the week's top stories on nato launches its heaviest and most punishing air strikes on the libyan capital killing dozens as the rebels complained that the alliance is ignoring the front line meanwhile the chorus of international condemnation over syria every louder. and her comments to the boil in greece asked the government moves to make deeper cuts in public spending in exchange for another e.u. bailout in germany those footing the bill saying they're getting tired of the. end of the day that marks the birth of modern russia celebrating the country's declaration of sovereignty and its first free elections which led to the historic fall of the soviet union.

a warm welcome to you you're watching the weekly here on r t this sunday with me and now a libyan rebel fighters on the mediterranean frontline are trying to retake the major oil port of zawiya just fifty kilometers west of the capital tripoli the offensive marks a breakthrough for the opposition which was swept out by artillery fire an intensive shelling and pro-government troops about three months ago the attackers forced gadhafi forces to close a key supply route from tunisia rebel leaders have complained that nato airstrikes aimed at supporting their military efforts focused heavily on tripoli rather than on the frontlines in misrata and zawiya and this is leading to even more civilian casualties as are. reports. saddam has been weaving and has graz death the doctors have performed any a miracle and the young girl is back home with her family she took her mother to

kill herself. if someone wants to kill me and myself. but who wants to kill the teenager. summer's native city tripoli has been under constant bombardment by nato forces for three months day and night forms have been falling on the city with a population of around a million no one can ever say when or where the next one would land. this week in the most intensive air idea that there have been sixteen nato air strikes in just ten hours attacks against civilians must stop gadhafi must go and the libyan people deserve to determine their own future nato has frequently claimed success and the military operation is supposed to protect civilians but the libyan government has repeatedly protested the innocent civilians have been among the dead the claims have not been independently very high and for twice in his clear since

march nineteenth the law of warden early pins has changed forever saddam was mother will never forget the day when her daughter preferred death to this new life my girl told me before that she felt death as a good thing when i entered her room that day she was lying on the floor there was smoke everywhere could see what happened but i realized immediately it was something terrible this is not fair they told us they want a no fly zone you never said they were going to bomb us he promised to protect us but instead they scare us talking about who they are of obamacare said of his father is more precise and the world no longer needs nato the second world war ended long ago and we try to live our lives we'll need starts wars and always intervenes in other countries problems we're tired of war our patience is running out let us just live our life has just prolonged its operation and leave it all september that means people here face months more terror from the skies one of nato

is supposed to target khadafi its military arsenal actually lend it to here in this district it didn't destroy the colonel's compound but it's almost damage the life of one family as you can see the building has quickly been repaired now the question is whether the people will ever recover. tripoli. at least thirty people were killed in the latest string of nato airstrikes on the libyan capital that's according to a government spokesman and amid more claims of civilian casualties may now question the humanitarian goals of the alliance in an interview with nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen i asked him to clarify how the coalition defines a legitimate target actually the u.n. security council resolution goes beyond a no fly zone cording to the u.n. security council resolution we are mandated to protect the civilian population in libya taking all necessary measures and that's exactly what we're doing right now i

just want to clarify for some of our viewers who have seen homes bombed they've seen civilian buildings blown to pieces does that three in a car on a phone or at a hospital on a phone constitute a command center for your purposes when you say any means. i would like to stress that we are not targeting individuals we. military. targets. and of course command and control centers can be used to plan and organize attacks against civilians show amount of control centers are legitimate military targets. well you can find out how the nato chief handled other talents and questions over there in the full interview on our team in just over a couple of hours and you can watch it anytime by logging on to our website r t v dot com. tensions are also peaking in syria where government troops are attempting to storm the rebel northern border town. with tanks and military helicopters the

army has entered the city in order to quote cleanse it from the balance armed groups which killed at least one hundred twenty police officers last week meanwhile britain and france are still pushing for a un resolution condemning the brutal crackdown against anti-government activists in syria which opposes any attempts to intervene in the conflict said it won't about the move arab world observers insists serious troubles are an internal problem and its people must find their own way. i think we have to remember the revolution the revolutionary process that is taking place in the middle east is one in which ordinary people take time to take control of the society and what i think is happening in syria and what has to happen in syria is syrian movement for change has to win over just sections of society has to win over and it has to win over sections of the army and i think this is an internal struggle if you like for the future direction of syria the problem is when foreign powers starting to fear and

then then you can have a regime that then can strengthen its position by saying this out you know. what happened today was going to happen to you karen with this movement and so on so i think it's very very dangerous move by britain and france to do fear in the syrian revolution because both countries have a very long history in this region palestine lebanon and syria itself and i think it will be seen very much as western interference in the internal affairs of syria . in addition syria's been accused by the international atomic watch talk of building a covert nuclear reactor and then went to supply necessary information about it syria insists it's a non-nuclear military site but the agency is demanding more evidence and threatening sanctions but some critics believe washington and its allies are using the allegations as a tool for change in the country now that the syrian regime is under fire this.

trial has to be opened so that the international community the u.s. gets the u.n. and the way to accuse syria of violating international law so they can take them out there to this community council so that we can apply more pressure just yet again. on the international institutions for political objectives whether it's a guy over there is this curator council this is what the u.s. is doing this is a building which has been inspected by the. time and number of times but they're not they want to have. this it is out doing they told them a number of times that this is a military installation and this is nothing to do with a nuclear energy or power or a reactor the saying since you are not telling us what else you're going to use it therefore it must be a nuclear facility and that's why we're going to take the matter to the security council. here with artsy live from moscow coming up in

a few minutes when telling becomes a video game america it's out of its unmanned attack drone program and with it growing fears of a place they sentimentality replacing morals and morals rather when it comes to north prayer. and three months on from the onset of fukushima nuclear crisis in japan we look at how government efforts to downplay radioactive time and nation have culminated in a massive display of public rage. russia will restart the imports of european vegetables if the union guarantees the safety of its products products meaning they're free from the deadly e. coli bacteria the statement was among the outcomes of this week's russia e.u. meeting. if surely she would know we had vegetables today and yesterday i don't know where they came from i suppose we'll have to wait and see and we were discussing ways to restore shipments of vegetables from europe to russia we already

have to buy new european vegetables after we are provided live sufficient going to us by the e.u. us. president medvedev also urged the e.u. to speed up their decision on the russians and the world trade organization with the e.u. commission chief barroso say accession is possible by the and this year the two sides have also discussed the easing of these a regime saying agreement on the topic could be made next month or next year summit will be held in brussels in the winter. as european affairs solves ready the next slice of greece's bailout the european central bank and the german government are arguing over how to get private investors to contribute just one year after the first payment the next stage comes with conditions calling on athens to implement even stricter austerity measures tens of thousands taking to the streets of athens in protest against yet another round of sweeping parts during her weekly video podcast german chancellor angela merkel stated it's important not

to take steps which could endangered the global economic upswing as europe battles the debt crisis in greece and beyond but many germans are angry at their government for paying for others' mistakes daniel bustle reports. the euros did long leave germany says top lawyer marcus he's suing the german government to stop . buying crap they do you cannot save so you are by saving greece on the contrary you have to get rid of these greece is no longer worth the candidate of gold i'll go with the number of the european union the nations labeled in delusion as the pigs of europe portugal. ireland greece and spain must drop the currency now before they drag down other members warns curva although athens last year raised the pension age to sixty five and could early retirement of the country's believe

the greek workers work less. we'll bail you out a second time says chancellor merkel but if you want cash in future you must work longer the statements caused up through ring greece but they're not happy in the e.u.'s cash capital frankfurt either believing the greeks have had it too easy because if we are going to jail sixty seven it's not possible to declare why other people should always six fifteen which are certainly not responsible for the debts and the deficits run in portugal greece in the pic states raise the age when when the greek people retire. sorry all three people what we have to work along as well germans or wrote boiling point anger which could spill out onto the streets the powerful greens are now suing merkel's government claiming it to keep facts about bailouts from the public people in germany i ask you do we have to pay

these so we have to give answers and the answers we don't get from our government even the ruling party is revolting klaus pizza will she's fighting all rescues since he argues leaving the eurozone is in the interests of the struggling countries they should take the chance to say ok we get out we. solve our problems we will have our debt restructured those who gave money for high interest rate would lose some of their money and then they can qualify again for the euro maybe after ten fifteen years greece protests the euro's a straight jacket which blocks traditional ways to boost your economy like devaluing the currency or adjusting interest rates even greece's european commissioner says that the country's membership of the common currency is at risk

unless athens takes the painful cost cutting medicine prescribed by the e.u. and the. greeks know agree with germans it's out of control the question is will weak states quit the euro a reorganize or story and bring the single currency down with the new bushel. and we have more views on europe's economy later this hour are two talks of the french nationals leader murray in the pan who says the e.u. has become weak and clean and crisp creating the you're creating the euro i say was a mistake for interviews coming up in about fifteen minutes. this week the u.s. made a number of airstrikes including unmanned drone attacks in pakistan and yemen american since the targets were militants but unofficial reports suggest there were many more civilian casualties than admit it and are just going to check can found out the morality behind robotic attacks is being increasingly call to question this

when a u.s. drone hits the house of this young man in pakistan he lost an eye both legs and three family members. these people are demanding the cia be held responsible for the deaths of their loved ones but to no avail with the use of drones comes a lack of accountability those are being operated by somebody at a command center in langley virginia they're watching it on video on a video screen they're pressing the button they're deciding who lives and who dies and then they go off for a weekend where they have barbecues in their suburban virginia and suburban maryland homes and who pays the price the people who are the victims of the attack is there accountability none whatsoever drones have become the symbol of america's undeclared wars wars that seem to have no state all legal boundaries we've opened up a new round of warfare a new room of breaking breaching international and domestic law. used in

pakistan yemen and elsewhere they have killed scores of civilians. the former chief counterinsurgency strategist for the u.s. state department has estimated that drone attacks killed fifty non targeted persons for each intended target but one of the things the united states kind of pretends is that we are morally superior we are better judge able to judge what is good for other people and therefore we are entitled to inflict our judgement on them and that we presume they will be grateful to us for it but that is not what happens ever and it's not what's happening in yemen it's not what's happening in pakistan they are furiously enraged with us washington is looking to increase the funding for drone development by seven times over the next ten years a large part of that will go towards unarmed surveillance drones the u.s. has for years been using them in another of its undeclared wars against drug traffickers in mexico the mexican government allows us biplanes despite public

discontent there's a lot of concern that the use of these drones by the u.s. government has more to do with u.s. control over mexican territory actually going out to the drug lords and winning the drug war while issues of international law and sovereignty trigger little interest among americans the prospect of having surveillance drones spying all across the u.s. itself surely does us police agencies are asking for drones for domestic surveillance raising the alarm among those who think that could be the end of american freedoms especially when you when you look at constitutional activities like free speech activities are going to be hovering over crowds that are merely maybe protesting the war or protesting some are governmental act and they'll be chilling free speech should your old will be equipped with some sort of weapon so can learn some people saying lasers will be able to punish the students who are advocating against the government they've already been used in some instances in the united states and in two thousand and seven protesters in washington d.c.

noticed small objects floating overhead it looked like dragons turned out they were robo flies. but by the pentagon surveillance devices as america continues developing this play station mentality the killing and intelligence gathering impact is that people who live in fear that it may be time they could become a target in some ways that the video game and maybe thiering the u.s. fear that with their rapid expansion of supply growth over their own territory they could one day wake up in an alternate police state i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. . the strikes in yemen come amid a people's uprising against the country's government which has long been an ally of the us that's a war axe of a star a flounder of america sticking the label of militants on those opposing the regime . this is just another criminal illegal absolutely it's lawlessness on such a scale of hypocrisy at the very time that the us is using the un security

council the international criminal court to bring charges against other countries for terrorism and it is clearly exposed and international terrorism itself in yemen and of course in sabotage teams in syria and in bombing of libya not to mention the devastating wars in iraq and afghanistan in yemen and it is to protect a complete thirty three year dictatorship of salo who is now for. health reasons and saudi arabia an effort to protect his regime potentially bring him back and it's being used against of people's movement anyone that the u.s. fears is a threat to them is now being labeled as al qaida and it's open season in terms of attacks and and bombs and drone attacks on any number of different resistance organizations. check out our website dot com for more opinions on that instrument

including one point by us radio host alex jones the abuse of drone technology could be the beginning of a terminator style world ruled by computers also while mined for a new album gathering of the world's movers and shakers we talked to activists who make a stand against the end patentable media blackout surrounding the annual build their birth meeting find out some of the theories and just what's being decided on the wall of silence and whether it's worth taxpayers having to fund it. also crowd in space the i assessed gets three new presidents doubling the number of humans currently in orbit the combined international proveable perform unique research including attempts to find cancer cure there also be expecting a farewell visit downfalls atlantis the last hour flight of the current u.s. space shuttle program. to japan now where the stricken fukushima nuclear power plant continues to leak radiation while

a different kind of fallout public anger spills onto the streets huge crowds turned out across japan on saturday to demand an end to the country's use of nuclear power the process came on the heels of revelations that the government had covered up the till extent of the radioactive contamination following the fukushima disaster tens of thousands of coal and vacuum created from the area surrounding the plants are still in temporary shelters and instead of receiving the sympathy they deserve many of them are suffering discrimination even from their own government that's according to dr robert jacobs from the hearing institute. there are still people living in areas where there's high radiation and there's children going to school in areas where there's high radiation and so there's been a reluctance to quickly as possible and a lot of people from the fukushima area who even people who were born there but living in discrimination in japan by people who. i consider them possibly contaminated even though radiation is not transferable to other people but there

are a lot of problems ahead if i could give one quick example in august there's a very important holiday in japan called in which everyone returns to their hometown because the spirits of ancestors come to their burial places where the ashes are in turn and the family welcomes them these people the exclusion zone will not be able to observe this will they just holiday and welcome there the spirits of their ancestors who return and when people find that there are unable to carry out all their familial obligations for decades because they can't return to these areas people tend to blame themselves even if there are structural reasons so there needs to be some work done to help people through not just the radiation exposure but the social breakdowns that follow radiation exposures in communities. a look now at some world news in brief for you this hour as most senior african leader has been solved dead by soldiers in the somali capital mogadishu the identity of. mohammad

is the most wanted was the most wanted man on the continent and it was confirmed by d.n.a. tests the home of a five million dollars bounty on his had his wife from the one nine hundred ninety eight bombings of the american embassies in kenya and tanzania in which over two hundred people died. voters across turkey are heading to the polls in a general election two parties are battling for power with current prime minister tayyip running against the secular republican people's party wants targeting a parliamentary majority so we can take to the constitution in favor of more policies. well there's a festive atmosphere here in moscow and around today as the country marks twenty one years since it declared its sovereignty by the collapse of the soviet union just one year later and held its first free elections which resulted in victory for the reformist president. grodin of reports even today memories

that bumpy road to democracy are still fresh in people's minds. june twelve nineteen ninety one millions voted to make boris yeltsin russia's first president a watershed moment in the country's history but this was the first free election ever in russia the day after we left behind a totalitarian state and had a new job of building a democratic society that respected the rights of its people by the time the election took place the soviet union had less than a year to live but no one knew how it would disintegrate its fifteen republics began to declare sovereignty one by one while staying a part of the us a saw provoking unrest and even armed conflict and moscow two leaders also competed against each other mikhail gorbachev was the head of the soviet union chosen by communist functionaries boris yeltsin was in charge of new southern russia and promised reform but calling for an open election yeltsin

challenged the authority of the communist party over russia. with this victory in the election yeltsin through the you can stand up to the communists establishment in an open and public manner he did not cut back room deals or try and protest with this victory ensured that the soviet union could break out without armed conflict. unlike former soviet leaders yeltsin campaign like a democratic politician meeting their electorate and delivering stump speeches at factories and in town squares what at his rallies attracted hundreds of thousands when the election night came we were hopeful would win but we still weren't sure after all it was the communist party that counted the votes but soon enough the results became clear boris yeltsin defeated the communists candidate handily with more than half of the votes. when he led the resistance their father in

a coup laid out some of his popularity peaked but over the next decade the support fields and among russians dwindled as the country went through difficult reforms surveys showed that as the anniversary of the election approached if you remember and even fewer care it's been good i don't have any emotions about it but i did vote for yeltsin then but i'm far less political now absolutely neutral i voted but i can tell you these are all just politicians games they have nothing to do with me . it's not surprising that those who lived through the difficult times did not want to celebrate this occasion but hopefully the next generation will truly appreciate the historic significance of this moment and of yeltsin as of now russia's first president himself remains unappreciated with only one in five saying to have a positive attitude towards him many outside of russia said at the even today it's democracy is not perfect and some inside the country said they still yearn for the soviet union but one thing is very hard to argue against as

a result of these changes twenty years ago russians are wealthier of more personal and political freedoms you go over and see moscow. much more have new next hour here on our team including a helping hand or a lot of influence. over leaders of egypt will all be really great if they accept a real slow anyone let me leave the worst trouble. seeing the international monetary fund extended three billion dollar loan to egypt but some say there are strings attached to the first aimed at steering the still on stable country the last once it. kind of woman aiming to be the legal guardian of her late son still drill launches a crusade against russell long so stall attitudes the societal attitudes rather and even death itself find out if she succeeded next hour. well for now stay with

us for a recap of our top stories after this break.