syria completes the first step of its chemical disarmament plan while russia u.s. diplomatic progress on the issue is overshadowed overshadowed of fresh exchanges over who's to blame for august's poison gas attack attack near damascus. amid reports of moderate opposition fighters joining extremist ranks who really look at the aftermath of a rebel siege of an ancient christian village where people were forced to flee their homes to protect their faith. polls are about to open in germany's parliamentary election which looks set to see chancellor merkel securing a third term and growing social and economic difficulties leave many disillusioned .

and as germans cast their ballots greece awaits the outcome look at how the decisions made in berlin will echo in athens. you're watching are two live in moscow i'm lindsey france thanks for joining me. syria has fulfilled one of its key obligations as part of a chemical disarmament plan handing over a list of its talks six stockpiles to the international watchdog the deadline set in a russia u.s. deal hammered out last saturday was also met this apparently surprised american officials with some saying the inventory was more complete than they expected but despite syria's compliance so far not everything has been smooth on the diplomatic front this week artie's innocent now he has the details. as chaos and violence continue syria still does the diplomatic battle surrounding the conflict this week

the un investigation concluded chemical weapons were used on august the twenty first the environmental chemical and medical samples that the u.n. investigators collected provide clear and compelling evidence that the surface to surface rockets used in this attack contained the nerve agent sarin we know the us side regime possesses. and there is not a shred of evidence however that the opposition does please. this isn't complicated when we said we know what is true we meant it but the u.n. report doesn't blame the asad regime for the attack or mention other chemical weapons attacks allegedly carried out this summer russia claims there is still no evidence the syrian government is guilty and rather many suggestions the attack was

a clever attempt by rebels to push for foreign intervention we have every reason to think that it was a provocation a small provocation of course but the technique was very simple they use an old soviet missile which are no longer in service with the syrian army the key thing is that the missile carried the label made in the u.s.s.r. russia says the u.n. report was rushed and ignores relevant evidence of other chemical attacks in syria the deputy foreign minister called in damascus this week confirmed un inspectors were informed this material which was killed by the syrian authorities was discreetly handed over to orcus sellstrom the head of u.n. mission here mission of experts which came and investigated the incident but never did so on the three subsequent incidents and then sell straw was

asked to look into the and eventually factor this new evidence into the final report of cellphones mission you can never happened in fact still the u.s. is pushing for a response based on this u.n. investigation just last week the u.s. and russia agreed to a six point plan to rid syria of its chemical weapons damascus pledged to move forward and has so far complied a chemical weapons ploy if you like by the west and by the by the jihadist was. was countered effectively. so i rushed her in damascus saying ok you want to chemical weapons you've got the chemical weapons it's interesting to note that the free syrian army disavowed that agreement and will not the chain and little in the other forces will not give up their chemical weapons in this whole dispute and and john kerry the u.s. state is not even pushing on that instead he is pushing on the u.n.

security council to sign a strong resolution possibly even mandating force but recently seems like a small victory for diplomacy in the syria crisis a new road is slowly going back to old ways as washington continues to threaten force and moscow push for compromise the battle continues and he said now a r.t. washington. as we just heard u.s. secretary of state john kerry insists there is no evidence to suggest that the syrian opposition has sarin gas well michael maloof who worked for the u.s. defense department for nearly thirty years showed us what he claims is a classified u.s. intelligence report stating otherwise. i have. a report from a source who has direct connections with two to classified information it's one one page i mean expect in others it's classified secret no foreign it's from

the n g i c or the national ground intelligence center the u.s. military did an assessment based upon fifty indicators and clandestine interviews that the sourcing siren originated out of iraq into turkey before some of it was confiscated in may in turkey and that there has actually been a more significant amount of crn production both in iraq and in turkey going to the going to the opposition principally al-qaeda and we've had separate reports now that al qaeda elements are rather significant numbers. and have and now have permeated into the opposition so the ability to be able to. distinguish who gets what and where is going makes it much more problematic for this administration meanwhile on the ground in syria the number of al-qaeda linked

extremists within the opposition ranks is rapidly growing hundreds of rebels from one of the free syrian army is largest brigades reportedly pledged allegiance to the islamist al nusra front as extremist element grows and violence turns increasingly sectarian syrian christians are becoming a frequent target of the rebels are more if the national now reports on the aftermath of the ancient village of malala falling into the hands of the jihadists . in the syrian village of the luna is where the aramaic language believed to have been spoken by jesus christ was in daily use but not so you're not sure these days . after jihadists attacked this mostly christian village in syria more than two weeks ago local residents were forced to flee the battlefield that was once their native land and calm organized life. many of them to graph huge with christian

families in all damascus we try to meet them only the third house vocal has its doors for us that. many refused to talk because their relatives remain missing they say is the best kidnap people and they fear this could put them in even more danger and these people know well about danger three members of on two on its family were killed on the first days of the violence siege. in the morning by the shards of a log close the doors and all gathered in one room they told us to run there and we won't harm you and try and make a will and charge the went there and surrendered they pointed their guns at them and started shooting i was injured in my chest and. one of them offered to save me but i ignored him and the other one said let them die. hundreds gathered for the funerals of the three men who they now call mall to use those muslims and christians the attack on malala village syrians say was an attack on their country

and its way of life. what can be their aim other than to destroy it in the current strand of muslims and christians live in ma luna but it's surrounded by four or five muslim villages maybe they see this as the last obstacle in their part. here antoine it's father in law is eighty eight years old he says nothing like this has happened in his lifetime. we were living in peace and now it seems they want to throw all the christians out of the country who pray to god that will defeat them and kick them out another relative who's afraid to show her face says it's hard to say how many people were killed in the lula because militants holed in the village often keep bodies for further rennison and to instill fear their goal is not assad their idea is to establish an islamic emirate in all of the middle east however fine countries are helping them with weapons money whatever they need helping them

destroy the country and people of this region special sweets sanctified bread is served in the family to commemorate the dead. in church they held special ceremonies for several days. and again are the syrians equally shocked prayed together for the dead and alive the ancient language in my lula united people for thousands of years the help now is that it can sustain them for a little longer and old over the country the two and a half year long conflict is taking lives language and shattering people's hope regional from damascus in syria in just a couple of hours time germany will vote in parliamentary elections while paul suggest on how americans christian democratic union will win there's a growing discontent in the country with the mainstream political parties voters have been left unimpressed with campaigns and as artist peter oliver reports may feel the bulk of the most pressing issues have been left out of the debate well

there's nothing more the politicians can do it's up to the german people now to decide who will be the next chancellor of their country and perhaps more importantly just who will be taking up seats behind me in the german parliament now it's hardly been an election campaign pulse is racing it's been more notable for the major issues that were talked about than those that were things like the future of the eurozone in the ongoing crisis within the monetary union were hardly mentioned if at all also germany's role within europe over the coming years how will that change well if i'm going to merkel becomes the chancellor for a third time it's unlikely that i'll change too much mrs merkel has been the chief cheerleader of austerity for those cash strapped so the european countries also have the n.s.a. spying scandal now cross germany we're seeing demonstrations here in berlin as as well. by people wanting answers from the german government germany was one of the

main countries that was spied on by the the n.s.a. is part of their prism program no ounces were forthcoming from either angle or merkel or her main challenger in this election campaign. of the social democrats particularly touched on in the lead up also the current financial situation for germans has been an increase in the amount of people in the country that would be regarded as working poor pish time to put forward a minimum wage that he wanted to see imposed that was knocked back by anglo merkel saying it just wouldn't work now to get into the german parliament any party just needs five percent of the vote in the past this is a lot smaller parties to get a foothold within german politics one party that it seems may get across the threshold and could have potentially huge influence when it comes to forming future coalitions or alternative. alternative for germany or a euro skeptic party an anti euro party if they get into parliament well that could

seriously affect just how who comes out with the majority deals with coalitions that have been formed now they say that they won't operate with mrs merkel unless she is being adopted a euro skeptic anti euro policy so that could be all very interesting to see just who comes out as part of the coalition government after this german election the polls close they are at six pm local time i'll be bringing you all of the news as we get it throughout the day here on r.t. . markel recently described her country as the motor of europe but that might not sit well with many germans unwilling to continue bailing out the cash strapped partners on top of that many are concerned about an ever widening income gap and continuing disparities since reunification business and government consultant christophe forced all says all this has led to apathy among the german electorate. people in germany by a large numbers very frustrated so frustrated that all the media are coming out

these days with you know urges please take part in the elections daughter who are the go to vote don't stay at home the government is very clearly afraid the whole system in germany is afraid that more than fifty percent of the germans could epstein and that would be a very bad sign for the system obviously right now many germans are in a mood that they would be ready you know to vote for dirty or donkey to get rid of the euro eighty percent of the germans don't want to pay any. more tax payers hard earned money into supporting the road currency euro while voting today germans will not only decide their own country's future in austerity stricken greece people too are closely following the election the country needs another bailout to keep going which depends in large part what germans have to say about it mr cavanaugh of reports from athens. when it comes to finances decisions

made in germany are often felt right here in greece and the outlands may be the birthplace of democracy ballots cast by german voters have a huge role to play in this country's future that despite two bailouts and across the board spending cuts is still struggling through one of its worst recession since the second world war unemployment just soaring and two thirds of young greeks are without work and despite two aid packages for some two hundred forty billion euros revenues are still short of expectations what's more the growing consensus is that greece is unlikely to get back on its feet without more help so little third term for chancellor angela merkel meaning more austerity as well as harsh for greece and how do people here actually feel about a potential change in leadership in europe's largest creditor nation we decided to hit the streets of athens to find out take a look at your money well you. see you. do it it's in there just behind me just one huge one which we intervene so much in my country

that it feels like greece is controlled by foreign politicians it's been in the local markets policies hurt the greeks as well as the germans but regardless of who wins the result will be bad for us because our politicians are weak germany in general has to do it. on the other hand i don't believe what some greek sees the times says do so as you just heard a mix of views there although germany contributed to to bailout loans to greece models austerity policies are widely blamed her for huge spending cuts and whichever way germans and voting it certainly is likely to be felt right here in greece reporting from athens from r.t. on this the counting of. greece has seen violent protests this week following the death of a prominent left wing activist he was killed by a man claiming to be a member of the far right golden dawn party which has been riding a wave of popularity amid growing economic troubles in the country george cattrall

galo say professor of constitutional law believes there is a direct link between the antichrist the anger and the rise of extremist movements . in the majority of the. emergence that unfortunately. into despair. their eyes of the new forests of the forces a strong minority now we. must you must through some of the above except the. usual and of course look at the volume of the most of them but all of that has been . by the member also a young person on. the group the only called for greece is a first. come back to the mother of all the european socialist states. so ahead for you this hour iraq is rocked by a bloody day of sectarian violence

a series of attacks targeting shia neighborhoods and gatherings make it the deadliest day this year. in scotland thousands marched in support of independence from the u.k. we talked to the nation's first minister who is leading the separatist drive. iran seems to be offering an olive branch to the west ahead of next week's un general assembly meeting a change of tone that first appeared with the election of a new president has become especially noticeable this week here's a look at some of his son rouhani is moves that may be signaling a thaw. first in a recent interview he made it clear iran will never pursue nuclear weapons adding that his government might be ready to strike a deal with the west rouhani further address the topic of cooperation when he made his case for putting an end to frosty relations and engaging in constructive dialogue in an open letter to the washington post and in

a conciliatory gesture iran released almost a dozen political prisoners this week two of them renowned human rights advocates at the core of this push to defrost relations is an exchange of letters between rouhani and president obama while the white house indicates the pair can meet although not formally at the u.n. general assembly next week jamal of deep political director of the national iranian american council shares his thoughts on what can be expected from this potential landmark meeting you know there's a lot of work to be done i mean no u.s. president has actually sat down with the iranian president since since you know the nine hundred seventy nine revolution so i think what we can expect from this upcoming meeting is balik handshake or or signal something along those lines but i do think that this paves the way for a substantive meeting between both sides to actually address with these outstanding

issues that are on the table including obviously the nuclear issue where rouhani has expressed willingness to increase transparency and perhaps put some caps on the nuclear program but that meeting will also necessitate some discussion of actually easing sanctions on the u.s. side but i think that this is definitely possible. the deadliest assault on civilians in iraq this year has claimed the lives of at least ninety six people after a string of attacks targeted shiite muslim neighborhoods the majority were killed when suicide bombers attacked a shia funeral in the capital baghdad anti-war activist richard becker from the answer coalition believes the bloodshed raging in iraq is just an echo of the u.s. led invasion fundamental cause of the ongoing violence in iraq the us invasion and occupation which tore iraqi society apart and in which at the time of the occupation the us occupied years

favored certain groups in the population against others demolished the state had existed and so in there put in its place we are going to give you something new and better democratic and wonderful and in fact the tearing apart of iraqi society back in two thousand and three. is still. reaping the kind of consequences that we saw the horrible consequences that we saw in iraq and i think that. responsibility for those could blame for this has never. been attributed in the mainstream media in the united states to those who are responsible and that is those who created this war the bush administration and all of its agents. and to some other news in brief now in kenya security forces are locked in a standoff with militants gunmen took control of ace shopping center in nairobi on

saturday killing at least thirty nine people and injuring over one hundred fifty an unknown number of hostages remain in the center of the attackers have been killed with reports saying security forces have so far cleared the first and second floor of the building somalia based al shabab says the assault was in response to the presence of kenyan forces in somalia. china has evacuated more than eighty thousand people and deployed thousands of disaster relief troops in regions in the path of super typhoon. it's expected to strike hong kong and other parts of the country within the coming hours has already battered the philippines and taiwan triggering landslides and severe flooding along with massive power cuts. the referendum on scottish independence is now just a year away and the date was marked by a thousand strong rally in edinburgh despite the optimism the yes campaign faces an

uphill struggle recent polls put support for keeping the country in the u.k. in the lead while london insists scotland will struggle on its own the independence movement says potential oil revenues and fiscal independent will ensure prosperity should the nation separate or to serve for three ports from edinburgh. well let's see a flag here the scottish independence rally underway in as a burst thousands of people turning out in this procession going through the streets earlier on i was talking to the head of the campaign jenkins he said that there is still a long way to go well in fact wednesday march one year to go till the eighteenth of september twenty fourth saying when scottish places will be asked to vote yes or no is it beggars belief to me why people would want the government for to make decisions about themselves you know we voted for him in government and we go get work that is a policy they dictate to us and that doesn't seem like

a democracy to me there's a lot of risk i think today is about a show of confidence today is about the people of scotland saying we're not afraid . a lot of the no campaign are the better together campaign has been very negative today is about the people of scotland just saying we're not afraid we are a strong independent nation we will take the opportunities that are there and a lot of people have come here with their children it's a family event and you can see the crowds coming down with their signs one of the signs i was reading earlier saying yes takes courage well it certainly does this going to take a little more than courage to get the amount that they need to see scotland's become an independent country and there are some big questions this still need to be on the natural majority for the palace because people believe stalls the nation more than not if you ask people we really want the economy to be run from

a want to be if you want so secure the way to be run from london would you want to decide to. play in the london people see. these decisions for scotland to be made in school if you build this. it's together that's a yes vote for independence because in order to control the economy the poll will feel to decide but i don't know what type of a beautiful country contaminated by nuclear weapons we have today because the systems that is what independence is if it became independent to morrow would become the most prosperous country in the e.c.b. so scotland is a strong complete economic when the real question is can we use that economics to build a more just society will struggle on attendance for. the scottish independence rally for this campaign gets questioned on if the details it's like the more hearts he will be provided when they govern the public says it's

a white paper on independence in november these people here have already made that minds up but what this referendum will rest on is the last chunk of the population that's according to the polls will remain as yet undecided. artsy edinburgh. and on our website you'll find more pictures from the scottish pro independence rally at the art invision section of art and see how thousands of scots and an apartment in edinburgh have stressed their cultural identity saying no to centuries long times of london. plus russia's female soldiers proved they are just as tough as their male counterparts they start out their skills during special forces training with what is it that our emotions are. coming up all the expenses with katie and her shell venture capital stay with us.

will be. science technology innovation all the leaves developments from around russia we've got the future covered. i think. over. did you know the price is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open process is critical to our democracy albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and across several we've been hijacked why handful of trans national corporations they will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once told

just my job market and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem trucks and rational debate in a real discussion critical issues facing america have on the books ready to join the movement then welcome in the big picture. what wonderful charming a life should be made the news all the face i think you know. it was. a pleasure to have you with us here on our team today i'm researcher.

ballet that was a vegetable so i'm going to do proving protests in greece we check in with all teachers a captain all she's in our first to tell us about the real feeling on the streets plus i spoke to the head of psycho bank and i asked him what the underlying problems of the yahrzeit are and what needs to change to sort of problems out what is up with what is the call to show in thomas our in-house vets the poise of the business desk to give us a peek at his poll for fall fast. this week the federal reserve defied expectations and decided to keep the u.s. economy on life support the fed will continue to pump cheap money into the system or injecting the sick patient with steroids fed chairman ben.