roger freely oh god r t v dot com. this is the account enters its final stage the ruling united russia party has lost its size but would it still comes out well on top mixed opinions from international observers a valve the election process was organized. iran claims to down a u.s. spy drone along at the eastern border the use of unmanned american aircraft in the country is being seen as the latest evidence of washington's efforts to stabilize

regimes beyond a simple it. expresses concerns over u.s. plans to maintain military bases in afghanistan even after the planned twenty fourteen withdrawal as a conference opens today where the international community set to decide the country's future. updates this international pressure mounts on syria are either bennett talks to author angelos jonathan steele his take on possible solutions to the country's political crisis. i'm joined by jonathan steele former chief correspondent of the guardian newspaper and now commentator on international affairs johnson thanks for speaking to r.t. . recently been approached by the king of jordan to spearhead a diplomatic offensive against assad william hague the foreign secretary is now met with opposition leaders is this the preamble to another libyan start intervention. it could be i mean we can't be sure and i think it's dangerous it might be i mean

they're trying to be hague's message to the opposition is to get your act together unite on a common platform in other words to turn yourself much more like the libyan opposition who the government also talked to and then eventually recognized as the official government of libya so i think it is the first stage to trying to recognize the opposition. and there are hints more from france than from britain at the moment that there would be some kind of foreign intervention i mean the french foreign minister and i should pay has just called for humanitarian corridors to be opened into syria with or without the syrian government's permission and damascus when he was asked does that mean who would protect these corridors would that be military protection he said of course so in other words they are thinking of having a limited number of foreign military people moving into syria perhaps against the will of the government of damascus what must the opposition now do to gain recognition has there militarization made it easier to achieve that well i think

the unity thing which was going on about is what they want they want to sort of feel as united platform so they know who they're dealing with they don't want a lot of different competing groups but the question is what will the platform be is it going to be a very hardline platform that keeps repeating that asset must go or would be a platform that says we need dialogue and and a transition which is peaceful and civil war and armed struggle like in libya so that's very important. the the other thing is is whether they will try the tactic of saying we have to protect civilians you know the benghazi syndrome if they could say the city of hama. needs protection. you know and then they could have a no fly zone over that city and then they again it's the thin end of the wedge which would move out to becoming full scale support for. civil war the trouble is

of course that hama and homs the two cities that have the most fighting are not on the sea because it was on the coast in libya that made it much easier to have a no fly zone lawmen to start bringing in ships bringing weapons and supplies and all the rest of it more difficult in syria unless they nominate one of the coastal cities or the mediterranean and the safe zone but it's a bit unlikely at the moment because those cities will to be quiet in this uprising the arab league is already suspended syria and recently issued that three deals made and that's now passed these attempts were portrayed as last ditch a tense that conventional diplomacy but could they not do more to mediate isn't that their role here so i mean the very keep saying that assad should have dialogue with the opposition but the opposition including the people that hague was meeting in london this week. erdogan stark they just simply say assad must go and that's also the line of the british government of the french government and the u.s.

government i mean they should be putting the same pressure on the opposition to enter a dialogue as they're putting on the government in damascus i mean it's ridiculous to say one side will start talking who's going to talk to if the other side refuses they seem to be siding with the sounds opponents they want why do you think that is well i think they've decided that. it's a lost cause in the sense that they don't like his links to hezbollah in lebanon they don't like the fact that he is sort of in the front line of. opposition to israel you know jordan and egypt have their treaties with with syria's the only country was a sort of long border with israel it is not sort of peace at the moment and so they don't like that. of course syria has quite good relations with iran. so they've decided i think that it's almost like a proxy war against iran if you can topple assad it's like it's considered to be a sort of. against the government in iran so does the fear of iran really outweigh

any concern of syria descending into civil war well i'm not even sure it's fear. are they really afraid of iran i think it's more that they want to undermine the regime in iran and i think i think it's hostility to iran i would say rather than fear of because what is there to be afraid of with iran you know the only thing is this question of nuclear weapons which is still a long way down the line before iran would have a deliverable nuclear weapon it's first got to create the warheads on the weapons it's building them and then it's got to have the delivery system that could transport these things safely and you know drop them from position and father at the right target which is some way off so there's no reason to be really afraid of iran and anyway there are other ways of dealing with the so-called iranian threat the military you know where there could be some plenty plenty of diplomatic ways of minimizing whatever. worries you you have about iran surely the arab league and

western countries have some sort of duty here to to prevent syria from slipping into a full blown civil war i mean it's not the first time middle eastern country with a complex religious and ethnic makeup has has descended into civil war have lessons not been learned well i agree with you i mean i think i think it's quite irresponsible really amazing in a way that these arab neighbors of syria and the other members of the arab league are taking such a hard line but i think it's this cancer of the sunni shia thing which is as i said proxy war between the gulf arabs are mainly sunni against the iranian regime which is causing the cancer and i'm afraid it's been the united states have been pushing this line is the threat of danger we must be afraid of it and we saw a lot of it in iraq of course the sunni shia thing and that created a near civil war in iraq it's terribly dangerous and one would have thought of course in lebanon also. earlier one would have thought that people would say look

the last thing we want is another sunni versus shia military civil war going on in one of the major arab countries they should be doing all they can to try and stop it and i'm saying that assad has made many many mistakes he should have not used for so much at the beginning he should have offered more serious dialogue at the beginning his office but quite flimsy and probably deceptive deliberately and you know he has been very hardline but the other side is now being equally hard line in the situation is becoming polarized what's the worst case scenario and should syria completely collapse into civil war well the worst case scenario is massive ethnic cleansing with their lower majority from whom the assad family comes from the ruling elite being forced to flee the christians who brought these ten percent of the population possibly more in syria are very worried very probably most of them as one understands prefer the assad regime which has been very

tolerant to christianity no problem with any kind of religious discrimination and they're more worried about the muslim brotherhood who are the main force in the opposition the armed opposition to to our side than they are and they are set regimes of christians could suffer greatly look what's happened to iraqi christians most of them have had to flee the kurds are in a sort of wobbly position they don't care which side is worse for them is assad worse than the possible sunni arab muslim brotherhood coming in. so i think a lot of the minorities are really worried and i think that's partly why there are these big demonstrations in support of assad in damascus and aleppo they're not all people have been sort of forced out into the streets in some way or other some of them a genuine i think i do obviously we can't do this sort of exact analysis of how many and genuine and how many have come out because they might be government workers who think that they can lose their jobs if they don't come up. you can't get so many

people out on the street without some of them being genuine on the other hand the prison as sad as certainly committed some terrible atrocities against his own people is that initial crackdown not to blame for the current situation well i think that's why you need mediation i mean assad has made terrible mistakes and a lot of people have been killed by the security forces and obviously the families and friends of those people you know if you explain your anger and they just want to disappear. so you can see why it's difficult but that's why you need mediation just to invite people say come to my office and we'll sit down and we'll talk about things it may be too late for that because there's so much suspicion so that's why the arab league ideally should be the mediators coming in and meeting each side separately pabst initially said what are you willing to give concessions. find a compromise learn some point everybody comes into the room together but may need outside mediation ideally by the arab and if not by the united nations but i think

one of the things that should be on the table is immunity for a certain he's not going to give up power peacefully when he sees what's happened to mubarak put in prison or house arrest in his case hospital arrest because he still trial or the gadhafi precedent which is to be lynched in the street on you tube. you know that's not so you need immunity and actually we've got a very good model in yemen they've agreed to signed a deal which the arabs brokered the saudi arabians brokered whereby president saleh has now given up power in return for immunity for his family and himself under transition to new elections within the next few months both parliament and for president is very good model now why can't the saudis who did that with yemen do the same thing for syria what have countries like the u.k. france america got to gain with syria here there's no oil wealth is it purely in strategic. cation or is the wrong question is the ante rainy and thing and the

feeling that the. unreliable on the israeli question that he's sort of they've had intermittent talks with their side but. they've never reached a peace agreement is not just because passat the israeli line is also very our heart and so both sides of willie found it impossible to agree does the international community genuinely not see then the dangers of civil war in syria or is that merely outweighed by the need for influence an intervention in syria well i think very problematic cynical very look at libya we don't know exactly how many people were killed in libya some people say thirty thousand people died six months or so that it took to topple gadhafi well the sort of saying well. that's worth it if you can bring in a different regime which will be obviously more progress than at least initially if it's had western support to topple the regime jonathan steele thank you.

as the count enters its final stage the ruling you guys had russia policy has lost its sizable majority as it still comes out well on top of that mixed opinions from international observers over how the election process with all the. iran claims to have shot down a u.s. spy drone along its eastern border the use of unmanned american aircraft over the country is being seen as the latest evidence of washington's efforts to destabilize regimes beyond its influence. and russia expresses the concerns over the u.s. plans to maintain military bases in afghanistan even after the planned twenty fourteen withdrawal as

a conference opens today with the international community set to decide the country's future. there's a sport good to see you and tiger woods finally you having a reason to celebrate it's been a long time on this coming but he's finally won a tournament two years after the first world problems saw him fall from grace i got the details just after this. hello there thanks for watching and these are the headlines sweet victory tiger woods wins the chevron world challenge to end it two years. plus fans pay tribute to brazil football legend socrates he died at the age of fifty seven. and we've images that while the crowds in moscow when snowboard king travis rice cooled his latest film to the russian capital. but first former world number one tiger woods

has won his first title for over two years taking the chevron world challenge in california by a single shot from federer americans that johnson hadn't won since the b.m.w. championship in two thousand and nine and that was followed by personal problems and a divorce from his wife the spy he got back to winning ways he was trying johnson would see how was the guy with their money back to back birdies when it mattered this crucial one on the last of. that great approach they're setting him up for the winning party. which he went on to say no problem at all in there really was obvious finishing on ten under par to beat johnson by a single shot woods target drac finally over there and he says that grandstand finish was as good as it gets. i know it's been a while but also for some reason it feels like it it hasn't because when i was coming down the stretch there if i felt so comfortable. i felt comfortable and i

was i took off from what augusta you know when i put myself there in his positions . it is a discomfort as far as making a part and the feeling afterwards. it was. you know what i think i was screaming something but it was just one the golf tournament pulled it off with one down with two to go on. to go birdie birdie as good as it gets. i will stay in the states because the green bay packers have reached the n.f.l. playoffs they beat the new york giants thirty eight points to thirty five but a last minute field goal to remain undefeated to the giants were hosted hosting the packers rather than met life stadium on the back of three straight defeats who were trailing twenty one seventeen by halftime of the farm or just found donald driver in the back of the end zone there but they kept themselves in it and by the fourth quarter the game still hung in the balance rogers again found driver to give the path is

a thirty four twenty seven release however eli manning he's back for the giants connecting with the knicks to bring him back within a couple of points. and then they found themselves level when d.j. where ran through two point conversion the rogers arm made sure the packets got their twelfth win from twelve games is the path to jordy nelson setting up a last minute field go. along step nation crosby to convert it to give the packers a thirty eight thirty five victory and a place in the playoffs. and other news the world of football is paying its respects to former brazil captain midfield legend socrates he died in hospital inside paolo age fifty seven following a short illness the former corinthians player had been in a critical condition with an intestinal infection since friday though he'd also been in hospital in august and september with internal bleeding widely regarded as one of the greatest ever midfielders socrates only turned professional when he was

twenty five but went on to play in two world cups winning sixty caps for his country between nine hundred seventy nine and nine hundred eighty six and scoring twenty two goals in a glittering career while that career was given a fitting tribute by fans of his former club corinthians won the brazilian championship for a fifth time on sunday with a goal destroy against the marius and a minute's silence turned into a vocal tribute for the man before kickoff the game that followed was a bad tempered affair for prized were sent off to flip side for the. didn't stop printing getting the point they needed to stuff the national target sixty times and i'm far. more pocket to use of one the time i pick your retard bring your win over banfield give them a. free year study the family scoring twice in the. first marriage. but he was on target again and looking pretty sharp for the second and then it was a wonder strike with a very bright to make sure the victory. prompt she followed

some of the players might be so right. now the top seaside in indian premier league have been drawn together in the f.a. cup match the city. will play the math watering third round tie or united boss sir alex ferguson again looking on three cities or chaining game is that city's adding at stadium in january seventh united or six one to city in the league in october when they're not die by them in the f.a. cup semifinals last year was one other all premier league tie which will see newcastle host blackburn another games of my top or against fourth chelton time on precious are still welcome championship side championship side leeds chelsea are up against portsmouth and liverpool will play the winner of the replay the two side and. well liverpool will travel to full time tonight in the premier league a win would put kenny dalglish's side level on points with fifth place are to

newcastle what fullam need dragged themselves away from the drops. last night from the pits to the fifteenth minute with everton one nil to go their first victory goodison park for thirty years and steven fletcher scored a late second half prices for me four points clear of the drop side with achieve one win at home to sunderland. to tennis rafael nadal four but set down to be martin del potro when burning full. set match to seal spain's fifth davis cup title in eleven years and it out walked out into the limping arena knowing what he had to do but that actually seemed to inspire his opponent at the beginning del potro racing through the first set six one as he tried to bring his country level in this davis cup final but now surely after this rhythm you've won the second set six four to tie the match. his stumping for and doing a lot of damage. and in the

third set. so the only. way to win six one. i went by. dropping a point it is spain's fifth fed cup trophy and the dollar has played its part in not winning twenty fed cup singles matches in a row i russia volleyball coach friday may elect nor says he is the happiest man on earth after his charges beat poland in japan to lift the prestigious world cup on his forty fifth birthday it was a black and fought back and forth rather in tokyo go all the way to the fifth set with russia eventually prevailing to claim their second piece of silverware this season like now it also led them to the world league title in july both russia and poland plus brazil have qualified for next summer's london olympics. winter sports

night and three time world champion alexander's you've got has led his four man bobsled team to victory in the first world cup race of the season in austria so you could have done better in the second heat after training america's first team but russia's first run had given them an edge over nine hundred of a second which was good enough to give them an aggregate victory ahead of the u.s. germany completed the podium in the city to the eagles while russia second team were fourth fastest on the day. when with some spectacular snowboarding pictures x. games champion travis rice has been in more scope to promote a film that's captured breathtaking images of the sport and has attracted the attention of thousands of fans in the russian capital with more. wyoming native travis rice has won two christy just eggs games gold medals in his career and numerous other titles inventing new snowboarding moves in the process

but his true passion lies in filmmaking with his latest movie called the art of flights of making its final tour stop in moscow we were lucky enough to use some of the most dynamic in creating a film equipment in the world along with. sound design from. steven spielberg's facility and california that is beautiful so you know this movie was meant to be seen on the big screen. created for blu ray about primarily shot it for the big screen that's where. the arms of flight concept was born three years ago following rice's directorial debut on an other cutting edge snowboarding film called that's it that's all the results of his work in partnership with brain form digital cinema and director curt morgan are widely regarded as a new breed of action sports film for most people it's a unique opportunity to experience in high definition a one of a kind of venture that sakes that you are through avalanches accidents and

unexplored mountains in remote corners of the world trying to strike is obviously not alone in challenging mother nature and popularizing snowboarding as a lifestyle helping him defy the odds and raise the bar on the quality of the video footage describing this brit taking pastime our crew of at least ten people including the star of countless snowboarding videos swiss enthusiastic nicholas miller. this fail message in. for other now and then anything else before and everybody talks about it and it's beautiful i've been to huge premieres like here in moscow but also to small shop screenings and everybody it's just. stunning. just blown away by the pictures never snowboarding was basically nonexistent during the soviet period but it has now won over the hearts of millions of russia's youth at least two thousand people have

turned up for the premiere of the art of flight in moscow's pushkin cinema and most seem to already be familiar with the concept as well as the stores of the film in the book on the back country snowboarding is old do why there are so old and know about competition this is exactly what these guys have done with this film they saw a few night of themselves with nature and i don't think there will ever be better writing then what's been demonstrated in this movie there was only one showing of the art of flight in moscow however it confirmed that the demand for adrenaline packs and masterfully edited footage is as high as ever in russia and the audience is already eager to experience what else try this rice or perhaps some other filmmaker will have to offer as their next snowboarding work aboard. her mom cost r.t. moscow. now using pitches at that spot for the moment the weather is coming up next

. question was the same i feel i can tell what i think is on the front of the market there's taliban bad guys going for the exit after ten years of an inconclusive war the united states and its allies are desperate to leave afghanistan by the end of two thousand.