on our team from moscow guess we can pledge to shut down guantanamo bay still rings hollow with more than one hundred sixty people held in a tour of prison without charge or trial eleven years after the. western media reports syria's you raney i'm stockpiles may be at risk of falling into the wrong hands but some analysts believe the hype just an excuse for an armed intervention we investigate. cool catch for russian scientists drilling deep into the antarctic you've got hold of subglacial ice which could reveal some twenty million year old secrets about our planet.

hello very good morning if you're just joining us my name's kevin irwin here at the r.t. new center this morning it's not just after midnight moscow time first it's one of the most notorious detention facilities in the world which has seen abuse deaths and hundreds of people held without charge or trial america's grantham obey still open after eleven years with barack obama extending the military's authority now to keep the camp running despite his own pledge to shut it down years ago what's more calls to stop indefinite detention of largely died down in the u.s. where even torture is getting acceptability as a he's gone if you can explain. president obama's call to look forward not backward has resulted in attempts to sweep the past under the rug including some of his own promises i'm going to close guantanamo and i will follow through on that colonel morris davis was a chief prosecutor at guantanamo under george w.

bush he later became a vocal critic of the practices there and strongly supported president obama's pledge to shut down the prison he says the perception of guantanamo in the u.s. has come a long way since two thousand and eight when he was a burning and highly controversial issue with the nation demanding action he gets a free pass on i mean the public largely could care less the mainstream media now here in the us. you know is more interested in car dash and then they are and what happens at guantanamo. so who's going to challenge it if we're looking for the biggest threat to america right now she's right there her name is kim carr does she in. america has moved on and so has its perception of torture polls by the american red cross show the majority of americans now find torture acceptable sixty percent of young people agree whereas four years ago torture was largely condemned in the

us. hollywood has arguably contributed to that evolution of public opinion in the movie zero dark thirty day. or trade the information that led to the capture. and killing of bin laden was obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques or torture and in fact that's is simply not true the actual information was obtained through a report based interrogation techniques the government classified everything related to its torture practices which allows politicians pundits and filmmakers the freedom to press free all kinds of myths although a slew of washington insiders including the senate intelligence committee point out how torture has proved to be ineffective but in america it's often fiction not facts that make history this is more important than reality this is the movies where americans learn their history and today the history in the making is the drone strikes this amounts to the administration executing people without due

process often in absolute secrecy in foreign lands with a remote control but it will obama's drones generate as much of a backlash as one tunnel did for george w. bush that we've now got have a generation that only knows the post nine eleven era. where things like guantanamo and the warrantless wiretapping that's all they've ever known you know for decades now and i think it's just become an accepted part of life unfortunately judging by how the guantanamo controversy evolved here is what may transpire with regard to drone the urgency of the issue will subside in the u.s. because there will be no american for dying there will be no strong public movement . there may even be a movie or two out of the top of the logical capability of the drone and once the controversy dies down it will become the new normal and americans will move on.

in washington i'm going to stop a. bit earlier tonight i spoke to miranda kerr him as he was held in guantanamo and what turned out to be groundless accusations he was released after the u.s. military failed to force him to confess to crimes he never committed but he told me others there was a lucky if you are not a terrorist they want life to try to make you or terrorists i should example i must say if i should agree that i am be a member of. that i did fight with taliban together against american soldiers between the war. and i should i should sign papers that i am be a member of al-qaeda what were the charges first. there was no no reason for just the. pakistani people they sought me for bounty of threw some dollar to the americans. said this man he's a terrorist and very soon few months later they found out that i'm innocent and they want me. that i'm going to sign papers they forced me to sign papers that i

should agree that i'm be a member of al qaeda because because they didn't have anything against me in their hands and you're saying force you how do they force you say what were they doing to shoot to do that. they used torture techniques like waterboarding and electroshocks they sought after this i'm going to sign and agree that i'm being a member of al qaeda and every time i refused to sign they tried another kind of torture they saw i walked one time can you tell us the worst thing one of a better word that you saw going on there. example i saw. i had naples they used to be just nine or if you're sore child's and. i think it was the worst ice over there. there was not treating better than us i didn't saw that they getting tortured but. to see children in the same camp it was bad enough for

me and also i saw people they got killed on the torture the bigger portion of the. kill so. i mean i have seen many things during this five years many thinks this is just a couple of those how do you feel after what you've been through in guantanamo through no fault of your own how does it make you feel as a human being. of course nobody can be happy after after all this happened but. i myself i'm trying to support human rights organizations to fight against torture around the world not just going to normal. around the world exists more than more than twenty one secret prisons where people getting tortured and guantanamo is just one of course. activists in

syria say islamic militants have seized two strategic hell of a helicopter base in the north in what's perceived as a blow to government forces it comes as u.s. and middle east experts say series internal conflict has probably countries uranium stockpiles at risk as according indeed to a report in the british financial times newspaper says damascus has of the fifty tons of one enrich uranium enough to create maybe five nuclear bombs sherry was thought to be close to completing a reactor release to the country at one stage with help from north korea when the facility was reportedly destroyed by israeli jets five years ago they're now concerns that iran syria's closest ally in the region might be trying to seize the stone. program political analyst and a shabby told me western media only gives a partial picture of what's actually going on. there's a lot of noise about it there was a bombing in two thousand and seven the israeli jets bombed the site in syria claiming that it is a nuclear site there was no indication yes the i.a.e.a.

visited the site the i.a.e.a. said that there were traces of uranium of depleted uranium but they did not confirm that there was any quantity or at least you know this huge quantity that is being publicized i mean they're saying fifty tons of uranium this is this is i don't know where they come up with the number. obviously i did some research and it appears that they came up with a number because they they they they are coming up with the story that this site that was there that was bombed in two thousand and seven would actually require fifty tons that doesn't mean that the syrians actually have fifty tons and that doesn't mean that the site is actually for a nuclear program the syrian central government was able to control more. past six months there is an advance of the syrian army and the syrian official police and they are controlling most of the country there are only some areas in the countryside where rebel fighters are in some areas in the countryside where the syrian army withdrew from these areas because they thought that these areas were

not in point. strategically but over all this is central government under the leadership of president assad controls most of the syrian territory obviously it's difficult because there are many fighters infiltrating from outside syria there are many a lot of money being infiltrated being pumped into syria to these rebel groups by neighboring country especially by by turkey by qatar by other european and by the united states there is a sponsorship of these terror groups united nations peace envoy says the can be no military solution to the conflict in syria and has retreated the need for more diplomacy now deborah he made the statement after meeting top diplomats from russia and the u.s. in geneva efficiently looking for ways to end the almost two years of bloodshed and he cannot follow those talks. the violence in syria before too long and a solution is needed fast but according to international envoy on syria lakhdar brahimi met with russia's deputy foreign minister and the u.s. deputy secretary of state the solution could only be a diplomatic one and based on the agreements reached in geneva they called both

sides of the conflict to put their weapons down immediately and simultaneously begin a political process including forming a transitional government one of the biggest stumbling blocks remains the refusal of the opposition to compromise in fact they have been saying that they will not take part in any negotiations while president assad remains in power while he himself has been saying he's open for dialogue but is not planning to go anywhere so there is an evident need for the international community to look for new ways to persuade both sides of the scaffold to stop the fighting and start this political process and when it comes to. he said he's not giving up and we should expect him to make another visit to damascus. he got his cut off still ahead an hour to tonight the afghan dilemma president karzai washington crepes more questions that how and when the u.s. troop withdrawal from the country. coming up shortly and also we meet some of the

british family struggling to feed themselves as they suffer the sharp end of. their story to. build a new. found anything. to teach me the creation. is why you should care only. for the. science technology innovation all the movies developments from around russia. the future.

more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images. from the streets of kandahar. operation. hello gave cleric a power it's the afghanistan and again for his counterpart i mean karzai there was gratitude we're looking forward to taking care of their country themselves to the meeting in washington tonight to thrash it was perceived to be the final stage before american combat troops leave and only a support contingent remains for this but a structure the new internationalism project institute for policy studies believes it's still a long way away that before afghan forces will be able to take full control. we're

talking about an official acknowledgement by the two governments that now the afghan military is in control what that means is anybody's guess but what it does not mean is that the u.s. troops are going to be pulled out early there's a huge occupation force in the country that's not going to be brought out in twenty thirteen in the spring what we're talking about is a claim that as of that time the afghan people the afghan military the afghan government will officially be in charge they will be in charge of the military now the idea that the u.s. forces still there or the nato forces still there are going to take their orders from the afghan military i think is rather spurious that's certainly not going to happen i don't think the afghan government has the capacity to survive without massive u.s. support that means both economic support and crucially military support but his reliance on that support leads to one massive corruption which is widely hated

throughout the country karzai has very little public support in the country and militarily his his very large army isn't capable of standing up to the other militias it's one more militia the government militia called the afghan national army but it's essentially one more militia and without the u.s. backing it has very little possibility of standing up to the other competing militias who are vying for influence power territory access to resources all those things throughout the country so he's in a very very difficult position where massive public demand is on the rise urging that he get the u.s. troops out because there's massive resentment of the u.s. for its drone raids its killing of civilians the the kill or capture raids throughout the country all of that that has continued for these eleven years at the same time he knows that if he does that the u.s. leaving will leave his government and his own position in a very and in a very precarious. moment and he may well not survive that politically. the

scuttle top story the eleventh some of us have gone by in the tours u.s. prison is still far from pleasure scott phillips of french new sees the deputy executive director of amnesty international usa frank thanks for being with us much appreciate it thanks for taking time so what's your reaction to park recently signing off that extension of the military's authority to indefinitely detain terror suspects without charge or trial in guantanamo and the details which. we think this is a very grim anniversary the eleventh anniversary of the arrival of the first detainee at guantanamo bay where more than one hundred fifty detainees are being held without charge and without trial and notwithstanding all of the efforts that the congress has made to throw out obstructions to resolving that once on a case that we believe the president needs to move on and move on his promise from

the first term but what can you do is there anything your organization not just international can do to help detainees in u.s. military custody these days are powers limited but the president has already to bring these detainees to trial in the system or to release them more than four dozen of them have been cleared for release to third countries the president has already to transfer them and he should look like he doesn't want to how are you going to persuade him. i don't think it's a matter of desire i take the president at his word when he says he wants to close guantanamo bay but what we need to do is have no more excuses and have some solutions one case in particular junker omar is available to be transferred to the united kingdom united kingdom has indicated a willingness to accept him and the president could make a downpayment on the closing gitmo but again perhaps putting it to good i mean why isn't he doing it. is

a question you have to put to the president i'm sure that there are many excuses but his commitment to end this injustice of detention without trial is one that we expect him to move on we don't want to see his second term and with that legacy because quantum obeys the one that usually steals the show when it comes to talk of a definite intention and torture but what about the other us in the tree facilities do we even know what's happening in those where there's a lack of transparency about the administration's treatment of those who have been detained in this global war on terrorism or more that has no geographic boundaries and no end and one of the reasons why amnesty and other groups are pushing so hard to close guantanamo bay is because we believe that those authorities that the president has assumed beyond international norms. and are you worried this may cut a spread if you like back obama says indefinite detention will never be applied to

americans but is that promise enough do you really buy that one of course his pledge to shut guantanamo prison so although end of the day. or indeed the obligation of united states is not to treat its own citizens differently all citizens in the custody of u.s. government are entitled to the same rights whether they be u.s. citizens or citizens from that dr and those rights and the right not to be subjected to arbitrary detention. i asked this question to a former detainee that we spoke to a bit earlier one of the program i'll ask it to you as well how aware americans of the day what's really happening in guantanamo in the name and the other justifications of the war on terror do you think as we head into another year our rally today on the steps of the supreme court was designed to help make americans aware of this blemish on america's international human rights record i think too many americans are not fully aware of the fact that people are being indefinitely

without charge and i think if most americans knew that they would agree with them it's you know national that it's not only a violation of international law it's also on american law from washington frank kitchen you see deputy executive director of amnesty international usa thank you thank you have you stay with us for more reaction or not this is more firsthand accounts two of the eleven year anniversary of guantanamo bay on this channel. now no matter what some special offer in the grocery stores eating was still a luxury for increasing numbers of british families low wages and slashed welfare mean food banks or even festive times to keep the children fed probably has got the story of the people living beneath the bread line. for this struggling mother it's a hand to mouth existence with the pressure of two hungry mouths to feed gemma receives has small shop assistant wage and to state benefits every choose day some other way but when i found you have far far more growth and i think you are one

hundred five pound not much when you're living on the breadline one in five mothers in britain just like gemma regularly skip meals just to feed their children you want to make. you hear it all the time when to be how they should be in the five but they can freshen me but you know sometimes you just can't do it and you have to buy them seventy seven p. basic courses part because that's all you can afford for the single mother managing a tiny budget is turning into a puzzle that's harder and harder to solve we are seeing a lot more families telling us that they have to make this difficult choice between things like heating and heating putting food on the table or paying the bills part of this is driven by problems in benefit administration sanctions being applied often and appropriately that leaves people having to go to food banks food banks such as this one run by the trussell trust that charity first started working with

abandoned children involved area but they switched over to the u.k. when they discovered what they call hidden hunger in britain three fruit banks open every week in the u.k. now and in unexpected areas like kensington and chelsea where houses like these distribute store cupboard staples and tinned food to families that are in need of emergency provisions in fact over two hundred thousand people had to turn to food banks last year in order to get bread that's double the amount on the year before so if the sad dynamic persists food banks like these are going to have to get a whole lot bigger in order to feed britain's struggling families charities say that some parents are so desperate to feed their. children that they consider stealing it's become such a reality that police have been known to take hungry shoplifters to food banks instead of arresting them a lot of people that come to the banks have stories which are really heartbreaking and we've had people coming to food banks who've been forced to choose between

eating and feeding their children and that's something we see very regularly just like jammers over half of britain's impoverished children have parents that are in work and the issue of putting food on the table eats up their lives and come from monday. on a monday evening waiting to take the violence of others and it's one of exhibit there is. it kind of controls you a little bit kind of takes over your lives because when you're going on week to week to week for the small about you think wow look at this money and you say and i'm not i'll do a list like this is not paid out this quarter pay that like that leaves me that much for shopping and it takes over your your thinking for most of the week and with the cost of basic necessities including food rising all the time gemma lives on a diet of daily struggle and worry about the future polly boyko r t london president alone has confirmed french troops are taking part in operations against islamist

the northern mali to hold rebel advances the un have called for a swift deployment of international troops following massive clashes in the key central terminal as to where this with your music you know from an african news one of the early morning to and from the number of countries in recent years such as over libya and of course just last week or so into africa republic what do you expect their action in mali to achieve. well president line is saying that it's an open ended intervention apparently there are french star ground troops that are now operating in mali they have also been reports of helicopter gunships as well it's a very interesting scenario considering the fact that there had been long discussion since last year about training of thirty five hundred troops from the economic community of west african states ecowas to intervene in order to put down a rebellion in the north of the country that has been led by the nationality

a mission the partition of the country was led by the m. in l.a. the movement for the national liberation of as what but islamist forces have been involved in the north of the country as well they're using this as a pretext for french direct military intervention and now it's interesting that captain sanogo who staged the coup d'etat last march against president artur a of mali was trained in the united states also he installed president. the president of the country who in fact a holes a u.s. passport and he's also a representative of microsoft corporation in africa that is mr gioconda trying oric mr trowbridge apparently made the request for direct french intervention i was just this last past week or so so we have both involvement of france and the united states in the scenario and some well connected names there by the sound of it not

just what the rebels at the moment in modern these rebels if i'm not was mistaken were the same people reportedly involved in the violent crisis back in libya in twenty eleven as pro-gun toughing fighters if that's the case coming expect the same level of bloodshed in mali to escalate as it did in libya. well the so-called rebels in the north are now. not necessarily a uniform group politically some are more secular than others the yemen al a has been associated with the form of government in libya which was overthrown in twenty eleven however the more islamist groups associated with the conflict that has been going on in neighboring algeria secretary of state hillary clinton visited algeria back in november in an effort to consolidate and to implement the united nations security council resolution that was passed in october that purportedly authorized military intervention in mali so i think they're using the involvement

of the on side the nie and a.q.i.m. the islamic organization the al-qaeda group of islam ik i'm a horrible as a pretext for thing our military and militarily in mali it's hard to believe that the united states with this close ties with the mali and military would not have been aware of the plans for the coup d'etat back in april it's also back in march and it's also highly unlikely that france would not have intimate knowledge about the inner workings of the current political situation in mali says a former french colony and france has military forces in mali that have been there for many many years so that's a ok situation while you're still on the line before we lose that light i just want to talk about the bigger picture regarding france from six hundred troops on a number of military bases across western africa what kind of fiji do same for this very active french contingent in the region we're going to go. it's not clear at

this point i do believe that both france and the united states have long term plans for military intervention in africa the us just announced last month that they have thirty five different countries in africa that they plan to intervene in militarily so this is something that's going to take place over the long haul all right things you thought we had sort of pan african newswire. media workers were attacking greece on friday morning homemade bombs exploded at the homes of five journalists from major media outlets and after the thirty's a link in the attacks to the current economic crisis in the country and the way the mainstream media reporting it but notice this is a contributor for. post newspaper journalists are in a pickle these days. claim because personally but the way that that this was a message for them because there were there were minor damage is in front of the

house it was a message to media to change the way that they show the news about the economy crisis and nobody was expecting that we will have nearly five years of this economic crisis and maybe we'll have more five years or ten years everybody is nervous also the government side also people we have to be careful about the way that we are but at presenting videos so as you can understand it's not really easy way to be a journalist at this period from the one way you have the government from the other way you have the and i think and the third way is the people in this is so of course as a media worker i don't like this. tax and also i'm afraid because you'd never know what would happen next day in front of your home. so you could small planets pristine a person could be uncovered after russian research has managed to retrieve ancient ice for months.