the following clashes persist in syria as the u.n. admits the peace plan is being broken by both sides while moscow stepped up efforts to find a diplomatic solution. one hundred billion euros of bailout madrid finally admits it can save its police get banks on its own becoming the largest economy so far to seek aid from the eurozone. also boosting trade and tackling the crisis in the middle east russia and china strengthen their partnership as president vladimir putin visits beijing.

with a look back at the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly on r.t. un observers in syria continuing efforts to determine how many people were massacred in hama province on wednesday who was behind the slaughter top u.n. officials admit the peace plan is being flouted by both sides of the conflict dozens of reportedly been killed across the country over the weekend while foreign calls for intervention being ramped up as more if a national reports. duquesne body is lain side by side we mean children among them death was indiscriminate and bloody the pictures from syria this week have brought shock around the globe and also a worry in sense of deja vu just weeks before another massacre came to light this time in the village of houla and the world was quick to pass judgment the american british and french push for military intervention in syria is absolutely enormous we've seen hague of course william hague the british foreign secretary calling for

intervention we've seen the new french president saying the same thing the americans obviously taking the lead the specter of a military solution returned before an investigation into who was responsible was even launched they're all saying that their side regime is committing human rights abuses and they repeat this message obsessive like i am confident to predict that indeed it will remain fixed in people's minds and could well be used as a pretext and you don't have to look back to far to see where hasty joke to me so a rush to take up arms like the cost of war and. exactly what happened and i would never massacre which was the village of russia. by the u.s. ambassador was leaving your observation mission on the ground the claims that it was a. massacre of innocent civilians by government troops serving it was when presented with. back then the yugoslavian government just like the syrian

one now condemned militants for the killings in this case blaming the ban in separatists from the kosovo liberation army an investigation was launched to find out whether the victims were innocent civilians as the international community claimed or whether the country's army had been battling professional fighters two out of three forensic inquiries proved most of the casualties died in combat the third report. you team has never been made public interesting we know. we have been reports of syrian rebels whoever they are. with the. think of being in kosovo liberation army people who were basically agents of mido in the course or. basically training i don't know they were saying they were training in the marsian human rights but the only training that they could have ever given anybody is how to figure masculine or stage or war. or what's happening now. but even with

hindsight after the nato bombing of yugoslavia ruin the alliances these tribes in libya last year history isn't been prevented from repeating itself again and again with this seven images coming from syria and making world headlines everybody agreed those who are guilty must be punished but the reaction from the international community has been so sweet and so quiet in ated the result is that punishment will come before even those who are truly responsible are exposed and that could mean not just a loss of justice but also huge loss of life. refinishing r t reporting from syria . meanwhile moscow stepping up its efforts to mediate a diplomatic solution in syria it wants an international contact group to persuade damascus and the rebels to halt violence and begin talks the russia says some external plans are provoking the syrian opposition to continue fighting despite kofi annan peace plan. you know when we hear reports of another massacre in syria

and currently we see such atrocities almost daily with many international media outlets place the blame entirely on damascus the government of any country is of course responsible for what's happening within its borders but we're sure the regime alone is not to blame for everything we see massacres in houla terrorist attacks in damascus and aleppo that have been condemned by the un security council all this is a result of confrontations that are getting more and more support from abroad first of all moral support for the so-called armed opposition which is being supplied with money weapons and bolstered by militants from neighboring countries. the syrian opposition group in exile has elected a kurdish activist as its new leader abdel baset site has urged mass defections from the regime and pledge support for the free syrian army fighting against president said which could allow the rebels to gain further ground middle east expert he says with western states strongly backing the opposition there largely responsible for the country's dire situation. when the americans vassal state

slow growth some talk about transition what they are effectively mean is regime change that is what they did in libya with dire consequences as we can see in their country today in syria the plan to bring both sides to the table and have a negotiated settlement is obviously the best way to move forward but the united states and britain and their other allies have absolutely no pressure on the other side to come to them negotiate a negotiating table and start a process of talks so it would appear to me that what we now have is an end game situation where the united states as decided to remove this regime and will use everything in aspire to do so. the struggling eurozone has been dealt a fresh blow the spain has become the largest economy so far to ask for help as it

admitted it is one hundred billion euros to prop up its beleaguered banks the cash will be fed directly to a special fund with madrid ultimately responsible for the money however this plan that spain avoid committing to additional cuts imposed from the outside as happened in the case of greece ireland and portugal the spanish prime minister has praised the loan as a victory for the single currency is credibility that's been advised patrick young is question its effectiveness and even the euro's future as a currency. all of the politicians have basically left the people stranded the new government in spin went into the nile mode from the wall and they came into office and six months later they suddenly realized what anybody who was remotely financially literate could work six months ago and two years ago even spanish banks far and ultimately there needs to be a way in order to manage to rescue the conventional belike mechanisms are not going

to work and that's why ultimately it's very difficult to see tragically whether or not there really is a future to the euro was a currency the greeks when you talk to them on one side they don't want austerity and they don't really think they should have to pay their bills for the deaths that have been grown by the government over the years at the same time they think they should be in the euro it's automatically a little bit like going out and pulling a group of eight year old children no matter that they may say that they realize they have to eat sensibly they're going to demand ice cream and jelly for their next meal and for every meal there after as long as they have influence the problem with greece is ultimately it doesn't really matter what they vote for in the course of the middle of june because they haven't actually been taking their medicine greece ultimately is returning to the drachma i think whether it likes it or not because it's completely untenable as a conventional modern democracy it's simply sadly does not function as one another fact madrid is getting that huge handout with no us thirty strings attached has led

to calls in dublin for it to renegotiate its bailout deal but one small town isn't waiting for the government to sort things out as laura smith reports people they're looking back to help move forwards. it's a blast from the past as this customer uses the irish punt to pay for some everyday purchases in the town of clueless island joined the euro from the get go in two thousand and two but crisis hit business owners here have revived their old currency to try and desperately claw some cash back into the community if you bring in pointed to was twenty point whatever you spend or fifty points whatever you spend we will give you a change of tone his tone voters which you can then go on spend cross-road in super value or in the crib or golf or drink up the town it's a great scheme for the child it means all the money remains within the tug as for the euro here it's been reduced to a novelty item printed on tissues and toilet paper and customers come from miles

around to spend their puts often stopping by for a haircut while they're here oh yeah a lot of people come from from fast especially around from people from the phantoms from the functions on us as a complication month women can ask god to me on the phone to spit out there's an estimated two hundred eighty five million puns tucked away in draws and under mattresses forgotten about ok to souvenirs when arlen joined the euro a decade ago they're no longer legal tender but would have a value of around two hundred forty million euros just a fraction of which would make a massive difference in crisis hit close the permit scheme has undoubtedly boosted the local economy but the ravages of the economic crash are still all too evident the main street is lined with boarded up shops with around fifty percent of premises empty it's

a scene that's repeated in small towns and bigger cities throughout our land austerity here means business people are being hit with a variety of taxes and levies making it harder and harder to stay afloat let alone . turn a profit it's not just told this town as the whole country has suffered with starting measures with the. new water charges which are common and shortly new household charge which which came in this year will increase every year. there was a two percent hike up to twenty three percent in the point of sale tax which we have to do something something to improve the situation shopkeepers say going back to the point isn't a political statement it's a survival tactic and as the fate of the euro hangs in the balance clueless may not be alone in looking back for its future nora smith r.t. closest island. the french are casting their votes for a new parliament with polls suggesting the outcome will favor recently elected president francois hollande it would be the socialist first parliamentary majority

in a decade they already control the senate on and defeated nicolas sarkozy last month as promised reforms to cut unemployment and revive a stagnant economy is also faced criticism for his aggressive foreign policies which his successor has failed to change french affairs journalist robert downey's says the main election intrigue as well and will be able to break free of the hold of nato and us. if you look at past. says very little about our coliseum because the french elector are not interested but right at the end the very last words are i mean if i am elected i will work to make sure that nature returns to its original role as a defensive alliance but that me that could mean two things that first of all is he's trailing his coat he's making a signal to the communists and i'm going to go if he's elected he won't be

for the americans and nato he could mean what he really means and that's what he wants to do but it's very very difficult to say at the moment but he's going to be less ostensibly pro nato the reality though it was to america has its huge military dominance it's very difficult for any western european country to go very far in the american alliance. this is the weekly live here on r.t. from moscow still ahead for you this hour thousands of egyptians are furious hosni mubarak wasn't sentenced to death as the former president is now said to be in critical condition. but stories to remember first year asia's two biggest countries have cemented their partnership this week as russian president vladimir putin visited china a handful of business deals were signed but apart from ensuring that trade is flourishing moscow and beijing have a number of pressing international issues to tackle alexy to share scheme reports now from the chinese capital. who could have thought half a century ago when china and russia clashed over disputed territories that in

twenty twelfth russia's president would be greeted by a red carpet in beijing during a lavish state visit. where we know that two years ago china became russia's largest st bernard you know outstripping other nations in the former soviet union as well as germany and other european nations you know the security cooperation in russia and china the parallels are. going to other forms of cooperation china needs and i like russia or putin and hu jintao is alliance was reconfirmed by their unified stance on middle east issues in particular the syrian conflict that are being some difference as a patron of russia china and the subways and that are up in countries from thailand the russia prospect have the key solution lysine. the presentational and that's planned rather than lies and whether or not we see the poverty the existing government that is now the committee so i think russia and china's

position on syria still a small responsible and designed to play a prominent on the final solution. see their presence and putin splendid to boost their already strong military ties so to be pleased beijing in light of us need to war games in the region and the recent tour of the us defense secretary to the asia pacific china is strengthening its armed forces at an unpredicted rate the united states invaded the philippines in one thousand nine hundred one thousand eight hundred it invaded the asian part of russia to stop the russian revolution for most of the war in asia then it went to korea vietnam the united states us for many many battles in asia so a pivot towards asia should be considered something of great alarm for the people of the continent russia and china were also joined in beijing by iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad who supported their stance on syria the leaders also agreed that only diplomatic and political. approaches should be considered when dealing with the issue of tehran's nuclear intentions condemning any international talk of

aggression towards the republic the chinese and the russians probably don't want to see an overly domineering us and which i think is understandable coming from moscow and beijing and i think what the u.s. i think does and to some degree the u.s. with europe with western europe does you know does seem to be coming down quite strongly in the middle east and in so far as the. russians and the chinese you know have their interest which and honestly congruent with those of europe or the u.s. they would probably want to protect those interests important talks in difficult times and dozens of multi-billion dollar business agreements signed putin story day visit all but confirmed that the countries have kick started a new era in their relations and the fact that putin chose beijing as one of his early priorities since returning to power indicated that's in the far east where moscow has one of its most important partners more than half

a century ago the chinese describe the u.s.s.r. as dog the elder brother by the time the soviet union collapsed these sentiments were long gone two decades on a state visit to beijing suggested that the two countries may not feel like a family just yet but have definitely moved much closer to each other. reporting from beijing in china. more news analysis and pictures in addition to what you see here on screen on our website r.t. dot com online at the moment disputable defense the british government is facing questions over why a security firm accused of human rights abuses in the west bank has been hard for the london olympics. and somali islamists wanted in the u.s. with a thirty three million dollars bounty have come up with a culture proposal offering ten camels for president barack obama get the full story met with r.t. dot com. the health of egypt's former president hosni mubarak has reportedly

worsened he's currently serving life in a car or a prison where he said to be slipping in and out of consciousness thousands of people have been drawn to tahrir square this week angry that the verdict in the barracks recent trial that the mourning the death sentence for his role in killing hundreds of protesters during last year's uprising there also angry that his former prime minister has made it to the presidential election runoff next week where he's facing the muslim brotherhood candidate the ruling military council says it will transfer power to the elected president by the first of july arab affairs journalist danny says people are furious at the lack of positive change. seems that the anger which. led to people massing lasted beyond the mere square last year beginning of the uprising. very much seen again on the streets of not only cairo and the square in particular but across the country as a whole other demonstration. organized and wondered. could al but also

war demonstrations across the country in the days leading to the second round of elections so the and anger. administration in general is still very much there and it's directed at many things first of all the fact that mubarak himself avoided execution over his lack of ability to protect the life and. nine hundred and some demonstrated in last year's uprising and more crucially the ones to six top aides in the wire regime which were acquitted and that is an indication as far as the egyptians are concerned there's all the hand has been removed the body destruction of the mubarak regime is still very much in place. tens of thousands of people have gathered in georgia's second largest city of cooties in support of one of the country's major coalition groups the georgian dream party has been set up by a local billionaire and is expected to provide the main challenge to the ruling

party of president mikheil saakashvili ahead of elections later this year but it's get more on the store and talk to peter he's director of the democracy initiative joining us live now from new york president saakashvili party holds an overwhelming majority in the parliament so what are the chances for this new party in the october election well most experts have given no more than. a minute. you know the opposition has criticized increasing. and unfortunately very sure has not gotten enough traction among voters instead the opposition should be. health care and pension reform it also remains to be seen if the demonstrations that the opposition of so far some of which have been quite impressive in size will not run out of steam over the summer you say not run of the steam or perhaps would they be suppressed by the government obviously they've been

allowed to stage these rallies that moment but do you see that sort of freedom continuing. well presidents actually this government has been known to do with opposition protests quite harshly in the past one particularly brutal crackdown if you remember occurred in two thousand and seven ironically the fourth anniversary of the rose revolution if the opposition sticks to its peaceful methods and it has so far as government will not have a good enough excuse to crackdown and it will have to rely. on the peaceful methods in dealing with these demonstrations maybe deny media coverage to the opposition and i also believe it is still quite assured of a job but during a visit to georgia just days ago u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton she called for a free and fair elections are we going to see a democratic process then in the country. well the u.s. will be watching quite carefully in. parliamentary elections in october and also

the two thousand and thirteen presidential elections. valid electoral outcome in parliament presidential elections will further george just repetition the kind of model u.s. wants to see another cut georgia is a poster boy for america and it will be a blow to its. foreign policy if georgia does not have free and fair elections but mind you there will be many observers of these elections and i do not believe that we will witness fraud on any significant though some irregularities will likely. put any other reason why america should be so interested in what many would say is a very small state miles away from america saying itself you're saying they'd like to see this is a model of democracy but other any other reasons american influence in the recent in the region for example that it has such an interest that. it is a very strategic neighborhood in georgia as a territory as

a territory hos. as well go to the black sea supply. european countries. at the same time george. foreman. butting heads. for georgia. is very. important to america. so closely with foreign policy i would have to say. to survive you see the level of the state department and by that i mean do you support. this government on the level of individual soldiers vigil congressman we see some criticism of president

saakashvili some brutal tactics to do it would be opposition. very interesting to hear your thoughts on this thanks so much for joining us live pictures on my director of the regime it was the initiative live their new things. this is the weekly him live on our teachers ahead feed this hour trial and error as america's most famous all the whistleblower bradley manning appears in court is supposed to say the prosecutors have got something to highlight. the first demonstrators breaking the protest regulations in russia will now have to pay seven thousand euros all due up to two hundred hours of community service president putin stressed the new rally lore is in line with european standards in france for example protestors breaking the law could be fined up to forty five thousand euros and even face several years in jail the new rule will be put to the test next tuesday when your position plans to stage a million man march scuffles broke out as the last launch anti-government rally in

may after which activists stayed several unsanctioned citizens. time now to update you on other world news in brief now in our world update government opened fire on a church in northeast nigeria killing a woman and winning several other people in a separate incident a suicide bomber blew himself up outside another church in the central part of the country the blast left for worshippers dead and over forty injured there was no immediate claim of responsibility but the radical sect has repeatedly targeted churches in the past. the second day of fighting between libyan soldiers and tribesmen has seen thirteen people killed in violence erupted on saturday in the volatile region libya's borders with chad and sudan longstanding rivalries in the smuggling of weapons in libya have intensified following last year's uprising and the death of former leader moammar gadhafi. and in vice president's been killed with six other people in a helicopter crash near nairobi george society was serving as the country's

internal security minister and plan to run for the presidency next year the aircraft burst into flames as it hit the ground police are investigating the cause of the accident. to gas and pepper spray have been used against protesters in canada as hundreds marched in montreal around a dozen demonstrators were arrested after the clashes with police people took to the streets as part of protests against the rising cost of a university education as well as the city's hosting of a grand prix race the students have been protesting for months demanding a tuition fee for. the pretrial hearings have begun for the soldier accused of america's biggest leak of classified data in history twenty four year old bradley manning is charged with aiding the enemy by passing materials related to the war in iraq to the whistle blowing web site wiki leaks and his lawyers fear the trial won't be fair as the government's withholding documents believe relevant to manning's defense campaigners zakk president or witness the

hearings. it's like watching a poorly executed circus act here i think the prosecution's verbal acrobatics really reached new heights and i think it really came to the surface for the judge that the prosecution is simply using word games to try to stall and delay this trial so there were a number of occasions where the judge basically caught the prosecution essentially misrepresenting the facts for example they may say that they were unaware of wiki leaks impact assessments for example and as it turns out in a memo that was revealed in court they actually were quite well aware of these things and so there were a number of instances where it became clear that they weren't telling the truth bradley's intentions were clearly to inform and alert the american people you know the prosecution is basically saying that his intentions don't matter they've even said in court it doesn't matter how pure is intentions were it doesn't matter that what the impacts were the government is arguing

a very narrow point that simply by putting classified information on the internet if the enemy can also read the internet therefore you've helped the enemy and this would establish a very alarming precedent whereby essentially any soldier even if they unintentionally reveal something completely harmless they could face capital punishment so this i mean this could have a really huge impact on journalism not only for sources but on the ability of the american people to know what their elected officials are doing. that's the way it is for the moment in a few minutes from now the story of the people putting their lives on the line in the battle for. new stories for you in just a moment stay with us this is the weekly.

there hasn't been anything good on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political impact. before source material is what helps keep journalism on the we. we want to present. something else.