on a knife's edge political turmoil in greece threatens to crash the hopes of a united europe zone despite the heavy winds and bowing to battle the crisis together. saving some couch at the cost of public safety a massive number of u.k. police officers are said to be given the boot critics say it'll leave the streets unprotected. and as the war crimes tribunal in the hague takes up the case of former bosnian serb general but article we ask his son why the defense doesn't think the trial is impartial.

thanks for joining our team this wednesday it's one o'clock here in moscow and i'm karen tara it's a tough road ahead for france and germany newly elected president francois hollande and chancellor angela merkel pledged to work together to battle the crisis however they don't exactly see eye to eye on how to do it with opposing views on belt tightening and how to punish overspenders archies peter olivers in berlin. well there was no real political bombshells dropped at the meeting between francois hollande and merkel but there was also no attempt to cover up that they too don't see eye to eye on every issue and emphasized his belief that the impetus for growth is needed in the. remains committed that austerity is the only way if the eurozone is to drag its way out of the current mire it finds itself in now on the subject of the fiscal treaty francois hollande was relatively

noncommittal however he did say that he continued to say to the french people that he wanted to see the treaty renegotiated now that something of course that angle a merkel in germany have said isn't on the table but will be looking to see if they can come to some form of compromise over that issue that treaty of course binding the states that signed up to it to austerity measures the subject of greece of course on the table for discussion is first meeting between the two leaders both of them saying that they want greece to stay within the euro land said that he would respect what ever happens in the greek elections which will be taking place in june however all and also saying that he appreciated the suffering of the greek people during this tough time angle merkel said that the euro was a political project not just a monetary one and said that the eurozone and the euro had benefited the people of

europe and would continue to benefit them so no real attempt to hide the differences between the two leaders but no sign that they can come to some form of compromise over their well polarizing political views the new french president appointed his new prime minister before boarding a plane to come here lynn if you thought boarding the plane was going to be the easiest part of his day but he was in for a bit of a shock the plane was then hit by light. ning apparently on its way here and was forced to return to paris where the key got off got on a new plane and made his way here arriving safely if not a little late for this important meeting between the two leaders of the two biggest economies in europe the two leaders that are going to be crucial if the eurozone problems are going to be sorted out. greece has been left in political limbo which could see its exit out of the currency union athens is now preparing for a new election after all attempts to form a government failed what than teil starting parties rejecting a coalition that enforces more cuts

a caretaker government will be appointed in the meantime economic analysts next great to see believes a potential greek exit would shake up the eurozone i think that they are already contingency plans beginning in the eurozone for a great gigs and of course this isn't it is easy as some might have you know because they would be tremendous contagion through the other periphery countries so it would really shake up the eurozone completely and also the cost of greece exiting the euro and being bankrupt is more than about three hundred billion because it's not just what the government owes it's also what the greek banks oh i don't want the greek central bank goes the e.c.b. you have to understand that in europe at the moment there is a bit of a dichotomy they don't want to give into greece completely because then they will have everybody else lining up as well but on the other hand they don't want to send the message that we will have members of the eurozone loose and that the eurozone

could dissolve a trinkaus overnight if you ask most greeks about the bailout cash they're very happy to take it if you ask them whether they would rather be a leader with an eighty percent will say yes if you ask them about the austerity of course they say no i think that they maybe some ways that the memorandum can be renegotiated to take away the worst of the us there eat the cape some of the supply side reforms and for greece to be able to stay within the european union in that way but of course political leaders have to come clean with the population. while penny pinching after it's in the u.k. are putting the public at risk and less than the claim of critics who say drastic cuts to policing will leave people exposed after bennett has the details of protest policing itself. it is a rare sight especially one this big that's because these protesters are the police thirty five thousand officers from across england and wales demonstrating against government cuts they call criminal never before so many bodies on one beat the

problem is never again these black caps represent the number of police officers who lose their jobs in the carts sixteen fouls and over the next four years cuts they say that could seriously threaten public safety it will have an impact on the public safety not just that perception of the police it is people will see if you will this is on the street and at the end of the day people see police the police help is on the street they feel safe bitingly presence and that's just not going to happen egypt it was known as the baxter police force in the wilderness and with these kids it's simply it will continue like that the police will be hit hard by government desperate to get more for less over five thousand officers have already been booted off frontline policing in the past year alone police pay and pensions will also be slashed in a sweeping twenty percent cuts the thin blue lines about to get much thinner we

will be able to provide a service that's efficient it is a moment to raise all feels. like almost it is considered to be able to provide that service for them as a. direct miss others will say to yourself it's not just police probation officers are up for the chopper to the government wants to replace them with machines expected to look like this removing yet another barrier protecting the public they're supposed to stop criminals re offending with nothing but a series of yes no questions they'll be trialed first in parts of london but without a lie detector these machines aren't exactly the spanish inquisition nonsense to suggest that. the machine could do the job you think there's a real likelihood and the public protection in britain because if these machines are rolled up nationally. even if you to behave you will be missed and those people

will go on to commit serious crimes against the public the government insists the machines to cut costs stating this is a misrepresentation the london probation trust is investigating a range of the normative approaches to law professionals to cut bureaucracy and spend their time more effectively with the offenders the supervised public protection will always be our priority not according to those charged with their role it's been four years since police officers last marched on three london the next time sure to be sooner than that if the government continues its squeeze on the bennett london coming up in a few minutes lessons of hate. history clashes on different sides of the israeli palestinian border serve as a source of conflict from a tender age although one school begs to differ. and syria's tourism industry is dealt a major blow by the revolt with businesses on the verge of bankruptcy while their

head full of foreigners have managed to avoid the conflict. former bosnian serb general article mullard it stands trial at the international tribunal he's charged with genocide during the yugoslavia war in the one nine hundred ninety s. among his alleged crimes are the massacre in the town of sort of that in itself where eight thousand muslims were slaughtered and the deaths of over ten thousand civilians during the siege of sarajevo sixty nine year old law which was arrested by serb forces near belgrade last year as defense lawyers had asked for the trial to be postponed saying the prosecution had failed to provide evidence on time they also accuse the judge of bias is still viewed as a. national hero by some serbs and another them interview to archie his son the article mother told us why. i am proud of his role in the war not because i think that he's guilty of anything but because i know that

he was doing his job to support and primarily objective all. our society was to protect our people from. being exposed to genocide and again. i think that the only point of supporting my father and hers is meeting the starving people this isn't for me is a. terrible attack on the truth because. defending ourselves from being exposed to genocide and my father has succeeded in this task and i'm proud of. the role he's in in the war. and you can see the full exclusive interview with that article mother just son and just one hour here on r.t. . the clashes between israeli forces and palestinian demonstrators erupted during

the annual knockabout day march in the west bank it's a rally to mark the one thousand nine hundred forty eight displacement of hundreds of thousands of palestinians but while adults remember history children on different sides of the border are taught different versions of it as policy player reports but in the own city the israeli palestinian puzzle might lie in these pages we arab and jewish children who never meet in person get to know each other only through the written would usually they're not named they're called arabs or israelis arabs which is a racist label and then they're represented is their primitive farmers i know my it's also always with the fia with a camel and with some kind of ali baba dress that nobody really wear. in racist caricatures. and of course as terrorist but it's not much better in the palestinian textbooks the stereotypes here also pretty alarming the israeli jews. are

invaders from europe they have nothing to do with this land and they are basically criminals and therefore they are educated for a long term war against them much of the problem stems from the fact that in israel jews and arabs go to different schools they study a different curriculum and sit different exams what's more because jewish schools are generally better funded the standard of education is higher but here is one school trying to get it right it is part of a system for peace village with an equal number of both jewish and arab learn is a sign from being an example of how both sides can learn together the most important lesson going toward here is understanding each other it's the first school of its kind in the country and receives no funding from the government in every classroom is an israeli and palestinian teacher and every listen is taught in both hebrew and arabic some terms of to ensure they be according to what is going.

there is. some. of the warning. so they are coming from home was kind of. in there talking about in a particularly difficult place and these teachers are preparing for israel's independence day because while for israelis it's a national holiday for palestinians and it's a catastrophe and when the two teachers are standing for the children the children are tense in their sometimes. they just it's like i'm here and i'm not here we assure them it's ok to speak about it it's not something this is history in we're supposed to speak about what happened and look for the future together but the challenge is being underscored use this israeli takes books which it has translated into arabic there are six and they talk about

a so-called palestinian demographic nightmare and there are methods that ignore each other's existence what these books do especially history books they teach the children not to story discourse this is not the discourse of historians they teach them to hit this course of politicians and generals. and so until a different story is written and taught the lessons most israelis and palestinian children taken to the future for disney short of a real education for peace policy r t the true. concern is rising in beijing over washington's or ramping up of its military presence near china's borders one of the most modern u.s. navy attack submarines has docked on a philippine port close to the disputed territory where philippine and chinese ships are locked in a standoff to discuss the situation i'm now joined by peter simmons from the world socialist web site thank you for joining us mr simmons now china has clashed with

the philippines on a number of occasions in the south china sea it is an area that is believed to be rich in oil and gas to me why is america poking its nose in affairs where it doesn't belong. well certainly as you sorry yours ritu oil and gas american corporations as well as other corporations that are suited to explore and i think will fundamentally. the south china sea is a very strategic area. between two to three worlds hard was true and you were sensitive to mine time it's dominant role here. now the u.s. says it's a routine ship to replenish met but the chinese press has repeatedly accused the u.s. of disturbing still waters in asia by bolstering its presence there what's your take on all of this. well i think you've got to place it in perspective. i think the actions of the u.s. in the south china sea a part of a broader what is known as a pivotal or

a shift to wiser which is taking place over the last two years under your bomber ministration. and you know those been a constant ratcheting up of pressure on china right from north to studies or through the south china sea through to burma and to two of the surgeons. in two thousand and ten. the point us secretary of state hillary clinton made a particularly provocative statement in real life shoot to try in the city shoot it clear that it was in. the u.s. national interest to mine time creative navigation through those waters and of course that means freedom of navigation for its nuclear submarines for its aircraft carriers and what i view i want to talk a little bit about this submarine and the fact that it is a state of the art killing machine tell me is there any early message that's being

sent out here and to whom exactly. well i think the your suit is basically asserting it's its. military position in the in the south china sea i think this is only one of a number of different visits and what have you that are tie complies not just to the philip plains but also to the us now to the japan right up and down the coastline of charm and the message is obviously diluted to china. to the u.s. nine times its military presence. yeah and quite a good one. but where you lose the lightest is on the most sophisticated. and the. one time to see this is my voyage into to this very sensitive area now peter i want to get this last question even though we are running short on time with bases already in japan and

south korea troops in australia and joint military exercises in the region china is looking increasingly surrounded by washington do you think that the u.s. is seeking to provoke china purpose. well i think it's as i said i think it's part of the obama administration's. and that has. a strategic. character to it. the u.s. is money time since world war two so the pacific is an american ally and it's seeking to mine time its presence there it also has an economic component to it that seeking to put pressure on china to my major concessions in that sphere as well. you know knocking. ministration was that was part of the us to use ratcheting up its approach. in this region peter simmons from the world socialist web site thank you for your time thank you very

much all right r.t. dot com has a lot more stories for you to explore its claim to police in the u.s. are unsparing some a legal resources on occupy protesters. activists say they've been given drugs by police in the state of minnesota in exchange for information as authorities order an investigation. and are waging a man set himself on fire in oslo outside the court where a mass killer on that's but i have it is currently on trial the badly injured man was taken to the hospital you can read more about that story at r.t. dot. police have cleared an oppositional protest camp in the center of moscow which had been in existence for more than a week on tuesday in moscow court order of the activist to site but many refused police orders to disperse some twenty people were detained most of them have now been released a group of about thirty people have moved to

a different part of the russian capital looking for a new place to demonstrate activists arrange sit in protests after president vladimir putin's inauguration angry at his return to power. twenty minutes past the hour and for years syria was able to capitalize on its rich history and ancient cities to build a thriving tourist industry but after months of conflict this vital source of income has all but dried up and as archie's accent avoider reports many in the country feel robbed by the revolution. he wanted to see the world but became a touring sensation himself martin at twenty eight year old boss driver from germany was on a year long by journey when he entered syria about two weeks ago and aware of the clashes he wrote all the way to homs and even managed to take pictures of it then to homs seven to hama but who it only has a point but they even let me into the city center. it was quite

a strange feeling you know nobody was in the world you could see what happened before but never a few dangerous new dangers from isis martin barely knows a few phrases in arabic but he's open smile and boyish curiosity allowed him to connect with the locals even those whose job presupposes some suspicion of foreign there's. a point to it because sometimes he bought us a customs officer like. such a bitch even if he got out there it was it was never so much makes us station a lot of stuff as a bonus while his home country of germany has kept a fairly low profile in the diplomatic spat over the fate of syria he says as he often hears locals complain about the western meddling in serious internal affairs i think the problem is that new is trying to tell you sometimes i'm singing and you believe it but the news hour board to tell you different stories in the news inside

of the country so i always thought it's just a problem that inside of syria but now many syrian people came here the problems are coming out from the outside of the country or home this interest like martin would be very welcome guests in syria these days but there are very few and far between the countries tourism industry was devastated by the revolution but the number of visitors slumping by more than ninety percent in a lap of the country's largest city and home to countless you know ask a heritage sites. the ten percent occupancy rate is now considered as joke of lock you know this is one of the sixty five rooms you are talking about out of the sixty five how many in the uk but not more than five rooms and it's not just about lost profit in aleppo which some claim is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement on our tourism has helped feed vital landmarks such as remy martini's boutique

hotel which gave a new lease of lives to the four centuries old building especially if. you spend a lot every year to keep such buildings alive from my experience i can tell you that about seven to ten percent of my whole income i spend it on maintenance rimini team is not shy in criticizing the assad government for the slow pace of economic reforms yet he believes that's no reason to bring the whole country to the point of self-destruction nobody could imagine that could. get to such situation like now at the beginning everybody was looking for freedom but afterwards when it comes to clashes and fire and killing and killing for nothing just only that you're with the government or against the government and kidnapping people really we are sorry for syria to come like this what's made

things even worse is that two thousand and ten the last year before the syrian uprising was the most successful on record for serious tourism industry revenues jump by sixty percent prompting many to take out investment loans they're no longer able to repay no wonder many now feel bankrupted by their revolution in times of crisis tourism is always the first to fall and the last to recover and sarah learned the hard way what's ironic is that in order to rise from the ashes this country desperately needs visitors from the same nations that contributed to the current crisis actually work our sea syria. demeter's here with the business news and to me terry it seems russian currency is under pressure today what's going on well it is indeed losing more than one percent versus the by currency bulk of the dollar and the euro will get to in just a second but anyway the main reason is what's going on the political situation in

greece as a deadlock there's the inability to form a coalition government and there's a chance that the there will have to be a new election this is all very much slowing down the whole process of solving the companies the country's debt crisis and of course there is a risk that the country would go out of the euro zone therefore the russian markets are falling around one and a half to two percent at this hour in europe what we're seeing is a pretty similar picture the footsie and the dax are also declining one percent no optimism today about positive data from germany indicating that the eurozone is not falling into a recession and basically in commodities market we are seeing pretty much the same picture again dropping to a six month a low one and a half dollars per barrel losing value before brant and for light sweet crude and this is of course on the concerns about the state of global demand well devil because the commodity market is falling so much we're seeing the ruble in the under

pressure in the current seas markets it's losing thirty eight copecks to the dollar and twenty four copecks around half a percent to the euro whereas the euro is losing massively to the dollar because investors are moving out into the greenback and is kind of considered as a safe haven well to get some insights into what is going on on the currency market let's now talk to steve gave fishpole the head of trying to see trading had. thank you so much for being with us so in your opinion what is the main reason for the ruble to be under such pressure today. hello i think that the man the reason the is there risk of a russian said. the man told the war of the world and the dollar is rising on all the markets and the ruble he is on the hook for this sentiment too so we see the oil prices going lower and after that they call it is met

many participants would have short position in the you in the. dollar and your against ruble so we see. the closing of these positions and we see some. capital outflow from from russia and the key ghosts of the us. will we can see that from the beginning of the year that our pool morris of about forty five billion dollars it's going to be a guard and the speaker would have put the power but you float rights again do you think there's a there's a further downside risk for the ruble do you think it will be could continue to drop because what we saw in two thousand and nine is banks speculating against the ruble selling and moving into other currencies do you think that could happen. i

was sorry to hear in those history it so i apologize and i'll resign the lesson again do you think the ruble is facing further downside risks could if we lose a mole of value against the by currency basket. and is sorry you mean how much trouble can for us for exactly the point oh ok ok we see that it could be. against all around two thirty one point. and two we don't think that it will waken the law against europe because europe is wakening too so we think that my maybe a few pics from these foreign to the way our trade in about thirty one feet or. and then of exporter side think will decrease of the sales of all of. the dollar all right says again. head of currency trading at the crazy thank you so much i'm sorry we're running out of time here thank you so much that day thank you

and indeed we're running out of time the headlines are next on r.t. . all right stay tuned for those headlines thank you dmitri have joined us hans assigns us talk show coming up stay with us.