deadly gun fire attacks hit afghanistan shortly after barack obama visits kabul it's one year since the killing of osama bin laden. a frantic campaigning in france's presidential election with just a few days left for the two candidates to voters before the decisive brown however not everyone is enthusiastic about the choices on offer. and ukraine's cohosting of the euro twenty twelve football championships could be found signed before balls even being kicked as more countries threaten of boy called over alleged treatment of jailed yulia timoshenko.

a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at r.t. moscow rule research bombs and gunfire have struck the afghan capital kabul shortly after a visit by barack obama the taliban has claimed responsibility saying the attacks were in retaliation for the u.s. president's visit afghan police say suicide bombers attacked a compound where foreign workers live at least seven of being killed almost twenty injured the u.s. president's visit a couple comes one year since the killing of osama bin laden by american special forces in a speech a background admitted washington is holding direct talks with the taliban and said that many in the terrorist group are interested in peace obama cause i also signed an agreement outlining ties in the decade after the planned u.s. troop pullout in two thousand and fourteen with details on this artie's guy nature

can. the fact that president obama traveled to afghanistan exactly year after bin laden's killing to signed the strategic pact with ghana's then is seen as an attempt to put the years of a success story on the decade long war in afghanistan but success in afghanistan is very arguable to say the least the afghans want american troops out we constantly see people there expressing outrage over the killing of civilians over night raids and other actions by u.s. troops the american people want their troops out so both governments are anxious to tell their people that this is over but the reasons that the leaders have signed in visions the u.s. staying in afghanistan through twenty twenty four at least not in those numbers of course and the agreement by the way does not address specific troop levels or the size or location of u.s. bases and this is something that many afghans are worried about and that is that the uighurs warrants a permanent basis in afghanistan so i made all these questions you have the

anniversary of bin laden's death which is hailed as a great victory because my report on how bin laden's killing could serve as a convenient cover for some dubious policies we have been able to decimate the ranks of al qaida and a year ago we were able to finally bring osama bin ladin just. by now nobody doubts that bin laden's killing is going to be the highlight of obama's presidential campaign it's already featured in his ads. the harder. than the more honorable. and the one that produced in my opinion the best route so. as hyped as bin laden's killing is some ask whether it's being used to mask that feeling of u.s. policies abroad during the last ten years the bin laden thing i think makes things

easier it sells well but again i don't think you can put that good a face on ten years of combat in afghanistan and the afghan and the iraq invasion i think is to me question still yet to be asked about what the justification was no matter how much killing bin laden means you can't take away ten years of failure it was going into afghanistan and especially into iraq ok that created more enemies you know and the recruits for. you know jihadist kind of salafist. you know than than weakening them the pentagon's new strategy is to move away from ground wars bin laden's killing has become the face of the new war on terror obama style through targeted assassinations in different countries with the use of drones and special ops experts say that policy can also backfire the attacks end up killing many civilians and they steer a new wave of revenge extremism you know how many people are we going to have to

kill before we can finally say ok that's it objective achieved war over we can call this thing off and i look at the israeli experience with targeted assassination and that suggests to me that when you engage in that kind of a policy really what you're going to do is end up having an endless list of targets and i fear that's the past we have gone down bin laden's death was a success on the war on terror front no doubt about that. but there is an attempt to sell it as this success story of the whole war on terror and many fear that bin laden's killing could serve as a convenient cover for bad policies of the past as well as the future i'm going to check out reporting from washington r.t. . now let's discuss this further with a doctor from the school of international affairs now joining us live here on r.t. from you good to see you today thanks for coming on president obama saying that the

taliban's momentum has been broken and washington was in direct negotiations with the group of yourself to ten years of trying to wipe out the taliban and any choice you explain to us what exactly is going on. i don't think the united states is facing a huge occupation crisis these two have two more years to survive before the drawdown begins and now they have a straight shoot to end on the ten more years of technical military presence and possibly bases i think they are facing an occupation crisis and they will need to you know build a mystic consensus in favor for running the war and that is why they're using these you know rhetorical and highly lofty. bin ladin and i wote how they've turned it around i think the taliban know very well they are playing the waiting game and i don't see them being defeated at all in fact rather for them big true lies in outlasting the united states and even if it's ten more years i think it is actually

you know. like red rag to the bull because as long as there are western military forces present these indigenous insurrection and on resistance will keep going so i think you can see that the united nations may be featured in afghanistan i mean it's fair to say now ten years on the line we can see because how many more soldiers are you know bases are going to help the cause i think obama himself might even want. it to be whereas as or not you're saying and you're saying and reconstruct your trousers on thousands of troops i do apologize for interrupting but thousands of troops many many u.s. bases in afghanistan as well it's interesting how you say obama is using a lofty rhetoric to make a house try and score voters obama saying that that the thing about qaeda is quote within reach is that all hot air because there are many analysts who say al qaeda really is no longer in afghanistan it's in pakistan. no absolutely just shifted eastwards and i've been arguing the same i think you have several franchises in

branches of a car that has to be quite potent and i think it is totally misguided to believe that the organization has been and we needed or and i later we are. what we're seeing is that graphic the locus is shifting used words towards pakistan and even further towards eastern parts of asia and what we're going to see them using or the united states college would be eventually because of the economic crisis at home the one we were to sustain these theories of section we've been there's a richness that wants to believe that we can still achieve victory this is the mistake and we are doing johnson's time in the vietnam war and then repeated it all over again so it's a real tragedy because the facts on the ground is obvious from the r one centers in the highways and it's all totally one learnt every patch of it and fearful that everybody even if we're going to let's is not going to try i'm sorry let's talk about the issue of osama bin laden now i apologize again we're very low on time here on r.t. arsala bin laden is killed on pakistani territory now almost exactly

a year ago in fact is just curious to know it had been a lot and was living in a one a million dollar home in what's basically a military village and yet for some reason pakistani authorities and intelligence didn't know he was living there for the past few years bin laden killed on pakistani territory obama only visits kabul what does that tell us about the state of relations between washington and islamabad. i think obama has been courageous to the extent that he knew that the last year on bin laden's compound would. jeopardize what they were in relations the us already had with the sun and with the drone strikes being so unpopular in pakistan i think you know we entered the stage we're just here to see that you know today is the fact also at war with pakistan and then ordered the war is unavailable because by just one has in many ways through an spanners into the wheel of the ridge suits the plans in afghanistan so i think it is fair to argue now that it has been

a strategic defeat for the united states and the support aspect here to has been you know has really backfired and in many ways they can see fears and they can see that you know we're still winning and anyone want to negotiate but the point is this has happened to the liberal that there are you know on a stronger position right now and they're winning this war and let's face it many is matric was in the past and been won by the smaller saves you know cities on the receiving end this time all right a doctor surrender charlie from the gentle school of international affairs in new delhi thank you for coming on r.t. today. french presidential rivals nicolas sarkozy and francois look at the very last chance to sway votes in the only t.v. debate before sunday's runoff the incumbent president will have to throw everything into the duel with socialist challenger who is currently leading in the polls they're fighting for the votes of a right wing leader who herself has refused to endorse a cosy suggesting her supporters make their own choice and according to our team's

tester of syria that choice will not be an easy one. so it's down to two men socialist francois long and incumbent nicolas sarkozy the french say around one of the presidential race is about choosing the candidate you like the most round two is voting for the one you dislike the least unless of course you voted for one of them to begin with and this is where it gets tricky for some especially for those who question what kind of a voice they really if there really is one. yeah yeah yeah. it's maybe in jest but what's seen as a lack of a clear solution for france is economic woes have left citizens skeptical from the onset. of the french people to see one of the two come to the t.v. you will see. this from oprah to the next five years. i will see the wall in this. and i will i would like to see for

all in this wall in this in this. especially when francis economic quagmire is already a tough one to muddle through unemployment is at a twelve year high of almost ten percent debt is dearie ninety percent of g.d.p. growth has all but ground to a halt and a series of measures are likely to continue the problem could both candidates are in favor of euro bonds more intervention from the european central bank and to varying degrees both have put on a confrontational tone towards brussels and germany but there's doubt that there will be much room for maneuver at all but. whoever the elected president is sarkozy or he will subject himself very quickly and very visibly to the power of the european union and it will always require more sacrifices for workers for the obvious interests of the large banking globalists. then they work very

small things that are there if you recall that ok we're going to vote for immigrants in local elections. you know what we're going to lead and what sexual couples adopt children those are important measures but they're not the biggest measure of a tough choice to make for those who don't see want to begin with the. tests are so your artillery paris pusher. and it's good to have you with us here on r.t. today still to come of the program of the occupy protesters back with a bang activists get back onto america's streets after almost six months in the shadows but marches across the u.s. are marked with a new police crackdown also. israel is on the defensive as it on its northern and southern borders all the details in just a few moments. straight to china to kick off the r.t. world update for us now and chinese lawyer and activist chen guangcheng has left

the u.s. embassy in beijing for medical treatment and to be reunited with his family he fled house arrest last week and was under u.s. protection for which china is demanding an apology before fleeing chen was being punished for exposing alleged abuses in official chinese family planning policies such as forced abortions the move comes as u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton visits beijing for high level strategic and economic talks. at least twelve syrian troops have died in clashes with the rebel fighters unconfirmed reports say five people have also been killed by government forces fighting continues despite the extended presence of u.n. observers in the country to monitor a mission that claims the cease fire in place for three weeks now has been violated by both sides in the conflict syria has seen a number of bomb blasts in recent days further undermine the u.s. backed peace plan. opposition leader aung sun suu civi has been sworn in as

a member of parliament that comes after a two decade struggle against military rule by the nobel peace prize winner who were subject to house arrest and travel bans the army has formally transferred power to civilians but still has considerable influence in the country her party boycotted a general election in two thousand and ten saying the poll was rigged in favor of the military but then they decided ultimately to enter the political process. well the anti-corporate occupy movement has made a comeback in the u.s. after a long hiatus activists returned it to the birthplace of the protest in new york city having been a victim from their encampment last autumn the police came back to this way to make arrests and art is more important as the latest. may day doesn't just mark the international workers day it now marks the resurgence of the occupy wall street movement thousands of activists flooded the streets of manhattan picking up where

the grass roots coalition left off in the form of demonstrations taking place throughout the entire city including bryant park union square and wall street repeating the message that they have been saying over and over again voicing their outrage against wealth inequality in the united states against him for influence on us howard sixteen on affordable higher education and health care in the us and the ongoing jobs crisis that ninety nine percent of americans are dealing with ninety nine lines were set up throughout manhattan were asked of is were protesting outside of banks and the offices of us corporations and multinational corporations once the sun went down the thousands gathered at veterans memorial plaza in lower manhattan literally occupying the property many were organizing

and demonstrating with respect to their issues but once ten pm came the n.y.p.d. stormed through the plaza evacuating it to literally floor seeing the activists to leave arresting some pushing many others out onto the street once the group was out on to the street activists who were all walking through lower manhattan and police officers were odd motorcycles and trying to keep the activists penned in on the sidewalk once an optimist stepped into the street they got arrested there were instances where activists were being taken into. lisa vans with blood dripping from their face so there were some incidents where it got bloody between police officers and the unarmed occupy activist but despite the

violence that was seen in certain instances the group continued to chant their message walking through lower manhattan the exact location where this movement ignited in the fall of two thousand and eleven these activists back on the streets saying they will be holding washington accountable for all the the favoritism that is being seen to the one percent in the united states. reporting that now in oakland the attempt to give new life to the occupy movement but that was met with tear gas and stun grenades demonstrators gathered at city hall protest over social inequality a few hundred people refused to leave defying police orders so they threw bottles as well as other objects at the police officers and then went on the offensive to disperse the crowds of demonstrators and of course they made

a number of arrests. well always more on our website on dot com you can go online to read how a terrorist groups getting rather creative german codebreakers discovered hundreds of al qaeda internal documents on terror attacks but they were disguised as porn files. and then were trips to dutch coffee shops for visitors in the netherlands rolls in a ban on tourists rolling up marijuana it's ok for the locals they can still do it and that story and more at r.t. dot com. now there are growing calls for the twenty twelve football matches to be moved away from ukraine as more and more countries are threatening to boycott the event and all of this over the case of jailed. yulia timoshenko the netherlands is the latest of the pressure on kiev let's get more now from our correspondent in the ukrainian capital ati's. warning us live program

we've already seen several e.u. leaders are urging a boycott exactly what are they trying to achieve. it certainly is getting darker and darker for key of in relation to the euro twenty two well football championship which starts in less than forty days from now and now the dutch government is the latest of the european officials to express their wish to boycott the tournament here in ukraine the list which already consists of the german the czech republic presidents the head of the euro commission and the german chancellor angela merkel who even said that the german national football side should boycott their participation in the upcoming summer storm here in ukraine and poland now the demands of the european politicians are all different but they all relate to one person the jailed ukraine's former prime minister yulia timoshenko who is now spending seven years in prison for the abuse of power when she was convicted in the last year and now. says that unless tymoshenko is released she would not come to ukraine for the euro twenty two well football championship the dutch government and

the czech presidents are you. a bit softer in their statement saying that they just want to see improvements in the treatment of political prisoners in ukraine but all in all definitely this creates a very great deal of pressure on key of last friday's terrorist attacks and to put it off already created serious concerns about the security during the summer storm and but now the euro twenty twelve could become a victim of political pressure from the european union on ukraine alexy this is not the first time a sports event has been used as a tool for political pressure do you think we'll have such tactics have they ever before. well the key is the ukrainian leadership reacted to all these statements coming from the european union but saying that this kind of rhetoric puts the countries back in the cold war and in fact there may be right in some sense because the one of the vis a vivid examples of a political boy called during a sporting championship sporting event was in one thousand nine hundred eighty one sixty countries refused to come to moscow for the olympic games there and then the

soviet union four years later replied by not sending fourteen countries fourteen republics of the soviet union to the olympic games in los angeles but you know the political boycotts during the sporting events happen even now days four years ago during the beijing olympics some countries also wanted to abstain from coming to china for the olympic games but then they managed to negotiate it somehow with the china though we understand that the promises that the chinese authorities made were not kept eventually but still it is clear that all these political boycotts during sporting championships are rarely bring any effect rarely bring in any dividends it's only one case when it actually managed to bring anything any result any political dividend whether this will be the case of ukraine whether victory on the college the president of the country would be succumbing to the pressure from the from the europe and releasing you did so much and we are yet to see but certainly the situation is very very tense for ukraine and for keven particular now. live in kiev thanks for coming on today. well i will get to

a marina in the business soon for now though israel is strengthening its southern and northern borders deploying at least twenty two battalions of troops to protect the country from the growing tension with egypt and syria israeli generals say they're on alert from the threat of terror attack ahead of egyptian presidential elections as well as turmoil in syria artie's pulis leon intellivision. it certainly is a massive mobilization what we're hearing from the israeli army is that they've given the approval for the call up of twenty two reserve battalions many of these are soldiers who've already completed their annual reserve duty what commanders are saying is that these troops are needed to deal with security threats that are coming from israel's borders with egypt and syria and also because of the growing instability in those countries now we're hearing from sources today wednesday also that the situation in the sinai desert which of borders israel is becoming a manageable anyone in a separate development in cairo several people have been killed and dozens have

been injured as clashes turned violent in front of the country's defense ministry these clashes happening between armed police protesters demonstrating there and holding the city and since friday they're demonstrating against the disqualification of a candidate who is running in the country's presidential elections which are slated for the twenty third and twenty fourth of this month and these elections to all be closely monitored by television which is fearing that the regime will now come to a place in cairo will be one that will be a lot more hostile to the jewish state than that of course mubarak what the seeing is this week israel beginning to build a seven nice a high concrete wall along its border with lebanon and this according to israeli sources is to stop firing from lebanon into northern israel we've been told that the war will take several weeks to finish until now there has been an electrified fence along the israeli lebanese border but it comes on the back of

a nother security barrier war that is what is building in the south of the country along its border with egypt's sinai now here to israeli sources are saying that this is to stop security alerts and also to prevent smuggling into israel so certainly we are seeing a lot of activity happening on the ground israel taking security threats very seriously and fearing that there will be more attacks but at the same time this is having the effect of isolating israel from its neighbors and from the international community. right there what if you do stay with us here and also you will get across shortly but first of all standing by at the world of business good to see you understand it's been a slow few days of because of public holidays but anything anything exciting to tell us today. well it is exciting the fact that i have something to talk about here. and basically what we're seeing is that as investors go back they had some negative news to react to in particular in europe the latest data shows that the

unemployment rate in the early reached a twelve year high in march in germany the jobless rate rose zero point one percent for the same period which was slightly higher than expected and of course spain has the highest unemployment rate in the european union in fact the number of job seekers rose for the eighth month in a row in march to hit five point six million or a record twenty four point four percent and let's take a look at how the european markets have been digested in these news as you're about to see it's a mixed picture right now and i'm not going to make any predictions about the dags got its negative territory because when it comes to europe are always wrong but what we're seeing there also is that manufacturing data showed a sharp slowdown which of course isn't helping matters but where we are seeing gains that's partly due to a drug makers as well as oil for arms they are leading the gains there for let's move on and take a look at what's happening here in russia and as you're about to see it's still

a horse it's a picture of russians here are in celebration mode there is so coming back from the public holidays what we have more holidays on the way so there has been before making any big moves there is though good economic news on the side the last russian manufacturing activity is speeding up and in fact the porch the manager and the h.s.b.c. jump to fifty three points and of course anything above the show's growth so that's a good thing and let's look at some individual share moves on the mindsets we have is gaining and we know that its shareholders maybe received. record breaking dividends have mountains over one a billion dollars this year and if that does happen there will be twenty five percent more than the year before so some pretty impressive stuff there we've known for about financials are on the rise across the board here russia when it comes to paul is gaining point eight percent almost this hour and we know that it may sell about five percent of the shares to china as investment company and a further two point five percent to russia as. if that happens the deals will

amount to six hundred million dollars let's move on to currencies the euro is still alive against the dollar when it comes through the roof or it's losing against the greenback but again they're against the euro and this is how business starts to sound my colleague will have the next update for you back to you for now or when you're done for the day we're going to do enjoy this lovely spring weather. cold thanks for everything or still to come a recap of the headlines and then it's time for tempers to flow that can only mean one thing crosstalk in just a few. culture

is that so much about the taxpayers' money and it is a show me a lot of people at various a time finally come when we should value qualitative measurements of wellbeing over industries such as g.d.p. and other governments to. commission free accreditation free zones for charges free. range month free risk free. to tide free. download free blog tesla video for your media projects and free media oh don the r t dot com . secret lover tori to mukherjee was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot which all unfortunately doesn't it.