it'll. drop. me. a link to part of a u.n. report says its inspectors are certain of chemical weapons use in syria this says russia's foreign minister says the syrian opposition should be made to sit down for peace talks with the government. under fire r.t. continues its series of reports from the heart of the syrian war this time our correspondent joined syrian troops dodging sniper fire of damascus suburbs. and it's revealed that the u.s. national security agency is keeping a close watch on international financial operations monitoring banking transactions of customers worldwide.

on international news and comment twenty four hours a day your with r.t. the u.n. inspectors say they're certain that chemical weapons were used in syria that's from a leaked first page of the reports they're set to present later this hour i mean while russia's foreign minister says the syrian opposition should be forced to sit down for peace talks with the government. joins us live now for more on this so it seems that you know specter's are confirming that chemical weapons use but their full report is to be delivered quite soon what more can we expect from that do you think. that's right in the coming hours u.n. secretary general ban ki moon will brief the media on the report he has already received but what we know so far is that u.n. inspectors have concluded that there is a there's clear and convincing evidence that chemical weapons were used on a relatively large scale in the august twenty first attack in the area of damascus

according to the associated press which did obtain the first page of the report the inspector said that the environmental chemical and medical samples that they collected provided clear and convincing evidence that surface to surface rockets containing the nerve agent gas sarin were used during the ongoing conflict between the parties in syria and hundreds of people were killed now the inspectors the u.n. inspectors were mandated to report on whether chemical weapons were used and if so which ones but they were not mandated to work or who was responsible for using the chemical weapons on the syrian rebels and their western supporters including the u.s. u.k. and france blame president bashar al assad's government for using the chemical weapons and assad government insists that the it's half was carried out by the opposition but this report is coming out at a very particular time a time when russia the u.s. just brokered a deal that has syria agreeing to disclose its for its full chemical arsenal within

a week and eliminate the entire chemical arsenal by mid twenty fourteen but in the meantime the u.n. security council is expected to draft a resolution for the syrian deal in the coming days and according to reports france britain and the u.s. are streaking or seeking what they call a strong resolution under chapter seven that would allow for military intervention if syria fails to hand over its chemical weapons so it appears as though the u.s. and its western allies have not completely stepped away from using military strikes against syria as. you mentioned russia a little bit earlier than that what is the russian foreign minister one to see happen in terms of progress the. peace process forward. well russia and all the big players in this in this conflict have said this conflict cannot be resolved militarily it could only be resolved diplomatically and

that's why russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said that he thinks that the syrian opposition should be forced to come to the negotiating table in order for in order to proceed with the geneva two peace talks mr lavrov said that the assad government has already agreed to diplomatic efforts without any preconditions but the opposition in syria has not done the same russia believes that western countries should be putting more effort in convincing the rebels in syria to commit to the geneva two peace talks because thus far as long as the threat of military strikes has hung over the issue of the syrian conflict foreign minister lavrov believes that that has kept the opposition from coming to the table to take part in diplomatic negotiations so with the u.s. russia the u.k. france all the big players involved in ending this conflict all agree that it can only end through diplomatic efforts and russia's position believes it russia's position is is to western countries convince the opposition to finally take part in

talks in discussions because the threat of military action can only exacerbate the problem for many more months to come ok marina point from new york thanks very much indeed for that update. most of the world support of the syrian chemical disarmament deal which russia and the u.s. shook hands on in geneva last week investigative journalist says washington is trying to take all the credit for itself and downplay moscow's crucial role the diplomatic breakthrough. they're worried about history she is trying to steal all the credit for everything that's going on from the russians when in fact they're going to present seat was saved by display which is not only a russian this is a plan that was discussed in detail the romance the russians and this serious when we were all the brink of war weekend to see what was going to happen in even

before obama you know last minute ploy decided to pass the bolt of congress so the old well up presidency essentially it was saved by the syrians the renters and the russians and now they're claiming the credit for themselves. and a certain opposition will meanwhile get more help from western governments as announced by the french foreign minister and his counterparts from the u.s. and the u.k. and a british defense study has found that nearly half of those fighting against the assad regime are the jihadists or hard line islamists let's take a look at how the number of opposition fighters breaks down in that defense reporter one hundred thousand rebel fighters are split into many different factions these include al qaeda linked groups with about ten thousand jihad is fighting amongst them the hard line islamists in syria are similar but they're focused solely on the syrian war not on the global is a mistrial also moderate islamists which means that second zero nationalist fighters are in the minority parties arena for national has been reporting from the

frontlines and is her report from a damascus suburb where she's witnessed syrian government forces battling the rebels. now in dera just a few kilometers from the central damascus it used to be a nice and beautiful very picturesque town where the population of up to three hundred thousand people but it's been torn by clashes between the governmental forces and the rebels rebels two years now the result you can see everything is ruined the residents left the only people we can meet here either the army or the militants. fighting against my guys like in. the now we're going with the army to one of the operations. cells of the capital a sponsor of a powerful militant belt around damascus known as eastern ghouta the scene of recent fierce clashes it is also where a chemical attack last month brought international resonance in its wake all

weapons smuggled to syria through jordan in the south come through here providing local militants with a secure supply line for. fire . this is what the syrian war looks like today the urban battlefield provides dense cover and a network of underground tunnels also shields the militants there is no defined front line and you don't know when your enemy is watching. those are not my soldiers say they could be snipers there and they pulled curtains like this one just to protect to prevent snipers from seeing what's going on here. the simple system helps save many lives every day where it doesn't work soldiers just strong. in

a full two minutes with travel from one district to another we fall the army as you can see through the buildings through the holes in the walls like this one all this one they're everywhere. i know because i'm. tempted to think problems of having to. carry you through the trees here in the mornings he needs nothing. more to life. in this war snipers are from both sides of the frontline. is what they do most of the time waitin for the enemy. in office assures me the map they update every day this is where we are the militants are in this big building the army liberates the town street by street building by building very slowly and very carefully has always just addressed

militants to surrender their arms promising that they will be safe sometimes they leave their weapons and try to escape but sometimes they refuse and we have no other choice but the quite an american strike seems to be on the backburner at least for now but syrian civil war goes on and on. race nationality damascus suburbs syria. like the former on twitter she has the latest updates from the fighting in syria right now she's tweeting about what's going on in the battles around damascus. i can be in the know what i. when western governments are blaming the syrian government for the deadly chemical attack in august another country has agreed to get rid of all such weapons by the middle of next year a secular cat where these stockpiles are believed to be stored. here we go the map

coming up here you can see how the ongoing conflict has divided the country into rebel held in government controlled areas with some places still hotly contested the rebels have been strongest in the north of the country an area where a chemical weapons storage facility is also believed to be located rebels could have already had a chance to grab control of some of those stockpiles and the imminent threat of the u.s. attacking syria may have been put on hold with the disarmament deal but in the france reports some american companies have billions of reasons to see their country go to war. racing on is the manufacturer of the b g m one o nine better known as the tomahawk missile individual units sell for around one million dollars it's been the weapon of choice for the u.s. military and has been used in each of america's conflicts over the past twenty years raytheon is the largest manufacturer of guided missiles in the world statistics from the wall street journal show the company raked in more than twenty billion dollars in arms sales in two thousand and ten it's already delivered two

hundred fifty two missiles this fiscal year and engagement in syria would likely mean a future increase in tomahawk orders and profits for raytheon its share prices when talk of a four re in syria intensified reflect that between april and august this year stock surged by a third another big shot in the world of weapons lockheed martin the biggest arms maker in the world in two thousand and ten it grossed just under three billion dollars think advanced combat missile rocket manned and unmanned systems as well as aeronautics in two thousand and twelve it reeled from the us budget sequestration and fiscal cliff just before the last presidential elections lockheed threatened to lay off vast amounts of its one hundred twenty three thousand employees the white house intervened and lockheed martin back down again a stock surge with the beat of war drums then there is boeing it's not only

concerned with passenger aircraft like the seven forty seven or the dreamliner just under half of the company's total sales in two thousand and ten came from strategic missile systems g.p.s. and electro optical systems all potentially used in syrian conflict should washington decide to act and to tie it all nicely together it pays to look at the top three contributors to federal candidates parties and outside groups boeing lockheed martin and raytheon all shelling out nearly three million dollars each in the two thousand and ten election cycle to people who may. make or break us foreign policy the numbers can't be ignored the more conflict america gauges and the more money can flow into these companies coffers the talk may be about saving the world from tyrants but the actions and the figures also point to big money about to our developing news story now four people have been confirmed dead and eight injured after a shooting at a navy yard in washington d.c.

witnesses now say a gunman who was shooting from the fourth floor people in a cafeteria reports claim two or three gunmen may have been involved in the attack yet that's unconfirmed these are live pictures of this incident several civilians and police officers are among the victims oxman three thousand people work at the building the largest of the navy's command systems situated we'll have more on this as we get it. and just ahead reports on how your credit card transactions being monitored by the n.s.a. also on a matter of not so mutual benefit as france struggles to hit its economic wounds and the say it's becoming more addicted to cash flowing from the east we found out it's been a major aid helping to keep the country's business and life at report coming up in just a few minutes. on

their way to antarctica the crew of the i can to make sure the face many challenges . here you have to look out for yourself crashing on to rocks trapped in pack ice in extreme conditions anything can happen and always comes up with surprises you have to keep your eyes open because there's always something going wrong the ship carries huge reserves of water food fuel as well as helicopters and people able to survive extreme conditions they're ready for anything even an apocalypse she's really an incredible ship calling all antarctica stations this is academic a field that of radio check please respond. wealthy british style. markets why not scandals. find out what's really happening to the global

economy cause a report on. welcome back now america's national security agency is widely monitoring international banking and credit card transactions that's according to a report published by the german magazine der spiegel revelations showed that the n.s.a. is keeping track of phone records and. i think personal conversations across the globe so so public knowledge that the agency collects the private information about the online activity of internet uses fresh leaks whistleblower edward snowden indicates that the n.s.a. has created a massive database the telling global financial permissions specifically targeting customers of large credit card companies my colleague shawn thomas to attorney general on explained what dangers banks and customers a facing in light of these latest revelations first of all there's the question of

privacy that is to say the n.s.a. is well known for not vetting and investigating to contract tours that they hire they can get access to the personal data of various individuals and that can lead to identity theft that can lead to various kinds of fraud but the other aspect of the der spiegel story i think is more fascinating you may recall that der spiegel has also reported that s f t which is the interbank entity based in brussels belgium also was penetrated by n.s.a. that smells like espionage on the economic level that is to say that the n.s.a. can gain details of what a german bank may be doing what a russian bank may be doing what a chinese bank may be doing and pass that on to their u.s. competitors thereby giving the u.s. competitor an advantage in the financial market how will this affect us using our

credit cards and regular banking services on a daily basis if in the us eighty is able to penetrate these so that raises the question of what other agencies and entities are able to penetrate visa and that opens up a pandora's box that can lead to all manner of fraud. are following a string of cash for questions scandals but its prime minister david cameron is attempting to regulate the activities of special interest groups over the proposals are coming under fire not only from the loneliest spots on the opponents as well where a smith takes up the story there. being in the u.k. and people think. it began in one nine hundred ninety four with cash for questions a newspaper claimed a parliament had brought two conservative m.p.'s into asking questions in parliament then last year that was cast for cameron when a conservative party treasurer was filmed apparently offering dinner with david

cameron and the chance to influence government policy snit just two hundred fifty thousand pounds and most recently three lords and an m.p. accused of apparently offering to do polling meant to work in exchange for cash in the sunday times sting so david cameron's had enough in a bid to prevent yet a novice will his party's introduced a bill to regulate lobbying but the proposals are third week that anti-doping campaign is and themselves are united in their opposition what the ridge does is it provides transparency it doesn't stop politicians behaving badly we have nothing to fear from such a rush of lobbyists in fact we've been calling for it and that's why we're so disappointed with the government because the definition of a law. that's going to cover less than is already on the existing public. being registered on the register as proposed would exclude around eighty percent of

lobbyists and lobbying activity and that's only the half of it the second part of the bill puts charities and voluntary organizations in the spotlight applying a cap to their spending in an election year just raising awareness of a public policy issue could fall into that category in a damning indictment of the bill the government's own election regulator the electoral commission says it will have a dampening effect on public debates the bills already had its second reading and industry insiders are worried it'll be rushed through it won't prevent more scandals they say but when the next one does happen the government will for be. to hit back with something far more draconian. but you'll find all the stories we're covering and much more online including israel has never confirmed or denied being a nuclear power down america report on the lifts the veil of secrecy all the details at all to dot com. bus bar and russia's.

nuclear sub burst into flames takes a dozen teams of firefighters to battle the place. now the clock is ticking for the sochi winter games with just months left before the flame is lit in russia sochi twenty fourteen has the biggest price tag and then pick history costing over fifty billion dollars excitement grows artie's next year reports now from the black sea resort. it's less than five months remain until the twenty fourteen winter olympics kick off in the russian city of sochi and the city continues its dramatic transformation of the latest olympic related venue to be opened in the city is this brand new international olympic university it is unique not only for russia but for the rest of the world as well because its graduates will you know will prepare the mass sports events across the planet and the uniqueness of this university is that those who have been preparing the games in

sochi for the last six years will become teachers in this university and will share their valuable experience with the students and the future gradients but of course this isn't they are not the only major transformation major venue to be opened to the city of sochi i had a chance to compare the city back in two thousand and seven when it won the right to host twenty fourteen games and now six years later definitely it has changed dramatically the roads are much better it has a much better transportation a brand new airport many restaurants so everything looks to be set and ready for thousands tens of thousands of tourists and fans from all across the globe who will come here to witness the game today we've been witnessing another inspection by the officials from the international olympic committee they seem to be quite happy with the preparations although the admit that some of the olympic venues are still some way off from the from being completed but that according to the officials in charge of the construction of the olympic venues is not a problem everything looks to be set and ready in the next two or three months this

comes just a little more than a week after the outgoing president of the international olympic committee mr jacques rogge said that he expected to hold the grand a year old girl in big games and everything looks to be absolutely ready to the infrastructure the tourist hotels roads and combination and everything looks to be in place and the work on the olympic venues themselves is continuing at a very very rapid pace and everything looks to be completed in time i'd like to remind two of us that the winter olympic games in the city of sochi will be taking place from seventh february to twenty third fabry next year. more news are making headlines around the world this hour albert's teams are attempting to right the grounded luxury cruise ship the costa concordia eleven story line which is roughly that of the football pitches moment seen rising slowly from the water the accident killed thirty two people when the ship ran aground off an island near ration is

expected to last at least. six nights of protests in istanbul has resulted in scuffles between police and anti-government demonstrators over but it's water cannons were used to disperse the crowds demonstrations began after the death of a twenty two year old student involved in a city against a construction project affecting his university. so hard economic times have made on the easy bedfellows of eastern investors china has emerged as one of the world's top three investors the significant share of that cash benefiting french firms what's he says are syria gauges whether feelings between paris and beijing on neutral. vineyards in burgundy of bordeaux including well known. sold iconic french bread and holiday resorts club med sold parisian fashion brands. eighty percent sold to hong kong investors the

tip of the iceberg as far as chinese money and french firms is concerned but if you ask french president francois lauded his army of trade ministers and business x x there's always room for more especially as recent grim industrial output figures cast doubts on paris's claim of economic recovery france accounts for a tiny portion of china's foreign trade just one point three percent of vs germany's five percent france buys more from china than it sells so much so that there's a twenty six billion euro trade deficit with the asian giant the four pro i think the. more charge. where france is core industries are concerned another one of those with increasing chinese of well what in the billions is a nuclear energy sector france's expertise has a crucial position within the street giants are. leading the pack bot and gaining access to china's massive market and investment dollars france finds itself

straddling a delicate balance of opening up its wealth of knowledge and protecting its relevance which means once the know how it was passed on what's stopping china from going it alone there appears to be a price of doing business with asia's booming economies should we stay outside or do we hurt to invest. i don't know but to be able. to pull the party called about this is a. technology that although the chiefs of these two nuclear giants moved to reassure the public about what technology they've given china the deals and denial still caused it. i fear that national interests were compromised leading the finance ministry to launch an investigation early this year and maybe even a finger oh so many chinese people are very we like it before we even flaunted american investment but you know we cannot stop the movement if

story of the world credit is by the possibility of our technologies to make every day every move every year new products new kred t.v. by the way we will be completely people again an uphill battle for a country of internal german memo described as europe's biggest problem child and image it will have to clean up if it wants the chinese to keep heading its way tess or sylvia r.t. paris. and not talk of open story now four people have been confirmed dead and eight injured after a shooting at a navy yard in washington d.c. live pictures now from the scene of that incident witnesses say a gunman who was shooting from the fourth floor people in a cafeteria reports claim two or three gunmen may have been involved in the attack to then already killed that information is unconfirmed. several civilians and

police officers are among the victims approximately three thousand people who work at the building and largest naval sea systems situated and keep you updated on. a coming up on our t.v. we head to one of the most inhospitable environments on earth stating. we've talked before about people getting in trouble throughout the usa just for gardening in fact according to the christian science monitor a couple in florida has been fined five hundred dollars a day until they dig up their vegetable garden which is on their own property and

mediately people who write these articles draw comparisons to communist russia where people weren't allowed to grow their own food at last night's state allowed it yes the revolutionary period in russia forced agriculture to change rapidly and often against the will of many of those involved and this did lead to starvation revolution isn't fun but what about after that well stalin and khrushchev gave out a lot of documents which are private summer houses where people guard and also there were markets in the soviet union where people could bring the food they grew to sell to see all these pictures behind me these are people in the soviet union selling food they produced privately and legally but there were some moments in soviet history when there were some taxes placed on the sale of your personal goods from your personal labor which according to russian website history of taxes was around ten percent whether you love or hate communism more than anything doesn't matter this half truth about shooting soviet gardeners burns like wildfire on the american side of the internet the real truth is that in fact when the us government for every.