u.s. senate hearings are underway for president obama's controversial pick to be the new chief of the cia already been interrupted due to protests by activists angry behind . america's infamous drone program it could be head of the agency. political chaos in tunisia anti-government protests turn into violent clashes with police the ruling bloc the prime minister's plan to form a coalition government. and the countdown to the next winter olympics begins its exactly one year until russia first ever winter games that promise to become the

most unique and the most expensive in history. but not everyone is in the mood russia's president lashes out over spending a key figure behind the two thousand and fourteen games. in broadcasting live direct from our studios in moscow this is r.t. certainly glad to have you with us. now from drone strikes to torture techniques barack obama's nominee for head of the cia is facing tough questions in the senate confirmation hearing the session is underway again after it was disrupted by protestors angry at john brennan's role in america's drone program brennan is widely seen as one of the architects of the controversial program in an effort to avoid scrutiny over his candidacy at the u.s. president has even. to hand over classified documents justifying the killing of

american terror suspects abroad and as our t. is going to change can comments brennan's confirmation might broaden their horizons for america's drone fleet. in the shadows know more drones are moving into the mainstream was drone makers in the u.s. military pushing to defend the killing machine drones are more properly titled remotely piloted vehicles allow us to do is to project capability without projecting vulnerability in their revolutionizing warfare by allowing us to see and q. from half a world away a major drone manufacturer lockheed martin has financed an hour long documentary on drones aired recently on u.s. public television counting the technological capabilities of the killing machine from trailers like this pilots of the predator and its larger cousin the reaper have killed thousands of individual since two thousand and one using remotely

piloted aircraft contrary to popular belief actually provides the greatest degree of ethical oversight for their use this young man in pakistan would probably disagree several of his family members died at the remote hands of a drone more than a thousand other civilians were reportedly killed by u.s. drone strikes in pakistan and yemen we find ourselves murdering people in many cases children with no evidence whatsoever that they're involved in any criminal or terrorist activity the numbers should not come as a surprise considering the broad definition the obama administration gives us to who should be on their kill list the leaked memo on targeted assassinations from the us justice department suggests the us government can kill people even without evidence that they are actively plotting against america if you extend the logic or studio logic being pretty out by the white house now you come. live you might say that we're in danger go. over we're getting very close to of thought crimes

that if somebody a us citizen or otherwise is believed to be thinking something that could lead to actions against united states then this illogical logic would present the idea that it would be ok for the president to order that that person be killed despite the u.n. raising concerns about the legality of the use of drones the u.s. is said to expand its remote control warfare setting up new drone bases across the world drama has redefined war during intervention in libya he made the case that the war powers act in a private because there was no risk to american soldiers and so under that rationale he can expand the global war while in his state of the union address claiming that we don't need perpetual war for peace but it is perpetual war when you can drop bombs on any country and then claim that it's not working john brennan often referred to as the architect of the administration's drone war how it's the

new opportunities for the us to wage wars without risking american lives there's another reason a targeted strikes can be a wise choice the strategic consequences that inevitably come with the use of force . as we have seen deploying large armies abroad won't always be our best offense all in all the u.s. now has around ten thousand drones in its fleet not all of them carry weapons of course a lot of them are first of valence both domestic and international there's a great push both from the administration and the drone makers to present them as america's next best thing john brennan if confirmed will soon be at the helm of the cia and no one doubts that under him the program will expand even further in washington i'm going to stick around. now later in the program iran gives egypt a loan to help the cash strapped state is that is foundering in a political storm stay afloat. that is despite iran itself laboring under severe economic pressure after several rounds of us back sanctions over its nuclear

program more on this just ahead right here on our team. tunisia is witnessing the largest political crisis since the revolution two years ago and thai government protests turned violent as police use tear gas to disperse crowds near the interior ministry earlier the violence spread to the southern city of god where hundreds attacked security forces with stones and petrol bombs rest was sparked by the assassination of a secular opposition leader. known for his anti islamic criticism the country's prime minister moved to quell the unrest by forming a coalition government but the move was blocked by his own party who said they had not been consulted but he's more if a notion has the latest from today's. day off to the nation of the prominent opposition leader here. it seems that temperatures are still very high and tensions

are still at a very dangerous the very risky level the level that is threatening and challenging the security and stability in this country has happened continuing a strong we've seen many many people. on the streets and we've been hearing them chanting and governmental slogans like been many clashes between police and opposition supporters today again and again police has been using tear gas against protesters but not only the clashes between protesters and. opposition supporters have been going on here in tunisian capital my crew and me we've been attacked today here actually by a group of youngsters with and the only reason for that because it was just because we feel them and they have been feel md and i think that tells a lot about how is the situation on the ground that it could be described as something very close to chaotic we've been hearing about similar violence and

similar disturbances throughout the country especially in the southern part of tunisia where the headquarters of the ruling party has been vandalized people are saying that friday will be even worse on friday they say the protest may go even more violent intentions may go even further because friday will be the day of the funerals of the opposition leader also we've been hearing that the country's trade union has been calling on nash and wide strike on friday that means that the country could be paralyzed i've heard from texas driving today that no one will be working to course it will only a great things. and you can share your views and opinions on all the stories that are to dot com had online and let us know what you think the latest tunisian protests will bring there you'll find four options that you can choose from and now let's take a look a look at how opinion has been divided so far

a majority of those who've already voted think that tunisia will plunge deeper into unrest more than a quarter fear the latest upsurge of public unrest will lead to a government crackdown on protesters now almost a fifth of you you believe that the country might see another revolution and then around seventeen percent think that the leadership is ready for political concessions we've got more stories after a short break on r.t. don't go away. it's technology innovation all the rest of elements from around russia we've. covered. a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else here sees some other part of it and realize

everything you. are welcome to the big picture. welcome back you're with our team back to our top story now the u.s. senate hearing for obama's nominee as it director of the cia has just finished john brennan is set to return for

a classified session on saturday for more let's cross to phase all that perfessor at the university of illinois champagne herb anna. first let's hear what john brennan had to say about the use of drones let's take a listen to what his what he had to say. i think there is a misimpression on the part of the some american people who believe that to a we take strikes to punish terrorists for past transgressions nothing could be further from the truth we only take such actions as a last resort to save lives when there is no other alternative to taking an action that's going to mitigate that threat seemingly clear but how would you respond to that statement. respond that it's correct i mean it seems as though clearly in the end. there's been no evidence suggested of an imminent threat. of a ongoing planned attack and that in that case the us it isn't me he was struck with a drone missile who are having some past involvement with the strikes of brain is

just simply wrong he's at odds with the record. so so far commentators have been finding the questions at the hearing too soft without any real challenge on any of the sensitive issues what's your take. i think it's exactly right. and i think that neither congressional republicans nor congressional democrats really want to take a strong line against reading and nobody wants to appear to be soft on security and so this is just another example is paul receiving a very passive will not him in the executive on polls he gets food poorly thought out which hasn't been clarified has been kept secret. and just continues to run of with congress really advocating its rulers. you know it's always fun to play the hypothetical if you were there right now and had the ability to put a question to john brennan what would you ask. i would ask what imminent threat did

. keep opens at the time he was attacked. was you know is the. evidence what are the source of that evidence and also what about seniors on. he's the person also a u.s. citizen who was killed at the same time killed along with you apparently. though he wasn't involved in any player to these ok merely published on n.b.c. . is that acceptable collateral damage we don't know we simply know very little ability to liberations that go on behind closed doors in the ministration who are citizens who are absolute state and i think every member of the destruction bolton this policy not only brennan but also holder president obama himself

must be called to account for the now you're there in the states you can test for this but over the last year there have been almost no mentions of the drones in america's political discourse until this nomination will this change the way the white house is using drones one way or the other. i don't think it will. i think whatever happens with the brennan confirmation nothing will change this policy until congress actually dials back the authorization for use of military force that it very hastily pass after september eleventh and actually reigns in the executive the obama administration likes and bush administration before it will use the congress has given a. very disturbing way until cole was really upset. i think that's what needs to happen commerce needs to find the courage to say. maybe

this will cause some security concerns but we need to exercise their constitutional role of having in the executive more and so that happens i don't think you will see a change at all and briefly there's been lots of attention to trying to stop unmanned killings particularly in afghanistan and pakistan is there any other way to get terrorists out of such remote places. sure there were you know when a little. was killed there was. a warrant for his arrest with yemeni officials. is how you catch terrorists how terrorists. are terrorism is not a new. american. there or. drop ins. which have an enormous humanitarian force and not just the civil rights

issues issues associated with the actual intended but also. and also the people who live in the area is movies drones so i've been displaced from their own this is a huge humanitarian issue. and there are much better way to proceed with this right pushing your thoughts on the subject. was a professor at the university of illinois at champagne urbana thanks for being with us thank you. it's going to be a battle between the north and the self at an e.u. meeting in brussels european leaders are gathering to thrash out an agreement over the union's budget for the next seven years the british prime minister david cameron is pressing for huge cuts even going as far as to veto any deal without reduced expenditure however that is fiercely opposed by southern members of the bloc that are heavily dependent on cash from brussels. has more on the budget fight

. we've seen some of the leaders who had arrived here already making strong statements first of all we've david cameron continuously saying that if the budget is not brought down to a level that he is happy with there will be no deal we've heard from other countries who are saying that they may use their veto if they're not happy such as the czech republic to simplify the of the current going on right now it would be big. between northern and southern countries you can say the wealthier nations versus those that actually depend more on the e.u. funding on the one hand you have countries like the u.k. germany the netherlands denmark these countries are supporting harsher cuts to the e.u. budget david cameron being the most radical and controversial taking this now he has been demanding since november of last year in two thousand and twelve that was the first strike today is the second since that until now he's been demanding for cuts in brussels bureaucracy for instance he wants to reduce payments of officials here and this has not gone down well with brussels officials he also wants to

reduce their pensions for instance but on the other side you have those countries who are dependent on these forums and one of the loudest voices on this is a lot of friends now he is saying and pointing a finger at the u.k. saying they want cuts but at the same time they are very protective of the so-called rebate this is the money that the u.k. gets back from the e.u. as a return for their payments on farm subsidies which the u.k. does not benefit from and which france benefits a lot from you could see a lot of the national interest coming here to the forefront so france well it's certainly not happy with what if you read between the lines would say hypocritical . that rebate is worth three point five billion euros and is seen to be wanting to tackle that point also the u.k. is coming into this summit this is the first time since he had that out referendum that he said that he would pose the question of whether he should remain in the twenty seven reelected twenty fifteen of course this is a possibility of

a creating even more tension in the u.k. with the cost benefit of actually being a member of the e.u. interpreted by the other members not being a team player in this regard and also as this talk is happening talking about budget cuts of the level we see the budget cuts on a more local ground level we've see that as. protests continuing even until today people very angry at the cuts imposed on them on their livelihoods of their pensions on their potential jobs while the e.u. cannot agree upon a budget cut of their own. are silly reporting for us there and while the e.u. leaders are fighting over where to cut there's one item that's apparently immune from any austerity measures the e.u. is reportedly planning to spend over two million euro to wage a so-called propaganda blitz on its critics in the social media from the u.k. independence party says the project would violate one of the main principles of the

european parliament. they decided that they got to train in how staff in the run up to the european elections of twenty fourteen train those people to go online to look at facebook twitter other social media sites and to correct that's their word not mine to correct any misapprehensions that may exist about the european union and i have to say the fact that it's a parliament that is doing this that is using taxpayers' money to do this says a lot about the institutions that all what about parliaments is the person is it's in the chair of parliament he's the speaker in westminster he's the chairman of the parliaments around the world but he and all the rest of the staff are supposed to be neutral they're not supposed to take any political position at all and the fact that the parliament decided it's going to spend money time and resources doing this shows you that frankly they're no better than a banana republic and this is all the mcgarvie would do or someone like that so i

think many people outside would be shocked by it having worked there myself for thirteen years i'm not surprised at all they are really really scared they're scared that from north to south to east to west all over the european union citizens are saying we've never voted for this thing to become the united states of europe we've never asked to have the majority of our laws made somewhere else and we want to do something about it so they're scared and they're fighting back. it's now exactly one year until the opening of the two thousand and fourteen winter olympics in russia john clarke have been erected in the country's largest cities to track the countdown to the event that will be held in the black sea resort city of sochi the main celebrations to mark the countdown have taken place in saudi itself rounding off with a spectacular gala show parties and a farmer is in the city for us to see how the preparations for the games are going

and to gauge the mood there. but if you can see the big spirit has one tree but it's so cheap two weeks like the city sky to speak yeah that was the spectacular skating show but it's not actually pay at the beach games but it's not a nice time for several regions in the city they could be the first ones to be out with it except trouble in bar this is the peacock aims in things right up to speed these games are all to be very compact to people be able to jump with a child within fifteen minutes you can be in the mindset of my piano to enjoy the fine events particularly nice it is that easy being built and spread something very unusual and not repeat history companies gangs will pay you a nice explained c p h p i think it's something that the billion dollars but if you do look around and see what money can buy the organizing committee says a soldier will be ready in twenty to. twenty center farmer reporting for us there

meanwhile the olympic city comes under close scrutiny from russian authorities president vladimir putin has personally been checking the olympic venues and says he's generally happy with what he saw he did however fire one top official for delays and cost overruns in construction work following this rather abrupt conversation literature in your view are there any cost overruns and yes a serious increase in costs but since they use their own funds for the construction zone phones. is financed by the funds of president pollyanna who's the shareholder of crossing point spread dances so it's largely finance at the expense of sperm bank yes and these cost overruns are paid for by sperm bank yes it's been one of the costs of this whole facility costing what's the overall was the it was your initially be very assessing the amount of the loan facility what's a rough estimate who knew that this initial price was one point two billion now it was in one point two billion has turned into a billion yes well done good work and let's move on. and of course our team will be

monitoring the developments in such a on air and online as the city readies for one of the world's biggest and most prestigious sporting events. and now let's turn to some other stories that making headlines around the world this hour. police in los angeles have injured two bystanders while trying to ambush an ex policeman who shot dead three people and wounded two others christopher dorner went on a shooting spree in an apparent act of revenge after he was fired from the l.a.p.d. so far dorner has a video to rest leaving a threat on his facebook page saying the killings are only a starfleet and huge manhunt is now underway with authorities warning the public

not to approach if they see a. rival palestinian factions hamas and fatah are now in talks about forming a coalition government according to the leader of hamas khaled mashal also mentioned that he and his counterpart mahmoud abbas are now preparing for elections along postponed because of a feud between the two parties following a military conflict in two thousand and seven the mosque has pushed the abbas. fatah out of the gaza strip and established itself there as a separate government. in zambia at least fifty three people have died in what appears to be one of the worst traffic accidents in the country's history over twenty others were taken to nearby hospitals the crash was caused when an s u v collided with a truck sending it into the path of an oncoming bus rescue workers are struggling to enter the wreckage to search for survivors. iran has extended

a helping hand to egypt offering a loan to the cash strapped country and also plans to invest more in sudan all this despite the fact that tehran itself is subject to severe economic sanctions imposed by the u.s. and the e.u. over its nuclear program earlier economist and commentator tare told r.t. that egypt had no choice but to accept help from where it can get it. but i think egypt has has made it quite clear that it wants to go its own way and where it stands but the muslim brotherhood has come to the realisation that we're a country. as important as powerful as iran in the region. they will have to be given take and should they decide to such a confident confrontational course with iran it would it would prove counterproductive so egypt is in dire straits and it wouldn't require assistance

from any number of muslim countries to to get back on its feet again after a short break and the kaiser report on our t.v. max and stacey will look into how they think wall street might lead the world into another financial meltdown. wealthy british style.

market. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to the report on our. welcome to the kaiser report imax kaiser i told you to get out of. june to get out of sterling and out of the stricken tomatoes on wall street are agreeing with

me yeah the bond apocalypse which is by the way a term that i now claim ownership. u.b.s. tells clients to get ready for the bond pocalypse u.b.s. is planning a mass mailing to many of its brokerage clients alerting them that they have been reclassified as aggressive investors following a recent change in its market outlook that some people inside the firm say reflects a growing bearishness in the bond market particularly over the long term so max yeah why are they reclassifying clients as aggressive if you were a client or if you were the broker sending out this letter what is going on here right well when you open an account at a brokerage firm per the laws of going back to thirty three and thirty four the know your customer rules you have to fill out what the profile of the customer is whether they're conservative whether they're aggressive and typically if they are going.