a declaration of war that is how syrian officials have described the latest israeli air strike a military research center near damascus was pummeled with rockets early sunday morning the arab league has condemned the strike demanding action of from the u.n. while the u.k. calls for an end to the arms embargo on the opposition saying peace in the region is now under threat. and in bahrain a court has sentenced to thirty one protesters to fifteen years in jail for throwing firebombs to an anti regime riots last year. five o'clock in the morning here in moscow this is thomas going to have you with us

syria says israel has effectively declared war after its planes bombed targets in damascus the second airstrike in as many days syrian officials say missile batteries have been pointed at israel and according to unconfirmed reports they will be launched in case israel strikes again syria's state media says israeli rockets targeted a military research center on the outskirts of the capital video footage and eyewitness accounts suggest of the attacks hit weapons dumps triggering large explosions syria says a number of people were killed and wounded amid widespread destruction the arab league has condemned the strikes and demanded the u.n. security council act to stop any further attacks. meanwhile a t.v. station run by lebanon's hezbollah militant group showed images of what it claimed was the side of an israeli air strike in syria the verified footage here was reportedly taken at the site of a military research facility in john mariah after the attack but the center itself

appears not to have been a strike apparently left a major road filled with debris and shell casings artie's middle east correspondent policy or has more tension on the ground is increasing and increasing by the hour the syrian information minister. said off to a special cabinet meeting that syria will not accept a breach of its sovereignty all of its security and that all options were on the table syrian officials say that they've turned syrian artillery also to face towards israel the syrian deputy foreign minister finds allowed mcduck said the alleged israeli attack on syria is addictive ration of war now make that has said that syria will retaliate against israel in its own time and in its own way meanwhile iran which has a defense agreement with syria says it will respond to allege israeli airstrikes on sunday morning and it's also urging neighboring countries to stand up to his radio

station we haven't heard anything so far from the israeli government the israeli military also continues to refuse to either confirm or deny the reports that it attacked syria in the early hours of sunday morning israel however has declared the north of this country a no fly zone to civilian flights this is a precaution that's also a way of defusing the situation and for allowing it to be allowed in for the defense missile system to be put into place the iron dome is being deployed in the north of israel it's aimed at protecting northern israeli cities from shortly. i that live anon also. the mayor of haifa which is israel's largest city in the north is also taking steps to potentially increase the level of readiness of the city's citizens meanwhile the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu held an emergency security cabinet and then saying that meeting adjourned without any statements in fact the only statement we've heard from the israeli prime minister was off to his

weekly cabinet meeting on sunday morning and he did not comment on the strikes the only thing he said was reiterating his commitment to israel security they won't give up that a senior and israeli official come soon that tel aviv was responsible for sunday's strikes that would be the third strike inside syria that israel has carried out since january this year artie's policy or reporting for us there now egypt has condemned the israeli air strikes on syria with of the arab league also demanding action from the u.n. security council the league says there has been a dangerous a violation of an arab state sovereignty if you look at article two of the united nations charter it bans of the use of force against the territorial integrity of any state and us white house spokesman meanwhile said that obama feels israel is justified in its concerns over the threat from hezbollah or he's going to sit you can in washington polly boyko in london told us more about the reaction coming from

the u.k. and the united states. the u.k. foreign secretary has said that this latest israeli air strike is making the case stronger for lifting the e.u. arms embargo on the syrian opposition according to william hague this recent escalation of the conflict shows that there's a real risk that the violence could spread outside of syria and into the wider middle east of course this isn't the first time that the u.k. has called for an end to this e.u. arms embargo in fact it's become somewhat of a regular occurrence this is just the latest reason that they're citing for providing extra assistance to the syrian opposition and we know that germany has to provide extra weapons to provide weapons to the syrian opposition we also know that yet the united nations have begun reservations about it they say that flooding the region can only create more violence underscores many international observers

have been keen to point out that arming the syrian rebels could have some very dangerous consequences for the wider region and for israel of course as well a lot of people are still very wary of what took place the libya the libyan scenario when weapons flooded out from gadhafi is army and into mali and algeria into neighboring countries there's still a lot of problems to do with that so it's a lot of countries are very fearful about making that mistake again guyon so you know are there any indicators that the you are about israel's attacks in advance the u.s. and israel according to both governments work very closely in terms of intelligence gathering so it is difficult to believe that washington didn't know anything about israel's plans to bomb damascus the question that is very much unclear at this point is whether the strikes were really about has a lot whether it was an intervention into the civil war in syria the sources in the

u.s. government on the officially call from the strikes just as they did. days ago and said they were targeting weapons headed for hezbollah in lebanon domesticus sees it differently they see the strikes as an attempt to boost the morale as they say of the rebels whether or not the strikes were actually intended as an intervention into the syrian civil war they may affect it anyway there is another concern the strikes are based on some sequence information and also the weapons heading somewhere you can tell will be if not washington have officially confirmed anything and many worry that we're stepping in to this very gray area worse right against another country can be carried out in absolute secrecy strikes come days after the u.s. defense secretary said washington is rethinking its position on or mean the rebels the defense secretary did also say he personally has not decided whether he would be wise to provide weapons to the rebels he said the administration is looking at a range of options at the moment as you can see there is nothing definitive in the

administration's remarks at this stage but put together the events of this week which now include the israeli strikes may have created a certain momentum and this kind of momentum could actually bolster the forces on the ground and resulting more violence in a country where it's already devastating israel has closed part of its airspace to civilian aircraft following those air strikes on syria but as asia times online correspondent pepe escobar told my colleague bill dodd earlier the attacks are merely plan b. now after the u.s. and other nations failed to accomplish their mission in syria. if anybody believes that any saying israel does in the middle east it does not go so the americans later you know group back to play in the garden go back to kindergarten it doesn't work like this in the real world they did it because they were concerted with the obama administration which is in a bind at the moment they cannot intervene directly in syria they know that the

support for the so-called rebels all the different strands of the rebs is going nowhere because they're likely retreating instead of adventuring so israel with this provocation they're willing for a response either from syria either from hezbollah all or better yet from the point of view of the obama administration and israel from iran so if iran and syria don't do anything for the moment they just wait this will be seen as it is just a provocation but if there is you know this slightest bit of a response from either syria or iran that's the perfect prick text for a lot of money needs shock and awe against syria just how dangerous is the situation now is this really a sign of what everybody be worried about is the sparking of a regional conflict just briefly. yes absolutely and in fact this proves among other things how desperate this so-called coalition of the willing us brits friends saudi arabia qatar and turkey with what's going on inside syria they were expecting

of government to collapse in a few months it's over two years it's still in place there are no major defections you know they still control the business classes in damascus and aleppo it's still there it could fight for a long time and they want a quick resolution so they use israel as a proxy it's the perfect foil you know and they can blame israel in fact the arabs the arab league which nowadays is the manics of nato the other blaming israel saudi arabia is into it as well because the u.s. the saudis that israel is they are actually arming the rebels as well they see that it's going nowhere ok let's activate plan b. let's start bombing syria and see if they respond. earlier my colleague rory sushil spoke to a mirror or in a correspondent for israel's haaretz newspaper he believes the airstrike is justified as a preemptive attack to ensure security this is part of the israeli policy which you

can describe as pounce but do not announce don't let the syrian regime transfer its surface to surface missiles and surface to air missiles to because of allah but don't brag about it so while the reason no official confirmation you can take you almost as face value when you hear the u.s. side confirm it officially what about the legality of israel bombing syria like this without even a u.n. mandate i mean how do you expect the international community to react to this well the israeli and syrian governments have been paying a fragile cease fire for the last forty years however next door in lebanon the lebanese government does not control hezbollah and has well i want to take these arms from syria and position them within lebanon and while you may say that flying over a little news space is not exactly according to international law this is nit

picking and while there are many reasons on other aspects to be critical of israeli policy it does seem that this time around it is quite balanced because only trying to prevent and preempt further conflict so i'm sure you talk about the israeli airstrike passive explosions you call this a balanced reaction to unconfirmed reports that the syrian officials are moving surface to air missiles to hezbollah which they are denying at the time you call it balanced ok let me clarify first of all the reason of course and regrettably so a massacre going on in syria has gone on for the last two years we. many thousands of people being killed others perhaps in the hundreds of thousands being uprooted and now being refused use across the border and what israel is trying to prevent is in lebanon war this is perhaps

a minor price to pay. in order not to pay the bigger prize. the killing and be have a which will be wreaked by another lebanon war. in other developments in the syrian conflict there are indications that syrian rebels not the assad government have been using chemical weapons that's according to the u.n. independent commission of inquiry on syria investigators have gathered testimonies of victims and the doctors at field hospitals which indicate that the rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin this inquiry into human rights violations in syria is separate from the investigation monitored by u.n. secretary general ban ki moon which has stalled the issue of a possible chemical weapons used by the regime in damascus has been a key point in the u.s. and european countries stepping up their rhetoric of possible involvement in the conflict. accorded bahrain and sentenced thirty one protesters to

fifteen years of imprisonment. they are all aged between sixteen and thirty four and have been charged for carrying out fire bomb attacks during anti-government protests which engulfed the kingdom last year one of the lawyers claims his client was tortured to get a false confession the monarchy has been widely criticized for its violent suppression of protests rallies. as more this group of thirty one protesters as you said is aged roughly between sixteen and thirty four so you can imagine for the sixteen year olds this is an incredibly have the sentence they all come from island in the northwest part of the country which has been the hotbed of protests that have rocked bahrain since early twenty nine eleven now these protesters have been sentenced on a range of charges including for example setting a car on fire protesting possession of petrol bombs and also attempted murder this is according to the lawyers but the protesters denied the charges they say that they're innocent and they in fact claim that they were coerced into confessing in

order to get these charges now the background to all of this is these escalating protests that we've seen in bahrain that as i mentioned began in two thousand and eleven basically where you have is ongoing unrest with the majority of shiites in the country demonstrating and demanding a greater voice in the political system that has been ruled by the sunni monarchy in many ways with an iron fist these protesters allege and so what began as peaceful gatherings people taking to the streets to protest has really transformed into what we've seen in many cases a brutal crackdowns by the police with tear gas being used mass arrests of protesters in fact one of the most best known cases of people when the regime essentially cracking down on some of the protesters was the case and then be over job who was actually interviewed here in our t.v. by giuliano song and in august twenty twelve he was actually sentenced to three years in jail for participating in one of these protests so a lot of. rights activists say that this is a untenable situation that these people are really stepping out to demand democracy

but they've really been met with an iron fist so well of course continue to wash see how this situation develops but it's quite possible that these this sentence sentencing of these thirty one protesters could spark fresh arrest in that country geo political analyst eric draitser says bahrain's ties with the u.s. give the kingdom's rulers freedom to deal with bribes ings the way they see fit. the people of bahrain have been ruled by one single family of a minority in the country so you're talking about the vast majority of the country having lived in a state of disenfranchisement for their entire lives and they see and remember that bahrain was in many ways the the kernel at the very beginning of the arab spring and the struggle that has continued in bahrain since that early part of two thousand and eleven gets no attention in the western media primarily because as i

think many people listening already know bahrain is a client of saudi arabia which is a client of the united states bahrain houses the u.s. fifth fleet bahrain is central to the u.s. imperial plans for the region and for that reason the democracy upsurge in bahrain has been marginalized while the fraudulent uprising in syria has been glorified this illustrates the hypocrisy of the united states and the hypocrisy of its policy in the region. we've got more news for you online including the mystery of an antonov and two plane which disappeared off the radars out last june has been solved of the debris of the crash aircraft was found in the year old tiger forest had to r.t. dot com for the full story. plus more sports women from saudi arabia could soon reach the olympic podium as the ultra conservative kingdom approves a progressive reform which will allow female students to take more sports classes

more details on our website. this week workers around the world joined a day of protests against unemployment poor salaries and violations of their rights a number of may day rallies and particularly made the headlines first let's go to turkey there was violence here with police resorting to tear gas and water cannons against angry crowds at least twenty eight were injured and dozens more were arrested. and then there are pictures from spain here's barcelona where the rally was also marred by clashes with police thousands took to the streets in spain protesting austerity and unemployment which is now at record highs may day protesters also marched in greece this is athens as all of this is part of a twenty four hour walkout following the recent cut back of fifteen thousand public sector jobs and all of this comes as the e.u. faces the prospect of another year of recession and job losses according to the

latest forecasts let's take a look these are the three countries with the highest unemployment rates in the eurozone in greece there is over twenty seven percent of the workforce out of a job and then in spain one in every four unemployed portugal's rate not far behind at seventeen point five percent artie's ties are cilia has looked into how people across europe are dealing with skyrocketing unemployment and found out that leaving the country is a popular choice. the unemployment rate in the years old has recently reached a record twelve percent and for those aged twenty five and below in countries like spain and greece that number is as high as more than fifty percent with very little signs of any economic improvement now for those who are looking for a job that search is no longer just about trying to find work many are now trying to leave their home countries. like niccolo to go and see a biology graduate from italy now working initial in brussels and the situation in

italy was extremely good because it was the only thing i was able to get is really short contract for like three months or six months with absolutely no possibility or growing out in an industry or in the laboratory anything most most of them were totally. you can't really think of your future he says it wasn't a walk. in the park in beijing either as many companies require a working knowledge of both french and dutch a barrier that may be hard to overcome but perhaps still more attractive for some of the going back home i read. in two thousand and twelve. in the person present age of young people who emigrated from italy and grew up by thirty forty percent in two thousand and twelve and really john know what will be in to towns in africa and it's not just e.u.

citizens feeling the pinch foreigners would come to europe to seek new opportunities starting their will businesses and building their lives have now will also change their minds freds iana this meant leaving greece and going all the way back to her native ecuador and while homesickness was the initial reason for the move she has no regrets about making that decision the sixth one hundred also many foreigners decided to leave grace and move to countries like germany and switzerland but the greeks who stayed behind are saying that the situation is really difficult there when for instance servicemen he used to get one and a half thousand euros are now paid just one hundred m. out place has been open for two years even though still new i believe we have very good prospects for the future this is not something she says just isn't possible in europe right now to trend if you look at the figures in countries like ardent some people argue that a whole generation has left and perhaps for good we do not believe that i don't

think so i believe rather stay here for an time does our sylvia our team brussels. the face of british politics appears to be changing with some unexpected results coming out of the local elections this past week the anti e.u. anti establishment u.k. independence party picked up a quarter of the votes propelling it from the margins into a real force let's take a closer look ukip gained one hundred thirty nine new councillors local elections that's up from just eight previously the labor party finished two hundred ninety one seats up and the coalition parties both of them they were badly hit with the liberal democrats down one hundred twenty four and the conservatives then well they're down three hundred thirty five seats left to contemplate how to get their frustrated voters back from ukip prime minister david cameron is now planning to

focus on the main issues of the ukip programme membership and immigration in his speech outlining the government's legislative plants are asked the deputy leader of the u.k. independence party paul not all if he felt the conservative party was about to wrestle the initiative away from them. david cameron is committed to the european union we know that because he said if that is it that friends and he will campaign to stay in and if you are members of the european union you can't control your own borders so we have a problem in this country where we have twenty two percent youth unemployment a million kids in britain who are going to weigh every day and what about to open our borders all to twenty nine million remaining in a bulgarians when restrictions for all on january first income earners are permitted that is not a good can do about that so quite frankly we're not worried that he's going to park his time con artist because he simply can't we will take a seat in the house of commons if not two seats before the general election in two

thousand and fifteen if we continue on our trajectory in byelection zameen we are finishing seconds and a lot of buy elections now particularly in the north of england and i think that we can eventually take a seat in a byelection but let's not forget that a big elections next year the european elections take place in june two thousand and fifteen these are the elections that we will win i genuinely believe we will send more any peace but to brochures than any other party and then in two thousand and fifteen ukip will be standing in every single constituency and we will be putting up a good fight and if we enter the election on double digits ahead of the liberal democrats we have leadership debates in this country and will be on those leadership debates and he will wipe the floor with clegg cameron bans mania will start while u.s. president barack obama is pushing for tighter gun control laws those opposing the idea are pledging to never surrender at their annual meeting the national rifle association said the fight against the proposed legislation on extended background

checks is far from over and is artie's main important i reports from texas they're not short of support. the national debate over gun control may be among the most divisive issues in the united states but it's also proving to be a p.r. success for america's largest and strongest kind of rights organization approximately seventy thousand people turned out for the national rifle association's annual meeting taking place here in houston texas those in attendance are not allowed to fly any of the weapons or ammunition but they certainly are allowed to pick up the guns hold them in their hands aim them and get a good deal of what these weapons are all about for the kids there are air guns that the kids are allowed to shoot also for actual gods to play with in recent weeks u.s. president barack obama's first furthering gun control legislation failed in the

senate that effort of course was for strengthening garden background checks but when you hear from the people that turned out they say that they will stand behind the n.r.a. to continue to fight any efforts washington makes on furthering gun control legislation think it shows americans feel. free. and. most in this show are supporting the n.r.a. because they are a backbone for believing in fighting for our rights former vice presidential candidate sarah palin and texas governor rick perry are among the long list of names of pro-gun conservatives that addressed crowds throughout this three day a that all those that spoke accuse president obama of leading a vicious attack against the second amendment now the n.r.a. is c.e.o. wayne la pierre referenced last month's boston terrorist attacks asking the audience how many bostonians wish they had a gun two weeks ago as an unprecedented manhunt for the bombing suspects was

underway now ironically as the u.s. leader has been making his efforts to strengthen gun. laws and sales have been a creep increasing and membership to the n.r.a. has been expanding so while the issue of cons for means very divisive for the nation so far in this ongoing political battle of the n.r.a. he's clearly proving itself to be strong enough to go up against and defeat the president of the united states reporting from houston. marty. some more international news in brief for you this hour at least nine people have been killed and dozens more injured in a series of attacks in and around baghdad the first attack occurred when a bomb went off near a mosque in the western suburbs of the iraqi capital leaving one person dead there six people were killed after another blast near an internet cafe in a sunni neighborhood and south of baghdad the mayor of mahmudiyah and his son were

killed in their house by an unknown gunman the attacks come amid heightened sectarian tensions and left forty people dead last week. in paris tens of thousands of protesters marched against economic austerity to mark the end of president francois hollande first year in office with france on the edge of recession and unemployment at an all time high alond has also suffered a sharp fall in popularity for his support of gay marriage thousands also staged a protest against a gay marriage bill that was recently passed by the french parliament. at least four people have been killed and dozens injured after a hard line islamists clashed with police in bangladesh was capital. demonstrators blocked roads and threw stones at police officers as they called for strict inside blasphemy laws thousands of security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters who also demanded death for atheist bloggers that caused

a public uproar earlier this year. six people have reportedly been injured in the city of east palo alto in california by an unknown gunmen who fired several times from inside a car passing by a mcdonald's restaurant a child around the age of six is among the victims one of whom was taken to hospital with serious injuries medics say he is in stable condition now this incident happened and hour after three women were shot two of them fatally in a separate incident on the other side of the country in the city of tampa in florida police are now looking for the suspect now coming up after the break we take a tour around the streets of the mexico's border city to you wanna rife with drug cartel wars and daily shootings.