shattered hopes washington dashes libyan rebels expectations of official recognition and seems in no hurry to give the opposition more money. nato claims part of the donkeys time is up and pledges to make him stop fighting but the libyan leader says foreign forces will never leave him. counting down to the next winter olympics in russia with if hours and days to go the country's already warming up ahead of the grand picked off.

eight pm in moscow i match reza good to have you with us here on r t our top story the u.s. has denied libyan rebels official recognition this after a visit to the white house by a senior member of the opposition council which is pushing for international support libyan envoy says the rebels are having trouble getting washington to release colonel gadhafi has frozen assets the u.s. had earlier promised to hand over some of the multi-billion dollar funds to aid the opposition for more on this we're joined live from london by anti-war activist john greece thank you for joining us so the u.s. national security advisor has said washington sees the rebels as a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the libyan people so why do you think the u.s. has stopped short of recognizing libya's opposition like france and italy to. well i think the u.s. are interested in stopping the revolution but not helping the revolution i think the intervention was meant to corrupt and control the revolution for us and not to

give it any real life of its own or any capacity. to actually alter the situation in libya in the way that the community gyptian revolutions did in in their countries so i think the object of the us is to to keep the libyan rebels on a very short lead not to allow them any real independence autonomy and to use them for u.s. foreign policy ends the french president the british prime minister have met with the opposition but the rebel leader was not according to beating with president obama do you think this is a shock for the rebels after all the u.s. is not the least significant country deciding their future. yes i think it must be a bit of a wake up call i think that the rebels were naive if they ever believed the west was going to have an open hand towards a little bit and help them freely assist them in completing their revolution and western aid always comes with strings and in the case of the united states the

strings are extremely short indeed now why do you think the rebels are so desperate in seeking recognition abroad shouldn't they be have perhaps be looking more at home the opposition is strong enough to represent political power in libya or do you think it's next in line to fall in line with western goals. well i certainly think it was it was a mistake to go down this route as soon as you start appealing to the imperial powers for assistance they are going to demand a price for that assistance and it was always going to be the case that once the west intervened the logic which was running before that the that section of the regime would start breaking away sections of the odd forces would come over to the rebels but that was likely to be halted that the people would see western intervention as a reason to support the daffy who perhaps have absolutely no other reason to do so you can see now that people who even protest to get out the regime. detest the western intervention even more so far from accelerating the process of the

composition of the gadhafi regime accelerating the process of the revolution it's been precisely the opposite so do you think it should be a goal of the rebels then to try and make themselves a more legitimate force in libya by reaching out to their own people and trying to build support for a grassroots yes i think they need to send a signal very very clearly that they're going to break the ties with the west i understand the pressure of work that they were under from a very delicate moment during the siege. but i think they need to put that aside now and say whatever the justifications were then it's gone horribly wrong and we can see how the western mission has gone from air cover to bombing conforming to troops on the ground from following two assassination attempts against gadhafi himself and that really should be sending a very very strong signal to the rebels that revolutions either succeed by mobilizing their own people against the hated and popular regime or they don't succeed at all there's no easy route to the revolution using the assistance of the

western powers what do you make of the coalition or is there we hear about where and how could i think is what his status is sometimes we're hearing word that he may already be killed. well i don't think we're going to have any way of substantiating those rumors. or dismissing them really put what is clear is that the west is now engaged on regime change he's now engaged on raids whose aim is to kill gadhafi his own for his family and nothing is way beyond the un resolution but i believe the un resolutions were correct but this breaks the terms of those resolutions. and many experts are saying that syria is not libya but the current regime's deadly conducting deadly crackdowns against its own civilians if you think the massacres could be next in line for a military intervention. well i certainly think that the syrian regime is facing

a mass popular repeatedly and i certainly think the thing that is different in that circumstance from the circumstance introduced here and egypt is this that the united states in particular in the western powers in general do wish but the syrian regime could be overthrown in the case of and they want to support that regime so you can see that there's a certain logic that might lead western powers to hope that they could intervene perhaps in libya to use the revolution to unseat the syrian government however if that's their intention i don't think it's their capability i think to try to i mean afghanistan too tied down in libya they have emerging problems because of the impact of the arab revolutions on the situation in palestine so i don't think that even if they want to do this they have the moment the capacity to do it all right anti-war activist john kerry speaking with us from lodger. more nato air strikes

have hit the libyan capital tripoli following a defiant broadcast from could operate saying that he's beyond the coalition's reach washington insists the u.s. will continue its campaign in the country as long as the libyan leader attacks his own people as our ports the motivation of u.s. led alliance is also under scrutiny. for. several decades and more is later it still the question at the top of mind when it comes to the world's largest military alliance many people i think today wonder if to the end of the cold war why nato lo and behold babysit us busier than ever. set up to counter a perceived threats from the soviet union the north atlantic treaty organization has plowed ahead without an enemy after the end of the cold war. fair to say that the alliance lost its reason to exist instead what happened in fact

and in violation of even the accords and the agreements at that time was nato aggressively expanded. and a larger alliance that once promised peace has instead pledged bombs in troops to afghanistan going on a decade and in its latest endeavor lobs air strikes into libya despite uniting our new strategic goals back in november libya has launched allies in the dischord some countries don't want to actually you know shoot ground targets some. air targets which are not. amidst the in-fighting it's unclear what motives are really behind the planes flying in the name of nato over the african country is that the personal aspirations of a leader france was among the first to push for intervention france wants to get in on what i call the imperial condominium a recurring quest of african or is it the showcase in a new arms race military buyers love to have weapons that are tested in war if your

weapon system does very well in a war you can count on sales going up in fact the only two planes now in contention for a ten billion dollar order of one hundred twenty six planes from india are the euro fighter typhoon and the french for a felt the very ones french and british allies have been flying over libya. is it the opportunity to oust the qaddafi regime that is u.s. policy but that often leads to go and prop up one more favorable to us foreign policy interests try to. cater. to the second was of course described humanitarian. intervention a so-called humanitarian intervention that critics argue was never warranted but which now may be cause. in a humanitarian crisis we didn't stop a bloodbath but we are prolonging and perpetuating the suffering of civilians in

libya the suffering that is now washing up on the shores of nato allies by the boatload of refugees though the united states has seemingly stepped back from libya he was the number one contributor to nato and there are many would see the us really as being nato now this comes at a time when the conflict in libya on the ground more and more people are calling a stalemate and amid the allied and fighting as well as rising costs in every sense that same question people have been asking for decades comes to mind after the end of the cold war yeah nato lauren lyster r.t. washington d.c. . stay with us here on r.t. still ahead this hour until the well runs dry outside the glamour india's bollywood little mumbai thousands are caught in the daily battle for clean drinking water. and weed so you can do a russian city on the banks of europe's longest river to explore how the waterway brings both vitality to the region's hotels and its economy is coming your way.

first though there's a festive mood across russia with exactly a thousand days to go before the twenty fourteen winter olympics in sochi massive bashes are being planned across the black sea resort and of course here in the capital peter all of our house more on the celebrations. here in russia everybody very excited about the twenty fourteen games that will be held in sochi now we have seen events all around across russia celebrating not just. one thousand day milestone the the clock has now been ten don't insult she counting down to the opening ceremony that will take place in a few years time well there's also other events going on here in moscow large group of people on roller blades and roller skates taking part in a i one thousand meter fun race fun state i guess if you will around one of moscow's biggest hawks flying the flag for sochi twenty fourteen i moved out to that they've been braving which is

a terrible weather right here in the russian capital right now but the the highlights will be there to musical spectaculars that will take place one here remotes go the other in sochi where the games will happen themselves now of course winter sports incredibly popular here in russia and russia has a great track record when it comes to the games however last time out in vancouver they didn't do too well resulted in a lot of changes when it came to personnel and it all could i sing it in training in old and getting people ready for the winter olympics those people are now in place will be looking to make these sorts of twenty four team games the games where russia gets back on track and gets back winning the gold medals that they came became so used to over the years but this russia put forward to the international olympic committee was quite unusual pit with them something that impress the judges sochi is a resort town known as the the russian really every town there it's more of a summer holiday destination however the mountains across napoleonic are perfect

for winter sports and there's a lot of ice being cast on really putting the the winter games into what is a a once tropical resort so there's a lot of would have to be done to make sure that she is ready you know hear from my colleague ben is below he's in sochi about just how. those preparations are coming along. a miracle in the making the construction of solti's bolshoi ice bellows is entering its final stage took less than two years to wreck this giant structure like most of the venues here in sochi it's being built on schedule to move. all the facilities here except maybe for the main olympic stadium well have to be completed by two thousand and twelve so that they can be used during test competitions. a mess of construction effort was launched in two thousand and seven she won the olympic bid deliberate construction sites no consume more than half the region's cement supplies over three hundred fifty thousand tons more than eight and

a half thousand workers take part in the project three hundred of them are foreigners the venue's decide stadiums and ice rinks include roads sandals and bridges together with new schools and hospitals they will leave a lasting legacy for the subtropical black sea resort so there's great excitement and high hopes this of the russian city resting on the big event and i bet you can see the preparations there are being built the streets are cleaner. more tourists will come the olympics will bring festive mood into town. i think the medals rubio was and was this team will be formed berta at home. a polar bear pair and snow leopard have been recently picked as the olympic mascots less than three years time this dream team will greet the athletes and visitors of the two thousand and fourteen sochi winter games. one of the greatest sporting spectacles on the planet is just one thousand days away but if the sochi olympic vision is going to be as

grand as russia imagines every minute down to its completing the mammoth destruction effort on time and in budget there's more security sochi there we're hearing that the the work almost a complete in some stages and certainly on track els everywhere else to make sure that in a thousand days time when that opening ceremony takes place in the olympic torch is lit in sochi but everything's ready for a fantastic winter games. well some are used to clean water is something quite ordinary for millions it's a daily struggle in india as more my many local families like an adequate water supply are bowie say to have enough to pour away or he's previously to found out how difficult the search for water can be even in a country's economic. mom by india the financial center for one of the thousand describing economies in the world and the heart of india's beloved bollywood film industry but beyond the glitz and glam there is another story playing out on the

streets of india's most populous city. i.v. cup at six pm and go to a village that is one in half every you get two buckets of drinking water this is shannon monica she's twelve years old and her life in mumbai literally revolves around finding water. i don't go to school because i have to work at home my mom and dad work as liberals and they have to go out so i have to stay back and work at home from morning to evening in this slum it's actually more common to see a satellite dish bringing these people cable t.v. than it is to see a working tap to bring them water one point two million people in mumbai live in an authorised slums and are entitled to government services like water even after walking hours to get to a tap the water only runs at specific times for sometimes as little as ten minutes . while the people in a community have managed to find a broken pipe in

a gutter not far from their homes many indians are spending up to ten percent of their salaries to buy usable water water access isn't just a problem that affects people living in the slums actually thirty five percent of households in mumbai receive less than the desired one hundred liters of water per person per day and many of those people live in middle class communities. sawan is mum by housewife despite living in a more modern apartment so wants to has to schedule her day around when she can get a lot or. we get water at four am for one and a half us since we just get it for just one and a ha far we have to wake up early and get all our work done so want us to fill the tank on her roof during the time the city gives her access to water and if she needs more than the tank of water she's able to fill she's out of luck barter is an issue that seems to affect everyone here and five there is

a one man has managed to escape the problem the same as in the case somebody is worth twenty seven billion us dollars and has house there are hydroponic hanging gardens swimming pool water that he reportedly uses five hundred years of water every month it's something that angers many a.d.'s well most are used to seeing the great contrast between rich and poor on a daily basis they believe that it's access and waste that is unfair. they have come to give me memorandum and want to collect good from b. to slums if there is a shortage will forgo via grilling to give him more we came here to get him this on purpose to and for those who have no choice but to plan their day around water retrieval it's a painful reminder that even when it comes to basic necessities the wealthy elite still has the advantage. but i left i feel bad in our house me gets wonderful only one and a half of us win as be have enough work to the one even to waste it

a constant battle to meet their dealing it's preassure either r t mumbai india. well if you'd like to trade screens for a little bit you can switch from the t.v. to the computer and click on our t.v. dot com and see what we have online for you right now. us congressman ron paul will be running for president in two thousand and twelve we explore where the tea party candidate has a chance to lead america's top job. and a smokescreen for troubled greenpeace activists warned moscow could once more of the coverage of the smog in just a week poll no unless officials take spreading wildfires seriously find out if russia may face a repeat of last summer's eat wave hopefully not. at least three people have been killed as a roadside bomb hit a bus in pakistan this comes after a series of taliban attacks of benjy americans killing osama bin laden a double suicide bombing on friday left eighty seven people dead near the afghan

border islamic jihad has slammed the u.s. operation that killed bin laden or his military contributor says washington should have been more careful when planning the raid. nobody can be the us administration unique capability to model the waters and bondo the message last week the u.s. president obama deployed to top u.s. officials to negate the negative impact from the overkill verbosity of that has come from the white house first it was u.s. attorney general eric holder who tried to change the perception about whether the direct orders for the you'd be able to raid war to kill or capture and then as ministration dispatched the u.s. national security adviser thomas danny. both gave their best to cover political interference in tico reverts paschal force its missions and pakistan but

inadvertently compromised the whole nature of the operation that was designed first and foremost as a political campaign not as this special operation authorized somebody had to step up and talk to media make sure that you get to gether all your national security teams and delegate just one person who will have all necessary information and authority to speak on behalf of the u.s. president. a former belorussian presidential candidate is been sentenced to five years behind bars for organized a mass protest in protest in the capital minsk last year under a senate pled not guilty and said the whole case was highly politicized last december opposition supporters held up thousand strong demonstrations to protest what they said was the rigged reelection of president alexander lukashenko again arrest was violently suppressed by riot police more than six hundred people were detained dozens injured by what the bullets the e.u.

strongly condemned the violence and impose sanctions on the president and many the last of the people. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe new violence flared in syria with three people reported killed near the city of homs they said day after authorities said they're ready for dialogue with the opposition international pressure is mounting on syria over brutal crackdowns on protests with some eight hundred killed and more than a thousand arrests two months. u.s. have imposed sanctions on the country as russians it is said to be considering declaring president assad's alleging illegitimate. egypt's former first lady is said to be recovering after treatment for a chest pain suzanne mubarak became ill after authorities ordered her detention for fifteen days on charges of illegal acquisition of wealth the former president himself is also accused of illegally games as well as ordering the deaths of anti regime protesters he's currently under detention in

a military hospital. singer michel martelly has been sworn in as haiti's new president a new leader now faces a huge task of restoring the country after one of the deadliest earthquakes in history that left hundreds of thousands without homes on friday police and protesters clashed outside the presidential palace with demonstrators marched carrying a fake prophet and bearing the name of the outgoing president. u.s. middle east envoy is stepping down after two years on the job george mitchell decided to leave after growing frustrated over the impasse in talks between israel and the palestinians according to the resignation president obama called him a tireless advocate for peace senator mitchell also helped broker an accord in northern ireland in the late ninety's. we invite you now want to trip across russia where you can stay just where just as you are though as our close up team brings you the most exciting stories of life in the world biggest country.

and today we continue exploring the volgograd region in russia's south it's along the banks of the older river the longest in europe it also gives the area its name the rivers played an important role in the life of the russian people and in the country folklore it's known as mother volga archy's tom barton explains why the giant waterway is so precious to the russian heart and its pocketbook. it runs deep through the russian soul it does provide inspiration for songs and poems and is the country's main north south functionary and decades ago schumann ingenuity connected it to the don't revert to the west in the middle states the centuries people dreamt of connected to reveal is now this canal essentially julius

distance ceased to get. the volga dawn canal is an engineering marvel within a day a vessel can pass the canals thirteen locks ten million tons of shipping does so every year. another concrete giant is this finished fifty years ago it's the biggest hydroelectric plant in europe it powers the local city of volgograd and sends lots more electricity to moscow the hydroelectric plant behind me is a potent example of how much the volga can provide but harnessing a river like this isn't without its cost. fishermen have been watching fish stocks for years they see the slow damage the downing of the river has done especially to russia's prized sturgeon the source of caviar work and the girls go to the hydroelectric plant has done significant damage because it stopped fish swimming up river to this warning grounds they turned back and start swimming downstream now we don't know where they are. within

a year all these houses will have gone fall into the river. to pentagon how many of the hydroelectric plants turbines are on the water level can change suddenly and dramatically too suddenly for the banks to absorb it plays havoc with the canal to . that's a city where little we can only let three ships we have enough water for last year the water level dropped because of this hydroelectric plant and it caused big problems you could only look through small ships off half loaded ones. control of the river flow by the plant has made building the boulders for playing more attractive serious floods are less likely but the water that is put into the drains is taken away from the fish that need it. when people started building on the flood plain the places where the fish pond don't flood anymore most of the spawning grounds are now granted now at last the voice of the voters ecology might start

being heard after fifty years of damage the plant make changes regime to release water for the rivers benefit not just its own. for the first time in fifty years the rules will contain a point on maintaining biodiversity in the river will still have a chance to bring the vulgar back to life meaning that the mighty volga is treated with the respect it deserves tom barton. coming up shortly the moscow team brings you a taste of contemporary art as host martin andrews tours the capital's trendiest gallery coming away after a recap of our top stories in a few moments stay with us. to

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