overwhelmingly rejects an e.u. proposed raid on bank savings with not a single yes vote in parliament the country needs to avoid bankruptcy. president obama is in israel for his first foreign visit after re-election with claims his trip is papering over the cracks in the relationship rather than seeking real progress on key issues like peace in the middle east and a potential strike on iran. the number of hunger strike in prison is one tandem obey nearly doubles according to officials with at least two inmates in hospital. international news and comment coming to you live from moscow you're watching. good

to have you company. celebrating after the country's parliament gave a resigned to the e.u. i.m.f. bailout package the move could have seen the government take up to ten percent of people savings from private bank accounts as a precondition to securing the much needed ten billion euro zone now that it has been rejected the ailing your is a member will have to work out another plan to avoid bankruptcy. reports now from outside the parliament building in. well there was clearly a certainly a lot of opposition to going into the a vote that the parliament had made the opposition coming from the people as well as politicians voicing how will this kind of a position from brussels from the e.u. ministers of the i.m.f. is unfair to make the a citizens a shoulder bear the brunt of the burden of having to recapitalize their banks who did not at all see agreed to this kind of package there were

a lot of people who were gathered near the parliament building it rejecting the troika very angry at the european union it particularly in germany had feeling that they were pushed into a corner and having to accept a condition that was really very tough on them and this is really quite a statement to be made by the cypriot parliament there were thirty six you know those nineteen abstentions and zero yes is a quite a statement indeed to made when other countries that had received bailouts from the european union have had to accept very stringent and draconian. packages stare to costs a lot of a lot of measures that really where the people were bearing the brunt and so cyprus is setting a very strong no to be a troika to the european union and it really is interesting to see how this unfolds for the next step for the parliamentarians here is to present other options to with to be a president to be a republic and they are looking at options that don't involve the troika there are a lot of indications that especially coming from the leftist parties they really

don't want to see any involvement from the e.u. at this point but if that will work and if they will come up with it with an amount that will actually help to solve the financial crisis of cyprus it is really a big question here so the controversial deposit tax has been rejected by cyprus but has crossed the red line in proposing the idea that is the view of nigel ferrars a u.k. independence party things brussels has sent a strong signal to the people of europe. even in my diaries predictions in this parliament over the years about the way the e.u. bosses were behaving never did i think they would in a completely unprecedented manner resort to stealing money from people's bank accounts and the message that sends to people who got savings in banks in most countries certainly if i was there is get your money out while you can do not invest anywhere in the euro zone you've got to be mad to do so because it's now run by people who don't respect democracy who don't respect the rule of law who don't

respect the basic principles upon which western civilization is supposed to be based by our propping up a euro zone which in the end is going to collapse in disastrous failure are they are prepared to do anything to do so i think that this decision this german dominated and led decision is the worst decision we've seen so far in this whole eurozone crisis. cyprus could face bankruptcy within weeks it needs about sixteen billion euros to rescue khana me and it could turn to russia for help after the cyprus finance minister arrived in moscow to meet his russian counterpart. reports the cyprian finance minister is currently in moscow and is set to meet with his russian counterpart on wednesday and all this is happening despite angela merkel's direct calls on the country not to even consulted with anyone about his current economic problems except for brussels and the so-called troika of lester's what we're witnessing here now apparently is that cyprus is turning to russia and it's

no wonder why billions of euros which came from russia are clearly a lying on the bank accounts there is speculation that the origin of a part of this money is not really clear but the majority of these funds billions of euros are clean money which were brought there by pretty much all. russian businesses from small ones to giant corp. creation's talks about a deal of stories asian have been continuing in russia for quite some time and the measures similar to what the european union has proposed would accelerate d.-a sure ization which would do significantly hurt the cyprian economy even more which is based on foreign money and it's not only a russian money which is there in cyprus it's also money which came from other countries like china and japan and if a domino effect begins this could all tingly lead to the collapse of the syrian

economy. well could russian rubles be one of the reasons the e.u. wasn't willing to fully bailout cyprus that is debated in cross talk with pay to live out later this hour. the germans were only agreed to this bailout if the russians depositors which is a lot is about thirty billion dollars worth of russian money in those banks they don't get away scot free but it's because of deposits overwhelmingly the people who are getting burned by this tax on depositors' are cypriots. and the notion that russian oligarchs and so on are being burned but this is really put about in germany in order to justify the very harsh treatment of cypriot savers. we see.

barack obama is heading to key ally israel for the first time as u.s. president obama's previous term in office was marred by frosty relations with israel's recently reelected prime minister benjamin netanyahu however expectations of a breakthrough on the most pressing issues appear low even among u.s. officials and many see the much trumpeted visit as a p.r. stunt r.t. reports. when former american president george bush visited israel his trip was dubbed clear skies pope benedict the sixteenth was cloaked white road now it's a bar mystery and. we've called to visit ben she could be alliance it is a sign of the extraordinary relations between israel and the united states. so extraordinary that the prime minister's office invited the public to choose one of these designs as the trips official emblem but relations between the two leaders are strained and many believe the positive p.r. is nothing more than clever spin there are policy differences. on the palestinian

issue on the boards the rise of islamist forces in countries. where do you see from jerusalem neighborhood not what you see from washington. at the distance. from the palestinian street for that matter. a bomber came just to beautify the ugly face that bush left the american government works the same whether the president is a bomber or bush the only difference is that one president smiles while the other does not. this is likely to be the scene for the next three days while a bomb is in town anger frustration and raised in the streets of palestine also full of posters protesting the president's visit to many of them his face has been blacked out. critics warn that if obama doesn't confront the tuna who are settlements and sixty seven borders the visit could disintegrate into another diplomatic failure and some say i mean you will of violence in the middle east we

don't see ourselves leaving our communities we have returned to places where we have the jewish people have always wished to live there and we live there with the encouragement of the support of the israeli government when it comes to run here to a bomb and netanyahu are at loggerheads a bomber is against an israeli military strike despite relations between the u.s. and iran being themselves quite strained. trunking iran. in spite of american explicit objections would certainly. hamper israel's relations with the united states. even break them all together so for all its hype a bomb is visit for many is less of a compliment and more of an attempt by washington to reaffirm its military alliance in pursuit of its economic interests the interests of the united state its not its in the resources of the middle east and not in its people and to ever think that it

is the united states had changed that is it will prove differently proved that comes at a price literally the three day trip cost millions of dollars a high price for a visit with so little promise for three our team tell of a. number of prisoners staging a hunger strike a gun town in my bag has nearly doubled according to u.s. military officials they also admit at least two inmates were treated in hospital for dehydration but maintain there's no mass strike over mistreatment as detainees lawyers claim meanwhile the u.n. human rights body has finally responded to mounting media coverage of the guantanamo crisis report noir as the details. r.t. received a long statement from the office of the un's high commissioner for human rights navi pillay now directly related to the guantanamo hunger strike that statement said that quote while aware of some of the allegations of mistreatment of inmates

said to have provoked the hunger strike which includes undue interference with inmates personal effects we are still trying to confirm the details of the statement went on to say that the human rights commissioner has repeatedly regretted that the u.s. government has not closed get mail and has she's also expressed concern over the obstacles the national defense authorization act has created for losing the island prison and for trying prisoners that are there even the united nations has not been able to have enough access at guantanamo to see what is taking place with this hunger strike the prisoners at guantanamo bay one on hunger strike on february sixth in protest of the alleged confiscation of their personal items and religious handling of their qur'an at that time the u.s. military was saying that only a handful of prisoners were on hunger strike but we do know that medical experts have told us and so have attorneys that once this hunger strike enters its forty

fifty day hunger strike participants risk losing their eyesight and losing their hearing there's been reports according to attorneys of hunger strike participants losing up to thirty pounds if not more coughing up blood losing consciousness being hospitalized so the attorneys for these detainees are sounding the alarm as they've even at the center for constitutional rights even sent a letter to u.s. defense secretary chuck hagel say help us and this hunger strike but the u.s. military is maintaining it's not a big deal. reporting for us from new york well also i spoke on the phone to you captain jason de ruyter a member of the defense team of some of the detainees in guantanamo and here's what he told us about the conditions the prisoners find themselves in and i first one could really repeat weeks ago and i met with my client my half inclined i was shocked to see that you've been hearing more. and your concern you know

the description again that he gave people a whole lot about the conditions of confinement because your government. about it can only talk about the meeting room i can tell you that the american progress other defense attorney never. told me any story about how what happened with the crown searches what happened with the source of it is. still ahead for iraq continues to be marred by violence ten years after the u.s. led invasion we look at stability in the country. and revel. in syria playing the blame game after a chemical attack that killed twenty five dozens of foreign intervention that are more after a quick. technology

innovation. development around russia. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for like sleep you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you don't know i'm sorry harvey welcome to the big picture. me it is easy. to. get it at least. such.

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welcome back a wave of deadly violence and assassinations have marked the tenth anniversary of the u.s. led invasion of iraq at least sixty five people were killed in a series of blasts in baghdad on choose day which became the deadliest day in iraq so far this year and as artie's lucy caffein of explains from the capital a decade after western coalition stepped in to bring freedom and democracy stability is still a leading the nation. iraq in the immediate moment is dealing with the numerous political problems there's tension on the ground between the sunni populations in the shia led government there's conflict over oil deals frustration with the political system accusations of corruption and strife and of course the daily insurgency the attacks that of course have gone down significantly since the height of the war but still continue as evidenced by the blast in baghdad and so i think

many iraqis that you speak to will say you know what yes we're free that saddam hussein is gone but at what cost is it worth it to have these daily attacks this violence one man that we spoke to in the city of her group just today said yes i'm free to go out of my house today the question is whether i will return alive and i think that says quite a lot about the situation in iraq faces today nearly forty percent of all the rocky adults at the moment don't have a job quarter of the families live below the world bank's poverty line this is just it's that much better than what we saw under the crippling u.n. sanctions of the one nine hundred ninety s. for iraq the future really remains uncertain at the moment and i tell you the military campaign in iraq was supposed to throw the regime of saddam hussein and protect the world from his alleged weapons of mass destruction saddam was toppled w m d's were never found. takes a look at whether the means could justify the end in the iraqi war. what's for the thinking then and what do they think now those are the questions that many people

want to ask those in power who made the decision to invade iraq ten years ago r.t. did just that pose in several uncomfortable questions to those who voted to invade the country a decade ago warning their replies may leave you surprised no i don't regret voting in that way because i think the people of iraq have been freed of course you'll regret any number of people who died but the big question is what were the was the intent of saddam hussein against his own people we've already seen that we had a very repressive regime but what's come in place of saddam's baath history team could hardly be called a better safer life indicative insurgency terror attacks roadside bombs and seemingly endless six terry and violence the effects of the invasion on the iraqi population has been devastating let's look at these numbers over here we're looking at almost five thousand coalition deaths about hundred thirty four thousand of iraq

he does but of course those numbers are varying greatly depending on the source and finally you're looking at more than two million displaced people of course not to mention the latest report by the watson institute for international studies at brown university which reckons the war has to date cost the u.s. more than two trillion dollars some american military officials remain undaunted by the numbers and believe what they did ten years ago actually was a good thing i think it was very necessary for us to do something to help the middle east which degree of freedom but it hadn't had before now a lot of people are going to argue that the iraq invasion did not provide the types of freedom that we had originally envisioned but what what the they're dealing with a regime that didn't allow any freedoms and now depending on where you are in iraq there is at least a some. once of some freedom unfortunately no map of those places has been provided

the latest gallup poll conducted on the eve of the tenth anniversary showed fifty three percent of americans consider the invasion of iraq a mistake the view is shared by at least one man who was among those who ten years ago believed a military operation against saddam hussein was necessary artie's bureau laundromats with lord prescott who in two thousand and three was tony blair's deputy prime minister it always used to be denied that it was regime change talking about not only was a review but it's now what motivates even russia i think to be got to iraq you see these people not talking about intervening but they don't want boots on the ground with that they just want. to kill more civilians than the alleged terrorists so i want the lesson to be learned and we shouldn't repeat it again these countries must develop in all ways as for those iraqis who fought in the war well for them the war

is anything but over as they now have to rebuild a country led to the brink of collapse by foreign invaders in the name of ultimate good while those who instigated the carnage seem to show no regrets whatsoever while peace activist ken stein believes washington's ambitions in iraq went beyond just helping the iraqi people. the anglo-american invasion of iraq turned iraq into a disaster area it partition the country into three parts it d. nationalize the oil it destroyed the infrastructure it was responsible for the deaths of over a million the have people and it's turning into refugees of at least two million in the rockies it was never about a genocidal dictator that's part of the same weapons of mass destruction script that the united states and britain and other western countries are still playing today against syria iran north korea it wasn't about the weapons of mass

destruction it wasn't about connections to terrorism it was about seizing the oil resources of iraq and that's what is the main issue here and later today on state takes to the streets of iraq setting out on a three week road trip exploring the country behind the headlines and here's a quick typed. clear image of the iraq story a. twenty day taxi trip through the country. the road. near from north to south. the reach of iraqi tragedy. after the war waiting for peace. talks e o r t. syria's government and rebels they're accusing each other of launching a chemical attack near the northern city of aleppo that killed twenty five people and wounded dozens opposition activists said government troops were among the dead

in tact led to a prompt international response britain and the us reiterating that earlier warnings that the use of chemical weapons could lead to an intervention russia expressed concerns that rebels might have got hold of w m d's author and historian gerald holmes says the horrors in syria cannot be looked at in isolation from michigan and if it turns out that the rebels committed this act we should not be surprised after all they've become master of car bombings not least we should also recall that this is the tenth anniversary of the disastrous us invasion of iraq and as we speak bombs are going off in baghdad punctuating this disastrous invasion we should connect the two events just as the al-qaeda in iraq and their allies or detonating bombs in baghdad across the border in syria al nusra front which is connected to al qaeda in iraq is engaged in car bombings and perhaps chemical

weapons bombings as well france and the u.k. or withering powers as a result of that weakness france in the u.k. printed up on capital from the gulf arabs the saudis and the potoroos not least and so it seems to me that when they talk about trying to arm the rebels in syria they're basically dancing to the tune played by the saudis and the qataris. some other news making headlines around the globe u.s. lawmakers have decided to drop on assault weapons from proposed gun control legislation officials say the measure lacks a pole but it's believed a ban could later be voted on as a separate bill polls show most americans back an assault weapons ban influential pro-gun lobby groups such as the national rifle association have pressed will make is to oppose such an. al-qaeda is north african branch say they've killed a french hostage in mali reports claim for the dole was killed in response to france's

intervention in the country the french foreign ministry says it's trying to verify the report but another frenchman was seized in mali in november twenty eighth. well off the bright the financial turmoil inside course is up for discussion on cross talks with us.

so. choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television just doesn't matter now with your mobile device you can watch on t.v. anytime anywhere.

hello and welcome to cross talk or all things considered i'm peter lavelle. bailing is this government theft in broad daylight is applying a levy on depositors the answer to this small islands financial woes or is it a means to tax russians using cyprus as a legal tax haven and most importantly can europeans trust their banks anymore. to cross the cyprus financial crisis i'm joined by michael burke in london he is an economic consultant and a former senior international economist with citi bank and in washington we cross the shares agreement she is a professor of international finance and director of the european union research center at george washington university all right crosstalk rules in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want when you go to washington first you said this is moral hazard this is what's going on in cyprus right now can you explain that

please. sure sure the you know this is unprecedented what is happening right now in a financial crisis the one the one entity you protect are always a small savers and they're getting hit this time so most of the small savers will be hit by a six point seven five percent tax and exchange they'll be given shares of that very bank and if that's not more has it i don't know what is so you have to give money to a bank to extorting you this essentially what's going on it's extraordinary absolutely right and the worst part is that that is and the worst part is that the bond holders the financial institutions that lent money to the banks are not being touched this time but this is all about the germans and the russians actually ok michael where do you come in on this here because we've heard it's moral hazard extortion go ahead i can't disagree that it's extortion what new.