the international in the very heart of moscow. digging for answers into the actions and motives of the boston marathon bombing suspects the surviving assailant captured by police as the attack was inspired by u.s. wars in iraq and afghanistan investigators arrive in russia to get more info on his brother's visit last year. nato feeling the fiscal pinch with financial troubles biting the military budgets of european allies the us struggles with a disproportionate responsibility of funding the blocs defense. following the ongoing andras strike in guantanamo bay detention center dragging into its third month now officials say more than half the inmates are refusing food protesters taking to the streets in london in support of the last u.k. resident still held there.

eight pm in moscow i met reza good having you with us here on r t our top story this hour the u.s. wars in iraq and afghanistan motivated the worst attack on u.s. soil in more than a decade that's what the surviving suspect in the boston marathon bombings told investigators dzhokhar its are now have also claimed that he and his brother acted alone in carrying out the twin blasts. has more from boston. as the nineteen year old boston bombing suspect dzhokhar tzar naiads condition improves from serious to fair he's beginning to reveal information to investigators from what we're hearing on the ground according to official search has said that the motive behind the two bombings that took place on monday april fifteenth for the wars you what the u.s. has been fighting in iraq and afghanistan according to officials are now it has also said that him and his brother were self radhika lies he allegedly says that

the two brothers were not involved and were not in contact with any foreign extremist groups and that they learned everything themselves by basically going online and learning how to build build the bombs through the internet he has also said that his older brother to milan started i have who was twenty six years old at the time of the bombings is according to joe hart the mastermind behind the attacks that they carried out now here in boston right now obviously as this investigation continues the barricades of the area that was cordoned off at the finishing line of the boston marathon are being removed we know that the eight year old victim of the bombings has been laid to rest here on tuesday and earlier boston the hospitals also announced that the number of people injured has risen from over one hundred seventy five to two hundred and sixty people now as this information comes in in

terms of just hard being able to share more of course we have to remind our viewers that he is that he has been charged with the use of weapons of mass destruction as well as militias destruction of property resulting in death and what this means is that the hearts are ny is now faced with a death penalty or any number of years behind bars including being imprisoned for life he's also faced with a fine of two hundred fifty thousand u.s. dollars and obviously he's being treated. is a federal criminal right now although they were talking earlier about the possibility of trying him in a military tribunal but the white house has revoked this option it's also important to mention that of course the f.b.i. now is being grilled about their knowledge of the older brother tamerlan traveling to russia back in two thousand and twelve because of course according to our knowledge russian officials advised the united states to look into his identity to

see whether or not he could possibly be involved with any kind of extremist radical groups and the f.b.i. back then two years ago deemed him not dangerous and freedom and of course has been receiving major criticism here in boston and throughout the united states with people saying that possibly maybe this attack could have been prevented we're continuing reporting from the ground as this story develops and it's going to boston massachusetts. u.s. officials meanwhile have traveled to dagestan where they interviewed the suspects parents are gathering info about tamar lyons visit there in two thousand and twelve meanwhile a local resident was able to capture the dramatic shootout between the two boston bombing suspects and police tomorrow and joe hart's and i have used another pressure pressure cooker bomb similar devices detonated during the marathon believes say that was tamil and being handcuffed when his younger brother ran him over while fleeing the scene dzhokhar was eventually found hiding in a boat in a residential neighborhood after a wide scale manhunt the founder of independent media lit wide awake news charlie

mcgrath things washington could be proven enemies because of the way it conducted the war on terror. radicalizing the world seems to be what we're really good at right now getting people angry at this nation certainly seems to be a valid argument that is going to be brought before a simple we've been waging a war on terror for over a decade we've destabilized how many countries and we're killing how many nationals that have nothing to do with terrorism whatsoever and we're doing it for reasons that the american people been lied to overwrite. opens of mass destruction and so on so can this lead to people becoming hostile towards the west how can it not affect the columbia law school's human rights institute six months ago came out the report showing a that obama is exponentially increased the number of drone strikes since he's been president but it didn't ninety eight percent of the casualties and drone strikes are civilian so it's fifty civilians killed for every one so-called high value target that's being killed the notion we want peace with the rest of the world well

that's all we're that's all talk when the cameras are on and those cameras are off the drones why and people die in the wake of the boston bombings the chechen militant commander and one of russia's most wanted man ahmed's a coyote was interviewed on c.n.n. he denied i have brothers who are ethnic chechens had any ties to militant groups earlier my colleague. spoke with our go though about why sic i was given a platform on the international media. kid living in london he's actually really well known person out there his cause is being supported by none other than vanessa redgrave a prominent. he actually happens to be an actor himself and you can tell that he's made quite quite a switch from the old days when you say fifteen years ago when he was a field commander you know you see him with a bearded man dressed in fatigues in calif. military wear and now he's wearing you know nice dress suits with a tie and by as you know is a terrorist because he's known for his connection to heart of who was the

mastermind behind several of the terror attacks which happened in in russia particularly the theater siege in the north in two thousand and two russia has actually presented documents that have supported evidence against in this particular instance and get his extradition was refused to russia first by denmark and then by the united kingdom in part of the interview the presenter translates a bit for and actually refers to some of the militants. he does that she refers to the terror suspects of in the boston bombing as these boys take for example the new york times headline which made waves in the news world the headline read far from war torn homeland trying to fit in i mean god is sympathetic to the to the terror. martyrs or freedom fighter salute and also portrays the image of. absolutely ravaged country that's pretty much what you would see happening in iraq or afghanistan whereas if you looked at the capital of grozny in chechnya today you

would you would be amazing i would think it's or sydney or any other extremely civilized inhabited very minor i would say peaceful town or city even what separates an act of terror from any other type of violent attack that's the question peter lavelle but to his guest on cross talk in the wake of the bombings here's a quick preview. why is possible terrorism but aurora sandy hook tucson in columbine not the muslim community in america today in fact is asking that same very question that why are some things labeled terrorism or says another which is not but more importantly the discussion that is going on in the dinner tables on the dinner tables these days among muslim families is that why is it that always a non muslim when somebody goes to. the whole that they're all of is insane but when a muslim commits an act of terrorism that they're always perfectly fine psychologically

i completely disagree the definition of terrorism that we get here to certainly in north america is three forward first it should involve a non-state actor that is an individual or a group secondly that targeting the violence should be directed against civilians some kind of a civilian target and third third should be some kind of a political game and it's the that last point that last part of the definition which separates the boston attack from the other ones which you just mentioned. full edition of crossfire coming your way in just under an hour and a half year on r.t. so stay with us. well as european countries wrestle with their budget deficits and slash the military spending it's becoming harder for nato to stay afloat financially the alliance's top officer slammed the e.u.

allies for quote getting a free ride with the us left to left to bear the burden of defense finances crisis hit nato states have already chopped more than forty five billion dollars from the alliance the treasury the equivalent of germany's entire military budget the number of european troops in the u.s. led bloc is also plummeted from two and a half million in two thousand to one point eight six million now and while the u.s. is also trimming its military costs its share of the budget is still risen to seventy five percent of the total as are two steps are silly reports from brussels concern over nato as viability is growing. the nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen had actually come out and warned its partners against the danger of more defense spending cuts as we've already seen especially from its european partners so this opinion was also echoed by the former u.s. defense secretary robert gates he said that if this trend does continue to be alliance it could be in danger of moving into what he called a collective military relevance so there's the question of whether or not. still be

relevant given the decrease in its capabilities and there are signals coming from the u.s. that they are not keen on continuing that kind of partnership with this sort of inequality and also looking at the u.s. his own budget costs as well as its shift in priority especially after we've heard that pivot to asia so they have their own concerns so they're questioning the kind of the new line of the kind of partnership that they have especially with european countries moving forward they're also facing some lack of enthusiasm from european members such as germany france very eager to contribute to any military operation so again. the nato secretary general has come out saying that the capability of nato will be impacted and there is a question of critics on the actual relevance of the alliance. there's not much enthusiasm from its members to contribute or to to give more into into the alliance moving forward defense budgets have been steadily declining across the alliance its

overall average trying to one point two one point six percent last year with a few allies meeting their golden goal of spending two percent of g.d.p. on defense. takes a look at those initial ambitions and its current perspectives. the organization was created to counter the soviet union with soviet union long gone it has to keep busy over the years nato has gone from being a defense organization to becoming an offensive force with a missions that go far beyond north america and europe they refer to those ambitions as out of area operations which have included of ghana's stand in libya now part of nato the very powerful part which includes the u.s. the u.k. and france pretty much see those out of area operations as the future of the organization but the zip has to go global doesn't sync well with all twenty eight members of the alliance who know they will have to foot the bill the lack of

consensus showed when germany by far europe's strongest nation refused to provide resources for nato bombings two years ago back then nato has gone beyond its un mandate which was to protect civilians it has effectively created a power vacuum in which all kinds of extremists have flourished since then not to mention the destruction of the country's infrastructure but it was not just the un mandate with nato has gone beyond its own core principle of the organisation which is to stick to protecting its members the long war in afghanistan has made europe question the alliances mission their time and time again even now as nato forces prepared to withdraw many feared that what they are leaving behind is a security vacuum with promises it of aid that may never be fulfilled as the us is pivoting to asia there's talk among nato members about a wide of partnership like to get japan and australia more involved both have already made significant contributions to nato and not just those countries so with the organization growing there is another concern that nato may eventually be

tempted to present itself as the whole of the international community when it's not and it may set grounds for lateral actions in the future ignoring the broader international community the president is there and nato bombings of yugoslavia in the one nine hundred ninety s. some believe that campaign contributed to the mindset that led to the war in iraq the kind of mindset that the international community the you when can be bypassed at the will of one or two a powerful countries in washington i'm going to check on. it has been trying to review its military spending and biting austerity by introducing its smart defense strategy last year it's based on pooling and sharing when partners are supposed to decide on what they want to specialize in along with targeted spending on areas of common interest archy's very soon she spoke with james goldgeier dean of the school of international service at american university in washington also a former member of the national security council to find out whether nato it could be failing as an international player the problem is with the notion of smart

defense first of all it gives rise to the notion that nato has been doing up to now is dumb defense which i don't think is the case. that the effort to be smarter is really a reaction to the reality of the financial crisis and the continued cuts the burden sharing issue is not new the united states is always complaining that the europeans aren't doing enough and i do think that if the united states wants the europeans to do more united states needs to and they will do europeans to have a greater voice in what nato does and doesn't do well is it possible with no clear enemy to fight and not enough money does the modern world still need to nato. well we've seen over the last twenty years that there have been situations that have arisen and nato has responded the balkans in the one nine hundred ninety s. . the war in afghanistan libya where the international community turn to nato to

respond to the situation in libya because there's no other institution in the world that can respond in that way so for all the problems nato has there's no other institution in the world that can do what nader does but is nato truly inspiring peace around the world that we have been covering a story here at r.t. today so many international professional analysts saying that for example the western led war on terror actually inspired jihad is to group together against the west rather than sowing the seeds of peace around the world how would you read into that these individuals who are responsible for the boston bombings live here in the united states and so it requires a multifaceted response and occasionally that response is going to need to be military in nature to stop attacks from occurring. stay with us here on r.t. still have to still to come a hunger for freedom london calling for the release of the final u.k. citizen in guantanamo who has just joined the hunger strike there more than half of

all the mates now involved in the protest all the details after a short break stay with us. wealthy british style. is no time to. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my next concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kaiser report on .

the news about international and world in the very heart of moscow. eighteen minutes past the hour hour now the u.s. sending more medics to tend to the rising number of hunger striking detainees at guantanamo bay officials say more than half of the one hundred sixty six captives are now refusing food with the last u.k. resident of the jail among them a small group in london staged a protest against shakhtar on air being held in the detention center demonstrators called for his release and the closure of the camp shakar amara has twice been cleared by u.s. authorities but has never walked free booze before washington introduces a new obstacle whereby the secretary of defense has to certify that britain is

a safe place for him to return to and that he won't commit future crimes their shadow lord chancellor can says even m.p.'s are kept in the dark though about why ammar is being held without charge. the minister today was off the question one of the reasons why the american authorities have cut to detention and he tells us basically that he couldn't tell us why the americans the keep in him in detention so even m.p.'s all being told the reason why is that intentional if you've done something wrong he should face the music he should be charged he should be tried they should be opened just of his reasons why some of it is called be heard in public fair enough but they should still be a troll you conversation with somebody he's held in detention indefinitely well the prospect of a trial in two thousand and thirteen but it's a new photo but as we get it for the last eleven years. is a disgrace should be closed down. you can see the interview with shakur armors

lawyer clive stafford smith on air tonight at eight hundred forty five g.m.t. meanwhile sixteen detainees on hunger strike could get mo are being force fed to prevent death from starvation six in a military hospital in critical condition the protests sparked by alleged mistreatment by prison guards with some detainees increasingly desperate that they're being held without charge indefinitely law professor jonathan hafitz says the crisis won't end though until the demands of the captives are met the hunger strikes as military officials themselves have acknowledged are triggered at the bottom by the system of indefinite detention and the prolonged about you know course aeration without trial of individuals and it's not surprising that the u.s. is stepping up its its operations because it's no it doesn't want you know it doesn't want individuals to die at one time or because it's going to again i think you know throw into into light the real forward to stark relief the real problems that want to animal the way forward though is to you know is to and the system of

indefinite detention to repatriate individuals who. are not can be charged with crimes and the the the few that are going to be charged should be put before a court and given a trial that's the that's the only way forward that's the only long term solution to the problem otherwise we're going to continue to see hunger strikes. will continue app and things will continue to happen unless the u.s. puts these puts these measures into place and disappointing and it's just it's just politics that are politics and a lack of political courage a lack of commitment to principles. our online team is working around the clock to one of the best stories in video for you want our website so click there now if you've missed something on the air and there's even more besides just what you can see on your television including the crowd at a concert in argentina getting a surprise extra for the price of admission is the sky is illuminated by would have peers to be a media war footage on our t.v.

dot com plus. australian police catch the twenty four year old i t worker who turned out to be the alleged leader of an infamous soccer group who knocked the cia's website off line and claimed credit for the attacks on the u.s. senate more details on our website. the russian opposition leader alexei in a volley has gone on trial over a bezel man charges facing up to ten years behind bars for allegedly stealing half a million dollars' worth of timber from a state owned company he insists it's a stitch up and the case against him is purely political or he's going off as more . but it's not only has once again pleaded not guilty adding that he is sure his innocence will be proven true to court meanwhile his lawyers have lodged an objection to the judge accusing him of taking the side of the prosecution the objection was denied along with their appeals to reschedule the hearing and to send the keys back to the prosecutor's office and they've been saying they're not being given enough time to properly go through all the documents and that the case itself was put together with the various irregularities but exactly

a week ago the defense did manage to reschedule the hearing and they've openly said that. tactic to deal with a stall and attract as much media attention as sponsible and in that sense they have been quite successful similar as exactly a week ago courtroom spanked with journalists in no one is one of the most controversial opposition bloggers in the country and being widely known due to his online anti corruption projects he's a fuse critic of the kremlin and became one of the leaders of the opposition during last year's mass protest he's also known for his a linked for his link to russian nationalists and the authorities are accusing him of organizing a criminal scheme to steal you over on the half a million dollars worth of timber from a state company allegedly back in two thousand and nine when he was the aide to the local governor in cuba of found guilty he may be looking at up to ten years behind bars but then his supporters. are denying all the accusations and are saying that

this is purely political. and now some other stories making headlines across the globe five people killed and one child injured one of them went on a shooting rampage in manchester a illinois police managed to detain the suspect after a twelve mile chase schools in the area put on lockdown. in dhaka bangladesh around one hundred people killed when an eight story building collapsed army police and volunteers still working to find victims trapped under rubble at least seven hundred injured of course say two thousand people were in the building when it came down only the ground floor which housed a mall and several factories remained intact the cause of the collapse still under investigation. the death toll in iraq has hit one hundred after two days of deadly violence fifteen died wednesday as armed locals took revenge for tuesday's deadly raid on a protest camp near kirkuk or fifty three people were killed iraqi officials have met to discuss the mounting crisis according to the iraqi parliament speaker the

military's actions in kirkuk are quote a flagrant violation of the constitution. will stay with us here on r t breaking the set coming up. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so 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 knew you don't know i'm tom harvey welcome to the big picture.

to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck i don't get any i mean it's a challenge i know that i'm seeing the same thing really messed up. the old story so personally. it's. worse cheaper to live through the white house or to the. radio guy minestrone the one where opposed

to just you never seen anything like that i'm telling. you guys i'm having much in this is breaking the stat you know there's been a lot of reactions across the country in the wake of the boston bombings but none has made me more terrified the new york mayor michael bloomberg said in a recent press conference bloomberg said quote the nation needs to change how it interprets the constitution to give government greater power to protect citizens really really change the way we interpret the constitution i am novel idea what you just started following it and then you went on to say that america needs to give big brother more power and how well by increasing the already massive surveillance state and giving law enforcement more of the power in the name of national security or i because the n.y.p.d.

is invasive survey on the guns muslims proves the police want to be use their powers given the opportunity right i can't stand to surprise that girl this is the same nanny state mayor that has been pushing bills to keep tabs on how much so do you can drink is currently working on a bill that would change the legal age to purchase cigarettes twenty one apparently bloomberg things that in order to preserve our freedom we need to have a government that holds more authority and concentrated power than ever before but . you and i both know that freedom won't come of the lens of a surveillance camera so let's break that. well guys the boston bombings continues to unfold yes even after zahar zar knife was apprehended in a wild showdown the court made it.