militants in syria. district continue to shell the capital damascus despite the cease fire there are. also ahead this hour the twenty eighteen winter olympic games inside korea have officially wrapped up but the drama continued right to the very end of the game for the first time in twenty six years ice hockey players from russia. beating germany four three in a nail biting men's final gave. a total of seventy. one of the stories which shaped the week germany's leading tabloid publishes what it thought was. evidence of russian meddling in the country's politics lead to

realize what's in them for a simple. with the top stories from the past seven days on rights up to the moment developments as well this is the weekly in r.t. welcome to the program our top story russia's defense ministry that militants in the eastern district of syria are indiscriminately shelling the capital damascus the spike the united nations voting on saturday to implement a cease fire or war correspondent joined me in the studio earlier with the details russian. monitoring center in syria says that over the last twenty four rebel. launched no less than thirty one shells into damascus and i know what that looks like every time we. stayed in the mosques every time we've been in damascus we have

shells landing all over the capital all over the masks because in scooter is the last rebel stronghold in the vicinity of the capital the last stranglehold you know loulou the residue revolutions because all other on claves around the capital have been. retaken by the syrian government nevertheless these incidents of shelling they're very random they shelled blindly you know a shell might land in a market might land in a military base in a hospital or a government building and usually there's a lot of casualties in the last twenty four hours a dozen casualties the syrian authorities but. the rebels in east ghouta generation islam the army of islam which holds which is the most powerful rebel group and says that it is abiding by the cease fire it says that it is being shelled and bombed by the syrian government and that is indeed happening there are

air strikes from what we've gathered from the various reports there are air strikes on going against east today against al islam the army of islam but the syrians are saying that you know the rebels are shooting at us and the rebels are saying the syrians are shooting others so there's no cease fire to speak of quite yet. still a little further into this bring in political science professor at my good university of manchester welcome russia's say professor the terrorists are continuing to shell damascus as are correspond was laying out how does the ceasefire there for already field well they cease fire is a break out from a vicious circle of seven years of human atrocities now it's it's unacceptable to the international community so. the syrian government is alleging that.

the terrorists are taking the human shield. and. i think any government from a balanced analysis any government wouldn't allow its capital to be shelled all the time and the terrorists are taking shelter and. shielding behind human shields so it's a very it's a vicious circle we have to break it i mean the only way to break it out is to have the truce this truce if it holds up which i am very skeptical that it would hold up simply because there are sponsors of violence there are fueling violence like you have you have turkey you have other

states they have interests in syria and they are all playing in their web of interests so you have to. mean as the russian representatives in the security council said it's naive to say we have to stop the violence overnight and cease fire overnight simply because all the parties involved have interests to continue on with this violence. one of the points here the russian defense ministry it's another aspect a disturbing one said that according to intelligence sources armed groups in eastern guta are preparing to use chemical weapons to provoke side forces into attacking the syrian government if that is true where does this lead. well. you know you have both allegations from allegation from the

syrian government saying that the terrorists. using chemical weapons and chlorine before so as the terrorists claiming that the syrian government and new one no one because the front eighty is. are so close that you cannot tell from where to come the chemical cellos. so i believe i like. political analysts believe that the syrian government has no interest when it is winning and gaining. momentum all the time for the last two years. to ruin everything and start using chemical yeah that's that's an important point isn't and using yeah that's what i just wanted to trap you with one other aspect to this because in

a joint telephone call to the kremlin on sunday professor unger merkel and among you all micron urged not a mere putin to ensure the cease fire was fully implemented as soon as possible i put it to you though is this really in russia's hands no no it's not in russian hands no way it's in russian hands because they can pressure the syrian government but they cannot exercise pressure on the other rebel groups terrorist groups terrorist groups. have instructions to escape the violence. terrorist groups in this state of despair they are so desperate that's why i can believe that they can use chemical weapons as the last chord on the table. professor of glucose sciences out of hell one university research associate at the

university of manchester dr my good thank you meanwhile despite the cease fire resolution which in compass is the entire country turkey say it is not going to halt its military offensive in northern syria mean the decision doesn't apply to it being carrying out an operation against kurdish anti isel militia fighters there which it fuses terrorists and its push to dislodge the kurdish people as protection units from the border area the turkish military struck a convoy entering the city of freenet on thursday night i'm chris sees it was carrying fighters and weapons but the kurdish forces insist that the trucks only civilians food and medicine the one person was killed in the attack. took. place just. for the letter but.

were earlier in the week proof syrian government forces arrived enough to help try and repel the turkish defensive that came after the kurds appealed for support but developments in the region have put the u.s. in a difficult position as jackley looks into. two of america's main partners in the region are now at each other's throats to put it mildly. and as the u.s. tries to avoid taking sides in the conflict they seem to be losing on all fronts turkey a longtime ally looks to be getting increasingly impatient with washington's inaction america has only dared to call for a reduction in civilian casualties in the fight prompting a vicious response from the turkish president. what disappoints us most in this

process is the hypocrisy and even the levity of some countries which we consider allies and have deep political and military relations with turkey has had enough of life's promises and delaying tactics and on the other side we have the kurds who have been essential to the u.s. led coalition's fight against eisel and the absence of support from their american partners against the onslaught of turkish forces the kurds have been forced to look elsewhere and that has pushed them into accepting help from pro-government forces this week militias loyal to the syrian government flooded afrin to bolster the kurds. which are out we have come to a kaddish brothers to fight together to protect africa. we are the popular force we came so that we could help our kurdish brothers because we are one people. now that surely ruffled feathers in washington when the syrian president comes only after i saw on their list of

enemies the us has tried to shift focus to an issue that puts them back in the driver's seat battling eisel calling the situation in africa a distraction what is going on in a free is taking away from the fight against isis it is a distraction as secretary mabus had called it is certainly. not helpful to have people take their eye off the ball of isis we've talked about that numerous times before but in reality many in the region have already recognized that arsenal is all but defeated despite that the us led intervention which is in its third year has no end in sight but they may be left there with no one to call friend as they continue to alienate their allies. twenty eighteen winter olympics inside korea came to a sparkling close on sunday a stunning fireworks display rounded off the night as well as the traditional hung over to the next winter olympic games host which will be china's beijing in two thousand and twenty two summing up this month's auction and today in particular on

some of the controversy here's. n.p.r.'s. tom really does fly and i can't believe that it's already the and young chang twenty eight ing we've seen the closing ceremony and the nation's parade at it and i'll tell you what it was much warmer than the opening on february ninth quite literally and the fans didn't have to freeze themselves that much to see the spectacle something that hasn't changed though is the fate of the russian athletes who weren't able to march with their national colors there had been a glimmer of hope that they'd be allowed to do that but earlier on sunday the i.o.c. decided not to lift the suspension of russia's national olympic committee after two of the all way our athletes tested positive for doping although the i.o.c. president has said that these two cases appear to be isolated these are cases off

of negligence and there is no indication. of so ever for a systemic or systematic. that doping affair here the astley's who failed the test though claim it could have been a result of sabotage or some sort of mistake they say that they have never taken banned drugs on purpose to improve their performance back to the final day of peeling chang twenty eight ng i guess if you asked the russian fans would they rather see their national flag. at the closing ceremony or would they rather have their men's ice hockey team win gold for the first time in twenty six years most of them would still choose the second option and that is exactly what happened inside the gandhi ice hockey arena on sunday the red machine b. germany for three and

a gripping final and then at the prize giving ceremony the olympic anthem was played instead of the russian anthem obviously bud's guess what the winners and the stadium sang then the national anthem of course and that was quite a scene to watch this was the o.r.'s second gold at these olympics the first one was won by a fifteen year old alina's the gates of a in the figure skating and i'll tell you what these winter olympics were really games of hope for russia with many more experienced star athletes having to sit out young chang twenty home the o.e.r. still won a total of seventeen medals that is of course by far not the best performance but still and the circumstances it deserves a huge round of applause as for the whole medal table norway came first with fourteen gold fourteen silver and eleven bronze and that's of course

a spectacular result. talked about sunday marked a thrilling win for russia's men's ice hockey squad competing a limping athletes from russia they secured gold with victory over germany in a gripping final the decisive goal was scored in overtime for a four three overall scoreline it was the first time in twenty years russian players have reached the final and you have to go back to birdsville france in one thousand nine hundred two for their law school in men's ice hockey i was also under a neutral banner the team didn't have its own flag that time following the break up of the soviet union. and here are today's elated on the exhausted hockey stars taking their bus back to the olympic village we spoke to one of the key men in the russian team. game was very tough germany didn't get to the final for no reason it's great that we won but we levelled the score and then the final point

in overtime i think this goal brought joy to millions of russian fans everyone is celebrating today well after less than smooth buildup to the games the delight of the travelling russian fans getting to celebrate their country's second gold of the tournament was clear. we're going to lost it but anyway things turned out ok it was a super match and a super victory russia is the champion and we did it. the germans were playing very well it was a beautiful game many thanks to the german team and their russian team for such a wonderful final we're so thrilled russia's father christmas feeling at home in the cold side korean area there so indeed the winter olympics have wrapped up for another four years but it appears that the spirit of goodwill is continuing there north korea has said that it's ready for talks with the united states that was announced after the country's officials met with south korean diplomats at the games finale in p.r. china but not everyone was happy to see the north korean delegation there were

protests korean border town against that this is scuffles also broke out between some protesters on the police independent china specialist underlining to listen but the controversies that could overshadow any north korea washington talks. as far as the sentients are concerned of course the united states want to try and up the sanctions and use military coercion is what i mean you're solving international issues it depends on what kind of a deal the united states. struck with a lot korea with the united states obviously a wall that north koreans to abandon its nuclear arsenal abandon all its capabilities to develop nuclear weapons and long distance deliberateness them and that's something which i don't think a lot of korea would necessarily accept that cannot be struck then we're back to square one and back to confrontation as collation but all the other hand it's quite

possible that some agreement may be reached. a major german newspaper has been duped into publishing a fake story about russian online bots that story in ninety seconds. hello. glenn. purplish.

led a walk on the idea of dropping bombs brings peace to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battles they don't lead to stop spreading to tell you that what we gossip and probably buy files are the most important news today. about how you think you are not cool enough to buy their product little. all the hawks that we along with our audience will watch her or. you're back with r.t. international germany's a bestselling newspaper was tricked this week into publishing a fake bomb shell story on russian meddling in the country's politics the report in build detailed how a mysterious russian agent bought master call yuri had supposedly offered his services to the head of the social democratic party's youth wing kevin q nart

hoping to sabotage a coalition deal between his party and i'm glimmerglass conservatives here says snippet of the purse supposedly exchange did kill him i'm yuri i'd like to talk to you about supporting your new group campaign thanks for your mail j. already told me to expect a mile from you but just to be sure could you name me g.'s favorite beverage as you can certainly understand this is a delicate matter me oh me oh martin ginger oh dear yuri perfect that's a relief so what can you offer me basically we can offer you everything an opinion campaign with but surrogates schultz social bots on twitter and facebook or even a targeted facebook advertising campaign. but there's one problem the whole conversation was fabricated by the german satirical magazine titanic the editors behind the hoax posted this triumphant photo online it shows one of the magazine's

employees posing with the transcript of the fake emails and the tabloids subsequent article the editor of titanic series the hoax was all too easy to concoct less than an afternoon's work in fact. we had to turn it over to record magazine we worked with the same. methods as and built so we knew how to think like an editor there were no rumors about russian meddling and we thought this cannot be you we have to make an alliance with the built. lloyd pushed a story about russian meddling a story that was tacky and like a spider movie and we had a good feeling that this would work when there's a story like that for four built they don't care about the details it's only interesting if the story is good and it was a good story indeed it was yeah it was like a good movie i hope it will be made into a movie sometime well build has now richard acted the story what's more the head of

the s p d's youth wing insists that had he really been made such an offer he would have turned the tide both of them have to see a niche but i don't know but this group but of course we would refuse any of these offers don't work with social bots i don't have information that will even received any office in this. the portuguese island of terse sirrah in the atlantic is in desperate need of decontamination decades of us or a force activity have left it polluted with heavy metals and islander say they're worried about the prevalence of cancer and other serious illnesses.

leave them freely and it's time to run away from here as we already have stayed too long. what we have is a series of locations with extremely high levels of pollution caused by heavy metals the hydrocarbons there are very high levels of lead in some zones of the reality cancer arrhythmia and neverending amounts of problems associated with an excess and. substances. all my family lived in that area both of my parents died of cancer when i was thirty three i was diagnosed with breast cancer.

well the dire environmental situation on the island was first signal it's in a classified report written in two thousand and three it's since being leaked until seventeen major fuel spills in one fifteen thousand gallons of jet fuel were released when a pipeline was on intentionally activated that was in one thousand nine hundred four and there's been no cleanup since the report stresses that the island's inhabitants are at risk from contaminants in the soil the air and water here's what the local experts have been telling us. we found in the data that was published referring to the two thousand and seven two thousand and eleven period a higher number of certain cancers in the prior to victoria area than the rest of the saws especially regarding the rarer cancers for example i can see with thirty three percent of the cases being in prior divots aura while the area has only eight

point five two percent of the population. and we mean this is the repeats itself on various islands occupied by the americans this is almost a scorched earth policy where the problems accumulate and the local government doesn't react the population has no capacity to take a stance maybe as a result of scientific illiteracy or lack of knowledge on the cause effect relations or we have contacted both the u.s. and portuguese governments but have received no responses to the specific questions we asked the us government did however forward us a press release from last december it stressed states that the two countries are aware of the situation under seeking expert advice on how best to proceed. ok a large fire has broken out in the british city of leicester local authorities

have the scribed it was a major incident the property is a two story building with a loft conversion a powerful explosion was heard earlier causing the building we believe to collapse fire crews are currently at the scenes no injuries have been reported it is unknown if people are injured are trapped inside this is a story we'll be keeping a close eye on throughout the night here on our c. ok stay with us for our latest pick documentary. and i'm back in half an hour's time with more global updates from r.t.e. h.q. in moscow.

united states is going to look very deep at the mystic prizes challenge to a miracle supreme must see the north from the outside walls from russia not from china from the inside all sides are missing what you see now all around russia and is. no russian. psychological to understand the full of times to find sound buddy outside the united states is responsible for death while the real problem is assad. is getting international recognition with the help of israel at least in the world of sousa's a member of the commission like him and this is my compass he is going out to

study hall meetings. john tells me. the only palestinians gets the most help from his jerusalem counterparts i don't think there's some of those who in the world under the vision know only could do this. and though it is often at that age to have to display any of the most of the i'm going to compete in the guys who seem to do more commitments last time piss off. join me every first day on the alex salmond show and i'll be speaking to guests of the world of politics sport business i'm show business i'll see that. i am. i am.

i am. aware and i'm doing this you know i'm still selling nigella i just got the update they had no problem with the film to the end of the end of it because the real story about. me and you think you do not number. of. things to look for a way lee and that's

a way of wash another way in political or. otherwise a way it was only important isn't. good enough there and it also. because here in senegal is comfortable back up to standards of beauty compete against each other while not true beauty is of course a general standard worldwide here bleach plays a big role in the beauty process. led their own boss to operate on the farm kebo sort of missed me as on to the complication of the big mike castle atavistic. because. numbers are very average the first cause of the initial in out about my business is due to.