over sixty people killed in iraq as a. brutal campaign with a wave of bombings targeting crowded neighborhoods. are now attempting to look at syria and there throughout the entire region. of southern europe pentagon official tells all the way al qaida is expansion is heading. and president obama is a direct encouraging u.s. intelligence. claims that the n.s.a. vigorously denies.

they very well welcome to you if you've just joined us here on live from my headquarters in moscow. a series of attacks across iraq has left at least sixty six people did dozens more wounded most of the blast targeted shiite muslim districts around the capital baghdad iraq is seeing its worst sick turn violent since two thousand and eight and al qaida has been the main driving force now let's take a look at how the terrorist network became so powerful base in afghanistan from one thousand nine hundred to two thousand and one al qaida was under the protection of the taliban now it was also present in pakistan the jihad his group began a rapid expansion after washington launched its war on terror in response to the attacks of nine eleven prompted by the u.s. invasion in iraq the country's radical islam has turned to al qaida in two thousand

and four by two thousand and seven a powerful terror network united under the name of al qaeda in the islamic magreb started expanding throughout the north of africa now the yemeni and saudi branches merged two years later in two thousand and nine to former al qaeda in arabian peninsula the network has been gaining ground across the region since the arab spring unfolded with new call cells emerging in the countries that gripped by undress including syria where ready calls are now fighting against the regime of bashar assad artie's gratitude you can investigate. u.s. intelligence officials speaking anonymously of course there are now concern that al qaeda affiliated groups in syria are shifting some of their focus from toppling bashar sart to launching extra the operations against the west one u.s. lawmaker pointed out that's exactly what happened even ganesan which. they are now focused on fighting assad but very soon they'll be focused on something else we have michael move here former pentagon official with me mr maloof where are these

al qaeda affiliated groups headed in your opinion. through our. forces that are there. are no alternative to look at see. in the long term to be under a caliphate. spring throughout the entire region when you look at a map the whole area is streamed from the arabian peninsula. all the way across north africa and into the mud. right. at the foot of southern europe and that is. the strategy is to ultimately move into europe according to various estimates more than ten thousand committed members are operating just along syria's eastern border with iraq it's reported to be more than the number of jihad is in iraq during the u.s. led occupation worth mentioning it was the u.s.

invasion that brought terror into iraq this graph from the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism shows the spike of terrorist attacks in iraq following the us invasion the us now shrugs at all these terror that iraq has to deal with every day calling it well pains of democracy similar attitude the u.s. helped to kill qaddafi now the countries involved in chaos and terror again you hear pains of democracy but as these extremist groups in different countries become more and more organized as a network it's difficult to ignore the monster that spreading through the region the u.s. thinks drones are the perfect tool to deal with terrorists they say drones are the solution but on the receiving end those drone strikes are seen as acts of terror when they kill innocent people and they help terrorists recruit more terrorists most recently two reports came out by amnesty international and human rights watch they looked into u.s.

strikes in pakistan and yemen human rights watch found that in the strikes that they have investigated seventy percent of those who died were civilians washington says they've decimated its leadership but it seems al-qaeda has metastasized. and continue spreading with drawn strikes and brewing civil wars in washington i'm going to. discuss the situation further i'm now joined live by journalist and broadcaster neil clark the club how much of the turmoil and violence we're currently seeing in iraq and afghanistan are directly blamed on nature intervention i think they could all be directly blamed on the nato intervention because if we think back the so-called interventions that we need all build a humanitarian ventures work it was the benign nato powers led by the united states were going into these countries to liberate the people from these with dictators like saddam was say. exactly and in every instance of the so-called interventions the result has been death and destruction has been absolute chaos in iraq

a new study said the least five hundred thousand people have been killed since the invasion and it could be even more so i think that these the consequence of these interventions would have been anything but humanitarian maybe war crimes and i think that for people living in these countries have been a nightmare what's happened since these nato intervention so i think yes nato is to blame you know every day we hear reports of how many people have been targeted or or die in iraq it's in the middle of it where it's a spike of violence in the years as the war in neighboring syria further destabilized iraq. oh absolutely i think it's no coincidence to be there's been a huge spike in violence in iraq since the destabilization of syria's taken place since two thousand and eleven of course because the us has been helping islamic terrorists to try to topple the secular independently minded government present a sad and it's no coincidence that there's been a huge spike in violence in syria and in iraq at the same time al-qaeda groups are going from iraq to syria for syria to iraq the whole region is in turmoil because of the united states policies and this is not a mistake this is it is

a mistake to think it's a mistake if you like because whenever the neo-cons come on to talk about iraq of course they very rarely want to talk about iraq they always like to claim that while tony blair and george bush wanted well but they've made a few mistakes along the way that's nonsense the whole thing with the exercise was to destroy iraq as a puncturing country to make sure it could never again be a threat to regional powers that the us backs in that region the same with syria so i think this is all deliberate the what we're talking about is the deliberate destruction of independently minded countries in this region but these western powers have been claiming that the fighting you know again is international terrorism and yet they've now supported the rebels in both libya and syria how would you explain that apparent contradiction. well absolutely i mean is the biggest myth in the whole of international relations the biggest myth is that the united states and its allies or implacably opposed to terrorist groups around the world and particularly al qaeda and islamic terrorist groups they're not they will use al-qaeda terrorist groups like them to help them to topple independent minded

governments like president assad in syria in libya and elsewhere but they will also use the presence of al qaeda groups in order to intervene in countries where they want regime change as world you know like mali for example in afghanistan so in fact the west news is ok to use this comic groups and not implacably opposed to that's a great myth nobody has done more to boost the rise of al-qaeda in the last twenty years than the united states that's the fact and speaking of al qaeda it seems to be expanding itself as a network becoming more organized is there any way to stop it from getting any bigger from what it is right now. it goes back to the u.s. i don't think the u.s. wants to stop but i think you know al-qaeda serves a very useful purpose for american foreign policy and for israel to saudi arabia you know the fact is that if al qaeda didn't exist it have to be invented it serves an awful lot of good purposes for united states to push its agenda around the world and i think it's got to be a sea change in the u.s. if the u.s. was really serious about al qaeda and wanting to deal with it they would do they wouldn't be supporting al-qaeda in syria they would be wanting

a secular regime in syria to be toppled they would be actually supporting president assad in syria they wouldn't be wanting regime change in libya would be so i think the answer your question the future ok depends on the u.s. the u.s. helped create al qaeda and this islamic terrorism and it's up to us to stop it if it really wanted to but their policy show that they're not really interested in doing that i'm afraid neil clark journalist and broadcaster they giving his his thoughts on what's happening in iraq. and as jihad is the militants keep up their war of attrition against syria's government more civilians are volunteering for military service. my family worries the most but nothing is more precious than our country homeland where i was raised. coming up we need a syrian woman who is putting her life on a line up to defend her family and country.

president obama is facing some embarrassing revelations in the german media reports this say the u.s. president had full knowledge that the n.s.a. was tapping chancellor merkel's mobile phone despite his claims to the contrary he was allegedly briefed by the head of the n.s.a. about the scheme back in twenty ten and it would order of full dosia on the german leader merkel made her outrage in a recent phone call to obama she said such monitoring practices would be a breach of trust if confirmed the chancellor also said that spying among friends does not work obama apologized and insisted he had no previous knowledge that the n.s.a. had been monitoring him merkel had been targeted by the agency for over a decade according to the latest leaked documents european leaders are now pushing for a new spy code of conduct with the u.s. but fred rohde from the international advocacy group young voices says it would be unlikely to restrain the n.s.a. . i don't think that these proposed. treaties or no spy laws will have

a big impact these secret surveillance agencies have grown to an extent that it's really hard to control them basically you would need have to heavily cut down all these surveillance agencies such as the n.s.a. or the cia to make actually actually sure that they don't have the power and the resources anymore to snoop on everyone around the world meanwhile the latest leak from edward snowden shows that the n.s.a. interceptors sixty million phone calls in spain in the space of just one month the spanish media says that in december last year u.s. intelligence harvested numbers and calling like ations the country but while the case builds against american intelligence fred rohde says european agencies should have been let off the hook. it's not just about the n.s.a. it's also about. surveillance agencies in europe such as the british law and even the german ones which do not do not. allow citizens to keep their privacy there's

no ping on each other i would not be surprised if there will be further revelations on other countries spying on each other's leaders that's just the dynamic we now live from the twenty first century. germany is also sending its top intelligence officials to the u.s. seeking explanation over the spying allegations so how much damage is being cost year to relations between the two countries and what kind of fallout should we expect that's what we're asking viewers in our website poll so it's almost forty percent of you say that the e.u. will react by developing highly encrypted communication for its leaders a quarter so far i expect to europe to restrict access to private data and raise costs for businesses american businesses and the same number suggests that obama will apologize and even offer to spy on the u.k. prime minister david cameron instead and just ten percent of you say that the

german germany will retaliate by offering asylum to edward snowden and julian songe at archie dot com and cast your vote if you haven't done so already. a surprising solution to london's housing crisis could be on its way. with predictions of a looming housing crisis with rents at an all time high in the u.k. right now we're going to be telling you why some people attending away from bricks and mortar and instead turning to big shipping containers of the solution that's the story coming up later in the program to stay with us. technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future

covered. wealthy british scientists i. thought i was going to go around. the. market why not the sound of. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's culture the no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report. was. i. i. i i i i i i i. i. think so.

the next story is in syria where conflict continues to take its toll on civilians some of deciding to take matters into their own hands are his policy a bad one young mother has taken up arms to ensure had children's future members getting ready for work like women around the world she enjoys putting on makeup before heading to the office but miriam's job is a little different to most the twenty three year old is heading to the syrian frontline it gives me great satisfaction of being able to defend my country against terrorists who want to destroy it. it's strange to find women here in the line of fire even more so because maria is a mother her sons are just four and six years old. i signed up because of them i'm not afraid anymore because i've stopped worrying we are in a state of war. but every day miriam sees the reality of war more than one hundred

thousand people most of them civilians killed the people who lived in these homes will have friends and family all of them have fled most of them will never return i . am most afraid when they want to bombs fall in our posts and there is shrapnel if you days ago the terrorists launched rockets at our checkpoint their rockets are not accurate suddenly they had a civilian building and many people died were rescued a few and carried them to hospital this used to be a school playground but children's laughters long been drowned out by the whistling of bullets. and i was kidnapped twice the last time for two months they arrested me when i was in civilian clothes this is back to doug was cooperating with the army i did i did and luckily they eventually let me go but the risks facing a woman in uniform are often far greater than for her male counterparts several of my female colleagues have been killed while held hostage often it's nothing more

than luck that separates the living from the did. my family worries a lot but nothing is more precious than our country or in homeland where i was raised to my children are very precious very important but my country is a movie. and despite the price it's a job she's proud to wake up to each day on the grounds women have been in the syrian army since the seventy's there's even a special military college for them but usually evade jobs are administrators of and logistic desperate times however cord for desperate measures police fear r t damascus. opposition groups in syria have voiced their anger against powers that are pushing for peace talks are even threatening russia russian foreign minister sergei lavrov called such threats are drage in his latest speech he also spoke about russia's long running concerns over the deployment of a nato missile defense system in europe are to see the skin off has more of that

dispute it. foreign minister does say that moscow is ready for a compromise on the n.t. missile defense system issue but at the same time he says it's not going to pretend that it's ok with all the talks that nothing could be changed in the american scheme and still no legal guarantees from washington that the system would not be against russia really this has been one of the biggest problems in the relations between the two countries in two thousand and ten russia and nato agreed to work together on european missile defense but these talks pretty much have been frozen because there are still no legal guarantees from washington for a few years now moscow has been calling for the destruction of a unified into missile defense system where each member would share the responsibility for the safety of others saying that otherwise and without legal guarantees it would see it as a threat to its national security so it's really been one of the hottest topics in the relations between moscow and washington in the meantime the construction of one of the elements of the american anti missile shield in europe has started in the

romania on monday and it's planned at that base will start operating by around twenty twenty five. women in saudi arabia have caused a storm on the internet with an un president as an act of civil disobedience. the law. dozens got behind the wheel to protest against the country's ban on women drivers we've got that story for you on our website r.t. dot com. also there is a blunder in the u.s. state department the electronic communication system opens up external access to highly sensitive information check out our reports on that online. with almost all ballots counted from sunday's a presidential election in georgia the ruling party candidate georgie marvellous

really has emerged the clear winner with over sixty percent of votes this brings it to an end the decade long rule of saakashvili his party's candidate has trailed a distant second archies maria for national expose of the controversial legacy of the outgoing leader. people he believes who told us that the presidential vote was a less about twelve came in the future but more about saying goodbye to the country's past because really it's been from running for president again and these are his last days at the helm of the country he was a once popular leader off the rose revolution the first color revolution to which so power change in the post soviet republics but others who we spoke to here in tbilisi they accuse him of building in the three terran regime with brutal oppression on opposition with into a geisha news and a rest during his term in office macalso time to to bring the form of regular

republic of south assertive back on the georgists control and this is when russia had to intervene and fended off soldiers for a five day conflict last year had looked old worse parliamentary elections the party of mickelson has really lost after the jews were revealed showing yawn inmates in georgian prisons been beaten and humiliated in ten years this man has come full circle from a very popular to one of the most hated politicians here in the country who is now facing accusations and to a geisha is this is a pledge for pushed forward by the current prime minister really. a look now at some other news making headlines around the world at this hour britons of be hit by its worst storm in five years killing two people one of the victims a teenager with killed when a falling tree the roof of his home and a man died when a tree hit his car and jude as the storm is being called is likely to become the most destructive since the one nine hundred eighty s.

around two hundred and twenty thousand homes have been already left without power while numerous rail services have been cancelled. the israeli air force has bombed a missile launchers in the northern gaza strip just hours after palestinian militants they. allegedly fired two rockets across the border israel managed to shoot down one of them while the other fell into the sea no injuries were reported and the scuffles occurred after israel released a first batch of twenty six palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of a u.s. brokered deal that led to the resumption of middle east peace talks. the palestinians have sent letters to over fifty countries calling on businesses to boycott israeli settlements in the west bank israeli military whistleblower. told r.t. sophie shevardnadze why many i.d.f. soldiers are unhappy about their mission to keep the settlers safe. you send

nineteen year olds eighteen year olds to court to control millions of people through the barrel of the gun i was trained as an infantry soldier to fight another army and this is the case for most soldiers so you get there two to the west to you know around the gaza strip unprepared to deal with civilians unprepared to control civilians the only thing that you are fed with is fear in hate and you know you are constantly told be careful of the palestinians if you turn your back to them they will stab you in the back you're told when i got to the west bank i was told that we need to show the ship what esteem is that there is a new sheriff in town and i'm quoting here. as a high living costs put a strain people in the u.k. some are starting to adapt their ideas on what should be considered. actually sarah further reports. when addressing the issue of affordable housing one london

charities been thinking outside the box but when it comes to the solution in sight that counts meet the my i pad the shipping container doubles as a low cost. renting in london is particularly expensive and once again we're seeing rents hit record highs so we're going to go up and take a look inside and see what this is all about. you know how are you doing here thank you very much for having us yes this is my palace yeah this is the mine pat as you can see we've got a desk here inside the my pads been designed to provide those who need it most with affordable independent living and just seventy five pounds a week the might had certainly cheap by london standards i think it's difficult for anybody right now to get. comfortable accommodation and a good price without you know paying extortionate amounts of around the projects

the brainchild of timothy payne you think this is essentially this is a shipping container from china this is a strip of. bread you cover over a great big boat the projects already received planning permission and funding is expected to come from the greater london authority initially this project will be soley for young people the charity works with society just. takes a copy out from under them because the moment they get into work they can't afford to live in a hostel on the corner for to move anywhere else because doesn't make any moral or any economic sense. as an idea. is brilliantly innovative it's been designed as a quick fix that is planning permission for thirty more things to be built next year but predictions that if bracing continues at its cover rate of building them by twenty twenty and we face a shortfall of two million homes in the u.k.

so you can see the scale of the problem and it's why will started out as a local temporary solution could end up becoming a more permanent fixture. r.t. london. time now for a quick look at what the russia's black sea craze looks like at the moment why well it's almost one hundred days before the grand opening of the sochi twenty fourteen winter olympics you're now seeing the latest pictures on the cutting edge of venue's that are almost done and dusted region has met the new president of the international olympic committee for a final chat on the preparations in sochi they have also unveiled a brand new transport cob so it's one hundred days to go come tuesday and here on r.t. will be bringing you all the action as it happens. one hundred days remaining.

days of play. up next exploring illegal fishing off the coast of africa and stealing from the poor. a spanish language teacher in texas has been fired for posing nude in playboy before she became a teacher parents and found out about this demand that she be fired because her past was inappropriate and that it was a distraction the classroom well this was something she did in the past which was legal so there's that mean if you pose for playboy you are forbidden to work in the normal world also as a former teenage boy i can tell you that any young attractive teacher will cause a distraction with the boys and wolf you can fire people for being distracting that

when they have to fire every teacher with a handicap or abnormal appearance on the other hand though teachers are supposed to be people for children to respect and to look up to and when you're spanish teachers willing to sell the good stuff for money to playboy it is a lot harder respect that sort of person and it sure isn't a good example for my daughter this is actually a very complex issue but all i can say is that you should really try to fight the temptation to make quick money with some nude photos it could come back to haunt you but that's just my opinion.

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