the syrian. government forces continue to. hold some of the. ukraine. within its ranks as. east of the country. and the iraqi government loses control of a. number of cities in the north. flee.

from all of us here. in the former syrian rebel stronghold of homs is starting to return to normal off the opposition the city government forces. mediated by iran to secure an agreement that. weapons and the safe. communities. these a new sound that's hanging over the city of homes the place in the shallow a bomb have to dialogue with the government the rebels left what they considered their capital and clashes stopped holmes's old town the militants last stronghold it's from here that they withdrew following they groom and with their sources and

this is what's left after months of fierce clashes after months of their resistance and more sc shops someone's home everything is destroyed everything in the ruins but those who were forced to flee and no slowly returning for the first time in years is relatively safe here and people want to be in the place they still class as their final letter i just came back from the market where good thing god does become possible after high ranking military and civil figures accepted the advances from the very people who have been targeting them they're desperate as the best word to describe the situation in which the rebels initiated talks the syrian police major was among the negotiators of the war but just a year ago he was hit by a bullet fired from the rebel side it left him disabled and doctors say he may never fully recover but he still calls for forgiveness. most of them are young

people who get influenced by fanatic shakes and islamic clerics who have the extremist ideology that is alien to syrian society they motivate them by money that came from the gulf countries mostly and all this was supported by western and israeli intelligence we need to help our guys who became victims of all this we speak with a major in what's become a kind of rehab center for its militants around twelve hundred of them were brought to the school after they surrendered university teachers and religious leaders whose families suffered in war now talk to former military is helping them reintegrate. most of them saying they were forced to take up arms all of them deny ever killing anyone that they were it's are impossible to verify. they used to give us lessons to explain to us that the regime is in for jobs that the regime is attacking muslims and we have to fight the. visit comes just days after syria's

first presidential elections in decades this man tells us he voted for son the person who he was fighting against just weeks ago. syrian reconciliation is assets initiative he wants to rebuild a piece an ad. homs or who may have once targeted people in syrian army uniform could soon be wearing it himself as part of the rehab program the twenty two year old could be sent to serve in the country's army and flies no way that i will kill any of my brothers my religion and i were killed my former brothers in arms of the i do not want to kill or hurt anybody it's certain that those behind this reconsideration initiative say the important thing is to encourage other militants still resisting and there are many of them to lay down their arms and what remains the only district in the city of holmes is still held by the rebels there fishel say they are not less than three thousand and the army is here nearby and also surrounding the area and they're ready for an operation any moment but the rest of

violence there too. in three villages around homes and in some other syrian provinces the situation is similar to how it was a long way to go before peace is returned here the total high today that syria is a pleased how do you down the right track. from homes in syria. now the city of slavyansk in eastern ukraine the stronghold of pro autonomy forces has been devastated by the ongoing army assault at least two children have died from shrapnel wounds during the weeks long shelling residential areas in the city center are severely damaged in locals are now suffering from water and power outages. b.c. you know what i have no petrol no gas no electricity we have nothing no communications nothing the boom devry see when you might sit still but it'll. it struck in the morning i was hit by the blast wave i ran away to call it to.

put it out. there shooting but i can't leave i have nowhere to go. now ukraine's newly elected president petro poroshenko has given orders for humanitarian corridors to be set up to get the civilians to safety but the self-proclaimed leaders of the rest of region say they doubt the government will follow through with this plan meanwhile around fifteen national guard soldiers who took part in the attacks on have now were fused to fight voicing their anger over the way the operation has been run a growing number of soldiers are simply refusing to take part in these or leslie ever investigates. for. six weeks on and with more than forty soldiers did she is military operation continues the army is in a pitched battle with anti-government activists but it's also struggling to keep itself

together. that's a tough call but now they're sending me to war calling on me to kill people in the room just like me more and more soldiers are refusing to obey orders and despite a kid's full military mobilization in march the complaint has all but dried up whereas once they used to before drafting officers into guns today only one and it's quiet they won't inside with the cameras i spoke with the clock and he said there hasn't been any kind of recruitment here for weeks i asked to speak with a person in charge but was told that he's taken the time and. last month then acting president turchynov signed a decree calling on all main aged eighteen to twenty five to vote but those who did not list jailed but this young man is prepared to risk even more he's not only ignored his call up he's now fighting against the very army in which he. and

a lot of the labor they go to draft lists are on the third of march that said i should go to the army i refused i didn't even go to the drug things and i'm not going to fight against my own people we have spirit ideals patriotism they don't have that there are any good orders and money but others did on said the call to say that the decision they now the great movie is son is twenty years old he was drafted a year ago and disserving in western ukraine she's worried that because he comes from the east he himself will be seen as the enemy that hit pretty hard i want him home this is the response. we are missing here we are really missing him. the army is said to lack food and ammunition and a sense of purpose and casualty count climbs it will become harder and harder to convince young men they should put their lives on the line for a cause many don't believe in point to see on t.v.

eastern ukraine he did promise a ceasefire by the end of this week but so far there's no sign of the fighting and use in ukraine coming to a halt going head to watty dot com to follow minute by minute updates on the situation. today in the new. one. just one in ten minutes past the hour moscow time thousands of people are fleeing iraq's second largest city after it felt it is the most extremist so this was on tuesday. in the north of the country the population of almost two million it's now under the control of al qaeda linked militants the soldiers were quick to drop their guns and abandoned their posts at the radicals are reportedly overrun the local airfield seizing military helicopters and several humvees they've also released prisoners from jails around r t international we spoke to the u.s. congress and terror terrorism adviser he says are the take. of more soules is

simply put a game changer. that apple is an important one before that dive or the islamic state in iraq and the love on would be engaged in getting a warfare attacking convoy suicide bombing and now if it can control the city and the government and within the next days weeks cannot take it back this is a very serious matter not only this organization will seize the resources of the city but we recruit more and will conduct attacks from the city into other areas of iraq so the moment is very dramatic in iraq at this point in time and the international community should have a stand at least if not politically but even more on the ground with the iraqi government at this point in time but also giving advice to the iraqi government this is not the time for sectarian reaction this is a time for national unity in iraq also to come in the program here without international aid lucrative military deal is on the table for japan and australia as the u.s. allies align themselves to offset china's growing influence in the region because

that story and much much more after a very short. cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want.

economic down in the. in the rest. it's out international japan and australia are looking to forge or close a military alliance with a multi-billion dollar submarine deal the first major transfer of tokyo's military technology to australia is seen as a step towards countering china's growing dominance in the region it comes as prime minister pushes for greater japanese involvement in settling international disputes now since coming to power in twenty twelve the japanese prime minister has taken

moves to change his country's post-war past of his stance step by step in early twenty thirteen for the first time in over a decade japan raised his defense budget this during an island dispute with china then in april of that year tokyo relaxed its self-imposed ban on exports saying it needs to expand the domestic defense industry it was then the following month in a televised address the prime minister said article nine of the constitution which outlaws war to settle disputes should be revised and late twenty thirteen a five year defense plan was adopted including the purchase of drones on and feed b.s. vehicles. now taking a much closer look at the regional shifts in military power. after japan together with the nazi germany lost in the second world war it adopted a constitution which says the japanese people for every now swore as a sovereign right of the nation in the threat or use of force as means of settling

international disputes to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph lend sea and air forces as well as other war potential will never be maintained throughout these years though japan has maintained armed forces but strictly for the purpose of self-defense well japan's current prime minister. wants to rewrite that constitution and expend japan's military power in the region laying out a vision of tokyo as a counterweight to china but without naming any country prime minister be offered japan's help to regional allies quote to ensure security of the seas and skies the japanese government has already relaxed arms export rules in april china is in the center of a number of territorial disputes in south china sea with the philippines vietnam and in the east china sea with japan over same cockle and do all you

islands the u.s. is very much in broiled in all of this claiming that the disputes demand a larger u.s. military presence in asia pacific sixty percent of the u.s. is fleet is there for us as a large military presence in australia japan and the philippines and guam and the u.s. doesn't mind its ally japan becoming more militarized the united states welcomes japan's efforts to play a more proactive role in contributing to global and regional peace and stability including reexamining the interpretation of which constitution. chuck hagel has lashed out at china for what he called destabilizing unilateral actions asserting its claims in the south china sea china hit back on personally think the speech by mr haygood is full of hate jimminy for the threats and intimidation china is accusing the us if using the disputes and exacerbating them to gain

a strategic advantage in the region if you're in indonesia is you're looking at this and what you're seeing is is that japan is piling on along with the united states japan may say that its plan is to secure peace but critics argue any military expansion would lead to more tensions in washington i'm going to check on r.t. now a prime minister shinzo move to militarize japan it's been met with some pretty fierce public opposition in fact let's give you some numbers here on r.t. international according to the latest polls conducted by japan's national broadcaster forty one percent are against tokyo's plans for a constitutional revision whereas about a thirty but just over thirty percent now supporting the idea of greater involvement in international affairs well independent journalist james corbett he things there are some major financial interests at stake. the abbaye government of course would put forward the official answer that this is really about maintaining

regional security in the context of growing threats military threats around the region i think that's the context in which they're framing this but of course the unofficial answer would have a number of different threads to it the most obvious of which being that there's an economic direct economic benefit japanese weapons manufacturers will be seeing a great boon as a result of this this reinterpretation of the constitution and i think that ties into a government's desire for diplomatic rejuvenation and a desire to play a greater role in the asia pacific region generally but at any rate it certainly plays well with the nationalist base that it has supported ought to be and was largely responsible for putting him into power and so we're seeing that with the real rise of japanese nationalism which many are now seeing as the beginning of a wave of increasing japanese militarism and there are those here in japan who are deeply concerned about that as well. our time for an international global update here when i say into the chilean capital we go to santiago the riot police fired

tear gas and tens of thousands of students and teachers they packed the streets demanding education reforms the protesters. said riots floods dozens were injured arrests were made to improving the education system was a key campaign pledge of president michel. you took power in march this year. to haiti where security forces fired live rounds of protesters voicing anger over the cost of living in government corruption and the morning the president's resignation witnesses say at least three people collapsed after inhaling tear gas as police tried to break the people up it's the second mass rally in the capital port au prince and less than one week. and i think one student has died in a high school shooting near portland oregon the attack with a rifle was found dead at the scene and. ten fatal shootings at american schools since the beginning of this year. and to nigeria now where twenty women have been

abducted by gunmen thought to be. militants this from a remote settlement in the country's northeast the women reportedly ordered the vehicles are gunpoint and driven away it's the latest in a series of attacks in the country including mass kidnappings at the slayings of villagers and bombings the fate of two hundred seventy two schoolgirls abducted two months ago still unknown. there's just a day to go before the world's eyes will be on brazil of course for the launch of the world cup the country's been getting an awful lot of negative media coverage during the build up we asked journalist graham phillips who's in rio de janeiro right now how much of it is fair. feels that there's a little of a purposeful kind of but taking off of this negativity of this sentiment is kind of along the lines that it's bad it's it's obviously you know we've been extensive coverage of strikes. have been you know death. is being cost overruns

of in this world cup is not going to be the most expensive in history it's costing eleven and a half billion dollars we do have a strike going on in south pole are mostly in rio at the moment we were protests we've got things like the clear to the fellas which is the slum areas that millions of brazilians live in and so we have a delayed coverage a lot of accentuation of these still negative side of it still going on you know brazil won the right to host this today this is the twentieth world cup back in two thousand and seven and in the last year we've really seen a sold steep escalation of the stories that we've been getting up but resent is not going to be ready the mood we've got the survey saying that you know seventy two percent of people are against the wall cup but i have to say that now it starts to feel a little unfair because the mood in the street here is that there was a time to process that was a time to make these valid points ok this money could have been up or should elsewhere but there is a feeling now that it's here i mean you know he said this is a this is a true once in a lifetime as

a first time of the world cup is going to brazil the sixty four years this is right in the first of the world cup is going to south america thirty six years and this is a football country and not with the western media always just don't want to let it go dormant like a dog with the cold it can let it go to kind of a do mongering and the mood in the streets is that look that's passed and really people want to have the opportunity to host what is a magical a truly you know remarkable the truly outstanding celebration of the international community of world football here in brazil you know let's make the most of this well as well as a sporting you strive against the world cup has a ball so to come about of a political battleground between the israelis and palestinians israel's sports minister has been forced to defend her country's highly controversial. all palestinians including athletes traveling abroad. to be held from. that full story of. this one as well sons. of

shocks terrified holiday makers stay out of the water in alabama we're talking about the gulf coast here dorsal fins to be seen you can check out the footage at r.t. dot com. your friends post a photo from a vacation you can't afford. a different. boss repeat the same old joke of course you like. nora. we post only what really matters. to your facebook. now if you can change the probably make fun of it. reports on the political caricature is which are well allowed to make some sort of social commentary beyond the boundaries of the written world like i want to change the national politicians they've always been good for a giggle on t.v. poking fun at political. find tradition. hundreds of years

what goes into making a great political caricature. you can often find that you can exaggerate the part of their physical appearance with the policies they stand for the finish drawing may not look at exactly like the subject but it will be instantly recognizable. as those in the top jobs in europe settle into their new term they too have found themselves the subject parody meet room or the bear as he leaves his home in the woods and heads off with the intention of doing good in brussels there he ends up working as a lobbyist for a bank alongside rocky the chimp has been often do good competition pond i was inspired to use the chimpanzee after a test in london to see who could pick the best stock trims or professional traders the teams one i thought if our only option in germany is to listen to i'm going to merkel when i give the chimp a chance to. in this tale the nefarious rocky leads brutal into

a murky world of behind closed door deals and political intrigue that bears a resemblance to what many opposed to lobbyists in brussels stand for. you but are they the regime with the e.u. commission is to centralized this people were not elected but they have sway over policies many of which aren't endorsed by people in the commission in turn are swayed by the law but citizens have no voice was all very complicated issues that many in europe can find difficult to fully grasp that's where the cartoon can become a useful tool to fill people in what's going on with their politics you know not in the mind. you can draw people in this way and get them looking at a real issue we consult with an economist while writing the script to make sure it's correct i see this as a gateway to understanding laughing and learning political satire isn't going

anywhere even if some of the lump figures may not be best pleased with the way the cartoonists views them these are all other r.t. . ever come to you live from the heart of moscow thanks for joining us this morning up next on international. breaking this said unless you're watching us from london good morning to you you're waking up to about thirty degrees or about to go on the ground. brave hold for merely a low in what is rapidly turning into the ukrainian civil war claims it has an understanding with moscow designed to deescalate tensions and the violence there are a few details known about this understanding can deliver. place

. to place to try to. pluck the bullet to. let you know lightness is your teaching everybody to play. the last oh well let's play the last like the play. list six. the teacher let's. just let's play this season and it's still. it's not just you still can still be just if you see the stage it looked to be

to see what each other the stand. in the. the the. the the. what's happening folks i'm not a martin and this is a break in the set but once again there's terrifying news to report out of iraq earlier today in his extremist group called the islamic state or iraq start of iraq and syria or isis seize control of nearly the entire city of mosul iraq's second largest city for the last four days the group has been advancing upon the city and today iraqi military members reportedly fled their outposts handing over control of mosul to the fundamentalists forces this major development comes on the heels of isis taking over two other major iraqi cities fallujah and ramadi keep in mind that

this is an organization that regularly engages in beheadings and crucifixions and is so extreme that al qaeda. even denounced the group iraqi officials believe it about six thousand members of isis are currently in the country demonstrating just how weak the iraqi army has become in repealing that faction furthermore there are also reports that isis was also able to capture a military airbase south of mosul in the organizations now in control of army helicopters and planes iraq's speaker of parliament osama shy fee said what would happen is a disaster by any standard the presence of these terrorist groups in a vast province threatens not just the security and unity of iraq but the entire middle east in deed and this new wave of violence is only the latest to hit the country as last month marked more than four thousand killings and just the last five months and that two thousand and fourteen is on pace to be by far the deadliest year in the country since the us occupation and that in

a matter how many mission accomplished banner ads were hung up it doesn't change the fact that the so-called liberation of the country has resulted and hell on earth. please. please take that leap very hard to take that leap. well you better act with the earthquake there.

so when you're picking out your bananas at the grocery store terrorism is probably the last thing on your mind. but apparently banana giant chiquita has a bone to pick with the victims of nine eleven as the corporation has spent upwards of seven hundred eighty thousand dollars just over the last year to lobby against a piece of legislation aimed to help nine eleven victims and their families now i know what you're thinking what the hell does the world's premier banana company have to do with nine eleven here's the thing the bill in question is called the justice against sponsors of terrorism act and goes after and d's that have aided and abetted anyone designated a terrorist group by the us and once you dig in that your kid has sort of passed these seemingly unrelated dots began to connect to the banana company has maintained a political and commercial presence in colombia for over one hundred years newsmax report.