americans traveling to syria are being recruited by al qaeda to carry out attacks when neighbor turned home details from new york coming up. meanwhile washington is considering resuming military aid to syria despite radical rebels gaining strength and controlling crucial to neighboring iran. also europe's austerity is hitting those at the top with the blocks leaders and some of the lowest approval ratings in their. countries. killed by u.s. soldiers after being mistaken for the enemy washington's failing to get kabul to sign a security deal. russia launches a massive security operation ahead of the winter games in sochi the largest in the

history. of. life from a studio center here in moscow this is r.t. international with twenty four hours a day. to link extremist groups in syria are seeking to recruit and train americans and then send them back to carry out terror attacks that's what u.s. intelligence and counterterrorism officials are claiming with the tracking of those who returned from syria now one of their top tasks well let's get more details now from. she joins us live from new york marina what more do we know about these american citizens joining those rebel fighters in syria well. top u.s. intelligence officials say all these efforts are in their early stages but nonetheless

the f.b.i. director says that now tracking americans who have returned from syria has been among the bureau's highest counterterrorism priorities now working to senior counterterrorism officials islamic extremist groups in syria with ties to al qaeda are trying to identify recruit and train americans and other westerners who have traveled there and to get them to carry out attacks when they have returned home u.s. officials say at least seventy americans have either traveled to syria or tried to since the civil war started three years ago that number to this point was never disclosed that this is the first time that that number seventy has been disclosed by u.s. officials now syria's civil war no doubt has become a magnet for westerners seeking to fight with rebels against the government of president bashar al assad and all this news is coming ironically as the obama administration is reportedly considering the resumption of non lethal military aid

to syria syria's moderate opposition but that's despite the fact that some of the family may end up in the hands of islamic groups allied with with the moderates are posing as allied with the moderates now the united states suspended shipments of not lethal aid last month after warehouses of equipment were seized by the islamic front a coalition of islamic fighters with the american backed free syrian army clearly the u.s. administration the obama administration has a complex situation on their hands on one hand they're saying that u.s. u.s. citizens traveling there may be turned into terrorists to carry out attacks when they return home on the other hand the obama administration may resume non lethal aid imports of oil exports from the u.s. imported from syria clearly a very complex situation that so far. the obama administration has not an answer to rena live in new york thanks very much indeed for that also the u.s.

then is highly likely to resume non lethal military aid to the syrian opposition so what exactly do they want to send well known lethal aid is everything needed for combat except for guns and bullets it includes body armor night vision goggles and communication equipment but there are a lot of gray areas here when lethal objects become lethal for example when a radio transmitter is used to trigger an explosive device meanwhile some very graphic footage is appeared online claim to show the aftermath of a massacre not by al qaeda linked fighters they've ever stronger in the country and some analysts say there is a flow of lethal aid that has played its role in this united states provided lethal assistance through jordan through the cia and through the through turkey through the opposition but the opposition is is is fragmented incapable and and what's happened is that the the the more radical elements. principally the the

the foreign fighters have taken over the opposition in terms of the fighting and consequently those weapons have gotten in their hands they've become emboldened they've become they've gotten better weapons as a consequence to air missiles they've got r.p.g. and invariably what will happen is that if you put to start to pass weapons to the opposition it evidently will fall into the hands of the extremists because they are just much more. in addition to being more radicalized they are also. more fierce fighters and they have shown that against the opposition. the rise of al qaeda linked opposition groups and the raging rebel rebel fighting is causing many to change their view of the conflict in syria former cia director michael hayden said the assad regime is beginning to look like the lesser of all evils the former u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan ron crocker agreed that assad is not as bad as the jihad is russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov welcomed the change of

stance but in ankara there is no change with its turkish foreign ministry still insisting assad must go but expert in middle east history and politics jeremy salt says the rise of al-qaeda groups is a much bigger threat to turkey itself. state of of of iraq of the levant has already threatened to carry out suicide bombs inside turkey and in fact carried out one bombing last may in the border town of right hardly able to more than fifty people so this is a very dangerous group to be a part of moralist describing his evil but the ground is changing very rapidly in syria and we know what's going on now is that the united states and allies need to go to geneva with a credible syrian opposition that the most they don't have because the syrian the free syrian army is not credible the syrian national coalition has most support inside syria is of a sturdy and had taken a toll on the public's confidence in the european union with latest polls showing people serious disappointment in the blocs leadership that doesn't bode well for

ruling parties with kinect on the doorstep it's all over. now in a few months europeans will be going to the polls in what could be the most important european parliamentary elections but the latest gallup polls to to sticks well don't make good reading for those that will be standing for the top spots across the european parliament even those countries that have received some of the most help countries like spain that received forty one billion euros to bail out its failing banking sector in two thousand and nine fifty nine percent of the population said they had faith and they supported the european leadership is another country that's traditionally been very pro e.u. is ireland they received sixty seven point five billion bailout their failing banking system seventy percent of the irish population had previously said that they supported the european union now that number forty seven percent well there's

also been big declines for support of the e.u. in countries like sweden finland austria the netherlands denmark and the you care but the first time since these type of statistics have existed the united kingdom it doesn't finish last when it comes to those that support the you currently that statistic belongs to greece with only nineteen percent of their population supporting the european union understandable really when you see the hardships that have been inflicted upon their people by the european crisis it's not just european politicians that have seen a downturn in popularity the euro itself is also hit huge lows and europeans look to alternative types of currency to secure their finances we can find out more on that from maria for not. these colorful returned notes and not money but they have a real value you can go shopping with these bills in your wallet. at

a restaurant. the idea of alternative also called complimentary currencies that people of businesses agree to use for transactions within a particular area a district quarter with just a street may look like something from a kid's game but the reasons behind it are far from child's play you know his per week first project local currencies stay within the region development second ideological a lack of confidence in official currencies make people want to have something they understand that they can control under they can trust and not just something that is printed you don't know how with new control and leads to speculation alternative forms of money have a history stretching back decades and appear to be growing in popularity especially tough financial times of them there isn't enough of a bang splay a lot with money and often risky games but they'd be younger visit

a ordinary people have to pay for mistakes and losses this is why people want to have a currency they will be sure will serve them and not go disappear somewhere in fiscal paradise is a global finance system so banks today's most famous headline grabbing alternative currency is the digital big coin but there are dozens of others and he's worldwide in france europe's second largest economy people exchange services and goods via a least twenty different types of complimentary currencies and their numbers are growing. the slain is behind one such project the one probably outside paris she says she never considered pain with anything other than euros until the advantages of an alternative became clear. as with the euro is that it is definitely not just a mode of exchange but it also became a mode of speculation to feed banks while local currency support local projects and develop a real economy on the ground which means it works for us the people. because restaurant

is part of the project and only the flower shop and they're going to make soup or market it is all can. hear. that are people in the world of finance that will nothing else but to make people who are all for their own benefit why should we allow them to do that this sticker indicates this restaurant accept cash the red wings a fish a no peach in french but also energy and the slogan was ever your seed is used to express someone is in good health and full of energy which the local currencies here friends certainly seem to be experts claim complimentary currencies will never replace an official one however if trust is undermined it hard enough and conventional money people may start looking for a different type of change brief notion r.t. from france. you have van overtveldt economic expert from belgium's new flemish

alliance party explain why the things that you use economic crisis has turned into a political one. there are now a lot of people especially in the southern european countries and ireland that not only lost a job but also lost a larger or smaller part of their income so there are a huge amount of people in these crises certain trees that have a lot to be frustrated about and that is being felt now increasingly on the political level and so maybe of this year elections for the european parliament too will see the you change greece of the vote for parties that are outright against the european union. international live here in moscow coming up this hour the right wing voices in japan that are getting louder. r.t. looks at how nationalists are calling for the need to regain self-respect and make

japan's presence felt. he survived war atrocities. to make a final decision. has changed his life and the world around him. by giving up. hope. and love to so many children. nikolai the american worker on our t.v. . dramas that can't be ignored to the. stories others to refuse to notice.

faces changing the world right next. to picture of today's blog post on demand from around the globe. dropped. to fifty. a four year old boy has been shot dead by u.s. soldiers in afghanistan the troops opened fire on the toddler after mistaking him for an enemy due to poor visibility and they says incident comes amid the further straining of ties between the u.s. and afghanistan a top american negotiator said a pact between the two states are likely to be signed before afghanistan's presidential elections in april washington was hoping to secure a long term agreement with president hamid karzai if signed it would allow for ten thousand u.s. troops to stay in the country after the withdrawal of all foreign forces in twenty

fourteen and of a deal the u.s. is demanding immediately for a prosecution of court ordered soldiers something karzai is reluctant to accept what we spoke to the former commander of the special air service lieutenant colonel richard williams and he explained why he thinks u.s. is insisting on immunity for its troops. they would wish to ensure that any soldier commits a crime in afghanistan can be tried under american law and in an american court as i understand it the area of debate at the moment is that there is a proposal that an american soldier who did commit a crime in afghanistan could be tried in afghanistan in american law as a compromise but i think it's very important when american support ongoing operations in afghanistan is tenuous to say the least that the american public doesn't believe that it will be throwing its soldiers to the afghan to the mercy

forgive me of the afghan judicial system twenty forty. admiral allen west who was britain's head of navy when the u.k. went into afghanistan has said the operation was a waste of time he called the war a strategic as well as a political failure of turning kind of william says that the biggest achievement of the conflict would be the possibility of a compromise between the afghan leadership and the taliban. i built a shit what we tried to achieve to set the conditions whereby an afghan government can deal in a nonviolent way with all of the groupings involved in bleeding but. if those conditions are set and it should be. then what we're likely to see is a compromise between what kabul wants and what the taliban wants which will see afghanistan model along over the next period of time perhaps the next ten years but

that in itself won't be any great strategic victory if we want to call it that or any great strategic outcome any more stories for in our website at the moment including the hundreds of thousands of believers in the new reckless powers of an ancient black crucifix they've gathered in the daylong pilgrimage philippine capital of manila to pray for the victims of the deadly typhoon which part of the country in november but it is the procession is available in the in motion section in r.t. dot com. and also there with the heat in brazil soaring above all tropical levels zoo workers are feeding their inmates with icy delicacies on the menu called strawberry yogurt and ice blocks with frozen fruits inside. the host of the twenty fourteen winter games sort she has launched the largest security operation in olympic history tens of thousands of police officers have been drafted in with the sole aim of warding off any threats and keeping locals visitors and athletes safe on these poor scott reports. the twenty second olympic

winter games in two thousand and fourteen i wore that to defeat of sochi i soon as russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago i. question the choice of host city such as close proximity to the volatile caucasus region was they argued a cause for concern. and the recent twin terror attacks in volgograd summer seven hundred kilometers from sochi every ignited some of those worries organizers say security has been their main priority since day one tourism is the global threat and for terrorism there is no bond there is no terrorists but here in sochi from the very beginning of the construction phase the state that's. made those with months to prepare the special measures to stop them from

the screen all their old materials are checking in all the venues and preparing incredible measures of the security to provide this safe environment here with less than a month to go now until the games begin tight security measures are already in place around forty thousand police and security offices are expected to be on patrol for sales of dangerous hunting equipment for the duration of the games there's also a controlled sign stretching sixty kilometers along the coast and twenty five kilometers inland and encompassing all venues. in terms of security so it is a special case because this area is authorized to visit this only there are security details from a number of countries including the u.k. and u.s. working for us but no security forces will be coming together to protect places like this is the brand new purpose built train station in the olympic village is

going to be one of the. during the games moving thousands of spectators. cameras intercoms that connects you with the engineer and clues present train stations and on the train security is pretty tight. with the bulk of the work now complete with all venues and transport networks built and tested sochi is now just waiting for the sporting world to descend pull scott's r.t. . check out our world update the three hundred thousand people in west virginia in the u.s. have been told not to use tap water following a large scale chemical spill along the river a state of emergency has been declared locals told not to use the water for drinking cooking washing or bathing restaurants close their doors and school students had an extra day off with officials so far failing to estimate the full scale of the danger and use a spot panic buying in the shops with shelves stripped of bottled water.

self-proclaimed president of the central african republic has finally resigned from his post a move it's hope will end immediate hostilities in the impoverished landlocked nation the decision pressure from a summit of regional leaders in chad had failed to calm religious bloodshed between his muslim sleeker rebels and christians since seizing power in march meanwhile from the european union to send more troops on top of the sixteen hundred french soldiers brought in last month. government troops have claimed they have regained control of the rebel stronghold in key oil city in the north of the country the rebels have not yet given any comment to this the fighting which has been the worst since the country gained independence in two thousand and eleven has killed over a thousand since december and forced hundreds of thousands to flee the region. it may be known as a pacifist nation but some parts of japanese society think it's time for the country to shift to the right nationalist groups are calling for

a harder line to be taken against enemies both at home and abroad on his alexia she looks at how the trend may echo through the entire region. it's become a tradition in japan when some foreign officials are subjected to verbal abuse on this particular occasion japanese nationalists made their feelings known loud and clear to russia's foreign minister china and south korea have also been in their crosshairs one for an island dispute the other for sending too many labor migrants to japan where the latest protests korean workers were described as cockroaches which needed to be exterminated but this man is one of those behind the nationalist rallies in japan he says he'd like to see japan a more closer citee one and all they want to know we've been to open to the world now for in this come here and commit crimes i want us to return to a pre-war period when we were closed and south sufficient despite criticizing the

government for its immigration policies the movement could not be feeling more comfortable since twenty twelve when she and so are there was reelected as prime minister such rallies have been on the rise. those are not only foreign nationals and delegations getting the stick from japanese nationalists there are locals who have directly suffered from their country becoming more far right these school teachers have been protesting because they lost their jobs for not complying with what they call ultranationalist regulations in schools. should be made is an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes i told my pupils spawn of who were not even japanese that it wasn't obligatory to stand up and then i got fired but it's not only about instilling national pride speculation is rife that with all this stronger japan hype is eager to amend the nine hundred forty seven constitution namely article number nine which brave is japan from having any kind of army other than for defense purposes in the increasingly intertwined world we

can ensure the peace of our nation without broad actively taking a role in the peace and security of the world why don't we take some. forward on the shoe of constitutional amendment but not everyone is buying it and more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. there has been talk among high profile politicians including former prime ministers who want you public to be where the japan should have nuclear weapons its new materialized but it's something the ruling to eat has been pondering for years now and non-pacifist japan let alone a nuclear power would send shock waves across the region say experts but for now even with nationalist voices getting louder polls suggest that such ideas are still some way from becoming a reality let's see russia c.r.t. reporting from japan i. bring you more news in just over half an hour from now here on out international in the meantime larry king and politicking is next after the

break. what a country experiences a tragedy like the recent terrorism in volgograd the next question is what to do about it i mean we have to do something right let's never let a good tragedy go to waste one to one member recommends getting rid of the moratorium on the death penalty for various groups including terrorists because the death penalty is the perfect way to punish a suicide bomber also this duma member failed to mention high level crap the krauts in the government as those who could possibly face the firing squad perhaps that was just an honest oversight i'm not against the death penalty in some rare

instances but punishing terrorists after the fact doesn't bring victims back the focus needs to be on the source of terrorism soldiers can play around all day with weapons because the government gives them a salary. the weapons and training some people are recruiting arming and training new terrorists you don't need to usher in a massive surveillance state to stop terrorism or go death penalty crazy what you need to do is hit the funding and training source hard if you can i mean how many of you guys out there could make a remotely detonated bomb a c four on your own without help almost none if you see for doesn't grow on trees someone pays for it but that's just my opinion. and what you're arguing for is that current should put that ethnic identity a body that national identity let me ask you a personal question. occurred first or and iraq it first occurred first then i am iraqi i am not iraqi that i am a kurds because let me ask you that question i am from holland i have been

bombarded you know i still remember the smell of the chemical weapons so what iraqi i didn't people to leave iraq and it brought to me the killings of people my strace four thousand five hundred villages were destroyed. n.s.a. leaker edward snowden he's still living in russia what are the chances overturned in the us this year and what does he mean when he says his mission is complete talk with snowden's team legal advisor ben wiser of the a.c.l.u. on today's politicking. with ben wise and he is director of the a.c.l.u.

speech privacy and technology project he's been a key advisor to the n.s.a. leaker edward snowden ben what's his current state of mind later we'll have a debate about all of this too what's the current state of mind of mr snowden. well you know his morale is pretty good. he is so grateful for the support that he's received recently from some of the world's leading newspapers including the new york times that called for him to be treated leniently to be given clemency but even more than that he's grateful for the global debate that his disclosures have set off and that our open courts are reviewing the programs that he revealed and now congress is considering historic legislation even the president's own advisers are telling him that the n.s.a. has gotten out of control and needs to be reined in that was what hope to accomplish and that's what he has accomplished so that's what he meant when he said his mission has been accomplished yeah i don't think that he meant the mission

accomplished this wasn't the president on the aircraft carrier saying the war is over what it was just starting what he meant by that is that his job is done his job was to bring the public into the debate to take these secret programs and bring them into the light of day it's our job to decide what we do with that information he didn't have any grandiose notion that he himself could change our society what he wanted to do is to put us in a position where we could decide what the consequences should be of these disclosures that's what he meant by mission accomplished another debate is going to take into turns judge leon in washington judge to be indiscriminate collection of phone records violates the fourth amendment two weeks later judge william pauley in new york says that the collection program which is legal and effective these are contradictory rulings you would be a you where you stand on all this contradiction. well you know it won't surprise any.