>> washington's efforts to drum up support for an attack on syria are met with strong international resistance with russia saying the syrian rebels used chemical weapons to provoke fortune intervention. australia's opposition coalition sweeps to victory in a general election. among those hoping for a seat in the senate is wickileaks foun r founder. and documents point to the n.s.a. massive decryption effort to harvest private information. we report from a rally in

berlin. >> very good morning to you. you are watching the rt network. it is just after 1:00 a.m. here. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is on a european tour trying to gather support for an american strike against syria. it is agreed that some form of action should be taken but any decision still has to be made through the u.n. president obama has been having a hard time trying to win over backers for armed intervention. the last couple of days he failed to get allies on board at the g-20 summit. all he managed was 11 nations backing a so-called call for tough action but stopped short of explicitly approving military

intervention. international opinion polls meantime show strong opposition to an armed assault in the united states. 56% said no to any form of military action in syria. over 60% of french people are against it, too. the vast majority of people serving in the united kingdom said any move must have the green light from the u.n. similar sentiments shared in germany and turkey. the g-20 nations against it account for some three billion people and with the latest figures it seems many in the rest of the world don't want to see the u.s. carry through its move. protests have been held in several countries against an assault on syria. you will see some of the pictures. the anti-war sentiment has been followed in washington a crowd gathering outside the white house sending a message to congress. there were similar rallies in new york and in london and paris 10ing of thousands -- tens of

thousands gathered and in the vatican making it one of the largest rallies against the proposed strike on syria. celebrities in the u.s. have been speaking out against the plans. that was from madonna expressing her opposition. the meetings were followed of the g-20 leaders. >> everyone is speculating who won the standoff, putin or obama on the syria issue. i went to the press this morning and the majority have been saying that putin has prevailed in that sense. we do know there's been a lot of discord between the g-20 countries whether a military strike against syria is needed and clearly the biggest concern was whether putin and obama will have a meeting at all. because officially they have no meetings scheduled, something unprecedented for the presidents

of the united states and russia. but eventually according to them they met for a 20 or 30 minute friendly conversation during which they discussed syria. obama had high expectations, he was hoping he could persuade the countries of the need to attack syria and provided the substantial evidence of bashir al-asad using chemical weapons against the rebels. but judging by what the russian president said on that matter it seems that obama failed on that sense. >> i view everything that happened with the so-called use of chemical weapons in syria as a provocation by the rebels who count on help from abroad from those countries that originally supported them. that is the reason for the provocation. i also want to remind you use of force against a sovereign state is acceptable only if for sel self-defeself self-defense and only if the

u.n. security council approves such action. as one of the participants of our discussion those who do otherwise put themselves above the law. >> still david cameron, barack obama and the french president tried to play hard ball saying that the u.n. security council decision may be overruled if they believe that an attack against syria is needed. to that the russian president said this may generate a great feeling of fear among smaller countries obviously suggesting that bigger states may do whatever they want overruling the mandate of the united nations. so now that the g-20 summit is done we are in for some interesting weeks to see how the future of syria will be resolved. >> lack of support for the u.s. initiative on attacking syria. a journalist said nations are wary if they support a u.s. operation.

>> we are witnessing remarkable moments and days in international politics. it is unseen for a british parliament to oppose the united states in a very crucial matter like attacking syria or not. we see other countries saying we can only do something militarily when the united nations approves. many people see the united states is siding with jihadists who are creating problems in euro europe, small compared to the middle east but creating problems with terror attacks and so on, on german trains. they say islamists are being installed every in the middle east, in egypt, syria, iraq, it is contradictory to what europe should want. >> we have more of the story about the syrian government

forces battling to try to clear al qaeda linked rebels from an ancient christian city. we will see how that army operation is progressing. >> christian pilgrims from all over the world used to take this road to travel to one of their most significant silence and one of the most holy places in syria. its residents still speak aramaic, the language jesus christ is believed to have spoken. we are driving there but for another reason. on wednesday the central syrian village which had been among the few in syria that didn't see any violence since the crisis started in 2011, was attacked by rebel forces, most of them reportedly members of [inaudible]. the war came here. after a car bomb exploded the militants considered terrorist the by the u.s. and u. tphfpn.

in. we can see the village from here but the thing is that the militants who are still inside the village can see us. there are snipers inside the village. so it is dangerous to go there. the soldiers say that the militants took over the mountain top hotel and from time to time they fire from this strong place and there are militants behind the mountain. >> the militants, around 300 people, are hiding in the hotel. there are ancient caves there under the village. they use them as well. they are watching us and we are watching them. but if we start moving they will attack us. >> the soldiers showed me the

militants' position. armed islamists who are behind a number of violent killings and are believed to be the most aggressive force confronting president assad almost surrounded the christian village. where these people came from? >> they came from a city in the north apnd another city in the south. this village is like an island in a storm iing ocean. >> we visited last spring, a christian island in a mostly muslim ocean. the village was indeed unique. >> we used to live in peace, muslims and christians. of course, we are afraid people from outside the city and the country may come and destroy this unity. >> and it seems the residents' worst fears became reality. >> why do you think the militants attacked this village? >> they know that american missiles will not strike a

unesco site. it is a safe haven for them. >> while we talk reinforcements arrive. the syrian army plan an operation to clear the rebels. there have been rumors that they have left the village. but the army say the militants are still there. and even if they leave the village they can hide nearby and return. >> how do you think visitation will occur in case of a u.s. strike? will they use this opportunity to advance further? >> of course they will. america is supporting terrorism in this country. we have been fighting with the u.s. for these 2 1/2 years and now we can face them directly. but we are ready for that. we will not give up. >> if america strikes, syria's major military facilities will be target and destroyed. no one can say what the war on the ground will look like, but certainly this place will no longer look the same.

>> they are still occupying the hotel according to a latest tweet. >> australia's opposition clinched a resounding victory in the general selection giving it to tony abbott prompt being the labor government to concede defeat. among those running for the party was the wickileaks founder. my colleague spoke about the bid for office by assange. >> he has the power to pull them away from family first, the pirate party and the sex party.

you heard that right. he has the power to get the attention from them because of name alone. >> and with his campaign has been very colorful. >> it has. his campaign for a seat in australia senate as you mentioned has consisted mostly of social media blitzes and with a mullet wigged music video where he recorded his own versi version. didn't please the president of ecuador that this was shot in the ecuadorian embassy but that is another story all together. >> can you outline what they have been saying? >> it was just established last month and it was to bring transparency, accountability and justice to the australian parliament by pushing for public oversight of practices and citing corruption and providing a range of 21st century freedom

including free flow of information, protection of whistle blowers and integrity in the global country which is as you can imagine a very tall order for any political party. >> and tall order if he does win there is an outside chance he will have to go back to australia. how is that possible? >> he has plenty of federal agents after him but he has to get to australia to fill that seat. we spoke with his running mate who said that the responsibility for granting safe passage should fall on the shoulders of the australian government. >> doesn't feel very good for the australian government to allow a political figure who has been elected stay in detention and it would be a public relations matter that the australian government would have to take very carefully. >> if elected he has 10 months to make it back to australia

before casual vacancy would be created by lack of attendance. in this case the running mate would take his seat. so, if victoria's voters swing assange's way and he tries to make a dash to get home he will either end up in the senate or in the slammer. >> there's a choice to make. still to come spying and politics. the outcry in germany with the cooperation with u.s.

>> this is r.t. new revelations are coming to

light on the scope of the n.s.a. online snooping. according to the latest leaks from snowden the u.s. spent billions to decode private data from e-mails to banking transactions. the situation is spreading anger across europe and with the german election many are unhappy about its government's role. we have this report. >> another demonstration in berlin against the n.s.a.'s spying on europe. europeans have been outraged at the amount of their personal details that have not only been gleaned through the spying scandals but handed over by certain companies. that has drawn hundreds of people out on to the streets of the german capital to campaign against it. they say they are unhappy at the u.s. looking into their personal lives. >> any intelligence service active in germany must be subject to the law.

there are committees for that and they should be making sure the german intelligence service operates in the interests of its citizens and doesn't cooperate with foreign services who spy on us. >> we are data should be protect and we should know what is going on. at this moment everything is strictly confidential so we have no way to defend ourselves from surveillance. today we would like to so them that we will not accept this. >> all the western democracies after september 11 almost started an arms race like in the cold war but this time they were used against their own citizens. this makes me extremely angry. so today i'm wearing a wedding dress this symbolizes love for democracy to which i say yes and i will love till death do us part. >> at this level of outrage prompted the european commission to say edwin snoweden's leaks

have been a wake-up call and they need to put forth legislation that will hamper companies that give forward information at the source and stop them from doing that and handing over the private information of european citizens to the united states. >> in the documents the n.s.a. states its goal of gaining unrestricted access of cyber space and according to the director of the center for investigative journalism. it has been going on a long time. people forget that in the 1970's a spy system called echelon was uncovered over britain run by the united states. what was different about that system and the prepared one is the sheer extent of it. the major security companies that are helping the n.s.a. even commercial confidentiality as an area of secrecy has been

violated completely by there offering up everything. people are alarmed because they realize it will affect them personally. it is not just political opponents but the possibility of blackmail is enormous. some person can sift it and find something damagen and use it for personal or political gain. >> it's been over three months since president obama vowed to referee 80 prisoners from began mo bay. they have been -- guantanamo bay. we investigate the issue and the u.s. government trusting the yemeni government to carry out drone strikes weekly it seems but they cannot trust the government to take prisoners from gitmo because they say they are going to be terrorists, we can't trust to release them. however, many have been released from guantanamo in the past and they just want a chance to have a free life and not be detained

indefinitely. >> there are no countries that currently want to host these prisoners because there is so much red tape associated with that with the united states. the united states promised the yemeni people there would be infrastructure there to help former guantanamo inmates reassimilate into its society. that is yet to exist. we have covered this on the show in the past and it activists and journalists that traveled to yemen who explained whether it is like for people that are around these drone bombings and horrible things that are happening in yemen and on top of that there is the guantanamo aspect that these men will never return and will never see their families and it is heartbrea heartbreaking. >> much more on that in 10 minutes time. right now at rt.com if you want to check that out you might be interested. lying to the lie detectors it is as easily as counting to three

according to an instructor who has taught his techniques to hundreds of people and has been given a jail sentence for his trouble. find out what got him in hot water on our web saoeufrplt and you wouldn't want to be in the face of this. a spectacular volcano footage in our "in motion" page.

>> a dam protecting a city in the russia's far east has given way after a month of flooding forcing 500 to abandon homes. rescue groups are trying to get them to dry land where puszs take them -- buses take them away. water levels have been rising by more than 20 centimeters every day. several helicopters are on standby ready for a broader evacuation. the floods are the most severe

in 120 years and affect 50,000 people. clashes are up to the rally of the far right english defense league trying to march and fighting broke out with an antifascist protesters. another protest in turkey turned violent with police firing tear gas. students turned otd against plans to build a road against a campus ripping out 3,000 trees. 14 were arrested. in may protests against the destruction of a park expispira into deadly clashes. egypt launched a military operation in the northern sinai. helicopters and tanks were part of the part of it.

bloodshed in the rest of the region intensified with the ousting of mohamed morsi in july. two blasts in somali's capital. first a car bomb exploded near the entrance of a restaurant as suicide bomb was detonated inside the restaurant. the group linked to al qaeda said they carried out the attacks. in the last few hours the international olympic committee announced tokyo will host the 2020 olympics. its presentation stressed the skwraez delegation put forth safety concerns over the risk of rad radioactive water would not be an issue. they hosted them in 1964. they beat madrid and istanbul for the vote. the number of american business executives implicated in fraud

soared the last two decades. >> yeah, yeah. i have explained this many times before. the board of directors of any s&p 500 in mark wants the c.e.o. implicated in some crime, committing fraud or subpoenaed or in jail because it shows initiative. they want took the extra mile and break the law and then they want to throw it to the justice department and say eric holder can't catch us and if they do get can caught they change the law and that is what it is all about. breaking the law. i'm for law and order. bring back the death penalty. bring it back. bring it back. yeah, ma. yeah. >> next we will take aim in the mainstream at breaking the set.

this is rt international.

huge changes are now sweeping this nation.