they withdraw over thirty thousand troops from afghanistan is one of the main pleasure. state of the union address examines the foreign policy areas he wasn't keen to talk about. silence is broken the israeli media lifts a shroud of secrecy over the death of an alleged secret agent in custody despite the government trying to keep it. expert opinion on this short. with europeans paying some of the highest taxes in the world the wealthy take flight to protect their cash small businesses say they're taking too big a hit. from a new center here in moscow this is with you online on screen twenty four hours

a day barack obama used the first state of the union address of his second term to try and appease lawmakers and taxpayers making fresh promises to boost the economy and slash debt on foreign policy the us president also announced thirty four thousand troops will leave afghanistan by next february and he says now he looks at what he did and didn't say. after over a decade of war troops are coming home in twenty fourteen as obama put it obama points out that there are two missions now one to prepare handing afghan forces to take over so that the country does not slip into chaos again the key word here again it almost seems as if it's now a stable place just today reports of ten civilians killed by a nato strike targeting taliban insurgents and while obama spent most of his speech talking about the economy and taxes he failed to mention that so far the u.s.

has invested over one hundred billion dollars in reconstruction of afghanistan and that this year alone it's expected another thirty billion dollars could be spent in eight this as the afghan state is rated one of the most corrupt in the world despite red flags from a watchdog monitory bad aid they say there's no way of ensuring all this money is going to the right place or whose hands the cash is falling into and that it's too dangerous in many places in afghanistan to safely observe what's happening well former and. some have become very rich including western officials well most afghans have been left with nothing many countries thrive on this war they make money there n.g.o.s their u.n. people are others who are lined up and making fat salaries and while the life of afghan ordinary afghans have not changed we of course we have had some things like media like communication and this and that but. to in relation to what was

available and what could have been done drop in the bucket now obama also spoke of defending democracy across the globe most notably the arab spring which is previously been held by his administration a great success especially libya egypt and tunisia those countries of course now still drowning in chaos and violence two years on well. ahmed has changed his tune a bit now saying well it's going to be messy those transitions also his tone on syria a bit distant considering a year ago the u.s. was insisting president off to moscow a lot of speculation about intervention was going on now the president saying they will continue to put pressure on the syrian leader another pledge from obama to continue to push for legal and durable policy on counterterrorism no mention here of guantanamo drones or wiretapping and obama mentioned internet freedoms well sort

of he flaunted signing an executive order on cyber defense but the order is really seen as a response to congress's refusal to pass the cyber intelligence sharing and protection act or says last year in light of serious privacy concerns in other words a loophole is now available for cispa to effectively be put into action president obama says the main goal is to ensure doesn't return to afghanistan but just today as we heard earlier ten afghan civilians including four children were reportedly killed by a nato strike international relations professor chelios says that the u.s. never looks. we're looking at a war machine that could be construed we damage to civilian life and infrastructure in afghanistan and the rebuilding you see there will bombing on one side and on the other hand all these corporations little coming in western supported wants to try and rebuild and reconstruct so this was later destroyed with one hand and with the other this is the old problem the old strategy the ardor that the americans

promised to bring. over to one side by creating students to explode here it don't materialize and they were left of going to start it has been many weeks. and i would assess the last two years of the war as a major city and as a strategic setback for the united states and its allies and. overcoming. the elite of one star rather slow. at best you can see that al qaeda has been weakened but then reconsidered by had come in with much much more on the plate it was to prevent afghanistan from ever becoming a hotbed of islamic fundamentalism and terrorism and i'm not sure that they have achieved that objective. well while barack obama's charting the future course of his country others have been taking aim at his plans for stricter gun controls. they need to mark up and listen get the garbage out in your ears and listen to what

people are saying protesters in the state of new york demonstrate against the arms restrictions slapped on them by the authorities following the sandy hook school massacre last december more on that to come for you this hour. but first a veil of silence of the death of a top secret prisoner has been lifted by the israeli media which had been gagged by a court order it surfaced follow a report in the australian press about a man linked to the israeli secret service who hanged himself in prison after months of being held in secret. the details. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu summoned the editors of all the major israeli news outlets to an emergency meeting and in that meeting he asked them not to publish the story saying and i'm quoting that it would be embarrassing to a certain government agency not at first the editors did listen and all references to the original australian report were removed from israeli news websites but later

it was brought back not only to the websites but also to all the radio and t.v. stations here and certainly sincerely also this morning it has been the headline news everyone though is referencing it as a report from australia what we understand is that israeli parliament terence did oss the justice minister to confirm whether or not this report was true they also demanded to know if they were other prisoners who were being held in secret in israeli jails the justice minister's comments were and i'm quoting that there is no doubt that if this information is accurate this is something that needs to be checked state since it is in grave news office in israel the green light to report on this parliamentary debate but nothing else but of course we're witnessing now that the reporting has gone much further than just this debate such a gag order it is important to say it is highly unusual in israel ways statement a tree since it's normally a knowledge of the local media to quote silence sources on controversial topics

such as the alleged israeli strike in syria last month what we also understand is that various human rights groups such as human rights watch as well as the israeli civil rights movement has been aware of this particular incident for quite some time now the australian media is reporting that this man came to live in israel when he was a youngster he made what is called idea and he was recruiting on the stand by the side of these raided secret service something went wrong and we've been given no reason for him being imprisoned but they respect the nation that it would have had to be connected somehow with espionage and sensitive state secrets the. former foreign minister avigdor lieberman has said that the left wing parliamentarians have damaged israeli security by bringing this issue to the fore in the first place . pulis live there well for more on the story i'm joined by columnist and senior correspondent for israel's how it's newspaper or and now you work for one of his rails leading newspapers were you or any of your staff directly told not to publish

material relating to this story well less the report summed up the affair two levels here on one level it's an espionage story and mystery regarding the foreign intelligence service mossad and the tragic. circumstances under which one of its operatives apparently found his death on another level. government versus press story and the press here has been struggling against various government agencies and gradually has been able to leave at least some of the secrecy surrounding this story there was a gagging order on this story if you would have broken that what sort of repercussions do you think you would have faced if you're gonna get the government's wishes. as the australian

broadcast said and you were later quoted there was a gag order here apparently and if this was the case and one cannot confirm it independently from israel but again embarrassing is one has to rely on foreign sources if that is true and a gag order was signed by a judge then one would have been subject to prosecution if one were to violate it so apparently even though the israeli press is far from being lazy for the last two years it has waited passively for someone abroad in this case australia to break the story as you said earlier this is a mystery of course all journalists love a mystery what do you think of the circumstance of this here we have an australian man with apparently to be israeli secret service reportedly hanging himself in

a high security israeli jail what do you think he was doing there in the first place what sort of things are you speculating on now. one for some reason is emphasizing the australian angle probably because the story broke in australia and dispersant was born and raised in the strait but i think this is mistaken. it is no more. germane to australia no more relevant to us trail you then if an israeli of russian origin or ukrainian origin where to immigrate to israel and then recruit big recruited by the mossad or another agency so this is just. one circumstance which is not the heart of the story ok with the heart or yes eaves what happened to this guy yes yes what is the heart of the story allegedly committed crimes that nobody he

allegedly committed crimes that nobody is allowed to discuss what is it that the israeli authorities are trying to hide isn't that the crux of this whole mystery well the fine or the answer to that i would probably write a spy novel if not being able to report it in a straightforward fashion but one can presume that if he was indeed operative again this is only coming from australia and if he was held in an israeli jail for several months according to reports he was there between march and december of two thousand and ten for nine months and then in the middle of some obscure legal proceeding committed suicide then apparently there were serious charges against dispersant what exactly is the nature of these charges nobody outside of a close israeli government circles know. to do smallman we'll leave it there thank

you very much indeed i may or in senior correspondent and columnist for israel's had its newspaper great to talk to you thank you for your time thank you. well still to come later in the program a gaggle for africa the u.n. human rights chief says the situation with the french intervention the violence that's plaguing the west african nation. troubling. small business left at home struggling to stay afloat a report on that is coming up after a break. speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks about six of the interviews intriguing

stories for you. to try. to find out more visit. news continues here on r t reports say katter has handed the syrian embassy to the

opposition the building has been closed for about a year after the gulf nations cease to recognize as a ruling regime one of syria's opposition leaders claims he has been appointed ambassador to cattle for for more on this i can talk to london based syrian political activist abdullah that qatar is the first to handover an embassy to the syrian national coalition are we likely see other countries follow his example now . it's quite possible that other countries will follow especially countries qatar exercise financial or. is this a positive step could actually now effectively push this conflict to some sort of conclusion. i do think so. this is not sir political breakthrough and it's it's not an addition to the political weight of the syrian national coalition in my view this is

a this is primarily prime primarily to reinject some life into the syrian national coalition especially after the several blows that it received since. it was formed we know that they want to. overthrow the regime they couldn't so far they wanted to actually have some liberated lands and more than northern syria and they didn't so far and they also wanted to form a transitional government on syrian soil and they're meeting in us istanbul recently failed in doing so so i think i think this movement by by qatar especially the last couple of considers itself the main backer of this iranian national mission because it was its own project so it's its lines are massed and we inject some life into it after after the deficiencies and also yes and they've been accused of failing to really represent the interests of the opposition as

a whole because many see the opposition as fragmented is that a fair accusation. i think it is a fair accusation we know that the syrian national coalition was formed in an attempt to unite the syrian opposition in exile. and and qatar embraced that movement towards the end of last year however recently there have been some very significant revelations of the poor dynamics between the members of the coalition itself when the dialogue initiative presented by the head of the coalition was put forward and then we immediately had the other members of the coalition rebuffing the the initiative and saying that they did not represent them and they never heard of it or they were never consulted about the legs of the coarsest ration between the members of the coalition of course afterwards we had them accepting the initiative however this reflects some deficiencies some and some

real deficiencies within the council and perhaps find to do is now put forward a step to moscow that efficiency and then give the coalition a little bit of push for so symbolically very important and perhaps that means that we could get the opposition now and a sad to negotiate with the help of the un is that a naive or maybe realistic way of looking at it. well i think the talks are now between the syrian government and the foreign bate foreign based opposition are still on hold until the interim national deal is brokered between russia and america surely i think once that international deal and once america finishes in business with with russia then i would guess i would i would force the all the foreign based opposition house flying beurre rapidly into syria. and shape the dialogue and that will involve also stopping the arms flow and sending the

jihadists into syria by exercising some pressure on the region so i think the issue of dialogue is not an issue between the government and the foreign based opposition as months as it is an external issue yet to be agreed upon between the world powers yes and great to talk to you thank you very much indeed yes and of dollars joining me live there in london appreciate. it. tax hikes are still the default plan for e.u. nations trying to get out of bed while the super rich can flee to places that won't take such a hefty slice of their cash small business is left behind say livelihoods are at risk is all these people over found out. he's a leading man of stage and screen however european heads of state will be hoping here are death by do doesn't become the leader of a tax exodus by the super rich front lawns decision to push through a seventy five percent top rate of tax on those earning over one million euros saw

the access up sticks and head to russia europe some of the highest rates of taxation in the world with many giving need lie in share of the things to the state of mind fear go inside and it can be a balancing act of course you want to run a successful business but if you make over a certain amount you find yourself paying out huge quantities of the tax i'm over fifty percent but there are warnings for europe that when compared to low tax countries like russia they could lose their competitive edge if their country was low taxes and with high taxes capital flow well to country with low taxes and the same is true for people with talent there's always going to be people that think the taxes are too high but a growing number actually starting to think that it's becoming detrimental to the development of business but he can't owns a haulage company in munich currently he employs around ninety people transporting

everything from the small to the big and bulky all over mainland europe he say's that lowering the current rate of tax would not just make big changes to his business but also to the lives of this stuff that's where not only can his with him . it would be super first i could pay higher salaries this is a very important issue right now due to the rise in the cost of living also i can invest more into the company and grow the business even employ more people everyone benefits something that is impossible under the current tax system and that those in power argue that the problem in european countries right now is that taxpayers want to have the best of both worlds. the phenomenon we face regarding taxes is that everyone wants to pay as little as possible however no one is willing to give up the services that those taxes go to pay for. tax cuts on

the horizon in your business is like this one going to have to continue to struggle to bring home the bacon but it comes to saving fifty development. just remind you with more stories and great videos for you dot com at the moment and here's a quick look at what we've lined up there for you after taking a battering. residents in parts of new york looking. for an unfortunate surprise from the city's texas authorities more on that on the web site of the moment. the iraqi capital baghdad makes its first steps onto the catwalk in ten years the fashion show is seen as a symbolic break from the years of turmoil since the u.s. invasion more on that and plenty of other stories at artie's website. is.

the. united nations says the french military intervention in mali has made the situation in the country worse with fans at the west african nation will fall into a downward spiral of violence human rights groups are concerned about ethnic reprisal killings and accused in forces of murdering suspected militants. who has been traveling around the country throughout the conflict reports now for. so you got him money yes. i mean the united nations already describes the situation in mali as a disaster the u.n. human rights commission says the country's caught in a spiral of violence fraught with grievous consequences the situation has been made

worse in the wake of ferocious fighting in and around the city of northern mali following four days of fierce resistance from insurgents complete with suicide attacks the french military has been forced to conclude that some of the locals maybe extremists. however some of the key areas in this conflict are still off limits to international journalists where the french army denying us passage saying it was for our own security the u.n. high commissioner for human rights not the palais made it plain in a recent statement that the situation in mali is only deteriorated following the foreign military intervention you know that the insurgency in mali is aggravated by ethnic clashes an artsy camera crew witnessed instances of exit q sions and brutality perpetrated by the mali an army and survive. the military are not the only ones and gauged in hunting down people of arab or quarrel origin who are believed to be part of the insurgency and even the locals are going after them as well and for some time it has been difficult to find people from either of those

ethnic groups anywhere in mali this brings us back to the fact that more than three hundred thirty thousand people have been forced to flee from their homes because of the crisis the last straw for all those refugees and indeed for all of mali has been a statement by al qaida coming out of the arabian peninsula which calls upon every muslim to join the holy war against france a war that is being fought in mali against the will of its people. mali are. time now for some other international news. nineteen insurgents were killed after they know. a predawn assault on the military base in the country self over one hundred heavily armed fighters stormed the marine camp on the malaysian border the troops repelled the attack suffering no injuries themselves the raid is the heaviest militant attack to several units in the rest of self.

involved rain police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the country's capital one day before the two year anniversary of the uprising people marched in the streets carrying bahraini flags and chanting anti-government slogans accusing the ruling regime of corruption and human rights violations rain is being staging demonstrations two thousand and eleven demanding political reform and i want the removal of the ruling family blaming them for the volatile crackdown on protests. that's it for the moment for me and the news team will be back with more for you in about half an hour. and it gets discussed personal privacy hello kitty toy in space and other news never seen in the mainstream media that is in breaking the said.

she. couldn't take three days for sure. three. three. three. three live. video. a freebie.