the russian. security council beginning. act of aggression. taking action on syria as the country's president claims. and is determined to strike. huge. governments around the world.

president putin is want to get a military attack on syria without the u.n. security council's approval the russian leader said punitive measures can take place under international authorization and if there is solid evidence the syrian regime gassed civilians. reports. president vladimir putin was doing an interview with the associated press and russia's first channel and in that interview he strongly cautioned the west against unilateral action against syria he also said that if united states has strong and conclusive evidence that it was the assad regime that used chemical weapons then it must be handed over to the u.n. security council so that it can be analyzed and discussed in a global in an environment in terms of the investigation that is happening with the

u.n. and the alleged use of chemical weapons he said that the world community needs to wait until that investigation is finished we know that those inspectors are out of the country and that information is being analyzed right now but he did say that he's not convinced that it wasn't the assad regime that used chemical weapons citing the fact that president assad and his army have made significant gains in advances in the syrian civil war and that he's not a desperate listen to what he had to say about that fact and that is good because it's a show and you know we think it would be totally absurd for the regular government forces to use banned chemical weapons in a situation where they've been circled the so-called rebels in certain areas and basically erbil to finish the move that they fully aware of the fact that such a step would mean sanctions including even the use of force this is just absurd it doesn't make any sense now in terms of the famous now famous video that is

circulated around you tube we heard secretary of state from the united states john kerry bring that up as one of the reasons why the u.s. shouldn't get involved. the president did address that as well he said that this video is horrific but it raises some questions we don't know who these children are we don't see parents we don't see doctors in their president did it reiterate here wants to wait for there to be more solid evidence from the u.n. and they're. on the ground to to basically justify any action going through international laws now in a separate statement after a meeting with the human rights council a nonprofit organization vladimir putin talked about the united states congress and the fact that they are in the process of debating that the use of force and have actually drafted a resolution to be voted by the full congress later on this month he basically said that it was an acceptable to even consider using force outside of u.n.

conventions this is what he had to say. it was the question of the authorizing the use of force is being discussed by the congress and the senate so it is an absolute commonsense substitutional in international law the congress and no country can sanction such and think most of what they trying to authorize is aggression because everything outside the u.n. security council is aggression and a lot of you have put in his often come under fire for what is thought to be a strong alliance with a bashar al assad regime he had this to say he said that we do not defend assad or his regime and stead russia defends international law he also went on to say that it is dangerous when you start entertaining questions about the use of force when it comes to not going through un convention so a lot said today on the subject of syria from russia's president. sean thomas there

well you can find out what else russia's president had to say during his interview in the full version available on our website r.t. dot com and in washington the house of representatives foreign affairs committee hearing on syria is underway and these are live pictures from there right now here on r.t. for a secret state john kerry has been addressing the lawmakers and we can see him there he's pretty much repeating his statement in the senate that he made yesterday he stressed the greater risk american security would face if the u.s. doesn't act now also just like on tuesday there are protesters against the war present at the hearing and you can see them just in the background there with their arms in the air now meanwhile the u.s. president said relations with a lot of near putin regarding syria hit the wall but expressed hope russia would change its stance barack obama was speaking in sweden as he rallies support both at home and abroad for a potential strike near top u.s.

lawmakers agreed on a resolution giving president obama a ninety day window for military action but bars american boots on the ground. are reports. well u.s. president barack obama says that when it comes to the use of chemical weapons in syria it's not his credibility that is on the line he says is the credibility of the international community he was referring to the statements that he made a year ago when he said that if chemical weapons were used in syria it would be quote it would be a red line for him now he's saying that those statements reinforce the red line which was imposed by the international community while the u.s. leader is stressing the importance of these international agreements he did say on saturday that he feels very comfortable striking syria without the approval of the united nations security council and now at a press conference in stockholm sweden the u.s. leader also says he said that it is difficult for him to make a decision to use military force in syria but as difficult as that decision is he

believes the moral thing to do is not to stand by and do nothing we should act internationally well sometimes because of the various alignments it's hard to through a security council resolution. so either we resign ourselves to saying there's nothing we can do about it and we'll just shake our heads and go about our business or. we make decisions even when they're difficult and i think this is an example of where we need to make decisions even though they're difficult and i think. it's important for congress to be involved but when asked what he will do if congress rejects the president's request to use military force mr obama did not rule out going ahead with his plan without the approval of congress the congressional leaders are beginning to line up behind president obama's plan to launch an air

strike on syria now the republican house leadership has already indicated that they will back a military intervention in syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons meanwhile as we've already been reporting the state foreign relations committee is set to vote on a compromise draft resolution for authorizing the use of military force in syria the texel toward a sixty day deadline for action with one thirty day extension possible but it also according to reports bars any ground forces and a final set in resolution would eventually need sixty votes to overcome a filibuster by opponents now on tuesday secretary of state john kerry secretary of defense chuck hagel and the chairman of the joint chiefs morton dempsey all testified before the senate foreign relations committee advocating a u.s. strike on syria kerry said that the world's eyes are on washington now to see if

the government speaks with one voice and rises to the moment the u.s. is top diplomat also said if the u.s. does not take action against a mask is america's allies may suspended their support for the white house's initiatives in the future however after over a decade of war in iraq and afghanistan the polls show that americans are opposed to any new overseas military intervention and that national sentiment widespread skepticism has been reflected by senators and representatives who believe the obama administration has not still produce enough concrete evidence to show that it was the government of bashar al assad who used chemical weapons on august twenty first . the debate within the french parliament over the strike on syria has ended with the opposition in the country not to act without a u.n. mandate but there was no vote on the measure this time as president insists he

alone has the power to order an attack despite polls suggesting people want the parliament to have its say on the issue. has been looking at the french perspectives the french president is constitutionally able to order without a parliamentary approval along has been under a lot of pressure from opposition to to put this issue to a vote with the opposition and also pointed out that a lot is in a court of humiliation position of having to wait for before i was spokesman from a long office said that the president hasn't yet decided whether or not to ask for a vote alone said though that france will not go it alone and will wait for the outcome of the u.s. special role in all of this comes on the back of the report presented to parliament by the prime minister regarding the chemical attack near damascus which they say is responsible for two hundred eighty one deaths of the report says though that quote it could not have been ordered or carried out by anyone other than the syrian government now the president of syria bashar al assad in the meantime had given an

interview to french newspaper le figaro and warned that should there be an attack chaos and extremism would ensue and he also said there's a risk of a regional good and reward that france would become an enemy of the syrian state should they go ahead with this attack now we spoke earlier with a french senator to discuss francis' towns on a military intervention in syria the french intelligence has said that they presented proof and they found that assad is guilty of this chemical attack i think . must be very cautious and we must wait for. the decision of united nations experts because remember in two thousand and three the prudes were forced. and it was a disaster for and for the want economy as first public opinion polls said one of the recent poll say that fifty nine percent of the french are against a military intervention in syria by. reporting from paris.

and president of the e.u. security and defense subcommittee believes a land should let the parliament decide that if he wants the judge to missing it in the current situation there are too many parameters too many conditions. that are not met yet so i think it would be wise for long to try to have the foolish to timothy even if he goes for a military option. i think long should go for a vote. opposition is almost united on that question even within the socialist party to the ruling party you have more and more voices calling for a vote because of the necessary legitimacy to take action we are not there yet there will be first a debate. the president does not rule out of the option you have looked. on this. option we have some time still to debate and then you see after

a review of what we do in france it's come up thirty minutes past the hour in the russian capital i'll be back with more news shortly including brand new revelations by wiki leaks about companies selling spyware to governments around the world. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so. you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. and we'll look at. sunny's technology innovation called the list of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. speak your

language. programs and documentaries in arabic it's all here on. reporting from the world talks of the interviews an intriguing story. in. arabic. visit arabic. news continues here on r.t. a huge new revelation from wiki leaks this has exposed a sweeping surveillance industry which has been developing spyware for governments to track and control their citizens r.t. was among the very few media outlets given access to the documents prior to their release well data interception mass monitoring individual tracking those are just a number of services that were provided by some western companies revelations of

being outlined in thousands of pages which featured trade brochures memos and invoices the documents obtained by we could indicate that companies were making money on selling the technology to governments around the world among the countries with bahrain and amman which were provided with so-called monitoring systems this kind of spyware could be used to snoop on activists and opposition members without their consent as. reports. say goodbye to the days of. emails. three. this is a. develops

and. anyone's. name the company one of the corporate enemies that. the technology is marketed. as a way of identifying and catching serious criminals but human rights campaigners say that the software is regularly sold to repressive political regimes where the

definition of criminals can be somewhat different as one human rights campaigner in bahrain found out she says that gammas finn spice was used to get her off to she took part in anti-government protests look like a genuine email addresses to him another political activist saying that they were going to begin talks with the king of bahrain about the future of the country so i was in fact very intrigued very curious the manufacturer was government and national just opened my eyes into this other world of surveillance technology monitoring so we know that the british intelligence carries out its activities but allowing private the private sector to carry out these kind of activities for other foreign governments researches have identified. around the globe. activists and journalists last year we've all servers were. the number of other countries. we also found

a sample of the spyware by spyware appeared to be targeted back to ethiopia the scary thing from our perspective is that this technology and child were created around the world without any sort of it may be the stuff of spying movies but campaign to say the british government needs to wake up and start regulating these plans in place that technology is falling into we need to start acting like the weapons that can be used online are exactly the same as the kind of weapons like bombs and guns that can be used to hurt people. on the scene. and you can find detailed information leaked documents and the latest updates on this newly at our website r.t. dot com a key press freedom group has confronted the u.k. government over its attempts to silence those who tried to raise their voice they

claim downing street has abused anti terror laws and the scaremongering campaign against whistleblowers so if earth has more. and active intimidation that could have a chilling effect on press freedom in the u.k. and beyond not quite what you'd normally expect from a letter to the prime minister about press freedom in the way but those strong words coming from the world association of newspapers you organization felt compelled to write after the guardian newspaper was forced by british security services to destroy information received from n.s.a. whistleblower edward snowden and then the partner of one of its journalists suspected of carrying information the government deemed sensitive to national security was placed in detention upon arrival at heathrow airport david miranda partner of guardian journalist glenn greenwald was held for nine hours is the maximum time a person can be held using laws designed to catch a terrorist you know one of the reasons why we're so concerned and when i look at

the work our press freedom department does which is which has a global reach one of the issues that we have because the united kingdom is saying about. freedom with a very strong record on ensuring that it. can write the news and so so far around. here that the press freedom situation in the united kingdom is sliding and there's this is a great concern it is twenty thirteen freedom of speech seen here reporters without borders gives the satisfactory situation rating but for freedom of the press britain slipped from nineteenth in two thousand and ten to its current ranking of twenty ninth many concerned that said you'll servant of the terrorism act the law used to detain miranda is certainly being used to stop journalist doing their job of holding people in power to account rather than being used to prevent terrorism

she just seven allows. to stop examine and search passengers that travel terminals there's no need for any suspicion that they are linked to terrorism it's a very difficult problem the security services have a difficult job of difficult job. the state clearly has a duty to protect its citizens and. those people live living. in the u.k. at the same time i think they must recognize the role of the media. and you have to have to be in line with the appropriate law and use the appropriate . response of the government said it had to a scheme that copies of the information held by mr snowden could now be held by foreign countries to see mr snowden's travel since leaving the u.s.

and the disclosure of some of that material could put lives at risk well critics of the government's actions have despite these as alarmist planes aimed at justifying the blurring of the lines between terrorism and journalism is thought a full hearing into the legality of david maraniss detention and the seizure of that data will take place in october but in the meantime expect to see that war of words continue with the u.k. seemingly struggling to strike a balance between national security and press freedom sarah. london. now to another whistleblower chelsea manning formerly known as bradley uses her legal last resort private sentenced to thirty five years for the biggest leak of data in u.s. history files a plea for a presidential pardon from a bomb there's more on this story right now online plus. let's go welcomes military

bands from around the world for an annual music festival with breathtaking performances right in the heart of the russian capital head to our in vision section for more stunning images of the that. first trip. i think the church. bombings and shootings in iraq have left more than twenty people dead many of them women and children who were executed by gunman just south of the capital and this brings the death toll to more than one hundred fifty since the beginning of the month jeff steinberg of the executive intelligence review magazine believes terrorists are thriving on a neighboring crisis. the spillover is enormous and the whole

region is facing a grave crisis you rock is in a very fragile situation it borders are in syria so you've got. a new iraq forces moving back and forth across their border and of course the back of the saudis funding the sunni insurgency that is driving iraq into a state internal crisis many of the. sunni insurgents operating inside iran have now reversed over into syria so in a certain way. the violence now from endlessly inside iraq is a kind of reverberations of the fact that they are the crisis center in syria. and some international news in brief in the world of south africa's largest union the national union of mineworkers the state's a mess trying calling for high wages some eighty thousand members of laid down

tools the actual move cost the industry more than thirteen million dollars a day president zuma cuts to both the union and the money companies to find a peaceful solution was close last year when police shut down the mine is joining the strike. ariel castro the man who kidnapped three women and held them captive in his home for more than a decade has died after being found hanging in his prison cell officials are struggling to explain how the incident occurred as the man's been in protective custody with regular checks he was only caught when one of his victims managed to escape in may this year and alerted police in recent years to life imprisonment without parole plus one thousand years. a tornado was whipped through the north of japan's capital tokyo injuring two men and ripping the roofs off hells its local train services were suspended and passengers left stranded after lightning struck causing a power blackout another tornado on monday swept through two regions further south

in drink more than sixty people. i'll be back with a news team in just over thirty minutes from now as the news continues but coming up after a short break i'll report on the terrible toll military service takes on young troops newly returned from the battle for. syria and barack obama's complicated pounds towards the american administration is determined to punish the assad regime's alleged use of chemical weapons other than members of mainstream media many are skeptical of the president's claims and the necessity to attack syria so what is obama's plan and does it make any sense.

if you need to review these economic ups and downs in the find out month day for the month of the deal sang i and the rest because i could be a few will be everything going on for me. feel

. the full load. of the four it's all about you come back and do this all night and i'm so please find the spot where did you go. i we're going to pass that you know. and i'm about to actually go to afghanistan here in june so i got i got not very much time to have fun out here stuff but that's why we try to do it the way you want to go drag i'm sure you meant employed before yes ma'am thai rak was pretty good nothing bad happened when you lose anybody so it was a good good tara hopefully this year is the same day things are starting to calm

down maybe not so much i can say no but i'm out and i now know exactly everything is now it's still got some work to be done but i am a coward so it's what i get paid for you know so i get to have ever on table for a wife and a kid you know. how to. be. three weeks so. it's only forward to your day and now i'll be all the past my truck down as well so if you and your life have to really call. for an odd. odd. overflow of. glad. for her.