turkish and saudi officers reportedly caught inside syria a country where now even loosely to the government ordinary civilians into rebel targets. because within. the u.s. government. criminalizing certain kinds of information spills well deliberately planting their own. people in a belgian city say one local party has taken a political correctness to this after put up with mental problems as a candidate. it

is a pleasure to have you with us here in our. life in moscow a group of turkish and saudi officers have been arrested in the flashpoint city of aleppo that according to a serious state television the focus of the war shifted to the area just last month after rebels moved in from the outskirts sparking street battles and forcing thousands of civilians to flee early reports suggested the rebels were receiving sophisticated weapons via the turkish border and gulf nations said they were putting the fighters on the payroll u.n. observers have for the meantime left for security reasons. to reports from syria literally no one is safe. but. president assad will be watching. those. not a political statement rather

a sign that that company belongs to the state your design is now becoming a death mark for an increasing number of state employees. but. this call in the middle of the night cost him a brother. was one of syria's most experienced civil pilots u.s. educated more than twenty thousand hours around the globe he was coming home from the airport when gunmen attacked his car. radical islam. is the worst enemy of radical islam when you were rounded incapable of using your page you're trying to estimate what's going on with. his brother a plastic surgeon also received. their family belongs to the l a with the same religious group as assad but they were never politically active. you said the documents confirm syria's opposition has scientists engineers don't just and civil

service. what started as a battle against the regime now increasingly looks like a battle against the syrian state but the round a million and a half of the country's civil servants are becoming targets doctors teachers municipal workers have all been kidnapped or assassinated for simply doing their work any government in the world whether it's to mcready cannot has two distinct groups of people working for a political fox whose job is to keep the ruling party in power and civil servants to make sure that streets are clean and hospitals are running and in syria regardless of that political affiliation civil servants are being targeted as assad sympathizers in damascus hospitals window blinds is permanently drawn now because of this partial for fear of snipers a local doctor was kidnapped on his way from work a few months ago his family hasn't heard from him since his colleagues are now

afraid of revealing the identity of. all the syrian people are in danger children the elderly farm workers civil servants doctors and scientists there are no exceptions to live in the fact that my life and the lives of as a serial our interest makes me tremble with fear along with fears for their safety syrian civil servants also have to deal with a much higher workload many now put in sixty hour weeks with barely a day off due to inflation and their salaries have devalued as have their lives so i am not surprised to hear that some groups within the free syrian army are targeting those people who are trying to make life better or orderly because at the end of the day if things get back to normal they will lose any support they will use any attention from the media or from the international community it is in the interests of some factions and the opposition to make things worse for people so

that those people who are the silent majority join in the fights and round of world attacks against they don't situations carry some of the highest sentences and promptly condemned as terrorism yet in syria for the sake of ousting one man millions of lives are put on the line it's not boycott artsy democracy syria. and we are coming to you live from the heart of moscow are still for you this hour that of israel and egypt trade accusations over a fatal border assault some experts believe things that are creating regional tension is exactly what the attackers want. the first trial of an anti punk band enters its final stage with a public debate centered on whether the woman is it disturbing cathedral performance and deserves the harshest punishment. now the obama administration is taking a leak plugging to a brand new level unprecedented manhunt is sweeping u.s.

state agencies and attempt to root out. data spills that are becoming increasingly frequent but as a guy nature could reports not all kinds of leaks are being criminalized. the f.b.i. is on a hard pull the curse they have interviewed current and former high level government officials from the white house the pentagon the national security agency and the cia all to reveal those who spilled the beans investigation as a way to counter the distinct chill over press coverage of national security issues as journalists here say agencies declined routine interview or firestone refused to provide background briefings on top of that the legislation is in the works in the u.s. congress that would for example allow to strip the government employee of their pension in punishment for an off the ride sharing of information with the media so you have an assault on the first from both the government and the lawmakers the former assistant director of the cia's that everybody in the intelligence world agrees

never have there been so many level leaks one has to would ministration as being so hard on leakers as this one we're talking about all kinds of the leaks about the administration's targeted killings program as it continues to illegally execute suspected terrorists abroad or leaks about government agencies sweeping surveillance capabilities at home feel bomb administration alone has prosecuted six government officials believe king information to the press more than all of their past administrations combined earlier i spoke with one of them on the break that is who once was a senior executive of america's largest intelligence agency then he blew the whistle on fraud and abuse with regards to the agency's secret surveillance program here's what he told me speaking truth to power is very dangerous and has world power elites. those in charge they don't like dirty linen being your. they don't like the skeletons in the closet being seen. and they not only do they

object to it they decide to turn it into criminal activity. i guess we have to point out that not all leaks are being criminalized because you have a type of information that the government leaks deliberately to manage and control the discourse in the media so to say but any journalist would tell you that it's the on the rise that really helped reveal a sensitive story to the public otherwise journalists would just have to copy paste and whatever the government decides to release to the press in washington i'm going to check out. also accused of trying to spin the media their own way reporting just a few minutes from the country's technocrat government forces several journalists off a state t.v. channel slamming the massive cuts in forced me to. dish.

slow pace for space russian space agency launches an investigation into why a rocket failed to get to communication satellites up into. the tolerance of political correctness may have reached its limit in the belgian city of ghent with mental disabilities is running for office insisting his condition should be no obstacle to some sort of political career because of reports not everybody agrees we're here and get the city in flanders know for it's pretty medieval town center but it's also recently made headlines when a political party put a man with mental disabilities on its candidate list for local elections meet. the forty one year old candidate of the flemish christian democrats he's hoping to get a seat in get city council he admits he has difficulties in speaking and writing. yeah i've been active in community work for a living years our party is. one's included so i want to be given the chance to be

counselor to express myself and help people with disabilities. he says he wants to encourage voluntary social work and make the city more accessible to people with handicaps by promoting the use of simple language this is just a saying no to the people in the end also people with disabilities can run for elections in our community they are here in ghent so we can't ignore them you'd be hard pressed to find someone who'd say such people weren't part of society but some see the party's move as inappropriate where public office is concerned raising questions of whether politicians have pushed the envelope too far this time . if he's physically disabled it's not ridiculous but he has mental disabilities so that's another question you may have problems with reasoning. i think he's not capable of making decisions for other people i do voluntary work myself with mentally disabled people and got

a lot of respect for them but they have to realize themselves that they're not able to do everything all other get residents like frederick think it's really nothing more than a publicity stunt and i know it's difficult when you criticize such a nice and good guy but i don't want to criticize him in person i want to criticize his sparty for using him as a kind of political tool and to get media attention in a time that we are close to the elections did you say is well aware of the criticism but as far as he's concerned for political i spend a lot of energy campaigning the rest is up to voters. just are still there r t get in belgium. well greece plans to deport more than sixteen hundred people in a massive crackdown against illegal migrants claiming public funds it's all part of an effort to save money in any way possible of course in a country which is sinking under its own debt but as economist roger bootle tells

r.t. he believes the leaving the eurozone is the only way that greece can save itself the full interview coming up later this hour for now the way quick preview. greece in my view needs to get out of the euro i cannot see any way in which this current policy of austerity is going to bring any relief or solve the riding process of trying to bring. down takes. decades direct result of our credit crisis greece is very true but i don't think it's possible to imagine a return to economic growth in the current setup by contrast with the euro breaks i can imagine economic growth so far from being a disaster i think it could be the major step that leads to the restoration of growth in europe. interviews in about twenty minutes time from now for the meantime there prosecutors have demanded three year prison sentences for the members of controversial punk band pussy riot

the trio was on trial for protesting in russia's main cathedral and are now waiting to see whether that will be their final performance all whether the show will go on r.t. as peter all about has a look at this case i should advise you the report does include some images of a sexual nature. it's the trial that's gripped global attention three members of the punk rock collective pussy riot are accused of hooliganism after taking part in an protest inside moscow's main cathedral the demonstration dubbed a punk rock prayer to rid rusher of blood amir putin to media focus around the world. but i would like to reiterate our stance which we have expressed from the very start our defendants did not perpetrate a criminal offense and therefore any verdict of court say for an acquittal will be unlawful. the group of being called political prisoners by human rights groups and media outlets donning support from many within the music industry sting faith no

more and the red hot chili peppers of all call for the women to be set free but groups associated with the russian orthodox church were outraged by the demonstration and called for the harshest penalties available over those who defend the women say the protest wasn't born out of any religious hatred. this x. obviously had political character which just went side by side with other such political acts the didn't stand out so the attempt to proclaim what has happened as abusive actions motivated by religious hatred is ridiculous also but it's that political character and the search for the shocking is clearly visible when you look at what the women have done previously past stunts of included inviting the media to an orgy in a museum and more member performing a sex act with a frozen chicken in a supermarket because the performance though was a step too far for many in a nation where the majority of people orthodox kristie in search of

a foreman's in the country's main cathedral saw some accusing the group of blasphemy however some of russia's most ardent anti government activists who agree the women took things too far also said they shouldn't be punished too harshly and they don't deserve it by the way i. they disapprove of their act i'm old enough to be their dad so i would just spank them properly and let them off and now when they face up to seven years of prison this is going to far feel but the call for clemency was repeated by president putin the man who was the target of the protest . but i hope the court will rule with a just decision if the bonds let's say defiled a sacred place in israel they would have to cope with some tough guys there and would face difficulties from attempting to leave the country with or to for example they went to the caucuses and defaced 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 courts when. the trial continues here in moscow as public opinion is divided over what punishment if any should be handed down to the three women in the dock peter oliver r.t. moscow. and of course i heard on t.v. we have more on the trial plenty of other stories online as well including how a pop diva madonna saying in moscow this she wants leniency for pussy riot and a finnish activist who decided to support the russian punks with a copycat protest targeting the largest church in western europe. so what's obvious is a paralyzed in a californian city police and firefighters are bankrupt and out of gasoline as fuel companies refuse to refill until done so.

live from moscow this is our t. just a moment in the world update for now there were candidates in the u.s. presidential race saw trading political blows over iran and the crippling sanctions america is trying to impose a republican barack obama's former campaign manager after he was paid for a speech by a company linked to iran's revolutionary guards david proof who got one hundred thousand dollars in two thousand and ten for speaking in nigeria just weeks before he officially became part of the obama administration. from the national iranian american council says obama's policy towards to iran is coming back to bite him. it is troublesome for the obama campaign and i i hope that the irony is not lost on people that this is a president who is being criticized by mitt romney for being too soft on iran and yet he's passed you know the strongest iran sanctions the strongest nations frankly

it's ever been imposed on any company on any country and they're so broad that his own top political advisor is now being ensnared in this ancient so you know either the stations are too broad and they are having a counterproductive effect. you know or this president has actually been pretty tough when you were on to the extent that even his own guys are now being sucked up in this so nearly twenty minutes past the hour here in moscow an unmanned russian rocket launch from baikonur cosmodrome on monday has failed to deliver two communications satellites into orbit with an explanation on exactly what happened. on the air launches rocket launches have been suspended as experts try to work out exactly what did happen with the failed launch of this rocket and its booster carrying two communication satellites up toward it the booster failed to get the communications satellites up to their proper orbit the booster fired at the correct

time but only for seven seconds when it was supposed to fire for more than eighteen minutes that has left the booster with the two communications satellites attached floating out to lower emergency albeit the greatest fear now is that the booster and the two satellites that are stuck in an emergency orbit could become a potentially dangerous space junk flying around the earth the greatest danger could potentially come to the international space station and although ross cosmos has said that no emergency maneuvers are planned for the i assess that hasn't allayed fears of a possible collision this all comes as a great embarrassment for cosmos with a string of mistakes happening last year including a supply rocket plunging back to earth and the failure of a commission designed to take samples from the martian moon phobos it's also the

third satellite launch failure since two thousand and ten a lot of all of these communications satellites cost immense amounts of money this was one of the satellites for it was the first purchased by into an easier and more than the physical cost it's a blow to attempts to try and restore confidence. in a once great and groundbreaking russian space industry. reporting right there for now egypt has accused israel's spy agency mossad of orchestrating sunday's attack on a border checkpoint that left at least sixteen security officials dead that israel has to deny the claims of blaming islamist militants and criticized post revolution egypt for losing its grip on the region and geo political analyst eric draitser thinks the attackers goal was to put the two countries at loggerheads. it's less important to examine necessarily who might have carried that out because it's somewhat unknown but the significance of this playing up the idea that egypt and

israel must be at each other it benefits both sides because the muslim brotherhood is able to play to their base while the reactionaries in israel behind netanyahu and the ultra right are able to play to theirs so this is stoking the conflict stoking the tension in order to execute the geo political agenda of the west there is the obvious which is to destroy whatever cooperation does exist as a remnant of the egyptian israeli treaties this is also perhaps to bolster the muslim brotherhood in terms of the salafi. extremist elements in egypt but at the very at the very basic level this is to stoke the conflict that is existing in that region and drives up the cost of gas for example attacking the gas pipeline infrastructure and a variety of other geo political issues this is jim political in nature not ideological. promised her naughty stretch of the world update for you we will start in central ny area where militants fired on a worshipers in

a christian church killing nineteen of the group has taken no responsibility for any attack but religious violence like this is usually attributed to the muslim extremist group known as. earlier this year a wave of attacks on christians so more than one hundred thirty killed. at least twelve civilians have been injured after a truck filled with explosives blew up at the entrance of a nato military base in eastern afghanistan officials are blaming taliban militants saying that they stole the vehicle this is the second outbreak of violence in afghanistan today off and nine people died when a bus hit a mine not far from the country's capital. more than fifty people have been killed by floods in the philippines rains continue to pound the country tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the capital and work in offices and schools has been suspended by the downpour was set off by the seasonal monsoon and also coastal

regions major dams and bridges to bust. in a moment merino with the business for now spain's right wing government has been accused of silencing dissent a number of journalists were sacked from a state channel for the critical stance over an e.u. bank bailout and that of sweeping austerity some of the spanish media believe mario a technocrat government is destroying democracy in the country. never in the spanish history of public television after the film go to a dealership the government control of the television or radio was stronger now a days and in my opinion the. democracy probably the best question to china to raise a political situation you know spain use a lack of democracy the government using the hands of banks and markets under the little abusing is going to be the new tool like the joshua noble but anyone who does not understand the media's right to c.d.'s and write books information for the

government of public television and public radio yes political welcomes before the i lost my i'm a hold to the government it was necessary or at least a conscientious between the main political parties represented in the parliament and the trade union you know ordered to constitute i don't even even team that mean station council of the public radio and public television unfortunately they were men of the whole you change the law and now decorum and to control the absolute control of television without any kind of agreement with all their ideas and the tree. as i said i was taught from marina to join us in the art of business section good to see you today but i hear another british bank involved in a scandal how shock and awe that's after eight as busy of course it's not a great month to be in the banking center in the k. that's for sure of course we're talking about british ness and buying standard chartered with right now is plummeting over twenty three percent but i'll get to

that in a second first the cycle of i think european markets and how they're performing have better the lackluster performance that's because investors are really struggling to find direct evidence in the first thing said anderson are the diamondbacks adding it's going to add that i would say even though it is a positive territory for the whole of that but investors are really focusing on the board as an investment by that order and on the longer start the same as stop into the precise twenty three point five percent this hour. and all of this is a because it is suspect that tens of thousands of transactions where wrong which is of course subject to u.s. economic sanctions american financial regulators i have said the bank has loaned as much as hundred and fifty billion dollars over nearly a decade now standard chartered which denies the allegations of face is losing its u.s. banking license. and that's take a look at the rush of the markets and here basically what we're seeing is the markets us when between gains and losses really start off with

a negative know is that one fact of positive and then you see here both the r.t.s. and the my sexiness loss is a once again that's also because crude prices are a bit volatile although price wise are still compared to the previous ones remaining quiet high which is a good sign for the offer markets and if we can move on and take a look at the exchange rates the picture there also keep switching every hour pretty much but now the euro is still flotsam against the u.s. dollar when it comes to the ruble a mixed picture news into the euro but again then you see the greenback there and now in the local company news he owns about megaphone which is the second a big a small ball operator in the country and it has once again postponed its in london listing previously the for a move that from july to september in financial turmoil on the markets but now that the us newspaper says the company plans to go public in the middle of all to them for the very same reasons it is the only entree to russian big telecom company and that one of your plans to list twenty percent of its shares for four billion

dollars. and if we're going to quickly take a look at the arctic and basically an expedition us kicked off there which aims to clean up the islands over the barren sea and basically explore the region more than the political but has all the details. greener than you think this is the arctic temperatures this talk to those in moscow and rising on average twice as fast as you were. around the world the record i smelled has made the arctic's vast natural resources easier to get than ever before i know them they all want to be horrid off our planet oil and gas reserves and in fact that have been heaven bordering countries and even china eager to pull labor quote five arctic countries russia norway denmark canada and the us have the right to explore waters up to three hundred seventy kilometers all the coasts but it's the central pullers zone

that may now be up for grabs russia's already owns a vast arctic territory but there are concerns that this may unite the others against moscow's polar ambitions most recently denmark is the last contender to send an expedition to the pole cold for developing their arctic according to a civilized manner of behavior and proposed a drilling moratorium in the central polar zone this year all giant rosneft signed contracts to explore russia's arctic with america's ex and model norway's stance on and any billions of dollars is already pledged but much more will come when the pool is partitioned and the borders set so the more businesses that come here the quake of its own charges for giving this nation home political battles will transform into a high tech economic hub that can put a core business are to the arctic that's all we have time for this hour the headlines are next.