forty eight a rainy and pilgrims are kidnapped in damascus amid reports of bloodshed in the capital as well as syria's northern city. outrage in israel thousands of protesters demand social justice from a government that keeps cutting at home but shelling out to score political points . and six hereon violence as collates in the gulf states dozens of demonstrators have been injured involve rain and it's protesters shot dead in saudi arabia. early morning to you it's two am here in the russian capital and you're watching r t with me lucy caffein of our top story now amid fresh violence in the syrian

capital forty eight pilgrims from iran have been kidnapped in damascus the iranian diplomats blame this on terrorist groups but no immediate reports about their fate so far syrian officials are reportedly trying to trace who is behind the abductions will artie's looks on a boy who reports from damascus. forty eight iranian nationals who were kidnapped in damascus on saturday were of the largest group of foreign nationals to be abducted in syria even though assassinations and abductions by the rebels are by no means a rare here and now the iranians were on their pilgrimage to the sayed is a not one of the holiest shrines for shia muslims because it's believed to hold the relics of prophet muhammad's granddaughter it was. visited the mosque the pilgrims boarded a bus which was supposed to take them to the airport and on the way to the airport boss was told by i'm known gunmen and they were taken hostage now visited this area

there's enough they were who just a few days ago and from what i've seen there i can tell you that local residents have been subjected to. threats of duction and that's just a nation for quite some time these area houses predominantly iraqi refugees tens of thousands of them most of them are shia muslims and they've been targeted by the predominantly sunni rebels for months on and so six tearing divisions already the playing a major role in fueling violence and fueling conflict here in syria but they are of course not the only pretext for abductions people have been kidnapped for various reasons because of that ethnicity or nationality for example a russian citizen was abducted here in damascus about two weeks ago on his way to the airport later two italian engineers were also kidnapped by unknown gunmen and no ransom demand was ever voice these three people

a russian and two italians were later released by the regular syrian army now it is obviously not only for him there is who are facing the response of duction for syrians this risk is much higher and unfortunately their chances of being released unharmed. very slim on the side of the roller and the syrian national t.v. presenter who was kidnapped from his own house near damascus in july was following dad. a group that claimed responsibility for his execution just hot i mean those who are also known as sunni consolidation found out that he was killed because of being a should be oprah government just a few hours after these sad news emerged very learned that and not their syrian television employed these time cameramen was also abducted here in damascus. when i was exonerates on a boy go there she's keeping us updated on her twitter feed if you take

a look at that on her feet she says residents are watching heavy shelling in the distance from their balconies and reports also that some buildings are even a blaze these are just some of the pictures that she sent us today hopefully we'll show them at some point residential areas in the syrian capital. a fierce fighting between the government and rebel forces in syria's northern city of aleppo is showing no sign of abating there are casualties on both sides but the rebels are saying that syrian jets are bombarding the area clashes between syrian forces and rebels have been reported around aleppo as t.v. and radio station government troops are said to be preparing a strong offensive on the city to try to flush out the opposition fighters or form campaign or. leave from the syrian social club says there's another proxy war going on in syria now. there is this being very still america or they will bring democracy to your door like we saw what happened in iraq for example they accused

them of having lethal weapons so they went there to spread democracy in peace. they're just saying that syria have peaceful protests there's just really peaceful way they want you. to achieve democracy and freedom while they are supporting my lethal weapons. money financial plan doing everything so which is very sarcastic that. very peaceful chris masters program stairs while they are in fact you're arming them and backing them so all this back to the militias will result in every gene that goes along with. america's policy in the region. well still to come this hour the employment protection that is actually keeping americans out of. the u.s. is skewing these are rules to send foreigners packing but those entrepreneurialism

are also taking their job to stay in business along with them plus. right now we make iran out to be the bad guy but here we were exchanging arms with them why do you think the world is ok with that well because america is a hypocrisy but one of the days when america secretly and illegally sold weapons to iran well if not you may have some company on the streets of new york we're going to hear the latest from artie's the resident. well thousands of protesters have been rallying and televisa furious over the ever growing cost of living there and this week the israeli government passed a tough package of cuts and tax hikes in order to try to save over three and a half billion dollars in their next year's budget the protest movements been on the rise in recent months galvanized by some people even setting themselves on fire in desperation saturday's social justice demos are joined by groups calling for

orthodox jews not to be exempt from the army draft with moderates feeling that they're shouldering the country's burdens you can get live updates on what's happening from our correspondent to twitter on her part pardon me polish they are in a twitter feed she says that as the demonstrations drew to a close police used some kind of pepper spray to disperse the crowds the security forces may not be in short supply but as paula reports now the government action on welfare is definitely thin on the ground. in the middle of the way spend on land palestinians and the international community is not there is fifty israeli families live in a small outpost which government money has helped to pay for. the worlds of course the government has and this is. just as it did with this it remains the reason for the social proof its people find her. inexpensive to live in cities should not point fingers at settlers but fingers are pointing and calculations made the cost

of constructing settlements during the years was close to nineteen billion dollars and it includes investment in infrastructure like housing like electricity like energy like. also roads like water about fifty percent of the budget and settlements are financed or subsidized by government or activities the supreme court ruled this outpost immigrant was illegal and has given his here until august the twenty first to move out either way is where the taxpayers foot the bill this is where the settlers will be moved to the israeli government to spend more than four million dollars building the site that translates into some eighty thousand dollars per family but the state budget is a cake if you take one piece for this there is much less left for the other

there is one place where the government has already has enough money for anything and this is in the occupied territories for the settlements. and this is why israeli taxpayers are saying enough is enough for a second straight summer protest some around the country's largest cities but where we have last year's vast numbers of protesters who support leaders in tel aviv have refused permission for tense along its main boulevard in symbolic defiance paper tents have sprung up but for many of these people the tents are home and the protest is not temporary they're in for the long haul. shame on you mr netanyahu you should help the poor in the week i've been homeless for twenty years and no politician has ever come here they don't look at us as humans they think we're animals in the soup. already people have set themselves. if nothing changes we'll start doing it. by comparison not one person appears homeless in outposts like this

one in the grown as the social protests continue more and more people are demanding on says to why the government is pouring money into new city at the expense of the poor in existing communities. outpost in the west bank well a teenage protester has been shot dead in saudi arabia after an anti regime group filed fired on an army patrol killing one soldier there she i demonstrate as have been calling for an end to discrimination by the sunni monarchy since about march of last year in neighboring bahrain dozens of equal rights activists were injured as security forces fired tear gas stun grenades and even birdshot at them while a video leaked online allegedly shows government backing mercenaries charging at demonstrators with cars women middle east expert dr yunus of do you believe that the international community is ignoring the events in the gulf states because they are western allies. everybody is focused now on syria and the hotspots

in geopolitics and the fight between regional powers and also greater powers in the region so saudi arabia and bahrain because because they are on the side of of let's say the strongest part in this conflict are being shielded from any criticism or or trying to be portrayed as if there is no moderate artists and it is not the significantly happening there which is of course not the truth it's very hard to say when the international community can react the international community had the chance to react when the formula one grand prix was organized in bahrain and the protesters and many civil rights activists around the world call for his cancellation but nothing happened. unfortunately money and all and interests girl first before human rights i think what might trigger something in

as you said is probably when things get start or probably arms being used and the conflicts gets worse maybe in that case it's actually community will be force even if it's not willing to look towards bahrain and saudi arabia. well there is lots more stories for on our website that's r t dot com let's check out what we have oreo federal reserve's first ever audit of hidden gold stash on the streets of manhattan believe it or not some folks really actually believe it was stolen years ago. plus a snap happy spiritual leader in iran may regard the web as corrupting but whole economy is embracing social networking with his own photo sharing account on instagram. the news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has

been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule the day.

right and if you move. from funds to. don't come. well unemployment in the united states is still taking upwards and no one method is being used to keep americans into work part and one methods being used marriage try to keep americans in in a work as to keep foreigners out pardon me it's

a long day the problem as it is heading entrepreneurs who would otherwise be making are not taking jobs as priya sridhar from r.t.e. explains. one of south asia's hottest new entrepreneurs twenty eight year old ball is behind india's largest e-commerce company snapdeal dot com is often compared to amazon for its daily deals on services and products but we have tremendous momentum in the business we have you know sixteen million registered users one out of six internet users in india is registered on snap to you growing by a million a month by the end of the year to be twenty five million highest rafiki commerce site in india. but if the young business tycoon had it his way he would have started in the united states where he got his ivy league qualifications but paul had no choice despite his eagerness to start a firm and create jobs america's searching on employment saw immigration authorities deny more and more visas for foreigners when your resume gets rejected

you pretty much have to go back that isn't the one there's no recourse us such and i think that was disappointing maybe we would have started something in the u.s. had we gotten. my reason but then you know it doesn't matter experts say it's no coincidence that the rising rejection rates occurred as america's economy tanked but acting on the perceived fear that immigrants were taking american jobs has had the opposite effect it's unfortunate. denials are being made that are justified because what happens if it ends up being an incentive to u.s. companies to locate more resources outside the country in some ways in ways that might. well u.s. immigration authorities have increased the rejection rate of temporary work visas for citizens of all countries india has been the hardest hit just last year a lot of interest and of indian applicants for a certain type of temporary work were rejected while only around three birth of

applicants from countries like germany and the u.k. were rejected for the same type of temporary worker. the other sting in the tail for the states is that by turfing out skilled foreigners it's missing out on big bucks opportunities that were forged in america's colleges i don't think we would be as effective or income from those here i do not spend a dime in the u.s. a good thing that the time i spend can call it. really helped us in building the company we've been able to snap till now turns over one hundred million dollars a year the kind of innovation that indian immigrants have long been known for in the united states we found recently that. about half of the of the top fifty venture funded companies i mean to companies that were started with venture capital had at least one immigrant founder so what we found is that if you keep people out you'll get less job creation and less innovation in the united states

jobs america desperately needs to nol employees fifteen hundred people in ten cities across india and we are having the time of our life we also know that this opportunity of building a market internet e-commerce company in our own country is never going to come again one door closes another opens for this internet high flyer america's visa rejection put him on the road to riches and indians into work preassure either r t new delhi india. well don't go away and next hour our finance or wizards. discuss how far people's beliefs influenced the global markets as well as taking a look at greece dire financial troubles. there is either zero percent or a one hundred percent chance that greece is going to leave the euro there's no seventy five now it's fifty percent in the now it's ninety percent they're just making up numbers telling some clients and the clients they buy cell by cell based

on these numbers that they just pull out magically from then there but those numbers of the poem out of the thin air are the collateral. bax derivatives the derivatives that we know definitively are backed by magical thinking they themselves are algorithmic bots that are referencing each other and now it's going to be informed by magical thinking magical thinking informed a lot more rate magical thinking informs the nielsen rating system we now know is completely rigged so the rig market is part of the trifecta of fraud media wall street and washington they're all rigged they're rigged together. are always more and more world news for you right now. car blast in the libyan capital one man was reportedly injured in the blast the a.p. reports that nobody was wounded took place in the of the military police offices in tripoli it's significant because it's the first such attack in the capital since

the overthrow of moammar gadhafi regime last year of course there have been explosions elsewhere but they have mostly targeted the major city of benghazi libya most of them. a fireworks factory in central pakistan has exploded killing at least six people leaving some fifteen injured it happened on saturday morning while workers had unloaded fireworks from a donkey cart the entire factory and two adjacent buildings then became engulfed in the ensuing fire pakistan has been trying to crack down on the country's many illegal firework manufacturers. and iran has conducted military exercises launching a new short range missile it's also pushing it to upgrade its rockets which can already target israel as well as u.s. bases in the middle east this comes amid tough sanctions against the country over its nuclear program which the west suspects is aimed at developing an atomic bomb.

and tropical storm erin esto is on its way to jamaica and mexico probably going to ruin some people's vacations forecast to swell into a category one hurricane the u.s. national hurricane center predicts it will hit the mexican coast by wednesday with winds expected to reach one hundred twenty kilometers per hour and to make authorities have issued storm warnings and evacuating people to the mainland. and while the u.s. weighs into iran over its military ambitions there is one skeleton in the closet that seems to have been well forgotten there on contra affair was one of the biggest scandals of the reagan presidency and revelations that washington had been breaking an arms an embargo on iran following the end of the capitol hill hill hearings into the case about twenty five years ago president reagan took full responsibility for what he called things he was unaware of well fast forward to today the full extent of his involvement and his awareness is still unclear the man who broke the story robert pari fears that there are still too many details that we

will never see. what you saw here was the failure of the institutions of washington to get control of these things there had been an effort in the seventy's after watergate after the exposures of cia abuses to bring some constraints on to this process and then you saw the iran contra scandal it was the first test case really would congress really hold the president to task in and make sure that he couldn't go off in his own direction the institutions of washington failed to both enforce the law are stupid was in force but also in just explaining to the american people what had happened there are still many sections of this scandal that we don't know the full story about or even a chunk of the story so much of this remains still something outside the historical picture that this the american people have been denied we don't really know who did what and why and even how. well it is the resident is on the streets of the big

apple to ask whether the iran contra affair is one episode what's time temp he'll. western media would have you believe that iran is some sort of evil enemy so do they not remember the iran contra scandal of one thousand nine hundred sixty this week let's talk about that have you ever heard of the iran contra scandal. sorry no i haven't no you haven't i state no i have not heard. something big he know yes yes do you member it was about what was it about to remember. nuclear weapons i believe iran is but the army going in and trying to go the oil is and it was about all over north was taking the funds from selling arms to iran to use to fund the contras.

in nicaragua you got it and now we make iran out to be the bad guy but here we were exchanging arms with them why do you think the world is ok with that well because america is a hypocrisy do you think that the world knows that this is a hypocrisy. i guess we know a little bit about it but sometimes i find us to be very naive and we are not really enough to where everything that's going on out there knew they were in a war with iraq so you know we were we thought that they were they were the good relative good. in iraq was the you know the bad guys you know it's just the whole it's ridiculous if we change our definition of of who's good and who's bad to suit our needs when ever doesn't that kind of make good and bad relative and meaningless absolutely it's almost thirty years ago so there in thirty years someone can go

from being an ally to an enemy well unfortunately that happens yeah so we should probably be more careful with whom we give arms to that is a very good up. savation but then again you never know which side of the regime you fall when you support something on one of the issues of u.s. foreign policy is they've always picked sides which they did in vietnam they did it in other places sometimes they were successful sometimes they weren't whether or not people remember the iran contra scandal but the bottom line is the media certainly seems to have a selective memory that suits whatever math that they'd like to promote. but i'm going just a little bit we're going to bring in the life story of a former soviet soldier who was kidnapped in afghanistan during the war in one thousand in these but eventually made our country has home all that is up next after the headlines.

former soviet soldiers. were. her. husband. a father. and alien in a beginners to. a son. a brother. an alien in ukraine. craving for my home. everyone wants to be president. whether they're an old lady an engine driver.

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