by the spirit. mistress of the k. t. a hostage crisis and with twenty three civilian casualties while france urges more help from african nations for the arab ali campaign which triggered the desert standoff. the us dropped charges against online freedom activists aaron swartz who committed suicide last week while there are mounting claims that prosecutors played a part in his death. israelis head to the polls this coming tuesday with prime minister benjamin netanyahu finding his support windowing among the more radical voters.

in the russian capital you're watching r t was marina joshie today we take a look at the top stories of the week as well as the latest news now the hostage crisis in algeria has ended 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 seven foreigners were freed from a gas plant and the sahara desert with seven more civilians killed during the final rate the libyan militant group behind the initial attack claimed their avenging french intervention in neighboring mali probably boyko 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 are trying to occupy this plant and. among the civilian hostages we know that there were brits americans japanese citizens know 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. normally do you 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 but 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 had no. information from. the day after this really started for most of all that 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 he lasts long it's going to be a problem comparisons already being made to the usa as 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 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 way intends 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 probably boyko r.t. paris. france is continuing to increase its military presence in mali with two thousand troops now on the ground the final toll could now top the originally planned 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 at their meeting in the ivory coast foreign minister alarm stressed that the current french campaign was never intended as a substitute for an african led contingent deployed under a u.n. security council resolution france has also asked for more logistical assistance from the un in the ongoing conflict one of them based political activist john recess the mali intervention shows that western powers haven't learned from similar campaigns such as leave afghanistan. the constant attentions of the imperial powers have generation after generation worsen the problem not made it better 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 the 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 qaeda in iraq before we invaded that there is no al qaeda had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has since the invasion of afghanistan and the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al qaida in mali and we should at least have learned by now but this is not the way in which to reduce the threat of terrorism which is actually a way in which you bolster it in which you increase attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with 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. the

hostage crisis in algeria ask cause the british prime minister to postpone a much anticipated speech on the u.k.'s membership of the european union but a preview revealed david cameron's warning that c.k. may leave the blog and europe may fail more analysis of this in just a few minutes here in r.t. . and the euro skepticism is also hitting europe's largest economy germans don't want brussels in charge of their cash later on we report on whether berlin is losing its sovereignty. the u.s. justice department has dropped charges against internet freedom activists aaron swartz who committed suicide last week he faced decades behind bars over accusations he illegally downloaded academic documents for public use the department's 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 our business is

a target in our reports the crime downloading millions of academic papers in the public domain from a paid subscription database and the belief 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 crissy. 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 new stories from all over the world critics say u.s. officials wanted aaron sent down to set an example he was going up against policy 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's case has made an

example of how seriously the internet is regulated in the us the laws under which he was indicted did back to nine hundred eighty four many believe they're long outdated the prison sentences need 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 aarons 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 our new york. pakistani mass protests add to the fury over widespread corruption thousands panda sit in for a deal is reached to dissolve parliament before elections if humans are to talk to the player behind the rallies. and not tough enough israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu lose his right wing support as an election looms the stories coming later

to you in the program stay with us. the mission is pretty good you take three months for charges free. range month free. three stooges free. download free blogs just plug in video for your media project a free media oh god r t dot com. the world's leading. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered.

welcome back you're watching r.t. live from moscow on friday pakistan's government has reached a deal with a muslim cleric to hold mass protests in the capital islamabad tens of thousands of time here countries supporters and of the sit in after he convinced authorities to dissolve parliament before elections in march voting can now take place within ninety days and they have also agreed to discuss electoral reforms however demand that the army be consulted on the structure of the interim administration was rejected political chaos in the country and growing fury over home widespread

corruption has also deepened after the government clashed with the country's top court its order to arrest the prime minister over corruption case has been rejected sultan m. hajji journalist and former officer of the pakistani air force says a change of power may not be far away. people likening it to square and so many other things but my personal feeling is that in all those uprisings there was not a single leader around whom people could rally but over here they have in the shape of a llama title qadri 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 with it he may be a stooge of the military the fact is that whoever has launched this particular person has done his homework because he's the man has captured the spirit and

imagination of a people. the feeling that they were down drugged and they were neglected and they were driven against of all because of bad governance because of the peril of 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 mass rally staged by the influential cleric in pakistan of only attitude uncertainty in the country seeking electoral reforms in a barn corruption. has called for revolution r.t. talked exclusively to the protest leader who told us exactly what he means by that . when i see evolution we should keep in your mind in egypt in tunis in libya and all these countries there were military dictatorship for years and years for a long time. and that people stood up against that in iran there was it when alkie

rule of shan shah the people stood up against that or they stand cases be different there is no one else who neither monadic elul nor military dictatorship here is electoral authority and twenty billion is electoral dictatorship true democracy does not exist in this society neither in political field nor in social field nor in economic field not democracy so this is a lot less and less 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 and in 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 whole third world and developing muslim countries the

have to get rid of corruption and corrupt leaders. on you can see the full interview with time here at eight forty five g.m.t. here on our team it's also available on our website r.t. dot com now here's a little of what else is lined up for you there. in egyptian police used tear gas to disperse a crowd outside the u.s. and record room where a former police chief and five other officers are on trial over the killing of civilians during the two thousand and eleven uprising that toppled president mubarak for more on that had to dot com. also online is there a wife outside our planet some scientists now say yes after a fossilized algae is discovered inside a sri lankan made here right. now we have this 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 netanyahu is likely to lose votes to his former right wing allies as falsely or now reports. he's the surprise success story of campaign one twin millionaire who says a palestinian state would be suicide for israel 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 you know and i think that even though i am opposed to things that. i would say most members of the likud obviously i mean with well he's for it the irony is that while the world sees

netanyahu as a want to leader at home he's losing face among supporters for not being enough this is part of the right wing campaign he's up against. there are some things we all know one never have been and the sopranos will never return for another season ramiele clients that are in a film are growing 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 netanyahu says he could list has grown even more right wing with radicals like this woman high up in the pecking order. but the league would retain a party is a party with values the state of israel is

a state of the jews whose eternal capital. 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 face among his supporters speaker 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. 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 the benefit solution to the israeli palestinian conflict is to annex most of the west bank while allowing palestinians limited self-will in the wrist and while that might not seem a possible idea to most of the international community. it's exactly what his constituency wants to hear affect in a time yahoo is acutely aware of. tel aviv israel's election is only two days away and our team will be following it closely providing new was in-depth coverage . how will tension with to run develop settlement expansion isolate 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. they ok good drift towards exiting the european union as the warning of prime minister david cameron revealed in exports of his delayed speech on britain's status within the bloc he also claimed europe is a need a fundamental change and may fail if it doesn't deal with people's frustration in

their view seventy measures slashing their living standards at home cameron has been urged to fulfil his pledge to bring powers back from brussels to london as calls for and in alex referendum get louder he's been wavering about the idea saying it could be held after the next general election in two thousand and fifteen conservative party m.p. robert dole says cameron had can no longer delay facing the problem. he needs to set a clear course of what he's going to be doing regarding the european you have a clear distinctive workable policy to fail to do that just keeps the speculation going and keeps the infighting in the conservative party continuing so really he needs to get a grip on this policy as soon as possible and perhaps not trying to lie having a referendum until some time after the next general election that's even if yes prime minister but hold it before that would be the best way to end the uncertainty and so we know exactly where we are going britain pays billions each year to the

european union we have enormous costs put on the british economy as a result of excessive e.u. regulation and e.u. policies they just don't work for this country it's more of a hindrance than it is a help to the british economy and of course it undermines our own democracy of the option is quite simply to either stay in the european union as it is which doesn't work for many different people or of course leave the european union and negotiate a a a basis of a relationship that's purely built around trade and the sooner david cameron delivers the wishes of the british people but turns power or exits the european union the better. well the euro 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 blog to directly aid troubled states and bitter all over an area for its 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 were really in charge of their country. 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 germany the issue is said to be fought out in the second tightest 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 it's in the press to democracy because it's no longer the governments who have to make a policy but 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 and the single currency was created to 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 the problem not that we are pressed from the outside the 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 unlike kurdistan 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 plank twenty thirteen look set to be an important year what they see is the fight to return german rule to the german people these are all of a r.t. . now take a look at some other stories from around the world and bulgaria man has tried to assure the leader of bulgaria's asked urged party during a televised conference the attacker was arrested at the scene after he climbed the podium put a gun to the head of his victim and double misfired further investigation showed

the attacker was of turkish the sandown they used non the least lethal gasp is still the motives of the incident remain unknown but the assailant was a drug addict and was additionally carrying two nice. thousands have marched through the great capital athens parading the coffin of a pakistani immigrant who was stabbed to death earlier this week the country has seen a surge in and i remember in anger in races attacker attacks since the start of the economic crisis three years ago it was rader's accuse the right wing party gold dawn of racism and of exploiting public discontent during financial difficulties to gain popularity. thousands of people have gathered in state capitals across the u.s. to rally against a ban on assault weapons on a national guard day some of the demonstrators are carrying rifles and pistols others waved posters saying an armed society is a polite society this comes after president barack obama unveiled

a package of weapon control proposals the u.s. debate over stricter gun control has flared since last month's shooting up twenty children and six adults at sandy hook elementary school. well in just a few minutes here and he will look out to women who are not ashamed of their public appearance stay with us here on r.t. . you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tarred as a big picture. watch

makes life complete. the air. and a happy family. or self-expression. is so true.