in europe bugles. live from moscow a ten year watching r.t. tonight the apparent witnesses to a cold blooded mass murder in it damascus tell us that r t that dozens of people including children were killed by radical jihadists their. uncertainty hangs over ukraine tonight as the e.u. says its frozen trade talks while keeping up pressure on the president are blaming moscow for meddling. amnesty international condemns the torture of detainees including children in bahrain of rights workers there say the scale of the abuse is even worse than the latest report suggests. the british energy company finds a massive wind turbine scrawled across the entrance to his drilling site a gift apparently from anti fracking activists caught up in the christmas spirit.

by their very good evening she just joined us it's just past ten pm here in moscow my name's kevin knowing you're watching r t international and distressing news to start this hour reports of nazi like atrocities are being described in war torn syria residents of a small town outside damascus have told us that r t how they witnessed anti government is in the midst burning civilians in of ns and using others as human shields while the army struggling to overthrow the extremists out of the areas says the horrific scenes did take place artie's arabic channel tried to get a clearer picture of what's happened here. no. 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 a man came to search our houses and demanded to see our documents he told us to step outside but he spoke in a foreign dialect they killed everyone at our drone wailea police station and also at the local hospital where my sister works she still lives on the because she didn't show up for work that day there are still about two hundred civilians at the police station the militants are hiding among them using them as human shields to prevent the army from showing the building. militants from chabad a looser 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 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. up 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 disclose he is still hiding in the basement of his house he and my other friends told me about the atrocities committed by the rebel or 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 zooms which the rebels have been using as a base of operations these places are heavily fortified sources also say the total death toll in an address may in fact increase because the syrian army has not yet liberated the entire town their lives saving mccully goodness and now we spoke to british journalist joe white who believes western powers are starting to

acknowledge the truth nature of the war in syria i didn't wait to this particular atrocity is the announcement just recently made by the british and us governments that they have ceased what he described as knowingly phillida to defeat the city an army this is a clear knowledge meant that what we are seeing is not of revolution in any meaningful sense this is an invasion by as the mists and sunni fundamentalists sponsored done funded by saudi arabia and these latest reports not really picked up by other media outlets they're focusing on are not legit government assaults in aleppo where seventy people including children were killed are these rebel atrocities being deliberately ignored here yes because it would embarrass the british and american governments on their liberal supporters in the west who try to support the rebels as much as he can even if he so of the

undeniable evidence that these rebels as i say are part of an attempt to turn not only the country but the entire interview for minorities loose women on the islam on their way to turning the clock back to the seventh century 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 if force along with our u.s. counterparts. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov condemned the massacre outside damascus the latest in a string of sectarian killings across the country. is the details foreign minister sergey lavrov had gay given a general statement on what's happening in the region where russia is concerned as well as its international partners he said that in cases of trying to work together to deal with the situation there he does feel that they need to be equal footing and fair consideration of where the different parties stand he gave syria as an example where russia's voice he felt was heard by the international community in

coming up with that syrian resolution well another thing on syria that he had a comment on is the recent killing he had talked about how the different factions as russia had always pointed out in the past have become more and more extreme and this is what he had to say these were. the massacre that took place in this address was barbaric for christians druze and alawite will slaughter them even sunni muslims i believe who rejected the hardline islamist rules that these people preached but i say again this isn't the first time this is happened not long ago human rights watch established the other groups with no less brutal groups that now make up the so-called the slavic front we know that at this inception even job it was considered a potential member the only reason it was excluded was to keep the slavic french reputation clean as. is considered a terrorist organization there are even reports that our american colleagues beat with the islamic front representatives trying to get them to join the free syrian

army. he says e.u. partners want russia to be helping out in the situation in libya but he says that russia wants to have a say in the way the operations are going and that's the kind of equal footing that they want the russia you stand of ukraine is now the major issue i guess that came up there what was said before a lover of even came here there were a lot of warnings from the other foreign ministers that he's going to get an earful from the e.u. partners about russia meddling in the affairs of ukraine a lover of the did say pointed out to the behavior of the european partners and this is what he had to say. to our for the last few days we've been hearing statements saying how good things would be if we knew russia would stop meddling in the ukraine's offense we see western partners coming to clear the street to my done cookies and call on the ukrainian people to make what they call a free choice and choose europe. and he also said that europe the e.u.

tends to want all and all of once and he said it's only natural that the countries would consider their national national interests in the process he see urged transparency where ukraine is concerned coming from the u.s. and e.u. partners in dealing with the russian he says ukraine is a very important partner for russia and therefore that he would he would advise that all parties involved in peace talks would be considered as russia would also want to see the best deal for ukraine where the e.u. was concerned. there are mixed signals tonight of ukraine's possible trade deal with the e.u. which has been the source of those massive protests for the past month a senior official state who told talks are on hold while ukraine's authorities say they're still progressing and in this hesitant atmosphere than the u.s. seems eager to to assume the role of decision maker. reports. kerry. bremer oh there's very few america is where you.

are john mccain's media conference in kiev was rich in loud statements simply veiled warnings to moscow we need to make it clear. to the russian government that i'm here putin that interference in the affairs of ukraine is not acceptable to the united states of america or to any other free country in the world followed by explicit threats to kiev if the movement membership and he has not achieved that is going to have very serious effects here in ukraine and in us cray cray malaysians he accused russia of interfering but many question why he was there in the first place it's not the first time john mccain has been seen paying 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 at kiev's independence square was preceded by u.s. assistant secretary of state victoria nuland handing out cakes to the protesters the reason they are that 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 or tweets from the man in charge of e.u.

expansion it's unclear whether it's a matter of the e.u. 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 they were by the european always so also puts huge pressure early on the coverage because he has been saying all along he was a doing press corps is that we european officials and the opposition that ukraine would not be your integration. he was all expecting to sign your association deal in what year is the future and with the news that this prospect is as remote as ever the broadcasters resolve is now also being hardened by a rallying cry from the newest arrivals from america alexey resets the r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. it's not the first protest over regime change where senator mccain's popped up either here or on the screen see him bracing ukraine's orange revolution in its tail most a decade ago he was also

a frequent flyer to georgia another former soviet republic that saw a color revolution to mccain's indeed friends with its no former president mikhail saakashvili who after coming to power then swiftly moved to crackdown on protests against his own administration and the arab spring didn't escape attention either john mccain supported protesters on egypt terry square and also in libya where he pushed for more active u.s. involvement in its civil war plus two involvement in syria mccain was among the most vocal advocates for america to stop bombing the regime and arming its rebels. now that back to crane for a moment as the pro e u n antigovernment protests in the capital rumble on the becoming a source of conflicting media reports tonight earlier we spoke to graham phillips he's a british journalist living in kiev who wrote an article on what he calls the mythical mantras of the protest movement. ukraine's our most popular band ok an l.c.d. a good performance there and it's become very can be 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 all need weapons for a change to tear gas attacking police soon as they themselves have received any 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 of that 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 dan 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 always effectively go to reduce to the role of answered my daddy basically what was the e.u. these shining nights of the day on the event 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 out of the equation what is happening in europe by dan. coming up here on the program the crushed hopes of those who are coming of age in egypt is disillusionment amongst the country's younger generation with how the arab spring turned out the main goal now is to get out live abroad because their story shortly and also according to the fortress mentality of western europe these days as leaders look to ringfence jobs for their own national made increasing fears of a new tide of illegal immigration from the east just a. the stories most many more right after this quick break.

if you leave the. economic ups and downs in the final months days belong to the deal and the rest because it's going to be tasty it will be every week on. one of the wonderful home are going to watch the commute all the face of your life you know alone.

a pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i'm researcher. i guess this is r.t. serious still very much in the news headlines tonight moscow has reiterated its stance that the use of chemical weapons in the syrian civil war would be suicidal for president the sad but that rebel forces may well have resorted to such attacks to undermine the government russia's u.n. envoy was speaking indeed after international t.v. specters found that illegal agents were used on several occasions at multiple sites against both civilian and military targets report my is in new york with the latest on this with either take a suitable more of russia's position on this very contentious issue let's face it. well let's put it in context we're talking about the fact that u.n. investigators have concluded that chemical weapons were used in five different

attacks in syria now the report said that in several instances victims included soldiers and civilians however u.n. investigators say it wasn't always possible deter to determine direct links between the attacks the victims in the alleged slight sites of the incidents now the purpose of the u.n. fact finding mission was determined whether chemical weapons were used in syria not to use them now both the syrian government and the opposition have accused each other of using chemical weapons and both have denied all allegations that while the u.s. and its european allies have repeatedly blamed damascus for the use of chemical weapons and nearly started a war over it russia maintains that the findings of the un report does not give enough ground to definitively prove the position taken by the west moscow and maintains that gas and projectiles used in the attacks many were whole made by the syrian opposition while addressing the media russian ambassador vitaly churkin also

reminded reporters that following the march nineteenth attack in aleppo the syrian government immediately called for an international investigation but it was significantly delayed by western countries following the august attack in damascus ambassador churkin said that the syrian government allowed the un investigators to enter the areas in question without delay so he's asking if the syrian government had used weapons of mass destruction why would it ever pete earley and immediately called for international investigations why would it have killed its own soldiers which the un report clearly shows that soldiers were among the victims of the chemical attacks now moscow maintains that the syrian opposition could have purposely wanted to cross the proverbial red line that the u.s. drew with the aim of provoking an international intervention ambassador churkin said world war two began with a provocation nato bombing of serbia began with a provocation. history near merely repeated itself this summer in syria when president barack obama announced his plans to strike the country now that potential

war was diverted when syria agreed to hand over all its chemical arsenal to the international community now a serious toxic agents continue to be moved out of the country russia has announced that it will be providing its own navy ships to ships to risk war vessels that are carrying the chemical weapons russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov made the announcement following a meeting in brussels with his new e.u. colleagues lover of said that the weapons will eventually be transferred to the ships the united need the united states is outfitting where the bulk of the work will be done to destroy the kind of substances. the un the thank you. torture in bahrain is once again being revealed by human rights groups amnesty international claims that children as young as thirteen have been subjected to brutal mistreatment while in detention so tonight the joy from the bahrain rehabilitation and violence organization claims the reality of it is even worse as

a person who's chairing going in geo that deals with torture victims and survivors as documented meissen cases of children who were abused and tortured and as young as eleven years old these children not only tortured beaten. beaten with hoses. they were threatened with rape to the extent that the children wish to induct a member of their family a mother or a sister that 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 to the security forces. fresh clashes have erupted in cairo where police have used tear gas to prevent student protesters breaching the defense ministry the anti-government movement seen a surge in recent months with youngsters staging regular demonstrations this comes an awkward time too for the military led authorities the trying to drum up support for a new draft constitution but the campaign's not been going smoothly the official banner

of promotes promoting the document as representing all in all egyptians actually shows images stock images we think of people most likely foreigners indeed they can be found elsewhere on the web anyway beltran reports of how the nation's hopes for a better life after the revolution have been fading. almost meet a young egyptian design student sits in his favorite downtown cairo cafe talking about a better life abroad three years on from participating in two thousand and eleven revolution amr is frustrated with the state of the country he says once he finishes his studies he'll have to leave you i have been. here you study for four years then you don't find a job at the end of it there are better chances outside 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 of the country youth unemployment rates are at a staggering seventy seven percent and that may well rise 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 after the military installed government enforced the law banning protests without official permission daily battles between student protesters and security forces rock 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 belcher for r.t. . tis the season to be jolly very surly to christmas spirit activists of gifted british shale gas drilling company especially for the usual present it is this if you just make it to seventy made to one of the half term wind turbine propeller one half of a will of even give it a ribbon placed inconveniently though across the entrance to the fracking site well the local company leader for friends of the earth says that eventually they hope the government's got to to listen. we've only had

a handful of exploratory drilling sites across the u.k. but already we've seen huge local opposition whether it's been in the south east 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 i've seen a lot of support from the energy in a 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 britain's mulling over protecting its jobs the welfare system by putting a cap on the number of new arrivals from within the you know the puzzle leagues concerns grow the waves of immigrants who remain or bulgaria lies ahead when

freedom of movement rules change in the new year polly boyd has got the story. it's supposed to be an ever closer europe but the european commission the body responsible for keeping the twenty eight country club together is facing a growing number of complaints from its members in january as the new asst 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 change the rules about every move with people we bring 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 their views not going down well with the european commission it argues

migrants boost these countries economies rather than sponge off their governments but immigration is by no means the only issue that you can't agree on god only what we're facing right now is actually has been lost and i'm not talking about. u.k. or rhythm equates always i've been outside and inside europe i'm talking about. a 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 it'll 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 the cost your mind back to recent scandals about google and apple housing

their headquarters in ireland with a corporate tax rate. just twelve and a half percent compared to thirty four percent in belgium and you'll see that harmonised nation is a long way off you're seeing economic effects of the show from greece across the eastern europe and germany but without political control over those things happening it's a very untenable situation. more of the dangers ahead maybe for ukraine who suffer code right after the break on the program. they're calling obama's happy smiling sophie photo with the danish and british prime ministers at the mandela funeral an international incident but before we rail on obama for doing something stupid a funeral we need to clear one thing up the washington post says that this action

occurred at the memorial service after the funeral was over and trust me after about three hours of serious lectures at a conference or some sort of super long wedding most of us would just be banging our heads against the wall out of boredom and i'd probably check my email about seven times obama's place know i said most of us but the president isn't supposed to be like most of us because he represents all of us it's one thing when you're fourteen and too stupid to realize that sophie photos at the wake after grampa's funeral is a bad idea but it's another thing entirely when one of the most photographed and powerful people on the planet takes a selfie at the memorial service of someone he claims to respect although i might sound annoyed this sophie is pretty much irrelevant this is just a big error of etiquette there are plenty of real concrete things with real consequences to be bad at obama over like our being religious wacko rebels in syria or signing into law the n.b.a. i wish with all my heart that we only had to be angry with obama over some minor etiquette errors but sadly they're just a drop in the obama bucket but that's just my opinion.

hello and welcome to sophie and co me sophie shevardnadze as brussels goes in a renewed push to bring more countries into its fold the division and nations affected deepen the call for european integration rings on kid of squares some fear it will turn into

a western expansion who really knows what's for the best while those who create always feel the tide turning sharper than others so i asked an artist about the changes in their. stories so filmmaker actor director writer musician you name it ever sing great to have you on our show today so ukraine has been in the news lately everyone's talking about it you have said that ukraine is looking at a yugoslav scenario what exact parallel would you throw with your question in yugoslavia to.