battle to syria and goes the country's second city aleppo braces for the worst as rebels and government forces go head to head. elsewhere in the restive region united arab emirates sees a fresh protest to clamp down with the west's blind eye attitude echoing its stance on saudi arabia bahrain. but can the troubles past the ancient of the big test politics hangs over the sport for the syrian squad at the london games of top stories this hour. international news in common live from our new center here in moscow this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day syrian government troops and rebels are reinforcing their positions as the week long battle for the northern city of aleppo intensifies columns of army tanks

are reportedly rolling into residential areas where opposition forces of placing snipers on rooftops seizing control of syria's commercial capital is seen as crucial to winning the fight for the north of the country clashes are also being reported in damascus where rebels launched a major offensive recently but were pushed back some countries are calling for humanitarian corridors but russia says that is impossible as long as the rebels continue to receive foreign backing which is fueling the violence. is one of the few international broadcasters still covering events from inside syria there's a lot of work and with the latest. over the past few days that leopard has been. at the center of a matter major military operation we know that the army the syrian army use tanks you stuff i did jets military helicopters to strike its targets the free syrian army has also. enlisted a lot of support for its separations in the hours. they are calling it did battle

and there are some reports on the eve of this battle they received major reinforcements and supplies the military equipment the new supplies of arms from turkey and saudi arabia when you talk about syria what's important to keep in mind is this sequence of events it is true that the syrian army is employing having artillery in the city but they are conducting drive military operations in response to terror attacks that have been happening in this city that have been happening in aleppo for several months and many residents of the left are telling us that they don't understand why the it took the government so long to conduct those military operations because they've been suffering from this criminal activity for quite some time now the residents of aleppo out also telling us that before this military operation was launched the army how to evacuate the residents local residents out most of them i'm now stationed at the campus of the i left university residence

from other locations at. the campus so. on one level syrian people were able to come together and try to help which other and what's important to stress also is that allowed for is believed to be the stronghold for both the bashar al assad government and for the opposition but most people i've spoken to they say what they want now is the violence to stop and then they can proceed with the political process. parties works on a boy who is in the conflict zone. and fresh pictures via twitter as we continue to keep a close eye on developments in the syria for you. complain of pushing for peaceful political reform total to the forum pose with the insurgents to soften the country up and make it right for regime change. so-called rubble they don't have a decision in their hands the decisions come from outside the from countries like united state backed by the saudi arabia and qatar so they just do what they've been

told is to break the infrastructure of syria i mean believe me. they're calling me so that's what they're taking on but i believe since a week since that massacre happened in syria the bomb who killed the. commanders in syria the syrian the syrian army has called now for a swift action and the people is called. we are here we called for swift action from a month or two months ago because enough it's enough these people they understand only the language of the gun and the language of the bullets so they have this is what they have to be faced by the syrian army by the bullets and it's going on now the masters is nearly nearly cleaned from them is going to be cleaned we what we want as a syrian we want a dialogue we want a political process we want

a ballot box. later we look at whether london twenty twelve can really be the world's level playing field for serious athletes they go into the olympics with a message of peace but can sport win out over politics with the details in a few minutes here on r.t. . united arab emirates continues its crackdown on protesters a new recipe made with almost forty now in detention the rest came after the government announced an investigation into groups plotting crimes against the state and activists were locked up for allegedly opposing the constitution as one of the country's ruling system it follows similar crackdowns in saudi arabia and bahrain political analyst says that all arab countries are in desperate need for democratic reforms. as in all the countries i believe the twenty two nations there are some legitimate democratic reforms that are necessary and

asked for by the people and there are some there are some limitations on basic freedoms there are some there is a lack of a system of accountability one would expect people to come out and take to the streets and call for these these reforms and this is completely illegitimate however when when things go out of hand and violence comes in and you know things go out of and nothing happens as is the case in syria the whole region all the arab countries and as i said in the beginning quiet and you need a democratic reform and more freedoms and that applies to all the countries and one cannot say that for example limitations on freedoms and democracy in syria were less than limitations on freedoms and democracy today in saudi arabia or in some gulf countries now that will require some fast movement on the part of the regime to all open dialogue to have an open dialogue with the opposition groups and that's what the kofi annan plan was in syria however you cannot have an open

dialogue when you have an atmosphere of tension and killing and violence and countries sending in weapons and guns into the country where there are opposition groups. some other international news in brief for you this hour in our world update fierce fighting between iraqi troops and militants in the province of diyala has killed twelve people with an army helicopter also shot down the clashes erupted after a police patrol came under attack by a group of suspected al qaeda fighters on wednesday causing the army to intervene this comes just days after the terror group claimed responsibility for the worst attack in two years which took at least one hundred sixteen lives. just on officials have decided to suspend nato supply routes following a bomb attack in the northwestern border region a budget that killed nine and injured twenty explosive device was hidden in a pickup truck and went off at a busy market by your district has been a front line in pakistan's fight against taliban militants the suspension of the

airline supply routes comes just days after they were reopened following a seven month blockade. the european commission president is in greece for talks aiming to get the country out of its financial mire despite the outlined bailout plan greece is still contracting at an alarming rate and pushing through further cuts is proving hard to stomach both the politicians and the public but it is only enough money to make it to the end of the summer and speculation is swirling again that it may have to quit the eurozone. while greece struggles to stay afloat even europe's biggest players card escaped the economic tsunami later with more on the ratings cloud being cast over the chief powerhouse. what is downgrades the outlook on seventeen the german banks just a week after it made a similar move on the conference credit rating certainly confidence in the euro area going even further down more details coming up in the business update.

hundreds of people have gathered in central moscow to support opposition activists detained during the may the sixth protests those rallies turn violent with dozens of police officers injured numerous arrests made changes proves is that there is demonstration. yes well we seen about one thousand five hundred people gathering here in fact there may be more there are people spilling out onto the streets to fundamentally this is the so-called white ribbon movement amalgamation of the political left and the political right there stood against but in every sense present see those that against a disputed parliamentary elections back in december behave today for something altogether different this is against the tensions of some of the members that's taken place since may the sixth that's where the so-called march of the millions took place now this is just before the inauguration of lot of me who can get the millions they wanted though the work clashes between protesters and police is sort

of out thirty police being injured in proceedings and dozens of protesters well on the day there about four hundred protesters being to tell you what their decision was attracting there right now at the moment of the tensions that have followed about twelve of the organizers have been detained and police say they played a role in sparking provoking that pilots who saw take place on may the sixth now the people at the moment if you those on the podium they stress that their point hasn't been listened to their evidence hasn't been listened to instead authorities the suit so of those who have been detained and i've only really taken as clear cut evidence the words of police officers and prosecutors. so they want change and indeed he rights organizations that describe these people who have been detained as the little prisoners. project of thanks very much indeed for that live update there from central moscow. russia is in a state of shock after

a grisly remains of human fetuses were discovered dumped in the forest investigators are now poring over the evidence for clues and some experts believe the fetus is kind of being used in research or in illegal beauty treatments or to sean thomas has this report. a picturesque meadow in russia's urals at first seemingly serene but an unfortunate encounter for one outdoorsman reveals a scene far more disturbing i discovered the birds while i was out there fishing and i went to get some wood for the camp fire which i found the barrels and i thought i would take them home but when i looked inside i saw many little babies medical waste in total two hundred forty eight fetuses each around half the size of an adult human hand some tag with surnames and identification numbers discarded in a remote ravine around seventy kilometers north of you catalina berg in some cases the remains spilled on to the ground. inspecting the scene we found a total of four barrels fifty to seventy liters each filled with human fetuses

police will investigate this incident the materials found will be examined at the lab the mystery of the discovery in the woods and how it got there has sent a shockwave around the world but one main focus for investigators is where the fetuses came from in the first place in russia abortion isn't legal only up until the twelve week mark and early evidence in this case shows that these fetuses were terminated between twenty two and twenty six weeks russian law stated that women can only have an abortion during this time period for medical emergency reasons now investigators must find out why there were so many late term abortions in such a relatively small area was there something deeply sinister going on such as a. illegal abortion operation and why were they discarded so carelessly human tissue is classified as hazardous waste and as such should be incinerated when disposed of properly the hospital contracts out the service which is where

companies can cut corners. we've had to be nation discarded syringes and other materials were dumped into sent beats and did up in childress and. police say hospitals in the area had been contributing fetuses to scientific research but the project supervisor was fired in two thousand and eleven they believe she took some of the biomedical waste with her when she left. those fetuses contain stem cells which may be used to treat cancer various immune system diseases and forage of an asian purposes but skeptics say this scenario is unlikely considering the fetuses were found in formaldehyde rendering them useless for this type of research now the health ministry has requested information from all clinics within one hundred kilometer radius hoping to find answers to a story that has left a community perplexed in moscow sean thomas r.t. . is run is warning of tough decisions ahead on iran and is calling on major powers

to speed up efforts to could tell the country's nuclear program meanwhile tehran remains defiant saying extra pressure will not hamper its push for a peaceful atomic energy well later antiwar activist bill as tells r.t. that the u.s. and israel are leading a military campaign while ignoring their own nuclear stockpiles. would be a catastrophe for everyone if the united states or nato which is just the united states fig leaf for israel went into iran and attacked iran we can live in this world as a nation among nations as long as we insist on the old colonial mentality that we can dominate other peoples we can tell them how to be and have a double standard that's just so grotesque so we're frantic about the possibility that iran might have a nuclear warhead some day meanwhile we have two thousand nuclear warheads and that doesn't make us frantic israel is the third largest nuclear power in the world not part of nuclear nonproliferation and heart of even admitting that they have that

this is a world that's dangerous that's you know unstable but it's not unstable because of iran there are so many better ways to be a citizen of the world than to shake your sword every time you feel like it. i. did whole story here. for going to logan and. my. blog and. choose your. take your stuff. to. make your statement. to the world.

well into the future or in more mouths to feed but where will the food come from can science provide the answers to the future of food under the microscope. we've got the future covered. sixteen healthy as possible now in the russian capital r t life in. syria's infighting has crippled the country for over sixteen months but the one delegation which is trying to instill the spirit of peace and that's the country's and pick squad syria is sending its largest team to the games in thirty years but sport can't be split from politics that easily as more of a national reports. for almost half his life twenty eight year old ahead has been part of syria's national weightlifting team during the opening ceremony for the two

thousand and eight olympics in beijing he carried the syrian flag this year his going to the games in london was just as important a mission i need to be in this situation in syria is better than ours the media trying to show that we are going to send the message that our country safe and beautiful and that its people don't want violence and it says his major competitors in london will be from russia but the country's true enemies the athlete flames are nations back in the rebel forces britain the country that's hostin this year's games and has been among the most through loudly condemning the bloody regime of bashar assad calling for tougher sanctions military intervention and the president to step down seems to turn sport in turn other battlefield they had of the syrian olympic committee former syrian army general and a close friend of the country's leader has been refused

a visa and will be watching games on t.v. in his home in damascus. this is a conspiracy against syria and its people and it even contradicts the olympic charter if you're sad and disappointed this is part of a pressure package and serious psychological pressure today the cycling team will have to double their training the day before it was cancelled due to security concerns apart from the psychological pressure the syrian afflatus six men and four women have been preparing for their peaceful mission in a real war zone at home with a real risk to their lives the u.n. says in seventeen months of the revolt of a ten thousand people have been killed while some opposition sources asked to meet almost twice that figure to vote for her but despite a national wide crisis they. sinden its biggest of a geisha and since the ninety nine. war we are not listening to what the

say about us especially the media we know the truth and this is very important especially this time we raise the flag of our country and show the world the best of our faces sport experts say syria is unlikely to go home with any medals these year but it seems winning is not the highest prize for the team sport is often described as a matter of life and death but for syria's olympic team the phrase is a reminder of a real conflict they'll be living behind however it will be a message of peace not war that these competitors take to the wrong games written off naughty from damascus in syria and we reported some early elin begin barrus mint and r.t. dot com with the first games gaffe north korea's women's football team get in a flap over their flag storming off the pitch after being introduced with south korea's colors. also on the moment the ultimate star wars the u.s. and europe face off with china to capture the sun details of the solar power

struggle. and a global conference full of clowns but not a politician in sight these are the real deal and they're getting together in guatemala city dot com has the slapstick summit covered for you. download the official r.t. application itself choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. t.v. is not required to watch our two all you need is your mobile device to watch r.t. any time any. congress in the u.s. is considering extending the act which gives federal agents broad while typing permission officials have now come clean and said the foreign intelligence surveillance amendments act has been used to validate people's constitutional

rights of these once in the past four years one u.s. activist describes the practice is virtually illegal government but they have broken the law they admit that the courts have said what they're doing is illegal and now they want congress to rubber stamp it anyway they've gone to congress and say look we always apply you know we always comply by the law everything's been approved by the courts we now know that was a law that they were misleading congress in order to get their stuff approved that's huge and it's important people know that it hasn't gotten enough coverage thankfully we can get the word out but i think once people understand that i think it's going to be a whole new debate about you know usually this stuff is presented to congress as this is just standard stuff we do it every year it's to fight terrorism how could you be against it we now know that what the government has been doing is in fact illegal that they've declared a whole classes of information including the location of everyone in america was attacked by their cell phones which report back to the cell phone companies where

they are and the government is now sweeping all of that information together without any warning they're spying on where everyone is all the time without getting the court to sign off on it it's a huge shift and very scary. no it's a big news in russian football as fabio capello's officially become the head coach of the national the world's most successful coaches and signed a two year deal be a leading rusher to the twenty fourteen world cup in brazil more on the big important in our two sport later with a partridge. told not to join our other that's on the business desk now the mood has turned on germany then what's the story in the financial world absolutely rarely has bell it's been all about the biggest economy in the eurozone today and that's because they were dealt a big blow it came really from mood is the investor service the agency when they downgraded over a dozen of their banks put them on negative outlook so they called it now the

racing agency have also said that there may be more cuts to come as well salty's tests are still there she's got details for us. the moodies is downgrade at seventeen german banks and this is just a week after the country's a credit rating was down downgraded from stable outlook to a negative outlook so it it wasn't very surprising that this on the banks had followed mainly because many of those of those banks that have been downgraded hold government back to debts and therefore if the country's credit rating is not stable it just goes to show and followed that the banks themselves are not stable as well they've been struggling since two thousand and eight and also since the onset of the eurozone crisis now aside from these downgrades the outlook in german business is not very good across all sectors business confidence has gone down in june certainly not bad news for the country that's considered the main creditor in all of the euro zone nations funding a lot of the bailout that had gone to the other countries now one of the main

a destabilizing factor in the euro zone is actually spain its current situation very unstable and it has long passed that psychological threshold on the interest rate on its sponsor seven percent right now investors are asking for seven point six percent of our doesn't take much to figure out that this is a very very unsustainable level and that there are many there are fears that spain is going to ask for a full country bailout to keep investors really jittery greece has also been on the spotlight the troika of the i.m.f. the e.c.v. of the european commission had just gone there and really there wasn't much of a surprise in what they had found out i think investors are already expecting to hear that greece is still off the track and it still needs a further death restructuring here in order to get its finances in order so therefore we're not seeing good news any good science at all from the euro zone nations. oh i was going to say the stores are doing right now and they are days still climbing as a plethora of data coming out today those are all the polls do we have jobless

claims for willing to pull goods orders climbing and also the european central bank president pledged to defend. those downgrades that is going on to the european market as we can see they managed to get a list of doggies says the policymakers would do anything to preserve the euro also citigroup had a bit of a down day so they announced that they see a ninety percent chance that greece will leave the euro zone in the next twelve to eighteen months or as a prolonged economic weakness of the year it is going to exchange rates and see how it's responding right now it is managing to get even good at one twenty two eighty four there for the traders favor the rubles finished up its trading session today and it managed to gain against the u.s. dollar and the european currency that brings us on to their coaches here in moscow we had a bit of a rally on our hands actually that they are yes nearly two and a half percent in positive territory really feeding off the positive gains in the european and asian markets as well as all day as well which i got all a's up in the

meantime as have the stocks movers and shakers the biggest lender here is expected to raise its benchmark mortgage rate next month also b t v as well as second biggest one hopes that impulsive terrorising a real step as well they were given a bit of a warning to you from a different credit rating agency and then page saying that it might cut the raising of that if they go ahead with the acquisition of the t.k. beat the stakes are interesting while watching at oil that's how it is indeed getting this can pretty much justify why the russian markets are not is indeed all we've got time for for now bill i'll be honest with you it's all over the place lots of heads being scratched right now all right. thanks very much for that update from the world of business. will be looking at the future of the protest movement in the u.s. a little bit off to a recap of our top stories. world

. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the few jerks covered.

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