the syrian government starts heading towards chemical disarmament the details of which are being thrashed out right now. in geneva it's off to washington. in its war drive against syria. still sticking to its belief that damascus hundreds of civilians in august one man who is held hostage by rebels in syria. we caught up with the man in question. online. universities. personal data from students. patients and staff at

a psychiatric hospital in northwestern russia. overnight. suspected of causing. thank you for joining us here today. live in moscow with the world's top headlines for this hour syria has taken its first steps along the path of chemical disarmament and the u.n. has confirmed it's received documents from the syrian president on joining the chemical weapons convention which bans the use and production of poisonous agents this comes amid u.s. war threats against syria although washington has evidently agreed to try diplomacy first. it's following the meeting of the top russian and american diplomats right

now in geneva. john kerry spoke to the press ahead of that tough negotiations over how to rid syria of its chemical weapons stockpiles now. concise said that he was looking forward to getting down to the business of thrashing out a deal after that john kerry took to the stage he spoke and he spoke for a long time he reiterated the u.s.a.'s position that they believe that damascus is responsible for the chemical attacks on the twenty first of august he spoke skeptically about bashar al assad's promises to disarm and said that he's come to geneva in order to make to make certain that a deal can be hammered out he mentioned that the usa nevertheless is committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis at this point sergey lavrov interjected that he hadn't prepared a politicized speech. a

war that would threaten damascus with strikes if it doesn't comply with russia in turn has reiterated that this is unacceptable and moreover the syrian president bashar al assad has also said in an in a t.v. interview that if the usa continues to threaten syria with force that's going to be a game changer and that any deal will be off the table if threats continue speaking in that interview earlier the syrian leader also said that damascus would provide information about its chemical weapons stockpiles one month after it signed up to the chemical weapons convention. this won't be about syria signing a protocol and delivering it with no positive feedback it has to be a mutual process and above all the united states has to give up its policy of threatening syria once receive the united states truly want stability in the middle

east once we see it refrain from threatening us and pursuing intervention once we see them stop supplying weapons to terrorists then we'll consider this process is truly acceptable in syria and will look to foreign law as it. russia should play a major role in the disarmament process we don't trust washington and. moscow is the only party that can fulfill this romano. also spoke of turkey saudi arabia and qatar and accused of supporting the syrian rebels he accuses of using chemical weapons he also said that it could be the usa behind the chemical attacks and that countries that have supplied terrorists in syria with chemical weapons need to take responsibility for their actions finally the syrian president warned the syrian rebels. a chemical attack against israel as a further act of cation so

a number of different and very tough positions that top diplomats need to reconcile here in geneva migrates be watching closely to see if they can come around to a realistic deal. on who was behind. for war. continues to accuse president assad of being responsible some westerners who were inside the country at that time challenge this notion. he came to syria originally under the protection of the rebels later though he found himself deep inside the detention. oh. i don't think bashar al assad in the syrian government are to blame for the chemical attack and. during that time my italian friend and i had been taken hostage by jihadists from the oil for root group in syria we were held at one point in

a room facing an office of the free syrian army and the elf jihadist group we have been in the barracks of the priest syrian army and a jihadist group as well and we heard a conversation from this office the conversation was between one general from the free syrian army we knew him from earlier as he was the one who was in charge of our detention and another officer from the group. just. there was also a third person who was speaking perfect english and they were talking to him via skype they were talking about the events of the in the damascus suburb and from the conversation it was clear that the syrian government wasn't behind the attack but it also. was it clear to you what the motivation was to use chemical weapons to launch a gas attack on civilians in this way what was the motivation do you think was it mentioned what. their motivation was unclear from the conversation but we figured

that it would have been absurd for the syrian government to use chemical weapons if the regime had nothing to gain from that the massacre on the contrary it played into the hands of its enemies the u.s. france and the u.k. and it gave them a good reason to use force against the assad government to do the syrian government lost its mind but i don't believe that or the authors of the attack or the opposition and it is clear that the rebels are the ones who wanted to benefit from the situation. let us remind you that the rebels already tried to simulate a gas attack a year ago and gnomes they made a video showing people on the ground acting as if they had been victims of neurotic gas that. now former top ranking un officials have written an address to the international community warning against military action in syria and calling on foreign governments to stick to the spirit of law a former u.n.

official jose l.-a got myself prado one of those who put his name to the letter joining us now live here on the program from geneva i thank you very much for joining us here on r t today why did you feel that was important to put your name on it and publish this letter but because we have the experience in the bus dead those awards they have being done or carried out without any respect for the u.n. charter and you have the example of iraq and where the. terms of mass destruction were not plant so we don't have any proof for the time being and we have many examples in the past then these has been. and what you without any proof were behind and even if there are any groups they have to be seen by the security council and they have to take it. and decision all

the members of the international community so the example not only of iraq but you have examples from the nineteenth century where the hand him some evidence there was no evidence that there were not proved in going to the in one thousand. eight hundred eighty nine in the in the united states the clear war to spain so you talk about world powers or world leaders taking acts of war without sufficient evidence but do you really think they're going to listen to this letter . well we have through too much of a the international community and it is for us to say what we think are the examples of the people that signed this letter they re saying when they were in in a position in a very high good position with the united nations in iraq and they had to resign because they could not continue with that. we did fast so we

have to move to a weekend of the motivation of the international community so that there isn't no an attack. to syria and the president to iraq you know the police are let's let's let's bring up issues of realities here if i may for a moment four days ago john kerry said to assad you've got a week to hand over your chemical weapons assad says he needs at least a month just to disclose all the sites who's being more realistic do you think. neither of them there are at least. the chance to stay in their positions but they're not realistic i don't think you know one in one month you can control all of the weapons of mass destructions but kerry is not taking the argument so the how of the other side so they have to negotiate in good faith and they have to negotiate. to resolve all of the middle east and situation because it's

linked to lebanon and to all the hezbollah and as we know iran is a player as well but when it comes to getting all the right size to negotiating table as the negotiations now underway in geneva we understand here the cia has officially now officially launched on sales to rebels do you think that will have any impact on diplomatic efforts in geneva. the oh of course you mean did he have a launch sending arms to the residence now we now we now know for a fact that the cia is officially officially funneling weapons to the rebels in syria whether this is been for a long time already. believe or i'm officially did have been out to india the rebels i don't think this is the way to do certainly confident in the middle east leaders to negotiate. and to to try to solve this situation.

we don't have a conflict in the middle east and this is linked also to the situation in iran in. iran it's. as you say as you say that the world leaders have to negotiate as you said in good faith as we know now there are external intelligence players with the kind destin missions to get weapons to the opposition in syria jose el got myself put out there were former chair person of the u.n. working group on the use of mercenaries thank you so much for joining us from geneva that's a day thank you thank you art or thank you for joining us here on r.t. today untouched by fighting during the two years of syria's civil conflict war has come in earnest to the ancient christian village of modeler there locals have joined the syrian army to try and push out the invading rebels though the rescue has come too late with residents describing horrifying treatment by jihadists

including forced conversions to islam executions and looting reporting from inside the war zone now or if an option. the late. the old. but. the mood is cheerful soldiers are smiling and relieved the jihadists have been booted out. but some of them were killed some of them escaped the locals joined the army to defend the native town the soldiers in light colored uniforms of the so-called national defense but the terrain here is very difficult with mountains and caves but we know the area better so we are carrying on with the operation of that. we come across one grocery shop

owner who we filmed back in two thousand and twelve then he told us that the armed rebels hasn't come to their village and why would they this time he's armed with a gun amongst syrian soldiers and he has some questions again. that syria is a land of history and of love they sent terrorists here from all corners of the world to kill syrians and each other why i asked the world why if a european citizen is so much as slapped across the face that be a scandal while in syria how many victims how many hundreds of thousands have been slaughtered why will it stop with quickly find out that it won't be today held by the militants for a week it seems at mountaintops a fear hotel still poses a threat that sufi hotel our goal was to liberate them push on to my tough climb on the street but we couldn't do it there snipers are everywhere milo is home to many

christian churches and monasteries as well as mosques everywhere we go here we see either crosses on the arrests now added to these we see black jihadists flags. it's time to head back. but while in the car something goes wrong. we take cover in a place where we find dozens of army soldiers hiding from enemy's bullets. the main road is being targeted and she is our only way out we think over our chances when our engineer gets heat. much. but. thankfully it's not serious. but it becomes clear we can to a to minutes more.

when i'm stuck here in this corner and when i'm trying to get out of here we will miss what. was of no oh no. us. both had been anything don't back then they go well ok clear a lot. more focus on the dream the bullets did you hear them whizzing by. but now say that we're british safe area. they're firing from behind this. and are told that this is the syrian army here you know. that's

how do you make sure there is too much so you get better. and we leave while governmental forces continue their frenzy for manohla village which despite the claims remains under siege. for a fortune from syria. this just in here on in the program right now as. the u.s. secretary of state john kerry continue their talks in geneva trying to find a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis in syria john kerry now saying that he and sort of a left off have agreed to meet again in new york they'll try and do it at the end of september to try and agree upon a date for a second geneva conference we'll keep you posted on that here in the meantime though representing a half of the world's population the shanghai cooperation organization over looking at how it can lend its weight to peace in syria and for that to happen though it's

thought that iran will have to play a major role still to come here on r t we report on that organization's summit it starts today including one. now for the meantime the director of intelligence in america has said the wide ranging leaks on the n.s.a. spy program have fueled an important debate on the trade offs between privacy and national security but he says he's worried there are more revelations from whistleblower edward snowden still to come earlier i spoke to renowned former hacker kevin mitnick right here in our moscow studios and while he believes that snowden's secret leaking can indeed be criticized he still feels the revelations were crucial for americans to understand. i have some mixed feelings that he did cross the line when he revealed n.s.a. operations that we have against other countries because as we all know all countries spy on each other i think is a whistleblower you know i don't look at him as a true i'm actually glad that he revealed what the national security agency was

doing at least against americans by violating our constitutional rights to privacy that's dead very damaging right because this was you know it was kind of like how i felt in a lot of colleagues in the information security world felt we already felt this was already being done but there was actually no confirmation but now there's definite confirmation and now that the cat is out of the bag it should surely damage is national security because now our adversaries now potentially terrorists know our methods of operation or at least have it confirmed so now they could change the way they communicate with the revelations of snowden that allegedly the n.s.a. has approached and partnered with a lot of companies that develop security software that develop p.p.m. technology you might have intentionally weaken this technology so they could intercept communications but an average citizen probably but they're you know if they're not a terrorist they really are not concerned about this intelligence agency intercepting

communications but more criminal organization i believe it's all about scott mcnealy said i think about fifteen years ago you have no privacy get over it and that was the axiom of sun microsystems and i think that quote is really holds true today and it's not just governments trying to pare into what you do online it's universities as well there are serious concerns about how the digital trails of students are being tracked and used as institutions now open their doors for yet another semester. laura smith looks at the risks of so-called data collection. remember the film minority report it's the one where tom cruise the cough in the future and uses pass in the day to stop crimes before they happen while the fictional future is now universities or our allies in the electronic trail of students how often they use the library what books they guess out even where they parked their cars to create a picture of them and how they learned they use the data in different ways the

different you need for marketing courses but also to predict which students are likely to fail or dropouts and here's where it isn't a nine hundred eighty four territory in the dystopian novel any negative thoughts is thought crime every party member has a telly screen in his or her home which the thought police use to watch them and record anything that resembles an unorthodox opinion or in the struggle now look for a university in the midlands says it's considering doing something frighteningly similar monitoring students private emails but negative comments on their university experience to see if they're at risk of quitting. students at the london school of economics are not keen on the idea. that it would be an infringement of my integrity it sounds a bit cia now i think people are the things that went on i think people are much more kind of them. to be more violated i don't think it's right it's

a kill that you can say sure you wouldn't do it in denmark where you come from i think people would like that i would mom my emails to money. i mean the private email is should have exclusive right to receive made a case against her university do you have a good track record for keeping dates a private but the worry here is that there's so much data and of course how it could be used ultimately the information could be used to allocate resources for example if it identifies the type of person most likely to fail universities could stop brick. seeing those people all together oh no wastes money on trying to retain them as students start returning for a new academic year they'd better be well big brother is watching them now more closely than at. or about just a minute after the break we have all the details on that deadly fire that ripped through a psychiatric institution and russia's northwest life from moscow this is ott.

interview.

with economic sounds in the final. day. and the rest. will be if we. are straight one of our top stories for you here on out to you now thirty seven people have been killed after an overnight blaze at a psychiatric facility in northwestern russia rescuers are sifting through the debris for bodies while twenty three people did manage to escape to safety just a bit earlier i spoke to lindsey france she has all the latest details. of reportedly broke out in the evening hours and wouldn't an excess this facility in the northwest of rush out near the village of. apparently this wouldn't an extent does the men's ward many of these patients were bedridden at the time and witness.

this are saying that they saw a person within the facility who was engulfed in flames before the structure caught fire obviously investigators are taking a very serious look at this and trying to ascertain the cause of this blaze now crews arrived within minutes but it is said there was very heavy smoke and rescuers have spent the morning searching the surrounding areas to find possibly any patients who escaped the fire and run out into the into the areas surrounding the facility and are possibly still hiding so many many concerned people out there trying to find people who may have survived this blaze one nurse it's reported died trying to save patients now the martis emergencies ministry has said that it's cited this facility for safety violations and the facility had a fourteen to fix those so obviously that's being looked at very closely on the under very tragic morning in the village of luca what really brought

fire safety into focus the infamous lame horse nightclub in december of two thousand and nine one hundred fifty six people killed this was because of a pyrotechnics show on stage at the at the nightclub one leaf of the double doors was sealed shut. artie's lindsey france or let's have a look at the biggest fires that have hit care facilities in russia for example a massive blaze in a psychiatric hospital occurred earlier this year april twenty sixth that was in the. north of moscow thirty six patients killed and two staff members as well two patients were led to safety by a nurse so they would be the only survivors or twenty ten nine killed in western russia after retirement home caught fire also the same year in the russian republic of komi a blaze in an elderly care home killed twenty three and march two years before that flames claimed the lives of sixty two residents of

a retirement home in southern russia and in november of that year a fire in the city of tula again in an old aged care home that left thirty two dead while two hundred forty seven people both patients and medical staff they were all rescued. thanks for joining us here in r.t. today iran's president has declared that any possibility of the use of force against syria must be condemned and diverted the comments were made at the summit of one of the biggest organizations on the planet that of the shanghai cooperation organization which represents well more than half of all humanity and it all starts meeting today including stan aside from the usual talk of a never tired economic and military alliance syria is certainly featuring heavily on the agenda. going off far this report. besides the six constant members of the shanghai cooperation organization which include russia and china its observers are

also here including india and iran they're also looking at becoming constant members of the organization it's in large mint is one of the things that are going to be discussed here as well as joint economic projects and the situation in afghanistan which is also here it's an observer as well but it's syria which is going to be definitely the key issues on the table iran is a key player in the region and it's widely agreed including by senior u.n. officials that any diplomatic and peaceful solution of the conflict in syria would not be possible without tehran's involvement iran stance on the situation has been the similar to russia's and china's saying that only a peaceful solution is possible and warning that any military intervention would not only create more violence in syria itself but would risk spreading the violence throughout the whole region now there's also another very important issue here is that iran along with hezbollah are syria's main shiite allies and it's agreed by

many analysts that it's syria which is the key link in this chain and if it's dropped out that will lead to a breakup of the balance of forces in the region and would eventually lead to unpredictable consequences and definitely more violence so getting iran involved in finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in syria is something which is definitely a good knowledge by moscow and this summit here in kyrgyzstan is a good chance to do that you've got this going off r.t. if you start. moscow time do stay with us if you can the tough questions on international issues with sophie co that's coming up in just a moment.