on the battlefield to the table russia and washington agreed their worries syrian side should talk but washington fails to retreat on possibly giving arms to the rebels described record in sports. book rags at the heart of europe as france rejects austerity while in britain the cream gets a pay rise as a subject for the tightening their belts and. central asia royals in a violent wave of islamists i'm dressed and leaving good bye states hammering i'll do my best to contain what's going down the toilet but my eyes ation all the region . thank you. for international news analysis and

reporting you're watching r t with me tang would say. between russia and the u.s. over how to achieve peace in syria seems to be narrowing with both sides are saying they'll try to bring all wearing factions to the table the unusual show of solidarity came despite the u.s. not giving up its plans on the syrian rebels at some point in the future alessio chefs he's been following the first visit of secretary of state john kerry to moscow. after a very lengthy meeting between the russian president the russian foreign minister and the u.s. state secretary hardly anybody in the press room expected that there would be somewhat of a backing down from a very harsh rhetoric which we heard from washington and moscow on the syrian conflict lately in fact at one point of the press conference john kerry even said that there is a common perception that russia and the united states have been on a different page about syria and they were here to show to everyone that they were on the same page in fact the main bottom line of the meeting and that was voiced

that the press conference was that the u.s. and russia have decided to call an international conference probably by the end of this month to have both of the members of the syrian government and the syrian opposition at the same negotiation table to find something of a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict in the country now an interesting twist to the press conference happened when after the initiative was a voice one of the reporters said why should the syrian people believe that this is the time this conference would actually change things and russian foreign minister came up with a very interesting answer to that you can still sort of look at this stage we have a task to convince all sides of the syrian conflict to sit down at the negotiation table after the geneva communiqué was a dos did last to damascus expressed their willingness to work according to this plan solution afterwards the government established

a committee which is responsible for dialogue with all syrians and yesterday the foreign minister of syria confirmed that they are committed to dialogue on the basis of the communique of the limit but these are just words in order for the words to become actions to slow and we need to hear from the opposition as well so far we haven't heard a word from the opposition to the will which would confirm its commitment to the geneva communiqué but the press conference took an even more interesting twist when john kerry was asked a question by a journalist. about the proposed legislation in the u.s. congress to support the syrian rebels with weapons and even military training john kerry's insisted jested that despite the obvious closing in on positions on syria between russian ited states there's still a loophole remaining in the u.s. stance there is some sentiment both in the house and senate to provide arms to the opposition. i think that ultimately that will be

determined to some degree by the state of the evidence with respect to chemical weapons and what steps have been taken so despite the positions of the of russia and the united states closing in on syria as it was repeatedly said at the press conference still there is a feeling that they may be going in circles somewhat particular because of the statements by john kerry about the chemical weapons and about the possible supply of weapons to the syrian troops if we remember last year when the geneva communique was signed everyone was hopeful back then that this would bring the opposition on the syrian government to the same negotiation table and that a peaceful solution will be found this did not happen of course we'll have to wait and see whether this will be the case this time but definitely the initiative to call an international conference at the end of this month was voiced by the size of the question is whether this initiative will of course become a reality u.s. based journalism to mercia has been writing on the syrian conflict he told us that

america's obsession with the issue of unproven use of chemical weapons by the assad regime so just so washington's are ready to take action in syria. it's a deja vu situation. there's no deserve to have your ark of the weapons of mass destruction doesn't fly too well with the international community obama told about a possible france well he was going to act on the situation in syria and he mad analogy between his action against osama bin rather and qaddafi so that is some kind of vague what do. you know basically said ok we will act on the chemical weapon issue we're just taking our time and we want to be sure that we are right the u.n. is evacuating its peacekeeping troops from the golan hives at the demilitarized

zone between syria and israel the withdrawal comes after for there is a personal web dotted by syrian rebel fighters they are to contribute to action or tons of believes the incident is the latest among many which make it harder for the u.s. to justify its favoritism towards the opposition. if only the united states people realize that presumably john kerry will have to be telling mr putin you see the martyrs of yarmuk order they call themselves even as they kidnapped twenty one un observers in march in as they have given up for more filipinos i've been to the golan heights and the broken churches that i saw still today in the golan heights on the syrian side and the green fields on the other side but there but i think the key here is the american public needs to know that their government is supporting the defacto supporters or at least those very close to those who would have supported the nine eleven attacks and what we want now really is the american

people to start writing to their congressman and say the united states must stop supporting these rebels because this is not going to benefit anyone in the middle east or the united states next on our cross all the examines of the many unanswered questions are thrown out by the syrian drawn out conflict and what's coming up. i disagree that there's any solution in which assad is going to remain in power that's simply not going to happen we need to be thinking about a post assad syria here's where i think actually russia has an important role to weigh to play they have been trying to do that and the americans have been saying no because obama i know what one of the one of the first obama lines is assad had to go and knowledge about the history of saying look after two years he's not going the only possible solution i agree from the beginning that's right he was proposing that let's sit down there are you there all the players as you are including all the regional players that includes hater iran says well is that in addition to them

i mean saying no. we receive them. france and germany are more divided than ever over how to escape the financial crisis and golfing the european union as finance ministers met in berlin or france rejected the slash and burn policy of austerity saying public spending cuts need to happen more slowly but germany where jobless levels are at their lowest in nearly two decades is giving its neighbors no room to maneuver saying fiscal discipline is still the way forward across the english channel though as the british tighten their belts another nord the royal family is about to get a five million pound pay once clearly boyko reports from london. prime minister's

first priority will be to reduce the deficit and restore economic stability at the same time the creed is set to get a five billion pound pay rise this year thirty six point one million pounds from the u.k. taxpayer will go towards the queen and her residence says her royal chefs and footman cost an estimated ten million pounds a year for thirty six million is divided into money which runs the royal household of the queen and the group of edinburgh most of it goes on salaries also on the upkeep of royal palaces such as buckingham palace and windsor castle and all more royal trouble at home and abroad the british monarchy has become synonymous with the image of britain because it is the world's most high profile molecule the queen of ages seven and a consul the duke of edinburgh at ninety one are remarkable examples of

public service and of national unity but the cost to the public purse rises steadily as austerity sets in the five million pound increase in the queen's expenses from the state represents a fifteen percent rise vital services are being lost while the queen. gets this big pay rise and i think it's very unfair given that she is personally one of the wealthiest people in britain where the personal wealth of an excess of three hundred million pounds the royal family has over seven hundred servants six palaces they can quite clearly afford themselves to cover any increased costs they shouldn't be begging for the state it's a royal spectacle such as the daily changing of the guards at buckingham palace the driven terrorists from around the globe but in these times of austerity some of beginning to question why the windsors haven't tighten their belts along with the

rest of the queen's subjects last month the guardian poll found that eighty eight percent of brits were happy with the pay rise to give more to the poor not to get too much money the future of not overly impressed to be honest i'm sure she's got more than enough money to survive when she. brings in quite a bit on the toys some whatever but where does it go where where does it come people there because i work i'm ok where. they're being kept where does it our progress government money elsewhere in europe royals have had to raid best spending in the face of public opinion the spanish royal family's budget has been reduced for a third year in a row the british monarchy actually stands out around the world it's completely different to almost every other monetary that you can think of in the sense that they are still surrounded by so much home and circumstance and all the marching bands and the the the horses the wider longside the fronts of carriages the

published figures suggest that the royal family the queen and everybody else around something close to forty million pounds a year but doesn't take into account all the extra security all the police work for that that's involved in protecting her and the rest of the family and it doesn't take into account the money that she lost to the exchange because she. and prince charles in particular get lots of time to privileges that the rest of us on to entitle and while the government has pushed through budget cuts to the national health service and slashed welfare as part of an unprecedented austerity drive there are those that say that prime minister david cameron's promise that britain is all in it together doesn't include the queen of england. r.t. london late on wednesday the queen will lay out the government's agenda for the next year and her annual address to the british parliament in a speech which is drawn up by the coalition government she's expected to announce sweeping new measures to control immigration to the u.k.

there will also be a promise to slap fines of thousands of pounds on landlords who don't check whether people staying in their properties are not to be in the country and bosses who use illegal labor will also face financial penalties as on the back of the success of the n.t. immigration u.k. dependence ponty in last week's local elections we secured around twenty five percent of the vote. by coming up when life in prison is the only life you can afford some colson or like gaming the homeless and people with disabilities because they can't afford to pay school fines the details in just a few minutes. thank you every detail. every piece of metal.

and every one of those who will step on red square on the ninth of may are ready. for the big green day parade. want the live coverage on our t.v. . i. was.

welcome back you're watching our team with international forces packing up in afghanistan the region's a big apollo houses china and india are getting very worried about the spread of radicalism so much so so that the two sides who usually don't see eye to eye are brainstorming about how to contain afghanistan's especially virulent brand of extremism guy who just can't explain what the region's players have to feel. the u.s. prepares to withdraw the bulk of its forces from afghanistan by the end of two thousand and fourteen karzai stepping down with the elections coming up also in two thousand and fourteen what's next the possibility of a power vacuum in afghanistan and the question what demons can emerge from that vacuum is of great concern to the whole reaching a vacuum in afghanistan seems to be nobody's interest here's a brief and very rough breakdown of what players regional and regional are trying

to achieve in afghanistan you ren despite the rivalry with the u.s. has three years support the karzai government because having a completely chaotic and unstable afghanistan is a neighbor is obviously not good for them washington is of course interested in keeping the more or less centralized structure of the government in afghanistan for that the u.s. is even ready to engage the taliban in talks and maybe see them as part of the government in the future that's right having fought the taliban for over ten years the u.s. is now talking about a political solution pakistan is the middleman here last month in brussels sector of state john kerry met with president karzai and pakistan's army commander the message that they want pakistan to deliver to the taliban is that the allies are ready for talks on leave the taliban make an unambiguous public break with global jihad is the telephone have a strong pakistan although the pakistani government denies having much influence on them but pakistan's motives have been mixed to say the least on the one hand the help that you western the allies and pakistan it suffered greatly from the

extremism that spilled over the border after the u.s. invasion in of ghana's then on the other hand they were accused of helping the taliban to keep leverage with them in case they get in power also as a hedge against indian influence so they have that rivalry going so as far as pakistan's interests it's been complicated russia possibly the greatest threat to russia faces now from afghanistan is the flow of afghan heroin that kills thousands of russians every year so russia has a stated. as stated a clear interesting afghanistan that would be under control of a responsible government not plagued with corruption a government that would help and this drug play but what if global powers are on able to avoid a power vacuum in afghanistan what could happen then if you'd ever comes to the stage where we have to be forces or support somewhere you may have to believe the

only problem is in the past in the one nine hundred ninety s. after the soviets to draw on the screen of external proxies let me just civil war with. positive outcome one thousand nine hundred ninety six so we want to avoid that kind of civil war like situation now as far as the taliban the talks with them stalled last year after their failure to agree on the terms for the release of five afghan insurgent commanders held at guantanamo it's not really clear how far those talks will go because the taliban are not homogenous either part of them seems to think that once nato pulls out they'll be able to take over anyway so why negotiate in washington i'm going to check out across in bangladesh a senior cleric and almost two hundred others have been arrested for inciting the mess and rest that quickly turned deadly earlier this week police and more than two thousand. as they have been mired in running battles for days over violent demands to make blasphemy a crime punishable by death the governments are refusing to budge today with police

reportedly deploying live ammunition islamist factions also demanding twelve other amendments that would in china's shari'a of principles into law by neuer come but mark a skull on commonwealth countries and says it signals the gradual talibanization of bangladesh. there's always been a movement actually in terms of legions or some common ground if you like between the groups in bangladesh and those in pakistan and then subsequently enough to understand but we tend to see that they have their own indigenous qualities as well but there's no question about that for the reason spiration. for them if you like taliban they sation of this and this is something we should keep an eye out for after the. attacks of two thousand and one september eleventh two thousand and one the nationalist party certainly opposed violently opposed to actually be

the use of pakistan as a means of attacking afghanistan certainly but with u.s. forces. there is a possibility that in future this might. just provide some kind of means but it remains to be seen whether that will develop and i'm optimistic that it won't be quite as extreme in that sense but the signs are definitely there for potential. in pakistan violence and fiery rhetoric are reaching their peak with just days to go before the general election and i'm as rally was held in karachi where usa strikes and meddling were blamed for much of the under was gripping the country where i fall on britain to london announce they had carried out its first drone strike in afghanistan operated by a british pilot who said staveley in the english countryside but as far as reports an unmanned milestone is no guarantee of the country's drones you chad. well the

world's military drones used to be directed from a small u.s. base in nevada but no more after the cake carried out its first drone strike in afghanistan launched from u.k. soil at an area base in lincolnshire though not many official details have been released about the drone strike in norway many likely to be given the level of secrecy surrounding the ministry of defense have confirmed that one of their reproduction is controlled by pilots from thirteen squadron and arya fording to an in lincolnshire fired a weapon supporting u.k. treats only ground in afghanistan now this is cause huge concern among campaign is at a recent protest here in the cave the organizers had said that they see this is a sign that there will be further civilian casualties as a result of drone use and also the politicians would make it easier for them to be able to carry out military intervention now certainly many have seen this is

a sign that this use in control of advanced trained. far beyond the u.s. indeed person alone has invested more than three billion dollars that's about three billion pounds enjoying developments and there are plans to further expand is trying arsenals now the control the sea surrounding these situations is highlighted again as the beginning of this year when the un launched an investigation looking at the extent of civilian casualties. at the legality surrounding joining us now research team from london university are assisting them in that investigation and their findings are going to be presented to the un general assembly in the also and based on what they find they could then recommend that further action be taken as we're seeing this increase during usage with the u.k. having launched its first strike is proving ever more important to many campaign is that the legality and the questions they video nice and now are just properly in

a clear and apron arena. most of the world's headlines for you now the world trade organization next chief has been killed and he'll be the first latin american to take charge brazil has confirmed that its candidate are out of bed or as a video to mexico's former trade minister in the race of the job the regio is expected to officially announce next wednesday as to who won the group from september. the un's revealed will be on the panel looking into human rights abuse allegations in north korea the first seven vesa gaijin of its kind will focus on prison camps all to torture and food deprivation the group is expected to present its findings next march north korea previously claimed to their inquiry was a politically motivated. being out of a job to disable the homeless no excuse against being jailed by some u.s. courts for failing to pay even the smallest debt on time and american civil

liberties union report has revealed it's fairly common in the state of ohio despite a claims that it violates the constitution marina and best. a midwestern u.s. state. internationally recognized for being the battleground where america's next president is decided let's talk about the importance of ohio and in the battle for ohio state eighteen electoral votes mean so much elbows paid a lot of attention ohio ohio. you're probably going to decide the next president of united states for the past thirty six years no candidate has entered the white house without winning this swing state while hisle undoubtedly wields an enormous influence in the arena of u.s. presidential politics the state is currently garnering headlines for its prisons specifically the medieval type punishments being imposed on countless citizens who

are drowning in debt according to a report released by the a.c.l.u. of ohio thousands of citizens are being locked behind bars because they are too poor to pay their debt and we saw some really troubling numbers one case that we looked at out of mansfield ohio there was a gentleman his crime against the community was he let his dog walk in his mobile home park without a leash he was fined thirty dollars and he ended up being found in contempt of court and was sent to jail for not paying for a thirty dollars fifty five year old jack jolley was incarcerated three times for failing to pay nine hundred dollars in fines every ninety days you had a jail date. and if you weren't working well you're going to jail debt prisons violate the u.s. and ohio constitutions according to the a.c.l.u. most of the defendants weren't given hearings before being jailed for outstanding fines if the court had taken any time to ask whether or not they couldn't afford to

pay that they would see that these were people who just simply cannot pay they were individuals who are homeless many who haven't worked. for months if not years people who are disabled people who are taking care of disabled family members these are people who are working and just don't feel like spending the money these are people who literally have no money people like dante stiles who is unemployed and says he often has to choose between feeding his two children or paying his fines a far more so back and forth back and forth in court back before of constancio ten days here fifteen days here and while the cash strapped citizens are incarcerated in gutters prisons. their fines keep growing like credit card interest it's described as a vicious circle it was seven hundred thirty thirty seven dollars ok where active levin days when i went back to court at the core course and pernod the public

defended it went up actually two hundred dollars more than one point eight million ohioans reportedly live in poverty i want to get it behind me dolly lost his job last year after missing work for a ten day sentence in debtors prison i had just started the job i was probably there not quite a month. i was expecting a paycheck so i'd gone in early to get a paycheck so i could go in and pay on my flying and upon my release i was terminated from my job dolly has received fifty dollars credit for each of the sixteen days he was illegally imprisoned but most like styles have not and the state revered for predicting america's presidents has garnered a new reputation for how it punishes the poor. archie ohio coming up after the break and we go beyond the mainstream financial headlines in prime interest to his own r.t. .

speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic in school here on the. scene from the world's hot spots the v.i.p.'s interviews intriguing stories for you to. see then try. to find out because it's our big. secret laboratory. to build the world's most sophisticated robots. about anything mission to teach me why it should care about humans. this

is why you should care only. good afternoon and welcome the prime interest i'm pairing and boring here in washington d.c. and here's the stories that we're tracking today. the marketplace fairness act passed the senate yesterday and is headed for pushback in the republican controlled house the bill would require amazon even a another online retailers to collect taxes on all sales and send the proceeds to your state we'll have our own debate on this bill in just a bit also litigation a little bank of america has settled yet another lawsuit this one is with financial insurance giant and the merrill was three billion dollars for insurance claims on bad mortgages that countrywide wrote but bank of america is now zero.