syria gripped by deadlock activists over new crackdowns despite loyalist crowds in the capital of president assad battles global pressure on his rule. in the us protesters determined to stand tall corporate greed take their grievances to the doors of the wealthy as it here is big business of trying to buy elections. and ukraine's former prime minister faces new challenges two days after he got seven years behind bars for abusing power gas contracts with.

international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. good to have you with us this our. top story this hour signs of discontent are still evident in unstable syria even after felons of regime supporters crowded the streets of the capital activists say fresh clashes between government troops and men in the north of the country left three dead president assad promised to establish a special committee to draw up a new constitution while international pressure builds on him to step down. has the latest from damascus. but the voices of support. and continuing dissent some and in in deadly clashes polar opposites in their demands but in some way united by a newfound zeal to take

a stand where the threat of their encounter with the powerful have gathered their support for the government was a far cry from the images we've been seeing in other cities around the country where there have been reporting was made because of that about having government the transition however what i guess the real battle where in this country was one of the forces of high school itself in africa that was very good at everybody the. her husband and young children were one of many families who braved the heat and joy the crowds in downtown damascus was it's true that we knew nothing about politics before but now we take a stand even if i'm a sunni muslim i'm proudest president. ever since most people started revealing their political stance openly some people would mock me and say since when do you know about politics what do you know there are divisions among family members some are pro a side some are anti but that's how it is. it appears that apathy is becoming less

of an option for citizens of a nation now under intense international scrutiny i never watched news i never cared you know i never never had any interest in politics but. i think most of us baby books we watch the news media articles and always we want to know one of them and then you have the right background and all the issues about your country you got to. you know there are those like you knew i was saying we're no strangers to picking a side and making it known he's long been voicing his discontent of what he calls a repressive regime and today facebook is one of his main tools including me to dissent. catalyst activism has evolved in syria for me i feel that my voice goes further down back then it started with stating an opinion but i'm going to jail it hitting a dead and no one would even know about it that his change down that people are

more politically aware hussein has been thrown in jail says he was tortured and finds himself constantly looking over his shoulder. i was detained for spreading the word on the violent crackdown in daraa but i feel like a coward if i didn't wear square life while those on the streets are doing so asking for the regime to fall i call staunchly opposed by those on the other side yet if i was to. be. one political curiosity and activism among syrians are growing whatever side of the divide they're on people here see the future of their country is at stake but all are adamant that future is firmly in their own hands. that's arsenal r.t. damascus. and folks forget to check all the t.'s twitter page to get the latest news and updates from team of correspondents and you can easily follow tessa's

reports there she's in syria as you can see at the moment i'm just hours ago she answered the central town of oh. well if i think of clashes between protesters and security forces took place she tweets that evidence of fighting is clear on buildings and the mood just tense. vsto in line for the very latest. they've been beaten pepper sprayed and arrested but the determination of the occupy wall street protest is growing along with a number as well started with a small group of activists camping outside the new york stock exchange in mid september pretty spread nationwide thousands of americans are fed up with breaking their backs while wall street corporations grow fat on the profits of a whole two and the big banks mentality seems to be for them death is in the white house and it's going to come explains washington isn't ready to turn its back on old friends. investing in politics has proved to be good business in america

just a few million dollars in contributions and some lobbying can bring it company billions in bailout loan guarantees tax refunds another stimulus all of the expense of the everyday american taxpayer both in the election system and it's in the ongoing lobbying and sort of influence industry these are powerful powerful businesses their whole business model is around using influence to break the rules of the game in their favor so far u.s. corporations have been successful in ensuring that the loss introduced to regulate last week after the financial meltdown of two thousand and eight don't function those measures were effectively scuppered by u.s. lawmakers the corporations were also successful in keeping their tax cuts intact and finding loopholes for getting billions of dollars in refunds the us government over the one percent for the one percent by the one percent perpetuates itself it passes rules that allows the base to get the regulator and it restricts our

democracy three years after washington gave almost a trillion dollars of taxpayers' money to bail out corporate giants unemployment in the country is over nine percent the national debt is well past the tipping point and the congress is looking to crack essential social programs. thousands of americans took to the streets to ask where is their bailout how can i learn. country there were so hundred nonviolent people and doesn't arrest a single one of these bankers or the people that causes us models not mine in the meantime goldman sachs one of the main architects of the current crisis is richer than ever it is now seventeen billion dollars in bonuses alone for its staff when asked about the impunity enjoyed by the corporations president obama said a lot of that stuff wasn't necessarily illegal it was just. immoral and many agree it pretty much stays that way but not only do the lawmakers come

under fire for accepting generous contributions from corporations and then acting to return the favor but the president himself was accused of bias and prone is known a number of occasions one of the most recent scandals involves a solar energy company selling brick which went bankrupt and cost taxpayers almost six hundred million dollars that's the amount that the government approved in loan guarantees despite receiving persistent warnings about the company's financial stability the deal was pushed through by a foundation which in current was a major donor to president obama's election campaign since last year corporations have been allowed to funnel as much money as they want into political campaigns now they don't even have to disclose the amounts they spend their time trying to violations has been serious the new law effectively gives the corporations even more influence in washington leaving many americans in fear that their voice might no longer count what drew all these people onto the streets of washington and other

cities in the us is the understanding that their government and their legislators represent the interests of the top one percent as they call them the very wealthy corporations that can afford influence in washington to skew the system in their favor. check on our team in d.c. . and on iraq she spoke to an roi to neck to vist of occupy d.c. she believes the protests have finally shed light on corporations leeching off the american people. what we're facing now in the united states is a critical situation a dangerous situation where corporations are truly running the timestream they're very great and they are politicians and that's why we're out on the streets all over america to say you know this corruption and graft within the business community that ronald's over into the political situation it's a creative thought and it's a time for people to really look closely over what the pressure points are on these

politicians and on the corporation says as martha said you know he said some of the things they're doing is not illegal but they're immoral and that's really the the crux of it when you have these him moral greedy pigs that are taking billions for their personal wealth and don't care when we have homeless all over the world that we have kids that don't have good education anymore that we have roads that are beaten out and we have to grieving pigs at the top just keep sucking out more and more billions of dollars just for their pockets. can you learn from moscow with the twenty four hours a day still ahead for you this hour when friends meet listen south korean leaders strike a free trade deal with sole decision to build a naval base open to u.s. vessels is slammed by protesters. and the ultimate light snack checking out what's being done in space as we unveil the process of close make a tree that's coming up very soon. but first

a new criminal case is being launched against ukraine's former prime minister yulia tymoshenko she's been charged with naming the burden of debts from an energy corporation she headed to the ukrainian budget this comes just two days after the regime who was sentenced to seven years behind bars over her gas contracts with russia is our correspondent in kiev alexian shifting. this story is very complicated and pretty dark because this case in fact refers to fifteen years ago when he was a was the head of the united energy systems of ukraine company she signed several contracts with the russian defense ministry and according to prosecutors in kiev she owes four hundred million u.s. dollars to the russian defense ministry and the essence of this new criminal case is that she tried to put this debt onto the plane incident this violates the ukrainian law this is of course a very interesting new twist in this saga with the trial of yulia timoshenko indeed two days ago she was sentenced to seven years in prison who are abusing the power

during the signing of contracts of gas deals with russia back in two thousand and nine this new case may only add fuel to the fire of a very tense and very furious acas a very furious reactions from all over the world we've heard reactions from the united states which condemned the presenting of units much ankle which we heard reactions from the european union which said that a possible agreement on association between the european union and ukraine could be canceled and even an invitation for mystery on a coach to visit a meeting in brussels in a short future may also be cancelled we also heard very harsh reactions from moscow wish claim that all those gas deal signed in two thousand and nine were completely legitimate we've already heard very interesting statements from president bush who said that in fact this particular law under which he was present could be a bullish in ukraine decriminalised by the korean parliament and thus. could be set free you know which also said that the criminal system in ukraine is outdated and he's to be reformed so these three four can in fact set you free but according to

many experts she will still be unable to run for president or run for parliament and will still have to repay almost two hundred million u.s. dollars in damages which she inflicted to the korean budget. the u.s. and south korean leaders have pledged closer trade and security ties in washington d.c. after their two countries struck a long sought free trade deal president lee myung bak visit comes as opposition continues in his home country against south korea's plans to build a controversial naval base and u.s. warships will be able to use the facility on jeju island well for more let's now talk to professor frank is chair of the east asian economy and society at the university of vienna thanks very much indeed for being with us here on r.t. president obama has hailed the free trade agreement with south korea a major win for american workers and businesses but what about those in south korea will they benefit well i think in general it's always

a good for you because we do industrialized nations to have a free trade deal because it will eliminate artificially created impudence to treat wage short and long term benefits. in south korea the problem is. go so far the state has relied on the particular model to come on the payroll of the straw state probably improve for years because we are in terrible part of it so it was not reducing the options of hers for intervening. on the other hand it will help to foster closer ties with the united states and most importantly it will hold south korea to fight its growing trade dependency on china and i think there's a sort of mood political reason for having concluded this trip let's talk about this controversial naval base south korea is denying it's being built specifically for the u.s. but still seem to be no official confirmation or denial on this how do you see this

facility in the future being used. well one purpose that it's very obvious is that it uses part of the missile defense shield against long range ballistic missiles and now it's up to you to guess where those missiles might come from they might come from north korea they might come from further up north. and the order is really for the south korean navy to help into a project its power into the waters around changeable and let me remind you that most korea is profited fifty kilometers away china's five product off of it japan is less than two hundred kilometers away so let's get this clear will we see the u.s. navy using this space on a fairly serious way in a fairly serious way well since south korea and the united states are very close allies in particular in terms of military it's very obvious the u.s.

navy will be using those fears of course a lot of concern about the base in south korea itself over the political and environmental issues motive counts it's it's dividing the country but what about the reaction from north korea. well so far i could see an all direct reaction from north korea of course north korea will always feel offended when its enemies u.s. and south korea improving to start a military capabilities but as i just said of his plans is really too far from north korea. to really have a direct effect on the north korean security so i think reaction will be as usual. but not overly you could just talk about the relationship between south korea and the u.s. just how much influence does the u.s. have over so. well the united states traditionally have a very strong influence of the day to build south korea or in the korean war they were the biggest partner supporting south korea's economic growth and they have

also supported the role of open democracy in south korea so that relationships require was it has always been seen with mixed feelings myself from loons and recently i think i have a problem growing. agreement on most all circles in south korea that is alliance needs to be redefined not canceled but really fine and that it needs to grow into a more. equal kind of an alliance so the united states influence is there but it will change in nature professor to frank chair of the east asian economy and society at the university of vienna thanks very much in the few times on nothing you could hear from. by the way the more stories for it r t v dot com indeed you can see that interview once again if you log on here's a taste of what else is online right now americans consume the see their speech rhythms blinking rate some breathing patterns under cia scrutiny as the latest scheme to track terrorists comes under fire. from one of saddam hussein's brawls

bought tickets is going under the hammer that's one of his famous statue of course you can find out what happened after it was torn down. at r.t. dot com. the expanded eurozone bailout fund has been given the final go ahead slovakia's parliament has approved the four hundred forty billion euro facility after tuesday's vote against it saw the country's ruling coalition collapse increased cash will go to struggling nations such as greece that's exactly as ground to a halt as workers walked out of a forty eight hour strike to protest against the government's austerity policies demonstrators marched away flags and the latest in a series of rallies and strikes to hit the cash strapped country the leaders are seeking to prop up the banking sector fearing the debt crisis could spread there on thursday ratings john fitch followed in moody's footsteps and downgraded two major u.k. banks lloyds and the royal bank of scotland. time now

to update you on some of the of the other world headlines this hour in our world out there french officials have brought to the inquiry into sexual assault claims against former i.m.f. chief dominique strauss kahn the prosecutor's office says those trials can admitted to sexual advances towards the writer kristen bell york there is insufficient evidence to support rape allegations earlier this year the french politician resigned as head of the international monetary fund after facing similar charges which were later dropped in new york. it was troops claiming they're in control of most of gadhafi stronghold city of sirte are making their final push there are still pockets of heavy resistance from the colonel and on its libyan leaders of the night earlier reports that one of the deputy sons of the person a senior army officer and security advisor has been captured in the proceeds city meanwhile human rights group amnesty international has accused the country's interim leadership of torturing thousands of detainees and called for the abuse to stop. also i want to take this hour

a plane carrying thirty two people has crashed near the north coast of papua new guinea a spokesman for the country's accident investigation commission said there are casualties though the figures are still unclear australia has scrambled helicopters to help with search and rescue efforts at the scene of the crash of a cosmonauts and during a long stay aboard the international space station food is one of the few distractions from their day to day routine of preparing a meal it's no easy task for scientific chefs at home who was stir up a space say for many of its both nutritional and tasting and are all about for lunch that's out of this world. after traveling at phenomenal speed for two days cramped in the small space of a so you rocket cosmonauts arriving at the international space station going to be packing but how do you eat and zero gravity. put it well you have to be a bit more careful than down here on earth every little piece of food the gets out

of your grip will float away and you will not be able to keep track of it to make sure cosmonauts enjoy their lunch without worrying that a rogue morsel will disappear into the inner workings of some potentially life saving computer equipment the russian space agency designed a special table is a threat to the others you know there are two heating compartments here and this area in between is a trap for crumbs it works like a regular vacuum cleaner this is important because choking on a crumb is very risky in zero gravity it can have grief consequences. all the food eaten in space has to be specially prepared here on earth that preparation doesn't come cheap cosmonauts need three thousand calories a day and for the same isn't a lympics printer and providing that cost over six hundred dollars a day with most missions lasting for six months each cosmonauts grocery bill comes in at a hefty one hundred ten thousand dollars

a mission and at those prices it's no wonder that the people behind cosmic catering a proud of their product. as the chief designer of space through twenty three years of experience in the space food industry i can probably say that russia's place very healthy used this latest well most nutritional reach because america. even the most simple food requires special care and attention this tree in moscow produces space bridge and the work which goes into making it great for all that is almost as high tech as the i assess itself. there is no mold in this bread you know mold spores we've developed a recipe which starts small growth doesn't go bad for fifteen months thanks to the special recipe and technologies we use when taking it. even when it comes to something simple like bridge there's still plenty of choice but you're hungry cosmonaut. you know we make five types of bread gingerbread white bread that's what

i have here on the table now right bread with caraway right bread market and didn't get those currently around one hundred sixty called options because i'm not on board the international space station including all of the tastes from home from soups to main courses and desserts and even the basics from salt and pepper the bread. pretty good after a hard day's work on. it's nice to see that some of humanity's finest minds still have time to play with the who will make a. good right you really ready good yummy. couple this make it three week and coming. these are all of us. so that temperance update for the moment twenty four minutes past the hour very nearly here in moscow time for corrina with something.

welcome to our business update this with me thanks for joining us biggest banks must raise billions of dollars in capital to withstand financial turmoil the markets that's the commission to contain the escalating debt contagion growing fears bank is banks may take losses and bonds from countries with shaky finances like greece is getting from. even the worst scenario won't have any serious effect on russia a lot of things are strong. but russia has limited for exposure. of those top six or less which rules such as the requirements so the russian will have a potential the. crisis you for a more diverse as well as they'll look for years we will keep of supporting real there is a war these are called the order for the evil of it is the same slow go in europe

for. the major for roads from places that will it is because. the reason for the pressures to go seriously consider it because you really see being injected will be injected with was injected. it's also remarkable that despite all those years in the process to most will didn't go below one hundred dollars per barrel. and let's have a look at the markets now all this trading in the red out the american petroleum institute reported u.s. gasoline tell the most in more than five years in china last month exports climbed at least since february as imports slowed by two it is dropping at three dollars forty cents a trade eighty three dollars a barrel while brand is at one hundred nine dollars per barrel he was stocks are trading lower of banking stocks are dragging the market down up to j.p. morgan chase reported better slow down investment banking its income anchor america's also down both losing over four percent. european stocks fell on thursday

as well led by banks closed banking group and more bank of scotland profits after fitch ratings downgraded both companies to a from a minus b.n.p. perry was the biggest decline or dropping six point seven percent mining companies were also down following a report of slowing export growth in china rolls royce holdings rallied ten percent on the footsie after it announced a new joint venture with united technologies and here in russia markets finished the trading day lower weight energy stocks as oil profits after the international energy agency were. it's global from our forecast for two thousand and twelve let's have a look at some individual travels on the other side of the decline on the index was led by gazprom down two percent look or was also losing ground the company said it's going to spend more than ten billion dollars a year over the next decade to develop huge new projects and polling little you raised early gains the company has reported

a forty percent increase in revenues for the first nine months of the year michael stein for one critical wraps up today's trade. today in the markets a consolidation phase boeing the huge ten percent rally in the r.t.s. since late wednesday of last week investor sentiment and it's improved to some extent and given the europeans are taking a more constructive approach to solving their debt problems and given the market improvement in crisis from one hundred dollars a barrel last week and close to one hundred ten dollars a barrel this week and more news from tank a b.p. the minority shareholders of the company have increased their claims against british partner b.p. they now want thirteen billion dollars compensation following a collapse of the peace tie up which was now the initial request was a quarter of a quarter that now at the beginning of the year ross nafta and b.p. agreed to jointly develop the rich accept feels but b.p.

has russian partners in take a d.p. gluck the deal saying if i lived at their rights and i'm not a part of the tile the minority shareholders now want compensation for the revenues they could have made if it's. that's my business ok for this hour but then five forty five minutes a lot here on. the

earth. he.