julian to make his first public statement since being granted asylum in ecuador the diplomatic standoff between britain and the latin american nation continues. a pro-democracy activist in bahrain gets a three year jail sentence for criticizing the regime online but the protests are far from dying out with the verdict. it's a two year sentence for members of the punk band pussy riot performing in. russia. provoking a strong reaction not just in russia but from all around the world. and the un observer mission in syria expires later on this sunday going clashes between rebels and government forces are the latest blow to international efforts to bring peace

to the conflict ridden state. live from moscow this is our. highlighting the top headlines of the week and expected to make his first public statement since ecuador announced it would grant him political asylum reports claim wiki leaks founder will agree to extradition to sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes as long as a guarantee is given that he will not be extradited to a third country in london suggested it could strip ecuador's embassy of diplomatic privileges to move in and arrest he's been sheltering in the embassy for the past two months now the latin american nation has warned britain of grave consequences if that were to happen. that's been monitoring this start. it was the day

they'd all been waiting for julian assaults holed up in london's ecuadorian embassy for two months and his supporters who turned out to cheer for him rain or shine since his legal battle against extradition to sweden first began more than eighteen months ago also there in large numbers the police who didn't wait long to make death first arrests on obviously was when the decision came it was the one they wanted. we decided to grant asylum to julian assange. was the. last always called it a significant victory and his mouth was full so it didn't shining right it will automatically encourage the government. but not everyone was pleased the u.k. foreign and commonwealth office called the decision disappointing and foreign secretary william hague provides it changed nothing it does not change the fundamentals of

the case we will not allow mr assange safe safe passage out of the united kingdom nor is there any legal basis for us to do so hague also denied any suggestion that british police would storm the embassy so for in territory under international law to arrest but that's not what ecuador inferred from a letter it says was delivered through the british embassy in quito in response that could or played hardball. when it was no national law could be used in this way in any intrusive way in any diplomatic facilities any place in the world it shouldn't be used to threaten or blackmail the sovereignty of any other country and they called a summit to try to deal with this threat so that this fact doesn't go unpunished because. the scary part the part that i found completely incredible and outrageous is the british threats to. actually go in and try and extract your

a massage i must say to see british police running the embassy was it an act of intimidation that should not be allowed is not allowed under so i could talk in the middle. who has a new home but no way of getting their truck parts and putting it in a big trunk and label him in his diplomatic bag i'm not quite sure whether that would work but otherwise we might see him holed up there for a mixed couple of years who knows and solution to this impasse but if he leaves the embassy he's liable to rest by the u.k. which insists it must still extradite him to sweden a position ecuador wouldn't accept but our respond to the united kingdom it went back mean possibly breaking relations on a regional level if it happened the crown saying of asylum by julian ourselves has been spelt the end of this tale already full of twists and turns in fact it appears to be the beginning of something else with neither the u.k. no ecuador currently willing to back down it's developing into an ugly diplomatic

spats which could affect relations for some time norris may see outside the ecuadorian embassy. our whole and extradition to sweden is in limbo for other countries who want to question that they all have to now get in line a number of american officials have repeatedly called for the handover of the wiki leaks founder to the u.s. to face potential charges for leaking classified diplomatic documents. from new york. while julia saunders mother is calling this a victory for her son many see this as a small defeat for the u.s. and that is because many believe the u.s. was hoping that julian assange would be extradited to sweden so that sweden would subsequently be able to extradite julian assange to the united states we have heard in recent years it's no secret former and current u.s.

government officials equally even julian a songe two are terrorists and that was in the aftermath of him releasing cables and memos that were classified that belonged to the u.s. government as a result the integrity of the u.s. government was compromised a lot of secrets were revealed and it painted the u.s. foreign policy in a dark light it's no secret that the administration of u.s. president barack obama has been earning a reputation for waging a war on whistleblowers fiercer reputation than any of his predecessors many journalists scholars and activists in the u.s. have signed a letter of support for julian a songe one is including naomi wolf she's a journalist and author first of all this is a white house now to wait houses obama's and bush's which is systematically overclassifying everything especially wrong doing it specially anything related to what whistleblowers want to release specially you know torture that even gauged in

methods of torture like mafia tactics it's come to this the government same to journalists everywhere in america. we're going to do you and we're going to threaten you and we're we're threatening you with with serious legal penalties like prison time if you do your job when i was speaking with naomi wolf what she wanted to clarify for me and her position is that she sees julian assange to many do as the publisher similar to the new york times chilliness songes the publisher the one that made the information available he is not the leaker she noted why isn't the u.s. government going after the new york times for publishing what wiki leaks published instead the u.s. government it is presumed is all to me hoping to go after julian songe either way she said that this is this would be a dark day for all journalists in the u.s. if he would be in the custody of america prosecuted held indefinitely or possibly even face capital punishment what is more important reporting there from the big i

mean time author and journalist tariq ali he was actually featured in one of julius saunders final interview programs here on our see how he believes that whistleblowers worldwide are under attack. i think we have now in different parts of the world including the western world. on descent the culture in which we live in the worst world today the official culture is deeply hostile to whistleblowers to those who are in the public interest and democracy everywhere is being hollowed out just think if a similar situation was going on in big. all moscow or some other capital. in moscow or beaching had taken refuge in the british embassy. the russian government or the chinese government or some other government not regarded

in the pockets of the west had said we can actually read your embassy and get this guy out you can just imagine the response there would have been in the media and this week a crucial decision was also made on the future of a guest on julian assange just talk show here on r.t. we're talking about her leading a bahraini human rights activist nabila at a job on thursday of course sentenced him to three years in prison for inciting antigovernment protests through his speeches and online tweets at the hearings took place amid an upsurge of protests across bahrain calling for democratic reform it's been reported they were brutally suppressed by police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets but with more on the verdict for the man behind much of the dissent and the reaction to it it's artie's time but. there has been a rather different decision in the case of the enemy of the state now below rajab in bahrain he coincidentally met julian asuncion for an interview shown on this

channel on r.t. in may he has however been given a three year prison sentence by a court in bahrain for being involved in and for calling for illegal anti government protests. when the sentence was given though he was already in prison serving a three month term for posting anti government comments on twitter there has been many comments of support from his family and friends but there have also been criticisms delivered via social networks criticisms of u.s. policy in relation to bahrain and overall in the arab spring those criticisms include allegations that if it weren't for if the u.s. had supported a little more he wouldn't have been locked up as he was he wouldn't have been treated like this hypocrisy is a word used quite regularly in saying that the walls of the u.s. have supported protesters in other countries like egypt and libya in the arab

spring they have remained silent over bahrain the u.s. is fifth fleet is based in bahrain. this also raises questions over bahrain's sunni government's commitment to human rights and reform for eighteen months now protesters have been trying to get a larger say in the politics of the country most of those protesters come from the country's seventy percent shia majority so far though despite warm words that they want dialogue the government has given up nothing. and the colonial element of zuker a leader in the bahraini opposition believe that any attempt to stand in the government's way will simply result in a jail sentence. what is happening in background as a salute monarchy that the whole of it is all controlled by a family that has no presentation and representation for the people and their

government and they're just not there at the end the judicial oath and the insecurity he. says that people want to have to leave for this political system at two hundred presentation closer to the government now and the security people they don't want even people to demonstrate peacefully they found on their activity among which. are those being held in custody because they were taking. this as an almost a full on these facing allegations and he said this and criticizing. it will end up in jail trying to find out any accusation against him or have ten in jail. you're watching r.t. live from moscow thank you for joining us today still ahead for you in this program a return to their roots. feel about the turkey doesn't mean you're alone it's your

at least your equipment but if you use you see there are many turks living in the e.u. are packing their bags and heading home in search of better opportunities and that full story coming your way in just a couple of minutes also. joined us from moscow's main mosque where people celebrate the most sacred days in the muslim holy calendar theater. now the decision of a russian court to jail the three members of punk band pussy riot for two years has split society and prefer a massive international reaction by the group's anti putin stand in the country's main orthodox cathedral was ruled to be hooliganism motivated by religious hatred dozens of people have been detained during protests both for and against the group a number of gatherings are backing the band were staged in russia as well as spain france britain many other countries as well foreign governments also chimed in to have their say with the u.s.

calling on russia north northeast to review the case the saudis put all of our reports. regarding please let you know if there's. any deducing if i would listen then you. jump to their trial here headlines around the world a global audience who's watching as mary. snow. and you can tell in a somewhat sea of each found out their fate to their performance the punk rock prayer in russia's main to phaedra outside the court a large group gathered with both new supporting the women and those opposed to them turning up to voice their opinion. i was. like you know. it was amongst the crowd were prominent members of the anti-government protest movement who had aligned the pussy riot calls for their own

as the throngs massed tempers flared and police announcements to keep calm were ignored as over fifty people from both sides were detained the public order offenses calm damned by some celebrated by others their performance in this cathedral lasted for a little more than a minute and a half but it's perhaps made pussy riot the most recognizable russian music act in the world. is near where did they come from under their ears guises the three women who were jailed on friday have been no stranger to controversy in the past pussy riot grew out of a performance art group which had staged an orgy in a museum filmed a woman performing a sex act on a chicken in a supermarket and kissed on duty female police officers because the jewel performance took things to another level church groups burned images of the women under madonna who had spoken out on the side of pussy riot i think they belong to some sectors which conducts a tannic rituals they use elsewhere

a church in russia was daubed with the slogan down with religious fanatics and in ukraine a topless member of the group then in could down a cross with a chain saw and offer from playboy for a photo shoot and pussy riot merchandised a law has led some to even question was this all an elaborate quest the fame they achieved their goal of being becoming really world famous by doing what they did and when they are released they were in fact travel the world to become famous there were achieved a goal after the two year sentence for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred was handed down the online response heated with many shocked by the length of the jail term my personal opinion is to be honest usually for the thing they call call a guinness and you get fifteen days for i've heard. i really wish they would have gotten fifteen days the more standard punishment but the court didn't agree with my position with lawyers for the jailed women to appeal the verdict don't expect the

debates between supporters of pussy riot in those opposed to fade away any time soon. now of course here at r.t. we've been following the trial of the punk band on our website r.t. dot com let's have a quick look now and see what else is lined up for you there at the moment for example of the u.s. army spending three million dollars on the development of a nasal spray that eliminates suicidal thoughts details on that for you want to line. the chinese beauty queen is crowned miss world you can read all about the pomp and pageantry and. the beautiful photographs that are too dark. now the u.n. observer mission mandate for syria expires later on sunday government forces try to push the rebels out of their key strongholds a fierce clashes are continuing in the country's commercial hub aleppo. turning increasingly to air power to push back and. syria's leader has been shown today

though on state television praying at a mosque it was his first public appearance since a bomb blasts killed top officials last. the new united nations mediator lakhdar brahimi he was confirmed by the u.n. this friday and is expected to add a new impetus to peace efforts also russia says the u.s. will violate international norms if it goes ahead with imposing a no fly zone over syria of course a move that help the libyan rebels overthrow their government to use on a boy who says the ongoing violence has provided al qaeda with yet another base from which they can to stage attacks. blasts and gunfire daily occurrences here in damascus but once the explosion right next to. something ordinary it took place at a heavily guarded army go. and you can probably see a fuel tanker under which the explosive device was planted still standing over there in terms of the damage that was relatively minor

a few shattered windows in this hotel and in the building next to us but this explosion definitely attracted a lot of media attention because of the proximity to the u.s. borders now the free syrian army already claimed responsibility for this blast even though they said that they never intended to target to you in observers and they were aiming for the syrian army personnel in any case the explosion the really underscores how easily available and how widely used explosives have become these days in syria in the beginning of the syrian uprising the rebels primarily on small arms but over months they have become and precisely more sophisticated in bomb making and many experts attribute that to an influx of foreign fighters in particular iraqi insurgents who bring down a lot of bomb making expertise the iraqi government even went on record to say that

they have soul of information that al qaida was crossing from iraq into syria to carry out those attacks on the top of the reuters news agency published a story a few days ago in. an effort to say it was saying that thanks to you and the expertise of iraqi insurgents they've been able to increase the destination. to seven kilometers also the use of mobile phones to sad those bombs off something that is very common in iraq and doubtless extremely rare in syria is now becoming more and more widely used what many in the west fail to recognize is that terrorism is not necessarily a derogative term it's a descriptive term to denote a guerrilla warfare it's. acting that justifies the use of terror the use of violence for achieving political goals and that the same groups that must tara tactics and bomb making skills on iraqi civilians on the u.s.

soldiers in iraq and now applying the same expertise here in syria r.t. reporting from damascus in syria. that r.t. is coming to life from moscow muslims all over the world are celebrating idol figure out the last day of the annual holy month of ramadan the ninth month of the lunar calendar ramadan is seen as a time of soul cleansing and spiritual improvement the muslim population in russia of course no exception it's a big day for them as well parties agree with explains how this holiday is being celebrated right here and. millions of muslims around russia have been waking up very early indeed before sunrise putting all some of the best clothes as is tradition on this holy day also the flocking to nearby mosques and the graces mosque in moscow is the one just behind me which is currently being referred to seem tens of thousands of people normal less aligning the surrounding streets to

listen servants it also be giving praise to god this is coming on the end on the back of the holy month of ramadan no faster and this question will this day shelf fear now actually translates as the breaking of the fast so we can expect many beads to be taking place in moscow and around russia with friends and family now those have been somewhat by what transpired late saturday evening in the russian republic of dagestan there two months stormed a local mosque they shot and injured eight people in total also there was a bomb misses found containing forty kilograms of t.n.t. of explosives it took some time but have managed to fuse that bomb threats. meanwhile in dagestan's neighboring republic of korea a bomb blasts killed at least seven police officers investigators have confirmed the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber the explosives detonated as

a group of policemen arrived at the funeral of a colleague who had been shot dead in an assault on saturday and over a dozen locals were injured in the blast and are now being treated in hospital officials say the remains of the bomber are identifiable and the list of possible suspects is now being drawn up. why straight to a plane crash in the sudan to kick off the r.t. world update it happened in a mountainous region killing about thirty feet holding looting at least one top sudanese official the passengers were on route from the capital khartoum to an islamic festival marking the end of ramadan investigators believe the crash was caused by an explosion on board the plane. two car bomb attacks have struck the capital of libya leaving at least five dead and many more injured in the first blast happened near the country's interior ministry of a second one struck the former military academy for women meanwhile the country's ruling general national congress has announced that saif al islam gadhafi the son

of the country's toppled leader of more market daffy if you want trial next month he'll be charged with the killings of protesters during last year's uprising. a group of japanese nationalists has landed on one of the disputed islands in the east china sea to commemorate. who died in the area in world war two this amid a long lasting dispute with china which claimed the islands as part of its territory at the move triggered mass rallies in major chinese cities protesters demanding that the japanese leave the uninhabited islands and rocks lie on a vital ceiling and are surrounded by gas reserves. now turkey has been waiting for membership for over two decades but amid the euro crisis is now beginning to doubt whether or not it still wants to join and comes as some turks who have been long term residents are heading back home in search of better jobs and opportunities at the story.

what about five and a half million turks living in the european union their presence is certainly felt in societies in europe but as the e.u. continues to be deep in the red the lure of their original country's economic promise is getting harder to resist and the residents living on this street known as little anatolia say that more and more of their compatriots are thinking of cutting their losses and heading back home like the owner of this snack bar belgian born outside has been finalizing his plans and is set on relocating his family back to turkey. europe is finished the crisis is getting worse every year it's going to continue first greece then spain italy right now belgium there is a lot of stress a lot of taxes. while in turkey improves every year turkey is very powerful life is good if you can live well why would you want in belgium it's no longer like this

and the numbers say it all the e.u. managed a one point six percent growth in two thousand and eleven while turkey was at about seven point five percent gaining recognition as last year's fastest growing economy in europe while it is expecting a slowdown this year the grass still looks greener on their side and dependence and europe is not quite as it used to be the trade volume used to be very high with the e.u. countries percentage wise that used to be around fifty percent now it has gone down to just over forty percent that means we're diversifying our trade more and more trade with african countries asian countries all around the world and this of course has spurred a lot of growth so we need people to be able to manage this we need qualified people personnel so we see that a lot of people are now coming you know second third generation immigrants are coming back home for this purpose but there's another reason why a growing number of turks want out of the e.u.

. now with the crisis what's the result we reject. foreigners obviously know that there are fewer jobs less money what happens is play origin is first given to the belgians and after the foreigners the turks the moroccans the russians my decision to go back to turkey is economic but also because when there's a crisis there is discrimination if you know of this community and yet as this migration trend rises turkey is still officially knocking on the emus door it's candidacy for membership hanging in the balance for the last twenty five years thanks to a long list of requirements to fulfill and political opposition from some e.u. countries people are afraid that that you will come up with more and more excuses even if we do overcome them people say that the other excuses are not that it matters any longer for some turks. turkey doesn't need your look it's europe needs turkey in a few years you would see that i mean against turkey becoming part of the e.u. and right now turkey doesn't seem to be in much of

a hurry either does or sylvia r.t. brussels. and i just a moment here on our hope you can stay with us we'll be daring you to walk that tightrope high up in the mountains of the north caucuses a special documentary just moments away that will be after a recap of the week's top stories with me.

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