kurdish activists send out a plea to world powers urging them to prevent ethnic cleansing in syria and we talk to an eyewitness of the brutal attacks by al qaeda linked groups. russian and u.s. foreign policy in the fans has are due to meet amid a deepening political round which sees each side pointing the finger of blame. and the fountain of hope that's run dry later we will gather roots of the arab spring that florist on the promise of democracy but which is failing to bring the stability and prosperity to many died for.

five pm in the russian capital you're watching r t welcome to the program kurds who tried to report attacks by radical islamists in syria are in danger of being abducted or killed that's what an eyewitness to an assault has told r.t. the kurdish minority in northeastern syria has reportedly been enduring horrific attacks by al qaeda linked groups for around three weeks now our correspondent in the region are reading those go brings you what's come to light so far. our ticket is getting new details horrifying details from the eyewitnesses who happened to be in the area those details are extremely hard to come by because of the essential information and physical blockade which has been put up against the rest of the world by the extremists who are permeating the kurdish areas and towns in the northeastern syrian provinces now when we do get to manage to speak to some of the eyewitnesses for what is happening in this region we hear truly horrendous reports . of the skate there shot militias raided their houses blew up some of them and

robbed others till now they have more than two hundred civilian hostages we are in contact with some of those who managed to escape they are in a shock and fear for their logs the conditions are very bad people are in fear and terrorized. out of control there raiding the streets there's no media coverage and anyone who tries to reach out is being kidnapped by the militants the united nations investigators are on the ground right now trying to piece together whether earlier reports of some four hundred people being killed in cold blood are indeed true the u.n. has said that if indeed those reports have any basis in reality that this amounts to a war crime nevertheless this issue doesn't seem to get any better even though it does get more coverage at this point the problem is like i said it's the lack of communication it's the lack of opportunity for people who are inside the kurdish towns and villages to reach out to the world because they are essentially fearful to come out on the street where extremist groups are roaming cities and towns and

of course the reporters or any other journalists type people who are trying to get into the areas again they cannot get through because of the extremely dangerous situation so of course the situation doesn't seem to get any better and that is something that the international community is definitely becoming more and more alarmed about. reports that those kurdish civilians who are unable to flee and remain holed up in. their homes in fear of extremists follow her twitter feed for all the latest developments in the ongoing crisis. the world must quote to fan the kurds from massacre and ethnic cleansing and the quote that's the plea from kurdish campaigners who are seeking urgent protection from the international community peace encourages kurdistan activist are asking the united nations as well as the u.s. and e.u. to act now to stop what they call brutal massacres and they're also demanding that

western powers stop sending weapons to groups in syria that use them to attack civilians and commit war crimes the statement also calls for a probe into turkey his role in fueling the conflict in the kurdish areas of syria kurdish politician has some hot at all these things supporting the syrian rebels are receiving from abroad as the main cause of his people's plight. all of this is happening because the rebels have been on from the group by countries that do not want democracy and peace and soon turkey in the gulf monarchies are arming these terrorists meanwhile western countries are turning a blind eye to all their ignoring the atrocities being committed against the kurds were calling on the west to stop supporting the rebels and to assist us otherwise these extremist forces could eventually turn against their back. and while washington still wavering over whether to provide lethal aid to the rebel forces in

syria the director of the institute for policy studies phyllis bennis says it's clear where these weapons would eventually end up. despite all of the assurances of the various representatives of the free syrian army or the national syrian council who say well we'll make sure they don't get in their hands because we'll keep receipts i'm sorry but receipts aren't going to make it when one force has the capacity militarily to overcome the other force they can't make that kind of a guarantee that they won't fall into those hands it's been true for quite a while that the most powerful militarily of the opposition forces have been the islamist forces allied consciously of their own choice with al-qaeda certainly there will be challenges for the west if there is another permanent stronghold of al qaeda someplace like syria and the danger of. other unaccountable forces who have no commitment to international law getting control of weapons of mass destruction that may exist inside inside syria such as chemical weapons that would

be disastrous. following the fallout over moscow granting asylum to edward snowden russian an american a fan's chief and diplomats are set to sit down for talks the meeting also comes amid tensions sparked by barack obama calling off a summit with live report an as washington sided a lack of progress in relations but moscow has blamed the americans for being on unwilling to negotiate on equal food ing parties gannets chicken has more. u.s. russia relations with a new low over snowden president obama has just scrapped the bilateral meeting with president putin it's in this frosty setting that secretary of state john kerry and secretary of defense chuck hagel are meeting their russian counterparts to get a lover off and sergey to try and find common ground on a whole range of issues snowden of course will be part of the discussion it is a part but it is a not a large part of what the agenda will be on friday the obama administration keeps saying they scrapped the meeting with the russian president not just because of

snowden but because of a lack of progress on other issues naming missile defense and human rights in russia but the u.s. had helped talk some disagreement over missile defense committee years with regard to human rights. meeting with the u.s. president one possible so it's pretty much clear to everyone that at this point it is about snowden and the question many ask ahead of the friday meeting is whether this scandal based tension will affect cooperation between the u.s. and russia in other spheres on syria for instance where cooperation is already under a lot of strain to say the least both moscow and washington agreed to mediate a summit in geneva where they would bring all sides of the syrian conflict together to map out a political solution but are they any closer the opposition has been clear they will not sit down with people who have blood on their hands these are all part of the discussion and all issues we continue to work through the idea of the summit was about bringing all hands to the negotiating table in order to finally stop the

bloodshed and save syria from becoming an all but one thing that both the u.s. and russia agree on is that the terrorist threat is growing in syria russia is sure to raise the issue of u.s. plans to arm the rebels when it's clear that the weapons can easily migrating to the terrorists' hands that happened in libya so similar concerns on both sides but very strong disagreements on what to do and how to do it nobody expects that before . official john kerry said a lot of raw chuck hagel and sergey shy go walk out of that meeting on friday with a big smile on their face but the hope is that they will at least not let disappointment and scandals completely overshadow whatever progress the two countries ten actually make. the u.s. is unwilling to back down and make any concessions to moscow on key international issues and that's according to geo political analyst william and. washington is

determined to encircle russia with its missile defense which is an often said strategy not a defensive one by the way it's a nuclear first strike preparation strategy and that's something that russia understandably is not exactly overjoyed about the issue of syria is non-negotiable in terms of what the u.s. is trying to put into power in syria similar to what they tried in egypt and failed that is a muslim brotherhood controlled regime that would allow qatar to control pipeline flows in to europe and not to iran so among other things so this is there is not a basis of agreement on these fundamental questions noton is as i say is not the issue the issue is this fundamental disagreement and washington is not prepared to change its agenda and openly and honestly negotiate to resolve these differences therefore obama is using this childish maneuver of cats in the meeting because of snowden supposedly you want to argue life in moscow and more international news stories

will be coming your way after a short break. speak your language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks specifically ip interview intriguing story so you. see arabic to find out more visit arabic don't call.

welcome back this is r.t. now it's been two and a half years since the arab spring erupted but the optimism that swept the region baghdad has been brutally crushed street riots are raging in egypt militias are slain civilians in libya and most recently the countries that have fared the best tunisia seems to be descending back into anti-government turmoil but what were people hoping for our disease and now investigates. the arab spring captivated the world just over two swords years ago changed democracy and new elected governments

were promised in the three countries that began this wave of revolution but what prevailed is nothing short of chaos almost full circles in tunisia and egypt and in neighboring libya a situation some described as much worse than before regime change we don't hear anything about libya in the western press or western television channels what we know is different groups vying for supremacy people are desperate to try and put a cover all of what has been created by the libyan disaster in the fall of gadhafi trends have formed take tunisia we all remember mohamed bouazizi the fruit vendor who set himself on fire in december twenty ten his death sparked mass protests followed by the president fleeing in mid january twentieth eleven now again the death of an opposition leader sparked protests in july twenty third teen they

haven't let down still this week tens of thousands are on the street demanding the resignation of the government in egypt as similar to two thousand and eleven and mass protest mubarak he's out twenty third seen mass protests morsy is also out and violence reigns with the help of the military. the fact that morsi violated human rights does not justify overthrowing him and especially if together with the overthrow we get more violations of human rights rather than less you're an investigator on torture one mendez there he told r g the most worried he is it's about countries like libya where the organization is denied access but are aware of atrocities far worse than under gadhafi very troublesome because we hear about clandestine detention centers. detention centers that are run by militias

that are not accountable to anybody so many experts including mendez expects positive change in the arab world it's just not clear at what cost and how long it could take now egypt's military backed government is facing an uphill struggle to contain protesters and restore stability but there is another problem looming was a post from a dam fees now over a food is in short supply all across the most populous arab nation whose economy is at its weakest in eighty years aren't isabel true has a story. at a cairo hospital food bank volunteers offload banks of provisions to prepare a traditional ramadan dinner for many like most of our words a hospital worker tonight's donated meal is the largest one he'll get this week i earn about fifty dollars a month and we are six people to the maximum i can do is buy beans two for a few sounds so i can eat we want justice i work a whole day and make practically nothing when i'm leaving but if i don't and this tiny salary my family won't eat the poorest are suffering in egypt as policy makers

and the media are distracted by the deepening political crisis food banks like this one who tried to cover the whole country are stretched to their limits explains coordinator money amount of thought. the poverty line is so high food is the most important think we. will provide hundreds of food baskets full of fries and basic food stuff so that they can feed families for a month in some places will go to our totally destroyed every time we visit it gets worse even provide livestock so that they can feed themselves for a while with a country in turmoil food distribution centers like these a plug in the gaps amid an escalating crisis food insecurity has risen significantly in the last few years according to the world food program resulting in a rise in stunting anemia amongst children due to malnutrition over a quarter of the population is under the poverty line and they're the ones being hardest hit with the continued civil unrest and dwindling foreign exchange reserves and they say the situation will only get worse as egypt is unable to imports much

needed wheat for the brat millions depend on government subsidized bread that sells for about one cents a loaf however critics say egypt's food subsidies are wasteful and don't filter down to those who truly need it it's basically subsidizing items at a very cheap prices and i bring it to the mainstream populations with a very high. very slow nutritional value close to nineteen percent of the poorest people are not getting the subsidy and we know that twenty percent of the subs. and he goes to the richest strata of the society and again it is another product of cessed subsidy egypt is facing its worst economic crisis since the one nine hundred thirty s. and food prices have doubled since two thousand and twelve making nutritious food inaccessible to many in the world that there are high prices everywhere to meet his vegetables are too expensive for me with few functioning state institutions and a new interim government focused on developing political events these issues will

continue to go unresolved and for the moment the most fundamental will be left starving tree for r.t. cairo. hours to go look at some other stories from around the world in pakistan's restive city of quest at least nine people have died in a shootout gunman opened fire on a crowd of worshipers that were leaving a mosque the attack marks a bloody start to the ied festival which culminates the holy fasting month of ramadan on thursday thirty eight people were killed in the same city in a suicide bomb blast a funeral the region's plagued by sectarian violence mostly targeting pakistan's shia minority. an indefinite term view has been imposed in a town in india administered kashmir the restriction comes after muslims and hindus clashed there during eve celebrations police had to respond with tear gas and warning shots to disperse the crowds and another incident police confronted thousands of anti india protesters in the city of chicago are dozens of people have

been injured on both sides kashmir is divided between india and pakistan with both states vying for control. and the u.k. is sending three warships to the british overseas territory of gibraltar amid a worsening diplomatic row with spain london says it's a routine visit but it comes after gibraltar's chief minister asked for the deployment to stop spanish incursions into the rocks territorial waters the centuries old conflict reignited in late july when british boats created a makeshift reef of concrete blocks in the sea spain responded with long delays at the border and a lengthy car checks. japan is marking the sixty eighth anniversary of an atomic bomb dropped on august saki together with hiroshima the attacks by america killed over two hundred thousand people and prompted japan to surrender in the second world war during the ceremony nagasaki as mayor criticize the country's authorities for what he called

a lack of effort in nuclear disarmament opposition to atomic power also heightened after the fukushima disaster in twenty one have been. calls to boycott sochi twenty fourteen are growing louder and causing quite a stir in the global media they were prompted by russian lawmakers decision to ban the promotion of homosexuality to children british actor stephen fry as gone as far as branding the law fascist and drawing in a book an analogy to nazi germany here's boy boy go to separate fact from the fiction and the media frenzy. stephen fry's open letter said that russia is making scapegoats out of gay people just as hitler did the jews which is why he's called for a boycott of the upcoming winter olympics set to take place in the russian town of sochi next february not a boycott saatchi idea is gathering at lightning pace with clemente says on both

sides of the story weighing in some of the service of pointed out that the legislation passed in russia isn't unprecedented in fact the u.k. itself had a similar law were in place until very recently the united kingdom had something called section twenty eight in place until two thousand and three which was almost exactly the same is the recent law passed in russia which said that homosexuality should not be promoted in schools or to minors so much for keeping sports and politics separate which is exactly the message that the international olympic committee gave to r.t. boycotting sochi twenty fourteen would only serve to deprive the country's athletes from fulfilling their dreams of competing at an olympic games something they've dedicated a great portion of their lives to accomplish history has shown that boycotts do not solve anything but simply punish olympic athletes those campaigning for gay rights also doubting whether stephen fry's proposed boycott is the right path to go down

the only people who will suffer because of this because it is the sportsman who are participating in these in these competitions that's why i'm against the best solution in this in this case is to go and protest during the olympic games concerns surrounding the new gay propaganda war in russia has even led to worries that gay athletes could be arrested when they arrive in sochi for the games to which russian or sources of fire a fide that the new law doesn't outlaw homosexuality and that those attending and participating in the games will be safe despite the assurances in this former olympic host city the talk of boycotts shows no sign of abating. artsy london now british world affairs journalist neil park thinks the gay rights issues being deliberately overhyped in the media. in nazi germany homosexuals really were discriminated against they were put into the concentration camps and killed in large numbers and of course this is not happening in russia today if it was i'd be the first person said we go to russia all together it's not happening what's

happened in russia is we've got a new law which bans the promotion of homosexuality to under eighteen's now i'm not saying i support that law i oppose all anti-gay laws were passed in the world but why stephen fry focusing on russia there are about eighty countries in the world where homosexuality is actually illegal one of them is a country called qatar where the world cup is going to be held in twenty twenty two you go to prison for five years if you're homosexuals it's political i think there's guys i said there's eighty countries who have worse records on gay rights than russia so i think it shows double standards here it shows this kind of russia phobia i think among the western elite that they looked out of russia they patronize them the this idea that russian people more homophobic they're racist it's nonsense it's not true. pulling the plug on privacy an encrypted mail service favored by fugitive n.s.a. leaker edward snowden has been forced out of business we report online how the company's illiterate has had to block his service or face the wrath of the u.s. government. and it's maybe

a very long way from us orbiting jupiter in fact one freezing moon could in the distant future offer many kinds bass chance at survival r.t. dot com has more on this. one since we move the i.t.n. energy minister is finding yourself on the wrong side of her own laws politicians been known for her stiff anti-piracy stance but will now have to explain why she herself crossed the line on copyright. and moscow's cracking down on illegal workers coming from abroad there will be tougher punishment for those who exceed up permits for a one month stay in the country as well as for the businesses caught hiring them of the five million migrant workers now in russia an estimated three million are illegal a situation which authorities are struggling to get under control or just a corpus going off now reports. so many of them came here thinking it's the road to

opportunity but instead the many found themselves on their way back home we were working and then all of a sudden police rushed in and detained us over one thousand illegal workers were arrested this week alone so many in fact that a temporary camp had to be set up to house those awaiting deportation several human rights organizations have criticized the conditions the migrants are kept in only the basic necessities are provided meals toilets and showers. which of course this isn't a summer camp or your vacation getaway but we do have to remember all these people have violated the law. but some n.g.o.s claim these conditions are still better than the ones most of the workers experienced during their so-called employment like their realities these people lived as slaves almost none of them got paid they work for food independent public movements have also been trying to help authorities get the situation under control for instance this is one of the

basements they raided home to over a dozen workers many without documents and their employer. better than i how can we find out who's in charge here our boss yes not here right now can we call them i don't have the number. workers are usually hired by contractors which service buildings and apartment blocks clean streets and look after other infrastructure. because of high rent prices in the city it's cheaper for contractors to house them in basements even though it's illegal we've gone through around fifty in the last six months around five hundred migrants have been passed over to the police most were fined and some were deported to. according to migration officials there are around three million illegal migrant workers in russia but independent studies show much higher figures but clearly for companies hiring migrants is a much less of a hassle than firing russian citizens quare entitled to social benefits while

illegal workers have no support at all it's not only about cleaning streets servicing buildings or working at markets construction alone is a major source of jobs with some projects creating hundreds or perhaps even thousands of new places most of which also usually end up being taken by migrant workers the lack of transparency is found in all spheres of business and experts say it's now undermining the whole system just some entrepreneurs hire strictly legal migrants and invest in african amounts of money and while those who hire illegal ones don't how can they compete from august's the fines for breaking russian migration and labor laws will be substantially increased companies will have to pay up to thirty thousand dollars for each illegal worker they hired for them saving cash this way has never been so expensive you've got this going on moscow. and next to cross dog debates double standards over nuclear threats.

everyone respects a promise written in stone promises written on the internet well they're a bit more flexible and a lot easier to erase obama made a lot of promises as a candidate on his site change dot gov including some about protecting whistleblowers and obama said that we need to empower federal employees as watchdogs and that he would strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste fraud and abuse of authority and government but strangely and possibly coincidentally two days after the first revelation of government spying by stoughton these promises of the change dot gov site were taken down if

this is not just some odd coincidence and they consciously chose to hide obama's campaign promises that this is political cowardice at its worst and what is even worse is that they didn't think that this would get exposed almost immediately if you try to conduct some sort of medieval book burning to distort information on the internet then you are only going to get burnt yourself but that's just my opinion. with the economic ups and downs in the final months day that the deal sank i and the rest because i think me a few will be everything. exactly

what happened that day i don't know but if i killed. piers later when i got arrested for. for a crime i did not do. we have numerous cases where police officers lie about polygraph results you get innocent people to confess the police officers don't beat people anymore i mean it just doesn't happen really. in the course of interrogation why because there's been this is like meant no because the psychological techniques are more effective in obtaining confessions than physical abuse and they were off taking they could do what they wanted they can say what they wanted and there was no evidence of what they did or what they said. you know the issues facing. us.