al-qaeda militants are controlling major cities in western iraq a show of strength not seen since their battles with u.s. forces a decade ago we look at who these insurgents are and how they became so strong. while in syria al-qaeda linked to rebels and other opposition groups are engulfed in a bloody infighting the forthcoming peace talks are under threat from the growing divisions among those aiming to topple assad. lost confidence biting austerity is taking its toll on e.u. leadership with approval ratings hitting a record low for a handful of block members. they could dream they can play and they can make. each and every kind of. draft. because they don't have to paid

instead it's taxpayers who will make up for the politicians mistakes even in the news most efficiently run countries such as germany. and playing it safe concerns are growing about how athletes and visitors will be protected at russia's upcoming winter olympics in sochi to see what is being done to secure the olympic host city. and broadcasting live from our studios in moscow recapping the week's top stories with our weekly program this is r t now al qaeda affiliate militants have been occupying key areas in iraq's on bar province for over two weeks tanks have been deployed in the provincial capital ramadi and the army hasn't been able to drive insurgents out of it nearby flu shot either militants haven't had

a such open control in major iraqi cities since the u.s. led invasion in two thousand and three and are too easy to manage it you can look at why they are gaining strength. young good luck to little bucko with whom you're not in the wrong on chaos emboldened by the fighting in syria these are trying to link to militants overran parts of iraq including the city of the literature we have said earlier that the syria story should and will actually go into iraq and this is what we were warning about chaos in neighboring syria deep as the u.s. and its allies threatened the syrian government sending the signal to the rebels to fight off to the detriment of the political outcome islamic groups have now taken over the opposition movement there and have even chased the western backed leader of the free syrian army out of the country to be asked you the relieve it along because if you kick it they're going to come out and bite you and that's what we

did when we invaded iraq you know three and it can bite not just somewhere far in a war zone but here in the u.s. american intelligence and counterterrorism officials now say islamic extremist groups in syria with ties talk to a recruiting and training americans who have traveled there to get them to carry out attacks when they return home there are dozens of extremist islamist forces that are operating both inside syria and over the syrian borders walk has been a breeding ground for extremists since the u.s. says they should now residents of other parts of the country are bracing themselves for the iraqi army's assault as it attempts to drive militants out of seize areas the u.s. is supplying hellfire missiles and other weapons to help the iraqi government in the fight the last thing for needs is more missiles we heard the u.s. government say they decimated al qaeda is leaving but the groups that continue their cause expand and what they thrive on best is chaos the u.s.

backed chaos to iraq and in syria washington support for armed opposition has benefited extremists in washington i'm going to. our critics. the jihadists entrenched in iraq's western province are from a group called the islamic state of iraq and the levant a u.s. military publication says the organization expanded its influence significantly last year and now boasts over five thousand members the group was formed back in two thousand and four a year after the u.s. led invasion of iraq began these sunni extremists were initially known as al qaeda in iraq after pledging allegiance to the infamous organization the group's leaders said this summer that its goals are to tear down the border between iraq and syria and destroy both governments many of its members are fighting against president assad in syria and the group says they carried out a suicide blast in lebanon a couple weeks ago anders care guard who is

a former danish intelligence officer who served in iraq he believes that al qaeda is as strong as ever and that iraqi security forces are overmatched. in my opinion . has never been on the run it might have been downscaling due to pressure but once this precious lifted the organization is back in full force and it uses these. pulses to regain its bring the fighting ability of these the isis for instance is very strong but very contained. to the localized battles and one thing. isis and the rebels has is is them and at it they want to continue fighting and the iraqi army really hasn't got a chance to fight these militias. and to all to ready kate them meanwhile in neighboring syria the strengthening of al qaeda linked groups has led to growing infighting between once allied rebels fierce clashes between rival

opposition factions have killed at least seven hundred people this week according to the syrian observer excuse me the syrian observatory for human rights almost one hundred of them are believed to be civilians who were executed by the militants from the islamic state of iraq and levant now the outbreak of a war within a war has prompted some western politicians and others who previously rooted solely for assad's removal to change their stance here are just some of their latest statements former cia director michael hayden said that 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 assad is not as bad as the jihadi s. and russia has long been warning of the threat some opposition groups in syria pose foreign minister lavrov has welcomed to the realisation of this in the west infighting within the ranks of the syrian rebels is threatening the russia u.s. brokered peace conference that is due in less than two weeks the world's top

diplomats are in paris right now to pressure syria's main opposition group the syrian national council into taking part. meanwhile u.s. secretary of state john kerry has already expressed his confidence that the council will participate in the peace talks but journalist john white believes that the s. and c. lost its status on the ground a long time ago. it seemed clear there saying see very little credibility on the ground it can deliver nothing on the ground all the rebel factions what are socially people. see or most of them only have the faith to other groups so the u.s. administration is increasingly desperate to try and coupled together some kind of. syrian opposition and they can do business but at this city in opposition itself the city national council no really only exists as you say of city hall and it only exists. u.s. patronage so this is increasingly it seems like

a field process that is about to hit the ball. the past five years could hardly be called the good times for leadership it has seen a public support and confidence in lawmakers diminishing and eventually hitting a record low the data comes from a new regional poll the study suggests that the tumbling approval rating is linked directly to the budget cuts and economic woes take spain for instance where public support is drastically low or even ireland which has it just successfully exited its bailout program despite that the aftermath of the e.u.'s austerity demands is still driving those numbers down the euro skeptic you k. used to be on top of the critics list with only around a third actually back in brussels now it's even lower than that dropping below thirty percent it's not just nationals of struggling economies in the block that are voicing their discontent with their government germany has

a reputation for responsible spending but even its politicians are ready to dive into taxpayers' pockets to make up for management mistakes as artie's peter oliver reports the germans are now increasingly questioning the moves of their government . if you listen to the politician germany's ruling in it but if you believe those following the money trail is a different story. the. cost estimates they use room they stop building and eventually they run out of money and then tax plans have to pick up the bill. currently germany has one of the biggest construction sector in europe but all around the country there's evidence that those in charge of the purse strings on the best to make building decisions this building site will

eventually become the premier concert hall however it's already over ten times its original budget it's set to cost close to a billion euro it's not just the ground to stick projects that have cost the big money here in the tourist information booth has already cost taxpayers around one and a half million euro. for the ultimate in modern german construction white elephants look no further than right here at the brandenburg airport grossly over budget already four years behind schedule it's currently costing nearly one million euro a day to run and that's without any planes or passengers on to those a train tunnel in light zig that ended up five hundred million over budget that had expected in two thousand and five the german reputation for efficiency. when it comes to construction we know is running for election this year the e.u. parliament for the those in power don't have the required skills to decides on huge

projects it's not their money they can dream they can plan they can make. each and every kind of. drafts. because they don't have to paid lay on charge for four years maybe for eight years as long as the project is not finished and the final bill but they are fighting finished i have thought of additional costs to increase the national debt so the taxpayer pays twice first for the interest rates of additional debt then extra costs for counties planning those familiar with construction business if you plan to go it would be more expensive than if you plan in advance she was sworn in as chancellor for a third time late last year promised billion to fix up germany's rule germans will have no idea how much promise you that cost them the troll of a polity. iran and the six world powers have announced the date when they will

officially begin implementing of the nuclear deal reached in november on january twenty fifth tehran is set to start scaling back its atomic program bross s. is set to be completed in a half year period that the agreement covers in response four point two billion dollars of iranian assets will be unfrozen in several stages despite this agreement the push for fresh sanctions is gaining new supporters in the us congress president barack obama has already stated that he will veto any such bill should it be passed some experts think that western powers have many reasons to be looking forward to your wrong reintegration into the world's economy. the fact of the matter is the reason there's this to taunt with is we've got two factions we've got the the militant pro-war israeli factional one side that could never have peace with iran no matter what and then you have the fact that the world the west and the world

needs iran they need the liquidity from petrochemical exports they need trade there's a stack of global stagnation economically right now and opening up i ran into the world trading theater is going to do a lot to increase. raids and obviously move money around the world and goods and services back and forth at a time when it's much needed so there's two two camps here battling it out one to keep iran closed and other council open for trade. there is a natural resource of more precious event oil and it is so scarce in certain areas of the middle east to that it could spark major conflicts later in the program we look into how a lack of water could become a tipping point in a number of already volatile regions plus. japan is becoming a fertile ground for the far right which nationalists calling for the country to regain self-respect and reassert its presence these stories and much more after

a short break you're watching party. if you. need to know opportunity. start to construct your own. kuno little bit gives don't want to meet gangstas you don't want to be. they don't want to blow the time that the kid came to be we can see. you just me as i was when i was in the hood. i. said. i don't want to die i just really do not want to die young young

. and welcome back you're watching the weekly here on our team tens of thousands of police officers are carefully monitoring access to olympic venues and to transport hubs that is what security is like right now in saudi as it prepares to host russia's first ever winter games in three and a half weeks scott toward the resort city to see what else is being done to protect athletes and spectators. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and

fourteen i wore the to defeat be of sochi i as soon as 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 summer seven hundred kilometers from sochi every ignited some of those worries organizers say security has been their main priority since day one from the very beginning of the construction phase the state that. made those prepared 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 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. in terms of security so it is a special case because this whole 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 main transport hubs during the games moving thousands of spectators with the bulk of the work now complete with all venues and transport networks built and tested sochi. now just waiting for the sporting world to descend

. altie. the u.k. is battling a new wave of floods the extreme weather has turned to some areas into islands flood alerts are in place across the nation on the motion section of our website we've got footage and all of the details. plus metros around the world saw scores of people in their underwear taking part in the no pants subway ride day the annual event began twelve years ago in new york and spread it globally you can head to our team dot com for the full story and photos. of two people have been killed and twenty injured after a suicide bomber attacked a bus carrying police recruits in afghanistan's capital kabul the taliban have admitted to carrying out the assault the militant group gaining strength remains a major concern especially head of the upcoming withdrawal of nato troops scheduled

to be completed by the end of the year american officials underline of that it's crucial for security in the country that some of its forces remain in afghanistan beyond that date president karzai is refusing to sign the deal that would make that possible the latest reports from topped u.s. negotiators say that it is unlikely the pact will be sealed before afghanistan's presidential elections former british lieutenant colonel richard williams says it's crucial that the country start dealing with internal problems on its own. i built a shit what we tried to achieve peace to set the conditions whereby an afghan government can deal in a normal way with all the groupings involved including the taleban if there is conditions to say that he should be here and what we're likely to see he is a compromise between what kabul wants and what the taliban wants which will see. again a stone model along over the next period of time perhaps the next ten years but not

in it so why be any great strategic victory if we want to call it that or any great strategic outcome or oil and gas conflicts will be superceded by water wars in the future that is of the warning from experts as the world's population grows access to clean water resources is rising in price let's take a look at this map these blue dots that you can see here mark the places where conflicts over water disputes have broken out since the one nine hundred fifty s. these include small protests as well as more serious large scale clashes there have been one hundred seventy eight disputes and of the number of hotspots is actually rising in a particularly the struggle for water in the middle east is a key issue in some ongoing conflicts artie's policy or reports. the bible tells us that within a short distance from here jesus turned water into wine two thousand years later the great american might be turning the wine back into water but has been living in

the golan heights for over thirty years each day he attends to his one yard in orchards keeping his wine in a center that was once a syrian bunker he is proud of the wine he produces but knows that in the absence of water none of this would be possible but i don't know actually waters and more than just it's the second main resource that we have other than the lamb who. needs water and without it you will destroy all the crops and destroy all the farming here you can turn the golan heights into exaggerated and it's not just about the golan heights rainwater from its catchment feeds into the river jordan providing a food of israel's water supply the disputed region was seized from syria after the six day war and residents of the golan remember that water was a key issue in the conflict every one of spence here and the stones the borders of the world and all the water supply of israel because every door was raining here all but god it's grown too before you see all this all we can say is there must.

respect the river to have all over it's what the fox says it's a worldwide rule that whoever controls the water controls the land but the problem is in some places this very issue of water to go around for you have the common waterfalls shared by several foreign nations is always the possibility of a clash of religious conflicts that should be manageable was put out of control and examples of possible conflicts are plentiful syria's major water sources travel through turkey and iraq making it vulnerable while jordan is reliant on a river with syria bowl today egypt. recently expressed concern of a countries using the up and now to generate electric power in the dry landscape of the middle east is a prize more precious than diamonds in its absence famine and drought are quick to

follow but this is a region that very seldom needs an excuse for war and water shortages might just tip the balance. in the golan heights in senegal port authorities in dakar have promised to provide food water and medical treatment to the crew of a russian fishing vessel they were caught up in a weeklong diplomatic spat over the seizure of the trawler the ship with eighty two crewmembers on board was taken by force after being accused of trolling in the country's coastal waters but with no official explanation from the car moscow has called it an act of piracy greenpeace stepped in with an decided with senegal provoking russia to accuse the african countries of government of acting on a tip from the environmental group and for now russian diplomats are undertaking at the steps of to assist the vessel with obtaining its earliest liberation and departure blood a senegalese official has demanded russia pay a fine for the release of the ship. it's now take a look at some other news making headlines around the world this hour protesters in thailand are gathered in bangkok amid tension to shut down the capital officials

have sent eighteen thousand police and soldiers into the city as anti-government demonstrators have built barricades and are occupying the streets they claim at the prime minister is a proxy for her brother a former pm who now lives in exile the protesters are demanding the country's leader step down and hold elections. police in egypt have fired tear gas at supporters of the ousted president mohamed morsy during clashes at cairo's main universities nineteen protesters have been detained and several injured the fresh outbreak of violence comes just two days before a planned a vote on a draft constitution at least twenty one people. now at least twenty one people have been killed and dozens injured in explosions and military clashes across around the capital baghdad was hit with two car bombs the worst blast targeted morning. university popular bus station killing at least nine their violence has been on the rise in iraq in recent months reaching levels not seen since two thousand and eight. nationalist voices are getting louder in japan the far right groups are calling for a stronger country with a tougher immigration policy and

a beefed up army artie's alexy i found out that the angry rhetoric is a raising some difficult questions. 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 you know the latest protest korean workers were described as cockroaches which needed to be exterminated because this man is one of those behind the nationalist willies in japan he says he'd like to see japan more closer sites in law and order water and we've been to open to the world and now foreigners come here and commit crimes i want us to return to pre-war period where we were closed and self-sufficient despite criticizing the government for its immigration policies

the movement could not be feeling more coffeetable since twenty twelve when she was reelected as prime minister that such rallies have been on the rise. those are not only foreign nationals and delegations getting this stick from japanese nationalists there are locals who have directly suffered from their country becoming all. these school teachers have been protesting because they lost their jobs for not complying with what they call ultra nationalist regulations in schools . should be made as an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes until my pupils spawn of whom 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 right 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 ensure the peace of a nation without proactively taking

a role in the peace and security of the world why don't we take steps forward on the issue of constitution amendment but not everyone is buying it and more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. among high profile politicians including former prime minister is on launching a public debate on whether japan should have nuclear weapons it never materialized but it's something that the ruling elite 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 exhibitionist yahtzee reporting from japan. and coming up after the break r.t. talks with idealists and residents in new orleans about how to hold the cycle of violence the city has suffered for decades.

because you don't states is the big dog the only hyper power and the cultural driving force of globalization it takes a lot of flak i mean globalization is the whole world gets hollywood and hot dogs and not the other way around so let's take a break from the negativity and talk about something truly amazing about america and as a guy who lives in moscow i could say that the constitution of the united states is something truly amazing in russia there is constant talk about needing a new national idea a new ideology or political theory a big change of the russian constitution and so on and it's hard for people in america understand this but twice in the twentieth century the system that russians gave their lives for collapsed and the current constitution was written quickly after a period of violence and said collapse not after a glorious victory now you see why people. aren't exactly memorizing amendments and

founding fathers quotes here in america there are debates between liberals and conservatives but almost everyone believes the constitution and it is america's greatest strength there is a national idea that is a sacred document with a list of rules as almost universally agreed upon everyone with half a brain on the street but sadly not in congress knows when something is against the constitution or should see against america near universal belief in the constitution is actually something truly exceptional about america but that's just my opinion. as part of their mission to transform the state juvenile justice system j. g.p.l. hold fears to educate young people about how the law can affect the lives and number of national studies have looked at the fact that when you take a child away from their community and you take them out of school you take them away from any support system they're often housed in inhumane or condition.