we are being treated as. we are the grease used to love ricky syrian blood. for in your heart is getting increasingly involved in the syrian conflict where the opposition pledges to continue fighting and a rejection of president assad's peace plan. a war words between britain and tina but it could turn into a real war the u.k. prime minister says he's ready to fight to keep control over the falkland islands. and marking orthodox christmas in russia and around the world as people packed into churches and cathedrals for special celebration.

this is coming to life from moscow hello and welcome to the program the seaward opposition on the western leaders have rejected a peace plan proposed by president assad and instead they are again demanding that hey should go in a rare t.v. address bashar al assad offered a national dialogue and institutional referendum to end the nearly two years civil conflict but he pledged to continue fighting what he called terrorist violence and urged for nations to stop funding his enemies are sad speech was punctuated with cheering from his supporters but his opponents dismiss that dress as hypocritical and political analyst marcos papadopoulos believes there are elements within the syrian opposition that will continue fighting despite any peace proposals. very

important to make this clear in particular for western audiences who are unfortunately not fed the full picture and it comes to syria the free syrian army is a lethal cocktail or various groups including many islamist groups and many groups linked to al qaida and the free free syrian army is of course backed by certain countries in the west and certain countries in the region and the free syrian army has been responsible for. terrorist attacks in the last couple of years in syria but ultimately it's got to be america turkey saudi arabia qatar they've got to stop supporting the militants people who are ideologically speaking the same people who brought about the terrible attacks in new york washington london madrid and bali so questions have arisen even in western nations supporting the rebels as to exactly fighting in the syrian conflict asking is a reader going to go now takes a closer look at how the standoff is involving forces outside syria. she keeps

her son's room exactly the way through left at last spring his clothes and art supplies are the only reminders she has of twenty one year old son a middle aged sami told his mother he was going to a conference in libya he wouldn't stay more than one week to ten days he went in for the whole week that he stayed there he called home every day he called in the twenty second of march and said he's coming back to tunisia but never arrived at the beginning of april i got a skype call telling me my son was captured on the border as he was crossing from turkey to syria in a group of fighters. further proof came with a syrian t.v. report in which sami was featured among the captured rebel fighters he talked about coming from tunisia to fight for the syrian people still explanation wasn't enough to ease the minds of his parents if anything it made matters worse these simply can't understand how intimidating man transformed into

a jihadist noticing what they do have seen this. a year ago certainly began praying and i was very happy because i'm a muslim and i thought it was a good thing. maybe after that he started going to a mosque and heard something that made him go off to syria. official reports claim some four hundred out of the five thousand mosques controlled by radical islamists who call on their followers to take part in jihad in foreign countries the exact number of tunisians fighting in syria or libya or rock is not known but the families and friends of those who went off to fight in a foreign land are saying that even one death is already one too many especially for those who are fighting a foreign leader in a different country the government says that they're watching the situation closely but relatives of those who have died are not convinced they believe that the government's silence is as good as

a green light for the impressionable youngsters. i would like that although it's known that for the last ten years most terrorist groups have two known as humans in their midst some a judge in belgium and others have been killed in afghanistan but we know that a great number of civilians have gone to syria recently and it's likely that the government was encouraging them to go by being silent about it. know about these things but don't say anything these fighters went to libya then they went to syria by way of turkey we're talking about more than one hundred tunisians already killed in the fighting in syria. the statement is supported by united nations going to the senators this report published in the. morning of an increasing number of fighters pouring into syria investigator said people from at least twenty nine different countries are fighting alongside syrian rebels most of them are sunni's hailing from neighboring countries but some have come to syria from this far away as

america and europe they get called in for supposedly higher purpose but once they're on the ground the situation proves far more mundane. it's impossible for any arab combat them fighting in syria to be treated whoever gets injured dies i dare them to worry me a single arab and injured and treated in the field hospital we are being treated as cannon fodder we are the grease used to syrian blood for them a city got to see despite his warnings many young men in tunisia still choose to go abroad to battle infidels in the name of allah they don't go school r.t. in tunisia. tina has told the british prime minister to make jobs not war in a robust response to his comments about the before clinton islands david cameron said the u.k. military is ready to fight for the disputed territory sparking concerns that could be a repeat of the armed conflict between the two nations a thirty years ago a staff of has more for us. here with asked this question in an interview whether

britain would fight to keep the falkland islands and prime minister david cameron saying of course we would say he made his position there extremely clear if an attempt was made by argentina to retake the falkland islands that military treats would be the fly by birth and so absolutely very clear on that very strong rhetoric coming from the prime minister over that issue this comes on the back of argentina is the president really making these accusations that the falkland islands were stolen from argentina by britain i think she called it a nineteenth century colonialism and i think some concern for people here today that you know this is something that is very much focused on in the course of the interview this is some of the strongest statements over the course that ceviche are doing a little bit some of the other very important issues that are happening on a national level at the moment here in the country we've got rate cuts to travel that they're coming in this week it's cheese day that i'll go to the house of

commons so as a very important issues here at home at the moment of course a lot of people say we're talking about fighting a war somewhere else when it when actually was fighting our own battles here in the country on the remote screen nearly thirty years since we saw the end of the focus war it definitely has a very strong resonance with people here in britain that we seeing this this old me kick off again as i said if our very strong comments from the president in argentina is also of course come in much more recent argument again because it's been discovered that there are large oil reserves of course i think that's really going to play a big part in seeing this contest over the islands the tween britain and argentina really heating up again it doesn't look like it's going away. as david cameron's popularity at home is true or playing some analysts say the renewed debate over the falkland islands could be used to distract attention away from issues the government is failing to address. but david cameron it's

a great issue that it's come up again because the economy here is in dire straits in britain austerity is really biting people are very unhappy with what he's doing and so i think that they are and it's very much hope that this was about will so the greenback the memories of nine hundred eighty two and the people's attentions here from the very are popular things that he's doing at home but this issue to come up now is very timely because the government is well down of the opinion polls the government is really unpopular i can't recall it becoming so on populous so quickly and so i think that he will want to keep this in the news headlines species why he's reacted in such a sort of strong way. this is still ahead for us not only enemy fire taking its toll on the u.s. troops but also mourning with the misery of war forcing more and more american soldiers to say that a lives. finance has once again spread through the northern irish capital as

hundreds of probe british loyalists clashed with police over the removal of the u.k. fly more that's later in the program. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations. little.

league. little. i live. you keep location so. stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television well it just doesn't matter now with

your mobile device you can watch your t.v. anytime anywhere. government no longer represents the. people saying such or. the way or the. way.

it will change is good to have you with us egypt's muslim brotherhood is accused of illegally taking hundreds of millions of dollars from the u.s. government before even coming to power a group of egyptian lawyers has triggered an investigation also saying that the brotherhood funded a cell that sparked violence at protests and what yes a side to hamas has behind the complaint says that u.s. funding was all about preserving interests. which part of this money might have been beneficial for both would not be american side from support for the muslim brotherhood while they in turn promised to secure american interests in egypt namely a u.s. air force base in the province of. dealing with the brotherhood as

a political authority is permissible but funding it before it had even come to power is not we also believe that the brotherhood run cells tasked with provoking public unrest and violence not protests active member who quit the brotherhood spoke of such groups and carried out operations for the muslim brotherhood to benefit. the suicide rate in the us saw me has rocketed with the number of those taking their own lives now higher than those who perished and as always going to check on finds out while the government trumpets its military success stories they come at a high price for individuals so for the it's a night. oh another feel good moral boosting son of a us president has delivered many of those rockers trying to convince the american people that the war was worth it when you're missing a birthday or you're missing

a soccer game or or what you're missing out of verse three and those of us back home are able to enjoy it because you know she's when soldiers come back home they missed much more than that their own selves once you go into combat you know what you what you spent a year and an environment you're not seen first team kenny came back severely wounded from a tour in afghanistan two years ago having spent ten months in combat the vehicle on which he was a goner was blown up nine times when i got crushed by p.t.s.d. i mean. i was suicidal. but married with four kids and i just couldn't find a way to kill myself and some kind of accident that my family would have to suffer. was able to step back from the brink but many of his fellow servicemen were not so fortunate. more american soldiers committed suicide last year than were

killed in active service in afghanistan staggering statistics that's almost want to day when they were. i can't anymore. because they don't think america is back. to. normal society. officials in washington seem to be trying to present afghanistan as a success story while for those coming home it looks anything but that. they do put lipstick on a pig or cancer to speak they take real you're in pain. for the mainstream media in the us with their everything military their questioning of the cause of the war usually comes down to this sort of makes you the most proud about what you've done here a mindset is tested we perpetuated that the ends justify the means while those ends

are often identified in abstract terms like freedom and security what have we done we've gotten quite a bit i mean honestly the afghan people even from when i was a ploy and i reckon all three during the invasion you could see the iraqi people and the afghan people starting to do stuff on their own having more freedoms and stuff like that stuff like that also includes almost twenty thousand afghan civilian deaths and drug production which has gone through the roof since coalition troops have been in the country accounts like this never make it to mainstream airwaves neither do major u.s. news channels dwell on the subject of the afghans overwhelming desire to see american troops out of their country instead another success story on t.v. but there was another war the war on terror continues to go somewhere else would you still go without it without a doubt yes these are paintings by a soldier's mother who was petrified her son would be deployed he never was and she counter self lucky but the fear caught up with her and. these series of paintings

are reflections on those who were turned wounded physically or emotionally reflections that clash with the mindset that human suffering should be the price you have to pay for a cause in washington i'm going to check out a. movie star gerard may be considered a traitor by some in france after he fled his native country over time and took up russian citizenship and instead but many predicts that his only leaving were others will follow and that french policies may result in a mass migration of the super rich from the country and my colleague of our research show you spoke to sean thomas about what russia the world's second largest immigration country has to offer a new comer. let's look at the taxes and that's the question at hand right now if you look at russia at the current laws we have a flat tax rate here of thirteen percent in fact france and germany they both have complicated tax codes if you look at france forty one percent right now up to forty

one percent in germany up to forty five percent as opposed to russia's thirteen percent but if this new law comes into effect in france that. march for france goes up to seventy five percent of that when it comes to the global meltdown that we've been seeing for years particularly twenty twelve was not a good year for the eurozone or for much of the world indeed but somehow russia managed to avoid the global economic crisis and that is certainly the case in fact it is one of the brics countries which means it is one of the emerging markets in the world but if you look at what's been happening around europe in fact in the past year we've been seeing austerity protests we've been seeing people come into the streets who are looking for jobs and in fact the unemployment rate's if you look at greece twenty six percent if you look at the e.u. in general the average there are eleven percent if you look at the unemployment rate in russia only six point four percent the united nations that actually taken a moment to appraise russia's immigration policy is that what's what's that about well certainly if you look at the numbers the most recent numbers in fact show that

russia is the second most desirable country for immigrants to come to only second to the united states in fact in fact it can be a little bit confusing because people look at the numbers about moscow being one of the most expensive cities for ex-pats to live with that's for ex-pats and it is true things here it is a big city it can be expensive but if you look at average cost of food it's cheaper than the rest of europe much cheaper to live here for gas prices as well i think that the real reason people come here is that you get two christmases and you get two new year's. right now if you're planning on paying a visit to the pub make sure you get plenty of new says the beginning of the ca current showing vatican city where all credit card operations have been suspended. and to find out why it's called. the online food lovers across the world it seems you don't need to worry about losing weight any more you have the details on a new study which claims being overweight at least then like.

it's. hundreds of progress have clashed with police in the northern irish competition belfast over the weekend the riots are an escalation of a campaign against the state his decision to fly the u.k. plot only to designated occasions rather than all year round and jason walsh from the christian science monitor things there are deeper reasons for the rest than a flag being taken down but that's just traditionally throughout its history in a predominantly protestant unionists city and their latest census results show

that's not really the case any longer it's slightly less like a republican irish nationalists to a majority or we could look for the decision itself to fly the flag only on seventeen designated days a year taken on december third. reflects this change and that seems to be what's troubling loyalists rather than this luggage so because in fact flying the flag they simply didn't learn with all the british government and civic buildings. and now to some international news in brief this hour and the time by two suicide bombers have played at least five lives in southern afghanistan the taliban militants breached a government compound schaub the guard dead and then detonated their explosives they were reportedly targeting local officials it happened in kandahar province one of the most violent in the country and believed to be a smuggling corridor to pakistan. australian authorities have started its

search for up to one hundred people missing in areas hit by wildfires thousands more have been evacuated to safety winds and a very high temperatures nationwide have provided optimal conditions for bushfires to break out authorities warned that the extremely hot and dry weather is likely to continue throughout the week. security forces in the philippines have gone down thirteen suspected gang members who were trying to break through a highway checkpoint while firing at a guard at least three police personnel were among the gunmen that type thought to be a case where criminal syndicates pull bank robberies using security forces and corrupt politicians. now as christmas celebrations in western countries an hour over follows all the also looks church around the world this seventh of january marks the biggest day of celebration that includes many millions in russia and the country's main cathedral has been parked out to mark the occasion. and now reports

. here are the course to save you cathedral the main cathedral in the russian capital in churches and cathedrals both here across russia and in all three docks communities across the world it isn't fact christmas eve of the awful ox church in the in the crisis a new cathedral worshippers have popped in to take part in to listen to the liturgy chances and to feel the presence of of the spirit of christmas eve which is here celebrated on the sixth to the seventh of january not the twenty fifth of december because of the use of the julian calendar here but the all russian orthodox church rather than the gregorian calendar in other countries after the soviet union which is just over the end of the soviet union just over twenty years ago there was a a large gap in the number of believers after that long atheist period and even today most russians don't strictly observe the russian orthodox christmas for most

russians new year is the real celebration but there is a significant number of of strict religious observance of the russian orthodox faith and for them this is an immensely special night indeed for them just as for most russians on new year's eve at large banquet is held many big dinners held and it's also a time for them to go to their church to take part in what is one of the longest services in the russian orthodox calendar but also. in the view of many believers and observers of russian orthodox faith one of the most beautiful services. here today to preserve our lives here in just a few minutes with a fresh addition of course told us.

well. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. you know his secret laboratory tim mccarthy was able to build the roads most sophisticated robots which will unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach the creation of life should care about humans and we're going this is why you should care only dot com.

that. i. did speak. with. them on and on the. bottom a little bit. so.

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you believe the only thing. is. low and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle what do we mean when we use the term the west is that geographical historical or more of an outlook in a state of mind many around the world have an ambivalent attitude towards the west indeed the west remains relatively rich but it is also associated with arrogance and violence. to cross talk what we mean by the term the west i'm joined by stephen leatherman in chicago he is a blogger author and radio host for the progressive radio network in washington we have david markel he's a former deputy assistant secretary of state and in toronto we cross to michael coren he is a t.v. and radio host columnist and author all right gentlemen cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in any.