united nations probe shows syrian rebels most likely used a deadly nerve agent in the ongoing civil war confusing washington accusations the assad regime had been the one resorting to illegal chemical weapons. according to dozens of young pro-reform protesters behind bars for taking part in antigovernment violence all of it claims the defendants confessed but only after torture. and from the socialist i call in the polls economic despair drives tens of thousands of former supporters. to turn their backs on the french president.

worldwide news live from the heart of the russian capital t with me rule received thank you for joining us today. investigators say they have strong grounds to believe that rebels in syria have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war and while no evidence was found the government has ever released any deadly agents now this does a fly in the face of washington's previous statement it was the assad regime which had apparently resorted to the use of illegal weapons do you tell us now to watch these guy in a church you can. 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 could 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. ati's guy nature kind

reporting that from washington and german journalist and magazine editor and writer i spoke to him just a bit earlier in the program he said he finds it 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 the hands of rebels 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.d.p. 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 gas is 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 is supporting this so-called armed opposition which is in

the reality of. a group of terrorists of mercenaries when i was myself in syria last year it was in the battle of the muskets already i don't see a big difference between the so-called f.s.a. and for example of the north which is now fighting a lot of those specialists in syria and also it's almost. now you're always invited to get involved with the stories we cover here on our to today we want to know how you think of these latest findings will influence the civil war in syria when gathering your votes that are dot com and this is how the results are looking for this hour from the web site wow huge changes in the past fifty five minutes here on r.t. there the majority losing some ground to thirty eight percent saying well it's not going to change anything that demands for assad to leave power to step down very very close second position thirty one percent saying it's going to intensify calls for some sort of military intervention in syria no surprise there position well

it's going to be balancing international approaches towards war hoping the revelations will lead to a more balanced international approach to all of this i know the bare minimum saying well it forces rebel backers to reconsider their stance syrian rebels allegedly using sarin gas in the ongoing civil war in syria r.t. dot com is where you can still get involved and cast your vote. now the revelations come amid an international storm over israeli strikes inside syria israel is beefing up its borders reportedly fearing retaliate of course this after its planes bombed targets inside syria including a research weapons facility just on the outskirts of damascus syrian officials say missile batteries have been pointed out israel and cording to unconfirmed reports they will be launched in case of a new israeli strike and will look right here a video footage an eyewitness account suggests the attacks hit weapons dumps

triggering massive explosions a syria says a large number of people were killed and wounded amid widespread destruction possibly more than three hundred dead both the u.n. and arab league have condemned the attacks the white house spokesman meantime says that president obama feels that any israeli action would be justified if it targeted a husband or excuse me hezbollah a threat for example a weapons being shipped through syria into lebanon but middle east expert. believes the real motives are actually quite different. i think that there is a some kind of. some kind of correlation between the. fundamentalist. and the west the netto against the syrian regime and i think that what's happening is exactly in support of these rebels 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 without a big guns less of what's happening if it will be. a war or anything else but if. by that declination of the syrian that this is announcing before and if syria have retaliated in any way i think. vision that war is imminent. while 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 happens 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 hassan 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 of the big boy on the blog and israel's arch enemy iran now reports suggest that it was an iranian 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 station 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 brick text for a lot of media shock and awe 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 to

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. america's gun divide comes into focus on r.t. the foreign lobby reasserts its influence the national rifle association convention with a vow to resist gun control laws to the bitter end. live

from moscow this is ati about grainy court has sentenced a group of thirty one anti-government activists to fifteen years in prison for taking part in fire bomb attacks against the police the suspects there now say they were into making their confessions a buck rain 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 though 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 who is an anti-government activist in bahrain explains what's driven them to the edge because of not only him but because of the oil we divorced from because the. whole muslim straight needs to be over now trying to ensure that the fuel oil is not destructive because we have and i came here in bahrain which down there can rely on as a sport to watch over the region all of that has taken its full and if you will.

the cap they can't. be children that are being asked to be from donors clothes on the women that are being tortured in prison all of the gas cans because of context and most human rights. nix didn't want to pick a wrong in bahrain we didn't have any other choice but to force this the damage has been done my cousins are in 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 he had me me before and a geo political analyst eric draitser say things that despite the continuing crackdown of the protests in bahrain while they won't be burning out anytime soon 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 fraudulent uprising in syria has been glorified this illustrates the hypocrisy of the united states and the hypocrisy of its policy in the region it's good to have you with us here in oz who today will take a look at a very who rough first year for the french socialist president and reports from our americas

a correspondent there on the biggest annual gun convention both of those stories on wall on air after the break. every detail. every piece of

metal. and every one of those who wrote step on red square on the ninth of may are ready. for the victory day parade and watch the live coverage on our t.v. . it's a quarter past the hour moscow time this is r t with me will receive it is a rather sorry first year anniversary for the french president francois with tens of thousands of left ifs marching through paris simply to denounce him the same people there who just twelve months ago hailed him as a socialist hero now according to the latest polls and is now the most unpopular french leader in recent history you know it's these tests are australia she now reports on what's caused such a drastic change of heart. so

it was there was a. 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 but 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 voted left and put along didn't place recent polls show its 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 is said i'm sure he does not mean that i'm 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 scratched 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 for us 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. to give up his citizenship for a law should one one promise a law and it did not have to keep is legalizing gay marriage pleasing supporters it also sparking fears consultation. don't wait and i think we've all. seen 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 are also priorities a priority is employment we need to eat it is ok just too easy to blame.

if you're the. new president immediately. into the economy one hundred one 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 fifty four. yeah yeah yeah. and the 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. they quickly made. in the memo that when you listen to the media you think there were

a lot of differences between the two but that's just on a superficial level on 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 no need to start changing but others like these workers from a recently closed steel plant to easter flowers 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 along in the opinion polls may not be about what he's failed to do rather about what he's failed to deliver on that's according to robert harness

a freelance reporter on various french issues. 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 couldn't fulfill them anyway but he promised for us to to refocus nato off defensive measures do you start more or less the opposite feeling in mali and. he's initially attenuate 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. i think that. so you know the traditional thing if things are not going well at home you cause a bit of a stir up road that 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

and. see how many stupid the french hare what's happening in mali or syria care what's happening france the problem and proxies record unemployment goes no sign it's going to get better. we can find more on this story and others that are dot com for example online right now have been a great oh it's nice to get it's about footage it's a vintage astro madrid ending in tragedy that short right there showing an antique jet ultimately crashing to the ground in front of thousands of spectators right there more footage and comments as well on the web site r.t. dot com. and some two thousand homes now threatened by massive wildfires in california are burning pesticides of poison the smoke even further releasing toxic fumes.

more news today. these are the images. from the streets of canada. today. thanks for joining us here on r.t. today six people have been injured in a drive by shooting near a mcdonald's in the californian city of palo alto and the incident came just as america's national rifle association wrapped up an especially glitzy convention this to mark the defeat of a new gun control law and of celebrities right wing politicians and news makers all appear to the annual event which organizers say shows just how powerful the farm's lobby remains at the convention in texas more 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 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 virtual gardens to play with in recent weeks u.s. president barack 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 on furthering gun control legislation

think it shows americans feel. free to second amendment. most of the 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 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 guns 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 the state. r.t. . time and straight to live pictures for you right here on r t extreme left wing radicals are gathering in front of a courthouse in the german city of munich where the last surviving member of the national socialist underground terrorist cell is standing trial for the so-called nazi bride is one of the few people from the group ever to face justice she suspected of killing at least ten people between two thousand and two thousand and seven right here you're watching live footage from munich provided by new video agency ruptly you can head to roughly dot t.v. for the footage. and hard line islamists demanding an blasphemy law be put into

place clashed with police and buying fifteen dead dozens injured 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. to libya now where armed mobs outside the state ministries in the capital tripoli demanding the government's resignation this comes after a new law was introduced barring people who worked under colonel gadhafi from serving in the current leadership a number of politicians including the prime minister and likely to lose their jobs as a result of this comes after a heavily armed militants laid siege to the foreign and justice ministries last week demanding the bill be passed. thousands of people have gathered at a political rally held by a conservative islamic party in pakistan's largest city. and the crowd chanted anti american slogans as party leaders blame the u.s.

for economic problems in the country general elections in pakistan they are expected to be held on saturday. well thank you very much for joining us here on r t today on rory sushi in moscow just a moment a paedophile and i'll debate show cross talk. and yet another step along the pointless anti gender crusade activists in sweden are pushing to promote a new gender neutral pronoun these activists want the term hen to replace the pronouns han and haun which mean he and she respectively i think the logic of these bizarre gender neutral movements in the e.u. is that they really feel that it's awful to force someone into a role that doesn't fit them you know i can kind of see this i remember back to when i was a boy in school and with me there was a kid what kind of only female friends and i certainly wasn't the sport's

a toy trucks kind of kid if you understand what i mean you know i could see this guy having all those male stereotypes shoved down his throat you know made his life at school really unpleasant but the whacko liberal answer to some tiny amount of people being pushed into gender roles they don't like is to force everyone else into a genderless world they don't like fantastic i guess gender neutrality advocates can speak swedish how they like and they're free to use this word hen but don't force everyone in the country to do things your way the overwhelming majority of the world is very happy with its gender thank you very much but that's just my opinion.

and welcome to cross talk we're all things are considered i'm peter lavelle is atheism a religion that has a specific worldview and even. value system what accounts for the spectacular loss of faith in much of the western world and secularism captured much of christianity is message without the organizational trappings and dogma and or atheist accorded the same rights as people of faith. to cross-talk atheism and religion i'm joined by jason torpy in washington he is the president of the military association of atheists and freethinkers in quebec we have lawrence to still he is the president of the creation science association of quebec and in new york we cross to rob he is a writer and comedian on a german cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage you jason is atheism a new religion for the west.