, we want maher," who is bashar's brother.he's the leader of the republican guard, of the fourth armored division, which is the most ruthless. and i think that's the time then when the decision has been made by bashar and by the people around him that they need to up their game in terms of meeting the rebel movement. (explosion) (shouting) (explosion) >> narrator: this february, to show his resolve, bashar al-assad moved on the country's third largest city, homs. >> homs has been an epicenter of opposition to assad. and so he wanted to send a lesson to the rest of syria that he can turn their cities into rubble if they oppose him. >> narrator: homs endured 30 straight days of shelling. most of the artillery was trained on the predominantly sunni neighborhood of baba amr. >> you look at baba amr today, and it's... it looks like a stalingrad. you know, it's just entire, you know, streets are just flattened. >> until baba amr, there was a belief inside the opposition ranks that the nonviolence movement that worked in tunisia, tha

at the same time that he was threatening bashar al-assad and a wrong? >> yes, but they are both provocative. they are both blligerent. they are destabilizing forces and have been for years. he understands that the israelis are reliable allies, valuable allies in many ways. they are in a difficult neighborhood. the israelis, two years ago obama called for it. it's going to be dicey. iran is still the world's leading sponsor of terrorism,. lou: the president use the expression game changerif it were to occur. was his visit to israel a game changer? >> i think it is a little too early to tell. what we don't knowis what those two men said behind closed doors. we should have no illusions here. however warm and cozy it can be. lou: however cozy the relationship. however warm the reception. these gentlemen have distinctly different things when it comes around. >> i almost agree. not entirely. i don't think thee have different agendas. i think that everything that was said, what you heard is that obama and benjamin netanyahu were much closer together are not. w

while calling for surgical airstrikes to help drive the bashar al-assad. the president repeated that any evidence of this weapon to use would be a game changer, as he put it. president obama defended his administration's reluctance to use mlitary force to quell the syrian civil war. >> when we are working with the syrians themselves, so this is not externally imposed, but rather something that is linked directly with the aspirations of the people inside of syria, it will work better. lou: the king has also said the same. inside jordan comment they are the they deliveredwith answer should bashar al-assad we powers. >> we need to institute a transition as quickly as possible. if the issue ever came up, all of us would have to put our heads together and figure out if that would help the balance quickly. lou: the senate in the midst of a vote. their eressions, not ours. a senate budget bill being passed for the first time in more than four years. the congressional budget act of 1974 was signed into law. we will be taking that up with the "a-team." angela mcglo

intelligence agencies as a chemical incident perpetrated by forces loyal to the syrian president bashar assad the syrian regime has since the united nations to launch an investigation and the russian ministry has said that if there are reasons to believe that chemical weapons were used an international group comprising of permanent united nations security council members has to be sent to syria what we're hearing now the regarding that incident is information to the contrary in fact here in israel the leading daily newspaper ha'aretz has written that it was definitely not an incident that was carried out by a side we also saw in the last few days when the american president barack obama was here in the region he was quick to make last eight months towards assad and the use of chemical weapons. once we establish the facts i have made clear that the use of chemical weapons is a game changer i am deeply skeptical of any claim that in fact it was the opposition that used chemical weapons. this is not the first time that chemical weapons have been in the headline what we've heard from obama

bashar al-assad's only incentive toys fight to the end. i think this represents certainly an expansion of the aid but no real change in policy. jenna: we've been told that we haven't given aid in the past because we don't know who we are giving it to. who are we giving it to now? >> i still think that this is a fundamental failing for all those who want to aid the opposition. i just want to hear the names of the people, the leaders of the opposition that we can trust if we give them this aid or, particularly lethal aid, that if they prevail over bashar al-assad that they will not turn this assistance against the christians and the drews and t the allowites. and they will commit to turning over syria's chemical weapons for destruction. we've had two years in identify such people and i don't think with cold front den the administration can name such pe. jenna: it concerns that you there aren't publicly announced strings attached to the money and to the aid to whoever we are giving it to. >> well it's that, and also what happens to the aid on

charges as any kind of pretext or cover for its use of chemical weapons >> sreenivasan: president bashar assad is widely believed to have a chemical weapons arsenal, including nerve agents as well as mustard gas. e parliament of prus ved to reject a bill that would tax bank deposits in order to qualify for an international bailout package. to receive $13 billion from the e.u. and the international monetary fund, cyprus has to raise $7.5 billion on its own. but taxing people's bank accounts proved unpopular, even when the provision was added to shield small savers. banks across cyprus will remain closed until thursday to avoid a run on cash. uncertainty about the cyprus situation set markets around the world and on wall street on edge. the dow jones industrial average

the syrian opposition says that forces loyal to the syrian president bashar assad fired what they are claiming all chemical weapons as rebels surrounding an army base in the town of address on the outskirts of the syrian capital of damascus now the reports we have all that to rebel fighters were killed and some twenty two people were wounded it comes in light of accusations last week in which both sides accuse the other of using chemical weapons in any mysterious explosion near the city of aleppo which killed some twenty six people and wounded dozens of that incident was swiftly labeled by western intelligence agencies as a chemical incident perpetrated by forces loyal to the syrian president assad the syrian regime osce the united nations to launch an investigation the russian ministry has said that if there are reasons to believe that chemical weapons in fact. comprising of permanent united nations security council members has to be saying to syria the american president barack obama he has constantly in the process put the issue of chemical weaponry on the table saying that a red l

>> ultimately bashar assad will fall. the timing the precise scenario are not known. but the rebels are encroaching. they control more ter another-- territory. they have half of aleppo. they are fighting in the outskirts of damascus am we can see the regime becomes more desperate with its back to the world, may or may not have used chemical weapons. but the calculus is the calculus of desperate -- >> may or may not have used chemical weapons. certainly not in an extent that might be powerful and that might change as the president said, be a game changer. they haven't used him that way. >> right. >> do you believe they would use them that way? that is not-- it's not they. the people bashar assad and those that are supporting him believe that that is the only thing they have left. >> they have made so many mistakes in the past two years that i can't really doubt. it would be a terrible act and a terrible mistake but i can't rule it out. >> rose: i think that they're testing obama. they are testing this red line that obama has put down. they have been operating under the

has begun trading the rebels to fight against bashar al assad's forces. but will it be enough without american weapons? >>> and speaking of foreign diplomacy, dennis rodman becomes the new bff to kim jong-un during a trip to north korea. yes, these are the real pictures. we'll explain later in the show. >>> first, our top story this morning comes from our nation's capital. at times it felt like a slow-moving train wreck, but time is finally up for the white house and members of congress. today, $85 billion across the board spending cuts hit federal agencies and the pentagon. two competing plans to avert the sequester failed yesterday, as expected. president obama will meet with leaders from both parties today, even though many lawmakers have already left town for the weekend. what's left is a deeply divided capital where yesterday senator lindsey graham took his own party to task for signing off on sequestration in the first place. >> i guess the republican party feels like the pell grants and food stamps and the faa and home mortgage interest deduction a

ambassador bashar jaafari says his government has asked the u.s. secretary-general to launch an independent probe. the security council held a closed door session on wednesday. after the meeting, russia's representative expressed support for the syrian government. >> i do hope that the secretary-general is going to act on that invitation expeditiously. >> britain's envoy is backing the opposition. >> but it is the syrian regime which has stockpiles of chemical weapons and materials in syria. >> deputy ambassador parham says a number of council members will ask the secretary-general for a probe that also considers the opposition's claims. u.s. president barack obama wants to know exactly what happened in syria. he calls the use of chemical weapons a game-changer. >> i've instructed my teams to work closely with all other countries in the region and international organizations and institutions to find out precisely whether or not this red line was crossed. >> obama expressed doubt the rebels carried out this kind of attack. he says the international

president bashar al-assad remains defiant.he's -- he says the west is conspiring to undermine his country. in an interview with the british newspaper, "the sunday times," he says john kerry is trying to force him out of power -- is wasting his time trying to force him out of power and instead suggested -- >> stop smuggling terrorists into syria. .top sending armament stop providing logistical support to the terrorists. stop financing the terrorists in syria. , rebel forcesnd are pushing to grab new territory in aleppo and in all the outskirts of the capital. the gains made by the rebels since last summer are widely seen by the opposition as a sign of the assad regime's disintegration. the syrian national coalition says it welcomes a national dialogue to solve the crisis, but only when assad goes, a precondition dismissed by the president. >> only the syrian people can tell the president to stay or leave, come or go. no one else. i'm just saying this clearly in order to not waste the time of others. >> assad feels the unwaverin

hezbollah strongly backs president bashar al-assad. >> on friday, cyprus was still trying to find a way out of its financial crisis. the finance minister had tried russia, traveling to moscow to drum up support for it he left without clinching -- support. he left without clinching a deal. time is running out. the european central bank said it would cut off emergency funding if a plan was not in place by monday. friday saw some signs of progress. pearlman passed bills to restructure the banks and place restrictions on transactions in times of crisis -- harlem and passed bills to restructure the banks and place restrictions on transactions in times of crisis. but at the end of the day, he has still not come up with the 5.8 billion euros that was being demanded. >> the countries that ask for solidarity must be prepared to do what is required of them. >> by friday night, cyprus was still looking at the possibility of financial disaster if a deal was not agreed. the tournament is normally held in june and july, when temperatures i our above 50 degrees centigrade. no decision has been made, b

al- ally of for a key bashar al-assad. .e was a sunni muslim the u.s. has opposed sanctions imposed sanctions on a rebel group in northern mali. they have banned americans from doing business with it. the group was recently pushed out of northern mali french-led troops. two italian marines accused of killing a pair of indian fishermen last year are being sent back to india to face charges. >> the two men are being sent back to india. they are accused of shooting dead two fishermen off india's southern coast in february of last year. >> italy has informed to us they will be sending back the marines to india. marines had been part of a military security team protecting this tanker. they say they fired on the fishermen thinking they were pirates. dead deaths -- the deaths demonstrations. the families of the dead have been demanding compensation and they want the marines tried in india. i would urge the indian government and the court to give us justice. marines have twice been allowed to leave india on bail. the second time, they did not come back. the ita

in syria and start providing military support to the rebel forces fighting against the regime of bashar al assad. >> both britain and france say the time has come to get more involved. it is a position that could lead to a major rift in the eu. >> he is prepared to go it alone. the french president was unequivocal in his comments over farming syrian rebels, with or without his partners. >> there could be one or two countries who want to block this move because they are reluctant. and i cannot speak for any other country than france. france will accept its responsibilities. >> britain has also indicated it would consider forming the rebels, but there is resistance from others. -- consider farming the rebels. >> i am against it. i do not think you can solve a conflict by delivering weapons. that would only lead to others supplying more weapons to the other side. >> that position is shared by germany. >> i've made germany's position clear. we have a number of doubts about such weapons deliveries to the opposition. the question has to be asked as to if it will worsen the conflict. >> the co

. >> those opposed to bashar al assad's government are struggling to maintain a united coalition afterhe head of the u.s.-backed opposition resigned. "the new york times" reports arab nations and turkey have sharply stepped up aid to the rebels with the help of the cia. for more on that, nbc's eamon mohyeldin joins us. >> as you just mentioned there, the greatest concern for u.s. officials right now are the flights coming in from iran over iraq and into syria. now, according to u.s. intelligence estimates as well as syrian opposition figures they believe these flights are carrying important weapons and more importantly cash for the regime of president bashar al assad. they're denying that saying they're only sending humanitarian aid. more confirmation coming out that countries like saudi arabia, qatar and turkey are much more involved in accepting weapons directly to the rebels via support of the international community including western intelligence agencies like the cia. the concern is the shipments of weapons. are they actually getting to the right hands and that is a major concern

he now wants to see the end of bashar al-assad, but the american government does not want to help this rebellion. and the only way the held really mean something is to arm this rebellion. anything short of that is the old american abdication on syria that continues from his predecessor, secretary clinton. >> thank you for joining us. in other news, the battle is brewing over egypt's elections. a lot covering people needed to be reviewed by the court, and so the vote was suspended. egypt said it would repeal this decision. a taxi driver died last week after being dragged behind a police van in south africa. nelson mandela's wife was among those in morning. you're watching bbc world news america. still to come, the roman catholic church prepares for a new leader. we look at one of its greatest challenges. the fighting when the numbers in europe and beyond. -- fighting dwindling numbers in europe and beyond. now for an update to a story that seems straight out of a hollywood script. in january, the artistic director of the bolshoi ballet was attacked with acid. now the police said that no

the rebels released a video where they accuse the united nations of assisting the syrian president bashar assad's forces in entering rebel captured areas in the same video they also put forward their demands. we demand from the u.s. the u.n. and the security council that the troops of bashan ascends regime withdrawn from the village until then the peacekeepers will remain our hostages if our demand is not fulfilled during the next twenty four hours we will treat the hostages as prisoners now the united nations has of course condemned this incident the u.n. is currently negotiating with the rebels it demands the immediate release of its forces there is no reason at all under any circumstances in any kind of a sick imagination to try to harm harm those people so clearly gross disrespect for united nations gross disrespect of international norms of behavior of the united nations says that it's absurd as well on a regular supply mission earlier on wednesday when they were stopped by the militants the un force was established back in one nine hundred seventy four to monitor the disengagement o

a senior muslim cleric have been killed in a suicide bombing in central damascus marks president bashar al assad vowed to avenge his friend's death by ridding syria of extremists well than eighty others were injured in the explosion which authorities suspect targeted the cleric mohammad. a sunni muslim who was an important pillar of support for president bashar assad who is part of the smaller alawite sect it's a versus who was out of date to hit a muslim is a syrian uprising began reporter was amy has the details. of the most shocking news and details that after the bomb they discovered another bomb which is the daughter of the most. happily the happy news that it wasn't exploded. they managed to absolve it and sergeant the mosque of mr the madonna which is one of the most important school in syria and one of them. that important one in their stomach would be is the one who was targeted mainly because. he was he was considered a supporter of. the syrian government and made some strong speeches every friday trying to convince people to join the army and fight for their country and he wa

damascus we are not in any way advocating the keys of bashar assad we are working and we do believe that it is still possible to achieve this goal towards the establishment of a platform for interest syrian dialogue for some reconciliation the impartiality here is crucial others that has more have more influence upon syrian opposition should do more by far more to impress these people that they should be really engaged with the government with the saudis i would put it rather this way. there is no alternative alternative is more casualties more tragedy what we experience there daily and others at brics have very similar views it has been proven through. several events national positions being explained by spokespersons by leaders themselves and then very sure that durban would add to this what we believe is a unified and coherent message. of what should be done there to resolve the problem there is some speculation in the west that russia and china are trying to bring break says their main job i need to call a force capable of deporting united states and nato from their leadership positi

on assad to step aside as the from key many others would soon echo the same rhetoric is time for bashar to go to the message to president assad is it is time for transition it is totally to go with the regime of bashar al assad must come to an end we ask the regime to step down. has to go through syrian forces fighting assad immediately felt encouraged the train was in motion and a two year journey later had the destabilization of syria has been a us nato project from day one they have lined up all of their allies in a very ugly effort to overturn the government of syria and to create instability at every and. so perhaps america did indeed pull the others in to then pull itself out two years on washington is criticized for its failure to bring things to head in syria home and abroad we are providing vital humanitarian assistance for my it is terry an assistance doesn't stop bombs the rebels who have suffered losses as heavy as the military now see they feel betrayed by the u.s. we did not get any real action on the ground from the united nation from the united states speculation is brew

wanted to remove bashar assad from power it could do so within twenty four hours it has that level of military capability and superiority and i said knows it the u.s. is major concern and i think the west's major concern is what happens after assad falls and unless that question is answered the u.s. is i think the obama administration rightly thinking twice about forcefully removing us that it can be done at the drop of a hat but it hasn't been done for the reasons that need to be outlined in other words the sectarian. infighting among the opposition would you like if you're going to do like those really you're going to learn a thing i said would you like to see the u.s. do that in twenty four hours. it's not as simple as whether i would like what you did it was a party vote assyria with the forceful removal you just said it was yes but not worst possible doesn't mean it's inevitable no possibly nobody should have been able to finish should it be possibility means it shouldn't be done the u.s. has and has not exercised it should not be all right gentlemen i'm going to jump in here we'

a sunni muslim he was an important pillar of support for president bashar al assad is part of the smallalawite sect it's the first as suicide attack to hit a mosque since of the syrian uprising began reporter abdulemam was any has the details the most shocking news and details that after the bomb they discovered another bomb which is the door of the most. happy news that it wasn't exploded. they managed to a dissolve it and started the mosque of mr that i've done which is one of the most important school in syria and one of the most important one in their stomach would be is the one who was.

arab states are free to offer military support to the syrian rebels fighting the syrian president bashar assad if they so wish the arab league secretary general also say it and that the ministers had invited the opposition syrian national coalition which is an umbrella body for and he said political of liberal groups to occupy the seat of syria at the league this essentially means more political and more diplomatic support for the syrian rebels paula thanks very much indeed for that live update thats artie's paula slipper let's not talk to middle east blogger culture sharon he joins me live now here on r.t. cole i understand that obviously we're talking about syrian rebels here being behind the seizure of u.n. staff isn't there a danger that these rebels could isolate themselves or they be rejected by members of the international community that are supporting the rebel opposition. actually that's the most obvious thing about. the first. role is while the rebel leaders and the opposition are demanding more arms from the west and demanding international community intervention they're going