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 lethal military aid to syria despite radical al-qaeda linked rebels gaining strength and controlling crucial in neighboring iraq. europe susteren is hitting those at the top with the blocks leaders earning some of their lowest approval ratings and debt ridden countries. can talk is killed but u.s. soldiers after being mistaken for the enemy this is washington's failing to get. a security deal will get expert opinion from london shortly. and sports safety russia launches a massive security operation ahead of the winter games in sochi dubbed the largest

in the pic history. from a studio center here in moscow this is r.t. international with the twenty four hours a day. extremist groups in syria 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 return from syria now one of their top tasks. as the details. 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 no warning to senior

counterterrorism officials islamic extremists 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 whole 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 filleted 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 so clearly the obama administration has a complex situation on their hands on one hand the 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 imported from syria clearly a very complex situation that so far the obama administration has not found an answer to. so the u.s. is highly likely to resume normal lethal military aid to the syrian opposition so what exactly do they want to send will non-lethal aid is everything needed for combat except for guns and bullets that includes body armor and night vision goggles and also communication equipment but there are a lot of gray areas here when non lethal objects become lethal for example when

a radio transmitter is used to trigger an explosive device meanwhile some very graphic footage has appeared online claiming to show the aftermath of a massacre carried out by al qaeda linked fighters now of a growing of a 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 that 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 of got into their hands they've become emboldened they've become they've gotten better weapons as a consequence are getting surface to air missiles they 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 a card into opposition groups in the raging rebel on 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 ryan crocker agreed that the sat 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 a sat moscow expert in middle east history and politics jeremy salt says the rise of al-qaeda groups is a much bigger threat to turkey itself islamic state of of of iraq of the levant has already threatened to carry out suicide bombs inside turkey and carried out one

bombing last may in the border town of right holly which killed more than fifty people so this is a very dangerous group to be a part of more or less described 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 its 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. and as the jihadist group the islamic state of iraq an event gains momentum in syria across the border in iraq the fighters of the same organization controlling key cities in the country's biggest anbar province the reports are coming in of fierce fighting between the government troops and militants in the area between the two towns now the government is still holding off its offensive to retake them and they fear the civilian casualties may lead to local sunni tribal leaders siding with the al qaeda militants controlling the cities him on a suicide bomber hit an army recruitment center in baghdad on thursday twenty two

soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded it is seen as retaliation against the iraqi government which has been calling for a new troops to join its fight against al qaida the u.s. is weighing in boosting its missile and surveillance drone deliveries to iraq and the move is being greeted with caution by many experts because of enemies guess debate washington's role in the conflict in cross talk a little later today. the united states state spent nine years applying hellfire missiles and drones in automation and attacks of all sorts of kinds and none of that worked it is the definition of of mental illness to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results introducing weapons into iraq at this time from the united states will likely have as much success this time as it did the last time and this is kind of deja vu all over again it's really quite amazing i mean we have to remind our viewers here there was no al qaeda in iraq before the

invasion and now they have i mean come on i mean what is the learning curve here or is there anyone anywhere learning curve at all with all of the distortions of the result of meddling right murder by the united states is this spirit seeking sovereignty self-determination dignity etc all right we're going to be winding down and don but it is interesting that you and offered for as you mentioned some good itself ask those p.k. well you can we do for you. years of us territory taking their toll in the public's confidence in the european union with latest polls showing people serious disappointment in the blocs leadership and that doesn't bode well for ruling parties with key elections on the doorstep. peter over . no 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 well 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 is also being big declines for support of the e.u. in countries like sweden finland austria the netherlands denmark and the you care the first time since these type of statistics have existed you might a kingdom it doesn't finish last when it comes to those that support 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 has 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 well 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 and not just money but they have a real value you can go shopping for these bills in your wallet. at the restaurant . the idea will turn a t.v. or so-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 vision

per partick first project local currencies stay within the region developing that second ideological or a lack of confidence in official comes and i meet people want to have something they understand that they can control and that 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 in tough financial times then there isn't enough of a bang splay a lot with money and often risky games but at the end of the day 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 maced famous headline grabbing alternative currency is the digital bitcoin but there are dozens of others and he's worldwide

in france europe's second largest economy people exchange services and goods via at least twenty different types of complimentary currencies and their numbers are growing. the slain is behind one such project the monthly outside paris she says she never considered paying with anything other than euros until the advantages of an alternative became clear. bothered 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 currencies support local projects and develop a real economy on the ground which means it works for us the people. falco's restaurant is part of the project and only the flower shop and the organ eeks supermarket it is on can. hear. that are people in the world of finance that will nothing else but to make people pewter all for their own benefit why should we

allow them to do that this sticker indicates this restaurant accept cash the red means of fishing a peach in french but also energy and the slogan was over your c.v. is used to express someone is in good health and full of energy which the local currency is here france certainly seem to be experts claim complimentary currencies will never replace an official one however if trust is undermined it hard enough in conventional money people may start looking for a different type of change rich nationality from france. years of us thirty m. bailouts are taking their toll on the public's confidence in the european union with voters polls showing people serious disappointment in the blocs leadership doesn't bode well for ruling parties with here election the doorstep. we have this report now from ortiz be to all of a coming up for you quite soon. voices in japan are they getting.

looked at how nationalists are calling for the need to regain self-respect to make japan's presence felt most stores and off to the break. i don't have a political stance i do have a stance as an individual and as a member of society i do not want someone looking through my bedroom window whether it's an impartial observer or not whether they're going to prosecute me or not. millions around the globe struggle with hunger. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge. they can be strong

again and we think that's. the. right products are. there is no. evidence to this any problem with genetic engineering. or is free cheese all. these profit. this golden rice. a four year old boy has been shot dead by u.s. soldiers in afghanistan and troops opened fire on the top floor after mistaking him for him and then beat you to pull visibility and latest incident comes amid the straining of ties between the u.s. and afghanistan a top america. negotiators said

a pact between the two states is unlikely 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 would allow for ten thousand u.s. troops to stay in the country after the withdrawal of all foreign forces this year one of the deal us is demanding immunity from prosecution for all its soldiers something that karzai is reluctant to accept well to discuss this i'm now joined live by frank lead which is a barrister and former military officer who served in iraq and afghanistan why is this security pact so important for the u.s. . oh this is very high stakes poker that's going on here the americans absolutely need this settlement the political settlement is beginning to make me evolve towards the end of this year they need to work i may need it to

be seen to work no settlement in my view anyway is likely to have any chance of success by settlement i mean a sort of political way forward from the american perspective unless i've got troops there because what will simply happen is that the insurgency in the south that we call the taliban is likely to take a far greater stake in any political arrangement after the election assuming of course that the elections go well this is an absolutely crucial deal for the americans and they're playing a very dangerous game here the cards are good. as all the good all the good cards talk of those elections frank wouldn't really make any difference to the situation there if they do go well. but we don't we don't really know how the elections are shaping up there's very little information coming out as to candidates or who who's going to be the lead runner will it be a member the karzai family or clan wider support network if that happens will the

election of course be fair. normal standards or was it won't we're talking a very low low basis here we have to remember that afghanistan is the single most corrupt government in the world let's talk about your experience then you served in afghanistan britain's admiral allen west he was head of the navy when the u.k. went into operations there he said it's been a waste of time calling a strategic and indeed political failure what are your thoughts on that. it's been a colossal failure it's been a defeat it's been the most appalling and terrible waste from the british perspective we've lost going on four hundred fifty soldiers thousands wounded who i'm going to get to get better anytime soon we're going to need to support them for the next thirty forty years. forces have killed thousands of afghan civilians

they'll be forgotten about here in britain they won't be forgotten about afghanistan the whole thing has been a disgraceful mess and. i'd like to see and i think many others would like to see some accountability for that in the same ways we may get make in the iraq debate but what are the future for the country's security after ten years of training by nato just briefly why are the afghan forces in a position to take control. again it comes back much of this to their ramshackle. the regime. very few afghans support this government kleptocrats this is a major problem that the army and the security forces are fighting for that government and everybody knows what the government made up of. essentially thieves robbers war criminals from from the worst days of the one nine hundred ninety s. and overlaying nine you've got a very strong insurgency still remain strong and those afghan forces are taking

savage casualties against the insurgency dishing out some countries to far far more than certainly been revealed in the western press so far frank thank you very much indeed frank ledwich barrister and former military officer who served in afghanistan and iraq thank you for your time live from london. the host city of the twenty fourteen winter games has launched the largest security operation in and unpick 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 scott reports. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen i wore the to defeat b. of sochi i assume is russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago . as a 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 some 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 of the state the sorties made those to prepare the special measures to stop them from the screen in all their own materials checking 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 all sales of dangerous hunting equipment a bond for the duration of the games there's also a controlled stretching sixty kilometers along the coast and twenty five kilometers inland and encompassing all venues so. in terms of security sochi 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 r.t. . six suspects have been detained on charges of being behind a terror attack in the southern russian city of skin late december and according to the committee all six of all ready confessed they were behind the blowing up of a parked truck filled with explosives detonated remotely and killed three passes by it was also reported the suspects were preparing another far larger attack. maybe known as a pacifist nation but some parts of japanese society think it's time for the country to shift to the right in this groups are calling for a harder line to be taken against enemies both at home and abroad but he looks at 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 more and more there was an openness and we've been to open to the world and all foreigners 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 coffeetable 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. the see below should be made as an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes i told my pupils part of who were not even japanese and 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 braves japan from having any kind of army other than for defense purposes in the increasingly intertwined world we can't 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 constitutional amendment but not everyone is buying it and more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. there has been to profile

politicians including woman prime ministers who want you public to be with the japan should have nuclear weapons if new materialized but it's something the ruling 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 check see the shift you ought to be reporting from just by. morning is when the team just have a huff and after that the mean time if you have enough talk to. john mcafee that's after the break.

when 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 prayers 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 corrupt 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 weapons and training some people are recruiting arming and training new terrorists you don't need to usher in a massive survey. one state to stop terrorism or go death tell the crazy what you need 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. for our girl without help almost none of you see for doesn't grow on trees someone pays for it but that's just my opinion. he survived war atrocities. to make of cycles decision. has changed his life and the world around him. by giving. hope. and love to so many children. nikolai the arabs who work on the t.v. . show what you are arguing for is that kurds should put that african identity

above that national identity let me ask you a personal question. occurred first or an iraq at first i am a kurd first then i am you lucky 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 identity brought to me iraq and it brought to me the killings of people mass graves four thousand five hundred villages were destroyed. now welcome to soviet kill on sophie shevardnadze and we have a very.