the fate of a foreign journalist kidnapped by. more u.s. troops. into asia. it is a pleasure to have you with us here today. live in moscow there has been no word about

the fate of the ukrainian journalist being held hostage in syria after a deadline for her execution set by rebels on thursday. who's assisted along with other media outlets during the syrian conflict was abducted by insurgents now two months ago they threatened to kill her if a fifty million dollars ransom was paid the story. correspondent. well the deadline has passed with no word as to whether or not she's dead or alive she was reportedly kidnapped by the free syrian army and held for ransom of fifty million u.s. dollars she was taken hostage nearly two months ago and since then has appeared in two separate videos in the first she appeals to the ukrainian government to pay the ransom money and state her free in a second which many believe was made under way as she admits to being a spy for the point needs to be made that just about everyone believes that this

video was made under extreme pressure and belts the object of mists of what she was saying now reporters without borders amnesty international and a number of other nongovernmental organizations have called on the free syrian army as well as the syrian national coalition they've demanded that they immediately secure her release saying that this is the first taste of the newly widely recognized government at the same time the same rebels in egypt. have posted a video in which they have said that no russian no ukrainian and no will leave syria alive so there is deep concern as to her fate not his policy of reporting right now dr ali mohamed out from the syria tribune online magazine he fears that foreign nations which back the rebels will do little to pressure them to release the german just. the words on its list of. american

citizens in particular involved here in murphy to. the north of course he is going to be sure to put some pressure release the hostages unfortunately the worst the very country is. going to look for to be a very general good sort of thing there were months ago for the offer of really do we really enjoyed this to support from from the information of every across the. watching r.t. russia says the recent recognition of the syrian opposition by the u.s. and its allies is only fueling the conflict in syria moscow also reiterated its position that political dialogue is the only solution to the call for more on this now. joins us live here on the program going to say you've got this been certainly growing speculation that moscow could be changing its attitude towards the conflict or any truth to that. well that's right for the past twenty four hours international media has been buzzing with speculation that russia changed its

position on the conflict in syria well now there's been an official announcement from the foreign ministry which basically says russia's stance on the issue is still the same and still does not support any side of the conflict it does not plan to shoulder with president assad although the situation in syria is deteriorating and russia is looking at the possibility of a vacuum getting russian citizens out of there the foreign ministry has stressed once again that there could be only one solution to the conflict which is a diplomatic one without any foreign military intervention it should be based on the principles in geneva which basically call on both sides to immediately and simultaneously put their weapons down start up a little process and for the international community to apply equal pressure on them to do so now all this speculation in the media began after on thursday one of the foreign ministry senior officials was misinterpreted when he quoted the syrian

syrian opposition which said that president assad was losing control over the country on friday we were actually already heard from one of the leaders of the syrian opposition who also said that they don't see any implications that moscow's stance on the issue changed all right. thank you. now america is deploying its troops close to the syrian border four hundred soldiers have been sent to turkey to operate through. patriot missiles to protect ankara from potential syrian attacks up with a range of nato's missiles extended deep into serious territory online we've got more on how the deployment may change the balance of power in the region.

thanks for joining us here on our to today london has managed to keep economic decision making power in the e.u. after the blocks leaders agreed the european central bank should become the main supervisor for all the banks in the eurozone britain which sticks to its own currency had feared moving to a banking union could make it financially powerless stephen wolf from the u.k. independence party says the deal won't bring any benefits to his country but there is a certain code of politicians and advisors in this country who are petrified the no longer going to be at the central table of europe enjoying the late night events in the flash cars and the hotels that they get the decision making the real buzz of being but there are those like me actually party that believes that being outside of of this particular trip would actually influence great great britain's influence

would actually rise and we'd be able to trade more easily with the rest of the world because we're freed of these regulations. now thousands of people have marched through the spanish capital with the christmas spirit failing to quell anti austerity sentiment this time the show of discontent was directed towards education cuts the spanish government remains committed to its strategy of all staring as it is desperate to avoid the bailout fate of other european nations like greece portugal and ireland the country is nearly one hundred and fifty billion euros in debt. the u.k. government has given the green light to the resumption of the controversial gas drilling technique known as fracking but the methods heavily criticized first destructive environmental impact including causing massive water pollution and even earthquakes so the story now to answer is party boy. driller is the only company with a license to conduct fracking in the u.k.

but that's all set to change now that the government has given its blessing for the controversial method of extracting shale gas from underground already operates several wells here in lancashire but the device of technology was temporarily banned last year and with good reason to the fracking taking place here to minor earthquake says. it was terrifying i'll be honest with our local and he's doing very little he said i don't know a lot about it well he should know a lot about it you're going. to lie shareholders pockets this is not going to benefit and it will be a legacy toxic legacy for our children hundreds of miles away in london the capital's outspoken mayor calls shell gas the answer to the nation's prayers and the reserves in lancashire america but for residents here in this trying to quell corner of england it's a blight on the otherwise peaceful community and the prospect of more fracking

sweeping the countryside is frightening but i keep talking about it being in line people aren't aware of those reserves all the way down i think at the moment it's all about gasp and how much better off will be but. the technology may raise fares but the promise of riches from the rush for shale gas has set politicians pulses racing despite mounting opposition which has spread beyond lancashire show gas extraction using hydraulic fracturing certainly is a high risk activity which has many benefits for foreign investors or very little for the people of britain for dirty energy. pollutes groundwater. it is a short and not very intelligent solution to energy problems we're going to get money out of our great grandparents and bring corrupt governments were doing

anything for money i think it's just sort of resource money they can just get the money so this is not really for the country's best interest to do that way brussels isn't convinced either the european parliament is reportedly considering regulating the parting shale gas industry concerned that britain doesn't know what it's doing by throwing itself wholeheartedly into the controversial practice of the minute we are not self-sufficient in gas and haven't been for a very long time we were but in actual fact we import about half of gas now we see that in the us gas prices are a quarter of what they were i want your truck this suit to output this suit print is much less so there are many reasons why she'll gas if it comes. will be attractive in terms of purity of life and also probably in terms of price stability and that's what's drowning out the warnings bringing down people's energy bills

means politicians and big business can press ahead even though those living in the shadow of fracking facilities know that the government is playing fire. see. of course always are much more news to catch up on online including like a millionaire the former c.e.o. of the world's largest nickel producer breaks all records here in russia with an unprecedented payout on leaving his job. also online for you footage from the scene of a building collapse in southern russia which killed at least five people and injured over it. the u.s. is ready to expand its military presence in asia reportedly drafting a deal to rotate even more troops though through the philippines but some experts have warned that washington's apparent attempt to grab influence away from china in the region is a dangerous high stakes game. america does like to miss around with

china and try to stand up. taking sides in this dispute which between china and its neighbors it's really not because it cares one way or the other for the philippines or mrs clinton has called the south china sea the west philippine sea that's a very strategic part of the walt a lot of shipping through that area and. when there are so many players involved you cannot control them all and if one goes off then really it would be very hard to control the situation bring it under control. are there still ahead for you in the program here on our new tools with the wrong could soon be back on track to run at the u.n. atomic agency both craze a recent visit by inspectors by the team once again being from accessing a suspicious ministry site. plus the going to shock officially diminish the level of love you can show your pads for the new and aleksey that just lation upsets the

country's one hundred thousand open zoo files that are now the stores which will. the san bernardino california police force left to shrink by eighty officers this year to cover their budget deficit during a local meeting the chief of police laid out the city's problems the sea is facing waves of gang violence theft and drug trafficking but with all the prisons completely overcrowded many of these criminals go right back on to the street and there's just nobody to put more police out there to fight them the police chief really only had one solution offer a given situation go home lock your doors and load your gun and you know what actually that's not that bad of a proposition america's always been

a country where people been expected to look out for themselves and i appreciate the police chief's honesty but i know the world we live in and i have a feeling that the second some homeowner shoots a guy who jumps over his fence at night that homeowners going to go to jail for life you can't expect that a nineteenth century attitude towards crime will be able to work in a twenty first century world where rapists can sue you because they slipped on your slippery kitchen floor if you want people to be able to defend themselves that's great but you have to allow them the legal liberty to do so or else the criminals will just take over but that's just my opinion. issue is that so much. to both divide the sunni shia conflict rages across the middle east and beyond is this securing division being used.

or at a four fifteen pm here in the russian capital this is are finally there are signs of progress in talks between iran and the un atomic agency of course this after months of standstill a recent mission says heroin has given rise to expectations that inspectors could be allowed access to iran's nuclear program next year at the un team of experts said they were happy with their visit despite a failure to get access to the parchin military base which is suspected of

previously housing nuclear activities by the us however is stiffening sanctions against iran and america's ally israel has warned it could strike iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail but a former top iranian diplomat in interview with r.t. said israel is exploiting the issue to justify its own weapons program now a preview of what's coming up later today. even today israel is the are always using the wrong issue. to war justifying the nuclear bomb saying iran is existential threat for easily but the fact is israel is that israel produced nuclear bomb before islamic revolution because of iran's nuclear where the shah of iran was that i live easily the same is true israeli nuclear bomb has nothing to do with iraq because it was massed produced before of

evolution now they are using islamic revolution in order to justify which i would not be so human. this is artsy a british inquest review looking at the death of former russian intelligence officer alexander litvinenko is already uncovering new details it's now being revealed that litvinenko was on the payroll of both the u.k. and spanish secret services when he was poisoned six years ago a court in london also hold evidence apparently implicating the russian state in his murder more on this now from marty's laura's. this is not just about the sort of salacious details of spying on the world there is there are wider implications to this and of course there has been the major stumbling block in the u.k. russian relations for the last six years since it happened and it comes up every time there's any kind of problem in the relationship between russia and the u.k.

and of course the main problem at the moment is syria and how much involvement the international community could have in syria we hearing that the inquest lawyer has said that the u.k. government has material evidence that the russian state is guilty but interesting really under the law the english courts can't pass judgment on the lawfulness of the behavior of another state so that's an interesting point which i'm sure will come up again when the inquest is held but of course we've seen no details of this evidence which is interesting lead u.k. government has kept its evidence very close to its chest meanwhile there is convincing evidence on the other side of course. the u.k. police's main suspect. because poisoning he recently passed a lie detector test administered by british experts in which he was specifically asked whether he has had any involvement in his death he said no the lie detector test was passed by him also because only father told r t that he didn't

suspect the kremlin or andrey lugovoy of having any involvement in his son's murder this inquest we're expecting it to take place next year and it's an inquest in which there will be huge media attention from all over the world. why straight into the artsy world update now starting with the british government which will pay over two million pounds compensation to the family of a prominent libyan dissident he claimed secret services played a key role in his kidnapping in hong kong and forcible transfer to tripoli where he was tortured by the khadafi regime in two thousand and ten the u.k. also paid millions to a number of guantanamo bay inmates to avoid a potentially embarrassing investigation after being accused london of having a cozy relationship with the thought regime's. dozens of bolivian a prison inmates buried themselves neck deep in the ground and use their own blood to write protest science and happy with the low rate of their income and the

government put daily payments of less than a dollar on hold for this year. now germany is getting tough on heavy petting parliament passed a new anti beast the law banning inter species relationships and that apparently has upset thousands of german zoo files who say the loves of their lives will be taken away or he's put all of our has more on this beastly story. no no man's best friend and sometimes more than. i need an animal to be happy life i did not have it there would be something missing. levels only. that i can fall in love with your animal in the sexual relationship is not out of the question it's about these people make up some of the estimated one hundred thousand zero files in germany and i will have started slowly

more like child's play some kids playing doctor with each other and it's not necessarily sexual but somewhat small experimentation that leads you further down that path. technically it has been illegal since the killer trees animal welfare laws were relaxed in one nine hundred sixty nine. where sex with animals was dropped from the start should books. it is led to a boom in the practice and the proliferation of websites and even brothels devoted to it after new laws approved this week come into force the practice will again be considered illegal this group claim there will be a witch hunt when it comes into force. the way this law is written means that all you need is a rumor or accusation for the agency to get involved in take your pet away it also affects not just those who practice best where for example an animal has certain issues and all you need is a suggestion that this could have happened for sex and you got into an accusation

spiral that reminds you of very dark times in german history with these you affiliate campaigners say that here in the german parliament there legislating against morality however the law makers themselves say that it's only the welfare of the animals that they care about. we're not polishing morality but we're improving animal protection laws we would like to specify that it's forbidden to call sometimes for a sexual relationship with the line is when you cause suffering to an animal for your personal sexual gratification. denmark sweden and belgium currently the only e.u. states with a filial law that leaves the prospect that these countries could become a destination for a zoo a fairly tourism german animal rights activists hope the move by the bomb the stark will become a europe wide band yeah yes we would support

a european wide band and be fairly t. where stand behind other nations and we need to catch up. just outside of berlin as one of the largest animal shelters in europe consent is a major issue while those involved in animal welfare say must be addressed as dogs are loyal even when they're abused they're still going to look as if they're. head weak especially when it gets enough to eat ducks will be happy whatever you dictate but there is not a sign that the dog is enjoying it wouldn't those in relationships with our littles though a confident that their love is legitimate in fear for the future. they fantasize about castrating we are taking my animals away our friend has found a razor blade in this post with a note do it yourself so we don't have to work where is don't arrive too often but they arrive every now and then in the subway someone was yelling at me calling me

names i'm concerned that attacks could become physical. these are all over our charity. right across talking a few minutes a pit of hell hope you can stay with us. i never thought i could earn a living this way. natale issue of oil is a norm or should just small arms so there's a lot almost machine building ploy and not obvious sourced count of all the weapons she's fired over the past twelve years. i got so used to it sometimes my friends ask me to join them at the rifle range and i say no way i'm so tired of shooting. the planet's history goes from making firearms during world war two to ballistic

missiles from nuclear submarines during the cold war the bulk of the soviet industry was moved here in the 1940's to flee the advancing germans so if you were also became the heart of soviet military production closed off to foreigners for half a century it thrived on the massive needs of the soviet military when the u.s.s.r. collapsed but life here was shaken to the core but some adapted to better than others. this is the year old truck factory bush's number one truck maker or gravel look at how well the workplace is organized everything's done to make sure the workers don't waste time waiting there was production is booming the factory has largely managed to get on to civil rails these giants are sold around the globe here but it's a brand new beef now wait for it to be delivered to acquire seventy trucks like this once roll up the bronx conveyor belt every day slogan about this things that

absolutely huge. well i'm no formula one pilot but hopefully if i can get up that. i can go far to try. if. i was to get one of these to travel to work every morning let the cost of about forty thousand dollars i should start saving money. in. a low and welcome to crossfire computer all about a house divided against itself the sunni shia conflict rages across the arab middle east and beyond is this sectarian division being used to topple regimes and redraw

the map of the region and is the sunni shia conflict politicized by outside powers . to. cross talk to sunni shia divide i'm joined by joshua landis a norman he is director of the center for middle east studies and associate professor of middle eastern studies at the university of oklahoma in dubai we have moved to jabber he is an expert with the center for middle east studies and public relations and in washington we cross to our resident nader he is a senior international policy analyst at the rand corporation right gentlemen cross-talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want josh if i can go to you with the security and difference here between the sunni and the shia have been around as long as islam itself virtually but how is it different in the arab spring and what events being played out in the region and we can't forget about iran. well it's become very politicized ever since the iranian

revolution one nine hundred seventy nine america was boozed was kicked out of iran and went to saudi arabia to build up its major center of power and to keep its hands on gulf oil saudi arabia has become the armored base of the united states and increasingly the u.s. has has sided with the seventies now that the other big factor was going into iraq when the united states actually sided with the shiites thinking that they would be more arab than shiite but today by putting the shiites in the top in iraq iraq has moved on the side of iran creating the shiite crescent iran iraq the syrian government under our side which is shaky and hizbullah in lebanon and that alliance is the united states is hoping to bring it down and wants regime change in syria and iran and wants to get rid of his model so it has politicized to a large extent a sunni shiite struggle with saudi arabia and turkey being the two pillars that

increasingly egypt the pillars of a sunni arab world against against increasingly iran and iraq ok move it what do you think about that and is it a good strategy is it going to work. well no it's not going to work because you don't from this equation they're making a lot of problems for themselves precisely because israel. previously was much more willing to compromise with the americans than he is no so no this strategy by the you was continuing to alienate the shiites in the middle east which was one of the main policies of the of the bush administration and this policy of anything the shiites in the middle east does effectively lead to a sort of the good guys ation of the shiites in iraq. he was to a certain extent.