a sign marks the date and location, may 25, houla. tensions were high after clashes earlier in the day. but it was after rebels seized a checkpoint that the attack began. houla is in central syria, a collection of towns and villages. according to eyewitnesses, the army fired artillery and tank rounds from the south, and then men from villages entered on foot to another area. the u.n. says a residential neighborhood was gunned with shells and artillery. there were many cries to god that day. video, apparently taken at the time, shows some of what happened on the ground. it is impossible to verify this or exactly what has happened, and much of these images are just too gruesome to show. he shows heavy pretended to be dead when the troops came to the house. he says there were government soldiers and militiamen there. his brother and uncle were rested, but when his mother tried to stop them, they were all shot. this baby girl is now an orphan. they say she was wounded by what they are calling government thugs in uniform. >> this baby is m

many are saying that the houla massacre is a tipping point for syria.that the sentiment here in berlin? >> there is a sense here in berlin that things in syria have taken a serious turn for the worse. the massacre in houla has provoked outrage in many european capitals, including berlin. but we have seen expulsions coordinated -- expulsions, coordinated explosions in several european countries. germany, france, spain, italy, the u.k., and also the u.s., canada, australia, all putting out top-level diplomats as a concerted and serious response, all being accompanied by a very tough language. berlin itself is saying that syria has no future under assad. >> with the tough language in these expulsions, the german foreign minister wants syria but on the u.n. security council agenda. what might we go westerwelle be looking for? >> that is right. german foreign minister guido westerwelle said on tuesday that germany would be urging the u.n. security council to take up syria again. he did not indicate exactly what action would be demanded, but we can expect tha

russia warns against placing the blame for a massacre in the syrian city of houla solely on the government saying the opposition gunman may also have been involved. in the syrian conflict drags on it's being fueled by weapons flowing from neighboring lebanon where illegal arms dealers are driven by profit and face. and after weeks of student protests in canada and hundreds of arrests. but it's no longer just about storing free it's. a very warm welcome to you from all of us here at r.t. moscow i'm rori sushi russia says both the syrian government and opposition gun minutes of blame for the deaths of more than one hundred civilians including over thirty children in the town of houla over the weekend speaking after a meeting with his british counterpart in moscow foreign minister warned against assigning blame for this massacre let's get the details not going off and you go to why does russia's top diplomat say both sides in the syrian conflict are at fault. well russia is calling for an international investigation to be held looking into what really happened in houla and the west including

a comment that came in response to the massacre in houla syria. from the leader of a country that led the implementation of a no fly zone over libya last year critics have pointed out that there was no real choice between french president francois launch and his predecessor nicolas sarkozy but for those who thought they had voted for change now appear to be already faced with a case of deja vu one of the pillars of the laws election campaign was the pledge to pull french troops out of afghanistan this has made many hopeful the new president would focus on issues at home rather than spending millions of military campaigns overseas but it seems they were wrong as foreign affairs magazine put it french foreign policy is on the autopilot now and her. french born. and that's not the right thing. for him not even an issue and a last words are in line with the position of bernard on the levy a french activists and philosopher who wrote an open letter calling on the lawn to quote take the initiative in syria assad knows that time is counted for him the ne

it saves place against the backdrop of many are calling the massive houla. children were shot at point-blank range or stabbed. in france, condemnation has turned to action with the syrian ambassador will be expelled. >> kofi annan said his talks would be serious and frank. plain speaking behind closed doors but it may be sometime before the real outcome is known. the first official account that he supported his peace plan though it currently is in tatters. mr. annan has to come away with something tangible if he is to have a hope. domestic -- houla gave a warning of what the future may hold if kofi annan fails to break the cycle of violence. revulsion continues to echo around the world to convey its anger, australia expelled two syrian diplomats. other countries are expected to follow. >> seeing the bodies in houla and they were appalled. appalled the regime could organize the execution, the killing, of men, women, and children. >> on the ground, the houla massacre has done nothing to halt the violence. parts of the third biggest city are still being bombard

houla isge art dominating the news. syria is blaming rebel fighters for the bloodbath. this boy said that he survived by playing dead. when the army tanks got outside the family house, a mixture of government troops and army came in. he said that they killed his mother and sister right there and took away his brother and uncles, who were found dead later. russia is reluctant to blame the regime outright for the massacre. but the foreign minister sergei lavrov said what matters is stopping the violence, not who wins in damascus. can only come if president assad goes, as far as britain is concerned. -- peace can only come. >> ever increasing chaos and descent into almost all-out civil war and collapse. >> the focus is on kofi annan's talks in damascus. will tell president assad that the security council insists he must comply with the peace plan and withdraw his troops, tanks, and artillery. that should have been done weeks ago under the peace plan. but it has not happened and the cease-fire is in tatters. especially after the houla massacre, the rebels are not interested

so the massacre in houla may not mark a turning point. their survival depends on overwhelming force, not on dialogue. bbc news. >> let's get more on the diplomatic moves to isolate the passarella shot -- to isolate the passarella shot -- the assad regime. it looks like a little more than a slap on the wrist. >> it was a political statement. it was a way of saying to the regime that we reject your political representatives and that you have clearly crossed a moral line in conducting your horrible atrocities. >> it looks like more than 30 children were executed at point blank range? and all the international community can do is expelling diplomats? >> you are right, this is frustrating war, and more remains to be done. -- this is frustrating work, and more remains to be done. we need to bring this to bear on assad and his cronies. they need to look around and see that they are on the wrong side of history. this is taking a long time. >> so far, the mix of political and economic pressure does not seem to have changed things, on the ground in

russia warns against only blaming the syrian government for the massacre in the town of houla saying rebel forces base some of the responsibility for the deaths of more than one hundred civilians. as the syrian conflict drags on largely investigate weapons trafficking from neighboring lebanon we legal arms dealers are driven by profit and face. and russia's cause pesky lab identifies one of the world's most dangerous computer viruses are used in cyber attacks across the middle east. online on screen this is r t live from central moscow twenty four hours a day russia says both the syrian government and opposition gunmen may have been involved in the deaths of more than one hundred civilians including over thirty children in the town of houla on friday speaking after meeting with his british counterpart in moscow foreign minister sergei lavrov want to gaze assigning blame for the massacre. pisco not has the details. russia is calling for an international investigation to be held looking into what happened in houla while the west including the united states and great britain are pointin

why does it shift to a place like houla? is the army taking the battle to places it perceives as being-and-r antigovernment? >> i can only tell you -- and this came from an exclusive interview i did with the deputy leader of the united nations mission to syria inside houla yesterday. he said, look, alex, we have this from two sources. both sources are entirely different places geo graphically. they don't know each other. they haven't met each other. they say the same thing. this is not the united nations' view but it's what they were told about what happened which is simply this. that last friday after prayers about 12:30 in the afternoon the syrian army began a two-hour barrage that shelled the town of houla. that was followed mid afternoon by groups of armed men, thugs, dressed in civilian clothing. they went building to building, house to house, they went family to family and they slaughtered people as they did so. it is the corroborated views of people in the town and to the east from rebels, from a town nearby that this

. >> following a massacre in the village of houla, kofi annan warns the syrian peace plan is in shambles. we will speak with reporter charles glass just back from syria. all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. court hassupreme upheld the extradition of wikileaks founder julian assange to sweden after a more than yearlong legal fight. swedish authorities want to question him over accusations of rape and a sexual assault made by two women. he has been under house arrest in britain since december 2010. his lawyers had argued the swedish public prosecutor did not have legal authority to issue the arrest warrant, but earlier today the british judge sided with sweden in a 5-2 decision. supporters of voiced fears he will wind up in the hands of the u.s. should assange be deported. he has been given 14 days to return to sweden. the u.s. and 11 other countries have formally expelled syrian diplomats following a massacre of over 100 people in the village of houla. in a coordinated action, countries including germany, fr

alex thompson bravely got in to h houla. we said this last night, it bears repeating the regime not only denies involvement in the murders, denies any violation of the two month old cease fire at all. syria has not done a single violation or the understanding understanding between syria and united nations. >> keeping them honest, that is not true. government forces were shelling homes on day one of the cease fire, hours after bashar al-assad toured that city. about houla, diplomats speak bluntly. >> what is clear, government forces were involved, they were shelling using tanks and artillery, appears to be militia entering houses and slaughtering people in what is really an abominable crime. >> the regime is lying about the cease fire and more evidence in the complicitly in the houla massacre. russia and china are blocking tougher measures. the chinese foreign ministry said china up poses military intervention. a russian diplomat saying decisions on military operations in syria can't be guided only by emotions. now recall tha

itn's alex thompson traveled to houla and filed this report. >> reporter: houla today, so far the world has seen only fleeting glimpses from rebel cameras. we're in the southern suburbs, not exactly controlled by the syrian army, but they are here. we can only film covertly, and they are scared, very scared. who knows how many dead bodies lie around here. when i pulled the blanket back, it revealed an old man way past fighting age with a gunshot wound. for well over an hour we were pinned down here by sniper rounds, terrorists, said the syrian army, their word for rebels. and about ten meters away from this position, one of the soldiers was hit and taken away quickly, but he left his mark on this town. because the fighting continues in this town, it's impossible to verify exactly what happened here. there are no eyewitnesses. there are no civilians. they have all been forced out by the fighting, clearly going on all around this town today. but this is rebel-held houla, a ghost town. ask yourself this then. why did people flee the area held by the army but remain in the rebel-held zone?

guilt by default confusion and conflicting reports over the houla massacre proved no barrier to further demonizing also his frowns now threatening military intervention in syria. allegations that saudi arabia is going well beyond the call of duty and its support for syrian rebels with suicide bombers apparently being auctioned off to join rebel ranks. it's crunch time for julia no songs as a u.k. court prepares to pass a final judgment on whether the whistleblower should be extradited to sweden over alleged sex crimes. and speculation over reports washington parachuted spies into north korea in science a fresh wave of tension and distrust on the korean peninsula. the rossignol kids have been. told china is dropping clancy and jet a lot of cast into the slowing economy i mean twenty minutes time how the figures on the deep south. it's eleven am here in moscow this is r t coming to you live from an isa now away with our top story and u.n. investigators have only just begun to piece together exactly what happened during the bloody massacre in the syrian township of houla but some nations a

syria's foreign ministry says armed gangs were responsible for the massacre in the town of houla in a bid to start a civil war as washington mourns its ready to sideline the un and go into syria. the power to choose on and votes on whether the hand of the country's money matters to brussels which could see its sovereignty surrendered suit. and a tip off a high profile whodunit the father of poisoned executed the agent alexander litvinenko believes exiled russian tycoon bodies but is also was behind his murder in london. online on screen this is r.t. live from central moscow with the twenty four hours a day the syrian government says the massacre of more than one hundred people in the syrian town of houla was the work of terrorist gangs this is the u.s. secretary of state admits military planning for action in syria is already going ahead but moscow has vowed to block any moves for outside interference at the u.n. we get live expert opinion shortly from washington but first. reports from new york . mrs clinton during her visit to denmark she was speaking about the situation in syria sa

russia warns against placing the blame for a massacre in the syrian city of houla solely on the government saying opposition government make also have been involved. as the syrian conflict drags on is being fueled by weapons flowing from neighboring lebanon. is a driven by profit and pain. and after weeks of violence student protests in canada and hundreds of arrests but you wish the costs are set to resume but it's no longer just about soaring fields. online on screen this is r.t. live from central moscow twenty four hours a day good to have you with us this hour the russian government says that both the syrian government and opposition government may have been involved in the deaths of more than one hundred civilians including over thirty children in the city of houla over the weekend speaking after a meeting with his british counterpart here in moscow foreign minister sergei lavrov want against assigning blame for the massacre going off has the details. russia is calling for an international investigation to be held looking into what happened in houla while the west including the united

have you houla, a very good place. in my childhood we thought of houla as a place of no significance. it wasn't just the army, it was the surrounding villages that came and did most of the killing face to face. i think we're inned midst of a fight. we always knew we would end up there if this fight goes on, and we have come to that point. >> do you agree this could be a turning point? >> i hope so. but this is, as you point out, has been going on for 14 months. as the world has sat and watched this. it's extraordinary to me to see this kind of bloodshed and this level of violence visited upon children, where the world seems unwilling to act. syria is a much more complicated situation. we said it before. it has more sophisticated air defense. and it has clients, russia, who made the russian foreign minister, made these outrageous statements recently, russia is responsible for providing the arms that are being used against syria -- >> saying it's a disco party, or it takes two to tang co. it's just not true. >> and it do

they are a maximum of five miles away from houla. everybody in the town is absolutely convinced that these people came from the villages and using underlying intentions as a method of settling scores in this civil war. and the question you have to ask is, how is it 100 armed militia were able to come in and slaughter family after family, in an area which was an intensive shelling zone prior to them arriving, and yet when they came in the area, no shells fell on them. >> last night you were saying that we may never know exactly what happened in houla and today it sounds as if you feel almost certain of what happened in houla. you used the word collaboration and coordination. do you feel this is the accurate, valid story from this particular witness and others in the town? >> i feel having got in the place at last being able to conduct my own albeit brief investigation, i cannot convey to you what it's like there. you are simply cast from family to family to family, from street to street, building to building. everybody has a story. pe

houla is on the plain, overwhelmingly sunni. the killers, they say came, down from the hills to the west where the villagers are sheer and alawite. to the southwest, this is taldou, named again and again by people here as a village where the killers have come from. so too, fullah to the northwest, again named by different people, at different times, in different locations as being a place where the killers live. time and again they showed us their videos of the massacre aftermath. we can't show pictures of children virtually decapitated by knives, women with their faces shot away, tiny mutilated bodies of toddlers. survivors scarred by all this constantly brought to our attention, like three-year-old siddara who was wounded by shrapnel, but her mother is dead. for now though, time is up for the red crescent and the u.n., we had to move out. south, back across no-man's land and away from this string place. >> woodruff: the killings in houla prompted a starkly worded report to the u.n. security council today. an aide to special en

investigators say syrian artillery is responsible for less than twenty of the one hundred eight deaths in houla the rest including children show signs of brutal execution. and we suspect that. there is a nation state behind the development of these cyber attack. russian security experts who discovered one of the most malicious computer viruses ever found targeting the middle east say it's most likely sponsored by a foreign government. and as occupy protesters in the u.s. are labeled terrorists grilles the group's activists about their true goals in the latest edition of his interview program throughout the day here on r.t. . online on screen this is r t live from central moscow twenty four hours a day u.n. investigators say less than twenty of the one hundred eight people killed in the houla massacre in syria died from artillery fire the rest including dozens of children were executed the syrian government says evidence points at opposition islamists while the rebels blame the government the western media has been flooded in recent days with alleged eyewitness reports suggesting troops but ther

guilt by default confusion and conflicting reports over the houla massacre proved no barrier to further demonizing assad with france now threatening military intervention in syria. allegations that saudi arabia is going well beyond the call of duty in its support for syrian militants with suicide bombers apparently being shouldn't go off to join the rebels. and speculation over reports washington parachuted into north korea incites a fresh wave of tension and distrust on the peninsula. is a pleasure to have you with us today here on r.t. . life in moscow the supreme court has dismissed wiki leaks founder julian assange has appealed against extradition to sweden he's wanted for questioning of alleged sex crimes sara furthur was outside the courthouse in london. julian assange was in in court today when the judgment was pos rejecting his appeal against the extradition to sweden and now it's not over yet he's now got a fourteen day extradition for a while still legal to gain going to be appealing against some of the points that were raised in the judgment they will the case reopened saying

but this is rebel-held houla, a ghost town. ask yourself this then, why do people flee the area held by the army but remain in the rebel-held zone. after friday's massacre here, just who are the people afraid of. in these empty streets, the answer seems glaringly obvious. >> the u.n. security council just wrapped up a meeting on the crisis in syria, and u.n. envoy kofi annan is expected to arrive in syria tomorrow. >>> now to severe weather here in this country. tropical storm beryl, well, it is dumping a whole lot of rain on the east coast, starting in northern florida, all the way up to the carolinas. jacqui jeras is watching the storm. and of course, lots of warnings going out to people along the coast to always want to go and see the high tide and surf. but don't get in there. >> it's tempting, you know. you see the big waves, surfers think it's gk to be a good time. but it's dangerous. there literally have been more than a hundred rescues in the past few days. the relief will have to come in the form of rain from this stor

security council condemned syria for friday's massacre in houla. horrific, even by the standards of a year of fighting. more than 100 people killed, most of them women and children. new video shows the attack as it started. syrian forces appear to shell houla. people run in panic as more artillery rains down. then witnesses say pro-government thugs went on a house to house killing spree binding the hands of victims, stabbing them and shooting them point blank. u.n. peace broker kofi annan arrived in damascus. >> i am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in houla. >> reporter: but annan is losing credibility. syrian activists say his cease-fire is a sham. just a cover for the assad regime's relentless crackdown. the deadlock goes all the way to moscow where british and russian foreign ministers met to discuss syria. the uk was clear. >> it is part of the pattern of behavior of the assad regime, i believe, to commit atrocities and then to try to blame those atrocities on other people. >> reporter: russia far less so. foreign minist

security council on sunday the head of the international peace mission in syria confirmed in houla there were signs of artillery and tank shelling but there were also many coupes is we've heard. from close distance signs of a slaughter both sides apparently had a hand. people including women and children this is very is under the control of the military and it's also surrounded by government troops and the u.n. security council has the u.n. observer mission on the ground to gauge what exactly happened in houla moscow is now lifting the responsibility from assad for the violence but is stressing that equal pressure has to be applied both on the authorities and on the opposition and it's not only vital for them to put their weapons down and peaceful you negotiate but also for the international community for all the outside players to reach one unified position and so you are off says only in that case could be peace plan be fulfilled which is currently the only way out of the crisis so you are also outlined that moscow is in contact with both the and the opposition and he says that from th

observer mission on the ground to best to gauge what exactly happened in houla. moscow is now lifting the responsibility from assad for the violence but is stressing that equal pressure has to be applied both on the authorities and on the opposition and it's not only vital for them to put their weapons down and peaceful you negotiate but also for the international community for all the outside players to reach one unified position and so you are off says only in that case could the peace plan be fulfilled which is currently the only way out of the crisis also outlined that moscow is in contact with both the and the opposition and he says that from these contacts with the rebels it's clear that some forces outside of syria but within the region are giving them other signals which are not aimed at fulfilling the peace plan but are actually aimed at violating boosting calls for foreign military intervention the foreign minister has called on these players to make up their minds whether they want regime change or the start of the deaths of people in syria. it is warn

begun to piece together exactly what happened during the bloody massacre in the syrian township of houla but some nations are waiting for conclusive proof before announcing president also killed opinion based largely on a number of unverified accounts well the situation is further confused by a plethora of witness reports by main rebel islam is a gang for the slaughter. explains. the united nations secretary general and the u.n. supervision mission in syria have been tasked with the responsibility of investigating who was responsible for last week's massacre in syria but in the meantime the u.s. and its allies are taking unilateral moves that some critics say could possibly provoke further bloodshed and compromise a fragile cease fire that has been held in the country the u.s. ambassador to the united nations susan rice says the syrian government is fully responsible for quote the hideous massacre of innocents in houla the u.s. diplomat also took to her twitter page to accuse the syrian government of point blank brutalizing its people in the meantime syrian diplomats were expelled from a