mounting pressure of the one warns that syria is on the cusp of a civil war and puts the death toll at over four thousand as a plans to hold another emergency meeting on the crisis the are. all eyes are on egypt as a country awaits to see how the people voted in parliamentary elections the spiders that many doubt it will bring any real change. thousands of protesters take to the streets of new york to stage a labor union rally demanding jobs and economic justice echoing occupied frustrate the gulf between the haves and the have nots. and in business in twenty minutes we examine why the russian government has not wrapped up public

spending at the polls on sunday at the tap in previous years. nine am in the russian capital you're watching r t i'm marina joshua welcome to the program syria's on the verge of a civil war and that's the warning from the u.n. which now estimates the death toll in the nine months uprising now tops more than four thousand people and emergency un meeting on syria later today aims to put pressure on the country to hold the bloodshed this comes after the e.u. slaps fresh sanctions on us his regime targeting energy and finance sectors damascus has already dogged the move and economic war political activist franklin lamb says that history reminds us sanctions are not effective and lead only to deeper crisis. but i don't think the. the sanctions are going to bring down the

regime because the regime is the screen actually the sick and the and i think there's enough of the population that takes underage as this western interference in terms of these sanctions. they will also resist and i think that history going back to iraq and before teachers because sanctions you know are not really affected him to change the behavior of a regime very dramatic there for local consumption and i know the u.s. congress is thrilled with these sanctions against syria and against iran but in real political terms i don't see the as the fruit of you know of of those efforts and obviously both sides have got to find another way to diffuse these. dangerous situations sanctions are just not going to work i think. while increasing

sanctions against syria are drawing ever more parallels with the war in libya and fears it might be next in the firing line for a western military intervention and as artists are still your reports the evidence behind the leading campaign remains controversial. there is no evidence to justify the humanitarian war in libya that's the conclusion of filmmaker and independent journalist. the beginning of this story we got some medication which as you know look really even said to the united nations human rights council and those allegations of never been verified or check and zigzagging use also as much for your thoughts and your i.c.c. case gets to be. a march seventeenth un security council resolution one nine hundred seventy three was passed imposing a no fly zone over libya. accusations were that happy bombed his own people from

air and land used foreign mercenaries ordered the use of rape as a weapon and killed by the thousands it concludes that there was no bombing all i know is that there is no evidence of warming and so our interviews of men went to the united nations human rights council weezer us human which we're seeing on which appear was the former secretary general of the libyan leader for human rights now the libyan ambassador to burn in switzerland on february twenty five he went to the u.n. human rights council to present his organization's allegations of crimes against that office government and that session a decision was taken to freeze libya's membership in the council he underlie the number of deaths six thousand including three thousand in tripoli alone with julia asked what she gear how these claims can be verified he pointed to the former rebels now libya's government as his source here where they got information from

the libyan prime minister that mr mahmood of the warfalla tribe was on the other side of the national transitional council was the one who gave me these numbers. yet there are still those who defend the libyan intervention like this former french intelligence officer clearly in this case for before it is very likely that some crimes attributed to could have in this conflict were farce or exaggerated but we had all the record of could a free for forty years of in the could he was the terrorist with the crimean on june twenty seventh international criminal court prosecutor luis a compliment on his requests for arrest warrants for more market off the saif al islam and get out these intelligence chief was granted of course we are prosecutor and judge and so we rely on facts so we prove the crimes but what we did i went through the pages of the arrest warrant application both of which were redacted but a lot of pages so consider probably were this is a particle for support the case one of which was which if there were twenty fifth

speech the one based on information who should get himself said he got the empty seat you know whether to answer documents to back the side with numbers but those who raised questions risked being accused of taking the side of a man seen as a brutal dictator already labeled by some world powers as the bad guy i think that is absurd if you are against. declaring war on a country it's not because you like the government so i'm sorry it's up to the it's up to the ones who believe there is a film to come up with the proof and those who are just reversing the whole process of the of civilization and all but international law even cheerleaders of the intervention admit tends to be sacrificed. then you are something you're right but they will tell you something which is not part of a politically correct i don't believe so much in international law is just a tool used in one and done for political purposes

regardless point is simply this with such legal systems in place any claims first and foremost should be. surely investigators a point he hopes will be heard before the next humanitarian war is waged just are still here r t brussels. and coming up shortly in the program reaching boiling point. to treat them as you can see it's there should we stop wars with you and remake you all maybe this is now it will be we have. thousands of labor union members take to the streets of new york to demand a dance to economic inequality. and eject the results of the first stage of parliamentary elections are due to be announced on friday by the ballot has been boycotted by many protesters who are still demanding an end to the military rule by a record number of people turned out for the country's first free election since the ousting of president of our very doubt it will bring any change to our

correspondent policy the year is in cairo joins us live for more. poll or some unofficial results have leaked from parties own exit polls with reports that the muslim brotherhood has gained about forty percent of the vote so tell us a bit more about the main contenders in this election. well it was one of three rounds of voting for the lower house of parliament nine out of twenty seven provinces have voted including cairo and alexandria the remaining provinces will go to the rest of this month and january and then they will be voting for the upper house of parliament this entire election process will not be over before march now as you correctly say the muslim brotherhood is showing the largest support base at this stage and this is not in an expected it is the largest the oldest and the most well organized political group in here in egypt in spite of the fact that it was once banned according to the brotherhood's own exit polls its freedom and justice

party is expected to walk away with some fifty percent of votes this will be followed by the salafi are newer which looks thick to get some twenty percent of the election ballots now there has been some concern particularly among sick universe that the muslim brotherhood might form an alliance with the surface are newer and the brotherhood has going to have this nice lifestyle new it is a much more conservative party that has a much stricter interpretation of islam not of this is the first election that is being hold since the former egyptian president hosni mubarak was forced to step down back in february and the election results were initially planned for wednesday at that stage there were delayed the announcement was given that it was because the ballots by egyptians living abroad have not yet been tallied the results were then expected yesterday first day they were a game delayed at that time the reason given was because so many people had simply turned out so the latest word we have is that the votes are still being counted but

the head of the electoral commission says if a rule be announced today friday. of all of this election comes on the back of a wave of violent protests of people demanding the village rulers step down so how tense is the country now. well the mood here certainly is volatile there is a massive demonstration that is being planned for today friday in tahrir square it has been a tribute to the heroes of muhammad nothing would seize this is the street for fifty three people were killed and more than a thousand people were injured in recent clashes between army police and protesters now there are twenty three political groupings who are behind today's demonstration and talking to protesters who will be out there in tahrir square they say that the large turnout at the polls is simply an illusion people heard that the situation will improve therefore as long as the military remains in power nothing in egypt will change and so the rallying point among the demonstrators the turf here has not

changed and that is that the military needs to step down immediately over the past few weeks we've seen some of the worst clashes in recent months in this country's history the police were accused of using a tear gas that has what nearly an international community say is an internationally banned substance the police have also been accused of using live ammunition and brutal intimidation if indeed the election results are announced today friday it will come on the back of this massive demonstration into here so it will be interesting to gauge the kind of anger and the kind of response coming out from the square when these elections that many here believe should not have happened when those results are announced. thanks very much indeed for the update possibly your reporting from cairo. any york around twenty thousand people have staged a march demanding jobs and economic fairness hot off the occupy movement protests it was organized by a labor unions who have been demanding change our correspondent now i was there.

this event has been organized by the new york city labor council that is an umbrella for more than three hundred unions and the reason these people say they're out on the street is that they are frustrated and fed up with the idea konami disparity between the rich and poor they see with more than fourteen million americans unemployed at the moment the one percent the richest one percent america has tripled its wealth in the past thirty years what this shows is that the eyes sentiments that have kept the by the occupy wall street movement for all of the past two months are now being forced by labor unions at a larger scale we did see labor unions join occupy wall street a month or so ago but that turnout was not as large as this one the people to get this bed are walking around with signs that say we are the ninety nine percent we are the backbone and the working class of the united states that is being ignored

putting people in this country and as you can see it's a nationally. because the people who are making making decisions now it will be little we have. people come out. and make sure that we're so hurt. that we're caught it be day. in that we don't even have to make these to rub together. looks like you're not the only one that there's thousands of people walking the streets and i tell you work hard every day get up four thirty every morning. should it get that construction my kids to school. better that should it be. finally. the irony here is that on wednesday us president barack obama was in new york city for three fundraisers for his reelection campaign one of those fundraisers cost more than thirty five thousand dollars per ticket to

a tight was so many here say that. that shows they are just between the elected officials in the united states and what is being voiced by the od the constituents and they say that if things are not changed the crowd that you see out here will multiply by an enormous amount in the coming months according to new york marina for niamh party. well it's not just americans themselves who have a grudge to bear against the u.s. government on the other side of the world there is growing displeasure displeasure as we reported later this hour. people who carry a stand one the closure of a key american military base that they say has been bad news for the local community. they were kenyan has expanded the number of people and companies on iran sanctions list by one hundred eighty increasing pressure on a country accused of pursuing nuclear weapons but

a new minister has stopped short of opposing embargo on iranian oil to avoid hurting countries that rely heavily on a fuel exports that the united states said it is committed to take steps to freeze or reining in central bank assets delivering a hard blow to the country's economy comes days after an attack on the british embassy in tehran which prompted the u.k. to withdraw its debt when i asked him closer ron's mission in london power a funny from d'italia research organization see i.p.i. foundation thinks the new sanctions are the west way to redraw the entire middle east. the entire situation is very very strange i mean. in the presence of activities on the iranian soil which nuclides the beginnings of . sort of war type relationship and it's not really sure they want to redeem change and it is a chess game iran is a key player for the entire middle east and the united states know very well that

with all the iran they will look for the middle east middle east that in the new concert the geopolitical conception is much bigger than the original one that we knew from the nineteenth century. description so it is an area that goes from afghanistan down to even morocco so all this area has to be reshaped i do not think that is an interest from the major was them come true which is the united states to engage in any warfare with iran that the state and in the interest of a number of european countries the rule of. a fresh wave of concerns been raised over a controversial key u.s. military base in kyrgyzstan after the country underwent its first peaceful transfer of power in the republic's history the new president expressed his desire to see its closure fearing the facility makes the country a target or he's excited boyko reports. they call it operation enduring

misery several times a day use military planes takeoff from an airport near the cagas capital bishkek there and generating a lot of anger among the locals passengers it's so noisy here i can barely sleep that in soviet times the village of of there was famous across kyrgyzstan for its gigantic whatever melons but ever since their americans landed here ten years ago locals say the quality of their crops has been steadily declining like most of his neighbors though there is convinced americans are dumping fuel on the fields surrounding the base which is commanders deny your version of the i watch the u.s. planes come and go several times a day i know there should be the noises disturbing but i sort of got used to what's really bad is that they're killing nature and the crops and people's health is getting worse to the airbase represents the shortest and the most efficient route

to deliver you supplies and servicemen in turkana stan nicknamed the gateway to how it's the last safe start on the way to combat but for the residents here getting rid of the base is a battle in its own right because i mean you can't have series we're going to america's minion and he's sweating wars in afghanistan iraq libya and whatever permeation would want to attack us. one for market distress than sandy americans and the vixen noticed only to negotiate at the full lease increase a few months later the following year of course by key was ousted from office on allegations of corruption related to payments from the us base mistrust and even her still i didn't mean the locals said u.s. troops abroad are hardly anything new many countries are hosting american bases despite sometimes very strong objections of the indigenous population but here in kyrgyzstan they. so politically charged with

a past already shown the power of making a breaking once presidency yet america's presence in the region has its legal benefits to military gear in accessories have long found their way to biscuits bazaars thanks to a shady network of buyers and sellers secondhand use military uniform is held in very high regard here the owner of this business doesn't want to show his face as he usually gets it from american troops on the ground for a couple hundred bucks and he saw fit to a wide range of clients many of whom come from all over the former soviet union according to the bases commanders the americans do try to be nice in addition just sixty million dollars a year for billy's use personnel in kyrgyzstan have done volunteer work and raised money to renovate the local school and the locals are appreciative they say they have nothing against the americans per se except that they have long out stay there

well. that's not going to artsy. because. french president sarkozy's us france and germany must join their efforts to guarantee europe's future of this comes as the e.u. monetary affairs chief warrant the euro zone has just ten days to stabilize a single currency sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel are set to meet next week to propose new measures to ensure the block stability turmoil continues in greece where unions brought the country to a standstill in the first general strike since the new government to power last month thousands of people took to the main square in athens as the as a one day walkout closed schools disrupted public transport and left hospitals relying on emergency staff meanwhile the european central bank said it's ready to play a bigger role but nations should tie their budgetary policies closer together and actual analyst. says economic governance is needed but country's sovereignty

could be sacrificed in the proceeds. of the sense of urgency certainly has not only to do with greece's has to do with what is happening overall in the monetary union there are a lot of going to these on the pressure don't forget for example the situation of poor to go to spain the problem is also very much on the table and then i suppose there's the italian problem it's very basic you can't have a functioning monetary union without a political you that's a choice you have to make and you can't have one without the order that has been very much proven now in the last two years of crisis what we do lack is political authority now of course there needs to be build up democratically but we cornered ourselves so much in this euro crisis that we don't have the time lift to build of the political union in a normal democratic way so we will have to do it in another way that is through the representatives of the different countries being the heads of governments of the

different countries it still leaves a lot of questions for me to speak to the demographic value. all this on the table but there's no more choice either you do that or you let the euro and the monetary union go down the drain. we have more on the euro crisis on our website r.t. dot com including how italy's dealing with its two trillion girls. so while gone to find out why taxpayers there are hitting the streets to fight against military spending that could cost the impoverished country billions and. big brother expose release reveals data on a new global surveillance and interception industry spanning twenty five countries r.t. reports online. to join our team on you were applauding just ice skating rink which has just opened in the center of the russian capital.

more world news and brief us friday and first to yemen where heavy shelling between the army and tribesmen in the country's second largest city of taiz has left thirteen people dead including civilians and dozens more were injured but half of the one troops loyal to president ali abdullah saleh tried to storm the town center a hard battle the answer government protests that have been raging since january all roads leading into to use were blogged via the fears by adding that has left outlying districts isolated the anti government accuses the main opposition party of being behind the unrest this spike in violence comes in the wake of a power transfer deal to an interim government had an early election next year. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton has said there will be no immediate and american sanctions on myanmar and a meeting with the country's president clinton urged the nation to continue making

reforms in order to have the restrictions lifted and. quoted in the list of requests was the release of political prisoners and the promotion of internal peace clinton more must prove reforms for the last before any action is taken. the trial of former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi is due to reopen on friday in the land the seventy five year old is accused of paying an under-age prostitute for sex in two thousand and ten is also charged with the abuse of power for getting the moroccan born girl released from custody after she was arrested for fact both deny the existence actor george clooney and soccer star christiane around or of an witness is expected to give testimony during the trial. well that brings us up to date here in our theory is that's twitter business.

thank you marina hello and welcome to our business operate this russia goes to the polls on sunday to choose who sits on parliament the election season will then be concluded with the presidential vote in early march. the global economy is having a bleak effect on the election campaign. like previous years the couple of years not ramped up public spending ahead of the voting. i think it reflects the economy's growing quite strongly on its own it reflects concern of the global environment and a desire for more prudent policy but i think it also means. starting out in a slightly stronger position. than other wars. is that we are going to see some increases in spending cuts in terms of the beginning of next year we're going to see big increase in police a big increase in military pay and a big cuts in social contribution tax so there is already. increase in spending programs into the budget twenty twelve regardless of the results of the election.

chairman and there's still time seeing as will launch a new gas turbine manufacturing venture together with its russian partner power machines siemens will hold two thirds of the venture with total investment around two hundred seventy five million euros the new company will be mostly targeting the c.i.s. market pricing is expected two percent annual growth for power generation over this decade the production plant will be located close to st peter's square it will have on site research and development facilities we caught up with the head of siemens energy unit and gave us an idea of what the companies are teaming up for. if you take the efficiency level the average is just as far once you're in russia if you would exchange them for the state of the art technology you can save the amounts of gas you are exporting every year which is a third of the whole production and this is the goal which is driving us in the work that that's the way where we see the market. let's have

a look at the markets now despite topi trading oil is heading for its first weekly gain in three clashes between iran and the west has sparked speculation that middle east supplied may be a risk that's despite concerns that demand may falter in the u. west china and europe due to global economic slowdown. asia shares are mixed ahead of a key u.s. jobs report due out later in the day after rallying sharply in the previous session to present a key added point three percent more hong kong's hang seng is half a percent lower energy companies advance on the high out light sweet crude oil futures holdings rose point six percent in tokyo who could bounce after south and hong kong paris less than one hour ahead of the opening bell here in moscow let's look at birthdays closing figures the russian markets posted moderate gains the r.t.s. an hour six and it up point four percent in the black. well we'll be looking at the markets later in the day but meanwhile you can always find most stories just local

websites are. looking at it in.

as russians pick for parliament who are the main contenders in the race for juma seats the party's ever present and loving new year's eve in all cities by far russia's most boisterous and controversial bully politician current campaign slogan we are for russians priorities food housing transport and science biggest success here in austin post's third in russia's first presidential election critics cry over racist remarks personal violence and populist slogans on them the good old coke pushing them out britain says poisoned alexander litvinenko on the party list and ensuring his parliamentary protection. the liberal democratic party of russia election two thousand and eleven fund archie.