but now the u.n. has done something truly unforgivable. >> the u.n. has a new solution to fight hunger: bugs. >> the u.n. says creatures like scorpions, cicadas and locusts are a healthy source of fat, protein and fiber. >> stephen: the u.n. bullies want to make us eat a bug. what's next? solve the global water crisis through sustainable swirlies? and folks, i for one do not buy the u.n. claims that, quote, mini-livestock offer livelihood opportunities for both urban and rural people. did you hear that? mini-livestock. so let me get this straight. according to the u.n., all you new yorkers with bed bugs are technically ranchers. ( cheers and applause ). well, folks, you will never catch me eating bugs. i don't even eat gummy worms. i just use them to catch swedish fish. and i have one thing to say to the u.n. you first, gentlemen, because from what i hear, your delegates are shuttled by fleets of bentleys and mercedes benzes to dine at upscale spots like harry's bar and cipriani where i'm pretty sure their coq au vin is not made from coq-a-roaches fou

with your news from all around the world. now u.n. investigators are saying they have strong grounds to believe that the rebels in syria used chemical weapons against civilians according to the testimonies of both victims and witnesses opposition fighters sprayed the deadly nerve gas sarin an agent that's banned internationally and that's amid widespread allegations backed by the us that it was the syrian regime that have resorted to chemicals in the long lasting civil war inside the state just over a week ago washington declared the assad government had used such and therefore had crossed obama's red line opening the possibility of a greater american role in syria's internal conflict the accusations were hurled at damascus despite the probe statement it has not seen any physical evidence we'll bring you more on this story with a live report a bit later this hour. but the revelations they do come amid an international storm over israeli strikes inside syria israel is beefing up its borders reportedly fearing retaliation after its plane

in the u.n. after a syrian militant group kidnaps for its peacekeepers secretary general ban ki moon demands the hostages immediate really. cracks at the heart of europe is france rejects the stereotype while in britain the queen gets of pay rises her subjects further tighten their belts. and central asia royals in a violent wave of his largest unrest leaving nearby states hammering out plans to contain what is being the talibanization of the region. and i welcome you watching r.t. with me andrey farmer. the u.n. is calling for the immediate release of four of its peacekeepers the troops were taken hostage by syrian rebel fighters in the golan heights the demilitarized zone between syria and israel we cannot go live to our middle east correspondent paula. paula thank you for joining us now we've heard reports that the u.n. mission could even withdraw from the region following these kidnappings do you think that's likely. well i don't think it's likely i've just gotten off the phone with the deputy

the u.n. secretary general is already in and like you said he is ready to meet with both russia's foreign minister and the president continuing this diplomatic marathon with been witnessing since earlier russia was visited by u.s. secretary of state and british and israeli prime ministers and other officials about syria dominating the talks and perhaps we're now witnessing a shift in the approach by many nations to the situation since they're now talking about putting together this joint conference which would include both of the syrian rebels and the saudis however several stumbling blocks still remain and for him to russia's foreign minister to go off the syrian opposition is still a very divided and it's unclear right now who can represent it as a whole at this conference and also secondly the rebels are still voicing preconditions. because it's. in contrast to the syrian government which has responded quite positively to the russian american initiative the opposition zones that was quite va

the u.n. commission on syria says there's no clear proof of any chemical weapons being used there despite one of its top investigators saying she suspects the rebels have resorted to sarin gas. meanwhile israel's condemned for a series of air strikes inside syria but all too takes a look at whether the ultimate target of the attacks could lie elsewhere. here after the government protests turned violent thousands rally in moscow to demand the release of those accused of inciting clashes with police. record unemployment painful austerity and the lowest ratings and recent french history falls well earned marks the end of a tough first year as president. online on screen international news and comment live from our studio center here in moscow this is r.t. the u.n. team looking into the conflict in syria says there's no conclusive evidence any side has used chemical weapons that's despite earlier claims by leading team member that deadly nerve gas may have been used by the rebels or he's got a card

rage in the u.n. after a syrian rebel group kidnaps four of its unarmed peacekeepers amid suspicion that such action may see the opposition lose much of its international backing. as afghanistan's neighbors brainstorm over how to curb extremism after the u.s. troop withdrawal the threat is growing elsewhere with islamic unrest sweeping through bangladesh. plus the man known as russia's gray cardinal resigns from the government we take a look at the man and what could be behind his exit from the halls of power. plus when life in prison is the only line you can afford some courts in ohio jailing the homeless and people with disabilities because they can't afford to pay small finds . welcome you watching our team with make sure and pharma. the u.n. is calling for the immediate release of four of its peacekeepers held by syrian rebels the peacekeepers were abducted in the golan heights the demilitarized zone between syria and israel is our middle east correspondent. i've just gotten off the phone with the

so far the u.n. security council has failed to reach a consensus i strongly regret because i do believe we have a political framework that could be used as an june 2012, the so-called action group in syria issued a statement of declaration, signed by all five permanent members of the u.n. security council. in that statement, it is clearly stated the regime in damascus should initiate a process of transition leading to accommodation of legitimate aspirations of the syrian people. i do believe a solution could be based on that declaration. too bad and of course negates u.n. security council resolution. now mr. burkett asked me about the good. they have made substantial progress. this is the reason we have granted a membership action plan. they do not fulfill the necessary criteria, but i am quite impressed by the work done and the progress achieved. but there's a political statement. a couple years ago, we granted a condition based membership action plan. we have declared we are willing to activate that

and in the meantime the u.n. has now officially classified the force feeding of detainees at guantanamo as torture and earlier report by a key u.s. think tank slammed washington for abuse to the station coming up at eleven thirty am g.m.t. here on nazi it's the co-chair of the panel responsible for that report also make me explaining why get my must be shot down. we just do not believe that it fits into the laws and the ethics and the values of america to have indefinite detention and to not allow a court of law and adjudication of the charges against a person to be to go through an orderly process more than half of those detainees in guantanamo currently have already been cleared by the u.s. government that means all the intelligence the military the law enforcement and all the agencies involved have said there's no reason to hold these people and they still are indefinitely being detained in guantanamo we feel very strongly that they ought to be released and they are and that should be done immediately and the p

it as trike such as the one israel carried out is a violation of the u.n. charter with egypt and the arab league calling for security council action over this are there likely to be any consequences for israel for that time. i'm afraid it's unlikely because there is that israel has been given historically for the last say fifty years or more a very special place such that i believe the figures are that the united states has vetoed i think forty four united nations security council resolutions concerning israel when they get anywhere near. cramping israel's ability to carry out the strikes that we've seen lately so at the end of the day i'm sure the united states would simply veto any u.n. security council resolution with teeth and in a way you can say that perhaps some of these voices in the region know that perfectly well but no i'm afraid historically it's very unlikely. that israel will be constrained iran has offered various types of assistance to the syrian regime what would israel's reaction be do you think if one of its enemies joins the conflict that

her findings were featured in a recently released movie entitled a short film about guns persona to the u.n. during a discussion about the recent international arms trade treaty check out. every gun without thinking of the gun runners who are responsible for the floods. you need to destroy. no it's going to do so to. this. story. now woman is named kathy lynn austin she's a former u.n. arms trafficking expert and is the founder and executive director of the conflict awareness project nonprofit organization that investigates major arms traffickers war profiteers and transnational criminal networks that few armed conflicts around the world earlier i had the chance to speak to kathy about her work i first asked her what the craziest things she's seen in her experience hunting down arms traffickers and here's what she had to say. well you know often i'm flying in crazy airplanes and have had to survive crash landings just in order to document a certain weapons flow going to an illegal rogue group in the congo for example i've come around like corners and met with a lot somalia militiamen had to

selective stance on the conflict the u.n. resolution also expressed outrage at the rapidly increasing death toll it is estimated eighty thousand people have been killed so far in syria but let's look at the statistics in more detail provided by activists creech they argue the death toll peaked when gulf states and the u.s. sent more weapons to the region then fell when arms were limited before increasing once again when more weapons were supplied it may be a simple correlation but nonetheless suggests arming the syrian opposition may be causing more bloodshed as a disturbing numbers there with arteries and reform more analysis and opinion on syria as always standing by for you on our web site r.t. dot com. for now iraq is in the grip of violence the latest suicide bombing claimed at least twenty five lives in the northern city of kirkuk the suffering though made worse by crippled infrastructure and shortages of electricity and drinking water. looks at why one of the world's most oil rich nations still lacks basic services ten

with rockets early sunday morning the arab league has condemned the strike demanding action of from the u.n. while the u.k. calls for an end to the arms embargo on the opposition saying peace in the region is now under threat. and in bahrain a court has sentenced to thirty one protesters to fifteen years in jail for throwing firebombs to an anti regime riots last year. five o'clock in the morning here in moscow this is thomas going to have you with us syria says israel has effectively declared war after its planes bombed targets in damascus the second airstrike in as many days syrian officials say missile batteries have been pointed at israel and according to unconfirmed reports they will be launched in case israel strikes again syria's state media says israeli rockets targeted a military research center on the outskirts of the capital video footage and eyewitness accounts suggest of the attacks hit weapons dumps triggering large explosions syria says a number of people were killed and wounded amid widespread destruction the arab league has condemned the strikes and demanded the u.n. securi

it's especially outrageous of the british prime minister just dismissed call upon the u.n. commission into who is using chemical weapons and when in the syrian conflict and at the same time the very rebels that are being sent to the so-called normally full force and equipment and materiel they're defecting to al nusra according to a report in british papers if britain has been exporting things like the global's to the syrian rebels and they use them in a sarin gas attack as. indicated by calling up all these u.n. report does that mean britain has been backing chemical weapons in the middle east the fact that david cameron can do this shows him completely out of step after all it was him being trying to lift the arms embargo for the rebels and never countenanced at any point the idea of a talks process of kind of process that was aside from all the fighting and killing and slaughter and get john kerry and me putin seemed to have come to an agreement that yes of course they have to talk instead of all this killing. the u.s. defense secretary says the old order in the middle ea

for the alleged chemical attack in the middle of march in aleppo the syrian government requested the u.n. to send a mission to investigate the incident the u.n. fact finding team has been on standby and ready to deploy but then the u.n. chief appears to have changed his plans for the investigation there's russia's foreign minister with more on that. syrian government because of the germs are deployed in this to this particular situation the secretary general state the use ready to do this but couple of days later she sent a letter to the syrian government demanding the next is for the international experts to all cheery to read through the entire it's the roots of syria as well as . the steam would like to to talk. and this is something which really defeats the purpose of immediate. investigation into the specific report of the case of the use of chemical substances to have. any person in syria. resembles very much the security council resolutions regarding iraq and we all remember the end of that story so now instead of investigating a concrete incident the u.n. wants access to all site

the cake continues to insist the syrian regime may have recently used chemical weapons despite a top u.n. war crimes investigator saying there is reason to believe such arms were in fact used by the rebels and despite its official commitment to peace through diplomacy britain is stepping up efforts to start directly arming the syrian opposition firth reports. well the prime minister said to m.p.'s in the house of commons recently that there's a growing body of limited but persuasive evidence that the syrian regime has used and continues to use chemical weapons now the u.n. war crimes investigators have said that as yet they've reached new conclusions as to whether either side has indeed use chemical weapons now the one day talk is taking place at a time when there is growing calls for some form of diplomatic progress to be made in place sites are going to be very much focused on not the prime minister's spokesman saying the u.k. considers russia an important player when it comes to these discussions despite this russian the u.k. has certainly had a fractious past when it comes to the top

had no hard evidence to accuse the assad government of doing that now this geneva based u.n. investigation is believed to be separate from the investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria in the middle of march assad forces and the rebels blame each other for that damascus has requested a u.n. mission to investigate the incident but the investigation is being stalled because in addition to investigating that specific incident the u.n. chief now the men's access to all facilities in syria and there are concerns that this inquiry was the u.n. into the center of a possible hunt for weapons of mass destruction where it faces the ghost of iraq the fear again is that politics may get ahead of facts so going at this point a u.n. investigation team suggests that it's been the syrian rebels not the assad government that have used chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war conflict but it's not the only grave development coming out of syria you and i get an a for the past few days breaking news out of syria with these israeli airstrikes are the latest reaction to these

and, of course, we will stay as long as necessary to implement the u.n. mandate. we operate on the basis of u.n. mandate. we have an obligation to implement the u.n. mandate to insure free movement. [inaudible conversations] [laughter] you asked me about afghanistan. there's a clear road map. by the end of 2014, the isaf mission will come to an end. that will complete our combat mission. but we will stay after 2014 with a noncombat mission, a training mission to help the afghan security forces. mr. lisyk asked me whether we do anything to stop cuts in defense budgets. of as you know, the it's a national decision. nato as an alliance can't interfere with that. that's a national decision. we have a benchmark according to which nato allies have stated that those allies that spent more than 2%, 2% or more on defense, commit themselves to stay above the 2 percent. while those allies below 2% will try to work towards the 2% benchmark. it's not a legal requirement, it's a political obligation. and whenever i visit capitals -- and soon i will visit warsaw -- i will repeat

both the u.n. and arab league have condemned the israeli action but there are concerns that tanks could be aimed at a nothing major nation in the region and an old israeli photo as well she's made in a culture explains there is a third player here fellow shia ally to assad and has a bill on the big boy on the block and israel's arch enemy iran now reports suggest that it was in the rain in shipment to has volokh that israel was targeting so it's possible that syria is just the middle man and it wouldn't be be young reason that around is equipping has a block as a backup in case of conflict with israel israel with this provocation there will be for a response either from syria even from his bloc better yet from the point of view or the obama to be in israel from iran so if you run in syria don't do anything for the moment just wait this will be seen as it is just a provocation but if there is you know the slightest bit of a response from either syria or your own that's the perfect brick text for a lo

to send a mission to investigate the incident the u.n. fact finding team has been on stand. by and ready to deploy but then the un chief appears to have changed his plans for the investigation there's russia's foreign minister with more on that the syrian government asked the secretary general to deploy a team to investigate this particular situation the secretary general stated that he is ready to do this but a couple of days later he sent a letter to the syrian government demanding a nexus for the international experts to all territory to the entire its director of syria as well as access to in his sight and any person this team would like to talk to or to visit and this is something which really defeats the purpose of immediate. investigation into a specific reported case of the use of chemical substances to have. in your sights to any person in syria. resembles very much the security council resolutions regarding iraq and we all remember the end of that story so now instead of investigating a concrete incident be you one want access to all sites and this inquiry has once

now the u.n. is calling for the immediate release of four of its peacekeepers held by syrian rebels the peacekeepers were abducted in the golan heights the demilitarized zone between syria and israel is our middle east correspondent. i've just gotten off the phone with the deputy chief of staff for the united nations peacekeeping force in the area and he says that they are definitely remaining there this follows the kidnapping of four filipino un peacekeepers who are being held in a ceasefire between syria and the israeli side of the golan heights now that is almost a no man's land not the israeli nor syrian forces can go operate in that area what we do know is that they were abducted while on patrol the u.n. does say that efforts are under way to secure their release and according to the u.n. chief banking moon he has strongly condemned the abductions and he has called for the immediate release of these peacekeepers a syrian group by the name of the martyrs of lamarck published a photo that is pur

new york well there's news this week coming out of the united nations the u.n. human rights commission released a report calling for a moratorium on quote the testing production assembly transfer acquisition deployment and use of killer robots yes killer robots lethal autonomous robotics or lars are already being used by nations around the world and many others are working to develop the technology as well well arty's mega lopez has more. well right now as the united states navy inaugurated its first ever squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles in california this week the u.n. human rights commission just released a report talking about the dangers that these robots present to the global community as well as to the report's author christoph haynes went so far as to call for a world wide at war a tory and on the testing production assembly transfer acquisition deployment and use of these machines so let's examine this report in just little bit more detail according to the findings of this report the u.s. the u.k. israel south korea and japan have all developed differ

had no hard evidence to accuse the assad government of doing that now this geneva based u.n. investigation is believed to be separate from the investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria in the middle of march forces and the rebels blame each other for that damascus has requested a u.n. mission to investigate the incident but the investigation is being stalled because in addition to investigating that specific incident the u.n. chief now demands access to all facilities in syria and there are concerns that this inquiry wants the u.n. into the center of a possible hunt for weapons of mass destruction where it faces the ghost of iraq the fear again is that politics may get ahead of facts and for joining me now live is a rigged n.s.a. director of the french center for intelligence studies eric thank you very much indeed for joining us right now if it's confound the rebels have used chemical weapons from your point of view where would they have called them from. well it's very difficult to say probably the stolen them in in some serious talk but they could also

states navy inaugurated its first ever squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles in california this week the u.n. human rights commission just released a report talking about the dangers that these robots present to the global community as well as to international law the report's author christoph haynes went so far as to call for a worldwide moratorium on the testing production assembly transfer acquisition deployment and use of these machines so let's examine this report just a little bit more detail according to the findings of this report the u.s. the u.k. israel south korea and japan have all developed different types of fully or similar at tata mis robotic weapons now there are two major types of robotic weapons here's a quick look at them the first is the major type that's very popular these days unmanned combat aerial vehicles better known as you can have. or drones these machines are simiane thomas meaning that they don't need a pilot in the seat but that there is some type of human controller in a room somewhere monitoring this robot and making its decisions for it now the second type

now the u.n. is calling for the immediate release of four of its peacekeepers held by syrian

there look at the number of the major conflicts and as i mentioned the five permanent members of the u.n. security council are responsible for seventy five percent of the weaponry around the world and let's talk about the un's international arms treaty being proposed a recent article in the economist titled a killer deal poses the following question which i want to relay is what does the and and of course the biggest gun lobby in this country got in common with syria iran and north korea the answer all or posed to the global arms trade treaty so there seems to be consensus that a treaty needs to be set and avoid weapons being used for mass atrocities one of the arguments from the n.r.a. to not pass the street into the hold any water well it's a bit embarrassing as an american to know that we have this major pro-gun lobby in the united states that's trying to influence congress not to pass the arms trade treaty the arms trade treaty even though it's been voted on by the world powers at the u.n. security council it still has to be implemented within countries there still has to be a domest

hello and welcome to the program u.n. investigators say there have strong grounds to believe rebels and see where have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war while no evidence was found the government has ever released any deadly agents this flies in the face of washington's previous statement it was there as saddam regime which had apparently resorted to the illegal weapons or he's been a chicken has to details. you want human rights investigators say based on the evidence that they have the rebels in syria have used the nerve agent sorry this is a major development which comes at a time when the assad government is being accused of having used chemical weapons and so this investigation which says that in all likelihood the rebels have used chemical weapons challenges the narrative which is dominating in the media here and that if chemical weapons were used they were used by the assad government there has been an intense build up of tension around the issue as president obama said the use of chemical weapons by

troops in two thousand and eleven the u.n. says more than seven hundred people were killed in iraq last month alone clashes between security forces and so the protest was started in kind of cook sparking a wave of violence that quickly spread when iraqis accuse a government of corruption and political unrest and what the prime minister to resign there also no foods that sectarian tensions could escalate and see a return to full blown. couple of examines the impact of national struggles every day night. bombs may still haunt baghdad but these young men are more concerned with burning the rubber in a country where daily life is based on trying to avoid the dangers these iraqis are turning to danger to avoid reality tasting the thrill of speed and testing the authorities it's an unexpected sight in post-war iraq for the fun a grim statistic half of the country's growing youth population is on able to find work. the biggest problem is financial support day everyone is constantly trying to find work but in baghdad there are very few

well after meeting with russia's leadership the u.n. secretary general ban ki moon. agreed that the conflict in syria could only be resolved in accordance with international law without any foreign military intervention and with the full respect of serious territorial integrity he also agreed to the idea of putting together this joint conference which would include both the syrian rebels and the authorities now they were also able to establish the list of current stumbling blocks concerning this idea and well first of all currently the opposition is still quite divided it's unclear who would be able to represent it as a whole at such a conference secondly moscow wants to see all the regional players taking part in such a conference including iran which may cause problems with washington and also if the syrian authorities are ready to take part in such a conference right now then the rebels are making now are voicing preconditions which include president assad having to step down but in general ban ki moon's visit continues this diplomatic marathon which will been witn

but for now the recent flurry of diplomatic efforts to end the violence in syria sees the u.n. chief meet the russian president on friday a lot of improvement has already held talks with the u.s. secretary of state and the british and israeli leaders are going to spin off has been following all the talks and reports from russia's black sea resort of sochi. u.n. secretary general is already in sochi and like you said he's ready to meet with both russia's foreign minister and the president continuing this diplomatic marathon with been witnessing since earlier russia was visited by u.s. secretary of state and visit other officials with syria dominating the talks and perhaps we're now witnessing a shift in the approach by many nations to the situation since they're now talking about putting together this joint conference which would include both of the syrian rebels and the authorities however several stumbling blocks still remain an opening to russia's foreign minister sergei level of the syrian opposition is still a very divided and it's unclear right now who can represent it as a