syrian rebels say they all responsible for a large blast of that went off close to a hotel where the u.n. observer mission is staying and we bring you a report from our own correspondent who was there to witness the blast. door debugs rumors that it's already granted asylum to julian a song but the decision and the whistleblowers two months quest for refuge now expected later this week. and no end in sight explosions rocked afghanistan right after the deadliest day this year saw almost fifty people killed while another scandal flares up over a u.s. presence in the country.

and welcome to our team karen terrell to broadcasting as you love in the heart of moscow where it is four o'clock here now the main syrian rebel groups say they're behind a powerful blast that ripped through central damascus the explosion struck just outside of a hotel being used by the u.n. observers mission and an r t crew our correspondent talks on a boy to witness the attack and was among the first to report from the scene. not disappeared relatively calm over the past few days because you can see the sky was very deceptive in very short wave explosion took place around eight in the morning just ten 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 the 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 move choice of this army in a place for a mix of crozier and indicates the intentions of those who are behind this is terrorism attributes to all the international community must work hand in hand against terrorism wants of hopes here many of 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 skeptical and his assessment of the situation on the ground which is clear that violence is increasing in many parts of syria. discriminates every weapons by the government and targeted attacks by the opposition in centers are inflicting. on innocent civilians he also said that despite all the dangers involved the u.n. observers will continue with 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 at some of our reporting from damascus in syria earlier i spoke to independent journalist james corbat who's written extensively on the syrian conflict he

believes rebels are on likely to draw condemnation from some foreign countries for the latest attack in damascus 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 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 rebel friendly washington has said iran is 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 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 i mean it's now openly admitted that obama signed orders

for the cia to open we cooperate with the so-called free syrian army several months ago we know now that the free syrian army is training at a u.s. air base in turkey and we know that the u.s. state department has been openly funding this syrian opposition since two thousand and six so for them to come in and say that iran should stop funding me out of 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. international press freedom group reporters without borders have war in the syrian opposition over the growing number of attacks against journalists and an open letter of the organization said government reporters have increasingly become targets of duction and moreover while foreign media have also received death threats from rebels parties to us are psyllium met journalists who have lost colleagues in the crisis gripped by the country. january eleventh two thousand and twelve the first western journalist was killed in homs

frenchmen. out. of the initial reaction from france and many french journalists were that of anger and condemnation over here a fence elevation to speak to jackie's colleague who was with him in syria when he was killed. christophe can't showed as we're used to be now there's only a black and white picture of him. and he was a great friend he was always smiling it was hard he 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 do together because we would be able to live you adventurous make believe to syria he really had this need in his body to tell what's happening on the other side of the world with 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 the week after his death

a journalist from this newspaper published an article saying 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 new is it because it was our conclusion intelligence services and friends got reach a conclusion that he was killed by a mortar of eighty one millimeters coming shooting from the rubble area by mistake i published this story it was denied of course by the minister of defiance ministry of foreign affairs of a because it's not really politically correct little correctness that's playing into what has increasingly become an information war as as much. 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. you don't. leverage the work of the good of a major. are going to be an appalling row again. so the motivation for the grabbing the mind that is. very obvious and nasty war we're truth is a small church a 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 every day every day we just are still here r.t.

paris. and just to remind you artie's crew is and syria and they are posting constant updates about the situation there whether you can log on to check out analysis and discussion about developments and the conflict torn country several images from the scene of the attack are also available online. there with our to the fate of the world's most famous whistleblower julian assange still remains unclear despite some sources and that would or saying his asylum as a done deal the president of the south american country personally denied the rumors saying he's still awaiting a report from. the foreign ministry to make that decision julian assange has been

holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london for almost two months now he took refuge there seeking to avoid his extradition to sweden where he's wanted for questioning in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct his supporters believe that from stockholm he might be handed over to the u.s. where they claim he's already been secretly and died it archies laura smith is in london and has more on the songes plight we put in a call to the presidential administration in ecuador who said that he denied that there has been a decision any major whether to grant. asylum in ecuador now that of course is not to say that he will be granted asylum just a denial of any decision having already been made and what was being recorded earlier with an unnamed official. 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 is that 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 is see this as a humanitarian act the president's foreign minister in ecuador have said that they see this as an act that would protect his right to life and freedom expectations that a verdict on the songes asylum is close are accompanied by concerns that even a positive decision won't change much for the wiki leaks editor kevin zeese an anti-war activist and member of the bradley manning support network says the biggest ops or call for a song will be escaping the u.k. . he needs to get safe passage out of great britain you know england has to agree that there are negotiate there or they're good or it sounds like there were

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 which you know it doesn't solve the problems it charges are still outstanding and once he's in the air you have to at the u.s. military are they going to surround the plane and bring him down so even when down united states force in the land and outside the door so this is not a done deal it's a big step and it's a good sign that a country will stand up with you and saajan say that we recognize that you're being mistreated that this which our needs and and and pushes for to try to find a political. a long running saga surrounding julian assad has certainly never lacked plot twists parties christine frizzle looks back at how the whistleblower why from being hailed a hero to being condemned elected criminal. we first met julian assange on here in washington in two thousand and ten where he unveiled the collateral murder video at the national press club. it showed it to u.s.

army pilots treating 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. in the forthright is to get information out about the real world and the second step is to comment on it and to think about the. sources who can get the stupid information out to the public in the weeks following a sauna 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 it and they were in the end the nashik your united states the way to 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 julian assange is 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 our team requests. that can change the world tomorrow where he interviewed hezbollah leaders saeed has on those rollo as well as ecuadorian president. people think about the united states and its involvement. in ecuador and it would be president rafael correa that would give

julian a songe the green light to make ecuador his new home has been living in the ecuadorian embassy in london since june nineteenth and 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 his our party. will be following a quest for asylum and updating you on all the latest developments over the next few days right here on our also if you missed any of the world famous whistleblowers interview series for our team it can watch them all online at a solemn. call. there hasn't been a thing yet on t.v. . it is to get the maximum political impact. before source material is what helps keep journalism honest.

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the markets why not gonna. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on our. welcome to our to return our attention now to afghanistan where there have been fresh fresh violence in the country where nine people have been injured and two

grenades were thrown into a mosque it comes after the deadliest day this year with almost fifty people killed in a series of bombings across the country more than one hundred were injured in three separate attacks the surge in violence comes as u.s. troops gradually hand response ability to afghan security forces that's as another scandal concerning the american mission in the country ravel zz is going to judge karen has more on that. senior u.s. military officers blow the whistle on horrific conditions at the national military hospital in town will 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 described 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 not could we do this remake. would work. really. shark income and. he calls me. what does that mean i took it. for a jew presumably stage moreover a general calls 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 on a social 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 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 kind of. taking a look at other news from around the world this hour at least eleven people have been arrested and bahrain during government protests several demonstrators were

injured as police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the valley the latest protest after a court delayed its verdict on twenty opposition figures allegedly plotted to overthrow the ruling family forty one years ago today bought brain gain in the parliament after leaders signed a treaty. gyptian president mohamed morsi has appointed a new defense minister and chief of staff the move comes just days after he forced the nation's top two commanders into retirement the newly elected islamised president has already appointed a new military leaders to the vacant positions morsi has been in a power struggle with the military since he took office in june the previous four education presidents have come from the military and directly allowing it to rule the country for the last six decades. australia's

hardest court has blocked the extradition of a former hungary and soldier charles zentai is accused of torturing and killing a jewish teen and nine hundred forty four during world war two the court sided with a previous federal decision to stop the extradition saying war crime charges didn't exist at the time of the killing says he's innocent and has been fighting extradition only a decade. used. it's time now for the business out there dimitri and you tell me earlier that today is one of those favorite business news days for you what exactly did you mean by that well it's one of those days when one story can actually explain any behavior of the markets yesterday for example we had u.s. retail sales coming in better than expected therefore everyone said the markets are rallying today the markets are full and that's because u.s. retail sales came better than expected and that means there won't be any additional stimulus from central banks let's take a look at what's actually happening on the markets right now now indeed they are

going down in europe we've got the foot sea going down a half a percent so is the dax and now two interesting stocks in london here that we're watching is british american tobacco is down one point eight percent and standard chartered is adding four and a half percent let's go through these stories one by one first of all global tobacco giants of failed to u.-turn an australian anti tobacco law now this means from the center the first all cigarettes must be sold in plain green packets without any branding british american tobacco phillip morris claimed the new rule breaks their intellectual property rights britain norway and new zealand are also watching this case considering similar measures potentially to help fight smoking in their countries. as for standard shots at the british land has agreed of three hundred forty million dollars settlement with new york watchdog that accused of hiding operations from the islamic republic of iran and frightened to take its u.s.

banking license however the bank said the amount of illegal transactions totaled only fourteen million dollars instead of the claimed two hundred forty billion dollars they were financials all serious faux bank has become another european lender to stop speculating trading in through commodities now that's after corn and soybean prices surged all time highs on the u.s. drought the decision is a stand against chris. six who blames speculators for expensive. move over two currencies now and the euro is now declining versus the green bag now in the past couple of sessions we have seen a strengthening against the u.s. currency but actually the past two weeks have been pretty stable in the in this pair but the russian ruble oh well in line with this global trend is losing value to the dollar and gaining some against the common currency and let's move over to the russian markets now and indeed there was time for

a correction and it's it's come the r.t.s. is down two percent in my six almost by the same amount and that's of to several sessions of pretty strong gains a second look at some of the stories on the russian market diamond producer as you can see is pretty much in line with the market actually doing a bit better the companies foreign sales rocketed seventy three percent in the first half of the year not impressive according to investors flawed is down because one of its owners has basically suggested selling his stake to the government at a discount and garages top make a case also down one percent. and now let's move over to commodities light sweet is down thirty six cents so it's a brant pretty much by the same amount and we're all waiting of course for a u.s. inventories report that's due out in a couple of minutes and then potentially we might see some kind of different movement depending on the supplies in the u.s.

growing or decreasing now general motors is facing a three billion dollar lawsuit over interfering into a possible sale of sab now the u.s. car giant is accused of deliberately bankrupting the swedish also make instead of selling it to a russian or chinese investors artie's money in a partner i reports. defunct car maker saab automotive made. running on empty but the saga surrounding its bankruptcy is only accelerating 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 they're war if there was a successful deal made that would have purportedly provided software with the nuff

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 business by railing takeover talks with chinese investors spiker leverage those charges in a 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 spyker cars and g.m. face off in court. all right karen above all it's also

a big news day especially that story about the being sold in identical products and that's interesting to watch and we have many more thanks for that update dmitri next up we do discuss the legality of israeli settlements in the west bank with the author of an official report on the controversial issue that's right after the headlines.

well the. science technology innovation called the is developments from around russia we've got the future covered. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images kobold has been seeing from the streets of canada.