good to see you so president assad he's made his position clear it seems he's determined to fight to stay on. yes certainly strong words coming from a syrian president bashar al assad to me the conflict this country's got been going on for seven almost eight months now and in that interview to the russian channel he had also said that any attempts to would destabilize the country could lead to what he called an earthquake that would not just have implications in the region but also global implications he said that it's natural for a state a small state that is like syria to fight back and he reiterated the syria is certainly not libya and also as you mentioned earlier he did voice out his thoughts what he and his government believe is the real cause behind the uprising in his country let's listen. today we have hundreds of soldiers police and security forces among the dead how were they killed during peaceful demonstrations ok because some slogans being chanted no they were shot and this means we're dealing with people we

don't know whether the weapons reach syria from israel or in you know the state that possesses such weapons but there is evidence of mines in grenades that were put in place is packed with civilians this led to casualties in a number of cases the information obtained during the interrogation of terrorists shows the smoking to syria from neighboring states become pain was funded from abroad and we have a list of those who are responsible for this. we've seen months of unrest in syria talk to us about what's being done to actually help resolve this ongoing crisis. well since the the uprising started in march of this year the government has tried to put forth some reforms and the president had said that they're planning parliamentary elections in february of next year and also they put forth this so-called multi-party law which allows other political parties outside of the ruling baath party to participate in parallel to that though those reforms that the government was equipped for their protests of course continue according to the you what about. three thousand

a more than three thousand people have already been killed since march and i was in it in syria is about two weeks ago talking to those protesters who are continuing to go out into the streets the government again maintaining that these are the armed forces inflicting the violence but the protesters saying in fact they have by and large have been peaceful and that it is the security forces firing upon them and it is true that some of them are calling for this no fly zone to to end the violence that they see however it has to be said that there are opposition voices such as the national coordinator council which shot tries to bring together the different voices in syria and they're saying that while they're very critical of the reforms they've put forth by the government saying it's not enough they're also wary of calling or door saying a so-called no fly zone because they do see this could just result in more bloodshed they don't want to see that in their country now the arab league of course has had been actively trying to find a solution as well trying to a speak with syrian officials they put forth a plan to president assad he said that he will be a willing to talk to all of the opposition voices including those formed during the

conflict however these are words for now they want to see actual negotiation table and that's not to say that i mean the external pressure is increasing that even if there's a lot of hesitation to any form of foreign intervention a word coming from the western leaders as well as china and russia who as you know had vetoed that u.n. resolution calling for sanctions on syria all of them are calling for a for a dialogue for real results to see the way the violence has really stopped and that's really the main focus right now of the pressure coming from the outside they just want the violence to stop. but there's a lot of international outside pressure coming down on. the outside the ministry of foreign affairs right here in moscow. protesters from the occupy wall street movement to face new challengers unseasonably bad weather hits the used coast alongside a sweeping police crackdown now they'll be up against putting temperatures snow and

strong winds we're going to have the latest from new york. then durrance and tenacity of new york city's occupy wall street activist was tested this weekend as a blast of usual winter weather moved through the big apple the campground in zuccotti park was hit with snow heavy rains and winds blowing up to sixty miles per hour now hundreds of protesters braved the freezing temperatures huddled inside their own personal ten or under tarps that were put up over parts of sukiyaki park now just one day before this winter weather came in city firefighters easily six generators and dozens of cans of gas from the occupy activists in zuccotti park now those generators were presumably being used to generate heat as many knew that this cold weather was coming up over the weekend the city officials say the generators finally fire code and would have sparked

a fire in the meantime occupy optimus are threatening to take legal action if their generators and their property will not be returned they demand that the city give them their property babb occupy optimiser kucing new york city mayor michael bloomberg of attempting to end the occupation by creating a public health risk for these protesters that are valid to remain down into cotton park in lower manhattan throughout the winter by the upcoming winter season now meanwhile in denver over the weekend police moved into an occupying camp meant arresting demonstrators who allegedly ignored orders to leave the arrest came hours after standoff between optimists in authority near the steps of the colorado capital a clash that erupted resulted in cops reportedly using pepper sticks pepper spray and rubber bullets against protesters twenty people people were reportedly arrested

in what's being described as an ongoing police rocking town. against american uprising meanwhile the iraqi war veteran who was critically injured by police during wednesday's occupy oakland demonstration is making minor improvements doctors say that scott olsen's condition has been upgraded to fair although he remains in intensive care the twenty four year old suffer a minor brain damage after being hit by a police projectile scott olsen was among the many iraqi war veterans taking part in the occupy all oakland demonstrations that ended with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds of people at least ninety seven people were arrested get many safety of bed to that event even more sympathy and more support for the occupying wall street movement that began here in new york city reporting from new york. r.t. . it's been

a week of arrests and clashes between protesters and police on sunday over one hundred people were held across the country as authorities forced activists out of their makeshift camps r.t. producer. has been following the protests since they began some six weeks ago she tweets as you can see right here that the police have raided the in company of the occupy wall street protesters in richmond virginia around ten arrested there you can follow her twitter page for the latest information. for you without the live from moscow it's good to have you with us today are still ahead for you this hour here while the next israeli soldier has been in prison for leaking secret military data we look at why this classified information is being ignored by investigators. still a long way from science fiction becoming. human home on the surface of mars but we are allowed to dream. test the waters and weigh up our chances are one day

going to the. feuding russian billionaires roman abramovich. taking their battle to a u.k. court claims that they. robbed him of billions of dollars something chelsea denies. speak at a high court hearing on monday. bennett reports on what promises to be the most expensive lawsuit in history. this will be the first time. a is the bodyguards are calling him opens his mouth in this hearing up until now he's get the resolute silence in stark contrast to his rival used to be. whose appearances in the witness box have been loud brash and passionate after all there's a lot at stake here he's suing me say for three point five billion pounds breach of trust and breach of contract he says mr a intimidated him. into selling his shares in sleep now. the oil company for

a fraction of their true value the hearings trying to establish the final details of those deals that went on but it appears none of that was actually put into writing after all it was ninety's russia it's not so much what's inside the court that's caught the attention here is the extravagant apparatus around these two men they show up to court and so many my bucks in the sadie's they're flanked by vast aunt rogers of at least fifteen people each inside the courtroom which is massive it's divided into two warring factions each man is represented by three rows of lawyers legal age translators bodyguards each behind a computer screen outside the court room in a free corner is a big burly man with dark glasses and near piece these are two of the world's richest men although the rumor is that barry's spare reserve skis ports is dwindling but to give you an idea of just how much money these men have for mr hayes legal fees are thought to be the in the region of between four and eight million pounds. it is either going to reporting an israeli court has jailed that

former soldier for four and a half years for leaking classified military files to the press or some of the documents suggest the military officials approved the killing of palestinians in the west bank however those claims are not being investigated and that undermines israeli law this according to legal experts sorry bush. in this case a whistle blower blew allowed. the military is violating international law and the . supreme court in carrying out assassinations in situations in which they are required to try to make an arrest and so the state attorney's office prosecuted the . conduct with raising serious questions about rule of law in a democratic system that pattern of behavior of violating orders by the supreme court because of a supreme court to try to arrest is part of a pattern of practice within the israeli system and it's something that's very

disturbing because when the army does not obey orders by the supreme court the supreme court is actually more reluctant to issue those orders because no court wants to issue orders that are going to be ignored and then of course you have a serious threat to the rule of law because in a democratic system. if you're looking for. maybe five. weeks.

he. dot com. just one quarter past the hour on this monday here in moscow now the

eurozone may of heaved a sigh of relief with a new deal reached to help greece but it doesn't mean that the crisis is over portugal reportedly wants to renegotiate the terms of the bailout it received earlier this year and it has also called on european countries to help to save the eurozone and it's also. reports painful austerity cuts if it portuguese society. no jobs no money no chance for the future these messages have been brought by teachers striking in portugal they can never have stability to be in the school. even if they are working for ten fifteen twenty years they are always earning the same and don't have a place in school a stable place one school it's a political choice of our national cuts in education health and social security that's a political choice in early complexity a child. like legendary atlantis particle seems to be sliding deeper and deeper

into the depths of economic output that started off as a purely financial crisis is now turning into malevolent force which threatens to drop the four chickies their basic human rights earlier this year portugal got an emergency bailout from the e.u. to deal with its debt the third country to do so after greece and ireland but for some the seventy eight billion euro price tag is too high to pay for the hysteria to cuts it goes well beyond the classroom and strikes at some of portuguese societies fundamental principles like access to justice. the government isn't paying lawyers who provide free public legal services so there are some who have been doing it for years for free the courts cannot be reduced to canonical entities to solve problems of large corporations they must play the role of providing legal services to citizens and promoting social pressure. and this is cutting corners in education and the legal system is not enough the government spends years are hitting the portuguese where it hurts the most in their health care the government

what is your capacity then do we start. doing development of subsidies barrier the government most has to go yes that will be a lot of the. mall because we know that at the same time we pick up. even. and it's more pain no gain these charities failing to stop portugal's economy plummeting with the poor in the front line prime minister has said that he wants to keep the lower income families away from the cuts not really sure that's possible portugal now has a really big budget problem fortunately it's money and they need to now so they are going to have to cut like time services slashed taxes hiked but portugal's forced to have a worse jeffrey show then that's startling enough but for the people trying to

survive there's technique going to be disasters already this year if you go. with. the heart of the business news about a five minutes away here on our team but for now the front runner in it could have stands a presidential election. look set to take the country's top job with almost all ballots counted leading the polls with over sixty percent of the fog the current interim president of a central asian nation of rosa autumn by a vote will step down later this year to make way for the win up by the vote is seen as both a democratic milestone and a vital chance to bring stability to the country former president was ousted last april as a result of bloody uprisings in the capital bishkek that left one thousand it led to massive ethnic clashes in the south that killed over four hundred people. for the time now for the world update here on some of the headlines from around the world for you this hour nato is winding up its mission over libya today after the u.n. security council voted last week to remove the country's no fly zone and the coalition's

campaign libya's interim leadership will assume responsibility for national security at midnight and try to restore order in a country flooded with weapons by nato which has been operating in the country since march has been accused of breaching the terms of the un resolution its initial goal was to protect civilians but some air strikes are thought to have hit military targets claiming innocent life. a suicide bombing in the southern afghan city of kandahar has claimed at least four lives police say that a truck laden with explosives was detonated near a u.n. agency checkpoint killing three five other people were wounded in the attack in the ensuing gunfight between insurgents and afghan security forces the taliban have claimed responsibility for the times. following another powerful deluge of parts of the thai capital bangkok waist high in water while the city's commercial sector

remains mostly dry thailand's prime minister hopes to be able to drain a massive body of water that's built up around the capital out to sea before it seeps into the city center but for now the residents are forced to wade through deep murky water as thai authorities struggle to keep electricity and water running by the worst floods to hit thailand in fifty years now killed more than three hundred seventy people and ultimately caused billions of dollars in. australia as a quantas airlines so clear the first flight out of sydney after operations resume worldwide following a court order that resolved the company's dispute with union members the tribunal put an end to a long running conflict between the airline and workers unions over plans to outsource some of the airline's services. this decision comes two days off the quarters directors grounded one hundred two planes in twenty countries leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports. now thirty first

signals a landmark in history after our global population officially reached seven billion some scientists predict the earth will be severely overcrowded in just a few decades with bitter consequences for the environment and economy it's a statistic that has inspired many to start looking far and wide for a new place to live so. now gazes deep into the future. so when next mercury too hot pluto too cold mars that's will do nicely as the population of earth passes the seven billion mark some of suggested the red planet as a replacement for our current blue one however in these times of tightening purse strings the cost of going to mars could be a problem in the months of a one man expedition to mars and back would cost it is safe to say over three billion dollars preparing for these flights would cost about thirty or fifty times

more than a two way ticket in other words we're talking about colossal expenses regardless of the price those who have been into space say the time is right for mankind to yet again both lee go where no one has gone before everybody realizes that it's time to reach out and explore the universe beyond low earth orbit we have for many years just. for ten years at least we have been on the international space station in very close and we haven't been somewhere else or with people since the lunar landings which ended back in one nine hundred seventy two there's no shortage of take years to be the first to set foot on mars and potential red planet trailblazers have started their training young surrogate is still just a teenager but he's putting in the hard yards in the hope that he can help create a potential new home for humanity millions of kilometers away not mars i want to be

the first to travel to mars and to other planets as well to the moons of jupiter saturn you can leave there in future we're still a long way from science fiction becoming science fact with human setting up home on the surface of mars even if we put the huge cost of a martian settlement to one side there are some serious hurdles to be overcome not least we have no idea if life existed there previously and if it is. whether whatever killed it off could be dangerous to us why should we even think about finding a new home. earth's resources are finite therefore we will eventually have to either restrain population and production growth or risking losing both or we find a foothold on other planets no matter how much it costs us with the retirement of nasa space shuttle the only way for people to get into space at the minute is the russian soyuz rocket currently with the science available our chances of a global relocation anytime soon

a pretty much zero however it took to weigh in central moscow the mars five hundred project is simulating the effects a mission to mars would have on a crew in search of a new home. there is one obvious reason why the experiment has been so popular the world is still a place for dreamers who dream of exciting projects that unite people or international projects. is not old enough as it stands we might have to learn to deal with the soaring global population but young surrogate will keep on training hard in the hope that he can do it for the dreamers piece of all of the arctic. news here on r.t. . next. thanks rory a very warm welcome to the business program russia seems to be all set to join the world trade organization it's agreed a final report on

a succession russia's chief negotiator. sessions said there will were still a number of technical issues to resolve but those will be completed in a week and russia also has to finalize agreements with georgia which until last week was the only country to continue to appalls russia's accession whether it now looks likely both sides will agree to a proposal mediated by the swiss presidential aide upgraded but of course russia could during the w t o by december fifteenth. and the russian ruble has strengthened by over eighty percent in the last month to around thirty two of the dollars that says investor risk appetite has seen a recovery falling ill used ups to tackle the debt crisis and let's say a side effect of the rally could be a turnaround in the capital flight from russia. there are more reasons to expect stronger rather than the weak. while prices are high and russia

is exhibiting twin surpluses while the current account surplus is very high and the we have a substantial fiscal surplus overall i think there are reasons to believe that even until the end of this year even after the recently there is still stalled for appreciation this year and furthermore i can say we've had tremendous flows of capital from russia in two thousand and eleven. there are reasons to believe it could be celebrate or even a little burst so when capital flows could take place if that happens even more reasons to expect ruble strength. which brings us to the markets oil prices are heading lower on monday europe's move last week chris this debt crisis sparked a rally on global trading schools but not traders that turning that tension two week extension of the global economy some market watchers expect a jump in crude prices to push gasoline prices high and undermine demand. and

european markets lower both the footsie on the decks and losing more than one percent this hour mining stocks on the brushoff to metal prices dropped and britain's second biggest bank barclays said its that quarter profits increased by five percent beating estimates about its shares have slipped into red this salazar after seeing a rally earlier this morning. on the russian markets the declining us crude oil and metals for hurting the outlook for companies in the world's biggest energy exporter so have a look at some of the individual share moves on the my stocks russia's biggest oil company will soon after is more than two percent in their right to bear bond is losing one point two percent bucking the trend as well carly up two percent on the news it's considering a premium listing on the london stock exchange. well many of russia's sitters look the same as they did twenty years ago although with more advertising billboards all the while they were investing heavily in making the citrus sparkling and attractive

bandar's from business new europe but leaves that crowd is about to catch on here there's a boom a quiet a silent infrastructure spending in two thousand and eight the kremlin dollars to one trillion dollars investment program so upgrade russia's infrastructure to modernize its parents and replace it where it was missing and throughout the crisis russia has been spending. hundred billion dollars a year on roads. all those things. and it's not visible because it's all going into things like transport and this is going to drive growth i mean the good infrastructure is what underpins economic growth and because of all the spending habits is going to continue then the outlook for the russian economy is good because it will lift things out and make business better asked. internet group mail dot org here is launching a new microblog service a russian competitor to twitter twitter is increasing its audience twenty five

times fast to them the most powerful blog service in russia live journal despite bright prospects analysts warn that it's difficult to make money on michael blogs even twitter this question what's the cell phone. that's a phone now europe today joining me unless someone else for another business update for you.

those who are fascinated with history. to those who have a sweet tooth. to those who can't live without discomfort. and of course to the nature. this magnificent land offers its treasures. between the earth and the sky. one are.

about two thirty pm on monday here in moscow you with r.t. the headlines for you syria's president bashar al assad believed to be a seven month long on rest in his country has been funded from abroad in an interview to russian media he also warned a military intervention could call for the entire reach. schools of all. protesters are arrested across the united states and confrontations with police all of this. ten people from camping overnight meanwhile foul weather hits the east coast testing activists determination to keep the corporate. feuding a russian billionaire. over throw their fortunes at a high court battle in the u.k. but as he accuses you of robbing him of billions of dollars something that chelsea f.c. . what are u.s. troops.