing president bashar al assad has left more than a thousand people dead but journalist nabila ramdani has told me that she believes the u.s. and its allies are opposed to any shift of power in the country. any further economic sanctions on syria will have almost no impact whatsoever on the current

situation in syria and on the current crackdown let's not forget that series already subject to american sanctions including age restrictions and export bans. has we simply put economic sanctions on the country as well i think syria has exposed in fact the double standard in the international community's approach to all these revolutions sweeping across the arab world in the middle east let's not forget that the nato went to war against libya because here they would be a potential killing of innocent civilians. in benghazi now we are witnessing an actual massacre taking place in syria and yet the incan international community has been rather cautious in its reaction towards syria because of its crucial strategic position in the middle east israel is of course one of its near neighbors and close friends include countries like iran and iran is said to her be playing

a role in in the crackdown in syria. now let's update you on some international news in brief in our world update this hour five people have been killed and four wounded in yemen the port city of aden after a car packed with explosives was detonated at an army post no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack that came hours after tens of thousands gathered in the yemeni capital calling for president ali abdullah saleh to step down one hundred sixty seven have been killed since the uprising started in february sun is currently recovering in saudi arabia from injuries sustained in an attack on his compound earlier this month. a former randa minister has been sentenced to life for genocide rape and crimes against humanity pauline the country's former minister for families and women's affairs and her son and militia leader were both found guilty of ordering and assisting their sickness eight hundred thousand people were killed during the ninety ninety four slaughter most of them ethnic to it says

minister who is the first woman to be convicted by the un backed tribunals. a series of nearly simultaneous blasts brought three cities in miramar injuring several people the first device went off in the country's ministry of capital or near zone housing most of its who tells soon afterwards a car laden with explosives detonated near manda lays main market the third blast has hit the city. it's not yet clear who was behind the attacks bombings have become increasingly frequent there where pro-democracy activists and ethnic groups or odds with the military backed regime the former prime minister of ukraine has gone on trial for abusing power during her time in office in two thousand and nine yulia timoshenko secured a gas deal with russia which is claimed to rob the ukrainian economy of millions of dollars she's dismissed the cases fabricated but faces up to ten years in jail if convicted and actually have been following the events throughout the day for us in

kiev. brown fifteen hundred supporters of you too much i can see here gathered in central kiev to protest what they described as a farcical hearing as a farcical case against their leader against going to mush and call now the arab league of ukraine 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 has its final stage you to assemble has been summoned to the prosecutor's office for months now for questioning now this case has been taking to the courtroom and we will be hearing some developments in the next several weeks or so the cranes former prime minister yulia timoshenko is being charged with many different financial crimes including the amateur you are unprofessional 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. 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 tomasz and co makes this case political and she describes it as the one being orchestrated personally by president victory on the court which it is not the first time that you're getting a sham go is. the trial in two thousand and one she was charged with smuggling the

russian gas into ukraine clearly the suppose. are ready to besiege the court building until the hear and use 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. with a recap of our top stories when less than fifteen minutes before the moscow team explores the devices figure of the father of the russian revolution that's what i mean then and stay with us for that.

hello and welcome to the show in this week's program i'll be exploring that in slice. the ball straight leader to change the course of the straight 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 and . is one of the main names associated with. eight hundred seventy s. . it shows his pseudo name living in nineteen i was one of the leading political

figures and revolution we think is of the twentieth century he changed the world. bolshevik takeover of power in russia in nine hundred seventeen the communist party manage an unwanted class free economy life for an adopted form of marxism. what is the soviet leaders like you see today. for the developments in syria. might say here. those guys were really able to take a lot. so the churn it turned into something all society could use in think it was well intentioned to do and. this man was to his time and he's still idealized now i think is completely over the top to keep him in there and you don't share him in the ground and using anyone else. who turned everything upside down. there's nothing else to say. he was in london the father of the so

you. right and then. they were friends for the younger generations you could say that the image of the bolshevik leader has turned into a retro almost soviet figure not helped by tacky souvenirs pop t. shirts and cheesy as it seems now. equally celebrated and mourned and the good and bad he did in his life acknowledged dawn of the days of thousands of people queuing up to see his. recording locations it's still the main association. with him. the real many other places the. leader. who's at the forefront of his life. was in the capital for most of the previous century lennon has to make it the administrative center of the country.

because of german threats move the ball. as it was called. what's become. his life become his final resting place originally a wooden tomb the stone which we see behind us today was opened. and still open for public viewing. his body might move elsewhere. even if that happens no matter what your political force. backgrounds it is clear that lennon was an exceptional human being even if you don't like the policies or ideology he stood for lennon moved into the most were criminal in nineteen eighteen legend has it that he took both his wife. and his alleged lover french born revolutionary innocent ottomans with him. was a hot new riyadh's i'm an ash square we head towards the national front the last

two decades of the access to many many locations previously closed even on moon and us soft museums houses hotels bunkers it seems the russian capital is now open to all well almost if you want an example of a consequence house in the last century this is perfect built in one thousand and three by the famed bush an architect from the event of the national health tallies been inspiring historic landmark for more than a century before the revolution the hotel hosted foreign diplomats. loyalty business tycoons and indeed the famous after nine hundred seventy international has proclaimed the first house of the soviets and became a residence of the bullshit government accommodating top communist leaders our main point of interest is really one of seven the bright. serves the location well antique furniture high ceilings and a sense of history name is the one hundred and seventy here in my opinion only has

one of the best years of the capital but it's also packed full of history accommodating the ball straight party this with inside the hotel was famously home to lennon and his wife for two weeks and last night in a city in the hotel has been renovated since but still wallet. this grand century that's. huge you can gaze across the kremlin and much of those cars task. today this ring costs thousands of dollars. i'm not quite sure to be too impressed with the. same rights for everyone. and. for many and those interested do not necessarily need to. you can apply for a special two. hour organize twice

a year. connect with. their office in common is now. in. which. it was open to the public in nine hundred fifty five. in the country but as it was located in the kremlin said the government of president. it was decided to move the cabinet to the state. moved including clock but still shows the time when he left the booth. represent the period for nine hundred eighteen thousand nine hundred twenty three but the personal belongings from the collection which we used by lenin in his everyday life but older than that some of them were used by several generations of the family and date back to eight hundred forty two.

the second. time. specially popular among foreigners but i have to say there are more going to comes to money but they understand it's just like everything else. monuments to. the symbols. says the twenty's. to every city. there are dozens of sculptures of the passionately directed in the city square in front of administrative buildings and you can still see many of them to this. most

luxurious hotel was once the stage for the speech is the métropole hotel built in the beginning of the twentieth century became a base for the bolshevik government many leaders lived and worked in the metropol and it was often visited by lenin when he addressed his associates in the one hundred twenty s. it started functioning as a hotel again for decades its rooms were only available for russian and international celebrities politicians. anyone can stay at the historic hotel but remember. the price. of. the hotel has been preserved in its original look despite all the wars and revolutions of the twentieth century here today is the same as it was in nine hundred eighteen when the bolshevik government had its meetings here but it's deputies smoked a lot so when restoration work was carried out in the one thousand eight is all to spawn doubt that the painted walls ten glossy were all but a small damaged which they had to clean to restore their original decorations. his

life works and theories are still studied by hundreds of institutions around the school is the ideology of communism. political in research look at the impact on the us. actually around the country for almost six years and his his legacy is still. vital figure for the twenty. moving ten kilometers south of. final location the estate. this vast green outdoor space belonged to various nobleman from the eighteenth century ending up in the possession. of the famous moscow industrialist and theatrical patron models of the soviet government moved. the legs yuri's property was nationalized and became.

the winter garden here is breathtaking it's really something to be seen and will not know the answer running grounds are open to the public today but only for organized tours the house is filled with lennon's possessions you can see everything from. his wheelchair clothes and his four thousand book collection. in may nine hundred twenty three he followed medical advice and left the kremlin. he was here as a frown man only in his early fifty's vladimir image in one off would spend his final years in september and eighteen. i think chris. as his health deteriorated over the coming years finally living in retirement he died. on the twenty first of january ninety four.

after lennon's death the complex was renamed linsky officially became a museum in one nine hundred thirty eight and was a place of pilgrimage citizens right up to the fall of the iron curtain from viewing his death mosque here to visiting his red square with a talking about local historians tourists communists the epic achievements of lenin still have a cult following and all the places connected with his life and legacy. as the journey. that was one of those lines what a beautiful building well unfortunately that's what's home we have on this week's program i'll see you again at the same time next week so until then for me and the rest of the crew from london's spectacular dacha bye bye for now. the.

culture is that so much different each musician apart and on top of the fence makes it strategy bomb as long awaited plan to start drawing down troops levels in afghanistan is in play but is it a real drawdown for just a rich. compere

live from the russian capital with you twenty four hours a day it's now one thirty am on a saturday morning top news stories now this hour the u.s. house of representatives has voted on a measure giving barack obama the authority to continue american military action in libya it's seen as a merely symbolic for now between congress and the president of the house later rejecting the bill's a cup funding for the campaign. declassified documents reveal the u.k. was happy to hand over terrorist suspects to the u.s. with little regard to what would be waiting for them in secret prisons on sunday washington's jurisdiction hundreds ended up being tortured and abused without a trial. or reporting on r.t. this morning the euro the fate of the common currency is in serious doubt as europe

agrees on another plane of debt laden greece but it is a country to get behind savage spending cuts experts however argue it's too late already has both feet in the grave. plus the former prime minister of ukraine goes on trial for abuse of power that's alleged to have cost the country millions of dollars needed to shrink a faces up to ten years behind bars if convicted in here. according to thomas continues with the news in less than half an hour from now in the meantime peter lavelle in the cross talk guests discuss 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 here to debate you next on r.t. . ok.

welcome to crossfire computor all about 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 the afghans. can. cross talk us 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 and i to go to you first in washington.