syria completes the first step of its chemical disarmament plan while u.s. russia diplomatic progress on the issue was overshadowed by fresh exchanges over who's to blame for last month's poison gas attack near damascus. amid reports of moderate opposition fighters joined extremist ranks in syria we look at the aftermath of a rebel siege on an ancient christian village where people were forced to leave their homes to protect their faith. polls open in germany's parliamentary election which looks set to see chancellor merkel securing a third term but growing social and economic difficulties leave many disillusioned . and is germans cast their ballots in greece awaits the outcome we look at how the decisions made in berlin will go in athens.

thank you for joining our t.v. live from moscow i'm lindsey france. 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 a new 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 serious compliance so far not everything has been smooth on the diplomatic front this week or to use a missile now it has the details. as chaos and violence continue in syria so does the diplomatic battle surrounding the conflict this week

a un investigation concluded chemical weapons were used on august the twenty first the environmental chemical and medical therapies 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 assad 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 acid 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 of this material which was collected by the syrian authorities was discreetly handed over to. 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 strong was

asked to look into the and eventually factor this new evidence into the final report of self from his mission it 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 to mask its pledge 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. rusher 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. in and little on 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. classified information it's one one page i mean expecting 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 to makes it much more problematic for this administration meanwhile on the ground in syria the number of al qaeda linked

extremists within the opposition the opposition ranks is rapidly growing hundreds of rebels from one of the free syrian italy pledged allegiance to the islamists now al nusra front as the extremist element grows and violence turns increasingly sectarian syrian christians are becoming a frequent target of the rebels artie's marie if an ocean now reports on the aftermath of the ancient village of my little falling into the hands of jihadists. the syrian village of my luna is where the aramaic language believed to have been spoken by jesus christ was in daily use but not so much these days. after jihadists attack this mostly christian village in syria more than two weeks ago local residents were forced to flee the battlefield that was once the native land and calm organized life. many of them to graph huge with christian families in all

damascus we try to meet them all of the thirty dollars vocal music stores for us that. many refused to talk because their relatives remain missing they say is the miss kidnapped 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 by the doors and all gathered in one room i told her to run that and we won't harm you and one mikkel and child he went there and surrounded 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 the man die. hundreds gathered for the funerals of the three men who they now called walters those muslims and christians the attack on malala village syrians say was an attack

on their country and its way of life. in the form of what can be their aim other than to destroy in the current strand of muslims and christians live in ma luna but it's surrounded by four or five muslim villages lie that 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 he serves in the family to commemorate the dead. in church they held special ceremonies for several days. and again all the syrians equally shocked prayed together for the dead and alive the ancient language in my lula united people for thousands of years they have now is that it can sustain them for a little longer and old over the country the two hundred harvey alone conflict is taken lives language and shattering people's hope. from damascus in syria germans have begun to cast their ballots in the country's parliamentary elections while polls suggest on helen marcos christian democratic union will win there is a growing discontent with mainstream political parties voters have been left unimpressed with campaigns and as artists put it all over reports many 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 and it's hardly been an election campaign say pulses racing it's been more notable for the major issues that weren't talked about than those that were things like the future of the eurozone and 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 . comes the chancellor for a third time it's unlikely that i'll change too much mrs merkel has been the chief cheerleader of all star ity for the cash strapped southern european countries also at the n.s.a. spying scandal now across germany we've seen demonstrations here in berlin as well as all of the other major cities 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 answers were forthcoming from either angle or merkel or her main challenger in this election campaign. of the social democrats none of that particularly touched on in the lead up also the current financial situation for germans as being 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 angela merkel saying it just wouldn't work now to get into the german parliament any party just needs five percent of the votes in the past this is a lot smaller parties to get a foothold within german politics one party that it seems may get across that threshold and could have potentially huge influence when it comes to forming future coalitions 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 being formed now they say that they won't operate with mrs merkel unless she adopts the euro skeptic 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. . while noting today germans will not only decide their own country's future in austerity stricken greece people to are closely following the election the country needs another bailout to keep going which depends in large part on what germans have to say about it let's take half an hour 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 mean more austerity as well as harsher 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. believe it's 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. was when

she intervened so much in my country that it feels like greece is controlled by foreign politicians germany in general that's a good. on a good chance i don't believe but it's a great season but. this is good so as you just heard a mix of views there although germany contributed to to bailout loans to greece more goals austerity policies are widely blamed for huge spending cuts and whichever way germans and up voting it certainly is likely to be felt right here in greece reporting from athens from r.t. on this the council of. greece has seen violent protests this week following the murder of a prominent left wing activist who was allegedly 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 gallois a professor of constitutional law believes there's a direct link between anti-rust already anger and the rise of extremist movements.

there in majority of the good people is rejecting these austerity measures and unfortunately the i'm getting into despair disputed no so did eyes of the new fascists in the first this is a small minority of people now we've got a massive there must be some of the public sector a very council. and of course look at the violence the mysterious and but all of that has been a complete play them of the most like young peasant babies a new a fascist group the only quote for greece is a first use of thirty thousand or does it come but to the mother or utopian social state. so i had for you this hour iraq is rocked by a bloody day of sectarian violence a series of attacks targeting shared neighborhoods gatherings make it the deadliest day this year. in scott one thousand to march in support of independence from the we talk of the nation's first minister who is leading the separatist

stripe that and more after a short break. this is the media leave us so we leave that maybe. i can see bush and see to the play your party there's a. clear shoes that no one is asking with again that you deserve answers from. our team. i. think you take three. or three.

three. three. three i would free both video for your media project st radio dot r.t.e. dot com. welcome back to our two live from our moscow studios and lindsey france thanks for joining me 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 it's become especially noticeable this week here's a look at some of hasan rouhani his moves that may be signaling a thaw first in a recent interview that he made it clear iran will never pursue nuclear weapons adding that his government might be ready to strike

a deal with the west or honey and further address the topic of cooperation when he made his case for putting an end to frosty relations and engaging in constructive dialogue and an open letter to the washington post newspaper and in a conciliatory gesture gesture iran released almost a dozen political prisoners this week two of them renowned human rights activists 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 assembly next week jim all of deve policy director at 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 an iranian president since since you know the one nine hundred seventy nine revolution so i think what we can expect from this upcoming meeting is probably some sort of symbolic 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 and there were activist richard becker from the answer coalition believes this bloodshed raging in iraq is just an echo of the u.s. led invasion. the fundamental cause of the ongoing violence in iraq is the us invasion

and occupation which tore iraqi society apart and in which at the time of the occupation the us occupiers favored certain groups in the population against others demolish the state that existed and so in that 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 at least good graeme for the us 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 now in brief kenya's

security forces have reportedly contained. militants in a shopping mall in nairobi after the islamists took control of the building on saturday at least thirty nine people have been killed and over one hundred fifty injured in the attack and the number of hostages are reported to be in the center to the attackers have been killed during the standoff with police somalia based. says the assault was in response to the presence of kenyan forces in somalia. china's former top politician bo xilai has been sentenced to life in prison he was found guilty of bribe taking embezzlement and abuse of power at the downfall of the once rising star of the communist party began in february last year he was accused of interfering in the investigation into his wife's killing of a british businessman. the referendum on scottish independence is now just a year away from 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 or 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 artists or fourth reports 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 marks one year to go till the eighteenth of september twenty fourth when scott spaces will be asked to vote yes or no is it beggars belief to me why people would want the government may vote for to make decisions about themselves you know we voted for him in government and we go get

work that is a policy that 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 who saying we're not afraid. a lot of the no campaign or the better together campaign has been very negative. 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 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 national majority for the pandas because people believe scolds the nation more

than not if you ask people we really want the economy to be run from a want to be joint so security to be run from london would you want to decide to. play along the people see in these polls they want these decisions for scotland to be made in school if you build this. together that's a yes vote for independence because in order to control the economy the wealthy and to decide but i don't know want to have a beautiful country can timely buy nuclear weapons we have today because the systems that is what independence is if it became independent to morrow would become the most post this country in the cd so scotland is a strong country economically the real question is can we use that economic strength to build a more just society will struggle audit pendant. the scottish independence rally for this campaign gets questioned on if the details it's like the more hearts he

will be provided when the government publishes it is white paper on independence and no uganda these people here have already made their minds up but what this referendum will rest on is the cost chunk of the population that's according to the polls will remain as yet undecided surface. edinburgh. news team will be joining you again at the top of the next hour coming up next we continue our special report on the victims of friendly fire in the u.s. army. her. legs. leave. her. they just leave them with the economic ups and downs and the fun at all among the longer the new york sang i and the rest look like it's going to be casey will be everything we

can all fled the i'm. the plug it was terrible to say oh i'm very hard to take a plunge again a little long here there's a lot lot happened that had sex with that hurt me there's no let's have a little. listen to the i'm. led. let's. look at. the.

wealthy british. that's not to let. the. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two kinds of reports on r.t. . right from the scene. of the first strike. and i think that your. orders. can still. be in the.

research of dr scott's not a retired lieutenant colonel at the harvard business school highlights the difficulties in determining both the cause of and criminal culpability in friendly fire incidents so friendly fire have a perverse relationship with friendly fire paratrooper an eighty second airborne division was a victim of friendly fire in operation urgent fury in grenada and so for years this was ninety three i've had a perverse sense of curiosity how could sometimes some of the best trained best equipped people in the world sometimes fall short of the mark in his book friendly fire dr snoeck investigates an encounter in a no fly zone in which two u.s. f. fifteen fighters shot down two u.s. army black hawk helicopters instantly killing twenty six u.n. peacekeepers this happened in one thousand nine hundred four full three years after the end of the first gulf war it was a high shooting war going around there's not a lot.