jerry hostage crisis and was twenty three civilian casualties while france urges more help from african nations for their mali campaign which triggered the desert standoff. the u.s. dropped charges against online freedom activists aren't schwartz who committed suicide last week meanwhile there are mounting claims that prosecutors played a part in his death. and. israelis had to the polls this coming tuesday was prime minister benjamin netanyahu finding his support to windowing among more radical voters.

it's am in the russian capital you're watching r t with me marina josh today we take a look at the top stories of the week as well as the latest news the hostage crisis in algeria has a landed with twenty three captives and thirty two militants confirmed dead following a four day military operation a total of six hundred eighty five people including one hundred and seven foreigners were freed from a gas plant as hard as or with seven more civilians killed during the final rate libyan militant group behind the initial attack claimed there if engine french intervention in neighboring mali artist bully boy reports from paris. what we have heard in the reports flying about that a number of the civilian hostages were executed by the islamic militants that were holding them hostage at the gas plant it's a very remote area where the gas plant is located so that's why the details are so

hard to come by but from what we've also heard that the algerian army then in turn killed a number of the islamic militants so we've got an increasing amount of it looks like a dead civilian hostage is a very tragic turn of events it's a siege that actually has been going on since thursday it's been a standoff between the algerian army and the islamic militants who were trying to occupy this plant and. among the civilian hostages we know that there were bread americans japanese citizens no french citizens from what we know so the hostage takers have the hostage takers have said all along that this is a retaliation for the french intervention in mali now we've even heard one jihadist leader say that france is quote open the gates of hell unquote so it's a very worrying escalation to what started off as a military intervention just over

a week ago the french government reportedly the french government ostensibly just responding to the mali government's request for help in driving out the islamic militants from the north of the country so it's definitely escalating a sense of unease definitely growing in france and looks like public opinion could really shift in relation to the mali intervention it's all come on the streets of paris but with an escalating military intervention in mali and an algerian hostage crisis in response to it french public opinion is predicted to turn against francois hollande pledged to help the mali government once he's really here but the enormity of what they may be taking on in mali. there may be a lot of questions then asked about his judgment and a lot of people who are supposedly supporting him now or may very quickly turn around and criticize it's already beginning to happen we've spoken to provisions here who lament the fact that they weren't told in advance that the military

offensive was set to take place meanwhile voices in the french media complain of a war with no pictures they say that there's a media blackout and accuse the government of making it intentional journalist surprising thing is that. we have a. pretty crucial information from. the day after this really started for most of all to when you see what's happening with what has happened in iraq or in afghanistan surely if you will if you spread to the region and if you lasts long it's going to be a problem comparisons already being made to the usas experience in iraq and afghanistan conflicts that were initially supported at home out of a sense of patriotism and support for the troops but it turned into lengthy and costly and deeply unpopular wars at home now if this mission creep becomes

only driving on the terrorists some ministers and even themselves seem to be saying. that it's going to be a failure because you cannot drive out all the terrorists. many soldiers die and there are attacks in paris then public opinion will shift the way it has done for other wars either was started by france or was started by them by the us nevertheless french president francois hollande remains committed to the french military offensive in mali making grand statements that the french intervention were in tens until legitimate authority in the country is restored but what many french people are beginning to wonder is just how long that might take and out what cost. r.t. paris. france is continuing to increase its military presence in mali it was two sounds and troops now on the ground the final total could now top the or originally

plans twenty five hundred according to the country's defense minister paris has meanwhile urged west african leaders to increase their commitment to fighting islam missed militants in mali ad they are meeting in the ivory coast foreign minister laurent fabius stressed that the current french campaign was never intended as a substitute for an african led contingent deployed under un security council resolution france has also asked for more logistical assistance from the un in the ongoing conflict a little analyst alex corbell expects the conflict to escalate and spread across the region resulting into willing public support for president alarmed. i don't believe that the public will continue to support please don't postpone indeed you need. me to repercussions in mali because when he was elected sixty four percent of the french public. considered that. the folks who don't. would not

be able to take an international crisis compared to thirty percent for ex president sarkozy so i believe that. the public support is temporary and that sooner or sooner or later the french public will realize that it's and this is all it said and this is a rework a costly war and. much more than planned when you do a military intervention in a free country it triggers consequences that are not planned and visconti to release willy will expend in mali in nigeria in neighborhood countries and when we look push back. the extremists then who knows where they're going to have. to go to i mean they come from jail you know they come from leave here they went to mali if we if we if we start to rebuild them they're going to go in countries

are we really prepared to fight a war in india will western africa i don't think so. now the hostage crisis in algeria has caused the british prime minister to postpone a much anticipated speech on the u.k.'s membership of the european union but a preview revealed cameron's warning that the u.k. may leave the blog europe may fail more analysis of this interesting few minutes here on r.t. . and euro skepticism is also hitting europe's largest economy germans don't one brussels in charge of their cash later on we report on whether berlin is losing its sovereignty. in the meantime the u.s. justice department has dropped charges against internet freedom activist aaron swartz who committed suicide last week he faced decades behind bars over accusations he legally downloaded academic documents for public use their

apartments decision came after the schwartz family said prosecutors were complicit in his death and tens of thousands of internet users expressed support for the claim or his associate york in a reports. the crime downloading millions of academic papers in the public domain from a paid subscription database and the believe that they should be free. to essentially rocking out too many books in the library the punishment facing thirty years behind bars and a million dollar fine you're looking at a crime that essentially amounts to download a p.d.f. to a hard drive. no person was harmed. there was no financial benefit murder received less punishment the result twenty six year old web wizard aaron swartz takes his own life the idea that he was facing decades in jail is is just disgusting absolutely appalling and and now we've lost

a tremendously valuable and talented human being while the plea bargain deal for only several months behind bars was reportedly a possible outcome the internet freedom crusader refused to be seen as a felon his family and supporters blame the prosecution's aggressive attempts to put swartz behind bars for his suicide this man a young man and his family were literally terrorized by the prosecutors and the judicial discretion that let this case go forward and not stop while authorities dubbed him a criminal supporter say he was a robin hood in the fight for freedom of information aaron swartz was a prodigy at fourteen he helped write the are assessed specific ation an online syndication system that allows users to consolidate feeds from numerous blog sites automatically instead of having to check each website individually the program is now part of the common vocabulary of the internet and is used on a daily basis for publishing news stories from all over the world critics say u.s.

officials wanted aaron sent down to set an example he was going up against pollard and he knew it but but he thought he would be in the clear in the law because he was only spreading public domain documents instead swartz. this case has made an example of how seriously the internet is regulated in the us the laws under which he was indicted date back to the one nine hundred eighty four many believe they're long outdated the prison sentences needed to be relaxed especially for supposed crimes like this where there was no economic motive where there was no way for him to profit even if they said even if he did all the things that he did so they said he did new legislation dubbed aram's law has been proposed in the u.s. congress it's still unclear whether there will be any real change but what is clear is that it once again took a tragedy to galvanize national debate and party new york the one wizards death has spurred a flurry of tributes online from people who knew him and have to us from around the

world calum option from the international action center says the internet has allowed people to start doubting their governments by making previously classified information accessible information is free and you can't you can't put it back you know you can't take it away and so now people with this new information with his new empowerment are going to struggle the occupy movement you know the gyptian revolution these are all signs that now with information in their hands people are in a fighting mood why should we trust the government of the word of their own by the bankers and the corporations that commit wars and lie all the time why should we trust them to have a monopoly on information why shouldn't information be available to the people so that people could really rule isn't that the democratic ideal but it is not compatible with capitalism it's not compatible with a system where you have a few people you know having on top of the on banks factories industries and so as a result it's not compatible you know they want to napoli on information just like they have a monopoly on the economy and that's what the struggle the struggle is to to oppose

that and that's why there was a great hero in in exposing that his work and bring it fighting and so you know i mean he he will be remembered for generations to conver his heroic activism and his is ability to you know bring the people forward and let them hear the truth. mass rallies staged by the influential cleric in pakistan of only an attitude uncertainty in the country seeking electoral reforms bar on corruption qadri has called for revolution r.t. talked exclusively to the protest leader who told us exactly what i mean by that people likening it to the square and so many other things but my personal feeling is that in all those uprisings there was not one single leader around whom people could rally but over here they have in the shape of a llama three but there have been actually two or three different theories about the background of this man some say that because of his canadian nationality and because of his longer stay in the west he may have been one motivated as well as

funded by the west there is another theory that he may be a stooge of the military the fact is that whoever has launched him this particular person has done his homework because he be a man has captured the spirit and imagination of a people. the feeling that they were down drug and they were neglected and they were driven against of all because of bad governance because of the better situation because of lack of energy lack of food and lack of jobs people are joining him in flocks and even those who are double minded are now trying to make sure that it matters if history has to change of this country well and you can see the full interview with pakistan's top cleric in about thirty minutes time here on our t.v. well it's also available on our website r.t. dot com let's take a look here's a little of what else is there for you. in addition i say that whoosh and we should keep in your mind in egypt in tunis in libya and all these countries.

we needed a dictatorship for years and years for a long time. in the people stood up against that in iran there was it when alkie rule of shan shah the people stood up against that. stanek is big different there is no one else rude neither monadic nor a military dictatorship here is a letter to the authority to regain its electoral dictatorship to democracy does not exist in this society neither in political field nor in social feed nor in economically law democracy so this is a law lessness total chaos and anarchy in this country government is totally dysfunctional. saw that this is the single nation single country in the whole muslim world having a nuclear capability and if the same situation continues that would be a very big disaster if we could come to the level of collapse so our this martin

movement is anti corruption to educate our society from corruption and this is need of the whole muslim world the old third world and developing muslim countries the have to get rid of corruption and corrupt leaders. well you can see the full interview with pakistan's top cleric in thirty minutes time here in our team it's also available at our website or to dot com but here's a little of what else is lined up for you there and. police used tear gas to disperse a crowd outside only san record where a former police chief and five other officers are on trial over the killing of civilians during the twenty one uprising that toppled president mubarak one that had to r.t. dot com. also mine for you today is there life outside our planet some scientists now say yes after a fossilized algae is discovered inside

a sri lankan but here i. am of the twenty second of january election many israelis who used to support prime minister benjamin netanyahu are changing their minds he's now viewed by many as not being radical enough although still expected to return to office that now is likely to lose votes to his former right wing. and now reports. he's the surprise success story diction campaign one twee may be a man who says a palestinian state would be suicide for his room enough to bennett used to work for prime minister netanyahu but now he's working at taking supporters away from him like this man who used to be a diehard supporter of netanyahu so he could party until these elections rolled around the likud is. a bus full of right wing members of knesset with a lift wing person driving the bus. as far as being i mean. yes

even though i am opposed to a state. i would say most members of the likud obviously a minute is for it the irony is that while the world sees netanyahu as a right wing leader 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 member of the sopranos will never return for another season ramiele climbs a line with a marker on 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 rhetoric 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 our right not on your hands we could list has grown even more right wing with ready cars like this woman high up in the pecking order. but the league would retain a part it is a party with values the state of israel is a state of the jews whose internal capital is jerusalem. but what will be the implications of such rhetoric after the elections many israelis are asking themselves about the day after will netanyahu become more rightwing and risk drawing israel into conflicts with its neighbors or will he back down and risk losing space 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. we don't have unfortunately in the

center and the left. leader who is significantly charismatic to lead this country and give its people hope the left is also divided but i do think you know who will find a way to compromise because of world pressure but that compromise won't come easy enough to be been a solution to the israeli palestinian conflict is to annex most of the west bank one allowing palestinians limited so food in the wrist and while that might put seem a plausible idea to most of the international community it's exactly what his constituency wants to hear a fact in a time yahoo is acutely aware of policy r.t. tel aviv. now israel's election is only two days away and our team will be following it closely providing you with an in-depth coverage. how will tension with to run develop will settlement expansion isolate can there be peace with gaza what's next in relations with america will netanyahu survive his snuff election on january twenty second. israel decides what arts or. the u.k.

could drift towards exiting the european union and that's awarding our prime minister david cameron revealed in extracts of his delayed speech on britain's status within the blog he also claims you are a pick is a need a fundamental change as it may fail if it doesn't deal with people's frustration and the austerity measures slashing their living standards at home cameron's been urged to fulfil his pledge to bring powers back from brussels to london however some e.u. leaders have already warned britain should make unreasonable demands and that individual renegotiation is out of the question conservative party m.p. steve baker says brussels is bluffing for you alone from the consequences of. going to miss because i think it would become even more and would look. i'm really hard to train with him i should. be more out with him and to be more than just. twenty like to get the european union will say you know our way or exit i think we

sort of horror stories will be told during the scene but in the end the british public have got to have confidence in ourselves the european union's a relatively new innovation we are a great help with the trading nation a hugely prosperous long before you know we don't need all these petty forty four being regulation we certainly don't need to surrender the sovereignty of the people so i think people need to just be considered and think carefully about what kind of future they want now that you can a panacea party and says british should even bother to go sheeting with the e.u. and just pull out party leader nigel farrar says cameron's mild criticism of the blog won't save the u.k. so ailing economy. he's using euro skeptic language to pass you a euro agenda in this speech is happening because of the rise of u.k. and the rise of using it as a lead in the for the massive discontent on the back benches in the house of commons and amongst the conservative party of the whole country which is that what

he was about to say what the reality of what he says if you read the subtext is that the e.u. is very good for us but it serves our interests and i will promise i promise god to do my best over the next five years to do everything i can to get britain a member of that you've made this issue find is a key constitutional issue it isn't even about economics it's about who governs brazil it's about all we do depend on station as a democracy and determine their own future not a classic scare tactics always employed by the status quo whether they're defending slavery. or e.u. membership three million british jobs will be lost if we left the european union really europe is aging europe as a percentage of the world economy is now below a fifth and falling quite sharply it is gripped by eurozone crisis which is likely because of their fanaticism to keep it together to last for up to a decade and yeah ok europe is thirty eight percent of our overseas exports that is an important market place but the rest of the world is even more important to us

where impotence because we're stuck inside this old fashioned nineteenth century concept of a customs union we cannot make our own trade deals anywhere else in the world let's have a free trade deal with europe like the swiss do and let's reengage with the rest of the world whether you're a skeptic mood on the rise in britain and many other e.u. countries it is now gaining support in the blocs powerhouse germany thousands have signed a petition against the so-called european stability mechanism which would allow the block to directly aid troubled states and as our peter all of a reformer it's germans are becoming increasingly disappointed with brussels deciding on their money. there's a rising feeling here in germany that it's not the germans who will be in charge of their country the of the geelong with the government has taken the sovereign rights of the german people and given them away to bureaucrats in brussels specifically with regards to currency this is a painful injury to the sovereignty of the issue is said to be for town to meet

a second time used to court this group calling themselves the civil coalition movement want to stop germany's fiscal future being decided by the european central bank particularly how much german cash goes to the eurozone countries and set the pret to democracy because it's no longer the governments who have to make a policy but it is the european central central bank deciding which policy is paid for over five thousand people back their petition as they look to challenge one of the most common pieces of perceived wisdom in europe that germany is the success story in the eurozone there was no other country which had so little benefits out of the euro if you come to look to the numbers according to their legal team those numbers showed germany being forced to pay for the euro zone countries despite this not being part of the deal when the single currency was created finance isn't the

only place where germans feel a grip is slipping one former german foreign minister gave different reasons why they may be issues with sovereignty suggesting that they have their root in the memory of the country's past but sometimes we shy back from our responsibility as a sovereign states this is a problem not that we are pressed from the outside defense is also a concern for those who believe germany is losing control of its sovereignty the country is still home to nato bases over twenty years after the end of. cold war germany today faces no major military threats nor does any european state and that's why this gigantic military machine that the americans have built up is completely if not protesting there appear to be historical cultural and economic reasons why some germans feel less sovereignty is disappearing and for

a group of lawyers getting ready for their legal battle with the european central bank twenty thirty look set to be an important year and what they see is the fight to return german rule to the german people these are all of a r.t. berlin right town seek a look at what else is making news around the world and thousands have marched through the greek capital athens parading the coffin of a pakistani immigrants who was stabbed to death earlier this week the country has seen a surge in anti immigrant anger in races attacks since the start of economic crisis three years ago demonstrators accuse the right wing party golden dawn of racism avick spoiling public discontent during financial difficulties to gain popularity. in the area a man has tried to shoot the leader of bulgaria's affleck turkish party joining a televised conference the man was arrested at the scene after he climbed the podium put a gun to the head of his victim and doubleness fired further investigation showed

dad the attacker was of turkish to sand and used a non-lethal gas pistol the motives of the incident remain unknown but the assailant was a drug addict i was additionally caring tonight. thousands of people have gathered in state capitals across the u.s. to rally against a ban on assault weapons on a national gun appreciation day some of the demonstrators are caring rifles and pistols others waved posters saying an armed society is a polite society but this comes after president barack obama unveiled a package of weapon control proposals the u.s. debate over stricter gun control has layered since last month's shooting of twenty children and six adults at sandy hook elementary school. last hit syria with massive attacks bringing another week of violence dozens are killed explosions that rock university you know apple was both sides accusing each other of the assault. also here on r t would take

a look at the real impact of sanctions imposed on iran over its nuclear program all the details after a short break to stay with us. with . science technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. what mystery is hidden deep the nice.