with another day of lawsuits we'll have the business news later in the program. our seven o'clock friday night here with the russian capital this is artsy with me rory stewart shy moscow says the u.n. resolution it put forward to try and end the bloodshed in syria is being manipulated nor to force regime change the original russian calls for damascus and rebel forces to abandon fighting and return to talks to avert a civil war but it's feared the proposed changes to the draft could pave the way for military intervention and the toppling of president assad a russian official also voiced concern that the humanitarian situation in syria is being used as a pretext to punish assad for his cozy relationship with iran battling byrne from the lebanese based conflicts forum told us here about see that western interests

are more focused on their own agenda rather than the well being of syria so. this is actually a project very much about regime change and the aim of it is that it's the way it's part of the war on iran which is effectively started and there were comments by the national security advisor from the u.s. tom don't they learn by jeffrey feltman in his testimony to congress which has basically been very explicit about the regime change agenda of the u.s. they've been very careful up till now to acknowledge any kind. perpetrated by any others apart from. the government forces in syria but i think just a few days ago the u.s. ambassador didn't meant that actually there is violence there is there are. actors active who are not government forces so i think what's been very clear is that this is a project about regime change. it's within this context that the narrative of us sort

of pro-democracy movement protesters is big is can text this is the cover for the region change project and one of the biggest disagreements in the un over how to proceed with syria stems from the west's starts of holding our side personally responsible for all the bloodshed it's a position that's drawing accusations of bias and intentional ignorance as artie's sarah furthur explains. son to man was an activist say sure networking sites such as facebook to call for peace in syria he phoned his family to tell them to watch him during an interview unlike who t.v. so i mean i saw him on to the and he looked well but it was to be one of the last times the family saw him alive and soon after that he was kidnapped he lived to a woman never returned we found his body in the morning and as recently mutilated it's too painful for me to remember that moment it remains unclear who killed him

and his family thinks it may have been militants working for the security forces after seeing him speak on television but in reality he'd worked at a sugar mill and was training to become a computer specialist like so many of the young educated people in syria right now he felt the need to be involved in the changing reality in his country syria in fact it's one of the youngest populations in the arab world is schools like this a new generation studying in fact an increasing number of the club better educated and better informed them that parents or grandparents were there not any more aware that their school rights that more able to demand them as well. many young opposition supporters have taken their campaign online relying heavily on social media like facebook and twitter that helped topple regimes like these in egypt libya people's literacy and also from media to. interesting has been enormous in

harms to recent decades by both education technology called trains but i think we should remember this can cut both ways opposition sides can try to get out their message and can mobilize people but also even supporters of government so much less dependent on a single. station or single state newspaper between a regime under pressure and an increasingly miniaturized opposition many syrians fifteen lacked tracks in the middle so i would be to museum as i have only one question getting to the kill my son for a politician or a public figure various movements in national and local exist in this country i don't understand when my son was killed you know you know i'm not speaking before a crowd many of whom are young supporters president assad this week once again repeated his promises of reform that was met with skepticism from the opposition and meanwhile on all sides of this conflict young politically motivated syrians remain committed to fighting for the political future of their country despite the

fact that so many like him and that fight could end up costing them their lives so r.t. . and the people of illinois cross-talk discuss the influences at work inside syria from the arab league monitors to the protestors themselves and the program coming up later this hour here on a c for now a preview. they have consistence policies towards syria and i think they took this side of their civilians inside syria and they have only sorry if i get interrupted i mean these are i don't understand when we use the term protesters civilians i mean a lot of these people are armed and there are no longer civilians or protesters there come back now and this is turned into a civil war and some western powers are supporting certain elements within syria taking a side in the civil war would you agree or disagree with that. across

talks here on r.t. in just over twenty minutes time for now though british prime minister david cameron has arrived in saudi arabia the u.k.'s biggest trade partner and arms market in the middle east the gulf kingdom has been rattled by recent unrest in the arab world and has suppressed protests on home soil as well as elsewhere with a heavy force our correspondent laura smith has more on this trip. this is david cameron's first trip as prime minister he's going to be meeting with king abdullah and also prince naives while he's that they'll be discussing a huge range of issues really including the global economy energy security counterterrorism obviously the situation in syria and the situation in iran at the moment and this is an important relationship really for both parties saudi arabia is obviously the world's biggest oil exporter it's also got ninety five billion dollars or thereabouts invested in the u.k. and the u.k.

and the middle east do about twenty three billion dollars worth of trade every year so a very very big partnership on both sides strong relationships with the saudis very important to britain for advancing the ukase interests in the region saudi arabia has recently been hugely roiled and rattled by various developments in the region including the overthrow of their longtime ally hosni mubarak and these recent tensions with iran and there is a certain amount of a lot of powerful opposition to this visit here in the u.k. a group of very powerful members of parliament the committee on export controls has questioned why licenses to saudi arabia for arms exports from the u.k. haven't been revoked in the wake of that trouble they have submitted questions and then publish those questions to the government on licensing of various equipment including bombs and components of vehicles and helicopters and also communications

equipment and they're saying why given the unrest that we did see in saudi arabia it was very very little reported on what happened that license being revoked why would the u.k. government trust the assurances that the saudi the saudi powers have given them about the end. of the weapons that they're being sold we saw violence last year during the arab spring brutal suppression of protestors particularly from this shiite minority so do you. of course this is a sunni majority country there's a shiite minority they came out on the streets and were brutally suppressed and indeed just as late as thursday night we saw one processor killed and three wounded when the security forces opened fire with live ammunition on. the saudis the violence in iraq iran has a shiite majority and in the region they represent the interests of minorities in

other sunni majority countries like saudi arabia so iran's accusing them of meddling there's also an accusation by the u.s. that iran plotted to have these thousand ambassador to washington assassinated in october so there's all sorts of tension between saudi arabia and iran very worrying but nevertheless the british government is looking at carrying on selling arms to saudi arabia and even upping the contracts there's a huge order. seventy two already on order and some people are saying that possibly the control be expanded to include forty eight more. jets so massive amounts of money at stake for the u.k. government but also reputation according to this powerful group of lobbyists within the government that is or smith reporting. contracts with saudi arabia are the only thing piling pressure on iran as we find out in just a few minutes. in every instance all the speculation falls on those who want to see

a continued. hostility we look at who benefits from do you stabilizing the islamic state and all the analysis coming your way shortly. after ten minutes past the hour here in moscow political hardliners in kosovo when i was to block serbia and trucks the border crossings this weekend it comes to spite belgrade's ongoing steps towards compromise in the border issue as the country strives for you memberships. and the ethnic serbs in kosovo say they are finding themselves under more pressure from the albanian majority all the details now are the explanation from across. the yard near to checkpoint in northern kosovo may not look like an obvious triumph of peace but here is the same spot just two weeks ago since the summer e.u. backed kosovo albanians have tried to take control of the border between serbia and kosovo the serb minority erected barricades in response they don't recognize qassam

independence saying that the albanian dominated province is still part of serbia now both sides have fire new agreed that the border will be jointly policed. anyone can now freely pass through this checkpoint when you're trumpeting this as a happy resolution but a standoff and while life here has become easier a lot of serbs are saying that once again they have given up too much for the compromise and have received no rush owen says about their long term future belgrade try to talk serbs in kosovo down from the barricades so it was to join the e.u. which made a peaceful solution to the border issue a precondition but despite progress on the border belgrade application for candidate status has been stalled in the latest round of talks with brussels some countries which did recognize and they feel that serbia is a week in just before they are getting the kind of a status that's why they are squeezing serbia exacta trying to achieve something

more than than usually are asking the candidates. just meters from the e.u. soldiers in the past serbian militia many here have been engaged in conflict with albanians since one thousand nine hundred nine when an ethnic war divided their territory into they have been coming to this road block since july and say they will carry on despite a border deal along with why should we be happy to see you soldiers give us permission to use this road we never used to need permission to use it at all we do not trust the e.u. or albanians wanted it when a relative's and friends have been injured in this conflict for the past twelve years. those who gain the most from the border compromise are ordinary serbs blocked roads prevented many children from coming to school and their parents from buying even basic foodstuffs but normality is some distance away. so. there are constant warning sirens during the lessons these children are not growing up normally their lives are defined by the conflict and this is true not just for

children but for all serbs have been living in kosovo for twelve years while opening the roads is a step forward to serve status in. doodled considered and that does not appear to want them remains as uncertain as ever you go girl and of. course. our tears coming to you live from moscow and still to come in the program a pharmaceutical phantom menace. when you feel the sadness you may feel exhausted hopeless and anxious we look at the alarming death rate from pill popping in the u.s. as drug companies are accused of overstating the scale of depression around the country and. the united states has reportedly used a secret channel of communication to issue a direct warning to iran's supreme leader ayatollah khamenei washington says that any move by to iran to block oil trade through the crucial strait of hormuz would

be met with an immediate response inspectors meantime from the un's nuclear watchdog are sure to also come to iran in two weeks to see if its nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons capability meanwhile the war of words between washington and tehran has also been heated up by wednesday's assassination of a top iranian nuclear scientist jamal abdi from the national iranian american council think it was carried out by dark forces who are not interested in a diplomatic solution the fact the matter is that the hardliners on all sides who don't want to see any kind of negotiated resolution who don't want to see iran brought some way into the fold and want to see this tension escalate want to keep iran sort of outside of the security status quo in the middle east or supportive of these actions and that's why you have speculation that perhaps israel was behind this perhaps the iranian. terrorist organization that is dedicated to overthrowing

the iranian government and preventing a reproach mom between the u.s. and iran are behind this or you even have people who think that perhaps hardliners in the iranian government were behind this. because they're more interested in preventing any kind of talks and being able to create a security environment within iran where they can crack down on on dissidents and use the threat of an external you know a war with the united states or external threats to actually consolidate their control so in every instance all the speculation falls on those who want to see a continued escalation of hostilities and a robot named one from the u.s. based ngo just foreign policy so as the iranian threat is being overplayed by american politicians with even the highest official silence if they dare to question at. defense secretary. will be our defense or was on face the nation and he said they were trying to bill to develop

a nuclear weapon. ourselves in the very next night he has news that he did you know they had steam. and then used his remorse trying to argue the opposite as fairness and accuracy and already noted when he didn't alert p.b.s. and received any response it's just part of the pattern. us media and it's certainly part of the pattern in the presidential campaign presidential candidates . but we always like it when you get involved with us here it can tell us what you think about the situation as it develops around iran just log on to r.t. dot com and check out the forums section but here's a look at some of your opinions posted there right now one viewer saying that what is going on in the strait of hormuz is just another set of moves in a long chess game in the region will be a long time before any side is close to a check position let's check out what else is having posted that for example here israel must ensure that its military is strong and ready for any eventuality it

will only find peace through to terrorists if you go to the forum section r.t. dot com have your say right. most of them live here on out c. but i've got plenty more for you on line dot com a quick look at what's waiting for you there at the moment for example we bring you more on the video that start up such a scandal over the actions of u.s. forces in afghanistan and post comments out of reaction from around the world plus a seventy six year old a millionaire finds himself in hot water after he broke away to his finger at a swanky restaurant in florida find out how that happened at a dot com. and now to the u.s. the story of a deadly passion for pills today more americans die from prescription. drugs and car accidents shocking data coming from the national center for health statistics and authors marina portnoy reports it's fair to pharmaceutical firms prioritising

profit of people's lives. america is regarded as a country with a ravenous appetite for consumption today a widespread fondness for pharmaceuticals has turned the us into a nation of pill poppers bipolar depression doesn't have to consume news here's me and here's my depression you know when you feel the weight of sadness you may feel exhausted hopeless and anxious according to the u.s. government anti-depressant use among americans has increased nearly four hundred percent in the past two decades published reports find that one in five adults take at least one drug for mental health disorders with over fourteen billion dollars in annual sales anti-psychotics remain america's top selling therapeutic class of prescription drugs this is a medical journal dr harriet fraud believes big pharma has manufactured a climate of insanity by manipulating and even creating illness for capital gains

the advertising strategy is to have a big giant noses and then find wiggle room so that they apply to everybody prescription nexium the u.s. is the only western country that allows direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs this ad for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder warns that untreated patients will likely end up divorced and this commercial for so long in new york on this is to make you happier but side effects may include dry mouth insomnia sexual side effects diarrhea nausea and sleepiness critics also say big pharma uses its financial muscle to apply doctors with gives them cash kickbacks and research funding in exchange for endorsing or purse crybaby the late. just and most lucrative drugs what you have is a whole network of doctors who are hustling these drugs if a patient comes in with

a knee injury and says i'm so sad oh are you depressed hey write a prescription they're given out like eminem's last year per script and drug abuse became the number one cause of accidental death with more than thirty thousand americans overdosing can consume you sara quell a bipolar medication generated four point four billion dollars in sales last year listing all its side effects requires forty nine seconds of air time blood sugar has been reported missing or less are in medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to come down the number of children consuming anti-psychotic medication doubled in the past decade millions of american adolescents are taking drugs like adderall doled out by doctors to treat hyperactivity only drugs are very very similar to illicit or illegal drugs is a very dangerous now one is a little safer but you said not sure i mean they're being forced on me. but doctors

you know who are telling parents this is the best thing for them when often it's not and so you have a lot of angry resentful just growing up in america here the charity happening because pfizer america's most profitable pharmaceutical company makes anti-depressants not only for people but also for adam and in two thousand i the pharma giant paid two point three million dollars to settle civil and criminal allegations over illegally marketing one of its drugs it was the largest health care fraud settlement in the middle line to ever been aided by a u.s. drug company that being said the money reportedly amounted to less than three weeks more of a prize or drug sales the money is so huge that the fines are immaterial and they're not thinking of. the social effects of what they were doing you're thinking about the profits the accrued the pharmaceutical industry remains the most profitable business in the u.s.

more success in financial gain for the companies will always remain possible as long as more americans are encouraged to take drugs. artsy me. before starting with a business sister called the artsy world update for you some of the headlines in brief from around the world powerful unions in nigeria have threatened to shut down an oil and natural gas production in the country this sunday this comes as they suspended nationwide protests against spiralling gas and food prices after four consecutive days of demonstrations the dispute has already been felt in the world's oil market where the price of crude has already jumped. a link reported by the cia and other intelligence agencies has painted a gloomy picture of the situation in afghanistan the document says the country is in a stalemate and warns that attempts to improve security have been undermined by corruption bad local government and taliban attacks from neighboring pakistan several senior

military commanders of filed a written objection to the findings saying that based on flawed assumptions and a lack of understanding about taliban tactics. or for the full version of that report coming your way at seventeen thirty g.m.t. next hour as i said it's daniel and the business. welcome to business the european union has joined the growing conflict between russia and ukraine energy commission a good ones both sides must take into account agreements already signed with the e.u. ukraine says the struggling economy called for the volumes agreed in its contract with moscow and worked to cut purchases of russia's energy giant gazprom says key of could have reduced its order by up to twenty percent but only if it's given six months notice the e.u. has offered its support ukraine in this role more talks will be held on tuesday chris weaver from troika dialogue says the situation is likely to result in ukraine conceding to brussels and moscow in its point. that makes

much more engineering commercial economic sense than the alternatives such as the south stream pipe and i think that russia is more likely to agree to the proposal provided of course that the equity ownership in the transit system in ukraine also changes specifically to allow gazprom to take at least a twenty five percent initial stake in the pipeline and with some mechanism that would allow it maybe go up to fifty percent ownership i believe at the end result over the next couple of months will be a concession from key of this ownership issue and i believe that the european union will have a role in this as well as gas prices and then i think this essential of the south stream project along with in the book a pipeline project will both kind of die off believe will be shelved indefinitely.

let's not look at the markets first oil which is struggling to reverse the biggest drop in the past year loss we remain below one hundred dollars a barrel and is heading lower the price is being kept down by reports that the iranian import go will be delayed for six months to a lot of trouble to call them. it's like greece italy and spain to find alternative suppliers america has opened down already over one percent in morning trade over in new york we'll bring you more details as it goes in throughout the day now europe in the last few minutes we've seen changes after today's italian debt auction failed to raise the same interest as yesterday traders point to lower profits for j.p. morgan chase in quarter four as a sign that confidence is still dented by the euro crisis. now russia has ended friday down it's been poor all week except for monday following the pessimism in europe after a strong start in the morning reality has slipped back into the red let's have a look at the share movers on the six today guess from finished higher of the

saying it won't negotiate its current gas supply contract with ukraine moved into the red in the last hour after revealing its oil output dropped over five percent last year telecom is also flat despite reports to me an operator g n c l four for over twenty two million dollars wrapping up the week's trade mixin shushing ko from the overall trend of russia's markets is positive. it was definitely very positive for us which came as a surprise to many myself we actually expected it's probably poor opening for russia and there's you know the market will print a few more days during all this is the first time the my six which is the warnings from the bat but overall you know russia did pretty well in terms of inflow of capital we strongly formed the rest of the work is russia received about three hundred million years of money year to date compared to one point five in the

old fool from gem from global emerging markets which essentially assigned people which has been very cautious about russian story grigory coming back. and another new turnover in russian trade with norm c.i.s. countries rose by a third in the first eleven months of last year reaching six hundred thirty two billion dollars according to new reports fuel and energy accounted for three quarters of exports while machinery and equipment total top of all imports russia's top three trading partners for the period with china germany and the netherlands. that's the business for now join us for more next hour.

move. to.

some thirty pm on a friday here in the russian capital time for the r.t. headlines moscow warns its u.n. partners not to try and alter its draft resolution on syria russia wants an end to the bloody fighting and the stop. if peace talks but others are backing regime change. british prime minister david cameron arrives in saudi arabia the u.k. is the largest market in the middle east even as the gulf kingdom continues to crackdown on protests.