france's new socialist president francois hollande is sworn in but in a few hours he'll take his austerity grievances to europe's powerhouse berlin. syria's deadly ceasefire a month into the truce but violence persis neighboring lebanon now dragged into the conflict. the world's top whistleblower takes on torture and illegal rendition in his latest explosive interview coming your way in our in about ninety minutes. two pm in moscow. good to have you with us here on r t our top story france is

welcoming its new leader as socialist francois hollande is officially sworn in as president no time wasted though it was great down to business after the inauguration will head to berlin for an austerity showdown with chancellor angela merkel has been campaigning for growth while merkel is europe's main advocate for belt tightening both have intense political pressures at home which is bound to make for tough talks as our peter all reports. what francois hollande will in the french presidential election he rolled. off the biggest ally of nicolas sarkozy when it came to pushing all state as the only way to tackle europe's debt crisis has not been a great recent period for the german chancellor the seeing some of the post their own christian democratic party suffered major losses and an election in the state of north rhine-westphalia a state viewed by many as a bellwether for gauging the opinion of german national politics as well so with

macos each day it all eyes are now looking to see if they knew a range arrangement can be sorted out between the leaders of europe's two largest economies francois along deciding he it's straight after he is sworn in as french president being welcomed here by angle of merkel in what's being called very much a getting to know you exercise as opposed to a decision making wall however it is expected to be looking to you gauge. opinions on things such as fiscal discipline and the promotion of the economy and of juleps no for his part or land campaigned on a place that he would try and remake go she ate the euro zone's fiscal pact which binds member states to austerity measures though this is something though that germany says is not on the table fiscal pact is closed it will not be reopened or renegotiate it's going to be watching it closely expect will see some form of

agreement some form of compromise reached but up with a parallel treaty being created or an onyx to the wooding of the original document that could see that could favor growth a long sight cutting the deficit now what is going to be interesting though is even if they can come to some form of compromise this could just be papering over the cracks we have to pull the political leaders here throughout very. polarized polarized political views. and believes that you have to spend money to create growth and to try to drag european countries out of the financial minded they find themselves in whereas angle of merkel remains committed to austerity and belt tightening saying that that's the only way that europe is going to be able to get itself out of recession and back on its feet. german euro m.p. marcus ferber thinks cuts are necessary but won't boost europe's economy overnight i think we're on a good trick because one can fit with the other i think there's no alternative for

storage a program all over europe as markets have decided not to read borrow money anymore to those member states who can't afford it and on the other hand of course we need growth but who is creating grows with new debt will fail and that is the lesson the new america will teach mr all on as in germany is a good example in the last two years and finland was a good example the ninety's which shows if you do reforms if you do things which means to concentrate the public money on those areas you really need it for growth can be created but not in a short time period it's a mid-term and long time period where you create new jobs and economic growth and there is a way greece has to go through that is the way spain portugal italy has to go through and two is changing mr way like all on has promised in the election campaign will fail because at the end of the day the country will be bankrupt and

that is not a solution that is a problem. turning now to other news we're covering on r t a month into the ceasefire syria still suffering from violence and it's casting serious doubt on the u.n. back he's plan doesn't said to have been killed in a recent surge of unrest in several flashpoint cities monday the e.u. imposed a new set of economic sanctions against the country to pile on pressure but only on the government european leaders want to speed up a bit of mentation of cofee it on the p.c. initiative that they say has so far failed damascus claims its defending the country from terror groups backed by foreign powers syria's unarrest has spilled across the border into lebanon with sectarian clashes between pro and anti assad protesters there leaving at least five dead international relations professor mark almond things even if syrian troops lay down their arms it may not bring stability . i think the tragic situation is even if president assad retire grace. a lot of his supporters will be. equally

a lot of people want to gain control of a group of jews now into a cycle of violence. and as we sure are in libya just because the regime is it was right. when you this kind. of external commenting in. a responsible way what people would find. concerned about what happens. the united states is resuming arms sales to bahrain after freezing delivery last autumn because of the bloody anti-government crackdown there washington insists none of the weapons could be used against demonstrators but human rights groups see the deal as a signal america is supporting a dictatorship as art has got a chicky on reports the decision marks a striking difference in approach to other countries in the region. and meet bahrain's persistent crackdown on protesters journalists and human rights

activists that washington welcomes bahrain's crown prince and his back to the united states. and pledges to resume arms supplies to a key ally in the gulf. the us had suspended weapons sales to bahrain in the light of massive human rights violations by these sorties there but now the state department has issued a statement saying that american weapons will soon be heading to bahrain and. we've made this decision i want to emphasize on national security grounds we've made this decision mindful of the fact that there remain a number of serious unresolved human rights issues in bahrain which we expect the government of bahrain to address bahrain host the u.s. fifth fleet it's around forty ships two aircraft carriers sixteen thousand personnel and major force in the gulf clyde prestowitz a top economist in the reagan and clinton administrations argues the us has traded principles for military bases have sided with the ruling sunni. regime

because of the base of the so the sicily. in the gulf. and so yeah i mean i think we compromised ourselves in the same statement announcing the resumption of arms supplies to bahrain washington calls for the country's opposition to show restraint. we concerned by what has now become almost daily street violence and we are in this context bahrain's political opposition to call for an end to the violence against police that's a stark difference from the u.s. approach towards other countries in the region engulfed in anti-government protests where the u.s. has tacitly or openly encouraged violence against government forces in libya the united states was openly attacking and supporting it was open and openly supporting the libyan rebels and their acts against the state even though this was. an arson

essentially sure that now was the doing proper board and and then syria similarly there has been no one there were only four or restrain from violence by the opposition forces there so it's a little bit odd to see this only in bahrain it's a highly asymmetrical about a situation it's not a case of and which. and which there's enormous violence brought by the protesters against the police forces it's clearly by the bahraini state against the civilians the general perception is that the u.s. doesn't want to rock the boat in bahrain because of its fifth fleet there so it's a case of eyes wide shot that human rights violations it might seem like a normal trade off in the walls of politics but critics say it makes a mockery of america claiming the high moral ground in other countries in the arab walter where political monographs wages company check our reporting from often hard to. stay with us here on r.t. still to come a day of desolation for palestinians knock but we'll see protests marking

palestinian displacement by israel sixty four years ago we bring you the heart rending story of a woman whose pain crosses the body. and their office soyuz rocket with three crew members aboard headed to the international space station where they'll spend four months or at the launch site. but first torture in guantanamo bay britain's complicity in the illegal rendition on suspects and a selective approach on who to regard as a threat the u.s. war on terror is leaving a decidedly murky trail and it's what julian assange stakes on in his latest show here on r t our london correspondent laura smith takes a look at what's to come in today's edition in the next hour. speaks to people who have had first hand experience of the effects of the war on terror one of them is correct who is used to be a corporate lawyer but now campaigns for detainees of the war on terror through an organization called k.

to prison is the second interview here's a man called begg he himself spent years in guantanamo bay before being released without charge during his detention actually signed a confession which said that he had been prepared to fight alongside al qaida he provided assistance to al qaida members knowing that they could commit terrorist attacks against the u.s. during the program he talks about how he came to sign that confession let's hear him. walk me to the point where i would sign something like this was being tied up with. my legs with a hood placed over my head being punched and kicked the listing to the sound of a woman screaming next all i'm told is led to believe as my wife my children's pictures being waved in front of me being asked by these interrogators when do you think you're going to see them again what you think happened the night that we took you from the. bag during the show goes into great detail about the horrors of his

detention in guantanamo bay when he got home to britain he sued the british government for complicity in his ordeal and he reached an out of court financial settlement with the government since then though he and she have been actively trying to end this practice of detention without trial. during the program talks about what drives him to carry on with his fight scene guantanamo. charge in the u.k. tradition and all of these things common and you will actually be abused for a specific purpose and all of them. used to be involved something was working against these these policies and it was this important voice. almost insane paranoids that's just a little bit of the program and you can see the whole thing which is being broadcast for the first time on our teachers day at eleven thirty g.m.t. don't miss it. for one country may fifteenth is

a day of sorrow for roger it's deeply divided people palestinians market is the day israel was born it's referred to as. fear has met with large protests that already has the remarkable story of one woman who has felt pain on both sides. for seven decades hid her secret only now has his muslim mother of seven and grandmother of twenty nine revealed to her family the full truth about her past i need that i didn't want my children to be afraid for me and be part of my grief we hear all the time in a war between jew and arab so why tell them about another war that other war was in one nine hundred forty two parents were among the millions of jews rounded up across europe and sent to auschwitz did camp by the nazis layla's mother was eight months pregnant with her at the time or they are pleasure ritchie again i was born in auschwitz i was a jew i spent three years in auschwitz and i survived only because

a christian doctor in the camp hit me and my two brothers under the floor in his house my mother and father worked for him and at night they would crawl in with us and give us dry bread soaked in hot water with salt when they are members and make you. still feels fear when she hears loud knocking at the door i think they are coming to kill me i remember the bones the bodies legs hands the people this barbed wire fence i remember terrible beatings in the camp that i cry a lot when i cry my heart is calm. after she was freed from the camp immigrated to israel when she was sixteen she met her husband a local arab man. no but i was working. in she brought me something to drink we liked each other and decided to get married it did not matter to me that she was jewish. but it mattered to layla's family her father didn't speak to her

for you know and most of her israeli jewish cousins have disowned the young couple moved here to. an arab village in northern israel later converted to islam she says so that her children would not have to serve in the israeli army and to now they knew their mother had been through it but they didn't know to be a holocaust survivor. i did not betray the jewish people i don't hate jews definitely not i really only converted for my children i feel completely accepted here if i hear someone say they hate jews i answer them and say you receive right from this country why hate the people who give them to you. now after seventy years her secret has finally come out later when to collect a pension money and the clark made the connection and. we were shocked we didn't know what to say it was so difficult to hear opened their mouths and nothing came out to god she survived. his jewish name is lee.

but she hasn't really essence all those years ago when she arrived in israel as a refugee just months before the state of israel was declared him a nine hundred forty eight a date israeli celebrate but one that palestinians mourn is the nakba or catastrophe the displacement of hundreds of thousands of their ancestors led invasion i'm not happy or sad on this day i understand how israelis feel and i understand how arabs feel and i feel both a lot of people have died for nothing the jewish mother and the muslim mother feel the same pain and it's that pain that palestinians around the world remember today . israel. is really a law allows it to withhold funding from organizations commemorating nakba day but tell of university is allowing a memorial ceremony on its campus and that's adding some of the country's leaders later israeli arab t.v.

tells our team that to bring changes people suffering must be acknowledged. to mining to prevent me from saying that i am sad that my family was already posted in one thousand nine hundred thirty eight they want us to dance in this study. as then we can we have each human and natural right to human training we knew what it would be nice to suffer the other side you'll bridge the gap between you and him i have. empathy for those who survived the holocaust i have. talked about it here in the. and i see it disappear from the jewish people who suffer and looked in europe as a victim. to have empathy for the suffering of the victims victim.

full interview with ahmed t.v. coming your way about ten minutes here on our to. india's efforts to reduce imports of iranian oil aren't going down well with washington a top u.s. diplomat says it's not doing enough to help america's global squeeze on iran over its nuclear program india relies heavily on iranian crude but its refusal to sharply cut imports may lead india with sanctions international relations professor dr cirincione leah thinks there must be a compromise. we have come to expect the united states should treat us as sovereign equals if it's not happening and if they're talking down to us like this i'm sure it's not being appreciated across the country the point is that you know indians are very clear from the beginning that as far as economic interests cool iran is important and we're not going to give up this important car no matter what the american star tried to do in fact i think we're also reading the signals now it's

not that clear cut that this pressure will go on they need to be here in this region and i think the americans realize there's so much interest pretreated going on and the americans certainly feel the need that they need to also try and get market access in this region that everybody wants of piece of india because a large market is one point three billion people so you know on our beat united states we want to have good relations with everybody and we don't like triangles in which we're being forced to make a choice on one side or the other you're either because or against us i don't think it's going to work anything. more stories and analysis are t. dot com here's what's a click away right now the hacker group anonymous may be the most powerful organization on earth berms on law makers and made it has access to every classified database in the u.s. and other countries. and our t. sits down to talk with afghan president hamid karzai about his own battle nation's next days as nato ready to hand over control to more regions despite

a spike in violence and full interview on our t.v. dot com stay with us we'll be back. he's. the official. told touch from the top story. on the. video. and r.s.s. feeds now in the palm of your. home

during out of some other stories making headlines across the globe the says its naval force somalia's coast has carried out its first air strikes against pirate targets on a tour aircraft an attack helicopters apparently took part in the raid with no reported casualties yet the european union is a major donor to the transitional government in reinforcing somalia and neighboring states navies encounter piracy activity. or reports emerged blaming nato for dozens of civilian killings during last year's. military campaign in libya human rights watch based in new york says the alliance downplayed the deaths that needs to be dealt with now nato refuted the planes saying its campaign was conducted with unprecedented care and precision member states meet for a summit in chicago later this week. u.s. congressman ron paul suspending his active campaign for the white house he hasn't won any of the single state votes but he's not giving in instead decided to plow

his resources into the national convention to win the republican nomination paul is the last main party challenger to mitt romney in the race against president barack obama in november as a lecture. a new expedition is on its way to the international space station a soyuz spacecraft bringing two russian cosmonauts and a u.s. astronaut from kazakhstan artie's arena to lucia was there to watch. we're at the baikonur cosmodrome as close as we could get to the launch pad with the three man crew part of the thirty one thirty two expedition ready to set off for the international space station let's have a moment and take a look at this amazing occurrence. now they are going to be docking with the international space station in two days on may seventeenth they will be in orbit. for the next four months as that period has been shortened from the initially scheduled six month period still

a lot of work to be done first and foremost cosmonauts and astronauts are scientists so a lot of the scientific experiments will be taking place and. they will be docking at the ais as will be docking with several. cargo vessels in european japanese american vessels they also will be doing several spacewalks as well one of those will be concerning the situation where these displays john they will be joining the rest of the thirty one thirty two expedition three people already there but of course the big do have to have a good time and now when it comes to joe acaba he's lucky enough to celebrate his birthday on may seventeenth when the so use is actually scheduled to dog the international space station what a way to celebrate a birthday. and to me now with all the latest business news so good data coming out of germany how's the market reacting well the market is reacting positively but

that's pretty logical given the. eight of nine what we're seeing right now in your . book or two percent the dax one percent so really limited g.d.p. in germany has come out better than expected percent in the first quarter however. says the. fact will be short lived. it's basically a lone leader everybody else is suffering the consequences of a crisis so the risk off trade is still on. and investors are basically getting rid of risk assets russia is an emerging market so naturally some are dead taking place in emerging market funds the performance of late has not been spectacular and maybe some speculate of positions being cut as well has nothing to do with the fundamentals of the russian economy or with the oil price surely it has dropped fifteen dollars off the off the top but it's still. at

a very high level. view while games are also limited because of its banking sector see the vote of confidence moody's cut the ratings of twenty six lenders including the countries may just like unique credit ten of them were downgraded to junk status well some saw their ratings cut by as much as for not just the agency says the banks were increasingly vulnerable to these recession and the effects of government austerity measures all of them also put on negative credit watch meaning that further downgrades are also false. but in russia the reaction has been some want cold so that these are going out of your and despite the fact that they already fell three and a half percent the previous session russian markets are dropping out of the heart of the sense this hour now on the m i six we are seeing some improvement in several blue chips including a loop boil and moved back into positive territory but gazprom is down one point

six percent despite the fact that oil has pretty much corrected upwards now in asia we've seen a mixed directly opposite picture when it comes to the nikkei and the hang seng point eight one percent up and down. on those indices this is of course on worries about what's going on in greece with the political stalemate and the inability to form a new governor. and of course because that might altogether come out of the yours are. on the commodities market because of that some worries about demand. the brand is correct thing however it's up for dollar per barrel at more than one hundred eleven dollars. and in the current seems well seeing the euro recovering of this g.d.p. data against to be delivered still far from the one point three three that we saw around two weeks ago meanwhile the ruble is the gaining but very slightly i guess.

that's the way the markets look at this. thanks very much mitri we'll check in with you in the next hour well still to come here on r t we talk with an arab m.p. in israel's parliament about the day that defines the country's polarized people coming up after the headlines stay with us. a little bit with.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.