on air and online twenty four seven you're watching. funerals have been held in syria for the victims of friday's bombing in the capital damascus at least twenty six were killed in what the government believes was a suicide attack thousands during the funeral ceremony organized by the syrian authorities the escalation of violence comes as arab league observers prepare to present their initial report on the ongoing conflict activists claim scores have been killed since the monitoring team arrived two weeks ago the observers aim is to broker a peace plan to end ten months of protest which the u.n. says is left more than five thousand people dead will jordan based political analyst believes some opposition forces are behind the violence. right from the start the demonstrations were not truly peaceful and there were many incidents of.

gangs perpetrating crimes against the army against the security forces against the civilians and of course there were denying it the so-called opposition were denying it for a long time but now everything has become clear these terrorist acts these shameful terrorist acts are a clear indication that there are armed gangs and there are terrorists working in syria to disrupt their life in syria they are not aiming their aggression only against their regime but against the whole syrian people and against the whole syrian homeland obviously what we where we are witnessing in syria is not a revolution but actually it is a very ugly conflict to dismantle not only the syrian regime but to change the whole area it has nothing to do with democracy and freedom and that there are certain forces international forces and local forces as well which are actually trying to change the situation in the area of political reasons.

respective of the costs that will actually be imposed on the syrian people on the whole area. iran has announced it's planning to hold another round of naval drills in the home straight following its ten day maneuvers in the gulf has been threatening to block the world's most important oil route in response to u.s. and european sanctions britain says the move will be illegal and unsuccessful in international waters american warships are also there to ensure the passage remains open but to promises it will take action if this war ships sail through the strait last week in washington sanctions weekend targeting iran's financial and oil sectors to hamper its nuclear program for outsiders for even tougher measures the editor of the colbert report current affairs website says pressuring iran. to war and. i think it's quite remarkable to think that france and the us and other countries would be willing to step up sanctions that have already had such

a profound effect on the iranian people on the basis of their hunch that era to run is developing nuclear weapons as as france has basically put it it's quite remarkable because that really does is tantamount to an act of war and and really the i think the only logical outcome for this is another increase in military tensions between the countries involved in that region that are already on the knife edge of military tension so it is quite an explosive thing to be talking about and i think of the escalation in recent weeks with the recent ten day military drill in in the straits of hormuz has to be weighing heavily on the minds of. the u.s. and others but but i think really the idea that iran would really close off the straits of hormuz or attempt to do so would only be an absolute last measure resort for a country that relies on the importation of refined gasoline and other things through the very straits that they would be a sensible sabotaging and planting mines in so it's it's quite remarkable to think

that that iran would do that in any other situation other than they felt that the entire existence of their country was under threat so adding more sanctions to to the mix is is really just a recipe for military disaster i think. live from moscow this is our table so ahead this hour a matter of life and death as prosecutors in egypt call for ousted president. we can't why his execution kill any hope for peace in. europe still nursing a new money are born in that some states could really be in recession greece may have to abandon the single currency altogether. in the u.s. republicans are holding a key debates this weekend ahead of tuesday's primary in new hampshire opinion polls put the former massachusetts governor mitt romney as the front runner. social conservative rick santorum distant second primaries and caucuses will take place

every u.s. state in the coming months before finally choosing a candidate at a party convention want to list the winner then takes on barack obama and then this presidential election. a diplomat who's been told r.t. that a little ron paul stands out he's unlucky to secure enough support. in his foreign policy is very distinct from the other candidates in that he has a more isolationist viewpoint he wants the united states to retreat from international conflicts of international affairs and some areas that can be good he's opposed to military action with the rod who are supposed to be iraq war but the other candidates are all extremely hawkish on foreign policy very neoconservative and ron paul does stand out amongst them he makes voters want to support him that inspires and leading the party and getting other republicans on board to really change the agenda no he hasn't done that someone who says i am a free american and i can make it on my own and that's what ron paul really

embodies but republicans also understand that kind of positioning will not win the general election against president obama. well as the republican campaign ramps up there's a growing question of how much of a challenge president obama can still pose to them four years ago he was the ultimate choice for millions of americans but today his army of supporters seems to be thinning and some report not reports. four years ago one historic campaign turned u.s. politics into a pop culture phenomenon in. the world the democratic candidate achieved unprecedented support international fame and a record breaking six hundred fifty million dollars in donations. thousands of new yorkers celebrated the victory clutching an enormous american flag hand sewn by obama supporters but the winds have changed and the very same

democratic symbol waved in honor of the president elect in a way each straight from the right has been donated to the movement that became a phenomenon in two thousand and eleven they're about twenty people holding up david murphy organize the flag project after being inspired by obama rhetoric a dream shattered by the subsequent years of politics as usual curly what's inspiring me as up as a lot of us like that that's the thing that's inspiring you know like that's why i brought the fight oh ws and the thing that inspired me about it is the fact that it's a grassroots movement. that had a like a very clear and transparent process artist shepard fairey seems similarly disenchanted releasing an updated version of his iconic hope poster replacing obama with his now clear support for occupy wall street with an economy still in crisis wall street largely unregulated social programs slashed and over forty five million

citizens on food stamps it all starts with making a decision to get in obama's familiar prose may not be enough to win back his familiar fan base who didn't produce what people wanted him to produce in two thousand and eight professor and author dr cornel west was one of obama's biggest supporters i think you get the beers you get the newness he's. at the freshness taking part in more than one hundred campaign events but last april the prominent intellectual told r.t. that obama has failed he's the friendly face of the american empire abroad he's in the process actually of becoming very sadly a pawn of big finance and a puppet of big business and any politician here knows they are in trouble when the hollywood a listers start turning their backs are you happy with the way that obama has been running the country. you know now and i think i

really think he misinterpreted his. his mandate yet the approval ratings show voters are even more turned off with the alternatives leaving obama seemingly the lesser of two evils america's president clearly enters the twenty twelve race amid a growing band of disillusioned democrats most will still back barack obama over his republican rivals arguably with heavy hearts in two thousand needs he was the honest saleable candidate of choice this time mr obama is likely to stay in my default. new york. egyptian prosecutors this week demanded that ousted president hosni mubarak be hanged for allegedly ordering the killing of protesters during last year's uprising and also seeking the death sentence from about former interior minister and six other security chiefs more than eight hundred people died in the violence which out in probably last year since his trial

began in august into a three year old has appeared on a stretcher into poor health talk show host and author steven london believes the rich who dislike using mubarak as a scapegoat to hide their shortcomings. this is a distraction this is to divert. legionella to. blame being the eldest. for. trying to absolve themselves in the process seems the worse no one of the military and. no also the people running the country the same ones closely allied with. who is seeing people because all agreements are certain people are too i think the protests will go on the people won't be fooled the violence will continue to struggle. because from a barracks execution being seen as part of

a whine about egypt's military rulers to curb the ongoing public anger on the other front other countries non-governmental organizations suspect to the fueling the protests with foreign help as we go to school reports nothing kyra. the revolution may have toppled hosni mubarak the manager passions accuse of corruption and suffocating freedom but now it's the ruling supreme council of armed forces which finds itself in hot water with the west following raids on human rights organizations last week i feel this is a very dangerous situation because you have to elections. but the people on the streets pushing for secularists who have links with these groups so that the big tension really between washington and kyra. left off cell phones and more than twenty boxes of documents were reportedly seized during raids by the police authorities promised all will be returned yet several questions remain what

prompted the raids and what could possibly be so suspicious about enjoy all of the races in post-revolutionary egypt. and the members of the arabic center for an independent judiciary never did get an official explanation for the confiscation of their documents or the eviction from their office that followed. we don't know what they were searching we told them we could give them anything they wanted but they came in search of everything and didn't give a simple answer whether they wanted bank statements or anything else other than one person from the camp sitting on a sidewalk by their former office the vixen to n.g.o.s workers point out a certain irony this never happened when mubarak was in charge he says i would surprise. the police but the. tickets. just. can't take a position. against the human rights the activity on the police station.

seats. is a new. human rights activists in egypt believe the rays are attempts to punish them for accusing military rulers of failing to carry through democratic reforms but western observe. over say the authorities are becoming increasingly wary of the ever watchful eye from washington and the true purpose of raids is to prove foreign funding over going is ations which authorities accuse of destabilizing egypt the seems to be a strand of opinion inside the military inside the state machine that. is very disillusioned with the old friendship with the west and may be trying to find evidence to prove that some of the trouble on the street some of the troubling times has been in some way fostered by these n.g.o.s washington tirelessly repeats the old adagio of the importance of its relations with egypt as a key player in the middle east but the light talk may hide

a very different agenda washington doesn't want stabilization they want permanent arnie's so that they can you know use that as a lever in the entire region egyptian activists aren't too happy with western help which they say can do more harm than good. i don't like the way foreign countries because russia are on egyptian authorities and that the pressure has to come from the egyptians and we as a human rights organization should provided. money for must whatever the real reasons for the raids of n.g.o.s offices the increasing internal strife in the country could portend a shipwreck not just for egypt's relations with the west but for the country's revolution in cairo. r.t. . well coming up in a few minutes why iraqi freedom doesn't stretch to the country's journalists the american troops go on reporters say they're being beaten and intimidated by the regime they're in charge it's supposed to bring democracy. and libya releases

hundreds of immigrant prisoners in the first understand support and they don't think that we care about the libyans taking their place back in the long gone. some countries in debt laden europe may already technically been recession the warning comes from the head of the international monetary fund christine the go on this week she also said that twenty twelve will be no walk in the park you are only going to enter maine at a record high at the end of last year and consumer confidence fell as a public felt the bite of cuts greece's prime minister this country faces a disorderly default in march if you can't secure more bailout cash to prop it up next week's big time and if it can stay in europe you can make an arrest in your belt soon as the caption is vital to avoid a public revolt in greece. the greek economy is going down like a stone. g.d.p. contracted by four percent in two thousand and ten by six percent in two thousand

and eleven and there is probably worse to come in two thousand and twelve and i think we are now at the point where everybody agrees realizes that we cannot go on like this and that unrest and even an arche in the country is becoming so much of a threat that some drastic things need to be done and my reading of what the greek government is doing is that they are trying to that they are looking for an alibi to offer to their public by which they could say well it's not our fault it's the international community that pushes us towards the exit of the euro zone and i think also here in europe brussels a quarter of the european commission people start to realize they really are at the end of the road there is no. option left for them they're in a deadlock they cannot rewind the greek economy and so they are facing in a big black hole. online and we have more news in that assessment around the world

the has some of what's there right now for you some of criminals in israel will now be treated as terrorists south of credit card details from people leaked on. the docks readers all over russia and abroad celebrate the birth of jesus reports on the praising and. since the final american troops left iraq the country is learning to cope by itself but the consequences are still brutal for some reporter sebastian my two journalists who say instead of freedom and democracy they face imprisonment and even torture for questioning the u.s. backed government. this spring iraqis inspired by neighboring arab countries began protesting against their government in

a square in baghdad one which shares its name with the better known counterpart in cairo tahrir. but iraqi journalists trying to cover these protests all but silenced by the government security forces in today's iraqi journalists who speak out are routinely imprisoned beaten or just simply killed it seems to be a high level of intolerance or dissent or for public criticism of either government policies or particular leaders use it felt to me a freelance journalist showed r.t. some shocking youtube footage from the protests this february that explicitly show iraqi security forces targeting him because he's a journalist. he shouts which is arabic for journalist over and over again but it makes the police more violent three or four maybe five right police were around me one of them slapped me in the head other one kicked me

in the by and they come they know grabbed me fast yousif managed to escape arrest thanks to two foreign journalists who intervened but since the arrest of one of his colleagues he stopped covering protests altogether became hard for journalists for example to go to tahrir square i myself i don't go there i stopped there long time ago not because. i'm not that scared to be arrested. you know i'm worried to be mistreated we tried to speak to journalists who've been arrested in baghdad but everyone was too afraid to appear on camera so we came up here to the more peaceful kurdish region to see if the situation was any different here i met a young photographer who was arrested while covering similar protests in the kurdish region but after the interview he called to tell me he was scared of reprisals from the government and asked to blur his face and change his name after his arrest in april he was imprisoned for four days and tortured. six men came to

the room and started to shout at me and to beat me with cables then they gave me electric shocks they wanted me to admit that i hadn't been at the protest and. when he was finally released after four days a friend took pictures of his wounds and published them in a local magazine immediately ahmed was rearrested as a punishment for publicizing his initial arrest. came and they held me for three days and made me sign a document declaring that i would not talk to the press again back in baghdad the government spokesman admitted to r.t. that individuals in the iraqi government were indeed using their powers to silence the press not just that people been. using there but this is again is not protected by the government the government is against and i think and you can see that there are people in the midst of interior for example they have misusing their their power against the citizen and there is this year and that is they keep accountable and some of them has been fired almost nine years after the

invasion u.s. troops are home but what of the country they're leaving behind. with politicians using the security forces to silence journalists it appears that iraq lacks any credible press freedom a freedom that is essential to any democratic country sebastian meyer or iraq we'll turn to some of the stories making headlines today now in the first the coast of new zealand and a cargo ship which grounded three months ago has been torn in half by storm spilling the debris into the sea cleanup teams on standby case the remaining oil on board leaks out hundreds of tons of oil first gushed into the sea when the ship hit a reef devastating wildlife in the area that's been described as new zealand's worst maritime disaster. an afghan investigative commission is accusing the american military of abusing inmates held at the u.s. run detention center she was also prisoners gave numerous accounts of abuse and

torture and for those of president karzai them on the base behind a day to afghan control the u.s. says it will investigate the allegations. wave of sectarian violence targeting the christian minority has swept through eastern nigeria forcing hundreds from their homes attacks in the state of adam are killed at least thirteen with extremist islamist sect local harm you can find them the group has carried out multiple bomb attacks during the past month killing dozens of his own christians to flee the muslim dominated north. korea iran's president is a knocking on his visits to latin america since two thousand and seven. in the chads tripping stops in venezuela nicaragua that could or the trying to boast iran's ties with the region for the movies being heavily criticized by washington as a sign of desperation off the first sanctions were imposed on iran for its avenged atomic weapons program tehran the claims it's only seeking peaceful nuclear energy

. sudan's president is offering to help in libya disarm it's former rebels president bashir is wanted by the hague for genocide in his own country he's been visiting tripoli to thank libya's new leaders for being marked out when he was known to sudanese militants human rights groups are outraged by this year's offer to libya which is yet to respond. the leader of the beers transitional government had missed the country could be sliding into civil war he says it's unlikely outcome unless the n t c takes control of the militias and disarms them the country's justice system also remains a concern with thousands still behind bars without being charged as exam a boycott reports. it was one of the first amnesty of the new libya hundreds of men and women many of them sub-saharan immigrants released from a makeshift prison most of them spent several months in captivity for the crime of

being in the wrong place at the wrong time. we're releasing those who didn't commit serious crimes those but one on their hands will be waiting for the prosecutors as it was when you off the riches were eager to pain the release as a goodwill gesture the detention and the parole seemed internally arbitrary some of the dictators supporters as these people to be just work for government agencies and others happened to be domestic helpers or government workers and now equal before the law rather before the absence of it they are all still in prison was triple his top detention facility under gadhafi the tories for its mistreatment and arbitrary killings of inmates but while all of its prisoners rest sat free in late august as the rebels over in the capital dozens possibly even hundreds of makeshift prisons sprang out around the country according to u.n.

estimates up to seven thousand allowed to get off the loyalist i beheld there a little chance for justice a fair trial just a year ago this place used to be a school today demain last i'm being told here is that during the transition to democracy quick reactions are a must while many in the new libyan government held positions of power under gadhafi those who failed to jump on the bandwagon early enough and now finding themselves tugged behind bars. now in libya there are about a thousand people in detention and the problem is they haven't had any legal review they haven't had access to a lawyer they haven't been brought before any independent judicial panel or judges so that's what we're calling for now is a quick and. legal overview and rebuilding the justice system the treatment is even more brutal outside tripoli they tell not to run to god the gadhafi forces used to launch attacks against misrata is still

a ghost town many of its former residents live in refugee camps and even their extraordinary renditions by militia are common this man says he was tortured for several days before finally being released. to you until you confess to things you haven't committed like entering homes or looting it's a grueling dilemma many of these mothers and wives have to confront to pray for their loved ones to be rotting in a prison with torture being officially acknowledged ditto for their deaths children need their fathers and women need their husbands the government isn't doing anything to find them if they're dead that we want to know where they are more than a month since he's captured libya's most famous reason there's still doesn't have access to a lawyer and while many dollars say full islam's ability to have a fair trial he still appears to be better off than many of his countrymen at least thanks to the limelight he's not running a risk of being executed like his father how many still are. artsy tripoli.

shortly we report on of the full force of avalanches and those who survive them off the headlines and a couple times. this is our time. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that

out of many we are one that won't we breathe we hope. to me the american dream is to live in peace and prosperity and freedom and a government under socialism is not a government a free. man. you . have very motivated out cross the country who are activists who are willing to fight for what they think is right for themselves but the fact is already we're bridge and. we are drowning in property drowning and i think it's spread out why it's cutting off our. it's making goldmark recy. all but impossible.

well with. science technology innovation all the moves developments from around russia we've got this huge you're covered. the week's top stories in today's news from ati syrians say their final farewells to victims of friday's blast in damascus says are league observers prepared to reveal their initial findings on the country's on the arrest. iran announces plans for a new war games in the persian gulf after repeated threats to local keep oil in response to u.s. european sanctions. and the mudslinging ramps up as u.s. republicans campaign.