french officers are reportedly detained in the heart of the uprising in syria as government forces retake the rebel stronghold in the city of homs. the massive protests and rallies across the e.u. about the cuts affecting millions putting a question mark over brussels forceful demands for austerity a lot of reaction on this shortly here in aussie. and israel faces international criticism every policy of detaining suspected palestinian militants indefinitely without the chance of a trial. also 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 of top stories this hour

. international news is coming live from moscow this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day the syrian army is allowed the international red cross to enter in the embattled city of homs government forces have retaken the area from opposition forces syria's now waiting for the arrival of kofi annan the new u.n. arab league envoy whose valor to stop the killing and start. is in damascus. we are hearing that the army has ended homes in order to regain control over the city which has been seen to survey clashes between the opposition and the authorities for months now syrian media reports that you're in this operation french officers have been detained reports say that a man can pass they were captured by the opposition fighters but failed to clarify

why they were in syria we're also hearing that france has already reacted to the claims by return in some of the damascus these reports follow the free syrian army members claims that it's already received weapons and anti aircraft missiles from u.s. and french sources earlier the arab league has refused to rule out giving 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 rubbles here in syria could be very dangerous as weapons and potentially in the hands of al qaida while this issue here on the ground is very tense and complicated u.k. says it is now it recreates in its embassy here in damascus citing security concerns but meanwhile peaceful efforts are also taken place here joint arab and boy to syria kofi annan has said that he will be heading to the conflict on country very soon trying to negotiate humanitarian access to the affected areas kofi annan

has also about to persuade the dollar between the opposition and the authorities from the warring sides i mean the talks are referred to and the violence here in syria. roofer notion of their will for more on the developing situation in syria i cannot talk to patrick hayes is a reporter from the only line magazine joining me there in london where we have these reports of french officers detained in syria are we seeing foreign boots on the ground despite the intervention having been approved. well i think nicholas sarkozy the french president has got some serious questions here and i doubt base a concerted kind of cord naked effort to really put troops on the ground going behind the backs of the u.n. but at the same time i do think. states but that i do think the french will need to explain exactly what was going on here and be very upfront about that and i think we should also bear in mind you know people have although there's

a lot of talk from the west at moments about the fact that they're not going to put boots on the ground we could see a few months down the line see a slippery slope towards becoming you know very conscious a very real situation in syria the west always go in with these kind of soft measures with sanctions with with other forms of kind of like intervention that can often lead to a form of falling from the air and yes sometimes troops on the ground as we've seen in iraq and afghanistan what about kofi and his mission is a move towards a more balanced international approach to syria. is that the case or is he just going to put a new pressure on assad. i don't think kofi annan should be sticking its nose in the syrian people's business any more than hollywood actress angelina. jolie i think you know he's there as a representative for the u.n. and the arab league and you know the arab league works very closely with the u.n. in kind of basically trying to divert attention away from their very political

problems at home i think it has no right to enter into syria and try and act as an envoy to mediate between the syrian people and the government this is a civil conflict taking place over in state and it shouldn't be the business of any celebrities or angelina jolie to totonno's in and to tell the syrian people have to run the fed sometimes require violence sometimes they cannot be resolved peacefully and the announcer just come in and try and mediate sympathy end of things going to be all right they're going to be very difficult situation very complex situations that may go on resolved if he has his way which i doubt he will talk of mediation the question is who do you mediate with the friends of syria group is recognize the syrian national council as legitimate representatives of the people but now we hear that the free syrian army actually refuses to acknowledge the council's authority and what does that tell you about the state of the opposition the moment. ok wrote

first place absolutely no surprise the syrian national council isn't seen to be legitimate by the syrian national army or by the syrian people in general this is an organization chair of political sociology professor at the thought on empowering . executive committee is made up of serious acts at the office of lecturers in universities around europe now you can understand why these are exactly the kind of people western leaders with want to deal with you know they can gesture around they speak their language pairs of hands it's exactly like the transitional council in libya again so basically what we've got here is a council of academics people who are seen to be safe for the west for how deep is this with getting all for isolation and recognition the e.u. has now recognized the here's the official opposition and they're getting recognition from the international community and the friends of syria while at the same time neglecting the fact they need to get recognition from the syrian people

and from the rebels on the ground starting now we saw in libya this terrible state of affairs where you now have a completely impotent transitional council who people are saying reflect not transparent they don't know how to run this country they don't represent our views and we've seen big uprisings in libya post i suspect we'll see something very similar. coming to power in syria as well they need represent the views of the syrian people not the views of the international community patrick hayes thanks very much indeed for joining us live there in london good to hear your thoughts well we discussed the intricacies of america's relations with syria with the former u.s. attorney general ramsey clark and you can watch our interview with him in the next hour. the latest in some it's called to find a way to maintain a steady measures and return to economic growth has begun in brussels brussels correspondent as

a senior has more on the trials and tribulations still ahead for europe's elite. today is the start of the summit yet another wonder for the leaders still discussing the same old thing today the main thing going to go if they're going to do is to be signing about the fiscal treaty that they've been talking about for months this essentially means a new budgetary rules that countries are required to strictly adhere to 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 in the nations are going to sign on to this fiscal compact with two countries that are not going to do this or the newquay of the czech republic we've 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 the string of questions that are going to rise and still are rising will be introduction of this agreement as well as other issues that still need to

be dealt with here is more of that if previously you summits or anything to go by the bickering among leaders is usually long and painful. which we. don't usually. lasts. and surely you agree a little less drama will do no one any harm. and the main agenda signing the fiscal compact agreed in the summer last year putting into place tough new budgetary rules and automatic sanctions to get everyone to clean up their act all the two countries are expected to give it the go ahead if there needs to be ratified by at least twelve years of nations before it could come into effect something seen as a done deal but the main question is a go to work and what we have to see now to which extent member states liable to

respect it because it's easy to convene come here and agree on all those principles of the only country that is life you do have a balanced budget through his germany this balancing act will not be easy to pull off reducing deficits to 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 probably invest in miniature that. it might take time but also very piecemeal in the field because while workers demand pro growth policies international observers have another approach to the crisis beefing up of the euro zone's financial firewalls mainly increasing the permanent fund the e.s.m. for its cap of five hundred billion euros but germany has opposed such

a move yet another you know deadline they don't feel the urgency anymore and that's because of the success of the. injections of liquidity from the european central bank as economists were really reluctant that the e.c.b. central bank operates. too much because the market's east's there is the politicians don't feel the urgency anymore for real reform for now the e.u.'s plan is to impose these structural reforms and like a hard call they may see such fiscal consolidation as a necessity in fixing the root of one problem another one maybe or it's head further down the road and these member states will rule sovereignty in the field of budgetary policy i'm not so sure that all the ducks are going to be happy about it

all about a 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. just so silly r.t. brussels and for more opinion on what will come out of the latest e.u. summit let's now talk to nigel ferrari's m.e.p.a. leader of the u.k. independence party joining me live from brussels well i've just seen that they decided that the greek second bailout should be delayed another week more indecision from brussels or is that common sense prevailing but it sort of cliffhanger stuff isn't it they do just about enough in time to stop the greeks from failing to make their repayments and this is a deliberate policy to make sure the greeks comply and make sure the greeks behave themselves it is and i'm afraid within the greek parliament that within the greek government no one's got the courage to stand up and say we refuse to be treated like this little earlier i was speaking to your colleague not to underestimate and she hinted that the the e.u.

is effectively controlled by berlin but surely is the most responsible economy in europe doesn't germany have that right to lead during an economic crisis. well that depends i mean if we were dealing with european economies that were very similar in structure and size it may well be a little bit of you know from a purely economic point of view with a dose of german rules would be a very good thing but the idea that you take an economy like greece with fifty percent unemployment about this young people we're going to call you that is likely to contract this year by a further seven percent and that what you do is you impose austerity without any stimulus whatsoever frankly is madness what works for germany doesn't work for greece in economic terms and in political terms just put yourself in the position of greek people the situation is desperate and getting worse by the day they see their own elected prime minister be removed replaced by

a puppet who is doing the bidding of brussels and people saying well if we can't vote to change our lives we will have to take the streets to try and change our lives i think perhaps you know serious the economics are i suspect that it's the social side of this that may in the end bring the euro down. and you're referring more obviously just to what's happening in athens but of course europe wide at the moment you talk about in effect a revolution taking place. i think that revolution is a very strong word but i think in greece that is not impossible i mean just remember three weeks ago there were eighty thousand people storming the barricades of the greek parliament trying to get in and we saw five thousand armed police keeping them out we're seeing evidence of this in spain in portugal i mean come on we saw an arab spring last year this is the absolute no reason why similar things carol happen in southern europe it is difficult enough to stomach tough austerity measures tough government if it's your own elected government but to be dictated to

by angela merkel herman van rompuy oil mr burroughs so is for millions of people just totally unacceptable you say growth is needed and clearly austerity measures don't enhance growth but how do you stimulate a broken economy what is the option i think what the option is for greece to begin with you leave the euro you go back to the drachma you devalue by about sixty percent within a fortnight your holy book is will have doubled i will start to get some growth coming back into the economy no one doubts that tough decisions need to be taken in greece it's obvious that you've got to have some stimulus as well and the only way that will happen is by leaving the bank can you create that drachma literally out of thin air or from what i understand there are no exit procedures for any country to leave the euro zone are dead major barriers to that. what your rights i mean the people that constructed the european treaties from the very beginning were very

devious bad people who set out to create the united states of europe without ever telling the peoples of europe that was their plan and that is why there is no clear exit strategy however when political world decides that it's time to leave the euro there will be nothing that stops it now a lot of course economic brains are going to have to get together a new currency is going to have to be constructed but it's happened before it's up many times after all we saw in czechoslovakia we saw that country split we saw the currencies split without any great difficulty at all i am not pretending that in the case of greece or portugal this can happen painlessly it won't be an easy thing to do but it's a damn sight better to take a tough decision and to give yourself a chance than to die the slow economic and social day that is currently going on with russia let's get back to that summit in time nigel farage their member the european parliament leader of the u.k. independence party talking to largo brussels always good to hear from you thank you . well it's also a second day of strikes across europe as we've just been talking about as walkouts

paralyze transport from athens to rome as 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 their toll and as our teams tom brown reports. 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 here as their governments try to balance budgets and cut spending that's left them it really exposed to this debt crisis and no more so than here in greece in the parliament behind me lawmakers have once again sat late into the

night coming to really make savage cuts to their spending all across the sectors of the economy a 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 having 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 impact to all of these economic measures greeks are being forced onto the streets just like people in spain in portugal in italy in france in belgium all

over the same message these austerity measures are having a really harsh human cost no. not reporting that israel is looking up suspected palestinian militants giving them no idea how long they will be held or what they're accused of international concern people when one prisoner came close to throwing sixty six days of hunger strike. went to meet his family. how the laws wife wishes she could forget the day she was arrested. just won't fade but the day of. the soldiers came to her house around two am and took my husband out of the bathroom and running away there were many of them only guards 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 others known was put under administrative detention meaning low trial and no charges being brought

a practice widely used by israel in prisons like this one that hundreds of palestinians are being held suspected of terrorism by accused of not doing their prison can last for years with no formal charges being brought against them there's a tension 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 uprising just over a decade ago thousands were put in jail without trial many of them youths woke up their eyes he's who was just sixteen when he was arrested. or used to frighten us terrified by screaming banging on tables pushing us and forcing us to the ground they keep us in cells for two or three months in order to take confessions by force we were so frightened magine a free young person who suddenly finds himself in jail israel insists it's doing nothing wrong and that it's necessary to protect informers identities but human rights groups both here and abroad beg to differ slightly extreme but also because

israeli authorities applied oh too liberally towards palestinians 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 a very good case and you have to have a trial and you have to 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 and there's no trial as long as family now awaits his really silly. you never know what it's like with hunger strikes it could end well but at the same time you cannot explain to your children why their father looks so when me see when they saw him on his hospital bed he cried. covered none said his sixty six day hold a strike was not in self interest but to draw attention to other palestinians in similar circumstances he's a hospital the moment unable to walk and is being fed intravenously but there is

already talk of moving him back to prison where he recovers his lawyers say at least his shackles have been taken off even if only for the time being illegals carty israel and the west bank. by the way if you missed any of our stories along through our web site r t v dot com to bring yourself up to date and his someone else is there at the moment for you stirring up the parts that have been presidents past rage in world war two veterans who fought alongside nazi troops all criminals and deserve respect or reaction to a vast online class the occupy wall street movement heads out of the public will for months as hundreds take to the streets to stage more protests that include more freedom to talk on. the.

russia is gearing up for its big election day when the people choose their next president but this year's race has already brought huge changes in the political life of the country that has seen some of the biggest demonstrations and its history artichoke and previous also took to the streets of moscow to check the pre-election temperaments. well simpler time there was a notion the russians weren't all that well that about politics but now that seems to change this year's race for the presidency has caused intrigue and i ever since the end of it putin announced he would be running different words to be 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 this marking a growing sense of civil activism these rarely as these flash mob sounds a powerful signal not only the regular portion of the russian politicians message

in a sense that they help understand that the side has a vacant political law is. oh it stands for reform on the back of demonstrations presently various has put forward a number of letters or changes stretching as far as how parties are registered and who could be on the ballots over is oligarch mikhail prokhorov has gone advance media coverage and is the only candidate not backed by a party in the duma owner of n.b.a. team the new jersey nets and netting and estimated eighteen billion dollars he said by far the most cash to splash in his campaign is message is business orientated often stood out for his riches and murky past struggling to resonate with public twitter it and other social media have been crucial for all denies the demonstrations and embodies the very public and spontaneous nature of some of the

opera felt around russia he stands for election commission the ruling body overseeing voting day is head bellamy chair of has been in the spotlight after allegations of electoral fraud or next when an action this is force the pretty a password for prime minister vladimir putin's campaign so far seen by many as someone who restored economic order after years of hardship the power of this was resonates just how popular man still is. testing despite his popularity has been difficult here for bluntly hootin a two time president not used to such discontent moscow and st petersburg and the big cities the million ikey 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 face for putin the russia of the

region why he will probably manage to win with you know reason the majority at this election is that one of the best slogans from appropriate in camp is is. not putin who. is real the candidate. they can deliver change and although. the most the worst so far. laws by mass. protests regardless of the other result of course march these guys are. in parts of russia's future you'd reach the last. time now to check out what's going on in the world of finances and case use of the resistors for the latest market figures for us yeah we're going to head right into the u.s. and see what's happening there they are indeed open for the day it has been a positive day of full the region with carmakers doing particularly well posting

strong gains as you can see the dow jones up over rounds a half a percent i just on that point seven percent in positive territory is completely different story for the russian markets they closed in the red today as you can see the r.t.s. point six percent down the my sex just fronts negative that i moved on to see how the stocks got on gas prom closed in the red blue color was down after pushing its net income rose fifteen percent to ten billion dollars on the back of high prices but the result came below. and therefore they remain in the red rusty live was the top performer of the month i have a disappointing finish arrests here of red and the they are indeed close european markets and they closed up in positive territory as you can see the footsie and the dax both posting days of percent there and as for the exchange rates moving on the dollar is recovering after he gives no hint of stimulus that traders from i'm wary

of the euro zone weakness the same story for the ruble is lower against the greenback and higher against the euro let's see how commodities are getting. so we take a look at the gold and silver and gold further into the blanket of this hour long silver overtype ten gold in terms of the senses very positive gains that and that is look up the oil oil is often for the t.v. lead in commodities as a whole i think since stocks bonds on the dollar for the first time since july is the head. against iranian also as you can see the lights we have one hundred eight dollars per barrel the friends i have one hundred twenty five dollars per barrel this hour and that is how the markets are looking stagings i'll say for the headlines.

wealthy british soil it's time to cut back on. markets find out. why not what's really happening to the global economy with much stronger or no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into congress report on our.