also served as president of the national council of negro women for more than now decades. she lived to be 98. her memoir of released when she was 91. that's when i asked her about her experiences as a woman working with predominantly male civil rights leaders. >> i have a peer relationship with those men. because what we were looking at was, the issue was about civil rights. it was about justice, about equality. and to be able to join hands and work with men of the great strength of those men on that cause meant that it was not a matter of male and female. it was -- >> she sees tremendous progress for african american women during the past 60 years despite what she calls the double handicap of race and gender. she credits civil rights laws including the civil rights act of 1964 and voting rights act of 1965 as well as the women's movement. which some activists claim haven't done enough. this progress proves women of color needn't choose between race and gender. >> when we advanced in the civil rights laws it didn't help just black people. it helped the whole country. we adv

i am joined by the senior spokesman for the syrian national council. of first of all, let's talk about the defection, this high level defection. tell me, how did that evolve. he has to find this cable way out. the defection is part of this. >> more than two months ago? >> there is an army, his family, and they were escorted to the border areas. >> he was a brutal member of the assad regime. >> i'm not sure if we can use the word brutal or not. >> you was part of the regime? >> yes, he was part of the regime. we do question the defection of everyone in this regime. he was the highest ranking position of authority after the president's of the country. this is a huge blow to the assad regime. it shows you support is crumbling and the regime is decaying. >> now we have kofi annan's resignation. part of the problem was under the annan plan, not only did assad have to talk, but the opposition had to talk and come up with some kind of solution. >> number one in the plan was to stop shelling and villages. none of that happen. >> what about the conflict? >> he is

in march of 1946, she chaired a tea for the woman's committee of the national council of american soviet friendship. held at the soviet council in new york. it meant to encourage notable american woman to extanned a hand of friendship to soviet womans. participates crafted a message that included the sentiment that we dedicate ourselves in you to the furtherance of friendship and peace among the women of all countries. it expressed hope that the new world would bring peace and security and happiness for our children and for us. at the time, such activities appeared relatively benign. a year later, the group appeared on the attorney general's list of subversive organizations and the report of this tea and the worn response it which came from the soviet women anti-fascist committee found the way in to hellman's fbi file. yet the other signatory on the message included such notables as mrs. quite eisenhower, mrs. franklin roosevelt among hundreds of others. even as they spread their territorial umbrella over much of eastern europe. she remained a staunch believer in peaceful coexistence. qu

it was kind of an honor-- dishonor sort of imposed on us by the national council of the arts when they took away our funding that had been recommended. it sort of sounds like a bad band, you know, that-- or we were later referred to as karen finley and the three homosexuals, which sounds like a really bad band. i've seen them play. [laughs] and yet this has been a battle. your status as a member of the n.e.a. four has been a decade long, really. yes, it all started in 1990, when the four of us were recommended for funding by peer panels in the n.e.a. and then, under political pressure, john frohnmayer, who was then chairman, took away our grants. and it was during a whole sort of public debate about controversial funding for the arts, and we decided to sue the government. we felt that this was clearly an abridgment of free speech. and it wasn't something that we felt hopeful about changing in congress, since they had given us this horrible law, so that's when our battle started. what was it about your work that was deemed dangerous? well, there was a one-sentence description of my work

spent a lot of time with the labor unions in the united states as well as nonprofit organizations organizations like the national advancement association of colored people and the national council of. the largest latino philanthropic organization in the united states we work around the health care battle health care for americans now focusing messages to organizations on how they can have better member to member communication so when. there's an attack on workers' rights in the midwest like there was in ohio we can actually focus and organize workers to use these tools to rapid really respond to show up in organized and state capitals in columbus ohio or madison wisconsin is it isn't done more for then it was doing the election committee what are your plans for twenty twelve are you going to be back so i don't i don't know yet but i'm still i'm still obviously active engagement for a number of u.s. senators a lot of us governors. and right now my goal for two thousand and twelve is to build up all of the base coalitions on the left so the environmental communities in the. community the. labor communities the african-american communities the latino communities and make sure that

the past spring, the national council of churches joined some of the nation's other largest faith groups to put together a fateful budget that was put together in response to the budget that congressman ryan had listed up. there are some similarities with other testimony that you have heard today, but the national council signed on to that statement, and that document from which i want to share with you a little bit today, they wrote that american society as a whole it is or should be a place where we delight in the value of each and everyone and gladly accept the mutual responsibility for one another's well-being. as american people, we have to understand ourselves to be one nation under god, not a mere collection of individuals. and all of us have something to contribute together, and none of us is to be excluded from this circle of mutual care and concern. government of, by, and for the people at its best is a final form for promoting the common good and ensuring that no one is left out. the message that day said that we are calling on our national leaders in a way that suggests that

of minnesota council for churches, representing profits -- protestant denomination in minnesota. and respectful, welcoming and just communities in minnesota and also the past president of the national council of churches. thank you for coming and we look forward to your testimony. >> i know there's an awful lot of history and ways in which the clergy are like lawyers but i can tell you -- we will do our best. >> let me give you a warning. you are not from ohio. >> thank you very much. i am deeply honored to be invited here to speak to you on behalf of the national council of churches today. welcome to my home state. it is made a 38 denominations. among those communions are forty six million a proximate members and constituents. that is who i am here for today. the past spring the national council of churches joined some of the nation's other largest groups to put together a fateful budget. this was put together in response to the budget that congressman paul ryan had whipped up. there are some similarities with earlier testimony you have heard today but national council signed on to that statement and that document from which i want to share with you a little bit today. they wrote

. >> iran has also been stirring controversy in syria today were the head of the supreme national security council of iran met with president assad. it is the first time the syrian leader has appeared on television and weeks and he used as an opportunity to say he was determined to purchase country of terrorists. the iranian agreed, claiming to defend the axis of resistance. for more on the iranian role in this conflict and the support of the assad regime, joined by a senior person at the carnegie endowment. it does seem a bit bizarre, but at a time when assyria has almost no friends, -- at a time when syria has almost no friends, iran should think this is a good moment to pledge some kind of eternal friendship. >> iran is syria's last remaining ally, the last remaining unequivocal ally. for the islamic republic of iran, syria has been the only consistent ally since the 1979 revolution. syria is very important to iran in that it is a major thoroughfare for iran's patronage of hezbollah. to use a poker analogy, iran is all in what it comes to syria. is a zero sum game for them. if the regime falls,

he served as a member on the national council of economic and visors, in the executive office of the president, affiliated with the federal reserve board, the world bank, the national academy of sciences. he received his degree from the university of notre dom -- dame, and his doctorate from the massachusetts institute of technology. governor howard dean, who i am sure you know, was at six term governor of vermont, the second longest term and the governor has served in vermont. he currently works as a part- time independent consultant, focusing on health care, early childhood development, alternative energy, and the expansion of grass-roots politics around the world. he is a former dnc chairman. he is founder of democracy for america. he serves on the board of the national democratic institute, where he focuses on southeast europe and china. he created and implemented the 50 state strategy, and is credited with helping democrats make historic gains. he pioneered use of the internet in campaigning. he graduated from yale with a b.a. in political science. he has a medical degree. he pra

national security. he will be an ex officio member of the national security council sitting there with the president and secretary of state and secretary of defense on key national security council meetings but there is nothing in the past that indicates that either of these men will really change the way washington has been handling threats like islamism, arab spring, a growing china, et cetera, et cetera. >> christian, thank you. >> congressman paul ryan considered a rising star. think about governor mitt romney's vice presidential pick. we will talk with mark sanford when joins us live, next. >>> congressman paul ryan is architect of the text of the republican's budget plan. he wasted little time in leadersing out his vision for how a romney administration to fix america's financial problems. also, he took aim at president obama at the same time. >> i hear some people say this is just the new normal. higher judg unemployment declig wages and crushing debt is not a new normal! [ applause ] >> it is the result of misguided policies. and next january, our economy will begin a comeback with the romney pl

agust that national did not allow first black member until the year 1990, and since the time of its founding in 1932, it never allowed women. about a decade ago, martha burke of the national council of women's organizations asked the club to change the rules. the club's chair responded agust that national might one day have a woman member but as he put t, not at the point of a bayonet. it turns out it didn't take violence but t did take some time. they have to wait a little while these two ladies to get their green jackets. >> they have to wait until the fall season officially begins and the club october in october. billy payne made the rare move of announcing. this is a signature scant and positive time in our club's history. on bhach of our membership, i wanted to take this opportunity to welcome them and all of our new members into the agust that national family. now, shep, in your entry you had mentioned martha burke that woman had ho been challenging the all male policy all of these years. she was more reserve in her reaction telling the associated press today oh my god. we won. shep? >> shepard: does the club say why it took this long? >> no. they haven't given any explanat

. >> reporter: patricia foxon is the director of research from the civil rights group national council ofon of that to our youth? >> anxiety, depression, not doing well at school, wanting to drop out of school. >> reporter: we hired two new actors to play the prejudiced judges. their job, to discriminate against nick rodriguez. we have asked nick -- born and raised in new jersey -- to put on an accent and play up his hispanic roots. 'm niclas rodriguez fr >> reporter: we dressed him in tycal teenage attire, but on black or latino attire it can stereotypes. >> if you start out with, hey, did you see the way he was dressed? from there go to, maybe he's in a gang. then, he might be illegal. that's the way stereotypes happen. >> reporter: how will the next pair of judges react? >> my name is lauren. >> reporter: lauren's dad says his 8th grade daughter is a kind kid trying to navigate the intense pressures of middle school. >> she tends to stay away from conflict. depending on how shocked she is she may not say anything. >> reporter: what if she actually goes along? how will you feel? >> i wo

national security. he will be an ex officio member of the national security council sitting there with the president andtary of state and secretary of defense on key national security council meetings but there is nothing in the past that indicates that either of these men will really change the way washington has been handling threats like islamism, arab spring, a growing china, et cetera, et cetera. >> christian, thank you. >> congressman paul ryan considered a rising star. think about governor mitt romney's vice presidential pick. we will talk with mark sanford when joins us live, next.

the syrian opposition let's now talk to bus market money who's been a prominent member of the syrian national council but resigned this week or prompted you to leave the syrian national council what why have you been disappointed in areas. of the council are the same as the ones i pursued there is no difference there the real reason is that i feeling the work from inside the council is not effective enough i believe there is more work that needs to be done to connect with groups on the ground and to fire those connect them together this is a heavy task that needs to be undertaken quickly and urgently because this is this will determine the post restate the money station of syria we need to reassure the international community that the syrian opposition is capable of connecting and coordinating with the groups on the ground and getting them to abide by certain commitments but susan who are divided by ethnic tribal and religious tensions how possible is it to unite such a divided syrian opposition now. i do think that they all pursue the same objective they are to find it not that they are divided in t

involvement in syria as a russian made it clear foreign nations could bypass the council to implement that idea western nations are already discussing the future of syria without its current leadership marina brings us the details from new york. security council remains very much divided over how to deal with the syrian crisis the high level meeting that was taking place in new york focused on the humanitarian circumstances in syria right now and how they continue to exacerbate according to u.n. officials at least two hundred twenty nine thousand syrians have fled the country in the past eighteen months spilling over to neighboring countries turkey has asked the security council to consider setting up refugee camps inside of syria that outside countries would safeguard as this is a suggestion that the syrian government say they are very much against russia and china also opposed it saying that it could only create more conflict and violence so clearly you have a very complicated situation here but we did hear western countries address the security council their representatives calling once again for the syrian president bashar al assad to step do

national council of administration, carl worked tirelessly on behalf of america's heroes, our nation's veterans. in addition to his selfless work with the v.f.w., carl has also been active with kentucky's joint executive council of veterans organizations and served as mayor and city councilman of the city of linview, kentucky. over the years i've had the great fortune of working with carl on a number of issues to ensure our nation's veterans receive the care and the benefits that they deserve. so, mr. president, i want to congratulate carlkaylynn -- carl kaylin. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i wasn't planning on making a statement today. i thought we should have left the time for people debating these votes that will occur at 11:00. there will be a half-hour to debate agoa-burma sanctions. whatever time will be left over it will be whatever time is left over for the debate on the motion to proceed to -- i'm sorry. the cloture vote. is that right? the presiding officer: that is correct. mr. reid: well, mr. president, my friend's statement

guest: absolutely, the push to get women into the agusta golf club was the brainchild of the national council of the women's organization, a coalition of women's organizations from around the country when martha burke was the chair of the national council. she proposed that augusta national golf club should come into the 21st century and start telling women. it has been well over a decade but it has finally happened. i am very happy for condoleezza rice and marla moore, the two women who have been admitted. i look forward to the time when half the members are women. i think that is appropriate. host: do you think a private club like that should be able to maintain its own policies whether or not hutu had met? guest: absolutely not. augusta is not a private club. that is not a book club. is a place where business gets done. it is a place where the ceo's of the top corporations in the country do deals, talk business, and that needs to be open up completely to wittman. if the augusta national golf club wants to change its position in the country, if they want to become a small little book club or a

of the nation. not only the democratic party, but the nation. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> our next presenter is mr. david harris, president and ceo of the national jewish democratic council the national jewish democratic council focuses on education democratic officials and candidates to increase their support for jewish domestic and foreign policy priorities. david, we are happy to have you and we look forward to your testimony. >> thank you so much, governor. my name is david harris. for 23 years, njdc's mission has been to maximize jewish support for democrats around the country. the united states and democratic party have long been advocates for and at supporters of a strongly beneficial u.s.-israel relationship. is based on shared values and shared interests. likewise, president obama has presided over a former policy based and in no small part on the special nature and importance of america apostatize with israel. as he has said, "ours is a unique relationship, and unbreakable commitment to israel's security, anchored by our common interests and deeply held values." as the president has steadfastly supported israel and israel's ability to defend itself, such as the

of the u.s. departmentitl international tax policy forms. he served on the national council ofal economic advisers advisors, affiliated with the, federal reserve from the international monetary fund, the world bank and national academy of sciences. he received his bachelor's der degree, phi beta kappa permankaa university of notre dame. and his doctorate from the massachusetts institute of technology. governor howard dean currently works as an independent consultant focusing on the areas of healthn care, early childhooe development, alternative energy and the expansion of grassroots politics around the world.rld he is a former dnc chairman, a presidential candidate, he is f powered founder of democracy foo america and also serves on thec board of the national democratic institute where heal focuses on where southeast europe and china europ. dean created and implemented the 50 state strategy and is credited with helping democrats make historic gains and of course he used the internet in the tools and pioneered a nose. he graduated from yale and a ba in political science and r

served as a member of the national council of economic advisers and executive office of the president affiliated with the federal reserve board, international monetary fund from the national academy of sciences. he received a specialist degree summa cum laude phi beta kappa from university of notre dame and doctorate at the massachusetts institute of technology. governor howard dean, who all of you i'm sure no, six term governor of vermont, which by the way is the second longest turned than any governor served in vermont. he currently works as a part-time independent consultant , focusing on areas of health care, early childhood development come alternative energy and grassroots politics around the world. as a former dnc chairman of presidential candidate. dean is founder of democracy and also serves on the board of the national democratic institute where he focuses in southeast europe and china. dean created and implemented the 50 state strategy and is credited with helping democrats make historic gains and of course he used the internet in the tools and pioneered a nose. he graduate

served as a female vice president for the office of research advocacy and legislation of the national council of the rosa. the nation's largest civil rights organization. to supervise policy staff covering a variety of issues important to latinos. our particular area of expertise is immigration policy. i also have to tell you that she is a fellow -- very proud of that. any was, i will invite her to come up so we can start our conversation. >> so, we heard about a lot of issues this morning. very important issues for the health care, jobs, small businesses it and wanted to start off our conversation by the fact that in this administration we've seen so many latino appointed officials throughout. of course, having you there in the white house is important but we still lack in terms of latinos in the federal workforce. what is being done? not just for the federal workforce overall but also in the senior executive service which is a very important position. >> it's a great question and it's a long-standing challenge. as latinos were underrepresented in federal service, especially under rep said that

of a devastating the london riots but already groups in the british capital say communities remain divided the police are actively pursuing a breakthrough for. know now libya's national transitional council is handing power over to a newly elected assembly of two hundred members it's been ten months since the country's uprising led to the killing of colonel moammar gadhafi now the water nation is still flooded with weapons and struggles to control outbreaks of violence so let's get some more on today's transition are joined now by political activist al carter thank you for coming on r.t. today do you think are with the national transitional council ready to hand over power today how can libyans realistically realistically expect a fully fledged democracy. thank you for hosting me on your channel i don't expect democracy. i'm from libya sure that democracy is. torture i don't think the libyans will benefit from. democracy that was brought by nato allies i don't think that. we see it in iraq in two thousand and three. is the same as in libya now or two thousand three five things still killing half of the relation of iraqis outside libya is the same why would they succeed in libya. if. the

country's opposition in dialogue the move has further spread rebel factions are with of the syrian national council criticizing the initiative meanwhile fighting continues in syria the northern city of aleppo with you and suggesting the army is using fighter jets i kings rebels the opposition fighters have reportedly obtained a supply of surface to air missiles delivered from neighboring turkey that as the u.s. considers boosting its fifteen million dollar aid budget to the rebels lawrence freeman an editor at executive intelligence review magazine says this doesn't help to resolve the syrian crisis. the u.s. is supporting absolute chaos and destruction so there's not going to be any stability it is now publicly known and it's been publicized on the front pages of the new york times that al qaeda is very aggressive in the syrian opposition and in fact al qaeda wants to have a iraq syrian sunni out kadir for us to take on this year so this is going to cause massive chaos and destruction the country and then secretary panetta says no no let's try to keep the military force to not repeat literally the

story now the political leaders of the syrian opposition have made fresh calls for no fly zone in the country the syrian national council even warns of foreign troops to start patrolling areas near the borders was jordan and turkey but the u.s. and its allies remain reluctant to get directly involved and or instead of bolstering material support for anti government finances meanwhile alleged rebel atrocities that are forcing more syrian activists to renounce the opposition this and that of footage apparently shows insurgents throwing the bodies of loyalists from a rooftop in aleppo a key flashpoint in the worsening conflict the head of one. independent media outlet in syria told actually that he is puzzled why the rebels are pleading for for action when they claim to have the people supporting it. when anybody talks about an all fly zone they are talking about a regional war they know quite well that the syrian army will not allow any foreign power or foreign armies to interfere within the syrian land and that any attempt to create a safe zone or a no fly zone will be on the tour by war and any war between syria and tur

of delegates from over one hundred nations which don't consider themselves allied to any power block convened in tehran for a high profile summit this sunday research director of the national iranian american councilin washington says the gathering shows iran is not as isolated as the u.s. wants the rest of the world to believe there are one hundred ninety three members of the united nations general assembly and about one hundred twenty of them are going to be in teheran with some kind of diplomatic representation. because that's how many members there are of the nonaligned movement so you know it's a great talking point to say that iran's international isolation will continue but if you look at the totality of the world a large degree of countries maybe don't agree entirely with what the united states led sanctions are doing and what they're seeing to accomplish. now the summit takes place just a few days after the u.n. atomic watchdog declared that recent talks with iran had failed israel claim that iran is speeding up its work on a nuclear bomb the islamic state insists it's only pursuing peaceful energy now some experts believe the west's rejection of iran's right to atomic energy could ultima

the national council of church, for example, has existed for over 60 years and has advocated the modernwelfare state as an example, a perfect example, christian compassion and service to others in the catholic left has a rich history of this kind of activism. even the modern environmental group is fondly -- is fond of asking what would jesus drive, for example. i'm christian principles environmental activism in the green economy. so there is in fact no shortage of political movements across the spectrum trying to run other people's lives. and one day and they all have in common as justifying their respective agendas on the basis of quote biblical principles, unquote. this is precisely why we need to keep organizing far from the hall of congress as possible. another favorite chapter that i'll briefly reviewed chapter five, the tea party nation, anti-gay. most of the media on the left would automatically answer yes or hell yes. and yet, the reality is a tea party is a much more complex and diverse than many realize, even though some are great. it is emphatically not a mere image of the ch

of our main stories. united nations security council is to meet on syria later today as violence in the country rages on with no sign of letting up. >> on wednesday, the syrian president rejected moves to create buffer zone in his country. assad claims he is trying to crush a terrorist movement and it might take time. >> the rebels want an end to assad's repressive regime. in the past year, we have seen lots of images of the violence on television, but it is hard to tell which ones we can actually believed. >> these images were not filled by journalists. they were taken by the demonstrators themselves who later posted them online. the pictures show protests against the assad regime, but syrian state tv also broadcast its own footage, showing regime supporters rallying behind president bashar al assad. our historian has studied the depiction of terror and violence throughout the ages, and she says both sources are problematic. >> the footage we are getting from conflict areas are being provided by certain groups with their own special interests. they are not coming from neutral war reporters or journalists. t

yet another group of activists in exile from syria is forming an opposition alliance in addition to the western backed syrian national council which they see as a failure they also plan to establish a transitional government by engaging the rest of the country's opposition in dialogue the move has further spread rebel factions with the syrian national council precise in the initiative meanwhile fighters battling government troops in the country have reportedly obtained a supply of surface to air missiles the arms were apparently delivered from neighboring turkey that as the u.s. considers boosting its fifteen million dollar aid budget to the rebels lawrence freeman an editor at executive intelligence review review magazine says this doesn't help to resolve the syrian crisis. the us is supporting absolute chaos and destruction so there's not going to be any stability it is now publicly known and it's been publicized on the front pages of the new york times that al qaeda is very aggressive in the syrian opposition and in fact al qaeda wants to have a are rocking syrian sunni out kadir force to take on the shia so this is going

terrorism the statement came on the heels of a visit to damascus by the secretary of iran's supreme national security council during a visit to state pledged mutual support saying their alliance is an axis of resistance against western influence and also condemned their recent kidnapping of forty seven remains in damascus which president blames the rebel forces. valorous has decided to withdraw its embassy from sweden suggesting stockholm does the same by the end of august however minsk stressed it is not going to cut diplomatic ties with the country the tensions come after a swedish plane illegally crossed the belle russian border and dropped parachuting teddy bears carrying pro opposition slogans. least sixteen people have been killed by flooding in the capital of the philippines the worst delusion of yours triggered a major landslide emergency crews are evacuating tens of thousands of residents some who were forced to use gave advance the waters by climbing on their rooftops downpour is expected to last at least another day. well time now to get the latest business news and you know maria i can't wait to

the concierge of my building who is syrian sometimes hides in my apartment they've been rounded up syrian national council here in beirut in south beirut even going to great deal of fear our people are saying not since the civil war how things is so likely to ignite or the people are feeling so insecure as you know the two neighborhoods in tripoli both for the the. alleyways and the. bonnet section right down the middle ironically is the name of a big street pole syria street and that really tells the tale up there but we have seen in beirut and other parts of the country a similar division things are very much on the. wall still ahead for you here in r.t. in the weekly libya marks one year since the fall of tripoli but the celebration is anything but joyous as continued trouble than it's threatens to send the country into chaos. last resentment on the rise in pakistan as the u.s. continues to blur the lines when it comes to it that the transfer. stories started coming first this week of the case of a norwegian mass murderer and as brave it reached its conclusion breivik admitted killing seventy seven peo

we rank in the top 20 of the states with the worst air pollution from power plants. according to the national resources council more than 3.1 million pounds of chemicals were admitted in state in 2010. nationally there was some good news. a 19% drop in air toxins between 2009 and 2010. the state topping the list of 20 is kentucky. >>> while you were out shopping, take a few to look around. you may see something cool. coming up after the break we will show you what is so special about the decorate bird house that you will see around the area. >>> plus, we are going in deep. the aquarium with wyatt. what he has found under the water. >> all right. it was a good time. 92 today. most of us wanted to take a swim. 92 the two degree guarantee sot winner. maryland's most powerful radar with big storms to the west and you can track them with the storm shield app. set the alert for your zip code. you will find what warnings are in your area. . >>> the next time you are out shopping see if you can spot unique bird houses on display at the white marsh mall, the mall in columbia and the townsend center. each bird house has

general of deep un and the set -- of the un and the secretary-general today that i will not continue my mission. >> he blames divisions in the united nations security councilnd lack of international unity. >> without serious purposeful united and international pressure, it is impossible for me or anyone to compel the syrian government in the first place and also the opposition to take the steps necessary to begin a political process. >> observers say the mission only had an outside chance. despite repeated meetings with syria's president, the six-point peace plan was never put into action. meanwhile, the bloodshed continues in the syrian capital damascus. the opposition accuses government forces of executing dozens of people during raids. unverified internet video also shows fighting in aleppo, the country's largest city. there are few details to determine who is gaining the upper hand. the refugee crisis is also mounting as tens of thousands of syrians stream across the border into jordan and turkey. >> we are joined now from the german institute of international security affairs. what is your read on his resignation by kofi annan? what signal does it sen

terrorists this statement came on the heels of a visit to damascus by the secretary of iran's supreme national security council during a visit to the two states pledged mutual support saying their alliance is an axis of resistance against western influence they also condemn the recent kidnapping of forty seven iranians in damascus for which brother nasser blames the rebel forces. well look at that bella has decided to withdraw its embassy from sweden suggesting does the same by the end of august whenever a man's press is not going to cut diplomatic ties with a country the tensions come after a swedish plane illegally crossed the belle of russia more and drop parachuting teddy bears carry pro opposition slogans. it's another day of violence in afghanistan at least three nato soldiers and a civilian have been killed in a double suicide attack targeting a military patrol near a local government h.q. in the east of the country coalition troops also came under fire in a central province where militants attacked security checkpoints from two different angles forty international troops have been killed over the last