the. piece which brightened if you move from the front lines to crash in the. newsroom starts on t.v. come. on out to the small a reporter for a shelling in syria as you and observers are said to enter the war torn country after a security council resolution grants them passage. kabul under attack the presidential palace western embassies and nato bases all hit by a large scale taliban onslaught militants claim it's retaliation for a u.s. soldier massacring afghan civilians and burnings of the qur'an. access denied demonstrators viewed as a threat intel of the. problem not of us arrive in his will to hold peaceful demonstrations in support of the palestinian people that need to tougher spawns from the israeli police join me for more in just

a few moments. and it's the biggest holiday for millions of all for those christians who celebrating easter sunday the day they believe marks the resurrection of jesus christ. hello and welcome it's a big night here in moscow you're watching r.t. live from the capital with a weekly it's the role of the top stories the past seven days with me kevin now into night and the top story damascus says it will respond to increased attacks from armed gangs as reports of more violence come out of syria said of the arrival of the first group of u.n. monitors to the country of the security council adopted a resolution on the conflict is more important brings here today from new york. according to russian ambassador to the u.n. but one russian officer will be part of the group heading to syria the resolution

that was adopted also calls on all parties in syria including the opposition to immediately seize all armed violence in all its forms this is what was the sticking point on friday and why the security council was wasn't able to vote on a resolution friday because according to russia's position the u.s. first drafted resolution made many demands of the syrian government and no explicit demands of the syrian opposition or russian ambassador to the un vitaly churkin said at this critical junction is very very important for all syrian parties including the armed opposition to comply with the six point peace plan that was laid out by un special envoy kofi annan on this of course also calls for mediate ceasefire and for an inclusive political process in syria in which the opposition groups and the syrian government engage in i

dialogue with the russian ambassador said that moscow from the very beginning has been supportive of mr a knowledge of peace plan it is only he said through an objective balanced approach that the security council was able to reach a consensus on saturday which was. the number of the new security council members is draft resolution has been significantly. more instance which. is more. interesting to look into some serious. mission according to this resolution the un secretary-general ban ki-moon will have to report back to the security council on april nineteenth regarding how the resolution is being implemented whether the observers are being granted access throughout see. there humanitarian officials are being granted access throughout syria if the syrian authorities and the syrian opposition is complying with what

the security council is this monitoring mission will eventually grow to a team of two hundred fifty people we should note though that it does say in this resolution the house and there is a vague reference that if syria does not comply with what the security council is asking further measures can be taken with those further measures are is not clear yet i think at this point all security council members are hoping that the armed opposition group in the syrian government do comply with what's being asked and peace is finally established in syria. correspondent in new york. who was new told the washington pledging more support for the opposition will not help bring peace to syria. some party is within the middle east politics trying to sabotage the peace plan and arrange by mr anon and the un i think somebody in qatar and sylvia arabia they're not liking the plan and they wanted the bloodshed

to continue in syria and for our belief we have seen and witnessed in the past couple days major of rest from other by terrorist organization and getting from arab countries into syria and causing all of these against the stability of syria and i think in my ass the let the peace plan for that have signed by by the qatari and the sudanese and the united states so that because of because these factors are actually causing. instability and escalation to continue at this point we don't understand how mr obama would say i'm supplying all kind of. different that can he calls for supplies mostly weapons to the. opposition and at the same time you want to have a peace plan is working at this point. the taliban has launched a series of coordinated attacks across the afghan capital including an assault on

the presidential palace the afghan parliament and nato headquarters most of the targets were in the city's diplomatic district with western embassies residences under fire at least seventeen insurgent fighters and two police officers were killed in the violence while dozens more injured and the military airport in jalalabad nice jalalabad rather nice to the country is also a bit well violence was also reported to other provinces the taliban says the attacks were retaliation for the actions of u.s. troops including the burning of the qur'an and the recent massacre of seventeen afghan civilians to discuss the situation in afghanistan is no talk radio host independent blogger stephen leatherman stephen good morning from moscow good to see you what does it tell us a bird first of all the scale of these attacks should we be surprised by the scale of it given the warnings and why didn't the intelligence given those wall in just me talking about pick this up before it happened. well i think is the least one dirty secrets really to. i think america want to.

know if the u.s. and it's worth it go to war. including. the korean earnings you're eighty going to koreans are going to massacre in here. not where you were so that you. own up to twenty special. this would read to me. i don't think this happened by chance i think america wanted because the one thing here is. whether it's interact with livio asked year or even know whether it's here and there is a possibility create peace in syria and the possibility of peace and stability. if. there is an. appearance of violence in its.

final. print stephen stephen stephen or car taken you point there but i was a little tired then then with the twenty four team polo talking about. i think at some price we've heard that before i think i don't know how many times we worried about a whole lot of killing no one date was postponed till another date what another big deal over one hundred thousand forces in it. the first thing obama did when he took office in two thousand i was ratchet up a search just like in iraq where out well back if you force it was what he never talks about is being made all back some of us so much because you sneak around but the ritz tens of thousands will literates private military contractors still there wait blackwater now called. the neighbor couple of parents actually get it currently he went to exceed it. but they literally what he says it's the people that if things get too quiet built turned it don't lose them with imperial and and

ratchet up more evidence but more like it was one of the biggest frankly and it's not a perfect analogy but this reminds me of chaos in vietnam. end of january nineteenth sixty eight only repeat differences of course but it was a biologist believes in what in just a little very important time gets being attacked. went on for a couple of months we've got to wait and see what happens here tell you happened three and a half years after the war began this one amp in ten and a half years it will work again i think it will continue but i think america wants it as an excuse to stay right in crockett kevan made a comment i believe today saying the violence and instability goes to the afghan forces an upgrade he can protect the role of peace a little but only america can do it see we should really give in our ocean weeks i

know you love to chat but in a radio house know a lot but i want to ask you one final time second question given the this interview was not entirely the way i was going to across the questions but given everything you have just said if you put money on it when do you think this pool that will happen and where where will the country be five years hence as you see it. oh but you say so it will be as bad as it is today all of them feel quite well go beat school and fro ing will be all kinds of are going to be the least they will be the same thing just got out of the west. in the end america has super pieces of afghanistan it has peace the city starts in irak those bases look old because america is still a most iraqis and the worse the afghans drive americans are i think in the end they'll do their bit won't come usually are quickly i think they'll be a lot of black shit like me and what he has more little before there.

is a real future of all countries stephen thanks for being on the program good to see you tonight stephen leatherman radio host hollywood faded and on you for now. still ahead this hour. we've so we were probably has an exclusive interviews oh boy we we're launching a new show thanks to the world's most famous whistleblower julian a son just early next week will this week next just after midnight here in moscow tell you more about that in a few minutes. but next israel's refused entry to dozens of activists who arrived in tel aviv as part of an international campaign dubbed welcome to palestine nine israeli activists have also been arrested who can either say they planned peaceful activities like planting trees in the west bank and they've criticized israel for overreacting. policy and in tel aviv for. well we all received reports of more foreign activists arriving later on sunday so far forty five international activists have arrived the majority of them being french nationals they have been

barred entry from israel and at the same time they entertained at bangor international airport not the forty five twenty nine have already been taken to a prison in the same time of the country from where according to the israeli police spokespeople they will be deported the remaining sixteen are still at the airport and will be put back on flights later on sunday to be returned to their home countries they are part of this international campaign that has been dubbed to palestine essentially what the activists are saying is that this is a peaceful try turn its intention is to really hold peaceful demonstrations in the west bank they were planning to meet with kind of sitting in families to plant trees and to gather in bethlehem and they say that this is also an attempt to highlight the way the israeli police and the israeli authorities deal with activists all foreigners coming to as well who hold political views not shared by the government there was a small counter demonstration by

a group of israelis who shouted at him go home go to syria what are you doing here israeli police accuse these activists of provoking the situation they said that they were intent on disrupting public all day and they really were trying to be legitimatized israel this heavy handedness by israel is not something new we've witnessed it a short time ago with the way the israeli police dealt with the day commemorations that we have one person dead and several other palestinian activists injured throughout the west bank from jerusalem and then of course they've been two attempts in previous years ships to reach gaza those flotillas were unsuccessful with the first one resulting in nine activists killed. paula. the french just a week away from choosing the next president the two main rivals are rushing to secure a last minute supporters they hold rallies in. paris socialist candidate francois hollande said in the polls and the president sarkozy is leaning heavily to the right these days to sway voters to the artists are similar reports it's growing

immigration a fear of terrorism that many french politicians are banking on anti immigration anti euro anti globalization and advocates of protectionism. all in the name of the french state and national identity there is not a single french person not one european who does not know that i am a sworn enemy of the european single currency buskers its radical islam as a direct consequence of mass immigration that the left and the right in hos are last for decades it is not know. traditionally on the fringes of france's national politics the rhetoric of today's far right and the low longer be as far off for its citizens as it once was opinion polls suggest the presidential candidate marine le pen of the ultra right wing national front party is third with potentially ten million votes its biggest support base ever there is no party surfing through

gryphon friends so we speak french. doesn't bother anyone but. we don't want. to play to england so we don't want to have a different communities but don't speak together. as an identity. globalization destroyed this identity. enter lipans with her calls for economic patriotism prioritizing france over europe its native citizens over others of giving the french back their jobs. and center right incumbent nicolas sarkozy stands accused of jumping on the far right bandwagon some say for the ballot sake. our integration system is getting worse and worse. because we have too many foreigners you know territory threatening to withdraw from the show and get border free agreement by no coincidence at

a time when europe is seeing an influx of refugees fleeing conflicts in north africa and the middle east this is a break a letter or shift so we will have to see him he. has. sarkozy knows pretty well he was elected in two thousand and seven only because he was able to catch. the nation and know the situation. some say that what was once a protest vote is now a more permanent part of the french political spectrum so going. there is certainly a part of the electorate who vote for the reasons of dissent but i think it must now be recognised even if it's difficult to accept that the vote for the national front is increasingly a vote of support. are we increasing problem is a right with rhetoric in france especially the lead up to the presidential elections it's clear what's more difficult to decipher is whether the strong support for the right reflects the direction the french a subtle values has taken or is simply

a knee jerk reaction to everything the french see wrong in their country just are so there are parts. next and talk about the talk show everyone is talking about premiering right here on our choose day we killings founder julian assange comes face to face with news makers in this new program which is filmed while under house arrest in the united kingdom. brings us a look at what to expect. the first episode of the show will be broadcast on shoes day april seventeenth so that's this choose day coming and we and julian together are really hoping this is going to be an exclusive new show i can't tell you the name of the first guest you'll have to choose name yourselves to find that out on tuesday but i can tell you that they are all opinion formers some of them this isn't and some of them have never been interviewed before on english language television the first guest is particularly controversial and according to julian in the wake of the interview highly charismatic so you find out what that's all about

i met with him recently and i talked all about the show how he changed his guests why he decided to do it and of course he spent a lot of time sitting on the other side of the interview as desk and he told me a bit about his disenchantment really with the mainstream media and why he chose it on t.v. to broadcast first this show that we're trying to report green curry and bring in the right woman who currently works. for current century or not this week coming up for the week in which the first show is going to be broadcast is really a week of round of bursaries for him both personal and professional it's going to be five hundred days since the investigation into these allegations of sexual assault by two swedish women began now we've seen that the request for his extradition goes through the courts here in the u.k. right up to the supremes courts. and that case finished at the beginning of

february that's ten weeks ago now we still don't have a verdict we are expecting it possibly to come next week but there's still no set date for that verdict to be handed down and still after five hundred days no charges have been laid against him it's also hundred days since the wiki leaks bank accounts were first frozen so that has made funding for wiki leaks very difficult. and threatening that whistle blowing organization all together and really that's what makes this program so unique the fact that it was conceived of still so while our soldiers virtually living under house arrest here in britain awaiting this verdict on his extradition there's two reasons first of all being on the house and i sort of want it's nice to have an occasional visitor i don't want to learn more about the world and the conversations we were having according to the number of what people thought was going on that's one reason the second reason is that as

someone who's given a lot of interviews before and it's been on the receiving end of very aggressive ones i found that i wasn't given much reporting. pretty quickly because it was hard to see the sort of preference for some sort of people that would rather take it out of context so i wanted to have a different sort of approach with people. why but approach has been to people consumers i think it's also it's excitement and it's a very real science or very interesting or important thing for a more normal regular people because they're not doing with. you know some of the house we're just. going through political problems. so you can see the full version of that interview on monday the sixteenth of april and that'll be followed hot on the heels by the first episode of the program on shoes day the seventeenth of april

we're still awaiting the verdict and you and i saw an expedition but we are quite glad that he's managed to make this program before whatever happens to him happens to him obviously his main fear has always been that he will be extradited from sweden to the u.s. . there hasn't been anything yet on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political impact on. the source. cereal is what holds the reason why we. we want to visit. something new. and that's what this channel that will be endeavoring to do much anticipation brother's new series or an artsy over the next forty eight hours and it's also available at r.t. dot com as well if you're not near t.v. if you want to track of what's happening as well and get some more flavor for the guest might they follow us on twitter as a lot of care about online r.t.

dot com stories there tonight the president of police's two political prisoners one a former presidential candidate has imposed pressure from you threatening more sanctions against the regime also you might want to follow this one to president of barber's visit to colombia is overshadowed by a prostitution scandal involving u.s. secret service agents that are tito puente. north korea celebrating a hundred years since the birth of the nation's founder kim il sung his grandson and current leader made his first public speech praising the country's military might and calling for even more resolve but what kim jung un didn't mention was friday's failed long range rocket test and says it was supposed to put a satellite into orbit but it fell into the sea moments after blastoff the un security council condemned the launch and said it violated its resolutions america's suspended two hundred million dollars worth of food aid to north korea because of it they sure are experts in biel says that faced with external pressure

problem doesn't appear weak. it's all part of the negotiating ploy with the american. on the one hand to fix a bill is either willing to make some concessions to the same time they have to stand are not in regard to you as is holding right and. russia. and china are quite right to point out every country has the right to launch satellites to house these new peaceful sleep exploration they don't want your satellite violates international law and i correct thirdly it violate in the united nations sanctions you know that including in american surrender wait around there is not mention iran. and. only recount from from iran young group young young

is desperate to get nader got it back and have these sanctions lifted and so far. good news in brief ten of the twenty three candidates in egypt's presidential election barred from standing in next month's poll thousands rallied in support of the new law banning former regime officials from running for the top job excluded candidates have a right to appeal and supporters demonstrations are expected in the capital the list of those banned from the poll includes the barrack or intelligence chief or most of them and most of them. there's been a major jailbreak in northwest pakistan which borders a volatile tribal areas nearly four hundred inmates escaped after islamist insurgents stormed the prison and the guns and grenades early on sunday morning some of the prisoners are al qaeda linked militants on the death row the taliban says it carried out a great image because of what in this is the first time in fifteen months a rand held talks with major world powers about its nuclear program the meeting in turkey was hailed as positive and constructive with their second rather go see

asians in to be held next month in baghdad the five plus one group ultimately hopes to persuade iran the stop uranium enrichment something thrown has so far refused to do iran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful but western nations suspect it could be seeking nuclear weapons. millions of all the docs christians around the world have been marking their biggest holiday easter sunday believed to be the day of the resurrection of jesus christ rushes main church christ the savior cathedral the special overnight vigil led by the patriarch that is tom barton was there. easter services in the russian orthodox tradition are designed to be both long services but also very beautiful services stylized markings of the key moments in the story of christ's death and his resurrection on the third day a key moment in the service is the easter vigil when the priests walk in a circle around the church holding candles and they also change their outfits three

times during the service from the rock which represents lent through the purple which represents the passions of christ when through you on to your own which represents the resurrection itself. the holy fire has also arrived here in moscow this easter as it has done since the eleventh century when it first made that journey from the church of the holy separate in jerusalem the story surrounding the fire is that a light shines through the roof of the church of the holy sepulcher every easter in jerusalem and somehow manages to light candles one of which is brought to moscow and is then taken around to many orthodox churches a very special symbolic moment for the russian orthodox church easter the russian orthodox church also comes at the end of a great lead seven weeks of fasting no meat and no dairy products but at the end it

is time to bring out some special foods with a special connection to easter what is cool it a cake that's sweet and filled with raisins and the other is named after easter in russian language. it's a sweet dessert. also designed to be a celebration after the long weeks of fasting and also that universal symbol of easter eggs many are painted that often shared with family members and all are taken to priests at easter we're blessed. with holy water they'll be shared around . the world. in thirty thousand russian orthodox churches communities around the world and traditional russian orthodox greeks will be said to christ has risen and it will be with another reply of up for additional russian orthodox reply indeed he has.

surely tonight in his first t.v. interview since being taken off. his experience of life. politics much more on this week's top stories.

he used to to. do .