National strike against endless austerity. The top stories and latest developments. This be is the weekly here on rt. Western states are eager to gain a loophole for unilateral action against syria and dont care enough about peaceful efforts to resolve the syrian conflict. Well, thats the impression the Russian Foreign minister says hes gained after several weeks of a diplomatic effort to avoid strikes. Two weeks ago it seemed like the United States are ready to essentially strike syria. Then they seemed to ease up a bit and now again russia seems to be facing some sort of animosity especially ahead of the u. N. General Assembly Meetings to take place next week. Russias channel 1 showed lavrov making some of president points hes made before but about the harsh manner in which the west is approaching the Syrian Crisis the our American Partners are starting to blackmail us. This completely counters what we agreed on with john kerry, namely, the chemical watchdogs decision and then negotiate, without chapter. The investigators couldnt complete their investigation into the Chemical Attacks under pressure from the United States who seem to be determined to push their agenda in only one direction. Our partners are blinded by an ideological goal to remove the assad regime. They want to show that they can call the shots in the middle east. They are most hi concerned with proving their own supremacy and not the task were driven by, which is to solve the chemical willie mays problem the on top of that, the russian fornls foreign minister says there say high chance that the rebels themselves could produce chemical weapons in homegrown laboratories. On the whole, mr. Lavrov has said it does not seem like the western powers are interested in a diplomatic solution of the matter. Right now our western partners are trying to for thefully push through this syrian solution. They are on edge because they know if chapter is mentioned there is a chance for them to get approval from the u. N. We urge them to keep calm. According to the Russian Foreign minister, they didnt really need the report from the u. N. Inspection team, that their minds were made up long before that and they only used that report for an attempt to insist it was only the Syrian Government using chemical weapons even though there is absolutely no such item in the report. As conflicts continue in syria, so does the diplomatic battle around the conflict. The environmental, chemical, and medical samples the investigators collected provide clear, compelling evidence that the surface to surface rockets used in this attack contained the nerve agent sarin. We know the assad regime has them and there is not a shred does. Please, this isnt complicated. When we said we know what is true, we meant it. But the u. N. Report doesnt blame the assad regime for the attack or mention other chemical weapon attacks allegedly carried out this summer. Russia claims there is still no evidence the Syrian Government is guilty and rather many suggestions the attack was a clever attempt by rebels to push for foreign intervention. We have every reason to think it was a provokecation, a smart one of course but the technique is very simple. They use an old soviet missile which are no longer in service with the syrian army. But it carried the label made in the u. S. S. R. He said the u. N. Report was rushed and ignored other evidence of the attacks. This material which was collected by the syrian authorities was discreetly handed over to the head of u. N. Mission here, mission of experts, which came and investigated the incident but never did so on the three subsequent incidents, and then sundstrom was asked to look into it and eventually factor these this new evidence into the final report of his mission. It never happened, in fact. Still, the u. S. Is pushing for a response based on this u. N. Investigation. Just last week, the u. S. And russia agreed to a plan to rid syria of its chemical weapons. Damascus pledged to move forward and has so far complied the the chemical weapons employed, if you like, by the ploy, if you like, by the u. S. And rebels was countered effectively by assad and them saying they will not give up their chemical weapons in this whole dispute. John kerry is not even pushing on that. He is pushing on the Security Council to sign a strong resolution possibly even mandating force. It seems like a small victory for diplomacy in the syria crisis but its going back to old ways as the u. S. Continues to push for force and russia for compromise. The battle continues. The leader of the rebels in Northern Syria has reportedly been killed. With the rise of radicals, the violence is turning increasingly sectarian and christians are coming under fire. Reports on the aftermath of course a brutal jihadist attack on an ancient church. This apology haddists attacked this mostly Christian Village in syria more than two weeks ago and local residents were forced to flee the battle field that was once their native land and calm, organized life. Many took refuge with christians fellows in old damascus. We tried to meet them. Only the third house opened its door for us. Many refused to talk because their rell ativeds remain missing. They they say islamists kidnap people and they fear more danger. And these people know well about danger. Three mechanics of an winnets family were killed on the first dave the siege. Closed the doors and all gathered in one room. They told us surrender and we wont harm you. Three went there and surrendered. They pointed guns at them and started shooting. I was injured in my chest and elbow. One of them offered to save me, but i ignored him. Another said let them dilet hundreds gathered for the funerals of the three men they now call martyrs, both muslims and christians. The attack on the village, they say, was an attack on their country and its way of life. Both muslims and christians live in the town but its surrounded by four or five muslim villages. Maybe they see this as the last obstacle in their path the her fatherinlaw is 8 years old and says nothing like this has happened in his lifetime. We with were living in peace but now they seem to want to throw all the christians out of the country. Another relative, afraid to show her face, says its hard to tell how many were killed because the alogy haddists often keep bodies for ransom. Their goal is to establish islam, helping them destroy the country and people of this region. Special items like this bread commemorate the dead. They held special ceremonies. Syrians, equally shocked, pray for the dead in ancient aramaic. The hope is they can sustain for a little longer. All over the country the two and a halfyearold conflict has taken lives, language, and shattered peoples hopes. From damascus, in syria. Also mortar shells hit the compound of the Russian Embassy in damascus after the rebels carried out a strike on the capital. At least three people are injured. Find more about that on rirt. Com. Angela merkel has described her partys performance in the sunday election as a super majority. It would be the first time in more than half a century the one party has been able to govern without forming a coalition. Peter oliver has more on the elections from berlin the Angela Merkel is almost certainly going to be elected for a third term as german chance he willer chancellor. Her party and the Bavarian Sister Party have taken the lions share of the vote. Speaking out of party headquarters, mrs. Merkel said it was a super result and if the exit polls are correct its the highest percentage it will have taken since 1990. So theyve done remarkably well, it would seem, the c. D. U. Those that havent done very well, it seems, are the main challengers in this election, the social democrats. They have been rather disappointing, seeing dejectedlooking campaigners and supporters outside of their party headquarters. Some people putting that down to what was essentially a gaffeprone campaign run by the challenger to Angela Merkel. It sclued him at one point making a middle finger gesture toward a journalist doing a Photo Interview for a paper here. Another party not doing complete particularly well, the freep democrats. Going into this election they were the Coalition Partners of Angela Merkels party. They are, well, struggling to make the 5 threshold, according to exit polls. It seems that they arent going to be taking up seats in the next parliament. The center left have done pret ewell. Pretty well. Another party that could make quite a bit of difference is alternative for germany, the j. F. D. , a new party when it comes to german politics. Theyre an antieuroparty and it stands they are looking to just fall short of the coalition. If they do get in there, they can make quite a bit of difference. They are extremely opposed to a lot of the policies put forward by merkel. What everybody is looking for is who will be in charge of germany after the elections. Merkel has taken the lions share of the votes. It would be the First Time Since 1957 that a party had ruled unilaterally without a coalition. They are very fond of the coalition here in germany. I mentioned alternative for deutscheland. If they were to get in there, merkel would be perhaps forced to form a coalition. Would they she to for the socalled grand slam coalition between the c. D. U. And the social democrats . Well have to wait to see if that happens. A lot of social Democrat Supporters would be uncomfortable with that. Its all going to come out in the coming hours to find out just fact exactly what the firm results are from this election. The odds on Angela Merkel will be the chancellor for a third term. Editor in chief of compact magazine says the smaller parties could have capitalized more on the recent surveillance scandal that hit the merkel government. The german population is very much upset because of the spying of the n. S. A. On german citizens and industry but it had no impact on the elections because the opposition parties were not willing to bring this topic on the top of their Election Campaign because the green party and social democrats, they are also following the american agenda and they are also strongly in favor of trans atlantic orientation, so they did not make much out of this mood of the skeptical mood of the german population. This is also the reason they didnt win these elections. They could have gained more. Its not just the rich european states rooting for their favored leader, but the less fortunate too. From bailout policy to convictions on austerity, well report on just how much is at stake for europes weakest in this. Thats still to come on the program. And also ahead, knocking on the door of peace. Iran offers an olive branch to the United States, but washington chooses to keep tairan at bay for now. These stories and more after the break. The weekly continues here on rt. Europe is watching how the german elections pan out with much interest. Not only is germany the powerhouse of europe, it is also the purse helping keep struggling nations afloat. When it comes to finances, decisions made in germany are often felt right here in greece. While athens maybe the birthplace of democracy, ballots cast by german voters have a huge role to play in germanys future. Greece is still struggling through one of its worst recessions since the second world war. 2 3 of young greeks are without work and despite two aid packages, revenues are still short of expectations. Whats more, the growing consensus is that greece is unlikely to get back on its feet without more help. So a third therm term for Angela Merkel may men mean more austerity for greece. We decided to hit the streets of athens to find out how they feel. Merkels policies hurt the greeks as well as the germans. But regardless of who wins, the result will be bad for us, because our politicians are weak. Change would mean so much in my country theyenter vein so much in my country that it feels like greece is controlled by foreign politicians the i dont believe what greeks say about Angela Merkel. Although germany contributed to two bailout loans to greece, merkels austerity policies are widely blamed for huge spending cuts and whichever way germany ends up voting, its likely to be felt right here in greece. And countries have taken to heart revelations about u. S. Spying. Brazil in particular. Now the brazilian president is proposing to rebuild the countrys internet, cutting off u. S. Spying agencies and the technology giant. As the n. S. A. Spying scandal continues to undermine americas global standing, one u. S. Ally is not willing to forgive and forget. Bras i will brazilian president rousef has cancelled her planned visit to the u. S. , and it would have been the first for a brazilian president in nearly two decades. In addition to breaking dates, brasilia is also taking speps steps to divorce itself from the u. S. Centered internet while seeking its own place in cyberspace. The president has ordered a series of measures aimed at greater online independence, including storing izz citizens data locally to protect from snooping the and they are proposing to lay underwater fiber optic cable directly to europe and all south american nakeses. Currently most of the internet traffic here passes through the United States the experts see if other nations follow in brazils footsteps, the u. S. Cloud computing which industry could lose billions of dollars by 2016. Brazils path follows revelations that the n. S. A. Hacked into the network of the stateowned oil company and spied on brazilians entrusting their personal information to u. S. Companies like facebook and google. President rousef says she intends to push for new International Rules on privacy in hardware and software next week when all the heads of state gather in new york for the u. N. General assembly. Tuesday the brazilian leader is set to open the debate and her u. S. Counterpart, president obama, is set to take the stage immediately afterwards. Theres no end in sight to the violence in iraq, with 16 killings reported on sunday. The deaths come just a day after hundreds of civilians were killed in a ferocious wave of bloodshed. 9 majority died in a string of blast which rocked shiite neighborhoods. More than 5,000 people have been killed in iraq this year alone. And one expert think iraq wont see peace for a long time. Its been the deadliest year since 2008. It started in april when the shialed government broke up some protests and this has angered some and given fuel fought fire for the al qaeda militants. I dont see an end in sight. The u. S. Really messed up stuff in iraq. They have no flan. Foreign intervention hasnt worked and its given fuel to militants. I dont think the International Community has any say in whats taking place. I think theyve done the damage that they have done. Theyve had 10 years and i think that what were seeing now is internal sectarian issues taking place. Irans new president seems to be persistently break knocking on the u. S. Door, urging them to break nearly three decades of diplomatic silence. There have been hints at a possibility for a change of heart. Lets take a look at how teheran has tried to win over the sympathies of the u. S. The president recently vowed iran will never seek a nuclear weapon, see saying the strictly civil Atomic Program is a matter of national pride. Sticking to the election pledges of a moderate approach he also released around a dozen political prisoners, including prominent human rights of a activists. Finally, he exchanged correspondence with president obama, later describing it as positive and constructive. An assistant professor in teheran told me that both obama and ro. Hani will have their own troubles at home when they decide to revive diplomacy. Irans bid for some conciliation comes at a time when the state is powerful. The skeptics are on both sides, both here and in washington. There are those who are not that much optimistic about the possibility of such a breakthrough and even those that want that to happen. So both sides should try to find a solution that pleases their own people and factions and is it in the best interests of both sides. So the key word here is common interest. Time for our world update, starting with the ongoing hostage crisis in kenyas capital. Most hostages were rescued after the military laumped a counterattack which lead to regaining control over much of the complex. The Al Qaedalinked group alshab ad abshabab has claimed responsibility. A suicide bombing in northwest pakistan has killed at least 78 people, including women and children. The blast occurred outside a church where people were leaving sunday services. The Pakistan Taliban hads claimed responsibility. They have threatened to continue targeting nonmuslimses until the u. S. Stops attacks in the tribal northwest. And more after the break here on rt. For the first time in Human History you have the power of knowledge at your finger tips. There is an instructional video to do anything you want on you tube and getting information on any scientific historical topic is a click away. And anyone who has the will to learn, can learn. I dont come from money. Without the internet i would probably not have this job and would be worshipping at the feet of Rush Limbaugh or the main stream media the