why don't what's really happening to the global economy with my stronger no holds barred look at the global financial headline news. reports. a powerful explosion strikes in syria's capital damascus just in front of the hotel where you want to serve a mission of staying will bring you a report from our very own correspondent who was there to witness the blast. ecuador steps out rumors of it already granting julian a song of saddam as the whistle blowers quest for refuge enters its seemingly final but no less perilous stage. more violence enough than a starving wild revelation surfaced of horrific conditions and an american run hospital something a top u.s. general tried to sweep under the carpet.

and online twenty four hours a day seven days a week here with our two well the rebel free syrian army has claimed responsibility for a large explosion in central damascus the blast took place just meters from where the u.n. monitoring mission is located and right in front of the hotel where our crew is currently staying on a boy to witness the attack and we managed to catch up with her. i disappeared relatively calm over the past few days but as we can see this call was very deceptive and very sharply. the explosion took place around eight in the morning just on meters from the hotel where un observers us thing right in the center of damascus close to al malky area it was a very loud bang that was followed by a series of smaller explosions that sounded like a chain detonation of ammunition the blast itself took place at

a closed army garage adjacent to the hotel it appears that device was planted on the fuel tanker parked there it is still unclear whether it was an inside job or how the perpetrators managed to get access to this heavily guarded facility three people are believed to have been injured in the blast none of them works for the u.n. meanwhile syria's deputy foreign minister who rushed to the scene suggested that the choice of venue for the attack indicates that it was targeting the u.n. observers the mere choice of this army in a place for a mix approach from the indicates the intentions of those who are behind this is terrorism attributes. the international community must work hand in hand against terrorism. of perth's here near the united nations observers everywhere they had a view of the mission and syria didn't talk to reporters today though he did appear

in front of the cameras his mission's mandate expires in four days and it is still unclear whether it's going to be extended the last time he spoke to the media he was very scarce in the individuals i was meant of the situation on the ground we just feel that violence is increasing in many parts of syria. in discriminates use of every weapons by the government and we did attacks by the opposition in centers. inflicting. behave each all on innocent civilians he also said that despite all the dangers involved un observers will continue with the efforts of documenting violence in syria till the last minute and now it seems they don't even need to leave their hotel rooms to do that . r.t. reporting from damascus in syria. to discuss the story further let's cross live to

james corbett he is the editor of news website the corporate report james thanks for joining us today now the syrian rebels have claimed responsibility for the attack why would they admit that given that they usually pen the blame on damascus for any sort of violence. it is a particularly head scratching admission to make isn't it especially because this particular target doesn't really seem to go with the the narrative that's been painted at least in the international media for the duration of this crisis where it's supposedly the the syrian rebels are supposed to be fighting for freedom or something along those lines not attacking the u.n. observer mission outright although i think there's a lot of people who suspected that that was going on all along but for them to come out and admit that is kind of bizarre and seems to go against their own interests in this fight so it's really difficult to know what to make of this strategically other than i guess and just another excuse another chance in their opportunity to create havoc and hopefully in their eyes i guess the stabilize the situation even

more do you believe this terror attack will see the rebels losing their backing from their foreign supporters such as the u.s. and the gulf states. i would consider that highly unlikely given the fact that we've seen previous terror bombings taking place in damascus and not only has the governments of the western countries that have been backing them refused to remove that backing they've actually strenuously supported those terrorist bombings here too so that for example last month when we saw that major bombing in damascus we saw some particularly head scratching rhetoric from people like u.s. ambassador to the u.n. susan rice who is saying that the terrorist bombing in damascus was a reason why this u.n. security council should even more strenuously seek to to condemn a solid and his government so it's it's it doesn't seem to follow any rules of logic here and i don't think that this is going to find that the kind of kind of widespread condemnation that we would expect for a terrorist blast like this you know it's only four days before the observer

mission's mandate is set to expire and the attack took place near the hotel there located at that how do you think this will affect the mission. well again it's difficult to see how this is a strategic blast in any sense it's difficult to interpret this really as anything other than a parting shot at the u.n. observer mission which everyone i think is expecting to really wind down in four days i don't think anyone is seriously expecting the observer mission to be renewed the mandate to be renewed or for the team to to really stay in syria so i don't know how to interpret this other than is some sort of parting shot on on the u.n. and again it doesn't make much strategic sense for the syrian rebels but it goes to show the type of people like us who are behind this you know rebel friendly washington has set or arms backing of the syrian regime is more dangerous than they are filtration of al-qaeda fighters within the opposition what's your take on that . well in years of covering political rhetoric i'm no stranger to who talk or see

but that has to take the cake is one of the most hypocritical statements in modern political history it's so head scratching and so bizarre that one can't help but laugh at the hypocrisy obviously people now i don't know what i mean it's now openly admitted that obama signed orders for the cia to openly cooperate with the so-called free syrian army several months ago we know now about that the free syrian army is training at a u.s. air base in turkey we know that the u.s. state department has been openly funding the syrian opposition since two thousand and six so for them to come in and say that iran should stop funding the the syrian government in helping support that is just such a bizarre such a hypocritical statement that no one i think will take it seriously but it will i'm sure generate many headlines and give a lot of op ed writers space to write editorials about why iran is interfering in syria now very briefly because we're running out of time turkey is pushing for the

creation of a no fly zone in northern syria to provide more security for refugees fleeing the war do you think this will help prevent many civilian casualties. quite the contrary it can only lead to civilian casualties as we saw in the libyan example they used the cover of a no fly zone which immediately turned into an outright bombing campaign and that will be very much more difficult to to to prepare prohibit perpetuate in syria because of the their aircraft weaponry they have but there is no doubt that a no fly zone will only be an increase in the violence in order decrease alright thanks for joining us today james quote about the editor of news website the corporate report. now reporters without borders have sent an open letter to the syrian rebels raising the alarm over an increasing number of attacks against journalists on the ground the group which advocates freedom of information says government correspondents are prime targets while foreign journalists are also receiving death threats from the opposition that's being taken as further proof

nothing as black and white in syria artie's tests are syria has been to find out. january eleventh two thousand and twelve the first western journalist was killed in holmes frenchmen. well the initial reaction from france and many french journalists were that of anger and condemnation over here a fence elevation to speak there jackie's colleague who was with him in syria when he was killed. christophe can't showed us where shields desk used to be now there's only a black and white picture of. hope and he was a great friend he was always smiling it was hard be always wanted to go places always curious he loved his job he was also someone who was very friendly who would go filming we were happy to go together because we would be able to live new adventures like the one we lived in syria he really had this need in his body to tell what's happening on the other side of the world his camera with my camera we

were always together i lost a friend christophe says his initial thoughts were that the syrian government was behind the attack however just a week after death a journalist from this newspaper published an article stating the possibility that he might have been killed by fire from the opposition clearly information that went against the dominant narrative in the media but he defined that he wasn't alone in coming to that conclusion i made by mistake by random french intelligence guy. i don't understand why your report didn't pick up. the mule was it at all because it was. our conclusion intelligence services and friends good reads the conclusion that he was killed by a mortar of eighty one millimeters coming shooting from the rubble area by mistake i published a story it was denied of course by minister of the fans ministry of him

a foreign affairs of the because it's not really politically correct medical correctness that's playing into what has increasingly become an information war as much as it is a civil war where the villain is usually the heavy handed regime and the rebels are shown as advocates of freedom and democracy but the reality is not so clear cut alex thomson chief correspondent for britain's channel four news wrote how he believed he was led into a death trap by the syrian rebels are quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the syrian army and in a lie phone interview he told r.t. my point is. that you don't know very clever to work out of any. know we are going to be an appalling lie again. so the motivation for the example of somebody that is. very old there's a nasty war where truth is a small victim as those who've lost their lives what. for me it's most

important to know who did work when this becomes clear that we can go on with our lives but now we are still mourning we don't believe every day there's one every day playing chess or so yards paris says tough guy you can find all the stories you may have missed on our website r.t. dot com here's a taste of what's there for you now the continuing of victims of the fukushima disaster a gruesome discovery reveals butterflies living near to pass a tsunami crippled nuclear plant may have genetic mutations sparking fears the return of the ancient. might still in fact human rights. our support for internet freedom activists are as apple's co-founder steve. gives his thoughts on wiki leaks upload and controversial web regulating builds you can watch his exclusive interview on our team dot com. joining us on just fate isn't quite sealed

just yet with ecuador's president personally debugging media rumors the whistleblower had been granted asylum in the south american country instead president rafael correa asked says he hopes to make the decision later on this week assad meanwhile remains at the ecuador's embassy in london he sought refuge there against his extradition to sweden which many of his supporters fear would be only a storage stall before he'd be handed to the united states to face politically fuel charges more now on the tsongas pliant with artie's laura smith who's been in touch with ecuador president's press office. we put in a call to the presidential administration in ecuador who said that he denied that there has been a decision any country made on whether to grant. asylum in ecuador now that of course is not to say that he won't be granted asylum just a denial of any decision having already been made and what was being recorded

earlier with an unnamed official. which will saying that a decision had been made in that the decision was to grant refuge to. television address by president rafael correa saying that he would be making a decision about this plea this week that on wednesday he would be taking advice from various people and that following that he would be making his decision so we are expecting a final decision to be announced on thursday or friday later on this week so we do know that and we also know that it could do was see this as a humanitarian act the president or a minister in ecuador have said that they see this as an act that would protect his right to life and freedom an official working on the case in ecuador says britain sweden have been less than enthusiastic to negotiate with the latin american stay regarding join us on just a bit and kevin zeese anti-war activist and member of the bradley manning support

network says even if the whistleblower gets the green light from ecuador they'll be plenty more challenges ahead. he needs to get safe passage out of great britain you know england has to agree that they have negotiate their good or it sounds like you're woodward and trying to negotiate a great deal prior to making this decision so maybe that's already been done but if not that will be the next challenge save that you know it doesn't solve all the problems charges are still outstanding and once he's in the air you have to have the u.s. military are they going to surround the plane and bring him down sweeping william down united states or some land and outsider who are so this is not a done deal it's a big step it's a good sign that a country will stand up to june songe and say that we recognize that you are being mistreated and i that is which are news dandan and pushes for to try to find a political. plus there is one thing a sob story doesn't lack it's plot twists every secret that the whistleblower has

shed light on he found himself attracting and growing crowd of enemies all more and more desperate to bring him down from banks to governments and even public figures openly calling for him to be kilt christan friends out now with more on just how far it is all escalated. so you get we first met julie in a song here in washington in two thousand and ten where he unveiled the collateral murder video at the national press corps. it showed it to u.s. army pilots treating the war like a video game killing countless civilians in the process including two journalists a songe appeared in our studios later that night to talk more about wiki leaks and what he hopes to achieve with his website the first step in the fourth state is to get information out about the real world and the second step is to comment on it and to think about it but sources can get. out to the

public in the weeks following a song and wiki leaks were everywhere with leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks wiki leaks but it wasn't long before publications that originally partnered with wiki leaks like the guardian der spiegel in the new york times turned against a saw much as did many others who said he should be killed to get her for the american people the way to deal with and they were in the end the nashik your united states will deal with this is pretty simple we got special ops forces i mean the dead man can't leaks that this guy is a traitor a treasonous and he has broken every law of the united states he was then accused of sexual assault by two women in sweden a sign says the sex was consensual and denies any wrongdoing the founder of wiki leaks arrested by british police this morning after turning himself in he's now facing rape charges in sweden to a british judge has granted wiki leaks founder julian assange bail julia saunders appealing against an order to extradite him to sweden he spent much of the last two

years on house arrest in london julian assange also had a show on requests. that can change the world tomorrow where he interviewed hezbollah leader saeed has on those rollo as well as ecuadorian president. dorrian people think about the united states and its involvement in latin america and in ecuador and it would be president rafael correa that would give joy a songe the green light to make ecuador his new home as has been living in the ecuadorian embassy in london since june nineteenth since the president said he would make his announcement after the olympic games president correa said if he does grant us on political asylum it would be an informed decision and one made in the name of human rights in washington christine for south r.t. and we'll be covering a sundress quest for asylum sorrily over the next few days here on our team also if

you missed any of the world famous whistleblowers all shows for our team you can watch all twelve episodes online at a solid start r.t. dot com. there hasn't been anything yet on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political impact of. the source material is what helps keep journalism on the we. we want to present. something real. and almost fifty people have been killed and many more injured in a series of attacks across a piano stand the worst death toll came and the southwest of the country a string of suicide bombings hate the area as locals were shopping and preparing for the muslim holiday that ends the month of ramadan

a separate bomb blast also struck a market at. at the northern province a surge in violence comes as u.s. troops gradually hand responsibility to afghan security forces and provide training for them but as archie's gonna git you can reports the legacy of the american invasion leads much to be just hired. senior u.s. military officers blow the whistle on horrific conditions at the national military hospital wing tabel they revealed photographs from twenty ten some graphic images showing severely neglected starving patients at the hospital which the u.s. military sponsors and helps oversee witnesses describe the conditions there as quote unquote auschwitz like lacking basic necessities like soap the hospital treats afghan military personnel but the mentors are mostly americans one of the whistleblowers colonel mark fassel served as inspector general for the nato training mission in afghanistan he says the mission's top commander general william

caldwell tried to stall the requested investigation into reported abuse and mismanagement at the hospital his first response to me was how could we do this remake this request. with election coming and then he made it really. shocking come and he calls me bill what does that mean well i took it. for him to the present stage. moreover general caldwell command apparently ordered to destroy any photos and videos from the hospital here's the memo that they issued in september last year it says quote unofficial personal photos or video or audio recordings of patients or health care events which already exist will be destroyed or deleted end of quote so apparently they wanted these shots destroyed or delete it while putting forward positive images like this one positive clips like this one but here at the national military

hospital in kabul doctors nurses and technicians are working with u.s. military advisors last year the commission on the wartime contracting estimated that the u.s. lost up to sixty billion dollars to waste and fraud in iraq and afghanistan they call the estimate conservative but in the case of this military hospital in afghanistan it's not just about money pocketed by some incompetent contractors or corrupt local officials but also about apparent attempts to hush down human suffering and possibly cover up abuse to present a training mission in afghanistan as a success story i'm going to shut down. all right let's have a look at some other international news in brief korean has been rocked by fresh anti-government protests which saw at least eleven people. several demonstrators were reportedly wounded asked police use dropping bullets tear gas to disperse the crowds the violence comes out to record postponed its verdict on twenty opposition

figures are facing jail sentences for allegedly plotting to overthrow the ruling family has been rocked by the all going anti-government protests for more than a year. thousands have gathered for a demonstration against the ruling islamised party in the central tunisian town of cd blues eat the heart of the two thousand and eleven uprising they demanded the release of nearly forty five people arrested when police dispersed in previous protests last thursday with more rubber bullets and tear gas on monday this week thousands also took to the streets of the capital to vent anger at a proposed amendment to the country's constitution that might reduce women's rights under the islamist government. it's now time for business with kerry and it seems a rupee is the theme today absolutely karen and it's not a fashion statement by any means at all it's just

a response right now to all the optimism that we've had in recent weeks the build up in anticipation of central banks intervening to boost the markets but right now that hope is beginning to wane and you can see that really with the european markets they are indeed posting losses and the same thing happens in asia earlier on today that session two ended up in negative territory and europe is heading in the same direction now we did have one rally and that was from standard chartered over six percent right now in london and that's also the bank admitted to breaking u.s. sanctions against iran and the british learned to has agreed this three hundred forty million dollars settlement with new york watchdog that accused it of hiding operations with the damage and the rest and to take its u.s. banking now the bank said that the amounts of an illegal transactions total only fourteen million dollars instead of the clay was two hundred forty but it would stay with financials and talk about vaults bank it's become another european lender

to stop investors speculating on the price of food commodities the loss of the corn and soybean prices surged all time highs on a u.s. drone of the vision is a stand against critics who blame speculators for the expensive food. all right we're going to see the exchange rates and you'll be able to see if you sell who got the year in out declining and that is a response to that anticipation kind of now looks like it's going down like. one twenty three eighty seven for the traders favorite pair as for the ruble though it's not going to have much movement for today with the low volumes but also it's still managing to decline against the basket of currencies if we get. you'll be able to see the still entrenched in the red just as you can see around two percent age for the l.t.s. on them i says really taking their sentiment from the international gloom that's

going on across the globe like c markets as for the movers and shakers darman producer is no exception the company's foreign sells rocketed seventy three percent that was in the top of the year but as you can see it is down by eight tenths of a percent as well but down it's had a bit of a trade up right now four tenth's down and t m k that is down to around a sense. of the more details on the company because it is preparing a lawsuit against the european commission. goes to the e.u. general court to counsel tariffs on russian pipes exporters in europe cases the recent extension of fees is unfounded goes against rules effects of all the russian produces in the region. fuel prices not really helping out russia so as you can see they've been declining for much of the session we've had news stockpiles in the u.s. rose for the first time in three weeks that's according to industry reports who can

see that the price is just now responding to a general motors is facing a three billion dollar lawsuit interfering into a possible. the u.s. car giant is accused of deliberately bankrupting the swedish automaker a set of handing it to russian and chinese investors all to use marina portnoy explains. defunct car maker solve automotive may be running on empty but the saga surrounding its bankruptcy is only excel orating now the swedish company filed for chapter eleven back in december after takeover talks with chinese and russian investors failed u.s. auto giant general motors which owned part of saab was reportedly against chinese carmakers assessing saabs technology licenses now if there are war if there was a successful deal made that would have purportedly provided saab with the nothing

capital to stay alive while also saving some three thousand jobs in sweden according to experts g.m. would have also profit now spyker cars which currently owns saab is accusing g.m. of intentionally driving saab out of this in this railing takeover talks with chinese investors spiker leverage those charges in a three billion dollar lawsuit recently filed against g.m. meanwhile some experts are questioning if g.m. was simply using saab as a pawn in a hidden economic conflict or divide between the east and west and if that is true could that be a developing trend in practices within the global economy that question and many others may likely be raised when spiker cars and g.m. face off in court. next so have to wear

a red suit yes you will thanks a lot of candy and coming up in a few minutes crosstalk tackles the issue of drones on the one hand. and on the other immoral inhuman and illegal that's after the headlines.