french officers are reportedly detained in the heart of the uprising in syria while the u.k. withdraws its embassy stuff all that it made of rising international chorus calling for the rebels to be. massive protests and rallies across the e.u. about the cuts affecting millions putting a question mark over brussels forceful demands for austerity we get live reaction from brussels shortly here on r.t. . israel faces international criticism over its policy of detaining suspected palestinian militants indefinitely and the chance of a trial. as russia's presidential vote nears we take to the streets of moscow to gauge the mood of the people in a restless country recently awoken from political slumber the top stories this hour

. international user cannot live from moscow this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day syrian opposition forces say they've withdrawn from a key neighborhood in the embattled city of homs and government forces have been trying to take over the area saying it's used as a base by militants all this while the country waits for the arrival of kofi annan the new u.n. and arab league envoy who's involved to stop the killing and start. is in damascus . we are hearing that the army has entered homes in order to regain control over the city which has been seen to severe clashes between the opposition and the authorities for months now syrian media reports that during this operation french officers have been detained reports say that the man can pass they were captured by

the opposition fighters but failed to clarify why they were in syria we also here in the france has already reacted to the claims by returning interim better to damascus these reports follow the free syrian army members claims that it's already received and aircraft missiles from u.s. and french sources earlier the arab league has refused to rule out giving arms to the opposition here in syria if the violence and the killing doesn't stop this in contrast to the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton who admitted that only in the rubble here in syria could be very dangerous as weapons could end up potentially in the hands of al qaeda while this issue here on the ground is very tense and complicated the u.k. says it is now if i create an embassy here in damascus citing security concerns but meanwhile peaceful after us are also taking place here joint arab and boy to syria coffee and none has said that he'll be heading to the conflict on country country

very soon trying to negotiate humanitarian access to the affected areas kofi annan has also vowed to persuade dollars between the opposition and the authorities on the warring sides claiming that the talks are essential to and the violence here in syria. and camilla treasury are contributing editor with online magazine syria comment says the desire of some foreign states to push for president assad's departure could. by sending kofi annan who was. accepted by is almost a friend to a serbian because they've negotiated on many things they are trying to be a little bit more friendly than they've been until now. we'll see if that opens the door for them but they think i know they're not ready yet you have qatar and saudi arabia state wanting to arm the opposition rather than to talk to present ourselves at the end of the day syria is too big to fail it's not a lebanon because they cannot afford to have chaos in lebanon thirty years too i

cannot imagine them being able to live with scales in syria so they will try to increase the temperature for the regime that would send more arms even if it goes to set off it's now missed for a while and i think. we discussed the intricacies of america's relations with syria with former u.s. attorney general ramsey clark and you can watch our interview with him a little later this hour on. a second day of strikes across europe walkouts paralyzed transport from athens to rome there's some of the biggest public demonstrations in recent history protesting against desperate government cuts to budgets designed to appease international paymasters but the measures are taking a toll and as artie's tom bought reports the sentiment is reverberating across europe. in belgium protests saying austerity cuts have gone too far in cities all across france and especially big demonstration in paris with the same message

thousands of students on the streets in spain wanting to reverse cuts in education spending there and huge demonstrations in portugal spain and portugal people there really feeling the pinch share as their governments try to balance budgets and cut spending that's left them it really exposed to this debt crisis no more so than here in greece in the parliament behind me the lawmakers have once again sat late into the night having to really make savage cuts to their spending all across the sectors of the economy twenty two percent cuts in the minimum wage has been made thirty two percent if you're under twenty five in greece and half of greeks under twenty five are employed we've seen doctors coming out in a twenty four hour walkout massive cuts made to health care spending and to

pharmaceutical spending there's many more examples everywhere you look in the economy lawmakers are coming to take very painful steps to try and force greek government spending down all of this linked to the one hundred thirty billion euros second bailout that's being dangled in front of greece's nose here there's a real human in congress to all of these economic measures greeks are being forced on sort of streets just like people in spain in portugal in italy in france in belgium all with the same message these austerity measures are having a really harsh human cost now. reporting now on these latest protests karmas the e.u. gathers for yet another summit starting now brussels correspondent as a seller has more in the trials and tribulations still ahead for europe's elite. today is the start of another one of her movies are still discussing the same old thing today the main thing going to go if they're going to do is to the signing of

that fiscal treaty that they've been talking about for months of this essentially means a new budgetary rules that countries are required to strictly adhere to or no excuses at this time and if they if they don't follow those rules there will be automatic sanctions so it's expected that about twenty five of the twenty seven invitations are going to sign on to this fiscal compact with two countries that are not going to do this or the u.k. and the czech republic if they heard prime minister david cameron said in the past that he's going to be watching very closely to make sure that this is not undermine the single market however signing this treaty is not going to get string of questions that will arise and still are rising with the introduction of this agreement as well as other issues that still need to be dealt with here is more and that if previously you summits or anything to go by the bickering among leaders is usually long and painful. you never know which we. don't usually.

lasts limits. and. a little less drama no one any harm. the main agenda signing the fiscal compact agreed in december of last year putting into place tough new budgetary rules and automatic sanctions to get everyone to clean up their act all but two countries are expected to give it the go ahead if there needs to be ratified by at least twelve years old nations before it could come into effect something seen as a done deal but the main question is is it going to work and what we have to see now to which extent members phage able to respect it because it's easy to convene come here and agree on all those principles. the only country that is lively to have a balanced budget soon is germany this balancing act will not be easy to pull off

reducing deficits to the three percent level required by the e.u. means having to squeeze already dry public coffers in several countries. and this is what could keep happening in big and small numbers. even. that. week may take more time but everything else. while workers demand pro growth policies international observers have another approach to the crisis beefing up of the euro zone's financial far goals mainly increasing the permanent fund the e.s.m. for the scalp of five hundred billion euros with germany has opposed such a move yet another euro deadlock they don't feel the urgency here anymore and that's because of the success of the first injections of liquidity from the european central bank as economists were really look to see

that the e.c.b. several banks operates too much because their own markets east's and. politicians going to feel the urge to see any more for real reform for now the e.u.'s plan is to impose these structural reforms and watch like a hawk well they may see such fiscal consolidation as a necessity in fixing the root of one problem another one may really it's head further down the road and these member states will loose sovereignty in the field of budgetary policy i'm not so sure that all the dutch are going to be happy about it although to french i'm very sure the french are going to be unhappy about this at this point one may be hard pressed to find anyone who isn't. yes are still here r t brussels. well let's not get more perspective on what's being discussed today

at that summit with somebody who's got a huge amount of experience on what goes on there in brussels veteran not to underestimate she's an m.e.p. from the u.k. independence party. surely the idea of enforcing fiscal control is logical isn't it given that it's overspending that europe into this mess in the first place well this is true. when greece was brought into the eurozone the european commission the european union knew perfectly well that they didn't meet their requirements in regards deficit and in regards debt and they didn't do anything about this they just wanted the country to come in and they have been given a lot of money to to greece without any control on how it was being used it was supposed to be used to grow its economy but it has some grow the economy and now they are asking them to cut wages to cut public sector jobs and

to make many cuts but you know you don't turn around the economy from one day to the other it's only austerity measures that they talk about but they don't talk about growth but why why won't the measures work them. well because the growth is important you know greece has not expanded its industry and they need to grow their economy in some way by cutting down expenditure they will grow their economy and they should have invested the money they got from do you during all these years it's they didn't invest properly but you know it is the european commission to blame here because they didn't control how they were using the money they need that what they need to find a way to grow their economy and basically i see that the only way out for them is growing the tourism for which they would need to divide your own currency you're

from the u.k. independence party let's talk about britain stance here the economy there of course is certainly in trouble certainly affected by the economic slowdown there in europe isn't it time that britain does indeed support its euro zone parties now its partners i should say now. well the u.k. is going through a crisis as well no doubt about it but the present government has taken measures to deal with this crisis and we have to see what the effects are going to be but you know they are implementing measures which are similar to the ones that are being requested from greece though not to the extent of course so i think. the u.k. has to be careful because they could follow the way greece is going so they have to be careful but we have to give them the time to implement the measures that have been designed by this new government i think much more has to be done i also think

that the situation in the different member states in the european union will affect the u.k. you essentially the u.k. concern very much about the reaction from the people in those european states who are obviously suffering under these austerity measures protests were reporting today across the whole of europe a lot of many people out there will governments listen to the mater and if they don't this is what happens next. well governments are you know sort of a very difficult situation because they have to abide by the rules imposed by the european union are meant to say by germany and they have to abide also or take care of what their people are saying in the streets but eventually the money comes from the european union so the power lies in the european union to put pressure on the countries on the member states to comply with the austerity

measures now obviously you can't do us much as you can do and some countries like greece are on the verge of collapsing they have already lost their sovereignty they are losing their pride you know there is not much more that can be asked from for police and other countries will follow and i think the u.k. should learn the lesson from these interest here thought smart and dress a member of the european parliament from the u.k. independence party thank you indeed for your time thank you well coming up a little later in the program here in r.t. the fierce anti iranian rhetoric coming from the israeli government is finding little support from the people that suggest they are here their strikes on the islamic republic is extremely unpopular with less than twenty percent of israelis saying yes to the move. still to come for you but first israel is knocking up

suspected palestinian militants giving them no idea how long they will be held or what they're accused of it's a national concern when one prisoner came close to death for going sixty six days on a hunger strike or the selena gomez show went to meet his family. how there are laws wife wishes she could forget the day she was arrested but it's just one feed. the soldiers came to our house around took my husband out of the bathroom and led him away there were many of them all of drugs they all acted like animals. israeli authorities have already arrested hundred eight times before believing him to be active within the palestinian islamic jihad a group israel regards as terrorist hundred nine was put under administrative detention meaning no trial and no charges being brought a practice widely used by israel in prisons like this one but hundreds of palestinians are being held suspected of terrorism but accused of not doing their

prison can last for years with no formal charges being brought against them the detention can last up to six months but there is no limit on how many times it can be renewed at the moment more than three hundred palestinians are in administrative detention but during the height of the second intifada or uprising just over a decade ago thousands were put in jail without trial many of them youths like of their aziz who was just sixteen when he was arrested. or used to frighten us terrified by screaming. pushing us unfortunately. we keep us in cells for two or three months in order to take confessions by force we were so frightened. a free person suddenly finds himself in jail israel insists is doing nothing wrong and that it's necessary to protect informers again cities but human rights groups both here and abroad beg to differ slightly extreme but also because israeli authorities applied all too liberally towards postilions it's one of the basic moral principles

that we you know that our society founded on that if you deny a person's right to freedom you have to have a very good case and you have to have a trial and you have to let them defend themselves against these accusations. when palestinians are placed under administrative detention they're not told what they're suspected of there is no charge sheet and there's no trial as long as family now awaits his really silly parole. you never know what it's like with hunger strikes well but at the same time you cannot explain to your children whether a father look someone may see it when they saw him on his hospital bad he cried i've heard it i've known said his sixty sixty eight holger strike was not in self interest but to draw attention to other closed in similar circumstances is a hospital of the moment unable to walk and has been fed intravenously but there is already talk of moving him back to prison when he recovers his lawyers say that at

least his shackles have been ticking off even if only for the time being it is. israel. that's on the fifth of israeli supporter unilateral military strike on iran while the vast majority are against an attack and fear of the consequences that's a result of a poll taken ahead of a crucial set of meetings between u.s. and israeli officials of the nuclear program the film director sean stone he's the son of oliver stone and a recent convert shares the concerns of most israelis. that's the point is to prevent or stop what i think is we are walking into world war three at the moment between syria being destabilized and iran it's under supporter being threatened by it's run america to me it's a very dangerous time and if we don't recognize what the causes consequences will be not only regionally but to the world what's happening is we are now in a state of martial law and war a global everything is now it could present conditions for

a total war state i mean mccain called for the whole of america becoming part of the so-called part of the of the americas a battlefield the whole earth is about a field so we're already at war with iraq you can engage people diplomatically if you're already trying to isolate them and what are you basically creating is more radicalism on their part because if you try to push them into a corner by the way if you missed any of our stories you can log on to our website is our dot com to bring itself up to date and here's some of what is there at the moment for you stirring up the past we have been present sports belgrade saying world war two veterans who fought alongside nazi troops criminals and deserve respect more reaction to that online plus. your i will street movement heads out of the winter months as hundreds take to the streets to stage more protests all that available on t.v. dot com.

russia is gearing up for its big alexion day when the people choose their next president but this year's race has already brought huge changes in the political life of a country that has seen some of the biggest demonstrations in its history jake agrees also took to the streets of moscow to check the pre-election temperaments. well the poll a time there was a notion that russians weren't all that bothered about politics but now that seems to change this year's race for the presidency has caused intrigue and i ever since finally appeared in announced to be running different words have been splashed about characterize the campaign so far and here are some of the most distinctive he is for public we've seen increasing number of people take to the streets both for and against the government all this marking a growing sense of civil activism these rarely at least flesh sounds

a powerful signal not one little were given a portion of the russian politicians message in a sense that they have understand that the site has a vacant political low is. stands for reform on the back of demonstrations present with very of has put forward a number of letters or changes stretching as far as how parties are registered and who can be on the ballots is for oligarch mikhail prokhorov has garnered bars media coverage and is the only candidate not to be backed by a party in a duma owner of n.b.a. team the new jersey nets and netting an estimated eighteen billion dollars these are by far the most cash dispassionate campaign is message is business orientated often stood out for his riches and murky past struggling to resonate with the public twitter it and other social media have been crucial for all denies him

demonstrations as embodies the very public and spontaneous nature of some of the opera felt around russia he stands for election commission a ruling body overseeing voting day its head bellamy a chair of has been in the spotlight after allegations of electoral fraud or met with inaction this is course the gravity a buzzword for prime. putin's campaign so far. merely assad who restored economic order after years of hardship the power of this worst resume see just how popular man still is. testing despite his popularity it's been a difficult period for them to be in a two time president not used to such discontent moscow and st petersburg and the big cities that really only key but these are not really his territory anymore and he i mean maybe he'll get them back but it seems to me that he's sort of thinking that he has to rely on almost the other russia strange phrase for putin the russia

of the region why he would probably manage to win with you know reason the majority of the selection is that one of the best slogans from appropriate in camp is if not put in who. three other candidates are also seasoned political veterans struggling to convince voters they can deliver change and all those times make this the most definitive word so far in the election campaign marked by master astray sions protests regardless of the winner of the results of course for march these guys have had their say impacts on russia's future do you grease the moscow. let's not talk business with katie she's got all the latest market news for us so katie bad news in the stock the money presses not to pour wall street traders to do yeah exactly ben ben one three he's not popular at the moment because he didn't

inject the past as so to speak quantitative easing is what it's known as a lot of market traders that we're looking out for he also said that the u.s. economic growth is paid and that the jobless rate remains unacceptably high hopes when it passes from the national australia bank have. yes i think the u.s. economy is very much in recovery mode and let's not forget that it's because of that fact that mr bernanke he was able to announce yesterday that the prospects for a third round of course to be easing were less than they might previously had seemed so it's not that the absence of q is going to choke off the recovery it's rather that the fracture of recovery is going to choke off q e. ok we're going to head to the u.s. market now and see what's going on now it opens up in positive territory and that's where it remains at this hour as you can see the dow jones and the nasdaq both adding we're going to see now how the russian markets close is completely different

story here are closed up in the red there were stocks falling from a seven month high let's see how the individual chinese caught on that. closed in the red as you can see lou called bulls also down a round of course of. another top performer of the month. as disappointing and finished as you can still manage to finish in red territory there despite the announcement by the bank that it has to buy parts of the company we're going to head over to europe and see how they're fairing. as you can see they do remain despite the news the jobless rate hit another record high of ten point seven percent moving on to the exchange rates and now the dollar is recovering from news from gives no further hints of stimulus that we were all holding out for but traders are wary of the euro zone weakness also thanks story for the ruble it's

lower the greenback and higher european currency we're going to take a look at gold heading further into the black this hour after pulling back from a fall of five percent in the previous session and it's got silver right up there in his. it's territory as oil it remains strong sorry arabia deploying the most all rigs in four years in preparation of food shortages caused by tensions with iran as you can see the light sweet on the brands are this hour. on talk of oil the u.s. exported more gasoline diesel and other fools on its imported in twenty eleven for the first time in six decades the country's refiners exported recollects amounts of gasoline heating all and diesel to meet higher global fuel demands while u.s. fuel consumption thank you great movie old secretary of state hillary clinton says

congress should lift the jackson advantage a members in regards to russia as it's joining the w.t. this immense invasion is certain trade discrimination rules and now my disadvantage to u.s. companies dealing with iran. secretary of state clinton hillary clinton says a ship it on my ass i pay. ok that's a market update for those l.b. about now it's not about fifty five minutes and he can rise figures up say pointedly joining them.

we all make choices sometimes it's tough. but it can be an easy call. choice can be left to fate. or it can be. limited. each can be called. chums and. it's always personal. except for one day when choice matters to everyone.