into the government's austerity measures and corruption and call for the president to step down. it's eight pm in moscow i match reza good to have you with us here on r.t. our top story the u.k. has finally admitted to spying on the russians after years of denying it the chief of staff to vend prime minister tony blair confirms they were caught red headed when the f.s.b. discovered their surveillance equipment in two thousand and six it had been hidden inside a fake rock in a moscow park artie's ivory bet it has more from london in the murky world of spies spooks and cold war stereotypes it's very hard to discern fact from fiction and so a question marks always remained over this story but these comments now from jonathan powell i think it pretty conclusive evidence this is what he had to say despite iraq was embarrassing they had us bang to rights clearly they had known

about it for some time and had been saving it up for a political purpose. these revelations will be hugely embarrassing for m i six and the british government firstly because they were they were spying in two thousand and six for an aging one agreement but the u.k. made with russia the end of the cold war not to spy on each other and secondly that the fact they were caught doing so by russian television the report actually showed two videos one of one man walking along a path in a moscow park slowing down looking at this rope and slowing down again almost to a hole before walking off and it's believed that he was using a handheld device to actually been to a computer inside that well then another video showing a different man walking on the same path looking at the rock actually bending down and picking it up and checking on it and as obvious as it seems from that so long as the british government actually stayed silent and denied these allegations then they would have remained top secret and that this sort of thing doesn't come to

light for another thirty years or so after it happens but the fact that this is actually come from someone within the establishment here and saying no these were this didn't fact happen this story is indeed true not only is it hugely embarrassing for m i six and the british government but also potentially very damaging to. well stay with us here on r.t. still in the come in the program back from the blackout by a twenty four hour protest by we made eighteen u.s. congressmen backtracked on their support for controversial antipiracy law. for the first at least eighteen people reportedly been killed by security forces across syria on thursday all of the arab league observers reached the end of their month long mission put together all poured over the weekend continuing death rate in syria is pushing the to prepare even more sanctions on damascus they've already introduced penalties on ten separate occasions including an arms embargo and a ban on crude oil imports the u.n.

security council continues to mull over what course of action it could take russia's introduce the latest draft resolution this week aimed at holding all sides of the syrian conflict to account r.t. sarraf earth has. how do you stop the fractured country from falling apart a country where some cities now as then below was a where the economy's on its knees and which children being shot dead in the streets. it's a question everybody's desperately trying to find an answer to you right now nobody knows what's going to happen so i'm a cooling fan military intervention a cooling fit diet the city in case is not isolated you have to keep it in and i mention that mention of the west and i mentioned the russian dimension. everybody has on interests the russian foreign minister refund that most would not authorize a un resolution involving military intervention it struck

a resident cooled with the main opposition in the country. we refuse on principle any type of military foreign intervention because it threatens the freedom of the country for the model damascus has promised to push through even fullness including parliamentary elections later this year. that's a some hit that's simply not enough. this could have been done in the past but the killing in the violence pushed the population and the opposition and the people not to believe anymore and the promises of the regime. didn't protest this it started by calling for reforms now more than ten months into being the best they simply want president that. you're right god that many in syria right now simply want peace in their country they hate reforms might be a way to achieve. the president announced we will have an expanded government and

independent opposition all the parts were included this would be better for us all have any different opinions is much better than having a one sided discussion i do not feel. the opposition want to take on the new fuels why not also syrians are true we all care about our country. as a country descends deeper into christ everyone's desperate to find a resolution it's fake that the government reforms will go some way to building a bridge between the two sides but these reforms have been a long time coming and with so many lives already lost they going to have come at a very high price so. the best guess. for perspective on the situation i'm joined by beirut based political analyst canal was me thanks for your time so with the arab league observers missions mandate now finished do you think it will have any effect on the crisis in syria. i think they all depend on the report that has to be

put by those monitor and how much their are biased toward their bleak especially you have the influence of qatar and saudi arabia playing a very painted role in the whole process and to not to forget turkey which is not part of the arab league but it has been engaging and friendly position in. the crisis you have to work in this what is taking place the smuggling of weapons and media power and the money that's been infiltrating the stability of syria and somebody if you have to look at it can you really trust that i believe specially when you have. when you look at some other country playing the devil role in this whole story so we have to wait and see but one thing cannot be denied now. watch. some

people carrying weapons and. document that which before was not really documented before well there's been widespread condemnation of the assad regime for killing protesters and as you mentioned there is an armed opposition in the country too we've seen reports that army defectors had killed the head of security in the city of hama do you think the west and the arab league are taking this into account in their dealings. no i don't think they are taking it into account because the. arab league's mostly qatar and so yeah arabia they wanted to they wanted to change topple the regime of bashar al assad and all along they have not been. mediator that wanted peace and stability in syria they are actually inside being violence and actually in some situation they

building the propaganda to keep us tuition. more tension and more violence on the street so merican actually. with the western world there interfering in the politics of the middle east and beyond the middle east they try to spread their kind of democracy which actually if you wonder whether if they have democracy home america should look at home before and look to shave their internal feet before they give advice to the arab and to the russian and everybody else that american trying to be the spoiler of the world order creating having developed the of the world world economy and we have seen how that's going to take . a step back from that i'm sorry to interrupt you taking a spectacular what do you think is in it for qatar and saudi arabia in stilling violence in syria. well obviously they would like to see their kind of be

regime being installed in syria and they like to see that there's law make a brotherhood being installed in syria and that's what they're trying to do this kind of which we have to remember what the qatari their history what they live for and what their sooty build their religion based on what so i think the regime of bashar assad contradict and somehow with. some of the teaching believe and i think they promise the west they will have their their own version of islam you have to wonder if you go to the nine eleven report and you have to read what they wrote about qatar and nine eleven and what qatar was doing time series ruling baath party's been in power for nearly a half century now do you think it'll be able to weather the crisis or do you think

the days of the assad regime are numbered. no i don't think the assad regime is number but i think the regime need to implement reform and he actually called for having a broader government which includes position i think every government here and there needs to update itself and i think know for sure that it needs reform to form has to come fast and i think maybe in the coming months we'll see initiatives by the president of syria where we where he will invite the opposition to establish order to build the next government of syria those people who wanted to build that country i think will invite him and those people who want to carry the american agenda and the qatari and we seen how the qatari was sitting next to mr clinton formulating a policy for the region at that any time any country like should not be

a puppet in the united states using its media outlet and its money to destroy countries and destroy regimes around the region. thanks for joining us live from beirut political analyst canal wasn't. thank you. well still to come here on araa to romania becomes the latest european country engulfed by protests. angry demonstrators the latest part of a global trend demanding leaders step down immediately. but first there's a new twist in the assassination of russian journalist anna politkovskaya five years ago another forensic examination of the murder weapon has found female d.n.a. on the gun the main suspect chechen born mahmoud of was arrested in two thousand and eleven after several years on the run he's believed to have been the trigger man but his d.n.a. was never found on the weapon the expert who carried out the initial forensic tests

five years. the guy was facing accusations of leaving the whole case up a blind alley and pollack of sky was shot dead at her apartment building in two thousand and six and what became one of the most high profile murders in russia's modern history. if you want to find more details on this story and plenty more you can always catch it at r.t. dot com there you can find the latest developments going on also in the gulf. to ronnie's accusing washington of plotting europe's economic suicide by forcing it to impose an embargo on iranian oil imports plus. the phobos riddle of russian space scientists narrow down the possible reasons the probe to mars failed to reach the red planet. the world's largest most popular online encyclopedia is back on line after

a twenty four hour self-imposed shutdown we deliberately blacked out its english language web site to protest a proposed anti-piracy legislation in the u.s. that's affecting more than one hundred fifty million people the action by wikipedia and thousands of other sites saw eight senators withdraw their backing for the bills the law is designed to prevent illegal sharing of copyrighted material face criticism of endangered internet freedom connor kennedy from the progressive change campaign committee says the bill's could dramatically change the web as we know. no one's opposed to bills that fight piracy but at the same time we need to be aware that large corporations are going to be able to use these laws to drag their fair competitors into court instead of competing with them in the marketplace for small innovators that don't have access to money for legal fees yet that just spells the end of the internet as we know it what's going to happen to innocent people innocent innovators who are brought into court and forced to shut down their web.

even if they haven't by elated the law spells the end of the american dream it's really important that we have freedom and the ability for kids in college dorms and working in garages across the country to have access to capital and to be able to change the world from a college dorm room this could threaten that and that's why we in addition to three hundred forty of our members have decided to join the blackout solidarity movement against these bills small innovators are saying look out pay attention to these bills because they do threaten to kill the internet. stay with us here on r.t. still to come this hour taking the plunge. when you really. think. my party joins the russian orthodox and if in the celebrations that are not for the faint of heart. turning first so to some other stories making headlines across the

globe turning to southern afghanistan at least seven people killed eight injured in a suicide attack in the city of kandahar the bomber detonated his explosives near the entrance of an airbase used by u.s. forces the taliban claimed responsibility saying they were targeting a nato convoy this comes only a day after twin blasts killed twelve people in the restive helmand province. pakistan's prime minister has appeared before the country's supreme court on charges of contempt for failing to reopen a corruption investigation against the president the case against yousef was a deal on the dates back to the ninety's but he insists the president has complete immunity from being questioned if the guilty go on he could face a prison term and be disqualified from holding office. rescue efforts have resumed for twenty one people still missing on a cruise ship that capsized off italy's coast last week the search was suspended tuesday after the vessel shifted slightly eleven bodies have been recovered from

the wreckage so far only three affair. identified the salvage crews preparing to pump more than two thousand tons of fuel from the ship to prevent a possible oil leak. in the greek government is continuing talks with invest with investors to try to beat a deadline and secure a vital funds to slash its debt athens needs the next installment of bailout funds to meet a debt repayment deadline in two months thousands of workers have taken to the streets voicing their anger at destructive austerity cuts all as the i.m.f. says it needs to raise up to five hundred billion dollars to buffer the world against any further european slump. romania is also gripped by the worst protests in seen in a decade with demonstrators venting their frustration with anti got with government austerity cuts and corruption in the capital some sixty people were injured in clashes with the riot police who responded to stone throwing in a fire bombs with tear gas artie's tom barton reports from bucharest. night and day they come to scream defiance white single stare at sea and the feeling the

government isn't listening have spilled over into anger even violence. come here for the pain of their mean people the pain of the entire country for twenty two years old they have done is destroyed the entire country our youth has no future they have no jobs. motive was sixty she's worked all her life in the textile factory in book you read but now she's forced to pay the social security out of her small. whether you're young or your pension or you need a pension you know they need to give us the fans pension and not tell us they're boring the money because they don't have it. is not just so. but it's a way to try and fund. young rumanians feel. to most of that rango the president

bush sr to tell. has accused him of trampling over democracy presiding over a political elite riddled with iraq. who wants to take descent down down with disaster as the parents left us with a heritage and we're losing our children and just that the problem it's the young ones that need to to have a. good life you know mania. and we are not allowed to have peace because of stupidity of high levels of government that parliament. and international monetary fund loan in two thousand and nine came with tough conditions unlike in greece the remain in government has tried to force its financial house into water budget benefit cuts slashed pay pension freezes falling living standards but some say it's the people who are now being forced to pay for the mistakes of the few who stayed the country economic disaster. this was done at the expense of there

are many and state that now those who hadn't been guilty for their situation that they didn't even profited from it played on those who had profited you know the government blames international economic conditions however for the country's worst doings let's not forget that we're in the eye of a storm of an economic european storm all around us unfortunately is a mighty tempest with economic consequences that inevitably affect us too that's not good enough said the opposition who argue of course that they could do better than what every day this current inefficient government stays in power is a dane lost for rumania give or judy is to shorten the period as much as become us fast as we can by fair elections with many of them accepting there is no escape economically politics for them offers the only hope of change and that leads

straight back out onto the streets. the noise of the face of the. star it's. the president about to move here and you can see what made you want to take it all down and start again. maybe the middle of a freezing winter here in russia but that's not stopping the determine from taking a chilling dip a midnight immersion in water on january nineteenth is the traditional way to celebrate the orthodox holiday of pinney but was artie's to ban might say brave enough to test the waters let's find out. literally played the russian. made the end of christmas time as well as if we need to quit we need is said to be the day when jesus was baptized and doesn't believe that by dancing into thought it

would not wait to be like during the day that may need a week something less than the lord's own which then turns into a whole you would man the plan to begin or end badly saying god when you know where the roman law lives you leave finding a way to guard. myself like you do would not or never. look back at all. oh. yes but. i know that's not. much.

then subzero wasn't freezing has never been said that i've done and. none the worse for wear i want to be back with a recap of our top stories in a few minutes but first kareen is up with the business news. hello and welcome to business here and i would say thanks for joining me despite record lows in two thousand and. most experts say no threat of ruble devaluation for the past three days the ruble has been appreciating against the dollar with money market rates rising most in a month and that's of russian companies convert overseas earnings into local currency to pay taxes ruben verging on from talk a doc says russia is in

a very good position like that. there were three quite strong climbing below prices stay quite high in the trial and you'll be in good balance with gold we have a big economy with interest you were demanding internally with a big demand for infrastructure development in the same time quite stable over but especially that because we can position ourselves better we can extend that to the people another part of the world was going to russia we would have trouble doing that and. some government officials and leading businessmen are meeting in moscow to brainstorm ways to improve the russian economy and tackle the side effects of the european debt crisis can you divert the director of spare banks macroeconomic research center outlined some of the main challenges facing the country right now. and we discussed it with putting a crisis in the bank and service or not and that banks now want to be more liquidity or from the south bank and it's in that's that's changing be a more neutral policy on budget of course or is huge demand for increase or for

social spending populism has become popular in the us government oh it's the same time the government has to keep it sponsored more or less balanced feinstein you're not free services to running manston your investments in infrastructure and so on they are investments which actually will just go. in the next ten years and that's a challenge for the bunch of. fortune banks reported record high profits for two thousand and eleven despite the economic uncertainty for you. central banks the total profits reached twenty seven billion dollars by strong growth in lending central bank expects lower profits this year around twenty two billion dollars. let's now look at the markets crude oil futures trading higher recouping the previous sessions losses oil is higher for the third day over concerns that

tensions with the wrong could spark disruptions in exports from the middle east and u.s. stocks are trading high boosted by well received results from bank of america and morgan stanley and a drop in weekly jobless claims shares of morgan stanley rose six percent of the start of the trading session the bank swung to a fourth quarter loss of two hundred twenty seven million dollars or fifteen cents a share revenue fell twenty six percent and you have stocks are largely high up with banks needing the games investors are closely watching the ongoing debt talks in greece with last week moved at auctions france and spain media reports indicated that the two parties could reach a debt swap deal and the coming days. here in russia. for the fourth day on thursday as or climate in new york ended nearly eight percent in the black in the was a point six percent higher than the close now let's see the biggest movers on the rise exponentially as we're on the rise with russia's biggest lenders bad bank

gaining over one percent energy majors advance as well shares of transnet gained one point seven percent after commerce daily reported that the company is interested in building pipelines in croatia and electricity producing taiji canines among the gators on news that its parent company is merging its energy assets with . here's a go pro hart if from talking dialogue wrapping to things to. the markets open to both. and then we saw some profit taking mostly from russia. and. starting from the. i don't know maybe. there's a very good. bars in the market russia locals and international studies buying sure the market is definitely closing high to be there is a number of good news well actually on the back of yesterday goldman sachs good numbers today morgan stanley and bank from erica reported a good fourth quarter results they're supporting market definitely oil prices so

it's a very high level and in general i have a feeling that the market is changing the mood of the market is changing in bits to positive. that's the business for now back in fifteen that's what.

this is a lot. nolen sitting on the edge of cost that's present. mixing reality that's nothingness. but if you enter this time. the mystery of supernatural will reach. shame and siberia. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so. you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realized everything you thought you knew. i'm sorry welcome is a big issue. eight

thirty pm in moscow news your r.t. headlines london admits an electronic spire ox found by the f.s.b. in moscow six years ago belonged to her majesty's secret service the u.k. had vehemently denied involvement in the scandal. more sanctions against the syrian regime in the pipeline is the arab league observers mission prepares its final report into how to stop the deadly violence or over the weekend the regional body will decide whether to continue its own efforts or ask the u.n. to enter.