this is this morning syria's opposition coalition says yes to attending next week's peace talks in switzerland but. which delegates will be there it comes amid further doubt over a chemical attack near damascus last year. these rockets could have never been fired from government controlled territory experts call into question his claims that assad's forces were behind that assault. also coming up. prison seeking to negotiate the release of a russian national who's held there for years without charge just like the majority of other detainee. yes they can continue with sweeping surveillance president obama's anticipated plans to reform the n.s.a.'s activities are dismissed as a limited p.r.

stunt. just joined as is kevin over here it out international studios in moscow this morning just after one am now our top story the opposition syrian national coalition has announced it will attend next week's peace talks in geneva but it's still no clear exactly which members of the group will take part in talks aimed at ending syria's bloody civil war. the latest. amid mounting international pressure syria's opposition has decided to take part in next week's geneva two peace talks the group which faces its own internal divisions announced its decision saturday following a meeting in is stamboul now hearts of the syrian opposition were previously

critical of taking part in peace negotiations that could help syrian president bashar al assad they say stay in power the syrian national council a main opposition bloc even threatened to pull out of the coalition if the general assembly voted in favor of attending the geneva two it seems though however that mounting pressure from the u.s. and western countries cause concessions to be made the conference will be held under the auspices of the un and it's co-sponsored by russia and the u.s. it's scheduled to begin on tuesday january twenty second it is aimed at finding a way to install a transitional government that will subsequently pave the way for to ending the nearly three year old civil war which has reportedly claimed the lives of some one hundred thirty thousand people across the middle east expert no one he told me that even if the talks and successful the problem of how to do with the jihad in the country still remains. but there's many different factions of the opposition and

you have the domestic peaceful opposition the n.c.c. that i think is the most likely to be able to strike any kind of deal with the syrian government they have rejected these talks because of the kinds other kinds of oppositions that that might participate and then you have this externally backed opposition you know backed by foreign governments the syrian national coalition these are the ones who have accepted the talks or at least some of this body has access to talk that they're not in any position to negotiate a solution on behalf of the syrian people there are some dangers in these talks one is that they'll become institutionalized like the middle east peace process was was you know as we had geneva one now this is geneva two or we might have three four five this in itself can distract from a solution the other point of this is even if you had a legitimate opposition sitting across the syrian government and negotiating it

doesn't account for the many militias on the ground who are not controlled by any foreign government or any domestic constituency we're going to have to put a stop to those kind of military committees. being taught in the u.s. conclusion that a chemical attack near damascus in august was carried out by the government has been challenged by a team of highly respected experts washington immediately blamed president assad but this new report from the muscle to sit since two technology for the rocket couldn't have been fired from government controlled areas. we went through two to three months worth of study to determine the types of rockets. the weight the size of the propellant and we determine that the range is on the order of two kilometers i like to make a note that the u.n. also had come up with a range of approximately two kilometers so this is very confusing to us in our studies and we're trying to understand exactly what the white house met means

because right now as it stands these rockets could have never been fired from government controlled territory they would be fired more from a rebel type of territory or a border of a contested territory so it appears something in america's official conclusions does not up the just took a closer look at this mit study. this latest report is trying to answer one question whether the missiles carrying sarah and gas are in august twenty thirteen were really fired from the parts of damascus controlled by the syrian government now we reproduced exactly the same map which the u.s. intelligence used when they voiced their concerns that the attack was carried out by the syrian government and this is the part of damascus controlled by the syrian government at that time in august twenty third scene this is the part controlled by the opposition those blinking yellow spots they mark the places where the attack happened in particular this western most point of those attacks where the biggest

number of casualties happened and this red line here it shows where the missiles could could have gone if they were fired from the from the governmental territories in damascus the maximum range of those missiles is two kilometers now of this eastern the most point of the of the attack is about four kilometers from the isa most point of the governmental control and the territories controlled by the government and if we talk about the heart of the of the territory controlled by the government that's something which was specified by us state john kerry that's where the rockets were fired from this is about nine kilometers from the this point here this report basically does not lay blame on any side and does not say whether there were those were the rebels who perform these attacks using chemicals but what it does though it seriously puts under doubt that the quality of intelligence and as to why the u.s.

authorities used what seems to be incomplete or even flawed intelligence data to voice their concerns and if we remember what u.s. state secretary john kerry said back then the claims were quite solid high confidence this is common sense this is evidence these are facts also this report speculates at one point that it could have this wrong data could have been used in a similar fashion as the attack on iraq when wrong information was used as a pretext to launch a military operation official washington hasn't yet responded to this latest report by the mighty researches. a correspondent. and as violence rages on in syria the country's telling to major drug producer two with the rebels and army soldiers reportedly taking amphetamines to keep up their energy and they go injuring battles we talk about that very soon.

next though after a decade long efforts to secure permission an official delegation from moscow is finally visited grantham obey america's mr tourist attention center the better russian national there who's being held at the prison despite never having been charged with a crime efforts to secure his release were the priority of the visit and consultations were held at the pentagon as well as quantum officials who was also given a limited to the facility spoke exclusively to the head of russian delegation foreign ministry numbers when constantine doggone it was the first. meeting with him we have been trying to organize such a meeting for quite some time for several years he told us about equate a number of very serious incidents which happened with some other detainees people whom he personally know did he give you any detail that he himself witnessed the aftermath of the use of methods which are not compatible with the

international norms and regulations if you feel you could talk freely to you well it's difficult to say this man has been under duress for almost twelve years so it's difficult to expect that suddenly he starts speaking completely freely the most important probably. element of a visit was to convey the message to america representatives of americans say that we insist. he is rare and legitimate interests. are adequately taken care of this is. the principal position of the russian government . if you know a russian citizen abroad and did an official statement after the visit dog of also say guantanamo falls below basic international standards that's a view back to by human rights groups that say thirty three detainees in ellen hunger strike with that number doubling in the past month however becomes military

authorities are refusing to release any new figures authorities said that the release of information about anger strike as quote the tracks therefore from the more important issues are the welfare of detainees and safety of troops as voters clive stafford smith is a lawyer for several when tedham a detainee says witness step first hand some of the most brutal tactics used by the military this prisoner are from camp six which is the least count goes on hunger strike the automatically get transferred not just count five but count five record which really has been the most abuse took place in over one hundred prisoners are held in all steel cell and denied the most basic human rights just as a punishment for going on strike that force feeding techniques are very much an option unfortunately against the very abusive force feeding techniques i mean casting aside the question of whether it's not the culture correspondent toure and the world medical association says it's not you know unfortunately the techniques

they're using grown tonneau aren't groups you're assisting so for example in the some of us that they used to leave but use up the prisoners noses to it so much they're still prelim most tubes out every single time twice a day or in forcing them back up each time they're still forcing far too much food too quickly into the prisoner many grissom's if you're sick or just carry on doing it it really is horrendous. coming up leaving latvia the baltic nation watches thousands of skilled professionals head for the exits to escape the eurozone look at what's driving them away.

it was a. very hard to take. so long. that that would make her look. like. a political.

washington will not dismantle its global spying network the announcement of a major overhaul of the national security agency outlined by president obama failed to provide any detail on when the collection of data would be stopped or indeed whether it be stopped that old critics say the plan for reform was nothing more than a facelift theories out see some sex explains. after nearly seven months of n.s.a. disclosures president obama finally came forward with reforms to the spy agency acknowledging that the current capabilities of the n.s.a. do leave open the possibility of abuse given the unique power of the state it is not enough for leaders to say trust us we want to be use the data we collect for history has too many examples when that trust has been breached. our such a system of government is built on the premise that our liberty cannot depend on the good intentions of those in power the president address the n.s.a.'s most

controversial program section two fifteen bulk telephone metadata collection basically the president no longer wants the government to be in control of these massive metadata databases but that doesn't mean the president wants to get rid of bulk collection in fact the bulk collection of virtually every american is metadata will continue indefinitely and the new restrictions announced by the president requiring the n.s.a. to obtain pfizer court approval before searching all that metadata doesn't satisfy privacy advocates who argue the pfizer court has acted and will continue to act as a rubber stamp nothing in obama's speech put any rain rain dan this collected all approach and yesterday that there was a big revelation of a call dish fire program that just fire program was collecting all text calls literally hundreds of thousands of text calls every day are going into the n.s.a.'s vacuum it's gigantic gani coover regarding spying on foreign leaders the president

said he's put an end to surveillance on friends and allies but did not say the n.s.a. will stop spying on diplomats nothing about the n.s.a. breaking encryption standards and ports that the n.s.a. has been breaking into the data links on google and yahoo servers while some specific reforms were introduced how exactly they will be implemented moving forward remains to be seen especially since the same government agencies that have overseen the massive growth of the surveillance state are now the ones tasked with reining it in in washington d.c. same sex party. obama's speech on the n.s.a. was met with criticism in some of the countries spied on germany's justice minister said a written agreement is needed to stop it he was supported to by a brazilian lawmaker who believes the u.s. has little respect for international partners also comment coming into from one european m.p. believing washington just paying lip service to make people feel better. real thing that the american people are looking for is what are you going to do when you have

a whistleblower like mr snowden who has critical information that the american people have a right to know he did not address that issue it's being swept under the rug instead i think in a fair view of what's going on it is merely window dressing covering up the abuses that have been identified who's to say there are a lot more abuses that have occurred that haven't been identified because there's no channel for the n.s.a. whistleblower to make their allegations public or known in any way so at best it's window dressing it's punts a lot to congress to try to fix the problem and it addresses in no way how the american people have a right to understand the abuses of our government there was a president of the national whistleblower association speaking to me and. now i think twice the next time you decide to like someone on facebook specially when that someone is you feel hot that maybe he doesn't want anything to do with these

because one click might get you arrested yeah we've got a story about that very same thing online also thinking about buying a ticket for the sochi winter olympics well if you take a look at our web site the emotion section they look at those pictures dazzling bird's eye view of the city maybe will that make you make your mind up to get a ticket. for the moment like. this or you. should have you with us here on t.v. today i'm sure.

fighters or both sides of the syrian civil war turning to drugs both a source of funding and staying power in battle a recent media investigations revealed the soaring export of illegal unfettered minces turn syria into a major drugs hub artie's more if a national reports. with syria about to enter in its fourth devastating year of war the lack of law and structure has allowed one dark industry to flourish the country has become the number one producer of a drug known as caps and gone since synthetic stimulants were first manufactured in the one nine hundred sixty s. and it was at that time used as a medicine to treat hyperactivity and depression but it's too addictive and this is why it was banned in most countries so here in the middle east it's still very popular it's cheap and it is a target but today syria not only produces more than any other country in the region but it's also kept a close main consumers believe that five terrorists are taking the pills to

maintain vigorous energy levels your elevenses battles because it helps you keep awaken for hours and hours but there are also reports that ordinary citizens those who've been livin in depression and in this war and chaos for almost three years now are also coding to the drug for these capers to four rare aid gives them and it's lucrative it's between fifteen and twenty doors appeal and the right hundreds of millions of them taking or trafficked and there is evidence that the revenue raised is buying weapons from both sides of the syrian conflict the un office on drugs and crime. has been reporting that syria which is located at the crossroads here in the region has for a long time been a transit point for the drug going from europe to turkey and lebanon but since the

war began captagon trades guns and mastic and factories are appearing these days all across syria. sales and booze mean here elaborate on the authorities seized around two hundred million dollars worth of tablets lost here mostly hidden in the tracks go in through the syrian lebanese border from syria into lebanon where they hear its final destination including the gulf countries of the most ardent supporters of the syrian opposition and saudi arabia where around a billion dollars worth of the drug was seized just last year with authorities saying this is nothing but just ten percent of the real turnover of the drug indicating. russia's national counter-terror committee says seven militants have been killed in the southern republican drug a star and security forces have been trying to negotiate with the group but hold up a house at the time but they opened fire and it's believed that among the dead were

those responsible for a grenade attack on a restaurant friday followed by twin blasts the digital least six the another was the leader of a local guy going to third was the friend of a female suicide bomber who carried out the terrorists are going to bus in volgograd last october the mood was also said appearing for a suicide bombing and was wanted by russians forces. more will do the brief a day of bloodshed in iraq has left at least thirty people dead in militant violence seventeen dargah more than seventy were injured as multiple bombings rocked baghdad in the west of the city a jail was seized by government leading to the escape of dozens of prisoners it comes after six were killed in the suicide blast and shelling in the restive anbar province just outside the capital. riot police have fired off a cannon scuffle with protesters in the turkish city of istanbul demonstrators flooded the streets to express discontent with a new draft bill that would restrict access to the internet the government wants to keep records of online activity and banned sites for alleged violation of privacy

without the need for a court order if passed internet service providers will be required to join an internet union it's called and central control. protest is a blockade that the police h.q. in bangkok just a day after a bomb injured twenty eight demonstrators at least eight people have died since unrest aimed at forcing the government to step down first started back in november the prime minister insists the only solution to the crisis will be a snap election in february. in india a stampede at the funeral of a revered spiritual leader a mom by has killed at least eighteen people authorities said the turnout was much greater than that expected made mittie that they've failed to control the flow of mourners instance sadly like these are relatively common last october more than one hundred people were killed stampeded into temple. here may be europe's fastest growing economy but it's also the e.u.'s youngest and

poorest member now the sharp bends on the road to prosperity of program too much for thousands of professionals who are leaving paul scott met one who says government negligence is to blame. serve a gay is one of thousands of workers who will leave latvia this year but his destination is perhaps surprising he'll be leaving this state to work in azerbaijan and this is the. life is always hard but in this country it's harder as the government is much more concerned by politics not economics and the life of the common man so gay isn't the only one the world bank says levy is population is shrinking by almost sixty thousand people per year i feel i'm not alone the government are squeezing everybody wanting more and more from us for less money between two thousand and nine and two thousand and twelve not because population fell by around ten percent in a country of only two million people this decline is sharply felt especially since

those leaving a mostly of working age the major work force males from twenty to forty go and find jobs abroad and then move their families over this leave just older people this demographic shift poses significant economic challenges which the government says it's keen to try and tackle. there is a government program to return people to that via but it doesn't work they pay for people to return but there's still no work for them the only way out is to create new jobs and a suitable atmosphere for investment but it isn't happening and over the next twenty years the population will decrease another third so as leaders desperately try to arrest the worrying trend the message from at least one of those with bags packed for a better life elsewhere is simple. the government has to stop its aggressive social policies and lower taxes so that people can live and not simply survive. got l.t. latvia. thanks i want to go to international colleague treasures here to bring you

news again in just over thirty minutes time after a break and then cuts through war the mainstream media spin this is the international. the majority of congress are now millionaires for the first time in history according to the center for responsive politics which sounds pretty insulting when the average american is not doing so well financially this seems bad like a bunch of rich guys rule the country which they kind of do but one could argue that congress isn't rich enough first off due to inflation a billion dollars is not as much as it used to be a special in the cost of campaign to get in the congress costs around one million six hundred thousand dollars so yeah

a million dollars of net worth may sound pretty rich to you or me but the expensive game of us politics these guys can't even afford the costs related to getting the work electoral campaigns are a big money affair so it is no surprise that people like you or me can't get into the law making business without selling at least a little piece of our souls to someone who has very deep pockets so again the problem isn't that congressmen are wealthy it is that many of them have to get constant financing in order to maintain their positions and as you average folks know once you're in debt they've got you by the throat well that's just my opinion . happy friday people i'm at a martin and this is breaking that so we all know that the intelligence community would love not. they more than apprehend n.s.a.

leaker edward snowden in pearl raid him around and from the world as an example what happens to whistleblowers in this country what i didn't know is that some n.s.a. employees want to take it a step further you know to american psycho levels according to buzz feed several pentagon and n.s.a. officials have anonymously expressed their desire to murder snowden a current n.s.a. analyst told the web site that quote in a world where i would not be restricted from killing an american i personally would go and kill him myself a lot of people share the sentiment what a minute we do live in a world where drones kill american citizens what this guy waited for other non of us pentagon official told buzz feed that he or she would love to put a bullet in snowden's head and an army official offered a detailed fantasy of how the murder would go down valving injecting him with poison you know just so nice to know that jack the ripper and freddy krueger are the ones in charge a responsiblity mining all of our personal data pellets go break the set.

of the. teams they are very hard to get. to. that had sex with her right there. was. a. little. i'm sure that most of us was either lost someone to drug addiction or at least known someone who hides. drug addiction is

a complicated issue in destroying not only individual lives but it can break apart entire families and disrupt communities and despite america's declared war going to listen to drugs such as heroin cocaine and marijuana little stands in the way of average people. many of which are far more addictive than the hardest drugs you'll find on the street now might shock you to learn that the us is number one when it comes to the consumption of prescription pills in fact a two thousand and thirteen study by the mayo clinic shows that nearly seventy percent of americans are on at least one prescription drug and more than half take at least two of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants and painkillers this epidemic is the subject of an of a documentary called american addict and it explores the road that led this country from being the land of the free to the land of the addicted. pharmaceutical representatives are universally attractive they get recruited from places like cheerleading squad to ten schools what i'm told is a ball is.