jump to the top. ignore the. stage show. brush your top stories from the week syria's rebels fight to retake control of the left but with the help of further west and financial backing while the arab league puts its emergency get together on hold it had been to discuss a replacement for peace envoy kofi annan. more of a top stories the last seven days egypt's president orders the country's powerful defense minister and the chief of staff to resign it comes amid a crackdown in the recently volatile sinai region which killed seven suspected militants. members of russian punk band pussy riot to wait. until putin stunned

the country's main cathedral in a trial that's divided the nation prosecutors are demanding. the final decision expected next friday. next american world affairs expert phyllis bennis explains why both sides in the syrian conflict have side 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. and 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 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 throw 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 do 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 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 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 a 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.

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a result of my father's exposure to agent orange i was born with multiple problems . i was missing my leg and my fingers and my big toe on my right foot i use my hands a lot in my artwork i find myself drawing my hands quite a bit to me for my hands you know just as if anyone would. but they do tell a story they tell us story of. oxen. world

. series technology innovation called the least of melamine from around russia we've gone to the future covered. latest headlines the week's top stories from r.t. 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 had been to discuss replacement for kofi annan. egypt's president told the country's powerful defense minister and the chief of staff to resign it comes amid a crackdown in the increasingly violent sinai region which killed seven suspected militants. a members of the russian female punk group pussy riot await the verdict after twenty putin stunned the country's main cathedral in a trial this divided the nation prosecutors are demanding three years jail for the women with a final decision expected next hour from. now will support. hello

welcome along with to the sports headlines hey is what's coming up the final curtain as the twenty twelve london olympics come to an end the russia secure three more goals on the final day of competition. bouncing the boxes or on toss it scores the game's only goal is science car next too much losing run for the one the way and i'm jeanne. the slum continues to now moscow falter there for the feet of the season as they go down to nil for second place to be. before us to russia have added three more gold medals to that tally on the final day of the london olympics they came in boxing gymnastics volleyball the men's

a 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 . meanwhile success continued to come in rhythmic gymnastics this time gold arrived in the group all around competition the victory meant russia finished top of the sports medal table. elsewhere box a goal concept for gold in the light heavyweight category the big kazakhstan's i've been in bet of on a judge's decision it was a close but with the fighters level on fifteen points each at the end of the contest the judges decided the goal should go to the twenty seven year old. 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 minutes with the tally for exhausted scored a lay up with seconds remaining secure the win on the metal parts russia's best ever showing in on a little take

a pass. competition. so let's look at the final what medal table the usa are back on top with forty six goals it was china who pushed them into second place in beijing two or years ago this time china have to settle for second place great britain and northern ireland have a phenomenal games exceeding expectations and finishing in third place while russia finished for just one goal short of their target of twenty five. now one of the emerging global stars from these games is british distance runner my fara he became only the seventh man in history to win gold in but i think 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. but so we worked so hard for i'm just going to enjoy and spend time my family friends and you know and keep training through a couple of more races. and i'm looking forward been father and his two gold medals

to martin. 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 the onion explained so we can secure. housing infrastructure of course we cultural and social legacy so longed. for these days and these games to go all the decades of 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 you personally you know this is an opportunity everybody. i know in the u.k. to come down and watch the olympic games. i feel is a nation that is inspired

a lot of people what i said is get involved in sport all those who do sports and just watch the one great thing in common you know feeling over the course of the british sporting event on the planet i think it's a emotional impact on the whole of the country is galvanized scotland wales and england it has been really fantastic quite a nice atmosphere and yeah. i just 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 all over the well it's just been fantastic the huge investments in the london twelve summer olympics are definitely expected to materialize term benefits for the whole country but on top of all that is simply the way the games just made people feel.

to the hosts great britain along with those who came here to feeling good. so the games appear 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 a very happy and graceful my we're very happy with the caves i was very grateful to said to the entire team. on the sixth of july two thousand and five in singapore.

at least caves that's exactly what we thought of stranded footage trace of the venue's forty four workers and teen olympic records. i will see history being written by many many athletes i think of the trouble. of course i think of michael phelps. passing by. i think three stories six medals to open in three and five medal sets the five consecutive medals. winning his first major title i could go on for the rest of the david american finishes in two. 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 then pick skate kids his thoughts on the matter. i think that this

experience of the olympic games should be used to head of the still chilling picture of a lot of good points russia can borrow from london excellent transportation solutions to the way they put on a show for this because tasers board these games every have been filled in a vault as a participant of this great competition. so i want many fans and organizes it declaring the games a success one nation at the perhaps one 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 a.o. saying he 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 years but so did for instance germany got remarkably different results in the sports in which new zealand has done better than rowing in particular the rowing programs funded on list money that would destroy the rowing program so they doing

something very much better than we would get five medals but we didn't get the three gold that i 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 four concluded on sunday. second after eight you know 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's joint top scorer. broke the deadlock before. still to win in a stoppage time rubin now second three points behind pace setters i think. 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 man to their first defeat of the season. while elsewhere on sunday on car more derby are finished goalless. 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 actually put the london side ahead five minutes before half time with a red card for defender branislav ivanovic change the tide of the march second half goals from ya too right carlos tevez and samir nasri and ryan bertrand goal ten minutes from time was a mere consolation. for that is all from the world of sports where there's plenty later here on r.t. .

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