an. today's news on the week's top stories the battle in syria as the rebels on the regime fight for the country's second city while the u.n. looks for a new peace envoy after kofi annan steps down. facing seven years for storming russia's main cathedral the trial of anti-porn band pussy riot divides the country. and protesters in bahrain and saudi arabia are set for mass rallies in their countries united against discrimination by the ruling elite.

hello and welcome to our team is the weekly this sunday i'm karen tara well the heavy finding a raging in syria's second city of aleppo between government and rebel forces could prove decisive in the eighteen month conflict the syrian army sending thousands more troops and artillery to the front line in damascus the government says it's pushed rebels from their last stronghold but sporadic clashes are all going on saturday forty eight iranian pilgrims were kidnapped in the syrian capital video shown by the all arabi a news channel allegedly shows a man identified as the abducted iranians surrounded by rebel fighters international peace efforts were thrown into turmoil this week when chief mediator kofi annan quit and on the same day it was revealed that president obama authorized covert aid to syria's rebels anti-war activists brian becker says the u.s.

and its allies long ago ruled out a diplomatic solution. so both the united states military and intelligence services are as we know now from the u.s. government a mission coordinate. through turkey through a u.s. military airbase these are all you know turkey is a nato country the military operations for this so-called free syrian army these syrian so-called revolutionaries and it's clear now that this is not a shift in terms of u.s. strategy it doesn't represent any kind of alteration all that it does is reveal that the diplomacy of this so-called diplomacy the so-called looking for a negotiated settlement is a fraud that the diplomacy is in fact a form of perjury that the reality is that the u.s. government the obama administration with the pentagon and the cia. neck deep coordinating the military operations to overthrow a sovereign government in syria the syrian rebels are increasingly bolstering their

ranks with an experienced finder's but many are still willing to die for the calls expecting to be glorified as martyrs reports. young minds burning hearts bad blood while the syrian conflict often comes across as a power struggle of grown man on the ground many of those who fight and die are in their late teens early twenty's. this group of f.s.a. snipers operates in a deserted town forty kilometers southwest of homes twice a day gold to shell a syrian army checkpoint near by omar's twenty three he left his family in dubai to join the uprising. to support the young fighters and to feel the pain and to experience what very experiencing on the ground and to help with the operation. while their weapons are becoming more sophisticated if you are good at handling them most say they want to become martyrs and their dads help recruit their younger

brothers. but those they're aiming at are not much older at a military hospital in damascus a week long supply of coffins has been used in the past and forty eight hours while the syrian authorities do not release an illiterate just so all indications are that over the past few months it has increased dramatically here in damascus main military hospital ninety soldiers and officers died just the last two days. in the beginning of the uprising the soldiers were laid to rest through the sounds of a solemn march but if you days ago a military band was ambushed now the burials are conducted in silence and then. nineteen year old who is an army conscript was tasked with putting bodies into conference he was working in his uncle small shop and i love you for being drafted a year ago. no i'm not afraid to die all that to be in the place of my fallen

comrades and to become a martyr defending my country it's every man's duty. another nineteen year old lies in a coffin just a few steps away he was the victim of a sniper near homs but unlike many in syria his father and uncle are not calling for revenge. we just want peace and harmony jesus all the prophets calls for peace we needed. martyrdom has long been glorified in muslim countries but it's also one of the reasons why the conflict in syria has been so protracted and sold deadly when the youngsters profess readiness to die for their cause they usually even more ready to kill for it. r.t. damascus syria. on monday in moscow court began hearing the case of russian female punk rock percy riot the three women are being tried for staging an anti putin stunt in the capital's main cathedral in february party's jacob graves is following

the trial that's dividing russian society. throughout the course of the week this trial and its proceedings have been somewhat dominated by the prosecution they've mainly been having the opportunity to call witnesses to the stand and testimonies been very emotional much of the time. been involving those who are witnessing the events that date back to favoring price a b. fifty two the so-called prayer now it was politically motivated but it took place in a very sacred and religious sports the symbolic head of the russian orthodox church as such is offended many of the believers out of fairness have been very outspoken throughout the course of proceedings this week six. cajuns called for the judge to be replaced on different grounds some of them including that their attention facilities the conditions at which they're being detained at the moment amounts allegedly to torture i mean upright food access to drinking water and sleep as well

they also think the judge isn't allowing them is preventing them from properly cross-examining the prosecution's witnesses so far in this trial there's also this issue attracted the art of many human rights organizations international musicians as well calling for the release of pussy riot members and it's been something galvanized the international press and most lately we've heard from the president speaking out on this issue. this week i hope the court will rule with a just decision if the band let's say defiled a sacred place in israel they would have to cope with some tough guys there are many of them would face difficulties from attempting to leave the country was ready for example they went to the caucuses on the feast a muslim shrine security wouldn't have enough time to protect them from public anger nevertheless i don't think we should judge them too strictly on them and i hope they've made some important conclusions themselves on the way the final

decision rests with the court so we're going to get a bit. in a sense she calling for some degree of leniency when it comes this trial and perhaps the most controversial part of it so far has been the potential prison sentence that could await these three defendants on charges of hooliganism that's potentially for seven years if the maximum sentence or to be handed out. so i have for you this hour germany's going to extremes. it's not the center who is your enemy rather the politicians who are we love the country later we look at why there's a spike in anti immigrant anger in europe's richest nation. and find out how many dollars went down the drain and failed american the times to pump money into policing iraq and afghanistan. crackdowns on anti regime protesters are gathering force in the gulf states demonstrators in

saudi arabia and bahrain have been calling for an end to a discriminations by the sunni monarchy for some eighteen months now protester and a soldier work killed in clashes and saudi arabia on friday it's the latest violence in the country's predominantly shiite qatif region and dozens of equal rights activists were injured as security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at them while a video leaked online allegedly shows government mercenaries driving cars demonstrators political analyst patrick henningsen says pa koreans being ignored because it's a washington ally. in bahrain what you have is a genuine brazing a genuine political movement potential revolution. that is being completely ignored for two reasons the main reason is a reign posed the united states fifth and they will sleep it's a very important strategic piece on the chess board especially in terms of looking

towards potential aggression against iran so as bahrain has a role family that completely society locked down because it's there there's no way that the u.s. wants any kind of a democratic uprising in the country because it will make the government's policy unstable towards hosting. u.s. military presence in the country actually need so badly the difference between syria and bahrain is that syria refuses to be an outpost for international western imperialism and bahrain is you know posed for that so maybe hillary clinton should be having friends of bahrain meetings to help the bahraini people of course that's not going to happen the situation in bahrain is grave if you're on the side of reform if you're with the royal family everything's fine i've got plenty more stories for you are tita com here's what's there right now

a fishy catch brady ations discovered in marine life and seawater off japan's law anti-nuclear protests there child outside of slowing. and roving around the bread plan at a two point five billion dollar attempt to look for life on mars. i'm a former soviet soldier. war prisoner. greater. husband. a father. an alien in again is still. a son. and brother. an alien in ukraine.

craving for my homeland. nuclear for the side. radioactive fallout of government betrayal the government. everything law. and law how can the truth be revealed if there's no official evidence there was indeed a very great danger to the service make a search who will give them no problem. and to the people of this country generally because of radio like the fall of. the secrets of the u.k.'s nuclear tests.

here with the week we are thirteen minutes past the hour and. he hasn't for mation to suggest washington as advancing proceedings to extradite the whistleblower for leaking secret u.s. cables the wiki leaks editor fears he will face torture or even execution f. deported mother isn't ecuador campaigning for sons of solomon there she exclusively told r.t. that american politicians are gunning for revenge. from the beginning. from

the us from politicians and from. news commentary. screaming out. in the most brutal way. they seem to be no hilltop at all in how they were feeling. calling out to crucial for the system and inciting against my son and still in the last few weeks this been his focus is his integrity because folks these who k.t. mcfarland who was screaming at julian's execution this is somebody who is not right in the world and has done nothing more than any good in this egregious would do is to be interested in doing is by doing what. you can watch our exclusive interview with christina at our t.v. dot com on wednesday ecuador's president assured her his country's decision on asylum well not be influenced by any external pressure iraqi leaks editor has been holed up in ecuador says embassy in london over six weeks now he's wanted in sweden

over sex crime allegations which he denies he says they're a pretext to hand him over to the u.s. human rights law expert scott horton says ecuador has decision to grant asylum just siloam will not immediately solve all his problems. to me it's hard to understand how the ecuadorians are going to play this but even if they decide to grant to his request for asylum that doesn't mean he would be able to walk out of the embassy go to heathrow and fly to ecuador he would still be held there you'd only be able to transfer out with some sort of consent from the u.k. government and i don't think that will be forthcoming without some sort of agreement from the swedish government so it's diplomatically very very already setting up a scenario in which julian the sergeant may be a guest in close quarters in the ecuadorian embassy. for many years well the

question with australia is one that's been in the background for many many years in fact if you look through the history of the war on terror you find a number of australian citizens who were seized by the united states who were mistreated some tortured some held impossible conditions in guantanamo and the australian government was we mark a bully quiet about all this not only not intervening but sometimes attacking their own citizens and i think what's going on there is frankly a rather surprising the attitude on the part of the australian government towards the united states has been seek to challenge the us over any issue still to come history repeating in reverse and south africa the country that struggled with a part time now seems to be segregating the minority white community r.t. reports from johannesburg shortly. far right nationalist movements are gaining ground in germany along with an upsurge in attacks on immigrants it's being linked

to the growing number of foreign workers attracted to europe's economic powerhouse here oliver reports on how today's anger has spent decades taking root. this sleepy town in saxony seems i however even here right wing extremists have made life hell for people who came to this country to set up businesses mohammed came to this town in the east of germany from pakistan to open a pizzeria he and those working for him suffered abuse and attacks would be hands of local views on police over every time we called the police and the police came every time we called them but until now they haven't found anyone they threaten to kill us and now we have a real fear that we cannot continue like this anymore the pizzeria is now closed after the last attack in early may mohammed explained to me how

a group aged between eighteen and twenty five gathered outside the shop near closing time they broke windows and taunted the terrified staff telling them to go home a small explosive device was detonated which fortunately didn't cause any injuries but means the pizzeria is having to undergo an expensive refit. right wing violence on the streets of germany the country saw a rise in extremist violence after reunification in one thousand eight hundred nine followed by an economic slump in the east which caused people to look to the far right and the fascist campaign as a warning that to to europe's current financial predicament we could see a similar rise again i would these are problematic today we have facing developments in the old part of the germany a lack of jobs leads to helplessness and despair which are the main ingredients the trend is young handsome flour right ideology that there is a belief among activists down the issue of right wing extremism is being ignored by

large numbers of the german people go education is in that part of this problem all of the need citing as a how to pay more attention to it. needs to be more options for cultural integration especially for young people germany's far right national democratic party or in p d that faced calls for them to be banned from politics the n.p.t. say that they'll be imminently opposed to any organization carrying out violent attacks and are working with young people to try and educate them only don't loiter our message to young people who come to our seminars is that it's not the kabab center who is your enemy but rather the politicians who are at the wheel of the country and whether those words words reopen mohammed pizzeria his isn't the only business in this town to face this type of attack but. i came here seven years ago from vietnam and i've been targeted twice used throwing rocks through my windows.

as even germany's robust economy starts to really feel the pinch of the eurozone crisis there are concerns that we could see a further diaries and social problems in the countries areas. between all of the. jenny. all right time now for some of today's world news and pray for you this hour a car bombing in a residential area and southwest pakistan has killed five people and wounded at least ten most victims are women and children police say the militants vehicle exploded before reaching hasn't had a target they said he's entered deeply deprived area bordering afghanistan and iraq . a kurdish attack on a turkish military outpost has killed at least twenty two people close to the iraqi border the rebels fired rockets at troops and a midnight assault turkey then scrambled fighter jets to seek out the attackers

clashes have been on the rise in the area over the past year as kurds seek an autonomy as homeland in a violent struggle that started in one thousand a day for. public anger. israel over living conditions have again drawn thousands out in protest in tel aviv this time it was sparked by new austerity measures and tax hikes at a time when many israelis feel sidelined by the government spending more money on military and settlements prime minister netanyahu is approval ratings are at record lows the protests began last summer as well as several clashes two people set themselves on fire to show their desperation. china summoned a u.s. diplomat in protest at criticism of beijing's new military garrison in the south china sea it's believed to be aimed at strengthening of china's control over potentially oil rich islands in the bitterly disputed maritime region territorial

claims pick china against u.s. ally the philippines as well as vietnam u.s. auditors say more than two hundred million dollars were wasted by washington all to security facilities in iraq which ended up on wanted it adds to recent reports suggesting billions were spent in vain during iraq's reconstruction huge sums are also thought to be squandered on rebuilding another country the u.s. invaded afghanistan anti-war activists jason did says washington's too quick to spend its money abroad without thinking. right unfortunately we do have a bit of a technical problem there in the meantime south africa's painful past of racial

discrimination and showing a worrying return except this time it's the white community that's now feeling unwanted in their home country policies leaders bent to investigate. once the color of all to start and skin was the key to the good life here and now it is merely part of another forgotten face of the new south africa white homeless and unemployed. feels like a radical god. alters one of a growing number of concepts africans living a hop skip and a jump from sleeping on the streets worldly positions amount to a bed and some clothes the rest are handouts from charities and churches sometimes she goes without food for days. always rises was the girl. stuff like there. is a place for words when south africa held its first democratic elections eighteen years ago it marked the end of apostates separation between whites and blacks but

was once it was black people in this country who were discriminated against today it's white south africans performing through the cracks in the days of apartheid impoverished white afrikaners were cradled by the state the national party came to power in one nine hundred forty eight on a wave of africana nationalism one of its election promises was to guarantee afrikaans speaking south africans employment subsidized housing education jobs and state benefits it left the black population out in the cold there used to be a big model clause created by the system in south africa and created. sorry for even for people since one thousand nine hundred four the new government has carried out policies aimed at favoring black employees in a bid to do away with the imbalance of the past what this means is that white people are often overlooked when applying for jobs college bursaries and public positions in this brave but often sickening new south africa there are many who

feel washed up and unwanted forty year old irene funny has lived here with her husband and four children for six years she suffers from the pain of arthritis which makes it difficult for her to walk she calls the government's well meaning policies little short of reverse racism and many many many many. grandfathers and grandmothers was against. and i was staying in sheds like us and they were staying in houses got everything and now it's out then we staying in chats and. this abandoned caravan park is home for now it lends those on the fringes of society a place to sleep but even. this shaky safe haven is under threat the owners of this land are fighting in court to move off the people as they nothing nothing nothing there i'm going to work so i'm going to a place to go they've got nothing left and that's why they don't yet. fifty million

people live in south africa one in nine is white and very many of them are struggling try telling that to the millions of black south africans living in grinding poverty but for people like all to start and it is a depressing comedown all she can see in the land of her birth is a door slamming in her face forever i don't know what is going to happen to mother the warrior or my girls. i mean there is no prize anymore except the hope that one day a door will open instead of slam policy r.t. krugersdorp south africa. in a few minutes we reveal the unknown sides of the war in iraq after the week's top stories stay with our.

one. hundred of them living here. in forty acres and nineteen ninety three and decided it would be a great place to find the belle the home and retire. there she is. we call it our new neighbor neighbor seven. we have

seventy acres here and i can't convince them that they need to drill somewhere besides two hundred feet from. the needs of a growing economy also means expanding our domestic production of oil and natural gas which are vital fuel for transportation electricity and manufacturing this is for india's problems with it before we do the right people and then. you know our flaws are not toxic and we get a lot of it there's a lot of mis understanding of what exactly in the fluids. said you can load here unless you come out here and live in my house for a week. i have no rights. if they shoot something inappropriate for public they can easily be shot.

casualties of war ok. i wish he would have never happened but it has happened. in a war a t.v. camera becomes an unnecessary what destroys their own safety all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors should leave. and it's clear what happens with such witnesses i got on my site. one. many objects to. shoot first is shooting on our. wealthy british style. that's not on the telephone.