damascus inspectors access to the site of an alleged chemical attack the us. government or russia warns against jumping to conclusions. also this week military whistleblower bradley manning asks for a presidential pardon of being sentenced to thirty five years behind bars for the biggest leak of classified data in america's history plus. we were faced with an ultimatum from the british government that if we didn't hand back the material or destroy it they would move to. the editor of the u.k.'s guardian newspaper he was pressured to destroy files he received from. edward snowden.

says artie's weekly news review and the very latest. has given you inspectors permission to access the site of an alleged mass chemical attack this the us says it's almost certain the assad government carried out the assault and pledged a serious response together with its ally the u.k. auntie's middle east correspondent assesses the growing tensions. well damascus has agreed to allow u.n. investigators access to the scene of the alleged chemical attack but the point needs to be made that damascus says it will do its maximum to ensure the same kind of situation for the investigation the actual territory is result held and so

ultimately it will be the rebel forces who determine whether or not the u.n. investigators have the access that they require we're just hearing however from the united states who says that this comes too late we are however hearing from the u.n. that they will regardless begin their investigation come monday now this comes as the united states says it has very little doubt that damascus was behind this chemical strike the u.s. intelligence basing these claims on the number of reported deaths we're hearing that upwards of one hundred a hundred people were in fact killed. it's claims on the type of injuries and on eyewitness reports these kind of discussions are emerging from a meeting of the american president barack obama with his security advisers we know that he's been prevented with a review of possible options in terms of american response if indeed there has been the use of chemical weaponry president obama has repeatedly said that if assad uses

chemical weapons that would be a green light that would be a red line in terms of which american and foreign intervention would be justified now this comes as the united states moves its naval forces in the mediterranean closer to the syrian coast and we are hearing from the united states that it would be prepared to strike if indeed called upon to do so this comes as syrian state television is reporting that syrian soldiers entered a number of tunnels in a damascus suburb that had been used by rebel fighters and made they found evidence of chemical waste and they were empty shells that had mocked on them made in saudi arabia and saudi arabia of course being a very vocal critic of the syrian president bashar assad there seems to be a lot of reports and evidence that the rebels in fact are responsible for carrying out these chemical attacks but let me make the point that all the footage we're witnessing and all the reports that are circulating online are as of yet unverified

the rebels for themselves are vowing revenge we have heard from and oh mr leader in an audio recording that's also been posted online saying that in revenge they will fire thousand rockets at the assad regime meanwhile the russian foreign ministry says it's worried about the pressure being put on the assad government despite the u.n. investigation into the that use of chemicals have not yet begun thomas has more in this news reaction. russia is urging caution to the west saying that assigning blame to soon over the alleged use of chemical weapons in syria would be a tragic mistake in fact in a statement released on sunday the foreign ministry did not mention the u.s. by name but i'm going to read what they said it says we strongly urge those who in trying to impose their opinion on u.n. experts ahead of the results of an investigation announce the possibility of military action against syria to exercise discretion and not make tragic mistakes

now again they did not mention the u.s. but this comes as a broke obama has met with his security advisers as well as his military advisers and even spoken to the prime minister of the u.k. cameron and basically saying that they are prepared to use military action making sure that you know what is on the table there but president obama has not made a decision as of yet now russia has suggested that in these situations it can be tricky to decide who is actually responsible in has said that it might even be the rebels who are responsible for a chemical attack if in fact a chemical attack has actually happened and in a separate less formal statement russian officials said on sunday that we've seen all of this before in fact discussing the situation in iraq back in the bush administration saying the u.s. administration pointed to weapons of mass destruction which were never found in iraq but that led to an occupation and invasion ten years plus of united states

involvement in the country so russian officials are urging caution saying that the world community does not want to see a repeat of this situation in syria and is basically asking the west to hold off until the you and investigation has taken place and they know more about the situation. despite the harsh rhetoric against the syrian government and the u.s. military waiting for a green light to attack it appears that most americans don't want an intervention well here's what a recent poll has revealed let's take a look at this now here we go look at just nine percent of the u.s. citizens who took part in the survey want their president to act on about sixty percent said the america should stay away from the civil war in syria when asked about washington's support for the opposition about one tenth said obama should do more for the rebels than just send arms to them well almost ninety percent don't want america to help the opposition for more analysis we're joined live now by

a thai barry an antiwar activist with the code pink campaign back to joining us here in r.t. live today i was as we've just seen in the poll a majority of americans seem to oppose intervention so why would the government go ahead with something like that. well unfortunately our government is not run by the people as president former president carter said we've lost our democracy i recently met with my congressional representative who was a left wing left leaning progressive democrat and i told him you got it all wrong for the last twelve years the united states has been fighting a war of choice in iraq it war of choice in afghanistan that turned out to be longer battle that a longer fought war than the then the vietnam war which also was a war of choice the american people are war weary we know that what's going on inside syria americans even the average american know it's

a proxy war we know we're not going to get the correct information from our government and we know that our government officials are only interested in continuing what would be a fear tactic of a continuation of war after war after war to keep the american public in check so that limits on what is that the u.s. he was president has said that the use of chemical weapons requires a serious response in syria in particular but does the general public in america see it that way. i'm sure that the general public in america is has condemned our condemning and will continue to condemn any use of chemical. weapons in the middle east but they also see or anywhere in the world but they also see chemical weapons being used in bahrain and other places where the united states supports these dictatorships there leery about the united states convincing us that

we need to go to a war with another dictator in another area of the world that their terrorist war by jihad is who are forming a proxy war we want to say we are asking that the american government produce the evidence and convince the american public not with lies and deceit and contempt for our ability to understand what's going on there but to really get down to facts and figures that the united states good people can be behind this right now we are not going to support from our bully and cheat any more wars ok and according to the recent statement made by the rebels the u.s. has well already made up its mind to launch a strike against syria are they right. oh yeah we see the generals we see today on the sunday morning talk shows in the united states represented ingles who's supposed. a progressive and we see senator bob corker both who

are. you know following the line of the zionist regime in israel that wants to has wanted the united states to attack syria or allow them to attack syria any time they want we see proxy wars in going on inside syria and they're trying to draw the united states and i've been listening to the home secretary. mr the right honorable mr hague in in england and the foreign ministry in france all trying to draw the united states into doing battle the united states is not the world police and we are not the world bullies we are trying to take i commend president barack obama for trying to at least wait until we have some direct evidence that who is involved we see the saudi arabians who are very undemocratic very much involved qataris who are very much involved in this war we need to get the facts right this time we can no longer just go out there and kill because we're talking hundreds of thousands of

people die if the united states gets involved we're talking about lebanon iraq turkey we're talking about all the tire region getting involved in this war we see that different interests are being held by turkey by saudi arabia by qatar by even iraq in lebanon but these are factions we need to get to a dialogue of a national dialogue of peace and reconciliation inside syria and it can happen there are groups that have gone to syria that have done this on small scale and we can do it on a large scale in the country but we have to listen to the syrian government and to those in the opposition outside the country ok a time i will have to leave it antiwar activist from code pink campaign thanks very much indeed for your time here. thank you very much you have. international tensions are running high as the pentagon moves naval forces closer to syria despite president obama appearing cautious over intervention you can tell us what

you think on our website r.t. dot com that's a look so far almost half of those who voted say washington want to divert americans from domestic problems around the third think the pentagon is ready to strike no matter what the president says about being cautious there thirteen percent believe the u.s. is looking for political leverage over a chemical arms you an investigation just eleven percent i think the pentagon is readying for an attack just in case you're going to r.t. dot com to cast your vote. see. first strike. and i would think that you're. the.

former u.s. army private bradley manning was sentenced to thirty five years in prison this week for his unprecedented leak of classified documents to wiki leaks his exposure is through the light on america's alleged war crimes committed in iraq and afghanistan whistleblower is now hoping for a pardon from the u.s. president in his letter addressed to barack obama he vows that he acted out of concern for his country is striving to protect the values and ideals of the u.s. running also said he would gladly pay the price for living in a free american society result he's going to take on reports it's runnings personal issues which are now in the spotlight. bradley manning sentence of thirty five years behind bars has set an unprecedented punishments threshold for whistleblowers bradley manning should be walking the streets and being treated for who is a whistleblower who exposed war crimes in iraq afghanistan secret war in yemen and

the utter 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 in the air 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 we know we don't want to we don't want to be a part of that with 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 i. 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 no 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 that she gave it to her in a limo in a very private setting and 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. plan to say has gone as far as bugging the u.n. after the break we report on new revelations made public by whistleblower edward snowden and human reactions about. russia's far east experts predict wars will rise from over seven days forcing rescuers into around the full missions of all sandbags to nine need to hunt floodwalls those stories and more in just a couple minutes. choose

your language. make it with. some of. the concerns you. choose to give to you. choose the stories that if you. choose. to.

welcome back now a new and leak from whistleblower edward snowden has come to light the national security agency has been listening in on the united nations auntie's made a point or is in new york with the details on this latest revelation. america's national security agency allegedly cracked the encryption guarding the united nations' internal video conferencing system that's according to german newspaper der spiegel the publication says that the n.s.a. surveillance of the united nations took place last summer and three weeks after hacking into the video system america's spy agency had allegedly boosted its number its number of such decrypted communications from twelve to four hundred and fifty

eight now for anyone who doesn't already know this spying on the united nations is illegal under international law der spiegel also reports that the u.s. maintains a monitoring program called the special collection service in over eighty embassies and consulates around the world often without the knowledge of the host country now many may be wondering why is it that the united states would want to spy on the united nations would spy on its allies because as as we've been reporting and as us president barack obama said himself recently the n.s.a. is in place to protect american security and target only potential terrorists what we do with it or some mechanisms where we can track a full member or e-mail address that we know is connected to. now it's

unclear how spying on the united nations and international partners coincides with america's war on terror if anything what many critics are saying is that what may come out of the n.s.a. is worldwide surveillance is a loss in confidence and reliability in the united states because you have to think about it if you have a friend that you trust to find out is always spying on you is listening to what you're saying is watching what you're doing is reading what you're typing does that relationship still stay strong and that is a question that is clearly coming to light not only following this report but those questions have been coming to light over past months ever since. words no one blew the whistle on n.s.a. spying programs. or how about more stories for you on line here's what you can find out r.t. dot com right now at american colonists the examples of extremist movement the authors of the u.s. department of defense and his controversial statement the training manual at our website in the state. us a former member

of hacktivist group anonymous accuses the us government of pursing hackers to do their dirty work and attack foreign targets have all the details online. to russia where extreme flooding continues to devastate the far east experts say levels have not yet peaked and many continue to rise in the second or third of september was another whole week for a region which is already more than seven meters underwater that search a look at it here is the region right here now this is where it all began the year a murray river burst its banks after weeks of unrelenting downpours covering an area the size of france and germany combined. has been a federal emergency for nearly three weeks with water ensure rain feeding the rising floodwaters these three regions have been the worst affected and up to

eighty five thousand people's livelihoods are under threat in the. region alone three dozen towns of over three thousand inhabitants already on the water. as you can see here the regional capital a city of over half a million lives on where it meets the sciri river well there rescuers volunteers and soldiers are fighting to what if i riverbank over thirty kilometers long haul scott brings us the latest on the efforts there. this is marina a resident of course royal also 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't take everything with her and doesn't know when she'll be able to return for now she'll stay with friends or move here they. have been crying all week we've lost all our property and that's after we've renovated hung new 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 halls or thirties and volunteers providing supplies such as food drinking

water and medicine that some rest bite for those who have lost everything just get a pull machine it's good that aid is going to come there is good they do have their pick you need to stay here they have to tell t's greet the treat us like the children although the situation in the habit asked region remains critical for the west there's hope the worst is over and the region attention is now turning to the cleanup operation just. the situation is changing and we're going to regroup our forces people now come from the neighboring a more region four planes arrive here every day but now water levels in some parts of this region have already beaten records that have stood for more than one hundred and twenty years that's 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 ask concern the defenses could be breached by water that at the moment shows no signs of receding and 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 last more international news in brief with our another day of attacks in iraq have claimed the lives of forty eight people in eight separate assaults most deadly was in the northern city of mosul eleven died in a car bomb explosion blast in five other cities including three in the capital and killed civilians and left dozens injured authorities blame insurgents for the bloodshed but have not named any particular group. gyptian court has adjourned the trial of former president hosni mubarak who has been accused of complicity in the killings of protesters in the twenty seven uprising america

sentenced to life behind bars last year but was granted a retrial after he appealed the ruling we're hearing comes amid a new spike of internal strife triggered by the muslim brotherhood's removal from office. a cargo train known for transporting central american migrants as de railed in southern mexico killing at least five and leaving schools wounded the crash occurred in the remote area of tabasco state run two hundred fifty my wounds were travelling on the infamous bestia train when it derailed on the number of people remain trapped inside. and germany's top euro skeptic politician was attacked on stage during a rally in the city of rayman on knowing a sudden sound of knives jumped on. he was making a speech to you a campaign event some two dozen others then sprayed the audience with pepper spray and. his party which once the euro has been the subject of several attacks the last

of us. well after the break it swells apart. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture.

good lumber touring to mccurry was able to build it when it's most sophisticated which all unfortunately doesn't give a dollar amount anything mission to teach me the creation of why it should care about humans in the world this is why you should care only on the dog. hello and welcome to worlds apart this here in the united states mark the second day new birth to reading the world of asama bin laden so far the main fairly rare victory in america's declared war on terror but after more than

a decade of fighting and trillions of dollars spam is the united states and it was in town or 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 is efforts to redefine bin nature of that war let's listen what he had to say. most defied 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 that threaten 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.