not like. four people are confirmed dead and injured in a shooting at a navy yard in washington civilians and police officers are among the victims more than one gun man is believed to have carried out the attack. part of a u.n. report says its inspectors are certain of chemical weapons use in syria this is russia's foreign minister says the syrian opposition should be made to sit down for peace talks with the government. and under fire continues its series of reports from the heart of the syrian war this time our correspondent joins syrian troops dodging sniper fire in the damascus.

international news and comment twenty four hours a day you're with. four people have been confirmed dead and eight injured after a shooting at a navy yard in washington d.c. witnesses say a gunman was shooting from the fourth floor of people in a cafeteria reports claim two or three gunmen may have been involved in the attack that unconfirmed at the moment several civilians and police officers are among the victims approximately three thousand people who work at the building where the largest of the navy's command systems is situated but let's now get some reaction live from a political commentator john wright live from the u.k. john thanks very much for coming on to the program this is still a very fluid story and we don't have all the facts at the moment but we do know the shooter targeted a navy command center. in your opinion what could be the motives for such an attack

. well the. first thing that springs to mind is a possibility here that is can you shoot us foreign policy given the islam religion is that we shouldn't was attacked and given the house you've just reported it is american that there were more than one gunman involved so these will be the questions over what here in the new government what are your thoughts specially the five it is a military installation and the questions of security which they arise you mention the question of security that is this a pretty rare event to happen under these circumstances. well certainly you would think so i mean the u.s. as we know has more change deletions all over the world if you're going to stand there for seem sensible than empire. so for that to happen particularly in the hospital it can nation's capital will be particularly well the support of some for the authorities and as a see the government. and presumably what obviously part of the investigations will

be to try and understand the motivation for this attack but do you believe it could be politically motivated to be to me that will be one avenue that they will investigate well it certainly looks like at this stage given as a see the targets. of more than one gunman involved on what we know of u.s. foreign policy the hudson code the factory floor it was a case that was recently gone through the course in the u.s. . in the u.s. military officer i think it's one of the million pieces short some of these soldiers and officers this is an advance so we war in iraq so that is that is an element of us foreign policy that springs to mind it could be behind this particular attack but as you said at the top you the girl is pretty good and everything everything right there speculation. thank you jon we have to leave it at this and commentator john white life from you can thank you.

the u.n. inspectors say they are certain that chemical weapons were used in syria that is from a leaked first page of the report there they are set to present in a few hours time meanwhile russia's foreign minister says the syrian opposition should be forced to sit down for peace talks with the government all artes marina portnoy has more. 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 un 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 it's 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 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 two thousand and 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 and 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 an option. foreign minister sergei lavrov said that he thinks that the syrian opposition should be forced to come to the negotiating table in order to proceed 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 while most of the world supported the syrian chemical disarmament deal with which russia and the u.s. shook hands on in geneva last week but investigative journalist pepe escobar says washington is trying to take credit for itself and downplay moscow's true sure role in the diplomatic breakthrough. there were already strictures trying to steal all the credit for everything that's going out from the russians who will in fact do bomb a present seat was see why display it which is not all in a russian this is learned that was discussed in the. the iranians the russians and the syrians when we were all the brink of war leeching to see what was going to happen even before all burma in the last minute glory this side of the first the bolt of kong so the old world of presidency this century or so by this seriously

renders and the russians and now they're clinging to grow for themselves. while the syrian 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 that you had this or hardline islamist war here's how the number of opposition fighters breaks down in that the french report one hundred thousand rebel fighters are split into many different factions and these include our qaeda linked groups with about ten thousand jihadist fighting amongst them the hard line islamists in syria are similar but they are focused solely on the syrian war and not on the global islamic struggle there are also moderate islamists which means that secular or nationalist fighters are in the minority artie's marie has been reporting from the front lines and here's her report from a damascus suburb where she's witnessed syrian government forces battling the

rebels now in dara just a few kilometers from the central damascus it used to be nice in the years for 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 residence left the only people we can meet here either the army all the militants. fighting against guys like you know now we're going with the army to get their operations. during a itself or the capital is sponsored 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 sols comes through here providing

local militants with a secure supply line for. rapid . fire perhaps. 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. this or not i told you say they could be snipers there and they put curtains like this one just to protect to prevent snipers from seeing what's going on here. this simple system helps save many lives every day where he doesn't work soldiers just wrong. in a full two minutes with travel from one district to another we follow the army as you

can see through the buildings through the hell's in the walls like fix one hole the swan they're everywhere. and. can you fall into the. candidate you salute is here in the morning is neat. no. more life. in this war snipers are from both sides of the frontline. is what they do most of the time waiting 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 it will be sweet sometimes to leave

their weapons. but sometimes they refuse and we have no other choice but the quiet of 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. and do you follow maria on twitter she has the latest updates from the fighting in syria right now she's tweeting about what is going on in the battles around damascus. i am. on my. well western governments are blaming the syrian government for the deadly chemical attack in august but now the country has agreed to get rid of all such weapons by the middle of next year let's take a look at where the stockpiles are believed to be stored you can see here the ongoing conflict has divided the country into rebel held and government controlled

areas 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 the rebels could have already had a chance to grab control of some of those stockpiles the imminent threats of the u.s. attacking syria may have been put on hold with the desire disarmament deal but as artie's lindsey france reports some american companies have billions of reasons to see their country go to war. raytheon 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 a real trim the us budget sequestration and fiscal cliff just before the last presidential elections lockheed threaten 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. or breaking u.s. foreign policy the numbers can't be ignored the more conflict american gauges and the more money 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. let's go back to our developing story six people have now been confirmed dead. after a shooting at a navy yard in washington d.c.

witnesses say a gunman was shooting from the fourth floor people in a cafeteria reports playing two or three gunmen may have been involved in the attack two of them already killed that information is still unconfirmed however we do know several civilians and police officers are among the victims approximately three thousand people work at the building where the largest of the navy's command systems is situated that is the latest at the moment obviously as we get more we will bring it to you. not just ahead for you. as a matter of mutual benefit is from struggles to heal these economic wounds analysts say it's becoming more addicted to cash flowing from the east we find out he's been a major aid helping to keep the country's business is alive that report coming up in a couple of minutes. syria

and the neighborhood as washington stumbles its way through the syrian crisis there are those who see this horrific conflict as a perfect opportunity to topple assad then move on to turn around at the same time around in the u.s. are said to engage in direct talks so what's ahead more conflict or the start of pragmatism compromise. unexplored antarctica what is it in this icy expanse that attracts the people who come here. no only go to the doctor. a new generation of polar explorers is coming. we have a new group of specialists here now all of them are young our they're going to get along with each other and i don't know. how used to be a bureaucrat. seriously. what adventures await him this mysterious. where do they live want to eat and what are they actually doing it on talk to go.

welcome back a report on the use of chemical weapons in syria has been sent to u.n. member states after secretary general ban ki moon made a statement to the security council the document confirmed that un inspectors are certain that the weapons were used during an attack on a damascus suburb in august meanwhile russia's foreign minister says the syrian opposition should be forced to sit down for peace talks with the government will artie's more important i joins us now for more on this we've heard hey we now understand that chemical weapons were used we're still waiting for the full report to come out what more do you think we will learn from this. well what we know is the statements that have been released thus far the u.n.

secretary general ban ki-moon is supposed to address the media within an hour but he has already spoken to members of the security council behind closed doors the u.n. chief says that the u.n. mission has now confirmed unequivocally and objectively that chemical weapons were used in syria on august twenty first in the area of damascus suburb called the incident a war crime he told members of the security council that this report is the most significant confirm use of chemical weapons against civilians since saddam hussein used them in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight the u.n. chief said ecological chemical and medical samples that were collected in syria give the u.n. convincing evidence that surface to surface missiles were used during the during the conflict on august twenty first and that the chemical weapons that were were used contain sarin gas and he believes he believes he says that this report proves

that the chemical weapons. were used killed hundreds of civilians there in looting children this is a report that the international community has been waiting on for some weeks now now the u.n. inspectors were mandated by ki-moon to report on whether chemical weapons were used and if so which ones but the inspectors are not responsible to say who used the chemical weapons now the syrian rebels and their western supporters including the united states the u.k. and france blame president bashar al assad's government for using the chemical weapons in the first assad government insists that the attack was carried out by the syrian opposition this report comes at a very interesting time at a time when russia and the united states just brokered a deal that has syria agreeing to disclose its full chemical arms arsenal within a week and eliminate. that entire arsenal made twenty fourteen but in the meantime

the u.n. security council is expected to drop the resolution of for the syrian deal in the coming days now according to reports france britain and the united states are seeking what they call a strong u.n. resolution under chapter seven that would allow for military intervention if the syrian government fails to hand over its chemical weapons so clearly this report may be quite another game changer in this ongoing negotiation to the syrian crisis and with regard to russia's position at the moment what does the russian foreign minister want to see to help move this peace process forward. well russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said that he believes that the syrian opposition should be forced to come to the negotiating table 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 same has not been heard or seen from the syrian opposition and now russia the united states all the big powers

involved have all said that the syrian crisis cannot be resolved militarily it could only be resolved diplomatically that's why russia is coming forward and say that the west should be putting more effort in convincing the syrian rebels to commit to the geneva two peace talks because thus far if the threat of military strike coming from western powers is still hanging over the head of the syrian government russia believes that this keeps the opposition from coming to the negotiating table so russia here is pushing for the u.s. and its european allies to work with the syrian opposition convincing them to now take part in a diplomatic dialogue that could end this syrian crisis so again we have somewhat of a stalemate and we'll see what will continue in the days ahead because there is supposed to be a u.n. security council resolution a drought voted on sure ok thank you remember it's artesian report not reporting live from new york. america's national security

agency's widely monitoring international banking and credit card transactions that's according to report published by the german magazine der spiegel earlier revelations show that the n.s.a. is keeping track of phone records and tapping personal conversations across the globe it's also public knowledge that the agency collects private information about the online activity of internet users or fresh leaks by whistleblower edward snowden indicate that the n.s.a. has created a massive database detailing global financial operations specifically targeting customers of large credit card companies my colleague shawn thomas spoke to attorney general attorney general holder and he 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 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 hard economic times have made uneasy bedfellows to france and its investors china has emerged as one of the world's top three investors with a significant share of that cash benefiting french firms. silly gauges where their failings between parish on mutual. vineyards in burgundy of bordeaux including well known. sold iconic french branded 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 versus 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. i think the. more . we're france's core industries are concerned another one of those with increasing chinese of well what in the billions is a nuclear energy sector france of 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 old farts or do we heard to invest in charge no in the group. i don't know but do you really believe that the political party called about the the. technology although the chiefs of these two nuclear giants moved to reassure the public about what technology they've given china deals in 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 didn't want to the american investment but you know we took very movement of the story of the world. by the possibility of our technologies to

make every day every more. new products new credit e.v.t. by the way we will be completed 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 to us or sylvia r.t. paris. with the diplomatic situation around syria still volatile and his guess debate what could be in store in crosstalk that's just ahead. 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 of 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 unless the state allowed it yes the river 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 doctors 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.