the sinking island cyprus struggles to meet the demands vital for a bailout just ahead of monday's deadline with scores of savers facing the prospect of losing vast chunks of their money for the sake of rescuing the country's. u.k. police dig deep into the death of the russian tycoon boris berezovsky in london are said to have repented his past of longing for return to his home and. i'm starving to death in protest at indefinite detention as lawyers for hunger striking guantanamo bay detainees claim their client's lives are on the line the u.s. military denies any crisis and even wants to expand the facility. with

the stories that made headlines this week you're watching the weekly on our t.v. with me role research it's good to have you with us today. cyprus is stuck between a rock and a hard place this just ahead of monday's deadline to raise five point eight billion euros needed to secure an e.u. bailout and avoid an ultimate banking collapse and the government has produced a plan that could possibly see scores of people lose up to a fifth of their life savings simply for the sake of rescuing the banks and the prospect caused panic and widespread discontent across cyprus this week crowds venting their anger out on the streets this report. in a dramatic week of unfolding events cyprus has moved from rejected europe with a resounding no vote on what it saw as an unfair demand for getting a ten billion euro bailout to now bending over backwards trying to clinch that

money scrambling to put together a package pleasing enough to its creditors the so-called troika now saying yes to imposing a twenty percent levy on deposits above one hundred thousand euros in the bank of cyprus and four percent for big deposits in other banks imposing capital controls creating a solidarity fund and a restructuring it's a lean banks and in that week of dramatic political and economic maneuvering citizens were on an emotional roller coaster panicked cypriots rushed to a.t.m. to try and get their money out of the bank at the gas stations and no cash meant no gas i agree people took to the streets shocked at what they largely felt was europe particularly germany trying to bring them to their knees but they would stay home how they would pay us and our kids. we don't accept sweet aside all too familiar in next door greece but for the first time in the eurozone st of be

allowed to parents are redlined have been crossed what is going about this particular instance is that the european union the euro zone have taken a step forward beyond their previous policy where they always said individuals will not be harmed we will not take money out of the minds of engineers and actually they've done that what we see is that if you're a big member then you will be left alone and you will be below two and you if you are small member you will be beleaguered iris to further complicate matters the banks in the country will remain closed until next week the european central bank had given an ultimatum if there's no deal with the troika by monday the twenty fifth emergency liquidity funding will be cut off causing another round of panic as citizens feared the worst. holding on to as much cash as they could most conversations now are about nothing else but the predicament they're countries in if. you believe we.

want to support from you but the reasons to be able to. see. what everybody has for company next or cup and then you go before people see your club. and whenever they could they don't think twice about joining the crowd look for missing children with their little. people's unification in one season i think those are. well over the past few days maybe cypriots have been telling me that they've seen or read about the impact of the economic crisis on the people of neighboring greece but it's not a really felt feel to them a lot until the past week or so they share similar languages and culture and other wondering are they going to have to share a similar social tragedy as well. tests or cilia r t nicosia cyprus.

meantime. a professor of political economics at the university of nicosia he believes there will be repercussions to the cypriot nation if indeed it had to comply with the ongoing strict bailed out. there is a political willingness by the government to reach an agreement for the bailout. with the troika but it seems that they're making it more and more difficult using new demands they fear that exists in case that all demands of the trade got accepted i mean it would be very difficult for these memorandum of these agreement to be viable in the sense that we throw the country completely and the huge recession in the vicious circle and it will be extremely difficult if not impossible to get out of it this is unprecedented cyprus lost twenty five percent of its g.d.p. almost two years ago when there was the here a couple of the greek dead and there has been no compensation for that. these ideas

being discussed are implemented there will be another here over the cyprus g.d.p. which will be around forty percent it would be impossible i think to get out of such a mess. thanks for joining us here on r.t. today british police are currently looking into the death of the self exiled russian tycoon and vocal kremlin critic of boris berezovsky a biohazard experts even sent to his home near london where he was found dead but then they gave the all clear sign a correspondent sara firth as the latest from the city. the thames valley police continuing the investigation into the cause of death of course burzynski which still remains unexplained of the latest update to that investigation is that the c.b.r. and team that's the team of offices trained in handling radioactive material he had

been at the scene joining the investigation they've now given the all clear say they've left the investigation and the cordon the can see behind me here that had spanned two miles around. just to the lane where his home is now as a huge amount of speculation surrounding the death was a larger than life character the russians had made his fourteen after the break up of the save the union we know that in recent years he had been struggling psychologically and financially he had a number of high profile cases in britain the most recent of which he lost against fellow you've got roman abramovich and when you listen to people here in the courthouse at the time is that it certainly seems that that had a very significant impact on him indeed as he said not just psychologically but financially as well and it does look like he was struggling with that and a lot of relatives

a lot of friends. have come out speculated about his mental state at the time of his death and we've also heard from the russian president's press a cache he said that he months ago a the president received a letter from verizon we can take a listen now to what. some time ago maybe some two months ago but it's sent a letter to putin himself saying that he admits that he made a lot of mistakes. to forgive him for these mistakes and also asked putin for a transfer. this letter did exist pretty dismal the man he's wanted by british police. on suspicion of the murder of alexander litvinenko the very high profile case that continues they can about there is a ski skiving that this arrival saying he was in constant contact to me to a friend and also giving further insight into his mental state at the time. of it

in which he was completely alone in the last six months unfortunately burrs off he was not thinking much of friendship himself he was keeping ties only with the men he needed and when he took everything he could from those men and he parted with them that is why his friends have done the same thing to him we were bitter rivals but we were constantly in dialogue through our movie true friends i know for sure that he was in a deep depression and he started to evaluate many things he was missing russia living in london and he always after people coming to visit him from moscow to bring him local food whiteboard inskeep read during the meeting with a journalist as late as friday boris berezovsky has taken about his longing to return home to russia and talks about losing meaning to his life perhaps like further insights into the russian tycoon state of mind at the time that he died of course that police investigation to establish the cause of his death right now. he

sara further forging that just a bit earlier in the program here on r t i did discuss what kind of mark will be left in history by a boris berezovsky had a chat earlier with the cross talk host of course or it of. course paris or ski here a man who will absolutely made a fortune as they say during the ninety's or turbulent time he stayed in russia you stole it let's be clear here is knowledge he didn't make me it was not even a word manipulated manipulated a manipulator ok he used the system what was happening in russia the political system had collapsed the economy had collapsed belief in authority had collapsed everything it was in collapse so he picked up pieces all the all over the place so when he was taken that's yes he didn't generate wealth he store wealth let's be clear about what they could you can you talk about in the end because you know talking off air about the the rule of seven of bankers that came out of this is where the term all of arcs came in i think was because of see that invented it essentially that in one thousand nine hundred six

a small number of people in the community enormous wealth but they wanted more and they said to yeltsin we'll get you reelected which have to give shares in state institutions and bear off lot of eccentric cetera and he did it he gave the economy away so he ruled over very little had no power and because ascii was at the top of the pool so this is how he generated his wealth ok he didn't earn it but now you talk about a wealthy man you met and this yes you know its own arrogant useful of him self ok but a lot of security around him enormous amount of security he was paranoid for good reason there were attempts on his life and he left because he was worried for his life ok he took his money with him or at least a good part of it is sold self-imposed exile in london and it was a solution to sleep it was an escape he left it was he would have been charged with all kinds of criminal offenses all the reservation self-preservation not going to get out of and then revenge ok what about what about one of the you know one of the

high profile cases was how did we mustn't let the ending of the polonium poisoning . bettors offscreen so litvinenko worked with. in what capacity to look for dirt to look for dirt on politicians out of college and yes of course that was his job so how did litvinenko died you think he accidentally killed himself or committed suicide really possible he wasn't a smart guy rory was a bodyguard ok. let's let's bring it up to the to the more recent time now but it's off key meeting after all which in court are we talking about billions you know massive massive legal deceit it was a really huge gamble on the part of betters of what it was a gamble in to have one shred of evidence that would one sheet of paper to prove he can get caught would not work absolutely why gamble so he was a newbie and just coming you know the end was coming he was running out of money you think he was running out of money is broke because a lot of people question how much he was really worth was he worth these three point one billion i doubt it ever you doubt it so do you think it was

a court battles or without a mortgage or maybe others that basically brought in by step by step broken down and he died alone interesting alone no friends is his wife and had little respect he'd lost his money he'd lost the respect he wasn't able to come home because we had heard recently that he had been trying to come back to moscow even penning a little are delusional delusional you think he wanted to come back or not i think he wanted to come back and as forgiveness no it was never going to happen. across the hospital a bit earlier in the program well so on the way on ot scenes out of a blackout behind bars u.s. officials continue to play the scale of a mass hunger strike a ton of obey this while the pentagon now wants to expand the notorious civets. bus exiled to study president pervez musharaff steps back on home soil that despite death threats and criminal charges against him details and analysis just around.

been living this way since the seventeenth century. strict. there communities on the ceiling. they clearly missed english between their home and the aliens. and guard their family in things and the treasure. when their own country can't offer them a living even loving mothers sometimes have to leave their children behind. i do like to wonder just a bit longer. if the dream of millions of migrants that their children might choose their own motherland.

i want my children to win over moscow. russia has become this stepmother land meets migrants working hard to find a way home. they are moscow time this is. skin and bones fainting and even coughing up blood that's how lawyers for the hunger strike in guantanamo bay detainees describe some of their clients of being starving themselves since early february and some attorneys claim they are no longer given access to the captives while the u.s. military continues to downplay the scale of the hunger strike and despite all this the pentagon now wants to expand the facility saying it will be open indefinitely is gone a chicken investigates. despair among guantanamo detainees is growing as now even

their lawyers are being denied direct access to them attorneys say they had a visit scheduled for early next week with one of the prisoners who's been on strike since the beginning of february lawyers have been informed by saudis that the only flight to the prison the u.s. military flight was cancelled we are. told there are no other options there is no right now we get on. and this is. not only are the turkey struggling to find out the true extent of what's happening in guantanamo now but we journalists are as well this friday captain robins you ran the spokesman for guantanamo responded to our inquiry you wrote us quote we have twenty six hunger strikers with eight receiving and total feeds meaning they get nutrition to a feeding tube last friday robert to rand wrote us there were fourteen people refusing all food although defense attorneys had been saying there were many more we cannot independently verify any of this at this point we're just relying on what

the officials and detainees the lawyers tell us we're certainly in touch with their attorneys and will continue to press the officials for answers in addition to the inquiries that we made with the defense department we also asked the department of justice for their perspective on what's happen. and they basically told us that it's none of their business that the military oversees the facility and referred us to back to the department of defense defense attorneys are telling us that these sorties have created conditions which make it nearly impossible for them to do their job and defend their clients so frustrating there is nothing that we can do we have sent e-mails to the department of defense to the commander. asking them to meet with us to talk to us about the detainees conditions we have heard no response we have been told by the department of justice that they will not talk to us they refer us back to the department of defense no one has talked to us

in the meantime in washington the officials tried to downplay the hunger strike but they seem to have a good idea of why these men resorted to such a desperate move and yet they have no solution to offer they had great optimism that guantanamo would be closed they were devastated when the president did you know backed off at least their perception of closing the facility that has. frustrated and they want to get this i think turn the heat up get it back in the media but it was not on the status of the detainees that general john kelly who's command oversees guantanamo came to discuss in congress he was there asking for money to renovate the prison the upgrade of the camp is estimated to cost taxpayers almost two hundred million dollars as washington schedules renovations at guantanamo the international community continues to call on president obama to comply with his own promises and to shut down the infamous prison you we have no right to hold people indefinitely without charges without a trial and without people having access to

a justice system that's against every principle of law which exists in the world the un commissioner for human rights responded to our request for comment and said they have quote repeatedly regretted that the u.s. government has not closed guantanamo bay four years ago president obama ordered to stop tortured guantanamo but the u.s. says indefinite detention itself is a form of torture british resident shakur aamer was cleared for release six years ago yet he's still being held captive here's what he writes please touch me in the . by people mentally and physically without leaving marks half of the men now in guantanamo have been cleared for release many others never formally accused of a crime three months ago the state department closed the office in charge of closing the prison there's a growing sense among the detainees there that the only way out of guantanamo for them is in a coffin in washington i'm going to check out. if you had over to our teeth or call right now you can get the latest news on this ongoing hunger strike of guantanamo

bay detainees as well as reports interviews and editorials on ongoing merican prison in cuba. also online for you at r.t. dot com the ukraine declares a state of emergency deploys the military after a massive snowfall hits the punishing storms expected to move next towards moscow. former pakistani president pervez musharaff has returned to his country after four use of self-imposed exile that's despite the taliban recently threatening to target him with snipers and suicide bombers i'm a shut off plans to lead his party in major general election hoping to regain political influence but he faces a series of criminal charges at home over the authorities have granted him protective bail and freedom from immediate arrest political analyst ourselves and highly believes musharraf is backed by foreign patrons with their own vested interests in. the west has it to its advantage it looks for avon

right into operation. their preference is always a military dictator but the situation now in pakistan is that military dictatorship is possibly out of the question so the next best thing is to prop somebody who was there a trusted man and you can find some evidence on it because saudi arabia has in fact approached mr nawaz sharif who was his biggest on and into keeping silent if you notice mr meyer never. i should have just returned from a trip and he has not even being called on it versus saying that we cannot deny it posting from a zip residing in greece or norm so probably there is a method in that madness and a vested interest is that they would like to see their own man in place so that their teddies their practices and their interests are governed as well as ensured by us and that maybe if i raise my shot off our shifting gears and turning our focus not of out of syria where the head of the national coalition for opposition

fighters has resigned just months after being elected in a statement he said he's stepping down because some matters within the institution have quote reached the red lines the surprise resignation follows the controversial election of an interim prime minister on choose day in istanbul which saw twelve opposition members step down immediately after the vote now the american educated i.t. manager turned islamist politician son he told and lived in america for a decade before moving to turkey. who took part in the anti assad movement as the opposition government is ultimately run i want to go. there for. the coalition went too far forming and monochrome government which we can characterize as extremist the reason behind this is the mechanisms that we used in the selection of the head of government were wrong and undemocratic this coalition wasn't elected

it was appointed and radicals make up the majority does not match the reality of syrian society if this coalition was the result of free and fair elections then we would have accepted the results of the vote one should not deprive syrian minorities of the right to participate in political life as one should not to bribe the syrian liberal political groups of their rights at this stage of rebuilding our homeland the coalition should not be about revolutionary power it should be bad legitimate government and legitimate government should represent the opinions and interests of the whole syrian nation our position is balanced and we see that what we are seeing now is wrong. this is r.t. from energy deals to geo politics this friday china's new leader paying made moscow his first official stop brought in a multi billion dollar deal struck beijing what i'll have more russian oil pumped into its pipes but apart from economic interdependence china russia ties are seen as an attempt to counter the u.s.

led dominance in global affairs by calling mattress a talked about it earlier with r.t. it's short thomas. this is. first trip as president. away from china and where does he choose he chooses to come to russia and this is considered an important strategic move a symbolic move showing how insync these two countries really are and they used to be not so instinct not so lockstep but politically if you look and form a very powerful bloc on the u.n. security council there have the same ideas about syria libya iran even north korea and then in terms of trade it china is now russia's number one trading partner that used to be germany but just to give you an idea how much that is in two thousand and twelve eighty eight billion dollars of trade between these two countries alone and so it's very important for russia and china to be working together and in this trip they decided to promote cross border infrastructure and many significant deals

were made and moving away from politics towards economics energy was a big focus of the trip right certainly in fact ross nafta is set to triple their exports to china over a certain amount of time now that time hasn't been determined yet but they want to start exporting forty five to fifty million tons of oil per year to china and russia has a huge energy giants china as a huge energy consumer not just oil but gas as well a memorandum went out about a gas deal that doesn't have any real specifics but just creates a partnership between russia and china when it turns to gas exportation as well you know both russia and china are members of the so-called brics group of countries including also brazil india and south africa. is this this new partnership going to be significant you have this mano polar leadership right now in the world that everyone looks for united states as like the default go to country the most powerful country supposedly the brics basically was created as a an economic or

a trade relationship between these developing economies but now it's become an actual political. forum as well and these countries standing up and providing their voices to other countries around the world to help be problem solvers if you will so that there is this. less of a focus on the singular pole leadership and more multiple poles developing around the world as well so china and russia working together in fact she jinping said that closer ties with russia will make a safer world and that's what some of it he said in his trip. well this is a thanks so much for joining us today my colleague bill dog here in half an hour's time but coming up next a look at the vibes of a community which turned its back on society's centuries sick thank you.

jorge rios an argentinian student at seventeen other similar students from foreign countries all paid a private company between three thousand and four thousand dollars so that they get to take part in a u.s. state department work study program he was promised forty hours of work per week at a common fast food restaurant with a decent salary but the reality he claims was quite different he was actually only given around four hours of work per week what was expected to be on call twenty four seven like a surgeon i guess in case of some burger emergency he says he was forced to live in accommodations that were provided by the restaurant real six plane that he had to sleep in a child sized bunk bed in a basement with seven other people in filthy conditions and for this service he had to pay the restaurant three hundred dollars a month overall real swallowed up paying the burger joint to work for them what

a way to not make a living though this story sounds funny on the surface many foreigners in work and study and work in travel programs do experience exploitation upon arrival in the usa i've even personally met some of them so i know but more than that in a time when millions of americans are struggling to put food on the kitchen table why are companies searching for thousands of exploitable foreigners to work for two dollars an hour cheaper it is corporate greed and their absolute disrespect for americans that allows this to happen just pay the extra two dollars and have americans work for you to cheap corporate pay. that's just my opinion.

we're old believe us we're not supposed to be public people we'd rather not be filmed or shown on television we're supposed to live a quiet life and keep distant from worldly masses that's what we need if we're to keep our traditions we be glad not to be disturbed too much or. you don't will you be using with a live edition. of the israel and in the world we know you'll be able to eat was it a little bit of it will be a good meeting.