as america debates whether to strike syria washington uses the time to send reinforcements to the middle east including an aircraft carrier group. russia's foreign minister calls evidence that the syrian government used chemical weapons unconvincing saying he's seen nothing that actually resembles the fact. radiation levels at japan's stricken fukushima nuclear plant are now so high there are enough to kill a person exposed for as little as four hours. and german chancellor angela merkel goes head to head with her rival in a t.v. debate party looks at why neither of this month's election candidates were in too much of a rush to criticize each other. you're

watching our two live from moscow and lindsey france the u.s. military is sending even more forces to surround syria in anticipation of a first strike order from washington congress will reconvene in a week's time to debate whether to attack damascus but barack obama has made it clear he may order an assault even without the agreement to lawmakers american defense officials have confirmed that an aircraft carrier group is now on its way to the region the nuclear powered u.s.s. nimitz carrying dozens of aircraft is accompanied by five smaller warships armed with tomahawk cruise missiles the strike groups expected to team up with several ships already in position in the mediterranean off the syrian coast the combined fleet could pummel damascus from a safe distance dealing massive damage to the country artie's maria fanaa has the reaction from the syrian capital. tomorrow next week next

month series wondering if or when america's missiles will strike and what the aftermath will be but for many people here it doesn't pay to linger on what tomorrow will bring because the resolve ready award today. the snow is going on the money we do you have been at war for two years with bombs falling in our hands just a few kilometers from here cruise missiles or endless war is the difference. every day every hour every minute we endure bombardment we have bombs and terror attacks shelling it's not very hard to face america after dealing with the jihad its for so long michel walid not his real name has a nice apartment in an upmarket area of damascus but a year ago he moved into the hotel his running for safety reasons after family member was kidnapped by what he says were members of an al qaeda linked group we

don't feel safe of course not because of the. of. the strike we've got to put them out they are throwing these things against civilians and that's very bad and to have had a looser is considered to be one of the most successful and aggressive opposition forces promote in fundamental islam and proclaiming the end of the assad regime they have believed to hold several districts around damascus where they engage in almost daily battles with government troops both the u.n. and the u.s. and others consider it a terrorist organization a treaty i see that and they can shoot side because we are fighting terrorism america doesn't agree i have decided that the united states should take military action against syrian regime targets that's just another entry on a long list of daily concerns which already includes terror attacks not pains and

killings those living in residential areas of damascus say several days ago they started receiving letters like this one advising them to clear their basements in preparation. for now no one i spoke to looked like they would follow the advice syrians may vote with their feet when the bombs start to fall but for now they've got plenty of other things to worry about. reporting from damascus in syria the white house says chasing ghosts by building a case for war in syria based on in conclusive evidence that's according to russian foreign minister sergey lavrov who reiterated the kremlin stance against intervention without un backing up to get more from artie's shan thomas and i shall know what russia's foreign affairs chief have to say well sergey lavrov was speaking to a group of students on the first day of classes at moscow state university of foreign relations the topic quickly turned to syria this is the first statement from russian leadership after obama's speech on saturday and that at first he made

some broad sweeping statements about western policy in the middle east saying that it's inconsistent and that there are double standards but speaking on the idea of the united states having evidence that it was the assad regime used chemical weapons in syria he said that that evidence is not concrete it does not give specifics it does not give locations it does not talk about specific people or places therefore russia is skeptical let's listen to what he had to say about that . as we believe we've seen these papers there is no evidence it was just accusations if you have read any super secret data well you need to remove the secrecy because we're talking about war and peace. now one thing lavrov did talk about was the situation in the aleppo syria back in march where the russian government believes they have evidence that it was the syrian rebels the opposition

that actually used chemical weapons that they pointed to the fact that the ordinance used to deliver sarin gas were not manufactured by mass and also that the gas itself was not industrially produced therefore pointing to the fact that it was the opposition that used chemicals at that time they wanted to have an investigation they were willing to cooperate they were ready to move forward and lavrov said that it was the western partners on the u.n. security council that delayed they didn't seem interested in having an investigation of that time perhaps because it was the rebels that were in question here so today said a lot of reiterating russia's stance and strongly against the idea of western intervention. all right thanks a lot artie's sean thomas there for us now sean just mentioned the u.s. is building a case for war on its own claims and intelligence washington has also pointed to amateur footage posted online allegedly showing victims of the attack even

unconfirmed accounts by reported eyewitnesses are being used as solid evidence by america where the latest claims from the state department revolve around alleged samples from the war zone which they say confirm the use of chemical weapons but most of america's allies aren't buying the arguments with only france agreeing to weigh in with force to support a u.s. attack while the u.n. says it is the only one who can determine whether chemical weapons were actually used. the united nations mission is uniquely capable of establishing in an impartial and credible manner the facts of any use of chemical weapons based directly on evidence collected from the ground ok and if the u.s. share any of this evidence that is described with the u.n. well as we've said repeatedly said member states are encouraged to share information information they may have with regard to alleged incidents. well the u.s. has been accused of overlooking some fact that undermine its view of how the region

should be dealt with parties and looks at claims that washington rarely lets inconsistency get in the way the use of chemical weapons on august twenty first killing hundreds of people with an ongoing u.n. investigation is now the anchor to weigh a more direct involvement and the option of a military escapade but this is far from the first time chemical weapons have come up in the conflict although incidents which are apparently less convenient for the us to pay attention to one example in may this year a top u.n. investigator said a chemical attack with the use of sarin gas had taken place in march with indications that it was done by the opposition forces to move it up while our investigators have been in syria and in neighboring countries interviewed victims doctors and few tostitos and in the latest reports we got last week i saw that although there is still no incontrovertibly prove there are very strong suspicions judging by the kind of medical the victims received the gas has been used by the

opposition rebels and not the country's authority but it's not surprising because militants and people from outside have already infiltrated the opposition from ignoring the reports of u.n. investigators that would rather kept quiet to turning a blind eye to the feet of kurds the largest ethnic minority in syria at the hands of the opposition leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of people. people villages suffer the vicious assault there chased out of their homes they become victims of massacres and ethnic cleansing everything connected to the kurds is being destroyed to episodes of finding sarin gas in the homes of syrian militants reportedly to be used for bombs in may this year when russia and turkey called for an investigation but the west did not questionable and uncomfortable factors have been downplayed by the us time after time of possible end to the syrian crisis as far away as ever but misinformation and selective reasoning seem to be alive and well and i said sure going to r.t.

moscow. coming up on our thousand days staring at walls the fate of wiki leaks editor julian assange still stranded inside ecuador's embassy in london with little hope of leaving following a lengthy spell of house arrest more analysis on that shortly. the radiation level at japan's fukushima nuclear plant is eighteen times higher than previously reported scans show that in some areas it could kill a person exposed to it in just four hours independent nuclear consultant sean bernie believes that the situation at the plant crippled by a two thousand and eleven earthquake and tsunami is only going to deteriorate to the themselves of the chair but we need one as it's the. beginning with a very complex three reactor make time and space to use to be good not enough workers on site and workers and don't keep getting these that not being told about the for

the next. and going forward this is a plan we need to get worse. where we get into absolute certainty the amount and street. scenes use these three times as much caesium it's very dangerous you don't get three times as much as was released by the chimney accident he's thrown. in the changes in the tubes it's the same. well some believe there are hidden dangers not even a hazard suit can protect people from courtesy of global biotech giants later so fickle shevardnadze talks to jeffrey smith from the institute of responsible technology about the hazards of genetically modified foods and the key figure in the g.m.o. market monsanto. they lied about the toxicity of their former products p c b's age of darren's d.d.t. and they have an ugh precedented control around the world and the regulatory bodies

this is exemplified by the food and drug administration where the policy on g.m. owes was overseen by monsanto's former attorney michael taylor and the policy falsely claims that the agency wasn't aware of any information showing the g m o's were significantly different therefore the f.d.a. requires no safety studies and no labeling they leave it up to monsanto to determine if their foods are safe and mud sand it doesn't even have to tell the f.d.a. or consumers if it wants to slip a g.m.o. into our food supply. it's been a top destination for tourists from around the world for centuries but the way guests and parents are being welcomed and treated has suddenly become a cause for concern for the city's authorities we'll tell you why in

a few minutes time. well with. technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future covered. right simply. first strike. and i think that you're. on our reporters.

i. think. you're watching r t live from moscow islands in france some say fifteen million germans watched a tepid t.v. duel between chancellor angela merkel and her main rival both were keen to appear on top of issues like the euro tax policy and u.s. spy programs but there were no real clashes between two candidates fully aware that they may be forced into a coalition together after this month's general vote party's peter all of our reports. this one and only televised debates between the main front runners in the german elections could potentially have a huge impact on who wins and who can try and pick up the few votes now currently

as it stands at the moment called into the the latest polls that came out on friday angler merkel was quite far in the lead with forty one percent the s.p. deepish x. party behind them with twenty six percent however personal feeling amongst the german voters could see could be huge in this one of the reasons for that is that the the two parties are quite similar and do agree on a lot of issues has accused merkel in the past of hiding the true cost of bailing out greece from the from the german people germany has put in the lion's share of the money to try and help the the financially struggling the fiscally struggling mediterranean nation after this election whoever is chancellor whether it's merkel or whether it's time to is going to have to deal with what seems like would be almost inevitable the bailout for the mediterranean country now one of the other major issues that in the select in this election is the n.s.a.

spying scandal and just what's being done about it and what was done at the time now one of the main questions being pointed at angola merkel is just how much did she know about it and how much did she allowed the n.s.a. the united states to spy on german citizens so greece and the n.s.a. emerging as the the two things that the two main candidates can go head to head on however what we are going to see though is them slam each other too much personally it's very likely on the to after the twenty second when the vote is here in germany these two might have to sit down and talk and i in out in bash out a coalition that could lead germany in the coming years. inches away from a rock n roll death the passengers of this car in taiwan miraculously escaped unharmed when this giant boulder threatened to crush them at r.t. dot com to see the full version of this amazing footage plus come rain or come

shine in this time it looks like it'll be rain the world's top military bands turn out in the finest for rehearsals and a heavy downpour to delight the crowds at red square you can enjoy that video on our website in motion page. monday marks one thousand days of confinement for wiki leaks editor julian most of it under house arrest but since june two thousand and twelve the whistleblower has been holed up in london's ecuadorian embassy attempting to avoid extradition to sweden where he's wanted on sex crime allegations a songe fears he should he step out of the embassy he will be arrested and ultimately handed over to the u.s. to face life imprisonment and wiki leaks spokesperson told r.t. why they're so worried. it is quite all of you so if you read through the transcript of the trial against chelsea manning and see what kind of arguments were raised there and how often we can use was not mentioned in the trial that there is

a very strong possibility that the next target is julius sands and it might already be an indictment against him and all the others in our organization we see as well the escalating war against to those who commit the act of journalism and this is escalating from month to month the argument is this is the bradley manning was the first whistle blower and he was history who has been. prosecuted and found guilty on the basis of us journalists will come next it could possibly be we could lose all the media organizations it's a real possibility and we nor ball do on investigation in the u.s. into we can leave which as we know are going on for three years and probably cost. quite a sum of money because it has been cited as one of the biggest criminal investigation

in la times in the u.s. so it is a very worrying situation in mexico violence has erupted between police and protesters demonstrating against the government's proposed education and energy reforms the clashes were near the congress building in mexico city as protesters tried to disrupt the parliament session students threw stones and petrol bombs at security and police responded with tear gas teachers have been protesting for two weeks against mandatory evaluations of their performance while others accuse the government of trying to sell off the nation's energy assets. protests in romania commute into the night on sunday after thousands rallied over the opening of a new mine in transylvania people were angered by reports that a canadian mining company could use cyanide to extract gold demonstrators condemned the government for backing the plans saying the technique would harm the environment. egypt's footings toppled president mohamed morsi and fourteen other

members of the muslim brotherhood on trial for inciting murder and violence the charges refer to the killing of at least seven people in cairo last december the country's army backed government has also ordered the new ruling assembly to review all islamist amendments to the constitution egypt suffered unrest for nearly two months with regular street battles between police and promo morsi demonstrators. in pakistan a roadside bomb has killed at least nine servicemen and women did more than twenty others the blast happened when a convoy was passing through the northern province of waziristan near the border with afghanistan the turbulent region has seen plenty violent attacks by both al qaeda and that's how wild u.s. drones hunting the militants often catch civilians in the crossfire on saturday a drone raid killed three foreign militants being the world's top destination for tourists is a gold mine for the paris city budget but the notoriously grumpy french in

a french capital could finally be turning people off yes or sillier reports on how visitors are losing affection for the city of love. coming up are you. smiling faces the belie a troubled economy with the number of job seekers rising to three point one eight million in july from the twenty seventh month in a row and a budget deficit the government can barely rein in france has been walking on eggshells since europe's economic crisis hit the there is a small respite to sixty pages of paris in the last six or is still the city perhaps the title of world's top destinations are going to fall to pieces million piercers thirty three million paris alone cannot force may not be enough as a reality is not always up to our weekly with the city of like known as much for its beauty as its unfriendliness at the extreme end of it

a few years ago dozens of japanese tourists were reported to have been struck with the so-called amorous syndrome they were so madly affected by rude encounters that they had to be repatriated back to japan in a state of shock. various is beautiful it's wonderful but the reason siregar and they have to change this because they rely on revenue from to reason. i'm shocked at the behavior of some people who are supposed to be tourism professionals i won't get into details but really i'm shocked at the attitude they've given me. with tourism making up more than seven percent of the french gross domestic product tourist officials in the country's capital decided to attempt with the naysayers claim is impossible giving those who work in the service industry to be more pleasant. again being was launched this summer in paris called do you speak truest guide for restaurateurs taxi drivers and shopkeepers on how to behave towards their city's guests giving them hundred by country advice on what is

expected from them. it is important for everyone involved in pounces economy to treat tourists better regardless of their nationality in order to make them want to come back and to spend more and that's precisely where france legs behind the competition despite being the number one destination the un world tourism organization found out that visitors to the u.s. spend twice as much as those who travel to france and that's despite fewer people making the journey to the states that the loss of revenue is proving twice as costly as europe continues to struggle with a debt crisis that seriously endangering the french economy this paris taxi driver insists though that while the dream speak truest is a good idea creating a positive experience is not a one way street first of all for us taxi drivers that are prosecutors who

are very excuse me for saying so annoying something they may simply have to accept with a smile if they want to hold on to one of its economic basis amid a slew of losing hands but it's important to remember the good manners costs nothing what is france's learning bad manners may be very pricey indeed does or sylvia r.t. paris. and i weekly sport round up next with kate partridge stay with us. many gay bars are starting to refuse to sell russian vodka as a means of protesting the homosexual propaganda laws in russia as i've said before boycotts are a great way to put pressure on people but are they putting pressure on the right people not only is it racist to assume that hurting the vodka flow will deal

a massive blow to the russian economy but it is also racist to think that any vodka with a russian sounding name is itself russian and many videos angry gay bartenders were pouring stolichnaya vodka which should be pronounced by the way onto the ground in a fury but if those bartenders would take a closer look at the labels they would see that exported stoli is produced and bowed in latvia by the s.p.i. group not in russia also according to the n.p.t. group beverage alcohol report the most popular vodka in america with a russian sounding name is smeared off which is british owned and produced and bottled in various countries around the globe including the usa itself we do support the american worker people love to panic over the hip and trendy scandal of the month but everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that homosexuality itself is legal in russia and is punishable in many other countries including a death sentence in some of them and yet russia gets all the attention if people really wanted to effectively boycott any country with any laws even hinting against

homosexuality they would have to hit them where it hurts and stop getting natural resources imported from countries like russia saudi arabia venezuela and iran and so on and so on that is a vastly more difficult proposition than pouring american made vodka onto the sidewalk but that's just my opinion. hello and thank you for joining me for the r.t. sports show i'm kate fall tradition coming up is our weekly roundup of support from russia and the cross the globe and here are the top stories. top transfer whales when gareth bale moves from tottenham through right now madrid for a world record three of almost one hundred thirty three million dollars.

plus walking tall the russian beat ukraine in their last friendly before the european bonds people championships as the new the squad aims to repeat their two thousand and seven trials. and ice task to we look ahead to the new ice hockey season is to pay a child giants lock horns and a child star alexander ovechkin and dale's russia's kids for the sochi olympics. but first let's kick off with mobile and after weeks of negotiating talk the winter garris bell has joined realm of dread on a six year deal for a world record free of almost one hundred thirty three million dollars the twenty four year old while star will receive over four hundred sixty six thousand dollars a week in wages the move eclipses the one hundred twenty four million dollars which right outside manchester united were cristiana rinaldo in two thousand and nine bale joined spurs as a left back from southampton six years ago and last season scored twenty six goals

in forty four appearances. while chelsea have signed cameron strike at some less so the russian club and three were not the stewards free transfer a one year deal the thirty two year old rejoins coach jersey a marine you know who led his into milan side to the treble in two thousand and ten last month and used billionaire own most of them and got the most slashed the club's big budget selling a host of top player. into brazil we field up also to chelsea boss christopher samba and russia got the big order to self to number. and retired in june star david beckham has been backing training with his former club the l.a. galaxy but despite still putting his skills on the pitch the thirty eight year old has no plans for a comeback on the honey not his beats in may in contrast former teammate landon donovan who find a three year contract extension as america's all time top scorer looks to add to his tally of fifty six goals in rio next year. most of the time i'm going to be

guaranteed to play as long as i'm training on playing well and. this is the best place for me to be leading up to the world cup and so i took all that into account all that into consideration but it was so overwhelmingly obvious that this is the place i want to be leading into hopefully my fourth world cup. well meanwhile pep guardiola and jerry's a merino faced each other again as brian muni beat ten month chelsea five four on penalties in the european super cup final in prague fernando torres volley the blues in front off to eight minutes then straight after the break frank rebury equalized from twenty five yards chelsea a last remaining us to a second booking late on but two minutes into extra time a them has not restored their lead better check them produced a flurry of saves but couldn't stop having martin as leveling with the last kick of the game and after nine successful penalties manuel neuer safe from remember lou kaku to give a his first trophy with brian might be in the.