top diplomats from the united states and russia meet in a bid to salvage syrian peace talks even as rebel forces turn their fire on each other and unprecedented turf war. pulling no punches the u.k. looks to claw back some of its control over the legal system as a european court denies british judges the right to sentence criminals to life without parole. and pay up or move out low income families bear the brunt of washington's overspending as automatic budget cuts forced them out of their homes by the millions. you're watching r t international live from our moscow headquarters islands in

france thanks for joining us nearly seven hundred syrian rebels have been killed in the past nine days in clashes not with the regime but with other opposition fighters extreme islamists and moderates have turned on each other in what's become a savage her for meanwhile the chances of success as an upcoming peace conference are dimming by the day with less than ten days left before the geneva two conference is scheduled to take place hopes for proper peace talks just like the stakes are high there's no other solution for the syrian tragedy than a political solution but just when it seemed reports of atrocities carried out by al-qaeda linked rebels had pushed the west away from the rhetoric we don't have the assad regime on one side and terrorists on the other it is the regime that is fueling terrorism. mixed signals are once again being sent statements which some experts claim and are contradicting the facts on the ground

these are cynical statements the western military alliance has been recruiting right from the outset and it's confirmed by numerous. reliable sources nevertheless it seems any anti assad words are music to the ears of the syrian opposition whose main precondition has been and still is for him to step down. the most important aspect of today's meeting is that we all agree that al assad has no future in syria there saad family has no future in syria this is despite even the former head of the cia and the ex u.s. ambassador to syria iraq and afghanistan admitting that as soon as it's gone jihadists will quickly take it's place with the clock ticking and geneva two becoming closer it's so unknown whether the syrian opposition will be taking part in what is clear though right now with all these mixed messages coming out of france perhaps the chances of its success are slipping even further you got pissed

off our t. shirts. and a few hours time u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov will be giving a twenty press conference after their meeting in paris there with r.t. to hear their latest plan for bringing peace to syria meanwhile john kerry says he's confident that the rebel council will attend the peace talks despite its apparent reluctance but journalist john white believes this will have little impact on the ground. seemed clear that they are saying see very little credibility on the ground it can deliver nothing on the ground all the rebel factions are what associated with the same city or most of them and we have the faith to other groups soul the us administration is increasingly desperate to try and cobble together some kind of syrian opposition and they can do business with but the syrian opposition itself the city national council no really only exists say of syria and

it only exists. us passionate so this is increasingly seems like a feel process that is about to hit the buffers the opposition government in exile is now warning that northern syria which is largely helped largely held by rebel groups is in a state of anarchy the syrian national council has little authority over fighters there and it seeing what influence it does have passover to islamists john white also told us that western governments time is running out. many of those who want to who'll actually say them with assad because if you look at the situation on the ground is growing increasingly desperate sunni fundamentalists pulling into the country causing mayhem who are intent on the whole country into a killing field saw assad for all those people is the west of all evil at least with the assad government we have a government that isn't cute even the twenty first century the alternative is a regime is to keep it somewhere in the seventh century i don't think there's much

to discuss when the stakes are high. as the syrian war drags on al qaeda is reaping the benefit today's cross talk we hear how the terrorist network has managed to gain so much ground and who might be behind it. so long ago western media and politicians told us al qaeda was defeated or at the very least on its last legs the same media and politicians today tell us a very different story i'll quote it is very much alive and fighting indeed across many countries of the middle east al qaeda is betrayed as a deadly minutes in this edition of crossfire we ask what is al qaeda today who supports it and who benefits from it. you know we've received. britain is struggling to claim back control over part of its legal system from the

e.u. the u.k. government insists it has the right to to sentence the worst criminals to life in prison with no chance of parole but as laura smith reports from london a top european court says that practice runs roughshod over human rights setting up a legal showdown. if we're talking prison sentences it's already very breath and to me. but if the european court of human rights has its way it will become impossible for the courts in this country to hand down the most severe punishment that exceptional criminal but never become eligible for parole condemned to die in jail the a c.-h. all got involved after convicted killers to complaints with the courts saying it was the moralizing no it's to have a child the police last year the courts the greens. having no rights to review contrave be the european convention on human rights the justice secretary is set to

fight the decision in a lengthy legal battle but many say. he should go a step further and leave the court altogether the legitimacy is pretty much nonexistent if not a proper court then made up of. often of politicians rather than lawyers many of. the members a tiny countries or countries with. very poor human rights record i mean we're getting a lot of interference in our british legal system. from them and i think it's completely completely unreasonable i think we should make our own decisions aren't arrangements about the sentencing there are fewer than fifty prisoners serving hold tons in england and wales for the severest rites one of them's original he was sent down last year for murdering schoolgirl who he's launched an appeal another killing ian mclachlan has already avoided a whole life because of the. he murdered

a man while on day release from a murder that incident meanwhile the u.k. government is entering into a little expensive flights with the. right to the courts interfering with british justice. a day it's been set for iran to start reducing its uranium stockpiles while the country looks forward to an easing of sanctions the us senate is raising the prospect of new obstacles will be reporting on that later in the program. also on its way as ariel sharon is put to rest israel's defense force rolls out hundreds of soldiers and missile defense systems just to provide a safe burial for the former prime minister. pensioners and low income americans are being forced to find smaller and cheaper homes or see their rental costs soar the second year of automatic budget cuts known

as to quest ration could hit over two million households are. of washington's overspending my brother and his family inside and brown's home this is home for me a lifetime of memories are displayed everywhere you look one of my friends went in with me doing this in eighty three year old has lived in her one bedroom new york city apartment for thirty seven years this is the first played out for mercy from h.p. the buts a few months ago city officials told her she has to downsize her options move into a studio apartment or see your seven hundred dollar rent triple the only thing i know is they heard the word sequester whatever that means they have this thing is the city agency that subsidizes rent for low income new yorkers is facing a thirty six million dollars reduction due to budget cuts known as sequestration. as a result thousands of seniors like ann are being forced to shrink their lives into

smaller and cheaper apartments and that physically able. to a will or i'm going to do it my friend if you sit on the sidewalk i can afford to stuart so what i'm going to do with my life is in this disappointment civil rights attorney norman siegel who represents many sequestered seniors calls the downsizing campaign inhumane i can't dismiss the possibility that the effect of this will impact disproportionately on seniors and poor people because in the bigger picture the people who are in power and make these decisions. know that seniors might not fight back and it's a problem playing out nationwide potentially affecting more than two million local income american households in the coming year that's according to one washington budget think tank but it's when social cuts drag in the nation's unprotected pension nears that experts say the effects will prove explosive what happens to

a family watching the government of the country stick it to grandma when she's eighty years old you're making enemies you wonder why people join the tea party you wonder why people join occupy wall street while many of the reasons are grandma in the current era of budget cuts the country's elderly most in need of government assistance and stability are being displaced vulnerable citizens forced to spend their golden years suffering the consequences of washington's debt and overspending is like putting somebody in prison that didn't commit a crime that's the way i see it what did we do because this deficit and why are you going to balance it on the fact that a senior marine a port naya r.t. new york. germany is bringing islam into the fold become an official religion in certain provinces much to the. dismay of some ruling party members here's how the movie is simply about scoring political points that story is coming up after the

break. millions around the globe struggle with hunger each good. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge. they can the very strong position against g.m.o. and we think that's. the genetic anymore the right products are pretty cool. there is no. evidence that there is any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese always in the most track i don't get enough. for anybody three. and a primary mortgage is profit that's. for sure dusty's

golden rice. and. the. economic ups and downs in the final month day the deal sank i and the rest because i take it will be every week on me. there's a media leave oh so we leave that maybe. i will see motion security for your party there's a goal to wear shoes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politicking only on our team. i.

should have you with us here on our t.v. today i'm wrong researcher. january the twentieth has been set as the official start date for iran six month plan to scale back its nuclear program in exchange world powers have agreed to give the iranian economy some breathing space easing crushing sanctions but despite smooth progress on the deal so far the u.s. senate is already considering new penalties against iran if it fails to follow

through on its pledges president obama however has promised to veto the bill should it be passed warning that such an approach could derail the historic diplomatic breakthrough with tehran which was reached in november geo political analyst patrick henningsen thinks it's in the interests of many countries for tehran to be reintegrated into the global economy. the fact of the matter is the reason there's this to taunt with is to have got two factions we've got the the military pro war israeli faction on 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 to 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 trade 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 camps who would like to see iran open for trade. company in the u.s. has stopped lending out guns it found its customers were turning to firearms on themselves in increasing numbers find out what the owner has to say on our team dot com. also there the russian government goes online to ask citizens for their ideas and criticism as it puts together a new strategy for cyber security get the details on our website. the israeli army is sending out around eight hundred troops to guard the funeral of former prime minister ariel sharon wary of possible disruptions from gaza sharon was deeply unpopular in the blockaded palestinian territory and his death was met with celebrations there but his legacy is also controversial inside the jewish state as artie's policy player reports. the former israeli prime minister ariel sharon is being buried later today at his ranch in the south of israel perhaps more

than any other is really figure he is loved and reviled in equal measure the iron dome anti-missile system has been activated over the south of the country because his house is in the vicinity of rocket range from gaza and of course israeli security establishment are concerned that her mass and other militants might try to fire rockets to disrupt the attention of the funeral and the arrival of world leaders to pay their last respects when it was announced over the weekend that sharon had died there were celebrations in gaza where sweets were handed out and posters of him were burnt sharon always justified his actions saying that they were full security but he leaves behind a very insecure and vulnerable jewish state at the same time he's regarded as the father of the settler movement but his project to forcibly remove eight thousand jewish settlers from gaza ended with them feeling betrayed and extremely angry today they are more than half

a million settlers who live in the west bank and they vow that that will not be repeated they say that today in some area which is how they refer to the settlements in the west bank will continue they are still many who are. angry at him because of. the girls rupe and because of the threats the imminent. like these would be. in the area and this is something he will still remain are as part of his. at the end of last week tel aviv published plans to build one thousand four hundred housing units in jewish settlements in east jerusalem and the west bank the palestinian chief negotiator saeb erekat said that this is a slap in the face of the u.s. secretary of state john kerry's attempts to. go shoot a successful mid east peace plan poorness korea on t.v. tel aviv. let's take

a look now at some other world news in brief at least eleven police officers have been injured and up to forty people arrested in protest spreading across northern spain rioters attacked police cars smashed windows and built barricades demanding the release of those detained in previous demonstrations what started on friday as a peaceful rally against a road redesigning plan escalated into violent clashes when riot forces were brought in. crowds of protesters are descending on central bangkok in an attempt to shut down the thai capital they accuse the prime minister of being a proxy for her brother the former leader who now lives in exile and are demanding the resignation officials have sent eighteen thousand police and soldiers into the city to prevent anti-government demonstrators from blocking off major highways. police in egypt have fired tear gas at supporters of the ousted president mohamed

morsy during clashes at cairo's main universities one thousand people were detained and several injured as hundreds took to the streets to protest the latest outbreak of violence which is becoming familiar occurrence in egypt comes just two days before a planned vote on a draft constitution. muslims across germany are looking forward to easier times ahead as islam becomes an official religion in a number of provinces but as peter all over reports the move has come under criticism as immigration levels continue to rise. daily prayer in bremen. this region was one of the first in germany to make islam an official state religion nearby lower saxony is the next in line with at least three other states expected to follow in the near future the change of status allows worshippers to have their religious holidays officially recognized burial rites carried out and classes taught in schools. but what does it mean to the islamic community in this

part of germany to have their religion officially recognized by the state. perhaps in the future it will help the building of a mosque or a school it will also help to bring communities together over the last ten years both sides have made efforts to build bridges and aid integration and they combined critics of the move claim this is being done to score political points here by hundreds of you can interpret this as a slam if occasion germany but i see it as more politically motivated politicians telling muslims islam can belong but the majority of germans don't want this. only nineteen percent of germans believe that islam is compatible with german culture that's the lowest in europe thirty percent had specific concerns such as terrorism and almost half thought there are too many muslims in germany only around five percent of people in the country are muslims giving leave to the idea that the real

issue for germans may be immigration not islam and i think it is more a question of getting people in big numbers into germany than having a problem with these. they mix it up and they don't recognize it's a different story islamic leaders recognize that they have work to do to improve the image of their religion. or we have a duty to change perceptions and prejudices unfortunately the media plays a big role they only show negative stories about was thems this makes it harder for us or whatever the public perception of islam in germany more and more federal states are set to follow suit and grant germany's almost four million muslims the same rights as the christian and jewish communities peter all over germany. coming up artist cross talk looks at the alarming global expansion of the terrorist network al qaida.

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 means 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 or big changes to 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 glorious victory now you see why people here 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 i see against america near universal belief in the. it's actually something truly exceptional about america but that's just my opinion.

plenty of it was a little very hard to take on. once again long here is a long letter back with the earthquake there's no. play. the game. was a. little slow. play. a. bit of a. the

fact that. they didn't go digital the price is the only industry specifically mention in the constitution and. that's because a free and open process is critical to our democracy albus. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and our crafts difficult we've been a hydrogen lying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once it's all just my job market and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem try rational debate and a real discussion critical issues facing america upon bill ready to join the movement then welcome to the big picture.

previously peacekeepers for a program of concerned with monitoring peace deals again at post conflict environment nowadays there are increasingly asked to operate in a high risk of violence while believe violence is still illegal to stay. motionless with these people who have caused over almost twenty years four million people killed millions of displaced and refugees tens of thousands of women raped tens of thousands of children and recruited those soldiers who were slaves no. you know that leaves me feeling. times are. tough and.

hello and welcome to crossfire were all things are considered on peter lavelle now one of the western media and politicians told us al qaeda was defeated or at the very least on its last legs the same media and politicians today tell us a very different story al qaeda is very much alive in fighting indeed across many countries of the middle east al qaeda is betrayed as a deadly menace in this edition of crossfire we ask what is al qaeda today who supports it and who benefits from it. to cross-talk al qaeda and similar groups i'm joined by my guest daniel nick adams and washington he is the executive director of the ron paul institute and in tel aviv we cross to your home sweitzer he's the director of the terrorism project at the institute for national security studies of tel aviv university or a gentleman crosstalk rules in fact that means you can jump in anytime you want and

i very much encourage you daniel if i go to you first in washington very simple question what is al qaeda today because not too long ago we were told that you know on its last legs it's you know small groups but nothing to be too concerned with and now you can pick up a newspaper or not read about al qaeda it's tempting to view it as a kind of a manual goldstein you know from one thousand nine hundred four that is everywhere and anywhere you know it's and it's harder to not feel that way look in syria groups that have been affiliated with al qaeda are benefiting from u.s. support and saudi support a great allies saudi arabia and the next door in iraq is this the so called al qaeda has made a comeback and is now you know threatening on board province so it is a good question what what is al qaeda is that al qaeda in in somalia where you have small regional conflicts you know groups with no with no desire for a global jihad it seems to be a pretty convene.