rage in the u.n. after a syrian rebel group kidnaps for its pace capers amid phase that such moves may see the opposition loses overwhelming international backing. for cracks in the heart of europe is france rejects this territory while in britain the queen gets a pay rise as her subjects further tighten their belts. central asia royals in a violent wave of is on mr unrest leaving nearby states hammering out plans to contain what is being dubbed the talibanization of the region. and when life in prison is the only life you can afford some courts in ohio are jailing the homeless and people with disabilities because they can't afford to pay small fines.

i welcome you watching r.t. with me andrew. the un is calling for the immediate release of four of its peacekeepers the troops were taken hostage by syrian rebel fighters in the golan heights the demilitarized zone between syria and israel our middle east correspondent paula slayer has the details. just gotten off the phone with the dickey to chief of staff for the united nations peacekeeping force in the area and he says that they are definitely remaining there this follows the kidnapping of four filipino un peacekeepers who are being held in a ceasefire between syria and the israeli side of the golan heights now that is almost a no man's land not the israeli nor syrian forces can go operate in that area what we do know is that they were abducted while on patrol the u.n. does say that efforts are under way to secure their release and according to the

u.n. chief banking moon he has strongly condemned the abductions and he has called for the immediate release of these peacekeepers a syrian group by the name of the martyrs of yarmouk published a photo that is the portuguese showing the four main who have been held they also say that they're being held to quote for their own safety now according to this group look clashes and heavy shelling in the yarmouk valley which is in the south of the separation zone it is important to make the point that back in march it was the same group that detained twenty one u.n. opposite of those from the philippines before releasing them three days later now all of this comes just days after israel. hyundai outside of the capital city of damascus and that is strikers just forty eight hours after an air strike conducted by the israelis late on thursday into be early hours of friday morning what we've seen now is that this is merely adding to tensions in the area and there is

reportedly a build up of forces around the golan heights between the israeli and syrian side in this off to the israeli strikes on syrian territory last week there kidnappings could potentially see the rebels losing their overwhelming support or could even harm their reputation i mean one just has to look at washington which seems to be taking now a much more moderate position washington is agreeing that both sides should sit down at the negotiation table and this is the position that moscow has always held that there is a need for the damascus regime and the rebels to sit around a negotiating table and hammer out the differences it also comes in light of an independent commission report that stated that the syrian rebels could have used deadly nerve gas in the civil war so we certainly see the rebels coming under more pressure and losing face increasingly. crosstalk examines the many unanswered questions grown up syria's drawn out conflict and here's a taste of 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 restraint you see look after two years he's not going the only possible solution i agree from the beginning that's russia 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 miles that in addition to them i mean saying no. france and germany are more divided than ever over how to escape the financial crisis engulfing the european union as finance ministers met imperial in france rejected the slash and burn policy of hysterically 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 neighbor no room to maneuver saying fiscal discipline is still the way forward in wall across the english channel as the british tighten their belts another notch the royal family's abang to get a five million pound pay rise as party boy 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 residence says her royal chefs and footman cost an estimated ten million pounds a year but the thirty six million is divided into money which runs the royal household of the queen and the duke of edinburgh most of it goes on salaries also on the upkeep of royal palaces such as buckingham palace 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 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 don't 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 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 the future of not overly impressed to be honest i'm sure she's got more than enough money to survive. because 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 cut where does it our progression of a moment elsewhere in europe royals have had to raid the 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 modern 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 horses why the long side 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 royal family and it doesn't take into account the money that some lost to the sticker because she and prince charles. particularly good not to touch privileges that the rest of us on to entitle to 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. being out of a job disabled or hung as they are no excuse against being jailed by some u.s. courts for failing to pay even the smallest debt on time an american civil liberties union report has revealed it's fairly common practice in the state of ohio despite claims that it violates the constitution when a port investigates 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 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 punishment 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 led as a dog walk in his mobile home park without a. 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 fine 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 a promise so back and forth back and forth in court back before a concert you know two days here fifteen days here and while the cash strapped

citizens are incarcerated in gutters prisons. there are fines keep growing like credit card interest it's described as a vicious circle it was seven hundred thirty thirty seven dollars ok at the eleven days when i went back to court at the court course and paranoid the public defended it went up actually two hundred dollars more than one point eight million ohioans reportedly live in poverty and i want to get it behind me dolly lost his job last year after missing work for a ten day sentence in debtors prison just start of 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 you know. 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. artsy ohio. coming up after the break rush is great and his left. takes for the exit after more than a decade of broking we hear why in a couple of minutes. israel's massive attack near damascus days ago why do syria's raging civil war and there's the issue of chemical weapons should western support of assad's enemies people draw on it is proving the rebels are using them against their own people.

wealthy british style. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to cause a report on our. welcome back with international forces packing up in afghanistan the region's big news this china and india are getting very worried about the spread of radicalism so much so that the two sides usually don't see eye to eye a brainstorming of

a high to contain afghanistan's especially brand of extremism. explains what the region's pa is have to face. 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 us has three 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. isn't 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 the message that they want pakistan to deliver to the taliban is that the l. eyes 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 the uighurs and the allies and pakistan it suffered greatly from the extremism that spilled over the border after the u.s. invasion in afghanistan 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 state it has stated a clear interesting afghanistan that would be under control of a responsible government not plagued with corruption a government that would help end this drug plague. but what if global powers are on able to avoid a power vacuum in afghanistan what could happen then if you've ever comes to the stage we're we have to be ploy our forces are stuck or somewhere you may have to believe the only problem is in the past in the one nine hundred ninety s. after the soviet withdrawal discussion of external proxies let me just civil war we are. positive outcome ninety ninety two to 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

a 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 mass unrest that quickly turned deadly this week police are more than two hundred thousand line islam is there have been mired in running battles for days of violent demands to make blasphemy a crime punishable by death the government's refusing to budge though with police reportedly deploying live ammunition islamist factions are also demanding twelve other amendments that would ensure ensure your principles into law the day campaigns against war crimes things islamics lack power and public support to change the country's course. there are four million students who said who go to the school because of poverty and many other reasons and what deans of fundamentalists

are trying to do is to exploit these children and it was very sickening to see that many of these demonstrators and perhaps thousands of these demonstrators are teenagers and underage to children and it was quite frustrating first point and second point to some of the major political parties including the main opposition party has been supporting it including just i just let me who have been actually taken to a war crimes tribunal i mean it made many of the stop press leaders of the what i'm struck so there by what you've seen as number. still have to say that that do not represent that major region but they should. 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 karate where u.s. airstrikes medaling were blamed for much of the unrest gripping the country their anger may soon fall on britain to you after london announced it had carried out its first drone strike in afghanistan operated by a british part it sat safely in the english countryside but as sarah ferguson i

reports. is no guarantee of the country's future. for the world's military drones used to be directed from a small u.s. base in the vase a bit knowing more after the cake 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 that drone strike and nor are many likely to be given the level of secrecy surrounding british drone use the ministry of defense has confirmed that one of their recruiting is controlled by pilots from thirteen squadron at aria boarding to an in lincolnshire fired a weapon supporting u.k. troops on the ground in afghanistan now this is cause huge concern among anti drawing campaign is at a recent protest. tonight it's said that they see this is a sign that they'll 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 in drawing developments and there are plans to further expand is throwing arsenal now the contriver see surrounding these situations is highlighted again at the beginning of this year when the un launched an investigation looking at the extent of civilian casualties. at 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 autumn 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 ever more important to many campaign is that the legality and the question is a video nice and now it just properly in a clear and apron arena. drone operations have been the tories for years r.t. has been hearing how very politic them simply don't realize how deeply they affect the people below. it is renowned as one of the world's leading authorities on contemporary islam is some of what you will hear six forty pm g.m.t. . debate around drones have just started now the problem as i see it is with it's one sided there's one side of the debate which is how americans see the usefulness of joins what they're not seeing is the impact the drones are having across the world on local tribes and local communities where entire communities are being shattered so you may have one or two or three intended targets being killed the bad

guys but then you have one hundred two hundred three hundred completely innocent people being killed so they're being killed by the drones they're being killed by their own armies their own central government armies looking for terrorists and they're being blown up by this was bombers themselves in their own societies there's violence young children are not able to sleep at night because they complain about the drawn this is buzzing overhead all the time they are neurotic they're angry they're anxious now what that is doing is that creates hundreds or more enemies. another country known for using drones to deadly effect is flexing its military muscles the u.s. is leading drills in the persian gulf showing off its hardware and one of the world's political pressure points as we report on our web site also they're cutting loose with coverage a man charged with his escape from a maximum security remand center in moscow details of his jailbreak big are at our

table dot com. now the man known as russia's great cardinal has resigned as vice premier after north in a decade in the horse of power. became a renowned audiologist and was thought of as a leading figure behind the scenes in the government mourning and his resignation we are joined by our news editor i've across see this was unexpected wasn't it what led to it well. this is a developing story right now and the news of the resignation came out of the last hour we've just learned. of is reported to have tendered his resignation as long ago as the twenty sixth of april but it seems that his resignation was only accepted after a particularly. fractious meeting between president vladimir putin and the cabinet yesterday where president putin suggested that the work of the cabinet was a ticking boxes because he felt that the work of the cabinet was somewhat superficial seem to disagree with that and far as we know the resignation was

accepted after the meeting yesterday he's called the great cardinal why is that. an extraordinary figure in modern russian political history i think everybody would agree he's known as the great cardinal the eminence griese the the kremlin p.r. kingpin string porter he had a career in p.r. before coming into the kremlin administration in one thousand nine hundred nine he worked with banks and television then he came into the chief of staff. it was one of the conceptual architect behind the policy old democracy which was the political ideological platform if you will upon which built his early considerations. because he stressed values of pride in the russian identity and and political stability in particular however he was his p.r. background. contributed strongly to his reputation as the great cardinal russian

political p.r. as we know was a highly competitive and very tricky environment to operate in some of the. stage management that took place around that time gave rise to the expression propaganda which many people would recognize as kind of symptomatic of russian politics. in the not too distant past he then went to work with president medvedev . from two thousand and two thousand and twelve with responsibility for modernization and again this is kind of conceptual. developing here and so in some way he was the key man behind the concept of modernizing the russian economy and he was one of the key proponents of the innovation hope we know that spoke of him as the. technical excellence on the on the outskirts of moscow. talk that he was involved in a lot wasn't he had his fingers in

a lot of pies do you think it was anything else that might have led to his resignation well most recently it has been involved. broiled in a somewhat unseemly. case of corruption there are allegations that prosecutors inspected spoke of his office recently. was involved in a public exchange of views by way of open letters newspapers with one of the prosecutors spokesman. and express to someone happiness with that i had maybe that between his. the goings on it's called and the president threatens unhappiness with the columns that he felt it was the the right time to tender his resignation it should be said though he's a somewhat poetic character is a somewhat literary character and he did tell r.t. a couple of years ago in an interview that he did that he was very happy to have worked with president yeltsin on stabilizing the political situation and. i think about present yeltsin on securing

a peaceful transfer of power and down to how it worked with president putin on stabilizing the political situation i do and with president medvedev on liberalizing. of various aspects of russian society now that may be that he thinks he's come full circle and might head back to the private sector where he's been successful in the past yeah big characters and end of an era this yeah ok thank you very much i mean it's an r.t.s. he said i have a trustee up next artie's crosstalk panel square off over who's right and who's wrong in syria. 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 three day parade. want the live coverage on r t. we speak your language. news programs and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little tonnage of angles stories. for you here. in the spanish to find out more visit i. was in. hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm people of el.