in defense of damascus moscow plane syria's increasing international isolation and western plans for regime change. syria's arab neighbors turn their backs on president assad as the united states and its allies call for tougher action to bring about the downfall of the syrian leader. turning up the heat tough talks between the u.s. and china over trading currency issues as the apec summit comes to a close in the white. u.s. police turn up the heat on. protesters tearing down tents and arresting activists as the crackdown on the movement escalates across the country. and later this hour qatar as eyeing

a liquefied natural gas project in the arctic find out who might be its russian partner later this hour in the business but. international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. with you twenty four hours a day the u.s. and its own eyes are more interested in regime change in syria than a peaceful solution to the rest that's according to the kremlin russia's foreign minister says western countries are trying to stir up syria's opposition to topple president bashar assad. has the details. circular frova said in a statement expressing russia's dismay at the decision to suspend syria from the arab league he said that's with russia's help and advice president assad has been implementing the reforms that were put forward by the arab league in a meeting on the second of november peace deal

a deal to try and broker peace in the syrian conflict. so he left office said this the decision to suspend syria from the arab league is counterproductive to a peace deal saying that the this decision really sends a message to the syrian opposition to continue fighting against president assad on the pro government forces in syria not getting them to the table to discuss a peaceful resolution to this now russia has tried to mediate in the past and has offered its service members representatives from both the syrian leadership and the syrian opposition have been here in moscow for talks and in fact in the next couple of days a senior syrian opposition member will be here in the russian capital for further talks to try to bring about that peaceful solution on wednesday respect and see the

rubber stamp put on the decision to suspend syria from the arab league though the last nation to be suspended from the arab league was libya of course after exulted in the outside military intervention something that russia again was opposed to and military intervention that went far beyond the parameters that were laid out in u.n. resolutions when it came to the chance of imposing a u.n. resolution on syria russia looking at sishen from going through we're also seeing the reaction from the syrian people tens of thousands out on the streets of damascus across syria protesting against this decision to suspend syria from the arab league they want to find a peaceful solution to put an end to this conflict it's going on for eight months now the estimated three thousand five hundred people being killed during it. people over there let's get some more perspective and analysis from the east with coal shero coal to see here all our team of damascus that said it would solve its own

problems but then agreed to implement an arab league plan is that not a sign that it's sending a signal of weakness but foreign interference in syria can and will be accepted absolutely this is why i think this move by syria was completely unpredictable and out of the blue and i think it's a sign of this orientation of the current administration in syria. if you like of principle their sovereignty to be violated and then didn't go on to implement the decisions which i think obviously force the arab league to its game so to speak in sensually it was a big concession and i think it's quite clear indication of a kind of instability and disorientation in the current administration in syria what about what's happening today the e.u. has only just slapped more sanctions on damascus sanctions will they really help bring about a solution to this crisis. well i think this is the interesting thing people talk

of a plan for regime change and i think quite the opposite is actually happening is the west is doesn't really quite so nor what to do with this situation and it's running out of sanctions to impose that it would not be effective while at the same time he wants to be seen as if it's doing something and any sort of we've heard hints that there's a collision between the arab league and the west and particularly the united states the words escalating regime change and i don't think quite honestly that's what's on the table if you look at our oblique initiative actually what it calls for is not a regime change of course for dialogue between the opposition and the syrian government and that actually extends a lifeline for the current syrian regime and talks rather gun phrygian change it talks of a negotiated form of certain that might end up in the current regime stain because that blueprint that view is indorsed by russia isn't it going to go she ations

russia's been actively mediating a peaceful solution. for this conflict for months now but clearly that help from the arab league may well help their cause to promote some sort of dialogue or not. well it depends what the outcome here i mean let's look really at the stew ation that we are facing i don't presume to speak for the syrian people but the kind of the slogan or the program for which president assad came to power was reform has had eleven years in power and we haven't seen very form unless you consider reform to be computers and trappings obviously there's a lot of people in syria that don't feel that's enough and they want political change and i think that's a legitimate aspirations now if you look at it from this point of view you can see that any kind of negotiated solution that will end up in a dilution of that amount for a change might not be the desirable outcome that your correspondent just said three thousand five hundred people have died for. another war is of course islam is

forces they've been able to bolster the positions in post revolution tunisia egypt and libya just how dangerous is this trend could we see that happening in syria. listen all possibilities are open but let's kind of take those claims with a pinch of salt because i think the islamists have been went out of their way particularly in tunisia to say except that there's a pluralistic kind of political scene now emerging and they would like to respect a lesser extent in egypt who haven't really heard what they are about in syria and part of the problem is we haven't seen a lot of the syrian regime hasn't allowed political voices to very clearly what i think is the ultimate kind of message to ensure that this doesn't include any form of kind of further bloody confrontations in syria is generally taking on board the aspirations for people in for change and if that includes

a certain islamist component then let that be represented in a democratic fashion but while maintaining all the external age and seeking to kind of manipulation the vote on certainly don't have the interest of the syrian people in the kind of top priority but out of their own interest and in this instance i feel the lowest common denominator in that is stability rather than reform or change in syria you're talking about they should acknowledge the people's aspirations for change assad has said look he is reforming russia's acknowledge the fact that he needs a bit more time to carry out those reforms why is the international community running out of patience with that and indeed the people there in syria themselves they're not listening to his promise of reforms. let's distinguish very clearly between the international community and arab league on the one hand and the people on the other because we can't even make a further distinction between the people going out every day and every friday to kind of fight for their political aspirations and whatever have emerged in terms of

leadership in syria in my opinion the opposition leadership and leaders have failed to represent the inspiration of the people and they have been i wouldn't hesitate to use the word cowardly so in terms of the external observers they seek to further their own interest and to kind of overcome that will ensure stability in the middle east and for various reasons there's no scope to go into over here but this syrian man and woman on the street you can't say you've had eleven years of this rule you have to wait for more you and i and russia and america and anyone else can say that message to them cole thanks very much indeed for your thoughts we'll leave it there live from london the middle east and your whole shero joining us live on r.t. thanks. we're always interested in your opinion as well on our web site do you think that syria will follow libya's fate you can go to war to join in with our latest poll let's have

a look at the screen and see what the results are well most popular responses that nato would intervene anyway even without u.n. backing. nato wouldn't intervene in bloody war in the least come second and some of you think that syria's too strong in the south has too much support for that while the minority that nato will intervene with u.n. backing in the overthrow of the senate. passed your vote it's yours. bizarre to live here moscow could have you with us still ahead this devoted europe . knowing the best interest of the germans to keep on going with this i think you have both of you you have to be a virally we're going to punish that's not a union as new governments take over in italy and greece some question whether they'll have the interests of ordinary people at heart. a number of breakthroughs have been made at this year's apec summit in hawaii with twenty one member nations present including australia kind of in japan all the countries

pledged to work towards a pacific free trade zone something the u.s. had pushed for president with that of an obama met on the sidelines of the summit to talk about moscow's accession to the girls trade organization next year also discussed the cancellation of a cold war provision in us in the war known as the caption than the amendment that restricts trade relations with russia and the same time the u.s. has turned up the heat on its biggest economic rival china as our correspondent i discovered the smiles and handshakes for the cameras didn't tell the full story but there is a tradition at summits where leaders get together and where national costumes for a photo opportunity it's really a fun time for leaders to pat each other on the back and joke around but this year journalists were surprised to see that this is all a photo op in hawaiian shirts never happened and we were hearing that this is because china was refusing to put on the hawaiian shirt so it really looks like the united states had a hard time during these last two days at apac in honolulu convincing china not only when it comes to economic issues but really issues of the wardrobe as well and

this is something that many analysts are not surprised to see because the u.s. currently doesn't have a lot of leverage when it comes to dealing with china as china of course is the largest foreign creditor for the united states holding over one trillion dollars in u.s. debt. u.s. has long complained that china keeps its currency artificially weak to give an advantage to its exporters but china says that the new one has to rise gradually to avoid harming its economy and our correspondent oksana boyko explains the differences that appall got between washington and beijing. if there is any us state where the occupy movement has little chance it's probably why despite the high concentration of politicians and wall street big wigs socializing at the apec summit the only place people are willing to occupy here are less at the beach is this one exception these protesters are against greed and social injustice they're against economic inequality and they are against china.

was who incidentally the mood at the podium was similarly hostile i think we can benefit from for a good try and certainly continue cultivating. a constructive relationship with the trial his government. but we're going to continue to be firm in insisting that they operate by the same rules that. everybody else rules rules and again rules as a country that's been ruling the roost for decades the united states has never been shy of policing authors but as china's g.d.p. continues adding nine percent a year if it has the q. and a half percent growth in the u.s. the reprimand seems to be in china. conformity is one of the top ballet you think the chinese build a wall also reflected in the country's political and economic policy if that's not

china doesn't play by the rules it's actually quite the opposite what the united states things to have an issue really is that increasingly china rules and i have the privilege watching for would prefer to keep it for hours as the u.s. president hailed his new free trade asia pacific pact as a win win trade in the region some in china took it as a predatory effort to change rules. free trade to be. in the eyes of the beholder it's a treat for you but protection provided that i get. precious. industries as. well. so it's always. free as the euro crisis continues metastasizing throughout the world and china is asked to shoulder the load many analysts say the west should keep in mind its old adage about he who pays the piper china is really in the driver's seat in many

respects and this is coming at an awkward time for the united states because the united states is clearly a declining power at the same time and it's having trouble adjusting to what that means many chinese proverbs are difficult to translate into english here those about money usually have exact equivalents one of them is money makes the world go round the concept experientially. milliards of washington and progressively still. kind of my car at the apec summit in honolulu. us police are losing patience with the anti corporate movement two months after it flared up and spread across america offices in riot gear raided a protester camp in the city of oakland this month intense and arresting activists what is loosely covered as the latest. we've seen crackdown after crackdown is like the crackdown certainly increasing beginning with right here in oakland the soonest we got there officers again fully dressed in riot gear moving in on the protesters

but interestingly enough there wasn't the same type of clashes that we've sort of grown accustomed to and seen in oakland say it all went down rather smoothly end peacefully just by it's a lot of nervous tension in fact protesters gave my camera night these mass that are soaked and vinegar it's quite a quite a stench to protect against tear gas none of that was used but those occupations they do seem like they'll continue not here in oakland where now that was a was raided the tents for removal of protesters were just burst but i guess the most important thing to watch here in oakland is what happens in the aftermath because of course we saw just a few weeks ago that there's tremendous photographs that betokened looked almost like a war zone somewhere abroad the police were using tear gas flash bang grenades all kinds of non-lethal projectile weapons that entropy injuring the iraq war veterans holes and so we will be watching to see whether there's going to be a repeat of that kind of violence in the aftermath of the rain where it really counts is if you ask the protesters just to stop this sort of i'm checks corporate

greed to some checks controlled by wall street over washington and that of course has not been stopped whatsoever of that there are some some developments that sort of make it seem like this movement is spreading is having some sort of an impact for example in the mainstream media discourse you hear a lot more discussion about income inequality social injustice this sort of financial distinction between the top one percent income earners in this country and the rest of the people that don't seem to be making quite as much and it does seem like perhaps in the coming months hala titian's can no longer ignore this movement perhaps we'll see sort of like what happens with the tea party where politicians will be forced to take on some of these ideas and talk about sort of moving away from this wealth inequality that really is so significant. this century and so surprisingly so because again when you think of the united states you don't really think there are third world images and unfortunately in some of these cities and towns that's exactly where it's developed into where people can't afford their

schools they can't afford their homes they can't afford to find a place to live that is what a lot of those people have told us in our travels covering this. you see coming off talking to be a little earlier well still ahead for you this hour there were a three astronauts on course for the international space station and a russian soyuz the first crew to do so since a similar unmanned rocket crashed three months ago. and first italy's new prime minister mario monti has begun working on forming a new technocratic government to tackle the country's tyron debt an economist and former e.u. commissioner you know has to implement structural economic reforms to pull italy out of its financial chaos or correspond sort of further takes a look now at whether a new man at the top can make a difference for the euro zone. it was never going to be easy to put it this year at seventeen countries of which are now under one currency attracted fierce criticism we've witnessed the beginning of a dishonest and downright dangerous german president. to revive the

constitution but to do it in such a way that you want to avoid referendums in key member states some might now be wishing they'd heeded the warnings one after another the member states began to wobble it's least in the latest country to come under scrutiny we have been witnessing in less than. a growing pressure from europe and i'm talking in particular from france and germany hardly the u.k. certainly the european parliament and the commission is going to start the crisis is so far senior leaders have quit and italy replaced by people who were never elected to office he made their way around brussels here in italy with berlusconi now gone doesn't and they're paying for reforms now need to be implemented to meet the demands for the first time since quite as began talks have now begun to turn to

the possibility of exit from the year or the creation of the call europe countries like germany seem to be leading the way but i think it's not in the rest interest of the germans to keep on going with this article or you know what you have behaved badly we're going to punish that's not a union in united states of america if a state behaves badly imagine pecks is behaving badly or you think obama is going to do we're going to kick you out of united states of america no they're not going to run the growing sense of a bad year a green pretty good year has not gone unnoticed by struggling countries is clear that those who haven't spent less now face a painful stereotype measures the sense of being treated like a naughty school child only added to the growing strain in. community. now well so see there will always much more france and especially germany to the times they're up to us to say to express. their own country for europe

as a whole your intentions have not caught on this by the financial markets punish political leaders. dealing with the crisis and struggling economies like italy now called the . mistakes italy's being considered by many the test case of the year is it failed and it could take down the entire. the question now is whether or not those measures can be whether we'll see them going the same way as previous measures put forward by european leaders. failed to come up with a convincing. third party. now to some other news making headlines around the world israeli airstrike on a naval base used by hamas in northern gaza has killed a palestinian policeman and then just seven others israeli officials say the attack was in response to a rocket fired into southern israel several hours earlier this comes a day after an israeli commander was quoted to say the military is prepared to

topple the hamas regime. the man who confessed to killing seventy seven people has made his first public appearance in court carrying out the massacre refused to plead guilty in july. attack central oslo with a car bomb and went on a deadly shooting rampage at a youth camp on the island of. his previous hearings have been held behind closed doors the main trial expected to start in april. afghanistan the taliban is a government documents in kabul the papers include security arrangements for president hamid karzai and several cabinet ministers group obviously twenty seven pages on its website claiming the details would allow it to launch precision attacks afghan officials originally denied papers were real but now confirm they are authentic and that the security arrangements have since changed. and successful blast off from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan sent three cosmonauts aboard

a russian spacecraft on their way to the international space station it's the person wants since a similar unmanned soyuz rocket carrying supplies for the crash almost three months ago got it on bottom picks up the story launch time at the baikonur cosmodrome these three men have gone up to join their colleagues on the international space station but they're late and i'm happy about why it is a risky business you can never eliminate risk altogether that that's the bargain that you make for the privilege of flying humans and sprucing accomplishing what they do up there on the twenty fourth of august to supply rockets engines failed on its way up to the i assess and it plummeted back to work with a bang it was a moment but all launches will put on hold but worries about the safety of sawyer's rockets now the only link to the space station crew since the last u.s. shuttle flights of july. this crew of their launch date set back their relatives

were especially nervous after the progress crash what do you think about your husband's launch coming up so soon. it's too difficult it's better not to talk about it. the crew themselves though accept the dangers as part of the job. we're upset supposed the accident of course but every big project has some room for failure unfortunately this is not completely avoidable but we shouldn't dramatize the situation. and so it was that rocket was lifted into place on its launch pad we can see the rocket taking off with what's. up with deep sighs of relief all watched as the rocket blasted successfully into orbit leaving the crew to experience what all the rest of us dream about. you can actually go to view of the earth during the flight and the spacecraft but surely

will have time to enjoy it better while the international space station for that view from ams future in space they say the risk is worth it tom watson r.t. . twenty five minutes past the hour here in moscow but with some of our main news stories in five minutes from now on the tash is next with the business news. at thirty five minutes past ten pm here in moscow welcome to the business program italy has no choice but to exit the euro zone and bring back its national currency even if that means the collapse of the single currency so says prominent economist nouriel roubini also known as dr do. six countries resolve to the e. that was from the side because it has to be for that reason you're always has to go in the financial difficulties you. want to morally we need to address the larger

issues in this rather than probably don't want more of them let me go to two legs of the eurozone if enough of the most of the eurozone but so far at least implies that a breakup will be it was only. tell us now see how global equities are trading european debt continues to weigh on wall street which is widening its losses the dow and the mastic losing more than three quarters of a percent this our. european indices were unable to sustain it earlier gains that were due to some optimism about italy it has started building a new government this was the end of the day half a percent lower germany's dax closed more than one percent down. and here in russia the markets ended monday's session waktu positive the r.t.s. and m i six were up just a notch. and here are some of the biggest movers of the day gazprom and other energy blue chips were quite robust during the day but ended the trading session

with losses lugol's also in the red the company on monday reported an eighty percent increase in net profits for the first nine months of the year but investors were disappointed by declining production dollars gold continued its last week's losses the lower precious metal prices. russia's economic expansion is it celebrating for the first time since last year g.d.p. was up four point eight percent in the third word compared to around three percent in the previous one now it's due to stronger consumption helped by a rise in lending but it's too early to celebrate analysts expect a slow down toward the end of the year as production declines and external demand shows no signs of recovery. qatar's and talks to buy a stake in the arctic liquefied natural gas project like by russia's gas producer nova tak they've all project is expected to produce around five million tonnes of

ellen g. the year it starts production bouts twenty sixteen and reach a fifteen million tonnes by the year twenty eighteen qatar's energy minister mohammad al saud as says the country is keen to take part in this project proposed very much interested in the first move. to another leave we can you can see the moment is. important to watch it's not going to be too steep. to. speak to the. point you. have in the discussions in negotiation with our partners. and that's all the latest from the business team i'll be back in about fifteen minutes .

from. the. russians would be soon.