welcome back and this is all these are the headlines. the syrian rebels struggle to hold block an offensive by the regime in the country's biggest issue i left out lots of allies of bolstering the insurgency with fresh multi-million dollar support and looking for new ways to replace some of. the three members of russian punk band pussy riot awaits the verdict for staging an anti putin stunt in front of the c. troll prosecutors told us three year prison time the case of trying to that tension of some of the world's biggest music stars. also criminal probes are launched into muslim sects in central russia that have the wrong side to children on the ground

by almost ten yeahs children aged between one and seventeen years have never gone to small been seen by a doctor and had really been allowed into daylight. and a major offensive is under way in egypt so the tile sinai region has to try and restore security on the border violence which left sixteen interruptions soldiers dead last week. up next to american war defense expert phyllis bennett but it's rather explains why it all mean both sides in the syrian conflict only outside interests. thank you for joining us on r.t. red cross and many other experts are saying that the situation in syria has descended into a civil war a full scale civil war. how does that how does that affect the positions of the positions of the west versus the position of other countries so far we have seen no

indication that either the us or any of the outside actors are taking seriously the consequences of the determination by the international committee of the red cross that this is a full scale civil war what it means among other things is that the international laws of war what's known as international humanitarian law apply throughout the region and it applies to the opposition as well as to the regime they are obligated under the conditions of international law not to use certain kinds of weapons not to attack civilians not to hold prisoners without some kind of process all of those things are part of international humanitarian law and we have seen no evidence yet that any of the outside actors are taking any of that seriously what does that mean to the syrian conflict what it means for the syrian people is that the militarization of this conflict is escalating that can only be in my view dangerous more dangerous the notion that there can be a transition

a regime that would not have the same kind of repression that we have seen from assad all these years is still possible the fact that hillary clinton is now reduced to acknowledging that that if assad himself arranges a transition safe haven whether it's in moscow whether it's in saudi arabia or somewhere else that's still possible then the question becomes who is going to be in control if the escalation continues if the militarization continues what we will then see is that the post. government will be led by the men with guns just like what we saw in libya just like what was so in somalia and many other i don't want to make comparisons libya is a very different country than syria somalia is a very different country but the notion that the victors of a political struggle because this is still a political struggle in syria when the victors are those with the guns that always

bodes ill for women for children for civilians syria is not libya syria has a long history of of civil society mobilization and organizations they have many things that was not possible in libya it's not the same i don't want to equate them but the danger is that you will have certain parallels certain similarities such as unaccountable militias who will not put themselves under the accountability of a new government that is a very dangerous reality and as diplomats have already acknowledged if there is another bigger explosion in syria if the entire syrian body politic explodes it will be an explosion not an implosion as libya was there is the danger because it is becoming sectarian because of that sectarian character that is only now becoming dominant in syria in a country that was not traditionally a sectarian divided religiously divided country despite the use by the regime of

the religious and sectarian divisions to maintain its power this was not a population that identified primarily by their religious affiliation as sunni or shia or alawite or whatever it was a possibility that if you were alawite you had a better shot at power but it wasn't the way people define themselves the danger of course is that with that growing the sectarianism growing there is the danger that it will spill over the borders and by some congress. senators calls to arm the rebels for the u.s. to intervene don't you think that's just going to make it worse any further intervention by further militarization is going to make things worse the original militarization has made things far more difficult further militarization is going to kill more civilians the choice of the syrian opposition to take up arms was

contested from the beginning by other parts of the syrian resistance who said that we have a better chance of changing our government of overthrowing the government by nonviolent methods so certainly more escalation whether it's by the u.s. or any other outside power is going to be very very dangerous experts now say that the rebels in syria are very much dominated by there is an interest in the united states for instance of downplaying the role of the islamists but it's become more apparent that there are islamist forces whether they are al qaeda i think there is certainly not much evidence yet i think that it is a very dangerous for outside actors who are not on the ground who don't necessarily have good sources on the ground to assume that any islamist forces for instance are part of al qaeda that's a word that's designed to sow terror in the minds of anybody in the west anyone in europe in the united states it cetera i don't think we know yet what we do know is

that the opposition in syria is very diverse there is a part of it that has an islamist framework the same is true of all of the the rebellions that have led to the arab spring we see the muslim brotherhood in power now in egypt that's not al-qaeda there were people claiming it then it was not true we don't know if it's true in syria diplomatically the efforts where do you think that's had given that the escalate the situation on the ground is escalating the fact that the u.n. has. allowed the the monitoring mission to remain on the ground for at least another thirty days is the one bit of hope that i see right now kofi annan team led by general mood the norwegian general has begun a political process in which they have been able to use in one town another town in small areas from the ground up to make possible

a kind of diplomatic process of local commanders of the military and local commanders of the opposition forces of the resistance to create small scale ceasefires in three or four towns the town of dare sore is one town in syria where it's apparently working if that could be expanded if that mandate could be shifted from simply monitoring a non-existent national ceasefire to facilitating small scale local ceasefires that could then spread and move up from the bottom bringing people with it rather than trying impose something from outside from the top down which certainly has not worked that might be the one hope for a diplomatic and less militarized solution susan rice and other foreign diplomats at the u.n. said that they're willing or they will withdrew the withdrawal of the monitors if this insulation on the ground is does not improve and so far it's not improving so is that is that is that them saying that this is the last time where

expanding this pressure they are saying this is the last time they said that the last time they will change based on political realities not based on the realities on the ground the realities on the ground are not what is determining u.s. positions russian positions qatar's positions saudi positions anybody's positions except for the people of syria what the outside powers are doing has virtually nothing to do with what actually is going on on the ground so what we're seeing play out of the united nations. is a power struggle between the united states and russia between nato and the gulf states on the one hand and other arab states on the other we're seeing a bunch of different battles playing out diplomatically almost none of which are taking into account the interests of the people of syria where do you think that's had you think there will be since. clinton and other diplomats have talked

about intervention on site they want to think that's going to happen do you think that's a possibility that the west is looking at there is already intervention underway the western countries have provided the military of saudi arabia the military of culture that's where they buy their weapons from they buy american weapons so it is already western weapons that are going in it's not coming directly from the us but it is weapons of the west the danger of that escalating is very serious the danger of further escalation involving other outside actors is very serious i don't think the us right now in an election cycle i don't think the obama administration wants to engage in a direct involvement in an air campaign for instance against syria of the kind they engaged in libya i don't think they want to whether what is known in the us as the c.n.n. factor the political pressure on a president in this case on

a candidate in the election based on what people are seeing on their television sets becomes very important it's not impossible that even when the regime in power in any country and in this country when the obama administration doesn't want to engage directly if there is enough political pressure they may give in to that pressure that's happened before it could happen again mccain is trying to exercise that kind of pressure other congress and other senators if there's a number of senators there's a number of members of congress there is calls from the punditry in the mainstream media. there's a lot of pressure on the obama administration not because any of them have a proposal of what would actually work but simply because they're using this as a stick to hit candidate obama in the context of the elections that's very dangerous for the rest of the world what are the solutions that you think are best for syria and he's saying there is still time for dialogue but when the government

and the opposition i think there is still time i think the time is diminishing i think that the level of repression from the government has been so horrific and in response the opposition which i support as a principle of the right of people to rise up against a repressive regime the fact that they are using stronger and stronger military. strategies and military tactics makes that kind of discourse that kind of discussion that kind of negotiation more difficult but there is still time i think the question remains will the international community help to make that possible for example by small scale community by community village by village city by city negotiating processes at the grassroots bringing together local commanders with local officials of the of the military to work out a cease fire and then the political process the best thing the international

community could do would be to allow the u.n. to play that role rather than as a fig leaf of international involvement a fig leaf of multilateralism to cover the unilateral decisions of several different governments. well. science technology innovation all the movies developments from around russia we've got the future covered. the. russians would be soo much brighter if you knew all about songs from funniest

impressions so. please friends don't totty don't come. wealthy british style roads of the us but on the title of the front. yard a referendum on the broader. market finance scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headline just to name two cars a report on. it is due to its. food. to eat. it's.

called substories days syrian rebels struggle to hold a bomb kind of fastened by the regime when the country's biggest states. the u.s. and allies are bolstering the insurgency with fresh multi-million dollar support under the new ways to replace us. from the story members of russian punk band pussy riot a waste the verdicts for staging an anti putin stunt and russia's main cathedral prosecutors want us three year prison time the case attractive that some of the wilds of biggest music stars from. the middle probs i don't chintan was. i'm sad to central russia that's kept around said to children in an underground bunker for almost ten years the children aged between one and seventeen years have never gone to school or been seen by a doctor and had rabies being allowed into daly's. plus

a major offensive is under way in egypt's volatile sinai region it's to try and restore security to the border of bonnets which should have to sixteen interruption soldiers dead last week. time now for our very special olympics sports update and here's kate. hello and welcome to the latest sports news here the headlines golden girl you get here and i about retains her olympic gold as russia claims they want to make gymnastics. while gold will russia's gay carryout kin set a new olympic record in winning the men's fifty kilometer will. and champions for the city to claim their biggest win over spartak in sixty three years with a five nil drubbing of their ten man rivals to stay unbeaten at the top of the russian premier li.

so let's go straight to london where there have been even more medals for russia on day fifteen of the a limp eight games get it has become the first wrist make gymnast to win two olympic all around titles the she defended her gold medal on beijing the twenty two year old posted the highest score in three of the four events two points ahead teammate that yes we need to have a new ball check us ny all the rest to grauman's while the reach of us was delighted with her silver medal as a nineteen year old with only added to the russian team earlier this month because of an injury to alexander the quarterback. can set a new limb big recording winning the men's fifty kilometer walk the russian broke away with ten kilometers to go and went on to win in three hours thirty five minutes and fifty nine seconds australia's jared talent not just the silver medal he won in four years ago in beijing while china's side playing third round on the

water you are the guy and alexander just turncoat won the gold in the men's two hundred meter kayak sprint battery six silver and great britain problems. while in women's basketball russia is taking on australia in the bronze medal game this is the third time in russia. has been in the olympic third place playoffs and have won the last two while australia where the runners up at previous olympics thirty eight thirty two australia at the moment. while there was a shock at wembley stadium where mexico won their first ever football gold at the expense of now three time silver medalist brazil two one are you prepared also killed the ball home inside thirty seconds after manchester united right back rafael was caught in possession twenty minutes from one another final thought from peralta was offside but the striker made no mistake five minutes later running in unmarked two powerfully head home second from a free kick how can pull a goal back in a frantic stoppage time and new chelsea signing off headed over for five yards that

mexico hung on for a famous and this victory won on friday russia clinched gold in the team synchronized swimming adding to their victory in the u.s. to complete their fourth successive olympic sweep of the medals russia's complex move gained more marks than anyone else in both the technical and free routines and the team finished with a whopping one hundred ninety seven points out of a possible two hundred three points ahead of china and for fear of spain. does look the. other nervous but i think the point difference between ourselves and china tells the story you need to know who are the better team and of course we are delighted. he will know what while world champion cup the analysts saying got to go to the women's her mother russian broke the olympic record with her first throw and then again with her fist of seventy eight point one eight meters. and russia also clinched their fourth gold medal in wrestling jamal it's also part of becoming the latest olympic champion after beating georgia's. really two rounds to nail in the

freestyle fifty five kilogram category denise two prongs in the seventy four and one division there are six more finals to be contested. while in the boxing ring if you go back on serve is russia's only hope for gold and is guaranteed a. silver after going through to the final of the light heavyweight division however three of his teammates had to settle for bronze flyweight world champion. lost in the semifinal as did light flyweight daveed i had a pet yan and welterweight and covered and in the meantime russia's men are guaranteed at least as over in volleyball their ranks number two in the world and beat ball garia three sets to one who will face top seed brazil in the final however the best the men's basketball team could get is bronze after they lost to spain sixty seven points to fifty nine in their semifinal russian will now play argentina to decide the third place finishers and spain will take on top seeds the usa to decide the gold medal. haul in other news the usa won the women's four by

one hundred meter relay in a new world record the quartet of tiana madison allyson felix bianca knight and commonly to jeter part time a fifty point eight two seconds shattering the previous best of forty one point three seven set by germany twenty seven years ago the jamaicans took silver with a national record of forty one point four one while ukraine two bronze pending champions russia failed to qualify for the final. while the bahamas spectacularly beat the usa to win the men's four by four hundred meter relay the americans were the hot favorites but the team of chris brown demetrius pinda michael materia and ramon miller edges them by point three three of a second to win in two minutes fifty six point seven two seconds trinidad and tobago change the group us. and in the meantime russia are targeting medals in the men's and women's events of the modern pentathlon which is celebrating one hundred years at the olympics and robert but i'm young but to sydney champion dimitris

about russia's chances of a repeat performance in the. with a more than contestant advance at the london twelve summer olympics getting underway on saturday we're joined by the two thousand olympic champion russia's need to use what go ski three things with him first of all do you think the sport has changed dramatically over the last twelve years and become more competitive with death was becoming tougher to bit simply tougher to bit. the last twelve years of the double change so much and two. major issues was changed during can last last years the first was the eevee united. running and shooting in right now calling combine event its last event a result of old age and it will be the final final step for the four medals and. the laws of peace so it will be very interesting and of

course to the for last two years the. the us these four months it's very interesting for t.v. for spectators for anybody and because we have absolutely always on expected result. yes for russia's chances we get those number one and two time olympic champion under namely see if sounds very impressive. yes of course for the last. few olympics we got some medals of course the expect and some medals here and because good grades athletic at least like underway may save two time olympic champion the up you're absolutely right and that was soon there's a young generation horse that will be next. on the big period by two thousand and sixteen two thousand and twenty and of course we expect good results expect just medals began during we see if he's a very experienced their foot while. he's making his olympic debut do thing go it

takes to handle that psychological pressure on him for. that of course and some pressure before lympics because he is a young people youngest at least usually of course in the morn there was before lympics them the other which are on strike on the day of the v. expect in the. union union of experience in the young as for the women savant we've got to have the gear. and you can get in the rescue now what do you think about their chances. mv has chances for some medals and. our video will be a bronze medal very very. close to to get even goals that will be good fans and right so it turns out that we can hope for gold medal in the men's of around and maybe probably bronze medal in the women's brawn bronze yes. that's a podium but. expect it's

a combination of course that it will be anything but you want thank you dmitry thank you so much thank you. is the man who's already been there and done that and he's prediction for russia sounds very good keeping my fingers crossed robert for the new m r t london. now into football and the man should all cough struck twice as in a tribe of five nil at home to ten man spartak moscow to maintain their one hundred percent record at the top of the russian premier league well as they dominated an uneven battle of the new top two with maxine connick off putting them head to quarter of an hour but the decisive action came in the second half of the me of the straw for maybe two nil off the fifty two minutes and then within ten crazy minutes in the out believe that did not have a chance to pull it all back but missed his spot kick up off immediately made it three nil then spotlight aiden mcgeady saw straight red for what seemed an

innocuous challenge and it defies united for nil victory went to. wrapped up his brace up to the death as an eight and despotic one hundred percent record but kept their own to get three points clear at the top. while then he's critical of missed a penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage time as lucky for twice paid back in the first half and had to settle for a two two draw at home to promoted the line yes after sent off seven minutes from time walter reich are currently hosting volga in the late game which one is ahead. how funny so i thought he were the russian on the twenty's thrashed canada six three and jaroslav all to tie their exhibition series and one or after losing the opening day three to the home side we're back with a vengeance after the sold out arena two thousand and local board curial cup which didn't send the fans into a frenzy i scored three times to move russia to a sweet six three when the tournament next moved to how i fax in canada for the

final two matches and the walls talk to use dave's applying to each other to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the summit series between the u.s.s.r. canada russia are led to point foster rising going forward. and to the n.h.l. top draft pick says he's happy to be captain. i don't feel any pressure though it's just it's where people sit for me be captain it was my dream and i just want to help my team win every game and. just deal with it and play hard work hard and that's it. and that's all from this was desk bike and.

wealthy british style it's not the answer it's not on the. markets why not.