i know what's really happening to the global economy is a report on. americans traveling to syria are being recruited by al qaeda to carry out attacks when they were turned on details from new york coming up. meanwhile washington is considering resuming. aid to syria despite radical rebels gaining strength and controlling. neighboring. europe the thirty is hitting those at the top of the blocks leaders earning some of the lowest approval ratings and debt ridden countries. killed by u.s. soldiers after being mistaken for the enemy this is washington's failing to get. a security deal. also reporting the safety of russia launches a massive security operation ahead of the winter games in sochi the largest in the

olympic history. this is r.t. international with you twenty four hours a day. extremist groups in syria are seeking to recruit and train americans and then send them back to carry out terror attacks and that's what u.s. intelligence and counterterrorism officials are claiming with the tracking of those who returned from syria now one of the top tasks. has 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 become among the bureau's highest counterterrorism priorities now warning 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 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 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 that broke 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 an answer to . the u.s. is highly likely to resume lethal military aid to. the syrian opposition so what exactly do they want to send while non-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 non lethal objects become lethal for example when

a radio transmitter is used to trigger an explosive device well meanwhile some very graphic footage has appeared online claiming to show the aftermath of a massacre charon up by al qaeda linked fighters and they've grown ever stronger there in the country and some analysts say there is a flow of lethal aid that has played a role in this. united states provided lethal assistance through jordan through 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 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 the 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 all according to opposition groups and 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 and the former u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan ryan crocker agreed to a set is not as bad as the hardys 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 sad must go explosion 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. iraq and alliance has already threatened to carry out suicide bombings inside turkey and in

fact carried out one bombing lost in the border town right how they were to more than fifty people so this is a very dangerous group to be for the smallest describing his evil but the ground is changing very rapidly in syria and we know what's going on now is that you've got the strikes of the allies need to go to geneva with a credible syrian opposition at the moment it does have the for the syrian the free syrian army is not credible the syrian national coalition has much more inside syria. and as these you had his group the islamic state of iraq an event gains momentum in syria across the border in iraq they're also controlling key cities in the country's biggest province and the government is still doing holding off its offensive to retake them but reports are coming in of fierce fighting between government troops and militants in the areas between fallujah and ramadi where they fear the civilian casualties made lead to local son and tribal leaders siding with the al qaeda militants controlled in the cities a suicide bomber hit an army recruitment center in baghdad on thursday twenty two

soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded attack is seen as retaliation against the iraqi government which is in calling for 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 has been greeted with caution by many experts believe allen is guest debate washington's role in the conflict in cross talk later today here on r.t. international. 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 heading down and down but it certainly is interesting going and off it for as you mentioned some good players itself without asking. well you can we do for you. cross talk coming away later today here on r t now years of austerity and bailouts are taking their toll on the public's confidence in the european union with the latest poll showing people serious disappointment in the blocs leadership but that doesn't bode well for ruling parties with key elections on the doorstep peter all of the. you know 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 they supported the european leadership is another country that's traditionally been very pro e.u. ireland they received sixty seven point five billion to bail out their faith banking system seventy percent of the irish population and 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 you 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 have kingdom it doesn't finish last when it comes

to use the full 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 well europeans look to alternative types of currency to secure their finances we can find out more on that from maria for not. these councils return to a new money but the real townies you can go shop is these bills in your wallet. at the restaurant. he. tentative 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. partick first prague local currencies stay within the region developed by peaks second ideological a lack of confidence in official comes and the people want to have something they understand that they can control and that they can trust 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 on the reason enough to lend 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 that they will be sure will serve them and not go disappear somewhere in fiscal paradise as global finance system so my next two days maced famous headline

grabbing alternative currency is the digital big coin but there are dozens of others in use worldwide in france europe second largest economy people exchange services and goods via at least twenty different types of complimentary currencies and their numbers are growing a lot of their peace lane is behind one such project the one probably outside paris she says she never considered paying with anything other than euros until the advantages of an alternative became clear. as it would be euro is that it is definitely not just a mode of exchange but it also became a mode of speculation to feedback and local currency and support local projects and develop a real economy on the ground which means it works for us the people. now because. it's part of the project and only the flower shop and the supermarket it is on key . here police. that are people in the world of finance that will nothing else but

to make people pewter all for their own brand why should we allow them to do this to indicates this restaurant accept cash the red means to fish a no peach in french but also energy and the slogan was over your soup is used to express someone is in good health and full of energy which the local currency is hailed frons certainly seem to be experts claim complimentary currencies will never replace an official one however if trust is undermined hard enough in conventional money people may start looking for a different type of change. from france. international life coming up this hour the right wing voices in japan are getting louder. they are i mean. it looks at how nationalists are calling for the need to

regain self-respect to make japan's presence felt the story. after the break. with economic downturn the find that they belong to the old saying i and the rest of life will be taking everything.

pleasure to have you with us here today. a four year old boy has been shot dead by u.s. soldiers in afghanistan the troops opened fire on the toddler mistaking him for the enemy due to poor visibility in another development a u.s. military plane has crashed killing three american soldiers on board well that's amid a growing strain between washington and kabul a top american negotiator has said that a pact between the two states is a likely to be signed before afghanistan's presidential elections in april. 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 this year under the deal and the u.s. is demanding immunity from prosecution for all its soldiers something karzai is reluctant to accept frank lead which is a barrister and former military officer who served in iraq and afghanistan explained to me earlier why the deal is crucial for the u.s. . no settlement in my view anyway is likely to have any chance of success or by settlement time the sort of political way forward from the american perspective unless it got troops there because what'll 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 aren't that good because our house has all the

good has all the good cards the host city of the twenty fourteen winter games she has launched the largest security operation in the limbic 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. reports. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen i wore that to defeat the sochi i as soon as russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago i . question the choice of taste city such as close proximity to the volatile caucasus region because they are huge 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 the state. made those all that money to prepare the special measures to stop them from the screen in all their old materials checking in all the venue 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 the sales of dangerous hunting equipment find 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. 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 you it's. on those 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 the police presence. 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. sochi. six suspects have been detained on charges of being behind a terror attack in the southern russian city of piatigorsky in late december and according to the committee all six of the confessed they were blowing up

a pot truck filled with explosives that week was detonated remotely and killed three passes it was also reported the suspects were preparing a far larger attack. on our website at the moment including hundreds of thousands of believers in the miraculous powers of an ancient crucifix they've gathered in a day long pilgrimage in the philippines capital to pray for the victims of the deadly typhoon which battered the country in november footage of the procession is available in the emotion section on r.t. dot com. also there were the heat in brazil soaring above the tropical levels zoo workers are feeding the inmates with delicacies on the menu called straw. with frozen fruits inside. maybe there is 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 and 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 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 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 that 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 for becoming on the 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 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 so. forward on the shoe of constitutional amendment but not everyone is buying it a more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. but there has been a talk among high profile politicians including former prime ministers who want you to public debate whether japan should have nuclear weapons or 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 reality exhibitionist yahtzee reporting from get back. to check out these world update this hour at least three people have been killed in egypt tell to police clash with hundreds of islamist protests as an fired tear gas

to disperse them in the cities of alexandria and carra the mob running against an upcoming constitutional referendum on the vehicles were deployed to some areas to remove the demonstrators barricades the latest wave of anger was unleashed after three courts convicted one hundred thirteen islamists on charges ranging from rioting to possessing weapons. and the self-proclaimed president of the central african republic has finally resigned from his post a move it's hoped will end the media hostilities in the impoverished landlocked nation decision called a strong pressure for so much of regional leaders in chad they don't fail to come religious bloodshed between his muslim sleeker rebels and christians since seizing power in march in well francis urged the european union to send more troops on top of the sixteen hundred french soldiers brought in last night. to bring it up to date for the mojave but with more news from the team in just over half an hour from now in the meantime it is politicking with a blaring king this is off the international.

there are many internal battles in society liberals and conservatives will never agree on gun rights or abortion but there is one battle that is often more generational than anything the battle for school uniforms teachers argue that uniforms eliminate a big distraction in the classroom and break up the caste systems that can evolve at school between the cool fashionable kids and the ones who can barely afford lunch like me in my younger years but teenagers will scream uniforms crush their freedom of expression and that they have a right to express who they are their individuality who has the right to dictate to

them what to wear the thing they don't realize is that if the school doesn't tell them what to wear that big corporations and m.t.v. will all the cool individuals who dress alike and blindly follow all the trends are just obeying corporate marketing instead of their parents yeah for some reason it is bad if the school punishes you for dressing improperly but if the cool kids make your life a living hell for not wearing the right brand of shoes well that's all well and good for some reason hey look at it this way school uniforms are cheap which leaves more money for parents to buy you video games being individual in your actions and not a fake individual in trendy clothes but that's just my opinion. 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 it mean when he says his mission is complete talk was legal advisor ben wise it is. the asia you on today's politicking. we've been watching and he's director of the asia and use speech privacy and technology project he's been a key adviser to the n.s.a. leaker edward snowden ben what's his current state of mind lately we'll have a debate about all of those two what's the current state of mind of mr snowden oh 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 we need only 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 said that the indiscriminate collection of phone records violates the fourth amendment two weeks later judge william pauley in new york says that the collection program was legal and effective these are contradictory rulings you know with the a.c.l.u. where do you stand on all this contradiction. well you know it won't surprise any of your viewers that we agree with strictly on that that this dragnet collection of all americans phone records violates the constitution it's exactly what the framers of the constitution had in mind when they said that we should not have general warrants we shouldn't let the government collect all this information and sift through it to see if we've done anything wrong rather the government needs to have suspicion of wrongdoing before it intrudes into the privacy of our communications but you know every what happens when when federer.