explosions and fighting in the syrian capital as rebels announce a full scale offensive against damascus that's another diplomatic attempt to end the crisis. here in. america to patrol britain's ports with. the u.k. is forced to draft more troops and police security contractors bite off more than they can shoot. and insulting. describe a new start which is nothing more than a guide for. the civilized world. here

in moscow with you twenty four hours a day syrian opposition fighters have taken their battle to the neighborhoods of damascus with reports that this city has witnessed explosions and intense daylight shootouts. in the capital. the capital damascus since the beginning of the uprising last march has most of the time been under governmental control and the closest the fighting has ever moved has been in its suburbs in the eastern part of the mask personally area known as duma there have been several army assaults against opposition hotbeds there but the clashes have never actually taken place inside this city and this is exactly what is going on right now the free syrian army has claimed this is the last of this size of battle battle for the capital so they can see the route very very important activists and residents have described

it was going on in damascus as the most intense they have used violence since the beginning of the uprising last march and the opposition groups have also been reports in the me has been using more tires and even armed vehicles and how he called theories and has been shelling in the areas where the rebels are this information is very hard to be very far and i only can confirm that yes we are hearing shootings here and there in different parts of the city from time to time we see smoke coming from different again parts of damascus and we've also been hearing helicopters flying over the mass because we're hearing from governmental sources here that a great number of terrorists have been killed during these operations in damascus many rebels have been captured and few a number have surrendered who also been hearing from these sources that the hottest the most intense questions right now are happening in the area here in damascus

known as media and where the army has surrounded the rebels but what is absolutely clear is that armed groups have a cheek to spread. this fear in damascus this feeling of despair and of cares here in the capital there are no cars almost on the road at a time when usually we see traffic jams here in damascus when the reflection there is key. on top of all the latest developments in the conflict zone you can check out her twitter feed for more updates comments and images in one of the latest tweets she says the headquarters of the governing party is apparently being targeted. and syria's top international mediators says he hopes the world will strike a compromise over the country's crisis at the u.n. security council kofi annan view was shared by the russian leadership. followed his meeting with president putin here in moscow. well coffee on is in a very complicated position right now since he himself admits that the peace plan in syria isn't working since neither side of the conflict is putting the onus

weapons it is getting to peaceful negotiations were in fact if president assad did openly say that he is ready to pull talks of filmy that's not the case with the opposition which is continuing its attacks on government forces on government facilities and openly says that it won't stop until syria falls into a state of total and complete civil disobedience must lead to a violent end it's definitely not making coffee on the job any easier now. we know that the other question is if you get the international community united and that it's clear that coffee on this now policing a lot of will fall on uniting the international community of all powers war able to be sure understanding on syria in geneva saying that all sides of the conflict have to put their weapons down simultaneously equal pressure as to be applied on both of them as well but unfortunately the reality is different from what's written in that document since we're already getting new interpretations call for the document also

sometimes new calls for rejean change which is not a change in the document and even open support of the armed rebels not to put their weapons down and continue their on the resistance russia's stance on the situation hasn't changed that coincides with the coffee and peace plan and with the agreements reached in geneva great britain and the united states are trying to push article seven into the new u.n. security council resolution on syria which doesn't rule out foreign military intervention which first of all also is not to maintain this isn't even documented and one of the points which russia and china are strongly i guess and we're now even getting right specifically from the u.s. secretary of state clinton recently said that if washington china don't change their position on syria they will be the violence in syria is continuing and wall. the lives of all civilians and ordinary people are lost every day. you've got to get out of there well let's discuss the situation with global affairs research

benjamin shetty said join me now like him r.t. if you know enough to talk with the russian leadership here in moscow has expressed hope that world powers will reach a compromise on the un security council action there in syria how likely is that do you think given that those deep divisions still remain. the problem is that the western powers or let's say nato. alliance between nato and other states they are not seeking for a compromise between the opposition and the syrian government but their only goal is to violently overthrow the government. of course this. peaceful way. that they do not have any other. incentive to go to solve the conflict peacefully i think. but by hillary clinton statements targets russia russia for going about and. trying to

put pressure on all sides instead of just a unilateralist according to the armed gangs against the government. has nothing to do with not going to go sharing these disagreements but do you think force really does remain the only option bearing in mind that a recent defector from the assad regime has said that he will not go politically but only through force. the i don't think that. our system sucks government agreed or said it was agreed on the transitional government together with the opposition but. since they refuse any political solution to stories or any political solution of the conflict and the reason is because they know or have the ongoing military and political support. of reactionary are regimes by the nato and so on and as long as they have this

so-called they will see no reason to. make any kind of peace deal and unfortunately i'm afraid that as long as this will go on like this. did you think also benjamin that the fact that we are now seeing this fall and in damascus perhaps a new stage in the development of this conflict there that maybe the opposition think they'll actually getting nearer their goal and they don't want to give up the vonage approach and resort to any diplomatic or political approach. yes it looks like they seem to if it as much as i can say from here they seem to infiltrate. their capital. to cause chaos. fear in the bulk of the nation and to the allies of the capital which has been relatively quiet despite some terrible suicide bombing so far. this ongoing chaos. will be

a rest and power my force of lives to go through. pressuring russia and china and going on. pressuring ourselves maybe you can start and stop humanitarian intervention so yeah but let's talk about that this relationship between russia china and of course the other powers russia says it actually face blackmail from its foreign partners you want to push through a resolution potentially allowing foreign action there in syria now what if they fail to get russia on board will they go ahead anyway and we will see some form of intervention that you just mentioned. unfortunately. the example of yugoslavia i was in ninety nine there was no you are a solution that whatever the back of the. federal republic of yugoslavia nevertheless they went on to calling for the bombing because that is just briefly benjamin shouldn't now intervention be perhaps justified on a humanitarian basis after all should we be standing by and letting this happen

when perhaps the international community could help just briefly. causing this military prices. to go into. the same because the oil was the same it was in syria by supporting. the. majority of the population and creating chaos and then say well now we have to. go so. thanks very much and if your thoughts global affairs research are joining me like that in montreal while the syrian crisis fills the headlines there's a massive effort to keep the rest in another country off the radar bahrain's authorities are doing their best to silence the popular protests searching hospitals for wounded activists and cracking down on foreign journalists trying to cover the uprising. more on that a little later here on r.t. now u.s.

agents are on their way to london for the olympics reportedly to boost security at major airports the news emerged just days after a private security firm contracted by the british government said it could not provide the stuff needed it's now be up to police and the army to make up the shortfall a solution that's left u.k. authorities red faced correspondent for smith with more now from the capital. as athletes and guests start to arrive here at heathrow airport for london's olympic games they'll be met by all the usual sites including loan seems that immigration is u.k. border officials struggle to cope with the shit numbers involved but it won't be just a u.k. official felt come across some may be surprised to see american agents operating on british soil the u.s. transport administration or for a city has reportedly been allowed to bring in its agents in a move aimed at helping british authorities to secure american flights in and out of the u.k. the agents apparently won't be allowed past boarding gates or the u.k.

aircraft but them if presidents could prove controversial in the u.s. they've been accused of performing intrusive pat down it's just the latest confession that britain's been forced to make to the u.s. which doesn't believe the olympic host has done enough to ensure the security of the games the american team will reportedly bring with it five hundred f.b.i. agents to protect its athletes and diplomats plus of five hundred security staff all of whom will be operating on british soil raising questions about sober and. american and the this follows a catalogue of failures on behalf of the security company that won the contract for the games g four s. . it's admitted it couldn't provide the number of security staff it had promised that meant that three and a half thousand soldiers and hundreds of police have had to be drafted in at the

very last minute to plug this to hold the heads of g four s. is appearing before m.p.'s to explain himself and the possibility even more troops may be needed in the coming days. security expert and author phil re says the olympic games are becoming not of a celebration of sporting achievement but of the international security industry. it's quite a fiasco and i think that the presence of five hundred f.b.i. agents walking the streets of london is quite amazing really that you've got this hidden layer of security quite apart from the ground that has already been announced here including rapier ground to air missiles you know sixteen seventeen thousand british soldiers many more than are fighting in afghanistan so i think it's been a catalogue of shambles if i could say one thing about you know the whole american presence here which is you know really quite insulting to some extent to the british government and its security apparatus and i think the point beyond all this

is you know what is the threat why is this going on in the terms of you know it should be a celebration of athletes and it really is being seen as a celebration of the international security industry for months in the british papers now we've had the home secretary announcing this pilot you know we're having ground to air missiles in blackheath park it's a park in south london you know the soldiers all of this some pretty streets for the first time they'll be armed soldiers are pretty straight since the second world war i mean after all this is meant to be a sporting occasion that celebrates a man's achievement well i mean what kind of achievement is it that we've got to be almost in a state of war to host it. well now from one british security bar called to another as one of the u.k.'s largest banks h.s.b.c. is accused of doing business with companies linked to terrorism and ordering billions of dollars in dodgy phones get all the latest on the latest scandal on r.t. dot com. and also some of this world pictures of russian spacecraft dropped off

a new crew at the international space station all on our website right now at r.t. dot com. in bahrain. an anti-government protest again in momentum defying an official ban on all opposition rallies demonstrators claim the thor he's a brutally suppressing them and attempting to obscure the scale of the uprising local doctors say police are monitoring hospitals and arresting people admitted with rubber bullet wounds expressing support for opposition on twitter has landed one of the country's top human rights activists in prison he'd only been arrested for appearing on june the sanchez program here on r.t. the crackdown has reportedly even spread to foreign journalists attempting to cover the protests. a form of money from the party says the media blackout is heavily

financed from abroad. the people are. brave enough to continue with this protest i mean what a godless they have coverage or not the bahraini people they will continue until their chief their demands. their media coverage. that is not there but it is not as we call it. from the media. a lot of p.r. companies all around the world. when you're a g.m. they are getting this financial support. from the country they are allies with and they are using this money. then you will see from from from bahrain. other countries have. ignored i mean what is happening because of the. financial issues between the countries. the building region has issued a controversial starter kit for moroccan immigrants and move that some claim is another nail in europe's multicultural coffin those arriving from north africa feel

insulted saying the document triggers islam a phobia and social stereotypes to sicilia investigates. did you know that in belgium the flemish eat healthy live inside their homes most of the time and don't make noise after ten pm or did you know that men and women are equal and it's forbidden to hurt someone mentally or physically including your partner or children and that if you want to get a job you must learn dutch well these are just some pointers about the country in the new starters kit given to the moroccan government for distribution to moroccans who have gotten the official go ahead to immigrate to flanders it also includes a short video featuring testimonies from recent immigrants about their experience. in a modern society based on the principles of. where freedoms and rights for everybody also we've obligations with separation. equality of.

with no discrimination principles but some were left rather dumbfounded by the kind of information the packet contained. when you see that in belgian living here which is what does that mean it means americans live in trees. and two three because he's drunk and it keeps me awake during the kids to explain that he must respect the hour because we do not make news in belgium after ten pm this is concord to see around the world the starters get is meant to provide basic information but it may be too basic for some the proponents of the initiative say it was made to target immigrants with low skill or educational levels but critics say that what's written in it and some of what's come with it are simply patronized and insulting raising questions on the stereotypes locals may have on the foreigners coming to their country. and i think there's a very large racism in this excuse me but that's not how we educate about two

thousand five hundred moroccans immigrate to flanders each year as part of family reunification or marriage migration as soon as they arrive they can join a civic integration program organize. by the flemish government which primarily focuses on it in dutch law not sure it's important to point out that in order to integrate you need to speak dutch i have no problem with that but what i have a problem with is this social cultural references they explain to you that in order to find your place you must culturally match a certain model those in favor of the starter kit insist that the initiative aims to manage possible false expectations about belgium and to address the fact that integration has been ineffective so far you are able perfectly able to get the belgian nationality if you want belgian citizenship without even knowing one of the official languages of this country and this reflects i think the whole idea of what they call the an integration policy which isn't really an integration policy

because it's completely up to the people coming in to if they really want to or that if they're really want to integrate but for those who do want to integrate something else they can expect to find out is that the flemish are like it's hard on the outside but softer on the inside and one more thing it rains a lot in belgium but it doesn't rain money does are cilia r.t. brussels. and while you're across in brussels are desperate to fight the debt crisis a leading german think tank suggest people should sacrifice their savings max kaiser and stacey herbert's they're here at nineteen thirty g.m.t. to expose all the darkest secrets of the financial world. germany. make the rich by the german it's a two for economic research you suggested that those with the substantial private fortune be forced to hand over ten percent of what they have over two hundred fifty

thousand euros they're talking about confiscating wealth to pay for debts that were run up by corporatists and neo fascists and you know this is the haven't we seen this movie before yes called scapegoating we are now at war without any equivocation whatsoever this is just one of the side about a policy issue it's not about an economic theory it's about a war world war three is on. because the report come your way a little later here. we'll get the business news very shortly but first let's check out some other stories making headlines around the world in our world update dramatic pictures now after a fire broke out in the sky scraper in turkey hundreds of people had to be evacuated from the forty two story poor not to tower in istanbul which is mostly made up of apartments and offices crews managed to extinguish the blaze with a technical fault suspected to be the cause. to stage

a rally across pakistan's tribal region protesting against the reopening of nato supply routes into afghanistan is another bad close them all to twenty four pakistani soldiers were killed in u.s. drone strikes the decision was overturned when america apologized for the incident earlier this month the latest demonstration against the move after a one thousand strong rally was held on sunday in the southern city. a train has derailed in a suburb of the egyptian capital cairo with a number of passengers thought to have been killed it's not yet clear exactly how many have been hurt but only reports suggest two people have died in the accident the train burst into flames soon after it came off the tracks. so where it is at the moment here in our time most problems for the business with. the b.b.c. is making the news it's not all about turks. britain's national broadcaster as you know this is is misusing schemes to minimise taxation now almost

a third of the company's presenters they were employed through personal service companies and that allows smaller contributions to do is help the b.b.c. to sidestep millions of pounds in national insurance now the company insists the arrangement was standard industry practice but agreed to review how it pays its big day let's check out the us markets i've been on both street now i know we did have clients but they've changed their chewed ever so slightly just that we've got days after the dow jones and the nasdaq around a third of age a little bit what demonstrating kind of disappointment they run and that's because ben bernanke is the first installment in his testimony to the u.s. congress following days of build up where investors happened hoping that the recent flow of bad news would form a more concrete signal that further stimulus was on its way they didn't get that doesn't say what i think gays now says is amount of forgiveness perhaps in the markets at the moment if you give us the european ones all that pent up all the

time is a in the run up to solve today and was swiftly all the while that as was just the doubts around eight basis points on the see over half a percent in negative territory now is late and the day in the european region all sorts of what moves is on the topic of europe because they have slashed the credit ratings of thirteen as having just days of government. now the agency says that all the problems in greece and spain have boosted the default ways but it's really a moody's house dropped seven banks by one not another six by two notches the banks in europe then europe's largest banks hey just b. c. is accused of helping criminals tear. or is it even makes the drug dealers to go into the money. to watch issued a three hundred plus page report will monday detail in the lack of control that your knowledge of. the bulk of the allegations all relate to the bank's u.s. subsidiary they raised in new york and i hate his b.c.

management has look at the image lapses in compliance and promise to fix that so this is how the common currency is before me just now has taken a bit of a nosedive actually from earlier on in the session one twenty two thirty eight the ruble house finished up closed. on the euro today markets are as well closed. i started on opposed to and that's how they ended up in a head and we haven't just production growing every three percent for the first half of the year it's good to saw some to see you with the movers and shakers and today we have no most bank that over two percent down the financial is reportedly in merger talks with their rival committee to create the country's second largest private ends up. thirty six point six as its first quarter net profit published one hundred fold will be given out by this and it looks like these. others have a look at the oil prices and if we was still looking at high prices one of them

makes music scream just now but that's the highest level in seven weeks those prices not amid speculation that us so poles with the coin and tensions with iran it will that's what's going up the us talk more about all of the shallow graphic banks and all the trade is could have manipulated prizes in the same way they rate interest rates the u.k. officials want the cabinet to expand their inquiry into live the fixes to see if oil prices have also been pushed up meanwhile price ages like a lot that's annoying the allegations saying there's no similarity between lives and oil so the poor sickens bell i'll be back in about fifteen minutes because you thanks very much indeed for. katie says she'll be back a little later here and. be returning for a recap of the latest headlines in just a couple of minutes we here in r.t. and then watch our interview with a controversial british m.p. who exposes the hidden side of the u.k.'s domestic and foreign policy stay with us live here in moscow.

more news today violence is once again flared up the film these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. today. wealthy british style.

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