but the battle for damascus is under way. it is happening in the suburbs after months of shelling and air strikes. it is controlled by the rebels the claim they own about one- third of greater damascus. the rebels only have pockets of ground. these were blocks of flats. all sides should distinguish between civilians hiding. almost every building is damaged, which suggests is being treated as a military target. >> they sought a bomb and a barrel of explosives dropped from the helicopter. the blitz is breaking the city and breaking lives. it isn't breaking with the president's enemies. >> they have shown that they have the stomach for a fight. they can endure pain and they have the conviction that if they don't, they will be killed. the question for them is what more they will have to do. the fighters showed off what they can do. more than 200 recruits are being trained at an army base that they captured a month ago. the officers and defectors from the army have the trappings of the islamic fighters but denied the regime's char

and damascus understandably is shooting back and then turkey claims that it needs defensive weaponry to protect civilians and now if turkey were to stand down from supplying the rebels perhaps they would not have the problem of protecting civilians on their side of the border the russian says the deployment of the missiles will only escalate the conflict nato says it will d.

intelligence does not believe damascus is likely to fall right away, but white had an estimate. >> you can feel it. you can sense it. it looks like the regime's being defeated not tomorrow maybe, but not too far off, i think. >> reporter: can you put a time frame on it? >> i'm thinking in the next couple of months. >> reporter: the syrian government has vowed not to use chemical weapons against its own people but it regards the opposition as foreign terrorists. >> pelley: david, thank you. those so-called foreterrorists are actually the syrian people who rose up against the 41-year-old assad family dictatorship. it's estimated 40,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians. one reason assad has held on-- he's had the support of russia but that may be changing. in ireland today, secretary of state hillary clinton, met with the russian foreign minister. it happened at a meeting of the organization for security and cooperation in europe, known as the ocof sce, and margaret brennan is covering for us tonight. margaret. >> reporter: well, scott, officials familiar with those talks say the

a prison in damascus is where some of the opposition are being held. this is the report. >> the soundtrack of the damascus state is shelling. the regime has the heavy guns. they are the first thing you hear in the morning and the last at night. armed rebels are dug into parts of the center around damascus. this is one of them. the rebels who filmed this and any civilians who have not managed to escape are being shelled steadily in the last few days. the shells keep the rebels back from the strategics strong point. the bbc was invited to visit its detention center run by air force intelligence. we were not allowed to see the cell blocks. human rights groups say tortures happen here. they paraded six male prisoners. the men said they were not speaking under arrest. the government, who would not be filmed, said they were making the wrong assumptions about syria's secular state. none of the men had been in court that. all have confessed to being in the hottest, al qaeda-style group -- jihadist, al qaeda- style groups. >> they produced the algerian passport

for children are killed as a car bomb explodes and hits a school bus near damascus there's no news of ukrainian journalists kidnapped in syria. and the u.k.'s northeast feels a financial pinch even as the country scrambles out of recession layoffs and regional regeneration. from moscow twenty four hours a day this is r.t. now bahrain cut the sentences for dozens of people who took part in anti-government rallies last year but the move has failed to satisfy local activists who are calling for the release of all political prisoners human rights groups urging the kingdom to stop using tear gas and torture interrogations its crackdown on public gatherings. and benefits from the two year unrest. oh when it came to supporting calls for democracy in middle east or north african states while denouncing government sponsored violence leaders of the west were vocally critical from our graphic has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave out a very clear message for president which is it is time for him to go but when scenes of violent clashes between riot police and reform company risk came fro

and inside syria state media reports as a rebel mortar attack on a school in the damascus suburbs has killed twenty nine students and a teacher is the latest incident of collateral damage in the conflict that has allegedly claimed hundreds of lives in the past few days alone the syrian government maintains its fighting terrorists and controlled let's get some reaction now from historian gerald horne. joining me live from new york once again civilians are being caught in the crossfire what reaction coming from the international community and indeed from nato to this latest reporting killing of innocents by the rebels. well the killing of innocents by the rebels actually is part of the blueprint of the north atlantic treaty organization it's no secret that they would like to see the departure of president assad but i'm afraid that they haven't thought through the consequences of their actions recalled that in february march two thousand and eleven we were seeing the same scenario we were seeing the sonority all about suppose the protection of civilians in northern africa or libya in par

rebels in syria claim they are making gains in their push towards damascus while the us is giving the opposition of granting it official approval. despite global condemnation saying it placed a weather satellite into. new h.d. studio center here in moscow this is the weekly look back in the past seven days top stories and the latest developments rights groups in egypt are calling for saturday's first stage of a constitutional referendum to be held again after claiming widespread violations unofficial tallies released by the islamist camp show a narrow majority backing the charter the opposition which has been urging a no vote to what it calls a discriminatory draft also accepted the opponents were leading with a slim advantage truth has been following the voting in current. it's been a tense night here in the capital in cairo as people have been waiting for these key results on the referendum of the constitution to limit the results of course the official ones will come out of the second round which indicates that it was a yes vote the muslim brotherhood together with the media outlet

a bombing bill drop to damascus see it to call when you hear the interior ministry in damascus we don't know whether it was. or another rebel group responsible for that in fact the leader of the very syrian opposition coalition which the u.s. has just formally recognized and is supported by came out and asked the u.s. to we consider their decision on almost right because they've been so helpful in the fight against assad here is what he said. the decision of considering one of the factions fighting the regime is a terrorist organization should be reconsidered and we all madly love our country might differ with some groups and ideology and political views but we confirmed that all of the rifles of all the rebels are united and we aim at toppling the criminal regime and then this opposition leader went on to talk about how important religion is in their fight he says and i quote martyrdom for the sake of allah has always been a main motive for people's freedom end of quote so that's the idea of freedom that the leader of the syrian rebels pass in short the u.s. supports the syrian rebels

rebels in syria claim they're making gains in their push toward damascus while the u.s. is giving the opposition a boost by granting it official approval. and the launch of defiance north korea blasts off its latest rocket despite global condemnation saying it placed a weather satellite into orbit. four am in moscow i met treasure bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t coming to you now in high definition. rights groups in egypt are calling for saturday's first round of a constitutional referendum to be held again after claiming widespread violations meanwhile unofficial tallies released by the islamist camp show a narrow majority backing the charter the opposition which has been urging a no vote to what it calls a discriminatory draft also accepted that their opponents were leading with a slim edge journalist bell trues been following the vote in cairo. tense nights here in the conflict in cairo as people have been waiting for these key results on the referendum of the constitution preliminary results of course the official ones wil

this is his report. >> the soundtrack of the damascus gate, shelling. the regime has the heavy guns. they are the first thing you hear in the morning and the last at nine. the regime is that the city center. armed rebels are in parts of the ring around damascus. this is one of them. the rebels to film to this, and any civilians who have not escaped, have been shelled in the last few days. they keep the rebels back from this strong. . bbc was invited in to visit the detention center run by air force intelligence. we were not allowed to see the cellblocks. human rights groups say torture happens here. they paraded six prisoners. they said they were not speaking underdressed. the governor said any doubters were making the wrong assumptions about syria's secular state. syrian state tv was in the room to film. none of the men had been in court. all have confessed to being in al qaeda-style groups. >> the main work is making explosive devices to plant. >> they produce the algerian passport of this person, who said he was also a french citizen. >> i decided to

the damascus international airport, about 12 miles southeast of the city. suburbs in the surrounding area. rebel leaders called the airport a legitimate target and gave a stark warning to the regime and outside travelers to avoid it at all costs. fighting near the airport forced the suspension of commercial flights this week. some airlines have already stopped all together. a rebel takeover of the airport would also cut off weapon supplies and allies like iran says andrew tabler of the washington institute near east policy. >> as the country's longest runways, from that location that jets from iran land, carrying a lot of sophisticated weapones, so knocking that location out. taking it over and holding it would allow the rebels to begin their push towards damascus without having the threat of resupply from the iranians. >> reporter: that makes it far too valuable for forces loyal to syrian president bashar al-assad to give up without a fight. the battle for damascus and its airport might prove to be the bloodiest in more than 20 months of syria's brutal civ

rebels in syria claim they're making a push towards damascus but the u.s. is giving the opposition a boost by granting it official approval. of defiance north korea. despite global condemnation saying it. was. broadcasting live from new studios this is. a welcome to the program rights groups in egypt are calling for saturday's first stage of a constitutional referendum to be held again after claiming widespread violations i mean while unofficial tallies released by the islamist show a narrow majority backing the charter of the opposition which has been urging a no vote to what it calls a discriminatory draft also accepted their opponents word leading with a slim advantage while following the vote for us in cairo isabel true. it's been a tense night here in the capital in cairo as people have been waiting for these key results on the referendum of the constitution we've got preliminary results of course the official ones will come out of the second round which indicates that it was a yes vote the muslim brotherhood together with media outlets numbers and mou

shouldn't label any group fighting the assad regime this terrorist that there's a massive blast rocks damascus. but does washington really care that the opposition they support is endorsing terrorists more details coming up. north korea's rocket blasts off a message of defiance pyongyang says it sent a weather satellite into space but it's enough to unnerve the region. and president putin bows to cage the corrupt and says it's time for the russians to seize the initiative in the country's development. a lot of good morning see if you just joined us money kevin owen here in moscow this morning syria's main opposition coalition says the u.s. should reconsider its decision to out a leading rebel group to its terrorist list meanwhile several explosions struck outside the interior ministry building in damascus killing at least eleven of the u.s. became the latest country to endorse the opposition alliance the latest and from artie's garniture she can. it's clear that washington is trying to distance itself from extremists in syria they have designated a front a terrorist organization it's thought t

and mediators arrived in damascus. this is al jazeera live. indian protesters defied a ban and take to the streets to vent their anger over a bridge toll -- brutal gang rape. the head of the u.s. gun moll goes on television to defend his call for armed guards in every school. they are helping keep kids out of trouble in south africa. welcome to the program. all they were trying to do was buy bread. this has turned into a tragedy in central syria. dozens of people are said to have died at the bakery was hit by a government air strike. this is as they arrived in damascus for more talks aimed at ending the violence. >> panic, chaos, anger. this is the aftermath of what the opposition says was an air strike carried out by a syrian fighter jet. the observatory for human rights says those killed and wounded were queueing outside a bakery. only five days ago it was under the control of government forces. in the rebels recently opened a new battlefront and this region of hama. territorial gains mean little when the states still have superior firepower

any news from damascus? >> i think the regime here can feel the pressure. it has been under huge pressure in the last couple of weeks, increasing pressure. of the most pressure has faced from the west, certainly, in the almost two years this has been going on. i spoke before panetta made his remarks to the information minister and he repeated one of their official positions, which is that they say they do not have chemical weapons. of course, there's plenty of evidence that they do. and what he also said was that if they had them, they would never use them. >> people talk about a tipping point in syria. what is going to take make outside bandeau -- to make assad go. are they any closer to that moment? >> it has been hard to get a sense of that because of the lack of the visas. the strain of the war on the government buildings, there are signs of bomb damage. lots of roads are closed. traffic is fine award check points. only a few roads are available. and going out of the city into the suburban areas that are held by the free syrian army. what you can see is

government in cairo i guess i should say then you will love the government the comes to power in damascus because you will see a sunni muslim islamised government a muslim brotherhood style government that is absolutely intolerant fundamentally hostile to the west washington has failed to officially denounce the many suicide bombings perpetrated by the rebels in syria preferring to focus on the wrongs committed by the assad regime alone the u.s. is also ramping up the rhetoric about the possibility of the assad government using chemical weapons against civilians something that damascus says would be suicidal on the other hand many rebels are not averse to the idea of suicide in the name of what they call holy war militants have recently taken control of a toxic chemical plant in the country's second city of aleppo a video was uploaded to youtube showing them testing chemical weapons on rabbits. we could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage then although you will die like these do rabbits in its own words the government is fighting terrorists that battle has claimed tho

rebels closing in on the capitol city of damascus. those stories when the "cbs evening news" continues. t> >> jeff: a taliban attack at a military base in eastern afghanistan triggered a two hour battle today. suicide bombers began by detonating explosives at the gate of the nato base in jalalabadment all nine militants were killed. five afghan civilians also died. nato says the base was not breached. in syria two car bombs exploded today in the city of homs. at least 15 were killed there, and dozens of others wounded. and fighting also intense five-- intensified around damascus. as kelly cobiella reports rebels are closing in on the capitol. >> reporter: for the first time rebels are challenging the syrian army for control of the main airport. street battles have grounded flights for three days. rebels have also taken control of two military bases. and appear to be planning a push into the center of damascus. assad's army answered with rockets and bombs today. so far the regime has managed to stop an attack on the city and retains co

in damascus.they cut it three days ago, they say it was terrorists, but internet companies say it's the syrian government that cut the internet there. and likely because the rebels have been pushing towards damascus and particularly the international airport just south of damascus in recent days and slow their advance and comes as the rebels have been targeting the international airport and the syrian government sis it's open and flights are taking off and landing there. and the emirates and egyptian air say that they have suspended flights indefinitely in that of the international airport in damascus because of the heavy fighting in the area. and the rebels now say that they've taken over a main road just outside of the airport, now, all of this happens as the u.n. is warning after human catastrophe in syria and more than 40,000 people killed and the u.n. is saying now that nearly 700,000 syrians have been displaced and that could grow this winter as the violence continues, ands winter is startin

any news from damascus? >> i think the regime here can feel the pressure. it has been under huge pressure in the last couple of weeks, increasing pressure. of the most pressure has faced from the west, certainly, in the almost two years this has been going on. i spoke before panetta made his remarks to the information minister and he repeated one of their official positions, which is that they say they do not have chemical weapons. of course, there's plenty of evidence that they do. and what he also said was that if they had them, they would never use them. >> people talk about a tipping point in syria. what is going to take make outside bandeau -- to make assad go. are they any closer to that moment? >> it has been hard to get a sense of that because of the lack of the visas. the strain of the war on the government buildings, there are signs of bomb damage. lots of roads are closed. traffic is fine award check points. only a few roads are available. and going out of the city into the suburban areas that are held by the free syrian army. what you can see is

the russian parliament says time is running out for damascus. >> it was a high-level meeting between syrian diplomats and the russian foreign minister. he made moscow's line clear -- the crisis has to be solved through political dialogue between the warring parties, but there was no mention of any new proposals to bring about that objective. the foreign ministry denied reports of a new peace plan from russia and the u.s. >> this plan does not exist. that is why it is not being discussed. with mr. brahimi and our american colleagues, we are trying to find a solution on the basis of the peace plan that was agreed upon in june. >> the geneva agreement calls for a cease-fire and the creation of a traditional government, something the united nations special envoy still wants to see. in damascus, he appealed for a government of national unity. >> this government would lead the country in a transitional phase, which would end with new elections. they could be presidential elections if the parties concerned agree to it, or parliamentary elections.% >> but what role syria's president assad mi

. >> the aftermath of a bombing in a damascus suburb. syrian official media said a car packed with explosives blew up near a school in this district to the southwest of the total, and that at least half of the casualties were women and children. "we were going to school when the explosion took place. i do not know anything about my parents. they may have died." this man says the victims were all students, or going to their places of work. after the explosion, the ground was full of bodies. the state news agency has blamed the violence on terrorists, its name for the rebels intensifying attacks on the government. this was the latest in a string of bombings in and around damascus. for the first time, russia has acknowledged the possibility of the rebels winning the civil war in syria. the assad regime was losing control of more and more territory, an opposition victory could not be ruled out. it is unclear whether this means there will be a u-turn in russia as practice of vetoing u.n. security council resolutions it regards as anti-assad.

now this comes as the damascus regime increasingly accuses both the e.u. and the united states of conducting a smear campaign against it in terms of falsely accusing damascus of using chemical weapons the syrian foreign ministry has written a number of letters to the united nations in which it says that it is afraid that countries backing both terrorists and terrorism might them selves provide those countries with chemical weapons and then shift the blame and point fingers towards syria there is of course growing concern that the chemical weapons stockpiles within syria could land up in the hands of extreme militants in here we've been hearing reports of both al qaida as well as has been in the south operating and lending their support to the insurgency and so there's concern that these weapons could land up specifically in their hands the united states for its side says it has intelligence that the syrian army may be preparing to use chemical weaponry and again the u.s. has pushed the line that this would be a red line if indeed it was proven and that thi

four people have died in a car bombing and the syrian capital damascus when a vehicle exploded near a busy crossing and another planned a terror attack a much larger one has been thwarted in the country's north our correspondent in the region the latest. we are hearing that some four people have been killed and ten people injured in an explosion of a booby trapped car in damascus and we understand that most of the people who are legal field and the injured are students in a separate incident the authorities managed to uncover a truck loaded with some three tons of explosives in the north a managed to dismantle those before any kind of incidents of could there have been numerous incidents throughout today and the last few days through the army rebels and through the army troops in the rebels fighting one another we're also hearing reports that the troops managed to destroy a number of rebel vehicles as well as missile launches at the same time they've reported that they've managed to prevent rebel attacks on checkpoints in numerous religious social media workers are in the firing line

there is a bigger push on damascus. how long president assad has left in power is anyone's guess but the dynamics are changing on the ground. >>shepard: thank you. the white house is warning on syria's chemical weapons has shifted. you may a recall in august the president warned the scenes against moving around or utilizing the weapons. this week the president and others in his cabinet dropped the words "moving around" and say there will be consequences if they "use" the weapons. that is a change. the president's position has not changed, according to the white house. and now chris wallace is live on capitol hill with us. this is a change. they said if you move it around there is a consequence. that was the red line and now the red line has moved. >>chris: obviously, you do not want to be involved in a ground war in syria but on the other hand if you wait until they are used, isn't that waiting too long? because when they are used you will kill a lot of people with deadly sarin gas, a nerve gas. so one will think if the

damascus says it's being framed by the way it switches trying to great a perceived threat as a pretext for intervention over details coming up. while the surgery forces u.k. taxpayers to tighten their belts are to look said how big corporations are using legal loopholes to avoid paying their share. and we need an american ones judge judy inferior to have children a one of tens of thousands put in a decades long sterilization program yet to receive any kind of compensation. what you already live from moscow with me to bomb would say good to have you with us in syria radical islamists have reportedly captured a key military base in the country's north the claimed advance has stoked fears the country's chemical weapons stockpiles could potentially fall into militant hands let's get the latest now from marty's middle east correspondent policia who joins us live the syrian chemical weapons is becoming the favorite topic for mainstream media spin doctors but does not correspond with the facts. well on monday the european union pledged to provide greater support to the syrian rebels this came

opposition offensives as the rebel made gains in battles across the country in the push towards damascus it comes after the opposition received another bruise this week when their diplomatic status was upgraded by he was led group of nations also donated more than one hundred million dollars to the assad count meanwhile nato is deploying surface to air missiles and troops to neighboring turkey ancora requested the reinforcements from its allies after a series of calls aboard exchanges of fire with syria alliance officials now claim the syrian government has begun using ballistic missiles against the rebels something denied by damascus she is gay much account takes now a closer look at who's fighting against assad. they call themselves martyrs. all those you see around you of the fighters you see are living martyrs and the living martyr has already sacrificed a soul for this country the syrian rebels say they will stop at nothing to defeat us. some of them are so proud of their deeds that they post them on the web including the execution of prisoners. or having a child behead a man who wa

inside syria state media reports that a rebel mortar attack on a school in the damascus suburbs killed twenty nine students and a teacher is the latest incident of collateral damage in the conflict that has allegedly claimed hundreds of lives in the past few days alone the syrian government maintains it's fighting terrorists armed and controlled from abroad well let's get some reaction now from asia times correspondent escobar joins me live now from. brazil welcome to expect condemnation from nato nations for this latest alleged atrocities by the rebels they're obviously very quick to condemn anything that they see and has been committed by a sad. no there won't be any condemnation it's it's a one sided war of course everything that evil but sheryl's of government does it need as you call it that not significantly from the opposition or. extremely dodgy groups that comprise that was issued by the way revamped as a new syrian national council by orders of hillary clinton in both the two weeks ago and now we have the new you there who never shows up anywhere. keep up the team is the form