the week's top stories from r.t. well come on down to date is that the venezuelans to choose their next president as the country continues to mourn the late hugo chavez. the final court verdicts in the portside football arena massacre leaves attempts at calming egypt's unrest in tatters as fresh violence and goals. and the team of u.n. observers is set free by syrian rebels whose initial claim to have taken them hostage as human shields has highlighted radical motives amongst the opposition.

and i welcome you watching r.t. live from moscow with me andrey pharma. venezuelans will vote on april the fourteenth to decide who will take over from the late hugo chavez the commandant enjoyed a long battle with cancer but is said to have died of a heart attack millions went on a pilgrimage to the military academy in caracas to pay their last respects to the late leader who was lying in state there's a feeling for marty's video agency was also there. vice president nicolas maduro sworn in as the president and so elections take place some voices in the opposition notably the man who is the main opposition. who have called the swearing in as. hugo chavez personally appointed. as the man that he wanted to succeed him and of course hugo chavez the late president has immense popularity and that is why you know russian f.m.

has said that he hopes that heritage continues to deepen the ties between russia and venezuela and he's also said that he hopes that russia will respect the outcome of venezuela and elections and he hopes that all countries around the world again referring to the fact that bad being many outside powers who would like to see. a revolution inside venezuela. among many condolences coming from inside venezuela there was a very good statement coming from chavez's last election and. he said he was mourning this loss and that he had never been his enemy but his rival i think is a very respectful attitude and i hope in the full of an election battle mourning the loss of venezuela and its friends including russia we have to look forward and i hope chavez's heritage will only help to deepen our partnership the majority in venezuela want to shop with his policies to continue to respect the choice of the venezuelan people i hope all of the countries that have relations with venezuela do

the same and there was no attempt to influence their choice. amongst the crowds you know we've been there quite a lot over the last few days and one of the most popular chance is that my daughter the people are safe when he was sworn in in the national assembly that were very emotional crowd by general support for him and he announced that he is to continue the revolution he was very emotional he was in tears as he took the presidential and he said that the sash that he was taking belonged to. well for washington the death of its most vocal critic in latin america could mean a shot at increasing its influence that but professor. says an expert on the region says the u.s. would be better off keeping a low profile during the power of washington that would be we will advise to not get involved in venezuela the least they can say at this point is the better this is a process we're going to see a very heated election and any intervention on the part of the u.s.

even a misstep on obama would be taken as as as hostility towards venezuela it would play into the into the elections in venezuela in this context but after the election of a new president i think that there are good conditions for an effort to reestablish relationships but i think we should understand that it's not just venezuela that had a has had difficulty with washington also ecuador has no ambassador from the u.s. bolivia has no embassador from the u.s. and the wiki leaks reports really indicate how u.s. attempted to maneuver and to play country against country in latin america and it really provide a revealing look about u.s. foreign policy and how little it has changed either from bush or obama. this week yet again we have seen just how divided egypt still is violence erupted

on saturday after a court upheld twenty one death sentences given to people blamed for being behind last year's stadium massacre in port saeed while acquitting others neither side was satisfied with the verdict and their anger immediately spilled on to the streets three people lost their lives in clashes in cairo as a mob torched and attacked buildings across the capital including police pocketing import where the army took charge of security on friday protests were quick to restart including attempts to blockade ferries crossing the suez canal bell truth is following the crisis. so i gutted security headquarters is a powerful reminder of the past five days of bloody clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in a bid to quell unrest a day ahead of the contentious verdict on last february's football riots the government removed the police and put the city security in the hands of the army

activists here say a military takeover will only antagonize the situation and is an example of president mohamed morsi ignoring their demands this is. the government has forgotten our main needs or the rights of the people and those who have been killed in port so you do is not going to be more secure with the withdrawal of the police but it won't help us at all the ports are you doctor says are supposed to be in the street taking care of the country that's what we asked for with the police leaving there will be chaos now the people will have to secure the city themselves tension between protesters and the police has been high since last year's riots and when the military replaced them on the city streets there was an initial optimism but that all changed after the court's decision the atmosphere changed on saturday when the verdict confirmed that twenty one people will face the death penalty and a further five all serving life sentences residents. hearsay that the army will not

protect them as the local authorities bowed to pressure from the capital that's a funeral for protesters killed during recent clashes and the spicy founder of the green eagles ultras saeed's football fan club says the police used excessive force against local demonstrators treating them worse than their counterparts in cairo he believes the death sentences are further proof the city is being targeted toward side has been persecuted for the last thirty years and president mohamed morsi is keeping the status quo created by the last regime the president wants to wrong the people of portside and instead satisfy the cairo old tribes who are widespread across the country now there is a risk of everyone being racist towards port saïd the military for their part to maintain they are protective peaceful force and that portside protesters have not been singled out they say police are merely responding to the level of violence from those attacking key government buildings meanwhile on the banks of the suez

canal protesters burn tires to prevent boats from ducking saying they will escalate acts of civil disobedience and till there is a fair trial with further violence on the horizon this could be the toughest challenge yet for morsi and his military about true for r t put saeed. and you can stay up to date on news from egypt with bell's twitter feed new details and comments and opinions from locals on the crisis are there and another reaction we've been getting political activists mad in a good bin carre says the violence will rage on until the president deals with its real instigates its. the results are definitely not satisfactory not just for the football fans the ultras but for the entire nation seventy eight young people got killed and yet two of the ministry of interior officials are the ones on trial and president morsi had a couple of months ago. appointed

a fact finding committee that implicates fifty six other members of the ministry of interior this report was not taken into consideration at court and only two of those officials or scapegoats hence the issue escalates on the streets more because this is is nothing but a political fiasco rather than. court proceedings rather people want is a fair trial for our those who are. implicated not those who actually killed the people with their own hands but those who were behind them supporting them financing them and giving them the plant those are the two murders because they continue to be on the streets in key. places such as the ministry of interior the national security and some of them are in the intelligence community the president needs to take very severe measures of radical measures in cleansing the state

institutions of the loyalists to the mubarak's he's not being doing so on the country he's promoted some of them he's trying to co-opt them and it's not working and it's only blowing in his face and he still presented really getting teased for the political process to resume fairly. twenty one un peacekeepers have been released by the syrian rebel camp this after being held for three days the militants handed over to jordan after a un recovery team stopped short of reaching the captives artie's middle east correspondent paula slayer and reports. the peacekeepers crossed into jordan on saturday afternoon after having been captured back on wednesday the rebels themselves moved the hostages off to a u.n. team inside syria was prevented from doing so because of heavy fire fights are in the area now the u.n. secretary general ban ki moon has welcomed their release but he has said that all

sides in the conflict must respect the united nations impartiality what we do know is that the peacekeepers were held in the village of jamila which is about ten kilometers north of jordan by a group calling itself the martyrs brigade it is important to point out that those who were unarmed they were initially taken hostage as human shields and that is according to the initial statement that was made by the rebel faction that captured them the rebels demanded that syrian government forces pull back from a nearby village and clearly stated that they were holding the u.n. team to ensure that the rebels wouldn't be shelled by government forces it was only off to the united nations international officials the heads of the syrian opposition as well as the free syrian army condemned the hostage taking that the rebel faction backtracked on that statements and said that the peacekeepers were so-called guests they also at that stage dropped all preconditions for they release

what this does do is that it highlights the fact that the opposition is becoming increasingly radicalized the armed rebel force consists of numerous groups like the ones that took the securing team hostage and what we see is that these groups are not coordinated and they don't believe concept to a central rebel political and military command in this case clearly the rebel chiefs had not been warned about this hostage taking in advance and they only intervened after the hostages were taken it is an unprecedented incident it is the first time that u.n. workers have been taken hostage inside syria it is also stoking fears that foreign countries which are supporting the rebels are in fact supporting people. could turn against them as we saw in this case and there are also growing fears that weapons being smuggled to the rebels from a board could be turned against the united nations or anyone else all of this coming as the united states and its allies all beefing up support to the opposition which is demanding that the west stop openly arming them toki in the gulf states

already allegedly arming the rebels and have been doing so for the past two years of the conflict. coming up later in the program the drama and infighting at the bolshoi a leading dancer the historic data is in custody after admitting to masterminding an attack which just figured the company's artistic director asked it was right in his face the details just ahead. as it was the envy of ambrose. he never put his trust in anyone and rightly so. his body was found on the floor of use you. to know. who did he die of natural causes. the mystery of stone still. on r.c.u. documentary.

more news today violence has once again flared up. saying these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule today. and i welcome back now i talked on the bolshoi theater is in custody right now

after admitting that he was behind the brutal attack on the company's artistic director sergei filin pretrial hearing pavel dmitrichenko claimed he didn't order feed in to have acid thrown in his face the soloist dancer and the two men he paid about fifteen hundred dollars to to carrying out the assault could get up to twelve years in prison for the crime really was attacked on january the seventeenth in the center of moscow he was nearly blinded and he is now undergoing extensive treatment in germany where it is hoped his eyesight can be restored to start as many villains during his career the latest being the role of ivan the terrible and it's thought he had a number of disagreements with his artistic director one reportedly involving the dancers girlfriend a ballerina at the bolshoi and the way flynn handed the leading roles at the theater well arty's entertainment reporter modern day he says that infighting and threats are a sad reality of show business. in the front of the fifth you see

a beautiful production but really the drama backstage is 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 of management who were dancers they were bitter about their faded career it's not an easy world to be in an obviously the the rivalries between companies within 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 in fraud and this is the first time we've had these sort of things happen right well this is certainly a very severe there but other kind of scandals what 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 clout that's absolutely what it's like with the black swan film the 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 sometimes it can seem like a wonderful place to work with it the reality is somewhat different. the cia welcome the new chief this week as president obama's former top counterterrorism adviser took over the confirmation came after controversy on capitol hill is republican stall john brennan's candidacy in fiery exchanges he's notorious drug drone program was questioned as lawmakers demanded to know whether americans could be targeted by unmanned aircraft on home soil britons and. pointman was eventually

allowed to proceed after officials said the trains cannot be yours to kill u.s. citizens not engaged in combat in america but a former guantanamo bay prosecutor says the unmanned attack mandate is too vague and lacks transparency so i'm wrong the way it's worded it's left room for interpretation it clearly is only limited to the us and to american citizens i think they let a lot of wiggle room in the way that they were to the statement and again they're sort of their past history they've been pretty liberal and how they choose to define terms when it suits their interests and this is saying that. you know the law permits the president to carry out attacks basically whenever in where every chooses on anyone but they refuse to release the legal analysis that explains how they interpret the law. north korea's reaction to the u.n. sanctions is to insist it will pass you nuclear weapons anyway the country also

officially scrapped a hotline and a non-aggression pact with the south this week saying washington cell are responsible for remaining nuclear disarmament talks thursday's u.n. vote tighten financial restrictions on the north expanding asset freeze on companies and sanctioning certain individuals north korea quickly threaten the u.s. with a preemptive nuclear strike to which washington said it is ready rules imposed by the security council following his previous nuclear tests and rocket launches have all failed to do to pyongyang watching drole from the careen friendship association says trying to be politically independent has its price was clear that the united nations and the security council particularly is interested only in maintaining the current balance of what the german isn't interested in independent nations acquiring your ability to defend themselves even in the face of the lack of any kind of peace treaty which is of the fault of the united states government notably north koreans who've been pursuing peace ever since the armistice agreement was

signed well we can expect is that the united nations will continue to fully north korea which is effectively what's happening to all of those that really just shown sure they don't like the fact that north korea is asserting itself in world politics and who is not really playing word games with nobody not practicing for sharing with other countries their phone their own for self-defense and that's off on auction of their joint action they have so for the united states to think that they can continue to provoke the d.p. r. k. without any kind of consequence obviously american journalist putting his foot down and saying that's not going to be able to continue without some kind of first shot that's only reasonable since the d.p. r. k. asking the world to treat it with dignity in order to have peace with dignity. tuning to some of today's world needs now a russian helicopter carrying at least four people and cargo aboard is thought to have. crashed in the mountainous region of the republic of congo rescue teams have found what they believe to be some wreckage from the aircraft although no bodies

have been found contact with the crew which last ten kilometers from the planned landing site they helicopter was being used for freight services for the u.n. mission in the country. crimes have ransacked and torched a christian neighborhood in pakistan's eastern city of lahore the ongoing sectarian unrest first erupted on friday night after a christian man was accused of committing blasphemy a crime punishable by death in the country police took a man into custody in an attempt to pacify the more understeer christian families later fled the area fearing for their safety. the people of the falkland islands are holding a two day referendum on whether to remain a british overseas territory u.k.'s hoping for international backing in this dispute over the islands with argentina should the majority say yes one is aries opposes the poll saying it has no validity there are over jurisdiction as rumbled for decades especially since britain repelled an argentine invasion in one thousand

eight hundred two. now china opened its annual national people's congress in beijing this week ushering in a new generation of communist party leaders among the ngs is the continued and still unparalleled economic growth as well as a major boost to military spending china expert professor steve to saying from nottingham university says washington's push towards asia is partly to blame for beijing's focus on defense the new chinese president xi jinping is a much more self-confident confident assertive and nationalistic person that their core we're likely to see a china much more assertive in the next ten years in terms of what is described as the american people it back to asia the chinese see. in a major change in american policy that is directed against china as

a less than friendly act and therefore the chinese are trying to. undermine american rebalancing and it is also the reasons for the double digit increases in china recent military spending. traffic seems to be on the rise in albeit a small russian spacecraft has been struck by remnants of a mission and chinese satellite marking the second such space collision in history we report online about the dangerous dead bring us also there are tens of thousands rallied in tokyo saying that a world without nuclear power would be a better place to live. it's the german capital but more and more germans are moving out of burden as their income conky pace with the times in costs correspondent peter all of the looks at who's forcing them have their homes. who are both sexy. lin's men lovingly described his city. now

some berliners feel this way of life is coming under threat it was and. if you keep your inquiries work we've seen big changes over the past ten years more and more apartment buildings have been built in areas where people traditionally used to rent what we're seeing is people being forced from their homes. real estate prices in berlin have shot up by thirty two percent since two thousand and seven well ahead of the german average this is resulted in some tenants of the and victor it as their rented flat says sold from underneath them prompting anger and demonstrations from those who see the city's identity being sold to the highest bidder isn't. our problem here is that berlin is turning into a city split between the haves and have nots rising prices of forced people who have lived here for years to move out and those who have come makes. this year has

seen an increase in the amount of protests against the gentrification of lynn as well as growing resentment towards other germans and foreigners moving into the city for the most part the public image of this still poor but sexy however times are changing the new a merger in face of berlin is certainly stylish however it's also becoming increasingly an affordable due to the demand from people wanting to live in a desirable location economically viable and politically secure the lynas becoming the place of choice for southern europeans to invest in during turbulent times in their own countries. can't turn sales and rents property to italians. and the town. one of the main reasons our customers are buying here is that there is no trust in the italian economy. at the banks people see an apartment as

a good way to preserve the value of their savings. was about the claims that the real estate boom is stealing and sold this invigorate god this is progress berlin is developing pretty sure it presents some challenges but this is just the same as when the wall came down and people moved into more areas if anything this creates the mall chicago that makes program what it is for new housing developments are being built all around the city to try and accommodate demand however with rental prices having risen by ninety percent in the last decade it does seem that the writing is on the wall for the dream of an affordable life in the german capital peter all of a. belin. now coming up next we investigate the mysterious death of a nice to powerful soviet meta ice of stuff.

did any of you see darth vader as 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 there so satisfied with themselves in their costumes and silly gimmicks but if your protest is actually aimed at people in power then how is it going to care 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 wearing a rainbow wig and thawing while fighting for your rights doesn't seem to send the right message but that's just my opinion. sixty years ago there was only one person who could really don't of the kremlin specify how good it all moves this one one five soviet limousine he had any umbrella would envy. this come below. joseph stalin driving home from work was no simple affair for the leader stalin used to sit on a special converted seat protected by guards on each side he trusted no one.

the soviet leader strictly instructed the driver which way to go in the car would often turn abruptly from the white when he was on to moscow's side streets weaving along and confusing. he was ready to kill people and he did kill them and if he could do it they could also act this way and that scared him to death. stalin's limousine eventually reached a narrow and strictly guarded highway. many years ago nobody was allowed here local residents had no clue that it had a facility known only to top officials. this is the country house. even though sixty years have passed since the death of the soviet leader his remains top secret has only been allowed here on rare occasions stalin spent his last twenty years in consider writing.