. >> a car bomb explosion hits the lebanese capital, killing a top government official. >> at the eu's summit in brussels, leaders reached a hard-bop compromise. >> germany court convicts 10 somali pirates in the first piracy case in 400 years. -- at the eu summit in brussels, leaders reached a hard-fought compromise. >> a senior lebanese intelligence official has been killed in a massive car bombing in central beirut that left seven other people dead and dozens injured. >> tensions in lebanon have been rising as a result of the syrian conflict, although it is not yet known who is behind the attack. some are already speculating it could be elated to -- related to the ongoing fighting. >> lebanese religious communities are divided between those who support the current government and the sunnis who backed the rebels. >> these men are trying to stop a young girl from jumping out of the damaged building. it was the midday rush hour in beirut when the massive car bomb detonated in the christian district. many parents were fetching their children from school. other residents of the area were

lebanese remember a civil war and fear history will repeat itself. hello and welcome to gmt. i'm george alagiah with a world of news and opinion. from supporterst of vote bo xilai disposes -- exposes a rift that in the communist party. and daniel craig is back as james bond. it's midday in london, 2:00 in the afternoon in beirut, where the lebanese army says it is determined to restore order across the country. it follows clashes in parts of the capital and the northern part of tripoli in the wake of last week's assassination of the country post-intelligencer. the great fear is that the in syria is about to engulf 11 on. 11 on remembers a 15-year civil war. now this report from beirut. >> the heaviest clashes overnight or in the northern city of tripoli. at least three people including two children reported killed. disturbances between anti- government protesters and security forces. in recent months, tripoli has been the focus of pro-syrian and anti-syrian sentiment. civil war is being played out on the streets of lebanon on. as in the capital beirut, protesters are demandin

hello the lebanese military struggling to contain the violence that hit the country over the weekend after the killing of a senior intelligence official word general has a strong critic of syria's regime in the car bombing friday the opposition not only blames damascus for his deaths but also pointing the finger the lebanese government wants a promise to disturb the latest marty's falsely accusing. hi paula the army restore peace first off. well certainly there is a heavy army and police presence here in and around the capital city of beirut at the moment the situation is calm they certainly have a lid on things but that doesn't mean that the mood is not tense and that it's can not disintegrate at any moment throughout the day on monday they were sporadic clashes in the northern lebanese city of tripoli this between two neighborhoods one that supports the syrian president bashar assad and another that supports the opposition and the other day and continuing until now we have seen armed gunmen on both sides patrolling the streets and this has stoked fears of an increase in sectarian t

to cross-talk lebanese mayhem i'm joined by claude saw me in beirut he is a journalist author and political analyst specializing in middle east politics also in beirut we have omar now xabi he is the director of the akbar research unit and in washington we cross to gareth porter he's an investigative historian and journalist or a gentleman crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want if i go to you first in washington everyone knows lebanon is a very fragile country so in whose interest the most this time around is there to see interest in stability in the country. well that question of course is is not easy and say no and i would preface my own answer to that by saying that very seldom if ever does reality in lebanon conform to the presentation of it in the western news media and at the current narrative of course is that the the syrians are really interested in destabilizing lebanon in order to somehow take the heat off the the regime from within syria. you know i'm not in a position to say that that's impossible but i would say that it seems a bit of a stretch an

lebanon and who would be very well aware that the assassination of a leading sunni figure within the lebanese government would be the perfect formula for doing that as well as for energizing and giving momentum to that very soon a jihadist movement and i would just point out that this is indeed what happened after the assassination of wright president hariri in two thousand and five that was precisely what happened ok so i would suggest that there is an alternative explanation ok in a cloud if i go to you in beirut with what your interpretation of this because there's so many different one thought there go ahead there are there are it's a very confusing situation but let me just remind you what president bashar al assad said a few months ago when things started going really bad and he said that he would be willing to set fire to the entire region i don't know these were his exact words but it was more or less along those lines that he would destabilize the whole region and so this could very well be along the lines of what he said the other thing is gareth just said there the assassination of

well yes yes it's bad for lebanon and any any any involvement of the lebanese in the syrian conflict is bad for lebanon are there on the side of the regime or on the side of the rabble i just want to say that you know the there has always been a call that russia can play a bigger role and and that russia has. interests in syria and therefore it should play a bigger role and but i think it's a bit misleading because the there are two sides to the stories all. the russians the iranians the chinese and their g.m. are saying that the americans and the europeans and the and the west bank community can do can do more by stopping the smuggling of weapons by pushing the saudis the qataris the turks and the and their allies to stop smuggling weapons into syria and i disagree that the americans are not taking the full opportunity there taken a full opportunity and the evidence is that the as the other guest said from beirut that the the rebel groups are getting stronger yes they're getting stronger in terms of military equipment also i mean the today the year doubled as was the case in afghani

beirut with five injured after a weekend of violent clashes sparked by the assassination of a senior lebanese intelligence official. crosses the energy giant down one of the hills above the. points that make it look largest public traded in the wild and. over a good evening for me kevin are we here in moscow tonight it's eleven pm this is our this is our top story libyan pro-government militias continuing to pound the besieged town of bani walid as the standoff over the gadhafi stronghold intensifies another claims that chemical gas is being used to meet face clashes on the outskirts of the town they've killed over twenty people across the weekend and left many more wounded hundreds of terrified families have fled their homes are really going to reports we're getting reports from bani walid a town which essentially has been besieged by the pro-government forces for eighteen days straight especially in the last five days have been marred by very intense fire exchanged now residents of the town that we have been in contact with say that they are now starting to run out of food water and medical

calling on people actually to participate in what they call the lebanese eleven lebanese spring of alluding of course to the arab spring of last year. at this point we know that. there is still they give the non-playing some protection which is continuing in between that is the. country it has been kind of on the back for but now with the death penalty and all that all the attention is back. we do know that there. this region has subsided but there are you know where. there was heavy gunfire. and clashes with police and when you then the top of tripoli as well is on the outskirts of the roots or earlier today of course through what situation in lebanon and we'll bring you the latest. to the bombing though triggered a weekend of headstrong sentiment can you explain exactly what the people are wanting to wonder of course they're asking for the government if they're saying basically everyone has to step down why it should because in their opinion and the government supports a syrian government they are saying that there is the you have to understand there's a very strict she has to divide in l

with five injured there after a weekend of violent clashes sparked by the assassination of a senior lebanese intelligence official. plus america's global position is the topic for barbara romney's final turn on t.v. tonight with the two target the polls and vote is having a tough time telling them apart because it covers. buses the energy giant has announced one of the biggest still. now consisting of key parts what around sixty billion dollars i'm going to go to all the details that are going on but about time in the biggest benefit. hello very good evening live and direct from moscow at ten pm this is r t with me kev you know in our top story this libyan pro-government militias are continuing to pound the besieged town of bani walid as the standoff over the gadhafi stronghold intensifies there are claims now the chemical gas is being used to mid fierce clashes on the outskirts of the town they've killed over twenty and left many more wounded hundreds of terrified families to. the details we're getting reports somebody will lead a town which essentially has been besieged by the pro-governme

a massive car blast rocks the lebanese capital beirut killing at least eight and injuring dozens but one expert tells all to you could actually be the syrian conflict spilling over into neighboring countries. antigovernment protests gather pace in bahrain with fresh rallies taking place this friday despite a police judicial crackdown that's now seen four arrested for writing on twitter. twenty four hour a global news live from moscow this is our with me rule research the title of the world's biggest listed all a gas giant could soon be held up by a new company crushers. is looking to seal a multi-billion dollar mega deal with british russian joint venture to b.p. are the details now if you want to sara of us if forward this to you would become the second biggest agreement in the history of oil business is that this point to get britain based p.p.c. fifty percent stake in t.n. k b p russia's biggest oil pretty said is still an equal of those also being made to the full russian billionaires who own the other half of that t n k b p asset the whole deal coming out who won't think it stin

they were sporadic clashes in the northern lebanese city of tripoli this between two neighborhoods one that supports the syrian president bashar assad and another that supports the opposition and the other day and continuing until now we have seen armed gunmen from both sides patrolling the streets and this has stoked fears of an increase in sectarian tensions events in syria have brought to the fore the sectarian lines that lebanese suffer from its border to the fore both their allegiances and tensions you have essentially the march eighth bloc that is led by hizbullah that supports the syrian president bashar assad backing it out with the march the fourteenth movement that is seen as western backed it's also a movement that supports the syrian opposition ever since the assassination in two thousand and five of the former lebanese prime minister rafiq hariri these two forces have been coming to the fore and we see that happening again now over the assassination back on friday of this high ranking lebanese intelligence officer but what people tend to forget is that it is not in syria's

will the lebanese people be able to control themselves? will the government?oking at getting back at the 15—year civil war that only endedin the 15—year civil war that only ended in 1990? it depends on the will and capability of the different factions to get involved in the conflict. as it stands, the leaders, despite the popular anger on display, including armed clashes, the leadership over role of the anti— syrian camp is adamantly against renewed conflict but it lacks the broader capability, the logistical capability, to conduct such a conflict. for more these tensions and contradictions arise, the more they grow, the idea of a sectarian fault is not as far— fetched as some may think. what sort of strategic gains will the killers of wissam al—hassan be hoping to get? they are concerned with security —— securing a firm grip on the state apparatus. inasmuch as the other side regime have as an interest in removing wissam al—hassan, should the regime for, the group will want to firmly controls all the leaders of the lebanese state and the information branch and

>> guest: i'm lebanese, but my mother is syrian. >> host: lebanon is bordering syria; correct? >> guest: yes. >> host: lebanon's, how would you describe their economy? >> guest: well, it's going to take until saturday to cover this because the lebanese economy is really very difficult to describe. it's no , nominally -- nominally a liberal open economy, but the kinds of networks and crony networks that exist in lebanon turn this kind of seemingly open economy into vick victims -- victims, creating an environment where it's difficult to move up and young lebanese men and women leave the country to find jobs elsewhere whether it's in the gulf, europe, or the united states, and you see them in various places although the country's pretty small soçv' lebanese, the lebanese economy actually provided syria with a gate to the world in the 1980s, and that gate was a two-way gate so you will get the products that were not actually sold in the syria market officially through lebanon in the 1980s and provide goods to scrux later of the population, and the upper lay eric and then in the 19

brakes are violent shake the syrian lebanese border as president assad's troops tried to clear out rebels from one of the key spots for arms smuggling. strikes triggered by deepening cuts wrong troubled european countries as leaders are to stage yet another and a crisis summit in brussels. was deadly attacks on a stronghold of the former regime in libya amid accusations the country's new words turned a blind eye to the massacre of water gadhafi and his loyalists a year ago. this r.t. coming to live from moscow was. residents on the syrian lebanese border have been forced from their homes by a series of violent clashes armed militia in lebanon apparently used machine guns to attack the syrian army across the frontier triggering a tough response are reports from the region. here in the golan heights residents have been reporting fire overnight coming straight from the syrian lebanon border you have to understand that their supporters really close to this village right here syria in fact is right behind me if you can see it there has been an exchange of fire between the syrian armed forces a

tens of thousands gather in the lebanese capital for the funeral of a security official who is died in friday's blast which was blamed on syria before the start of that investigation. paid deadly rocks damascus sounds the u.n. peace envoy meets the syrian president to try and broker a truce in the conflict torn country. also another stories that shape the week dozens are careless and the former stronghold of marjah dompig sees another assault body pro-government militias a year after the western backed libyan revolt. and there are issues between police and protesters in london where more than one hundred thousand marched in anger at the social costs imposed by a leader. alone welcome to our tease the weekly on charon taraji thousands have gathered in the lebanese capital beirut for the funeral of a top security official was among the eight people killed in friday's car bombing and the so-called day of rage concludes a wave of protests which followed the blasts which saw in a rage people block roads and burned tires live to beirut now and political analyst omar the shall be thank you fo

this entirety in fact there are also reports of people coming out on the street and calling for a lebanese spring of course that hearken back to the arab spring so a very on easy situation in the middle east where it does look like lebanon at this point is if taking on the torch on rests in the area some lebanese politicians rushed to blame syria for the deadly blast saying the security official killed was a hardline opponent of president sought but i beirut based expert on the middle east says such claims are being dictated by politics. already we have the now the political element coming into play some elements of the march fourteenth movement which is known to be anti bush. even before it was known to the who was killed in this explosion they quickly pointed the finger at the syrian government right now we saw a house on the head of bin laden security who apparently has a marine killed more targeted that is known to be actually a robot for team is known not to be one of the supporters want to be very very likable person or those who are in government so i think now this would only lead

fresh outbreaks of shake the syrian lebanese border as president assad's troops try to clear out the rebels from one of the key spots for alms smuggling. and pitches for your own strikes triggered by deepening rocking trouble the european countries are e.u. leaders yet to stage another anti crisis in brussels these are live pictures from athens people are joining a second nationwide strike against a new harsh austerity program the protesters saying they will not tolerate a. crippling cuts. deadly attacks on a stronghold of the former regime in libya accusations of the country's a new rule. of the massacre of the loyalists one year ago. it's a pleasure to have you with us here on our today. live from the russian capital residence on the syrian lebanese border have been forced from their homes by a series of violent clashes militia in lebanon apparently used machine guns to attack the syrian army right across the frontier and then triggered a rather tough response reporting from the region. here in the golan heights residents have been reporting fire overnight coming straight from the

some lebanese officials blamed syria for it. yesterday, after the intelligence leader's funeral, protesters fought with security forces in beirut. police used tear gas to break up the protests. several people were reportedly injured. >>> is this legit? someone is officially recognized as a saint when he or she is canonized. this is true. in the roman catholic church, canonization is the act of recognizing someone has a saint. >> the roman catholic church recognized seven people as new saints over the weekend. the canonization ceremony had history, as well. a native-american was determined a saints. pope benedict xvi and other worshipers celebrated the new saints. a member of the mohawk tribe, sometimes known as lily of the mohawks. she converted to catholicism and served as a nun. >>> this week is hajj, one of the five main observances of islam. we have more on this annual tradition. >> reporter: its name means to set out for a place. and for muslims around the world, that place is the holy city of mecca. the hajj has begun for

internal lebanese reason rule so so if you are not a political religious rivalries but business trip matter rivalries too and so i think to leap to conclusions the moment although it's very tempting in this huge pressure to do it is rubber angels. in syria itself a car explosion hit damascus on sunday killing at least thirteen people and wounding dozens of others a taxi rigged with explosives blew up outside a police station in the busy district no one is admitted the blast which is the latest in the series of deadly bombings in syria's biggest cities in the past few months previously rebels and al-qaeda linked groups said they were behind such attacks the latest blast came as the international peace envoy met the syrian president to try and broker a temporary cease fire in the civil conflict is the editor in chief of the syria tribune media channel and glug believes the blast is aimed at derailing any peace efforts in syria. they are trying to destroy what they were bringing is trying to do obviously there are countries that are not happy about. any success that any brahimi may have

some lebanese m.p.'s already accusing the syrian regime of being behind the blast but a beirut based expert on the middle east told me earlier that these allegations are dictated by politics but you want to head the boy to syria he was here in beirut just two days ago he said that he was very afraid that the conflict all the rest in syria could not stay within syria's borders for forever and that eventually if it continues it will go beyond the borders this was a statement made by look little brahimi just two days ago from this very city now two days after he make these statements we see this massive massive blast i was at the same today for a couple of hours and it was a massive massive explosion. already we have the now the political element coming into play you. know most of the march fourteenth movement which is known to be anti bush. even before it was known to the who was killed in this explosion they quickly pointed the finger at the syrian government now we saw a bit of a. the head of the interna

fresh outbreaks of violence to shake the syrian lebanese border as president assad's troops try to clear out rebels from one of the key spots for smuggling. plus deadly attacks on a stronghold of the former regime in libya amid accusations the country's new rules turned a blind eye to the massacre of gadhafi loyalists one year ago. around the world around the clock this is r.t. live from moscow with me rory sushi tear gas and petrol bombs back on the streets of athens as police are facing off with protesters who on a nationwide anti or austerity strike we're going to show you right now the latest pictures from the greek capital thousands of people flooding the streets in a reaction to a further ten billion euros and budget cuts protesters say they will not tolerate a third straight year of crippling austerity the government has rolled out the cuts in order to secure the next tranche of financial. well meanwhile in spain thousands of students there are marching in cities all across the country wrapping up three days of industrial action against the slashing of the budget for education tha

the lebanese opposition calls for more rallies in a country already ingold by violent protests all out of friday's deadly conflict an apparent result of a serene crisis in a. return to chaos more civilians including children killed in libya as government doing to militias shell the town traditionally loyal to the old regime a year after the role of conduct it was killed. in the sound of protests a scuffle with police as it turns out thousands march against austerity in london the closures are so advanced in athens as greece suffered a nationwide strike souring the mood over an e.u. crisis on that impossible. to attempt to breach the blockade of gaza water that israeli forces stop a humanitarian ship and direct them to read on. the latest news on the week's top stories this is the weekly on r c hello and welcome to the program thousands of people in lebanon are expected to join the funeral of a top intelligence official killed by a bomb in beirut on friday the massive turnout is being encouraged by the opposition they declared a day of rage against the regime in neighboring syria which

fired into the air as soldiers try and disperse hundreds of protesters who are trying to storm the lebanese government headquarters as you can see people jumping up and down chanting today as sunday declared a day of rage coming out of beirut right now. about the trouble erupted after thousands gathered for the funerals of a top security official that is with some all ha son as well as other victims from friday's bombing which was blamed on syria before the start of an investigation. a deadly blast rocks damascus as the u.n. peace envoy meets the syrian president to try and broker a truce in the conflict torn country. and in other stories that shape the week dozens are killed as the under siege former stronghold of more market dumphy sees another assault by pro-government militias a year after the western backed to libyan revolt. also skirmishes between police and protesters in london where more than one hundred thousand marched in anger at the deep social cuts being imposed by leaders. thank you for joining our tease the weekly for the week's top stories and today's breaking news first rig

rocks beirut killing at least eight reportedly including the country's top security official some lebanese m.p.'s are suggesting this could be the syrian conflict spilling over the border. to government protests gathered pace in bahrain with fresh rallies taking place this friday despite a police and judicial crackdown that's now seen four arrested for writing on twitter. from a new center here in central moscow international news and comment live on t.v. the title of world's biggest oil company could soon be held by a new company russia is looking to seal a multi billion dollar mega deal with british russian joint venture to b.p. first as the details. if forward this to you would become the second biggest agreement in the history of oil businesses at this point to get britain based p.p.c. fifty percent stake in tank a b.p. russia's third biggest oil producer he said is full and equal also is also being made to the full russian billionaires who own the other half of that t.i.n.k. b.p. asset the whole deal will come in at a whopping sixty billion dollars and it will make ross neff the world

the lebanese opposition calls for more rallies in the country over edging gold by violent protests all out of friday's deadly car blast and apparent a result of the syrian crisis. a return to k.l. small civilians including children killed in libya as government limited militia shell a town traditionally loyal to the old regime again after a normal kid down here was killed. also protests in the shuffle with police couple with police i should say as turns up thousands in march against authority in london russia's agco bones and afghans as of greece's suffered and a nationwide strike souring the mood over the e.u. crisis summit in brussels. under new terms to breach the blockade of gaza israeli forces stop a humanitarian ship and arrest thirty outside its something called. the latest news on the week's top stories this is that we can all see hello and welcome to the program thousands of people in lebanon are expected to join the funeral of a top intelligence official killed by a bomb in beirut on friday their massive turnout is being encouraged by the opposition they declared a day of rag

. >> lebanese religious communities are divided between those who support the current government and the sunnis who backed the rebels. >> these men are trying to stop a young girl from jumping out of the damaged building. it was the midday rush hour in beirut when the massive car bomb detonated in the christian district. many parents were fetching their children from school. other residents of the area were enjoying an outdoor lunch. >> we had just finished eating when the roof over our heads collapsed. >> it soon became clear who the likely target was -- the senior lebanese intelligence official was among the dead. he recently played a role in the arrest on terror charges of a former minister with links to syria. >> the destruction -- we know that from the days of our own civil war, but when people start dying, no one can make that better. >> syria has troops stationed in lebanon for 30 years. most shi'ites and many christians support the syrian leader. the sunnis, who are the main opposition group in lebanon, backed the syrian rebels. >> there is no one in this group who accepts th

lebanese officials said his convoy had been the target.xposed a bomb plot last summer that was linked to syria, and his killing instantly raised questions about a possible syrian role in today's attack. >> ( translated ): the message was to prove what the u.n. peace envoy lakhdar brahimi has been saying, that all the region is on the edge of exploding because of what is happening in syria. so syrian president bashar al- assad sent this message that they can do anything in the region. >> brown: lebanon had had a few years of relative calm, but the conflict in syria has reopened sectarian fault lines. the powerful shiite militia hezbollah, backed by syria's ally, iran, supports the assad regime. lebanese sunni muslims support the predominantly sunni syrian rebels. the divide turned violent in august, when gun battles broke out in the northern city of tripoli. tensions have also been fueled by a flood of syrian refugees into lebanon. in washington today, state department spokeswoman victoria nuland stopped short of blaming syria for today's a

through what i can gather and you know watching blanket coverage of this on various lebanese channels from different political leanings i you know the rallies have not been huge you have some interesting phenomena i think is one for incident but it is that you have you have christian extremists lined up with islamist extremists in some of these rallies and you know the march for movement now contains a sort of radical to the whole spectrum from radicals to to to extremist christian perspective so you have such a mishmash of people coming together. they don't seem to be pretty big today but as you pointed out the more the more disturbing thing is is the weapons that are on prominent display in a number of cities throughout lebanon and even in the capital and as one one spanish reporter pointed out that you're actually seeing these people wearing uniforms as well despite what you're saying there seems to be nevertheless a united element in all of this we're seeing roads being blocked the burning of time also there seems to be a big call for the government to quit. what do you make of th

in lebanon many are blaming syria for the blast that killed the lebanese security chief on friday. as he was laid to rest today, unrest erupted. holly williams reports from a tense beirut. >> reporter: brigadier-general wissam al-hassan was lebanon's intelligence chief and an opponent of the syrian regime and its influence over lebanese politics. after he and seven others were killed by a car bomb on friday, his supporters accused the syrian government of being behind his murder. today they came out in thousands to mourn al-hassan and to protest. their anger was directed not just at syria's government but also their own, which they say is too close to the reg-- some lebanese support the syrian authorities but others including many sunni muslims back the syrian rebels. outside the headquarters of lebanon's government, they called for its resignation, clashing with police whose forced them back with tear gas. shots were fired, injuring at least one person. for decades lebanon's politics have been inextricably entwined with syria, its powerful next-door neighbor. now syria's conflict

is true then this statement from the turkish prime minister drowns in the evidence uncovered by a lebanese correspondent when she went to the border between turkey and syria and stumbled upon what seemed to be a weapons delivery spot yannick in the scene was surreal wire a dark plane filled with all of trees armed men and in flashing lights from trucks packed with weapons each syrian group takes its share in leaves i was asked not to film but the immensity of the scene moved the journalist in me. or was that was interrupted for days on end by turkish officers before being released to lebanon once she was released and her material returned to her she realized the pictures filmed on the turkish syrian border were erased while in the custody of turkish officials the free syrian army headquarters for months were located in southern turkey before they were moved back to syria in late september numerous reports far from the region pointed to turkey as the main gateway of military and financial support for the syrian rebels so when un karrar speaks of peace in the region few seem to believe its w

two different conflict zone now tension flares along the israeli lebanese border hezbollah says it sent a drone three hundred kilometers into israel's tightly guarded airspace a message that experts say its readiness for war. if you're passing through rushes to be a region you really can't walk on the wild side thousands of kilometers of unspoilt countryside make up an area where it's still possible to live off the learned such spectacular scenery makes it a paradise for fishermen and provides a business opportunity for hunters there are defined hunting seasons in russia but lacks in force means many animals are killed out of the a lot of times which can leave young animals orphaned and unable to survive the heart of just u.s. forest provides a sanctuary for the most famous beast in russia it's home to a group who rescue often bear cubs and raise them when they're old enough to fend for themselves the cubs a target taken to a remote location and released back into the wild but it's not just bears who find a haven here this is wolf island here wolf pups have been captured by hunters or b