the stories that shaped the week euro t. as violence in syria shows no sign of abating a year after it began methods being used in another damaging battle are exposed but this time targeting people's minds. floor volunteer excuse is the u.s. is making profuse apologies for the latest deaths of civilians in afghanistan but experts want washington will have to brace itself for a backlash. further isolation for iran as the country's banks get hooted out of the global payment system but fears grow in the e.u. the sanctions could ricocheted back on its most exposed members of top stories this hour.

with a look back at the last seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly on r.t. as syria marked the first anniversary of its crisis this week violence is spiraling out of control in the middle eastern country but there's also another battle raging on for media spin doctors working to shape public opinion on the turmoil their efforts have been held by unconfirmed reports and footage from the combat zone that's difficult to verify if an ocean it takes a closer look at the methods of syria's hidden conflict. clashes in the streets of syria have been raging for a year now but behind the scenes there is a media war that's just as damaging as the one taken syrian lives rafi claude's freelance investigative journalist from damascus says he's found what he thinks is

proof of media manipulation of the conflict in syria in this video from the syrian town of holmes the camera focuses on the city's all the refinery the shooting begins seven hours before media viewers around the world see a pipeline explosion allegedly caused by assad's army bombardment you can clearly see that something is slowly burning in the distance when the smoke has thickened english speakers correct their cameras position for a better shot of what's going on they shake it to make it look like amateur video. it's clear it's not an explosion because people. need to see it. in another video from a hospital in holmes someone behind camera talks to a doctor and the corner we see a little not ham. when you own you should tell bashar good will punish you and then talk about his wife ok let's recusal again after some thirty minutes away tame the

crew starts to get nervous and let's go under a beer maybe for how long can we read no we need al-jazeera why life on al-jazeera eventually the girl will forget some details. called punish you bashar and your children and this footage we see danny holmes activist known for his exclusive reports from the very epicenter of the conflict history carry him to go live on c.n.n. he's relaxed and calm. and there is no shooting until he asks for it was simply to choose a target. no worries just do it but i. am . so why should i save my hold dear. tell them the reason buildings collapsed and we're taking buildings away. he did it could be a miniature hunger again here in the last hour of the seven hundred thirty love

reality the finale. never really got the video up on you tube. the activist to become journalists trying to make a chaise as hot as possible the more blood and death the higher the price but not everyone is happy about it the politics of the channel were changed in other words it can firm up on high. leftist and progressive voices such as mine we're not going to be his welcomed anymore obviously the qataris are excited can't shake the picture of the news little more than me is still. always a mistake. well known war correspondent used to report for al-jazeera from the world's conflict hot spots but syria has become the rubicon he couldn't cross he mentioned armed groups fighting against assad's army and his boss is in doha but he needed a vacation he has just resigned because of biased coverage he says. like hugo

. leave. egypt tunisia whatever but i don't think for example the revolution and and saudi arabia this is just the proxy it's a proxy used by the party but it's actually right third the government by. fuel this war. with law and look through for merging all of the international media is involved in the arab spring revolutions the question remains open to what extent they influence events and how much responsibility they therefore share for what follows. r t beirut lebanon damascus is preparing to host a u.n. technical team to discuss a plan for international monitors in syria the group is part of a special envoy kofi annan peace mission aimed at establishing a cease fire and getting talks underway between the government and the opposition russia gave its strong support to the efforts and warn against any attempts to

derail them. because there's those species i hope this mission won't be ruined we have a feeling that every time we manage to achieve some positive change in the stance of damascus there's an immediate counterweight reaction any steps forward are dismissed i hope this won't be the case of how countries in the middle east and some western states treat the mission of kofi annan it was very strange that two days after his first visit to damascus the opposition syrian national council claimed the mission had already failed respelling definite signals to damascus to cooperate with mr nods and we hope that other members of the security council will also demand the opposition does not provoke the escalation of violence and cooperates with mr nonce mission to marcus public open to some analysts from the online magazine politics first says iran's mission should be held for the balance stance in syria put could be undermined by those seeking regime change in the country well i think first of all kofi annan submission in syria needs to be

applauded by the international community for having approach the situation in syria with impartiality in that he spoke consume members of the syrian government including president assad and also members of the syrian opposition the same cannot be said about the american british and french governments who have made regime change their policy from the very beginning as reports what will come out of the time that the united nations when kofi annan relates the findings of his mission i suspect it's going to strengthen it's going to add credence to the five point peace plan put together by russia and the arab league last week or so ago however the stumbling block really is going to be the permanent members the western permanent members on the security council who have made it very clear that president assad has to go from power so i think whatever kofi annan findings will be it's going to be limited by the western response. this is our to go this is the weeklies through

ahead in the program hopes dashed to the ground as thousands of illegal immigrants come to the u.k. to escape a life of poverty they find themselves in the squalor of the streets. plus the western nations quick to point the finger at others who don't share the same ideals and leave some to wonder if it's democracy they preach or put crissy. stories to become a first this week the us named the soldier accused of killing sixteen civilians in afghanistan last sunday sergeant robert bales is now in a military detention center in kansas for the latest deadly incident involving american troops it sparked outrage among the afghan people and another round of apologies from u.s. officials but as our reports afghans are not convinced by the excuses. sixteen innocent afghan villagers slaughtered in cold blood nine of them children

u.s. officials are going out of their way to present the american surgeon who apparently committed the massacre as just one bad apple. this incident is georgia can shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the united states has for the people of afghanistan this is not who we are in no way does he represent the. ethics and morality of the american serviceman and service woman and i think afghans understand that but afghans don't seem to be buying that at all. the rage and humiliation felt by afghan people appear to be way beyond what apologies can make up for they've heard them all before in the last few months all too often and each one very similar to the next just weeks ago the white house apologized for the burning of the copies of the koran by u.s. troops an incident that triggered a surge of violence this was

a deeply unfortunate incident that does not reflect the great respect our military has for the religious practices of the afghan people and weeks before that in january apologies again over footage showing u.s. marines urinating on dead afghans but these actions do not represent the values of the vast majority of coalition forces some of the nations on really contrary to what u.s. officials say some analysts believe that those incidents are symptomatic of how the military operation in afghanistan works it is increasingly the case that this is looking like. a brutal occupation which is killing a large number of afghans were afghans film selves humiliated insulted and instance like this will be regarded as symbolic of exactly what is wrong with the american occupation it is an absolutely cynical operation to say that they can keep the place in afghanistan for another free how many more people will die how many more instances like this the only solution to this is to bring the troops out and then

for these for these governments just opens of a name in countries where they have absolutely no right to intervene copious apologies handed out by the administration don't seem. even to appease war critics back home let alone the afghan people but what about the whole idea of in aiding a country and occupying a country and disturbing their country creating hundreds of thousands of refugees and suffering is it ever get to a point where apologizing about the korean is rather minor and some of the other problems that we have to have created the taliban has vowed it will take revenge and analysts expect a fresh surge of violence children shot in the head women slaughtered it's incidents like the latest soldier's rampage in afghanistan that extremists of all kinds used to attack new people to their ranks those new recruits go out to kill not even the most heartfelt apologies can change the minds of people dead set on

revenge it becomes a vicious circle that breeds even more danger spreading far beyond the borders of afghanistan i'm going to shift our reporting from washington archy joined lazer assistant editor antiwar dot com says u.s. soldiers have a history of avoiding punishment for their crimes. it's likely that the u.s. will prevent such an investigation such a trial because of all of the other incidents where they have let off easy. u.s. soldiers that commit murder i mean the behavior for massacre in iraq. where nine u.s. soldiers killed twenty four are actually men women and children. none of them were convicted except for one who was merely demoted to the rank of private and he will serve no jail time these types of things happen all the time that diplomatic cable that was released by wiki leaks revealed in two thousand and six in iraq. men women

and children including three infants were executed by american soldiers not a single american soldier was prosecuted for that i can go on and on like this these things happen and the u.s. took prevents actual accountability for the perpetrators it's almost as if murder is a lesser crime if it's done by someone in a u.s. uniform. thanks to our l.t. so fish of a not so talks to afghanistan's finance minister on the cost of war both economic and social. we do not want the international forces to be enough kind of time fighting for us. even in our longer need it the water has caught. a lot it's not i don't think i'm going to put a dollar figure on this. if you see one hundred billion two hundred billion three hundred billion if the other while the devotion of work was beyond economic.

diversity is the public often give us. state institutions put in go through. an interview can you when the next here on r.t. iran came under severe financial blockade on saturday after the world's biggest electronic banking system known as swift cut off dozens of financial firms blacklisted by the e.u. it's part of a broader effort by european nations are also plan to impose an embargo on iran you know this summer pressure to roll over its nuclear program the sort of first reports that measures could world back far. spain is among the biggest importers rainy and oil but all that sayings when the sanctions come into force in july spain have until the end. of crude supply and all around saying a real risk to the country that intel route has been fueled by iranian oil. prices

are on the rise and there are fears that they're about to be even higher with the iranian oil embargo looming the e.u. and pays band cons as the west's in making waves a very runs nuclear program its shape it getting around oil revenues will bring the country to the bludgeoning table even assuming the case against iran so strong the sanctions right now. exercised by countries like spain or greece or italy that much those countries more than it will damage iran was countries like france and britain in fortini of very small percentage of iranian oil and supported the band is the country struggling the west economically right now spain police in italy really going to feel the effects of the sanctions the most we have to face we country music pressure if you wish it. were actually said that

if you check. yourself if you seek. even if. you couldn't hear about the fact we can make decisions once you know that in a healthy economic situation a rise in oil prices might be problematic coming at a time when spain is on the brink of a second recession is proving a nightmare for the population. it's terrible that we should pay for decisions taken in brussels is not known for but certainly not for simple residence. should trigger a rise in prices which i'm fond of you example of the us to tighten our belt and keep using of nuclear weapons in part to revive our economy. of course i'm afraid because they're already too high if they go any higher and will be able to afford gas. fears about a rise in prices have been made family radio says it's got enough oil to make up for the loss of around supplies when the in vogue comes into force because she's

like spain will still be paying the price of lost trade with iran and the cost of replacing those oil contracts ironically spain's imports of oil from iran have increased since the back libyan war now the prospect of his thirty's with iran is causing huge concern. while there's no war prices collations future sanctions can be corrected the problems will come before use a war with iran then you could see a real crisis now countries like spain elect at the mercy of a volatile situation that no one wants to see ignites therof r.t. spain palo reform who's a crisis management specialist in brussels says the sanctions including swiss decision to block iranian banks are unlikely to force terror on into a corner. the swift system is mostly used in the european or transatlantic transactions. as we know from the news. iran is already

making agreements with india and china to have exchanges. currencies and for other systems and so what will not be sold to europe will be sold elsewhere the scope of these sanctions probably wanted to be pushed to call seriously in the negotiations with the united states to settle a number of issues that have been under discussion now for several weeks if not months that involve the entire middle east situation the issue of sanctioning iran is something that comes from the united states and europe following because there is no other way out for europe or the time being they can increase this to try to facilitate the negotiating table but it will not the magically change the course of action. will be taken in tehran anyway. the latest developments in the middle east are on our website our karma as they happen but some of the stall stories in store

for you there at the moment enjoy the new nazi war criminal convicted only last year of killing twenty eight thousand jews in the solvable death camp has died at a retirement home in the age of ninety one to find out about his trial you can log on to party dot com. plus from an eerie blood red lake in iraq to incredible siberian landscapes stunning satellite photos from the most amazing sites around the world check out more of those online. the spray sion and destitution that's what thousands of illegal immigrants in the u.k. are finding instead of a better life many of them use all their money to make it to great britain but as

soon eager to return home wherever they end up stuck in the quagmire of red tape as artie's of a bennett reports. it looks like nothing more than a dumping ground a squalor plain to see harder to spot the signs of life this is what forty illegal immigrants call home under a motorway bridge in london's outskirts penniless and without sanitation the place is infested with drugs disease and destitution many risk their entire families fortune to get here dreaming of the riches that await instead they found a nightmare they probably are looking for a better life they've been told in fact they've been told the fact that if you come to the u.k. . it's like this they're going to be paved with gold this man paid traffickers in india over fifteen thousand dollars to smuggle him to britain in the back of a lorry like most he destroyed his passport when he got here to make deportation

more difficult. but it means he now can't escape even though he wants to he was promised he'd find plenty of work money and accommodation but he's now trapped in poverty worse than he left behind oh i have a large job. it's going to fail all it where do you sleep. i went to sleep or have a liberal it's been in a million deal. with no official identity men like the latter end are stuck in a bureaucratic no man's land britain won't deport them unless they can prove who they are and where they came from each case has to be dealt with individually and some can be complex with many not having travel documents or not wishing to comply with the documentation process in the cases of indian nationals we continue to work with the high commission to speed up the time it takes to return them to their home

country. nearly thirteen thousand illegal immigrants left the u.k. voluntarily last year called drew pulling in numbers over just six years such is the desperation to leave this car park east to be a busy pickup spot for manual labor but now there's nothing this is where the men waits looking for work every morning hoping to be picked up and paid for a day's labor day like most days they wait isn't this before the downturn was earning up to three hundred pounds a week now he's lucky to get fifteen pounds a day doing jobs he never thought he'd stoop to older guys. thinking about doing learn you know. really much money but don't know what happened here it was the reality reality is there. as we

didn't you know do in india you know we. are from a good family the men are expected to send money back to their families in india no wonder most were reluctant to appear on camera after bennett r.t. london. taking a look at what else is making news around the world the world update five people have been found dead aboard a migrant ship off the southern coast of italy fifty two others were rescued safely from the boat which departed from libya italian coast guard says many on board the ship would be hydrated or suffering from hypothermia according to the u.n. around sixty thousand migrants landed in italy last year most of whom were africans who fled their countries when the conflict in libya began last year. brazilian prosecutors plan to charge seventeen all executives from u.s. based chevron drilling contractor trans ocean after another spill chevron has suspended production of the coast of brazil after the recently was discovered last

week that he's facing charges aren't allowed to leave the country until the investigation is complete and your leak is in the same area where a major spill occurred last november. but this is a new york city were met by police on the six month anniversary of occupy wall street when activists tried to reoccupied zuccotti park where the movement began more than dozen people have been arrested according to reports hundreds took part in an afternoon march through manhattan's financial district the focal point of their frustrations during the last six months in the georgia resecure when protesters put up a tent which violates park rules. but the occupy movement along with other protests of highlighted certain constitutional rights in the u.s. and elsewhere the western nations have been quick to criticize countries who don't share their same democratic views and not necessarily leading by example when it comes to human rights as we report our explains the stroll arm of the law is leading some to wonder if they're preaching hypocrisy instead of democracy. the

u.s. and its european allies have many things in common security politics and a familiar practice of scolding outsiders about the hillers of democracy iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech this is the policing suppression human rights democracy and there is a big step. democracy rule of law human rights these are all we believe these must be respected by the egyptian authorities in russia we've seen crackdowns on civil society groups as western leaders wag their finger around the world. wouldn't the times and brutal force have been used to quell public protests at home . right police handcuffs and iron fists have repeatedly been used against unarmed demonstrators in greece spain and london where

thousands fled the streets to protest against austerity measures and unemployment they should focus on getting their own house in order and practice what they preach rather than noticing about you know countries and trying to you know grandstand on an international scale rather than deal with you know they are there are very serious democratic deficit on the other side of the atlantic uprisings against economic inequality and corporate greed have left countless occupy wall street activists covered in blood temporarily blinded. and behind bars the movement is currently planning to draw tens of thousands of demonstrators to the upcoming g eight and nato summit in may. but this week the u.s. military is unveiling its latest non-lethal weapon to members of the press. it felt like opening up an open door almost mixed with it from about my sternum to my neck

the new active denial system. can repel crowds using an invisible electromagnetic beam that delivers a blast of intense heat up to one kilometers away without a sound a smell or even a warning the weapon promises to disperse crowds and reinforce security while the military weapon isn't currently intended to be used by police critics say ray guns like water cannons could eventually be rolled out in the land of the free we are seeing an intensification of repression because people are challenging the system and challenging it in europe the challenge to get in the united states and it's easy for our leaders the point the scene or somewhere else rather than take responsibility here in america do anything differently lecturing others on democracy and human rights has become a brand of western foreign policy i discoursed that claims to be based on the highest of standards but as recent years has shown it's

a lot easier to scold others when everything is i. may say protesters in oak cliff or injured students in europe might suggest that their leaders do a bit more homework before attempting to be a teacher of the mock recy or not artsy new york. main stories is only a couple of minutes away stay with us this is all to life here in moscow.

nearly a billion people in the world for going from prison every day. in the united states even our trash cans are filled with food you just have to go get it all of these perfectly good eggs because one was cracked in even get all over the other ones just threw them away and she's from the german oh you clearly have my supper caught . in the dumpster at one am this morning three pm this afternoon on the grill take is made from and one dozen dumpster egg whites. delicious breakfast for the.