still seems. do you. believe that. today's news and the week's top stories on our see the u.s. and u.k. threaten the assad government over allegations of a chemical attack in syria damascus walls western intervention would inflame the entire region. britain's guardian newspaper reveals it was pressured by london into destroying days on the notorious n.s.a. eavesdropping obtained from edward snowden plots. when you say no to the government. they have the ability to take everything. top decision the owner of the encrypted email service used by snowden explains to all see why he was forced to shouted down. bradley manning appeals for a presidential pardon and he says five year sentence for revealing to us with

crimes but the mainstream media is in a frenzy over the whistleblowers gender identity. the latest news on the week's top stories we're watching that we can here on ars here with me your national pov all of us thanks for joining us. barack obama and david cameron have threatened syria's government with a serious response if it's confirmed the authorities in damascus gassed hundreds of people on wednesday meanwhile axons administration has warned against a u.s. led intervention saying the move would set the middle east ablaze policia told us the latest reports coming from the country casting doubts over the allegations against the syrian regime so in state television is reporting that syrian soldiers entered a number of tunnels that had been used by rebel fighters in damascus and there they

found in thousand shells the remnants of chemical agents what we do know is that the shells had marked on them made in saudi arabia and of course saudi arabia has long been a critic of the syrian president bashar assad the soldiers started coughing they started suffocating and immediately ambulances had to be same to the scene to actually assist these soldiers now all this comes as the united states starts moving its naval ships in the mediterranean closer to the syrian coast the indications on the ground are that the first wave of preparations for any kind of military intervention inside syria are under way and that the u.s. and in particular the navy is just waiting for the green light what we've heard from obama is that he is mulling over the situation he says that it needs to be fought over seriously there needs to be a wary miss in terms of making this decision but that any kind of military attack inside syria would be both costly and deadly the word he used was difficult the

defense department has been tasked with giving a bomber all the latest facts on the ground you are in investigators are inside syria they've been there now for a week they arrived last sunday they're investigating at least a dozen other reports of chemical usage of the damascus government has pledged to give full support to the u.n. investigators in trying to reach the area where this latest alleged. the attack took place but it took place in rebel held areas so really it's not really up to the damascus regime to ensure maximum cooperation but they have said that they will do their best to ensure that there is a safe passage for the investigators we're seeing quite a lot of chips come into place here paula you talk about the military posturing on the part of washington with that with the fourth warships heading to the region as well. warning of a serious consequence of syria's retaliation to syria when it comes to this alleged chemical attack but that's just it that was in it i mean it's allegations and it's

speculation at this point well this is a very important point all the indications and all the allegations are essentially speculation we have real names of video and still photographs that have been posted to you cheap all of them purport to show chemical attacks carried out in syria but none of this footage can be verified the damascus regime is increasingly being accused of carrying out chemical weaponry and there is no evidence no evidence whatsoever to suggest this the pressure on the syrian government of course is increasing and here we've heard from the french foreign minister he has said that all evidence points to damascus earlier there was a united nations security council meeting and falling method using the french did threaten to use force if indeed these allegations against the damascus regime were proven to be true the syrian government however has warned against foreign intervention and there is a lot of concern and pressure on those in the international community who might be

moving in that direction. and while the u.n. inspections have yet to did said and what the chemicals have been used and who used them medical charity met sounds on french air claims more than three thousand patients with new york toxic symptoms have been treated in the capital area hospitals await three hundred fifty five have died and michael maloof a former senior security policy analyst in the office of the u.s. secretary of defense says investigating the alleged attack will be a tough time ask for the inspectors the syrian government has actually called upon the un to investigate but they cannot. open up areas that are under the opposition control they can certainly. ask that the u.n. come in and look at whatever documentation they might have so i think that this is a very serious development and what's happening is that the regular media is just assuming that it's the it's the syrian government when in fact they're being fed

information from the opposition so i think everyone has to be very careful and certainly policymakers need to be very careful before they take any action this could be very very difficult to really get to the bottom of this latest episode. and we're going to following this latest escalation of the syrian crisis online for you logon to r.t. dot com for updates and extensive analysis that. this week the british newspaper which spilled the beans on the n.s.a. . was in turn forced to destroy materials provided right with snowden came clean on why it gave in to government pressure the guardian editors said london threatened legal action to stop the paper from reporting the sensitive really excel together so they agreed to destroy the original data which had nevertheless already been copied. syria has these have. used are you fine now it's time to

return of the documents so the unnamed government official to the newspaper editor it could be the stuff of movies it isn't we were faced effectively with an ultimatum from the british government that if we didn't hand back the material or destroy it they would be to law in recent months the guardian newspaper has come to be known as the paper that's been exposing secret material from a trove of information passed on to wit by former contractor of the national security agency edward snowden but in recent days the editor of the newspapers always a publicized what did god on a behind closed doors hear how security officials had ended up in the basement of their offices overseeing the destruction of hard drives of computers which contained the very information the paper's been exposing a bizarre turn of events salaries major says that came all the way up from the prime minister's office once it was obvious that they would be going to law. i would rather destroy the copy than hand it back to them or allow the courts to

freeze our reporting and i was happy to destroy it because it was not going to inhibit our reporting we would simply do not from london a twenty first century possibility in a highly digital and connected world the revelation by rusbridger came just a day after the detention of david miranda. part of the guardian journalist glenn greenwald the journalist who had broken the story of snowden's leaks and the same materials miranda was detained under the u.k.'s terrorism act and was held in question for nine hours at heathrow airport it caused an outcry among politicians and journalists and even david anderson the independent reviewer of terrorism laws who demanded an explanation prompting the u.k. home office to go on the offensive the government and the police have a duty to protect the public and on national security those who oppose this sort of action need to think about once they can do if they want to protect the public to tell the public what it is they're protecting them from

a generalized statement about terrorism in general doesn't really do the trick you've got to be able to say well the information he's got would in danger the public for the following reasons you've got to have reasons for it no such reasons have been advanced miranda's new tension as well as the destruction of computers and the guardian's basement has one of britain's most respected newspapers in the spotlight the story teller has become the story this is a very damaging moment actually for britain's reputation for free speech being laid bare the way that the british state is very prepared to use terrorism legislation to use accusations of terrorism in order to shut down what looks to be journalistic practice healthy investigative journalism with some of pointed to be noticeably lackluster response from the country's other newspapers following his revelations especially considering that press appears to be at stake the business of reporting security and having competent full sources is becoming difficult in these documents

there is the stated ambition to scoop up everything and store it all to the internet this is the language that's being used internally to search cilia r.t.e. london. and it's not only john lays that are now guessing that colors found up to edward snowden evaded the clutches of the american authorities after it was revealed the n.s.a. leaker how to use the secure email service love a bit if i don't know was forced to shut down his company leveson says he had to do it or else be false by the u.s. government to spy on his customers listen and also explain to my colleague mark trans that he didn't want to perpetrate what he called a crime against the american people if i had continued to operate i felt like it would have put me in a ethically compromising position. in other words the service no longer would have been what i intended it to be which was a secure and private method of communication for americans so you posted

a message online saying that you were in an impossible situation that either you would quote do you hear become complicit in crimes against the american people or walk away from a decade of your hard work what do you think you would have faced if you didn't shut down the service when you say no to the government. they have the ability to take everything they have the ability to take your business take your money and take your freedom and there really isn't all that much you can do about it. so i was looking at the very real possibility of. an impossible debt and possibly being put in jail and still not being able to tell people why i was even in jail you wrote on the line that without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent that you would advise people users against trusting a company that has physical ties to the us why is that all of the major providers

here in the us. have provided. our government with real time access to the private information of their users and they don't really have a choice about it and they don't really have the ability to tell anybody about it. so the fact is if you trust your data to a company even if they they haven't already been approached. and been required to provide access the simple fact is they could be in the future. meanwhile convicted u.s. whistleblower bradley manning who passed through for washington as well crimes to wiki leaks is now seeking a pardon from the white house manning was sentenced to thirty five years in jail this week for the biggest leak of military data in history and a letter addressed to barack obama the whistleblowers trust he's a patriot who acted to protect the very americans hold dear but the mainstream

media has launched a fresh smear campaign against him as he is going to check our reports bradley manning sentence of thirty five years behind bars has said on the president it punishment special for whistleblowers bradley manning should be walking the streets and being treated for who use a whistle blower who exposed war crimes in iraq afghanistan a secret war in yemen and the other corruption of the governments the us supported bradley manning supporters gathered outside the white house to call for the president to pardon the whistleblower the supporters of bradley manning say what's at stake here is not just men but also the future of journalism and the public's right to be informed on the actions that their government is taking on their behalf manning's defense team has submitted a request for a pardon but there seems to be little chance that it will be granted that the government's ongoing crackdown on whistleblowers under the current administration

and unauthorized leak to the media of classified information is viewed as being tantamount to aiding the enemy. the government wide crackdown on whistleblowers and the extension of this crackdown to journalists threatens to stifle the flow of information that is vital to our public but the media in the us has largely failed to stand up for bradley manning government officials and t.v. pundits all but convicted the whistleblower even before any trial took place who cares whether the army killed some innocent people or not over in iraq you know we don't want to we don't want to be a part of that we're very uncomfortable so if it's a complex issue and it's uncomfortable americans generally will pull back from it allows the media to fill that gap and portray bradley manning as a traitor manning's own personality has grabbed more headlines than the shoes that he uncovered and the day after sentencing manning's six became the main story who

is healthy this week bradley manning announced that he wants to spend the rest of his life as a female and asked to be referred to as chelsea manning one of the defense psychiatry at trial testified that manning has narcissistic tendencies and i wonder if there's anything to that in the sense that she's announcing this in this very big public way you know i think this is really trying to let people have the answer that they wanted she never really wanted this to be public to begin with and when the information came out you need to understand this she gave it to her in a limo in a very private setting in a one on one chat never expecting this to be public now that it is unfortunately you have to deal with it in a public manner chelsea manning's attorney also said his client never wanted personal issues to become the main story and overshadow the debate that the whistleblower wanted to start through the leaks in washington i'm going to check out. and coming out the right on her shoulder break coping with disaster to survive

. the entire house is completely submerged and it's clear looking around that is going to take a lot of time. money and efforts before this place returns to normal. so way says just how bond things have become for those living in the far east and. as a matter of seekers remain in a highly paid warnings the was just over they recalled sludging is yet to come. what do you think would be high enough prize for americans and the west in general to realize that these noting with mines is actually extremely counterproductive to the only national interest when. all they are logged in to. the middle east and come to be created all the create. it is a feed steve this is the best place for actually i think the organization to establish peace is.

this is their work a hero and he welcome bonk. disastrous flooding in russia's fairings town the fact

of the livelihoods of more than eighty five thousand people as water levels keep on rising and merges occur as a whacking around the clock to fortify the city of one bar isc there was to hit air right now paul scott has been there for almost two weeks now and filed this report for us. this is marina a resident of bolshoi risky island and they say is marina's house water waist high the entire ground floor resembling a cesspit rather than a home now it's only when you enter the properties that you see the extent of the damage that these floodwaters have caused now despite knowing as best attempts to try and keep many of her treasured possessions out of the water it was simply in vain the entire house is completely submerged and it's clear looking around that is going to take a lot of time money and effort before this place returns to normal marina is one of hundreds in this region to have been evacuated in recent days by russia's emergency

services she can take everything with her and doesn't know when she'll be able to return for now she'll stay with friends. who have been crying all week we've lost all our property and that's after we've renovated hundred wallpaper a place new carpets although some hardy souls remain predominantly this village is like a ghost town but despite the chaos there are resilient attempts to carry on as normal the shop remains open although when we visited business was slider. many of those evacuated from their homes and up in temporary accommodation centers in schools and sports holes or thirty's and volunteers providing supplies such as food drinking water and medicine at some rest bite for those who have lost everything just get the policy it's good that aid is going to come there is good they do have the opportunity to stay here they just patel tease greet the treat us like the children

although the situation in the how about ask region remains critical for the west is hope the worst is over in the region attention is now turning to the cleanup operation just as. the situation is changing and we're going to regroup our forces people now come from the neighboring a more region for planes arrive here every day. now water levels in some parts of this region have already beaten records that have stood for more than one hundred and twenty years lots of six hundred and forty two centimeters and the fear is that as the rains continue that could push the eight meter barrier causing even more devastation and destruction to people's lives and homes the military and emergency services continue to work around the clock to reinforce how about i ask concern the defenses could be breached by water that at the moment shows no signs of receding i'm with flood levels not expected to eight until mid september the true extent of

the damage is yet to reveal itself and it could be some time yet before the full picture emerges postcards. about ask. egypt's former president hosni mubarak is back in court today is being retried on charges of complicity in the killing of almost nine hundred protesters during the twenty eleven uprising he was released from prison this thursday and put under house arrest after an appeal against his attention is shortlived release was seen by many in the nation as a rollback on the changes that flowed from the arab spring so much action politicians even say it could escalate tensions even further there have been nonstop protests and bloodshed in the country since july when the army toppled the country's first democratically elected president mohamed morsi and first consultant lawyer in rome who believes the nation's military will turn any civilian politician into its puppet. not even if they bring a civilian in the suit remember mubarak wore a suit before he wore

a suit. or military. who are in power and even if it's a billion government to go into power they have to do as the military says or wants and as one of the broad worst of no u.s. government of the would be allowed to remain in power as soon as they start speaking out or trying to exert their all no ideas there will be toppled. morsi no. been in power for decades and martial law is really in paul's for decades so the military don't see any change in circumstances. and some of the today's international news in brief now in the yemeni capital sunnah a powerful blast ripped through a bus carrying air force personnel at least one person has been killed and over twenty wounded in that time it's thought the explosion was caused by a bomb planted inside the vehicle and went off as a bus was transporting workers to their base their sources in the our regions

poorest states are battling tribal militias who targeted the nation's military. sounds of people have rounded. in the capital of tunisia calling for the resignation of the islamist led government a coalition of opposition policies stay she must push as demanding new elections be held demonstrators say they try their time by the inability of the authorities to maintain security and restart the economy going and rest which erupted in july will spawn by the assassination of a left wing opposition from the titian. a state of emergency has been declared in the u.s. state of california after a raging wildfire swept into yosemite national park the blaze doubled in size overnight and fills the city of san francisco to shut down some power lines the wildfires have also led to the evacuation of hundreds of people from a nearby town officials recall that only five percent of the blaze has been contained so far. germany has become the first country to recognize bitcoin as

a legal unit of currency holdings of this size of a cash and are subject to german tax laws and can be exchanged for other currencies within the banking system while she's pisano reports now from the big corncob. well germany and particularly when it 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 exchange this is where the coins come be cool for cash it's a great growing a community here is five berlin and if they said 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 big coins for so this gentleman here selling one pick cotton for eighty five euro is correct or incorrect ok well what you do is you pay your money you get your pick and that goes into

a on line wallet and starts yours then to spend how you will how 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 the greeks clarity it's clear that it will never be illegal and hopefully they are they setting a standard saying we shouldn't have too many rules but we should rather see how it develops just a clue 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 they can be made that it can be taxed actually and why do you think in particular has see as embraced bitcoin in such a way. many innovative people from all over the world coming to be that has always been a place to try out new things i mean did you know the computer was invented

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 all. to try and trade them and get involved in big calling and so it can reach out to more remote people around the world. and up next on a boycott investigates if the whiles become any safer and more than a decade of america's war on terrorism stay tuned or well as a pond. you know people in moscow say they're like who 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 yet childfree 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 the door 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. hello and welcome to worlds apart piece here in the united states marked the second a new birth to reading the world of asama bin laden so far the main fairly rare victory in america's south declared war on terror but after more than a decade of fighting and trillions of dollars span is the united states and devolving tantaros safer than they used to be to discuss that i'm now joined by abdel bari atwan the editor in chief of the pan arab newspaper. mr atwan thank you

very much for your time now just recently u.s. president barack obama gave a speech on america's war on terror and what i think went unnoticed by mainstream media is a bomb as efforts to redefine the nature of that war let's listen what he had to say as most define our effort not as a boundless global war on terror but rather as a series of persistent targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists the threat in america. so essentially what he's saying here is that america can no longer afford these global engagement but of course the irony is that when his predecessor george w. bush launched that global war on terror that al qaeda presence was very much localized various nowadays when obama tries to scale it down it is far more the fuse that is far more global and deep well actually the.