president obama has weighed options for military action against damascus with no clues so far if the green light has been given while the pentagon's naval forces move closer to syria. this is syrian troops say they have found toxic weapons in tunnels used by the rebels while the west blames chemical attacks on assad government. two hundred days and counting guantanamo prisoners a pushing on with their hunger protest struggling to change their fate of force feeding and indefinite detention. but also reporting this hour a digital currency gets real recognition the german government decides that virtual money is a legal and private means of payment of top stories this hour. international

news and comment live from our studio center here in moscow has just turned midnight this is r.t. the us is reading for a possible missile strike on syria and reports say preparations are already under way the pentagon is moving its naval forces closer ensuring president obama has military options available and he's met with his advisors to consider action following an alleged chemical attack which is being blamed on syria's government destroyers currently now in the mediterranean and there are reports that a fourth is on its way all of them carrying up to three hundred cruise missiles which is more than enough to act rapidly if obama wants to order

a strike there's also the nato maritime group in the region which includes four more ships and if we take a look at the mainland the u.s. and its western allies military presence around syria then that is also significant . is following america's military maneuvers. well it appears that the u.s. is no longer just using words to address the ongoing syrian crisis plans of possible military action are now being deliberated now despite the fact that the unconfirmed reports made by the syrian rebels have not been verified president obama has called recent allegations of chemical weapons being used by the syrian government and of great concern now white house official says that the u.s. has a range of options and that the obama administration is going to out very deliberately in making decisions consistent with u.s. national security interests and how washington can advance its objectives in syria meantime on friday the u.s. navy. ship armed with missiles in the mediterranean u.s.

defense secretary chuck hagel said obama has already asked the pentagon for options are in syria according to c.b.s. news potential targets include command bunkers and launchers used to fire chemical weapons now up until this point the u.s. leader has been very cautious over intervening in syria previously saying quote the u.s. should be wary of being drawn into very expensive difficult costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region unquote however one year ago obama also said that chemical weapons used in syria would be a red line for the united states and now he is under pressure growing pressure to act u.s. officials have acknowledged that there is no conclusive evidence linking syrian president bashar al assad to this week's alleged chemical attacks nonetheless a state department spokesperson has also said that washington doesn't believe the

rebels are capable of carrying out a chemical attack so logically this would lead one to think that the white house has already found the syrian government guilty of the alleged chemical weapons being used in syria now the media has also played a significant role in recent days with many western media outlets looping very sad and shocking video of dead victims in syria while reporting that the assumption is that the syrian government is behind the mass killings. portnoy there were new reports from syria say the army has discovered chemicals in an area earlier controlled by opposition forces and despite no confirmation of reports that the government carried out a chemical attack international pressure on assad is increasing now the french foreign minister insists all indications suggest the government was behind the massacre and wants to respond with force if the allegations are proved the u.k. foreign secretary william hague has also said that this chemical attack was carried

out by the assad regime and here's a similar voice from sweden its foreign minister claimed he had a hard time coming to any conclusion other than that the deadly chemicals were used by the regime's forces while turkey joined in calling for necessary response to what it condemned as the crime against humanity will listen a bomber has called america an indispensable nation in stabilizing the middle east yet there's been no international reaction so far on the chemical findings of the syrian army will artie's middle east correspondent paula slipper has more. syrian state television is reporting that syrian soldiers found traces of chemical agents off the entry in tunnels used by rebel fighters in a damascus suburb the empty shells that they found had markings on the met said that they had been made in saudi arabia just a reminder that saudi arabia is very mentally opposed to the syrian president bashar assad now these soldiers started suffocating and ambulances had to be sent

to the scene to assist them syrian television is also reporting that these soldiers found and that are used to kill the intoxication this comes off to reports of a huge attack earlier this week that saw the involvement of chemical weaponry we have heard reports that anywhere between dozens and one thousand three hundred people were killed in that new attack there has been lots of unverified footage making the rounds online we've seen soldiers of people phoning at the mouth people suffocating all of that pointing to the possible use of saturn gets some of the photos online do show empty shells it does seem to point to the fact that this latest attack had this weaponry fired from rebel held areas all of this as u.n. inspectors are inside syria they arrived last sunday they carrying out investigations on some thirteen hours ago ports of chemical weapons usage the e.u. in chief of disarmament arrived in the country and the u.n.

team has now been tasked with trying to reach the scene of this latest chemical attack and damascus has indicated that they are giving them full support and they will be helping them in whatever way they can but there is heavy fighting on the go in that area. paula slim reporting there with the still be no confirmation about the number of victims of the alleged mass chemical attack doctors without borders say they have received around three thousand six hundred patients suffering from intoxication following the reported assault three hundred fifty five of them have reportedly died but exactly who was behind the attack is still hard to verify despite the west suspecting a sad and not the rebels well let's talk more about this with diode he's a professor of international law at georgetown university professor these are fresh allegations now coming in that the rebels are indeed using chemical weapons will the u.s. take this into consideration when they decide what to do next. i

think the u.s. cannot take any action without from very fire evidence about who was the party that is responsible i think if it is going to turn out to be the rebels who are using these weapons on this poisonous material the u.s. would be embarrassed because it could be the allies of the u.s. so to speak that the opposition that the u.s. has been supporting and claiming that these are people who are seeking democracy and rule of law and fighting corruption and whatever and in syria and this is the purpose of the regime change the u.s. would like to to prove or would like and some of its allies that it is the regime who has done this but this has not been independently proven very fired and without an independent verification i doubt there's another can president obama

especially that he did say that we need to be sure about who is the who has used these weapons we need to evaluate the costs to the u.s. both financially and morally we you we need since it is a crime against humanity a crime that concerns the entire of. the world over the humanity in general we'd like some kind of international effort over that is also you know how soon we know that the rebels we know that the rebels have been infiltrated by extremist elements is there not a chance that those extremist elements could have chemical weapons and use them and of course as you say the rebels are being supported by the u.s. but that could be something that the u.s. chooses to ignore. yeah but this is this is the selective approach that the u.s. has the u.s. is supporting the opposition the armed opposition it is consenting to

arming them even though the u.s. would like to appear as not involved itself it didn't have it found dirty but they support the opposition figure among these opposition that. fighters who are who belong to al qaida and tired by derivatives and the u.s. knows that and the u.s. knows that these are the strongest on the ground so supporting the in general the opposition coalition and trying to distance itself from what some groups will do in terms of chemical weapons or some other slogans and there is lots of a lot of sort of being committed by the rebels it's a little bit embarrassing to be u.s. and be a source of embarrassment and just briefly why though although the u.s. doesn't know who is responsible why and now we seeing this military buildup in the region as i just reported earlier about the navy now the presence that the u.s.

navy in the mediterranean and also other elements now why are we seeing that. well i can think i can think of three reasons one the u.s. president said chemical weapons the use of chemical weapons is a red line and now the. first the public opinion in the u.s. and the world public opinion is telling mr obama here you said what are you doing what have you done so you want to appear as being serious about it. trying to put pressure. on the syrian government and three there's no more out of the opposition. who are not doing well apparently on the ground and. make give them hope that the u.s. is about to do something but i think if we would take all what the u.s.

president has said does not indicate that military action is imminent but do you think in the long term more loss of life and the allegations of chemical weapons being used that they will indeed have to intervene at some stage in a letter you say this could be just a gesture at the moment it could be a reality i don't think that the u.s. or proven to be. very concerned about the loss of life. if it were. arming the rebels would not be the way or supporting arming but i've been supporting the armed resistance and there is no law in the words that would give legitimacy to a group of people taking arms against the government international law does not allow a country to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries the us knows that geneva would be the way the russians have been saying this from day one this is

what a united nations was created to find a peaceful settlement to international disputes among nations it doesn't say that. given the two parties weapons so that they can kill each other if they were asked wanted to put an end to the syrian bloodshed i think it is capable of doing that but it seems that what. appears to be the case the us would say the. regime is any genes that we don't care for they don't do what we like them to do and the opposition especially about al qaida and its us if they if they perish it is not a huge loss to the us the actions of both destroy syria one puts them at ease and would would make a weaker country and as long as this is taking place without any cause to do you

without any more on or material cause if the syrians doing it to themselves or they're going to encourage them and by manipulation but in general i don't think the us is convincing when someone claims but i also see a and to the bloodshed in syria professor daoud thank you very much good to talk to you on this thanks for joining us live on r.t. . meanwhile there's been a new suicide bombing in the syrian capital six people were reportedly killed and twenty two injured by the explosion in the center of damascus according to local t.v. a car bomb went off in a crowded mainly christian area this is heavy fighting between government troops and rebel forces continues on the outskirts of the city. r.t. live here in moscow still to come the far east on edge armies of rescue workers soldiers and volunteers struggle to protect russians cut off skies massive floods threaten

the city on all sides we'll bring you the latest on the efforts there shortly. nearly seven months of refusing to eat being force fed and alleged abuse with no end in sight that's been the daily experience for many guantanamo bay inmates since early february food protest has gone on for two hundred days now but president obama is still stalling on shutting down the facility well let's see what the situation is like right now at the u.s. run camp well there are one hundred sixty six inmates still there in the military says that thirty seven are continuing to refuse food to protest against their indefinite detention and many of the prisoners haven't even gone to trial and over half were cleared for release years ago u.s. taxpayers are picking up the ever increasing tab for all of this the price tag for every detainees is two point seven million dollars annually now that's over thirty

times higher than similar costs at the most expensive domestic prison in the u.s. and that all adds up to nearly half a billion dollars per year coming out of citizens pockets and we should be seeing that figure right now on the screen but we don't know unless that is the amount of money we're talking about u.s. public defender carlos warner frequently talks to the guantanamo inmates that he represents an earlier he told me what is going on at the camp and why it remains open. the words that i hear from the camp are just as bad as they've always been suffering to feeding people not getting along no communication with the military so although the military is telling us that the numbers have gone down that's not the story that we're hearing we're hearing that again there's still that this horrible suffering going on and this is the two hundred day of this and we've heard accounts of horrific to tell you the treatment by the prison stuff including allegations of sexual abuse is anybody actually investigating these allegations now sexual abuse i

think goes around these these searches these growing searches that they began and they did these searches obviously to keep my clients from talking to me in terms of investigation i don't think anybody's investigating that the camp says that we're doing this for security purposes but that's preposterous when you consider that the client isn't even seeing a lawyer the clients with soldiers talking on the phone entire time not present obama hasn't kept his promise to close the prison that cost millions during a time of budget cuts then the states will lose to make some are actually cleared for release so what will it take to finally close down guantanamo guantanamo is a political animal it's run by and seen a phobia here in the united states and it's just going to take a lot of hard work like people not only like people like me but but some people in washington in order to close it and right now you don't see that the president has the dorothy to transfer these individuals now he can do it under the current law

with no exceptions and he's choosing not to do so and he's even said that there are several countries that are ready willing able to take these individuals we know there's eighty six of them that are cleared for release the president has done nothing on that yet. twenty four hours a day still ahead this hour virtual currency big coin is gaining recognition with germany accepting it as legal details in a few minutes. to the. trills and to texas on this one show we found out why security state may soon be a girl's best friend already can you drilling machine make sure it's workers so it's got a design classic still has room for improvement and we learned how to dispose of tires or improve roads in one fell swoop. if you're on. leave the country.

continues here on r.t. the german government has become the first in the world to recognize bitcoin as

a legal private currency transactions conducted in the virtual cash will be subject to sales tax in the country and may now be exchanged for other currencies within the banking system a lot of reports now from the capital of bitcoin belin. well germany and particularly lynn is one of the places in the world that has really embraced bitcoin as perhaps a new major player when it comes to world currency i'm currently stood on the floor of the trading floor of the pearl and bitcoin exchange this is where the coins can be cool for cash it's a great growing a community here inside and if they set it guys like this dressed in the bowler hand to depict a traditional of the old london stock exchange they are holding up their thank you very much just how much they're selling their pick coins for so this gentleman here selling one pick cotton for eighty five euro that's correct or incorrect ok what you do is you pay your money you get your break and that goes into a on line wallet and starts yours then to spend how you will now to find out just

where because it's going here in berlin i'm joined by the organizer of this events are encouraging thanks very much for talking to me yes hello so in the what we've seen is from the german finance ministry that they've actually given their backing to that point haven't they at the moment it's it looks like that and i think that's a great decision because it brings clarity it's clear that it will never be illegal helpfully they are they setting a standard saying we shouldn't have too many rules but we should rather see how it develops just a clearly so this is because bitcoin has been accepted as a a unit of account by the german government that means they haven't said it's legal tender but that it can be made that it can be taxed actually and why do you think bill in particular has see as embraced bitcoin in such a way where we get many innovative people from all over the world coming to be that billion has always been a place to try out new things i mean fit into the computer was amended a million so i think it's just natural that bitcoin is very strong here ok i did

not know that the computer was invented in berlin they go so the latest in the crypto currency the coin it's being given in almost a green light by the german government and it's drawing people to exchanges like this in order to try and trade them and get involved in bitcoin and so it can reach out to more and more people around the world. well big point first appeared in two thousand and eight when an anonymous creator published a paper laying out his ideas on how the peer to peer electronic cash system should be operated since then the digital currency has gained popularity across the world thousands of small auline merchants now recognize big point as an alternative to major currencies the value of individual bitcoins hit a record high this april when it was being traded at over two hundred sixty u.s. dollars and growing concerns over the effect bitcoin could have on the dollar prompted the u.s. government to investigate it earlier this month washington claims it could be used in criminal activity well we've got to everything you need to know about because on

our website r.t. dot com also online it's a side if i come true adult scientists has found a way to repeat those minds and to a website to find out how it's always an invention pubs thoughts for me. and healthy habits are hard business as russia's ban on night time booze sales means foreign brew is have to find new ways to shift their beer all this and more just a click away an r.t. dot com. flood levels in russia's far east to surging and are now seven meters high and rising soldiers and civilians brace for that to get even higher and what is now appearing to be probably one of the worst floods in the region for at least over two hundred years now russia is not the only country affected by this appalling weather as you can see the amour river runs along the border with china which has also been hit by catastrophic weather since the

beginning of the summer already over one hundred are reported dead and another one hundred fifteen a missing now three of russia's regions have been worst affected and experts say the floods have yet to peak over half a million homes and livelihoods are under threat in the far east harbor of about off scale now the next twenty four hours are critical our correspondent scott is monitoring the situation there. base is a city under threat a city on the edge of the moment water levels continuing to rise with the pink not expected for another twenty four hours or so now is the hour more river to that my right that is causing all the problems it's breached its banks and is are beginning to filter through to the city now work is continuing to reinforce the city around fifteen kilometers worth of dikes have been built like this one and they are being reinforced and raised along with the water levels now despite the perilous situation authorities say that they are prepared for the worst. organizational

issues are worked out it could be some setbacks but the main point is that there are no big tools lou and all eyes are work will work for the good now around two and a half thousand people have been affected by the flood so far in and around the city in the majority of those people have been housed in temporary accommodation centers the provide things such as food drinking water shelter and medicine and basically rest bite from the floods there around seventy that have been built in and around the city and sports arenas and schools for example and this resident told r.t. he simply doesn't know what to expect you know everything has been washed away because firewood the second floor is already been flooded my flat is on the first floor and there are one and a half meters of water there i'm here now but all my furniture all my clothes are there now president vladimir putin is expected in the city and in the region early next week to inspect the damage that these floods of course but if the water levels continue to rise and they show absolutely no sign of receding it could be

a while yet before the full extent of the damage is revealed. artie's paul scott reporting now some other international headlines this hour in our world update a bomb has killed twenty six and left fifty more people wounded in iraq's capital the suicide bomber struck a cafe in a crowded park in a northern shia district another separate assault on a vehicle in the city claimed four lives there a deadly attacks on an almost daily basis as internal strife in iraq spirals. for the rebels have called for a temporary time out on peace negotiations with the colombian government a group requested time to consider a proposal which could prepare the way for a long awaited peace agreement this comes after violent protests by the country's miners truckers and farmers this week of a presidential reforms they say hurting their revenues. there's been a new round of protests in bahrain thousands gathered for a mass march which passed off peacefully just outside the capital of bahrain

movement started back in two thousand and eleven but human rights activists say you'd use if on the half that says that arab neighbors are undermining what they're trying to achieve. you know i mean and behind him. you have to keep in mind that throughout all physically one go through we are facing many go but many many is it just you see people scared for my country to take but the connect don't they no one that you see see come through they don't want any of what they're going to see in the g.c.c. so that's why where we as a behavior people we are facing many countries supported by many here was that it can't be so that's why and even then that the media could come out of my well what's happening in micah to me or the media outlet and programming to my cats and some media that don't care about the speech you do that i don't read you know i don't care about it. what's happening in my country because many of them are owned by. by the government and that you see so it's complicated we as we are out and bought and we have bought

a lot of spring but the students we cannot get there but you don't think they gyptian people get it and to egypt and i thought it would have been to. you be watching international news here naughty coming up after the break it's technology update with host peter skull to stay with us for that if you can't. you know people in moscow say they're like whoa websites and facebook groups about the childfree lifestyle which i didn't believe until i saw the cover for the aug twelfth copy of time magazine yes child free is no real thing sadly basically these are people who have started a cool trend of not having children and using their time and resources completely for themselves you know if you don't want to have kids that is your business and i

really couldn't change your mind even if i wanted to but there are people all over the internet who are just swimming in their own self-satisfaction like pigs in slop because they are part of the no kids trend the sickening part about this trend or should i see mentality is that these people glow in adore themselves for being too selfish to give their time and money to a child oh i'm the center of the universe and i'm proud of it. this is an extremely antisocial and destructive mentality to adore yourself for contributing nothing to anyone else nothing to society and nothing to the future but wait let me put it this way if your life is shopping wearing ironic t. shirts starbucks and texting on your i phone about your stupid feelings that maybe is for the greater good the church childfree but that's just my opinion.