please please. please . dozens of hostages seized by al-qaeda linked insurgents are reported dead in algeria following a botched rescue attempt by the country's military. and the crisis in algeria causes david cameron to once again delay a much anticipated speech on the u.k.'s future within the european union. plus as israel gets ready to go to the polls prime minister benjamin netanyahu struggles to maintain support for his reelection bid. and the ballet director of russia's most famous theater is undergoing treatment for

severe burns to the face after being injured in a shocking acid attack. live from our studios in moscow you're watching r t with me and you so now it's good to have you with us let's get straight to our top story and algeria says there are a number of dead and injured following a hostage rescue attempt at a gas plant near its border with libya an al qaeda linked group say the hostage taking was in retaliation for france's military intervention in neighboring mali now a french president francois along believes that the latest developments justify the ongoing offensive let's get more from artie's poly boy who is in paris this hour for us polly thanks for joining us i just want to ask you first there are reports of reporting of conflict worsening and then at the border of course what is the

latest you have for us on this. well in this of the picture is by no means clear what we do know is that the algerian military launched a rescue attempt to free the b.p. gas plant where there were a number of international civilians workers who were being held hostage by islamist militants that now what we know is that this rescue attempt seems to have gone horribly wrong and we've got reports of sort of bloodshed that since you'd in the gas plant it's unclear whether it's now over or not wildly varying reports as to the number of casualties how many hostages are dead but we do know that at least two civilian workers two brits have been killed and up to as many as thirty more international hostages could be dead now these are peaceful civilians from all around the world that were working at the facility they've suddenly found themselves in the middle of this very dangerous situation where the algerian

military have apparently been criticized for going in guns blazing you know the u.k. and the u.s. have already complained that they weren't really warned in advance that this rescue operation was taking place and they've got a number of citizens there at the moment it's very sketchy still what's going on but david cameron over in the u.k. has already warned britons to brace themselves for multiple casualties and for more bad news potentially on the way so we're just trying to get a clearer picture of what's going on there at the moment the militant group says that the hostage taking is of course in retaliation for french intervention in neighboring mali if the intervention continues do you think there could be further retribution for islamist militants groups in the region and in the country. what many very surprised how quickly fronts wattle and jumped into this

intervention just one week ago when the strikes in the north of mali began and of course with the crisis now the sakes with the crisis in algeria the stakes are really getting much higher we've got a number of civilian casualties from countries that aren't even fronts from the u.k. from britain from japan all in this very dangerous situation and a lot of political analysts saying that yes other terrorist attacks in retaliation for the french military offensive in mali are very much a possibility now we've also got critics over in the u.k. and in the u.s. saying that this is the place that the allies of france are now paying for supporting this intervention that was quite a hastily planned and a bit of a surprise announcement last week so of course francois london needs to spin the crisis to see to their needs and he said that the behavior of these militants and

the very brutal reports that we're receiving from the gas compound in algeria that justifies he says the french military intervention in mali. probably just take us through what led up to the rise in military activity in the region. well of course a number of political analysts are looking at the wider picture and they're saying that this whole situation in mali and now in algeria it's really actually an unintended consequence of the arab spring and in particular of the western intervention in libya just over two years ago because a big part of daffy's omi was formed by toerags and toward fighters who actually once gadhafi was toppled very quickly they returned to

northern mali to their homeland they took a lot of good daffy's weapons and a lot of the military arsenal back to mali so now we've got the situation where al qaeda linked militant islamic militants now control the north of mali which is an area the size of space they've imposed shari'a law there and the french are reportedly very surprised by how strong they are and how technologically advanced their weapons are so a lot of people saying that it's a direct consequence of the libyan situation what about the french public i mean france no worries of course immune to the euro crisis do you think we're likely to see continued support from french people now that there are mounting civilian casualties. well yes of this is a tricky subject because up until a few days ago almost two thirds of the french public supported this military intervention in mali but for francois hollande that could change very very quickly

as we're seeing these civilian casualties pile up i mean we know that we had civilian casualties in the ground in mali you know throughout the course of last week but this crisis has really upped the stakes with a number of western casualties and other countries now being dragged into this situation this is turning into a very sticky and difficult situation for all and and of course this is a man who was voted in last year in france for his rather peaceful credentials he actually said that he wanted to cut his paternalistic ties with former french colonies but we've seen him jump into this conflict very very quickly and a lot of political analysts are also saying that it could turn into a real quagmire and that these islamist groups these al qaeda linked groups could actually be much could be much stronger in the region then the french previously anticipated so it could turn into a much longer conflict than anybody thought. polly boy girl reporting live for us

from paris thank you very much for your time. well let's get more on this issue from peace activists renner brand who is in berlin for us joining us live. thanks for being with us i want to start with the hostages of course in the cell jury in crisis they included foreign national is from at least nine countries could france be held accountable for the military operation that has apparently led to this crisis you know the french government is responsible for the whole crisis there's no no argument to send these troops to mali because you can't solve the problems of mali with military intervention i'm surprised that trial does not learn anything from afghanistan they returned their troops much earlier than their want and but there are no learned that either the next war and these war will end with the same views are then the war in afghanistan and it will burn africa and how will

thousands of people who die had to leave their homes there is really no i've told you more what the farms government will do but president alone has promised that the operation in mali will be short and swift is france prepared for the long haul if this crisis turns out to be a drawn out military campaign i think you'll remember bush was saying when he started making warmer than in iraq he worked to return immediately so the same will happen with france but front is not able to do such a war so there who are the united states the other european countries not all of them the engagement in a horrible war either of the peace movement other forces people forces will stop them i think this is the main responsibility we have in our. what do you think are we likely to see a wider scale military intervention in the region with other major powers perhaps getting involved you know we see that he has totally and to be region look to the

situation and i heard look at the situation in ego all these countries are totally unfair and all these countries have been terminal five all the countries are totally poor with people who are suffering which are looking for better lives five full of better life but there will be definitely a wall of the huge area in the middle of africa and this has the consequence. of that people are people who are just doing their home and are totally and that your asian region look you are the whole continent. mr brown domestic security in france has been stepped up amid this campaign can there be real represents for the country domestically over this foreign policy your point is really a again half of any people but what you have to do is for another way of solving cry the problem and will solve the crisis you have to look for peaceful conflict solution the negotiation about the situation in mali start they were not at the end

and before they really come to first resolve to truly lying on the table the french government for those struggles responsible for all the enlargement of all of the other countries of africa and at home because there isn't a limit rick war as a measure of or meet means that these powers of the of the two sides which is not so strong with africans who use other kinds of all and i think the war so they've got go with bomb attacks to the different countries i'm totally against that but these are the consequences of such off. all right braun joining us live from berlin with his analysis of what's happening in algeria and in the whole region in fact thank you very much for that we weren't here on r.t. always want to gaze your opinion on what's happening with the world's most precious issues and today on our website we're asking you what you think the future holds

for the situation of course in mali we hopefully can take a look at those numbers of what you think so far fifty three percent say it's loomis will join forces sparking wider conflict in north africa forty one percent say an expansive nato led libya style bombing campaign of course is something we just analyzed with our correspondent and guests there and then six percent only six percent think that a french reoccupation of mali is what the future holds a smaller percent say that western troops withdraw as public pressure on hold on grows and like we heard as casualties grows we are seeing more and more public pressure on the french president. well coming up the situation of course in algeria has caused the british prime minister to indefinitely postponed his speech on the u. case number six in the e.u. but the extracts released from his speech reveal some harsh predictions with

cameron claiming gear up may fall apart our live report is coming up for you just ahead. we speak your language anything about the war not against. the music programs and documentaries and spanish what matters to you breaking news a little turn to angle this story. for you here. altie spanish to find out more visit actuality. mission free could you take three months for charges. to make amends three. three stooges free.

download free broadcast quality video for your media project free media r t v dot com. here with r t live from moscow were describing minister david cameron thinks europe may fail and that the u.k. may be heading out of the block the prime minister's thoughts come from excerpt. of his speech on britain's status within the e.u. which he had to postpone due to the hostage crisis in algeria let's now cross live to london and get more from our tease sara firth sara cameron says the european

union may say well that's a pretty harsh statement how is he backing up that claim well first of all the prime minister has just been in the house of commons giving a statement on the. hostage situation in algeria of course that was the reason for the postponement but of course we've seen some of the extracts coming out of that speech that he used to give in the netherlands today and certainly there was some strong words in it he said that there was a gap between the and the citizens and that if something wasn't done to address these challenges that you could very strong message that the prime minister was going to give in that speech today. cameron's position on britain's e.u. membership has been quite vague in the past really to be frank did the extracts from this long awaited speech sort of clear up that issue. as well it was a very interesting tone and interesting to see of course the speech that would have

been given this is really considered a very pivotal point in his leadership and a hugely important speech of course in the past we see in this issue of europe certainly with the previous conservative parties in mind cause back to margaret thatcher's speech on europe this is really been an issue that's often been problematic but certainly been a very dominant focus and indeed it seems that's been the case of david cameron the extra actually quite a positive actually overall perhaps more positive than many of the euro skeptics would have liked to see he has some points on it that he talks about in sort of growing and building this relationship with the e.u. now we know that there was thought going to be put on the table the possibility of a referendum deal that would take place after the twenty fifth the general election a lot of concern here that that will leave britain a can two years of uncertainty but actually what the prime minister was going to

highlight is this would be starting the firing guns say to speak on the big debate over britain's relationship with the e.u. and i think that's quite important because a lot of the members of the public that you speak see here was us skepticism has certainly grown at home here there is a lot of confusion over the issue he speaks of people you know there's a lot of people who say that they need to know small they wouldn't want a referendum until it is put in front of them right now and say really it's not that that's very important that the debate is had a for the pros and cons of britain remaining within europe but certainly his focus was on the fact that there needs to be changes and you seen happening all across europe over the past couple of years is having an impact on the sentiment of many people here in britain towards remaining within the e.u. . so star when do you think the world finally get a chance to hear that much anticipated speech. well it's hard to say we haven't heard yet when the next date will be after this latest class payment of course

we've seen this speech delayed a number of times already so there's a lot of concern sort of the the talk around this that all the hype around this is building hasn't really been seen as having contributed hugely to helping get clarity on this issue and i think what people are going to be looking for from the speech when it eventually comes is for some clarity in leadership of this but as he said from the start that you see from the speech already certainly a positive tone from it you know david cameron the prime minister making it clear that he does see britain speaking within the e.u. with a dramatically different e.u. and i think the main point here is that it was focusing on terms of compromise on everyone in the on the twenty seven nation bloc getting involved in these compromises a compromise rather than threats which a lot of people worried we were going to see from the prime minister but certainly with the focus on real change is now being made one expects a more the same will simply lead to more of the same and that could see britain

sliding towards the exit there will certainly many people waiting to hear when and what that speech will finally be are to sarah furth reporting live from london thanks for that. now ahead of the twenty second of january election israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has to deal with plummeting poll figures for many viewing his politics as not radical enough of those still expected to return into office netanyahu is losing supporters to his former right wing allies as artie's polis leader now reports. he's the surprise success story of richard campaign one tweet. he says a palestinian state would be suicide for his room enough to be used to work for prime minister netanyahu but now he's working and taking supporters away from him like this man who used to be a die hard supporters. netanyahu said he could party until these elections rolled around the likud is. a bus full of right wing members of knesset with

a left wing person driving the bus as far as being i mean. even though i am opposed to a state. i would say most members of the likud obviously is for it the irony is that while the world sees netanyahu as a right wing media at home he's losing face among supporters for not being focused enough this is part of the right wing campaign he's up against there are some things we all know one never happen and the sopranos will never return for another season. when our pro and a peace agreement with the palestinians will not happen promises like this have been a jewish home party in food position it's poised to take more than twelve percent of parliamentary seats analysts say little yahoo was still expected to serve another term is running scared he's up his refrain i say in the most clear of terms

the western wall is not occupied territory i don't care what the un says we will build in jerusalem because it's all right not on your hands we could list has grown even more right when i was ready because like this woman high up in the pecking order. but the league would be taken apart it is a party with values the state of israel is a state of the jews paternal capital jerusalem. but what would be the implications of such rhetoric after the elections many israelis are asking themselves about the day after while netanyahu become more rightwing and risk drawing israel into conflicts with its neighbors or when he backed down and risked losing face among his supporters. is hoping for the latter that netanyahu will listen to world opinion and reach a compromise with the palestinians. he knows all too well what the current cycle of violence can bring speakers' daughter was killed in

a suicide bombing seventeen years ago and more that we don't have unfortunately in the center and the left a leader who is significantly charismatic to lead this country and give its people hope the left is also divided but i do think netanyahu will find a way to compromise because of world pressure but that compromise won't come easy enough to be bennett solution to the israeli palestinian conflict is to annex most of the west bank while allowing palestinians limited self-will in the west and while that might not seem a plausible idea to most of the international community it's exactly what his constituency wants to hear a fact netanyahu is acutely aware of policy r.t. tel aviv. well with just days left until israel heads to the polls to cheer the next parliament our table being closely following the election campaign vote and providing you with in-depth coverage. how will tension with to run develop will settlement expansion isolate chand there be peace with gaza what's next in

relations with america will listen you know who survive his snap election on january twenty second. israel decides. pakistan's government has reached a deal with a muslim cleric to hold most protests in the capital islamabad tens of thousands of talk here kondrat supporters ended a sit in after he convinced authorities to dissolve parliament before march ahead of elections and after that voting should take place within ninety days they've also agreed to discussion electoral reforms and have a concrete demand that the army be consulted on the structure of the in term administration it was projected political chaos and growing fury over widespread corruption also deepened after the government clashed with the country's top court its order to arrest the prime minister over a corruption case has been rejected presser paul sheldon foote from california state university says congress message to rate raises a lot of questions. campaign

talks very big he says he believes in supporting minority rights in and i haven't heard him condemn the murders. shiites by in large numbers he claims to have been a professor of constitutional law and yet he says that only he can understand what the prophet mohammed meant and this is a man full of contradictions the people who roll pocket stunt of always dependent upon the west particularly the british to the other countries to such as america. and to have the indication that you have both international support and some money behind. it is always a good indicator when you're running against the wealthiest families and earth the election results don't come out the way he wants your claim is a rupture of the process the only a man such as him could run in a real big islamic democracy process pakistan is already an islamic republic.

he needs to be very precise about why he regards it as a failure or simply citing corruption is not enough. more on all our stories at our website for you r t v dot com including liberian explain a half naked russian man runs seven kilometers in minus forty temperatures after he accidentally fell off a train in the russian far east more details of his unbelievable tale on our website. and it's not a sin to be beautiful a time vatican cleric graces the cover of vanity fair for more on this story and much more to archie dot com. there are just a director of the renowned russian bolshoi ballet has been seriously injured in an acid attack as he was returning to his home in central moscow sergei fenian is now

in hospital undergoing treatment for severe burns to his face and eyes my colleague john she discussed the incident with r.t. is alexei yourself. so give feeling the artistic director of the bolshoi theater walked away from his house this morning he was approached by a man who called him out by his name when he turned around to face the man the assailant threw a ball of acid into his face so gay feeling was delivered to a hospital and reportedly now doctors are fighting to save his eyesight but it would take at least six months according to the doctors for him to fully recuperate from this attack according to the press secretary of the bolshoi sergei filin has been intimidated for several months now he has cost tires were slashed his facebook page was hacked just a few days ago and he also received some threat calls on his mobile phone but clearly even the people in the bolshoi have no idea who could have attacked the artistic director of the theater who has been there for more than a year now ever since the bolshoi reopened with a grandiose new design

a new style the law enforcement agencies have now started a criminal investigation into the case but definitely this story is shocking especially given the fact that today is bolshoi's one hundred eighty eight day and such a tragic day for one of its key figures is definitely making the headlines now in russia there have been reports of some conflicting interest and the bolshoi theater and in fact feeling could be the victim of some infighting that you mentioned earlier what more can you tell us well as i've said there's always been some kind of infighting inside the theater but still nobody has any idea who could have done that the investigation is promising to be a thorough one with many obviously will be questioned and suspected of that but clearly it is a very early to say who could have done that such a attack comes very shocking especially that there's been no previous record of anything like this in the boss choice either. and that wraps up our main news block

here an r.t.a. shortly for you peter the balun his gas discuss the outlook for russia's foreign policy this year in cross talk.

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