explosions and fighting in the syrian capital as rebels announce a full scale offensive against a masochist that's amid another diplomatic attempt to end the crisis. america sends its own agents to patrol britain's airport at the london olympics small the u.k. is forced to drop more troops and police after security contractors bite off more than they can choose. also this are not to be patronizing and insulting muslim immigrants in belgium describe a new starter kit which they say is nothing more than a guide to the savages arriving in the civilized world.

live from the new center here in central moscow this is our t. with you twenty four hours a day good to have you with us if you've just joined us syrian opposition fighters have taken that battle to the neighborhoods of damascus with reports that the city has witnessed explosions and intense daylight shootouts. is 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 damascus hours person the 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 they say is the last of this size of bottle 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 teri's and has been shelling 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 me down with jani has surrounded the rebels but what is absolutely clear is that armed groups have a cheek to spread this this fear in damascus this feeling of despair and of chaos here in the capital there are no cars almost on the road at a time when usually we see traffic jams here in damascus. well more information is . keeping on top of all the latest developments in the conflict zone check out her twitter for more comments and images one of the latest tweets she says the headquarters of the governing party has apparently been targeted. george jabour the president of the syrian u.n. association believes the leadership will force back rebel attacks in damascus. we heard the voices of bombs and bombardments and so forth. the exchange of fire i think the syrian authorities is able to keep

in damascus to keep the security in damascus perhaps what we have witnessed in some parts of damascus. tiny. on the security of the city but then of course i cannot really. truly predict because the scenes are changing and i suppose what we have to do is to reach for the next forty eight hours one friday. 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 and man's view was shared by the russian leadership. followed his meeting with president putin here in moscow. and 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 car that it's putting down as weapons it is getting to peaceful negotiations when in fact if president assad did

openly say that he is ready to for talks apparently that's not the case with the opposition which is continuing its attacks on government forces on government facilities and openly says that all stop until syria falls into a state of total and complete civil disobedience that's leading to more violence and it's definitely not making the island's job any easier the other question is it to get the international community united war powers were able to reach an understanding on syria in geneva saying that all sides of the conflict have to put their weapons down simultaneously equal pressure has to be applied on both of them as well but unfortunately the reality is different from what's written in that document since we are getting new interpretations. the document also sometimes forceful reaching change which is not in the document anyone open support of the rebels not to put their weapons down and continue their on the resistance russia's

stance on the situation hasn't changed it coincides with the peace and with the agreements reached in geneva great britain and the united states are trying to push article seven into the new un security council resolution on syria which doesn't rule out foreign military intervention is one of the points which russia and china are strongly against and we're now even getting the right specifically from the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton recently said that if russia and china don't change their position on syria they will be the violence in syria is continuing and more lives on civilians and ordinary people are lost every day. while the syrian crisis fills the headlines as a massive effort to keep on rest in another country off the radar bahrain's authorities are doing their best to silence the popular protest searching hospitals for wounded activists and cracking down on foreign journalists trying to cover the uprising more on that still to come for you here on r.t. . but first 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 will be up to the police and the army to make up the shortfall a solution that's left u.k. authorities red faced correspond with 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 loans that immigration as 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 athletes and diplomats plus of five hundred security staff all of whom will be operating on british soil raising questions about still princie american on the 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's 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 the shortfall the head 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 reese says the olympic games are becoming not 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 the grand circus 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 really quite 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 pockets of 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. so heavy weapons in london. from washington a radar ring around it wrong to stop it from far in the u.s. and israel is almost complete. for the details on that plus some out of this world pictures a russian spacecraft

a new crew at the international space station all right now on our website. in bahrain anti-government protests again momentum defying an official ban on all opposition rallies demonstrators claiming authorities are brutally suppression 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 activist. in prison he had earlier been arrested for appearing on julian assange just program here on r.t. the crackdown has reportedly even spread to foreign journalists attempting to cover the protests and the last one a former bahraini m.p. from the fact part he 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 will continue until their chief their demands. their media coverage that it is it is not but it is not as we call it it is double standard from the media i mean there are a lot of p.r. companies all around the world working for them but when you're a g.m. they are getting this financial support from from the country they are allies with the bahrain and they are using this money to block the new ones the from from from bahrain they are covering. other countries have out of education and they did ignore i mean what is happening about her because of the. financial issues between the bahrain and other countries. no let up for british banks with yet another scandal now emerging to top one of the most disastrous months for the sector on

record the us government report has implicated h.s.b.c. one of the u.k.'s biggest banks in a whole range of offenses they include laundering drug cartel money cheating sanctions and helping saudi arabian organizations finance terrorism well for more now on the scandal with middle east affairs expert. this report names our bank saudi arabia's and the muslim worlds largest bank is a sponsor of terrorism abroad now that is a strong accusation isn't and. yes it is but i think it really stems down the fact that saudi arabia is the main export our of what could be called the radical islam of the kind of islam which has tarnished the real sense of the real islam of moderation the real islam which is practiced by millions of our around the world that it is the excuse me it is the saudi a brand of islam actually which has tarnished the muslim image and the whole world

for example look what happened on september eleventh or some in london who was born in saudi arabia so i think this proves what many people have said all along that it is saudi arabia which is the main export are radical of this religious extremism or be a radical elements and i think how they handle it just it just explains wonder what guys under what guys we're talking about what sort of terrorist groups are we talking about here. well we're talking about you know for example the extremism those people who are now for example causing violence in syria are those who were sent to chechnya are the people of groups in pakistan even our car there as well we have to have to say here that some elements of the royal family do also have their contacts and have contributed as well to our. been sold tom the former

saudi ambassador to washington for example met with osama bin laden time and again so we're talking about in general all these sunni extremist groups also what we see in iraq for example in the saudi you roll them in financing al qaida and extremists like companies in iraq is very well known more importantly i think that this report . that sheds light on the. alliance between the saudi family the saudi royal family and some western countries what this will do with it will put more pressure on the western governments to try and change their policy here now of course saudi arabia is considered to be an ally for how long could this continue and many people are speculating that maybe the western governments might reconsider might soon reconsider their alliance and why. it was all you're right would they be doing that. yes they are they would reconsider this first of all

because we have the uprisings currently happening which puts more pressure on the on the u.s. government on the british government the saudi arabia until now hasn't taken any steps towards political reform and the other reason is that saudi arabia when it becomes war knows that saudi arabia is the main source of this extremism that will lead to a popular vigilance for example in the u.s. in countries like britain in all these countries i think people will become more and more aware about what saudi arabia represents and hence the u.s. might be pushed into a corner by the way hillary clinton recently said that they are fighting one hundred ism so i think you're seeing a more divergence or slow divergence between the west on the one hand and saudi arabia on the are they to have to reach to a very critical point as of yet but i believe that this report and more and similar developments would put more pressure just only on the u.s.

and all of these western countries sure briefly a revelator report isn't it h.s.b.c. has said sorry but do you expect any sort of reaction from riyadh on this just briefly. i didn't hear your question could you repeat that please h.s.b.c. have apologized but we expect any reaction from riyadh over this revelation report . no no i don't think so i don't think we will go will we see any apology saudi arabia now i think is behaving in an irrational way saudi arabia is terrified of what happened for example in iraq the shia are over there with maliki and lebanon and you have the growing strength of hezbollah basically increased iranian influence and for that reason saudi arabia is so enthusiastic to go ahead and pop all about because they consider him as a link and a strength for the shia axis so saudi arabia is behaving in an irrational way and

so we will not apologize on the contrary i think all it will escalate more and more and i think what we're seeing in the massacres today is a response to saudi arabia in response to an increasing iranian role so no i don't think we'll hear any saudi apology for this in this respect ali thanks very much indeed sorry for that brief delay a little earlier at the risk an expert on middle east affairs joining me live there in beirut. a belgian region has issued a controversial star to kids for moroccan immigrants a move that some claim is another nail in europe's multicultural coffin those arriving from north africa feel insulted saying the document triggers islamophobia and social stereotypes. 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 starter 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. 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. 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 starter's good 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 a family reunification or marriage migration as soon as they arrive they can join the civic integration per. organized by the flemish government which primarily focuses on it 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 in and integration policy which is an indication policy because it's completely up to the people coming in to if they really want to adapt 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 heart of the outside but softer on the inside and one more thing it raise a lot of belgium but it doesn't rain money does are cilia r.t. brussels. and while you're across in brussels a desperate to find the debt crisis

a leading german think tank suggest people should sacrifice their savings. here at nineteen thirty g.m.t. to expose all the darkest secrets of the financial world. german economists make the rich by the german institute for economic research d i.w. suggested that those with a 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 reportedly away very shortly now let's have a quick look at some other headlines making. the stories making headlines around the world i should say before kaye joins us with the business news 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 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. thousands of staged a rally across pakistan's khyber region protesting against the reopening of nato supply routes into afghanistan islam about close them after twenty four pakistani soldiers were killed in u.s. drone strikes the decision was overturned when america apologize for the incident earlier this month it's the latest demonstration against the move after a one thousand strong rally was held on sunday the city of herat.

two trains have collided in the suburbs in the egyptian capital karo with a number of passengers believed to have been killed it's thought the twenty people have been injured five of the carriages came off the tracks as the train burst into flames critics say railway safety in egypt is poor as a result of years of under-investment. it was probably top of the business news now because he looks like the b.b.c. is in a spot of bother with the turks. so what's cool about their exactly right back out to following the story because it is britain's national cost of course the b.b.c. am now they've admitted to using schemes to minimise that taxation now almost a third of the company's presenters are employed through personal service companies that are allowed smaller contributions dollar deals will be b.c. to sidestep millions of pounds a national insurance company insists the arrangements were funded industry practice but have agreed to review how it pays its big ne let's go live to see how the

markets are performing right now if. some initial decoy's on the market did seem brawl the impress and that was by the first installment of the ninety's testimony in the us congress following days of build up where investors happen hoping that the recent flow of bad news would prompt a more concrete signal that the stimulus is on its way but as we can see now we do have gains over the slight ones. that are on the now is that it was that it was due territory of the european market. but we had all the pent up with them in the run up to this solved it did turn around especially loans and six tenths of a said. just about managed to turn it around in the last hour or so. opposed to territory now sticking with the very thing agency moody's has slashed the credit

rating of thirty banks just days after the italian government saying now the agency said that all the problems in greece and spain have boosted the default risk that italy moody's has dropped seven banks by one notch and another six by two notches. bangs europe's largest bank h.s.b.c. is accused of helping criminals terrorists and even mexican drug dealers to lure money on the u.s. financial watchdog issued a three hundred page report monday he's had in the lack of control at the bank of allegations already just the bags u.s. based in new york page's bases management has acknowledged lapses in compliance a promise to fix this havoc a common currency thanks to trading as we can see one twenty two for a house. she finished trading for today and it finished up.

the year you can see just moving on to the markets here most events. today and that's exactly how they ended the day so we had some good reports coming out in just over three percent that was in the first over the years so we got the artist there on health of the on the mises just. have a slightly better on the have a look at some stocks and if we may know most bank that the financial is reportedly in merger talks with the arrival of cruelty to create the just second largest private. drug retailer six point six says its first quarter net profit probably one hundred fold so that's in need of a bit of medication is self check out your part is that if we may they all once again took a dip but now they're back trading up again trading the highs of several hours in new york amid speculation us stock piles with the crime and tensions with iran will . start to cool the more shall we saw the traders could have manipulated or

prices in the same way that they rigged interest rates on the u.k. officials want the cabinet to expand their inquiry into the larger picture and scandal prices have also been pushed. meanwhile all price agencies like plows that deny the allegations say there's no similarity between live and oil all right bellavia back to let's that's well it's not as if that thanks a lot for that building that we're going to business for you more from her a little later. more financial news but from a quite different perspective in the capital account with lower list that's from washington that'll be able to recap of all headlines in just a few minutes stay with us live here this is r.t. in moscow.

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