spanish. mission free credit free. free. free free free. free. free. free. free. un inspectors say they need to visit syria again to continue their investigation of the chemical attack near damascus. i'm convinced is nothing. other countries in the syrian conflict the russian president blasts the u.s. for considering military action in syria saying the evidence is to blame has no leg

to stand. intervention plans are leaving present isolated with america's. support of the campaign against the. key statement on their response. with the latest developments. international news and. studio center here in moscow where it's just this is. the u.n. says it is investigating a team will return to syria to continue their probe into the alleged chemical attack that. putin hit out of the claims that assad's government carried out the attack warning the u.s. against military intervention he also added washington's claims that the full

intelligence report providing firm evidence cannot be published are disrespectful to its international partners or to shawn thomas has more on russia's reaction to the u.s. drums of war. president vladimir putin was addressing the press in vladivostok and he did have some strong words to say on the subject of syria he said that russia is of course against the use of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction but in this particularly case we need to wait and see for the u.n. to do their job for the investigation to come forward and as that russia's position has always been then act in a lawful matter as a global community now one of the things he says is that it is ridiculous that the assad regime used weapons chemical weapons against his own people saying that under these circumstances it just doesn't call for it let's listen to what he had to say on that subject. syrian government forces are advancing in some areas they have

surrounded the rebels to think that in such a time they would give a trump card for those calling for intervention. now as the u.n. chemical weapons inspection team has just left syria we haven't heard anything back yet and he says that if the proof of chemical weapons has not yet been presented it means that there isn't any now the other thing is he spoke about his surprise about the british government who met over this past week to debate the idea of intervention in syria he said are you surprised that they voted down the idea but that it proves that there are sane rational people who are out there who are using common sense in this situation he also appealed to president obama not just as a president but as a peace nobel laureate basically saying look if weapons are used look at what it will do to the peace process let's listen to his words on that. let's not forget that barack obama is a nobel peace prize laureate of the cost decade the u.s.

has started several conflicts and various parts of the world but did that really solve any problems afghanistan iraq libya there's no democracy then now which is what the u.s. claimed it tried. to bring this new civil peace or balance all of these has to be taken into account before making the decision to stop bombing syria which will lead to civilian casualties so as the world expects a u.s. air strike at any time a prudent urging restraint at this moment in time. thomas there will the u.s. is becoming increasingly certain that it will carry out at least a limited military operation in syria president barack obama is expected to further outline the plan on how the u.s. will proceed a little later this hour now washington's already got a lot of naval power in the mediterranean sea five american destroyers are ready to attack if the order is given and the u.s.s. san antonio that's a warship with several hundred marines on board also joined them late on friday

well the u.s. insists though that these troops won't see action and the ship is there as a precaution the other five vessels though pack some major foreign power each of them can carry up to ninety tomahawk guided missiles and they can strike syria from a distance keeping the destroyed themselves safe from the country's anti ship missiles with a build up of power of this kind is another sign pointing to an imminent strike on syria and action which much of the world seems to reject this report now from ortiz going to come on while the obama administration is laying the groundwork for a military strike against syria but the president says he has not made the final decision it missed ration and spent the last few days scrambling an intelligence assessment that would make the case for an attack on syria today we finally saw that report the un classified four page version of it secretary kerry presented the report with this take a listen the american intelligence community has high confidence high confidence

this is common sense this is evidence these are facts so the primary question is really no longer what do we know. the question is what are we we collectively what are we in the world going to do about it but if you read the paper you also come across this line our high confidence assessment is the strongest position that the u.s. intelligence community can take short of confirmation so u.s. intelligence does not confirm the evidence that the white house says is undeniable as far as the evidence is concerned the report shows no evidence as such just conclusions then we have to bear in mind that this was the unclassified version of the report it mentions satellite images and intercepted communications with the paper's main argument seems to be this the assad government has huge stockpiles of chemical weapons they have the capacity to deliver them and therefore they were likely responsible for last week's attacks near damascus in the last few days

several members of u.s. intelligence community spoke out on condition of anonymity saying the actual evidence that the u.s. has is not a slam dunk and there are caveats in the report related to the analysis of the satellite images and the intercepted communications also from secretary kerry's presentation it seems the main selling point for the strikes is the horrible horrible images that we've all seen the report refers to several times that refers to the videos in the social media but they do not prove who carried out the attacks not only the american people are against an attack on syria but also the international community although secretary kerry talked about what he sees as the substantial international backing force for action whatever international backing he was talking about it's not the u.n. or whatever military action the u.s. takes eventually against syria it will be illegal under international law nato secretary general just said nato does not plan to dissipate into military intervention in syria the u.n.

security council is yet to receive the results of the u.n. investigation but even that investigation will not reveal who is to blame for the horrific attacks that took place the inspectors only have a mandate to ascertain the use of chemical weapons but not by whom they were you just so the key question will still remain up in the air even as we receive the results of that investigation nonetheless the u.s. has already made its judgment. and of course we'll continue to follow those developments concerning the u.s. and syria here on in the meantime after this short break is it safe to be gay in russia why is the war against gay propaganda demand is stirring such a huge international controversy and what does it have to do with the sochi olympics well we'll be discussing that with a pen and i guess a life here on r.t. shortly.

but he sees things that sighted people don't notice. things most people never do they call him disabled but he's the world's first deaf and blind doctor of science. professor i think the other civil of. the great life. the odds. on an annual show common in washington d.c. thank you all the face just like you. should have you with us here on t.v. today i'm sure.

to minutes past the hour here in the russian capital another situation concerning gay rights in russia has been making headlines around the world and sparking huge debate among activists politicians and even athletes a new law prohibiting gay propaganda to minors and spark calls for a boycott of the upcoming winter olympics in sochi in february next year culture expert martin andrews has been finding out what impact it's been having in the country. the real rainbow russia fights on the streets and less arrests for many around the world moscow brings images of snow spies violence and now extreme homophobia the new anti-gay propaganda law has certainly break night in the cold war hangups from decades ago on the this time it's the l g b t community

in the spotlight all the fights for equality in boycotts on sporting events can be justified it's important to note that moscow and many other major cities in russia do have thriving gay communities peter was named is a british ex-pat who told me how he feels about safety in the capital so you've been living here for three years what are your experiences. being a gay now expired in moscow i think it's safe i don't have any incidents living here and i don't know any friends that have any balance of living here as well who are openly gay or violent clashes murders and ban parades there is widespread homophobia in russia discrimination is discrimination and needs to be a challenge but has the community become a scapegoat of anti russia propaganda and as tempers flare and protest tourism takes hold in london and new york are activists seeing the full picture. central

station is a popular gay nightclub such venues aren't in themselves a measure of freedom nor are they the benchmark of human rights and acceptance but they do give something of an insight into the reality of gay life here this isn't about promoting a positive image of russia it's about addressing the fact that even though gay rights are being squeezed and people have been abusing killed it is possible for young gay men and women to have a happy healthy and safe life here activists in the west have spoken out loudly in great numbers but is this about hate crime or hate russia. this is not about defending russia it's. there is any one sides of equality but it is about understanding russia's history social behavior so the mindset and the whole religion has over swathes of society and this one of the most misunderstood places in the world all around the policy remains

a battle for the one for the rainbow flag stop flying. around very. well to discuss gay rights in russia we have a panel of guests joining us live let's see if he's a russian gay activist and former head of moscow pride is just resigned martin andrews who you just saw a moment ago well he's and he said now we have been closely following the debates and live from london human rights activist peter tatchell now. we'll start with you we have been accused of not covering this topic here on t.v. and just last week a freelance reporter by the name of james could achieve he brought r.t. certainly into the spotlight didn't he with great star one has to say and he certainly made a very good to wait a few. twitter follower bump for him but to get to the point this by the way is our third panel on carrots in russia but that's beyond the point curtsey came on to r.t. to let us know what he thinks about our coverage or lack thereof of gay rights in

russia and this is what happened you know being here on a kremlin funded propaganda network i'm going to wear my gay pride suspenders and going to speak out about bradley manning plus time because you know i don't i'm not really interested in talking about bradley i mentioned talking about the horrific environment of homophobia in russia right now and the russian gay people know that they have and they have friends and allies are i think it's really just about. i only go on that station with the russians so. that he did. funny that he thought we would have not liked his suspenders we have since this news has broken it's becoming such a common we have flags in the studio all the time because it's such a big part of our coverage but anyway we don't want to waste too much time i critic we did invite him to speak tonight he denied saying that he said in interviews around the world after this event that r.t. is not a legitimate news channel that he just believes it would be supporting putin and

his mouthpiece and that he won't participate in discussions on our network to give it credibility but i think that we should not spend too much time talking about kirk and talk about the real issues absolutely we invited peter tatchell who is with us now in london peter do you feel that western media in and gay rights activist groups are somewhat overreacted to this recent legislation in the country . well no i don't and i want to make it clear that the theme of the big london protest next tuesday is going to be a lot of russia phobia we are not against the russian people or the russian nation russia has a long history and tradition. tonight a great contribution to human civilization in terms of art and culture but we are against the rising levels of homophobic violence that we've seen in parts of russia where particular young teenage russian men are being lured to spots by

chat rooms only to be confronted by gangs of thugs who beat torture and least two instances of actually murdered them and we're not satisfied the russian police are taking these hate crime seriously with regard to the end to get a law what it's basically says is that any information that makes homosexuality sound attractive or interesting or which says that homosexuality or heterosexuality is equally valid is illegal if a person under eighteen might witness it might witnesses and we know of at least. so there's where people in russia have displayed signs saying things like homosexuality is normal and been arrested even though there's been no evidence that a young person under eighteen seen it in the final run and make is why shouldn't young people under eighteen know the facts of homosexuality and same sex love some of them move. or if not they will drop to no gay people they should know the facts

the truth not about sex but about love between people of the same gender in a moment peter would be asking a nice or the purpose of this law and what it means and what it's trying to achieve but you quite rightly point to homophobic violence in russia but of course it's not just a problem here in the country i just like to give you some statistics about the problems elsewhere around the world in the u.s. for example sexual orientation ranks as the third highest motivator for hate crime incidents after race based on religion based attacks in new york alone crimes rose seventy percent this year according to local police let's look at the u.k. ninety eight home of transfer recorded each week across britain and compared to other types of hate crime the proportion of anti-gay attacks is on the rise to now of course the statistics and as peter already highlighted the situation isn't good in this country we have to admit that but your report a somewhat mixed report suggests that there is a vibrant gay community here but is it dangerous to be gay. that's

a very very difficult you know answer to give because in some ways i've lived here for eight years i've had no trouble whatsoever many people could say well of course martin you live in an ex-pat bubble in a privileged lifestyle you're here but having traveled through seventy five regions . away for i did a few years ago i visited gay clubs all throughout russia so of course there's violence happening the murders that happened but it's for people to you know get the details wrong about what you know culturally socially stifel nicolaus would you agree you're going to get the rights here in russia what's your experience here well first of all i wanted. you said that i'm going to resign and i'm not going to resign anywhere i have so many cases pending at the european court of human rights on violence against what about your own did you not publicly resign from no i'm not resigning anywhere i mean it's clear that i'm going to continue my fight and that's what i'm doing for the last eight years why we've been misled by that why has it been you know. i think the boys have to discuss something and that's what they have

been discussing for the last days but that i was hijacked that i was tortured that i have been. harassed by everyone and so on yes it's absolutely true that my flight was raided by the police on tuesday because of the case of deputy of the russian duma and it was really not a very pleasant. experience what happened during but it doesn't stop me i just haven't got support from the west for example i've been heavily criticized by anti gay rights activists why is that why don't you try and i think i think i can be and that's what i was writing and in the article in the side the recently made i cannot be asked to be called a champion of the russian government or anyone here in the russian government i mean i'm just fighting for the rights i'm just fighting for human rights i have been doing this for years and what what is happening is just that i think activists in the west are just not listening to what we're saying to you and they are working to because of the vote because they want to know because of the olympic games they

want to do something by their own things but they never listen to the organizations . in this country and what we're saying is that we have to do the olympic games in sochi we have to protest during this olympic games we have to raise this issues as much as possible during the olympic games and also the west have to do this during the olympic games there is no problem about this but why do we have to do it as a protest why do we have to charge after that the russian people that their gay people that they are responsible for. the disruption of these olympic games we are not responsible for these we're just fighting for our right ok we'll talk about it we're going to little bit more later. into effect look at the impact it's had on particularly on the people in russia and its reputation abroad and you know what i mean and i mean this law. was it was a point why it was broadens because russia is traditional i'm not going to lie russia has problems with homophobia but for me and what i wanted to ask actually nikolai is why russia why the focus around russia obviously in the problems you've

been having and it's been going up and down on social media the picture that is painted in the west is clearly very different that's why it's interesting for me where peter is getting these statistics that it's become worse there's been attacks i mean have you heard that by that decision because of people on the left are you saying. that's not the reality let's just make it clear one thing is that there is a law which has legal implications and there is a law which has social engineering program that is an absolutely upright citizen worst thing about legal implications i can tell you this law is not employed in practice there are regional laws which are absolutely similar to the federal one not apply them practice and the social consequences peter was saying i absolutely agree that these people who are doing this on the internet who are caressing young people who have to groups have to be brought to justice and this is absolutely fine in any in any country of the world and can we say that this is because of this

specific it can be a consequences of this law because this people are getting a kind of blank for their illegal things for their illegal action same carte blanche that they have an australian with a gay panic law which no one is speaking about this is why is this about russia yeah you it makes that you're actually an x. about it's russia or russia is now in the world spotlight because there is olympic games coming because it's the way to the next moment. to the dystopic obviously there is no other topic of human rights violations that will make such headlines around the world and that's what this really as i talk about peter's experience you were here in two thousand and seven do you think that the sentiment is change the toll since you were here because you were actually punched and we got some video footage of it let's have a quick look at the souls of what happened to you when you came here here it is. right. first the water thrown at him. then was punched. oh. well that's the incident there we

saw. he was then arrested well peter there we saw the footage there two thousand and seven and then to what level of just tell us your reaction to that is can i can i explain can i explain to you i was merely standing in the street speaking to journalists the police allowed a mob of neo nazis and ultranationalist to walk through their lines and come and attack me what the film doesn't show is when i was dragged on the ground of being kicked and in fear of my life i was almost lost consciousness and the police just stood there and watched and then when i heard good beating the police arrested me and loud my attackers to walk free another year i was in moscow i simply held a sign saying gay rights i was grabbed off the street by the police and arrested and detained for hours in a police station much worse happens to russians beaten people much worse and we've

got to remember that this is not about western perspective this is about supporting the human rights of all russian people and it's not just about gay rights it's about the attacks on civil and human rights across all sections of russian society robert you have lots of us reaction of these is. from the rest of the i mean you know most homophobia is rife in this country that is one hundred percent true what i find it culturally interesting is that what is the why is the focus on russia when there are seventy six countries around the world that you know are how far west laws to death penalty etc and i get messages every single day from people saying how could you live in moscow the reality is that if two tourists or americans come to moscow if they have come in say that sense just like they will in any. the country they will be safe. but also you have a can i just we're not saying we're not singling out russia we're not singling out russia here in london just in the last year but they went through he certainly is

and i think i can tell you about some of his experiences that he's had with them not being interested. i mean i'm going to run with that homophobia is rife in this country i absolutely agree also with your point that two americans living here not expressing their sexual orientation openly will be absolutely safe in this country and all these things about the talks about homophobia in this country if they're not involved in the public good t.v. they're not involved in the activism they will be absolutely free in this country and will not charge will not be have any problems but what i'm saying that. also the point is that absolutely true we don't have the freedom of assembly this is not respected i mean we have lots of case of the european court of human rights on freedom of assembly and we won the case on the on the most pride. absolutely if you . like most western media ok but just quickly sort of questions we're not giving interviews to western media outlets well i'm just telling you that i think that the

whole picture is absolutely exaggerated it's not what they report is absolutely not true what they're saying is that basically everyone is being killed on the streets here what's like the sense i'm sure. i mean i want to say i mean we i want what we want to say i'm here i mean i'm absolutely involved in all the public to keep it is probably one of them i don't know not being rated by the police why am i not running why am i not now in new york why am i not now in london why am i here in moore school in your studio fighting for your rights and talking about iraq that's what i want to say absolutely and proof you hear and it's proof is very happy to talk about it now peter just quickly you said that you were targeting russia does that mean that you don't agree with boycotting the olympics. absolutely boycott is not the right way that would punish athletes and of course many russian algebras a shouldn't have said they do not want to boycott to respect their wishes but we do believe the protests are necessary as they are against any and every government in

the world that violates human rights where they be human rights of gay people or other people. i want to see i want to see an alliance in russia between gay and straight russians to defend freedom of expression for russian peaceful people. russian concentrating of russian i have no idea where all that is trying to build their salience and that's something we they gave us open the door of the european court for the public for the freedom of assembly of all the russian people on this issue there is no problem when they're going to russia well that's when you do there are seventy percent of people we have to change and we have to fight for the change of the public opinion we have to persuade the politicians to change their opinion and to educate the russian population this is very important and i am glad if you will have because i was reading in one of the moscow newspapers that that opinion here is so conservative this is very young country only twenty years old it

will take about fifteen years for it to a change its attitude if we didn't start it in two thousand and six it would never change if we didn't start this fight in two thousand and six we would not have the season of the european court we would not have the un decision on one of the regional laws on gay propaganda we will not have many more cases of that beginning in court just. the last and the last thing that as i want to say is that they have their fight their public protests on the third of september through them in london and other countries but one today what we want to do is organize the final such a pride. which will attract attention to this situation and that's what we're going to do on the twenty sixth of september during the final delegation of. who will come in. on the right we've got if we could have a little of thank you very much indeed just just what you got to say very very brief i mean i've made this argument before so it's nothing new but doesn't that then make the olympics about gay pride as opposed to about the athletes and then

also doesn't that mean that western activists should be protesting the ass all right the world cup i mean it's not a test even after that what we really have done a ton of great to get order before thank you very much indeed to make about it because you have thank you all these modern managers and he said now and peter tatchell really appreciate your time as well live in london thanks so much for joining in this debate thank you auntie live in london in moscow and in just a moment ago the world of business economics and finance on the money is coming your way after a short break and then more developments from syria concerning the u.s. in about half an hour from now. so the historic and for many americans tragic ruling in the bradley manning case.