i. washington's efforts to drum up support for an attack on syria are met with staunch international opposition with russia saying the syrian rebels used chemical weapons provoked a foreign intervention. straight his opposition coalition sweeps to victory in the country's general election with most of the results now in and among those hoping for a seat in the senate is wiki leaks founder julian assange. and the u. justice commissioner calls the new europe wide previously little's after recent revelations by edward snowden show a new front in the n.s.a. data trawling.

watching r.t. this afternoon with me and. now the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is on a european tour trying to gather support for an american strike against syria the u.s. foreign policy chief is agreed that some form of action should be taken but his statement added that any decision still has to be made through the u.n. president obama has been having a hard time winning over backwards for an armed intervention over the past two days he failed to get allies on board at the g twenty summit in sim pages artie's. was there. everyone is speculating. on the syria issue with the press this morning and the majority have been saying that. initial plan was to disrupt. military intervention into syria. we do know of course a lot of discord between the g.

twenty countries on whether a military strike against syria is needed and clearly the biggest concern was whether we'll have a meeting at all because officially they have no meeting scheduled something unprecedented for the president of the united states and russia but eventually according to. themselves they met for a twenty thirty minute friendly conversation during which of course they discussed syria indeed. the summit coming here he was hoping that he could persuade the countries of the need to attack syria that he would provide the substantial evidence of bashar al assad using chemical weapons against the rebels but clearly judging by what the russian president said on that matter it seems that obama failed on that sense. i view everything that happened with the so-called use of chemical weapons in syria as a provocation by the rebels who count on help from abroad from those countries that

originally supported that's the reason for this provocation i also want to remind you that the use of force against a sovereign state is acceptable only if it's done for self-defense and we know that syria hasn't attacked the u.s. and only if the u.n. security council approves such. as one of the participants of our discussions on the issue put it yesterday those who do otherwise put themselves above the law still david cameron barack obama and. the french president they still try to play hardball saying that the u.n. security council decision may be overruled if they believe that again syria is needed russian president. this may generate a great feeling of fear among the smaller countries obviously suggesting that bigger states may actually do whatever they want overruling the mandate of the united nations that is obviously now that the g twenty summit is that it will be in for some several very interesting weeks to see how the future of syria will be

resolved so after two days of tense discussions all a bomber managed to get was eleven nations signing off on a call for tougher action against syria but their statement stopped short of explicitly backing military intervention which is what the u.s. is demanding british prime minister david cameron has given his moral support while ruling accu cain volved meant in any armed actions you to parliament's recent no vote china india and others sided with russia saying washington should not attack without he when security council approval so world leaders in favor of intervention represent nations which make up three billion people and that leaves politicians speaking on behalf of just under a billion on the other side of the fence meanwhile people around the world have been taking to the streets to protest against an assault on syria and you're seeing here some of the latest protests in the philippines and russia as well as earlier ones in london and paris as well as washington and new york and celebrities back in

the u.s. have been speaking out against obama's plans to a handwritten note from madonna expressing her opposition to a military strike france has been the main power standing by the u.s. but president along now says he wants to wait for a u.n. report on possible chemical weapons use in syria first but the country's former intelligence chief told us that military intervention would be in breach of international law. no personally i am against military intervention firstly it is a question of principle because it is a little bit like surgery in medicine an operation is the last solution and when you are putting a knife into a wound you don't know what is going to happen so it is first of all question of principle then there is the question of opportunity the western governments now have a habit of ignoring international regulations and the ruling of the un to make interventions

everywhere and to apply what was called in the nineteenth century as gunboat diplomacy a gunboat is a boat with guns is almost the same thing now except that missiles have replaced the gunboat i think we should not start the process the fact that we need to intervene on the soil of a sovereign state syria a member of the un declaring a war without a un resolution where is international law this means there is no international law the most reasonable thing to do is to stop the conflict we need to evaluate the military situation which might be complicated to do but the only way to stop the fighting is through dialogue it is not by launching bombs that will not stop the fighting it will only intensify it meanwhile syrian government forces and battling to clan al-qaeda linked rebels from the christian village of manila. if an ocean or

so the operation gathered pace in a remote mountainous saying that had been sheltered from the civil war until now. christian pilgrims from all over the world used to take this road shovel to one of the most significant trying and one of the mace tenley places in syria its residents still speak aramaic the language just christ is believed to have spoken we are driving tomorrow. but for another reason on wednesday the central syrian fields which have been among the few in syria the didn't see any violence since the crisis here started in two thousand and eleven was attacked by rebel forces most of them recruited the members of just had the nuestra the war came here. after a car bomb exploded at the checkpoint the militants of a radical islamist group considered terrorists by the un and us stormed in. the army tells us that this is the closest point and we cannot go any further we can

see marlee which problem here but the thing is that the militants who are still inside that we can see us as well there are snipers inside the goods so it is really dangerous to go there the soldiers say that they militants mostly from don't have the luther who took over the mountain top sufi the hotel and from time to time they're firing from this so to take place and they're also militants behind these mountain taking the soldiers say up to fifteen hundred people what is the situation right now. the militants around three hundred people are hiding in sofia hotel there are ancient caves they're under the village they use them as well they're watching us and we're watching them but if we start moving they'll attack us. the soldiers show me the militants position is the mists who are behind a number of violent killings and are believed to be the most aggressive force

confronting president assad almost surrounded the christian village. where these people came from. they came from the city of homs in the north and from the city of grain food in the south this village is like an island in a storming ocean day the last level i guess the army that we visited my lunar last spring in a christian island in a mostly moose the ocean the village was indeed unique and aside for the other we used to live in peace muslims and christians of course where free people from outside the city and the concrete may come and destroy this unit and it seems the residents worst fears became a reality and why do you think the militants attack this village. they know that american missiles will not strike a unicycle site and the army will not dare hit it either it's a safe haven for them while we talk reinforcements arrive the syrian army trained

an operation to clear malula from death had the initial rebels they have been rumors that they have left the village but the army say the militants are still there and even if they leave they can hide in nearby and return how do you think the situation will change in case of american strike will their rivals the vengeance from the three use this opportunity to advance further of course they will america is supporting terrorism in this country we've been fighting with the u.s. in fact for these two and a half years and now we can face them directly but we are ready for that we will not give up if america strikes series major military facilities will be targeted and destroyed no one can see what the war on the ground will look like but certainly things place will no longer look the same. to reporting from syria.

and you can follow maria on twitter too where she is keeping track of that mission in and also getting regular updates on the developments in syria right now she says there are reports of the syrian army finally entering the village. i. strongly as opposition is on the brink of a resigning being big tree in the country's general election early results give a clear lead for a conservative challenger tony abbott prompting the labor government to concede defeat after ruling for six years and among those running was the party of wiki leaks editor son jamie in for a senate seat so let's get the details now from artie's lindsey france who's been doing her homework on this story still counting the votes but is there actually a real chance that mr saunders could gain a seat landing can't call them outstanding exactly but poll watchers are calling

a sarge a wild card candidate he's got the power to pull votes away from other australian anti-establishment parties such as family first the pirate party and the sex party you heard that right those three opposition parties he has the power to to to get good tension away from them just with his name alone and also with his campaign because it's been very colorful hasn't yes it has absolutely his campaign for a seat in australia senate as you mentioned has consisted mostly of social media blitz is in virtual town hall meetings along with a mullet wig music video where the candidates recorded his own version of oz icon john farnham activism and i'm sure the voice of that you. didn't please the president of ecuador too much that this was shot in the ecuadorian embassy but that's another story altogether but i have been making some serious points to the haven't they that we can expect you know manifest they can you outline what they've been saying and absolutely now it was just established this month in fact the party

it's our i'm sorry last month now. here's me august let me just correct that three times here august it was established and it wants to bring transparency accountability and justice to australia's parliament by way of pushing for public oversight of government practices fighting corruption and providing people with a range of what it calls twenty first century freedoms and that includes the free flow of information internet liberty protection for whistleblowers national sovereignty and integrity in the global community which is as you can imagine a very tall order for any political party and also a very tall order if he does win if there's a chance and he does win you have to get back to stray wax and how is that going to be possible well if there's a lot of twists and turns that could take he's got plenty of federal agents after him but he's got to get to australia of course to to fill that seat if he were to make it and now we spoke with his running mate benoit cam park who kept mark excuse me who told us that the responsibility for granting safe passage safe passage for him back to australia should fall on the shoulders of the australian government.

doesn't feel very good certainly it would be a strain in government to allow a political figure who is being elected to the street and elected as the tory leftists and allow him to. stay in detention and it will be a public relations matter that's the australian government would have to take very carefully. but on the other hand if they don't lift a finger that's a worrying point as of now the australian embassy has done very little to protect its own citizens from an extradition to sweden on sex charges a sex assault charges or to us for publishing classified material if elected he's got ten months to make it back to australia before casual vacancy that would be created by his lack of attendance in this case the running mate we spoke with would then take his seat so if the tories voters do swing joining us on his way though and he does try to make a dash to get home without help he will either end up in the senate or in the

slammer and ok thanks lindsay fascinating stuff this offseason from sankey. and another we're still blowing edward snowden is continuing to cause a stood his latest revelations have prompted europe to take a stand against n.s.a. data trolling the use justice commissioner is calling for new laws to protect private data from prying eyes move bring you all the details after a quick. economic down in the find out. the deal and the rest because i. believe if we.

leave our show we leave the media. are the same motions. all your party years ago. shoes that no one is asking with to get that you deserve answers from. politics. are today. well i welcome back new revelations are still coming to the surface on the scope of the n.s.a.'s online snooping according to the latest round of leaks from

whistleblower edward snowden the u.s. has spent billions of dollars over the past decade to decode encrypted private data from e-mails to banking transactions working closely with british intelligence the situation spreading alarm through europe with the e.u. justice commissioner now calling for tough previously laws to protect citizens artie's peter all of our reports. the e.u. justice commissioner is spoken about the leaks from edward snowden as a wakeup call to europe and says that new legislation must be put in place to protect the privacy of e.u. citizens other stands up at the moment each of the twenty eight member states interprets the current framework in a different manner some of which contradict each other she wants to see a one continent one system put in place but when it comes to debating what will be in that law she suggested that the united kingdom might not be a part of that saying that london's loyalties appear to lie elsewhere. i don't pay

attention to britain anymore there are a lost cause they're acting only together with the americans and they absolutely don't want to have european laws but in this case all we need for this vote is a simple majority and if they don't want to work together constructively we don't need them but i need france and i need germany if i want to do something concrete in europe. she also warned the u.k. about sitting on the sidelines when it comes to deciding what will be in this legislation saying that whether they like it although not the united kingdom is part of the european union and this law would affect them then. once this proposal turns into law everybody must follow it and that includes great britain whether they want to or not wants the majority decides the minority becomes irrelevant from a political point of view it is not an intelligent position to sit in the corner and complain it would be more intelligent to work with us and make their opinion

count once the text is approved this becomes a law for all twenty eight states and more than five hundred million people. commission's remit doesn't allow it to deal with security services however what vivian reading is proposing is a law that would tackle companies which really provide private information on you citizens to. those security services she's put forward legislation that would see a fine of around two percent of profit imposed upon those companies that give information of e.u. citizens over to security services then sand when you're it's useless tiger all you can do is to rule but not bite at this point we are toothless and i want to give us some bites so we can efficiently enforce our european laws. and one final point this law that's being put forward would affect any company doing business with you in the european union it doesn't matter if you are based in america you're based in japan or you're based in india if you do business in europe you would have to stick

to this new legislation on privacy. and in the leaked documents the n.s.a. states is aim of gaining restricted access to cyberspace and it's the sheer scale of the data harvesting that has got people worried according to the director of the center for investigative journalism at london city university. it's been going on a long time people forget that in the seventy's. a spy system called echelon was uncovered over britain run by the united states what was different about that spying system in the present one is the sheer extent of it the major security companies and social networking companies have opened their effective back doors to the n.s.a. even with commercial confidentiality as an area of secrecy is provided completely by this hoovering up of everything and so i think people are alarmed because they realize it will affect them personally it's not just political opponents but the

possibility of blackmail is enormous some dissident a federal employee could easily sift this material find something terribly damaging and then use it for personal gain or political gain and that's been over three months since president obama vowed to free eighty prisoners from guantanamo bay the men mostly yemeni nationals have been played for release from the u.s. military facility in cuba several years ago. martin investigates the issue in breaking the set and you can see the full show at fifteen thirty g.m.t. but so is a quick tell. us governments trusting in yemeni government to carry out drone strikes weekly it seems but they cannot trust the government to take prisoners from get no because they say oh they're going to be terrorists we can't trust to release them however many people have been released from guantanamo bay in the past and they are just living our normal lives they just want the chance to have a free life and not be detained indefinitely there are no countries that are

currently wanting to host these these prisoners because there's so much red tape associated with that here in the united states the united states promised the yemeni people that there would be facilities infrastructure there to help former guantanamo inmates re assimilate into into society that infrastructure is yet to exist it's not there we have covered this on the show in the past we've had activists would. have journalists that have traveled to yemen that have explained to us what it's like for people that that are around these drone bombings and all these horrible things that are happening in yemen and on top of that. there's there's all there is the guantanamo aspect that these men will never return and will never see their families and that's it's heartbreaking. we have plenty more stories on our website too including. lying to lie detector says it's as easy as counting to three according to an instructor who's taught his techniques to hundreds of people and has been given

a jail sentence for his trouble you can find out how it's done on our web site at r.t. dot com also there joins there way giving ash and smoke over southwest improve after years of silence check out the fall you know forty in motion. more news today violence flared up. these are the images the world seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations rule the day. down protecting a city in russia's far east has given way after more than a month of severe flooding forcing five hundred people to abandon their homes rescue crews are helping families to get to dry land where buses taking them away

from the flood zone water levels and. more are now rising by up to twenty centimeters every day several helicopters are on standby ready for a broader evacuation the ongoing floods in russia's far east the most severe in one hundred twenty years have affected at least fifty thousand people. and some other news making headlines this hour protests is now i can see now have given an unsettling welcome to britain's princess her arrival was met by the burning of union flags and an effigy of queen elizabeth in the capital princess anne was condemned for the monarchy stands in the falkland islands activist groups have posted online threats of further action against the royal. during his stay. another protest in turkey has turned violent with police firing tear gas on a crowd in ankara students in the capital had turned out against plans to build a road through their campus ripping out three thousand trees along the way fourteen

were arrested during a demonstration back in may protest against the destruction of the stumbles gezi park spiraled into deadly clashes with police across the country. and egypt has launched a military operation against islamist in northern sinai helicopters and tanks is said to be leading the onslaught targeting villages housing minister needs sources say dozens are already dead or injured bloodshed in restive region intensified with the axing of president mohammed morsi in july. bomb attacks in somalia's capital have sparked fears that the long running islamised insurgency is gaining force fifteen people died in a car explosion at a popular restaurant in mogadishu police are also investigating a possible suicide attack at the scene a year ago blast targeting the same restaurant claimed fifteen lives. after the break our team best gets the hidden lives of wives and mothers of minutes it's in

russia's north caucasus. iraq afghanistan the balkans somalia haiti libya yemen and so on and so on the list of engagements and airstrikes by post cold war nato just keeps getting longer and now it looks like it's serious turn a lot of people have written me asking me to predict what is going to happen next which for me is a possible i'm not good at predicting the future but i can say is that we are living in a very tense moment in history many argue that the u.s. economy with its unfathomable debt is really propped up by war and the petro dollar so if the u.s. backs down here would could be the beginning of the end for the world's only hyper power but if they do attack syria there will probably be some sort of reaction from

iran russia and china if you haven't noticed nato has been trying to encircled these nations and in russian internet conspiracy land a lot of people are saying that russia is next you see if there is no resistance in syria then one by one all resistance to the un ending hunger of nato will be smashed out one by one the reason syria is so important and so scary is that you have one massive military force that could be very motivated to attack for its own self interest while you have a group of massive military forces how they voted to counterattack for their own self interests this is a very tense standoff that could lead to a major moment in history military history but that's just my opinion.

well you know i beg you please your father and your brother all here on who would think of your wife and children think of your family you know please come out i promise you that not a hair on your head will be harmed would come out into the yard raise your hands take off your jacket and show them that you're not wearing a bomb belt or just walk slowly towards our people and let them search you understand me. become a police. a former minister of the republic of appeals to his son yacoob who refuses to listen as his father has him to surrender. he would soon be killed in a shootout with special forces. in the northern caucasus is the smallest and youngest republic of the russian federation for the past twenty you think it shows he has lived through several conflicts terror operations and a string of retaliation. terrorism it's an islamic state to be cool to the caucasus

emirate young people that you would into the world with promises of a ticket to paradise when in reality they're trained to become terrorists and suicide bombers. at the age of eighteen most of went into the woods to join the militants this is the first time seen his mother since he voluntarily surrendered himself she hasn't seen him for two years. you've got to go good. i didn't believe it until the end until i saw him.