right. from plans to. start dot com. high hopes in paris for a swift military campaign in mali with american and british combat supplies being sent to help amid criticism of french imperialism. with no way out for family aaron swartz points the finger at overzealous u.s. prosecutors for driving their activist son to suicide. and thousands of kilometers of underground tunnels leave the pentagon in a cold sweat for the u.s. awarding itself the right to a preemptive nuclear strike on china's atomic arsenal. international

news and comment on line on the screen around the world this is. britain has sent one of its cargo warplanes to mali to back the french led military campaign against islamist rebels there london says there's more help to follow with the u.s. and canada also pledging assistance the french military has been involved in combat action in the west african nation since friday in a conflict some say is blowback from the and i's recent interventions in the region more now from r.t. in london. well britain and the u.s. are reportedly providing help with transport and communications and logistics to that means that they're providing transport and planes to help carry troops however we've also heard the u.s. is providing some very limits drones in order to track the movements of the rebels in northern mali and of course it's not just britain and the u.s.

now we've heard that a number of other european countries including denmark pledging massive pull for the french military offensive in the region so it is growing quite quickly and by sunday we've already had hundreds of french military personnel taking part in the operation officials say that french as strikes are targeting rebel forces rebel strongholds and logistical points however human rights groups are already counting a number of civilian casualties with three children dead since friday and of course this is quite a departure from francois alarms promise to kind of step away from the very paternalistic ties that front's used to have with former african colonies in fact through their differences with nicolas sarkozy he's been just as quick to jump into military military intervention in mali as nicolas sarkozy was jump into a military intervention in libya two years ago so a lot of political experts saying that it could be

a way of trying to ratchet up his political polls and his approval ratings because apparently those have been plummeting and is that he was elected as president last year while the north of mali has been under the control of islamic militant groups that have links to al qaida for almost a year now and that's an area the size of france they've heard shari'a law that a stance simply it's a response to the mali government's request for help in trying to sort of hold back these rebel advances of going further into mali but of course many experts and linking this crisis to sort of the libyan legacy of what happened in libya because . the toric people who traditionally came from northern mali they actually made up a large portion of mormon gadhafi as army in libya and after the very brisk military intervention that to topple gadhafi many of these toerags actually returned to their native northern mali they took with them a lot of weapons and

a lot of gadhafi his military arsenal has kind of uncontrollably been flowing into mali now and lots of experts are just saying that this is a real consequence of what happened in libya or he's pretty boyko there in london more for more on france's military intervention in mali i'm joined by london based political activist joan reece harris says it's waging a war against terrorism there in mali so skulls are noble at least on the. well we've heard this so many times now i'm surprised that they don't bore themselves by repeating this line we heard it over afghanistan we heard it over iraq we heard it over libya and we should recall that right at the beginning of this process more than a decade ago the head of the security services in britain warned then prime minister tony blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct

there was no al qaida in iraq before we invaded there is now al qaeda has not spread to pakistan in the way that it has now since the invasion of afghanistan as we've heard from your correspondent the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al qaeda in mali we should at least have learnt by now but this is not the way in which you reduce the threat of terrorism is actually a way in which you bolster it in which you increase attractiveness to young people the result now john what do you do now i mean in effect the genie is out of the bottle should france just sit back and let terrorism and extremism reign over mali where perhaps it could become a haven for extremist terrorists and not just threaten regional stability but also also become a base for terrorist operations well worldwide i mean you've got to do something about it now even though it's probably all for the first place. well if the french

want to do something about reducing the antagonism between their state and muslim people both in france and abroad they should start at home they should start withdrawing the laws which make it illegal for women to wear islamic head dresses in france they should withdraw the law which now makes it illegal for muslims to pray in the street in france perhaps if they want to better relations with the muslim world they can start by bettering the relations with the muslim community in france itself that would be a far more significant step forward than bombing yet another muslim country now african nations where when will they be left to solve their internal problems by themselves without foreign interference. well i think when they stand up. to the imperial powers i think it's a mistake on the part of the mullahs the mahdi government no matter what its difficulties to call for help from the very people who are responsible since colonial times for so much of the disaster in that part in that part of the world

only a small look north and east would tell you that in the middle east the constant attentions of the imperial powers have generation after generation worsen the problem not made it better france is saying of course nationals are threatened there in mali what sort of response and support would it get from the french people do you think the french people will support this military campaign. they may well do i mean i think your correspondent was was right when they said that there is very little difference between stock cozies response over libya. response over the mali crisis that's that's sad because a long promised so much i imagine that it's actually his inability to deliver on the domestic front his inability to live up to the high hopes that many in france had that he would deal with austerity which is driven him to an increasingly reckless foreign policy in the hope that it will bolster his poll ratings these

gambles sometimes turn out to be correct but in recent history in europe played often turned out to be incorrect it was the end of the blair prime ministership when here tacked iraq it took some years to work its way through but that's what happened needs to look at that and wonder whether or not he wants to tread the same path john thanks very much your thoughts a london based political activist john reese joining me live here on r.t. from london. the right to a preemptive nuclear strike against china is now part of u.s. law thanks to the national defense authorization act the pentagon's also ordered a thorough review of when and how america could strike at the network of tunnels believed to hold beijing's atomic arsenals editor of japan based news website james corbett however suggests all teary motives. i don't think that we have to look at this current context bridgeport in the context of they're going to move in with a nuclear strike right at this point but i think it has to be seen as a wider part of the u.s.

nuclear policy that's been stretching out for decades now trying to come up with ways to justify the existence of some of the u.s. is the existing nuclear arsenal and looking for ways to create new weapons so for example we have to be sixty one dash eleven nuclear bunker busters that with a four hundred kilogram me old that they've been harboring and talking about for in the better part of a decade now in relation to iran and trying to bust through into iran's new for underground nuclear facilities or alleged nuclear facilities now they're just shifting that rhetoric over to the asia pacific as part of this age of pacific pivot i think to a certain extent this is just to justify the existence of the u.s. arsenal and to make sure that things like the new starts the strategic arms reduction treaty basically get scuttled before it really gets off the ground and there's a lot in this new and a that really seeks to undermine the president's ability should he ever want to to actually reduce the nuclear stockpile so i think the congress is definitely trying to get their foot in the door and start any type of arms reductions before it can actually be implemented military might have

a social stability coming up later israel will choose multinational effort president did in size and cost people in the street say the government should think again about how it spends its money. still to come but first the family of american when was it an information activist aaron swartz says he may have been driven to suicide by the ferocious prosecution process against him age twenty six the internet crusader faced decades in jail for downloading millions of academic papers which he believes should be available to everyone because of his many important reports the federal prosecution was relentless. he was a computer prodigy an online activists co-founder of the social news website reddit and he was also a frequent guest on our team but twenty six year old aaron swartz was also the target of a federal computer hacking case and the trial was scheduled to begin next month is

that beginning will never come because swartz committed suicide inside his seventh floor brooklyn apartment in this building behind me on friday morning according to police he hanged himself and left no no behind and according to reports his girlfriend found him in the bedroom with a belt wrapped around his neck now swartz was arrested and indicted two years ago on allegations of breaching a computer network at the massachusetts institute of technology to download millions of pages of academic articles and other documents swartz pled not guilty to the charges which carried a sentence of up to thirty five years in prison and a one million dollar fine in the aftermath of the suicide swartz's family released a statement blaming the prosecution the federal prosecution for driving the twenty six year old to take his own life they said in part quote aaron's death is not

simply a personal tragedy it is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach many of sports his colleagues have been quoted remembering him as a genius kid brilliant and funny now at thirteen years old he designed his first web site at the age of fourteen he helped write the are a says program that alerts users to new blog posts warts also founded demand progress in internet group that campaigns against web censorship in this ultimately led to many people considering him something of an on line robinhood but his supporters his friends his his family member. believe that it was him being targeted by the federal government that caused this brilliant twenty six year old to take his own life reporting from new york marina port ny on r.t. . rick fox and i t entrepreneur and founder of the swedish pirate party says the majority of all

information should be free to whoever wants it military secrets or medical journals should not be free to distribute because it violates privacy by those national security but in terms of access to knowledge access to public public documents and records from which certainly committed no crime and that even goes with the law or so war the federal prosecution did wasn't through the book at him in the way this had been obtained in terms of how he had walked into the technical university mit in the united states and set up a laptop to download these public document public documents so they were throwing the book at him to make an example of spreading knowledge and i think that is a terrible terrible thing to do sharing and spreading knowledge was never bad for anyone. both is only a low in flag related roy it says the son of majority ready for the call in

nationalists and loyalists protests explores the demands of all sides but still ahead also. spokes could fly when germany's economy minister meets with the greek opposition. political economist about what's likely to come out of the discussion.

more news today. and these are the images. from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule today. continues here in r.t. belfast is in a state of shaky calm after the silent majority rallied against the violent riots

of past weeks unrest began when the catholic dominated local council limited the flying of the u.k. flag on civic buildings sparking fears protest by pro british protestants as are the sarah first reports unclear goals on both sides could easily trigger more trouble. time for northern ireland it's been six weeks now since the decision was taken to limit the number of days of the flight city hall sparking. out on to the streets the weekends on saturday. the worst rioting that has taken place. we have more than twenty nine police officers that were injured at the weekend and. this is doing. much much further reaching. in this area. talking to people from all sides of the debate to find out what exactly.

the riot sparked by the like this speech showing no signs of abating at the weekend loyalists returning from the protest past the nationalist area both sides clashing police thing came under attack from loyalist riot is many in the nationalist community. angry young lewis pulling back an old sectarian narrative a worrying sign to those who remember the reality of past troubles. young people why are they coming out and reacting in this way.

willing to accept. isn't the rights a roll of the sea what's happening right now is damaging northern islands and around the world can be done to stop this happening right now what with these people respond. to the people on the street. when do you think this is going to start. at. the top to the still some calm in the form of a peace rally held on sunday and here have watched on into will demand some in what's been taking place they've been dubbed the embarrassed all silent majority.

embarrassed majority will silent majority would do is that represents to this court barroso here that. you see in these protests so we just see this think. that maybe you can say there shuffle the good things. the race is now on to come up with a solution to calm the situation. any more and every riot every rock throwing chipping away at the heart for. the. r.c. . well story has failed and life itself has rejected it that's the dramatic statement from the leader of greece's opposition during a meeting with the german finance minister but both remained unswayed replying simply there is no alternative to cuts one political analyst and sociologist. who

says austerity has brought ruin to greece. mr to press strong point is that austerity is not working there is no end in sight and what concerns the debt crisis now and we are facing much more years of increased debt and a bailout package this debt restructuring have not been successful in the core of the problem and moreover austerity has brought us lost in the devastation recession . extreme unemployment and all kinds of social problems this week point of mr to press in my opinion is that the position of this party is no to austerity but yes to the euro zone as long as it has this is this was this an in favor of the euro of the euro zone at all costs that is where european powers especially germany can put pressure on the ship some greeks it using pretty extreme ways of showing they're

fed up with the government and then opens the headquarters of the greek wedding party with an a k forty seven no group has claimed responsibility but the shooting comes off the back of a wave of similar attacks by anarchists but it altie dot com for you. also a lot of the moment a virus invades new york the state government has declared a health emergency over the spread of flu this is epidemic is already five times the size of last year's. it's.

israel is facing international criticism after its paramilitary forces shut down a palestinian protest camp in the west bank despite the country's supreme court for bringing women netanyahu also promised to build even more settlements in the area one of the protesters told us the prime minister is just scoring points ahead of the election when you have five hundred more than five hundred fully armed israeli soldiers. there doing villages with the forces of an armed as that by itself is violent but even within the process of invention many. many of those that suffered through it all beatings for no reason they did not even exist. at their. suffer due to the things we had at least six or seven of thought as an activist treated in the hospital and a lot of them are still to see doctors for severe problems that they suffered from

the beating it's a political issue for. the going ahead with their settlement plan. to connect by law to meet with them and to do so that they don't want anything with the legal or illegal to disturb the settlement expansion. and there's a lectures are coming up senator now has to take it off the stand off position on on this particular case also israel has launched what's expected to become the largest ever multinational air force exercise lasting the entire year but as paula slayer now reports the costly project have left many israelis wondering if the military is where the money is needed. israel and the united states are sharing military drills bigger than any they've done in the past thousands of troops and millions of dollars but with social grievances that still need to be addressed and

a prime minister looking for votes ahead of early january elections israelis are asking themselves yet again if netanyahu has his priorities straight that. he's a couple to list and under his term as we saw in the last few years of the cleavage between poor and rich with. the big elephant in the room is the defense budget israeli military spending was not supposed to go more than one and a half percent a year but those figures have more than doubled in the last three years alone and now after an eight day war with hamas in gaza the defense establishment is pushing for even more money netanyahu chances of a victory come january are high and television homeless are preparing themselves for more of the same joys of bench moment arrived at this tent city with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a tank of gasoline threatening to set himself on fire i mean what i want what is old to me by the state nothing more nothing less i sued my country as

a soldier and i will stay here to the end i do not fear death i saw it in the army many times but is this what i deserve. his tears echo the pain and abandonment people here feel the government has no time for us there is money there is a lot of money to help people like us netanyahu couldn't care less he will win again i know this will be the same it's a disgrace the prime minister netanyahu has formed committees to deal with the demands of anti austerity protesters but they complain he hasn't taken a single concrete step to address their concerns are. ok mr i think we need to invest more in social issues housing and cost of groceries and keep the security budget in proportion to. the security of society it's more important not less important than the security. officer but the voice on the street is drowned out by

the rumble of weaponry and tell of obsession in showcasing its military prowess policy r.t. television. now some international news in brief the government says in bahrain have reportedly clashed with police at the funeral of an activist who died after being poisoned by to gas it was a series of demonstrations urging the current government to step down the uprising in the gulf want to start it in early two thousand and eleven when the sheer majority began its push for greater political freedoms and rights. arcades have been erected in islamabad which is reading for a wave of anti corruption protest is expected to arrive today from the city of lahore calling for electoral reforms accusing the current administration of doing little to prove their standard of living in its five years in power some experts predicting that this movement led by a little known cleric who's just returned from canada could spark a broader arab spring the start uprising. and the nation apart that arab

spring has marked two years since the start of the protest movement the forces former dictator of demonstrators flooded the streets while the current president attended a modest ceremony in the capital tunis despite the regime change tensions are still strong with political activists organizing marches of their own symbolic place. well that brings up to date for the moment i'll be back with a news team with more for in about half an hour from now in the meantime we have the latest edition of peter novell's crosstalk as he discusses with his guests why international justice often appears to be so selective that's coming your way after the break.

what makes life complete. and a happy family. or self-expression. public

option. that seems so true. for an intimate. child. is a. hollow in welcome across the aisle going peter lavelle ending international impunity this is the stated goal of the i.c.c. the international criminal court but is it delivering impartial justice to the world the court supporters say after a decade in existence it's too early to say its detractors claim the i.c.c. is racist and hypocritical as well as a tool of the great powers.