international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. moscow says the u.n. resolution it put forward to try and the bloodshed in syria is being manipulated in order to force regime change the original russian plan calls for damascus 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. from the lebanese based conflicts forum told r.t. that western interests are more focused on the. syrians. this is actually a project very much about regime change and the aim of it is that it's part of the

war on iran which has effectively started and there were comments by the national security advisor from the us tom donilon and 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 of. being perpetrated by any others apart from. the government forces in syria but i think just a few days ago the u.s. ambassador did and 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 and it's within this context the narrative of a sort of pro-democracy movement. contextualize this is the cover for the region change project. one of the biggest disagreements in the u.n.

over how to proceed with syria stems from the west is stance of holding assad personally responsible for all the bloodshed it's a position that's drawing accusations of bias and intentional ignorance as artists are further explains. nana nag made 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 t.v. 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 left home and never returned we found his body in the morning and his face was 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 he thought he was 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 feels the need to be involved in the changing reality in his country syria in fact has one of the youngest populations in the arab world is schools like this a new generation as studying in fact an increasing number of arabs have become better educated and better informed of 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 have helped topple regimes like these in egypt and libya people's literacy and also media literacy has been enormously harvested recent decades by both education technology called trained 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 militarized opposition many syrians have been left trapped in the middle. america. i have only one question what did they kill my son for my son was the politician or a public figure various movements national and local exist in this country i don't understand when my son was killed. speaking the floor crowd many of whom were young supporters president this week once again repeated his promises of reform that was not with skepticism from the opposition meanwhile on all sides of this conflict young politically motivated syrians remain committed to fighting for their political future if they country despite the fact that so many like him and that fight could end up costing them their lives. well still ahead on the program sending iran's oil up in flames in iraq against attempts to block

oil trade in the gulf threatening to respond with. the heat on tehran ahead of the shuttle visit by u.n. nuclear watchdog inspectors. i'm sorry u.s. intelligence reports cast doubt on the optimistic outlook on afghanistan by general saying corruption weak local government and militants are ruining washington's. story still to come for you but first 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 ruthless force our correspondent laura smith has more now on the trip. this is david cameron's first trip as prime minister he's going to be meeting with king abdullah and also crown prince naïf well he's that will 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 but 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 protesters particularly from this shiite minority saudi. of course 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 killed and wounded when the

security forces opened fire with live ammunition on. the saudis the violence in. iraq is has a shiite majority and in the region they represent the interests of shiite minorities in other sunni majority countries like saudi arabia so iran is accusing them of meddling there's also an accusation by the us 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 those arms contracts 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 the recent reporting there front is probably triple a credit rating

could be about to be not according to a senior eurozone source the speculation that started the poor might downgrade the country stages the world markets plunging after an optimistic start of the year is also likely to shake the already crumbling confidence in the euro's the embattled currency fight for survival let's get more on this latest development from of course from who's in brussels well if it is true what will this downgrade really mean for the eurozone. well yes if it is a true this century as you mentioned it will really hurt the confidence that's really the main think the driving force of the national markets here first let's go back to what's been reported there s. and p. is set to cut doc just france but also austria both the aaa rated countries and it says that germany the netherlands gentle it and looks were will will retain their current status now for france in particular it has been born even last year even experts we've been talking to they say that downgrade is imminent now is what why

this is happening is because of france's involvement mainly on bailing out greece portugal and also it leaves the e.c.b. so it has put itself in a very vulnerable position so one can say that this is not unexpected unexpected but of course many news that just this comes out of family of course the reactions would definitely be negative as we've been seeing in the markets now the minute the main problem here if you know that mario monti for example had been asking merkel and a cycle is he saying please focus more on growth now this is going to become a problem because it banks start tightening again because of a loss of confidence it will certainly affect the growth prospects of the eurozone now if this comes on the back just yesterday on thursday when the european central bank actually said that the eurozone is in a more stable position now this is going to walk about certainly once again we're going back into a cycle of what's going to happen next creditors confidence certainly down and more meetings to come definitely next week and again more meetings with sarkozy and

merkel this will certainly be play in the mix this s. and p. downgrade expected as it may be the actions will certainly be negative qualities to society of in brussels thanks very much indeed for that live update a leaked report by the cia and other intelligence agencies is painted a gloomy picture of the situation in afghanistan the document says the country is in stalemate despite u.s. army generals optimistic outlook it warns that attempts to improve security have been undermined by. local government and taliban attacks from neighboring pakistan to talk more on this joined by the defense analyst at the independent think tank brass tacks one of the problems according to this report is that taliban fighters are finding safe haven in neighboring pakistan where you are resistant to the current political infighting in islamabad between the government the judiciary and the military we're seeing at the moment. you see what is happening is that there is

a complete political chaos in the slum above the government is corrupt it is treacherous the americans have imposed the street jeem to achieve the objective of softening up pakistan for the doctrine of asked back but what is actually happening is that the pakistan army has started to regroup reorganize and this government is now on the verge of collapse which is also collapsing the us strategic games in the region they had counted upon pakistan government to defeat taliban and that's not happening on the contrary this report that you have mentioned basically what the americans are now trying to do is they passed the responsibility of their failures in afghanistan upon pakistan and this is also corroborated from the fact that the nato supplies that pakistan has blocked today in pakistan contain the military hardware which is an invasion level hardware almost nine armored infantry divisions and their support equipment supplies weapons and ammunition are stuck in pakistan and the concern pakistan army is that if the americans are talking of the drawing

from of understanding talking about peace deals with taliban then why would the americans need abrams m one a one main battle tanks and almost nine armored infantry divisions in afghanistan to fight an insurgency where they are talking of peace deals with israel isn't there isn't the u.s. seeing a failure from pakistan's therefore if it's got to do the job itself that's why it's got the u.s. military help by going through those passageways into afghanistan through pakistan it's not right. no that's not right you see the fact of the matter is that proof to sustain an insurgency in afghanistan you need a massive supply line for the one resistance which is not coming from pakistan you need training areas which are not coming from pakistan and you not need secure base base here years and safe havens the main fighting in afghanistan is taking present hillman and kandahar and both of the do the job first the hundreds of kilometers away from the north waziristan region where the americans are saying the actual

backbone of the resistance lies so basically pakistan army doesn't buy this now there is a concern in pakistan army that these kind of intelligence reports are actually designed to create an environment to invade pakistan from under the aspect military doctrine and that is why you find this unprecedented blockade of nato supplies from pakistan even to this is just to make it clear what you said the pentagon says it cannot guarantee there won't be a military coup in pakistan it's an internal matter for pakistan to sort out and yet you're saying perhaps there is an intention for the u.s. to get involved. you see the fact is the pakistan army does not want to take over the government militarily because this government has taken out of war of the supreme court as well as with the army so army want the supreme court to deliver the coup de grace an imposed a caretaker civilian set up but if the supreme court delays beyond the red line then the army will move in itself for the kill because the concern factor is that

while the aspect military doctrine of the americans is doing a build up for an invasion level build up which will pakistan army field would be invading pakistan areas pakistani tribal areas where pakistan army will have to get involved in a high intensity conflict perhaps with nato on the american forces and the indians on the eastern are building up their core start military doctrine which means pakistan would be trapped between two military pincers and that is the concern to pakistan military will not wait for long the government in islamabad is not delivering it's treacherous and either the supreme court will deliver the coup de grace or the army will move him a lot about just how quickly i ask in the larger what we're hearing at the moment the plans to have peace talks u.s. backed peace talks between the taliban and the afghan government do you think they could be effective do you think that could change the whole situation that you're talking about if those talks were successful just briefly there would be no talks there's no possibility of those talks being successful they are just

a fast they're going on and on really in reality on the ground taliban are trying to take up the initiative the advantage of the u.s. reconnaissance but they will definitely the terms of the paladin have given the goal of the extra regional forces the collapse of the kabul regime those terms the conditions that given the taliban are such could never be accepted by the americans or the kabul regime be stopped means nothing ok so it thank you very much syed hamid defense analyst of the prospects of the better think tank joining us live in islamabad really interesting to hear we have to say thank you. political hardliners in kosovo have announced they're to block serbian trucks at border crossings this weekend it comes despite belgrade ongoing steps toward a compromise in the border issues the country strives for e.u. membership and ethnic serbs in kosovo say they're finding themselves under more pressure from the albanian majority. now reports. the checkpoint in northern kosovo may not look like an obvious triumph of peace but

here is the same spot just two weeks ago since a summer e.u. backed kosovo albanians tried to take control of the border between serbia and kosovo the serb minority erected barricades in response they don't recognize qassam independence so in the old bailey and dominated province is still part of serbia now both sides have fire new agreed that the border will be jointly policed their calls belonging to anyone can now freely pass through this checkpoint when you're trumpeting there as a happy resolution that 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 rasho and says about their long term future belgrade tried 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 corso and they feel that serbia is a weak just before they are getting the kind of a status because why they are squeezing serbia exacta trying to achieve something more than than usually are asking their candidates. just meters from the e.u. soldiers in. our serbian militia many here have been engaged in conflict with albanians since nine hundred ninety nine when an ethnic war divided the territory into they have been coming to this roadblocks in july and say they will carry on despite that border deal alone is for 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 old binion's wanted it when a relative's and friends have been injured in this conflict for the past twelve years. to gain the most from the border compromise our 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 was that their 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 the serb state as an independent kosovo do not consider their own and that does not appear to want them remains as uncertain as ever either unnerve. the us has reportedly used a secret channel of communication to issue a direct warning to iran supremely to 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 from the un's nuclear watchdog we showed you were to come to iran two weeks from now to see if its nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons capability but meanwhile the war of words between washington and

tehran has been heated up by wednesday's assassination of a top iranian nuclear scientists all this as an embargo on iran's oil exports could be imposed by the e.u. at the end of the month while for analysis of the situation i'm joined from them by political analyst christophe hostile do you think all prices would go up if there is an embargo on iranian oil and christoph is that something that europe really could afford at the moment. well the oil price that remains in unsure story maybe they go maybe not i think the saudis are really you know open up a little more so that the prices can be kept stable because to answer your second part of the question europe certainly cannot afford anything right now we are head over heels in debts are government including germany and to be honest even for germany it is time to lose the aaa rating in fact because we are also part of the european

central bank and their bank in the last weeks has a looked at more than eight hundred billion euros to support the euro and the financial system and that way too much perhaps what you're saying about those fears that europe really can't afford that oil embargo is now being reflected in the fact that the e.u. is making noises that in light in the not embargo i mean does it actually mean that they have realized those dangers and will now look for dialogue as a solution to the iranian problem. well let's some kind of a forest dialogue because europe is roughly more than twenty percent importing of iran's overall oil experts that is six hundred thousand barrels per day out of two point six million iran is exporting and the biggest three european that disagrees with importing twenty percent of the order from iran then comes

italy with thirteen percent and greece and spain with ten percent and they are the biggest importers of iranian oil in europe of all these countries in top financial difficulties and that means of course there will be a lot of efforts to postpone this embargo they are going to target first aid and of course since iran has linked the closing of the strait of hormuz to bargo it is very clear that everybody who wants you know to delay. any escalation is of course in favor of debating this kind of embargo first as long as possible christoper poppen economic ramifications what about the political implications of a potential conflict there just how would it affect an already very unstable middle east. we can we can rest assured that in this situation where the governments are literally drug dealing for survival of their

banks of this system of the euro you know the little oil crisis in effect doesn't matter economically so much as we all understand iran will have no problem at all to locate their oil on the world of the global market china will be eager to pick it up and there will be other countries opening up for european customers and say ok you can take a little more from us so. you know in africa their country so we have a chance that this doesn't effect our economy so much but it affects the political climate which is already and the highest possible tension due to the in the european crisis and this in fact can't cost christophe much economically christophe great to hear thoughts thank you for joining us live there imports down in germany well this is our t.v. life here in moscow still ahead for you this hour we've got the latest action from the world's second strongest hockey league the k h l that's about to enter its

crucial play off stage that's along with the rest of the sports news with kate first though the business update danny. into business the european union has joined the growing conflict between russia and ukraine energy commission a good thing a warns both sides must take into account agreements already signed with the e.u. ukraine says it's struggling economy can't afford the volumes agreed to its contract with mosco almost a cup purchases by home of russia's energy giant gazprom says here could have reduced its order by up to twenty percent but only if it's a given six months notice the e.u. has offered its support for ukraine in this role more talks will be held on tuesday chris weaver from troika the situation is likely to result in ukraine conceding to both. the stake in its pipeline system. 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 that the end result over the next couple of months will be a concession from. this ownership issue and i believe that the european union will have a role in this as well as gazprom and then i think this essentially the south stream project along with in the book a pipeline project will both kind of die off believe will be shelved indefinitely. because the look at the markets first oil which was continued this week's fall last week remains below one hundred dollars a barrel prices are being kept reports that the iranian bulgar will be delayed by

six months alone troubled economies like greece italy and spain to. find alternative suppliers u.s. stocks have snapped a four day rally amid media reports the standard appalls will downgrade several eurozone nations late friday financial stocks losers with bank of america dropping almost six percent after saying it may retreat from some parts of the u.s. if the country's financial problems continue blue chip financial joint g.p. j.p. morgan losing more than four percent on reports its called the fall revenue fell short of expectations. no silver lining in europe either there's lots of media reports the standard and poor's has notified european governments that it's about to downgrade france and other members of the eurozone if s. and p. does go ahead with the great it will trouble the european bailout fund and hence make it hold for ireland and portugal to reduce project that sits. russia has ended the week on a down note been down for much of the week following the pessimism in europe after

a strong start in the morning we did slip back into the red in the final hours both have a look at the share movers on the march sixth today gazprom finished oil after saying it won't negotiate its current gas supply contract with ukraine who called moved into the red in the last hours after revealing its oil output dropped over five percent last year telecom also slipped despite reports it will by armenian operated g n c l for over twenty two million dollars. that's what we've got time for now we'll have more next hour.

when an uncomfortable question leads to a grave accusation the world who is more is enough obviously. the president who isn't supposed to hide anything. where it's someone asking him why do you make a secret out that when the powers to be suppress the voice of those who think different. when you get experiencing very serious problems off of the saakashvili government came to power in two thousand and three but a book that was when the problems began piling up. interviews were now off limits to our journalists they were all from beason up and humiliated in public and one of the attempt to protect property puts life in real danger is that we have been

deprived of the only means of earning a living and i have gone to the original sit all the papers. got them little rice the ownership rights on the basis of cocos freedom becomes just a stage prop. with the. aaa credit rating downgrade for the first time ever. economic stability. in the middle east even as the gulf.