week's top stories on our nato launches its heaviest a most punishing it strikes on the libyan capital killing dozens as the rebels complain the alliance is ignoring the real front line meanwhile the chorus of international condemnation over syria. an american warship docked in an address in southern ukraine to take part in the to war games something the russian foreign ministry is completely not happy about. the reaching pointing point. at an event just. an exchange in the bailout money. the day that marks the birth of modern russia celebrating the country's declaration of sovereignty and its first free election which led to the

historic for all of. this is r t it's ten pm here in moscow by name is kevin with news review with a week for you and first libyan rebel fighters on the mediterranean front line of trying to retake the major oil port of zawiya not far from the capital tripoli at least one hundred members of gadhafi forces and fifty rebels have reportedly been killed in fierce fighting there the offensive marks a breakthrough for the opposition which was swept out from the port by artillery and intensive shelling from pro-government troops about three months ago the advances of the closure of a key supply route from chine is here rebel leaders have complained that nato airstrikes are aimed at supporting the military efforts focused too heavily on tripoli rather than on frontlines in misrata and that's leading to even more

civilian casualties as. that. solomon has been within a hair's breath of death the doctors have performed any a miracle and the young girl is back home with her family she took her mother's pills to kill herself. if someone wants to kill me and bill to do myself. but who wants to kill the teenager so most 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 airstrikes 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 that innocent civilians have been among the dead the claims have not been independently verified but one thing this clear since march nineteenth the live warden really paeans has changed forever saddam is mother will never forget the day when her daughter preferred death to this new life my girl told me before that she saw 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 they never sat they were going to bomb us he promised to protect us but instead they scare us talking about who they are of a block here saddam his father is more precise and the world no longer needs nato 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 till september that means people here face months more terror from the skies one of nato is supposed to target khadafi its military arsenal actually landed here in this district it didn't destroy the colonel's compound but it's almost damaged the lives of one family as you can see the building has quickly been repaired now the question is whether the people will ever recover. tripoli. amid ever increasing claims of civilian casualties in libya many know question the humanitarian goals of the alliance in an interview with the nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen earlier this week my colleague and this is now 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 according 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 bombs they've seen civilian buildings blown to pieces does it does he in a car on a phone or in 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 hit. military. targets. and of course command and control centers can be used to plan and organize attacks against civilians come out of control centers are legitimate military targets. what a violent how the nato chief i would rather challenge him questions over libya in a full interview you gave us and say it's been shown to get in twenty minutes time it's also streaming whenever you'd like to see it on our website. tensions are

also peaking in syria government troops have stalled the rebel more than pulled a ton of just said all should go with tanks and military helicopters as the army's entered the city a lot of the quote cleanse it of rebel groups which killed at least a hundred twenty police officers last week meanwhile this is britain and france is still pushing for a un resolution condemning the brutal crackdown against anti-government activists in syria russia though which opposes any attempts to intervene in the syrian conflict is said about the move let's talk more about this with us radio host and peace activist roe showed one is joining us now on the line thanks for say the u.n. resolution on syria some of the from some britain as i just mentioned there are strongly pushing for russia and china as they also just mentioned said they never support the move so what pal love didn't pirates do now the third push their agenda over the e.u. well it's an imperialist agenda whether the lukas is syria or libya or bahrain or

egypt or tunisia or the region at large or does it work here is an attempt on the part of the imperial powers to prevent and to in fact overwhelm the armed uprising that is generalized to the region specific to syria and you have to keep in mind the spokes person for likud. yeah who had just stated explicitly into knesset the israeli regime prefers bashar al assad to the resistance to him because bashar assad like his part of the hamas. notwithstanding the attempts on the part of the israelis and the united states to undermine the sovereignty and independence in syria colluded with them at every critical instance and the bashar al assad regime is not different in that respect it's a repressive regime every time however there is a general uprising against these repressive regime is there not been a closet where you are openly supported by imperialism the imperialist she could

intervene to control the al. in syria as in libya in india gender is not dissimilar because initially the uprising against gadhafi took place in the little town restaurant who funded part of the workers in keeping with the uprising in egypt and in tunisia it's important to point out to conduct the backbone and then only. and that was the opportunity or seized as such by nato and the imperial powers to launch in general intervention using qaddafi as a pretext as they had saddam hussein in iraq but their agenda is to carve up the country and seasons or even as in syria the objective is to subjugate the population and prevent the popular and mass uprising that seeks radical social and political. project. focusing on syria again what you make of the timing of the the news like you saw this week the unit told me watched closing in on syria

brought up to date again the issue of that facility that was bombed by israel back in two thousand and seven confusion over what it was they say was a nuclear facility there saying syria that i wasn't provided enough information about it to their satisfaction none the less i was saying about the timing of it coming at the same time as the pressure last week it will be putting further pressure of damascus from a different direction but still hitting the button of pressure isn't it. united states has used a clue to your randian tactical nuclear weapons throughout the region in iraq in afghanistan and now in syria design is state israel has four hundred hydrogen bomb bearing messaoud which the united states continue supplies with up to date missile and. nuclear simplied equipment to the israeli state they used to should with of the need to see the distribution of nuclear capacity in the region

as a pretext for imperial in divan ssion the monopoly of nuclear weapons is that of the united states and the israeli state they use these weapons and they menace the world with them on a constant basis this is nothing but imperial propaganda the raids on syria which violate is sovereignty are an example and zionist reach on behalf of us imperialism and then is now that's the agenda for a large numbers of another issue back to libya now i did not report that the. rebels are saying that the nato bombed the wrong place nato is concentrating on aaa they shouldn't be the front lines in another place they are getting the help they need why is that. they're getting. the united states is spending two million dollars a day in a billion and a half dollars just been handed to these so-called rebels usually the leadership of these rebels how do you file his stars a twenty year operative of the central intelligence agency the cia and the and say

yes hijack this uprising initially against gadhafi and it is a complete subordinate. oppositionist group now that is being funded and armed by the nato powers and the united states their objective is to carve up live into several countries and diseases forty four point two billion barrels of oil reserves that's what the objective is it's the sixty imperial war that obama is waging in the region and it is a genocidal war and all. target is the population at large not merely because of the rich showing us radio's a peace activist a man who's very clear about what he thinks is going on in the world thank you for being on our team and giving us your thoughts. now the american guided missile warship the u.s.s. boxer a sailed into the black sea ready for war games with the ukrainian navy but its presence so close to russia's southern borders drawn criticism from moscow the vessel in question is an integral part of nato as proposed missile defense shield

which moscow says creates more threats than is dresses artie's alexia jeff ski reports. this american warship the u.s.s. monterey carries a high tech and sophisticated and to marseille system called ages and indeed according to the plan of the pentagon worked out several years ago that ships of the u.s.s. monterey's class could be moved to the black sea coast in case of an escalating conflict we understand that the u.s.s. monterey was moved from the american coast to the mediterranean as part of the new missile defense shield in europe worked out by the obama administration in two thousand and nine but the question which raises eyebrows in the russian foreign ministry and that was published in the statement earlier on sunday that there is as long as there is no violent conflict in the black sea region why is the ship the u.s.s. monterey docks at the desa harbor to take part in the nato war games it is especially

bewildering given the fact that all the previous seabreeze war games in order have seen only small u.s. u.s. ships take part in these war games the russian foreign ministry says that this. the fact that the u.s.s. monterey is now in the black sea region is in fact a threat to the russian national security and in some way a violation of the agreements reached between washington in moscow and moscow over the new missile defense plan in europe the initial plan of the george w. bush administration of missile defense shield in europe was scrapped by the obama administration in two thousand and nine and you plan was proposed and agreed between russia and nato but what we've seen so far what we've been seeing recently described by the russian foreign ministry and many experts as a situation when words do not match actions now first we've had american patriot missiles dispatched in the polish town off more wrong now we've heard furthermore

plans of building radar locations stations in romania and turkey and in poland so all this. according to the russian foreign ministry is not something discussed between presidents with good and obama between russia and nato so clearly the war of words continues and it is interesting to see whether there will be any reaction on the latest statement by the russian foreign ministry published on sunday so that the concerns raised by the statement and the direct accusation of washington of not keeping its promise and trying to build a collective security system in europe together and doing it only in one way order artie's correspondent in ukraine alexa bringing us up to date there coming up in a few minutes tonight on r.t. with me kevin now in one woman's fight for her dead son's family a grandmother in the way the legal guardian of the late some children launches a crusade against russian law and social attitudes find out who she succeeds in just

a couple of minutes we've got her story. first as european officials 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 sarah ferguson greece where protests against the cuts not relented. place to spain the place the child of the debt crisis we seem to think of building a the last year they killed me with these tough conditions for that bailout money and the starvation really making sense again as we find that it's very likely the measures will have to be implemented if police is going to be able to continue existing international bailout money now all this on the back of because they've been released last week said sixteen percent of the fleet what pulls a county out to jump way ahead cut misplay you can see coming plants around me this

is what people have been gathering regulate suppliers has against the state all states imagine that we're joined at the moment by the negates this. electorate in a fancy heading way now these people states measures being. are they going to have any effect close the only effect there are going to have this is they're going to make matters worse for the past year greece is facing a social disaster it's on a stereotype program and seen before in greece which has only resulted in the south at the ration of living standards are under an extreme rise in unemployment. and. they're on a very deep recession and the new program the new middle term program they're proposing now are just going to it's going just to make things worse it is a privatization program which is not just privatization is completely new it's a complete losing of public companies utilities and assets and the only thing we're going to see is even more employment and even more to ration of living standards

it's very christian of his leaving the year if they don't get i think that greece being part of the euro zone these are contributing factors to the problems that the euro zone is like a financial monetary straitjacket it's completely irrational when you put countries with different activity levels different countries competitiveness levels in the same money michael. in finding out about the feeling in germany and that started there are some people who think they would be better out of the usa together. the euros did long leave germany says top lawyer marcus kerber he's suing the german government to stop its bankrupt neighbors you can save the euro by saving grace on the contrary you have to get rid of greece greece is no longer worth a candidate no longer with the number of the european union the nations labeled in

delusion by some as the pigs of europe portugal ireland greece and spain must drop the currency now before they drag down other members warms kerber. things last year raise the pension age to sixty five and could early retirement of the countries believe that greek workers work less will bail you out a second time says chancellor merkel but if you want cash in future you must work longer the statements caused through ring greece but they're not happy in the e.u. capital frankfurt either believing the greeks have had it too easy because if we are going to chill sixty seven it's not possible to declare why should sixty. 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 and they'll suing merkel's government claiming it hid 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 close peter we'll 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 dept restructured those who gave money for high interest rate will lose some of their money. and 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 i.m.f. greeks now agree with germans who save a bit out of control the question is will weak states quit the euro and reorganize or stay and bring the single currency down with them down your bushel r.t. . now to a story of a russian grandmother whose attempts to keep the memory of her late son alive have landed her a legal and moral controversy xander boykins cover story for you. it was only at fifty seven that lamar understood the true meaning of having her hands full an accomplished scientist a wife of three decades and also

a devoted mother none of these roles kept her as busy as she is now her tragedy she became a grandmother only after she'd lost everything else to go soon though the death of my son created a hole in my life that will never close but the birth of my grandchildren certainly provides some solace is god's gift to me the mar son died of cancer three years ago but before his first chemotherapy a session doctors conserved his sperm with the help of surrogate mothers two sets of twins were brought into the world. the mars has been left her her scientific career was put on hold yet lamar's says they're all trifles compared to be revenged brought about by her son's death. it's love which is fed by grief but it's love nonetheless three years ago i couldn't imagine myself even smiling let alone

laughing or singing songs but the little ones pulled me out of this abyss of despair. with her large family support lamar's says she has no financial parental concerns about raising her grandchildren the main problem now is the reluctance of the russian state to recognize her as the moderator of this children and her deceased son as their father. has lowered believes the law is in their side. according to russian law there are no limits on who can become appearing through the use of surrogate mother who of course cases like this one are still very unusual in russia that's why some registration offices or court officials may be confused and refuse to register children but the law is definitely in our favor. that maher is this. third woman in russia who used the sperm of her deceased son to continue the family's lineage yet whether it is due to her age or the share number of children involved her story

a good many russians questioning the affleck's of this kind of parenting the work that you would all these exercises employer mechanics ultimately lead to this very ambiguous situation we can really tell the difference between a son and a grandson there are so many orphans in russia so she wanted to be a mother she could have easily realized her maternal instincts i think ultimately it's a very selfish drive to pass your genes no matter what. but lamar couldn't care less about societal attitudes too much suffering for the loss of your only son persuaded her that there is no such thing as too many grandchildren russian law has no age caps for people who are willing to adopt children the only cabbage is that a potential parent should be at least sixteen years older than the child in law muskies this age difference is almost sixty years just doesn't sit easily in a country where most people become parents before they turn thirty and about raising even two kids is often seen more than

a handful for the boy artsy moscow. was a first about was for moscow iran russia today is the country marks twenty one years since it declared its sovereignty just one year later it held its first free elections which resulted in victory for the reformist president boris yeltsin shortly afterwards the soviet union collapsed as artie's ago grow up never reports even today memories of the bumpy road to democracy still fresh in many 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 lection 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 year ceasar provoking unrest and even armed conflict and moscow two leaders also competed against each other we held god which i was the head of the soviet union chosen by communist functionaries boris yeltsin was in charge of a new sovereign 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 communist candidate handily with more than half of the votes. when he led the resistance to the coup laid out some of his popularity peaked but over the next decade the support fields and among russians. 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 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 eager of all to see moscow. looking ahead in just a few minutes tonight we post a shot questions to the nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen about the controversial current campaign in libya is the subject of our interview we got the sport ahead this out here on our team from moscow with me kevin i mean this sunday evening the twelfth of june was now coming up to twenty eight minutes past ten pm.

more than a month. in one of the most extreme environments on the planet this is antarctica and people have to be aware that they're far away from civilization.