and. as daily violence in iraq brings up the body count to two record levels are to investigate about the legacy of u.s. invasion you're radium contamination that's wrecking the lives of those born not to the womb. a different army clashes with muslim brotherhood supporters as rival rallies a rage of throughout the country living over eight hundred people while on the sinai peninsula the military launches a crackdown on supporters extremists. and long delayed peace we go chieftains between israel and the palestinians are finally set to restart in washington monday evening the prime minister netanyahu is cabinet varies to release one hundred four palestinian prisoners. and to the diplomatic wrangling over edward snowden takes

a new twist as washington rules out the death penalty for the man who exposed that spine secrets is still stuck in transit limbo at a moscow airport. from moscow you're watching r.t. for this week's top stories as well as other weeklies and another surge of carnage has all rocked iraq with a two hundred and twelve lives were lost during the violence over the past seven days now in july alone a staggering eight hundred people were killed in the country that's become a breeding ground for terrorists since the u.s. led invasion decade ago and the war has also left a disturbing legacy of contamination which results in birth defects artie's musica and off investigates. one hundred sixty kilometers south of baghdad

the sacred shiite city is known for its holy shrines and is surrounded 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. i felt these are you are no hook the noose around out to his office in the 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 is 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 they're 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 as in the midst of a growing health catastrophe. after the start of the iraq war rates of cancer leukemia and birth defects rose dramatically in a job we believe is because of the illegal weapons like that we didn't hear rain him at hospitals here cancer is more common than the flu. depleted uranium or d u cuts 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 in it no scribes one incident in najaf where a bradley armored fighting vehicle for three hundred five d.-u. rounds in a single engagement. the heavy fighting may be over but in nearly every street he 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 help. is old enough for school but have 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 the other families in this area even our own government doesn't do anything to help what can we do because our fate is a fate that many and suffer in silence. help with 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 it's. the living victims of that war talks look like to see who are still paying the price. of our team not just iraq. political activists a member of the stop of the war coalition john the reason says the turmoil in iraq is engulfed in is a result of the western divide and rule policy and the weakness of the local government in order to occupy iraq western forces british and american

adopted a policy of divide and rule. a major sectarian conflict where there wasn't one before they created al-qaeda in iraq where there was no al qaida before so i think that the country is upright for the most enormous strains as a result of that war the truth of the matter is it's a terrifically weak government it's a practically divided down the middle between people who are sympathetic to iran's position in the region and those. feel dependent on washington it's a state that's been left in a catastrophic weak position by the occupation which the current developments in the in the middle east a weakening still more several hundred egyptians have reportedly gathered to protest against both of the muslim brotherhood and the military that follows brutal clashes in cairo and left over seventy did supporters of the also president mohamed

morsy claim another sixty people on life support after being deliberately targeted by troops. has the latest from cairo. i went back to the city in. the violence it ended and spoke to many of the eyewitnesses and also the medics said running these very makeshift hospitals inside the city and speaking to eyewitnesses they told me that about a few hundred of then i decided to extend their sittin down the main road toward six foot to the bridge which is the main thoroughfare at about one o'clock we took in the morning at this point so security forces attempted to disperse them using tear gas off to this they say they reported a call to show which is that pellets and also an off the bat they then were fired on with live ammunition which went on until nine o'clock in the morning leaving dozens dead speaking to the medics they said by about four five o'clock in the morning they started to get the bodies in with live ammunition weans mostly to the

chest neck and head they say implying this was the shoot to kill now this is the duty forces for their part to nine days the protesters say they were not on top of the ministry of interior said saturday evening that the protesters were armed and shot back at them including injuring several of the soldiers they maintain they did not fire on any protest is only used tear gas when it was in fact the protesters themselves because the most of the violence so we really don't have any confirmation of how this exactly start states how the looking at the wounds of the people on the sheer number of dead it does imply that night i mean issue as you said a muslim brotherhood have said they will stay put in the sit ins and they will keep protesting to fight for justice and also for the reinstatement of mohamed morsy the military for that part maintaining that they will clear the sit ins and the minister of interior released a statement to saturday saying that it is working together with the minutes three

to devise a plan to leave the city and using legal means they say this is being slammed by rights groups who say it's not possible to legally nearest attend the have been phase that will be for the violence because we've seen such a heavy handed response from the military and the police force towards those protesting so it's very divided egypt extremely tense with the expected violence on the horizon. but they must later from the british egyptians for democracy group or says that the army is at the root of the problem and that they can't be a peaceful solution one is out in the streets we've seen already what the military has done this is not about morsi and wants not about the muslim brotherhood this is about democracy being hijacked by the military every single day we are seeing members of the pro-democracy movement being killed being arrested being attacked the only crime is to support democracy and to call for an end to this bloody coup

and so the solution you cannot ask the pro-democracy movement for a solution because it's the military who created the problem so if we want an end to this problem for we want an end to this escalation in egypt then we have to see the end of the military you have to see the back of the military. the chaos has prompted the u.s. to suspend its embassies operations in cairo meanwhile the egyptian army says it's killed ten extremists and arrested twenty others in the sinai peninsula and has deployed heavy weaponry and aviation in the area to crack down on terrorist forces that follows a spike in attacks and soldiers and police in the wake of president morsi is overthrown all highways leading to and from a sinai have been blocked to prevent extremism scaping there are an estimated five hundred militants in the area heavily armed and ready to use civilians as human shields speculated that some of them are muslim brotherhood supporters and have decided to take up arms and fight the military political social edges dr saeed

assad dagga says are the army's actions are part of a drive to weaken support for the slightest movement. in the last the sleeves there were many complaints by the egyptian army complains that not succeeded very well for many reasons one of them is that when president morsi who came to power he released many of the. terrorists who were in the sinai despite that they are ideologically different from the muslim brotherhood. a popular uprising that. was not welcomed by the sinai militants moved everybody you know now there's a front of me hope that you would be able to eradicate them once and for all this me picked on because the sinai is a huge area it's it's not that easy but at least it would give the activity for a long time only again as it is in the interest of the whole world that they support the egyptian military completely against terrorism. the long delayed peace

talks between israeli and palestinian authorities are set to resume in washington this monday evening that's after the israeli cabinet approved the release of one hundred four palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to restart negotiations brokered by u.s. secretary of state john kerry israeli politicians have also given the go ahead to a bill which if passed a would put in any outcome of peace talks to a referendum on this four marty's parsley. well the israeli parliament adjourns this week for their summer recess and what this means is that there will be no legislation able to be passed in this country for at least a few months the israeli cabinet has approved the bill that requires any future peace deal with the palestinians to be put to a referendum now the prime minister's office issued a statement in which it said and i'm quoting that it is important that on such historic decisions every citizen should vote directly this is not a question about supporting a palestinian state but what it is

a question about is supporting land swaps which would affect a future palestinian state what we're talking about here is jerusalem we're talking about parts of land within the green line but we're not talking about the west bank and the settlement blocks there but it is at the same time worth noting that this fall was pushed by a predominantly rightwing government it was pushed by the right wing members of natanya whose government meaning that they might be counting on the israeli public to not give its nod to giving land towards a future palestinian state and it might be a way for them of putting another hurdle in the path to a palestinian state i think it's fair to say that most israelis do support negotiations with the palestinians this coming tuesday it is expected that since two thousand and ten there will now be a resumption of direct negotiations between the israelis and palestinians in washington but when you talk about palestinian independent state the latest opinion polls do suggest that the majority of israelis do support the two state solution

but only if israel does not have to give major land swaps and of course that is the contentious issue now the government is seeking urgent approval of this referendum bill it is asking parliament to foster track its passage we do expect that this coming wednesday it will be brought to the knesset for a first reading. but you know some palestinians have already expressed their attitude towards plans to resume talks according to the pool. when local media at least seven people have been injured as security forces clashed with protesters in the west bank city of ramallah another rally was stays in some us controlled gaza with the group also rejecting the negotiations. coming up later in the program a syria's main opposition is becoming impatient as the rebels are clinging on to heights that they will receive from america despite fears of the weapons could end up in the wrong hands. plus edward snowden's fate is being played out in

a diplomatic game of ping pong between moscow and washington while he is stuck in a moscow airport we'll have this story and more often sobering. as the media leave us so we leave that maybe. others she pushes you to the other you call the visible. shoes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from. politics. we speak your language as i think about the war not a day of. news programs and documentaries and spanish what matters to you breaking news a little turn a different angle it's the stories. you hear. all

teach spanish find out more visit actuality bad. mood. and. thanks for staying with us here on r.t. one of america's most wanted a whistleblower stuck in a moscow airport his fate is being juggled in diplomatic games between russia and the u.s. washington says they will neither torture and will execute edward snowden who exposed a sweeping surveillance tactics should he be handed over to the u.s. in the meantime moscow refused to extradite the man saying there are no eagle grants for the procedure artie's leads of friends reports. the world's media and

u.s. law enforcement may not be chasing edward snowden from country to country at this point but there is plenty of chasing going on at the airport and there's no sign of it slowing down as the weeks passed the kremlin has stuck to its guns on allowing snowden to stay as long as he does not harm the united states by disclosing any more information tension mounted wednesday when reports emerge that snowden's russian advisor anatoly. was in route to share the metro airports terminal with documents allowing snowden's temporary release from the transit zone while his asylum bed is considered but he showed up toting a brown paper bag filled with nothing more than new clothes and a few copies of russian classics translated to english along with the rather dismal news for snowden the paperwork was delayed. it is in waiting mode now and we can all imagine how he feels being unaware of what's ahead of him and whether he'll get a yes or no answer from the russian authorities and for me procedures can take up

to three months anyway he's very grateful to russia which didn't abandon him and to the people who were trying to help him needless to say snowden was nowhere in sight for the media's hungry lenses meanwhile the game of diplomatic ping pong gets better and better while russia allows snowden's remain in the transit zone the white house demands he's returned without delay the kremlin returns the volley by pointing out the absence of an extradition treaty with washington u.s. ambassador to russia then takes to twitter claiming they're not asking for extradition just to return russia points out the absence of an international law requiring a return secretary of state john kerry call snowden a traitor to his country russia states part of the reason for sheltering snowden is worried that he could face capital punishment it's then that u.s. attorney general eric holder pens a letter to russia's justice ministry no torture no execution russia points the fact that snowden has been stripped of his passport he can't travel to which. holder scrambles to offer

a temporary pass for for direct travel to the secure embrace of american law enforcement the kremlin is unmoved while the white house asks for clarification on snowden status i think edward snowden has really been in many ways a hero and he has sacrificed his entire future i think as an american how much it's clear he loves this country he will never again see the golden gate bridge or the blue ridge mountains or the grand canyon all the things that we americans take for granted other irons in the fire congress accelerated a bill applying sanctions to any country offering asylum to edward snowden and some hawkish senators are calling for everything from a change of venue for september's g twenty summit in st petersburg to a boycott by the u.s. olympic team of the twenty fourteen winter games in sochi outside the states there are plenty of people lining up to make sure snowden is not thrown to the washington wolves anytime soon it's important that people from whatever government can say i

think my government has been doing wrong and has been breaching people's human rights and i need to apply for asylum in order to be able to speak out about it is while all sides battle it out back and forth back and forth where is there squarely he's quietly hanging out in duty free or possibly thumbing through his new copy of dostoyevsky's crime and punishment back at sheremetyevo airport in moscow lindsey france r t. edward snowden know would face espionage charges of the second he steps on u.s. soil despite american assurances that he won't be executed or tortured os cases of other whistleblowers suggests he is right to be wary of going home r.t. if you can has more on washington's crackdown on lead. by relentlessly going after whistleblowers here we picked some of the most notable ones the u.s. government is sending a message this is what's going to happen to you if you speak out even if you think you're doing it. for the public good even if the public things you did the right

thing in edward snowden's case fifty five percent of americans consider him a whistleblower not a traitor and yet even as many americans are thinking to snowden for greater awareness about the government's blatant snooping on millions of absolutely innocent people snowden still had to flee the country so was not to share the fate of his fellow whistleblowers had he stayed he would have been in jail facing life in prison or maybe even the death penalty the example of bradley manning is right there the twenty five year old u.s. army private bradley manning has been in custody for three years now and is facing more than one hundred fifty years in jail many leaked documents and videos that exposed war crimes committed by the u.s. the military judge has recently ruled that mending still has to face the most serious charge the charge of aiding the enemy despite many claims that he's sole intent was to make the public more aware of the cost of war the human cost another whistleblower former cia analyst john king also thought he was doing the right

thing when he spoke about the cia's torture practices and became the first government official who confirmed waterboarding at one time to get out who was the head of the cia's counterterrorism operations in pakistan father of five kids out who is now in jail serving his two and a half years sentence former n.s.a. employees william binney and thomas drake were very close to jail time after they separately blew the whistle on the government's massive surveillance program which they saw as ineffective an illegal needless to say their careers were destroyed edward snowden's revelations of only confirmed would be drake had been saying for years but possibly unlike binney and drake snowden has also made public indisputable proof of the existence of the programs i had the chance to interview three of these men john kiriakou william binney and thomas drake they talked to me about what it's like being targeted by the u.s. government take a listen if you're in itself is control. and what people will do when they're

fearful is they were be will begin to censor themselves so much of what's happening now particular my case it sent it extraordinarily chilling message that anybody and i was a senior executive the government had a very high position and i say it sends that extraordinarily chilling message that if you speak out if you speak up we're going to hammer you and we're going to hammer you hard because look what we did to mr drake the court is supposed to protect the constitution all these all these people in government take an oath to defend the constitution and they're not living up to their oath of office i never believed i would be going to prison under a president obama never. that's been i think my biggest disappointment the classified documents then then you'll ellsberg leaked four decades ago revealed that the us government had lied about the vietnam war and those revelations contributed to the erosion of public support for the war daniel ellsberg was the first whistleblower who was charged under the espionage act the government went

after him with only had wiretapped him without a court war and broke into his therapist's office trying to find something to discredit him with the judge dismissed all charges against ellsberg due to the gross government misconduct and illegal evidence gathering today daniel ellsberg stands in support of all these whistleblowers arguing had he been charged today he would have most probably gone to jail in washington i'm going to shake up. we also have plenty more news on our web site for you including who catches us citizen part of the day to have talked to dot com to read more on the n.s.a. spying programs that trillions of telephone calls and e-mails in their databases. plus the brains parliament are polled banning protests in the country's capital online we have more on the measures that are being imposed under their spaciousness of safeguarding citizens and businesses. in an apparent

attempt to distance themselves or form extremists the syria's main opposition group has condemned the alleged massacre of government soldiers near the city of aleppo just a few days after its representatives urged the u.s. to start supplying weapons to the fighters over so many rebel groups active on the ground it's unclear where those arms could eventually end up artie's paul scott takes a closer look. while the opposition are united in their desire to overthrow president bashar al assad that seems to be where their similarity ends the syrian national coalition is the umbrella group recognized internationally as the legitimate representative of the syrian people but they don't represent all factions opposed to a saddle one group operating out of their control for example is the al qaeda linked al nusra front the coalition say they've hijacked the revolution or they've been classed by many in the west as a terrorist organization elsewhere a separate syrian group for the eighty two al qaida helped facilitate

a jailbreak in iraq bring high ranking al qaeda operatives infiltrated by foreign fighters on the issues agenda seem separate from out of the coalition and it's even led to infighting on f.s.a. commander was killed by a rival group and the f.s.a. feel they could soon be fighting on two fronts but when we use the phrase opposition exactly who are we talking about well the coalition alone is made up of at least eleven different groups including the muslim brotherhood who have recently called on the us and the e.u. to send arms in the battle with assad while only offering loose guarantees they won't fall into extremist hands there's also the coalition of secular and democratic syrians the syrian democratic people's party supreme council of the syrian revolution and so it goes on the disparate nature of the syrian opposition combined with the presence of islamic extremists means any nation looking to support the rebels are walking a continual tight rope with very few guarantees that any military support won't

backfire and actually encourage the one thing that trying to fight elsewhere. the idea of arming syrian rebels has met song opposition from some american role make republican senator rand paul says that weapons may eventually be against the u.s. the assad regime is no friend of freedom or the united states but this does not mean that the enemy of our enemy is our friend there are currently seventeen different rebel groups in syria including the largest group of al nusra al nusra fighters or radical anti-american geodes and they're affiliated with al qaeda but your politicians in washington are eager to send weapons they promised oh these weapons won't get into the hands of the enemy i don't believe it does anyone believe that how can we ask our brave young men and women to fight against al qaeda

in some countries and with al qaeda in other countries. some more international news in brief breaking news or for us at least thirty six people have been killed in a bus crash in the d'italia city of our very low that's according to the rescuers at the scene four children have reportedly been pulled out alive from the wreckage eleven people have been taken to hospital in serious condition a coach struck several cars when he came off of a fly over and plunged twenty five meters down the slope in a heavily wooded an area which is hampering rescue operations. thirty one people have drowned while trying to reach they tell you an island of lampedusa a vessel carrying for these three migrants capsized on friday evening off the coast of libya the survivors from nigeria gambia bernina and senegal were rescued by a passing merchant ship boat overturned after three days and see.

a suspected u.s. drone strike has killed at least five people in a tribal region in pakistan two missiles are reportedly hit the problems of north waziristan when men were crossing on foot into pakistan territory from afghanistan it comes just a day after an apparently u.s. during strike killed four suspected islamist militants in southern yemen america's drone program is a source of extreme tension between washington and islamabad which considers the strikes a violation of itself into. three powerful explosions have rocked the eastern libyan city of benghazi the blast reportedly targeted two law courts and a justice ministry office officials reported about ten people wounded two seriously this comes a day after over a thousand inmates escaped from a local prison the day after the jailbreak about one hundred escapees were recaptured. virgin has finished in mali's presidential election where.