it's eleven pm here in moscow headlining tonight ten days before the peace talks on syria but the opposition still silent on taking despite russia the u.s. and the u.n. warning that league summit cannot be delayed any longer also iran may take part in the upcoming asian eva two conference on syria shift of washington stance russia and the un's invite makes to rahm's presents a real prospect with the u.s. saying it would welcome the step but under certain conditions. britain's prime minister's accused of bribing local authorities and homeowners to accept controversial fracking in areas with a cash incentive to sweeten the deal. with slim writes take a leap forward in germany we hear people's concerns about spreading islamization of their costs to other states.

they can even choose this is our. top story than this the peace conference on syria can't be delayed any longer must happen at the end of the month that's the joint message from russia the us and the un after talks in paris but the main challenge is convincing the syrian opposition to take part as the group still haven't given a definitive answer you've been following the discussions of france. well one of the first things that we've heard from u.s. secretary of state is that russia the u.s. and the un are completely on the same page that the only solution of the conflict in syria is a diplomatic one mr kerry also said that both the soon enough and to the opposition are equally responsible for the atrocities committed there now we've also seen a slight shift on iran since a lot of barbara he needs u.n. special envoy on syria and syria lauber off the ball for saying that they want to

see iran taken part in the geneva two conference this is a key player in the region this was something that the u.s. has previously against but now according to u.s. secretary of state washington wouldn't mind seeing tehran there at geneva two if it supports the agreements reached earlier at the one now mr labral also said that the authorities of syria have now confirmed that they are going to take part in the conference although one of the sticking points right now is that it's really unknown whether or not the opposition is planning to do the same although we are possibly witnessing now positive tendencies somewhat of a positive tendency when it comes to the relationship between the opportunities there and the rebels since we've heard today about possible exchanges of prisoners and allowing humanitarian aid to get in but according to sergei lavrov right now regarding humanitarian aid the rebels are the key obstacles that's why moscow

doesn't want to see the terror threat among the key issues to be discussed to be on the table there at you now today we've heard nothing about calls for president assad having to step down which is different from sunday since yesterday the french prime minister when he met with the syrian opposition he did make these calls for the syrian president to step down which shows that right now even though the key players now working on organizing this conference they are completely on the same page. and it comes to lots of key issues some currencies in the west are sending mixed signals which could theoretically undermine the success of the car friends. despite the glimmer of progress then in paris infighting between the once united syrian rebels is worse and al-qaeda linked groups of executed dozens of rival islamists in the last couple of days bringing the total number of victims between the rebels to over seven hundred this month alone there is no estimated indeed the majority of rebel fighters belong to either islamist or terrorist groups one of the

most a taurus of those called the islamic state of iraq and levant began a campaign called expunging filth which targets the u.s. backed rebels from the free syrian army and among the methods used by the jihadists are executions bombings imposed sharia law and capturing those not sharing their beliefs in fact is a group so brutal that even our code is leadership of distance itself from it yet it controls areas of syria iraq which total an area larger than portugal in the black areas you can see. well qaeda gaining ground in syria and iraq sells the focus today is cross talk later to always topical comment and debate about the big stories of the day is coming later this hour here on our t.v. . 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 portrayed as a deadly minutes in this edition of crossfire we asked what is al qaeda today who

supports it and who benefits from it. britain's prime minister is being accused of bribery by a columnist sorry eco activists rather show the economist too for announce a lucrative incentive to areas which allow fracking for gas despite widespread concerns about its safety david cameron a local councils keep all the money raised from the business tax levied on energy firms who drill in their patch also about cash payouts to two affected homeowners is that the center of. 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 that campaigners and environmental groups of expressed their anger at the plan saying that it amounts to nothing more than a bribe we might have seen the government frack back pushing the benefits of this procedure but the extraction of shale gas from the ground to schools why spread control to see here in the country we see large scale protests in the recent months in fact on sunday we saw protesters from across the country marching to solve it to an area where exploratory drilling is taking place in campaigners really concerned about a wide variety of issues with this controversial process including contamination of ground water the potential for the triggering of earthquakes we've already seen it

work on one exploratory site here in the u.k. halted after it was thought that that was linked to earthquakes that had taken place in a nearby area so it really huge amounts of anger we've seen from campaigners and protesters of course the announcement coinciding with the expected announcement from french energy giant. expected to say that they're going to be investing millions in u.k. drilling licenses now that's causing anger because you look to france it's actually got a ban on the process and campaigners are asking why when there's a ban in that country the energy company can then exploit the u.k.'s opening its doors to shell gas exploration in this way so despite the financial incentives that we've seen on the table i think a lot of people going to remain unconvinced. well load see what jay thomas from friends of the earth ukase got to use on the line the other folks have been with us

all on the face of it cheaper fuel for everyone easy revenue for cash strapped local authority to spend on its vulnerable citizens what's not to like here but you've got a bit to say well well no i mean the first thing is the issue about cheaper bills davey the the energy secretary has made it quite clear that this is no silver bullet and indeed has said that bills may not come down we are not going to be fracking in the way that the us and certainly there is no evidence that bills will come down and the other thing is is that there is huge amounts of concern about environmental impacts about the damage to the water system and about to the environment in communities that are lightly. and i don't think there is a huge a. well i think that's a valid concern i mean don't forget you know the regulation system in this country should be really really as watertight as possible but the amount of fracking fluid

is actually used when a well is fraught is a real concern to those to the household the chemicals that are put into it into the fright the me fein that is allowed to come out and actually in the america we are seeing now increasingly communities that have been extensively fright there are all sorts of environmental concerns that are beginning to get raised and yes the hot as we were obviously want to slight rightly pointed the hard over to see it because it's not holding back well if you're a government they're obviously not taking that evidence that's worrying you into account argo. well i mean i think the government really needs to step up to the plate on the renewable something one of the reasons where we are really really keen not to exploit child deaths any further is obviously environmental impacts but also a continued reliance on fossil fuels and we know in terms of planetary certainty and planetary future and future generations that we've got to move away from fossil

fuels and we've got to move towards renewables whilst ever the government of the day thinks that a dash for gas is going to solve the problems is actually failing to face up to the real issue which is we've got to invest much more in renewables or all of gas drilling dangerous industries anyway no matter how you look at it what is so bad about frankly you know so many people are on the heels about this at the moment is really so bad because for instance if you were talked to the inhabitants of a big deal if you told them a couple of decades ago that they should be drilling for oil off aberdeen it's made people's livelihoods there hasn't wrecked the whole economy. no i know but the process that they're using now the hydraulic fracturing is a new it's a much new technology i mean the technology has changed very very differently from twenty years ago so the pressure that water is injected into these rocks is totally different the chemicals the very different and know well is is absolutely one

hundred percent secure and the other thing is we know in this country when they frakt in near blackpool sorry in the filed nearby pool that there were many places many tremors they're thinking of fracking in former coal and coal sites in in south yorkshire in north nottinghamshire where they've already had substance and the land now if you start to do this this vertical not just horizontal but this vertical fracturing you don't know what on earth is going to happen both the geology there but also to the houses and to the infrastructure and to the dirt. poor kids. with those bills going up going to win them over a vote got the carrot of may be cheaper fuel bill to ask you got it well i mean. yeah i mean dave has excepted that he possibly wouldn't bring down prices i mean don't forget that in you in england sorry in this country in the u.k. we're locked into a european sort of market so it's not the same as america where they could reduce

prices so the first thing is that we have a very different pricing regime secondly in america what brought down the prices was that they had to go to the blast gas in the first place so in fact they had a very very different market when they entered the wynn shale gas centers and the third thing is we're never going to be able to extract in the volumes that they do in america i mean they they're extracting in say texas in a where the geology is very different but also we're it's very fiery uninhabited to get that sort of level of extraction of gas you're going to have to help on elf which between hundred sixty and one hundred seventy well heads per constituency we just haven't got the geology but also we're a much more tightly knit sort of country well population density is a very very different and if you're interested in bringing down fuel bills the best thing the government could do to any cash strapped council is to give real government incentive incentives on energy saving so much more could be done on

energy saving and lots of energy sort of leaks out of windows so i know you've got a lot of proper investment problem we could for the whole program yes i know probably about a minute international proper investment in renewable you heard your language. for example so much. so some brits maybe i have a bumper fracking pay them across the atlantic there is a squeeze on those in need right now too it's like putting somebody didn't they didn't commit a crime what did we do that caused this deficit automatic budget cuts for some of the most vulnerable americans out of their homes we've got their story a bit later. trying to be accommodating to religious sensitivity is proving to be divisive in germany will governments are increasingly incorporating muslims feelings into local legislation a couple districts even went without christmas lights this season the fear of causing offense to non christians recent surveys suggest more than half of germans

fear the growing islam is ation of their country's peter all of a find. daily prayer in bremen. this region was one of the first in germany to make islam an official 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 in 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 don't mind critics of the move claim this is being done to score political points here by

hundreds of you can interpret this as a slam appreciation 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 be 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 and. we have a duty to change perceptions and prejudices unfortunately the media plays

a big role they only show negative stories about was the names 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. coming up a final goodbye for the man who was once israel's most powerful figure. in the solar . system a secure safe burial for the prime minister and coming up to britain's told it should be dangerous criminals as the. prisoners. search for.

foreigners. wealthy british. marget. find out what's really happening to the global economy. watch.

the final farewell to form a problem to the atmosphere around the ceremony was exactly peaceful the israeli army and police have been on high alert with anti missile batteries dispatched around the burial site that is the country's air force carried out a strike on targets in gaza after two rockets were launched on to israeli territory is a middle east correspondent paula. the iron dome anti-missile defense system was deployed over the south of the country with extra drones also being deployed over southern israel for the funeral process now this is because the ranch where sharon was buried is in rocket range from gaza and in recent weeks there has been rockets fired from gaza into israel of course israeli security did not want to take any chances of there being any kind of disruptions during the funeral itself in addition to this there were kilometers of roads around the burial place that was

sealed off now the irony is that sharon always justified any kind of military or political action he took by saying that it was in the interests of israel's security and here we seeing him buried in such an atmosphere of insecurity sharon is a very controversial figure for most israelis he is regarded as a military war hero who fought in almost all of israel's wars he's seen as a powerful politician and their fearless leader he has the nickname of the bulldozer and this is because when he set out to do something he allowed nothing to get in his way but among many in the arab world particularly palestinians he is despised and resume to you see him as the mastermind of crushing military action and military offenses against palestinians and for killing thousands of them since the war back in one nine hundred forty eight he's also regarded as the butcher of beirut for the world he played in one thousand nine hundred two when palestinians were massacred in the camps of supper and shifted the eleven on by christian

militia groups and there's a lot of anger still on the palestinian street that he was never brought to book for the role he played in those massacres and must is also issued a statement saying that death is a historic moment that marked the disappearance of a criminal whose hands are covered with palestinian blood so certainly a very controversial figure that was buried in israel today. paula slayer stories about lined up at r.t. dot com right now the rent a guns ban a spate of suicide so now the american firearms for. its weapons after customers with the guns of themselves got the story and cyber security government is asking citizens hope they think it should be done as it.

should have you with us here on t.v. today i'm sure. low income families in new york and philly the pinch of the so-called sequester the automatic multibillion dollar spending cuts which kicked in last year after congress failed to agree a budget people being told to find smaller and cheaper apartments or see their rent skyrocket report that one of the. 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.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 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're sitting on a 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 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 a senior marine a port naya r.t. new york it's eleven twenty four pm in moscow in brief thousands of protesters applaud key roads in bangkok in a bid to bring down the government of president. the shinawatra demonstrators are also bound to surround the cabinet building to prevent it from functioning they say meantime supporters of the ruling party gathered for council rallies some twenty thousand police and soldiers have been deployed while officials say a state of emergency could be deployed if there is fresh unrest. for car bombs have killed at least twenty five including children in the iraqi capital those explosions targeted busy streets in mainly shia like this tricks and also injured around eighty others too and in a separate incident gunmen opened fire at

a police checkpoint killing three offices those attacks happened as the u.n. secretary general ban ki moon visits baghdad to discuss the rx was is security. reporting heavy rains causing floods and landslides in the southeastern philippines it's forced thousands of residents to flee their homes at least thirteen have died more casualties are feared with swathes of the country still living in rough conditions after was battered by super typhoon haiyan last november. the seems to be little let up in the violence in the central african republic capital despite the interim president but earlier declaring the fighting over and claiming that deserted troops are returning to their barracks the provisional government's also issued a stern warning to rival muslim christian militias to end clashes weeks of turmoil in the country is killed more than a thousand people. a top european courts try to make britain ease up on handing down whole life prison sentences for its most dangerous criminals the judges believe that offering no chance of parole even to those convicted of horrifying

breaches international human rights but the u.k. is fighting back to stop brussels muscling in on its justice system as laura smith explains. if we're talking prison sentences it's already very breath and to me in life but if the european court of human rights has its way it will become impossible for the 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 deemed moralizing notes to have a child it's a pretty nice last year the courts the greens. having no rights to review contravene figurehead 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 their legitimacy is pretty much nonexistent if not a proper court that 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 in opposition 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 but sentencing there are fewer than fifty prisoners serving whole life terms in england and wales for the severest brides one of them's mom bridget he was sent down last year for murdering well schoolgirl who he's launched an appeal another killer in maclaughlin has already avoided a whole life because of the. he murdered a man while on day release from a murder that intends meanwhile the u.k.

government is entering into a lot of expensive fights with the course of human rights to. still the courts interfering with british justice. or smith for that report there from the u.k. coming up it is terrifying recent expansions up for debate in the lace this in a cross talk here on r.t. international.

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 new ideology or political theory or big changes to the russian constitution and so on and it's hard for people in america understands 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.