also they will keep using captured peacekeepers as human shields in the disputed golan heights despite calls by the un for the immediate release. of bolshoi ballet dancer admits a move masterminding an attack on his artistic director but claims splashing his boss with acid was into the plan. tranquil and his accomplice will remain in jail until next month. and venezuelans are in mourning as the country braces itself for change after the death of his former. job as we examine the prospects all the political transition. twenty four hours a day seven days a week at this is r t the un is demanding the immediate release of

a group of its peacekeepers taken hostage by syrian rebels in the golan heights the militants are say they are using the observers as human shields and will hold them until syrian government forces pull back from a nearby village argues middle east correspondent policia has the details. all twenty one new impersonal well armed they're all from the philippines and we've heard from the philippines foreign office who has demanded their immediate release the philippines government says that they are being treated well that negotiations are underway to try and secure the release of the militants are admitting that they took these u. n. personnel to try and prevent an attack by assad's loyalists in other words what we're seeing is that the rebel forces are using this new and to mean as human shields now the u.n. has of course condemned this action we've heard criticism particularly from moscow at the united nations there is no reason at all under any circumstances any kind of

a sick imagination to try to harm harm those people so clearly gross disrespect for united nations gross disrespect of international norms of behavior now the united nations is currently also involved in the go shaking their immediate release according to the united nations its team were on a regular mission in the area we're talking about an area not far from the israeli syrian border that happened earlier on wednesday when they were taken hostage. leading up to the hostage crisis the western powers and their allies have been stepping up support for the syrian rebels arab ministers have decided to lead member states army anti government fighters they've also invited and opposition coalition to take up a seat in the organization at the expense of the assad regime my colleague bill dog's going to argue about their ramifications all the increased foreign backing for the rebel army. we do know where they get their arms from at least there has

been plenty of information to deduce that from we do know that saudi arabia as well as qatar as well as turkey libya and the united states have all offered some sort of aid financial or military in one way or another to the syrian rebels we don't know exactly how much has been shipped to these countries we do know that for example qatar has offered has made the latest offer to the syrian rebels which amounts to one hundred million dollars and of course there is also talk from the united kingdom where william hague has already said that he thinks the u.k. should step up their aid if the words. towards the syrian rebels as well and he is talking about something in the amount of roughly one thousand in a half million dollars and that would include armored vehicles body armor search and rescue and disease prevention so there's plenty of aid coming to the syrian rebels and really countries do not seem to shy away from offering it to them john

kerry he's expressed confidence that weapons are going to the right people so who then of the so-called right people taking u.n. peacekeepers hostage and that actually should be the first question that should come to mind because obviously when john kerry is talking about the right people he means that he hopes that the aid does not go to words that hardline islamic jihad is that which reports show there is plenty off in syria and these are the types of people that the u.s. qatar saudi arabia and the rest of them have been supporting. given them plenty of aid they have offered them basically everything they have on the table and now we can assume that it's safe for them to say that they have in fact created a monster because now these very people are taking hostages international peacekeeping troops which are on the ground and it really have no role in the syrian conflict whatsoever. he gypped is aflame with the city of port side once again day at the at the center of the trouble they gyptian are police

a struggle to control the city which has been plagued with and recent violence far for the day we report on that later in the program. the bolshoi ballet dancer suspected of masterminding an attack on his a to stick directors said he did order but didn't want him to be splashed with acid earlier today a moscow called to rule pawel demeter shango and the man who allegedly carried out the assault will remain and arrest until the eighteenth of april mantilly preliminary probe is complete it is time barton has been following the pretrial hearing. on march the sixteenth part of the mitchell chain co was due in the bolshoi theater behind me to take part in another great performance he will not be there he will be staying in detention and least until april the eighteenth a judge has ordered that's when the investigation will wrap up into this case of this

acid attack possibly longer that was ordered by a pretrial at a pretrial detention hearing today and that was after mr richards had said that he did admit that he had committed a crime but he had colluded with his two accomplices and paid them about one and a half thousand dollars but he did not plead guilty to ordering them to throw acid in the face of surrogate fill in the direct the artistic director of the bolshoi theater there is a cloud of rumor circling around this case and there will be as long as it as long as it goes on all of this stuff sort of starts to fall away from the hard facts and it's a lot more based around rumor the police have said that. as far as their statement goes that there was a lot of animosity between surrogate filin and pavol demitra chen co and that the

this attack was likely due to tensions at work beyond that though there is widespread rumors that it may have to do with the puzzle to me to change those girlfriend also a famous dancer at the bolshoi who has been turned down by surrogate fill in more than once for lead roles in ballets there and that that may also may have had something to do with this fall out which resulted in this acid being thrown in surrogate felons face the trials will take its time to unravel but all of this attention surrounded around these individuals and the bolshoi is making this theater and everyone connected with it famous for all the wrong reasons earlier it is a woman correspondent martin enders told my colleague mad treasurer about the ad leah's side to live on the street. in the face of the fear to see

a beautiful production but really the drama. i think it's everyday life in a production house and that's what it is it's a factory from from the problems with the understudies from the problems because thing from the problems of of management who were dances they were bitter about their faded korea it's not an easy world to be in obviously the rivalries between companies with the moscow and with the mets and the skull and they all want to be at the top of their game and tensions are always high and fraud and this is the first time we've had these sort of things happen right well this is certainly a very severe but there been other kind of scandals well this is this it's called drama for a reason if a year ago stravinsky's rite of spring was postponed and in fact one of the dances that. she was actually said that she was threatened by various people and she she actually went over to canada in fear of her life in fear of that it would escalate

these tensions between the theatrical ballet world would escalate into violence and obviously as we see with the result. that happened in january it happens and this may reduce it down to a level of a cliche but we have this blockbuster movie black swan that play out that's absolutely what it's like with the black swan film nothing portman really highlights the you know the extremities and the tensions and especially with the with the management with the hiring in the firing its everyday life and sometimes it can seem like a wonderful place to work but it they reality is somewhat different. still to come here on r.g.p. we examine venezuela's upcoming political transition after the death of his charismatic leader chavez also ahead breaking with a tradition while british voters are shunning the mainstream parties opting instead for alternatives we take a closer look at the trend in about ten minutes. and

a drone quarrel the u.s. and pakistan trade mutual accusations a deadly in strikes with phantom attacks having real victims small and dead shortly . been living this way to seventeen. strict. their community on the ceiling. they clearly distinguish between their own and the alien. and guard their family and think treasure.

it was. called come back you're watching our team any egypt there's no sign of comma after four days of continual outbreaks of violence protesters have started fires in the streets of pot syeed and battle security forces and the challenges of the state of forward they're demanding the release of prisoners six people including three police men have been killed since the end dresden erupted three days ago arches

correspondent who has the latest. the battles raged through the night said largely focused around these keep buildings these key government buildings in poor signage with protesters hurling moneths office security forces the army again to try to intervene to assist the police force haven't been able to quell the dissent that is all ahead it's all process against very contentious verdicts in the post our youth football disasters happened last february basically we're going to see the betting on the final defendants in this trial in courts are either very angry and start to question this to death in the first round of this verdict we have the second round coming up with a lot of dissent we're going to get hit also in cairo so we wait to see what's going to happen the government sure used to change the head of security in port side of this five days of fighting on the streets they replace him with the deputy

also president mohamed morsi has reportedly been mulling over a minute taking over for saeed out of a draw at least as being very much between protesters and the police themselves the police are actually very angry as well by saying that the situation for them is extremely violent and that they have been of good working conditions eight thousand police officers are currently report to be on strike in sinai in suicide they are actually calling for the current minister of interior to to step down which lot of pressure on the current administration now correspondent belcher who is also reporting the latest details a ride from the scene get updated by following her on twitter.

so the country. had a long battle with cancer but it was reportedly. the president. as well as now in a week of mourning with the elections to be held in a month's time. in caracas today is the streets a very calm but really very somber basically the coffin of hugo chavez was taken through the streets today and was finally taken to the military academy where thousands of people have gathered outside the military academy and there's a queue which seems to know no end of people who are waiting to be able to see the body of hugo chavez and pay their final respects people are still very much in a state of shock obviously hugo chavez has been battling with cancer for a very long time at the moment there's a lot of confusion about what kind of coming days and weeks have to bring all of the projects back chavez that was taken over the last fourteen years that he was in

power benefited the most marginalized sections of venezuelan society of course before hugo chavez came into power in one thousand nine hundred nine venezuela was one of the most unequal societies and that gap has been reduced because of a number of social programs that were brought in by hugo chavez thanks to the oil wealth that this country has and prior to. chavez came to power in one thousand nine hundred nine much of that oil wealth was obviously going into the pockets of a very small elite in venezuela. and which. supporters today say form the backbone essentially of the opposition that if the opposition they get into power then essentially the country would robust back to pre-one thousand nine eleven of extreme inequality obviously we know that there's going to be elections in the next thirty days and among chavez's supporters who are the people who have been out in the streets today very confident that the vice president nicolas maduro

is going so comfortably win the next elections but of course you know that remains to be seen. chavez's death now sets the stage for snap elections with interim leader nicolas maduro a clear favorite he's facing tough competition from the opposition contingent to which is backing and retake up reality while correspondent eric margolis believes while madeira lacks the leadership skills of his predecessor his heel is back to opponent or will have a hard time winning over the venezuelan people he's an antique or is maverick compared to come on down to chavez superabundance of charisma he's a very dull quality figure as a former bus driver he really doesn't excite many people nor do the other leaders of the. party so that's not sure and experience tells us that sympathy is a very important factor in elections when leaders guy who will come to realize

things as far as i know in his mother's apartment in new york city so he's obviously the candidate favored by the u.s. which i think will be putting a lot of effort into trying to get him elected and trying to defeat the socialists in venezuela but again he thought of her popular figure either and he's a governor of a small states and his loyalties are suspect by some but as well. the opposition needs a stronger candidate right now we don't have. more news from around the world starting with italy and of former premier silvio berlusconi who has been sentenced to one year in jail he was convicted over the legal publication of a wiretap their phone call in a case related to a two thousand and five banking scandal bill is gone is already appealing another

conviction and is also facing two other trials connected with tax fraud and painful sex with underage prostitutes the seventy six year old is expected to appeal against this latest verdict and remained free for the meantime. kim dotcom the world's most renowned internet pirate can sue the new zealand foreign intelligence agency for illegally spying on him according to a court ruling a request was made to spy on him before the f.b.i. conducted raids on his home and offices he's currently battling an extradition order to the u.s. on charges of online piracy and money laundering if convicted by an american court who faces up to twenty years in jail. the u.s. is denying accusations it's behind deadly drone strikes in pakistan last month saying pakistan's own military could be to blame with the u.s. enjoying a virtual drone monopoly bantam anonymous strikes are becoming

a real problem not least for the nameless victims of the attacks r.t. is marine upon reports. america has long been considered the leader of drone warfare dominating the skies in the middle east africa and most recently here in the u.s. in pakistan the cia has reportedly carried out some three hundred thirty drone strikes since two thousand and four but a new problem involving the unmanned aerial weapon is emerging the problem of anonymous drones when two drone strikes killed nine people in pakistan's tribal belt last month is long wide filed an official protest with the american embassy however u.s. officials say that washington has not carried out any attacks in pakistan since january instead u.s. officials have pointed their fingers to pakistan's air force it is impossible to know who executed the strikes but some experts believe that the situation can soon

open up a pandora's box of anonymous drone strikes around the world it's letting it sell to the anonymity why the very nature of the technology that there are zero control of the crew hundreds are often thousands of miles away this is one of the corrosive and dangerous impacts of liberation of the use of drones and there has the united states government has led the way and negative around the planet in terms of normalizing the use of drone attacks across international borders as of last month at least fifty countries are reportedly using drones in the united states a new revelation has come to light the attorney general says that washington can authorize lethal drone strikes on americans on american soil without trying and it testimony before the senate judiciary committee eric holder says that under extraordinary circumstances like september eleventh the president could order

strikes to protect the homeland the same type of drone strikes that have been used to. around the world to fight the war on terror reporting from new york. r.t. . well during the strike concerns have split the you was a senator rand paul began a filibuster on the floor of the u.s. help of making a speech for more but even less than ours we reported our teacher called while he was trying to leave for want of the confirmation of the news the director. and also a click away online at children suffer from the political games of grownups a new u.n. report says palestinian boys with whom we arrested her again today by the israeli army read more that are. in the u.k. traditional political parties are losing support to the in the mainstream rivals the conservatives suffered

a major blow at the recent by election easily beaten into third place by the u.k. independence party they were once described by prime minister david cameron as a quote a bunch of fruitcakes loonies and closet racists and quote artists are for three accept the shifting shape of british politics. britain's political landscape is changing the stranglehold of the old three party system appears to be listening and it's opened the door to some colorful alternatives to the polls and percentages and opinions from politicians and pundits it can be hard to get a clear picture of exactly what's happening in british politics right now. looking . last week by election in eastley so no three not four not five fourteen different candidates of all shapes sizes and colors and all of them willing to take on the mainstream party to really cause government in britain.

to turn it from top down parading as democracy to boast. genuine democracy where the larger all forces have to obey the will of the people they to disillusionment it seems is an all time high something that's backed up by recent polls and there's certainly a bit of a perception that maybe the traditional parties aren't concentrating on some issues particularly around immigration that we know research is a big issue for many members of the german public puts can certainly be a hard punch to please it used to be that fed up voters would throw their backing behind the liberal democrats but not anymore. possibly for us as a party which is good but it doesn't mean that the protests would have had to go somewhere else and the none of the above party have a moment as you could many other parties using the sea change in public opinion as a blank canvas on which to stamp their mark. a protest

vote. that's a lot to. kick beating the conservatives to second place in eastley last week might have come as a shock to some but it's not the first time a small party's stolen the show in a byelection last year and the respect party had a sensational win when george galloway won the proudfit seat from labor of course gaining a bit of media coverage is one thing turning that attention into votes in a ballot box and winning seats is quite another something few of the smaller parties have yet been able to day but with the general election not say far off and with some polls putting almost half of the recent support the ukip is coming from former conservative voters well you can perhaps understand why the prime minister's not the picture of happiness right now so r.t.

london. region the international space station could now take less time than some international journeys by plane the next crew is expected to reach the eye as in just six hours instead of the usual two days it's all thanks to a new docking plan which will be tested at the end of the month archies alessio chefs he has more on the false trek to space. the thirty fifth mission to the i assess flying off to space in about three weeks' time in an unprecedented flight which will take eight times less than it usually does and the men to talk us through this flight is one of the members of the crew chris cassidy from the united states the american austin on many thanks for joining us in star city and if you'd like your center here my first question to you this is the first flight which would take six hours instead of two days as it usually has been for for many years now how is this technically possible can you tell us well you know practically adar

actions are essentially the same as what we do i don't know today profile normally will go to bed and have it have a period of time on that second day where we just monitor the vehicle and sort of do a few burns that we call them to set us up for a run over the next day today i mean on our mission will all happen in a tight sequence of six hours we have here is about forty five minutes or so in between these maneuvers where there's a little bit of a downtime but technically that's how it's possible we just have to launch there's tighter constraints on where the space station can be on launch time on it and on a typical profile the space station has a little more leeway in where it can be at the time of the launch and we work tremendously well as a crew impossibles tremendous experience like you just alluded to and he shares that experience with the two of us and together as a crew we really work well and and particularly with this short profile you need to be in sync and. making sure all the actions are happening in when they need to and we back each other up and make sure that all that happens when appropriate time so

i'm really happy to be with them a very big pro program there six months or up there are there is for suppression spacewalks will have probably to us spacewalks and many visiting vehicles delivering cargo will be arriving i personally involved with several medical experiments particularly those associated with bone health and bone how to prevent bone loss i keep my. in a few minutes an in-depth look into how women and russian prison is a struggle to maintain their families while serving time watching our team. did you see darth vader and storm troopers trying to make their way into the ukrainian justice ministry as part of a protest well probably

a lot of you saw this fun viral video but how many people remember what exactly they wanted and what their protest demands were all about probably not that many trust me i understand it using wacky protest tactics gets media attention and if you are pushing a cause that media attention is critical but when no one even gets what you want or why you're in that wacky costume it doesn't help there seems to be like almost a protest a culture and language like you see people protesting they're so satisfied with themselves and their costumes and silly gimmicks but if your protest is actually aimed at people in power then the how is it going to cure cost of goods with the opinion of heartless bureaucrats sitting in some soulless office again media attention is great but if you want to be taken seriously we're a rainbow wig and thawing while fighting for your rights doesn't seem to send the right message but that's just my opinion.