and. this is why you should care only on the. rage in the u.n. after a syrian rebel group kidnaps unarmed peacekeepers amid suspicion that such action may see the opposition lose much of its international backing. afghanistan's neighbors brainstorm over how to curb extremism after the u.s. troop withdrawal the threat is growing elsewhere with islamic unrest sweeping through bangladesh. the man known as russia's gray cardinal resigns from the government we take a look at the man and what could be behind his exit from the halls of power. plus one life prison is the only life you can afford some courts in ohio a jailing the people with disabilities because they can't afford to pay a small fine.

i welcome good to have you company you're watching our tape coming to you live from moscow. the u.n. is calling for the immediate release of four of its peacekeepers held by syrian rebels the peacekeepers were abducted in the golan heights the demilitarized zone between syria and israel is our middle east correspondent. i've just gotten off the phone with the deputy 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 published a photo that is the portuguese showing the four men who have been held they also say that they are being held to quote for their own safety now according to this group they were clashes and heavy shelling in the yarmouk valley which is in the south of the separation zone so this is not the first time that forces have been kidnapped in this area the 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 course that is a position that moscow has always held that there is a need for the damascus regime in the rebels to sit around

a negotiating table and hammer out their differences while the need to push for talks between the warring sides in syria has been agreed during a visit by the u.s. state secretary to moscow r.t. contributor afshin rattansi believes the incident with the capture of the u.n. peacekeepers should make it harder for the u.s. to justify its favoritism towards the rebels in the future. 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 kidnap twenty one u.n. observers enough 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 . and later today crosstalk examines the many unanswered questions thrown up by series drawn out conflict and here's a quick taste of what is coming up. i disagree that there is 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 you know what one of the one of the first album alliances assad had to go and now they're both going straight you're seeing look after three years he's not go away the only possible solution i agree from there but i think that's

right it was pretty bold in that let's sit down there are you there all the players you are including all the regional players betting that living in south wales and individual americans have been saying no. meanwhile the clock is ticking for afghanistan is international forces prepare for the twenty fourteen with through all the even the country on its own with its flawed security the transition has many regional players on alert as they brainstorm over how to contain afghanistan's especially your brand of extremism and reports. the u.s. prepares to withdraw the bulk of its forces from afghanistan by the end of twenty fourteen cars i sat down with the elections coming up also in twenty 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 is a brief and very rough breakdown of what players regional and non regional are

trying to achieve in afghanistan he ran despite the rivalry with the us has three years supported the karzai government because having a completely chaotic and unstable afghanistan as 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 so 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 allies are ready for talks only if the taliban make an on and big u.s. public break with global jihad isn't the taliban have a strong basine pakistan although the pakistani government denies having much influence on them but pakistan's motive said been mixed to say the least on the one hand they helped the u.s. 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 far as pakistan's interest is being complicated russia possibly the greatest threat russia faces now from against and is the flow of afghan heroin that kills thousands of russians every year so russia has a state it has stated its clear interest in afghanistan that would be under control of a responsible government not plagued with corruption a government that would help and this drug the plague. but what if global powers are on the table twelve void a power vacuum in afghanistan what could happen then if you'd ever comes to the stage where we have could deploy forces or support somewhat if you may have to believe the only problem is in the past in the one nine hundred ninety s.

after the soviets had drawn this kind of external proxies led to a major civil war with no. 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 the 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 on. afghanistan's neighbors puzzle over how to prevent the spillover of extremism another country in the region could well become their next headache islam is have recently grabbed headlines in bangladesh with their latest confrontation with security forces leaving at least thirty six people dead police and more than two hundred thousand hardline good luck islamists there have been mired in running battles for days over

violent demands to make blasphemy a crime punishable by death the government's refusing to budge though with police reportedly now using live ammunition islamist factions are also demanding other remembrance that would ensure shari'a principles into law day a lecturer at britain's northumbria university says islamics in bangladesh are trying to turn it into another pakistan marred by security caleb's. submitted to really the secular i did to do a bomb that ensured that over the last fall into years that they have been actually conspire against a ito's of a secular state and they are trying to convert it to another state like pakistan trying to make the government state by creating anarchy and whatever you are seeing right now is actually a result of all these terms that have been trying organizing for the last forty years some of the major political parties including the main opposition party has been supporting. now coming up later this hour tough times for britain

but not for the queen as she gets a pay rise as her subjects tighten their belts even more. the man known as russia's great cardinal has resigned as vice premier after more than a decade in the horse of power like his lab circle of became a renowned ideologist and was thought of as a leading figure behind the scenes in the government earlier i talked to artie's news editor i've across it about the man and his resignation. 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 as 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 and string porter he had a career in p.r. before coming into the credit administration in one thousand nine hundred nine he worked with in banks and television then he came into the kremlin as chief of staff and was one of the conceptual architect behind the policy old democracy which was the political ideological platform if you will upon which built his earlier in the situations. because he stressed values of pride in the russian identity 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 eight 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 behind the concept of modernizing the russian economy and he was one of the key proponents of the innovation hope we know this is the. technical excellence and

on the on the outskirts of moscow most recently as it has been involved there's been embroiled 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. the goings on it's called and the present unhappiness with the government that he felt it was the right time to tender his resignation it should be said he's a somewhat poetic character he's 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 the present yeltsin on securing a peaceful transfer of power and then to have worked with president putin on stabilizing the political situation i do and with president medvedev on liberalizing. various aspects of russian society and it 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 coming up after a quick break we take a look at why many american should be careful and pay their debts on time and more stories and if you me. every detail. every piece of metal. and every one of those who wrote step on red square on the ninth of may are ready.

for the big green day parade. was the live coverage on our t.v. . with. some of. the consensus to. choose the opinions that invigorated to. choose the stories to. choose access to. again welcome back the american civil liberties union has launched

a campaign to educate the public about the severity of accumulating too much debt that is often revealing figures show a rising number of people who fail to pay back their debts being put in jail. has been in the state of ohio where such practice is fairly common and made harsh criticism it violates the constitution. 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's 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 presence 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 and 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 fine fifty five year old jack dali was incarcerated three times for failing to pay nine hundred dollars in fines every ninety days you had a jail date. and if you were 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 i find myself back and forth back and forth in court battle for a conflict here fifteen days here and while the cash strapped citizens are incarcerated in debtors 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 core course and paranoid 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 and upon my release i 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. now

online want to grab a gun but don't want to pay for it not a problem in texas we've got the story of how a group of activists are planning to give away shotguns across the state and that is with the aim of reducing violence all the details right r.t.e. dot com for you also that toxic train derailment in the northwest in northwestern belgium four days ago may have a much more serious aftermath than first presuming a mass evacuation of residents from the area has begun had to r.t. dot com for the full story. the british queen is laying out her government's agenda for the next year in her speech she said it will work to promote a fairer society to reward those who work hard however what may raise a few eyebrows in britain is the news of the royal family's five million pound pay rise. reports now 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 med 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 duke 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 monarchy the queen at the age of seven and our consul the duke of edinburgh a mind to warm all. 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 states represents a fifteen percent rise in 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 gods of 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 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 when she cries you brings in quite a bit on the toys some whatever but where does that guy where where does it come people that i miss because i work i'm a cab worker and you know they're being cut well where does it our progress given romani 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 most every other military 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. horses why didn't. side difference of carriages did published figures

suggest that the royal family the queen and everybody else tosses around something close to forty million pounds a year but doesn't take into account all the extra security all the police work that's involved in protecting her and the rest of the world family and it doesn't take into account the money that lost to the striker because she and prince charles in particular get lots of tax privileges that the rest of us aren't entitle to 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. love. a quick look now at some other international news in brief starting with iraq where at least three people have been killed and dozens injured in a series of explosions in the northern city of kook

a suicide attack on the office of the kurdish patriotic union party was followed by a blast at a checkpoint and a security patrol in the southwest of the city three more people have been killed in an attack on a police station in the city of fallujah violence has risen in iraq in the last few months triggered by sectarian tension within the country. a cargo ship crashed into a control tower in general in italy killing at least six people three more important missing the accident happened as the vessel was maneuvering out of the port but thirteen people are thought to have been trapped inside the tower. france and poland are marking the victory over nazi led forces in nineteen forty five the presence of the country's occupied during the world war two laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in paris the sixty eighth anniversary will also be celebrated in moscow on thursday r.t. will be covering the parade live starting at six in the morning g.m.t. . on

a few minutes with breaking the set stay with us for the. download the official publication to your cell phone choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites. if you're away from your celebration of. your mobile device so you can watch or see anytime anywhere. more news today violence is once again flared up. in these are the images cold world has been seeing from the streets of canada. the giant corporations are the

day. modern russia was built on coal. fuel for its factories the for coke for its steel the flame war and gold is it more than heat for its people. join me james brown to meet them and spend their lives underground and work in one of the world's most dangerous professions. from. the woodlands you. hearts of coal on l.t. . you live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous bad luck i've got so

many i mean the town i know that i'm sitting seems really messed up. in the old story so personally apologize if the. worst you're delivering the white house to give it to the radio guy and call the tail minister of a cricket cause they don't want you to watch close for about fifteen years 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 warren 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 as made knowledge an end to the war

we're constantly reminded about the realities of those who continue to fight and die in these senseless conflicts one. such stark reminder as the planned twenty seven acre expansion to the iconic arlington national cemetery patrolled the remains of the nation's fallen soldiers why because they're 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 because i'm about to break the set. well guys b.p. also known as british petroleum is back in the news.