stories that shaped the week here on r.t. diplomacy versus death a year since the uprising began syria remains a powder keg with peace efforts there being challenged by war propaganda and terrorist attacks. a loving father caught in a tragedy the media's take on the u.s. soldier accused of turning a sleeping afghan village into a bloodbath with washington once again apologizing for the actions of its military . and anniversary arrests for occupy wall street protesters as yet more heavy handed policing leaves many wondering if western nations practice the democracy they preach.

hello it's eleven pm sunday evening here in moscow you're watching r t with me kevin oh in and around the of our top stories from the past seven days first though at least two people have reportedly been killed after a car bomb exploded in a residential area in the syrian city of aleppo there were similar attacks to on saturday in the capital damascus there twenty seven were killed and over one hundred others injured a middle east correspondent paula sleeze got the latest for you. well the explosion happened at one o'clock local time in the second largest syrian city of aleppo in a residential area there now throughout the day state television has been showing pictures of destroyed vehicles of damaged buildings and shattered glass and it's turned the attack

a terrorist bombing we are hearing from the opposition that the attack happened not far from a security building although officials say that it hit between two razor that residential buildings behind a post office now i wouldn't says on the scene say that there were bodies lying everywhere they also say that they heard massive explosions and gunfire immediately after but now understand was a car bombing now we understand this to be security officers who were firing in the air immediately following this blast they also cordoned off the area to try and prevent people from coming closer and now the blast comes just a day after twin blasts on saturday killed some twenty seven people in the syrian capital of damascus and it is the latest in a string of suicide bombings that have been happening in syria over the past few weeks on the tenth of february last month in the same city as sunday's blast the city of aleppo in the roth of the country twenty eight people were killed in twin

blasts not far from a security office now these syrian pris is blaming saudi arabia and qatar for sunday's bombing they say that they have been calling for the arming of the opposition and that this is merely fueling the situation on the ground and intensifying the violence earlier on sunday also demonstrators gathered at the site of saturday's blast in damascus and this gathering comes just a few days after the one year anniversary of the uprising against the syrian president bashar assad now parallel to all of this seemingly growing violence on the ground there is a different type of warfare on the go. and that is the information war and hero international broadcasters are increasingly being accused of following their own agenda and reporting the syrian story and as such are merely contribution to the violence and fueling the fight on the ground as my colleague reports. 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 taking the syrian lives claude's freelance investigative journalist from damascus says he's found what he thinks is proof of media manipulation of the conflict in syria and 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 compartment you can clearly see that something is slowly burning in the distance when the smoke has thickened english because correct the camera's position for a better shot of what's going on they shake it to make it look like amateur video but what i need is a receiver it's clear it's not an explosion golding people reporting it will be you need to see it. in another video from a hospital in homes someone behind camera talks to a doctor in the corner we see

a little nap. you should chill bush and good will punish you and talk about his wife ok let's recusal again after some thirty minutes away train the crew starts to get nervous. maybe we'd know we need al-jazeera while live on al-jazeera eventually they girl will forget some details. an issue but sure and your children in this footage we see danny holmes activist known for his exclusive reports from the very epicenter of the conflict is preparing to go live on c.n.n. he's relaxed and calm. and there is no shooting until he asks for it. so did you choose a target. no worries just demurred. so

we should assume i hold dear. tell them the reason buildings collapsed and we're taking bodies away. there could be a miniature hundred get in the last hour or two. hundred reality. because the big deal for you so you have to be to become journalists trying to make a chaise as hard as possible. to how you produce but not everyone is happy about it the politics of the channel were changing with the word. on high. leftist and progressive voices such as mine we're not going to be this welcomed anymore obviously the qataris are decided to shape the picture of the news a little more than we used to that's always a mistake. well known war correspondent only hashem used to report for al-jazeera

from the world's conflict hot spots but syria has become the rubicon he couldn't cross he mentions armed groups fighting against assad's army and his bosses and doha felt he needed medication ali has just resigned because of biased coverage he says. like you know promoting the revolutions in syria. egypt tunisia whatever but i don't think for example the revolution about her a iran and saudi arabia the media this is just a proxy it's a proxy used by its third party by fellow factions by civil government by maybe the west to fuel this war. with more and more proof amergin all of the international media is involvement in the arab spring revolutions the question remains open to what extent do they influence events and how much responsibility do they therefore share for what follows. are t. beirut lebanon. u.n.

teams judah visit damascus to discuss deploying international monitors to syria it's part of special envoy kofi announce peace mission which pushes for a cease fire and dialogue between the assad government and the opposition there are based political analyst out romana shall be told of the terror attacks in damascus and aleppo greatly grows efforts the objectives of these explosions that are coming within two days two explosions in the capital and then this explosion today in the second largest city in syria this shows that there is an intent to actually destroy or create obstacles initiative by the former secretary general of the united nations kofi annan who is acting on behalf of the united nations and on behalf of the arab league and would receive the support. at least urban support from the. russian foreign ministry now these explosions actually show the need for the success of that and mission

coming up in a few minutes or an artsy with me kevin now with a grieving mother and an angry you room. when you deal with things through thinking to meet people with interest signing but my sense is a full face confection those two convicted metro bombers are executed by the roots relatives as well as human rights groups say the trial is too quick to be fair we investigate. there's economic sanctions piled on around begin to backfire with spiking oil prices europe may be forced to rely on emergency stop. short on money emotionally traumatized and gun owners love out of two all part of the media's profile of the american soldier accused of carrying out a massacre in southern afghanistan sergeant robert bales has now been flown back to the united states by the u.s. military had made calls him to face trial in afghanistan and there's a lot he's going to teach he can report snakes in his wake more apologies.

sixteen innocent afghan villagers slaughtered in cold blood aunt 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 and 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 and afghanistan seem to be behind that 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 breeze actions do not represent the values of the vast majority of coalition forces who serve their 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 when incidents 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 don't

think 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 are meant 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 see me. 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 this it ever get to a point where apologizing about the qur'an is rather minor to some of the other problems that we 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 and the extremists of

all kinds used to it new people to their ranks those new recruits go out to kill not even the most heartfelt apologies don't 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. the two men convicted of last year's deadly metropole going to buy the russian capital have reportedly been executed there's no official confirmation except state media reports and a court letter sent to one of the men's mothers who thinks their son was made a scapegoat by the authorities. well you do what they feel they can intimidate the police interest signing but my sense is a full confession explains the national plan of investigation in trial otherwise they could have executed him along the day he stammered and join him in the case from the very beginning a human rights observers are questioning whether or not the men were given fair trial this is just the last straw in the already strained relations with rebel

leaders in the european union in fact a lot of the human rights organizations of the servers along with the chairman of the european parliament have said requested to the bill or should president alexander lukashenko to our grand clemency to the two convicted men but those requests were disregarded in fact a lot of the european of the european human rights observers and officials have long been looking in belarus and questioning the officials approach it to human rights freedom of speech and their treatment of the opposition this has in fact still led to a diplomatic route after bell was pulled out its investors from several of the european countries and in retaliation the european union has also recalled all of their ambassadors from bella rose the european union foreign affairs chief catherine ashton already said that she strongly condemns the executions and she was seconded by the chairman of the european parliament martin shultz here also said

that he is horrified at the news and this is just about it to worsen the situation and the relations between bellers and the european union even further a correspondent really good. story and we got a lot more lined up for you and a website all to dot com of course at the latest news and comments tastemaker the stories about a month for you tonight do your lot to get. do you have figured uncontrollably well chances are you're a terrorist say that's according to a new pump for the shoot and security it sounds slightly bizarre people out of work but it's on the run from us r t. com and emerald entertainment across the capital as moscow joins hundreds of thousands of people around the world to sort of bridge some tricks day festival footage and i'll get started. dozens of people have been arrested in new york in schools a protest march to mark occupy wall street six month anniversary no three swept

through the birthplace of the movement in zuccotti park is hundreds of demonstrators began to erect tents now over the past six months occupy rallies nationwide of injured tough police and tear gas at peaceful protests but the actions it over in stark contrast to washington's words in condemning other nations which actually its idea of democracy that is going to explode. the u.s. and its european allies have many things in common security politics and a familiar practice of scalding outsiders about the pillars of democracy the iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech and this is the creasing suppression of human rights and all democracy and it is a big step towards democracy rule of law human rights these are our values and 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. why didn't the times in 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 lined them where thousands flood 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 other. 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. like opening up an door almost. from about my sternum to my. new active denial system can repel crowds using an 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 is in 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 readers to point the finger of somewhere else rather than take responsibility here in america or do anything differently lecturing others our democracy and human rights has become a branch of western foreign policy like this force that claims to be based on the highest of standards but as we sit here it's a lot easier to scold others when everything is. made up testers. or injured students in europe might suggest that their leaders do it anymore. it's tempting to be a teacher of democracy marine up or not. we are. so let's get some expert opinion should be on the future of the occupy movement stephen courland there are a political lens communication the strategy is joining someone from florida. to get even thanks for being with us it's been six months now half a year since these nationwide protests started did america how much notice as the

government taken of this massive public outcry that i think they had received a lot of attention in terms of their protests. i also think that they received more attention terms of the failure to be able to get americans really to hear what. they were. witness to what they want to they didn't get that's what you say yeah you know you know there's a basic you could basically lack of focus and move really accomplishes a number of issues number of different people. there's no leadership there's no definable leadership really standing out and leading. member of this exact same conversation with various guests on this very same channel six months ago all the way along the line that's been the same criticism that was just a lack of focus yeah why aren't they getting their act together these people are realizing that if they want to get and they want something practical about the need

to get their act together. i think part of the problem is that. you know you have to really there's either a piecemeal warrant. or anything you know. i think they have to decide what they want to go in you know my opinion should be don't you understand. i mean skeptics though they said that the occupy movement wouldn't last past the cold winter the seem to be we're you know these fresh protests do you think as it gets warmer as the spring comes on we'll see an increase of again. now i think it's going to be relatively the same ip. they. receive enough the amount of energy they're going to receive from the people they're going to receive if they're not they're not reaching the average american and they're not going to succeed unless they start identifying their needs and then addressing ok right ball's in your court now i was introduced to you are a strategy. if you had to say what would you say to this movement if you were in

charge what would you advise them to do next to bring about genuine political change this change that they say they want. the first thing i would do is i would use what george clooney did. this past friday in washington in getting a lot of attention for the first situation in one of the for me just basically good old fashioned coaching as he got the publicity and then he was surrounded by people who had some sort of real clout with their congressmen religious leaders that type of thing i mean i think it goes back to go instead of trying to just knock it i partially have to go back to. six months. because well isn't it you know review how this we've all seen the pictures. reveal what it says about america's democratic values in particular the right to protest did it go as you thought it would do you surprised by the way it unraveled. well you know i was also

i was listening to the dialogue with for this interview and it seems that you know you're focusing on on some isolated instances where there are people who listen for police brutality but as a whole i think they've been very successful i think a great piece well i mean you know here in west palm beach the government actually work with the protesters in locating them in a in a specific area for for a number of weeks until the situation. to criminal where they do have shut it down in the way they showed there was very peaceful to it only resulted in four arrests but you know you can see it in sequence that we have now been out all you see is that you have scenes of people getting beat up and you know any kind of a protest you're going to have you going to have some real cops out there who are going to do what they're supposed to. funnel for briefly do you think would have the same conversation here and stew think movement still be going. i think we'll be going i don't think they'll have any more steam unless they start focusing on or closures on the fact that the banks are really depressed in this economy and

they're you know i met the american people are not doing as well as they've done in the people including the national significance of his thoughts thanks to the program could have gone out for sure thank you appreciate it. now this week the world wide banking communication networks with as we've been reporting cut links with the run as part of tough economic sanctions employed by the u.s. and its allies and the standoff over iran's nuclear program is now driving up oil prices may even force america and britain to dip into the domestic reserves result the sarah firth explains not every country can rely on such a safety net. spain has among the biggest importers iranian oil but all that it's saying is when the actions of come into force in july spain have until then to find alternative sources of crude supply and all around they saying a real risk to the country found out 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 eliminating the e.u. in place ban comes as the west's been making ways if you are runs nuclear program it's shaping shifting around the oil revenues will bring the country to the bargaining table was countries like france and britain and courteney a very small percentage of iranian oil and supported the band is the country struggling the west economically right now spain greece and italy but they're going to feel the effects of the sanctions the most definitely country is the russian the u.s. . foreign minister actually said that if you check. to see. if. you could hear about the facts before making a decision once you were told 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 taken for but certainly not for simple reasons. should trigger a rise in prices which i'm fond of you example of the us to tighten our belt and people use you have nuclear weapons or parts to revive our economy. fears advance a rise in prices have been made saudi arabia says it's good enough oil to make up for the loss of iran's supplies when the in vogue. sense of force because she's like saying will still be paying the price of last trade with iran and the cost of replacing those oil contracts ironically spain's imports of oil from iran have increased since the e.u. backed libyan war now the prospect of his he's with iran is causing huge concern. while this new war crisis relations to consumptions can be corrected the problems

will come if there is a war with then you can see a real crisis. now countries like spain elect at the mercy of a volatile situation and no one wants to see ignites. r.t. spain. opposition protesters here in russia launched a new rally on sunday over a recently had t.v. documentary criticizing the motives of funding eyepieces corpus can offer of course from a protest. several hundred people have gathered in front of the t.v. center in moscow this is the headquarters of the channels and this is a protest rally against a film recently released by one of these channels and squashed. the funding the opposition movement this rally was not authorized by the authorities and the police keep on asking the protesters to free the entrance to the compound but since there's pretty much nor going to office rally the ground keeps on moving throughout

this territory and either blocking the entrance to the territory or the room to the territory once again this road was not authorized so police. several dozen people it's really hard to say at the moment exactly how many several opposition leaders. were detained as well it's fair to say that judging by the latest opposition rallies the figures the numbers of those people willing to take part in these events are dropping since we're talking about hundreds now and not tens of thousands. which we have seen at some of the previous opposition rallies in moscow before the presidential election it's clear that the opposition needs a new face and needs concrete and constructive demands and it's rallies like this which really show a lack of organization. on a bit over there you go pers can offer boarding for male stank in a t.v.

center in moscow coming up two or three nominees past eleven at night looking ahead what makes a double agent be called the answer to that in our special report in just a minute before battle update week's top stories in what exactly a minute from now thanks for being with us.