resisting at times to move them to sort of tree cells to break their own growing hunger strike. also this hour list for list a major thorn in relations of the oceans and releases the names of russians get labeled as human rights violators sparking a symmetrical backlash from moscow. starting afresh in venezuela the nation heads to the polls on sunday to lead to a new president after the death of the country's charisma longtime leader hugo chavez. a lot of the u.s. says it may scale down its forces in asia if north korea abandons its nuclear weapons program in apparent attempt to encourage trying to put pressure on young young. cyprus extends a financial quarantine that's why their lives and save his money as your cross rushed through an emergency bailout to rescue its teetering economy.

the latest news on the week's top stories you're watching the weekly on our c welcome to the program inmates had begun time of a prison have clashed with guards during an attempt to end a two month long hunger strike their offices try to forcibly remove detainees from communal living quarters and isolate them and individual cells non-lethal rounds were fired at the prisoners as they resisted with improvised weapons going to check and brings us details. this was apparently a pre-dawn operation that took place hours after the delegates of the international committee of the red cross left the island left guantanamo a statement released by the u.s. military says the guards at guantanamo have fired four rounds at prisoners from non-lethal weapons they say the detainees covered surveillance cameras windows and

partitions to prevent the guards from observing them during the ongoing hunger strike the guards allegedly clashed with the detainees which military officials say led them to move the captives from communal to single cells the military says the detainees used improvised weapons to resist the transfer they say that's when the guards started shooting at the captives as if now we have one side of the story that of the u.s. military very soon we'll hear from the lawyers of the detainees and what they have to say that is of course if they have by now managed to get in touch with their clients it's not clear if having moved them to single cells prison officials have also not imposed other restrictions on the prisoners too we don't know that guantanamo prisoners have been starving for more than two months now trying to bring public attention to their plight because they sense the administration would rather forget about them the state department closed the office that was working to transfer the remaining captives half of them have been cleared for release their attorneys are saying that the president has been doing all possible to stop the

hunger strike they've been force feeding the strikers they were claims that they brought down the temperature in the cells to make it harder to endure the strike and now we hear that they put them in solitary confinement and shots of being fired and. one of the detainees and hunger strike as measures like the tree confinement only aggravates the problem that could be at least partially solved by simply respecting the prisoners from the trans. michael counsel who represents obeidallah derek poteat visited him just two days ago at guantanamo and obeidallah described camp six as looking like a village which had been decimated by some sort of attack with men just walking around very feebly very weak barely unable to have any energy to even communicate with each other it's a very very sad difficult situation and the reaction of the u.s. is the opposite of what it should be this strike approach could have been resolved

with not violence but by simply agree to allow the men to return the qur'an says the u.s. government to surrender them so that they did not have to watch them continue to be desecrated and searched and it's commanders from come the delta who appeared on the radar screens of rational sorties which filed a list of american human rights violators on saturday so the man named fall into trouble and economic sanctions so it comes in direct response to washington's publication of a list of russians it's banned from entering the united states again due to what it claims to be human rights breaches and more on this now from. what we're witnessing now is really a game of political pingpong first washington published a part of its so-called kill list eighteen russian official suspected there of being connected to human rights violations they have been subjected to various economic and travel sanctions including the ban for them to enter the united states

and shortly after this list was published a symmetric reaction came from moscow which published a part of its blacklist of eighteen american officials linked to human rights violations at the guantanamo bay detention center and the violations of the rights of russian citizens outside the center but since both lists have been published only partially we may expect more names to be put on the american his character was by american lawmakers at the end of last year and was named after city my good ski and employee of the hermitage capital investment fund he was suspected of fraud he got himself claimed that he had uncovered a massive corruption scheme but he died in prison in two thousand and nine before a court could make a decision on his case moscow has been accusing washington of using his unfortunate death as a political tool to apply pressure on russia or the foreign ministry's called the mike needs an unfriendly use of four week a lot we've heard from prime minister dmitry medvedev saying that u.s.

authorities have the full right to deny entry visas to anyone without even having to explain why not to mention passing any controversial wars or black lists and many or most russian lawmakers believe that the magnitsky act harms america's own interests is like shooting oneself in the leg so i don't really see the rational for this from the point of your bum administration which claims to be an administration that is paying attention to multilateralism to international partnerships it was definitely a blow to the relations between moscow and washington and now all this is happening amid the head of a visit by a senior. international or u.s. advisor to moscow on monday for talks and while it's pretty clear that these lists are definitely not going to make his job any easier. and stephen f. cohen a professor of russian studies and history at new york university feels the diplomatic

fallout is due to the incompetence of the u.s. congress the act by congress was of course provoked by russia for its forces in the united states congress is itself is not russia which is just uninformed it knows almost nothing about russia most members of congress have no understanding of their national affairs or national security and law vs repression on the majority members of congress and this was a bipartisan and the liberal democrats progressive people supporting the magnitsky act as much as it did reactionary riyad grow and republicans you end up with a bill like this it's not about russell vote it's about it's about a lack of knowledge it's a bad thing in the legislature to pass laws on subjects they know almost nothing about you know it's true that the obama white house did not want to make this clear but he didn't use its powers were to leadership to stop. and so that's what you

call a combination of a build up in congress and a lack of leadership from the white house and as always it's your opinion where interested and today at home we ask about the fall out of the war of the list between moscow and washington so you can go to a home and. so thought the majority of those who took part of the site vote thing they sponsor will lead to more mine as he measures on both sides and around a fifth of the believe it will not affect the country's corporation asshole and others have split between two less optimistic options some say the relations will be severely hit while others staying the route is the death knell for the u.s. russia reset so-called recess submit your vote online or use our comments section if you have more thoughts on the story. and still ahead for you on

a nation in turmoil a decade on since the fall of saddam hussein iraq convulses. in throes of terror and uncertainty while these cars left behind by gears of occupation constantine you trying to ration. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is in china on the latest leg of his emergency told to try and diffuse tension around north korea's nuclear threats and in a news conference he suggested america could remove its new they both said missile defense in the region if pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons program and it's believed that other might encourage china to put pressure on north korea something it's been reluctant to do so far and earlier this week at pentagon report released by mistake claimed the north already have the capability to launch a nuclear missile the white house however quickly dismissed those findings as premature nevertheless america japan and south korea have continued to build up defenses was seoul saying it's braced for the north's missile test any time russia

has warned against their collation on the crisis as. reports now the city of live a stock with a population of around seven hundred thousand people is the closest russian big city to the border with north korea literally two hundred kilometers that way is the place where the russian the chinese and the north korean borders meet at the same place of course the escalation of tensions on the korean peninsula has led to some serious concerns not only in the far east of course but in moscow as well because should anything happen between the two koreas especially if nuclear weapons would be involved russia would be one of the first countries affected by the possible meltdown or by the possible consequences over nuclear war if we remember the fukushima incident several years ago traces of radiation were felt on the cycling island which is also just a stone's throw away from here so all the latest developments in the north korean come. the escalating tensions has led to some serious. concern from the russian

president mr president we are against nuclear proliferation and for the denuclearization of the korean peninsula we are very alarmed by the escalation there because we are neighbors and if something happens there it will make the catastrophe that you know will seem like a children's fairy tale but of course not only russia is concerned with the current situation on the korean peninsula the u.s. state secretary john kerry said that it is high time he stopped this war rhetoric and if it decides to hold a missile test launch than this would signify that it no longer wants to listen to the international community the most interesting day here clearly will be monday when young young celebrates its biggest holiday the. birthday of the late korean leader they found north korea kim il sung some reports are suggesting that it is on this day that pyongyang may actually conduct a missile test launch. and japan has warned it will should down any missile heading

in its direction responded by saying sure that happened japan will become its first stand it if pressed it has begun and. brian becker believes the tension is playing into washington's plans to separate north korea from his historic ally china. the obama administration is taking the bush administration policy of provocation escalation increased tension to a whole new level they want to create pressure on china to break china away from its historic relationship with north korea by creating a military confrontation or in your confrontation the united states is saying to the chinese look the stakes are very high time for you to change time for you to abandon your your ally in north korea and i think they think that they have that could be the the prescription the precursor to regime change in north korea if they could break china away china doesn't want to do that although you can see the debate going on right now within the chinese establishment. and more of the weeks and the day's news stories coming up after this break.

technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future covered.

the international airport in the very heart of moscow. this is the weekly on r.c. welcome back but as well is bracing itself for the first election fourteen years without its flamboyant leader hugo chavez whose death last month left the country at the crossroads and although he's a murderer appears to be a frontrunner the gap between him and the opposition a slim seal is following developments for us in caracas. the polls are about to open here in fifteen million citizens are expected to cast their ballots and choose their next president. now as expected really the legacy of

this is. in these elections it's as much about the past as it is about the future of this country whether to remain a top candidates are running for the top position you have on the one hand. he is running on a platform of continuing everything that has put in place in this country especially when it comes to social missions really the cornerstone of his popularity among the masses and the poor people. also says that he wants to tackle crime government inefficiencies and be wrong and that basically though he wants to keep in place everything that's already set in this country on the other hand you have in this is one who is running on a platform of change and innovation he says he wants to introduce a more free market economy in the country more pro-business policies at the same time maintaining those social spending programs two men have very different views on where they want to take this difference really can also be felt on the ground

when you talk to the citizens on who they're going to vote for in these elections. going along with crime and violence the biggest challenge is to convince the population of venezuela that everyone has the opportunity to succeed. and no one. but we need to continue pursuing his policies. and we will see the difference. but the venezuelans i've been speaking to tell me that one of their main concerns is crime they want to see whatever is empowered to tackle this to bring the crime a level down of the country they want more security they also mention problems of inflation the be economy and of job security but at the end of the day it really boils down to two things for those who are supporting it is out of loyalty to this policy is the so-called socialist revolution they want to see this continue for those supporting it's all about change they're just part of the current state of the country and they want to see something different will very soon the world is

going to see that new face who is going to be at the helm of venezuela after fourteen years of this. campaign and again venezuela chooses a new president chavez choice runs against a free market poster boy for that as well that use after coming down days self-styled socialism or free market model venezuela votes fourteenth. say was online whistleblower wiki leaks has launched a new website releasing the largest amount of documents about the project k. all kind of includes more than one point seven million diplomatic cables from the kissinger era and as there we can expect a judo so as himself it shows the u.s. kind of be trusted with maintaining its own history the period of the one nine hundred seventy s. in diplomacy is referred to as the big bang this is when the international

order came to be the controls the president controls and he controls the past controls the future. and that is because of the vital role that history plays in deciding our interpretation of what is happening in the world analysis shows that the. u.s. administration cannot be trusted with its control of the past. so some documents reveal the us got itself dirty backing some dictatorial regimes known to have committed a brutal crimes including franco spain and john to rule greece and also weaken leagues as the vatican and washington supported the one thousand nine hundred seventy chile coup that saw the bloody pinochet regime come to power they documents also reveal the late indian prime minister rajiv gandhi could have been a middleman for a swedish company selling arms to the country while actually two big scandals threaten to blacken sweden's name as its secret police are reported to be spying on

leftist leftist citizens under cia orders and that's a made report was that the current swedish foreign minister could be a cia in a form and we can leak spokesperson kristinn hrafnsson things the u.s. should assign a son for his efforts because he is dedicated to bringing the historical records to the public attention when there is an attempt to keep them hidden although these documents have been declassified excuse dreamy difficult to approach them and assess them in their current format only in the national archives so what we did was to gather together with help and publish them in a show to build database a very robust database the authorities here in washington of course they should be very pleased that we are doing the job that they should be doing themselves so maybe we should apply for some funds and continue to work with the u.s. government and they should actually focus on what i'm going to give orders over a concert of continual is unprecedented relents is an attempt to prosecute julian

assigns and all the members of that we can use team. and if you want to read more about the trials and tribulations of that we can expound it had to r.t. dot com attacks blogs axes and illegal prosecutions prosecutions the whistleblower website on its edge is a jew and our sons have been through it all with its figurehead still remaining trapped inside a court or an embassy in london. and also online apocalypse now in spain hundreds of people have been of running for their lives from a massive blots testes zombies find out what on earth was going on why having to cheat on.

a decade on says the u.s. led overthrow of saddam hussein bombings blodgett power struggles and uncertainty now haunt every day iraqi life so from a resurgent al qaeda to seek terror and rivalries even in the hottest in the highest tolls of government so it's taking a terrible toll on the people with more than a thousand casualties last month alone and there's also his loose accounting of reports now for many who feel the lay dictator has been replaced by the horror of the hand. right it is. the iraq war is supposed to be over but these pictures tell a different story chaos and confusion the aftermath of yet another deadly blast here in kirkuk. this oil rich city has been described as

a long line a symbol of the country's most intractable escalating violence the conflict among ethnic and religious groups and the fight over iraq's resources roadblocks and concrete barriers to find the new iraq checkpoints like this one are a dominant feature of life and they are everywhere aside from the household they're also frequent target of attacks for us it was a blatant visual reminder of a country still very much at war. but has been a flashpoint for years now and in the city center it's clear that life doesn't stop just because of the threats we were expecting empty streets but people continued to go about the business as normal vendors seemed busy families did their shopping beneath the surface there are scars today kirkuk continues to be an incredibly dangerous place. even after the city without the help of a military escort residents here say that a toxic happen at any time in any place in fact it's not really safe to stay here for too long so let's get inside. we need car want to his family there kurds who

say they're happy that saddam is gone but their fear of political repression has been replaced by fear of the unknown. you know. we don't know who the enemy is where women next bomb will go off but it's a daily fears we've got used to it you know i do small things to feel safer like driving with all the car windows down that way if there's a blast at least the glass won't hurt us. such precautions didn't help sixty year old mahmoud who says that a decade of war has ruined iraq he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time a bomb blast went off injuring his leg for him daily life has become a painful struggle just about the only thing i was what benefit did the work bring democracy only explosions shootings and kidnap people should feel free to go out and come back safely where is that a job i can leave but there's no guarantee i'll come back

a lot of the soldiers you. know it's not about the sectarian differences unfortunately it's book the black the oil and behind this oil is the hidden interests of politicians pawns in a political game playing with their livelihoods and lives for conflicts not of their own making the iraqis we met didn't hate their neighbors or care about who controls the oil just like fall they simply want the peace of mind of knowing they can go out and return to their loved ones alive. r.t. iraq. and michael prysner take on the invasion as a u.s. soldier prepared to fight and die defending his country but their reality of what he experienced brought about a drastic change of heart as he explained to. witnessing all of the lies told by the bush administration really crumble in front of our faces and the main thing being interactions with the iraqi people who we were told we were liberating and

seeing what was being done to them and how they opposed our presence there and also realizing that the people that we were told were our enemies were exactly like my friends and family and neighbors here at home and that i had so much in common with them i was being told by the multimillionaire politicians that we are the enemy and that we had to fight them and interrogations that i witnessed and took part in were truly terrifying and humiliating experiences for the iraqis who were detained in my experience working in interrogations is that ninety nine percent of the people that we anteroom gated and terrorized and humiliated in those cells had done absolutely nothing wrong were picked up at random and did not deserve to be and jailed the greatest atrocity of the modern era i mean over a million people dead and millions millions more whose lives were destroyed.

it's been a week of intense fire fighting for the eurozone with the single currency blocks ministers approving yet another bailouts to keep the secret economy from collapse but the flames on to out here with it now emerging nicosia is going to need a lot more money than i originally thought a ten billion a year or a lifeline has now been greenlighted for cyprus his request for even more money was flatly rejected the casino needs to come up with thirteen billion here is more what shape will try to modify draining the bank accounts of savers at secret by the very idea of raising deposit is still deposits is still sending tremors through the eurozone despite your kraut authorities and assurances that bank accounts are safe but professor of political economy jack rasmussen thinks either way. what you're going to see is a severe depression in cyprus as government raises taxes cut spending sells off

assets what are you going on the private side you're going to see and we're already seeing major money hoard demand for cash balances money caution is absolutely and as they get their money out there you're going to see capital flight so the situation in cyprus is going to get much worse you're going to have you will bail and even more people of those over one hundred hundred thousand euros will have to play more or maybe now they're going to have to start going after those with less than one hundred thousand that's not only happening in europe there was a leak in your report last december and it showed that both the u.s. and the u.k. are now considering maybe making depositors pay so this thing is a reflection of the growing banking instability scuffles have broken out between police and protesters showing that anger at the legacy of former british tory prime minister margaret thatcher who died this week aged eighty seven. has more now on the demonstrations in trafalgar square in the heart of the capital. and he thought

should demonstrate is the thing gathering that to try and reenact the poll tax riots of nineteen million thirty there was some scuffles breaking out along the police lines in the protest is a few of the attention certainly getting a little bit whipped up some of the challenging the ding dong the witch is dead which has become sort of the unofficial and among the track to say looks a bit twisted up in the charts and it's expected that it will make it into the top five if not even possibly number one as a lot of these people have been buying not and it's been pushed up into the charts i think a lot of criticism as well that because obviously we saw the huge response from the politicians this week we had the m.p.'s recalls to parliament a lot of control to say around that at the expense of that to pay tribute to lady thatcher and a controversial polarizing figure a lady in death exactly as we saw in life creating these tensions that we've

seen and it's that me it's going to look like this will play out now into next week ahead of the beginning. and after the break a white knight reporter looks of the lives of palestinian women who have to seek work in israel just to feed their families. thank. the lord to see you as i would like.