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 control over its legal system as a european court denies british judges the right to sentence criminals to life without parole. and pay up or move out automatic budget cuts forced americans out of their homes by the million low income families have to foot the bill for washington's overspending.

you're watching r t international live from our moscow headquarters islands in france thanks for joining me. russia and the united states are right now holding closed door discussions in paris on how to salvage the syrian peace effort sergey lavrov and john kerry are spearheading the process but it's being held back by syrian rebels refusal to attend the upcoming geneva talks even if the syrian national coalition does attend on january the twenty second its influence on armed groups is tenuous at best meanwhile nearly seven hundred rebels have been killed in the past nine days and clashes not with the regime but with other opposition fighters in what's become a savage turf war and with that chaos chances of success at the geneva negotiations are dimming by the day. with less than ten days left before the geneva two conference is scheduled to take place hopes with braff or 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 n.t. vision 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 of 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 his place with the clock ticking and she needed to be coming 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 r.t. paris. in a few hours time u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov will be giving a joint press conference after their meeting say 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 conflict. it seems clear they're saying see very little credibility on the ground it can deliver nothing on the ground over the rebel factions or what

associates you. see or most of them and we have the fake teeth to other groups so all the us administration is increasingly desperate to try and cobble together some kind of syrian opposition that 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. u.s. patronage so this is increasingly it seems like a few process that is about to hit the ball forced the opposition government in exile is warning that northern syria which is largely held by rebel groups is in a state of anarchy this area national council has little authority over fighters there and is seeing what influence it does have passed over to islamists john white also told us that for western governments time is running out for many of those who want to cool you know 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 turning the country into a killing field so assad for all those people is the west of all evil at least with the assad government we have a government that is located in 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 for the mistakes of the high as a syrian war drags on al-qaeda is reaping the benefits in today's cross talk we hear how the terrorist network has managed to gain so much ground and who might be behind it. but one of the western media and politicians told us it was defeated or at the very least on its last legs the same media and politicians today tells a very different story i'll quote it is very much alive and fighting indeed across many countries of the middle east it is portrayed 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 only see. britain is struggling to claim back control over a part of its legal system from the e.u. the u.k. government insists it has the right 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 a knife to me in life but if the european court of human rights has its way it will become impossible for courts in this country to hands down the most severe punishment that exceptional criminal might never become eligible for parole

condemned to die in jail the a c.-h. all got involved after convicted killers lodged a complaint with the courts saying it was de moralizing not to have a child support lead last year the courts the greens and rules that having no rights to review contravene 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 but not a proper court made up of. often of politicians lawyers many of. members a tiny countries all countries with. very poor human rights record i mean we're getting a lot of interference in our british legal system. and i think it's completely completely unreasonable i think we should make our own decisions are in

arrangements about about sentencing vera fewer than fifty prisoners serving whole life in england and wales for the severest writings one of them's more bridget he was sent down last year for murdering school girl. he's lost to the peo another killer ian mclachlan has already avoided a whole life because of the. he murdered a man while on day release from a murder that said meanwhile the u.k. government is entering into a little expensive flights with the course of human rights to the courts interfering with british justice. dates 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 on the program. also on its way as ariel sharon is put to

rest israel's defense force rolls out hundreds of soldiers and an anti-missile defense system 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 sequester ation could hit over two million households are. one of the victims of washington's overspending. my brother and his family and inside and brown's home this is home for me a lifetime of memories are displayed everywhere you look one of my friends went there 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.d. but 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 you 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 able. to do it my friend if you're there send it over the wall i can afford to stuart so what i'm going to do with my life is in this this important 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 times the reasons or 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 the seniors marina porton. new york. germany is bringing islam into the fold its official status in some provinces has been boosted making it easier for. muslims to access services but critics say it's just an attempt to score political points that's coming up after the break. so i think that the fact that these weapons can fly semi autonomous leap for seven thousand miles to you know the locations we're unfortunately my military and the cia are attacking people in countries with which we are not at war to me is simply horrifying and as many you know already argue it's

a violation of international law it's assassination i do not support assassination by my government period. fully under control marginalize the bank of new knowledge base i've been trying to evoke. pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm researcher.

live. live live live . previously peacekeepers were primarily concerned with morning touring

peace deals in a post conflict environment nowadays there are increasingly asked to operate in a high risk obama while the only bible is to leave all week to stay. motionless these people who have caused over almost twenty years four million people. millions of displaced and refugees tens of thousands of women raped tens of thousands of children recruited those soldiers slaves know. the january twentieth. january 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 he warned that such an approach could derail the historic diplomatic breakthrough with saran reached another member 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 militant 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 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 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 counsel would like to see iran open for trade. my company in the u.s. has stopped lending out guns found its customers were turning the firearms on themselves and in increasing numbers find out what the owner has to say on r.t. 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 says two rockets have been fired from gaza but did not cause any damage that's why the body of the former prime minister ariel sharon lies in state with just hours to go before the burial ceremony the army is taking extreme precautions to guard the funeral moving in hundreds of troops artie's polish layer

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 law could 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 shervon 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 there are more than half a million citizens 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 there are still many who are. angry because of. the girls rupe and because of the threats the imminent. like these would be. in the suburbs and this is something 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 middle east peace plan pulling teeth tel aviv let's take a look now at some other world news in brief least eleven police officers have been injured and up to forty people arrested in protest spreading across northern spain rioters attacks police cars smash windows and build 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 where the riot forces were brought in. crowds of protesters are descending on central bangkok and in the attempt to shut down the thai capital they accuse the prime minister of being a proxy for brother 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.

hundreds of people are campaigning in berlin to save a historic airfield which the local authorities plan to turn into a housing estate for thousands of apartments the world war two era facility is currently used as a recreational zone demonstrators brought candles glow sticks and even toilet brushes and attempt that's rather that's become a humorous symbol of anti-government rallies across germany. muslims across germany are looking forward to easier times ahead as islamic communities are given additional rights in several regions this puts their religion on an equal footing with judaism and christianity when it comes to dealing with the state but as peter all over reports in braman the move has come in for some strong criticism. 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 if you are you can interpret this as a slam of the cation of 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 the. 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 therefore 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. 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. next step sophie shevardnadze talks to a woman whose mission it is to keep drones grounded.

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 flack 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 a 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 constitution is actually something truly exceptional about america but that's just my opinion. and welcome to said fan care i'm selfish every not say jody williams and barbara. a crusade against land mines in the early nineties with few people behind her within

several years are motorists n.g.o.s had grown into a cloak spanning network landmines where international event and she was awarded a nobel peace prize now she's on a different mission and killer robots are her target she is our guest today. from speeches to go from chariots to tanks humanity stops at nothing to invent new ways to kill. and with drones already making pilots history driblets are on their way this this is song finite may coming to life. isn't done but the mercy of machines and what does it say to stand up and stop it before it's too late. now our guest today is jody williams political activist and a winner of the noble peace prize jodie it's so great to have you on our show so you work to get it thank you for inviting me yeah so you work to get lend mines

band and that want new a nobel peace prize now you're targeting what you call the killer robots fully autonomy's weapons tell us more about them for those who don't know what they are in simple words sure i think when we say killer robots most people think of drones but killer robots are weapons the would make drones look primitive at least with the drone there is a human being who looks at a computer screen sees the target and pushes the buttons to fire the missiles and kill various militaries are doing research on weapons that would have no human being involved in the targeting and killing of human beings. and we found that shocking and horrifying that people are really thinking it is ok to give the right

to target and kill human beings to machines so these things haven't been used yet right tell me what tell me more correct. but there are many many precursors to kill what we call killer robots the u.s. for example is testing the x. forty seven b. which is a you know a subsonic super drone as it is called the u.k. is testing the to ram this european countries under france are testing the neuro on china has just tested its own stealth drone and we're not quite certain about what russia is testing but i do know that russia and now it's in two thousand and thirteen that they would be opening a military bro but center in two thousand and fourteen and there are prototypes from this from the stealth drones all the way downed to micro robots which are the

size of a mosquito that could fly into a room and either do surveillance or fly into a room and you know inject a toxin and kill the target and it's very frightening that people think this is ok but one it's still take a human being to actually switch it on and direct it one way or another. it would take the robot to be programmed but once it was set free it would proceed to make the target thing and kill decisions unless our campaign to stop killer robots is able to make certain that human beings have to be involved meaningfully in the kill decision just because before we get into the whole moral side of the story i want to know a little more about the technicalities so are this things and control.