today's news in the week's top stories washington races to muster support for a strike on syria but key world leaders slammed the attack and as russia says syrian rebels are trying to provoke military intervention. on our t.v. crew gets caught in the crossfire in syria where al qaida and rebels have been besieging in one thousand christian village terrorizing the population. and today's the day moscow chooses its next mayor with acting leader ciggies he began in taking on opposition rival alexina valmy.

i welcome it's good to have you company watching the weekly here in r.t. with me and. now the american secretary of state's doing the rounds in europe to try to drum up support for a unilateral strike against syria foreign ministers have largely agree with the u.s. claims that the syrian government was responsible for the ledge to deadly use of chemical weapons last month but brussels has stopped short of openly supporting a unilateral u.s. military response european leaders want to wait for the results of a u.n. probe into the toxic allegations it's after a key world powers at the g twenty summit in st petersburg spoke out against the use of force without a un mandate by russia accuse the syrian rebel with of unleashing chemical weapons to provoke foreign intervention and reports i was elected to end wars and not start a u.s. military intervention in syria dominated talks that the g twenty but if obama was

looking to gather overwhelming support at the summit he didn't get it in st petersburg you know. there is a lot military. we will not participate in military action. aside from france turkey and saudi arabia a few countries expressed outright support for obama's proposal a military strike in a joint statement they condemned the use of chemical weapons blaming the after government and called for some kind of response but they stopped short of backing a u.s. attack on syria from it host president putin accused the rebels of being behind a chemical weapons attack near damascus in august that he says was carried out to discredit the syrian authorities in the eyes of the west just as. i view everything that happened with the so-called use of chemical weapons in syria as a provocation by the rebels count on help from abroad from those countries that originally

supported them 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 action as one of the participants of our discussions on the issue put it yesterday those who do otherwise put themselves above the law. obama continues to insist also it was behind the attack and he won't wait for the u.n. to respond to assad's regime brazen use of chemical weapons isn't just a syrian tragedy it's a threat to global peace and security the u.s. president is due to address the american public on tuesday and try to make his best argument for an attack on syria one that failed to convince global partners at the g. twenty this summit could have been a last chance for a political solution to the syria crisis or at least an attempt to push forward

with diplomacy but leaders part of st petersburg split solidly on those for or against military intervention in the syrian war what has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in modern history reporting from the g. twenty and he's now a r.t. meanwhile china has vowed to help russia or at the u.n. security council in blocking any motion for a military strike on syria the chinese spokesman at the g twenty summit gave a breakdown of beijing's position. tyner is against the use of chemical weapons by any countries and organizations are ending individuals and giving will what is reported. we believe that it is vitally important for the united nations to come back to the investigation will see that it sold because the ending. the movement. has to be based. on

the conclusion of the united nations which should be free from ending pressures are disturbances in china and russia has a very similar positions and we both. appealing for countries concerned to be serious about the possible consequences. the use of military means is resolved to the mandate of the un security council. well syria wasn't the only topic being thrashed out in this week later this hour as death and joblessness weigh heavy on g. twenty members the head of the i.m.f. christine lagarde fens monetary policy to r.t. eight until being you also have more first hand inside when next the world economy . u.s.

congress remains split on whether to attack syria and the latest poll show most americans oppose intervention there's been a fresh antiwar rally in washington this hundreds called for a strain from the white hands. much of the public remains unconvinced over washington's claims it has evidence implicating the syrian government in the deadly use of chemical weapons but president obama maintains he still has the authority to ordinary order an attack even if congress votes against it and the u.s. case against syria specs is beyond simply just the white house for this is damascus according to political analyst chris bambery. it's not just a question of syria it is a question of iran it's a question of his bar of painting a new axis of evil if you remember way back in two thousand and three after nine eleven the original axis of evil know they're presenting a new axis of evil and they're saying this is why we have to intervene in syria the

obama is leaving petersburg with his tail between his legs the los angeles times says he's going to go all the jews do to address what it calls a skeptical nation with an appeal for the public in america to rally behind a military strike but it seems to me that the public in america just as the public in britain is appalled to any strike and it's becoming more and more difficult for a viable not just in petersburg not just elsewhere internationally but even the whole know to win support for a case for a military strike on the basis of these allegations of chemical chemical weapons use. well as u.s. congress prepares to reconvene on monday and debate whether to wage war on syria the senate intelligence committee has released what it says is footage of last month's alleged chemical attack and you might find the following images distressing despite the assertion of u.s. officials that the footage is authentic it cannot be independently confirmed nor

does it point to who was responsible for the alleged atrocity in which more than fourteen hundred syrians are said to have been killed. by the syrian army has sent reinforcements including tanks to the village of which has been at the forefront of heavy clashes this week an ancient christian sanctuary has been besieged by al qaeda affiliated rebel since wednesday. has gained access to the stricken area we entered by lulu through its ancient gauge burnt and damaged in recent attacks shortly after the syrian army announces that most of the militants were pushed back signs of the recent battle and destruction a reverend where we were told to move fast and to follow the military's the calls without stopping or even slowing down there are some parts of the road where we have to speed up offices still fear they could be snipers around we hear them shouting go go fast on one turn we suddenly stop. a minute.

it's hard to understand exactly what happened we only hear a loud boom and feel the earth shake. we get out of the car to take a look around then i'll cite our. christian community all over the world now on the battlefield look at this. and then we realized we have london in the heart of this battle as suddenly bullets started flying around us we've ended my little village with the army but just just a few minutes later they told us to get back the militants launch an attack fire in and show an explosives from the safety of high ground so this is what we're doing right now we're coming back to you to the entrance this is where. a car bomb

exploded on wednesday morning and this is how it all started after a suicide attack militants mostly from a job by the looser group stormed eighteen and since then the question is have been continuing for three days and as sure as you can see they are considered now soldiers firing shots back but they can't even see enemy fighters who are cooped up in the hiding places. and. the real militants and my little now and. us i fear hotel this is the mountaintop hotel which one my. brother told. me from. but also from behind the mountains surrounding the ma lula village and that's is where the danger lies because the wrong many snipers

and the rock rockets grenades and the rock warms mortar boards was if you see the situation on the ground it is very hard you can see that the army is rick rubin right now but this. is that. monday is it jay shouldn't change dramatically because this is the day when american congress starts debates on syria when to drive this country you know you know it's the decision made thousands of kilometers away from these special will affect the set up at this military theater but exactly how it is not easy to predict. from in syria. the point to be moscow's next may reaches its crescendo today the key battle in regional elections taking place across russia it is a poll to say it's the first time in a decade that moscow's voters have been able to choose on the stakes are high and

he's losing friends in the heart of the capital all six candidates running for mayor have submitted their ballots but the only two candidates that anyone is really watching with a lot of interest are acting mayor sergey and his opponent alexei never ali now let's let's talk about what the acting mayor is all about right now he was appointed in two thousand and ten and during his time in. he has worked very hard at updating moscow's infrastructure especially transportation it's a real sticking point with many politicians in the city government here it's a real headache for commuters and moscow is known for its traffic problems not only that but he's also focused heavily on. increasing more public transportation within the capital as more and more people squished into this space he is also wanted to tackle illegal immigration very very tough stance on that as well now his

opposition the opposition candidate alexina valmy he's a trained lawyer anti-corruption activist here in russia he's one of very grassroots campaign very youth driven very old fashioned sort of the. campaign stump speeches leaflets and in this day and age his social media blitz is are at the top of his list as far as what he's employed to get the word out obviously not as much money for campaigning so he's really using the grassroots technique there is no according to the polls. the race is really so plans to lose at this point this according to the russian public opinion research center when asked respondents were asked who they would vote for ten percent said no volley thirty eight percent said so when asked today would never vote for twenty three percent said in a volley and fifteen percent said. and then the question was how you know are you well aware of who the candidates actually are twenty seven percent said the

following sixty six percent said so be on and so the polls are open until eight o'clock tonight officials have quite a few days to count everything up so we are watching this situation obviously very closely and to see how this develops throughout the day of course we're bringing you details as as it unfolds we're going to take a quick break now but when we come back and go over terrorizing the truth seeker's rights groups condemn the u.k. government for using anti terror laws against media which reveal a little too much plus what i call nelson mandela rest of home south africans find themselves torn over some of his family's moneymaking antics from there were nine tonight that's coming up.

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actuality. comeback press freedom groups in the u.k. have his hands at the government accusing it of redefining anti terror laws to silence whistleblowers that after british security services ordered the guardian newspaper to destroy evidence received from edward snowden r.t. sara first has the story 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 to say see ation of newspapers you guys ation 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 a rifle at heathrow airport they give miranda. a guardian journalist glenn greenwald was held the 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 that 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 as a bastion of freedom with a very strong record on ensuring that it. can rock the news and so so for us it does appear that the press freedom situation in the united kingdom is sliding and this is a great concern it is twenty thirteen freedom of speech seen here reporters without

borders gives the satisfactory situation rating but the freedom of the press person slips for nineteenth in two thousand and ten to its current ranking of twenty ninth many are concerned that shuttle seven of the terrorism act the law used to detain miranda is actually being used to stop journalists doing their job of holding people in power to account well other than being used to prevent terrorism she just seven allows police to stop examine and search passengers that travel terminals there's no need for any suspicion that they're linked to terrorism it's a very difficult problem the security services have a difficult job a difficult job. the state clearly has a duty to protect. those people live living. k at the same time i think they must recognise the role of the media

but recognised by. any options that have to be in line with the appropriate use the appropriate. responsiblities the government said it's hard to get 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 that the disclosure of some of that material could put lives at risk or critics of the government's actions that despite these as a lawyer most planes ended justifying the blurring of the lines between terrorism and journalism it's 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 r.t.

london. let's have a quick roundup of some other stories happening this hour a nato airstrike in eastern afghanistan has reportedly killed fifteen people mostly women and children local authorities say six suspected militants boarded a vehicle transporting civilians which was then attacked and they took a spokeswoman confirmed what she called a person strike and that it took out ten insurgents but no civilian casualties. in tunisia's capital tens of thousands of people have turned up for rallies against the country's islamist government it also marks forty days of mourning for an opposition lawmaker who was murdered in july is death the long with the killing of another prominent politician has previously triggered mass protests the ruling another party denies any responsibility for the mood is and points the finger of the salafi hard line this. brazil's independence celebrations have turned violent

in key cities as people gathered to demand better public services and an end to corruption in rio de janeiro police fired tear gas into the crowd injuring at least five police saw a big wave of protests in june over the high costs of hosting next year's fee for world cup. and blushes buckingham palace it's emerged that armed police stopped one of the queen's sons in the gardens after mistaking him for an intruder officers approached prince andrew and asked him to identify himself on wednesday the royal policing squad may be forgiven for being a bit overzealous two days earlier a suspected burglar managed to scale a fence and get inside the palace in the worst security breach in thirty years now the g twenty summit overshadowed as it was by the syrian crisis still managed to get around to its core business as the push for job creation and tackling tax evasion artie's case it will be was in some petersburg. we did have

a big financial decisions that were made and we know the only official agenda it was to do with g.o.p. race in how to tackle the vast amounts of unemployment another big theme here was the volatility that the emerging markets and now currently faced with and that in light of ben bernanke the federal reserve chairman saying that he's going to be pulling the plug on his stimulus measures because of that investors have been pulling that cast out of what is perceived to be risky assets amounted to catch up with the international monetary fund chief christine lagarde and i asked her for her opinion on the current state of the global economy what about monetary stimulus do you think that these measures have run their course and that it simply doesn't work that we need pain in the short term in order for healthier what would you say that the monetary policy doesn't work because we believe that it does hard to free positive effects and certainly seeing the u.s. economy and the japanese economy pick up as they are at the moment despite the. you

know fiscal. door in place and that we would like to see improved a bit i managed to catch up with the former finance minister of russia alexei couldn't and he referred to these cash injections as almost like a drug at work america for the world's economy its current state can be characterized as being on life support for you it's vital functions are being kept running by the federal reserve the european central bank and other banks by constant cash injections this should only be temporary if a sick man goes through treatment in the doesn't help there's no point continuing it something else i want to talk about is the brick development bank because this was a breakthrough as well and we have the countries of course i'm talking about brazil russia india china south africa and they have set up this bank which just to put it into context for you would rival the likes of the i.m.f. and the world bank it was that as a safety net to support the struggling emerging economies so there was

a danger that the political tensions would completely override the proceedings but there was certainly plenty business deals on agreements made here at the g. twenty in st petersburg. the father of the rainbow nation nelson mandela has spent his first we get home after almost three months of intensive care in hospital but while the country unites in concern for his health some of the ninety five year old former president's relatives are accused of dragging down his good name poorest clear explains. as far as we ality t.v. shows go this one is right up there sibling rivalry feuds and family gossip but it's not any old family we're talking about here it's the mandela's it's clearly not an arson one project it's some one there are family project is very uncomfortable about his name or his image being associated with commercial projects so the question becomes where do you draw the line the reality show follows the

lives of two of mandela's granddaughters as they spend and lose money on extravagant business ventures and go on wild shopping sprees it's a far cry from the humble background mandela grew up in all the grim reality facing millions of south africa's poor black citizens bus argument bella's children it's their name and they have a right to use it however they see fit i think that he has paid his dues to society and i think his family who very often we don't mention the prize that they've had to pay to be without a father a husband and uncle who was behind bars all these years. and yet it's disgusted most south africans that while the icon lay for months in a hospital bed many in his family were cashing in on his famous name two of mandela's daughters took him to court for his legacy it hurt him deeply and dragged the country's moral compass to a new low is absolutely an outrage that's why the i understand why they're doing it

these a lot of money and off to rip you have that name i suppose you feel the mark were to capitalize on rick but i think it is like the father is a bit of a nation actually so all of these that i have pretty right now i'm not really sure if this is appropriate for people to be using this they've got a right to use the mandela name that is their family name you chemical fall in south africa without being reminded of the ninety five year old nobel laureate he is everywhere on t. shirts banknotes bookshelves smiling down from up above more than just a man he's become a global brand one that's estimated to be worth millions of dollars. an extension of a brand has to be almost more of the same it has to respect the qualities in the founders about brand into all those other areas so it's a tricky area. it's being stretched and tortured and pulled in different direction

but for most south africans nothing can match the man himself who lived inside this house this is the mandela family home for weeks people have been leaving here flour was gifts and cards the crowds might have gone but their messages and hopes remaining graved on small stones it's a sad irony that the father of the nation who bought south africa back from an almost certain civil war has seen his own family descend into better fighting within itself policy r.t. johannesburg south africa. thanks for being with r.t. today up next meet the russian man who has given a loving home to more than thirty orphans.

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 way to

support the american worker people have 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 a hint thing 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.