it's ten thirty pm here in moscow this is r.t. and these are all top stories from today in the last seven days as well syria's rebels fight to retake control of aleppo with the help of further western financial backing while the arab league puts its emergency get together on hold it has been due to discuss a replacement for peace envoy kofi annan. members of the russian female punk group pussy riot await their verdict after an anti putin stunt in the country's main cathedral in a trial has divided the nation prosecutors are demanding three years jail for the woman with the final decision expected next friday. and egypt's president orders

the country's powerful defense minister and the chief of staff to resign it comes amid a crackdown in the crease and volatile sinai region which killed seven suspected militants. next american world affairs expert phyllis bennis speaks to us and explains why arming both sides in the syrian conflict only serves 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 it's 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 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 the 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 de sor 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 but susan rice and other foreign diplomats at the u.n. said that they are 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 land do you 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 on their 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 process is 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

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above. the. latest headlines the week's top stories syria's rebels. to retake control of aleppo with the help of the west and financial backing while there really puts its emergency get together on hold it has been to discuss replacement for peace envoy kofi annan. members of the russian female punk group pussy riot await their verdict after a ninety putin stunt in the country's main cathedral in a trial that's divided the nation prosecutors are demanding three years jail for the woman with the fun decision expected next friday. and egypt's president orders the country's powerful defense minister and the chief of staff to resign that news coming in earlier on it comes amid a crackdown in the increasingly volatile sinai region which killed seven suspected

militants this is art see now world sport. hello welcome along with two the sports headlines here is what's coming up the final curtain as the twenty twelve london olympics come to an end to russia secured three more goals on the final day of competition. bouncing back because or on toss it scores the game's only goal is science carmex too much losing run with a one zero win over i'm jima. the slum continues to now moscow fall to their for the feat of the season as they go down to nail to second place to being. but first russia have added three more gold medals to their tally on the final day

of the london olympics they came in boxing gymnastics volleyball the men's volleyball team secured a dramatic come from behind victory over brazil in the gold medal match they were two sets to love down but never gave up eventually winning three two out of school . they were all success continue to come in rhythmic gymnastics this time gold arrived in the group all around competition the victory meant russia finished top of the sport's medal table. elsewhere box a goal concept for gold in the light heavyweight category because it stands out with that as a bet of on a judge's decision it was a close by with the fighters level on fifteen points each at the end of the contest but the judges decided the goal should go to the twenty seven year old. russia secured a bronze in the basket ball it was a dramatic victory for david plotz men with barely anything separating them from argentina heading into the final minute with the tally for xander scored a lay up with seconds remaining secure the win on the metal parts russia's best

ever showing in analytic basketball competition. so let's look out the final at medal table the usa are back on top with forty six goals it was china who pushed them into second place in beijing poor years ago this time china have to settle for second place great britain and northern ireland have had a phenomenal games exceeding expectations and finishing in third place while russia finished for just one goal short of their targets of twenty five. now one of the emerging global stars from these games is british distance runner mo farah he became only the seventh man in history to win gold in both the five thousand and ten thousand meters this is his life will carry on as normal even though his wife is g. to give birth to twins. nothing's going to change it just means you want to get medals and you. but it's of the work so hard for i'm just going to enjoy it and spend time my family friends and you know and keep training

a couple of more races plantar just have done and i'm looking forward been a father again and these two gold medals to my team goals. so despite the numerous fears and concerns before the games it appears as if london twenty twelve has been a success along with the financial pluses the olympics have made britain feel great again as rob about danny and explains so we can secure. a transport housing infrastructure just supports the cultural and social legacy so long to follow for these days and these games to go for decades to help the words of london mayor boris johnson inspire but only time will show if they're true with the games coming to an end we took to the streets of london to find out if the olympics have really changed the country for good personally oversee is an opportunity for everybody. and i know i in the u.k.

to come down to watch the olympic games and. i feel as a nation is inspired a lot of people what i said is get involved in sport although for those who do sports and just watch the one great thing in common you know feeling of being part of the british sporting event on the planet i think it's a emotional impact that it's had on the whole of the country is galvanized by scotland wales and england has been really fantastic it's quite a nice atmosphere and yeah it's really fun to watch think it's been amazing has been in london so my home city just being absent come up to london enjoy the atmosphere. with everybody around from all over the well it's just been fantastic the huge investments in the london twelve summer olympics are definitely expected to materialize in term benefits for the whole country but on top of all that is

simply the way the games just made people feel. was. what. i. was. so the hosts great britain along with those who came here into feeling get. over it but in your hearts. so the games are paid to have been a star really enjoyed by londoners and sports fans from all over the globe but what have the authority made of it all while his international olympic committee president jacques rogge i'm very happy and grateful my with very happy with you gave so very grateful to said to paul and to the entire team. on the

sixth of july two thousand and five in singapore roman promise at least games that's exactly what we thought a splendid faded state of the venues forty fourth world workers from the seventeen olympic records. i would see history being written by many many athletes i think of double trouble and both of course i think of michael phelps passing by that he said at a dinner i think of three stories six medals i think open in c. and five medals it's early five consecutive medals marie winning his first major title and i could go on for the rest of the david american finishes in two oles. i will shorten my speech. so i walk in russia from the london games ahead of the winter olympics in sochi in two years time on the boss of the main sponsor of the countries and impacts kate gives his thoughts on the matter. i think that this

experience of the olympic games should be used to head of the sochi olympics but there are a lot of good points russia can borrow from london from excellent transportation solutions to the way they put on a show for this because tasers these games every have been killed involved as a participant or is a great accomplishment. so i won many fans and organizers are declaring the games a success one nation perhaps won't have enjoyed the experience of london two thousand and twelve is australia they finished tenth in the medals table behind hungry and the president of the i.o.c. says the problems run deeper than simply funding. it can't just be a fun thing when you understand that great britain spent one point two billion over four years but so did france and so did germany and got remarkably different results in the sports in which new zealand has done better than rowing in

particular they rowing programs funded on lifts money that is strong in rowing programs so they doing something very much better than we would get five medals but we didn't get the three gold got so. i'm absolutely certain that sports have to look at themselves rather than look for more money. well away from the olympics and in the or russian a premier league game week for concluded on sunday. second after atonal when over seriously struggling to number moscow the visitors went into the game with three defeats from their first three matches and with fifteen minutes to go they may have thought they were on for their first point of the season with the scores level of male male however in the seventy eighth minute the league joint top scorer priebus nacho broke the deadlock before. sealed the win in a stoppage time rubin now second three points behind early pace set is at.

elsewhere car bounced back to winning ways following back to back to fate secured a one zero win over. there and toss it with a winning strike fifteen minutes from time the goal condemned because he thinks man to their first defeat of the season. well elsewhere on sunday and card more derby are finished goalless and while karelia saw the top of that game is just in the final few moments. and finally over in england the early season bragging rights went to manchester city as they secured the community shield with a dramatic three two win over chelsea fernando torres as he put the london. i had five minutes before half time but a red card for defender branislav ivanovic change the tide of the march second half goals from ya to right carlos tevez and samir nasri and run by a trans goal ten minutes from time was a main consolation. and that is all from the world of sports where there's plenty later here in aussie.

nuclear fashionable heights inside the. radioactive fallout of all government betrayal of the government. and laws and lauded and claude how can the truth be revealed if there's no official evidence there was indeed a very great danger to the servicemen concerned who will give them no problem protection

and to the people of this country generally because of radio like the fall of. the secrets of the u.k.'s nuclear tests.

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