a secret partnership reportedly been working closely with u.s. intelligence despite its public show of indignation over america's surveillance of europe. german chancellor angela merkel faces stiff questions over just how involved germany was in the prism spying program. the toxic legacy of war the us invasion of iraq is accused of causing an epidemic of birth defects thanks to the use of uranium tipped weapons r.t. found the problem could be worse than originally thought. and elections not tanks the son of egypt's ousted president tells r.t. that's the only way to change the country insisting his father's rule was truly democratic.

welcome you're watching r.t. coming to you live from moscow with make a film. now germany has been working handing glove with the u.s. spy agency who sweeping global surveillance was revealed to the world by edward snowden according to do spiegel news magazine both germany's foreign and domestic intelligence had been using n.s.a. spy programs but that hasn't stopped the in from demanding that washington explains it's snooping activities in europe as artie's peter all of our reports. german chancellor angela merkel had to rigidly said that she only found out of the extent of the united states's spying programs through the media and it now comes out thanks to n.s.a. internal documents that have been reported by dish big news magazine that well they

were far more involved than she let on that indeed in fact they quote in the dish people article the internal memos that say that there was a willingness to take risks and pursue new opportunities for cooperation with the u.s. that was shown by the german authorities they also were talking about the head of the b n d germany's foreign security service that he showed an eagerness and a desire to cooperate turns out that germany actually operated one of the main parts of the the expansive spying program it's called x. keyscore program that basically anybody who they were looking into they could find out exactly what was being searched online by that particular person and it's estimated around five hundred million. connections were being monitored every month by this error spying program here in germany alone so it was quite an extensive

program this news comes out is quite embarrassing time for german chancellor angela merkel is an election coming up in september the involvement of germany in the n.s.a. spying program is being used extensively by the opposition and what this essentially means is that what mrs merkel was saying before she either. well she didn't know what her own security services were doing or that perhaps she has misled the german people in what she said by saying that well germany wasn't involved so it's come out of quite an embarrassing time for her with the election coming up it set certainly to be a major issue in the buildup to that vote that takes place on the twenty second of september but germany it seems far more involved in the n.s.a. spying program than perhaps they were let on before. well i'm glad merkel says america needs time for examination before it offers its explanation for spying in and on europe and that's being seen as an attempt to carmi initial rage triggered

by reports e.u. citizens were being monitored so let's recall some quotes which suggest there's been a u. to in the rhetoric firstly bugging is not what friends do you said merkel slamming u.s. actions as cold war tactics one german m.e.p. even compared this to the infamous secret police in east germany and the justice minister said the reports are too alarming to be ignored for me and my five agent says the inconsistency between germany's official and the surveillance stance and its own operations will trigger much anger and lots of questions. we have a situation in germany where because of their historic experiences with the stopper in world war two in the stars in east germany they put in place a very strong castalia constitution to protect people from invasion with their pretty pink spied on and this is what the germans have for decades taken for granted they have certain legal protections and we've seen this time and again when

other european model or to try to impose on germany where you know things like her facial recognition date her old google face that facebook has been found in germany and yet the b.m.d. and even to intelligence agencies in germany have been doing this sort of spine so i think the hypocrisy is is quite astounding it's a great deal of anger and questions right to how much the german government you know about what was going on what the legal phone tapping also led to the recent resignation of luxembourg prime minister we analyze stats on our website but starting a dot com and also that the n.s.a. surveillance using private fiber optic cables which serve it around ninety nine percent of the world's internet and phone traffic more details i'm reaction at our web site. right now to see. her struggle to shoot and i think the tragedy

tattle on our reporters but i can speak i i can be a little bit on my i. more than a decade after u.s. led forces invaded iraq there is a legacy of horrific birth defects scientists blame the weapons used by the u.s. military for lugar is the best known example the number affected is fourteen times higher than in hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped on eight in the second world war but artie's lucy catherine of was the first to take an in-depth look at the lesser known extent of the human suffering in the jeff. one hundred sixty kilometers south of baghdad the sacred shiite city is known for its holy shrines and history grounded by one of the largest cemeteries in the world

some of the heaviest fighting of the iraq war took place amid these graves its legacy still haunts the residents it was born with severe birth defects he's only eight months old but the doctors don't expect him to live past his first birthday. had to do i felt dizzy remember the news i ran out of the doctor's office and they want to have a taxi. but for his mother layla there's no escaping the reality. her son has a nervous system disorder and his muscles are slowly wasting away. it's a recurring nightmare for leila and her husband three of their children were also born with congenital deformity as none of them survived and while they don't have proof they believe the radioactive ammunition used by american forces during the war is to blame the rule isn't over yet if the americans are gone but with

suffering from the consequences of spiraling numbers of birth defects and high miscarriage rates have also been reported in fallujah and basra where american and british forces used heavy munitions at the start of the war but our visit to knowledge off revealed that the phenomenon may be far more widespread in iraq than previously known dr sundin's and as one of the few scientists who's been documenting cancer and birth defects here and she says not just as in the midst of a growing health catastrophe. after the iraq war rates of cancer leukemia and birth defects rose dramatically nunchaku the areas affected by fighting so the biggest increases we believe it's because of the legal weapon sled depleted uranium and hospitals here cancer is more common than the flu. depleted uranium or d u cut through armor like a hot knife through butter more than four hundred tons of it is estimated to have been used in the two iraq wars the vast majority by u.s. forces the pentagon did not respond to our request for comment but the military

generally denies any link between exposure and cancer or birth defects it also says deal weapons are only used to penetrate anomie tanks but a new report funded by the norwegian government found that was used against civilian targets in populated areas including not jobs in two thousand and three it notes a lack of transparency by coalition forces over the use of depleted uranium but describes one incident in najaf where a bradley armored fighting vehicle fired three hundred five d.-u. rounds in a singer. and gage meant. the heavy fighting may be over but in nearly every street we visited in this neighborhood multiple cases of cancer and children with deformities no one knows what's making people here sick the families want answers and they want to help us of is old enough for school but has to be cared for as if he's a toddler he can't walk he can't speak he can't even go to the bathroom on his own use of brother is healthy but the family has two other children one severely

deformed the other with a hole in her spine like many of the couples in this city are simply too afraid to have another baby and they're left feeling totally abandoned no one cares about what's happening to us or the other families in this area even our own government doesn't do anything to help what can we do this is our feet it's a fate that many and not just suffer in silence. help with the rockies lost their lives in the decades since the u.s. led invasion all across the country their memories are honored in cemeteries like this one the dead may be the most visible reminder of the human cost of the war but if the living victims of that war's talks look like a war still paying the price they think often of partying iraq well doctors also fear depleted uranium weapons have course the spread of disease is not previously seen in iraq and iraqi governments this is cities stick show cancer rates to have been steadily rising ever since the first gulf war in nineteen ninety

one but artie's lisi cuffing off told my colleague that it's still difficult to gauge the full extent of these problems. we've heard about the depleted uranium the birth defect story coming out of fallujah for example because there's been several t.v. pieces and print reports talking about and showing in fact we hear in r.t.f. showed the birth defects in the city of fallujah when we were completely stunned by is the fact that this is happening in many more cities that have been previously reported including knowledge of where we visited when we showed our filming her and i on the ground in the city literally every single residential street that we've visited in several neighborhoods we found multiple cases of families who had children who were ill families who had lost children had to burry children families who had many relatives who were suffering from cancer and while these people can't necessarily prove that it was depleted uranium or are the causes of these diseases

this is something that they say has risen dramatically in the years since the invasion how widespread is it i mean how far across the country the problem is that nobody knows exactly and that's because there haven't been large scale studies done we haven't seen big teams of international doctors for example going in and sort of looking at different cities comparing the number of birth defect cases between the different cities there really simply are no reliable statistics for birth defects in iraq and so nobody can really say exactly how big this problem is and the big problem with the iraqi government as well one of the surprising things that we found in speaking to the doctors on the ground is they say that they reportedly have been discarded or discouraged by the government from talking out openly about this to the press in fact the biologist that we had spoken to who was researching the issue in the city not to give us the interview in the privacy of her home on the roof there instead of in her laboratory she said that there is an active sort

of push by the government perhaps not to embarrass the coalition forces not to really talk about this issue which we were really quite surprised by we tried to visit the hospital in najaf that was dealing with. some of the victims some of the deformed birth defect children they didn't let us come in they didn't let us film in fact they didn't even let us do interviews with the governor with the families or the doctors working there at all the iraqi officials certainly have not put in the resources that they could be we spoke to families and they've gone to local officials you know they've asked for help they've essentially told tales said but you know it's a really sad story. still ahead here in our back tracking on syria we look at how britain's leader has changed his rhetoric on the conflict admitting this too much extremism among the opposition also ahead for my golden sons or so to the depths of poverty we travel to j. week who's raising say they've been forgotten and left to roll by the british

government and the time the stereotypic that's coming up. i've seen the perception of the cross many times it doesn't matter if there's snow a heat wave or hail storms people keep on going i don't expect anything just one i told myself i keep on going as long as my heart told me to that's all i wanted at the moment here i have seen so much you see i'm carrying these sayings on my shoulder. do you want me to put a bandage here you know that's fine but a lot of people were so exhausted they could barely walk their feet hurt and some of them fainted we've already got to eat three two wanted to keep going i don't know what tomorrow will bring. you know sometimes you see

a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew. i'm tired of them is a big issue. but i welcome back now n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden is still stranded without paperwork in the transit zone of the sheremeta airport in moscow but that could change within days he's finally set to receive temporary documents allowing him to enter russia but let's get the latest on snowden's fate with artie's paul scott paul what is the latest miss no one perhaps coming expected to leave that airport and what is the

relationship with the u.s. no doubt that is being strained with what's going on it certainly seems to be as you say edward snowden does remain in the transit zone at moscow's sheremetyevo airport but he is expected to get documents in the next couple of days that could see him free to leave and travel freely around russia now america or remaining steadfast in their pursuit of edward snowden where he is wanted on charges under the espionage act and they're determined to get their hands on him russian president vladimir putin remains steadfast also in his conviction that there will be no extradition of edward snowden back to the united states now obviously there's no extradition treaty between the two countries and also on that the reason being cited is that no one will be returned to america because of washington's continuing use of the death penalty now one russian official has even suggested that america's pursuit of slowdown and demands on moscow little are hypocritical and also a form of double standards that's because over the years they have been another of

a number of extradition requests that moscow has given to washington that have been rejected one notable case is that of any u.s. akhmed off who was chechnya as foreign minister he went into hiding in one thousand nine hundred. at the start of the second chechen war now he is wanted he's on russia's most wanted list and he's been charged with organizing terrorist training camps and armed insurgent actions russia simply say he is a terrorist but he has been granted asylum in the united states and any request for extradition has been ignored and there's another case that of thomas of who's been on the international wanted list since two thousand and one for kidnapping and extortion a moscow have in fact had two extradition requests to washington rejected one in two thousand and five and another in two thousand and nine so it seems as if america's request for an extradition of edward snowden are likely to continue to fall on deaf ears ok thank you paul that's our tease paul scott live from moscow thank you. now britain's prime minister is changing his tune on syria david

cameron said he still fully supports the opposition but admitted there is too much extremism among the rebels that's quite a change from nov twenty seventh about half a year after the syrian conflict erupted back then he called for more engagement with the rebels the following year he called for more international aid to put the syrian government under pressure fast forward a year he was still very manly and he is sad but not so sure that arms shipments were the way forward syria's top rebel commander has already accused the british pm of betrayal of the hay abandon plans to arm his fighters the government was strongly considering it and lobbied the e.u. to end an arms embargo and this brings us to the present the syrian government advancing on rebel militias the official opposition failing to unite in cameroon describing the situation as a stalemate political analyst deepak the path the explain what could be behind the

u.k. leaders shifting positions. i told him he will have difficulty getting. approval because there is quite a lot of i need to eat after a few rotten apples this coalition partners the liberal democrats are on remarks or on supporting we have been very comical opinion is not supported brock is being realized in the west that no matter how much their assurances from western governments that. only good guys will get help in terms of our supplies but that's not the case on the ground and saudi arabia is where you are worried about the rise of slander fundamentalism in syria because jordan and some of their white cloaks the minute the united states and britain

indirectly by that you are helping the syrian rebels that has not stopped. now for egypt stability remains elusive and it remains locked in political turmoil and violence six people were killed in several militant attacks in the sinai peninsula near egypt's borders with israel and dozens were injured in clashes between islamised supporters and opponents of president morsi in the town of see us meanwhile despite political divisions egypt has started to amend its constitution which is needed before elections next year but islam is have rejected the cabinet with its supporters banning to continue mass protests r.t. sophie shevardnadze spoke to the son of the deposed president morsi to find out what went wrong when his father was in power and what chances egypt has that pace. the harmony lost his rule was democratic going to democracy you have both the

ruling regime and an opposition but the case of armed forces taking on a certain political stance is something unprecedented this is sort of a sure sign of a military takeover with all due respect there is no doubt morsi has a lot of supporters but in a very short period of time an overwhelming majority turns against him it's not about the military it's the people in a democracy such political differences and confrontations are normal circle through elections rather than turning us is there any true democracy where an army commander discounts the will of the people legally deposes the president of the crew is actually a crime committed by the egyptian military. and you can see the full interview with the son of the deposed egyptian leader fourteen

thirty g.m.t. here an r.t. . now to some other world news making headlines this hour the e.u. has just agreed to blacklist hezbollah as a terrorist group at a meeting of foreign ministers in brussels the mood required the greenman to all twenty eight european union members britain accuses hezbollah of being behind last year's attack on a bus carrying israelis in bulgaria but up to now brussels has resisted pressure from washington and israel to put the shia muslim groups militia military wing on the terrorism list there is some concern about stoking tension in lebanon where hezbollah is an official part of the government but today's meeting of e.u. states has been held partly because hezbollah has become involved in the syrian conflict with militants fighting on the side of president bashar al assad. elsewhere seventy five people are now reported dead after a five point nine magnitude earthquake in western china over four hundred are

injured but local media fear that number will rise with a search for survivors under way and several villages cut off the quake was shallow striking twenty kilometers below the surface eight tang's in the remote mountainous area sustained a serious damage in the quake and subsequent flooding mudslides gansu province is one of the least populated in the whole of the country. and at least one hundred people have been injured in bahrain during the authorities crackdown on protests over the past three years violence took place in several villages across the country amid growing unrest in the kingdom just a few days ago the opposition leader to continue protests in the face of the government's policies he said that recent reports about an attack on a shia mosque have been fabricated to tarnish the protestors image your rich state has been struggling to quell unrest since twenty eleven the protest movement has not been put off by the imprisonment of hundreds of its members and the deaths of

more than a two. and a suicide bomber has attacked an army convoy in the iraqi city of mosul killing at least twenty five people most of the casualties were soldiers but there were also some civilians among the dead meanwhile security forces say they fought off an armed attack on the graves and to gie prisons need the capital baghdad low official say eleven members of the security forces were killed in fierce clashes that raged or night. i want once a much loved holiday resort just a short drive from london jay way is now one of europe's most deprived areas it's home to junkies there dealers and generations of families with no hope of employment. visited the forgotten seaside town. golden sands beach front property and just a stone's throw from the london wish you were here we have been really completely forgotten a lot of people are enough to enjoy you because that's the last place to go there's

no work for everybody and i think this is going to continue for the next. what could fix the problems of today with money has been ranked at the bottom of the government's poverty index for england and wales for three years running a national embarrassment and. doing something about it we're trying to get in the technologies. of the country where you think in the end i don't think it's the third party polls in the whole of you it. was once a proud holiday location for london's burgeoning middle class says the time was thought up as a holiday resort for city dwellers back in the one nine hundred twenty s. these are all meant to be summer houses but because rents was so cheap people started living here all year round it's in a flood risk zone which resulted in the government never investing any money into the area some parts of the town lacked tarmac roads street lighting or even pavements some of the locals say the cheap rent and precarious location has

attracted vulnerable families and social problems for free we got drunk which we really don't want. it junkie up. because throat and then it all gets blown up. forty percent of residents are either disabled or have a health condition that makes it impossible to work which might be just as well seeing as there are no jobs going in the town the last few shops that were hit have been boarded up unemployment is rife in the town in fact sixty two percent of the people that live heads append on welfare payments there isn't the word you say so if they've been used to just get enough of. sitting around that's who they're doing according to one local counsellor it's why. just minutes does idleness that's brought on j. wicks demise whatever problems you've got down there i think it's politically all of them to blame for whatever part of it something this they've let happen is

a dumping ground at the end of the day we've been the most people i've now for three years not one penny of we've got to come in and help it and with the government counting pennies in austerity britain many say that finale the chances of the town's redevelopment of washing away with the time. r t j wick sands essex. up next we look at what russian orthodox believe is our willing to enjoy in order to get close to christian readings. i've talked with you and many times about the absurd things going on all around us like kids being thrown out of school because they had a gun that shoots bubbles or various people getting punished for their tweets and facebook posts it's all really abstract it's hard to truly get angry over until you

see the results or playing a stupid video game just carter sarcastically said to someone who called him crazy oh yeah i'm real messed up in the head i'm going to go shoot a bunch of kids at school l.o.l. j k. and for this bit of sarcasm he spent quite some time awaiting trial in a texas prison not only that according to his father he was being attacked brutally on many occasions leading to both a poor concussions and black eyes and in the end he had to be thrown into solitary confinement for his own good you see this is the ugly reality of those who follow the bad side of political correctness you know i don't talk about these stories just for fun the main thing that i'd like to say is that it wasn't for some anonymous coward in canada turning him into the authorities for doing absolutely nothing this young man would not have to live with the memory and possible injuries from numerous assaults to the anonymous canadian who turned him in i sarcastically wish you a horrible fate but you probably get me arrested for it so just say that it's people like you who allow tyranny to exist but that's just my opinion.

and lent. i didn't expect anything i just went and told myself that i would keep going as long as my heart told me to follow the people. and that was always wanted to sound moment which. is but i felt something i want to tell my future children about us i still don't know what it was maybe i'll understand it later i just was sitting and crying yesterday i can't explain it . i felt a lot here i was even a little scared by it all i remember one morning in the village of boulder it was three am and it seemed like people were coming up from the grass lots of them gathering with icons in their hands and moving forward a real sense of.