the issue would be soon which crisis if you move the song from plans to transition these. stunts on t.v. come. today's top headlines and of the stories that shaped the week here on r.g.p. as the u.n. prepares for its humanitarian mission in syria violence in the country intensifies with deadly attacks on the country's second city and capital. the hard luck story of a loving father caught in a tragedy that's how the u.s. media is portraying the american soldier accused of slaughtering sixteen afghan villagers in a nighttime shooting spree. dozens are arrested in new york as occupy wall street movement starts snarks six months since it made its stand against corporate greed and justice in america.

with a look at the week's top stories this is our tease a week away i'm john thomas and these are your top stories at least two people are killed by a car bomb in a residential area in aleppo syria's second city and attacks on saturday in the capital damascus killed twenty seven people and wounded scores more our middle east correspondent paula slayer has the latest. well the explosion happened at one o'clock local time in the second largest syrian city of aleppo in a residential area there now a state television has been showing pictures of destroyed vehicles of damaged buildings and shattered glass and it's termed 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 the post office and i witness on the scene say that there were bodies lying everywhere they also say that they heard massive explosions and gunfire immediately after what we understand was a car bombing now we understand this to a 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 twenty blocks 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 the last the city of aleppo in the roof of the country twenty eight people were killed in twin blasts not far from a security office now the 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 and also demonstrators gathered at the site of saturday's blast in damascus 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 story in stone and as such i'm the only contribution to the violence and fuelling the fighters 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 taken surreal lives rifi 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 a shooting begins seven hours before media viewers around the world see a pipeline explosion allegedly caused by assad's army gone bad and you can clearly see that something is slowly burning in the distance when the smoke has thickened english speakers correct the 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 you keep on report a good way do 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 job a good punish you talk about his wife. after some thirty minutes away

train the crew starts to get nervous. or maybe we know we need al-jazeera live on al-jazeera eventually the girl will forget some details. god punish you the shore and your children in this footage we see danny holmes activist known for his exclusive reports from the very epicenter of the conflict his prepare . to go live on c.n.n. he's relaxed and calm. and there is no shooting until he asks for it. suited you choose a target. no worries just do it but i pull out the. solution i see the whole deal. tell them the reason buildings collapsed and we're taking buildings away. from the kid there could be

a miniature hundred get good therapy in the last hour or. two hundred reality. but never really got the big deal to see activity become journalists try to make patients as hard as possible. to hide the price but not everyone is happy about it the politics of the channel were changing with the word count from on high. leftist and progressive voices such as mine were not going to be is welcomed not any more obviously because tara subsided she took a picture and used a little more than we used to know that's always a mistake. well known war correspondent ali 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 on the groups fighting against assad's army and his bosses and doha told him he needed

a vacation ali has just resigned because of biased coverage he says somewhere like you know promoting the revolutions in libya syria. egypt tunisia whatever but i don't think for example that the revolution in bahrain and saudi arabia and the media this is just a proxy it's a proxy used by by its third party by fellow factions by certain a government by a view of the west through i've heard a few of the sports. a lot proof imagine all of the international media is involved in the arab spring revolutions the question remains open so what extent they influence events and how much responsibility do they therefore share for what follows. r t beirut lebanon. the latest of blasts in syria come ahead of a planned visit by u.n. teams to the country special envoy kofi annan is urging all sides to agree to a ceasefire and for a guy allowed to begin between the assad government and the opposition they

replaced political analyst a doctor or more nationally told us the bombings in damascus and aleppo are aimed at the railing those efforts the objectives of these explosions that are coming within two days two explosions there 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 to the 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 verbal support from the russian foreign ministry now these explosions actually show the need for the success of this that and so mission . coming up later in the program a grieving mother and an angry europe. to do what they through they came to meet

with police into signing up my son think they flew through fiction to metro bombers are executed in a double ruse but relatives and human rights groups are saying they want to give them a fair trial. and as a more economic sanctions are piled on iran we find the consequences may be felt more in europe. short on money emotionally traumatized and down on his luck father 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 of u.s. military amid calls for him to face trial in afghanistan arties going to church camp has come to her for us. sixteen innocent afghan villagers slaughtered in cold lot nine of them children u.s. officials are going out of their way to present the american surgeon to apparently

committed the massacre as just one bad apple. these incidents 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 but this is not who we are in no way does he represent the. ethics and morality of the american servicemen and servicewomen 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 these 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 cells humiliated insulted and 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 three years how many more people will kill and how many more instances like this the only solution to this is to bring the troops now and then for these for these governments this top winds 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 and. 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 archaeology izing about the qur'an is rather minor to some of the other problems that we have ever 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 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. to belorussians sentenced to death for last year's metro bombing in minsk have been executed confirmation came through the country's state t.v. channel the terror attack last april killed fifteen people and wounded hundreds brussels and has criticised over the execution with the e.u.'s foreign policy chief calling on the country's leadership to impose a moratorium on the death penalty parties and you know we've got reports. from the very beginning when rights observers have questioned whether or not the men were given a fair trial this is just the last straw in the already strained relations between valorous state and the european union in fact a lot of the human rights organizations in the surveys along with the chairman of the european parliament have said requests to the bill or should president alexander lukashenko to graham's clemency to the two convicted men but those requests to our work are disregarded in fact a lot of the european 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 off the opposition this has in fact still led to a diplomatic route after bell was filled out its ambassador is from several of the european countries and in retaliation the european union has also recalled all of their ambassadors from belo rose and 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 she is horrified at the news and this is just about to worsen the situation and their relations between bellers and her opinion even further. in belarus itself not everyone supported the executions for hours were laid near the home of one of the convicted men love of earlier his mother received notification from the court that the death sentence have been heard she thinks her son was made

a scapegoat by authorities and you do they feel they can intimidate the police into silence but my sense is confession explains plan if you investigation in trial i think they could have executed him long guy this is them revenge on him and me. coming up with the program be illegal immigrants traveling to the u.k. in search of a better life. often finding themselves sleeping on the streets with no job or money stuck in a legal no man's. also the price of help racked by debt you hungrily eyes china's three trillion dollars. while a business savvy beijing lays down the rules. seventy three people have been arrested in new york as the occupy wall street movement marks six months since it made its stand against corporate greed and injustice in america police moved in to close a car the park after activists refused to stop pitching tents and to leave the area

so as to move the start of the movement nationwide protests have faced numerous cases of police brutality with the tongs and tear gas often used to disperse crowds but the actions at home are a stark contrast from washington's words in condemning other nations which don't measure up to its idea of democracy as more in a fortnight explained. the u.s. and its european allies have many things in common security politics and a familiar practice of scolding outsiders about the pillars of democracy iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech this is the precinct suppression of human rights in the democracy and this is a big step towards the right democracy rule of law human rights these are all finding in some 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. one hundred times in a little force has been used to help public protest at home. right police handcuffs and iron fists have repeatedly been used against unarmed demonstrators in greece spain and minding their thousand. as for 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 grab and found 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 kicker out

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 open door most mixed with it 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. europe the challenge in the united states and it's easy for our

leaders to point the finger 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 discourse that seems to be based on the highest of standards but as we see here it's a lot easier for schools. others when everything is why. these protesters it or injured students in europe might suggest that their leaders do a bit more before attempting to be a teacher of democracy. artsy new york. steven kuhr lander a political and communications strategist believes the occupy movement needs one clear leader to get its message across. you know that they have really really there's either a piecemeal. approach or anything else i think they have to decide what they want

to go and you know my opinion is should be only for the fact that moving congress is a number of issues the number of different people in this real no there's no leadership there's no definable leadership really standing out and leading the movement they're not they're not reaching the average american they're not it succeed unless they strike the terrifying there needs doing and the address is. of course we have a lot more lined up for you on our website r.t. dot com head there for the latest news and comments here's a taste of what's already online. do you yawn a lot get goosebumps and fidget uncontrollably chances are you're a terrorist at least that's according to a new pamphlet mission by u.s. homeland security. and the emerald isle entertainment across the capital as moscow joins hundreds of thousands of people around the world to celebrate st patrick's day festival footage is that r t but. the global bank payment network swift

cut off iranian banks this week the move is part of the tougher economic sanctions imposed on tehran by western nations they hope the pressure will force iran to abandon its nuclear program but the standoff is forcing well prices up threatening already weak european economies like spain and greece who will lie heavily on iran supplies crisis management specialist. says tehran will simply find new customers rather than change its stance. used in the europe. as we know from the news he. is already making agreements with india and china to have exchanges or currencies and this is also what will not be sold to europe. will be sold elsewhere the issue of certainly is something that comes from the united states and europe following because there is no other way out for you

the problem being what they can increase this to try to throw symmetry to the negotiating table but not their mother going to change the course of action that will be taken in tehran anyway the chief of the international monetary fund believes that major vulnerabilities still remain in europe and that they could prevent the continent from overcoming the financial crisis christine legarde was speaking in china where she called the country a bright spot in an uncertain global economy and as our silly reports many analysts now point to beijing as the possible savior of europe. with china's three trillion plus dollars in foreign currency reserves it was only a matter of time before debt laden europe came knocking on its store from the chinese side of the leaders always failed pavia willing to show that we can reach our it's like you're not putting in fact peace maybe we want some kind of

a deal from a well it's not even a maybe now china's clout is clearly on the rise and so is its confidence this time around china has no qualms letting the e.u. know that it is well aware of its tried card and that any help will come at a price top of its list of demands. gaining the status of a full fledged market economy and lifting the one nine hundred eighty nine ban on its purchase of military weapons from the e.u. . and for the first time china has openly used its potential cash card to lash out at the e.u. for a recent anti subsidy an anti dumping investigations into imports of chinese made steel products it does a great emerging superpower as. it is do you know. it's . can but europe has a throne in the towel just yet it still has the power to grant china's wishes as the country's second biggest trade partner the fall of one is the fall of both the

e.u. also has its own demands for one backing on syria and iran part of the political game international politics is being played it's very much kind of mix and partly coming from the resources but behind the gates of cash rich china it's fighting its own battle trying to sell the idea to its people chinese internet forums were abuzz with annoyance at what they see as poor ordinary chinese paying for rich europeans so that's why the chinese prime minister just went to. are trying to persuade it's people and the people and the car you can see in the government thing that. helping the european union is also helping ourselves not all the chinese are convinced but if business must go on one local commentator wrote don't hand over

a dime without asking for the world in return yes or sell your r t brussels illegal immigrants travelling to the u.k. in search of a better life are finding it may not be the land of plenty of a hope for some spend all their money to get there before finding themselves homeless and stuck in a complex legal system i mean or to work but unable to return home as our teens are going to found out. it looks like nothing more than a dumping ground 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 there 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 i was free to go to be paved with gold many risk their entire families

fortune to get here dreaming of the riches that await 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 the home i have been largo. it's. all it's where do you sleep. i wanted to leave or have a look at all it's been in the in. with no official identity men like black in a 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 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 is where the man waits looking for work every morning hoping to be picked up and paid for a day's labor today though like most days they wait isn't this the older guys were in india or thinking about you know in england you know money's gone. right either too much money but they don't know what happened here because they realize reality is there if you were doing labor work as we didn't you know do in india. you know 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 either bennett. london recap of this week's top stories coming up in just a few moments don't go away you're watching archy. with the end of the boer war and the going away of the soviet union many people thought that nuclear weapons disappeared. the risk is not zero love something might

be going off by mistake special it sounds a little clear weapons on hair trigger alert. but because of the difference for using a day as a threat or as an extra. you know if you keep spending a trillion dollars a year on weapons of benchley you're going to blow everybody up you you know people are dying from these weapons but until we actually see if people don't wake up to a nuclear weapons or a bill. that represents all the firepower of the second world war and this second sound is the equivalent firepower of the world's nuclear arsenal today. and you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so for a sleep you think you understand it and then you've lived something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize.