an apparent witness to a cold blooded mass murder near damascus tells r t that dozens of people including children were killed by radical jihad as their. uncertainty hangs over ukraine as the e.u. says it's frozen trade talks while keeping up pressure on the president and blaming moscow for meddling. amnesty international exposes how bahrain routinely tortures people in detention including children all human rights workers on the ground say the scale of the abuse is even worse than the latest report suggests. the british energy company finds a massive wind turbine sprawled across the entrance to a drilling site a gift from anti fracking activists caught up in the christmas spirit.

at seven pm here in moscow you're watching r t international with me and he said no way our top story this hour nazi like atrocities are being described in war torn syria residents of a small town outside damascus have told r.t. how they've witnessed anti-government islamist burning civilians and of ins and using others as human shields for the army struggling to throw extremists out of the area says the horrific scenes did take place archie's arabic channel trying to get a clear picture of what happened. r.t. sources in the military say radical islamist fighters entered the town of address and massacred local civilians according to the latest figures at least eighty people were killed in the districts which the syrian army has now liberated entire

families were killed other families were kidnapped and are being used as human shields in the battle against government forces. militants from the bottle strike and the army of islam seize control of all the streets and cross roads very quickly this occasion became terrible there were killings outrage and fear on other defy the army and came to the city they carried out the slaughter the worst thing in that crime was when they shot people in the baker's old and the kid those people and many were beaten. i still can't recover from the shock i went through on black wednesday but praise be to allah i managed to grab my kids and my wife at the very last moment and flee under a hail of bullets that was terrifying or just recently i spoke with a friend whose name i won't describe he is still hiding in the basement of his house he and my other friends told me about the atrocities committed by the rebel units what they have done to civilians is simply her lipstick if tortured innocent

unarmed people inflicted a lot of bloodshed some of the kidnapped families have been transferred to areas south of the town they're now being held in strategically important zones which the rebels have been using as a base of operations these places are heavily fortified sources also say the total death toll and address may in fact increase because the syrian army has not yet liberated the entire town. well for more i'm joined live now by john white a british journalist who's been extensively covering the situation in syria now these reports are absolutely harrowing eighty people killed burned in alvin's used as human shields you have contacts on the ground in syria is the situation as bad as it sounds yes it very much is as bad as it sounds what we are seeing is as the syrian army enjoys increasing success on the ground against

the rebels and taking back a series of towns in particular surrounding damascus the main high read connecting damascus to attack here in the north the rebels are growing ever more desperate for wearing a scorched earth policy which lays bare the objective of turning the country into a graveyard for both muslim and non muslim alike vests oversea makes all the more imperative that they defeat it and i didn't wait to this particular atrocity is the announcement just recently made by the british and u.s. governments that they have ceased the describers known lethal lead to diffuse sitting on me this is a clear acknowledgement that what we are seeing is no of revolution in any meaningful sense this is an invasion by islamists and sunni fundamentalists sponsored done funded by. now these latest reports were not really picked up by other media outlets they're focusing on the legs government assault in aleppo

where seventy people including children were killed are these rebel atrocities being deliberately ignored here. yes because it would embarrass both the british and american governments and their liberal supporters in the west who have tried to support the rebels as much as he can even if he so of the undeniable evidence that these rebels as i see are part of an attempt to turn not only the country but the entire region into a graveyard for minorities muslim and non muslim on the way to turning the clock back to the seventh century the british told the british government's policy and city up to now has been an absolute disaster and when you consider that only a handful of aim peace. held the line between britain and gauging in a military action recently after the chemical weapons attack on the eastern suburbs of damascus and september. i really do think there needs to be

a public inquiry into how we came so close to effectively acting as al-qaeda and city as in force along with our u.s. counterparts. it's interesting that senator john mccain he us hawk to lead the charge for taking action in syria from kiev starting up the trouble there is senator mccain clearly belongs to the school of u.s. foreign policy in the world in all its complexities and challenges it is used to join with movie so these are the people that we're up against the danger for us is not so much the rebels on the ground who are being held or cli resisted and defeated as i speak by the syrian army and its allies but these politicians who are in charge of our foreign policy this is quite staggering jihadi groups have united and created the so-called islamic front are we seeing a possible solid base of forces here and if so i mean what impact do you think they

could have if any. well the consolidation is being driven by who know if stepped into the breach. a clear with us policy of conciliation towards iran. from mounting a full scale military intervention in syria recently has just mentioned so there's no stepped into the breach be over see believe we can fund as insurgency years with huge resources so this is driven as a c. from riyadh they want to shift to console additional forces those recently controlled by them from their capital i tell my journalists it's been extensively covering syria thanks so much for your analysis this hour. parties arabic channels news team is trying to get more firsthand experiences from people in. the city it was apparently attacked by jihad this reports say dozens of civilians were

massacred there if you miss anything that had to r.t. dot com for updates and to get around. well there are mixed signals over ukraine's possible trade deal with the e.u. which has been a source of massive protests for the past month a senior official stated that all talks are now on hold while ukraine's authorities say they're progressing and in this has a tent atmosphere the u.s. seems eager to assume the role of decision maker alexei or reports. to the bremer oh there's where you america is where you are right john mccain's media conference in kiev was rich in statements didn't leave veiled warnings to moscow we need to make it clear. to the russian government. interference in the affairs of ukraine is not acceptable to the united states for

america or to any other free country in the world. followed by explicit threats to kiev if the movement membership and he does not achieve that is going to have very serious effects here in ukraine and in u.s. crain the relations he accused russia of interfering but many question twice he was there in the first place it's not the first time john mccain has been seen playing a visit to those the united states is currently lending its support to he had a photo op with some syrian rebel kidnappers now it's a world boxing champion turned politician and mccain is not the only american politician in ukraine his appearance that gives independent square was preceded by u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland handing out cakes to the protesters the reason they are there is bluntly because i think these people want to detach the ukraine from russia as they see it and they think that by supporting the protesters in kiev they might actually achieve that the problem with that strategy

is that it's simply not working the balance between the ukraine and russia economically and culturally ethnically and simply too strong and i think for american politicians and indeed european politicians to go to the ukraine and to try to do that is actually very unwise and very dangerous and he simply exacerbating making worse the differences the divisions in the ukraine which are already very great but as u.s. officials seem keen on pushing the e.u.'s deal through brussels all but shut the door and signing it through a tweet from the man in charge of e.u. expansion it's unclear whether it's a matter of the e.u. or not budging on ukraine's pleas for more financial help upon signing the agreement the previous offer of six hundred million euro was branded as humiliating by unocal which or brussels rumored willingness to seize any talks with this government this latest statement by the european or so also puts huge pressure on the culverts because he has been saying all along seriously during press corps as

it matters where europe. officials in the opposition that ukraine would not. do integration. he was fully expecting to sign the euro solution here is the future and with the news that this is as remote as ever the protest as a result was now also being haunted by your rallying cry from the newest the royals from america let's see if in ukraine well it's not the first protests aimed at regime change where senator mccain has popped up here he is embracing ukraine's aren't revolution almost a decade ago he was also a frequent flyer to georgia another former soviet republic that saw a color revolution mccain is friends with its now former president mikhail saakashvili who after coming to power move swiftly to crackdown on protests against his own administration now the arab spring didn't escape of course his attention john mccain supported protestors on egypt's tahrir square also in libya where he

pushed for more active u.s. involvement in its civil war as for syria mccain was among the most vocal advocates for america to start bombing the regime and arming its rebels. well as the pro e u n anti-government protests in ukraine's capital rumble on they're becoming a source of conflicting media reports i spoke to graham phillips a british journalist living in ukraine who wrote an article on what he calls the mythical montrose of the protest movement. cranes out most popular band ok an l.c.d. a good performance there and it's become very can be made to conflate the numbers in attendance in that crowd with protesters i think it's become quite fashionable to it's almost become a festival what we're looking at is a very pleasant to use definition have you seen the pictures as we all have a protest as we'll be. changed to tear gas attacking police soon as they themselves see the injury they switch over from effectively terrorists to becoming innocent

protesters what we're really looking at is a picture of quite an ambiguous country because certainly in the east that isn't the case however ukraine is as it stands a country it is east and it is west and it is in the moment all back here in the center where you've got bussed loads of people coming from the west to protest e.u. is effectively offering prestige but it isn't offering hard cash and furthermore i would say to the protesters in my damn are you really there for the future of ukraine to make your country better or are you there because you believe in a visa free system it will be easy if you to leave ukraine with putin involved you're always effectively going to reduce to the role of an aunt of mine basically what was the e.u. these shining knights of the day are the even that interested or is it simply become can be the polarized russia as the pantomime villain of the piece which is

to take any comment on the equation what is happening in europe why don't. the issue of moscow suppose pressure on ukraine is one of the main topics for a meeting between russia's foreign minister and the year's top diplomats are still there reports from brussels. russian foreign minister sergey lavrov the visit to brussels comes on the back of a tweet to from the e.u. actually for a large met who says that the e.u. believes that ukraine's position on the go seizures of the a so. agreement is quote unquote now has no ground reality now the ukrainian prime minister's office has responded to that and said that ukraine is very much open to continuing negotiations with the e.u. however it will not respond to tweets it will respond to official messages and also it wants to if it does decide to sign it wants to do so on its own terms that as far as russia is concerned here among the meetings of the foreign minister is the deputy foreign minister of lithuania who is also chairing and presiding over the e.u. council and said that's of the lover of can expect to be told about quote unquote

the in the miss ability of putting pressure to bear on ukraine the permanent representative of russia to the e.u. has responded to that it has also turned the table in question the very actions of the e.u. towards kids basically likening it to steamrolling and also reiterated that it is a ukraine salvage choice to sign or not to sign that agreement we can expect sergei lavrov also to be commenting on that or to be asked that very same question but aside from ukraine there's also a slew of other topics that they will discuss such as promoting bilateral relations between russia and the e.u. in lyon with the upcoming summit touching upon visa free travel for instance energy cooperation as well as iran and syria so the foreign ministers today really have a lot on their plates. coming up on r g international crushed hopes of those who are coming of age in egypt there's just solution meant among the countries younger

generation and how the arab spring turned out their main goal now to get out and live abroad we report shortly. in the fortress mentality in western europe as leaders look to ringfence jobs for their own nationals amid fears a new tide of e.u. immigration from the state with us. technology. developments. we. have heard. wealthy british style it's. right let's go right. to. the markets find scandal 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 our team. do we speak your language anything about the role or not a day in. the music programs is documentaries and spanish matters to you breaking news a little tonnage of angles keep these stories. in spanish to find out more visit. torture in bahrain has once again been revealed by human rights groups amnesty international claims that children as young as thirteen have been subjected to brutal mistreatment while into tension doctor not to die from the behind rehabilitation antiviolence organization claims the reality is even worse. as

a person who's chairing going in geo that deals with torture victims and survivors as documented myself cases of children who were abused and tortured and as young as eleven years old these children are not only tortured beaten. beaten with hoses and their wicked threatened with rape to the extent that the children wish to attend that a member of their family a mother or a sister will be a date in order for them to give false confessions or to give names to death ortiz and in some shocking cases that they wanted these children to work as an informant as to the security forces. russia might consider a decade long ban on genetically modified foods on our website you can find out how scientists are urging the government to give them ten years to study the effects on humans of a controversial product. and keep your loans out yemen's parliament votes to ban

unmanned strikes amid sweeping outrage over deadly u.s. attacks more on that r.t.e. dot com. now in true christmas spirit activists have gifted a british gas drilling company a special if one usual present a seventeen metre one and a half ton wind turbine propeller placed inconveniently across the entrance to a fracking site the local campaign leader for friends of the earth says that eventually the government's got to listen. i have a hunch full of exploratory drilling sites across the u.k. but already we've seen huge local opposition whether it's been in the southeast of england or the northwest where we're seeing it now and i think with the government's new licensing round which is going to open up another two thirds of the country to potentially to fracking we're going to see even more opposition and i think the government is going to have to put a moratorium in place like it had done previously and actually listen to the

concerns of communities because there's a very loud and clear message that people do not want this in their local community and they don't want to anywhere else we've seen a lot of support from the energy in recent survey seven times as many people wanted a wind turbine in their community than a shell gas well so we think about actually as more and more community opposition in arises across the u.k. we will see the government having to listen. egypt has seven day for a referendum on its new constitution the mid january vote is seen as the biggest test so far for the military led government authority but the campaign has already had its fair share of scandal this is a banner promoting the constitution as representing all in egypt but the people you see here aren't what they seem it shows stock pictures of people from a library most likely foreigners who images pop up everywhere on the internet the timing isn't good for the government in cairo or the country still rocked by regular protests by students who are increasingly disillusioned with the result of their revolution well true reports on their hopes for a better future. almost

a young egyptian design student sits in his favorite downtown cairo cafe talking about a better life uproots three years on from participating in two thousand and eleven revolution oh my is frustrated with the state of the country he says once he finishes his studies he'll have to leave. here your study for four years then you don't find a job at the end of it there are better chances are side egypt there i can find the freedom to work with the skills that i have that is one of the most important reasons forcing people to leave egypt there are eight million egyptians already abroad and others are looking to join them as the economy flatlines in the political instability even if the economy of the country will grow in the future the double digits there will never be able to accommodate every new job seekers there is going to be always a percentage of the population that would seek job elsewhere job outside the

country youth unemployment rates are at a staggering seventy seven percent and that may well roy's after years of turmoil for young men like almost seeking work abroad is often the only option but it's not just the economy driving egyptians to leave some fleeing amid a growing crackdown on political freedoms. growing numbers of activists are now facing jail sentences off to the military installed government enforced the law banning protests without official permission daily battles between student protesters and security forces broke egypt's campuses police and the army continue to patrol the streets here where we need democracy freedom better health care and social justice to fulfill the main demands of our revolution the police need to change the whole regime needs to have a better ideological way of dealing with egypt or more people will go the government hopes and new constitution and upcoming elections will help stabilize egypt but until egyptians can find work and enjoy basic freedoms more will be

forced to leave. for r.t. . now for some more global headlines a passenger bus in the philippines has fired off an elevated highway and plunged into a van below killing at least twenty one people it's not clear what caused the accident but the road was slippery because of rain authorities have suspended the entire fleet of the bus company involved. a series of attacks across iraq have killed at least fifty four people the deadliest happened two hundred kilometers north of baghdad when a suicide bomber blew his car at the gates of a police station three more attackers then made it inside before blowing themselves up killing eight officers elsewhere gunman paul twelve shiite muslims from a bus heading to the capital before executing them. britain's mulling over projecting its jobs and welfare system but putting by putting rather

a cap on the number of no arrivals from within the e.u. the plans were leaked as concerns grow that a wave of immigrants from romania and bulgaria lies ahead when freedom of movement rules change in the new year probably boycott reports it's supposed to be an ever close a europe but the european commission the body respond. sibyl's a keeping the twenty eight country club together is facing a growing number of complaints from its members in january as the newest members romanians and bulgarians will be able to travel to work and live anywhere within the zone but the u.k. prime minister david cameron's not exactly offering open arms to change the rules about removing people to countries for a job is one thing but i'm not favor of people being to be able to claim benefits that's why we set up a series of measures this week to put beyond doubt that there isn't the freedom to

go and play the same sentiments have been shared by germany and france so it's no surprise that views not going down well with the european commission it argues migrants boost these countries economies rather than sponge off that governments but immigration is by no means the only issue the yukon to greece. god only what we're facing right now is there is actually died it has been lost and i'm not talking about like you get a rate of equates always being one food outside and inside europe i'm talking about their. european banking union has long been on the cards designed to offer the same confidence to a depositor in a greek or spanish bank as enjoyed by someone in a german one but richer member states a worried at all only end in bailouts for banks and other countries last time ministers met to discuss the union they wrapped up early because of a lack of progress and speaking of money brussels has strived for tax harmonize

ation but cost your mind back to recent scandals about google and apple housing the headquarters in ireland with a corporate tax rate of just twelve and a half percent compared to thirty four percent in belgium and you'll see that harmonized ation is a long way off you're seeing economic effects of the shed from greece across the eastern europe of course and germany but without political control over those things happening it's a very on turnabout situation to have. london. coming up on r t international the twists and turns in the life of a boxer fighting for his dignity but if you're watching in the u.k. it's going underground with obscene returns a. steady

stream of snowden related leaks no longer surprises but the all encompassing scope of spying still does he even online gamers have not been spared all the while the powers that be are considered to rein in the n.s.a. they appear only want to make legal what is no illegal is it time for an international bill of digital rights.

and the time when i was a child i dreamed of becoming an actor. not a sailor. they want to fuck into. the family and they will people know me as. the mobile phone yeah ok sadly i've got no other family. i'm still looking for my calling in life. so my place in the world. sometimes fighting helps me get close to that goal. i'm looking

up i'm able tell me i'm a legend. yet again but. i'm just an ordinary man.

yeah but. it's. very different.