international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. france's prized aaa credit rating could be about to be cut according to a senior year is own source the speculation that standard and poor's might downgrade the country status has sent world markets plunging after an optimistic start to the year our correspondent tessa cilia who's in brussels has more on the implications of a french ratings cut. investor confidence is the first thing that will be affected and then you'll have a 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 finland and luxembourg will keep their current standing now france in particular has been closely watching specially 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 a minute now 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 you 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. silly reporting there in petrie young from investment firm devi advisors told me a little earlier that the downgrade has been a long time coming and is disastrous news for the euro it's been deserved frankly for several years i mean the french government has been economically incontinent for the course of several decades they've lived in never never land they have no concept of hard to run a reasonable economy to charms of not spending more money than they can afford to enter disaster for a 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 just as culpable as everybody else in this issue on the future of the euro everything is not up for grabs again it emotionally destabilizes every single aspect of the euro

because we still have new leadership in the euro zone 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. while the news from the rating agencies has added to the gloomy prospects for the e.u. but it hasn't stopped serbia from still wanting to join up but as it turns out belgrade 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 will be reporting on now later in the program plus this hour a u.s. intelligence report cast doubt on the optimistic outlook on afghanistan offered up by generals saying corruption weak local government militants are ruining washington's work. those doors to become the first british prime minister david cameron has met with king abdullah of 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 but correspondent laura smith has more now on the trip strong relationships with the saudis. it 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 have 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 do you still 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 wounded when the security forces opened fire with live ammunition on. the. violence on iraq iran 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's accusing them of meddling there's also an accusation by the u.s. that iran plotted to have the saudi ambassador to. washington assassinated in october said it's all thoughts of tension between saudi arabia and iran very worrying but nevertheless that his government is looking at carrying on selling arms to saudi arabia and even upping is out of contract so a massive amount of money at stake for the u.k. government also reputation according to this powerful group of lobbyists within the government where during a visit david cameron veld that the world would come together to keep iran from shutting down the strategically vital strait of hormuz the islamic state was just one of the issues raised in riyadh let's not discuss the visit with the senior editor of politics the statement new statesman now the british prime minister's arrived in the country that we're now seeing is using lethal force to disperse protesters they're talking about many issues including about removing the syrian

president who's also accused of course of using lethal force to disperse protesters now many would say that britain is in danger of losing any moral authority it might have over visits like this would you agree with that. i'm one of these people who said that britain lost as moral authority in the middle east when we invaded iraq illegally in two thousand and three but over the last twelve months some would say that britain helped restore its own authority by giving backing to the arab spring belatedly david cameron said last year that we had an opportunity a responsibility to back those people in the middle east who were calling for freedom and democracy and yet now we have a prime minister who as your reporter mention the rives. the morning after a protester was shot dead in the sheer province of the eastern province of saudi arabia is the single biggest barrier to freedom and democracy in the middle east it's a bit rich for the prime minister our british prime minister stand in saudi arabia and condemn the dictator in syria without looking around him all the dictators are surrounding him in riyadh saudi arabia invests hugely in british made arms this is

very vital though is it not for the british economy and for the british people that david cameron should keep relations with the likes of saudi arabia. well i think most experts who've looked at our arms industry would have argued that actually the economic argument in favor of the arms industry a spurious and have long been held to be spurious i also as a moral issue here not only are we not backing people in saudi arabia who are calling for greater civil liberties group greater democratic reforms we're actually arming the tyrant starts to that's going to double whammy of britain's relationship right now with some of those dictators in the middle east and i've written in print that if you want to deal with a british minister who goes on and on about backing freedom in the middle east you only need say two words and that is saudi arabia and it's not just alms by the way let's not forget the politics of this the enemy number one in the middle east right now is iran and saudi arabia is a very useful strategic ally in the alliance against iran and that's why you saw the prime minister talking about iran today in saudi arabia as well again deeply

hypocritical to talk about iran's violations of laws and human rights and protestors rights in the most to run a cool country in the middle east the kingdom of saudi arabia just how nervous should the saudi arabian government be over the current tensions we're seeing in the middle east at the moment and it's a domestic situation. i think the saudis are very very nervous to nervous about as i said their own minority share population which is one of the reasons they sent troops into next door battery to help suppress the protests there because they're worried about the protests coming home to saudi arabia they're worried about the role that turkey is playing in the region but which has become very assertive is becoming a regional power which is backing the new islamic governments in egypt and in tunisia and of course they're worried about iran which they believe is doing very well out of the arab spring as sunni dictators fall. iran does very well in iran has been doing well since the fall of saddam so that saudi arabia's worried externally its role in the region as

a leader of the sunni majority and it's worried about its own internal critics the king tried buying off his critics you know giving out money giving out grants to try and buy people off that hasn't worked and so instead we see this cracking down on of dissent like last night's use of live ammunition against peaceful protests in saudi arabia of course very important to the west the west very important for saudi arabia. if there is any sense of political change there just what could the impact be in the whole of the region the bearing in mind all the rest of the area being unsettled. well we always talk about you know instability the traditional western strategic view was we have to back the king of saudi arabia and other such despots because without them they'll be chaos and instability well what we saw over the last twelve months is sometimes chaos and instability could be a good thing it could involve people taking their god given rights and forming democracies look so it was not going to turn into a democracy overnight but let's not pretend that we don't have to push for greater reform and we think saudi arabia is an ally but actually over the last thirty years

by our ourselves or saudi arabia we've actually created generations of extremists of anti western terrorists who are resent the fact that we've backed the despots and saudia billard and famously started al qaeda because it was so upset about western bases in saudi arabia really interesting to hear your thoughts thanks so much maybe for your perspective on this many senior editor of politics at the new statesman thanks for joining us live on r.t. . thank you and the u.k. arms contracts with saudi arabia and the only thing piling pressure on iran as we find out in just a few minutes from now the u.s. warns that iran's supreme leader against attempts to block all trade in the gulf threatening to respond with force it further turns up the heat on tehran ahead of a show jewel visit by u.n. nuclear watchdog inspectors. and also a leaked report by the cia and other intelligence agencies has 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 been undermined by corruption local government and taliban attacks and some experts believe that the u.s. needed a scapegoat which they quickly found just across the afghan border. basically what the americans are now trying to do is they're part of 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 in the military hardware which is then i envision level hardware almost no. armored infantry divisions and their subordinate government supplies the fundamental notions are stuck in pakistan and the concern in pakistan army is that if the americans are talking of the drawing from of understanding beasley's of a taliban then why would the americans need a bronze m one a one main battle tanks and almost nine armored infantry divisions. and it seems the balance of power in pakistan is on the brink 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 journalist robert perry has told me that the prospect of pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands is worrying washington. 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 concern about who would get the nuclear weapons should it stands government for major disruption that's been of fear in the united states for some time perhaps i believe the u.s. has focused instead on other countries that whether be afghanistan or iraq and now iran. that threat is less but that has been behind the scenes that's been a big worry of the u.s. government. political hardliners in kosova have announced they're to block a serbian trucks at border crossings this weekend it comes despite belgrade's ongoing steps towards compromise in the border issue as the country strives for

membership and ethnic serbs in kosovo say they're finding themselves under more pressure from the albanian majority as you know often have reports. it's a 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 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 are fine agreed that the border will be jointly policed up. 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's 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 then usually are asking their candidates. just meters from the soldiers in the past serbian militia many here have been engaged in conflict through the 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 and only supposed 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 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 the serb state as an independent kosovo they do not consider their own and that does not appear to want them remains as uncertain as ever you there are no party. don't forget we're constantly following the news from because of a serbian board you can always get all the latest on the persistent problems there

at our website r t v dot com also a late surprise for a picture here in russia who bought what he thought were boxes of firewood but ended up owning a deadly military arsenal. and a seventy six year old millionaire find himself in hot water after his finger at a swanky restaurant in florida happened find out how that happened party dot com. syrian troops but by tanks have reportedly begun a military operation against rebels fifty kilometers from the country's capital comes. across the country on friday tens of thousands came out of the streets after the largest civilian opposition group decided to boost cooperation with the free syrian army in the west continues to put pressure on assad's regime and is now attempting to do so through the u.n. burn from the lebanese based conflicts form has 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 is 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. 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. the pro-democracy movement protesters. contextualize this is their cover for their

regime change project. u.s. has reportedly used a secret channel of communication to issue a direct warning to iran's supreme leader ayatollah khomeini washington says that any move by tehran 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 heated up by wednesday's assassination of a top iranian nuclear scientist all this as an embargo on iran's oil exports could be imposed by the e.u. at the end of the month until analysts christoph waltz told us told me that 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 affects the political climate which is already and the highest possible tension due to the european crisis and this in fact can cost. an oil embargo in iraq may not be the only hit to the global economy powerful unions in nigeria have threatened to shut down all crude and natural gas production in the country this sunday this comes as they suspended nationwide protests for the weekend to allow more talks with the government well for more now i'm not joined live by lawrence freeman he's from the

magazine executive intelligence review global markets already suffering from the situation in nigeria what's going to happen if the unions do manage to stop the country's export of crude. trappings which is now going to be discussed over the. monday. because you have to keep in mind that the truth of the system especially the eurozone in the euro system is bankrupt right now. right now and so you are in the process of the material to move towards a very good day and this could be the. end of a system let's talk about what's happening within nigeria itself another demonstrations have been suspended but if the dialogue with the government does fail just help could these protests become we are seeing people dying now a revolution in the making perhaps there. well you raise

a very interesting point there dr who movie over twenty people have died so far or in one week of the year protest and the general strike the conditions for nigerians is deplorable government sixty million people and about one hundred twenty five million live on with the two dollars a day subsidy on one of the only tangible benefits that people receive from being in or production country and those living in far all conditions so this has become a point of strike and general protest and it could it could go well beyond the economic issues into a generalized attack on the government the and if this continues the government is losing six hundred million dollars a day in economic activity so we can see a very significant change in the political landscape including calls for the people of goodluck jonathan and worse are you saying the standard live of living it's so poor for most nigerians that they simply couldn't afford the doubling of these fuel

prices now they can't i mean the entire system in nigeria is corrupt and it's run by the highest financial circles especially out in the city among. shell and those associated with it and they have this ability to have employees in who are who find fuel on the open market because that nigeria will not have a functioning refineries and these people make out like bandits they make a fortune and people are forced to live in the worst conditions and this taking with subsidy doubling the price of fuel for me have gone to four in the financial leads in the budget we have miscalculated but lawrence in the long run all that subsidy money would it not be piled back into the economy into the infrastructure in the budget and people benefit from it in the long run in the short term tough but the right thing in the long term. well that's the line that comes the finance

minister who's a former managing director but this isn't true because nigeria should have had these refineries this is been going on since one thousand. years if they wanted to build refineries they would have there's actually no indication that the six seven or eight billion dollars that is being eliminated from subs same by subsidy. will actually go into infrastructure and nobody believes that i don't believe that it's not credible it would have been a twenty five years ago didn't want to keep the refineries malfunctioning so they create this nuclear free mutual gamble and florida on the spot market it's intentional let me just take just very briefly we've street seen a lot of strong media reaction on the events in libya and in syria but really in comparison to that nigeria's case that we haven't why do you think the media is being so selective and not really giving much time to nigeria. call it very clear

the british us nato crowd want to force a congregation in syria and iran to bring about. with china because they're friendly into the system the west of them is collapsing so that. in every way possible for a confrontation war. there would be countering happing syria. and know that unfortunately a president obama and the british crowd is to have this conflict because they see their system is going down and russians and chinese for a more positive direction they don't want to see that happen great to hear your thoughts lawrence freeman executive intelligence review magazine thank you for being with us here in r.t. . a trinity and woman has died after setting herself on fire in the country's port tunnels facts it's the fourth case of self-immolation there in eight days and comes on the eve of the first anniversary of the former president ben ali

or for a middle east expert tariq ali thinks that the new moderate islamist leaders are struggling to bring about any real change to the deep rooted problems your faces. the way in which the army's been operating the way in which this extremely unintelligent president marco's he has been operating and the way in which the new justice minister than the slum is sort of going social and moral encroacher 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 their country which are social and economic problems and the plan needs to be implemented to help the boy of the people who are treetop and addicted to the fact that the so-called moderate islamists are basically concentrating on moral sense osho but what people should do

in general is a sign of the bankruptcy it's because they can offer the people anything else so they are receding along these. protests to take the moment i'll recap the top stories for you after a short break stay with us live this is r.t. in moscow. if they shoot something inappropriate from the public they can easily be shown to

accept casualties of war ok. i wish he would have never happened but it has. been a war a t.v. camera becomes an unnecessary what destroys their own safety all foreign nationals including journalists and inspectors should leave iran. and this clear what happens with such witnesses i got on my site. many objects to. shoot first use shooting on our.

to not update you on a menu stories from his treasured aaa credit rating has been downgraded for the first time ever threatening to unravel the relative economic stability recently established by e.u. leaders. british prime minister david cameron a rise in saudi arabia the u.k.'s largest market in the middle east even as the gulf kingdom continues its ruthless crackdown on protests. plus syrian government forces supported by tanks have reported to be got a military operation against the rebels close to the border with lebanon.