today's news and the week's top stories about wants to rehab it conscious a northern ireland leave at least twenty nine police injured i mean anger over the city council's decision to remove the british flag for most of the year. because he's on high alert to france amid fears of possible is a mystery tribute show after pirates launched airstrikes on al qaeda linked insurgents in mali. also the brother of venezuelan president hugo chavez denies rumors the leader is in a coma amid mounting concerns have a big government will have without its charismatic leader. development the notorious gone time of

a prison camp marks its eleventh anniversary president obama has failed to keep his promise to shun the facility prompting an outcry from human rights groups and. the latest news and the week's top stories this is the weekly with me. here and i'll see how and welcome to the program. the starting process over the flying of the union truck in northern ireland once again ended in a street battle between loyalists and nationalists yesterday it's been almost six weeks and city council voted to reduce the number of days they were just flying business played sparking the fury of loyalists twenty nine police officers were injured in saturday's sectarian clashes violence broke out as about a thousand unionists marching on belfast city hall past

a conflict and grave and were attended by locals police used water cannons and plastic bullets to keep the two sides apart he's safa reports now from the scene. clashes breaking out once again on the streets of belfast you can see the police are just trying to push back the crowd of protesters that a huge number of police rather sadly sites like this becoming all too common now this isn't going to have been helped by the fact that many feel inflammatory political language has stopped to look at the tensions here on the street. recreational rioting that's what some people are calling it. you can see the protests in the background just right about the bronx the police responding with the worst economies on the surface and these protests have been about the right but the scale and the tensity of good fortune that really this is a much much more than just that he students the director of the east belfast

mission group is working with young protesters to try to calm the tensions some kids are doing it for fun or doing it for more sinister motives in terms of to true terms of par in terms of ego. because it's sexier than the playstation you know young girls are doing it because girls even with young children we've seen on the streets. really realize what the russians to resolder what they're just. showing we're starving a lot and you know it's not simply about. one of the protesters here asking for just one or flag back up on water and pays to get off their backs aids peter robinson these do not really not when he was the one that had to start. their day forty thousand they floods for us to come out on the street to protest against their land a nice scent on his back save maybe take all the flak he's called was rubbish and.

you know but when he wanted also it on the streets for his own actions we can make for anything the paper says that would accept any kind of compromise when it comes to this the plywood could bring the flag of it's the flag down not said. we know we're not going to get it back up to normal action because it's the law of majority very. uneasy unionist horns now holds to try to reengage politically but we're told much more will need to be done a quick fixes here i don't think there's any silver bullet i think there's so many different things need to happen economic. investment political investment community investment by and by all the stakeholders in these communities to try to resolve the wide draft of issues that are a blight here it's a fall there's been a one hundred people arrested more than sixty police officers injured and millions

of pounds spent in policing these riots and in lost business revenue. they these riots have been highly localized the damage has already been far reaching. this is a new generation putting files back onto the streets of belfast it's a far cry from the darkest days of northern ireland's complex that doesn't make it any less troubling. sara. send political blog editor make of things the press has come from a lack of a consistent opposition in the local parliament what we're seeing here is in northern ireland as a result of the peace process we have a government in which everyone who is elected to the parliament is part of that government that leaves no spheres for parliamentary opposition and so when something like this happens that is seen by certain mostly working class president suddenly in lower middle class communities to use being provocative there is no

political way of actually expressing your opposition so to some extent we're seeing just how are you difficult it is to manage a popular protest in a situation where there is no option to change the government so to speak because the government includes everyone who ever gets elected. france has stepped up security in the country amid fears of islamist at times lead to its ungodly operation in mali is comes after paris helps the government drive out al qaeda linked militants from the key town of qana a french helicopter pilot was killed along with more than one hundred militants and at least ten civilians including three children a west african forces and are said to join the efforts with its troops due to arrive in the country by monday the u.k. also agreed to help transport foreign troops without sending any soldiers of their own the african contingent is expected to draw around five hundred soldiers each from birkenau faso nisha and senegal while french president francois hollande said

on saturday their military support will go on for as long as necessary france based independent journalist robert heinecke believes french foreign policies contradict . i think that as long as the french people are to gaza by the consequences of this sort of intervention they generally favorite has a great military tradition in france and they've grown accustomed to fearing other people's countries but if you. need it starts to get nasty i think you'll find they'll be a very quick rehearsal of public opinion the sort of islamic extremists they're very tough soldiers and they've grown tougher over the last twenty years and if france starts to find these people who have been armed as a result of the intervention in libya and all the arms of the swilling about in the in the sahara as a result of that intervention ironically instigated by france then they're going to

find it's a very dangerous place to intervene in mali has requested help and they get it instantly when the central african republic requested help from the french forces there they were told no no we got interfered to help any particular regime were neutral. if the do it if you had wanted to destroy the credibility of france and the western countries over the last five or ten years you couldn't have done a better job by the absurd contradictions of what they do. for in troops have not enjoyed the same success in somalia with special forces failed in their mission to rescue hostages in the south of the country it's feared the botched operation left the captives secret agent dead along with two french soldiers and seventeen militants from al qaeda al shabaab cell and currently nine other french nationals are thought to be held hostage across africa. the brother of ailing president hugo chavez has denied rumors the venezuelan leader is in

a coma this after thousands of his supporters rallied on the day when he should have been sworn in for another term given his will and supreme court has postponed the you know gratian indefinitely while chad it's recovers from cancer surgery and kiba political analyst eric draitser fears forces from abroad could try to take advantage of chavez's absence. so the opposition despite all of their posturing and despite the fact that the private corporate media inside of venezuela and around the world is very much squarely behind them and us imperialism they lack a very real base of support on the ground they have some support but as we saw in the results of the recent elections that opposition is still very much in the minority now in terms of an international destabilization using this opposition this is very much a very real possibility of course we've seen much of the destabilization campaign emanating out of the u.s. embassy out of the institutions that's why we saw u.s. a id and other international organizations that are controlled by the state

department booted out of that country or at the very least minimized so this is a standard tactic that is very much part of the playbook of twenty first century imperialism of the united states but again the danger here is that without chavez and without the power of his personality that they'll be able to attack those institutions inside the country the question will be how strong are the bowl of aryan institutions and how really is that base of support to come out into the streets in support of the revolution and against what could only be called counter-revolutionaries of the opposition representing wall street and washington. venezuela has been increasing at tracks him that is seeking a better living with more and more immigrants flocking to the country early sickout for the exam and it's now why people are trading life in countries such as the u.s. for the south american nation. with no end in sight to the financial crisis many are finding refuge in countries with an alternative economic model or some

venezuela represents a whole new opportunities the bolivarian republic may be a surprising choice after all it's been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the hemisphere whose murder rate exceeds that of iraq still the world bank says venezuela draws the largest number of immigrants after argentina with one million flocking here in two thousand and ten alone the muscles who's. going to get weaker rosa is one of them after decades of struggling in the u.s. she decided to start anew in venezuela by the end that come to you completely alone you go that trying to find a new way but you've really alone nobody helps you there nobody in caracas the helping hand came from the government a cheap loan to kickstart a small business and subsidies that enabled her to purchase this home that's why rosa and others like her see the country as a place where. you can move more freely you have more opportunities.

robust economic growth and increased spending on social projects to help create those opportunities having the state on your side in terms of the benefits is a huge thing because you don't have to worry about your basic necessities everyone has the right to universal free health care quality health care education at all levels the government provide subsidies to start up small businesses medium sized businesses that do the same in terms of housing to help people if they're coming from a country where the economic crisis is so bad they've been cutting all those benefits but as well it begins to look like a paradise that may certainly seem to be the case for those on the bottom president hugo chavez helped bring the poverty rate down from fifty percent when he took office to roughly thirty one percent and the u.n. says venezuela has the lowest level of inequality in latin america. it's one child as diehard supporters among the poor but what about the rich critics say childless is alienating the wealthy many of whom turned out in droves to vote

for his opponent in october closely contended election twenty first century socialism hasn't helped us it has hurt job his opponents blame his so-called socialist experiment for problems like limited foreign investment they say that it's driving businessmen and entrepreneurs out of the country. by daniel year g.'s himself a young businessman disagrees after spending twelve years in barcelona he decided to return to venezuela not just for the economic benefits he says but for the chance to partake in a different sort of future order there are two very different political forces in this country one man's through move towards capitalism the other is on the path of socialism and the table action the people of venezuela voted to make the country greener fairer to create more opportunities because i'm in this regard not many that is right is not myself one of the scientists to return home and so they do showing that for some gambling in venezuela system may be worth the risk. of r.t.

venezuela. caged without trial eleven years only in from is gone time a prison remains open for business and that's despite human rights groups calling for the facility to be shut down well bring you more on the public reaction along with inside former detainees later this hour. and while the one peace envoy says a military outcome will not lead singer out of civil war become trees now accused of hiding nuclear weapons that in just a few minutes. technology innovation all the developments around russia. the future. the government no longer represents the dream. of the people.

we. are and. the way we're going to lead. the. way. you're watching all she live from moscow thanks for being with us president obama

has said u.s. forces will end most combat operations in afghanistan by the spring and switch to a mainly a support role at a meeting in washington between the president and afghan leader hamid karzai it was agreed that in this new capacity american forces could remain beyond the twenty fourteen pullout hillary mann levitt who is working extensively with u.s. diplomats in the middle east and asia believes president karzai is a no win situation. i think these talks are for the president and his national security principals to let afghanistan's president karzai down as softly as they can to let him know that unfortunately they're not going to make good on their promise to completely train. the afghan military and police before u.s. troops leave i think this this visit is about trying to let cars i know as nicely as they can that they're not going to make good on their promise to continue to defend afghanistan and train up afghanistan military and i think part of it is that

president obama. after he agreed to surge the troops into afghanistan i think pretty quickly realized that he didn't realize even before the surge that there is no military solution for the united states in afghanistan i think for an american population that is both battered financially and very tired of endless wars and occupations this is something that will basically go go forward without a hitch in terms of american public opinion the notorious u.s. detention facility had gone time again key but lost his head levinson of a story this week despite president obama's four year old promise to close the account human rights groups are calling for freedom for those cleared for release and for a fair trial father meanwhile as well she's gained that she can now reports polls show the majority of americans have moved on. 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 and a 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 a 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 you can 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 guard. 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 osama bin laden was obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques or torture and in fact that is simply not true 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 perpetuate 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 so 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 will obama's drones generate as much of a backlash as one tunnel did for george w. bush and we've now got have a generation that only knows the post nine eleven hero. where things like guantanamo and the warrantless wiretapping that's all they've ever known for decades now and i think it has become an accepted part of life unfortunately judging by how the guantanamo controversy here's what may transpire with regard to drone the urgency of the issue will subside in the u.s. because there will be no american troops dying there will be no public movement. there may even be

a movie or two out of the cosmological capabilities of drones and once the controversy dies down it will become the new normal and america will move on in washington i'm going to stick around. and fill my gun tunnel prisoners have a painful memories with alice he's saying more attention has to be drawn to the funds to preserve still appraising despite the condemnation i don't know why i was released and others are not ok i mean like specially when you know that people. anything i want to know more people who have been cleared ok at the time i don't know what i was released i don't know if i was cleared or not i really don't remember but for today there are people who have been cleared and they're not out of guantanamo and i think want caught but i feel uncomfortable and you feel that's guilt lingering in yourself that while my hour and they're still in the memory of one town of course they're very clear because of what happening there the mistreatment doesn't go away easily i think it's. it could've i think

in those create. and the plume that will last a long years certainly the memories are very clear and when we talk about them kind of these things do come back the people might have been forgotten and i'm still exists. you know it's very difficult to get the media interested into a story way speaking about just walking down the street existing if you're like me but it's important because every individual that is locked up in one town counts on their family account and the messages that come from a sense to the world is a very disturbing and very serious message that have to be has to be. has to be like you know supposed unspoken against. the u.n. arab league peace envoy to syria said there can be no military solution to the conflict moscow has voiced its support for political transition in syria but says president assad's exit cannot be a precondition for

a deal to end the crisis washington and says the syrian leader must must step down with the pentagon now saying the u.s. could provide forces to secure the country's chemical weapons if assad agrees to a peaceful transition there are fears the arsenal could fall into the wrong hands and made mistakes those who are also saying the conflict is pushing the countries you raney i'm stockpiles at risk see where reportedly has up to fifty tons of an enriching uranium enough to create five nuclear bombs but political analyst online to shop it says western states present only one side of the car. 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 your a norm 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. of use the i did some research and it appears that they came up with a number because 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's an advance of the syrian army and the syrian official police and they're controlling most of the country there are only some areas in the country where rebel fighters in some areas in the countryside where the syrian army withdrew from these areas because they thought that these areas were not important strategically butt. overall the syrian 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 these terror groups. and while some people suffer from bloody conflicts others literally make fun of them a mobile app developer in the us releases a game allowing players to take part in the syrian war with the ultimate goal of bringing down president assad read more about r.t. dot com. also online for you after georgia's all government was wrong to buy a prison abuse scandal the contras parliament said three freed two hundred political prisoners overturning a presidential veto for the first time in the country's modern history the more that had to r.t. as well. to some more world news in brief this hour israel has forcefully evicted palestinian and international protesters from a time to count they had erected in the west bank to prevent the building of jewish

circle and their several people have also been arrested the building plans the illegal under international law and would split palestinians from lands they claim in eastern jerusalem prime minister binyamin netanyahu has orders the area of the so-called tent city to be declared a closed military zone and shut off access despite the high court earlier ruling that the camp could stay for six days. the family of the internet freedom activists are in swartz have accused the u.s. criminal justice system for his death the twenty six year old co-founder of social news website reddit committed suicide on friday by hanging himself swartz of face criminal hacking charges which carried a potential sentence of more than thirty years jail for downloading and publishing academic papers online and an open letter to his relatives claiming the harsher ray of chargers contributed to his death saying that the young hacktivist was driven to the edge by the government's handling of the case. the turkish prime minister

tired after one has demanded an explanation from french president francois hollande as to why he's previously met with one of three of three kurdish activists are shot dead in paris and thursday the murders of the kurdish pro independence party members sparked outrage with around fifteen thousand demonstrators staging a protest in paris retaliate against funds of the killers and found at the ones request follows a statement from a land that he knew one of the dead he k.k. members personally and often held lease was with her despite the group being branded at terrorist organization by ankara. at least twenty five people have been agent after opponents of the egyptian president have been camping outside his palace in cairo can hide out time and unknown group through petrol bombs and they tend to camp bush has been known to have a square for wakes and fired rubber bullets at security forces egypt remains deeply

divided by political turmoil since president mohamed morsi granted himself sweeping powers in late november. and shortly will be taken into absolute could be okayed by a movement which spread throughout the u.s. stay stay with us. because of recent events guns have a again become a big issue all over the usa both sides are throwing their talking points i mean back and forth and we hear a lot of conflicting stories well the last really got tough on guns and crime went down but then again others say in the u.k. they got rid of all their gods and all hell broke loose i've heard stories that you are way more likely to be killed by a deer in your headlights than get taken out by a maniac with

a tech nine but then again i've heard that soon deaths from guns will exceed even deaths from car accidents japan is safe because it has no guns but switzerland is even safer because automatic weapons are all over the place the information is all very contradictory but ultimately it doesn't matter what facts and reports you throw at the other side the gun question is a philosophical one some people would rather at least feel like they have their feet in their own hands even if there is a chance they will shoot their own dog in the middle of the night and other people are so concerned with safety and are so full of fear for their fellow man that they'd rather disarm everyone and leave all the weapons in the hands of the criminals or have them legal or not and. always and in the hands of the government who was seems pretty happy to use force at home and abroad i don't know i'd rather risk the unpredictable actions of some idiots out there in society but at least have the ability defend myself and have some control over my life and a means to resist oppression but.