e.u. decision makers struggle to plug a trillion euros tax hole for order thrives at the highest levels of europe's that's going to lead. the u.s. government is once again caught spying on a reporter sending shock waves through the journalist community is that press freedom is under threat. the u.s. senate panel backs a push for an arms bill to give the syrian opposition that lethal aid making it the first such move by go makers since the beginning of the crisis. line from the heart of the russian capital this is. now e.u.

leaders are facing tough talks on tax fraud in brussels with over one trillion euros slipping through their fingers every year with this at a time when they're struggling to justify painful austerity measures in forced upon crisis hit member states it's all said in our reports the efforts in brussels even less convincing in light of tax scandals involving some of the top politicians. tax evasion no that's a hot topic right now here in the e.u. especially as e.u. leaders have decided to go ahead and talk with the likes of switzerland so-called tax havens but are non e.u. members to establish some sort of a more transparent exchange of relevant of banking data and this also comes at a sensitive time for citizens there those who are asking at a time when they are having to pay higher taxes and deal with job losses those belong to the top one percent of the very wealthy of the countries get away with tax evasion and tax fraud nowi leaders have been speaking quite loudly about this clampdown on so-called offenders and

a number of scandals have arisen in various countries starting with friends of a former budget minister there had to step down from his post he's been accused of having a secret swiss bank account we're talking about an amount of six hundred eighty five thousand euros there and also another politician over in greece a former minister of finance there has been accused of being involved with one of the country's largest tax scandals us about one point two million dollars we're talking about here now over in germany the boss of one of the world's biggest football clubs byron munich he's also want to investigation for fraud of about millions of dollars there now here in belgium by queen fabiola she's been accused of trying to hide her wealth from tax authorities so that her heirs don't have to pay a seventy percent tax putting all these together it's just a fraction of the one that trillion euros of the european commission says is lost to tax evasion and tax fraud each year the e.u. commissioner for taxation anti-fraud has expressed disappointment at the lack of progress made by the bloc there's still a level of opposition coming from

a couple of countries namely austria and look some work both of which are keen to protect their own banking secrecy laws now this commissioner also pointed out the rather than relying on third party countries or non e.u. member countries like switzerland are more nicko the bloc should take bigger steps in imposing a tougher tax avoidance laws now today the summit is going to show whether leaders are willing to take that step or if all of this is just talk reporting from brussels. the e.u. summit comes as a new poll shows few young europeans believe the crisis management efforts will be effective as we can see there's a huge percent of those who don't believe the future will be bright pictures even gloomy if we look at pinions concerning employment in italy a staggering ninety two percent there are pessimistic about job security then the europeans moving on are also becoming increasingly worried about having a secure pension but only a tiny minority saying they're confident about the future and amid this doom and

gloom it's young people in particular who seem to have lost faith because all of the reports now from portugal. with unemployment on the rise the portuguese of facing a new set of challenges if you don't want to be a statistic if you don't want to be a number you have to. be committed with their own responsibility of making your own job joe has done just that turning his back on an education in sociology and a job in advertising he moved out of the city and now teaches people how to grow mushrooms you are used to a model in which the opportunity is given to you now the new model you have to make or an opportunity. drawn towards fungal farming juta the mushrooms recycling abilities he says portugal's politicians could learn a thing or two from his project we really really need to find new nutrients to spring to live. every day full natural. he's even found

a good use for some of his old textbooks here is the breeding ground for a potential new mushroom that's easy to grow by anyone but it's not only in the countryside that new agricultural projects are under way with the portuguese facing rising prices and ever decreasing wages urban farms like this one becoming a very important way to make sure families can put food on the table small allotments are springing up right in the heart of lisbon operating without proper planning permission the authorities turn a blind eye to their development. but that. everything is just too expensive so i try to get everything i can't afford from my little garden sometimes there is a good crop so i can sell it for extra cash. nothing goes to waste here even garden pests can have their uses if you know how i collect these mail from my crop when

cooked right they can be quite tasty in fact many think of them as a delicacy. grilled or in a suit unemployment is at a record high in portugal with pessimists suggesting it's only a matter of time before it passes the twenty percent mark economists in the country are accusing portugal's european partners but they nor in their situation people in the north should look more close to the direct human consequences of these policies and if they have a better knowledge of what's happening in those fields they will change their mind about what's what needs to be done in the near very near future jacko is somewhat more philosophical just be patient and things will come at their time and that's. that's the best lesson learned with mushrooms peter all of the portugal. high level tax fraud records unemployment and despair among europeans were asking

where you think the e.u. is heading to cast your vote at r.t. dot com well that's how you look at your opinion so far these are the options is the financial collapse ahead or an end to the debt crisis in the poorest states be forced out will germany become increasingly dominant when you can log on to r.t. dot com and have your say. i. scandal around the u.s. government spying on journalists appears to be spreading the latest twist it's been revealed that personal phone records and e-mails of a fox news reporter was seized as part of the can best a geisha this latest incident comes hot on the heels of in the city city press wiretapping scandal members of stuff how the calls and e-mails monitored and

washington correspondent. these cases might have journalism an american. journalist here especially those covering national security matters first saw their sources drying out because of the administration's unprecedented hunt for leakers and whistleblowers as if that wasn't enough of a blow to investigative journalism downturn they see that they themselves could be targeted as criminals for soliciting information from government officials the story of the fox news reporter investigated by the f.b.i. for having sought information from a state department official sent truck waves throughout the journalistic community the secret blanket surveillance of over one hundred a.p. reporters that was another shock all of this led to the question about whether the administration mistakes journalism for espionage to talk about this i'm joined by tom hartman the host of the big picture here on r.t. . tom there's a department official who apparently leaked classified information to the fox news reporter he was charged under the espionage act the fox news reporter is being

investigated as his accomplice in the alleged crime the obama administration has used the espionage act this world war one iraq law to prosecute other whistleblowers if these people are being prosecuted as spies who is the enemy that they are spying for well if they were going to prosecute the reporters themselves then obviously the enemy that they're spying for is we the people people united states. to the best my knowledge they're not prosecuting the journalists but they are investigating the journalists as if they were criminals. back during the bush administration when judith miller had that information about w m d's they went to her and said please give us the in from. give us your phone records she said no and she went to jail rather than giving up her sources so now instead of asking the reporters asking the news agencies they're simply going in with all the power. over of the spy agencies of america and snooping on the reporters i think this is a violation first about something that i personally found extremely alarming it was

a new york times article from wrote a year ago about drone strikes and innocent people dying in those strikes and they cited no name to a u.s. official who said that those reports on civilians dying in drone strikes they help terrorists so if that's how they see those journalists maybe it's not surprising that they go after them like this there is there or have always been governments and people in governments who use the excuse that you know you're either with us or you're with the enemy and you know they don't understand that there's also there's you know what's in the interest of the country and it may not be the best interest of the administration and this was the argument that was made about people who are trying to win and johnson with the gulf of tonkin and you know we've over and over and over again we've heard this argument and it just doesn't doesn't fly thank you thank you very much so spice terrorist helpers during this can be accused of all

kinds of things i guess a responsible journalist in the eye of the administration would be the one who diligently copy paste only what the government decides to put out there on its websites and in press releases and that would be a said day for our profession in washington i'm kind of checking. in from the website truthout says the latest surveillance case in the very nature of investigative reporting is that risk. the obama administration has really taken the executive branch powers of intimidating the free press one of the key issues here and i think this is very important is that the case of fox news producer was actually a coconspirator in this this has never been asserted before as far as we know in the united states wiki leaks us on j. and bradley manning or outliers that there is a limit to disclosing government information but the reality is that the government often leaks information and if it leaks plastics i get information and of course it

doesn't prosecuted itself this is the nature of investigative reporting that the obama administration is going after obama ran in two thousand and eight and to a certain degree in two thousand and twelve on him playing at form that he would make government more transparent but instead he is making government more opaque i mean why that is the u.s. government's apparent war on whistleblowers gathers pace so me about this are taking steps to shield their sources and new york handlers to see to know that once people can on myspace have these documents and messages back and see what is more important as details. one of america's oldest and most prestigious news publications is pulling up page from wiki leaks and creating a platform for whistleblowers and sources to anonymously leak information the new yorker magazine has launched

a strongbox and open source dropbox that allows people to send messages and leak information without their identities ever being revealed now the forebear reportedly uses multiple laptop thumb drives the rich and poor the threat. that the new yorker have are finding out where they're coming from this way if anyone in the justice department wants to know the source of the information new yorker officials can tell them now strongbox is being billed as a secure digital route for sources to use the underlying code for strongbox is called dead drop it was predicted who created by wired editor kevin paulson and the late hour in swartz the r.s.s. inventor and open source not to miss swartz committed suicide in january at the age of twenty six while facing a federal trial and thirty five years in prison u.s.

prosecutors were targeting the reddit founder for downloading millions of online ip democrat articles and publishing them online for free today the obama administration's target has changed now journalists from the associated press and fox news are being investigated and persecuted for their reports on national security issues a climate that has caused the new yorker to combine the first amendment practices of julian assange and aaron swartz in order to protect the bradley manning's of the world reporting from new york arena are today. well so they had fewer supports for syria from within israel multi looks of a small little community ready to do whatever it takes to the bank president. does the president asked for more money to maintain going to the prison in toto form a god who explains what's been driving him made stay stuck to the cells for months .

they call ins revolutionizing banking and finance or a nice political protest movement take your pick there is no doubt this virtual currency is being given a careful look on the back of the global financial crisis and the stranglehold the finance has over the economy having an alternative currency appears to face what is called the new economy. the eve.

to. talk about the program. now the pentagon is asking for almost half a billion dollars to maintain an upgrade the guantanamo bay prison adding to doubts there's any genuine intent from the u.s. authorities to close the facility one hundred detainees have been hunger strike for three and a half months now in protest over their indefinite detention without charge want to talk to a former guard at the camp who explained why most prisoners would prefer suicide through starvation to being kept there. some of the some of the tactics that i saw practice in guantanamo i just never really want to wish to relive again omar kotter and a number of other detainees said they were privileged to something we called the frequent

flyer program or even essentially move them every two hours whether removing them from camp delta camp echo or moving them from bravo block to charlie block be it a little move or a big move the idea was that every two hours they would be moved and they wouldn't be able to sleep this was essentially fought to wear down their psyche and make them more. probable to give up information during interrogation i think it speaks volumes about the conditions at one time of above the sink to hear if suicide through starvation is prefer able to. staying alive and then going through the monotony of guantanamo existence the only reason the detainees are being force fed is the the u.s. military or rather the powers that be are scared that these men have enough conviction to literally starve to death and they know that if these men do starve to death it will make the us look bad in the global global perspective if the pentagon wants four hundred fifty million dollars more to maintain and restructure

guantanamo i think that's basically just preparations for the next batch of people are going to fill in. as it stands right now the weeks to so many millions of dollars of taxpayer money in one. it's just ridiculous and absurd to think about but if we just devoted another four hundred fifty million i think that's just perfect evidence right there there's no intention to close that one where the. the full interview with terry help is available for you on our website dot com also that medical mismanagement as a fortune is thrown away prevail the rise of a bird flu drug with a listen to million pounds from the sky good day to forty storage procedures. self-made space is all possible as nasa designs three d. printers that could allow astronauts to create something fresh and sixteen lives in orbit with details on that on our website.

and u.s. senate committee has voted for a bill to arm the syrian rebels trying to topple president assad's regime is the first time in two years of the ongoing civil war that now because lawmakers have agreed to give the backing opposition lethal support for the bill it still has a long way to go if it could come into force author and historian gerald horne believes washington has learned nothing from its past mistakes the pressure has really been ratcheted up in washington with regard to these rebels the israeli lobby in particular has been quite energetic and quite active with regard to lobbying for aid to the rebels which is quite curious so if these rebels come to power i dare say that israel will have many sleepless nights the implications are quite ominous obviously the u.s. authorities have not learned the lessons of history for example we recall that enough again it's now the one nine hundred eighty s. the united states supported extremists and then on september eleventh two thousand

and one those extremism those allied with them attacked new york city and washington we recall that the u.s. authorities backed extremists and libya and then also to bring eleven two thousand and twelve those extremists killed the u.s. ambassador chris stevens in benghazi and it's plunged the obama administration into the ground the investigations sadly and tragically it seems that they would like to see history repeat itself. israeli armies of exchange for a disputed golan heights next item of if front line attacks have become more frequent in recent months israel launching airstrikes or the massacres as artist or explains as at least one community as well that's right it to defend president that . we're ready to die defending our people strong words from a chef preparing young men to go and fight in syria except his recruits are not rebel fighters or soldiers in damascus they're israeli druze

a minority islamic offshoot we need to go help defend the community in syria and president assad. we have relatives there are people are there and they were attacking them in the name of islam. the tipping point came after rebels targeted the druze village of near the israeli syrian border and killed seven people by the hundreds israeli druze volunteers started signing up short of i would be honored to be the first man who crosses the border to defend the druze community simon y d works in an israeli factory but feels it's only a matter of time before he'll be asked to cross the border into syria. i hope that they won't need us but you can't know what will happen now the situation in the druze villages is stable but if this changes we will go for it we are waiting for the orders from our shakes and we are totally ready israeli jews who live in communities in the gulf and the golan heights after the forty eight and sixty seven

war they found themselves cut off from their families in syria after israel occupied the heights those who live here on the israeli syrian border are residents of israel but see themselves as syrian they're loyal to the alawite regime who they see as a minority lock themselves they live in fear for their families in syria after the rebel assault on the druze village there and we're. we're under attack we're under foreign attack they're using foreign soldiers to fight inside syria and some syrians are helping them. some have other ways to fight back this man goes door to door selling his book about a respected to share all the proceeds go across the border. the druze community in israel collected one million dollars and sent it to the syrian druze from my ability to can we collected one million shackles people paid what they could in order to help their relatives in syria the call to fight has not yet been made but

as the conflict in syria starts to spread beyond its borders more and more communities are being torn in some many allegiances here randi and when a relative is killed the test for tat vendetta is likely to last for years. we are just waiting for an opportunity to help and we are ready to give our lives pointlessly r.t. on the israel syria border. r.t. spoke to the south african president jacob zuma about ways of resolving the syrian crisis making its leader a part of the solution and the interviews coming up later today but has a quick i don't know what is it that makes people think he should leave is a syria has been a problem that has developed in syria is part of it he must participate in. what syrian people should do is to find a solution a solution that must be accepted by everybody in the queue doing what happens to

those who have been. on either side of the syrian situation has been allowed in the main by the members of the sutra to comes well all been calling for. a kind of coming together of the syrian people to solve their problems that they should be helped to do so but some countries have been saying you know there was a time we could have come in we could have said solve the problems find a solution whatever views people didn't do so because it was not successful in the interests. of some other international news in brief now. stockroom has seen a third night of riots internationally immigrant whose be district run rest in a swedish capital is believed to be in triggered when police fatally shot an

elderly man last week so full of arrests have been made he said once as a result of this brutality. students in chile have hurled homemade bombs and clashed with police during protests over education cuts this responded with water cannon and take us thousands of marched through the city of optimism demanding free education because it began two years ago and has been gaining momentum and government using to meet the students demands. rescuers are continuing their search for survivors in the oklahoma city suburb of moore but it was struck by a devastating tornado the number of reported dead has been revised down to twenty four including mine children and two hundred people were injured and whole neighborhoods destroyed. over one hundred iraqis have been killed since the beginning of the week anyway the sectarian violence that's flared up across the country long lasting conflict between sunnis and the shia government has fueled

protests and bloodshed in recent years there's a really good in school reports without tolerance a deeply divided country could be engulfed by a fully fledged civil war. recent invasion of iraq syria violence has been on the rise in the country particularly there you can see the invasion has set it off it has been rising every year even though the u.s. troops may be out the violence continues to only get worse in fact if we just look at the numbers of just last week alone two hundred people have died in this of terry and violence and when we are talking about sectarian violence we have to understand that islam is composed of two main branches shia and sunni and they are constantly going at each other they have all these issues and questions and this point has been going on for centuries so really it's really hard to stop in fact the u.n. mission for iraq has said that since two thousand and two thousand and eight april was the deadliest month for more than seven hundred people were killed sixteen hundred were injured these attacks continue to happen on almost daily bases and

there it seems that there is no way for them to stop of course now we have the now we have the tribal leaders from the sunni provinces mostly to the west of the country and they're saying we will stop the attacks if you will give us autonomy and the prime minister nuri al maliki said he is going to think about establishing a ton of this region in that part of the country but he says of course it has to be done through proper legal procedures and that means more time more people work and more bureaucracy and until until it's that actually happens who knows how much more blood will be shed and of course the wider fear in iraq today is that become this country today is what could be what we could be seeing in syria tomorrow and this is what we have to be paying a special attention to when it comes to iraq and of course to the region as a whole. coming up shortly it's people of both crosstalk arundhati stay with us.

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