the week's top stories hunger for justice more than one hundred prisoners in guantanamo bay reportedly fasting for forty days now risking health in a protest over their plight. protesting the police new yorkers take to the streets that read that the cop killing of a black teenager would come aeration rallies descending into arrests and violence. syria's spiral the country marking two years since the start of its ongoing conflict leading into tens of thousands of deaths while the u.k. and france push to lift an e.u. arms embargo to get weapons to the rebels. a transfer of power in china a new leadership taking over the reins eyeing to boost the growing economy and increasing military spending that has the u.s. pushing for greater influence in the region.

eleven am in moscow i match reza good to have you with us here on r t our top story a mass hunger strike in the guantanamo bay detention center is entering its fortieth day now with more than one hundred inmates allegedly staging an act of defiance the strike was launched in protest against the confiscation of personal belongings and rough handling of their qur'an while the prisoner's lawyers sound the alarm over their client's condition camp officials claim yella geishas are gross exaggerations or he's marine important takes a look. u.s. president barack obama began his first term announcing his intention to close the guantanamo bay detention center now just two months into his second term the prison enters its twelfth year of operation with one hundred sixty six detainees still languishing behind bars and a reported one hundred thirty on a life threatening hunger strike and their hunger strikes are the only way they

have of even making themselves heard years and years without any hold a release without any real charges this story has been denied by washington and essentially ignored by mainstream media outlets lawyers for the good no prisoners say the men began the hunger strike on february sixth to protest against the alleged confiscation of personal items such as photographs and mail and the sacrilegious handling of their qur'an during cell searches the center for constitutional rights says they've received reports of detainees coughing up blood losing consciousness dropping more than twenty pounds and being hospitalized by day forty five medical experts say hunger strike participants can experience hearing loss and potential blindness and that's in addition to the psychological suffering they've endured for more than a decade that context where we have individuals incarcerated

isolated from each other and they don't know if they're going to get out tomorrow or never and that sets up a circumstance for extreme psychological stress it's really an abominable you know humanitarian situation where you're depriving these people of life liberty and for no really valid basis the director of public affairs for joint task force guantanamo captain robert duran released a statement to our teeth in it he denies all claims of a mass hunger strike or any mishandling of the koran duran says only fourteen detainees at the detention center are refusing all food. our understanding is that based on previous standards the determination of who is a hunger striker is a discretionary determination that one chinaman makes what those standards are what their criteria are are questions that they need to be at at you know how are they

defining hunger striker and when are they just terminating that someone needs to be tube fed and if it is if the definition of hunger striker is entirely in their control and it is a matter of their discretion then i that explains how they are able to say that there are no more than a handful of men on hunger strike lawyers representing get no prisoners have sent a letter to us defense secretary chuck hagel urging him to help and the protest in the meantime organizations like the red cross have made attempts to check on the inmates welfare here's what a representative told r.t. the current tensions in guantanamo as far as we can see and as far as we understand are really the result of the uncertainty is made to detainees in guantanamo and uncertainty linked to defeat what's going to happen to them you know there is a lack of clear legal framework for detention many of them don't know most of them don't know what's going to open and it's always been our position and there needs

to be a clear legal framework and a transparent process into the procedural safeguards for those detainees but it's to be transparent and fair to alleviate the strains really that emotional mental strain of this uncertainty triggers for the detainees of the one hundred sixty sixty teenie zakk kuantan i'm obey eighty six have been cleared for release now this week the un said that the u.s. is a violating international human rights law by indefinitely holding prisoners at guantanamo without charge the human rights council is urging washington to quote bring an end to these illegal practices by either process. getting prisoners in civilian court or releasing the morning from new york up or nine r.t. . human rights groups around the globe have been campaigning to close guantanamo urging president obama to keep the pledge he made more than four years ago activist seem courageous he says the clock is ticking inside america basically because there

is no real. public resentment at all what is taking place there most of the pressure that's coming is internationally yes you have some groups so what he's very hard to to highlight the issue and to make sure that it stays on the agenda but unfortunately for the boston church of america they're quite happy for these detainees to could continue you know detained without charge or trial basically if the if one tottenham is ever going to close it's going to be within these next four years. a bomb has the best so pushing to do that miss is a second time you cannot have the. you know and where hoping and it might be misplaced hope but basically that he will try and use these last year is his presidency in order to do the right thing in a situation where the only thing that has ever happened is the rome. while the

prisoners a good mo are struggling to draw attention to their plight there's been no reaction from one of the world's foremost human rights organizations amnesty international with more than three million supporters around the world remains silent r.t.s. the group's usa researcher bob rob why. not having access to detainees is a problem for a human rights organization is something we raise with the authorities we have access you know when when there is a trial so-called military commission trial we're allowed to go and observe. trials but we have no access to the details themselves and yes of course it's a problem so we have to wait until a detainee is released and so we we can speak to this of course leads to yes some of the reporting of. only individual detainee cases and it leads to a time lag because like i say the lawyers themselves are not spent you know they're not there the whole time it requires declassification of information when they do

get it so it's a really it's a really problematic situation but it's been problematic the whole time that the guantanamo detentions have been in operation. earlier this week a group of lawyers defending the guantanamo hunger strikers expressed and expressed their concern in a letter to u.s. defense secretary hagel the pentagon said it was aware of the letter but refused to discuss it further analyst ryan dawson who's been writing extensively on guantanamo so the secrecy surrounding it could lead to violations. it's hard to get lower than guantanamo bay a lot of these men are detained without trial some without even charges it doesn't mean they're innocent but it doesn't mean they're guilty either and the problem is secrecy when you have this level of secrecy you just creating a environment for abuse because they are basically human beings with no rights and they can defer stonor stragglers over beatings from the i.r.s. this is the end made response force this one again confiscating their items this is

the little freedom they have and so this is a really a low point but i don't know if it's a new low point because it's continually low despite the condemnation the detention center at guantanamo bay's been up and running for more than eleven years on our website our column we're asking who you who you think is responsible for that so far the overwhelming respondents think eighty percent of them say they're blaming the u.s. administration for its not sticking to its promise to shut down the facility eight percent say it's the fault of terrorists who attack the u.s. less of them think cuba is to blame for leasing out the base and a minority five percent say it's other countries refusing to take one time the moment mates back click on r.t. dot com and cast your vote well still ahead this hour pope francis approves his name saying he wants a poor church for poor people that's why he also called to cleanse the church and its reputation and watch the holy see the end of the sex abuse scandals a story coming your way after

a short break. its technology innovation all the developments around russia. that's huge you're covered. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear sees some other part of it and realize everything. i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

more news today. these are the images. from the streets of canada. today. for staying with us here on r t twelve minutes past the hour the killing of a black teenager by new york police prompted a week of protests in brooklyn resulting in clashes and arrest people vented anger at the n.y.p.d. accusing them of systematic racism and brutality are churkin to has more. oh that. sixteen year old kimani gray was killed by police shot four times in the front and three in the back the n.y.p.d. claimed the team had pointed a gun at them however this remains uncertain that there was a weapon that no one saw or not his friends his family didn't know he had

a weapon and there were a lot of witnesses outside who were able to see it that this individual distro didn't have a weapon on him as these candles burned in memory of yet another killed youth an entire community rises up night after night to demand justice and an end to police brutality for three nights in a row peaceful vigils turned chaotic clashes broke out. leaving one officer hospitalized after reportedly being injured with a brick a total of forty six arrests were made wednesday. but no violence erupted thursday night tensions however still ran high. i mean this is no different than what's going on. you know so it's like it's like another country a lot of people are just tired of the period with solutions to stop the violence nowhere in sight deeply seated issues between the police and the community remain unaddressed leaving many worried children parents and children this must be

a absolutely honest party new york the week part two years since the start of the conflict in syria what started as protests calling for reform and change inspired by the revolt fever coming from the arab spring turn into a bloody civil war that's killed tens of thousands syria's been torn apart by violence and while some countries abroad have been trying to secure its future they've only helped fan the flames are his worry if an ocean or reports. this part of syria known as mesopotamia between the tigris and euphrates rivers is considered a cradle of civilization has been home to many asked nic and religious groups living in peace and harmony for ages people here believe this diversity is serious strong point but some warn it could also be used against the country and that's something to destroy. and the regime slogans in syria have been repeated to the longest of all the arab spring countries but assad didn't step down within weeks like the leaders of to measure and egypt nor did his

regime fall within months like colonel gadhafi is in libya opposing sides have gone beyond demonstrations and clashes killings have become an everyday reality those wanting a son to go both at home and abroad have decided to target would hurt the most serious diversity pitting people against each other after every massacre and every killing rivers of blood have been joined by streams of mutual accusations and hatred. the first blow was dealt to relations between the country's sunni majority and the ruling she had minority some more ignorant position and sometimes executed . in order to make a city and it's not the more me once that one again. we should keep our unity we live in all of all of. it gabriel a point from commercially livin in series ne all green sunni dominated turkey and

mostly shia iraq says here in about six terran intolerance is something new for syria and very alarming your. will feel this pressure for months now especially from gulf countries trying to drag us to this perilous share soon again it's a big threat because a tear society from the inside. and some say it's been feud from the outside it is part of the us strategy and some of the western strategy is to destroy syria by syrians and by arabs and this they are doing successfully another blow followed with an explosion at a palestinian refugee camps in syria and the cold blooded murder of palestinian conscripts these drove a wedge between the two arab peoples previously on friendly terms they wanted to both weaken the regime and spread despair among palestinians. with kurdish villages

in syria's north east targeted the kurdish syrian peaceful coexistence has also been endangered but for a crowd its approval cations a pure and very dangerous moment syrian kurds want to be integrated into syrian society have rights and be respected some turkish kurds maybe do as early ones killing his own people god we've never been treated like that of course when violence targets us it can't not affect relations. and fears are that those who wanted to see the fall of the regime weakness the country's fall instead. from syria. after almost six months of captivity and in constant fear of execution ukrainian journalist escape to safety from syrian rebels and the assad fighters had repeatedly threatened to kill her demanding a fifteen million dollar ransom for her release on her coach never share the details of her escape and said the captors mistreated her. you know. at some

point i realized that you died be killed by the army as i was held in a location from where the bandits were firing rockets or i'd be killed by the rebels here the treatment was very bad and i lost some twenty kilograms and received no medical attention and so i decided to take the situation into my own hands and escape my people this time when it was possible to escape and one early morning by the guards was sleeping i sneaked out dressed as a civilian i knew i could not for even have captured again but i did have an idea of where to go and some passer by asked me who i was i told him the truth and luckily he didn't turn me in and help me get out thank god he did that i was afraid that terry terry was mind. news of the escape comes as britain and france have made moves to try directly arming the rebels two states say they want to lift anyone bargo and war and they may still supply weapons despite the bad russia's responded saying any such attempt would be breaching international law r.t. contributor optionor aton see things that eventually backfire on states if they do

arm anti assad fighters by definition that would be supplied by the french and british governments would be in the wrong here because they are supplying rebels in a civil war and therefore they are the wrong hands no matter who britain or france and so. this is i suppose what's interesting here is that washington is much more nervous about the arming of rebels because they are obviously concerned that the afghanistan scenario is beginning yet again but it is so sad that leaders of countries like france and britain can think of these limits because the blowback will be phenomenal. white smoke billowing from the roof of the sistine chapel wednesday signaled the new head of the catholic church pope francis had been chosen the seventy six year

old argentine cardinal would become the first pontiff ever from the americas and the first from be on europe in more than a thousand years here place pope benedict this sixteenth who unexpectedly step down in late february pope francis certainly has his work cut out for him leading catholics at a time when the church faces a deep crisis a string of child sex abuse cases the most damaging let's take a look at some of those statistics the largest number of reported cases of children abused by priests in the u.s. allegations made against more than four thousand priests and deacons more than a billion dollars has been paid out in the settlement money to the victims in ireland second in these grim statistics the church had been turning a blind eye to allegations for thirty years in germany two thirds of all the diocese were largely involved in sex abuse scandals austria one example of how the scandals led to people's disillusionment with the church almost ninety thousand austrians deserted it in just one year tie in journalist franco all the things that needs to be such a large spiritual rebranding of the church it will be a tough task especially in crisis hit europe. the.

nobody group who comes from seldom hear your disagree since you varia would be for the study of progress but the issue is who to freeze. your terms which will europe for. the moment you move through. europe there gets you. there. you know that you're in the region. is going to be to be problem if you will good marginalize the rich or do that through. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe in tunisia thousands marched against the islamist government big queues of assassinating choke rebill a had a prominent secular politician it was the biggest organized rally since bin laden was shot dead forty days ago was

a spectacle political motivations of his murder sparked public outcry forcing the prime minister to resign friday although the ruling party denies involvement in the crime yesterday's rally was the biggest to shake tunisia since this jasmine revolution two years ago. over in nearby egypt hundreds of hardcore football fans rallied in cairo for the release of their recently detained comrades known as ultras thirty eight of them were arrested and charged last week after trying to set fire to a port where one of their fellow members was on trial tensions have been running high in the country since twenty one people were given the death penalty for their role in the twenty fold football riots during which seventy four people died. china's new leader xi jinping has pledged to fight for the great renaissance of his nation in his first speech after assuming the presidency china's been a reassigning its top jobs this week in a once in a decade shift of power as beijing based correspondent dan way reports it comes amid many challenges and some promising forecasts also. there used to be

a superstitious believe almost in china about that eight percent growth rate of the national g.d.p. for that little number has been slowed down to about seven point five percent it has to be a slow down number because china is doing this transition from a growth quantity to a rose in quality many argue it is extremely important to do reform reform really has been the key word for the new generation of leaders coming into power recently mr leak which outweighs the now the cut chinese premier he's been talking about reform is the largest ever this china can enjoy for its course for the progress i need president mr xi jinping after being elected was calling him a delay to our president obama and he advocated if the two countries could have mutual respect and openness to one another things can be better and he's been talking about a new kinds of relations between new powers and that of course the definition is

not being given by the chinese side however it seems that the u.s. has already got its own definition for example people to asia or rebalancing and as a result there has been increasing number of territorial disputes and or disputes in other stores between china and some of the asian neighbors with the coming in of the united states might be a backup for them in the region but the china seems always want to have a peaceful neighborhood that seems to be a really believe the chinese have been holding over the history. she jinping said economic development will be the top priority of the ruling party he may well be thanking his stars according to some forecasts report from pricewaterhouse coopers proves the task to boost g.d.p. growth which is within the country's reach it predicts china now the world's second economy will match the u.s. the current leader by twenty seventeen before then overtaking it one of the top spending priorities announced by the new leadership is defense this comes amid the u.s. intense flexing of its own military might in china's backyard u.s.

efforts to gain a stronger foothold in asia and the struggle for regional influence has put beijing on edge in recent months one of its latest moves the pentagon decided to put more missile interceptors interceptors on the u.s. west coast and also deploy a radar tracking station in japan is said to be a response to the korean and north korean nuclear threat however china expert marketing jakes believes the more beijing and grows as a power the more complex its relations that go with washington bridge nations with the united states have steadily be getting more complicated and i think the reason for that is because the fool you know china was very much still a developing country a much weaker global power down the united states but china of course has been growing like crazy is more and more prisons around the world in different continents in different countries i don't think the chinese are going to be

militarily aggressive i mean not as not be first the chinese history and secondly actually their tradition of this regime especially since nine hundred seventy eight i mean you know if. the chinese military i mean we talk about the rise of expenditure but actually compared with the united states china is very very weak militarily what has been their great and remains it which is the economic development. and if you minutes a report on an unseen conflict in a remote part of colombia a scramble for gold stay with us here on our to. download

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with. to go via in northern colombia. mini thiis rusty sheds the country's richest gold

mine it's operated by canadian multinational corporation gran colombia gold. today the army has taken over the sector for a high risk mission. transporting the week's production to a safe location. three gold ingots over twenty kilos each. here we have sixty eight kilos of it. that makes one point two million euro. in colombia gold is highly coveted by the criminal organizations. so in order to avoid an ambush the time and day of the transfer or decided at the last minute made my escape this is the most critical moments notice and the gold leaves the factory it up got to be transported to the city of midday in.

the in goods or carried away at a run. the soldiers mark alpha course. the operation is completed in four minutes. the precious cargo takes off towards maybe the regional capital from where the gold will be exported. this ago via gold mines are the oldest ones in south america they were owned for a long time by an english company frontino gold mines but in two thousand and ten and gran colombia gold bought the entire concession. thanks to different tino mines the canada based multinational has become colombia's leading gold producer in two thousand and eleven two and a half tons of yellow metal came out of these furnaces the checks are very strict.