pictures of today. from around the globe. draw. a glimpse of the syrian opposition initiate talks with the government as rebels lose strategic ground we managed to get access to their former stronghold one of the worst hit in the three nia long war. this is what's left up to months of fierce clashes up to months of their resistance most. someone's home everything is destroyed everything includes. the city of homs of finally returning home and struggling to rebuild their lives in a city almost wiped off the map. key cities in northern iraq forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country's government

continues to lose ground to militants. kiev says more than two hundred people including fourteen children have been killed in the ongoing assault in ukraine's east as the army faces dissent with soldiers refusing to fight the civilian population. thanks once again for joining us my name is neil harvey you're watching international. first this hour long anticipated peace talks between the syrian government and the opposition may be held as early as this week comes after the rebels were forced out of their last stronghold of homs which has been the so-called capital of the revolution for the last three years what is more if an auctioneer managed to get into the devastated city and spoke to former militants

who decided to change sides. these a new sound the tank over the city of homs the place in the challenge of bombing have to dialogue with the government the rebels left what they considered their capital and clashes stopped hans's old town the militants last stronghold it's from here that they withdrew following the green meant with the authorities 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 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 so they're finally here i just came back from the market where a good thing god does become possible after high ranking military and civil figures accepted the advances from the very people been targeting them. is the best word

to describe the situation in which the rebels initiated talks the syrian police major was among the negotiators 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 got influenced by fanatics shakes and islamic clerics who have the extremist ideology that is alien to syrian society they motivated 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 ex 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 militants helping them

reintegrate. most of them say they were forced to take up arms all of them deny ever killing anyone but their words are impossible to verify. they used to give us lessons to explain to us that the regime is that the regime is attacking muslims and we have to fight them. we visit homs 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 peace and have the city. 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 there is no way that i will kill any of my brothers by religion and i were killed my former brothers in arms of i do not want to kill or hurt anybody it's. 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 are 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 it was a long way to go before peace is returned here but hopes are high today that syria is a please tell you down the right track. from homs in syria. for its neighbor iraq the future doesn't look so hope for islamic extremists have seized a key city in the north home to the country's largest oil refinery in recent days

jihadist fighters have been ramping up the insurgency across the country and they're now in control of the entire northern province of nineveh and this capital must saw iraq's second largest city. jihadists of also gained ground in other parts of the country including the all rich good cook province and the city of fallujah a quarter of more schools two million population have already fled their homes soldiers have abandoned their posts in fear of the radicals believed to be the al qaeda splinter group known as the islamic state of iraq a live event the militants of also reportedly overrun police stations and captured the city's international airport they've also freed more than a thousand prisoners from jail we spoke to the u.s. congress and terrorism advisor who says the takeover of mosul is a game changer this battle is an important one before that that the islamic state in iraq and the levant would be engaged in getting a warship attacking convoys suicide bombing and now if it can control the city and

the government within the next days and weeks cannot take it back this is a very serious matter not only this organization will see is the resources of the city but will recruit more and will conduct attacks from the city into other areas of iraq so the moment is very dramatic in iraq the one time and the international community should have a stand at least if not political of even more on the ground with the iraqi government at this point in time here but also given advice of the iraqi government this is not the time for sectarian reaction this is the time for national unity in iraq more than two hundred people including fourteen children have been killed since the start of ukraine's military operation in the east that's according to the country's health minister and while the newly elected president petro poroshenko has given orders for humanitarian corridors to be set up russia's foreign minister says that moscow has been denied the chance of providing humanitarian aid residents of slovyansk in eastern ukraine are claiming that their city has been devastated by

artillery fire for a third night in a row. it struck in the morning i was freed by the blast wave i ran away the collar to. get out. there shooting but i can't leave i have nowhere to go. the city has been to be seized by pro-government forces for weeks and locals are suffering from water and power outages and while the military operation goes on fighters from ukraine's national guard to be rallying outside the parliament building in kiev they're demanding pay for their jobs a growing number of soldiers have also been laying down their arms and willing to turn them on civilians of course but paul asli a reports. for. six weeks on and with more than forty soldiers did he have a military operation continues the army is in a pitched battle with anti-government activists but it's also struggling to keep

itself together. that. they're sending me to war calling on me to kill people in their own bars and just make me more and more soldiers are refusing to obey orders and despite cuba's full military mobilization in march and has all but dried up whereas once they used to before drafting officers in lugansk today there's only one and it's quiet they won't let us inside with the cameras i spoke with a clarke 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 early retirement. last month then acting president turchynov signed a decree calling on all men aged eighteen to twenty five to involve those who did not list jail 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's meant to

serve a lot of the. draft lesser on the third of march that said i should go to the army . i refused i didn't even go to the drafting center i'm not going to fight against my own people we have spirit of ideals patriotism they don't have that they're going to go orders and money but others did on said the court to serve a decision they now have a great maria's son is twenty years old he was drafted a year ago and disserving in western ukraine she's what we thought because he comes from the east he himself will be seen as the enemy of the here pretty. i want him home as soon as possible we are missing him we are really missing him. the army a city like food and ammunition and a sense of purpose and then the 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 of fear r t eastern ukraine. has

been reporting on the latest developments in eastern ukraine and you can stay up to date by following twitter feed. russia has shifted the deadline for ukraine to cover its mounting billion dollar gas that that is as moscow and kiev remain deadlocked over the price of fuel we'll report shortly a white kid is refusing to pay up even though he's been offered a substantial discount and whether the e.u. consumers will be affected by the dispute. also on the way america's allies japan and australia off forging closer military ties to counter china's growing influence in the asia pacific region but more not story after this short break. but. did you know the price is the only industry

specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open process is critical to our democracy albums. the work of our government and our crowd. we've been hijacked why handful of friends dash all corporations they will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once i'm john mark and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem. rational debate and real discussion critical issues facing. you ready to join the movement then walk a bit there. ray of hope or merely a low in what is rapidly turning into the ukrainian civil war here claims it has an understanding with moscow designed to deescalate tensions and the violence there are a few details known about this understanding can go deliver. welcome

back you're watching international next ukraine is consciously taking the. massive gas step down dead ends that's the view of president putin after kid once again refused moscow's offer to sell natural gas to ukraine despite the discount of almost twenty percent. the proposed discounts don't seem to be enough for our ukrainian partners they seem to be asking for more cuts although i don't quite understand on what grounds well if that's the case then they're consciously leading these talks down dead end of our proposals that named a partner relations and supporting ukraine's economy at a difficult time but if our proposals are rejected that would lead our relationship to a new level from which. it is also stressed the discount is the same offer to the previous

administration and is significantly higher than those enjoyed by other neighboring states however clear still demands that moscow slashed prices by another twenty percent and despite weeks of negotiations the parties are in deadlock here's venture capital host with all the details brushed off at a one hundred dollars discount per one thousand cubic meters during the recent negotiations which would be lower than what many european countries pay but ukraine has refused and wants an even raise and the deadline to at least make a start on the pavement which keeps on being moved as we say has been postponed to june the sixth day if kiev's debt is not paid which as it stands according to gazprom amounts to four point five billion dollars that a prepayment system will be introduced but in other words that would mean the gas being turned off now these ongoing negotiations involve europe because europe also

has an invested interest reliant on russia for a third of its gas and fifteen percent of it comes via ukraine so if care doesn't pay then supplies to europe could be disrupted why we remember back in two thousand and six and two thousand and nine i hear will seem to be five putting off gas that was on its way to europe due to price disputes which is what we're experiencing now and this led to a cold winter for a pro. for europe so to avoid this scenario we've got this right here this thousand project which was put into place which would secure supplies bypassing ukraine as you can see but this construction is currently very zen so it's in everyone's interest to come to a compromise on these gas price disputes as soon as possible do you stay with us here on r t still to come this hour is it really all the birds for the first of mood on the streets brazil's world cup which starts remember on thursday is getting

a thrashing in the mainstream media a lot more on that in a few minutes. first though japan is taking its very first steps towards making its military technology go global tokyo and australia are looking to forge a closer alliance with a multi-billion dollar stealth submarine deal and the first major transfer of tokyo's military designs to australia is seen as a step toward countering china's growing clout in the region comes as prime minister shinzo rb pushes for greater involvement in settling international disputes and since coming to power in twenty twelve the japanese pm has made moves to change his country's post-war pacifist stance be it step by step in early twenty thirteen or the first time in more than a decade japan raised its defense budget and that was during an island dispute with china in april of that year tokyo relaxed its self-imposed ban on arms exports saying it needs to expand the domestic defense industry the following month prime

minister are both said article mind of the constitution which outlaws war to settle disputes he said it should be revised and in late twenty thirteen a five year defense plan was adopted including the purchase of drones and m phoebus assault vehicles and if you count takes a closer look now 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 forever renounce war 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 lenda 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 black storms export rules in april china is in the center of a number of territorial disputes in south china sea with the philippines vietnam and. the east china sea with japan over same cockle and do all you islands the us is very much in broiled in all of this claiming that the disputes demand a larger us military presence in asia pacific sixty percent of the us is fleet is there for us as a large military presence in australia japan and the philippines and guam and the us 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 hague was full of her germany full of threats and intimidation china is accusing the due west of using the disputes and exacerbating them to gain a strategic advantage in the region if you're in indonesia aim 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. well promise to move to militarize japan or what's the step pieces are apparently

not going down too well with the country's people japan's international broadcast there has been gauging public opinion and this is what they found out according to the polls mauler thirty percent of those interviewed back the idea of japan's militarization forty one percent though are against tokyo's plans for a constitutional revision allowing the use of war in international disputes we spoke to one asia expert who says that the us has a direct interest in wanting a stronger japanese military. blue is a very formidable military power and it's also the threshold are that. nuclear technology and has rocket technology very highly not technology so if decisions are taken. and. then very quickly become a major nuclear nuclear weapon state for the moment the american

the. japan and really strong. element in a moment of china and to a lesser extent to russia. new york city is said to cough up six hundred thousand dollars in settlements to fourteen occupy wall street protesters find out the details of the legal dispute that resulted in the largest occupy related payment to date get all the info on our websites. and while you are there is it possible that scenes like these could soon be seen in britain's capital london mayor as bought england's first water cannons we've got all the details on that at r.t. dot com. and while the broadcast of a popular weekly program good morning jerusalem was cut short after israeli forces raided a palestinian television studio showed been covering a hunger strike over palestinian detainees on the same day soldiers attacked

a freelance journalist breaking his camera and erasing the recordings we talk to the presenter of the show my our boss sub about exactly what happened that day. on friday and israeli police car blocked the exit from the building where the program was being aired and they rounded up everyone inside they said we had to stop the broadcast and that all those involved in the show were under arrest they also told us that we were translating illegally even though we have a license to broadcast from that part of the city that i suppose the israeli occupation forces are afraid of any media coverage that reveals the truth about oppression and human rights violations out and their answer is to get journalists and terrorize any idea but i doubt this tactic will be successful what in other news the u.s. federal aviation agency house for the first time allowed commercial groans to fly over land many businesses along with private use of lobbied for permission for commercial drone use since on monday craft are cheaper and easier to maneuver and

the green light was given to the b.p. energy corporation and drone developer aero vironment their craft sort of quick with three d. cameras and will be used for mapping purposes but the decision has already come in for some criticism but more perspective we spoke to aviation expert richard woodward. future drones growing phenomenally faster to be one of the big industries around the world because is any number of applications such as tracking and checking law and chipping or fields is a control issue otherwise for every me everywhere is a city whenever a private moment anywhere in or there's a big privacy issue because the fact that those little things can fly over the side of your house and into your you look at the windows the second thing is the there's no real design stage for the drones at the moment every single a cry after that we fly is very strict design standards the drones don't have design standards your delivery kit country in the world as well you know that is

that technology is developing faster than the regulations of. other world news thousands of policemen rated a south korea. in church in search of a fugitive billionaire thought to be the owner of the sunken ferry or worshipers were detained on suspicion of assisting use escapers hundreds of religious followers protested the raid billionaire is also the co-founder of the church south korea is offering half a million dollars for information on the billionaires whereabouts the tragedy in april claimed the lives of some three hundred people many of them children. going through the chilean capital santiago where riot police fired tear gas on to tens of thousands of students and teachers how they've been packing the streets demanding education reforms for protesters though for back hurling rocks at riot squads dozens were injured several arrests were made improving the education system was a campaign pledge of president michelle bachelet it took power in march of this

year. is just one day now before the world's eyes will be all on brazil for the start of the football world cup but the country's been getting a lot of negative media coverage during the build up we asked journalist graham phillips who's now in rio de janeiro how much that criticism has been warrant it. there's a bit of a purposeful kind of a de up of this negativity of this sentiment is kind of along the lines that it's bad it's obviously you know we've had the extensive coverage of strikes over the ravine you know. there's been cost overruns of in this world cup is now 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 or mostly rio at the moment we were totally lost we've got things like the clear the bellows which is the slum areas millions of brazilians live in and in the last year we've really seen a saw the steep escalation it's over the stories that we've been getting of about

brazil is not going to be ready the mood we were at the survey saying that you know seventy two percent of people are against the war cup but i have to say that now it starts to feel a lot better because the word of history here is that there was a time to process that was a time to make these valid points ok this money could be no caution elsewhere but there is a feeling now that it's here 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 for thirty six years and this is a football country and now we the western media always just don't want to let it go they're almost like a dog with a boat you can let it go they 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 a truly outstanding celebration of the international community of world football here in brazil you know let's make the most of this. looking forward to that myself here's one for you to look forward to after the break find out how the u.s.

government makes use of citizens' private data when it's handed over by the company's coming up next big. secret laboratory to mccurry was able to build the world's most sophisticated robot which on fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything too much mission to. about humans in the world this is why you should care only on the dot com. country history of yugoslavia is formation as a prosperous and peaceful country it was considerate of be a success story of market socialism and in many regards it was the most developed on. whom was this teacher of democracy and market

economy if any republic in yugoslavia wanted for the us a it would have to break away from yugoslavia and declared its independence ok it's not a conspiracy theory it's not my speculation it's not my analysis it's a public. and punishing harshly for every slight lead some unlearnt the serbs started this war the serbs are legal riginal cause of the war they are the complete aggressors and wrongdoers. bomb car. bombs will. bomb all of tofu kitchens six of them new what's so bad to keep cool assists and the multi-ethnic society to live in harmony and show

not. what was forgotten to be told feel about yugoslavia the weight of chains on our teeth. look for a boss. aide has the day are there two interesting stories on our radar today the first phoenix housing the second goober let's start with phoenix now phoenix is a key distressed housing market to follow a canary in the coal mine for former bubble market data from the month of may it clearly show the housing market there topping out again. three major elements point

to weakness going forward number one overall sales in may were down twenty one percent year over year that's the lowest since two thousand and eight to crash sales were down forty percent so investor looks like it's meanwhile. were down to about nine percent year over year and three active inventory is increasing rapidly up forty seven percent year over year that's the highest level since for may since two thousand and eleven so what's the take away expect price increases in phoenix to flatten out in two thousand and fourteen while housing prices may have increased in two thousand and twelve and two thousand and thirteen those large increases were likely due to low inventory investor buy and a bounce back from the steep price declines from two thousand and seven to two thousand and ten.