syria completes the first step of its chemical disarmament plan while russia united states diplomatic progress on the issue is overshadowed by fresh exchanges or who's to blame for last month's ois and gas attack near damascus. amid reports of moderate opposition fighters joining the extremist ranks in syria we look at the jihad as siege of an ancient christian village where people were forced to flee 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 greece awaits the outcome we look at how the

decisions made in berlin will echo in athens. or what you are to live from our studios in moscow i'm moving to 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 toxic 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 expected but despite syria's compliance so far not everything has been smooth on the diplomatic front this week artie's innocent has the details. as chaos and violence

continue in syria so does the diplomatic battle through round in the conflict this week a un investigation concluded chemical weapons were used on august the twenty first environmental chemical and medical therapy that the u.n. investigators collected provide clear and compelling evidence that the surface to surface rockets used in this attack contained a nerve agent sarin we know the 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 assad 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 carries 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 collected by the syrian authorities was discreetly handed over to orcus drum the head of u.n. mission here mission of experts which came and investigated the incident but never did so on the three subsequent incidence and then sell strong was

asked to look into the and eventually factor this new evidence even to the final report of so from his 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 read syria of its chemical weapons damascus pledged to move forward and has so far complied the chemical weapons ploy if you like by the west and by the by the jihadist was. was countered effectively by russia and 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 . and you know that little in the other forces will not give up their chemical weapons in this whole dispute and and john kerry the u.s.

secretary of 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 what recently seemed 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 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 malouf who worked for the u.s. department of justice or a defense excuse me 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 expecting others it's classified secret no foreign it's from the n.g.i. sea or the national ground intelligence center the u.s. military did an assessment based upon fifty indicators and clandestine interviews that the sourcing of 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 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 ranks is growing rapidly hundreds of rebels from a free syrian army brigade have reportedly defected to the islamist all nusra front as the extremist element grows and violence turns increasingly sectarian syrian christians are becoming a frequent target of the rebels artie's maria fanaa now reports on the aftermath of age brutal jihadist attack on the ancient village of. 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 say not sure these days. after the hardest attack 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 opens 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 an two on its family were killed on the first days of the violence siege. in the morning by their shouts of along. the doors and all gathered in one room they told us to run there and we won't harm you and one mikel and shadi 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 called walters 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 a game other than to destroy 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 and two on its 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 ransom 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 sweet sanctified bread is served 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 all over the country the two and a half year loan 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 polls suggest angela merkel's christian democratic union will win there is a growing discontent with the mainstream political parties voters have been left unimpressed with campaigns and as artie's peter all 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 its be 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. comes the chancellor for a third time it's unlikely they'll change too much mrs merkel has been the chief cheerleader of all star ity for the cash strapped southern european countries also the n.s.a. spying scandal now across germany we're seeing 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 ounces were forthcoming from either angle or merkel or her main challenger in this election campaign period of the social democrats 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 thing 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 that threshold and could have potentially huge influence when it comes to forming future coalitions alternative for alternative for germany or

a euro skeptic party an anti euro party if they get into parliament well that. could seriously affect just how whoever 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 and policy select would be all very interesting to see just who comes out as part of the coalition government after this german election the polls close here 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. on her merkel recently described her country as the engine of europe but that might not sit well with many germans unwilling to continue bailing out their cash strapped partners on top of that many are concerned about an ever widening income gap and tough job market business and government consultant christophe foresaw says there says 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 please take part in the elections daughter who will 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 only move 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 in the you know more tax payers hard earned money into supporting the low road currency euro. well the thing today germans will not only decide their own country's future and austerity stricken greece people too are closely following the selection the country needs another bailout to keep going which depends in large part on what germans have to say about it there's a captain of reports from athens. when it comes to finances decisions made in

germany are often felt right here in greece and while albums 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 greece 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 but we decided to hit the streets of athens to find out take a look at your money goes. missing you can. do with it it's in there. within your local markets polls he's 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 behind the solution with huge blunders which we intervene so much in my country that it feels like greece is controlled by foreign politicians germany in general that's a good. conduit. 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 her 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 lest wing going activist he 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 petro

goller say a professor of constitutional law believes there's a direct link between anti austerity anger and the rise of extremist movements. the majority of the good people is rejecting these austerity measures and unfortunately the i'm getting into despair disputed not so good eyes of the new fascists in the first this is a small minority now with. a massive demonstration of the public sector. and of course not at all viable the most of them but all of that has been a complete lie the murder also young person babies a new fascist group the only hope for greece is a reverse this a steady. income but to live a moderately over utopian socialist state. so i had for you this hour iraq is rocked by a bloody day of sectarian violence

a series of attacks targeting shiite neighborhoods and gatherings make it the deadliest day this year. in scotland thousands march in support of independence from the u.k. we talked to the nation's first minister who is leading the separatist strike that and more just a month. old . technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. play. basic needs the economic ups and downs in the final months day the london new york

sang night and the rest of the life during the case it will be everything we can all pay. welcome back you're watching our two live from moscow i'm lindsey franks 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 far 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 construction as 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 is to deploy issues to defrost relations in an excuse it's an exchange of letters between rouhani and president obama while the white house indicates the pair can meets although not formally at the u.n. general assembly next week tomorrow 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

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 share a 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. 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 it 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 the. responsibility for this could weigh in 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 in brief now starting with pakistan where a suicide bombing at a church in the northwestern city of peshawar has killed twenty five people including women and children thirty more were injured in the explosion that happened while people were leaving after a sunday service no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. kenya's security forces are searching in nairobi shopping mall for al shabaab militants and civilians after the al-qaeda linked islamists took over the building on saturday the death toll from the attack has meanwhile risen to forty three with over one hundred fifty injured and the number of hostages remain in the center as the standoff with the gunman continues two of the attackers were killed during the clash with police somalia based al-shabaab says the assault was in response to the

presence of kenyan troops in somalia. china's former top politician bo xilai has been sentenced to life in prison it was found guilty of bribe taking embezzlement and abuse of power the downfall of the once rising star of the communist party began in february last year seelye is was accused of interfering in the investigation into his wife's killing of a british businessman. the referendum on scottish independence is now just to give away and the date was marked by a thousand strong protests 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 independence movement says potential oil and revenues oil revenues and fiscal independence will ensure prosperity should the nation separate surf earth reports from edinburgh. well let's see a flag here. in the pendants 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 to the eighteenth of september twenty fourth saying when scottish 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 it in government because you get worse as you say policies of the dictator 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 things about people in 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 affair 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 national majority for the palace because people believe scolds the nation but more than not if you ask people we really want the economy to be run from a want to be joint so security would be run from london would you want to decide to . play in the london people see in these polls. 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 so well for you

to decide but i'm not talking about a beautiful country contaminated by nuclear weapons we have to take these decisions that's 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 country economically the real question is can we use that economic strength to build a more just society will struggle or detained in five at least that the scottish independence rally for this campaign gets questioned on if the details it's like the more parts he will be provided when the government publishes it is a white paper on independence and no uganda these people here have already made that 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. artsy and bright. and coming up all the week's business news with katie pilbeam and

her show venture capital stay with us. there's the media leave us so we leave the baby by the seat cushions to the play your party there's a bill. for shoes that no one is asking with to get that you deserve answers from. politic. about the.

mission. critical three and four charges free. range month free. free. free. download free books video for your media projects a freebie deal done to our teeth dot com. that was about to happen so i'm katie philbin protests in the grades we check in with all teachers a calf analyses and tell us about the real feeling on the streets that plus i spoke to the head of saxo bank and i also have what the underlying problems of the yahrzeit are and what needs to change to sort of comes out as what is up with what is.