international news or comment live from moscow this is good to have you with us this hour syrian activists claim the government crackdown on protesters is continuing a day after the arab league decided to keep up its observer mission to the country at least nineteen people were reported dead on monday the panera body called on all sides of the conflict to lay down arms at once but didn't go as far as asking the u.n. to intervene the league's been overseeing the implementation of a peace plan since late last month one hundred sixty five of its observers are spread across syria with more on the way their findings indicate the regime is only sticking to some parts of the deal the league wants it will take unspecified action if the crackdown doesn't. five thousand civilians around two thousand soldiers are said to have been killed in the country since march so far has more from damascus. and new year but no resolution here despite the presence in the country of arab

league observers in ten months of bloody clashes the violence in syria continues to escalate i don't macalester what's our fault what's our people's part it's assumed that our children are dying it's a sense they are just ordinary people we simply want to have a man seen here his life doctors are battling to save as a soldier. he dies he's just twenty five years old. was his family to mourn him and this is just one man one family but across syria at the moment there are many more people experiencing exactly the same thing as the country edges ever closer toward civil war hundreds of people from both sides losing their lives every month. on friday another suicide bombing in damascus is yet further evidence of the escalating conflicts and this is continued to take place despite the presence of arab league observers on the ground

and then we went to the lead in them to help but they didn't want to listen to us and didn't respond to our complaints exactly he's responsible for what's in the country right now remains far from being clear but the opposition itself is becoming increasingly divided with more and more army desert is joining the ranks in calling for a violent overthrow of the government danger. soldiers who. have concluded. the arrests of the syrian army if they want to. do it you know the league has once again when you think rules for the violence from all sides and having met to review the finding safe. there in syria this vast country and many of its people are fighting extremely hard right now for the right

to determine their own future the government here might say that they're pushing reforms very many people in the country feel that simply too much has happened to much blood has been shed for anything other than real change to now be an option sara for r.c. damascus. with a regime sanctioned by the west and a civil war looming in the country some observers think it's actually the syrian people that are being hardest hit by the conflict which has raged since march. increasing numbers of syrian soldiers are leaving the army and going to the other side bringing their weapons with them and so what started as the army against an insurgency is increasingly looking like a mini civil war in which soldiers from bashar as army are now on the other side with their weapons sometimes entire units seem to be defect think and that suggests to me that deaths death them both sides are likely to rise with time elites will

continue probably to do ok and one of the problems as we learned in iran and elsewhere with sanctions is that sanctions are sanctions on the people but not on the elite that managed to keep their own hold on the little bit of resources that are there so i don't think sanctions will make a whole lot of difference and i suspect given the hold of a saw on the army he will stay in power for a very long time remember even in libya it was eight or nine months before khadafi was dislodged and that was the active participation of nato so i think we're in for a long and difficult call and i think the syrian people are for a very rough time. iran has begun enriching uranium in a brand new nuclear facility the west has slammed the move as a provocation at a time when brinkmanship between the u.s. and iran has reached a boiling point islamic state says its new plant is deep underground making it immune to air strikes some analysts claim it could produce nuclear fuel that's

easier to adapt for weapons use name on the pentagon says it's prepared to use force to reopen a vital oil route in the persian gulf which iran has threatened to block adding to the tension a former marine has been found guilty of spying for the cia and sentenced to death in iran u.s. is slapped its latest round of economic sanctions on the country in response to its nuclear program with the e.u. also preparing to enforce penalties for patrick henningsen so she editor for info dot com thinks that iran has the links it needs to stay afloat. the idea of the western bloc the axis powers of the united states the britain france and israel is to isolate iran this is their first step first we isolate then we pose sanctions now they hope to have an oil. so to speak. around iran but the major problem crept up last week we saw south korea has made it very clear that they want

to continue to import iranian crude now also japan is mulling over this sanction because they are also a major importer of oil and china has announced officially that it wants to iran to be its number two oil importer in two thousand and twelve these sanctions that they've tried to put forward by the u.s. they might work in the short term to apply pressure but i don't think by the looks of it economically it's going to have a major long term impact on iran. journalist and author actually has told me any that he thinks the u.s. thirst for oil is what's causing these latest tensions in the gulf. iran hasn't attacked any other nation for hundreds of years the united states has form on attacking another nation every couple of years we continue to attack all the time i think we know who's provoking this latest spat the united states is a net exporter of oil apparently first time in sixty years so presumably they're

enjoying the oil prices and it's as they spike with every new threat for united states makes against the masses of ordinary men women and children in other countries the united states seemingly just wondering prices while at the same time threatening people and the developing world the rest of the world the major superpower. in the world they don't like what the united states is saying that sort of united nations. says something. well we're always interested to hear your opinion and today we're asking you what is next in store for iran as tensions around it reach a boiling point that's the question we have for you on our web site r.t. dot com and some of them so far well right now over half of you think the u.s. will attempt to provoke iran into an all out conflict and less than the third say washington will strike first and worry about the consequences later some people of iran will claim to have nuclear weapons to get the west to back off and we can see

that the moment on screen the minority believes the country will defend itself by building an anti us our minds in south america online to cast your vote and while you're on our website you can check out some of the stories there including. the torture hour afghanistan demands a u.s. army hands over control of its main prison in the country within a month after claims inmates have been severely abused that story and plenty of others are party dot com. the french and german leaders of stress that boosting economic growth is a priority as they try to stem the eurozone debt crisis in the first meeting of the new year they've also been calling for a quick conclusion to negotiations on a new treaty which will ensure strict fiscal rules but as

a lot easier to reports some worry that germany above all sees this as an opportunity to increase its political clout. billions of euros had been injected into the greek economy while its population has been given shot after shot of austerity measures in most cases that cement wages cut taxes raised my friend the famous composer of. crees. compares it with a time before the fascism and what they are doing is to destroy the democracy greece is that democracy has seen the elected pm swept into the political gutter and replaced by an unelected technocrat who just happened to be a former vice president of the european central bank. one and only goal is to prevent a greece from going under and taking others with it

a similar tactic was used on the third largest of the euro zone's economies italy after silvio berlusconi resigned from power and a new prime minister was also appointed switching governments is an old show the government that left had no chance to act to act much different from the one that is and start now people are you know pacified by a new face meanwhile two key players of the e.u. germany and france meet again looking for ways to world cracks in the euro zone germany has already thrown billions at saving the euro it's no surprise that it wants more control over the rest of the pack which is why milliman players are pushing to build a so-called fiscal compact meant to take the reins over so over and budgets but it's an idea that's not going down well on germany streets especially if there is a threat that germany can gain certain positions and influence in the e.u.

and it may not really have any right to be doing this germany over the money but it gives the government gets power more. more powerful and i hear there's it's bad i think there is the danger the so-called robin hood tax is another proposed measure it would charge the financial institutions for every money move the mic with him to sterilize the markets however with more gloomy economic news over the euro zone's joblessness and feeling retail sales some analysts warn if introduced the new tax meet only makes struggling countries even more dependent on france and germany is money there's no doubt germany remains the economic powerhouse. in the skies over the euro zone darkening signs our strength is now used to why. as well you've got this kind of frankfurt

germany. patrick young who's the executive director of the investment advisory firm dva advisors says the leaders of the eurozone aren't really doing enough to save it and upcoming elections in some of the blocks countries will only make things worse . the only thing that's growing at the moment i suspect is going to be no waistlines of all the civil servants and ministers who are summiting all over the place and eating endless numbers of cream bones and delicacies in each of the different locales they visit the truth is that absolutely nothing has been done in order to try and actually fundamentally of the problem and again today what we've seen is a sticking plaster of clyde to all of the different problems that are going on mrs merkel saying but we'd like to keep everybody in the euro and we hope to keep everything together and we'll work very hard to do that well you know what the problem is it doesn't matter how much you talk about something it's actions that are going to the moment all we have is words of mr sarkozy is willing to vern the european union on the hire of his reelection efforts and that therefore leaves them

fundamentally right angles to germany's position which is apparently to try and provide some sort of long term solution i mean the situation in greece is particularly acute the position in many other countries is going to be much worse and of course we have multiple elections coming up this year not just in france but also in greece itself as well as many other places that are going to in many ways further exacerbate the politics of the euro going forward. well still ahead here an r.t. football fever is coming to tell the fans count down the days until the critical moment many skeptics question one of the huge costs of posting the tallest justified also. in america you the right to know freedom that you had freedom but no right to get in the new rules of the game in the latest edition of our series an ex-pat entrepreneur explains the unique aspects

of doing business here in russia. his story still to come but first russia's republic of chechnya has seen its first operation of the year security forces are still sweeping the area after mopping up remaining resistance from a group of militants who refused to surrender both sides of suffered losses as artie's medina question over reports from the caucasus region. this come to turkey operation is one of the biggest race that changed now has seen in recent times according to russia's in term ministry there were up to ten militants hiding in this area and the latest information that we have is that five militants were killed and russian special forces also suffered losses one policeman and three interior ministry's officers were killed and another sixteen were wounded as they were the victims of the explosives that the target is place earlier around this area now this operation started on sunday when special forces found

a place that turned out to be the target main hideout packed with weapons and explosives it is still going on and it continues really severe weather conditions and basically low visibility as it is very foggy and misty right now in the mountains meanwhile in the last twelve months a changed man has been really peaceful and. he has spread into the neighboring regions of the north caucasus that's why maybe of the news over the size of this operation is really hitting the hard lines over here in the north caucasus two people have died after explosion ripped through a busy attorney a restaurant in moscow monday up to forty people are reported to have been injured and no corresponding tombo reports now from the scene. the restaurant in the southern part of moscow was the scene of three gas explosions two employees were killed they were close to the blast the explosion started with

a what has been called a domestic gas explosion that then set off two gas canisters nearby that ripped through the building and started a fire which gutted the two story restaurant the first floors being completely blown out all the windows are smashed and chunks of being torn out of the walls a lot of people were injured by that flying debris the fire that was caused has since been put out the emergencies ministry is now starting an investigation but they have already said in a preliminary statement they think it was improper use of the gas equipment that caused this blast and all these injuries and and two deaths. reporting there from central moscow well with five months remaining now until one of the world's biggest sporting events euro twenty twelve football fever is building fast in eastern europe its main host is ready to welcome millions of fans as they descend on ukraine and poland for several weeks this summer and while the visitors will bring

a surge in revenue for the local economy some people remain skeptical that the benefits will outweigh the costs and the reports. the incredible adventures of food bullheads from extreme accommodation to driving through impassable roads this is the scenario some believe awaits fans who will flock to ukraine for the euro twenty twelve tournament of base journalists organized this photo exhibition trying to voice a rather pessimistic message about the upcoming football club. we're being told by the government that everything has been built by the fans will face those problems that we ordinary ukrainians face every day very poor stray petty issues bribery by the police and terrible medical facilities i'm afraid it could be a major failure. at first glance such concerns may seem

laughable even in the darkest times of financial troubles the euro twenty twelve projects remained top priority when almost all construction projects were halted roads airports and stadiums never stopped being built after a string of stadium opening ceremonies in ukraine you wait for chiefs are now completely sure the country is ready to host the tournament we went through a different periods of the preparation so some of them. successful but in the last two years we made huge progress in terms of infrastructure construction and also in terms of organisation so in principle. but this is just one example of what really worries some in ukraine this broken road is only several hundred meters away from a vital highway and there is a slim chance it would ever be repaired before or after the tournament kicks off experts believe ukraine simply has no money for that and the euro twenty twelve

will not change the situation. ukraine is spent fourteen billion dollars on euro twenty twelve projects but we predicted. only half a billion from the tournament twenty eight times last everyone knew that it's a typical situation especially for eastern europe the question is if we could afford such spending in hard times like this. tournament organizers brush all this criticism aside saying regardless of how much money your twenty twelve brings the country is building a bright future for itself for the first time in twenty years history people get new airports. everything is new we believe that people who is in ukraine they will come again there was of ukraine so this is our main goal especially europe twenty twelve clock was installed in central kiev to count down the minutes to skew cough and despite some skepticism the majority of ukrainians

are relieved to see it ticking in their capital city not anywhere else with all the airports and stadiums springing up it's hard to believe now that almost a year ago the tournament could have moved to another country by you a far as ukraine was not doing good enough now there is no doubt whatsoever it will be held here but one question still remains whether it would become an opportunity of a lifetime or a luxury this economically hit country could not have afforded. reporting from kiev in ukraine. or some other news from around the world now to pakistan first of all welled up they were at least ten troops have been found dead in an unstable tribal area in the country's northwest the men were abducted last month from the region after militants attacked a military post officials say the bodies of the men with multiple but it were and were discovered in a ravine close to a small local town last week the taliban executed fifteen tribal police officers having a abducted them. three people have been killed and dozens wounded

during a nationwide strike to protest against nigeria's soaring fuel prices at least forty two protesters in the town of comical one other was killed in a clash with police in lagos this comes after the government ended a fuel subsidy leading to rising gas and transportation costs throughout the country. prosecutor in poland has shot himself in the head after holding a news conference he walked to the corner of his office loaded the gun and pulled the trigger asking for a break it happened after he delivered an emotional statement the army investigators against illegal wiretapping during the probe into the presidential plane crash in twenty ten reasons he shot himself remain unknown however he survived and is in stable condition. twin blasts in iraq have killed at least fourteen and wounded dozens in baghdad one of the bombs went off near a police vehicle in the neighborhood of al shabab killing six including two

policeman the second bomb in the west of the city it was said to be targeting shiite pilgrims. now in our special pathfinder series here in r.t. we've been introducing you to foreign entrepreneurs who came to russia for a slice of the business pine. russians have always had a taste for foreign cuisine especially the all-american burgers and fries and that's a hunger which paul o'brien was eager to serve when he brought his star like diner to the country. i got here saying there's a march. star there was no neon on the streets. of the hotel like going up to my room so what i do think of the size of our. young russian speaking my mind and it's still my heart.

just saw this. is steiner came in the united states and went on a ship and came to st petersburg and then your own down on trucks would put it into the park you know like one day i was in there and over the weeks later we were open i think it was a challenge. it was really exciting when i opened my first business. because we were the first we had a lot of people that thought we were crazy to put a diner in the middle of the park despite all the objections there and we didn't we knew it was going to work because i work here for two years in the hotel i actually got to understand the culture. and the process and russia despite everything russians i've always had a love for america you know and you can't get more american than a diner one of the great things about this diner was modular so when we ordered it from the night it states all the pictures are on the walls. all the buddhas are

made in the us in the united states but they're red in their classic. furniture so while we had crises here and ninety eight and five in our case ninety eight the last one wasn't so bad because people came down market they were spending less money and we have a really moderate price category so we our business actually increased prices i think there's still a lot of opportunities here i mean it's just saturated market like ten million people i could use a lot more restaurants. foreign businessmen really have to understand a lot about the country before they get here and they have to know their own business really well be able to adapt there's not a my way or the highway situation here it's like the russian way i would say the first thing is they need a russian partner they can trust and then have a person here because it's not going to add. quickly as it would somewhere else

that i once said you know in america you have all the rights but no freedom russia i said you had freedom but no rights. probably the biggest difference is the management style of management as more and more dictatorial i think that's a negative because if you don't challenge them you don't get a second opinion on whether you're doing the right thing i would say a developing man who is probably the biggest challenge because they don't have a lot of management experience i think sometimes people look at business and they say i have a business but i think every business has three components one is the employees the other is the owner puts up the capital wants to make a profit and the other one is the customer if you don't treat all three of those aspects as being important you're not going to be successful you have to take care of your employees to take care of your customers and put it together where you're

going to make money. if you don't put those three those things together. one of the few minutes from now here or not he will be taking to the bit as tea party which is both a journey through a moment in american history and a clearly researched piece of investigative journalism. headlines shortly stay with us live here in moscow. the.

wealthy british style. is not on the type of. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on r g.

move move. to do. well with the. technology innovation all the developments from around russia we've got the future.

not here in stores now at this hour of the arab league the conflict in syria seems far and implement a peace plan involvement still rages. you could brinkmanship a draw launches a new brain in richmond for some of the freedom to shut down a vital oil supply route in the gulf sparking warns of military action from the us . to the rescue the need is a full you have to get to grips with the continuing euro crisis.