machine gun and rifle warning shots are fired in pay routers a supposedly peaceful protest against the syrian leader turned sour with the opposition an al-qaeda flags seen in the crowds. a deadly blast rocks damascus as the u.n. peace envoy meets the syrian president to try and broker a truce in the conflict torn country. and other stories that shape the week dozens are killed as the former stronghold of mama get their feces another assault by pro-government militias a year after the western backed libyan revolt. whose family is trapped in the besieged city.

with a look back at the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly on r.t. mass protests in the lebanese capital have descended into riots with the army foreign tear gas to control hundreds of angry demonstrators who tried to storm the government headquarters in beirut after the funerals of those killed in friday's car bombing. was in the region following the developments. it started off as a potentially a peaceful and rather more informal our during the funeral of the feeble is official who was killed on friday in the bar glass that went off then and it got some people then several hundreds of those people branched out and went on to storm the office of the prime minister they were the ones who had flags up the free syrian army or rather off the syrian opposition and also all kind of once they got there they started throwing rocks and of course they were met with

a very heavy police presence when trend started firing tear gas and also fired several rounds of shot live shots into the air because believe that there are people who are heard but not by the gunshots just as skirmishes that followed the protest which are going on for essentially a third day now it began after. that in the christian quarter of the it was on friday afternoon killing eight people among them police intelligence chief. who is known for his act and serious doubts and a lot of his supporters are saying that in fact it's syria that was behind terror acts in the room on friday they were the ones who began the protests which started on friday evening which continues to saturday that called for a day of rage on sunday we do know that the situation has subsided but there was heavy gunfire when it in the town of tripoli as well as on the outskirts of

earlier today of course for. the situation in lebanon and will bring the boys in just. a growing number of lebanese accuse the regime and they bring syria for friday's deadly blast political analyst on the show says a thorough investigation is needed before any blame is laid. be assassination took place immediately afterwards there were some political considerations accusing syria of being responsible and also for voices accusing hezbollah. in response to for this this assassination the criminal investigation has. barely started you know and this has been a trend eleven and it's the same. prime minister how it was two thousand and five and others were assassinated afterwards there was also all this kind of a rush to. the outcome for political purposes and accusations that are based on political interests and not based on the findings of independent

judicial board that there's a lot of tension on the streets today of course the cries of the having a huge impact on these going on let's see where this is all going to coming days will be decisive. in syria itself a similar car explosion has hit damascus killing at least thirteen people and wounding dozens of others a taxi rigged with explosives blew up outside a police station in a busy district no one has admitted the blast which is the latest in a series of deadly bombings in syria's biggest cities in the past few months previously rebels and al-qaeda linked groups said they were behind such attacks the latest blast came as the international peace envoy met the syrian president to try and broker a temporary ceasefire in the conflict in chief of the syria tribune media channel and blog believes are today's blasters aimed at any peace efforts in syria. they are trying to destroy what the liberating me is trying to do obviously there are countries that are not happy about. any success that they've got he may have it all

depends on the will of the countries backing rebels the rebel groups are all controlled from the outside if somebody gives your money weapons and means of communication this means they can control you and these countries can have that i will cease fire in forty eight hours or even less if they are if they have the will see the rebels have absolutely no prospect of achieving what they want all what can happen at the moment is a longing to struggle to weaken syria more and more and this is what we are syrians hope will not happen there's been a new spirit of violence in the deadly siege of the town of bani walid in libya a traditional stronghold of x. libyan leader muammar gaddafi the libyan army and the lawless militias have been shelling the town accusing those inside of kidnappings when r.t. has spoken to one man whose family is currently in bani walid he asked us to shield his identity while he explained what's happening there you might find some of the video we're about to show you up setting. i have of course from my family in they

told me that the situation there right there is really horrible there. are horrible . everywhere in the city the civilians building fallen down even the house with. a lot of medicine right now the house the hospital keep in people outside for hours with all three we there is no food. but only because of the militias that it's around the clothes and the roles that the food and the fuel. from the three sides they used the house that. they. actually found even the gas mask is the reports of the hospitals really clearly that the civilians. and hundreds of gathered in the libyan capital to protest against the bani walid bombings they've reportedly broken into the area around the country's parliament venting their fury over the attacks that have left dozens dead and hundreds injured

in the past few days. meanwhile u.s. intelligence says last month's attack on the american consulate in libya was most likely not premeditated or linked to al qaeda or some washington politicians previously suggested source in the city of benghazi left four americans dead online with more about america's troubles piling up in a country whose revolution is strongly backed a year ago. a separate zeal in each state could get another boost in spain which is holding regional elections pro independence parties are widely expected to win in the basque region a challenge for the beleaguered government which also faces separatism calls in catalonia for more let's talk to gonzales he's founder of s.p.d. dot com which provides analysis on possible crisis scenarios joining me live there from germany now for decades basque separatist group that used violence to get autonomy how strong is the desire to go it alone among the majority of the people

in that region. what promoter anderson and i did. exceedingly didn't go independent. or. the civil war but the fact that they are getting with this especially now is just a sense of how do people who. were present you had about. a really sore to interrupt but connection really isn't good enough for the moment let's try and get by jenna later more try and sort out any apologies thanks for the moment gonzalez and say we're trying to watch a bit later. the one hundred thousand people turned out in london to protest against the austerity being widely imposed scuffles are up to the media after the marches hundreds of protesters broke away and tried to storm the shops so today's rally in the british capital was organized by trade unions and attracted people

from across the country prime minister david cameron recently warned of more tough decisions for the struggling economy first was among the crowds. many that. is against the cuts they say have flatlined the economy now there are people from all of life there are no this is worried about the n.h.s. there are police officers all feats worried about the front line services in amongst the people he seems many many families all across the age range feel that they've been affected in some way by the continued cuts my parents rely on the n.h.s. you can see cancer getting worse my son to stephen he's paying nine grand a year in fees i work in the country sector and legal aid is being pumped so we work with three hundred people and they won't be able to get the same help from the next year they just protect their rights they protect the interests of the rich in a bit of fear in the people who are it now because it's not just in the spina thanks to the start because if your employer thanks to you. i think numbers are we

see the stars yeah get taking great the specially in the last month in spain in greece all across the usa the people at sydney think that they've had enough here in london i think that thousand that they've come out here to march against the authorities. the rally in britain echoed feelings elsewhere in europe with angry crowds gathering in spain and greece tens of thousands of greeks to centered on athens as a nationwide strike got underway clashing with police in madrid parents teachers and students marched to condemn imminent government cuts to education and kept three days of industrial action but the hands on the purse strings are moving further away from national capitals with leaders agreeing to give even more powers to brussels the deal that would create centralized banking supervision for research . no summit will help solve the crisis until it tackles the root cause which. is one thing we've learned over the past couple of years is that when you're in the u.s. there's something about this grace is they usually mean the exact opposite. end of

the phrase inside probably means that increases that went into depression greece by next to one of the contract to the economy contract roughly twenty percent down employment stands at twenty five percent regions and speak which are demanding secession you have actually new fascist forces on the rise in greece. a move that we haven't seen since the one nine hundred thirty s. so i think really what's happening is that the press these actions being out of the flow things are getting a lot worse and the stomach completely has to address any of the structural problems which include most important in the deadly embrace between. which is completely insolvent and a series of states which are completely over. america's main presidential hopefuls get one last chance to get on the t.v. to win over voters on monday and the race couldn't be tighter but it's leaving all the parties and independent candidates out of the picture. and. so still to

come this hour big big a biggest russia's rosneft is in line to be the world's largest listed old producer as britain's b.p. plans to get rid of its troubled part in the joint russian venture it's all after the break here on r.t. . a texas mom was arrested and thrown in jail orange jumpsuit and all for neglecting her kids who are playing in front of her house for just a little while a concerned neighbor and sort of say walking across the street you know to talk to an attendant children to find out what's going on went to the total sheep mode and immediately called nine one one because children playing it is truly an emergency worth the police's time but i guess it was worth their time because they showed up

and slap the cuffs on the mother who claimed that she was there the whole time and of course to punish you for ignoring your children briefly while they play you'll get thrown behind bars because that makes sense where does this culture of fear come from if you leave your kids alone on your own property why does that mean that they are certainly going to die there are dangers out there believe me but living in constant fear abuses your children far worse that's just my opinion. download the official application so choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites from. now t.v. is not required to watch on t.v. all you need is your mobile device watch r.t. any time any.

if.

the news continues here on r.t. and we return to our story concerning developments in europe and separate his eleven e.u. states could be getting another boost in spain which is holding regional elections pro independence parties are widely expected to win in the basque region a challenge for the beleaguered government which also faces separatism calls in

catalonia that has some return to gonzalo lira. he's founder of s.p.d. dot com providing analysis on possible crisis scenarios we have a sound crisis and earlier but we sort of that out now for decades the basque separatist group that they use violence to get autonomy i also learned just how strong now is that desire among the majority of people in that region now to go independent. no i don't think it's a majority desire i think it's a it's a minority but they are extremely vocal minorities now those who minorities are especially a getting a lot of ground because of the economic and fiscal problems that are going on in spain specifically the huge unemployment issue in spain fifty percent youth unemployment and twenty five percent adult unemployment and the problem of these. crisis that spain faces which is not going to have a happy ending and which is going to require drastic cuts. and just said generalized economic reboot of the country and that's why you're seeing so much

protests and so much political gains from the independents can you explain a minority of voices there in the busk region but we've got to think about what's going on in catalonia to whether being calls for separatism do you think that there is a danger and spain could actually afford a pause bearing in mind the prime minister is really fighting a tide in his push for more centralization during these very difficult economic times well that certainly going through the extremely difficult times and certainly understandable what kind of money is thinking because after all they are represent seventeen percent of the population it contribute roughly twenty percent of the gross domestic product that's going on and you know they are increasingly frustrated because they feel that they are contributing more there than their fair share to the spanish economy and that they should not have to suffer cuts at the same time this very neatly sidesteps the issue that got onya is actually in a deficit spending mode is in a deficit spending of roughly nine percent of its g.d.p. which is roughly eighteen billion euros a year so they're not without play that there are just

a you know people's discontent is being reflected in this move to separatism but i don't think it's really. the true problem but they're happy i think it's just a reflection of the economic problem do you think it is a problem though that needs to be addressed trouts various parts of europe not just talking about spain here but of course i know scotland's not necessarily due to the economic crisis. but definitely cool to separate is a med you think that we could see more of this move toward separatism throughout europe yes absolutely and it is not natural because with economic problems and economic discontent you have the urge to split away from the majority because you feel that the majority as a minority you feel that the majority is not cognizant of your problems is not helping you to overcome and it's a certain kind of blinders that the minorities will have that they feel that they are not being taken care of when in fact everybody suffer an equal and this is the case in spain everybody is suffering under the sea and the boss stuff alone yes but each independent region each of each other thomas region deals

a day in particular are being made to suffer and its impact the entire country to suffer everybody is suffering there for spending increasing pressure now to offer a bailout from brussels how likely is it at this stage that will happen at the end is the bell the onset to ease the suffering well you know the problem is that is the german reaction to what is inevitably happening because the e.c.b. has it essentially said that they're going to go on that money printing spree and they are going to save the continent and that euro zone cost what it meant and the germans of course don't want to see that because of for reasons of their own natural national culture as well as political pressure in germany they cannot afford to have the e.c.b. simply go out and buy every flaw in sight as e.c.b. wants to and in fact will actually have to do so we're coming to a point where our breaking point of some sort of i that the germans have to give in for the sake of the eurozone overall in the e.u. with the continuation of the e.u.

or there's going to be some sort of break i would be i personally believe that and i've been advising my clients that greece will exit and likely spain will accept the eurozone because that there is no real other way for these two countries to solve the problems that they have i do not believe that italy will exit the euro zone but certainly greece and spain and portugal of course will be actually in the euro zone be. there is really no other solution to your go back to their currency value and basically devalue their way out of their debt burden because simply the debt burden has become too big and they are broke and there is no there's too much well starting predictions from some significant economies they're bailing out of the eurozone itself i'd like to ask you what the implications are of that we'll do that the next time if and when it happens gonzalez thank you very much for joining us it's a pleasure as always thank you for having me thank you. the cia wants to expand its fleet of drones and tried to tap the white house to green light the move earlier

this week it would let the pentagon potentially increase its lethal operations abroad including regular strikes in pakistan the cia's request came shortly after new troubling statistics emerged on attacks in the fishley target militants pakistan's interior minister said that of more than two thousand people killed by american drones eighty percent were civilians. from pakistan's first political lobbying group says washington is only creating more minutes with its tactics this is a major blow. to diplomacy and position in pakistan in this is the first time that a senior official actually come out to say this make this kind of a statement there's no evidence that the drones have actually help control the militants on the contrary pakistan has been very very successful lives in the military in flushing out terrorist from the northern region of so wide that in two thousand and nine and clearing and cleaning up that entire area and if now we see a resurgence of some of the activity of the terrorists it is because of these safe

havens on the what i would call the american side of the border which is the afghan side of the border ninety six incursions from the of gun territory into pakistan resulting in killing of bikes and soldiers and bikes and civilians. there's all to play for a monday's funnelling crucial debate between the main u.s. presidential candidates its polls put barack obama and mitt romney neck and neck and while they trade some bites and jokes on nationwide. t.v. again the other contenders are being shoved to the margins green party presidential nominee jill stein and her running mate were arrested this week after trying to make their way to the venue for last tuesday's debate stein blames the system for locking out nearly a third of the country's population at the upcoming election green party campaign manager ben meant to keep at least the two party domination is down to outdated laws and corporate control. the reality is that there's nothing in our constitution which prevents a multi-party system from emerging here in the u.s. but we do have laws on the books all across the country and we also have the

actions of private corporations that have grown up over the last sixty years to prevent independent parties from challenging the two establishment parties here in the united states the laws that we have in the books prevent or make it very difficult for independent parties to get on the ballot to kill voters that choice those laws date from the cold war they date from the mccarthy era in which there was a fear of communism and socialism and they tried to make it very difficult for a progressive party some particular to emerge here at the green party we have overcome many of those challenges jill stein is on eighty five percent of the ballots yet they're still preventing her from taking part in the debate if you look at the success of the green party despite all the obstacles we face it says that there is a great demand for the greens people vote for the greens here in the u.s. well to help keep the voters' choice open the other candidates get to cut through the mainstream media blackout in their own televised debate brought to you by america we're also keeping a close eye on the upcoming election on our website. will there be war.

or business on the offensive. us election. to the twenty second. it emerges from that a new company could take the title of being the world's biggest listed oil producer and it could be a russian giant rosneft after britain's b.p. moved toward selling its fifty percent stake of its joint venture in russia. in return b.p. gets fifteen percent of rosneft and around seventeen billion dollars in cash the state owned oil major actually wants to get its hands on all of t.k. b.p. and is apparently holding talks with its other shareholders if signed the overall deal is set to become the second biggest oil agreement ever. a new top dog in global oil is bound to have some ramifications across the industry and r.t. dot coms business section outlines what they could be. what coming up in just a few minutes for your insight into europe's tough choices ahead and why

a short sharp shock could be needed stay with us for that. richest often enough and knows that to ride a horse you've got to catch it first. for him it's a daily routine that you're soft as a horse breeder on the island of a horn at the heart of bike all his life on an isolated farm is about blue sky green grass and his horses were there sometimes it gets lonely here but horses have become part of me now i've fallen off so many times sometimes that bites as well it's part of my every day life. i

holmes been home to a rats local just laugh for centuries most still live off the land of cattle and fish every evening local villagers place their nets and in the morning the catch is always good. we always have enough here. if by call is often called the pearl of siberia and when i said to be the pearl of by call it's all end of fake forests. and vast steps. it's also a place of traditions respected by locals and travelers alike. an economist turned adventurer has crisscrossed by call shores and learned its customs well. you see pillars like this and thought to have supernatural powers every

traveler who comes here asks a. spirits to make their journey easier give them strength and fulfill their dearest wishes i knew virtually undiscovered by tourists until some twenty years ago i was cornish quickly becoming a magnet for nature lovers and curial seekers but those used to five star pampering maybe in for a surprise the island's infrastructure has yet to catch up with the growing demand here quite some way from civilization here accommodation on the island is very basic so you can forget about a t.v. or even running water for most people a tent is there on the eruption but for those who come here it's exactly what they're looking for. you believe you and your need to buy coal can be unique trip of

a lifetime and the locals say once you've seen it you'll be coming back again again and . i'm joined today by dr max also a professor of political administration and author of the books investing rather than saving and the delightfully optimistically titled the crisis is coming dr arthur thanks very much for speaking to me now jeremy currently finds itself in a relatively decent position economically can it keep that up germany is not at all in the driving seat germany's economy is functioning but germany is driven rather

than driving by the process of going on unfortunately i think the current system will last for a while because the european political elite really has sworn to defend it whatever the costs and the cost sign norma's so really the current system is hurting europe we have to make some changes but i do think that the current rather detrimental state of affairs is going to continue for quite a while we say germany isn't in the driving seat what can change that well what we do right now is we have the fiscal union which is austerity which means we save on the back of people of taxpayers in the south and in the north the euro has created the problems because the euro and that's what i predicted in ninety eight ninety eight in a lecture at boston university the euro will create artificial wombs in some areas and artificial busts in others because we don't have an after them currency area and that's exactly what happened of seoul it created competitiveness.