russia says the alleged chemical attack near damascus is aimed at disrupting peace efforts and that any military intervention triggered so we bind confirm claims would violate international law. meanwhile the u.s. and its allies gear up for a possible strike in syria despite the when inspectors still working to establish whether a chemical attack has taken place. freshly exclaimed the americans and a save in that spot on the united nations have waters while across the atlantic washington surveillance scalp threatens to influence of chambres german election. and from triumph to despair we'll look at how libya has resurrected the same control methods used by the toppled regime as the country's dragged back into chaos

two years after the revolution. watching aren't you coming to live from the russian capital i'm marina joshing welcome to the program now russia says foreign intervention in syria would be a mistake that would further destabilize a country and the region and a news conference in light of the u.s. and its allies considering military action foreign ministers here you are off said there is no proof that the awesome regime used chemical weapons are to shawn thomas has been following the briefing and joins us now so sean one exactly doesn't russia share the west believe that the assad regime is behind the attack well sergey lavrov was very direct in his press conference outlining key concerns about the rhetoric that the west is using in fact he says. that they say that they are sure

that chemical weapons have been used by the assad regime but they have not yet presented convincing evidence to support that it was assad's regime that used the chemical weapons but they keep saying that they crossed this red line the famous red line they also say it is a mistake for the west to assume all roles when it comes to the situation whether it's investigator judge jury and even in some cases as the u.n. security council he said that mass hysteria surrounding the syrian crisis is aimed mainly at disrupting the peace process and that would include the new geneva two talks that were orchestrated by russia and the united states jointly and that this is just basically an attempt to do rail that also using force in syria without any u.n. sanctions is a blatant violation of international law and that is something that just should not happen he also said that it's

a case of misplaced priorities nobody ever said. you're really going to combine the efforts of the government and the oppositions to fight terrorists in order to oust them from syria i'm convinced that this is what we should focus on rather than forcing a confrontation and building battle groups in the region we've already seen this including the examples of iraq and libya and none of the cases of outside intervention led to the establishment of security or better life in the country over all the regions that were just a little on the contrary the way the region is now destabilized is unprecedented. and lavrov went on to say is what we're witnessing now is a massive fear mongering campaign something that we have seen before using it as an example ten years ago in iraq something that did not end well drawing the united states into a drawn out quagmire there he also said it's an illusion that to think that regime change in syria would lead to more stable region and ending the civil war saying

the bombing infrastructure would just simply lead to more bloodshed also said that this is an aimless strategy by the u.s. to take a listen. it was in the pit many key players started to take sides and act based on the principle of winner takes all betting on those who they saw reese potential winners but then the winners turned into losers again this is an example of so-called ad hoc policies as opposed to logical and integrity policies you cannot for example declare war on one regime because you personally don't like the dictator in power and be friends with a dictator in another country countries need to divert from their personal preferences and determine the main threats to the region which are terrorism and extremism and that's what we need to talk about and agree with you one thing lavrov reiterated today something that we've heard on and on from russia is that the u.n. needs to go in do their job and do the inspections uninterrupted and only then

through legal channels can the decision be made about what's going to happen in syria as well and just like the russian foreign minister or the syrian you're also not so long ago broad of the problem fighting terrorism so what more can you tell us about well certainly in an interview with the russian newspaper bashar al assad was very critical of the west in the united states in particular directly refuting the idea that his forces used chemical weapons against his people saying that it just doesn't make sense about the close proximity of close quarters fighting that they would basically be killing themselves if they used chemical weapons he spoke about saudi arabia's role and how that there are a major key player and also how turkey is acting as a puppet of the west turkey has said that they are willing to join a military coalition regardless of if they have approval from the united nations what about this idea of military intervention from the west he said that this is something that has been on the table the entire time they just don't have the

support to go through with it that's why they've been sitting on the fence and taking such a long time to listen to what he had to say about that. another obstacle to a military intervention is that everybody understands the syrian conflict has nothing to do with a nation's revolution and demands for reforms it's terrorism in this situation whiston the discount till the citizens we're going to syria to support terrorism so bashar assad continuing to stand up to the west a very defiant and sergey lavrov in russia saying that all parties involved need to exercise caution and go through legal channels to find a solution to the problem in syria. thanks very much indeed for bringing us this update on thomas they have now the u.s. and many of its allies seem impatient to wait for the u.n. findings whether american warships already converging near the war torn state and the british are preparing to joined up artist maria financial looks at where their confidence comes from him blaming this here in government for using chemical

weapons and where it might lead. united nations experts are in syria to investigate whether chemical weapons were used during the ongoing conflict finally but even before they start a senior u.s. administration official has said there is very little doubt that chemical weapons were used by the syrian regime against civilians these are the arguments we have told were given to president obama as proof the reported number of victims talkin the number explain how they see during world war two up to eighteen million people were killed what does that tell us about how they died the next argument to the american ministration size leaves them in little doubt assad attacked his own people with chemical weapons is the reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured symptoms of course speak for themselves but how does that answer exactly who was behind this u.s.

intelligence cites witness accounts that is hardly a reliable argument for syria since the beginning of the conflict there almost two and a half years ago each side has accused the other often acquainted charter while covering events from different cities in syria those undercover manto all rebel control i often matt and talk to witnesses from both sides whose accounts contradicted one another the truth was never easy to find even on the ground well it would be chemical weapons were used in syria why does it automatically point to the syrian regime isn't that still to be investigated it all appears to be based on assumptions we still believe that they don't have the capability to use chemical weapons that has not changed again we're looking into the facts on the ground but there's no reason if there's nothing to hide for the regime not to let the investigative team do you know if the u.n. team is a reading into that who seem assumptions that the opposition doesn't do. these

people yes there. meanwhile major world media are bombarded audiences with pro task pictures of dead people including children allegedly killed by chemical agents allegedly used by the syrian regime and all that during the military escalation in the region the pentagon is moving its naval forces closer to syria three days tori's already in the mediterranean ready and for a variety of attacks all of them carrying up to three hundred cruise missiles more screwed warns the west against repeating the tragic mistakes all these is remiss and of events of ten years ago in which he was in full information that the iraqis processed weapons of mass destruction the united states launched a reckless enterprise with consequences that everyone is well aware off russia's foreign minister spokesperson said well the small tube colin powell the u.s. secretary of state at that time presented to the u.n.

security council as proof led to disastrous consequences will history repeat itself . r.t. moscow meanwhile the u.k. is already considering its response to the alleged chemical attack saying the time for diplomacy has run out are just correspondent sara firth has been gauging london's reaction bent in syria and joins us live now more welfare how serious is the u.k. about possible military action in syria. well foreign secretary william hague said this morning that the west could take military action against the assad regime without the backing or support of the united nations security council now he was speaking to b.b.c. radio four s today programme and he said that the united nations security council has not been united on syria and has not shouldered its responsibilities on syria

and on the question of whether it was possible to act without complete unity on the united nations security council he replies oh dulcie yes it is now no firm decision has been taken on what the response will be or indeed when it will be but the timetable if you like for the next couple of days is this prime minister david cameron has cut short his holiday and he'll be returning to london and then on wednesday he's going to be chairing the national security council meeting and it's going to be there that you'll have all the key decision makers and after that meeting on wednesday you can expect that we'll have perhaps a clearer idea of exactly what those plans will be moving forward now we're still not talking about direct intervention here so no boots on the ground in syria what is being discussed a is a more limited form of military action in the form of its thought pinpoint tomahawk missile strikes now by no means has the political dialogue been abandoned but

that limited form of military action certainly something that is now on the table being very seriously discussed of course a huge concern is we're now getting ever closer towards getting involved in a conflict from which there isn't a clear exit. or in territories where much indeed for bringing us the surfer of the reporting from london. and the earlier turkey's foreign minister saudis country would join an international coalition to intervene and danced awesome even if the un does not permit the use of force while i spoke to an international relations expert at the middle east technical university in ankara who told us that turkey is trying to solve its domestic issues with an aggressive foreign policy his foreign minister statement this morning that turkey will join any international call it is from if that is an intervention is important from turkish point of view because the future is a government that for these three and four to see if in the last three years so the

whole thread in much of that with this they can use the defeat if you want to involve i think it's unfair foreign policy that. we have to wait of course for the investigation results and then see whether turkey indeed should be part of the coalition forces or not and this is the government's decision this is the decision of the minister how well that. decides whether turkey should intervene in a neighboring county be able to read an international coalition forces all at r.t. dot com tell us what you think the preparations for military response could mean. well let's take a look now at so the picture that we got on our website so far so most of you have participated in the site vote and believe it's washington trying to distract public attention away from its own problems at home well just under

a third of you have this point think the u.s. will go ahead with the attack despite president obama's cautious words now the rest of us point seem to be divided between believing is being done to get leverage over the u.n. investigation or whether it's all just the pentagon's plan b. well do us know what do you think by logging onto ready to come and having your say there. now it seems even the united nations isn't immune to being snooped on by america's scandal plagued national security agency recently published information leaked by edward snowden indicates the world body is new york h.q. has been caught and its controversial spine at right up or down has the details. america's national security agency allegedly cracked the encryption guarding the united nations' internal video conferencing system that's according to german 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 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 we've been reporting and as u.s. president barack obama said himself recently the n.s.a. is in place to protect america's security and target only potential terrorists what we do with it or some mechanisms where we can track

a phone number or e-mail address that we know is connected to the terrorist threat now it's unclear how spying on the united nations and international partners coas 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 world wide 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 think is your 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 edward snowden blew the whistle on and i say spying programs. well the ongoing and i say exposures could impact the political race in germany where there is an election in just under a month chancellor angela merkel's main rival is promising to freeze trade talks

with the united states until it comes clean on its espionage programs if he's elected while more from artie's put all of her in berlin. what peer steinbrück the head of the leader of the s.t.p. and the only real candidate who has a chance of challenging angle of merkel in the in the upcoming elections what he said is that should he become chancellor well he'll put the brakes on ongoing talks on a a free trade agreement between the u.s. and the e.u. now these are trade talks that have moved at a pretty pace at the best of times and they are potentially worth multiple billions of dollars worth of money to both sides but there are sticking points and it's what he said during an interview on german television was that how can we trust our american allies and colleagues when it comes to talking about the best trade deal for both sides when how do we know they don't have microphones under our desks and they are listening to everything that we are saying they are one of the only few

issues in which the which the opposition can can attack angle of merkel on she remains incredibly personally popular here in germany and is pretty much expected to be to be returned as chancellor but if stonebridge is to get in there and is to have a good chance this is the option what he's what he's gone for because this is one position where angler merkel has. we can go on because she is the chancellor of the book stops with her and it seems that not only did she know that the united states was conducting espionage activities on german civilians on german businesses but it seems that at some points according to the leaked documents that edward snowden put forward that the german security services may have actually helped them to do that in the past these documents coming out that the german security services were very forthcoming with trying to help the n.s.a.

in their spying activities so this is a major issue if not the major issue going into the election and being the politician he's seeing he sees an element of weakness there and they're rounding on the current chancellor. and we'll be bringing you more news after this break don't go away. we'll have the. science technology innovation all the least of bellemont from around russia we've got the future covered. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly 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 tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

choose your language. of holy week over though in a financial planner today still some of the. choose the news the consensus here to . choose the opinions that invigorating to. choose the stories that impact your life choose the access to your office. welcome back this is r.t. now libya's all the wounds which led to the fall of colonel gadhafi two years ago are still open the country is gripped by militia violence as islam a squabble over territory and bigger share of plummeting oil revenue on top of all that the government is trying to revive some of the tactics used by the former regime to keep dissenters and bay polis lear explains. anniversaries are

often a time of celebration for two years on libya has pushes little to be applauding. with the us i'm not sure it will be right to assume that there's a government in libya so there's no army no police and armed militias are in control there's violent chaos the. militia violence stalks the land jihadist groups are growing strikes threaten to cripple the oil industry and economic stagnation is everywhere with all the bad negative things that they will say about that they those that. control it by force the situation of these device divided countries libya post gadhafi is far from the haiti days of the with illusionary euphoria human rights watch says a wave of assassinations has killed dozens of politicians activist judges and members of security agencies all we hear is very. very troublesome

because we hear about clandestine detention centers. detention centers that are run by militias that are not accountable to anybody these armed militias reportedly have more power than the government turning the country into a new hub for he's not make extra mazin over the past few weeks we knew kind of camps have allegedly opened in the south libya is becoming the main base for al qaida in the maghreb we also know that as a direct result of the libyan into. mention that the civilian government and bomb a co mali was overthrown in the north of the country and certain islamicist took over creating a humanitarian disaster leaving tens of thousands of internally displaced persons not to mention tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into mauritania linked to burkina faso basically creating

a morass and if that's not bad enough the much promised constitution has failed to materialize politicians are deadlocked over the role of sharia law and bitter regional rivalries. libyan society consists of arabs berbers and taboo so the constitution should represent all segments and if any group is ignored then this means exclusion. the berbers who make up ten percent of the population are threatening to take up arms against the government there is a real danger that libya may break up. with regard to the darker skinned nationals of the south of the country not be except that it's equal but those who are lighter skinned in the north and the deteriorating economic situation isn't helping commercial banks are closing their doors imposed test against the current armed robberies in a desperate attempt to keep a grip on things the new government is reportedly using methods that were popular

during the duffy's time libya's transitional government has likely be on survey to be surveyed and technology it inherited from the depths of the sea. the mobile phones and online communication of gadhafi go in this particular sheens it seems on the effect different off the board except that oil production is down with libya unable to promise crude deliveries next month as strikes patronize its major terminals to use on asking was it worth destroying libya to get this broken state when it's not clear who won it different if he doesn't seem to be the libyan people. to know the. well look now at some other stories from around the world three palestinians have been killed reportedly wounded in clashes with israeli border police in the west bank according to israeli officials security forces arrived at a refugee camp to arrest a terror suspect but were attacked was rocks and live ammunition palestinian

witnesses deny that saying they did not shoot the soldiers there are also reports that the incident has led the palestinians to suspend the peace talks with israeli negotiators in washington. and india rally in support of detained him did nationalist leaders and supporters turned violent when hundreds of protesters clashed with police security forces resorted to water cannon and tear gas to disperse the demonstration the protesters were defiant government ban on the pilgrim march at a just few a holy site that has been the cause of the deadly clashes with muslims. and a huge wildfire in california as you saw the national park is continuing to spread ten days after it broke out forcing people in small mountain communities to evacuate their homes the flames fanned by high winds and dry conditions are also edging closer to a reservoir that san francisco the pans on for its water supplies around three

thousand firefighters and a dozen helicopters are battling the blaze. well the situation in russia's floods hit far east remains bleak with yet another rising water levels expected in early september because of more heavy rains thousands of people have had to be evacuated to safety as crews battle the elements but not everyone's abandoning their homes as are just postcard now reports slavia and is a village under threat on the banks of both the red river residents wait nervously . record breaking water levels in the region a still rising forcing more and more people from their homes ruining property and livelihoods this lady is a full time carer for her disabled father she says leaving is simply not an option . if i don't live here i live in that neighboring house my garden is underwater i'm here because i take care of my dad life was tough for residents in rural

eastern russia even before the floods here father and daughter grow their own potatoes and vegetables but now the land they used to rely on is totally under water thirty seven of my garden and chicken coop flooded the water is coming nearer and nearer to the house they are the only residents to remain artie's film crew later came across this man he's also decided to stay with his submerged property like many scared to leave through fear of looting because that they. every three hours a report to the emergencies minister the situation is under control we are on guard and we are ready to deal with all variance to the situation as it changes up to ten thousand people can be housed in temporary accommodation centers that have sprung up across the region shelter and supplies are provided along with psychiatric support to help people deal with the fallout from the devastation. that within us

now people are grateful to those who have evacuated them from their homes who have provided everything they need matunga sleep residents worry about the future about the hoons and how they will spend the winter well how about off for mains are relatively untouched by the flood waters so far that seem parts to the fifteen kilometers worth of dimes that have been built around the city in order to keep the water at bay or thirty's ordering it to reach a height of nine meters at the moment in order to contend with the rising flood waters but that is of little comfort to the people in the remote rural regions you're seeing their lives swept away. how about us. while you update now so stay with us for an intermission osso buco coming up after the break.

sigrid laboratory tim curry was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which all unfortunately doesn't give a dollar amount anything tunes mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and world events this is why you should care only on the r.t. dot com. this is the media leave us so we leave the media by the same motions security for your party visible. wishes that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politicking only on our t.v. . mission free accreditation free transport charges free. range mins free risk free studio time free.