london is expected to hand power to hold an independence referendum just as the u.k.'s prime minister is pressured by his own to hold a similar vote on separating from the european union. a french ground operation is launched after days of heavy bombardment against insurgents critics say it's washington which played a key role in the rise of extremism there. and iran has a team of u.n. atomic experts hoping to make progress in nuclear talks while western sanctions shake the country's economy but not its peoples for.

international news and comment online on the screen around the world this is. scotland may soon get a boost in its push for independence the u.k. house of lords is set to debate providing edinburgh with the powers necessary to hold a referendum on a breakaway and present westminster already unanimously approved the move the scottish government wants to hold the referendum in the autumn of twenty fourteen this mirrors the strong push for independence within the u.k. itself where many feel the country should part ways with the e.u. . as mine. well the pressure is really piling on the british prime minister david cameron because he's set to give a speech on friday where he wants to talk about renegotiating britain's role within the european union and that's a very difficult situation for him because there's

a lot of euro skeptic m.p.'s who are piling on the pressure saying that you know the status quo really needs to be changed at the moment at the same time we've got the british public we've recently learnt that over fifty percent of them say in a recent poll that they would vote to leave the e.u. because that's fed up with the amount of money that leaves from the british. budget every month goes over to brussels at the same time they want to see a lot of powers returned to the u.k. powers that are currently ceded to brussels to do with extradition to do with the criminal justice system to do with social policies as well so for david cameron it's a difficult situation and there's definitely a feeling that the status quo is definitely being challenge so along with the scottish independence and the possible referendum over that and britain's relationship with the e.u. it's all kind of on shaky ground at the moment we've got a group of euro skeptic m.p.'s within the parliament who say that they've actually

got the backing of over one hundred tory m.p.'s who have just outlined a massive manifesto for change and this comes two days before cameron's big speech and it's almost like a shopping list of demands of what they want to see changed about britain's relationship with europe and if they can't get that they're likely to say well why don't we leave you we have the british electorate who are very very annoyed with everything you're with your feel that she's getting in the way of doing business. in their daily lives and she's not one they really switching then you have a generational thing in the united kingdom a referendum on this took place in the mid seventy's so. i'm a middle aged politician and never in my lifetime. has there been a chance to have a say on what the relationship with europe should be like so there's a big call for a referendum in the end i think and of course the government has been accused of trying to cherry pick the policies that they do want on part of that sort of

membership within the e.u. and to express this side of things that they don't want and reportedly senior officials in brussels have said that the e.u. membership is not an ally can't menu and that person can't just say we're going to renegotiate our terms it's not as easy as that so for david cameron it's going to be a bit of a tightrope on friday that he's going to have to walk and all eyes are on him for the big speech on friday. well coming up we report on how those in britain eyeing an exit from the may find their case getting a little stronger and to make unemployment at budget and the prices fell to dampen cypresses goodbye party in brussels with all makers praising it for exemplary leadership of the european union. also still to come the sound moderate islamist parar accord to him protests event of the day coming up a report on what the government sees as a conspiracy between the people and judiciary to depose it.

well that's still to come but first the un's atomic agency experts are back in iran for the second time in the more than a month to iran hopes this visit will bring clear progress but stresses a deal is only possible if its rights for peaceful nuclear energy are respected the west fears iran is seeking atomic weapons and keeps putting sanctions on the country is more of a notion of found out they often have the opposite effect to what was intended. the u.s. maybe serious sanctions against iran are not targeted at the general public but there was barely a single person in the population of around seventy five million who hasn't been. i used to buy tomatoes and boxes and kilos now they're selling them in pieces. with . iran's oil expertise fell by one million barrels a day in the last year following an international embargo has taken sixty percent of the oil revenue the iranian currency lost forty percent of its value against the

us dollar causing twenty five percent inflation in october the highest in decades. behind this current. suffering from rising prices and a lack of food and medicine in the west side as the measure is a range at making iran give up its nuclear program which may or may not be aiming to produce weapons there is and is the government that we have here they don't like the government they haven't liked the government for the last thirty some years and because of israeli pressures they do want to see the end of the government and having the sanctions to pressure the public opinion inside iran you know when economy is about to be very good they're hoping people will go to the streets and protest and have a revolution but the fact seems to be the opposite army of cells iranian carpets one of the country's proud sources of revenue once a critic of the iranian government has recently had a change of heart for me as for me then why for another people who vote for another

god who is not forbidden for israel is not for being a father of five for american is not going to be there for me no. on the raft of war they want to ask me something to do that nor you are free of your free people you know this is the best way which my government. follow not only do they create anger among ordinary iranians and the iranians see their behavior towards their country as. allies but people in the region and beyond see what the united states and the europeans are trying to do so the image of the united states and europe is has been severely damaged but iran's image has also been damaged when recent poll shows him wrong touch the least as the country with the most negative image popular stereotypes include doesn't war

and really just fanatics. in britain and many outlets in the united states want to create an image of. from not only you know name government but also the iranian people iran has been under sanctions for decades but it's only following the latest round the country's economy has been a visibly shaking and it would have some people here on the runway now think it's down to the authorities mismanagement the majority still hold the u.s. and western responsible this painting behind me has been here for years and as the supreme was quoted here suggests we will not negotiate with america even for a moment the tension it's represents will most likely remain here for some time to come rational shakti teheran iran. the us is doubling its presence in spain this year and is just one part of a push for closer military ties across the atlantic as pentagon chief leon panetta makes his final european tour in the post. in the suspected gang

war claims the life of the person dubbed the king of russia's mafia how he was killed in broad daylight in central moscow. someone to the floor of the european parliament cyprus was asked to assess his actions over the last. months during which the country presided over the e.u. it was a period that saw unemployment skyrocket britain eyeing the exit door and talks on an e.u. trillion euro budget collapse because it turns out that's not helped brussels surratt instead he is on cypriot leadership one of our reports well it was all a hunch aches and slaps on the back of them a piece went through what cyprus had done in their six month tenure as the e.u. presidency and the president of cyprus saying that it was a time in which they the chief significant results and targets strange words considering that it was also a period in which the e.u. went through rising unemployment no agreement on an e.u.

budget in which cyprus continued to ask for a bailout i have to say a bailout which from here in germany many politicians all across the the bundestag are very reluctant to approve this amid allegations of widespread tax fraud from banks but what happens next the baton gets passed on of the e.u. presidency gets passed on to the island of course the country has had its own problems this baton essentially seeming to be passed on in the relay race of the fiscally toxic island of course had to receive e.u. and i.m.f. bailout money they've also had their own problems with unemployment and it's up to them to try and put that right in the next six months in which they take over the presidency french troops are for their first battle with islamic insurgents in mali the ground operation comes after five days of intense air attacks that the u.s. is among the states assisting the combat mission however media reports from there suggest that many of those now fighting against the mahdi government were trained by american agents to combat extremism africa lawrence freeman told r.t.

why he thinks washington's previous policies have resulted in even more violence. you have several ways of this operation i mean first of all you have after the death sas nation murder president gadhafi you had basically within hours. no merit in the other stream you caused the border with pick up trucks military hardware. but you've also had a failed attempt by the u.s. troops so-called true partners in mali and other african countries. these new units moved their units just very very quickly and it was a complete failure and all these policy and when the french are pursuing it was going to fail because you can't we don't solve the real crisis by military means per se there has to be complete cheap strategic thinking for always thinking of the

united states in the west that has to focus on the underlying problems of economic development how really food shortages except for that meet these countries very weak and fragile and susceptible to these kinds of attacks unless that paradigm shift occur and we're just going to be killing more people by. dropping bombs and will be doing nothing to help africa but. what a lot to dot com our web site of the moment we masking what you think the french combat mission in mali will eventually achieve now here are the options we're suggesting the campaigning will quickly bring stability to the region it'll drag from us into a protracted war there the operation will incite islamists to launch terror attacks in france revenge attacks and finally it will result in colonize ation of money of course mali was under french control back in the nineteenth when in fact it ended in one nine hundred sixty when it became independent well let's go up bring up the

numbers your votes from r.t. dot com this is your reaction so far to what you think about the situation what we can see there that. the majority a small one though thought of thirty four percent say this could be a long protracted conflict thirty two percent think this could indeed lead to revenge terror attacks not just on front to french interests abroad but also on french nationals in france itself also. could that be the first step towards it twenty seven percent of you so far think that and seven percent think that what the incursion at the moment is going to result in is the french along with some allied troops will be resulting in stability so the results so far of what you think hear on r.t. of course will be following the developments there especially when we know that the french troops have now got involved in their first grounding and which means that they're now involved in street battles so we'll be following the events very carefully here on r.t. throughout the day with plenty of analysis and reports for you all that to come

throughout the day here i'll be back with more news for you after this short break stay with us life in moscow. with. technology innovation. developments from around russia we. have heard. your language. with. the consumer. choose. to. choose the stories that him. choose. to.

to be told language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about six of the c.r.p. interviews intriguing story for you here. in trying. to find out more visit arabic. if you just joined us for a welcome to you live in moscow one of the russian mafias most infamous figures grandpa his son has been killed here moscow he was shot in broad daylight in the city center. takes up the story now. often referred to in russia as grandpa his son has often been compared to al capone but his demise today is more reminiscent of the death of another american gangster john dillon the one of

the biggest crime laws in russia was shot outside his favorite restaurant in central moscow and the law enforcement agencies have already reported that they have found six gun shells at the side believing this was a direct assassination attempt at ground bar he was delivered to a hospital but later died there without regaining consciousness now grandpa or her son was almost like a textbook russian mafia gangster as it's always been perceived in the west mostly thanks to the hollywood movies he has been involved in many different activities the illegal gambling network the sales of weapons and drugs but many have been reporting on him that he was something of a mediator a middleman. mafia talks and he's always been a peacemaker in a different mafia conflicts very well respected by many ethnic criminal groups in russia and it's not be not the first attempt on his life he's had quite

a few over the past several decades most notably two years ago in twenty ten there was an attempt on his life when there was information for some time circulating in the media that he was even killed he was shot very seriously in the stomach had a very serious surgery and managed to survive today was not the case grand bar has died in hospital the law enforcement agencies are still investigating exactly what happened in central moscow and what led to the assassination of one of russia's biggest criminal lords but the main version which is now being considered is obviously some sort of gang war but that is of course is yet to be determined and investigated. the high price tag to overthrow the government the arab spring revolutions drain the coffers of countries like libya egypt according to the latest estimates stay with us to find out the bill for changing a regime. security forces have barricaded pakistan's parliament with three layers of shipping containers and tens of thousands of

protesters pressed forward the leader an islamic cleric has issued the government with a final ultimatum he's demanding the parliament's dissolution and sweeping election reforms threaten to spark a revolution if he's ignored the supremes court ordered the arrest of the prime minister who's been brought in the bribery scandal when some government officials have called it a conspiracy between the protesters the army and the courts what is correspondent more you dean is in islamabad. we are standing here in a very crucial point actually it is called the famous disc where or where the local language where dr qadri and his protesters are gathered and demanded the government to step down. and he has added to that the seven demands which briefly says that the all parliamentarian legislative institution should be dissolved and the government has to resign immediately and the reason also said in

his speech that he will not move from this place even if the last person would leave but he is going to continue his demands and continue his protest he requested all the protester who are very ill and a golden chance as he called it to make a change in pakistan which is needed since the start of this country in one thousand and forty seven. regime change comes at a high cost a recent study of the arab spring has revealed that the egyptian syrian and libyan revolutions could set those countries back some two hundred twenty five billion dollars middle east economy economic analyst me thinks that the process to revive the economy is concerned will be a slow and painful one. we're talking about a complete structural change in how these economies work you know removing and reforming energy subsidies and subsidies changing the way the governments deal with

business and law and constitutions and i think we're going to see in several years of the hard slog i think it's not going to be as smooth as we saw in two thousand and eleven things are going to be difficult for the region for some time. at the moment on our website fifteen years in jail for a name change that's the sentence one of your family got for their wish to christian names off to illegally changing them in official documents. also bring it home germany set to bring hundreds of tons worth of gold back in the u.s. and france you can find out why all the line. dot com. and if your members bid to have a sentence suspended so she can care for her young son is thrown out of court and find out why she wasn't successful online free at r.t. dot com.

the. outgoing u.s. defense secretary leon panetta is on a week long trip to europe to discuss closer military link ups and includes a visit to spain where washington is looking to double its defense presents this year spanish international affairs experts believe this is just one part of america's push to extend its worldwide influence. and i said. we have to take into account that there are two strains of thought within diplomatic circles in the united states one of them is that they have to leave you work and the most serious danger comes from the east from china and so they feel it should reinforce their military and political presence in asia and the other strain and leon panetta and president obama are part of it says that the u.s. has to be present in both so the operation and therefore they also have to deploy

the anti missile defense shield that is a provocation against russia. now for some more world news at least seventeen people have been killed in two suicide car bomb attacks at the headquarters kurdish democratic party in the northern iraqi city of kirkuk officials said more than one hundred were also wounded no one's yet claimed responsibility attacks by insurgents are still frequent in iraq with the country pressured by ethnic and sectarian divides. two people have been confirmed dead after a helicopter crash in central london just a kilometer south of parliament in westminster thirteen others were injured after the chopper clipped a crane on the skyscraper in heavy fog and saw the pilot asked to change course because of bad weather. a suicide bomb blast in afghanistan spy agencies killed two civilians and injured dozens more accommodating with explosives was detonated by an attack in front of the gates of the building five men wearing vests of explosives were then shot by security guards as they try to get inside the taliban has claimed

responsibility. school bus drivers in new york gone on strike leaving more than one hundred fifty thousand students stranded they are calling for greater job security something the mayor says he's not legally allowed to give them subway passes will be given out and taxi fares will be reimbursed for students trying to get to school it's the first time in thirty four years school drivers have taken industrial action. south africa workers at a mine owned by anglo american platinum have gone on strike over plans to fire up for two thousand people that follows a proposal by a company to shut down three of its mines last year clashes with police during rolling strikes in the gold and platinum sectors across the country resulted in the deaths of fifty rockets. israeli police arrested more than a dozen palestinian protesters attempting to return to a camp in the west bank last week demonstrators constructed a tent camp on an israel has marked for new settlements and to make

a village of their own it was then cleared by security forces israel's decision to go ahead with its plan to build new settlements in the west bank has been widely condemned and is illegal under international. law to talk to a former legal advisor to the palestinian negotiating team he says the actions of a weak israeli leadership could have a serious long term impact on the chance of peace that's after eight hundred g.m.t. here on r.t. . the palestinians there's a crisis of leadership but there's a bigger crisis of leadership in among the israelis we have an israeli prime minister who go to extreme lengths to continue to build and expand israeli settlements who doesn't want to confront the settler movement who simply wants to head israel down the path of war and is willing to go to extreme lengths to get himself reelected including attacking gaza and it's less than a week until we find out whether benjamin netanyahu is reelected as israel holds

a snap parliamentary election on tuesday with the situation in the target middle east heavily dependent on the outcome the whole world will be watching the vote closely so don't miss our special coverage. how will tension with to run develop full settlement expansion isolates can there be peace with gaza what's next in relations with america will not in yahoo survive his snuff election on january twenty second. israel decides on arx you. well that's it for me and the news team for the moment will be back with more for in about thirty five minutes from now in the meantime it's abby martin and rake in the set stay with the flat as often as we bring in. the mall. could be the ever after. gone. and left nothing to live.

so all love and care for precious children. night long lines rajeev shoulders. leave it to die. on our.

deadly rivals for decades. if you had fifteen thousand people killing each other in any other country there would be diplomats there would be a. self-imposed costs from society i will cut myself chemical attack my brother understand not wanting. to leave. the cause of my anger and my frustration. that. well into the dome. two of the most violent gangs in us history. is just all modeled kill or be killed with colors matching the national flag.

but this country uses violence when it reaches and then it legitimizes the violence they all made in america on the odyssey. to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous i had luck i got so many i mean ten pounds i know that i'm still the same thing really messed up. in the old story so personally apologized the second. worst year for the legal white house to give it to the radio guy and put up a minestrone cause they want a large cloak we're about to produce never seen anything like this i'm told.

the boardroom are welcome to break in the said i'm abby martin so here are some disturbing news that came out of the pentagon yesterday u.s. military suicides for the year two thousand and twelve had a dismal record of three hundred forty nine deaths and if you don't think that's a lot take this into account that suicide death toll exceeds the number of u.s. combat deaths in afghanistan over the same period so the military suicides clearly an epidemic and getting worse every year why isn't this issue more prevalent in the corporate press and even more importantly why are they supposed heroes of the wars getting proper treatment when they come home oh that's right it's just like my guest brandon neely former army guard at guantanamo bay said yesterday for the majority of people consuming the news once the story is read or watched.