the area is controlled by shiite hezbollah. it is reportedly taking blame attack. many assume it is payback. >> we're not afraid of this message, believe me, says this man. we are not afraid of bombs, but an attack on the first day of ramadan is a shameful act. this looks worrying like the battle days in beirut. of course, what they are trying to do is create sectarian warfare between sunnis and shiites says the lebanese interior minister. i can assure you that neither steny nor shiites will be dragged into it. that may be a forlorn hope as fighting intensifies inside syria. syrian government is pressing an offensive. rebel defenses in parts of the city are close to collapse. there are claims that hezbollah fighters are involved in this assault too. in another town, the free syrian army has promised to hit back. rebel fighters did say they would not attack civilian areas. they have denied involvement in the beirut car bomb. the area that exploded was also hit by rockets just over a month ago. at have builtng up the area is. it could have been far, far worse. if the

the area is controlled by shiite hezbollah. it is reportedly taking blame attack. many assume it is payback. >> we're not afraid of this message, believe me, says this man. we are not afraid of bombs, but an attack on the first day of ramadan is a shameful act. this looks worrying like the battle days in beirut. of course, what they are trying to do is create sectarian warfare between sunnis and shiites says the lebanese interior minister. i can assure you that neither steny nor shiites will be dragged into it. that may be a forlorn hope as fighting intensifies inside syria. syrian government is pressing an offensive. rebel defenses in parts of the city are close to collapse. there are claims that hezbollah fighters are involved in this assault too. in another town, the free syrian army has promised to hit back. rebel fighters did say they would not attack civilian areas. they have denied involvement in the beirut car bomb. the area that exploded was also hit by rockets just over a month ago. at have builtng up the area is. it could have been far, far worse. if the

car bomb has gone off in the lebanese capitol area, which is a stronghold of the shiite group hezbollah. 53 people were hurt. egypt's muslim brother hood has rejected the interim president's time table for elections early next year. supporters of the deposed president mouhammad morsi are still camped out in the area of cairo. the central park stan report into the u.s. raid which killed osama bin laden concludes it was an american act of war. al jazeera has managed to get exclusive copies of the commissions study. it's a report which calls the operation a national humiliation for pakistan. japan claims it is facing increasingly serious threats to its security. in its first report on defense since prime minister took office, japan says china's repeatedly intruded into japanese waters, with the reports viewed by some for reports by japan to beef up forces. >> according to japan's annual defense wide paper this is the new normal for its military. japan's fighters scrambled against chinese planes against air space more than 300 times in the year to march. reports say chinese vessels enterere

part of the reason is hezbollah. the military arm of the lebanese shiite group is ruthless and warfare. -- ruthless in warfare. now, the eu has officially put the group on its list of terrorist organizations. >> we tolerate terror from no one here in europe. europe can only respond jointly, decisively, and in a clear manner. >> the development comes one year after a terrorist attack killed five tourists and bulgaria. in retaliation, the eu issued economic sanctions. but brussels wants to keep lines of communication open. >> that does not prevent the continuation of dialogue with all political parties in lebanon. >> it will remain on the list for at least six months. it will be periodically reviewed. >> in egypt, at least two people were killed and 16 were wounded. the violence broke out after hundreds of supporters marched past and anti-morsi demonstration. his family is accusing the army of kidnapping the former president. he is not been seen since ousted from office on july 3. moving onto some business news, econom

throughout southern lebanon, hezbollah is deeply weaved into the social fabric of the shiite community here. most of the houses and families have at least one member, a son, a brother or father who is connected to hezbollah one way or another. theoretically, many of these young men walking these streets are potential terrorists according to the e.u., since many of them are fighters in hezbollah's military wing or can turn into one overnight. the u.n.'s interim force was deployed here years ago. a lot of effort was put to build our relationship with the community here and its leaders, including hezbollah officials. but it's a tricky situation now. in the nearby village, these men tell me the e.u. resolution is unfair. they all have sons affiliated with hezbollah. when i remind them only the military wing has been put on the list -- >> there's no such thing as military. all people are military. >> like most people here, they are outraged by the e.u. decision but remain defiant. >> what can i do? they want to go after all the people. let's be frank, 99.9% of people here are with hezbollah

in recent months, the militant shiite muslim group has thrown its support behind syria's president, bashar al-assad, fighting alongside the syrian army, hezbollah has helped them to win key victories against the syrian rebels. a secretive group, hezbollah gave us rare permission to travel to its stronghold of hermel on the syrian border. we were escorted by a hezbollah guide who did not want to show his face. he told us that the group only joined syria's civil war after syrian rebels fired more than 100 rockets across the border. "the rebels are the ones who transgressed against this land" he told us. "hezbollah is just defending its own people." here the border between syria and lebanon is so porous it's easy for hezbollah to move back and forth. itr hezbollah guide tells with us just these few steps we are now officially inside syria and hezbollah fighters have been working very closely with the syrian army to try to secure this entire corridor along the lebanese border and, in doing so, cut off vital rebel supply lines. when we climbed on to a roof top, we could see a syrian army checkp

and that is on various fronts and movements such as hezbollah it has cozied up to those that are not shiite so it is a much more formidable in the capability to manufacture nuclear weapons because it will become another nuclear power but to the aggressive ideology because of the confrontational stance and other gulf states. it is very difficult. up until now we have relied on sanctions coming and the current administration has implemented a very severe and far reaching sanctions which have caused major economic problems for the iranians. the currency has depreciated roughly 80% to it, inflation the past year was 30% and considered to raise another trip to 7%. -- 27 percent but they can get away from those by using a shell company so i am doubtful it will break the iranians. they say the nuclear program is peaceful and like the koreans to brag about the nuclear capacity the iranians profess it is within their rights and also a very popular we are left with one or two options. we can continue on this ancient path to negotiate grand bargain, or we can resort to the military option or th

the shiite group which is a strong force already is regarded as a terrorist organization by the u.s. and israel. >> the move will freeze assets and ban travel for people connected with hezbollah's military wing. it's very hard to separate the military and the political. the british prime minister, david cameron, cracking down on internet pornography. today, rolling out a plan that will add adult filters on everything from computer to smartphones to public wi-fi. >> all internet users will have to say whether they want access to porn. cameron says google and other companies must hide porn from children. >> you have to opt in and not opt out. >> you have to say yes. >> that's going to be interesting. >>> in the wake of last week's school lunch poisoning there's been growing attention to the plight of the world's largest free lunch program. >> over 23 students were killed. this was from pesticides. this was found in food and cooking oil. for students in the poorest state this school lunch program is a lifesaver. >> reporter: time for school for these young students. in a hut behind them

theas drawn in lebanon with hezbollah fighting alongside syrian government troops and clashes between sunni and shia along the border. shia iran backs assad. qatar and turkey support the rebels. over who a dispute should lead the muslim community after the prophet mohammed died. a political commentator and editor of middle east -- the middle east magazine is joining me now. why don't we look specifically at the situation in iraq? july is already the second deadliest month of 2013, the death toll higher than that of january and february combined. why the surge of deadly attacks now? >> i think it is, first of all, there is the [inaudible] in srya --e jewish this situation where you have the iranians supporting the regime. the sunni from the gulf supporting the rebels. they're going through these porous borders. that creates a situation. there is [inaudible] people like [inaudible] most of scholars who have been on the -- muslim scholars who have been on the internet, television -- people interpret that sometimes [inaudible] during the last two years, we have some leaders like alice's d

few are prepared to say it openly. >> they are trying to create sectarian strife between sunnis and shiites. i can assure you that neither sunnis nor shiites will be dragged into it. >> lebanon's political situation is far from stable at the best of times. analysts fear the civil war in neighboring syria could have destabilized it further. >> we are receiving conflicting reports at this hour about whether u.s. intelligence whistleblower edward snowden has accepted venezuela's offer of political asylum. a common to that effect was made by a russian official but then quickly retracted -- a comment to that effect. >> international support for edward snowden is widening with an irish report refusing to issue a warrant for his arrest. >> snowden has been working closely with britain's "guardian" newspaper and in its latest exclusive interview with him, he claims nsa officials lied to the u.s. congress about the extent of the agency's spying. >> moscow's airport. edward snowden is still thought to be holed up in a transit area, but no one is sure. it is also unclear if he will fly to venezuela, w

. >> t neighborhood is a beirut suburb known as a has bullet stronghold -- known as a hezbollah stronghold. many here believe there is a link, even though few are prepared to say it openly. >> they are trying to create sectarian strife between sunnis and shiites. i can assure you that neither sunnis nor shiites will be dragged into it. >> lebanon's political situation is far from stable at the best of times. analysts fear the civil war in neighboring syria could have destabilized it further. >> we are receiving conflicting reports at this hour about whether u.s. intelligence whistleblower edward snowden has accepted venezuela's offer of political asylum. a common to that effect was made by a russian official but then quickly retracted -- a comment to that effect. >> international support for edward snowden is widening with an irish report refusing to issue a warrant for his arrest. >> snowden has been working closely with britain's "guardian" newspaper and in its latest exclusive interview with him, he claims nsa officials lied to the u.s. congress about the extent of the agency's spying.

this blast targeting the shiite militant group fighting alongside bashar al-asaad. it's the worst explosion to hit beruit in years. none of those hurt were seriously injured but it is a volatile situation that we are watching. gregg: nsa leader edward snowden could be heading to europe. snowden is living in the transit area of moscow's airport. it's unclear if he has the necessary document to leave russia. bolivia, nicaragua, ecuador also offering to assist snowden with asylum. martha: james colmey, president obama's nominee to be the next fbi director is set to face questions at a house committee. what are s so are comey * suppos saying? >> reporter: president obama ma comey's independence and deep integrity. the president talked about a 2004 incident where comey refused to sign a legal authorization for a secret surveillance program. >> he was prepared to give up a job he loved rather than be part of something he knew was wrong. the rule of law sets this nation apart and is its foundation. >> reporter: james comey gets to make his own pitch for why he deter ofs to

this blast targeting the shiite militant group fighting alongside bashar al-asaad. it's the worst explosion to hit beruit in years. none of those hurt were seriously injured but it is a volatile situation that we are watching. gregg: nsa leader edward snowden could be heading to europe. snowden is living in the transit area of moscow's airport. it's unclear if he has the necessary document to leave russia. bolivia, nicaragua, ecuador also offering to assist snowden with asylum. martha: james colmey, president obama's nominee to be the next fbi director is set to face questions at a house committee. what are s so are comey * suppos saying? >> reporter: president obama made reference to comey's independence and deep integrity. the president talked about a 2004 incident where comey refused to sign a legal authorization for a secret surveillance program. >> he was prepared to give up a job he loved rather than be part of something he knew was wrong. the rule of law sets this nation apart and is its foundation. >> reporter: james comey gets to make his own pitch for why

what do you make of hezbollah's involvement in syria? >> the way this is breaking out, there are two groups in the middle east and it's largely along religious lines, shiite and sunni. you have the asad leadership, government of syria allied with russia, and on the other hand you have the syrian rebels aligned with the gulf arab oil states but in the end of the day, what you're really watching and what this really boils down to is a fight between the asad government, which we don't like, and al qaeda. we don't like them, either. patti ann: so the house intel committee has approved with reservations this new plan but now some are saying it goes to appropriations and they can find ways to just not fund it. do you see that happening? >> you're cutting back on all the military across the board. we have the sequestration cuts, there will be more cuts. the president has also said we're getting out of the middle east. we want to focus our attention in asia and the pacific. you cannot fight another war in the middle east while trying to do all t