from the battlefield to the table russia in washington agreed the wearing syrian slicer told what washington fails to retrieve them possibly giving arms to the rebels whose crime record is worsening. more cracks at the heart of europe as france rejects austerity you want in britain the queen gets a pay rise as our subjects' for that tighten their belts. central asia rolls in a violent wave of islamist on reza leaving nearby states hammering out plans to contain a what's being dubbed the taliban eyes ation of the region. that's

just said to midday here in the russian capital you live with us on our d. with me tom i would say it's good to have your company with us the sutton. the between russia and the u.s. over how to achieve peace in syria seems to be narrowing where both sides say they'll try to bring all wearing factions to the table then usual show of solidarity came despite the u.s. not giving up its plans to arm the syrian rebels at some point in the future alessio cesky 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 the 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 to 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 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 one of the reports 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 adopted last june to damascus express their willingness to work according to this plan 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 but these are just words in order for the words to become actions we need to hear from the opposition as well so far we haven't heard a word from the opposition 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. despite 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 that was voiced by the

side of the question is whether this initiative will of course become reality. u.s. based journalist gilbert marcy a 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 washington's ready to take action in syria. situation. deserving of your arc of the weapons of mass destruction doesn't fly too well with the international community obama jaw about a possible front well you were going to act on the situation in syria and he made analogy between his action against osama bin rather and so that is some kind of vague what do. you know we basically said ok we will work on the chemical weapon issue we're just taking our time and we want to be sure we

are right. for u.n. peacekeepers have been abducted by rebel fighters in the israeli occupied golan heights largely contributor afshin rattansi believes a incident is the latest among many which make it harder for the u.s. to justify its favoritism towards the rebels. 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. later today crosstalk examines maybe i'm answered questions are thrown up by syrians a drawn out conflict is what's coming up at eleven thirty g.m.t. . 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 alliances assad had to go and now they're about to restructure say look after two years he's not going the only possible solution i agree from there but i think that's right you were proposing that let's sit down. there all the players as you are including all the

regional players that includes hater iran saudi royals at any. time you say no. france and germany are more divided than ever are hard to escape the financial crisis and golf in the european union as finance ministers met in berlin france rejected the slash and burn policy of austerity say public spending cuts need to happen more slowly but germany where jobless levels are at their lowest in nearly two decades is giving its neighbor no room to maneuver saying fiscal discipline is still the way forward across the english channel though as the british tighten their belts another notch of the royal family is about to get a five million pound pay rise as party worker reports from london prime ministers 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 residences her royal chefs and footman cost an estimated ten million pounds a year 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 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 maliki the queen of eighty seven and our 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 in 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 drugs are terrorists from around the globe but in these times of austerity some of beginning to question why the women says 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 think this should give more to the poor not to get too much money to be sure not overly impressed to be honest i'm

sure she's got more than enough money to survive. ok she brings in quite a bit on the toys some whatever but where does it go where where does it come people that i miss because i work i'm ok where can you know they're being kept well 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 then the the horses why the long side the fronts of carriages the published figures suggest that the royal family the queen and everybody else process 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. privileges that the rest of us. 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. when life imprisonment is the only life he can afford some clothes little hajar jailing the homeless and people with disabilities because a couple took place small finds more about the details of the story in just a few minutes.

you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew. welcome to the big picture. choose your language killed a week over the internet or. some other. choose good news that can send you. choose the opinions that immigrate to. choose the stories that imply life. choose me access to.

thanks for staying with us here on our team with international forces packing up in afghanistan the region is a big powell's china and india getting very worried about the spread of radicalism so much so that the two sides who usually don't see eye to eye brainstorming about how to contain afghanistan's especially a very lengthy brand of extremism that is again 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 region a vacuum in afghanistan seems to be nobody's interest here's a brief and very rough breakdown of what players regional and non regional are trying to achieve in afghanistan you ren despite the rivalry with the u.s. has forty years supported 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 a big 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. 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 a boat well void

a power vacuum in afghanistan what could happen then if you'd ever comes to the stage where we have to deploy our forces or support somewhere if you may have to believe the only problem is in the past in the one nine hundred ninety s. after the same need to draw on the screen of external proxies led to a major 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 they are poor out they'll be able to take over anyway so why negotiate in washington i'm going to. across in bangladesh a senior cleric and always two hundred others have been arrested for inciting the mess and rest that quickly turned deadly earlier this week now police and more than

two hundred thousand hard line islamists they have been mined in running battles for days over violent demands to make blasphemy a crime punishable by death the governments are refusing to budge the police reportedly deploying live ammunition islamist factions are also demanding twelve other amendments that would enshrine sharia principles into the law but no way a comp mock scholar on commonwealth country says it signals the gradual talibanization of bangladesh's. there's always been a movement actually in terms of legions some common ground if you like between the groups in bangladesh and those in the stone 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 the reason spiration. for if you like taliban they

say sion or this and this is something we should keep an eye on. after the. attacks are two thousand the ones from britain two thousand and one the nationalist party certainly opposed to violent action would be the use of pakistan as a means of attack on the storm surge but the us forces said there is a possibility that in future this might. find some kind of means but it remains to be seen whether that will develop i'm optimistic that it won't speak quite as extreme in that sense but the signs are definitely there for potential. in pakistan violence and fiery rhetoric are reaching a peak with just days to go before the general election a mass rally was held in karachi away usa strikes and madelaine were blamed for much of lee and was gripping the country there i am

a seed flow on britain two after london of aus it had carried out its first drone strike in afghanistan operated by a british pilot who some say flee in the english countryside but as some reports reports the almond milestone is no guarantee of the country's drone its future. well the world's military drones used to be directed from a small u.s. base in a vase a bit no more after the carried out its first drone strike in afghanistan launched from u.k. soil in an area based in lincolnshire 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 at aria 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 protests 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 train technology has now spread 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 throwing arsenal now the control the sea surrounding these situations is highlighted again at the beginning of this year when the u.n. launched an investigation looking at the extent of civilian casualties but also the legality surrounding drone use now research team for the 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. being out of a job or disabled or homeless or they are no excuse against being jailed by some u.s. calls for failing to pay even the smallest debt on time and american civil liberties union report has revealed its fairly common practice in the state of ohio despite claims that it violates the constitution marina point investigates a little western us 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 ohio 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 jolly 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. back and forth back and forth in court back before a conflict here fifteen days here and while the cash strapped citizens are incarcerated in gutters prisons. there fines keep growing like credit card interest it's described as a vicious circle it was seven hundred thirty thirty seven dollars ok 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 fine my release was terminated from my

job dolly has received a 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. artsy ohio. that in a few minutes every moxon gaze off message is a breaking of the set on arms and. 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 dream day parade. want to live coverage on our t.v. . download the official publication to yourselves choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite film on t.v. if you're away from your television on the phone with just doesn't do so now with your mobile devices you can watch on t.v. any time anywhere. you live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck i got so. i missed the town i know that i'm setting the scene really messed up. in the old story so personally apologize it's a little worse you're going to go lie down superman to the radio guy and pull

a veil minestrone probably want to watch close for about a good cause you've never seen anything like this i'm told. what's up guys i'm abby martin and this is breaking the set so you might wonder why i along with many of my colleagues today are wearing orange and black ribbons called the ribbon to save george sworn ahead of victory day in remembrance for the sixty million people who died during the world's deadliest conflict it's also warm to commemorate all those who fought on the side of the allied powers to defeat fascism bringing an end to world war two but has made knowledge an end to the war constantly reminded about the realities of those who continue to fight and die in these senseless conflicts one such stark reminder is the planned twenty seven acre expansion to the iconic arlington national cemetery patrolled the remains of this

nation's fallen soldiers why all members are running out a room for. dead bodies and expanding the cemetery would mean adding an additional twenty seven thousand new grave plots a horrifying forecast for what lies ahead personally i think we should say no to the expansion say no to those who will send american citizens to die abroad to fight richman's of wars and if you're with me and stick around i'm about to break the set. well guys b.p. also known as the british petroleum is back in the news and no it's not for talks to find humanity which they do quite well and quite often it's because this time it's actually just celebrate the peas new says because you see in just the first quarter of two thousand and thirteen.