france's military has gotten one of the biggest iranian minds. want to. be looking for. countries. to keep protesting against the country's unelected rulers after another activist is thrown behind bars for criticizing. the artistic director of moscow's world famous bolshoi ballet heads to germany for a special treatment. acid attack on him two weeks ago.

here in moscow this is r.t. with the twenty four hours a day the president. has confirmed that french troops have been guarding one of his country's biggest year a new mines that's in a bid to avoid a repetition of last month's hostage crisis in neighboring algeria. spoke to my colleague. the mine in question is the olive facility a location in which the french company a river has a large stake now it's important to know that this is the second mission in africa completely separate from france's mission in mali which has been going on for nearly a month as neighbors mali and the situation there continues to remain unstable the french government is making it clear that they are ready and willing to protect their assets in the region and on the african continent as a whole protecting assets in the region many know that france gets most of its energy from nuclear power hence the uranium is very very important indeed so massive economic concerns are indeed but as you also mentioned we've called the french led multinational intervention going to go again mali now boots on the

ground in nigeria it's certainly getting a lot of reaction from critics around the world at the moment certainly has been if you ask france they've pointed to the incident that happened last month in eastern algeria when islam ists took over a gas plant there eventually leading to forty eight people being killed thirty seven of those foreign workers france's predicting that more islamist retaliation to french presence in africa is likely and they say they want to prevent a tragic situation like this from happening again but then again the world's fifth largest producer of uranium a product that is vital to the french economy in fact it's estimated that nearly all or at least seventy five percent of france's electric infrastructure is dependent on nuclear power given this it makes sense that france would want to protect that resource at all costs the president has welcomed the french presence in the country and recognizes the need for the have and security but has also stated that they want to better deal when it comes to uranium exports as economy is also largely dependent on your radio as well critics have already been wary of

french involvement in mali claiming that the real motivation is a return to imperialism economic policy and a stronger control of a region that used to be french territory now with france's expansion into neighboring countries compiled with president expressing his concerns those critics now have a bit more that they can chew on. john laughlin who's the director of studies at the institute of democracy and cooperation in paris believes securing natural resources not only goal france has in the region. i think the two main factors in this are france's own desire to strengthen the whole role on the international stage in particular because of you know european partners and also the american strict egypt plans for africa it's important to know that america which strongly supports france in this mali and intervention has plans for establishing a military presence and a military control over the whole of the african continent some people speculated

that used the phrase that this was america leading from behind that america decided to put forward its european allies to do as it were it starts to work in a continent where as i'm sure many of your you viewers know china has been establishing an economic presence now very successfully for a large number of years so there is a scramble for africa isn't there is it just to grab the resources yes it's obvious that the securing of energy resources is one of the key factors behind many if not most political developments today and that's why i say that the of course the issue of hydrocarbons and uranium and other energy sources is a key and may even be the decisive factor in modern northeastern mali french jets have carried out a series of airstrikes on the bases infielder pose of islamic terrorists with the intervention now heading towards the deserts and away from the cities that he

reports on what's left on the ground after the liberating troops move on. francoise hollande victorious trip to timbuktu marked the declaration that three major cities in northern mali have been declared liberated from rebels although the sharia law and islamic extremism of the rebels and forced will not soon be forgotten nevertheless this victory is a partial one the militants have merely retreated and fled and the suffering in this war has seems disproportionate to the gains made we're learning what happened in battle day by day in the town of kona we heard stories from the fog of war this is small settlement in the mopti region was seized by the more yo tribe they fled to the north when french troops showed up but it's reported that the cost of that victory was high while french planes killed only two rebels the number of civilian casualties was an estimated fourteen he said i wasn't home when the bombing began i

started praying when i learned my house was under attack they ruined everything i had my family and my livelihood my wife's name was i mean she was forty my son ali was eleven when adam was ten and so you know who was six they all died as honest. people such as this farmer idris ask themselves if the victory was worth it. we also met the campo family who had suffered badly when the bombing began everyone's got it the campo lost two of their saunas unable to swim they drowned in the river while fleeing the fighting. we also heard the story of a young mother who died from shell splinters leaving three children behind a newborn baby in. the village was a complete mess it's impossible to describe let me discuss things i know for sure and i can say that all we had is gone. though few proving some kids came running up

to us and said their mother had died i brought them to our house their mother died after an hour of clinging to life. the children have nobody else but us. is a disaster visited every house in the town people reject anything the military claims about victory and say war crimes must be prosecuted under the geneva convention towns like qana want more than just compassion people who suffered at the hands of terrorist groups and drug traffickers are now facing the misery inflicted by warfare. already without gonzalo one. for our tea. and while president. may be hailing the only growing french military campaign in west africa as a success that's more than can be said about his politics back home if an ocean or reports now from paris. well president on land is welcomed as a liberator in mali after france's military operation against the islamists occupation back at home crowds are also gathered but with

a starkly different mood where people are fired up over the continued decline of europe's second largest economy despite the president's promises to create at least one hundred thousand new jobs the nation is shedding them at an alarming rate last november about a thousand every day the worst figures in years the country's unemployment is approaching a shocking eleven percent with more than three million jobless the french daily lives claims that the exact situation could be even worse if official statistics included youngsters never registered for the unemployment program or those who left it and those stuck with part time work the paper says the rate would then triple but there are certain. people expected to have a strong president and now they understand that alon doesn't have enough experience or competence to improve things too weak as we see it from. the fans who are so you

know believes the strategic mistake was to rectify the e.u. so-called three percent treaty force in france to reduce its budget deficit down from four point five percent by hiking taxes and cutting spending. but while harsh criticism expected from the opposition disapprovals also been growing from like minded left wingers or complains when i think the president especially of a country like france one of six e.u. founders should be strong enough to say stop to others and say hey i have my nation behind me and they elected me to make changes instead he surrendered because he's more worried about the country's debt and the ratings agencies make. in a short video french communists put together some of our lawns major presidential campaign bows none of which they say came true. look what that's. the value added tax increase. i think it's inappropriate and unjustified and unreasonable and too hasty. what happened to well that's to remind the

present with you remember you promised to review the european treaty you didn't do that here in germany set a three percent deficit isn't real but now only say it's possible etc etc you can't not do what you promised meanwhile recent polls show a little rise in the frankly disapproval rating to four percent january to december is forty percent the lowest since we launched in office in may. every week that is a new subject to discuss in the french media and to draw people's attention from the real problems like gay monitor day produce or now molly this strategy may work but not for long. after a land won the french election last year some analysts described his victory as a victory against his predecessor side because he brought the long now of the scene of the past to their actions in the. months of a long presidency have been anything but sunny headlines and even his one staunch

supporters predict even harder times lie ahead for the leader the country's municipal elections in two thousand and fourteen have historically held great significance and will show whether the voters can forget and forgive. me for not seeing from paris. just as ahead of crucial e.u. budget talks the leader of the blocs toughest economy has met the head of one of its weakest the german chancellor angela merkel said she has full trust in the spanish government but its prime minister mariano hoyer is facing massive criticism back home with corruption allegations and opposition calling for him to step down all of the reports now from burning. it could very well be called a meeting between the euro zone's haves and well quite frankly the have nots germany still widely regarded as the euro zone's only real success economically while as many fear that spain could go the way of greece now the spanish prime

minister receive the full welcome of germany including full military honors holidays he was to turn up at the doorstep of many in his own country he may face severe criticism that's because many spanish citizens still think he hasn't done enough to deal with bank has the same basically the bearings are a huge incredible fiefs run only by greed the government's not helping the people the topping the banks it has had been at least thirty or fifty times the issue but in the last month there was three people they were going to be if he doesn't find out how it is but they hang themselves before the police were right there. i feel really sad when someone is thrown out because he has no one who can take care of him this meeting between the leaders of germany and spain comes ahead of a very important summit taking place this week where european leaders will try and

decide on the budget something which has separated countries within the union thus far.

continues here in kuwait an opposition activist has reportedly been sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the country's unelected ruler on twitter it's the third time the person has been convicted on such charges in the country in the last two months speaking out against the emir of kuwait is considered the state security charge and this day international recently hit out at the monarchy for increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly protests have been raging against the government and its crackdown on the sentence since two thousand and eleven tension flared even more off the december's parliamentary poll which was boycotted by the opposition one former m.p. claims the country's democracy has been disfigured. for the last month. we refute claims that the national assembly represents the people of kuwait around seventy percent of the people boycotted the election and the assembly itself was

elected thanks to an unconstitutional decree passed by the government which wanted a parliament it could control its lawmakers have failed to address widespread allegations of corruption democracy in kuwait has taken a twisted form it is the only democracy which is seeing an increase of corruption we will continue to hold peaceful marches peaceful rallies and we will continue to gather and protest. in the. middle east analyst jamie ingram says the regime of kuwait is being propped up by the west in return for its economic allegiance i think that america's priorities are faced on the ground in kuwait and we've seen that they've stayed in bahrain despite the events of the past two years and i think we'll see them maintain their presence in kuwait and they're very interested in continuing to sell arms to the regime of that's part of their security pact whereby . it is maintained by external forces. and

generous customers to places like the u.s. . and now to another molecule that has its own problems with the opposition bahrain the regime protesters that once again clashed with police in various parts of the country their forty's used tear gas against the crowds which were hurling far bombs the gulf kingdom has been cracking down on pro-reform demonstrators for two years arresting thousands including prominent activists the government claims has taken steps to address the brutality of the security forces but opposition campaigners say daily assaults continue unabated. the number of dead from a suicide bomb attack on a group of al-qaeda fighters has risen to nineteen more than forty others were wounded incident took place as men gather to collect their salaries outside an office in a town north of baghdad the blast comes a day after several suicide attackers targeted a provincial police headquarters in kirkuk killing at least fifteen and wounding dozens. a skeleton found under

a car park in the city of leicester in the u.k. has been confirmed as that of king richard the third was the last english king to be killed in battle back in fourteen eighty five but his grave was lost in the sixteenth century after the demolition of the church he was buried next to the remains will be reinterred in leicester cathedral with the details of the burial ceremony yet to be released. the artistic director of moscow's bolshoi ballet is travelling to germany for specialist treatment after a violent acid attack against him just over two weeks ago doctors there will be trying to help save set to get fillings eyesight he said in english to reports now from the moscow hospital feeling was taken immediately after the attack. his doing rather well surprisingly well actually he did thank the doctors for doing everything in their power to have a very difficult situation that. third degree burns and those are very severe space and he said he's full of hope for full recovery. and he actually looked very

enthusiastic and the whole situation of course considering his circumstances actually he did appear to. speak about. he did say that he knows exactly who it was on this particular day today did not want to talk about the investigation at all so as not to interfere with the investigation he did however. received threats before but he also mentioned and this is important. he didn't mention that he's continuing to work with everybody who has been left in charge. he said that nothing is. changing. foreman says and everything about the theater will be carrying on before. an investigation by the guardian newspaper has revealed britain's

largest police force stole the identities of dozens of children for you spy undercover officers the scheme went ahead without informing or consulting any of the parents. chosen by the police all unacceptable. wondering if i live in a democracy or not we're talking about the identities of eighty dead children stolen by the police i mean you do want to tell you where else these infiltrations have been taking place as well do they have police agents within our political parties where are the lines being drawn because it doesn't seem like there are any lines being drawn are absolutely behind the former director of public prosecutions macdonald who is now saying there must be a public inquiry into these kinds of police practices let's not forget these are crown servant does her majesty know that they're up to this does she approve and we

know that there has to be really deep inquiry here the guardian of real can of worms and there's absolutely no accountability it seems why these things that have been authorised through through scotland yard the idea that people haven't complained about it therefore it's ok well of course i'm not going to complain about it if they don't know about it it's almost like the scotland yard is being run like some kind of secret cult we've got to break that cult if we're going to have justice. on the website right now russia's upcoming winter olympics in sochi is shaping up to be the most expensive games in history find out how much the event will cost it dot com. plus the russian city which was host to one of the pivotal battles of world war two could reclaim its former name on the country's soviet leader joseph stalin find out about that it's online. thousands of people in america are forced to undergo polygraph testing every year

in the name of national security that's a minute it's ringing the alarm over u.s. federal agencies exceeding their legal and ethical limits to determine who can be trusted or is miniport has more in this. for more than three decades john sullivan worked as a polygraph examiner for america's central intelligence agency today the retired cia employee is offering some strong opinions about the nation's lie detector policy too many honest people are too many people who should be passing their tests aren't and there's no there's no accountability for that. last year more than seventy three thousand americans were reportedly required to undergo polygraph tests in order to get or keep jobs with the federal government according to an investigation by mcclatchy newspapers a growing number of u.s. agencies are asking employees and applicants intimate questions that extend way beyond the realm of national security probing matters such as sexual conduct

financial matters and past personal relationships a woman was pressured to talk about her experience being molested as a child and when the polar bear for said that he refused to go on with the interrogation he alleges that he was pressured to go back and continue interrogating or a decade ago the national academies an organization advising washington on scientific matters urged the feds to stop using polygraphs as a screening technique scientists found that polygraphs aren't reliable enough to prevent innocent people from failing and deceptive candidates from passing i think it's important to understand that the polygraph is not just. for screening it's an interrogation tool. there's a question that they trip that leads to indication of deception

the drilling down. question that they get asked may well be quite true over the past ten years. at least fifteen federal agencies including the n.s.a. and f.b.i. have reportedly continued or expanded their polygraph screenings with nearly five million people having access to classified information washington maintains that polygraph testing is the most effective way from preventing secrets from being leaked lisa ribicoff is an independent polygraph examiner and investigator who uses the polygraph program designed by homeland security she contends that it's ninety eight percent accurate i do think that there are some questions pertaining to some emotional aspects and personal situations should not be included but i do understand why they're included on the basis of that the government needs to see how exactly what their breaking point is what are they willing to discuss what are they not willing to discuss however applicants who are denied

a coveted position after failing a polygraph are prohibited from accessing the records of their interrogation and are often barred from contesting the results were filing complaints in federal court in two thousand and four the cia veteran who conducted lie detector interrogations for thirty one years failed his own screening there was absolutely no question in my mind the the test was wrong. was a terrible test sullivan lost his security clearance and was denied a job with a federal contracting agency he claims his examiner falsified the results possible retribution for solving his book detailing america's polygraph system sub's a come in for a polygraph test now are guilty until proven innocent and i think that's a. corruption and an abuse of the process the obama administration is now promising to draft a new national polygraph policy that would prevent agencies from pushing legal or ethical boundaries during screenings but at the moment the program has no oversight

or accountability meaning tens of thousands of u.s. citizens will continue getting personally probed in the name of national security bring up or not our team in new york. this is all to live in moscow to couple minutes from now we bring you the first part of a feature length documentary on the occupy movement the effects of which is still being felt across america i'll be back with a news team with more news in just have a half now from now. secretary of state hillary clinton recently testified to congress in regards to the attack on the u.s. consulate was killed an american ambassador in benghazi libya during the testimony

couldn't rather calmly said things like that the revolutions that sprang up during the arab spring like in libya where the events in bali have created instability and safe havens for terrorists and she made it clear that there is no doubt that the algerian terrorists had weapons from libya so the us secretary has basically admitted that the actions of the usa and nato have caused a mass instability that has allowed the seeds of terrorism to grow when the justification for most of the actions in the muslim world is to stop evil dictators who harbor terrorists or spread shouting to mock recy if libya would have been left alone algerian terrorists wouldn't be getting any weapons from it now this is like an exterminator accidentally or maybe on purpose actually feeding the roaches in your basements that there are ten times more of them and then saying that he has to keep working because he's the only one who can get rid of the roaches people like hillary clinton who support funding brutal jihad it's rebel.