russia's foreign minister says washington is trying to blackmail moscow the u.s. is threatening to suspend work on syria's chemical disarmament if russia does not support a u.n. resolution the use of force. germany's general election results as the leader of the socialist democrat party concedes defeat. in greece where the killing of

a prominent. national strike against austerity. seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly here on. western states eager to gain a loophole for unilateral action against syria and don't care enough about peaceful efforts to resolve the syrian conflict well that's the impression the russian foreign minister says he's going after several weeks of a diplomatic marathon to avoid possible strikes against the war torn state. has the details. two weeks ago it seemed like the united states are ready to essentially strike syria then it looks like things are going to ease up just

a bit and now again russia seems to be facing some sort of alley lost city especially head of the un general assembly which is to take place in new york next week so the russian foreign minister in an interview to russia's channel one has used the points that he's made before but in a very different or rather harsh manner especially when talking about the way that the west is approaching the syrian crisis. in our american partners are starting to blackmail us with pressure does not agree to reach up to seven resolution in the u.n. to see stop working with the chemical watchdog in the hague is completely counter to what we agreed on which john kerry namely the chemical watchdogs decision and then are supporting a solution from the un but without a chapter seven. the russian foreign minister said that the team of u.n. experts who were in syria last month investigating reports of alleged chemical attacks actually couldn't complete their job in its entirety caving into the

pressure from the likes of the united states who seem to be determined to push their agenda in only one direction. which all parties are blinded by an ideological goals to remove the assad regime they want to show the big can call the shots in the middle east. they are mostly concerned with proving their own supremacy and not the task that we are driven by which is to solve the syrian chemical weapons problem. which on top of that russian foreign minister has said that there is a high chance that the syrian rebels themselves could produce chemical weapons and homegrown laboratories has also said that those who have essentially created the syrian opposition are continuing to cover its tracks almost hold our mr lavrov has said that it does not seem like the western powers are interested in pursuing the diplomatic solution off the matter right now. when some partners are trying to forcefully push forward it was a syrian resolution. because they understand that if chapter seven is mentioned in

the show as a chance for them to get approval of the un security council unilateral action which to encourage them to keep calm and stop coming up with their solutions but the convention for the prohibition of chemical weapons on the back burner or ties us girls according to the russian foreign minister of france and the united states they didn't really need the report from the u.n. inspection team their minds were set up long before that and they have only used that report as yet another attempt to insist that in fact it was just the syrian government that was using chemical weapons in syria even though there is absolutely no such indication in the u.n. report as my colleague mr now we now reports. as chaos and violence continue in syria so does the diplomatic battle surrounding the conflict this week a u.n. investigation concluded chemical weapons were used on august twenty first the environmental chemical medical therapy 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. possesses. and there is not a shred of evidence however that the opposition does. this isn't complicated when we said we know what is true what you 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 to the 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

is a 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 of this material which was killed by syria and the story 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. i rushed there 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 of its own and in that 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 it seems like a small victory for diplomacy in the syria crisis and new road is mostly going back

to old ways as washington continues to threaten force and moscow push for compromise the battle continues and he's now a r t washington. we spoke to his store in the middle east expert mark owen and then he believes moscow has very strong grounds to brush away all attempts to inject chapter seven into a potential resolution on syria remember of libya in march of two thousand and eleven the resolution was presented as a humanitarian resolution to prevent the libyan army gadhafi forces entering the city of benghazi but it was used to justify a small the six months of bombing until gadhafi was overthrown and in july the british prime minister david cameron so that over syria we don't want a resolution like the one of libya that would have labeled us to engage in regime change he was trying to reassure russia and china but precisely because back in march of two thousand and eleven david cameron obama president sarkozy said this was just a humanitarian resolution to do would be needed crisis in benghazi undoubtedly not

just russia and china but other countries like india brazil south africa a very suspicious that a resolution which authorized force over chemical weapons could be used to justify a broader range campaign to remove the regime and install a different government protest although i have to say i think if we look at what happened in libya the chaos that followed i would be very reluctant to predict that even if the. was able to pursue a military option in syria that it would produce a regime that most people in the west would feel comfortable with. an r.t. crew delves into the thick of the syrian war coming up in the next hour we report from an ancient christian village which finds itself in the center of the battlefield plagued by squads of radical jihadist fighters who make up to half of the forces. that report coming your way in the next hour as i say has labeled the party's performance in germany's general election as a super result and some projections suggest the christian democrats could even end

up with an absolute majority no if true it would be the first time in more than half a century a party has been able to govern without forming a coalition while her main challenger and leader of the socialist democrats has conceded defeat artie's peter oliver has more now on the elections from burnin. merkel is almost certainly going to be elected for a third term as german chancellor her c.d.u. party on there but they're insisting party the c.s.u. have taken the lion share of the vote speaking to speaking at a party headquarters mrs merkel said it was a super result in fact it's the it's the the exit polls are correct it's the highest percentage that a live taken since one thousand nine hundred ninety so they've done remarkably well it would seem the c.d.u. but those that haven't done very well it seems are the main challenges. in this election the social democrats they have been rather disappointing we've seen some

dejected looking s.t.p. campaigners and supporters outside of their party headquarters sort of people putting that down to what was essentially a gaffe prone campaign that was run by. the challenger to angle or merkel that included him at one point giving a middle making a middle finger gesture towards cheering a photo interview for a newspaper here. another party not doing particularly well the free democrats now going into this election they were the coalition partners or merkel's party they are well struggling to make the five percent threshold according to exit polls it seems that they aren't going to be taking up seats in the next parliament the center left of them pretty well that's the left party and the greens another party though that could make quite a bit of difference is alternative for germany the f.t. of tentative for deutschland are

a new party when it comes to to german politics their euro skeptic party and anti your own party and as it stands they looking like they just got a fall short of being part of the coalition but if they get it being part of the pollen to make it hard if they do get in there. they can make quite a bit of difference though they are vehemently opposed to a lot of the policies being put forward by angela merkel is very interesting what everybody is looking towards is who will be in charge of germany after these elections angela merkel has got has taken us to say the lion share of the votes it would be the first time since one thousand nine hundred fifty seven that a party had ruled unilaterally without a coalition there a very fond of a coalition here in germany i mentioned alternative for toys and if they were to get in there though angela merkel would be perhaps forced to form a coalition would she go for the so-called grand coalition between the c.d.u. and the social democrats would have to wait to see if that happened

a lot of social democrat supporters would be uncomfortable with the last time that happened with in two thousand and five so it's all going to come out over the coming hours to find out just exactly what the what the results are from the selection but it's also on it's almost nailed on the angle of merkel will be chancellor for a third term or his people over there in berlin let's go now to editor in chief of compaq magazine you're going he's live in berlin so what are the leaders of those economically struggling european countries going to make of angular merkel's dominant position after these early results. you know the position of i'm going to make a list very much strengthened by this the result is the best result of the democrats since decades. distance to the next part of the social democrats is seventeen per cent that is historical victory for america and these not of their strongest

leader in europe and in comparison in the other countries their governments are very weak and the political leaders are. let's have a look on france with all aunt who is under pressure or mr cameron and great britain who is under pressure. the government in italy and spain and greece are on not very you are not in a very good position saw the outcome of this election to strengthen their trauma. within the european concert but what about that and t. european party the alternative for germany party still hanging in there isn't it what impact could their presence have if they do indeed get into parliament. is this the result of the you're a skeptical party or i don't know if you can for the action on this also or historical because this party's very young it was founded only this spring in

spring two thousand and thirteen and within five or six months the new party has gained nearly or five percent of the woods in comparison to the green party in the green party started for the first time in for the election it had only one point five percent now this new party has nearly five percent this is a good result and if this party stays together it will be in the european poly parliament after next year's election in two thousand and fourteen. if the new party comes into the parliament over the five per cent then it will change the atmosphere in term uneasy at the moment every euro skeptical post is spam of the public debate kind of right wing. be involved more possible if this party comes into the parliament are there german

parliament although you're pretty parliament you're going at it in chief magazine thank you very much indeed for your thoughts life here on alt. but it's not just the rich european states rooting for their favorite leader but the less fortunate from. pending conviction of austerity we report on just how much is at stake for europe's weakest indisposed that's coming away this break. also knocking on the door of peace iran has an olive branch to the u.s. calling for talks ever its controversial nuclear program but washington chooses to keep up play those stories and others after the break. with. science technology innovation called the list of elements from around russia

. the future covered. wealthy british style. markets. find out what's really happening to the global economy with. for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report. this

is the weekly live here on r.t. europe is watching hell the german elections pan out with much interest and apprehension not only is germany the powerhouse of europe's economy but it's also the purse behind the bailouts keeping struggling euro nations afloat and none is more dependent on burdens favor than greece. reports from athens. when it comes to finances decisions made in germany are often felt right here in greece and the 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 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 to a package just west of two hundred forty billion euros revenues are still short of expectations what's more the growing consensus is that research is unlikely to get

back on its feet without more help so will a third term for chancellor angela merkel mean 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 as you see you. do it it's in there. it's been love you know 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 behind me just what you want to watch me intervene so much in my country that it feels like greece is controlled by foreign politicians germany in general has a good. climate and i don't believe what some greek state. 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 for future 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 counting of. a general strike in greece turned ugly this week when a prominent anti-fascist was stabbed to death the kid who was apprehended at the scene and reportedly found to be a member of the far right golden dawn party because the chain of rug. surround greece with running battles between police and protesters officials quickly jumped on the bandwagon hinting that they may shut the party down as police raided its offices golden dawn is well known for terrorizing immigrants and attacking its political opponents george capture a goddess he's a professor of constitutional law believes the rise of extremist sentiment in greece is directly linked to the state of the economy. the majority of the good people. that unfortunately the idea is that this fear is freedom not so

of the new fascists in the first this is a small minority now we. are massive there must be some of the above except the really. beautiful. of course not that via the mysterious one but all of that has been eclipsed by the murder also i don't personally. know a fascist group the only called for greece is a reverse. order. to the model of european socialist state. america's decision to deny its airspace to the venezuelan president on route to china has been labeled an act of aggression by caracas the air corridor was later opened with u.s. officials brushing off the incident as a filing area but that wasn't the end of it with president nicolas maduro revealing that washington has threatened to deny visas to venezuelan un delegates these incidents will do little to improve the dismal relations between venezuela and the

united states and nations withdrew their ambassadors in two thousand and ten keeping diplomatic relations to the bare minimum recent revelations of u.s. spying on latin america only alienated the self even more gregory will put he's co-founder of venezuela analysis dot com believes this incident was a veiled show of force by the united states i think it's basically just a show of force of muscle and this comes at a time when the united states is increasingly. isolated. this is really one of the few resources that has to show. its power internationally and i fact if we look at our just in the last week brazil's president tomorrow surf canceled a trip to the united states that was a long time ago over the whole spying scandal that the u.s. was involved in in brazil and other shows that more and more countries are resisting exercise of u.s. power around the globe and in other words the united states is becoming increasingly isolated. so this is another start to actually that is the model of

the airspace is another step further is the u.s. isolation internationally i think because other countries who are retractable are in solidarity with them as well but we will. there is no end in sight to the violence in iraq with sixteen killings reported there today the deaths come just a day after more than one hundred civilians were killed in a ferocious wave of bloodshed the overwhelming majority of the victims died in a string of blasts which rocked shiite neighborhoods more than five and a half thousand people have been killed in iraq this year alone we're journalists i said big who's been extensively writing on the net as of the region believes that iraq won't see peace for a very long time i think if you look at this year so far it's been the deadliest year since two thousand and eight and this started in april when the shia led government broke antigovernment protests and this is kind and get some of the sunnis in the country and giving fuel to the fire for the al qaeda militants so

we've seen an increase in sectarian attacks taking place and i don't see an end in sight the u.s. really messed up stuff in in iraq they had no plan foreign intervention hasn't worked given a fuel truck load of militants i don't think the community has any say in what's taking place and i think that they've done the damage that they've done you know that they had ten years and i think that what we're seeing now is is internal sectarian issues taking place. iran's new president hassan rouhani seems to be persistently knocking on the u.s. door urging washington to break more than three decades of diplomatic silence between the countries though the white house is still sending mixed signals whether it will in kind it has recently hinted there is a possibility for a change of heart or let's take a look at how to iran is trying to win over the sympathies of the u.s. president rouhani drew global attention recently when he vowed iran will never seek a nuclear weapon saying that the strictly civil atomic program is the subject of

national pride he also reached out to the white house for an article in the washington post calling to leave frosty relations in the past and focus on warming them up sticking to the election pledges of a moderate approach she also released around a dozen political prisoners including prominent human rights activists and finally he exchanged correspondence with president obama later disk describing it as a positive and constructive exchange well it's just a professor at the university mohammad his son carney told me that both a bomber and rouhani will have their own troubles at home if they do decide to revive diplomacy. somehow the course of years of war can start to try and go wrong. it could be a mistake for the worst. not for a cancer on the weakness the skeptics or all sides all in turn on washington on all

swore not most of the mystic about the possibility of such a break that would even. want really. draws one solution to calm ruth their own people their own faction as their own political party is this is in the best interests of both sides of the human war and here is common. temperence up today for the moment i'll be back with a news team with morphine just have a half an hour from now in the meantime it is the second part of our travels to antarctica where we attempt to find out what drives scientists to the endless expensive place and cold that's after the break.

we 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 immediately people who write these articles draw comparisons to communist russia where people weren't allowed to grow their own food and let's not state all out it yes the revolutionary period in russia forced agriculture to change rapidly and often against the will of many of those involved and this did lead to starvation revolution isn't fun but what about after that while stalin and khrushchev gave out a lot of documents which are private summer houses where people guard and also there were markets in the soviet union where people could bring the food they grew to sell to see all these pictures behind me these are people in the soviet union selling food they produced privately and legally but there were some moments in soviet history when there were some taxes placed on the sale of your personal goods

from your personal labor which according to russian website history of taxes was around ten percent whether you love or hate communism more than anything doesn't matter this half truth about shooting soviet gardeners burns like wildfire on the american side of the internet the real truth is that in fact when the us government for every reason in various forms clamps down on private gardens it isn't the same as communism but it's actually technically worse than communism for the majority of its lifespan where you could guard it up as you. excluding the brutal revolutionary period but that's just my opinion.

summer is coming to an end at antarctica the crew of the academic field of is waiting for the research station to pack up for winter everything has to be done quickly if the wind gets any stronger the helicopter won't be able to take off and there's no other way of getting people onto the ship from the station they need to hurry winter begins tomorrow. night it used to be to save with unions biggest antarctic research station. now it only works during the summer. in the southern hemisphere someone starts in december and ends in much it's now april so seasonal operations are over.