a teacher and a police officer killed in a hostage crisis as a moscow school carried out by one of its model students. these activists go on trial in the u.s. for taking a stand against their government's drone warfare campaign. and israeli cabinet ministers here's how to u.s. secretary of state john kerry after his warning that the country could face an international boycott if it fails to take real steps to strike a peace deal with the palestinians.

are welcomed watching r.t. international with me andrew farm. now a teacher and a police officer have been killed in a hostage crisis at a moscow school over twenty students who were in the classroom at the time were released unhurt the gunman who is now in custody is reportedly a model high school student who harbored a grudge against his teacher artie's margaret how reports from the city. i'm standing just outside the school in northeast moscow where a tenth grade boy walked inside earlier at around eleven o'clock this morning and opened fire know he taken two rifles out of his father's home and killed one security officer killed one teacher and entered a third person a security guard who is currently in hospital then he proceeded to take twenty four students hostage now these students he took he took hostage we're tenth graders fellow students and they have since been let go now archie caught up with

a friend of one of those hostages earlier here's what he had to say. my friend told me to switch on the t.v. i didn't saw my school and he said the security guard had managed to push the emergency mark one time students were evacuated from the building i saw some of them later and they said the teacher was injured but then my mother said that it was quite a chaotic morning mel this young man fired eleven shots in total his father was able to communicate with the young man he did let the hostages go and then he did ultimately surrender to law enforcement it said that he is currently under psychiatric assessment the educational minister did make a statement saying that this wasn't a situation where the young man had any grievance against students or teachers it was believed that he just has an emotional problem however originally it was reported that this was a revenge killing particularly for this young teacher who's believed to be between twenty nine and thirty years of age that this young man did kill him but at this

time we don't have any information regarding his emotional state although we do expect that to be forthcoming. well the latest reports claim that the young man used to brag to his friends about his shooting skills acquired with the help of his father who used to take him to a firing range you can head to see online to r.t. dot com for all the updates on this story. activists calling for a world without drone strikes will be defending their actions this week in courts across america three groups are standing trial separately for their protests against the use of unmanned war machines with more on the cases his our correspondent. in washington. four activists appeared before a judge in california this monday for their attempt to deliver a letter of protest to a military base commander at the letter accuses the government the us government and all military personnel involved in the drone program of crimes against humanity

more activists are on trial for similar action here in the west seventeen people are facing charges in new york for testing that the premises of a basin where we put drones are piloted also this week five other activists will be appealing their trespass conviction and their nearby at the central intelligence agency where they tempted to deliver a letter to the head of the cia john brennan the letter that these people are on trial for says among other things our government has become a lawless power acting as a judge jury and executioner just because he can show us uses remote control drones to kill women in their kitchens and elders meeting in their journey mourners at funerals and rescuers who try to help the wounded by most independent studies the vast majority of those killed in drone strikes are civilians and president obama's statement about quote unquote near certainty of no civilian deaths of course. drone strikes of course sound so cynical especially in light of the push like the one two

months ago where a drone strike hit a wedding convoy and of course these activists they point out said irony the way no one has been charged no one is in trial for those extra judicial killings so no one is held held responsible for for that and yet these activists are direct to court for protesting against such activity. well let's talk more about this with david swanson an antiwar activist and author of the book war is that i mean this one sometimes becoming into the program this evening do you think that these trials could actually work in favor of the movie because it does give them a platform doesn't it send a message. well it's thus far a very limited platform and unfortunately we have had people serving six month prison sentences we've had people facing horrendous charges for exercising their

first amendment rights this is an ongoing activity across the country and it's noticed in the local media but there's a virtual blackout in the national media in the united states you would have no idea this was happening it's that there's an extensive protest resistance movement against these drone murders and unfortunately most americans don't even know it's happening don't even know what the drones are being used for much less that they're being protested of this this past weekend up in syracuse new york you had people making the most eloquent statements of holding the rule of law to a judge in a court and you had the rest of the city at the syracuse university basketball game or going home to watch the super bowl so that there is a platform but it needs to grow and what are the actually grains that these protesters because they say they were demonstrating peacefully. well they have been demonstrating peacefully but it's a question of where exactly they were standing and how many of them and whether they were asked to leave three times the commander of the military base hancock air

base outside of syracuse new york has a restraining order against a group of people committed to nonviolence who have engaged in nothing but nonviolent demonstrations on a street against illegal war making he has a restraining order to protect himself from them and they are charged with trespassing and they can potentially be charged quite seriously for violating that order it's it's are a french mint on first amendment rights it's it's an outrage but these people are quite courageous and quite committed and are not about to start but you mentioned they are very committed we can all say that but some exactly why are they against these drone strikes wise why is this any worse than any other military action. well it's not what it's the same as any other military action and it's less known it we don't have you know we had a big discussion in congress just recently over whether to impose new sanctions on

iran and blow up the negotiated deal with iran back in september we had a big discussion whether to send missiles into syria when these missiles go and kill innocent men women children infants in pakistan afghanistan yemen somalia there is no discussion there's no debate it just happens under the radar and there's a little blurb the next day saying militants were targeted and nobody knows what that means who they were and good reporting has shown that many many innocent people who have done absolutely nothing wrong have been killed by these drones which are counterproductive in their own terms they are making the united states more hated a couple of weeks ago the united states overwhelmingly won a survey in sixty five countries as the nation that is the greatest threat to peace on earth so it is so there's the moral question there's the strategic question there's the financial question these are struggling towns in upstate new york and

california and elsewhere and all of this money is going into a program of killing and what we're seeing crisis in america the being protests around the world you think there's any chance that the american government will scale back the drones. well of course there's a chance or we wouldn't be doing this just as there was a chance to stop that sanctions bill on iran and stop those missiles going into syria but the move to terry machinery is not invincible things can be changed and the tide is turning people are beginning to learn even in the united states what is being done in their name with their money and other nations like germany and brazil and venezuela are pushing back against the very idea of weaponized drones which of course go against the very idea of the united nations or the killer briana act or any of the treaties that these protesters are citing so beautifully in their testimony in court ok we do have to leave it there but thanks very much chance once and for giving us your thoughts that said that his once in life from virginia thank

you. now the alarming civilian toll of drone warfare has been largely sidelined by the global media but according to various estimates it's cost hundreds of innocent lives in countries including pakistan and yemen one of our correspondents traveled to both come back and hear the harrowing accounts of drone strike victims and their relatives one of these families went all the way to capitol hill to get answers from u.s. politicians and you can read their stories in our reports available at r.t. dot com also online the unmanned killing campaign puts boots on the ground as the u.s. military makes a breakthrough in driverless vehicle technology it's all there for you on our web site. another spat seems to be brewing between the u.s. secretary of state and the israeli government it all started after john kerry expressed his concern over the lack of progress in peace negotiations with the

palestinians mr kerry who has been holding back and forth talks with both sides says the status quo being maintained by israel is not sustainable he also warned that many countries could seek to boycott tel of eve if peace negotiations fail miss triggered an angry response with prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying that any efforts to boycott israel would be unjustified and counterproductive israel's strategic affairs minister then weighed in saying israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a gun to its head in the economy minister went a step further calling on israel's allies to stand up against those who try to push anti semitic agendas against his country and some two thousand israelis gathered outside the western wall in jerusalem last week for a prayer rally against u.s. efforts to broker a deal israel resume peace talks with the palestinians last july deadline for

a framework agreement has been set for april with israeli. for minutes in the west bank and east jerusalem remaining the key sticking point. well we spoke to him a order and senior correspondent and columnist at the habits newspaper and he says pressure from the u.s. could mean a blow you feel. american pressure could have many forms. there will probably not be any. overt physical sort of pressure but even holding off on supporting israel indeed diplomatic arena including in the united nations security council if the palestinians godor and claimed their right to establish a state this could also put a lot of pressure on israel and the very fact that we see a public spat between the. obama administration and the netanyahu government

this is already putting pressure on israel because israel's main strategic asset has always been its good relations with washington if this is taken from israel israel could no longer be considered the major power originally that it was considered to be for the last fifty or sixty years. now following calls for greater support by opposition leaders in ukraine brussels and washington are putting together a significant short term assistance package despite concessions from president unico bitch mass rallies are still being held in kiev with people refusing to leave the streets unless he steps down eve foreign policy chief catherine ashton says the western aid is supposed to help the country through a transition period but the money will be dependent on a new ukrainian government approving political and economic reform and with investment also in the cards energy giants have been eager to exploit the country's

shale gas potential and that's got locals worried as poor a slayer explains. western ukraine a big good battleground for american oil giants two months ago kids find with chevron to use this area for fracking. flammable tap water toxic chemicals pumped into the earth contaminated environments just some of the risks that have sparked protests against fracking in the united states and europe. through. thank you now it's ukrainian farmers that orlick will buy milk who are left in the cold so most times our lakes and rivers will get dirty sporadic protests have fallen on deaf ears unable to match the might of the fuel lobby so if america comes to ukraine we can lose our position and america will control ukrainian money and

business meanwhile countries like france switzerland and the netherlands a worried enough to ban the technology the ten billion dollar deal level chiffon to operate in the country for fifty years it has the right to sell the gas it up tains with quotas to other countries so all claims that ukraine will make a lot of money are in fact nonces and in a place where unemployment his wife gives promise of thousands of new jobs is enough pay for people next ingenue forty four years old and employed and trying to care for his sick mother of all of the able to help all get a job people in ukraine are not scared of work we must just learn what to do the carrot for kiev is energy independence and cheap fuel for a country struggling to pay the bills even though russia dropped the cost of its gas by almost a third to calculate the shale spoils industry experts look at precedents in neighboring poland where companies promise the earth only to significantly scale

back which is very high risk for this bush because after the five years of exploration bush has called by his way decided to stop their activities because they are trying to this are places where it will be their disability to produce their guess who. here to keep these firms out is growing but not fast enough it seems to quell the government's desire to have its own gas whatever the cost or concerns of the people policy our team have live coverage western ukraine. when reaching out to chevron and shell ukrainian authorities say the thermos will help the country achieve self-sufficiency and even enable its own energy exports american environmentalist. says however financial gain would come to greater cost for ukrainians. the process itself is you cannot for millions

of gallons of liquid laced with sand and with chemicals under super high pressures down into all these drilled holes without having a consequence this whole fracking. madness is spreading all over the planet they want to frack as many countries as possible and so more people are getting aware of it and i'm getting people here from little green europe north america africa to come here to see for themselves besides what they hear from the gas companies because the gas company will admit to no problems everything is hunky dory everything is covered all the bases are covered we have nothing to worry about folks we know what we are doing. with our t. coming up later this hour catching at the cops. being charged assaulting a police officer obstructed and resisting arrest i could have been six months in prison and that would have completely irrevocably changed my life party speaks to

a student about how a video that went viral helped improve misconduct carried out against him by the police. technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. wealthy british style. writers. market. scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two kinds of reports on our. language. we can with oh if you're going to.

choose the consensus here. choose the opinions that you. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to. that again welcome back now i brought one hundred thousand people marched through paris nearly on sunday once again venting their anger at the policies of france's embattled president along. the crowds were protesting against possible amendments to gay marriage and adoption laws which would grant same sex couples and turn it away to have children however authorities have said they are planning no such changes this comes exactly week

after a so-called day of anger saw tens of thousands across france demonstrating against the government and one french activist is so unhappy with the present along that she's gone on hunger strike. it's been a day since i've been fasting i only drink water because we are many people demanding the resignation francois hollande i've been fighting for ten years in defense of family values the french government is destroying the family and this is bringing the country down because of the family is not strong the state is not strong either. force some news coming in security officials in lebanon say there's been an explosion near a petrol station in beirut at least two people have been killed because of the blast in one of the capital sudden shiite districts is unknown with some reports suggesting it was a car bomb two days ago at least four died and eighteen were wounded in the

northern has blast wrong hold shiite areas of lebanon are often targeted in retaliation for the group sending fighters into syria bring you more on this as we get it. or stories from around the world now the iraqi army has stepped up its bombardment on the city of fallujah reportedly ahead of a full on ground offensive. oh. the city was seized by militants connected to al qaida in early january and has been under intense shelling for days the government's been holding off from sending in troops to give local tribesmen time to use the insurgents security in iraq has been getting worse with almost eight thousand people killed in sectarian violence last year. further proof of the worsening security situation today is baghdad is hit by a wave of bombings at least sixteen people have been killed authorities say the attacks bear the hallmarks of al qaida is affiliate in iraq meanwhile government troops

have killed fifty seven islamic militants in western anbar province in advance of a possible assault on from the. series of explosions a cinema in pakistan have killed at least five people witnesses say a man sitting in the back row hold several grenades into the audience around thirty people were injured some critically during the incident in peshawar. and more clashes have broken out between police and the use in protests in the kenyan city of mumbai that's after security forces stormed a mosque on sunday resulting in a violent confrontation that left at least two people dead the raid was ordered after worshipers raise the flag of the banned extremist group. use armed with knives said to have attacked the officers who responded with gunfire over one hundred arrests were made. now when you go up against the british police force it

sure word against there is r.t. met one student who lives in the hard way how important hard evidence evidence is when that happens. as the story. i was being charged with assaulting a police officer obstruction arrest and six months in prison and that would have completely irrevocably changed my life and devastated actually are going to make more had intended to attend a talk by the education minister in june two thousand and eleven and found himself in a crowd of protesting students and just outside this university who was later arrested and a police officer said that a shop had pushed him twice before running away. i'm not really very this video appeared on you tube or a shock is later seen and it offers a different version of events. thanks to this video the charges were dropped scotland yard agreed to pay

a shock twenty thousand pounds in damages after he launched legal action for wrongful arrest as a result of video evidence produced as part of a civil claim against the metropolitan police service three offices are the subject of the i.p.c.c. supervised investigation but such outcomes may not always be so easy to come by it's very often the case. people have been wrongly accused by police often committing the fence but the evidence of the off court has given more credence to notch off the accused individual they just have. to try and give his best accounts as they can to gather as much evidence is that possibly can and once again the conduct of the police is put firmly under the spotlight in the twenty eleven two thousand and twelve period at the independent police complaints commission saw a decrease in complaints but an increase in appeals made about the handling of complaints by police compared to the year before where it's found. that for little

below the expected. behavior the public would want to see accountability that. police misconduct it's sort of like specific to being to be tools. for someone who's been on the receiving end of this misconduct the shock says there's something he'll now keep in mind we need to videotape the police whenever we can because if it's their word against ours the only way we're going to win is if we actually prove to a court without a shadow over doubt that they were lying i. just or sylvia r.t. . well she might have brushed aside the embarrassing revelation of being spied on but german chancellor angela merkel could be in for more troubling connection to washington surveillance operations germany's largest group of hackers has filed a criminal complaint against mrs merkel's government for aiding foreign spying and

violating the rights of citizens you can find out how that case could pan out on our website also online that wants to create what it calls the coolest spot in the universe on board the international space station do you head to r.t. dot com to get more on what chile experiments are planned orbiting the board tree. at the top athletes at the winter games in sochi will of course take home their hall of medals and the lucky ones will even get a slice of the meteorite but what is left for those who don't make the podium and the army of fans that have traveled there were earlier i went along to find. well if you're looking to buy a souvenir during the olympics you probably want to get your hands on one of the mascots even the snow leopard there or the polar bear and if you want to go to the high end of the market you could try one of these porcelaine figurines these have all been made in a very famous village just outside moscow this workshop english here has produced

russia's famous blue and white china for the last two centuries but it's not plates and ports that taking up that shelf and of the space at the moment smiling mascots for the sort of games are being produced in abundance crafted a molded from the region special clay sixty kilometers southeast of more sco that's poured into special molds made for the hair that could bear benefactress forty craftswomen get to work carefully how many painting each one on average it takes fifteen minutes to load the leopard is a bit tricky and takes a little longer and is a whole day spent in the oven during which the black ink turns into that trademark blue after that they're left to chill boxed and sent to the shops it is an intricate process that even mirrors the slogan for these olympics cool yours andrew farmer the arctic. hey you are the perfect save in in iowa make sure you stay with

us here for a special coverage from this year's capital of winter sport where on athlete and twenty four take. coming up next a cross to looks at the global community a century on from the start of the first war that's just ahead. the first recreational marijuana shops are now open in colorado finally the question of what effect legal marijuana will have on the american public can be answered with real world experience you know there are a lot of people out there with strong arguments as to why we should legalize this controversial play it firstly there are plenty of things just as bad for us as

marijuana or worse like beer cigarettes antidepressants and mystery fast food meats which are totally legal secondly young men are often thrown in jail for the absolutely victimless crime of smoking marijuana i could see punishing someone for drugs like crystal meth which can and do turn people into maniacs but have any of you out there ever heard of someone breaking into people's houses on a we ramp age no no you have it the downside to all of this is that across america and while the world people are looking for change and they want a massive storm rise but when the masses are stoned out of their minds it makes things in life that we shouldn't tolerate become very tolerable we now call allow us to make it through another day of our miserable lives so that we can live without going through all that effort of trying to make things better or challenge the system legalizing weed will just pacify the masses even more but that's just my opinion.

hello and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle a century ago this year the first world war started it fundamentally changed the global political order later and even weakened international system set the stage for the second world war since the end of the cold war the global order has been in limbo under american domination in the twenty first century just how stable our world politics.