a united nations probe shows syrian rebels most likely used a deadly nerve agent in the ongoing civil war confusing washington's earlier accusations the assad regime had been the one resorting to illegal chemical weapons . according. to taking part in government violence although made claims that defendants confessed only after torture. and socialist. in the whole economic despair drives tens of thousands of former supporters. to turn their backs on the french president.

with a worldwide news live from moscow this is r.t. with me i thank you for being with us today. u.n. investigators say they have strong grounds to believe that rebels in syria have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war while no evidence was found that the government has ever released any such deadly agents now this flies in the face of washington's previous statement it was the assad regime which had apparently resorted to illegal weapons i discussed the latest developments with. you want human rights investigators say based on the evidence that they have the rebels in syria have used the nerve agent sorry this is a major development which comes at a time when the assad government is being accused of having used chemical weapons and so this investigation which says that in all likelihood the rebels have used chemical weapons challenges the narrative which is dominating in the media here and

that if chemical weapons were used they were used by the assad government there has been an intense build up of tension around the issue as president obama said the use of chemical weapons by the assad government would be a game changer although he did specify that the u.s. had no hard evidence to accuse the assad government of doing that now this geneva based u.n. investigation is believed to be separate from the investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria in the middle of march assad forces and the rebels blame each other for that damascus has requested a u.n. mission to investigate the incident but the investigation is being stalled because in addition to investigating that specific incident the u.n. chief now demands access to all facilities in syria and there are concerns that this inquiry wants the u.n. into the center of a possible hunt for weapons of mass destruction where it faces the ghost of iraq the fear again is that politics may get ahead of facts. to go on

a tour to kind reporting there from washington german journalist and magazine editor and writer and i spoke to him just a bit earlier in the program if i get hard to believe the opposition got access to syria's chemical arsenal but says there are other ways for illegal arms to end up in rebel hands. i am very much sure that exactly this theory that these chemical weapons will come out of the military components of the syrian army will be brought up especially also by the western powers i deeply doubt in this theory because the military compounds where the gas for example is stored are heavily guarded because the syrian government knows exactly what might happen if this gets this coming out somehow but we have to see something else we have to see that one of the most important players in the syrian conflict is turkey turkey used already chemical weapons and the benefits against the kurdish population and against the kurdish militia we shouldn't forget this in this context and turkey is right now supporting

this so-called armed opposition which is known as a t. . a group of terrorists mercenaries when i was myself in syria last year it was in the battle of the mosque this already i don't see a big difference between the so-called f.s.a. and for example of the nutshell front which is now fighting a lot of those efforts in syria and also. the revelations come amid an international storm over israeli strikes inside syria now israel is beefing up its borders are reportedly fearing retaliation of course this after its planes bombed targets in the war torn state of syria including a research facility close to very close to battle the capital damascus syrian officials say a missile batteries have now been pointed at israel and according to unconfirmed reports they will be launched in case of a new israeli strike video footage an eyewitness account suggesting the attacks hit weapons dumps triggering massive explosions as serious as

a number of people were killed and wounded amid widespread destruction of both the united nations and the arab league have condemned the attacks there white house spokesman meanwhile said president obama feels that any israel action would be justified if it targeted ahead. bhalo threat such as weapons being shipped through syria into lebanon but middle east expert told freak show market believes the real motives are quite different. so i think that there is a some kind of. some kind of correlation between the. fundamentalists. and the west. against the syrian regime and i think that what's happening is exactly in support of this and in support of the terrorists that are fighting against the syrian regime i think there's own state is getting into a situation where they want war. at all prices with the big guns less of what's

happening if it will be. regional war or anything else but if by that the collaboration of the syrian that this is announcing before and if syria have retaliated in any way i think. war is imminent and in the wake of the israeli aggression against syria has been taking a wider look at the region to find out whether it was aimed at undermining the remaining supporters of the assad regime. these strikes at a dangerous new dynamic to a region already in crisis with so many sides involved the situation is complicated well let's now have a cool certain look there have been three israeli strikes on syrian soil since january two of those just in the last three days much of the speculation suggests that the real target was actually has a law in lebanon all of israel's recent attacks were allegedly targeting what

happened beyond four has a problem militants israel has long warrant it once to prove vantage van storms getting into their hands and is prepared to use force has fallen members are how being bashar al assad fight the uprising against his rule and will stand by him that was confirmed by their leader has sound natural i just this april so it's likely that syria would be responding inclined well existence some way but there is a third player here fellow shia ally to assad and has a lot the big boy on the block and israel's arch enemy iran now reports suggest that it was in the rain in shipment to has a lot of that israel was told getting so it's possible that syria is just the middle man and it wouldn't be be young reason that around is equipping has a block as a backup in case of conflict with israel israel with this provocation there will be

for a response either from syria either from his block or better yet from the point of view of the obama to be in israel from iran so if you run into syria don't do anything for the moment just wait this will be seen as it is just a provocation but if there is you know the slightest bit of a response from either syria or your own that's the perfect break for a lot. against syria iran is seen as the main thread by israel's government which is very nervous about its nuclear activities. and in response to these airstrikes iran has already called on the whole region to stand against israel iran labeled the air strike as an act of aggression accusing israel of advancing its own interests by creating instability in the region with an unprovoked attack and the commander of the country's ground forces warn that iran is ready to provide logistics support and military training to help syria defend itself against israel

so townshend's ass collate and the motives are for onlookers to guess at is launching missiles into syria actually part of israel's plan to contain iran. because of our reporting there now we always love it here at all it's here when you do get involved with stories on the web site right now we are asking what you think about the recent israeli air strikes on syria let's see how many of you are voting from dot com for this hour the numbers have changed yet again forty five percent believe the majority saying well it's just israel carrying out the plans of the west whether it's support from england or even washington as well down to thirty two percent that's lost a couple of digits though it's an undeclared and illegal war being fought also lost a digit on the third position as well that's sending a message to iran and hezbollah up by a notch eight percent now saying well israel is simply defending itself in the wake of international worldwide condemnation or you can tell us what you think is

israel's agenda behind the attacks in syria. dot com. it's now up to minutes past the hour here in moscow this is artsy court has sentenced a group of thirty one anti-government activists to fifteen years in prison for taking part in firebomb attacks against the police the suspects there now say they were tortured into making their confessions of bahrain has been engulfed in program form protests being one of the first countries to be gripped by the arab spring violence of two thousand and eleven since then the opposition has been accusing the rulers of oppressing the protest movement and claiming western countries are trying

to downplay the scale of the rest mohamed el sufi and anti government activist in bahrain he explains what's ultimately driven them to the edge. only because of not only. because. be pomo straight that needs to be open at all time to ensure that the flow of oil is not destructive because we have a kim case here in bahrain which dam are concerned i own as a split to watch over the region all of that have taken its toll on the people on the ground that the captain can still own the children that are being asked to fund there's this close on the women death that are being tortured in prison all of that had to because of its own place different interest human rights. next to the political wrongs in bahrain we don't really have any other choice but to force this

damage has been done on my cousins are again my friends are again and so for me it's the only if you can think for me to do is to help them as gay help me help me before i go to a political analyst eric draitser he thinks that despite the continuing crackdown of protests in bahrain it won't be burning out any time soon. but the people of bahrain have been ruled by one single family of a minority in the country so if you're talking about the vast majority of that 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 and 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 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 but it's good to have you with us here or not see today just i will be having a look at a very rough year for france's socialist president and our report from america's biggest annual gun convention both of those stories and more on air after the break . i am every detail. every piece of metal.

and every one of those who will step on red square on the ninth of may are ready. for the victory day parade. want the live coverage on our t.v. .

stopwatch well fifteen pm here in the russian capital it's the with me rule re sushi it is a summary first year anniversary for the french president francois hollande tens of thousands of leftists marching through paris to denounce him the same people though who just twelve months ago hailed him as a socialist hero according to polls all around us now the most unpopular french leader in recent history is tester austerely reports now on what's caused such a dramatic change of heart. it was your voicemail i heard you heard you will change. a year ago thousands of people had gathered at this very place to celebrate the victory of socialist president francois hollande but here on the thousands of people are again gathered for a very different reason this time they're asking the president where are the changes that he had promised asked by the very same people who voted left and put

along didn't place recent polls show his popularity has plummeted to less than twenty five percent the biggest force for any french president in the past fifty years but you know i thought it was. i let you know where your promises are come on where are they it's said i'm sure it is not me and i've yet this is the mission that from now on will be mine to give the european construction a dimension of growth employment and prosperity you have france's hit record unemployment of three point two million people in march the biggest source of public anger it's also scratch hopes of cutting the budget deficit to three percent of g.d.p. by two thousand and thirteen and the european commission's most recent forecast shows france will be in recession until the end of the year the seventy five percent income tax on the super rich is also a no go after france's constitutional court overruled it on the very talk of it

pushed french actor gerard depardieu to give up his citizenship for a law should one one promise a law and it didn't that it's to keep is legalizing gay marriage pleasing supporters it also sparking fears consultation. with the all the. people happy with gay marriage but it doesn't feed our families it doesn't give us food there are realities that are good to say but there are also priorities priority is employment we need to eat it is ok just to is it to blame. your. new president immediately. into the economy what i would like anyway i just would like to hear the president which is not making that much promise which is keeping some heat on which is not

going to explain that you know there imagine received no one hundred four. yeah yeah yeah. a magic recipe the. film maker says is nonexistent he made this video during last year's presidential campaign to show the country's lack of choice. in the memo that when you listen to the media you'd think there were a lot of differences between the two but that's just on a superficial level the most important things they agree do we need to intervene in another country to fight they will agree to intervening in other countries because the weapons lobby will always be behind a lot is well aware of his unpopularity but says he will weather this storm improve he can't keep his promises at the end of this five year term. he needs time

fine we are here to tell him mr president time is up in the need to start changing things but others like these workers are recently closed steel plant of eastern france are not even hopeful symbolically laid to rest a lot of broken promises under a heading which reads the trail. does our sylvia r.t. paris. well on's collapse in the opinion polls may not be about what he's failed to do but rather about what he's failed to deliver on that's according to robert harness a freelance reporter on various french assures. it's not what he's been doing wrong so much is what he did when he was candidate so what he did when he was candidate was to raise everybody's expectations to a level that he couldn't a fulfilled if he resigns then he knew very well he could fulfill them anyway but he promised for us to to refocus nato off defensive measures do you start more or less the opposite by feeding in mali and. he's initially at any rate very

aggressive stance on syria and iran it's very noticeable that he's gone quiet on syria and quiet on mali although the french have not withdrawn from it i think that. so. you know the traditional thing if things are not going well at home you cause a bit of a stir or a broad distracts attention and you look good you don't presidential but the as for the french are beginning to say to each other in the media and so on that. it's the colonies stupid the first hair what's happening in mali or syria they care what's happening fronts the problem and proxies record unemployment and those no sign it's going to get better. and you can find this sunday more stories at r.t. dot com right now for example right here check out the footage are not good but going to address show in madrid ends in tragedy and i put it right there showing an

antique flying machine of crashing to the ground in front of thousands of spectators on the details and additional footage of r.t. dot com right now. and some two thousand homes are threatened by a massive wildfire in california burning pesticides a poison the smoke even further releasing toxic fumes. more news today violence is once again. these are the images. it's good to have you with us here on r.t. today six people have been injured by a drive by shooting near a mcdonald's in the californian city of palo alto the incident came just as

america's national rifle association wrapped up an especially glitzy convention to mark the defeat of a new gun control law and of celebrities right wing politicians and news makers all appeared at the annual event which organizers say shows just how powerful the firearms lobby remains at the convention in texas are important. the national debate over gun control maybe 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 gun 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 buy 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 obama's first furthering gone control legislation failed in the senate that effort of course was for strengthening the background checks 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 and furthering gun control legislation to make it shows a feel bad dream to own guns a second amendment and most in this show are supporting the n.r.a. because they are a backbone for believe in and fight 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 event 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 increasing and membership to the n.r.a. has been expanding so while the issue of. 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. for the update where hard line islamists demanding an anti blasphemy law will be put into place have now passed with police leaving fifteen people dead and dozens

injured by security forces used rubber bullets to break up the riots in the capital dhaka tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied across the capital blocking roads and cutting the city off from the rest of the country. was on the streets of the libyan capital tripoli after a new law was passed barring people who worked under colonel gadhafi from serving in the government a number of politicians including the current prime minister could stand to lose their jobs now this comes after heavily armed militants laid siege to the foreign and justice ministries last week demanding the bill. and thousands of people have gathered at a political rally held by a conservative islamic party and pakistan's largest city karachi massive crowds there chanting anti american slogans as party leaders blame the u.s. for economic problems in the country a general elections in pakistan are expected to be held on saturday. you know just

a couple of minutes here on out see the lovely kate partridge show the latest from the world of sports. choose your language. because we know if the medals going to stay still some of. the kids get consensus get to. choose the opinions that immigrate to. choose the stories that in your life choose the access to your office.

hello welcome to the artie sports show with me craig partridge and here's what's coming up. top battles hulk nets a hat trick to keep the need in the title hunt after testa edged tara to stay three points clear in the russian premier league. plus sweet dreams maria sharapova unveils her own brand of sweets here in moscow before the world number two prepares

to defend her french open title. and the rematch tesco warm up for their euro league last poor battle against rivals olympiacos end of season win over him came in last go. but let's kick off with russian football where it says gabby to read to stay three points clear at the top of the premier league but a whole can't trick keeps an eight in the title chase which if i'm poor for the reports. thank. you it was a welcome return to winning ways for serious claims for a first victory in four one million homes terek punters vera booms called the only go after half an hour to get beyond him and three points clear at the top of the table. be. told help defending champions you need to maintain their quest for a third straight time to be incredible brazillian made his first top flight hat trick in a four no home drubbing of ten men

a line here of new environment is picked up two yellow cards stuffed a quarter of an hour and home side took full advantage coke opened the scoring of the first top penalty i'm following it up with two more in the second example carlos lage efforts are a big loss for a four nil scoreline city to still second line near the bottom. three. g.'s ninety first winfrey met him twice in the last four minutes of triumph two one at home to regain the visitors romani the arm incur finally broke the deadlock up to eighty two minutes of strikes from the scene and try already and some of the eto focus heatings men further cement third place as well being slim down to be rope league sports as the game was marred by a brawl off the final whistle. thanks my eyes do not extend to bare unbeaten league run to remarkable thirteen games with a two one victory at struggling clearly a soviet of bludgers.