a two year sentence for infamous russian punk band pussy riot unleashes a storm of criticism at home as well as abroad but as russia points out it's a lesson they would have received in europe. at least eight people are injured in an attack on a mosque in the russian republic of dagestan this comes as muslims around the world prepare to celebrate the end of ramadan. the no fly zone over syria would violate the country's. charter that is moscow's reaction to the u.s. considering a no fly zone over syria without u.n. approval.

from our studios in moscow this is our team glad to have you with us let's get right to our top stories. jailing of three members of russian punk band pussy riot who performed a protest stunt in russia's main cathedral has polarized opinion in russia and abroad. ah. ah. ah. ah i see. the two year jail sentence handed down to the trail for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred drew crowds of people outside the court both in support and against the band more than fifty were arrested from both sides of the fence for violating public order a number of extreme stunts have also been staged abroad in support of pussy riot like this one in ukraine where a feminist movement cut down a memorial cross devoted to the victims of stalinist repressions foreign governments also had their say with the us calling on the authorities to review the

case party's miniport reports from new york you. there's been both political and public reaction over the pussy riot verdict now around the globe there has been several protests on friday in support of the three russian band members that were convicted of hooliganism paris brussels london and tell of eve are among the cities where demonstrators gathered to denounce the trial and the two year sentencing those that are in support of these three women and members of the pussy riot say that the decision that was made by moscow's court was emblematic of russia's intolerance of dissent on a more political front the u.s. embassy in russia has called the verdict unfair. there was also reaction coming from amnesty international which said that the decision was a bitter blow to freedom of expression in russia also political figures in europe

have begun to weigh in on this developing story we heard from the high representative of the european union catherine ashton who has said she's deeply disappointed by this verdict calling it disproportionate a similar sentiment has also been echoed by germany's foreign minister so clearly this story taking place in russia has ignited a wave of reaction around the globe. the pussy riot trial has spawned a wave of hysteria on the part of the western media claiming the sentence to be a violation of freedom of speech but as a drug a professor of political science at innsbruck university points out this outcries based on stereotypes and money. the pussy riot women did was according to my view of inappropriate behavior it was wild i mean or if you want to protest your leadership if you want to protest even a party out you can do is i'll say the church should know that in

a place with just sort of year to election version of this it believes what to me because you're right it's an extremely good selling story here you have three young women it's considered pretty they have small children and they are now fighting the beast and mr putin who has a very very bad reputation i'm on the west public so that's a story you can sell pretty well for many of the media it's it's simple to sell them right secondly for many europeans and even more still for people in the u.s. still they're all stereotypes of russian being the enemy i mean only in society but their interests aren't so by by addressing the the the problem between religious and political leadership and these women you're always referred to this tradition. in response to the criticism from abroad over the pussy riot case russia's foreign ministry has highlighted the fact that legislation in some major

european countries like austria and germany could see similar stunts inside a church land even bigger jail terms. now the merc prayer the pussy rioters performed in the christ the savior cathedral wasn't the first time the group has tried to court controversy as part of the our group avoid one of the convicted women participated in an orgy in moscow biology museum just four days before she gave birth and another starts the activists tried to provoke reactions from police officers by kissing them on the metro martin mccauley a russian specialist at the university of london believes that they are simply motivated by public and not politics. they did something very very daring it all but produced the day they wanted to make themselves famous if you like and therefore therefore decided to go into the main because it will. change their goal of being becoming really world famous by doing what they did.

and when they are released they will in fact travel the world to become famous they have achieved their goal they're really world famous and we've understandably been getting a mountain of feedback from around the globe while we've been covering the pussy riot case here on r.t. public opinion to the story has been diverse to say the least here are some examples of the views we've received at r.t. dot com this ridiculous case makes me think of the middle ages what would the punishment have been had this happened in saudi arabia i'm sure it would have been a call for death for once i actually agree with russia take this joke of a band a lot longer they do is immoral and unacceptable god bless christianity disgusting and here i was thinking russia was getting more progressive this has put a big dent in my respect for russian british m p that went to russia to support the

right why didn't she use her time to free young black youths in her prison for some silly crime if she's so concerned about justice system in russia. so not only russia that's been seeing protests against high profile cases in the u.s. at least six people were arrested as a hundred strong group of war veterans and activists occupy barack obama's campaign office in oakland over the bramley manning case. manning isn't currently being detained for allegedly leaking classified information to wiki leaks pretrial hearings are currently under way if found guilty the private could face severe punishment although prosecutors say they would not seek the death penalty party's ramon linda reports from california. we saw several arrests happen there in oakland there were actually several arrests in portland as well as a group of supporters conducted several protests up and down the west coast now

in oakland where dozens of people showed up supporters a man there were trying to deliver a couple of demands to president obama first of all they want president obama to apologize to bradley manning remember last year president obama during a fundraiser said that. many had committed a crime now in the eyes of many of his supporters this really creates an environment where bradley manning won't be able to get a fair trial given the fact that the commander in chief has already pretty much rendered him guilty in this trial saying that he has committed no crime and second of all the supporters of bradley manning also want president obama to step in and to him to guarantee that many another u.s. soldiers are not punished before they go to trial now there's been a lot of world rights worldwide criticism over the treatment of bradley manning while incarceration by the u.s. government in fact the u.n. torture chief called his degrading definitely still

a lot of anger over the way that manning is being treated so far and these protests are a new sign that bradley manning supporters are really stepping up their pressure on the obama administration but definitely this coincides with the granted to julian assange now a lot of. supporters of bradley manning believe that the work of weekly leaks and even. no there is no proof so far that bradley manning was in fact the person who leaked these documents to wiki leaks they know that the principle of free speech and the fact that all these secrets were exposed about the iraq war about the afghanistan war i mean they definitely think that there is a coordinated attack about against both wiki leaks and again in the prosecution of bradley manning that this is an assault on free speech and really an assault on peace. u.k. is now seeking an amicable solution to the diplomatic deadlock with ecuador over

julian assange it has now agreed to hold talks with the country's diplomats both in london and in quito experts think the move is an attempt to quell public anger and outrage in latin america is after reports london had threatened to storm the ecuadorian embassy to detain assad this weekend diplomats from the union of south american nations plan to hold two special meetings to discuss the recent standoff between ecuador and the u.k. additionally the representatives of the organization of american states may meet on friday next week to discuss of the saga fair though the u.s. and canada are against such a meeting a wiki leaks spokesman says if britain doesn't grant safe passage to us they will bring the case to the international court of justice which let's hope that the the british government will come to its senses. in safe. country it's the only right thing to do but if they're on to is system this hard line position which is to be assured given the circumstances. of the legal team of julian that we can use.

but also to go slow as indicated that he will take the measure before the international court of justice. and force the government to give it as it's clearly to say that this is the u.k. authorities want to sort of really have called for a. strong reaction especially a lot from very in countries it is beyond my understanding why the william hague will take such an extreme step especially when the negotiations were ongoing or is in the period between two countries and this should could offset it with the nations all over the world and i'm very sure that they. feel. very secure in voluntarily areas. that their own government is ready to violate the convention of the twenty two with these threats it. will believe it will carry.

and you are welcome to share your opinion on what's next for julian assange have your say in our poll dedicated to the issue at r.t. dot com. russia says that the imposition of a no fly zone over syria would be illegal and would run contrary to previous u.n. agreements foreign minister sergey lavrov was reacting to recent comments coming from u.s. senior officials hinting at the possibility of such a measure or do you go to peace can offer ports foreign minister says that why zone over syria would be a violation of international law which moscow would never support especially with the experience from the no fly zone over libya when a un resolution aimed at protecting civilians was instead used to overthrow the libyan regime and sort of says the u.n. doesn't do revolutions yes we've heard the statements from the u.s. military commanders but this is not the first time when there's been talk about establishing security zones or no fly zones if the zones involve the territory of

the syrian state this will be in violation of the country's sovereignty and the u.n. charter. earlier washington said that it's looking at steps that creating a no fly zone over ports of syria and its it could bypass the u.n. security council if needed and the russian foreign minister says that there is a very troubling signal especially knowing that the syrian rebels who are calling for miss for this help from the west also say that they're ready to join forces with al qaeda also to the west for trying to bury the agreements reached in geneva when world powers were able to reach mutual understanding on syria saying that equal pressure has to be applied on all sides of the conflict and that they have to put their weapons down simultaneously and said you know i would have said that that community has signed in geneva gives a way for a peaceful end to this conflict but judging by the steps strongly being made by many western states it's not really peace they're interested in but simply regime

change in syria the russian foreign minister also rejected the speculation that this opposition by moscow to the west when it comes to syria is creating political isolation however a major media war against russia is currently underway which is aimed at harming its image and distorting its position on syria so you are also commented on how he's now often called mr know because of this opposition to the west on syria and he says as long as it means up holding the international law then while he's browed to be mr no. coming up later in the program with ramadan drawing to a close palestinian worshippers face a major challenge while trying to cross the border into jerusalem undergoing invasive security checks. but if they did find maher said i don't think they'll want to come to earth if they're getting our television they won't be want to be coming though they'll be seen hard lived heard as you said you know. while nasa has a rover prepares to zap its first mark unlocking the president with his people in

new york on how they feel about the curiosity mission. more than a. thousand dead and almost two thousand injured those are afghan civilian casualty figures for this year so far according to the latest u.n. report homemade bombs that cost less than a smartphone continue to claim lives in the war torn country despite billions of dollars being pumped into state of the art military equipment by washington parties going to count comments. the ads for military hardware in the u.s. look like hollywood blockbuster trailers whether it's for a tactical armed drone which can fit into a backpack. or for a special robot like clothing for soldiers they sense what the user wants to do where the user wants to go and then explode would like to call these men tom an assistant but many ask why with all the high tech gear the u.s. can't win against a man of simple means from some remote afghan villages a u.s.

marine general estimated that eighty percent of his troops casualties in afghanistan were caused by homemade bombs components of which often cost no more than a few dollars. jake dilla better served in afghanistan at the beginning of the war the camera and the armored humvees are cost millions of dollars and they're destroyed by something that costs the price of a pizza and we don't have any effective weapons to combat that animosity that rage against american presidents there's no such thing it's sort of like if the chinese moved into you know wyoming or you somehow that why oh why oh why it's going to be happy now not at all there's no way that they just simply want them to leave the u.s. investment military gear more than the world's ten other biggest military spenders combined the pentagon resists cuts in their gigantic budget arguing that they need to fight terrorists in other places we continue to face very sleek serious security

challenges in the world of today we are still at war in afghanistan we still confront terrorism even though there's been significant damage to the leadership of al qaida the reality is we confront terrorism in somalia yemen in north africa. the u.s. is extensively using drones to go after who they identify as terrorists. but will there ever be enough weapons to kill terrorists in this look at anwar locket before he was assassinated by a drone did we stop al qaeda on the arabian peninsula we stop this march on yemen no we did not we actually in many ways made it worse by the fact that others besides a walkie were targeted and killed in that same campaign civilians we invest in the military hardware destruction which obviously is to perpetuate the cycle of killing kill five ten come back you've got to have more hardware to kill that ten.

retired lieutenant colonel anthony shaffer says the pentagon's obsession with military resources hasn't changed since the time when their enemy was the soviet union it was all about the numbers it was all very accountable regarding hardware hardware purchases how much how many missiles can you have how many can you defeat it was all very binary this or that this or that it was always a match force on force and the current today's war it's not like that there's no force on force equation there's no way of measuring the number of tanks that will take care of the taliban because the taliban doesn't use tanks they don't need them and so this is where our current paradigm the us paradigm on war is completely outdated all those fancy weapons certainly project power but in real warfare in afghanistan for example all that advanced gadgetry still hasn't delivered victory

some argue is because while spending tremendous amounts of money on military gear the u.s. has failed to fully understand their enemy and what motivates them to fight i'm going to check on in washington our team. police in russia's republic of dagestan say bomb disposal experts have dismantled a powerful explosive device at one of the region's shia mosques the bomb the equivalent of forty to fifty kilograms of t.n.t. was planted by two armed men who earlier opened fire on worshippers eight people were injured in the attack to remain in critical condition artie's dennis bosky has latest. were hit by bullets the youngest of them just seventeen years old two people are still in critical condition we know that it was a shiite mosque in front of you one of the biggest guns larger cities with a population of over one hundred thousand dozens of ethnic and religious groups of this caucasus republic but in this case we don't know for sure what automotive start shooting nevertheless local police sent reinforcements to other moves during

the prim and old who are still at large strike at a different location the criminal investigation has been launched and police is the biggest gun currently on high alert the incident and august on comes on the final day of the muslim month of ramadan as worshipers around the world prepare to celebrate and he'd more for muslims in palestine that often means spending hours at security checkpoints with many pilgrims denied permission to cross the border into jerusalem or to his policy or report. people here want to pray but soldiers stand in a way it's a painful game of control and every day it is played out at checkpoints throughout the palestinian west bank at this time of year during the holy month of ramadan it's at its most brutal why did they threaten us like dogs been here since half past five in the morning announced twelve thirty seven hours i'm here and they won't let me cross with a nod of the head or the wave of an arm and israeli soldier says if you can pray

and who cannot it is a distressing scene for those who wait palestinian worshippers desperate to get to jerusalem have been standing pushing and shoving here for hours many have already been through several checkpoints does of course then in order to retain order or those very important. control over the palestinians is important because that's how you can. take control over their lives the alex a mosque is the third holiest place in islam on fridays the holy day hundreds of thousands of worshippers from across the west bank in east jerusalem make their way here human rights groups say the checkpoints have eased up this year but in the past his radio soldiers would ride on horseback into the crowds and use tear gas on fasting worshippers the hardest element we have found that people who are considered dangerous during the rest of the year are suddenly allowed to cross

during ramadan because they're about forty years old it means they still been a terrorist for a short while it's absolute and it shows there is no security problem but israel says its checkpoints are here for just that the army says it wants to avoid trouble by making sure men between the ages of twelve and fourteen don't pass unless they have special permission that sometimes takes weeks to organize the influx of hundreds of thousands of palestinians into jerusalem sends an unmistakable message to the israelis and that is. that is no easy matter. the grand mufti of jerusalem accuses israel of having and i'll tell you a motive when it comes to the aqsa compound at the. radical jewish groups say they want to demolish and take control of what they claim it is a part of israel and if not the mosque itself and then the yards they want to show our mouth's proving once again there is no democracy in israel. for those who make it through the israeli barriers it's

a small victory the other store just told me pass this suspect that i'm going without gets me from behind and it started to talk bad things about why what you do do that you must quit and that's that the shout let me go because i have that mission and so i just said no we have to take you i said that subject me you don't have the. you're going to have to kick me again those who don't make it through simply bow their heads in where and silent defiance they know another degrading struggle lies ahead next week. paulus the r.t. jerusalem. taking a brief look at some other stories making headlines around the world for you this hour. suspected al qaeda militants in yemen have killed at least nine hundred soldiers in an attack targeting an intelligence office in the south of the country officials also say nine officers and three civilians were wounded the gunman used

rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons when they forced their way into the buildings court yard remains highly active in southern yemen where separatists are seeking independence from the north. at least five militants have been killed in a u.s. drone attack in pakistan a small town near the afghan border was targeted as muslims held a festival marking the end of ramadan the number of attacks in pakistan by american unmanned aircraft has drastically increased this year as certain regions are considered to harbor members of al qaeda and the taliban the strikes are criticized throughout the country for violating pakistan's sovereignty. the new phase of studying mars begins as nasa curiosity rover gets ready to zap the first rock sample with a laser to examine its chemical composition the car sized vehicle has ten different tools to study the red planet and one of them was developed here in russia. went on to the streets of the big apple to find out whether new yorkers are excited by

curiosity is mission. human technology. so what this week let's talk about that i hope we are going to fly there and i think it helped that we're not alone in the universe do you think that we will see. if we learn then. i hope so i hope so maybe you will become a bit more. i hope so i know it's funny to say that because i'm french and we're not at all but i think we need to understand that we're not alone yes i don't think as many people are into it that should be i posted something on my face we're going to haven't had one comment or one like at all and that was a couple days ago so that's kind of a little bit of a little bit of a disappointment why is that you would think reaching another planet. i feel like

maybe the olympics shadowed it you know and kind of eclipse the moment but i tend to think there's more pressing issues here on earth and i'd rather see the money invested in. environment and. global food issues and that kind of thing but could we possibly find other solutions if we look outward. possibly i think it's great too i feel like we've lost that spirit of exploration largely well so it's underfunded a lot of people have it but we don't we don't commit enough to education either at school in our government or in our living room or in our solar system. that maybe they'll find some oh worm holes or something of carbon you know carbon based or some of that but no martians no martians what if they did find martian there i don't think they'll want to come to earth if they're getting our television they

won't be want to be coming though they'll be seeing our lives are dashing said i know whether or not you think it's a big deal that humans have technology on mars the bottom line is it kind of is the big deal or at least it's a massive accomplishment no matter what we learn from it. that brings you up to date up next it's the headlines and then on to explores a doug a study village and its affinity for tight rope walking. loop.

holes starting here. for going to. and now it's pulling viral. log in and. take a look around. choose your place and take your stuff and. meet the movement to. make your statement. from some of the words. q my little story on loans. fly isolation and prejudice. to find ageing.

take a risk. do it with passion. learn to fly. jump to the top. of the ignore the pain of the. stage or show. you are only going to. mornings today violence is once again flared up permanently and these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada on the giant corporations are old a clue.