this is r t it's midnight now here in moscow this morning nazi like atrocities are being reported in war torn syria residents of the small town outside damascus described to r.t. how antigovernment islam is have been burning civilians in other and using others as human shields. and russia once again draws the un's attention to evidence that the syrian rebels have used chemical weapons to set up the government and points out deep flaws in the work of the investigative. also headlining this morning uncertainty still hanging 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 condemns the torture of detainees including children in bahrain while rights workers there say the scale of the abuse is even worse than the latest report suggests. also a british energy company finds

a massive wind turbine sprawled across the entrance to the drilling site a gift apparently from anti fracking activists caught up in the christmas spirit we report. for a good morning for me kevin i would here in moscow this hour if you just joined us this is r.t. and we start with disturbing news terrified residents of a syrian town say they've seen entire families being murdered by rebels civilians kidnapped and used as human shields drew which is just outside damascus was stormed by al qaeda linked you had a soon launched a massive assault on residents reportedly killing more than eighty including children r.t. spoke to some of the survivors. a man came to search our house ascended minded to

see our documents he told us to step outside but he spoke in a foreign dialect they killed everyone at our draw money a police station and also the local hospital where my sister works she still lives on that because she didn't show up for work that day so there are still about two hundred civilians at the police station the militants are hiding among their own and using them as human shields to prevent the army from showing the building. i would assume describe atrocities reminiscent of some of history's worst death camps . you'll construction but all this work and they are going to use the system tool for the streets of professionals very quickly this nation became terrible there were killings outrage and fear the worst thing of their crime was when the shah people in the bakeries 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 disclose he is still hiding in the basement of his house here my other friends told me about the atrocities committed by the rebels and what they have done to civilians is simply her lipstick if tortured innocent unarmed people inflicted a lot of bloodshed. well the army is in the turn right now battling hardline radicals who want the assad government to fall in my colleague innocent now as opposed to british journalist john white who believes the rise of extremism in syria represents a clear failure of western foreign policy. i didn't wait to this particular atrocity is the announcement just recently made by the british and us governments that they have ceased the describers known lethal lead to defeat city an army this is a clear acknowledgement that what we are seeing is not of revolution in any meaningful sense this is an invasion by as the mists and sunni fundamentalists. yes

because it would embarrass the british and american governments and their liberal supporters in the west you try to support the rebels as much as he can even if he saw the undeniable evidence that these rebels as i say are part of an attempt to tar not only the country but the entire region into a graveyard for minorities loose women on muslims on the 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 course to effectively acting as al-qaeda in syria as if force along with our u.s. counterparts. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov for his part condemned the massacre outside the mosque is the latest in a string of sectarian killings across the country. has got the details about. 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 there needs 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. the massacre that was barbaric christians druze and alawite will slow to them even sunni muslims i believe reject the hardline islamist rules that these are these will be breached but i say this isn't the first time this is happened long ago human rights watch established the other groups with no less brutal groups that now make up the so-called the front we know that at this inception even job was considered a potential member. the reason it was excluded was to keep the slavic french

reputation as job is considered a terrorist organization there are even reports that our american colleagues with the islamic front representatives trying to get them to join the free syrian army. 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 russian kramer's now the major issue i guess that came up. 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 e.u. partners about russia meddling in the the affairs of ukraine a lover of did say pointed out to the behavior of european partners and this. what he had to say the scriptures to the. to off for the last few days we've been hearing statements saying how good things would be approved new russia would stop meddling in the ukraine's affairs we see our western partners coming to clear than

going straight to my done cookies and calling 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 the while said 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 us and e.u. partners in dealing with the russian he says that ukraine is a very important partner for russia and therefore that he would he would advise that all parties involved in these talks would be considered as russia would also want to see the best deal for ukraine where the e.u. is concerned. there are mixed signals of ukraine's possible trade deal tonight to the e.u. which has been the source of course of the massive protests for the past month on one side a senior official stated that all talks are now on hold on the other ukraine's authorities say they're still progressing in this hesitant computer misfire the u.s. seems eager to to assume the role of decision maker and report. trauma

care. bremer oh there's a curfew 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 and membership in the e.u. is not achieved that cause is going to have very serious effects here in ukraine and in u.s. craned 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 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 because appearance of 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 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 we'll see the differences the divisions in the ukraine which are already very great but as u.s. officials seem keen on pushing the u.s.o.c.

deal through. brussels all but shut the door and signing it through tweets 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 also also puts huge brazilian a coverage because he has been saying all along he was a during. european officials and the opposition that ukraine would not. 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 new with their rivals from america let's see russia. from kiev in ukraine. has there been

a real it's not the first protest aimed at regime change with senator mccain's popped up in the not here is on the screen behind me embracing ukraine's orange revolution almost a decade ago that was he was also a frequent flyer to georgia to another former soviet republic of the revolution and became friends to this day with the now former president because saakashvili who after coming to power move swiftly to crackdown on protests against his own administration mustn't forget that the arab spring didn't escape attention either john mccain supporter protesters in egypt area square also too in libya where he pushed for more active u.s. involvement in the civil war and so to syria mccain was among the most vocal advocates for america to start bombing assad's forces and bring its rebels down with adam z's executive director ron paul institute he told me that mccain is simply doing his job. what's interesting about someone like mccain is he goes over to ukraine and he is siding with these people who are often very violent calling

for the overthrow of their government his agenda in ukraine is the same as has been his agenda for decades you know he is the chairman of the international republican institute that is an organization an ngo that is funded soley by the u.s. government and its purpose is to change regimes overseas this is nothing new he was very active in the one nine hundred ninety s. in places like albania and slovakia garia and elsewhere he is he is the person that is in charge of changing regimes. still ahead in the program a smalling the crushed hopes of those who are coming of age now in europe this disillusionment among the country's younger generation with how the arab spring turned generally that main goal now is to get out and live abroad we've got this story coming up shortly i'm paying full of trunk should this were a student protest is meeting some heavy handed tactics battalion right place a converse of that more about that and as well what after this break.

deliberate torch is on its epic journey to such a. one hundred twenty three days. through two thousand nine hundred towns and cities of russia. relayed by fourteen thousand people or sixty five thousand. in a record setting trip by land air sea others face. a limp torch relay. on r t r c dot com.

again torture in bahrain's was again been revealed by human rights groups amnesty international claims that children as young as thirteen have been subjected to brutal mistreatment while in detention talk to not a judge from the bahrain 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 at the used and tortured and as young as eleven years old these children not only tortured beaten. beaten with

hoses and they were threatened with rape to the extent that the children we're certain that a member of their family a mother or a sister will be a date in order for them to get false confessions or to give names to death or it is and in some shocking cases that they wanted these children to work as an informant was to the security forces. to syria for a few moments the controversy over the use of chemical weapons in the country's civil war showing no signs of dying so moscow's reiterated it stems from the issue that president assad is highly unlikely to have resorted to such tactics and that all the evidence points to the rebels russia's u.n. envoy was speaking after a team of inspectors from the legal toxins were indeed repeatedly used at multiple sites against both military and civilian targets when important followed his speech earlier 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. it wasn't always possible deter to determine direct links between the attacks the victims and 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 u.n. report does not give enough ground to definitively prove the position taken by the west while addressing the media russian ambassador it's u.n. 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 and why would it ever and immediately called for international investigations why would it have killed its own soldiers which the u.n. report clearly shows that soldiers were among the victims of the chemical attacks 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 vessels that are carrying the chemical weapons the weapons will eventually be transferred to the ships the united states is outfitting where the bulk of the work will be done to destroy the chemical substances. online from r.t. russia might consider a decade long ban on genetically modified foods on our web site scientists. are going to give them ten years now to study the effects on humans by this controversial set of products of course is

a long running story but they want ten years more to study it also keep it drones out yemen's parliament votes and strikes amid seating outrage over deadly u.s. attacks again if you want to read it more about our stories on our website r.t. dot com. next tis the season to be jolly they say well anyway in true christmas spirit activists have gifted a british shale gas drilling company especially for unusual present this thing if it were to work out what it is where is the seventeen me to one of a half ton one half of a wind turbine propeller to be exact complete with a nice touch the red ribbon as well well they've placed it rather inconveniently right across the entrance to said fracking site local company the campaign leader for friends the earth hopes that the site's owners will take note i'm sure they will and that the government will finally listen to. 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 we'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. where we will see the government having to listen. i was mentioned just now first clashes erupted in cairo where police have used tear gas to prevent student protesters from reaching the defense ministry the anti-government movement similar surge in recent months with youngsters staging regular demonstrations this comes to an awkward time for the military led authorities they've been trying to drum up

support for a new draft constitution the campaign isn't going to smoothly in fact the official ballot promotes the document as representing all egyptians be if you look closely you judge me shows stock images we think of people mostly foreigners but anyway they could be found elsewhere on the web you could make your own mind up bill true reports on how the nation's hopes for a better life after the revolution have been fading. almost to 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 omer is frustrated with the state of the country he says once he finishes his studies he'll have to leave. here you study for four years then you don't find a job at the end of it there are better jobs is outside egypt can find the freedom to work with disk. 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 of fleeing amid a growing crackdown on political freedoms a 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 brought 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. . for the world you stories in brief natural gas pipelines exploded in mexico is injured at least eight people of the full extent of the damage isn't yet known the blast happened just outside the capital and according to authorities was caused by thieves trying to siphon off gas the country is currently in the grip of and to government protests which have intensified since authorities proposed auctioning off state oil assets to foreign companies. placer searched and cleared to him. the four buildings at harvard university after reports of bombs on the campus earlier the ivy league institution located just outside boston was forced to evacuate the

facilities student examinations been underway at the university professor steven pinker here's the psychology department harvard says threats of violence against education educational institutions often come from former students. it may be that so many people especially young people have actually attended an educational institute so that if they have some kind of grievance or if there are people who have insulted them that's where they will find them a most violence is committed by young people and young people are fresh out of school. and just like you know you can watch the full interview with xander boyd had plenty of insight there on the root causes of violence and social unrest. now sort of mentally riot police clashed with students who were angry at spending cuts on education officers charged the protesters to try and break them up earlier activists then threw red dye into

a public fountain of regional government offices to symbolize public schools being bled of their funding the head of a libertarian think tank based in milan alberta been gardy says the students only see part of the political picture though. i think diplomas here and have would probably be location in the city as well as in europe when they protest is that they seem one part of the problem one part of the problem is that you do stare at a week at an bugs is the number of resources that are getting into the public education system eastley being if you use the minutest so they see that part of the problem when they do not see what could be a civil issue in the solution for most of problem in asia would be competition and fortunately world is to going to ask in the face of a government is just more government. on cities rob so far this hour on but with more in just about thirty four minutes time coming up on our team to national it's

the latest the world of sports you pick a partridge and if you want to see us in the u.k. evening to you go going on the ground one that with host afshin rattansi wherever you are is all coming up after the break. there 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 you 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 welcome to the r t sports show coming up our twenty six action packed minutes of sports from russia and around the world with me kate partridge and here's just a taste of. top of the tree was a neat lead the table at christmas in russia by atlantic do the same in germany going seven points clear with a three one home went over how. while the kings of the court discuss avenge their recent loss to barcelona with an eleven point victory over their rivals in moscow as the top sixteen beckons in the euro league. and the devil of a k h l tesco moscow are stunned fighting for a time to minnows love on and we take a look at the slovakia you colors and their superstar captain will slap shot down. so let's kick off with football and with the russian premier league now in its winter break so these are top of the table at christmas while by munich will be the same in germany going seven points clear and still unbeaten in the league with

a three one home went over how member but guardiola side bounced back from their surprise three two champions league defeat at home to manchester city to stretch their unbeaten windus league a run to forty one games mario monk to get ahead of the hosts in front of the forty two minutes against a back lane hamburg and seven minutes after the restart volley didn't to make it to nil well the visitors mashallah saw them grab to go back later on but to carry wrapped up victory in stoppage time to inflict a fourth defeat in six games of the visitors. while simon who appears by laver coups and stayed second but are now seven points off the top spot after a shock one no defeat at home to struggling i'm proud prank put the band at marco ross head of the visitors in front of the hour they're going to keep kevin trout help preserve the lead they could have doubled it after being awarded you. obvious

penalty that strike at joe saloon missed with the last kick of the game the victory ended frankfurt's ten game winless run and handed laver careers and their third loss of the season. while the roster dortmund are now twelve points of top spot after coming back from two goals down to drop two to a foot high i'm stan ship what marked his signing of a new five year deal with the eighteenth when it opened up and hit the ball and made it to will twenty minutes later but just before half time goalkeeper at young's brawl fumbled a corner and here and with a one way and long back and midway through the second half who cashed fish check levelled from close range two to dortmund stage third on goal difference. while here in russia the premier league held a garter ceremony to want to some of the country's best players so the midfielder a man should all call for striking teammate alexander and says god defender surrogate ignition which were all given

a special award for their contribution to the development of domestic football while all three will also be looking to brazil next year as their part of fabric apollo's world cup squad. while in italy ac milan vice president adly on a galliani has announced japan midfielder keisuke honda will join the club in january on a three and a half year deal the twenty seven year old becomes a free agent at the end of december after spending three years at tesco moscow scoring twenty eight goals in one hundred twenty one games he's also netted eight times for japan this year to help his side qualify for the world cup finals both as being next.