international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. france's prized triple a credit rating could be about to be cut according to a senior source the speculation that standard and poor's might downgrade the country's status has sent world markets plunging after an optimistic start of the year or correspond to a silly who's in brussels has more on the implications of a french ratings cut. that's where confidence is the first thing that will be affected and then you'll have a downward downward spiral from then on based on those reports what we're seeing is a possible downgrade by one notch of france's credit rating as well as austria germany the netherlands philip and luxembourg will keep their current standing now france in particular has been closely watch especially since it's played a very big role in the bailouts for greece and portugal and also it leads through

the european central bank making its a banking system financial system very very vulnerable and it had gotten warnings from s. and p. for one as well as a lot of analysts that we've been talking to last year saying that a french downgrade is imminent so what this essentially means is it will certainly stall whatever plans they have for growth for the eurozone especially but one more thing that would like to bring up is that european leaders of a lot of indignation for credit ratings agencies especially say you bring about some bad news at a time when they're trying to get out of this euro zone crisis now some leaders have called credit ratings agencies as dangerous and also in the past they've tried to limit the influence of s. and p. movies and other agencies in the financial markets now if we remember the credibility of such agencies have already come into question especially in two thousand and eight when they had backed some assets that were essentially considered junk and they didn't downgrade it until the very last moment so two sides here although it was expected that france will get this credit rating

downgrade and although the credibility of the s. and p. and all the ratings agencies are coming into question still the effect that we will see here is investor confidence going down and then we'll see another downward spiral to sicily that was speak to me earlier patrick young from investment firm dva advisors group has been a long time coming and is disastrous news for the euro. zone or frankly for several years the french government has been economically incontinent for the course of several decades they've lived in never never have. no concept of hard to run a reasonable economy in terms of not spending more money than it can afford to enter disaster for mr sarkozy but then again it's been coming since the start of his presidency it's been building for twenty five years and he did nothing to fight it so he's just as culpable as everybody else in this issue on the future of the euro everything is not up for grabs again it emotionally destabilization of every

single aspect of the euro because we still have no leadership in the eurozone we've got situations like greece needing fourteen and a half billion euro to refund in march alone the euro sits on the precipice tragically and that's a terrible thing for all our viewers throughout the world. well the news from the rating agencies is an added to the gloomy prospects for the e.u. but it hasn't stopped serbia from still wanting to join up as it turns out bill grades concessions to win favor from brussels are doing little to help ethnic serbs living in kosovo who continue to come under pressure from the albanian majority we report on that later in the program plus. a u.s. intelligence report cast doubt on the optimistic help afghanistan offered up by generals saying corruption weak local government and militants are ruining washington's work. so those stories still to come first british prime minister david cameron has arrived in saudi arabia the u.k.'s biggest trade partner an 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 on the trip. strong relationships with the saudis is very important to britain for advancing the u.k.'s interests in the region and of course as you mentioned 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 do you so 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 arabia of course is a sunni majority country there's a shiite minority there came out on the streets and were brutally suppressed and indeed just as late as thursday night we saw one process of killed and three wounded when the security forces opened fire with live ammunition on. the saudis the violence on iran 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 it's all thoughts 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 contracts so a massive amount of money at stake for the u.k. government but also reputation according to this powerful group of lobbyists within the government or smith there in london and u.k. arms contracts with saudi arabia aren't the only thing piling pressure on iran as we find out in just a few minutes from now. in every instance of the speculation and those who want to see continued. hostilities we look at who benefits from d.c.

stabilizing the islamic state all the analysis coming up for you shortly here in r.t. . 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 corruption bad local government and taliban attacks and some experts believe that the u.s. needed a scapegoat which quickly fell just across the afghan border. basically what the americans are not trying to do is their past the responsibility of their failures and of what i understand up on pakistan and this is also corroborated from the fact that the nato supplies that pakistan has blocked today in pakistan then the military hardware which is then i envision level hardware almost nine armored infantry divisions and their support equipment supplies weapons and ammunition but are stuck in pakistan and the concern pakistan army is that if the americans are

talking of the drawing from of i understand they're talking about piecemeal of a taliban then why would the americans need a bronze m one a one main battle tanks and almost nine armored infantry divisions but it seems a balance of power in pakistan is on the brink at the moment as tensions boil between the country's political and military leaders it follows the prime minister's recent decision to fire the defense secretary and move that sparked anger from the army well to discuss the dangers of the situation developing there in pakistan i'm not joined by robert perry the editor of consortium news so tension within the country has been running so high that there's even been talk of a possible so what do you think robert do you think is likely. well it doesn't seem likely there's been there obviously are a number of tensions not only between the united states and pakistan but also between the various elements of the pakistani government you have the military

taking one position the civilians another and you have the. justices taking a different one so there's this this three party play inside pakistan which has caused a good deal of tension and uncertainty but it's still a little hard to see that going into a military coup or something of that sort while the u.s. known for its close contact of course with pakistan's military has said it wants to stay out of the issue this is a metaphor is not a bad and let them solve it but will it not get involved in some way if it sees a situation seriously deteriorating. where the biggest fear in washington for a long time really has been what happens in pakistan pakistan is a nuclear armed country there's always been concerned about who would get the nuclear weapons should pakistan's government fall or have major disruptions so yes that's been a fear in the united states for some time wraps oddly the u.s. has focused instead on other countries whether be afghanistan or iraq and now iran

we're that threat is less but that has been behind the scenes that's been a big worry of the u.s. government but what happens in pakistan surely is crucial what happens for the future of afghanistan isn't it yes pakistan has always played a big role in afghanistan at least in modern times and that goes back to the one nine hundred eighty s. when the reagan administration enlisted essentially the pakistani government to help out in the war against the soviet forces in afghanistan that was a case where the reagan administration made a number of concessions to islamic extremists not only within sight within the pakistani government which was then working toward a nuclear bomb but also. hard to some of the arabic stream is like some of bin laden who flocked to that conflict as well so you had you've had a number of situations where pakistan has tried through various means to assert its power in afghanistan in part also because its concern that india might otherwise

get a leg up so to speak in afghanistan and pakistan doesn't isn't that instability that undermining what the us is trying to do in afghanistan and i. think what the u.s. is trying to do in afghanistan leads the obama administration would like to negotiate as best it could some drawing down of that conflict and eventually a substantial american withdrawal that's not only because president obama has made that pledge effectively to some of his supporters but it's also because the u.s. government can't really afford the kind of expensive conflicts that it's gotten involved in so yes the u.s. would like to see the afghan conflict reduced with some kind of negotiations possibly with the taliban which have begun. in very early stages. so but a pakistan were to become destabilized that would probably undercut a lot of what the u.s. wants to do with the recent cia report says the u.s.

operation in afghanistan is bogged down by those taliban fighters hiding in pakistan could they now those taliban fighters benefit from this instead but as he was saying in islamabad well certainly if the if the pakistani authorities are busy fighting among each other then it's going to be a little harder for them to do anything to sort to stop or try to control some of the extremists near the border but frankly pakistan's had a rather ambiguous relationship with those forces anyway are in many cases helping them out or at least tolerating them so it's not clear how much worse would be good for the americans but but but clearly the obama administration would like to see as much debility in that region as possible so it can begin to make this transition out. just very briefly there's proposed talks between taliban and the afghans do you think that could happen and could be effective could a peace broker break a deal be achieved. obviously the taliban is one of the us to make a complete withdraw and the obama administration has made clear intends to draw

down forces considerably but not make you believe drop so i think. things could get up on that issue robert thanks so much good to hear your thoughts robert perry there. political hardliners in kosovo have announced they're to block serbian trucks of border crossings this weekend it comes despite belgrade ongoing steps towards a compromise in the border issue as the country strives for e.u. membership and i think serbs in kosovo say they're finding themselves under more pressure from the albanian majority as you got what i have 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 the summer you backed kosovo albanians have tried to take control of the border between serbia and kosovo the minority erected barricades in response they don't recognize kosovo independence saying that the albanian dominated province is still part of serbia now both sides

of 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 just before they are getting the kind of a status that is 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 asked serbian militia many here have been engaged in conflict with albanians since nine hundred ninety nine when an ethnic war divided their territory into they have been coming to this roadblock 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. and 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 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. they do not consider their own and that does not appear to want them remains as uncertain as ever. in of. course of. the get we are constantly following the news from the course of a serbian border you can always get all the latest on the persistent problems there online by following our twitter feed and also our facebook page. the u.s. has reportedly used a secret channel of communication to issue a direct warning to iran supremely leader ayatollah khamenei washington says that any move by terror on to block oil trade through the crucial strait of hormuz would be met with an immediate response inspectors from the un's nuclear watchdog a shuttle to come to iran in two weeks to see if its nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons capability while the war of words between washington and tehran has been hooted up by wednesday's assassination of

a top iranian nuclear scientists all this is an embargo on iran's oil exports could be imposed by the e.u. at the end of the month and this christophe told me that he thinks such sanctions would result in a deep political crisis. 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 a little oil crisis in effect doesn't matter economical is so much. 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 the economy so much but it effects the political climate which is already and the highest possible tension due to the european

crisis and this in fact can cost. crystal forstall there we've got plenty. online here's a look at what's there right now a late new year surprise for a pensioner from russia who bought what he thought were boxes of wood but instead ended up owning a deadly military arsenal and a seventy six year old millionaire finds himself in hot water after his finger at a swanky restaurant in florida find out how it happened and are to eat dog. 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 and rebel forces to abandon fighting and return to talks to avert a civil war but if the proposed changes to the draft could pave the way for military intervention and the toppling of president assad russian officials 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 their own agenda than the well being of 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 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 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 mean it 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 sort of

pro-democracy movement protesters. 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 stance of holding assad personally responsible for all bloodshed it's a position that's drawing accusations of bias and intentional ignorance as r.t. surface explains. son to man was an activist he 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 that's one of the youngest populations in the arab world is schools like this a new generation studying in fact an increasing number of become 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 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 trained but i think we should remember

this can cut both ways opposition sides can try to get messy. can mobilize people but also even supporters of government so much less dependent on a single. state newspaper between a regime under pressure and an increasingly militarized opposition many syrian fifteen lacked trapped in the middle so worded bit of museum as i have only one question what did they kill my son for the politician or a public figure who had various movements in national and local exist in this country i don't understand when my son was killed you know you know and speaking before a crowd many of whom were young supporters of president this week once again repeated his promises of reform that was met with skepticism from the opposition 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 them and that fight could end up costing them their lives sara r.t. a tunisian woman has died after setting herself on fire in the country's port town as facts it's the fourth case of self-immolation there in eight days and comes on the eve of the first anniversary of the ousting of former president ben ali or for a middle east expert tariq ali thinks that the new moderate islamist leader is struggling to bring about any real change to the deep rooted problems tunisia faces . the way in which the young meads been operating the we in which this extremely unintelligent president mark was the king has been operating and the way in which the new justice minister than these minister going social and moral crozier to decide what can go on and what can even go on and what shouldn't go on television is awarding the real problems of photogrammetry which are social

and economic problems and the planet needs to be implemented to help the boy of the people who outreach aapl addicted to the fact that the so-called moderate islamists are basically concentrating on moral sense osho but more people should do in general is a sign of the bankruptcy it's because they are not of the people anything else so they are receding along. twenty five minutes past the hour in russian capital let's now tell you that a look at russian influences in the italian capital of rome is on the way very shortly before that daniel will be bringing you the latest business news stay with us live here in moscow. welcome to the business program the european union has joined the growing conflict between russia and ukraine energy commission a good. choice must take into account agreements already saw it with the e.u. ukraine says this struggling economy called to fold the volumes agreed its contract

with the cut purchases by home of russia's energy joy gazprom says key of could have reduced its order up to twenty percent but given six months notice the e.u. has offered its support to ukraine in this row a more talks will be held on tuesday chris we thought from troika dialog says the situation is likely to result in ukraine conceding to brussels and it is a point. that makes much more engineering commercial economic sense than the alternatives such as the south stream pipes and i think that russia is more likely to agree to the proposal provided of course to the equity ownership in the transit system in ukraine also changes specifically to allow gazprom take at least a twenty five percent initial stake in the pipeline and with some mechanism that would allow would be because fifty percent ownership i believe at 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 century the south stream project along with in the book a pipeline project will. die off believe will be shelved indefinitely. but take a look at how the stock markets perform the expectation that the pause ratings agency will downgrade frauds has put a damper on shares across the eurozone frankfurt was up most of the day before rumors of the downgrade probably in the off the new. same story here remorse. which enjoyed a good spell until the final few hours of trading russia as usual risk of contagion from bad news in brussels. let's have a look at the share movers almost six today gazprom ended higher after laying down the line on gas supplies with ukraine luko slipped into the red by the end of trade

after revealing its oil output dropped over five percent last year telecom finished flat however reports it will buy armenian operated g n c l for over twenty two million dollars. and in other news turnover in russian trade with c.i.s. countries rose by a third in the first eleven months of last year reaching six hundred thirty two billion dollars fuel and energy accounted for three quarters of exports while machinery and equipment total imports russia's top three trading partners for the period but china germany and the netherlands. also from the business headlines are next r.t. . the book.

is easy. to. see.

the bulk of the earth science technology innovation all the moves developments from around russia we've dumped the huge earth covered the be. all live from moscow this is all to top stories now this hour france's treasured aaa credit rating is slated for downgrade for the first time ever thrown into the rubble the relative. economic stability recently established by e.u. leaders. 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 start of peace talks but others are backing regime change. in british prime minister david cameron the rise in saudi arabia you.