election fever grips russia as thousands of people come out on the streets of moscow to show their support for the various presidential candidates. and israel dismisses global concerns over a potential military escalation in the this view with iran saying it alone will decide whether to launch a strike on the islamic republic. it's five pm in moscow i match reza good to have you with us here on r t our top story the u.n. is seeking to send its humanitarian chief to syria to secure an aid delivery to civilians caught up in the bloodshed the irrational bodies also preparing to investigate the country's officials over allegations they've committed crimes against humanity artie's correspondent in damascus marie if an ocean has been keeping up on developments on the ground she filed this report. according to our sources here in syria the fighting in the besieged city of homs is now over with

the army taking control of the city we've been hearing initial reports from our sources here that there has been a ceasefire agreement between the free syrian army and governmental forces in the area but it hasn't been confirmed of course we are receiving other reports from other sources such as opposition groups opposition activists or london based syrian observatory for human rise about resume challen about clashes continued in the city of homs this reports of very hard to be very far and it's also very hard to find out exactly who is behind these reports and all these people on the ground of their report and from abroad while these conflicting reports about what's going on here come in with a rise in exile and rising pressure from the international community to the regime of president bashar assad we know with discussions resumed about possible military intervention as a solution to the country's ongoing crisis. time to change tactics with

fighting in homes entering its third week the syrian opposition based abroad and its foreign supporters seem to have run out of patience the foreign military solution to the country's crisis always considered as a last resort might now become a realistic scenario we are really close to seeing this military intervention as the only solution there are two evils military intervention a protracted civil war the opposition outside they have contact with the external powers and they don't have contact with the with the with the syrian syrian people but. of course that is going to play mujahid not his real name has been fighting the assad regime for months he went to all protests and spent many days in jail but now he says the crisis has gone too far. as for me i give up actually because it is is not just does not just. a war we are losing we are losing by

these. senators and you really give me a very who can vote and who do waiting for the for the promises but not everyone is ready to compromise with the deaths of two journalists and homes an american war reporter and a french photographer pressure from overseas has become more tangible we need to the international community needs to do more to help the syrian people but there are fears that this helping hand may also be carrying weapons we should consider every option ranging from sanctuaries to seeing that weapons are brought to the hands of those who are resisting us so they can defend themselves here in syria the home of position seems to strongly oppose the idea of

foreign help. we don't want any interference from abroad these countries may think that they can use this for the rule interests of the syrian people will not allow that but to be able to resist strong political reforms are needed and with a vote on constitutional reform around the corner may here certain any military intervention will derail the political process aimed at ending the crisis. damascus syria dr marcus papadopoulos analysis from britain's politics first arline magazine says attempts by western states to stir up rebels in syria may cause the middle east powder keg to finally explode political dialogue it's the only solution to the conflict in syria any conflict in the middle east has the potential to turn the entire region into a vast firestorm and the fact that the american and british governments of implicitly encouraging the syrian opposition. it's only making things worse in

syria and it's only groups without any more casualties and more tragedies the way in which western mages patrolling the conflict in syria could could be mistakenly taken for a hollywood film whereby it's good for us is evil in the real world however we know that conflict is a black and white and what we're seeing is a concerted efforts by western governments and western media to bring down president assad and what we need to bear in mind is that this is not the first time we've seen this happen this way the west and major parts for aids conflicts in the past clearly establishes a relationship between western governments and western major they work very closely together we saw this in the wars in the former yugoslavia we saw this leading up to the invasion of iraq and we also saw it last year in libya that of russia's foreign affairs committee has been meeting with opposition groups in damascus he sat down

with r.t. to talk about the syrian conflict the interview coming your way in the next hour. the moscow streets were filled with people thursday gathered to show support for candidates running for the upcoming presidency tens of thousands turned up for mass rallies in a spike of political activity ahead of next month's vote archy's peter all over reports. both thursday seeing a day of rallies in support of various political candidates for president across moscow today is a public holiday meaning that lots of people off work and able to come out on the streets largest rally taking place this is amongst the pro vladimir putin for president supporters many thousands of people gathered here inside the luzhniki stadium this is the usually the the home of top level football matches today it's been taken over by politics no originally the organizers had wanted to hold this event. which is right next door to the kremlin however they said that around one

hundred thousand people could turn up but just too many people to have it right in the center of downtown moscow would have brought the city to a standstill so they put they've held it here somewhere that's used to hosting this type of capacity of people but this wasn't the only event taking place today you know we also saw the supporters of. the well veteran firebrand politician in the leader of the liberal democratic party now there was also a demonstration a rally from the supporters of the communist party as well as other smaller groups as well now since the parliamentary elections in december of last year we've seen a real spike in political activism here in russia following those elections there was mass protests here in moscow as well as elsewhere around the country and that's really continued through lots of things going on ahead of those elections that are taking place on the fourth of march just over

a weeks ago as i say political activism very much at fever pitch here in russia well still to come here on r t a statistical nightmare your plan for trouble is predicted to get even worse as the block of paris to flush with more taxpayer cash intended to repay previous walls. and a man by one of the largest leaks of u.s. army data set to go on trial we look at the fate of whistleblowers and. a country whose laws could soon make it impossible to expose government secrets. but first television says it's deciding whether to strike iran says that deciding whether to strike iran is israel's decision alone dismissing international warnings that a military attack would be disastrous for the region israel strong rhetoric grew louder after the latest u.n. atomic watchdog mission to the islamic republic failed to ease western concerns tel aviv accuses tehran of trying to create nuclear weapons that aims to wipe out iran's atomic facilities before they threw pose a threat to israel security the u.s.

and its allies stressed tough economic sanctions imposed on tehran need more time to work but argues previous reports that there are many factors that could impede their progress the message is clear if iran's intransigence continues it will face increasing pressure and isolation the west is branding up the pressure on new delhi to follow its lead in stopping imports of iranian oil and dealing with its central bank but india refuses to follow suit it is not possible to do you need. to do the. you done best you can be. cruel. again. and you could wind up the emerging economies a former u.s. state department official said that india's failure to stand with the west on the oil embargo is a slap in the face for the united states and raises questions about india's ability

to lead but despite all that indian officials won't budge on the issue india is there on the largest oil customer with an annual trade of twelve billion dollars officials here in new delhi are negotiating with their counterparts in tehran to continue that trade using rupees instead of dollars to get around the one thing since. and it's not just india ignoring the last wishes with four asian countries collectively buying two thirds of iran's a while while the e.u. buys just twenty percent whether the sanctions work on an artist don't guess consent these are sanctions imposed by the united states the european union they didn't consult us when the impose these things so it's that's the american problem not us issues the welfare of the people and that energy needs that's why many say the thing since will be totally ineffective if the asian giants won't play ball countries which are sort of for holding out of the future are the me and john sanctions would not bite iran sufficiently enough to achieve this ten countries

objective if india and china were not to come on board edu us think they're designed to isolate iran but if asia won't play that game the question arises what will or can the west do next preassure either r t new delhi india number on our website r t dot com it's the best place to find the latest news video and analysis here is what's a click away right now. fighting for his life again venezuelan president hugo chavez to undergo more surgery and his battle against cancer. mutating lizard scientists out of the alarming moscow awaits them tons of toxic snow poisoned by chemical agents supposed to get rid of the blanket condition. zero growth the continued recession and more austerity the latest economic forecast for the e.u. as predicted by the european commission itself the latest figures especially worrying given growing skepticism over the impact of

a second the greek bailout the major financial players have already come out and said it simply won't stop a greek default this is lawmakers in athens prepare of a vote to vote through a nice pair to vote through a slew of cuts today all to satisfy belo preconditions while protesters gather outside the parliament costars do xena's a professor. why birkbeck university of london says that these cuts will only drain police power. money and livelihoods got them like which to destroy or. push people on what they found the liver cancer if they can or they look for the obvious fix as the what. the mad we have is going to do percent unemployment fifty percent unemployment over here was a huge increase in the whole let's close in a counter that did not have such a phenomenon of course a huge increase in troops this cost more born and where a few of these measures because we wanted example these measures which have been

implemented in order to take money from the germans and the fruits people to give them to the german the french is nothing to do with the greek people who want it is under these measures is precisely. or essentially it is a small bet with this problem. coming up max and stacey's take on the unconventional discussions and the messy state of wildfires as kaiser report coming up fifteen thirty g.m.t. here's a preview. mayor bing candidate ken livingstone has sparked a new outrage after telling an audience hang a banker oh week until the others prove that the news is nature's way of taking care of the banker overpopulation they're a cancer they're a parasite ken livingstone is correct hang a banker a week until they get the fricken message.

a u.s. soldier accused of the largest leak of state secrets in u.s. history is set to go on trial after nearly two years behind bars among the data he suspected of leaking is footage of u.s. soldiers firing on iraqi civilians as artie's christine fears are reports the system behind the trial is being blamed for covering up crimes and punishing those who speak out. nearly two years in waiting much of it in solitary confinement and private first class bradley manning stride is finally set to begin. among the twenty two charges filed against him aiding the enemy violating the espionage act and illegally transferring classified data to an unauthorized source wiki leaks. part of that was this video showing u.s. army pilots killing unarmed civilians including two voyagers employees

a video that had been classified by the u.s. military though the government accountability project just. it never should have been you can also cannot go around classifying criminal activity that is not proper classification and i haven't heard a single person claim that what the collateral murder video showed was not war crime a sentiment manning seems to agree with in an online chat conversation he said he hoped his putting the information out there would prompt worldwide discussion i want people to see the truth regardless of who they are because without explanation you cannot make informed decisions as public a short time later bradley manning was arrested in the process becoming one of the clearest symbols to date of a new set of standards a system that now works against those who report wrongdoing and protects those doing the wrong quite often in the name of national security the pendulum right now is still very much opposed to nine eleven time national hysteria and limited civil

rights and liberties and she would no great act was the justice department whistleblower in the case of the so-called american taliban john walker lindh i had advised not to interrogate him without an attorney and not to torture him and when i blew the whistle i ended up being put under criminal investigation referred to the state bar or some. which i'm licensed as a lawyer and put on the no fly list but it wasn't always this way in two thousand and two the time magazine person of the year was the whistleblowers and although the government tried to have him put away for life daniel ellsberg was hailed as a hero by the public for leaking information that became known as the pentagon papers classified documents he helped author that revealed what was actually happening in vietnam those were. what he revealed to the public is what the public should have known from the government itself. important knowledge important

knowledge now often stifled both on and off the battlefield and the military a phenomenon is sexually assaulted or abuse or even rate she's supposed to go through the chain of command which will actually harm her and stead of helping her outside of the military policies are also being drawn up to protect corporations the so-called whistle blower improvement act if passed would actually harm whistleblowers requiring them to report misconduct to their employer first before going to any regulatory agencies it would also remove any incentives to do so our government and. businesses are so intricately linked as hard to tell them apart both now working harder than ever to keep their secrets out of the public eye in washington christine for zero r.t. . action against bradley manning is an attempt to get at the wiki leaks founder julian assange who's been a thorn in president obama's side according to joseph shore from the socialist

equality party. treatment of manning as a whole is. brutal inhumane according to amnesty international amounting to torture according to many top u.s. legal scholars i mean there's many reasons behind this but i think the u.s. government certainly sees the treatment of manning from the beginning both as an example to anyone who would seek to expose the crimes of american militarism abroad as well as a fairly transparent attempt to get out it's on the. founder of wiki leaks they are you know the u.s. government is seeking to eventually extradite a saw and they're certainly trying to trying to go after waking leaks for the release of the documents and there really must be stress that this is really devastating exposure of the obama administration the treatment of this young man for all the talk of democratic rights and freedom abroad this is how the united states treats opposition here. here at home. and staying with the topic of free

speech the gives a resoundingly no to censorship power into the net brussels gives in to continent wide protests over a controversial law criticized for being a stepping stone to web censorship. laws focusing on egypt where your post mubarak military rule has made the iron grip on the liberal movement stronger while failing to mend the country's battered economy. but first two u.s. troops have been killed by an afghan soldier and of attack thought to be linked to the burning of copies of the qur'an at an american air base this after nine people were killed and dozens injured in two days of protests. a senior commanders apologized saying religious materials were destroyed by mistake u.s. head of state barack obama has sent a letter of apology to afghan president hamid karzai defense analysts. believe the incidents like this undermine the american mission. this is the worst possible

nightmare for the amount of comes that so far they have been facing that assistance from the push to one elements but incidents like these that actually get the money pushed to moment. and these books who are supposedly allied to the amount of can so far hostile this is basically the foreign out of this which the americans fear and begin reality would happen is if we extend them expand the base of the resistance against the americans apologies i'm not going to look this is the worst be our disaster that the americans could have at this moment when they are the most wonderful is he not just the safety the outcome of the waterboard now depend on events like these they have been triggered and the fallout the domino effect is going to be intense as we sit on could not be more happier then the even that have happened in afghanistan if taliban could not defeat the amount of the american marines have them some of the big brave. for more on this story and the use of u.s.

drones in afghanistan you can find all of our videos on our you tube channel and that free video dot r.t.d. dot com. pretty free. for chargers three. three three. three. three. three brought us video for your media project free media. dot com. and a new post mubarak era in egypt's history it's been marked by a rise of is the law missed politicians something that it comes at the expense of the secular movement that finds itself increasingly cornered critics say the growing trend is being ignored by washington middle east expert walid far as comments on the shrinking liberal movement in the country. it is unfortunate that after a year and one month from the beginning of the spring egyptian arab spring that the

current situation is one suppression of demonstrators civil society minorities and one also a suppression of international n.g.o.s so that is not something that one can consider as a positive outcome the first few days and weeks of the revolt clash here we clearly saw that these were used secular laptop people facebook people women minorities middle class but once the heavier square was consolidated than the regular physical forces came in including the muslim brotherhood the difference was that the muslim brotherhood have support from the gulf petrodollars they have satellite support they are well organized when election will come those most organized and better funded will take over so the advocacy groups that are influenced by or linked to or the muslim brotherhood or the salafist it is an old story it was also under the last two years of the bush administration and now of course the last three to four years of the obama administration what is happening is that the trying to influence

the administration so that they would be in line with the interests of the muslim brotherhood in egypt and the islamists in libya and in tunisia and against the secular and liberal forces in the region. turn now to some other stories making headlines across the globe a massive explosion has torn through a bus stop in northwest pakistan killing at least fifteen people including two children even more women and children among at least three dozen injured in the blast police have arrested two suspects from the site the region is located near the border with pakistan's tribal area and experienced frequent bombings over the years. a wave of attacks has rocked iraq killing at least sixty people across the country the violence started with a drive by shooting in baghdad and followed by blasts inside and outside the capital no one yet has claimed responsibility for the attacks that mostly targeted security officers in shia areas the violence comes just months after u.s. combat troops withdrew from the country. argentina has

declared a two day mourning period after the country saw its deadliest railway accident in decades up to fifty people killed almost seven hundred injured as the train slammed into a downtown station in buenos aires wednesday rescuers used helicopters to fly the wounded to hospitals the tragedy was supposedly caused by a brake failure. if you sure of one of the most controversial web web regulation bills to date the act of treaty is in limbo the e.u. suspended ratification of the proposed law over fears it would trample rights and freedoms this is spending follows continent wide protests against the treaty but allegations act or could lead to a net wide censorship originally conceived as the brainchild of japanese and us politicians and media lobbyist the build was shrouded in secrecy from the start the trees compatibility with values is said to be decided by a blocks court of justice. from the online magazine and blog boy thinks the law if

passed would only punish those innocent of wrongdoing. the problem is that the censorship of the involved in these things is always vicarious when something is. targeted because people using it to break the lord apart files or something it always brings down all sorts of other people who might be using the same service for perfectly legitimate reasons these laws never actually do anything to stop piracy the way the internet works as long as two computers can connect to each other people are going to find a way to share files the internet works by copying data so what we see is when news laws are passed there will be all these social harm and they'll be no actual prevention of piracy so the companies that want them will be back at the legislative trough a few months later. hardy's interview show spotlight coming up in a few minutes after a recap of today's headlines stay with us. if

if. if .

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spotlight on the latest building projects all around russia technology i'm doing here on r.g.p. please listen church. five thirty pm in moscow these are our t. headlines tightening the noose around the syrian.