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 president a turf war. pulling no punches the u.k. looks to quad back some control over its legal system as a european accord denies british judges the right to sentence criminals to life without parole. payout or move out automatic budget cuts force americans out of their homes by the million as low income families with the bill for washington's overspending.

it is two pm in moscow you're watching r t international with me marina joshie welcome to the program now russia and the united states are right now holding closed door discussions in paris on how to salvage the syrian peace effort sergei lavrov and john kerry are spearheading the process but it's being held back by syrian rebels refusal to take on the upcoming geneva talks even if the syrian national coalition does a tan on january the twenty second its influence on armed groups is tenuous at best meanwhile nearly seven hundred syrian rebels have been killed in the past nine days in clashes with the regime but with other opposition fighters what's become a savage turf war and with that chaos chances of success evident and switzerland are dimming by the day. with less than ten days left before the conference is scheduled to take place hopes with 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 n.t.v. she 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 its place with the clock ticking and geneva two becoming closer it's still unknown whether or not the syrian opposition will be taking part it is clear though with all these mixed messages now coming out of france perhaps the chances of its success are slipping even further away you go to is going to have r.t. bears and in just a few moments u.s. secretary of state john kerry and russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov will be giving a joint press conference after their meeting so stay with r.t. international to hear their latest plan for bringing peace to syria. meanwhile john kerry says he is killing confidence that the rebel council will attend the peace talks despite its apparent reluctance but journalist john why believes this have little impact on the conflict. it seems clear that they're saying see very

little credibility on the ground they can deliver nothing on the ground all the rebel factions are what are so shitty but they're saying 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 feel process that is about to hit the ball forced now the opposition government in exile is now warning that northern syria which is largely held by rebel groups is in a state of honor king the syrian national council has little authority over fighters there and is seeing why influenza does have passo or to islamist gen-y.

it also told us that for western governments time is running out. many of those who want to school and who actually say them with assad because if you look at the situation on the ground is growing increasingly desperate sunni fundamentalists putting into the country causing mayhem to run into anyone from any country into a killing field so assad for all those people is the west of all people at least with the assad government a government that is located in the twenty first century the alternative as you miss to keep it somewhere in the seventh century i don't think there's much to discuss when the stakes of the high. as the syrian war drags on reaping the benefits and today's cross-talk we hear how the terrorist network has managed to gain so much ground and who might be behind it. some 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 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. this is already international and britain is struggling to claim back intro over a part of its legal system from the e.u. the u.k. government insists it has the right to stand as the worst criminals to live in prison with no chance of parole but as laura smith reports from london a top european court says that practice runs over human rights setting up a legal shutdown 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 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 deemed moralizing not to have a child it's a pretty nice last year the courts the greens and 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 or countries with. very poor human rights record i mean we're

getting a lot of interference in our legal system. from them and i think it's completely completely unreasonable i think we should make our own decisions are in arrangements about the boat sentencing there are fewer than fifty prisoners serving hold. in england and wales for the severest drives one of them's brigitta he was sent down last year for murdering well schoolgirl a j he's lost to the p.o. another killer ian mclachlan has already avoided a whole life because of the. he murdered a man while on day release from a murders that said meanwhile the u.k. government is entering into a lot of expensive fights with the pig course of human rights to the courts interfering with british justice. and they've been set for iran to start reducing

its uranium stockpiles but while the country looks forward to an easing of sanctions the u.s. senate is raising the prospect of new obstacles and with reporting on that later in the program to stay with us also on its way here in our international as ariel sharon is put to rest israel to fans force rolls out hundreds of soldiers and an anti-missile defense system just to provide a save burial for the former prime minister. watching our to international coming to life from moscow and 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 sequestration could hit over two million households are met one of the victims of washington's overspending is my brother and his family inside and brown's home this is home for me a lifetime of memories aren't. played everywhere you look one of my friends went down

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 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 and are being forced to shrink their lives into smaller and cheaper apartments and that physically able. to a will what i'm going to do it my friend if you're sitting on a sidewalk i can afford to stuart so what i'm going to do with my life this is and this is the portland 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. make these decisions. know that seniors might not fight back and it's a problem playing out nationwide potentially affecting more than two million low 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 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 the same marina port. new york. germany is bringing is wrong it 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. and shale for sale the oil fracking lobby in the u.k. gets some enthusiastic support from david cameron despite desperate protests from those whose regions will be affected will be reporting on that right after the break so do stay with us for that.

millions around the globe struggle with hunger and. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge. very strong again. and we think that's. the. right products are. there is no. evidence any problem with genetic engineering. or is free cheese oh. the. golden rice. we're fearless and fierce

in bright just indignation at injustice and that's what makes me move when i feel in my in my heart you know fire in my heart about the situation i can't not do something. welcome back this is our team international with me marina josh now britain's prime minister has given a massive lift to the controversial fracking industry david cameron has said local authorities will allow shale gas extraction will be able to keep one hundred percent of business rates they collect from the site while his her first joins us live now from london for more on this story. so what do you think i mean do you think councils will welcome the offer. well this is part of what the prime minister has called his long term economic plan and as you rightly said that's going to mean

that local authorities that allow drilling to take place will receive one hundred percent of the business rates from the scheme that's double the fifty percent the kids currently receive no government estimates say that that could be worth one point seven million extra a year each site that a council agrees and there are other estimates as well that say that the industry could attract three point seven billion a year in investment and support an extra seventy four thousand jobs so it all sounds like great news the financial incentives that have been laid on the table for the local authorities but campaigners and environmental groups have expressed their anger at the plan saying that it amounts to nothing more than a bribe. and details so what exactly makes people angry or. well fracking itself is a controversial method for extracting shale gas and on sunday we saw protesters across the country march to

a site in soul food where it's butchery drilling has been taking place in an area known as boston more and we've seen a number of protests like that taking place in recent months and across the country now campaign groups expressing concern over a variety of issues for contamination of ground rules the potential for the process to trigger earthquakes that's a huge concern as well now the announcement by the prime minister today has coincided with the expected announcement by a french energy giant who are expected to say that they're going to invest millions in u.k. drilling licenses now that's caused huge anger among campaigners he look to france that actually has a found on the fracking process and asking why the u.k. government are pushing so hard for it to be allowed here in the u.k. the government frack pac if you like has been very keen on this thing all the benefits of fracking as he has the energy minister saying today the need for

homegrown energy and the benefits that that could bring but despite the financial incentives the scene put on the table today i think a lot of people in the country still remaining unconvinced so not easy to reconcile the business and public interest there sarah ferguson has so much for bringing us this update from one day. january the twenty years has been set as the official star data for ron 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 a new panel to use 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 to ron reached in november geo political analyst patrick cannington things it's in the interest of manny countries for de ronde to be reintegrated into the global 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 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 liquidate 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 council would like to see iran open for trade. company in the u.s. has stopped lending out guns and found its customers were turning the firearms on themselves in increasing numbers find out what the owner has to say on our team dot

com and also online today the russian government goes online to ask citizens for their ideas and criticism as a puts together a new strategy for cyber security get the details on our website. now israeli army says two rockets have been fired from gaza but did not cause any damage and that's while the body of a former prime minister ariel sharon lies a state with just hours to go before the burial ceremony the army is taking stream precautions to guard the funeral moving hundreds of troops are just falsely or reports. the former israeli prime minister ariel sharon is being very 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 what 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 burned 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 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 girl's roup and because of the threats to

the course 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 one hundred housing units in jewish settlements in east jerusalem and the west bank the palestinian chief negotiator saeb erekat say that this is a step in the face of the u.s. secretary of state john kerry's attempts to negotiate a successful mideast peace plan policia r.t. tell of of. i was take a look at some other stories from around the world and 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 bill barricades demanding the release of those detained in previous demonstrations which

started on friday night as a peaceful rally against a road redesigning plan escalated into violent clashes when right forces were brought in. crowds of protesters are to sanding on central bangkok in the tam to shut down the thai capital they accuse the prime minister of being a proxy for her brother a former leader who now lives in exile and are demanding her resignation facials have sent eight hundred thousand police and soldiers into the city to prevent the government demonstrators from walking off major highways. and hundreds of people are campaigning in berlin to save a historic airfield which the local authorities plan to turn into a housing estate with thousands of apartments the world war two era facility is currently used as a recreational zone demonstrators broad candles glow sticks and even toilet brushes an item that's become a humorous symbol of anti-government rallies across germany. i'm

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 food and with judaism and christianity when it comes to dealing with the state but as peter oliver reports from bremen 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 a good mind critics of the move claim this is being done to score political points

here by hundreds of you can interpret this as a slum a vacation 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 islam 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 but that's a poor 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 remote federal states is set to follow suit jim needs almost four million muslims the same rights as the christian and jewish communities these are all of the gym. we're going to international and just a quick reminder here that we are in stand by for the news conference with the foreign minister of russia and his u.s. counterpart john kerry who are about to reveal their stances on the syrian problem and you can watch the conference on our website r.t. dot com and in the meantime on our team international a look at why a staple food of millions rice is at the center of the global conversely over genetically modified products now for our viewers in the u.k. it's going underground with a few towns and stay with us. 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 a glorious victory now you see why people here are 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 universe. agreed upon everyone with half a brain on the street but sadly not in congress knows when something is against the constitution or surety against america near universal belief in the constitution is actually something truly exceptional about america but that's just my opinion. i know c.n.n. m s n b c news have taken some not slightly but the fact is i admire their commitment to cover all sides of the story just in case one of them happens to be accurate. that was funny but it's close and for the truth from that might think. it's because when full attention and the mainstream media works side by side the joke is actually on you.

and our teen years we have a different brain. because the news of the world just is not this funny i'm not laughing dammit i'm not how. you guys talk to the jokes well handed to me i said that i had. this genetically modified plant is at the center of a controversy a controversy about how we deal with one of the most powerful technologies mankind has ever created. a technology that is polarizing society. the protagonists include a now retired professor at e.t.h. who believes his golden rice will save children throughout the entire world. i

swear as agricultural chemical corporation and first wanted to commercialize the miracle rice then changed its mind. and a country where tests are being carried out that would be prohibited in other places. researchers who manipulate crops are demanding more freedom the freedom to conduct their research free of political constraints they feel the moratorium that has been imposed on genetic technology for years unfairly hinders them in their efforts but public distrust of genetic manipulation has been immense for many years.