prospects of unity palestinian rival groups fatah and hamas the tam to build bridges bringing hope to families divided by the conflict. but as well as supreme court rules it's legal to this phone the inauguration of president which on this do you tube for health and fear is his absence could destabilize the country. and has ireland bitten off more than it can true double implants for you are covering as that you use new president while critics say it should deal with its own cash woes first.

this is our team coming to you live from moscow i'm marina joshie now the long divided palestinian groups five and have mosques are seeking ways to overcome their differences and share power their leaders held talks in cairo on wednesday in the latest attempt to bridge the gap between their parties and artie's policy reports it means a lot for palestinian families which have been divided by the political rivalry. it's been five long years since this family was together one thousand eight hundred days since i'm in a muslim last saw her son with his crime belonging to a group the gaza government was opposed to except this time it wasn't the israelis who forced him into exile but hamas and other bronzer i left my family and house in gaza and headed for the west bank but it was only after the negotiations began that

seventeen of us were given approval to go back home. it was back in two thousand and seven in a surprise coup that a must to control of gaza from wyvil faction group fatah one hundred sixty one people were killed and more than seven hundred injured when the dust settled the palestinian people were divided a mass was in charge in gaza fatah called the shots in the west bank hundreds fled their homes from both in fear of their lives like other fatah supporters from gaza mohammad took refuge in the west bank waiting for the day we conciliation would come. all denied i prayed to god to protect my son mohamad i prayed for his safety and asked god to bring him back home safe and now for the first time reconsideration between the two sides looks promising each feels boosted by recent successes and is more willing to compromise her muscles capitalizing on the recent conflict with israel despite the heavy cost for fatah who's claiming victory after its president mahmoud abbas successfully upgraded palestinian status at the united

nations as her musson fattah moved closer together the irony is that they getting help from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in his right wing policies and rhetoric are winning the palestinian support and sympathy on the international stage it was on that one young who's watching that as the recent united nations palestinian statehood bid demonstrated european and failing support for israel has floundered it was also an attorney whose watch that u.s. is revelations reached their lowest ebb and now it's on his watch again that palestinian unity seems plausible. it's a long term interest of of for us to think it's a cooperate again because otherwise they're running the risk. that the west bank will be and we're going to be part of the same political structure which de facto right now is the case leaders from both sides have a new day calls for reconsideration if you left with them you know you think that of course. between from us and for the catastrophe it's proof that doesn't

mean peace etc etc but for this family nothing can detract from the feeling of question cheat and joy of a father and son coming home they tears and smiles it to the hope that a new chapter is also about to open in gaza political life points here r.t. on the israel gaza border but as well as supreme court has ruled out a spawning the inauguration of president to charges for a new term in office easily legal opposition leader and reeking of religious has accepted the ruling after others called the delay unconstitutional or abogado says that the matter was open to interpretation by the supreme court but that the president's continued absence who destabilize the government. article two thirty one of the venezuelan constitution does leave open to interpretation the issue of inauguration when the elected president cannot meet the date of january tenth

before the national assembly which is the parliament what the article specifically says in a second clause is that in the case of unforeseen circumstances then the president elect will be sworn in before the supreme court but it doesn't give a date for there is another article in the constitution as well under which president chavez was authorized to leave the country for more than five days back in early december in order to undergo surgery and that article allows him to be absent from the country for it's ninety days which can be renewed for another ninety days the issue is whether or not he's now incurring those first ninety days or is he under just the initial authorization now it's really way is it is going to be determined soon as well because it's there's no question that the president has now been out of the country for more than a month he's been absent from the spotlight there's not really a crisis at this time the opposition is trying to say there is a crisis and there is no doubt they're calling for national strikes all kinds of

protests as there are already asking for the organization of american states and the united states to intervene so that's going to be ongoing and yes the longer that chavez is away the more time that will give them to prepare and to further prior progress with plans to the stabilize his government and try to create some situation where new elections can be can mean decisions man to put your a back on track lie with iowa now the government has launched a program for the next six months of its e.u. presidency with plans to bring bad growth and create jobs but some alice say double and show a better focus on its own problems. island has its own economic problems which are continuing it course has the economic problems which have been happening ever since the euro which created high inflation there and then of course exacerbated the faster they had ready to take on the presidency of the european council is of course a very large piece of work not just for the senior politicians in the government

but also for many of the civil servants and they would be better off spending their time really trying to address arlen's economic difficulties rather than trying to solve the problems within the european union which are very great indeed of course unemployment now in the e.u. is alarmingly high and of course the thing is that arlen when he says arlen this is the reason that on and supposed to boil for austerity it means that the irish people are not protesting and taking up their voyage to protest as people in spain and greece have done because we know that austerity at this time point actually work last year in the euro in the single currency it will create more economic problems that's why we see unemployment across the eurozone rising quite alarming that you so he's very happy there are these getting on with the use policy of austerity but actually it's actually the vong policy this time as the global financial downturn shows little sign of improvement banking regulators are criticized for trying to make life easier for the lenders instead of the public the

basel committee of central bankers has loosened the acid rules while trying to prop landers up against any future crises as artie's peter oliver now reports is the way the decisions are made that's raising most questions. have you ever heard the want about the bank is the billions and bars all the chances are you probably haven't but six times a year central bank heads from the u.s. europe asia and everywhere in between representing around three quarters of global economic output gather in the swiss city to talk shop behind closed doors i personally also don't like these secretive meetings because. you never know what in effect. is discussed in these meetings it's something that has a tradition that's put there play i mean bankers have always talked to each other in a more secretive way the whole business of banking is not really built on transparency

but rather on trust and confidentiality the continuing global financial crisis has seen the banking sector firmly in the spotlight with more than a few accusing fingers pointed in the direction of bankers it's the job of the secretive bars all committee to set regulations on banks the chairman of the group says he wants the public to be better informed about the work they do it's not that many years ago since this was basically a group of central banks it's expanded its membership considerably and in the process of that the whole governance arrangements of have changed as well and i think this is an attempt to explain to you in the world in general what those changes amount to and whether critics of the group are scathing in their criticism of what they see as an old boys club looking out for the needs of banking bosses as opposed to keeping the industry in line bezel three has failed to meet any objective in the you know faint hope of reining in banks this this is what we talk

about today the banks does have to be reined in because the banking system in itself as a general rule has left its you know bottom sense despite mervyn king saying that he wants. people to better understand what the basel committee actually do the very nature of the banking industry and its need for a certain level of secrecy means that the big decisions that will affect people all over the world will continue to be made by a small group of people who think in the building just behind me these are all of the artsy basel switzerland high tech rivalry astro's take center stage in an arms race between tokyo and beijing both sides of the military spanning struggling for dominance over disputed territory but bring you more analysis and a little later. and turning conflict into a fun game to take to the downfall of syria's president players to take part in

a simulated civil war raises questions for him that after a short break stay with us. your borders and beyond the courts eleven years on guantanamo remains open for business r.t. looks at the interrogation nerve center of america's war on terror.

thanks. thanks. thanks. thanks. thanks. thanks. thanks. welcome back you are watching r.t. live from moscow where the u.s. considering the possibility of removing all of its troops from afghanistan by the end of two thousand and fourteen president karzai is preparing for crucial talks in washington his meeting with president obama this friday is set to outline america's role in afghanistan with the pentagon still mulling the number of troops that could

remain to contain insurgency and the country but politics professor from new york university believes the u.s. just can't afford to leave afghanistan. there's a lot of talk about not leaving any troops there at all however i don't think the u.s. can afford that leader in the region because there are still quite a bit of violence going on there so i think the president will probably leave some troops there for some time but i would assume that president karzai is going to want that out because it gives him more. or it makes him look more powerful on the negotiating table and within the context of his own constituency however he also needs some protection so it will be a little bit of a catch twenty two situation for them i think probably hopes to achieve a few things a one his continued military support for the afghan troops so they can maintain their own military or army if you will and the second is can continue to.

monetary support in some development efforts there. was tension flaring over disputed islands in the east china sea an arms race between china and japan is escalating while the jeans boosting its drone program tokyo's eyeing the purchase of a cutting edge u.s. model japan based journalist james corvettes has with both sides ready to spend more on their own military some stand to gain from the deepening crisis. i think they are preparing to to be ready to commit more more resources to the military expenditures and they're getting ready to do that even as we speak and i think we see really the start of a new normal here and in east asia as unfortunately i think tensions military tensions are going to lead to increasing military expenditures on both sides as japan is looking to buy some more global hawk drones and china is launching a new line up to its own fleet of drones and i think that washington is perfectly happy to to encourage japan in this not only because it obviously benefits their

armaments industry and the defense contractors who stand to make the billions that japan will be spending on increased expenditures but also because i think when the further the wedge is driven between japan and china the more it plays into american hands as long as this doesn't actually come to a full scale war i think the more off balance japan is the better it services america as they seek to get a bigger toehold in the region and i think we're going to see more and more of this because now that abi is in power he's known as a hard line nationalist and now that she jumping is taking the helm of china for the next ten years i think he's looking to to put his stake down it's as someone who can really be a strong defender of china so i think we're really going to see an entrenched position on both sides and it looks like there is a new normal of wars and increasing expenditures that are likely for the next several years. well the thrill seeking adventure turns deadly and russia an investigation underway after an inflatable ball known as a sword wonders off

a mountain killing one man and seriously injuring another all the details of the accident on our website. and also online and knew you were close designer has an answer to a rather of producing a lot of garments designed to make the where a nearly invisible despite drones all that. it is. only a few. thank

. you. choose your language. according make it would only for the mentally ill that are still some. choose that the consumer can. choose to use the great. choose the stories but if you. choose access to.

welcome back you are watching r.t. live from moscow the union flag has been to lower it out over belfast city hall flying for the first time since council decided to and the century old tradition of displaying it all year but column appears to have returned to northern island after a week of street violence more than one hundred people have been arrested and dozens of police officers injured and over a month of sporadic riots in belfast however pro british loyalists have vowed to

continue to protest and are preparing to take action in the irish capital dublin on saturday paul intel deputy leader of the u.k. independence party can damage the violence and says it's down to politicians to find a solution. i think it is getting old ones and the reports that there are sort of quasi fascist groups and far right elements who are now directing this this protest is very worrying indeed i think the decision taken by belfast council to to lower the flag go to only allow the flag to fly in certain days was a wrong decision i hope it is overturned but as i say i condemn the violence it's wrong and this should be done through politics and not through people out in the streets i'm not sure about the logical approach as. it is in the fact obviously the republic of ireland is the from country only northern islands parts of the u.k. i fear that there might be violence i hope there's not but as i say this is

a job for the politicians this isn't the job for people outraged and let's get the politicians around the table and let's hope that the council come to see sense and let's have the union flag flying now take a look at some other stories from around the world. the us press concern over the possibility of the u.k. could leave the european union the state department said they have a growing relationship with the e.u. and would like to see their i continued having a strong voice within the organisation these statements come as you queue prime minister david cameron prepares to make a speech on the future of european policy later this month is facing domestic pressure from conservative m.p.'s to commit to a referendum on whether or not the u.k. should remain part of the bloc. car bomb explosion in the iraqi capital has killed five people and wounded fifteen others the blast happened near a bus stop in a mainly shiite neighborhood as people were gathering to commute to different parts of baghdad the attack also damaged five mini buses deadly attacks remain frequent

in iraq after u.s. troops withdrew from the country just over a year ago. the websites of america's job banks have been hit by a new wave of denial of service attacks it's not clear who is behind the cyber sol but some i.t. experts in the u.s. point of the finger at iran because of the apparent scale of the operation the disrupting attacks began in september and now are viewed by u.s. officials as likely were tale usual for economic sanctions placed on tehran iran and the united states have long traded accusations of hacker attacks with some say barack obama ordered to speed up assaults on tehran from his very first months in office. least eighty five people have been injured with one person in critical condition and women have been commuter ferry hit a dock near wall street passengers were preparing to disembark when many were

thrown to the deck due to the force of the collision safety officials are set to investigate the accident on thursday where the same sea struck vessel has been involved in two crashes since two thousand and nine. the man a trial for allegedly releasing thousands of secret files to weaken leaks is if found guilty to have his sentence reduced a judge made the ruling because private bradley manning suffered harsh treatment in detention morris davis a former chief prosecutor at guantanamo prison believes that for the u.s. the case is a huge embarrassment. i think the government here is overplayed their hand if you recall when the wiki leaks documents were going to come out it reminded me of the y2k scare everybody kind of braced and expected the worst and then when it came out not much happened and i think that the government really overplayed this i'm not aware of there being anything more than embarrassment right that has been caused by

the wiki leaks documents there been any operations that have been compromised or any individuals harmed i'm not aware of it but it certainly seems at this point this is more of a case of embarrassment than actual harm it seems to be that there are good leaks in there badly that you know when it helps make the administration look good in a leak is ok when it's an embarrassment like it is with bradley manning then the new it's a capital offense serious conflict has now and heard the realm of internet gaming was one application simulating the nation's civil war the players of and game syria get the chance to file on the rebel side only with a peaceful solution not among the recommended tactical options are to go it is going to offload at a game and shared in the brushes with my colleague kevin allen. well i wouldn't miss this game for the world it's breathtaking action three d. graphics not really it's more about an online card game you can see it there

basically has two sides were obviously the regime on one side and the computer plays for that and the rebels which the game are placed for their side basically you choose what sort of inventory or other methods you want to use against the regime and put it up against its weapons then you've got chopper the infantry some more choppers on the weapons and here and so on and then the game basically calculates your chances for success it's pretty much how it works what's being said about the appropriateness of this game as i mentioned thousands and thousands of lives have been lost over the last two years is a huge diplomatic standoff appropriate is this a view well it's an ethical at least because they really tens of thousands of people have been killed throughout this conflict there has been causing huge diplomatic problems not only with syria but between other world players this game did try to reflect so you could you could see it there the political fees

the developers have been saying that the game was beast on real media reports from the real situation in the in in syria. of all here there's the perfect example china which is automatically given by the game it's here represented as the country which supports the regime although we haven't heard any open statements from the chinese government russia is put in the same line with iran and with there has also actually has been there hasn't openly supported president assad's regime either and neither has the russian fact we've been hearing constantly from moscow saying that it is not taking any side of the conflict but there's only one outcome apparently to this game no the only outcome well it does. actually there was no it offers a peace offer but the game itself recommends the user not choose that since it says that then you won't get much credit among the rebels so basically the best ending

of this game particularly is the fall of the regime well that brings us up to date here on r t up barracks its capital accounts what lauren lyster say. to speak to language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about six of the ip interviews intriguing story for you. in troy arabic to find out more visit arabic don't call.

good afternoon welcome to capital account i'm lauren lister here in washington d.c. these are headlines birth thursday january third two thousand and twelve economist nouriel roubini known as dr doom predicts it won't be long before there's another crisis in the west two months and back to seeing as this is when congress must deal with the debt ceiling and those seaquest ration spending cuts this shouldn't come as a major revelation so in the meantime from tax hikes to trillion dollar point ideas edward harrison is here to discuss what is likely to be the fallout from what he calls the fiscal cliff left and les miserables it is a hollywood blockbuster meant to show off a list actor singing chops or is it actually a valuable lesson in the economic misadventures of stated them very relevant today while jeffrey tucker argues the latter will hear why business week's cover feature is babies crying on capitol hill but what about a study that finds babies born during recessions are more likely to be delinquent

teens no word on what happens if they get elected to office we'll have more in loose change plus we'll talk sped minutes an inflationary dragons' let's get to today's capital account. nuria roubini has an op ed in the financial times today saying the deal reached in washington on new year's day kept us from falling off the you know what however given the dysfunctional nature of the american political system it won't be long before there is another crisis two months in fact well that's not exactly rocket science given that we all know in two months the new congress will be faced with raising the debt ceiling and dealing with the seaquest duration spending cuts at the last congress put off in this.