today's top headlines and the stories that shape the week right here on our team as the u.n. prepares for its humanitarian mission in syria the violence in the country intensifies with deadly attacks on the country's second a city and the 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 the occupy wall street movement marks six months since it made its stand against corporate greed and injustice in america.

you are watching our team glad to have you with us it is seven o'clock in the morning here in moscow at least two people are killed by a car bomb in a residential area in aleppo syria's second city attacks on saturday in the capital damascus killed twenty seven people and wounded scores more our middle east correspondent paula slater 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 throughout the day 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 now i witness on the scene say that they were bodies lying everywhere they also say that they heard a massive explosions and gunfire immediately after understand was a car bombing now we understand this to be security officers who were firing in the air immediately following the last and also cordoned off the area to try and prevent people from coming closer and now the blast comes just a day after twenty 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 role for the country twenty eight people were killed in twin blasts not far from a security office not the syrian pris is blaming saudi arabia and qatar for sunday's bombing they say that they have been calling for the army of not position

and that this is merely fueling the situation on the ground and intensifying the violence earlier on sunday also demonstrators gathered at the science 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. what is the information war and hero international broadcasters are increasingly being accused of following their own agenda and reporting the story in story and as such i'm the only contribution to the violence and fueling the fight on the ground as my colleague reports. clashes in the streets of syria has 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 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 in this video from the syrian town of holmes became are a 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 because 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 all the people reporting you 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. when you lose your job a good. talk about his wife. after some thirty minutes away to

the crew starts to get nervous and let's go. no we need al jazeera live on al-jazeera eventually the girl will forget some details. i miss you 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 history harry. 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. should i say the whole deal. tell them there are some buildings collapsed and we're taking bodies away. he there could be

a miniature hundred get good therapy in the last hour or two. here two hundred dead enough reality for no you. can never become the big deal you see activity become journalists trying to make a chaise 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 from on high. leftist and progressive voices just mind we're not going to be as welcomed anymore obviously because cars have decided to keep shape the picture of the news a little more than we used to that's always a mistake. well known war correspondent ali hashim used to report for al-jazeera from the world's conflicts 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 he has just resigned because of biased coverage he says but some were like you know promoting the revolutions in leave syria. egypt tunisia whatever i've got before is a revolution in bahrain and saudi arabia and the media and this is just a proxy it's a proxy used by by its third party by fellow factions by senate governments by maybe rise through either through the fourth. and look through the notes in all of the international media is important in the arab spring revolutions the question remains open to what extent they influence events and how much responsibility they therefore share portfolios refreshing r t beirut lebanon. syrian authorities are pointing the finger of blame at islamic extremists for the latest attacks dr abdullah from damascus university believes there are clear signs

that al-qaeda is responsible. for persians it gives your impression that this is. kind of operations there is. there is to. these terrorist groups a very very soon that he usually in your neighborhood after that is. province you see these thirty people all of you where are some of them won't. be some of them went to live by now and they've been in these kind of people they are tourists absolutely groups of people are going to any kind of opposition and i think everyone who are looking to us the truth understand this kind of extremism is not working in syria and. they want to punish all these here people. the latest blast in syria come ahead of a planned visit by u.n. teams to the country special envoy kofi anon is urging all sides to agree to a ceasefire and for dialogue to begin between the assad government and the

opposition based political analyst dr omar now should be told us the bombings in damascus and aleppo or aimed in those 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 do this troy 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 showed. the success of mr annan so mission coming up later in the program a grieving mother and an angry europe. when you look at the through thinking

intimidate the police into signing. to metro bombers are accused executed in bellerose but relatives and human rights groups are saying they weren't given a fair trial. and as more economic sanctions are piled on iran we find the consequences may be felt more in europe. short on money emotionally traumatized and a down on his luck father of two 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 amid calls for him to face trial in afghanistan or he's going to teach again as commentary from washington d.c. . sixteen innocent afghan villagers slaughtered in called launch nine of them children u.s.

officials are going out of their way to present the american surgeon to apparently committed the massacre is 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 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 big 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. nations on ripley 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 incidents like this will be regarded as a 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 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 this opens of

a name in countries where they have absolutely no rights when the 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 in 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 and some of the other problems that we here 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 put new people through 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 our keep. the afghan government to public now demand a proper and controversy edition with facing trial but john glazier assistant editor at antiwar dot com says u.s. soldiers have a history of escaping 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 heavy thumb massacre in iraq where nine u.s. soldiers killed twenty four men women and children. caught none of them were convicted except for one who was merely demoted to the rank of private in the you will serve no jail time i can go on and on like this these things happen and the u.s.

to 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. to belorussian sentenced to death for last year's metro bombing in minsk have been executed confirmation came through the country's state t.v. channel a terror attack last april killed fifteen people and wounded hundreds process has criticized bell reuss 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 or his eating and political reports. from the very beginning when rights observers have questioned whether or not the men were given fair trial this is just the last straw in the already strained relations between bellerose and the european union in fact a lot of the human rights organizations and servers along to the chairman off the european parliament have said requests to the bill or should present i mean some really pushing for to grant clemency to the two convicted men but those requests

and i were just regarded in fact a lot of the european of the european human rights observers and officials have long been looking in questioning the officials approach it to human rights freedom of speech and their treatment off the opposition this hasn't said to lead to diplomatic crowd after bella was four dollars it's a vast areas from several of the european countries and in retaliation the european union has also recalled all of their ambassadors from belgium 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 short also said that she is horrified at the news and this is just to worsen the situation and the relations between bellers and the european union even further. reporting for us their. self not everyone supported the executions flowers were laid near the home of one of the

convicted. earlier his mother received notification from the court that the death sentence had been carried out she thinks her son was made a scapegoat. but you don't really think they can intimidate the police into silence but my sense is they forced his confession and explains the national plan of investigation in trial otherwise they could have executed him longer play these very very and join him in the mideast and coming up on the program a little bit later on friends no more. egypt's freshly elected islamist m.p.'s and say israel is their number one enemy and it seeks to cut all ties with tel aviv. and the russian opposition activists surrounded the capital's t.v. headquarters to take part in what they call a funeral of free press after the broadcast of a documentary critical of those behind recent political protests. 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 into here's a party park after activists refused to start pushing friends and to leave the area since the start of the movement nationwide protests have faced numerous cases of police brutality of the times and the tear gas often used to disperse crowds but the actions at home are in stark contrast to washington's words in condemning other nations which don't measure up to its idea of democracy as more important explains . the u.s. and its european allies had many things in common security politics and a familiar practice just called an outsiders about your years of democracy in iranian people have a universal right so assembly and free speech this is the precinct suppression human rights and democracy and that 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 are grabbing their. finger around the world. wouldn't the times in google force have been used to public protest at home of the. right to lease handcuffs and iron fists have repeatedly been used against unarmed demonstrators in greece spain and london 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 know anything about 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. the job like opening up an open door but most mixed with sting from about my sternum to my neck new an 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 ruled 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 in the united states and the. it's easy for our leaders to point the finger somewhere else rather than take responsibility here in america do anything differently lecturing others are 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 recently here i've shown it's a lot easier to scold others when everything is why. these protesters sick. or injured students in europe might suggest that their leaders do what they are poor attempting to be a teacher of democracy. are seeing me on. the global bank payment network swift has cut links with iran this week as part of tougher economic

sanctions imposed on tehran by western nations but the standoff is forcing oil prices up with the u.s. and britain already thinking of turning to their domestic emergency reserves but as our sara further explained it's not every country can rely on such a safety net. spain is among the biggest importers rainy and oil. sayings when the sanctions come into force in july they have until the final causes of crude supply. and on iran's facing a real risk to the country that until now has been fueled by iranian oil. prices are on the rise and there are fears that they're about to be pumped even higher with the iranian oil invoke a looming the e.u. interest ban comes as the west's been making ways if you are runs nuclear program it's getting around the oil revenues will bring the country to the bargaining table was countries like france and britain and fortini

a very small percentage of iranian oil and supported the van is the country struggling the west economically right now spain greece and italy are they going to feel the effects of the sanctions the most if we can't refuse them trashing the u.s. . foreign minister actually said that if you think it was the first person feel sick even if. you didn't hear about the fact that you can't be forced to make a decision once you know that in a healthy economic situation a rise in oil prices might be problematic becoming 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 simple resilience. certainly should trigger a rise in prices we should follow the example of the us to tighten our belts and

keep you should have nuclear weapons or parts to revive our economy. can fears about it's a rise in prices have been made saudi arabia says it's good enough oil to make up for the loss of around supply when the in vogue. because she's like saying we'll still be paying the price of lost trade with iran and the cost of replacing those oil contracts ever likely think imports of oil from iran have increased since the libyan war now the prospect of the state he's with iran is causing huge concern. while those new war prices collation the student sanctions can be corrected the problems will come if there is a war with then you could see a real crisis. now countries like spain elected the mess the situation no one wants to see ignites. spain. this week egypt's recently elected lower house of parliament declared israel its number one enemy it

also voted to expel the jewish state's ambassador gas supplies and wants to revise all relations after israel's attacks on gaza last week. from the jerusalem post thinks it is only a taste of things to come but more islamists take power in egypt and worse relations will get between the two countries because islamists have never had an interest in peace and food for proper ration with israel they've only been interested in damaging israel and actually seeking its destruction and in their overall ideology the sudden lifting of the old governments and sudden. eviction of these governments in societies like egypt where the islamists have been preparing for decades to seize power will more or less guarantee the fact that the islamists the dangerous elements will seize to seize power and i think that israel views this development with

a great amount of concern for the near future. protesters in russia gathered for an unsanctioned rally on sunday a very recently aired t.v. documentary in the film some of the leaders of the opposition are accused of paying people to take part in street protests and are portrayed as u.s. backed agents around one hundred people have been detained as a result of the un authorized meeting. at the scene. several hundred people have gathered in front of the t.v. center in moscow this is their headquarters. and this is a protest rally against a film recently released by one of these channels were squashed. and the funding the opposition movement this rally was not authorized by the federal opposition leader. and. it's fair to see that judging by the. 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 some of the previous opposition rallies in moscow before the presidential election it's clear that the opposition needs a new face and concrete and constructive demands and it's rallies like this which really show. the organization. but he's you got a piece going off reporting from the main you know t.v. center here in moscow and now on to some other stories making headlines around the world. rights activist and former lutheran pastor while he has been elected germany's new president he won the backing of most parties getting overwhelming support at a special problem entry assembly got succeeds christiane bulls who stepped down last month following a series of scandals and allegations of corruption. in cairo coptic christians are observing a second night vigil for pope shenouda the third who died on saturday at the age of

eighty eight he was the leader of the country's largest religious minority for almost four decades three people died in a stampede and tens of thousands attended the cathedral where his body is on display the pope's funeral is due to be held later on tuesday. five suspected militants have been shot dead by indonesian police in an anti terror raid on the resort island of bali the men are said to have been part of an extremist group that was planning a number of armed robberies to fund terrorist acts several gently attacks have shaken be island over the past decade including a suicide blast in two thousand and two that killed more than two hundred people most of them tourists. that wraps up the news this hour i'll be back with a recap of this week's top stories that's in just a few moments don't go away and you're watching r.t. .