france pushes to retake mali from islam as militants as battles rage across the country while the number of victims and their jury of hostage crisis triggered by the campaign rises to forty eight. president barack obama officially begins his second term in office with manning waiting to see if you will deliver on numerous promises and of mastic am foreign issues. japan warns china over its naval presence near disputed islands in the east china sea as beijing slams washington stance on the territorial conflict.

it is ten am in the russian capital you're watching r t with me marina joshie welcome to the program a twenty five more bodies have been found in the wake of the old jury and desert hostage crisis bringing the total number of confirmed victims to forty eight jury a says they've arrested five suspected islamist attackers after earlier reports that all thirty two militants have been killed in the operation to and the siege many foreign nationals still remain unaccounted for as the search for bodies in the so hard gas plant facility continues al qaeda linked group claimed they were behind the attack which they say is revenge for french intervention in neighboring mali heavily armed insurgents rate of the plant on wednesday with an initial jury in response drawing criticism from western nations and as archie's probably boys are now reports the campaign of mali which sparked the hostage situation appears to be part of

a french geopolitical agenda. but there will be studied terrorism was about to overwhelm the friendly country the terrorism that threatens not just all of west africa but also the entire world. he's vowed that france won't stop its intervention in mali until islamic extremism in the country is stamped out the military has announced that it's going to be sending more troops but the total set to exceed two hundred thousand a stated goal to help the government in bamako drive out his list insurgents before the francoise lands talk of freedom and democracy critics say the french government you see as and the military offensive could be linked to other elements u.a.d. of these fronts is. a many people say huge parts of it's a huge factor in its economy and it's something that not only mali but specifically niger and other and neighboring parts where the tourist people reside. sits on top of almost every single light bulb in france runs on electricity generated by

nuclear power power relies on a steady flow of pure rainy i'm so you don't have to be a nuclear physicist to figure out that to keep all these bright lights on the french government depends on a steady flow of the precious natural resource but malise says mr alarmed is not about power or money so that you know security this is nothing to do with any political issue from a different time if we are defending a government or business interests which government which business. some have their suspicions nationally supported the french energy company. is about to finish the second largest ukrainian mining plant in the world next to mali you know every year the cars to be exact in this uranium is going to be very

cheap there's a third world very cheap. very to play a very dangerous game and after the french military offensive reportedly sparked a deadly hostage crisis in algeria lightbox the beginning to go off in the heads of ordinary citizens if you point out the almost authors of mighty time for intervention if it is to fight terrorism but it's got to be for good reasons i just know that it's for raw materials that are in mali oil diamonds and gold already when there's a growing debate is north of more prefer they don't think about their workers well the difference they have made power is a huge target and from such a target for terrorism it's not used but with the prospect of an untapped natural resources needed to keep fronts unlimited political analysts say that for its promise to stop playing big brother to former colonies is it ok to be fulfilled anytime seen playboy k c paris. well the french

defense minister said quote the goal is the total reconquest of mali what's now see if france can avoid a drawn out campaign as president francois hollande hopes for at the start of the invention and if we take a look at the map here we can see of that. link rebels and local to reckon surgeons control the north of the country and the area is marked yellow here on the map in fact if you look at it closely it's quite big and it's almost as big as the size of france and some of some of the weapons used by mali's insurgents came from the french led overthrow of the khadafi regime in libya france itself air dropped arms to the libyan rebels while gadhafi is arsenal was also right after his fall and now there are concerns about libyan smugglers taking more arms through jury and into mali all this could make it difficult for france to fully secure the area in a short amount of time as it initially planned at a national relations professor mark almond says the current situation in mali could

lead to even further unrest across the region. we're getting a kind of and i would add to this problem is a kind of backwash from that intervention because you have not really through what's going to happen if you overthrow gadhafi but you don't actually put anything stable in its place quite culture spreads and similarly in mali the argument is that france is intervening to stop chaos but the risk must be from what we've seen with interventions before that the french intervention will actually tend to send recalls and disorder further around the region and nobody seems to think that perhaps organized groups can come from somewhere other than mali it seems they came across the nearby libyan border libya is as i say central to all this problem because all the plot of weapons that's been produced by the quotes the gadhafi regime but also the complete failure to establish any kind of real state you have essentially all those operating in different parts of libya barak obama is now

officially beginning his second presidential term after being sworn in and out of the white house on monday he is expected to spell out his vision for the next four years and pledge to deliver on some promises he's so far failed to keep are just going to reports from washington. it's generally thought that a second term six u.s. presidents three on walks those handcuffs that kept them from doing great things in their first term because they had to think about getting reelected all the time in the last four years we've heard many times president obama's hands are tied on this issue word that issue suppose this election has on tied his hands we don't have a crystal ball to tell you what he's going to do with those three presidential hands but we may already see signs of what is to come president obama steps into his second term carrying a heavy load of promises and want to cut the growth of two or should it over the next three years we've got to cut the deficit by four trillion dollars over the

next january so long as i'm commander in chief we will sustain the strongest military the world has ever known along with the pledges comes the threat of another devastating war in the middle east for four years president obama pushed to a great extent by israel has war with iran and i will take no options off the tape and i mean what i say. some believe the appointment of chuck hagel as defense secretary who is known to have been against the strike on iran may be a sign that the new obama administration will be less warmongering towards the word but two of the country's leading middle east experts orange convinced vision i would bet a certain amount of money we will hear the words all options are on the table come out of his come out of his mouth in addition to the point that we have the appointment of john brennan at the cia who i think is someone who the israelis are just fine with who will continue what many of the covert programs of course are drone program but many of the covert programs that would be under his under his

authority at the cia that will be very much to israel's liking will serve to undermine any attempts or any possibilities for. coming to terms of the islamic republic of iran john brennan has been in charge of president obama's targeted assassinations program. his appointment pushed the notorious war on terror in a different perspective and shows that it's far from over they want wars that will not redound against them at home politically so they don't want any more body bags they don't want more american troops killed to the extent they want to prevent that they want to have all the soldiers sitting in alexandria virginia or los angeles or whatever and running the brooms that are killing people whether it's afghanistan or yemen or iran or you know were else however over the next four years the administration's reach will extend far beyond the middle east as it is said to continue its pivot to asia as well as building a missile shield provocatively close to russia's borders last year in

a hot mike moment president obama told russia's made that even if that in his second term he'd be more flexible to discuss not so let's start. but it could turn out to be flexibility to words only rather than action if. russia is still opposed to it still sees it as some we're just going to have to go a little. while president obama may have more control over foreign policy domestically there is a greater chance of his agenda getting bogged down in congress like gun control and the executive orders are useless and legislative proposals and i suspect will not pass in this country and i don't think it's in the offing and he were in the near future because we are a culture that is very deeply. in love with our guns in the last four years congress more than was attempted to sabotage the president on economic

issues including reaching a last minute deal as the country teetered on the edge of fiscal cliff is huge when presidents who have trouble with congress like to do international things because they have to worry about congress much less the president's actions so far of all possibility that in the next four years he will be anymore. flexible on major foreign policy initiative as far as the mess they contend that many bad weather he's never ending battle with congress to allow him to make significant beyond conspiring speeches in washington and. now with obama given a second chance to change james lark a former head of america's libertarian party believes any help for it is futile i'm not sure that we should give president obama credit for united states. i think we would have seen the united states coming out of our economic system where he should regardless of what president obama. was ever stimulus and be.

saying in some ways efforts by the obama administration actually slow down the american way with respect to the foreign policy there are are you hopeful signs over the nomination hey goal by but given the extent to which the obama administration still seems to be wedded to a program of using drones the hour it has on the various laws specifically the issue of being able to target and assassinate people sensibly around the world including the fears americans are not sick or sanguine about the prospects or or toward the united states being a country which basically respects international we and also desires we respect the liberties of our own people. also we have for you this hour damascus calls on the syrian opposition to lay down arms the country's minister remains preconditions for talks while the opposition coalition seeks more backing to form

a transitional government. and the wrong name for your life later on we have a story about half naked man from a train in the middle of a frozen forest and manage to survive that's coming up after the short break. we speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about six of the p.r.p.

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well welcome back you're watching r.t. live from moscow with me marina joshie now japan's foreign ministry has lodged an official protest with china after three of the ships were side of the east china sea near the speed of islands becomes after beijing slammed washington's position on the conflict urging it to be careful with its words and maintain peace in the region the u.s. warned its aghast and the action would undermine japanese administration of the territories at the same time secretary of state hillary clinton said it doesn't take opposition on who has sovereignty over the islands china send ships and planes

to the area claiming it's exercising normal jurisdiction and its waters and airspace japan in terror on saturday may fire warning shots at or an aircraft violating what it sees as a stare tory founder of international strategic alliances george who says it's the us and japan escalating the tension is that the us has this role of being the policeman around the world and spreading the military forces all around the world now can they afford it but that's a different question because it seems like in order to to to meet their military budget which is a very creasing they're probably going to have to borrow the money. and most likely they'll be borrowing the money from the chinese china has. been. asking japan to recognize and negotiate rather than rushing ratcheting up the tension of course japan and inviting electing is not going to help

because he's very well known ha och in this particular situation and the u.s. for its own strategic reason view japan as to prefer an ally and that's what contin agree this friction but i am not sure that i think cooler heads will will come and not go to war over these little specks of violence certainly china has never been. the aggressor in terms of in terms of these disputes. syria's opposition coalition is struggling to form an interim government to hand out of the group has flown to qatar trying to secure promises a financial aid for it and the rebel held areas the opposition is mauling the idea of a government in exile with differences remaining over who should lead the new exactly but this as syria's foreign minister has called on assets opponents to lay down arms and start a national dialogue the opposition groups though we chatted earlier calls for talks

seeking more support from their western and arab backers and stat political analyst lee ashanti says the syrian opposition is incapable of forging a united front. and. some elements. are abroad where that's. in table and even. then in syria pre-election street will. be remotely strongest where the big note. for the. boston brotherhood on their. own the news well you can go for mission. in the home of times when the rebel forces in syria like big three to do an army. are named you how to be a new structure on a litter you heard these from the slums right there are a grocer won't. be with insured. for their members or your position so really

we see the. old lines the opposition there will be recounts d.c. the only thing they have in common is that they want to remove the burning. now israel seems to be bringing up a generation of young patriots for money as government awards bonuses to high school teachers who succeed in motivating students to do their army service but more on that had to r.t. dot com. also online europe and casteless now as extremely low temperatures result in transport chaos and flights cancelled across the continent. what mystery is hidden deep the nice. says it is welcome here.

for intruders. and the supernatural can arise from nowhere. human be possessed by the spirit. mistress of the cave.

well see british science. is not on. the. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cancer a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. welcome back you're watching our the live from moscow analysis take a look at some other stories from around the world at least two insurgents have been shot in a gun battle with security forces in the afghan capital kabul on

a road leading to the parliament building it followed a multiple suicide bomb attack at the city's traffic police department witnesses say smoke was seen billowing from the scene one police officer was killed and another injured in the assault the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack in the second in less than a week. this comes as a report claims that afghan security forces torture nearly a third of all detainees transferred to their control by u.s. forces according to the u.n. statements as kabul is operating secret sites for the abuse of prisoners to avoid international scrutiny i have the full nato was drawl the allegations could hinder plans for a full handover of security responsibilities to afghan forces by twenty fourteen. the ruling coalition of german chancellor angela merkel has been defeated in crucial regional elections with a center left opposition and winning a thin victory the outcome of the ballot in lower saxony is seen as a file rehearsal for the harlem and reelection and september merkel is seeking

a third term in office and despite the setback still enjoys popularity in the country's other polls. courthouse has been set on fire in the egyptian city of alexandria following day long clashes between riot police and protesters demonstrators were demanding justice in the trial of former security officers accused of killings during the two thousand and eleven uprising violence first erupted when the presiding judge abruptly resigned without carrying out his duties . as well and president hugo chavez is reported to be gaining strength and recovering well following respiratory complications after cancer surgery that's according to vice president nicolas maduro but during says he met with the leader and discussed important issues of state. should have taken his oath on the tenth of january bot has not been seen in public since his latest operation in middes amber

prompting our rage from the opposition demanding new elections. now catching a train became a matter of life and death for one russian man who fell from his carriage in subzero temperatures in a forest in russia's far east earlier on barton told my colleague sean thomas the story. if we picture the scene we've got forty two year old valarie malkoff a lorry driver in this train clickety clack ing its way through the forests in the a more region in russia's far east at night they decide to go for a cigarette but nothing special so he goes to the vestibule at the end of the carriage smokes his cigarette and then as he stays went to open the door to go back to his carriage except it was the wrong door and he falls out the back of the train so he rapidly realizes that he is not just running to catch up with the train but for his very life we managed to talk to him earlier he was

a little bit embarrassed about the whole thing when i found out i only had parents slippers and t. shirts but i ran for seven kilometers i didn't curse him in a tap and i just saw the train was gone so i came quickly to my senses and started running so that i didn't freeze i ran on the railway track for about twenty or thirty minutes when i go to the nearest station their eyes are camped out after they saw a man with almost no clothes on women there quickly gave me to me and reported were just happened i didn't tell this to anybody my wife found out about the incident only after journalists called her i would imagine that the phone call he had with his wife after she had found help not from him but from journalists was possibly a little bit strained luckily he's ok no injuries no hypothermia or his back at work there will be an investigation into perhaps the whether the train guard had forgotten to lock the back door of the train which as we can see was probably quite a big oversight if it turns out that that was what happened it's also possibly one

factor that made him run a bit faster was that we've recently reported on in the far east in siberia there's been quite a lot of problems with packs of ravenous wolves being there so i imagine if he had that in mind if you knew about that possibly something to spur him on a bit faster. well in just a few minutes john battle of allen his panel of guests on cross stuck stay with us for that. georgian president mikheil saakashvili as military police have been accused by prosecutors of using a very unusual weapon to control members of the government a weapon so unusual that history great villains wouldn't even touch it that weapon was almost sexuality the georgian prosecutor's office claims

a network of gay spies was set up to seduce certain politicians in order to surveil them and blackmail them the gay spies would tempt men in the government into going back to their apartments which were filled with hidden cameras and microphones to record information and create a not safe for work video to be used to put pressure on these officials this is truly one of the most unique and kind of gross weapons of political intrigue i've ever heard of i mean how many men in georgia politics could possibly fall into the spy trap you know if he actually did implement this scheme and it actually worked than machiavelli and von bismarck could have a thing or two to learn from president saakashvili but that's just my opinion.

hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle russia what is its reputation in the world at least according to western media doesn't deserve it and what can russia do to change it. to discuss russia's branding i'm joined by victoria pound over she's an associate professor at moscow state university of international relations. and off he is the c.e.o. of the russian international affairs council and david burkhardt he is the editor in chief for moscow news website all right crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it let me go to you first if you could in a few sentences for me describe the russian brand russia as a brand. it's how our leaders try to put it. so. i think.