hello live from moscow you're watching our t.v. and our top stories then tonight vote counting is almost over in russia's parliamentary election the united russia party has in the lead winning the majority of seats in the lower house but still losing a big share of its previous popular support the communists a second in the race with russia and the liberal democrats also making it the party . as global players meet to decide the future of afghanistan and pakistan whose role is key to stability in the region boy. it's the latest sign of islamabad's

relations with washington taking a turn for the worse following nato deadly air strike on a pakistani border post. a moscow downgrades of promoting ties with qatar after the russian ambassador to the country is assaulted by airport security reclaims the incident could be linked to moscow's position on syria. but international pressure mounts on syria to auntie's other bennett talks to want to britain's foremost journalist jonathan steele from the guardian newspaper for 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 a commentator on international affairs jonathan thanks for speaking to r.t. europe now the u.k. 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. 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 perry has just called for humanitarian corridors to be opened into syria with or without the syrian government's permission to damascus when he is 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 assad must go or would it be a platform that says we need dialogue and and a transition which is peaceful and civil war and of 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 save the city of hama. needs protection. you know could have a no fly zone over that city and then they again it's the thin end of the wedge which would move 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 scene because it was on the coast in libya that made it much easier to have a no fly zone and then 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 like you at the moment because those cities been able to be quiet in this uprising the arab league's 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. yes i mean 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. are getting stuck 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 as the only country with a sort of long border with israel it is not sort of peace at the moment and so they don't like that and 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 proxy of blow against the government in iran so it is the fear of iran really outweigh any concern in 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 if 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. position and father make 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 they could be some plant plenty of diplomatic ways of

minimizing whatever. worries you you have about iran surely the arab league there and western countries have some sort of duty 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 and it's 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 of 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 offers were 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 should syria completely collapse into civil war well the worst case scenario is massive. snick cleansing with the eye lowered majority from whom the assad family comes from the ruling elite being forced to flee the christians who brought to at least ten percent of the population possibly more in syria very worried very probably most of

them as one understands prefer the assad regime which has been very tolerant to christianity and no problem with any kind of religious discrimination they're more worried about the muslim brotherhood to other main force in the opposition the armed opposition to. the me are there are certain 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 our side 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 give us 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 out but. 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 it 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. 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 we may need outside mediation ideally by the arab league if not by the united nations but

i think one of the things that should be on the table is immunity for us sir 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 broke in 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 france america got to gain with syria here there's no oil wealth is it purely it's tricky to locations or is

the question is the answer you very near and thing and the feeling that the. unreliable on the israeli question. that he's sort of they've had intermittent talks with assad but. they've never reached a peace agreement is not just because of the israeli line is also very are hard and so both sides of where they 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. look at libya we don't know exactly how many people were killed in libya. people say thirty thousand people died in six months or so that it took to topple gadhafi well they're 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.

it's all designed to keep you closed in your own small world as a prison. you know you leave somebody in there for a couple hours like that in a stress positions. you have this fear of the unknown and this stress sort of building and. seen interrogations go on ten twelve hours they chose songs i remember from marilyn manson and metallica slayer the two songs would be angel of death and raining blood out of me going to war coming up here into iraq into baghdad. charlie poole of the bodies to the floor which is the rock n roll

band it was fitting for the job we were doing. runs late forty five pm moscow time vote counting is almost over in russia's parliamentary election the united russia party is in the lead winning the majority of seats in the lower house but still losing a big share of its previous popular support the communists the second in the race with russia a liberal democrats also making it to parliament. as global players meet to decide the future of afghanistan and pakistan has role is key to stability in the region boycotts the event it's the latest sign of islamic relations with washington taking a turn for the worse of the recent deadly air raid on a pakistani border post. moscow downgrades diplomatic ties with qatar after the

russian ambassador to the country's assaulted by airport security reclaims the incident could be linked to moscow's position on syria. now live sport. well i was in the course of the headlines the lead up there are a legal adult or is there no messing around christiane are now there are all nominated for the european football of the year award. while fans pay tribute to former brazil captain football legend socrates who died sunday at eight fifty seven. while sweet victory former world number one tiger woods wins the chevron world challenge with a birdie at the last hole to end a two year title track. the first a football where the league a trio of messi and cristiano ronaldo have been nominated for the golden ball award

for the european player of the year messi is touted as the slight favorite to make it a trouble of ballon d'or trophies the argentinian has scored fifty three goals in all competitions for barcelona since picking up your board last year his tallying true story how tricks in fifteen games since the start of the current spanish season well team a job is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the game and finished runner up last time grayle madrid linchpin rinaldo like messi has netted fifty three goals the portuguese won the award three years ago while playing for manchester united is then coach sir alex ferguson as well as relatives boss chose a career out of the idea were all vying for the coach's award. and in the meantime the runner up david beckham has once again refused to pledge his future to any particular club the former manchester united and wales madrid star is currently on a pre-season tour with his l.a.

galaxy side in australia and says he'll make the big decision after christmas england's most capped at two player will be out of contract by december thirty first and has been repeatedly linked with mega rich friends. side parricide. in the meantime the veteran midfielder has dismissed the idea of hanging up his boots. no i don't feel six years old when i'm out and i still love training still loved playing so i will continue until i feel differently. now the world of football is playing its respects to former brazil captain and midfield legend socrates who died in hospital in sao paolo on sunday aged fifty seven following a short illness the former corinthians player had being in a critical condition with an intestinal infection since friday though he 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 one nine hundred seventy nine and one nine hundred eighty six and scoring twenty two goals in a gator in korea. well that career was given a fitting tribute by fans of his former club corinthians won the brazilian championship for a first time on sunday after a goal was true or time to power met us and a minute's silence turned into vocal appreciation for the great before kick off her game that followed was a bad tempered affair with four players sent off to from each side that didn't stop during that point they needed to clinch the first national title since two thousand and five. meanwhile bucket unions have won argentina's up a cheer a title their three no women have to banfield gave them their first piece of silverware three years then you manage twice first half. and then wonder strike from diego to vero after the break made sure of victory and

ponting lack of all the followed some of the buffer players to call for a. while in england liverpool travel to following this monday night in the premier league where a win would put kenny dalglish's side level on points with just those assholes and newcastle while following they need a victory as they currently sixteenth just two points above the drop zone. where another premier league match was a dream come true for tennis legend or anything else of it the former wimbledon champion is a long time supporter of west bromwich albion but watching from the stands for the first time is the baggage salvaged a one one draw at t.p.r. on saturday that's even better than last week low profile fans must have been tired mind when he rubbed shoulders with coach boy hodgson three hundred eighty after the game. so right now to go off and former world number one tiger woods has won his first title for over two years he clinched the chevron world challenge in

california by a single shot at the final hole for fellow americans that johnson was haven't won since the australian masters in november two thousand and nine which was followed by high profile revelation. about his personal life and try to divorce from his wife as well as injuries but he's finally back to winning ways with two holes to go he was trading johnson but then managed back to back birdies when it matters at the crucial one the last heart of this great approach shot setting up the winning pot which he went on to sink the relief was obvious the finishing tend to be johnson by a single strike the victory also in these woods from fifty second to twenty first in the world rankings. i know it's been a while but also for some reason it feels like it has it because when i was coming down the stretch there if i felt so comfortable. i felt comfortable and i was i took off the water guster you know when i put myself there in these positions. it

is discomfort as far as making the pot and the feeling afterwards. it was you know i think i was screaming something but it was just a one the golf tournament pulled it off with one dollar two to go on. to go birdie birdie is going to get. boxer the mayor has called off his next title defense after the heavyweight champion was admitted to hospital on sunday for the second time in two days the thirty five year old ukrainian was due to square off against frenchman mark moore make on december the tense but the younger brother had a kidney stone removed on saturday before being rushed back to a dozen hospital in germany due to painful inflammation lydia is the reigning w.b. a super champion also holding the w b o my b.s. every weight belts. tennis now rafael nadal fought back from a set down to be twang martin del potro in

a thrilling four set match to seal spain's fifth davis cup title in eleven years former u.s. open champion del potro was the foster out of the blocks the argentine racing through the first set six one so try to keep this in the davis cup tie but then found his rhythm winning the second set six ball to tie the match was something forehand too much to handle in the third the spaniard found another gear one that six one and even though the fourth set went to a tie break down cruised to that without dropping a point spain's best davis cup trophy doll has played his part in that winning twenty singles matches in a row. now let's take a look at some spectacular snowboarding pictures x. games champion travis rice told thousands of fans there in moscow where he was promoting a film that's captured press taking images of the sport among cars where for ports . wyoming native travis rice has won two christie just

a games gold medals in his career and other giles inventing new snowboarding moves in the process but his true passion lies in filmmaking with his latest movie called the art of flight making its final tour stop in moscow we were lucky enough to use some of the most dynamic in cutting edge film equipment in the world along with. sound design from. steven spielberg's facility in california that is beautiful so you know this movie was meant to be seen on the big screen. it created it for blu ray about primarily shot it for the big screen that's why we're here. arsal flight concept was born three years ago following the rices 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 kurt 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 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 and nicholas miller. this failing us and the end so much for other now and then anything else before and everybody talks about it and it's beautiful i've been to. premieres like here in moscow but also to the small shop screenings and everybody is just. stunned but just blown away but

a picture is 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 premier of the art of flight in moscow's pushkin cinema and most seem to already be familiar with the concept as well as the stars of the film in the book on the back country snowboarding is all. well do either so we know about competition and what this is exactly what these guys have done with this film they sort of united 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 packed 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 no boarding work

aboard. room on cost artie moscow. on finally all was red and white as scores of some to hit the slopes at a ski resort in america ahead of the fast approaching christmas holidays in fact some two hundred fifty scale this whole crowd of scientists flock to an annual charity event some to sunday a proper outfit plus a modest turn down a dash is all it took to become part of the down extravaganza in maine just don't forget to bring your skis also board with you and a sunny day on the slopes a short time plenty of christmas cheer into the holiday season. and that's always bought i think.