i think the united states has lost an opportunity to work against bashar al assad, and i can tell youly for the syrian issue maybe since afghanistan issue that both saudi arabia, both the religious extremists, liberal like -- [inaudible] they work together to agree against bashar al assad, and that is also a government issue. so the saudi arabian people, it was the first time that they were in one position, i can say 100%, i mean, with the government against what's bashar assad doing. but unfortunately, what's the united states doing, i think they were busy enough with some other issues, so now many people are disappointed, and i should tell you this -- [inaudible] also saudi arabia, we are also very surprised by. i remember after maybe two months from, i mean, let's say the last six months we start to read in american newspapers that saudi arabia is supporting al-qaeda in syria. al-qaeda, you know, everybody maybe knows in the united states that we are fighting the al-qaeda, and al-qaeda, they try to kill -- [inaudible] at his house just last year. and also we have diplomats in yemen

well syrian president bashar al assad speaks exclusively to our t. about his and his country's future saying he's not a western puppet and warning the foreign intervention would have global questions. barack obama slaps new sanctions on iran in one of his first foreign policy decisions since his reelection while lawmakers plan even more severe restrictions. and libya telt itself as a tourist destination just weeks after a deadly siege and clashes in the town of bani walid. who world news line from our moscow headquarters are watching r t with me the conference of well the syrian president says that western states are used to creating enemies and they're motivated by their very own interests in an exclusive interview with r t bashar al assad predicts a global catastrophe should foreign powers intervene in his country let's get more on this now from our sophie shevardnadze she spoke to the embattled leader in damascus sophie fascinating interview to watch especially considering how how dire the situation has gotten on the ground there how does the syri

syrian president bashar al assad speaks exclusively to our t.v. about his and his country's future saying he's not a western puppet and warning that foreign intervention would have a global buffer question. barack obama slaps new sanctions on iran in one of his first foreign policy decisions since israel action while lawmakers plan even more severe restrictions. and libya tells itself as a tourist destination just weeks after a deadly siege and clashes in the town of bani walid. well world news from our moscow headquarters you're watching r t with me lucy cough and elf well the syrian president says that western states are used to creating enemies and they're motivated by their own interests in an exclusive interview with r t bashar al assad predicts a global catastrophe should foreign powers intervene in his country watching sophie shevardnadze i spoke to the embattled leader in damascus and has more details. that he's not a western puppet he also denies to fuck that civil war is taking place in this country he's saying that it's not civil war it

well you can watch that full exclusive interview with syria's president bashar al assad at five thirty pm g.m.t. here on our t.v. it's also available for you right now on our website just head over to our dot com . i'm syrian i mean. i mean in syria but even so you know the incident. that are to exclusive friday through sunday on our to our t. dot com all right well prominent syrian dissidents and exiled opposition figures are meeting in qatar at the moment to forge a broader alliance against umask us the syrian national council which of course is the main umbrella group is leading those talks but activists turkmani says the external opposition has no sway over the fight on the frontline i don't see he was critical of the for the student national council as a body but i'm not against many of the people who formed this camera so yes it was formed with lots of external support maybe external. but they don't matter a lot to what matter is the people inside syria people who are opposing the regime inside the country everybody is asking the opposition to come in one correlation and coalitio

of course you can watch the full exclusive interview with syria's president bashar al assad in just over twenty minutes time right here on our t.v. you don't have to wait until then the full interview is also available on our website that's at r.t. dot com. i'm so you know i mean. maybe it's you know i have to be you know i'm going student but. i did our two exclusive friday through sunday on our to our t. dot com. well u.s. lawmakers are reportedly preparing a fresh set of sanctions against iran targeting its business transactions with other countries now that is on top of the latest round of restrictions imposed by barack obama just after he won reelection to the white house the situation has been strained further by claims that iranian jets had fired at an american drone flying off iran's coast last week arties going to take on has a story. president obama's first moves after he won reelection have pretty much indicated that in the next four years he will aggressively pursue the idea of the u.s. being the world police ministration is impose financial sanctions against the iranian offi

threatened president asad he would follow the fate of libya's leader muammar gadhafi this as bashar al assad said in his explosive interview with r.t. he has no plans to leave syria father had of their media department has listened to the words of the president says it is doomed. me that it in his statement you will channel he said he would not leave syria we know this very well because he will not be able to leave syria he and his people not money to leave the country the free syrian army will not let him do this he will not get out of syria long enough you'll be lucky if you reach the same fate as. the western backed syrian opposition is still locked in talks over the creation of a unified group to forge a broader alliance against the government the syrian national council vying to keep its main role has chosen and new leader appealing for more weapons to help oust an anti-war activist brian becker says the opposition was never after a peaceful solution to the conflict if the opposition is saying to the assad government and other forces within the syrian government that their fate will be

their latest bogeyman that's according to him in an exclusive interview with r t where president bashar al assad warns that any direct foreign intervention in syria could spark a global disaster sophie shevardnadze spoke to the embattled leader in damascus. that he's not a western puppet he also denies to fuck that civil war is taking place in this country he's saying that it's not civil war it's a conflict where he has to five different fractions of terrorism. and the fact that the financing of this terrorist fractions was unprecedented and it was coming from abroad he told me that if the sinuses were to stop then he would probably need about two weeks more to restore peace in his country and he also said that if the west were to intervene militarily it would have a domino effect from atlantic to pacific and no one would be a gain from that and he also said that west tends to create enemies for themselves like communism iraq saddam hussein and he feels that bashar al assad in syria is the new enemy not syria but he himself so he feels that the fact that conflict has ask elated it is because the

of the free syrian army the main opposition group and that country had threatened to president bashar al assad that he would follow the fate of libya's leader moammar gadhafi they had of the f.s.a. is media department miles really told r.t. that he thinks assad is doomed. channel he said he would not leave syria we know this very well because he will not be able to leave syria he and his people not managed to leave the country the free syrian army will not let him do this he will not get out of syria line you'll be lucky if you reach the same fate as. well the syrian opposition remains locked in talks and qatar trying to consolidate its alliance against president assad this deadly bombing ripped through the country with the latest attack killing at least twenty soldiers meanwhile the syrian national council the main opposition group has come under western pressure to a sept a new unity plan this i met a growing frustration from other dissident factions the s.n.c. had elected a new leader on friday appealing for more weapons to help oust president assad now the president of the arab lawyers ass

president bashar al assad of syria thank you very much for talking to r.t. today almost was going to ask this so you know many people work year ago that you wouldn't make it this far but yet again we're sitting in a new renovated presidential palace and recording this interview who exactly is your enemy at this point by any means terrorism instability in syria this with or any means not about people it's not about persons. the whole issue is not about me it's three all living supposed to contribute safe or not so this a barrier that we've been fighting as he worked to win this war how would you reconcile with your people after everything that has happened this be. again more precise the problems called tween me and the people i don't have problem the people called the united states is against the west is against me many other countries including turkey which is not of course against me of the peoples of the syrian people or against me how can it be so it's not a balticon siding with the people if you stop the ball play conservation between the syrian and the

for speaking of an r t exclusive r t international sandown with the embattled syrian president bashar al assad to find out what he thinks of the civil war in his country up next an interview you won't see anywhere else plus just days after president obama was reelected he's getting down to business with iran by tightening sanctions yet again we'll bring you the latest in the standoff and tell you about the unarmed drone iran fired on last week. al qaeda operatives and affiliates weren't the only ones tortured in iraq american contractors were subjected to this treatment as well but a chicago court says these men cannot sue for their harsh treatment i'll have that story ahead. well it is friday november ninth four pm in washington d.c. i'm christine for you're watching our team all throughout the day today r t will be airing a long form interview an exclusive interview with syrian president bashar al assad to correspondent so fish are not say sat down with him in damascus earlier this week and we wanted to play part of that interview for you now. do you think that at this point they could be ta

these countries if a country cable company more prosperous country that was syrian president bashar al assad well earlier today i have a chance to speak to sophie shevardnadze about her experience of being in syria and of sitting down with president assad i asked her first how she was able to land the interview in the first place. well we've been trying to get this interview from the day conflict has started to ask later actually. we spoke to a woman who is in charge of the press ministry in syria she was here in moscow on an official visit that was about six months ago so after we interviewed her we also asked her for an interview but we never got a definite answer and then all the sudden probably a month and a half or so ago they called us from presence of ministration and they told us willing to go with and they were ready to receive us the rest was all about figure out the dates and the duration of our stay in syria and we should point out the german journalist jurgen towton hoffer did interview assad a few months ago and a lot of critics pointed out the they were giving you know this ge

an r t exclusive r t international sat down with the embattled syrian president bashar al assad to find out what he thinks of the civil war going on in his country up next an interview you won't see anywhere else. and with the holidays just around the corner the latest and greatest video games are set to hit shelves across the country in an attempt to make the most realistic games creators are now recruiting navy seals to help and tell you why seal team six members are being told game over. president obama may have want to second term but what policies will change well he reach out to muslim american communities or will he left them live in the shadows we'll have some answers ahead. well everyone it's friday november ninth five pm in washington d.c. i'm christine for his hour and you're watching our team. we begin with a surprise move this evening in washington cia director david petraeus resigned this afternoon over an extramarital affair in a statement petraeus says he went to the white house yesterday afternoon and submitted his resignation citing personal reasons the president accep

and does this mean the end is near for bashar al assad? end is near for bashar al assad. he's got a lot of tanks, a lot of aircraft, a lot of firepower. what we're seeing from the united states is more of a concern that events are moving very swiftly on the ground. the u.s. wants to be able, at the end of all of this to have some influence, some input into what comes next there. not having supplied any arms up to this point, they don't have much influence. they're beginning to wonder, do we need to have more and how do we get it? they're still very concerned who are the rebels, who do they represent, are these al qaeda forces, we don't want our arms falling into the wrong hands. that's a paramount concern for washington. >> this guy's the best. thank you, jim clancy. appreciate it, shirt. >>> shocking numbers to tell you about, 25,000 people missing in mexico. up next, details on how these missing person cases are being linked to the drug cartels there. make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we c

in an interview that aired node russia the president, bashar al-assad, declared "i will live and dieia." he is living now and we hope for the latter soon, he has murdered 32,000 people. a day after the british prime minister suggested a deal that would allow the leader to go safely into, i'll as a end this civil war that began 19 months ago. jonathan hunt joins us now. one could argue that a safe way out is no justice for him but maybe it would stop more murders. >>jonathan: he certainly seems to have made the decision as many experts have said, this is a fight to the end. the end for him is going to mean probably as its did for muammar qaddafi in libya, death. in this interview aired today to part on a tv stay of english language in russia he said and i quote, "i am not a put -- puppet ," and here makes cheer he will not resign or leave. and talking about whether any western powers might ultimately put boots on the ground if syria, he says and i quote, "i don't think the west is headed in this direction but if it does, nobody can predict the consequences" a warning that the syrian a

president bashar al assad of syria thank you very much for talking to r.t. today now let's work on damascus so you know many people work that state year ago that you would make it this far but yet again we're sitting in a new renovated presidential palace and recording this interview who exactly is your enemy at this point by any means terrorism and if you started this with or any people responsible persons. means taking over leaving supposed to contribute safe or not. that would be fighting us who wants to work to win this war how would you reconcile. with your people after everything that has happened just be. again more precise the problem is caught between me and the people i don't have a problem with people could be united states is against the west is against me in many countries including turkey which is not of course against me if the peoples of the syrian people are against me how can it be so it's not about to call siding with the people if not the bob conservation between the syrian and the syrian don't have civil. terrorism and support coming fro

president bashar al assad of syria thank you very much for talking to our to today you know what's going to baskets so you know many people work that state year ago today you wouldn't make it this far but yet again we're sitting in a new renovated presidential palace and recording this interview who exactly is your enemy at this point by any means terrorism and instability in syria this was our enemy not about people it's not about pows it's all about who is not about me staying or leaving supposed to contribute safe or not so disobey me but we've been fighting us here he worked to win this war how would you reconcile with your people after everything that has happened this be. again more precise the problem is called tween me and the people i don't have problems with people could be next to this is against the west is against me many countries including turkey which is not of course you can speak of the peoples of the syrian people against me how can it be so it's not a balticon siding with the people you spoke to bob the conservation between the syrian and the syrian don't have several

president bashar al assad of syria thank you very much for talking to r t today almost we're going to ask so you know many people were convinced a year ago that you wouldn't make it this far but yet again we're sitting in the new renovated presidential palace and recording this interview who exactly is your enemy at this point by any means terrorism instability in syria this with or any talk about people it's not about it's. all about who is not about me three leaving it's a pub contribute safe or not. but we've been fighting us here you know i've been here for the last two days and i had a chance to talk to some couple of people from damascus some of them say that whether you stay or go doesn't really matter at this point anymore what do you say to that i think for the president to stay or to leave is a popular issue it's not personal and the only way to define this. place hopefully through the ballot box so it's not about what we hear it's about what we can get through but books and books with any. president to say only very simply i think what they meant was that at this point you

coming up after this break next as promised syrian president bashar al assad gives r.t. is own perspective on the bloody conflict still gripping his country it's in our exclusive interview this hour. richest law often enough knows that to ride a horse you've got to catch it first. for him it's a daily routine that just softens a force on the island of horn at the heart of. his life on an isolated farm is about blue sky green grass and his horse is worth it sometimes it gets lonely here who have become part of me now i've fallen off so many times sometimes. it's part of my everyday life. been home to a rats like me just laugh for centuries most still live off the end of cattle and fish. if my call is often called the pearl of siberia a horn is said to be the pearl of. its all end of think forests. and vast stops. virtually undiscovered by tourists until some twenty years ago i haunt us quickly become a magnet for nature lovers and thrill seekers you're quite some way from civilization here accommodation on the island is very basic so you can forget about a t.v. or even ru

president bashar al assad of syria thank you very much for talking to our team today i was talking about things so you know many people work and stay here and go they you wouldn't make it this far but yet again we're sitting in a new renovated presidential palace and recording this interview who exactly is your enemy at this point but i mean if there is an instability to this with our enemy what about people it's not about both. the whole issue is not about me staying or leaving it's about the contribute safe or not so disobey me that we've been fighting as he says he worked to win this war how would you reconcile with your people after everything that has happened just be. again the problem is caught between me and the people i don't have a problem with people called the united states is against the west is against me in many countries including turkey which is not of course against me if the peoples of the syrian people are against me. so it's not about the call siding with the people you spoke to bob the conservation between the syrian and the syrian don't have to prove it's about ter

and the syrian president bashar al assad president pledges to stay in his war torn homeland no matter what this as he speaks exclusively to our t.v. . well the best of our weekly stories live from our moscow headquarters you're watching r t with me lucy catherine of well after the most expensive election campaign in u.s. history barack obama was reelected this week as the u.s. president beating his republican rival mitt romney and although many have picked obama over romney because of his softer talk on foreign policy he hasn't quite walk the walk as artie's guy nature can found out. in the wake of president obama's reelection there was no sense of euphoria as in two thousand and eight but his victory did come as a relief to most americans his challenger mitt romney was widely seen as more aggressive especially in his foreign policy rhetoric also a seemingly out of touch with middle class america if congress fails to come to an agreement on an overly a deficit reduction package by the end of the year. everybody's taxes will automatically go up on jan. first waiting for him right after

security officers in the war torn syria this as the opposition issues death threats on president bashar al assad after he pledges to stay in his homeland no matter what in his exclusive interview with r t. c.h.f. chief david petraeus quits his post over an extramarital affair as some question whether there are other reasons for his departure. and friday prayers and in the violence involved reign with police firing tear gas at opposition optimists struggling to make their voices heard in their ongoing anti-government protests. world news coming to you live from our moscow headquarters i'm lucy catherine of in you're watching our team well this news just in up to twenty members of syria's security forces have been killed in two car bomb explosions in the country's southern city of daraa now the ball must have exploded minutes apart at a military officers club some sources say up to five blasts were heard we're getting in touch with our middle east correspondent paula to bring you all of the latest in just a few moments. well the free syrian army the main armed opposition group in the country has t

him remaining in power is impossible out of our no dialogue no negotiation with bashar al assad certainly no one and no political power will stoop to negotiation because the syrian people will abandon any faction that steps in the dialogue with him so no there will be no talks with bashar al assad's father had a gun while you got little endlessly rockwell's photos too he says syrians would never want an opposition formed on the gulf and american pressure to grab power. i'm glad to see that this collection of corrupt dictatorships is instructing the syrian people as to who their representatives ought to be how about the representatives of the saudi arabian people of the bahraini and people or people of qatar or charge of the arrest of these dictatorships so what would an outrage is that they're the course they're just a subsidiary of the pentagon and of the cia this is part of the long term plot by the u.s. by britain by france by turkey by israel and i'm no fan of assad i might say but. good things are watch words after gadhafi in libya they're going to be much worse if they succeed in ov

syrian rebel forces looking to als president bashar al assad has received an important endorsement from the west the european union says the national coalition is a legitimate representative of the country's people but it stops short of giving the group official recognition friends in the u.k. . well among the first western powers to give rebel alliance their stamp of approval with turkey also doing the same and carr is now pushing for nato to install a patriot missile system along its border russia is among the countries strongly opposing the move widely seen as the first step towards creating a no fly zone and the mohammad the editor in chief of the syria tribune says the rebel polish and is receiving western support despite clear to set it within its own ranks. we don't know this pollution and they don't control anything on the ground and you know the west want them to be the sort of project which does not make sense dr. france and turkey recognize the coalition has a leader in there as a sort of figure of the syrian people the funking groups and their leaders the release the video s

i mean do you feel you have to be since you've been playing student bashar al assad in an r t exclusive friday through sunday on r t r t dot com while america's best known military leaders and cia had david the trans has abruptly an ounce of his resignation stepping down the tracks of minutes here and extramarital affair saying he was guilty of acceptable behavior david petraeus served as cia boss since two thousand and eleven after leading the u.s. military campaigns in iraq and afghanistan reports say he had an affair with his biographer paula broadwell who is currently under f.b.i. investigation in prague will spend a year with a former cia chief in afghanistan interviewing him for a book on the u.s. warfare she suspected of trying to evade legally access tresses classified e-mail intelligence expert lieutenant colonel tell me chaffer told r.t. there is more behind the resignation than just moral issues revealing one of the lessons of washington is whatever they're talking about publicly publicly the issue is something else entirely and i think that's what's here let me be very blunt

dot com well president bashar al assad says that only elections can determine his future but it seems that not everyone agrees the free syrian army's media chief says that they want the president's head on a plate. in his statement to your channel he said he would not leave syria we know this very well because he will not be able to leave syria he and his people will not manage to leave the country the free syrian army will not let him do this he will not get out of syria lying he'll be lucky if he meets the same fate as. well the leaders of the syrian opposition in exile say they have signed an initial agreement to form a new umbrella coalition during a conference in qatar but the body has lost support in syria itself this after the local coordination committees of activists there this is about the exiled officials the president of the arab lawyers association says the foreign backed syrian national council doesn't represent the revolution. the only credibility it had was with the western powers we all remember when the us forced many countries to attend a meeting in turkey to recogn

popular among iranians because they realize the cost of iran's nuclear pursuit and support for the bashar al-assad regime. they don't want their regimes to support bashar al-assad, a brutal dictator in the region. sanctions had the effect of weakening iran's influence in the region. iran will have a harder time finding syria, but groups like hamas, hezbollah and this may be one of the reasons hamas has distanced itself from tehran to tehran is no longer able to fund hamas and some other palestinian groups as effectively. now, for sanctions are not a magic bullet. they're not a magic solution. they have to be coupled with engagement with the islamic republic and there's indications that tehran is serious about coming to the table. it has been series for several months. there's been indications that once it's been resolved, the nuclear crisis. i would argue that preceding the latest sanctions against iran, that when the p5 plus one, the u.n. security council and germany sat down to talk to iran, there is a problem sequencing. iran wants p5+1 to recognize the enriched uranium and wants iran to build

r t exclusive we'll bring you part of an interview with the embattled syrian president bashar al assad what he says about the ongoing conflict inside his country and what would happen if western forces try to intervene. and the bradley manning saga continues as his case moves slowly through military court new details are emerging on how his lawyers plan to fight for their client details coming up. and trying to clean up and rebuild from hurricane sandy the new york and new jersey areas face a long slow recovery but will some businesses actually make a profit off of this monster storm that story coming up. it's thursday november eighth four pm in washington d.c. i'm meghan lopez and you're watching our teeth. well we begin this afternoon with the latest information coming out of syria twenty months more than thirty eight thousand people dead and still no signs that the civil war there that has severed the nation at the scenes is anywhere near over several big events have happened this week that have the potential to trigger some sort of action first president obama won reelection and in

to go but you do so nobody can pick what's next now in that interview bashar al assad went on to say that if that he will live and die in syria raising serious questions over whether he just put a bounty on his head since he essentially stated that there are only two possible outcomes to this conflict and are to internationals interview is getting a lot of attention the new york times wrote an article with the headline reading syrian president warns against a foreign intervention in syria and even c.n.n. is picking up the interview in its coverage but this was an exclusive interview given by bashar assad to russia today portion of it was released today not a surprise what we're hearing so far we've heard an entrenched a defiant syrian president bashar assad. meanwhile a landmark meeting was held in qatar today between the different factions of syrian rebels this comes amid growing international pressure for the movement to get organized if a transition is to take place now the ongoing civil unrest is boiling down to secretary and violence between the sunni majority and assad's group

>>shepard: the president bashar al-assad promises he is not going anywhere.el sing, thank you very much, appreciate it. all right a homeowner says he might know what caused the deadly blast that rocked an entire neighborhood. next the investigation now focusing on the text message that man received before the house blew up. you have heard of this story? we have context and perspective ahead. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. >>shepard: the investigation into a mysterious blast that ripped through a neighborhood in indianapolis is now focusing on a furnace and a text message a homeowner received. the explosion happened on saturday night. it destroyed or damaged dozens of homes and left two people dead. the neighbors had no warning at all, no small of guess or sign of trouble. >> it woke me up and it was just shaking and i saw it was crumbling. >> whens and frames and everything came

the violence has killed at least 36,000 people since the uprising against president bashar al assad's regime last year. >>> a rocket attack killed a 28-year-old man in afghanistan. rockets hit the northeast section of kabul overnight. it happened near an zbins service office building and a private tv station. insurgents occasionally launch rockets into the city, but the weapons are not very accurate. >>> new this morning, four people in the hospital after a violent night in northeast washington. the victims are of a triple stabbing and a shooting just three miles apart. the stabbing happened at the 300 block of 51st street just after 1:00 this morning. when the police arrived, they found two women and a child with stab wounds. they are expected to be okay. no word on a suspect there. just minutes later, police got calls for shots fired in the 2000 block of "c" street. they found a man shot in the chest. he is in critical condition. no word on a motive or a suspect in that case. >>> also northeast overnight, firefighters rescued at least one person from a fire in the district. the fire

near the damascus airport, and online access was cut, as the pressure intensified on president bashar al-assad have a report narrated by jonathan rugman of "independent television news." >> reporter: it could be the west's worst nightmare. jubilant jihadist fighters near damascus. this group has captured a helicopter and these islamists are now in the vanguard of syria's rebel army. syrian warplanes and helicopters were filmed attacking the fringes of the capital today. and to the road to the international airport has been closed by fighting. and as that fighting intensifies much of syria's internet network has been cut. the government and opposition are blaming each other for the shutdown. whatever the truth, syria's regime is battling these men for its very survival. president assad's helicopters are being shot down. and even a mig jet was filmed tumbling from the sky. this rebel boasting that he's downed both a helicopter and a mig within 24 hours. these surface to air missiles have been looted from captured military bases. what do we first with it a voice can be heard asking. not everybody

today criticized the international community for not doing enough to help overthrow the regime of bashar al-assad. he told russian tv there is no civil war. >> reporter: syria is being laid to waste. shattered by 20 months of grinding conflict that's turned cities into war zones, and once-peaceful neighborhoods into rubble. today, two suicide bombers killed at least 20 government soldiers according to opposition groups. the target was a military facility in dura, where the syrian uprising began last year amid hopes that the regime could be toppled. instead, the government is determined to stay in power. and tens of thousands of syrians have paid with their lives. this young boy survived an attack that tore through concrete walls. he was carried away, but not to safety. because he lives in a country at war with itself. yesterday, 11,000 syrians fled their country in one of the biggest exoduses since the fighting began. most crossed into turkey, driven by deadly clashes close to the border in the town ras al-ayn. more than 400,000 syrian refugees are now living in camps. the united nations expects

rebels say they fired mortars at president bashar al assad's palace. state-run media contradicted the rebels' account. it said opposition troops fired on residential areas in what it calls a terrorist attack. it said at least three people were killed. a day earlier, rebels set off a car bomb near the presidential palace. at least 11 people, including pro-government militiamen, died. opposition forces are reportedly bringing in fighters from other parts of syria to focus on damascus. human rights active uses say fighting around the country killed more than 200 people on tuesday alone. >>> an earthquake has struck the central american country of guatemala. at least 30 people are reported to have died. analysts with the u.s. geological survey say the magnitude 7.4 quake struck on wednesday at around 10:35 a.m. local time. they say the focus was 41 kilometers beneath the pacific ocean, about 160 kilometers from guatemala city. authorities say several houses in the town of san marcos near the mexican border collapsed. they say residents are trapped in the r

in a rare interview, bashar al- assad was defiant. speaking to russian television, he ruled out the possibility he might go into exile. >> i am syrian. i will live and die in syria. >> assad warned the west against military intervention in the country and said such a move would have global ramifications and warned any intervention would have what he called a domino effect. meanwhile, syrian opposition politicians are meeting in the qatari capital to try to form a unified group. the opposition is under pressure from the west to create a government in waiting that would be ready to take over if and when assad is no longer in control. >> i am sure we shall find the best solution to create a leadership which can face challenges. >> the group is likely to be dominated by the syrian national council. it has just elected a new secretariat, around 1/circassia of home are islamists. >> onto business news now. german engineering giant siemens has unveiled plans to cut costs by 6 billion euros over the next year-and-a-half. >> this is why it is l