live from our studios in central moscow you're watching r t with me and he said now it's four pm here in the russian capital twelve pm in damascus syria but we did begin with america as a government and entertainment industry which has come under attack from a group of computer hackers known only as anonymous they took down web sites belonging to the f.b.i. department of justice and the universal music group well the group says its largest attack ever is in response to the shutting down of major file sharing service mega upload which is affected around fifteen million gallery users the web site's bosses have been arrested and are now facing prison sentences for copyright infringement american lawmakers are currently debating new bills to curb illegal downloading which have been attacked as an attempt to censor the internet thousands of websites

including which of media went black in protest this week fareed brown who's worked with anonymous on various operations says a huge cyber war could be about to start. the problem is that the track record of the us and all governments. is such that giving them power to do one thing is almost always interpreted by themselves as a means of giving them power. so in the way that you know the raid on megaupload cards in this opens it shows that even without sober already in place here they are already arresting resting the owners may go out and shutting it down so i imagine when. in the meantime my group project. operation which is sort of the latest efforts. to ensure. that those who support so. intimidated otherwise to mature at these things don't happen in the future of the very near future. there will be

a number of other groups that will. military. situation gets worse. as the notable civil war. and coming up just after fifteen thirty pm g m t r t's crossed talk host peter the valve debates with his gas the reason behind the proposed legislation. the fact is what we're trying to do is enforce u.s. copyright laws on foreign companies whose copyright laws may be different from ours and what we're saying is if you don't follow us law in terms of copyrights then we have the right to shut you down the other part of the problem is affectively is let's go through the usual. you're objecting to the fact that people are trying to stop sites that are pirating american american intellectual property and it's not always just movies and music it's also physical goods that are careful you know these are counterfeit drugs there are also if you look at the written material

including i you know harm in first harm children harm adults there's a serious there are serious consequences. now just syria where the opposition has called for rallies to be held across the country in support of prisoners held since the start of the government under arrest that's despite a general amnesty granted by president earlier this week that has seen almost two hundred detainees released arjay summary if an arsenal looks at who's calling the shots in the protest movement. people taking to the streets i mean look like a real force of power and indeed the one. thing syria has apparently failed to prove that months of bloodshed with no sign is going to stop anytime soon. howlett ho jeff from the syrian national council the country's main

official opposition body says making the people's voice louder and bring an end to the violence is what the essence he was created for our main goal is to help the syrian people there present them and their to national community in order to reach this syrian people freedom although it's been run by paris based exult about hamdani in the absence he has been recognized as the country's lee determined government by the new libyan authorities and supported by some easy and nato countries which has made some doubt in the council's innocent intentions and with regards to libya the promise that nato made to the national transitional council perspective leaders was that they be given a major seat at the table in a new libya so there is power broking going on behind the scenes and i absolutely

wager that the same thing is happening with syria they've either been bought off financially or they've been promised a major role in a new syrian regime the national congress and there are clear is national transitional council and the syrian national council and it's not just their names they have in common supported and sponsored from abroad think he likes opposition forces and their major goal is to overthrow the regime but there is a difference to the absences huts courters are not in damascus but here in istanbul we are not talking about democratic regime if i go to syria now we have. you know we have to be executed there howlett says he spent fifteen years in jail in the one nine hundred seventy s. and eighty's just because his father supported the opposition he claims nothing has changed since then and the oppression has to stop the town is another matter. his head. dictatorial regime cannot be moles without any pressure claiming they're

only going to rely on political and diplomatic pressure the asson see to is now copper region with the free syrian army fighters who have defected from the stars military in was a clear shift from the us and sees initial entirely nor armed peaceful stance in the cowsills who sees humanitarian corridors and buffer zones as options to protect civilians in syria even though these might mean foreign troops arriving this is the top istanbul parents operation where the syrian national council is being used to activists and i just need to look at that because they don't want they want to destabilize syria because they want syria to be part of the date or at least lead to maybe the opposition claims is just a matter of time before the joint after it sooner or later it will force president assad out on his attorneys to stay but the question remains exactly how long should

these people have to wait for the bloodshed to stop and how many of them will actually see the end of that brief notion r.t. . meanwhile the arab league is preparing to hear the final report from the observers it sent to syria it will be presented at the group's gathering this weekend and the league is now considering extending its expired mission by an independent journalist who they fail and who's currently in damascus says they have jumped or tyranny of the observers is increasingly being questioned. the arab league has been playing a little bit more of an object over our countries aren't too happy with it so we can expect for those to purse for their objectives are very easy and change in other ways and this continues that though through the media media war you know what the syrian government and supporters are calling the media war here yesterday i saw an example of that myself there were some reports that the area about. done near

the lebanese border had been taken by the free syrian army and i went there myself last night and i as i drove tuesday but i was very surprised to find no checkpoint by the syrian army on the way and i actually was allowed to go inside of the diamond and despite having seen footage on the television of convoys of free syrian army fighters i found that there was actually nothing and when i left i was told by the syrian army that i would be free to travel three exhibit down the road to the lebanese border. well still ahead for you this hour scholar makes its push for independence but london vows to make any split from the u.k. a costly move for the modern day bravehearts wanting to go it alone. and israel pushes europe for an immediate embargo on iranian oil a decision back quickly of other nations scrambling to find an alternative energy source. but first a multi-billion pound london court duel between russian tycoon and chelsea football

club owner among them over which fugitive russian billionaire bosky is close to conclusion the judge is considering her verdict in the financial battle after armies of expensive barristers went to battle for their clients exposing some juicy details along the way well let's find out more from our correspondent ben knight joins us live from london this right ivor already been dubbed the trial of the century why is that. yes and it certainly lived up to its billing too it's been dubbed the trial of the century for two reasons really firstly the money involved six and a half billion dollars is the potential payout here is thought to be the most expensive civil suit and you can u.k. legal history with all those legal fees it's costing eighty dollars a second in in the london commercial court and secondly the subject matter it's laid bare all those dealings that went on in the ninety's russia and reaffirmed all the stereotypes the role of the. while these even though i think no one actually

thought these to really be true but what's even more unbelievable is it's come from two of the main players in those turbulent times. and remand which two former friends now arch enemies and we've heard some unbelievable claims. attended meetings in his dressing down and even signed off threatening text messages to his rivals saying i'm watching you on dr evil counter with other claims from berezovsky against which that. which was involved in tax evasion embezzlement and the murder murderous wars of the ninety's that we now know a person was killed in every three days in that. grab for wealth and this is has been going on for three months already it's just been brought to a close with those closing statements this week. and in that time we've heard from witnesses ranging from kitchen staff to multi millionaires billionaires such as a leg or

a pascoe but what it really boils down to is the relationship between these two main. claims that they were businessman as equals when they set up the oil going to seed next together in the ninety's and therefore he's owed a lot more than the one point two billion dollars payout he got he says he was forced to what he calls his chaise sell his shares for a fraction of their true cost as he was blackmailed by. which and so he's owed a lot more than that he's claiming six and a half billion dollars. says that payment was purely for protection money a payment to whom he calls his political godfather in order to get that all important leg up into the world of the super rich no such formal agreement ever existed and of course is there's no way to prove any of this because all those deals transferred payments meetings none of them were actually written down or recorded it was all done on the shake of the hand or the drop of an unmarked briefcase loaded with cash so what the trial is actually consisted of a. really. revelations of missions each one. forcing. an

embarrassing revelation of their own in order to try and discredit the other even more so it's up to the judge to decide now what if any of this is in fact true eighty dollars a second according to my math that's about five thousand dollars a minute live from london we'll see who cashes in in the end thanks for that. well london has another conflict to resolve with russia after a former senior official admitted britain was caught snooping you can find out how moscow uncovered the secret of the spying still on our website r.t. dot com complete with more pictures and video. from the battle over scotland split from the union is building opinion in an increasingly disunited united kingdom scots have been told they can hold a referendum on independence but only if london gives its blessing argues laura

smith explains. britain a three hundred year old union that once ruled the waves and tossed the no world but on. the country's closer than ever to a messy divorce. this is the man who wants scotland to go it alone nationalist party leader alex salmond's promising scots will get a say on being single but london wants to call the shots and get it done and dusted . they don't want to talk about the substance i sometimes feel when i listen to them it's not a referendum they want it's a never ending question let's have the debate and let's keep our country together but why would scotland want to separate itself from a britain that still among the world's richest economies scotland always retained its own distinct national identity and the s.n.p. feels it's almost time to take that one step further. i hope

a yes vote from the scottish people would mean scotland would gain control over its own north sea oil and gas and represent itself on the international stage but it doesn't want to hold a referendum until two thousand and fourteen and that delay is letting london ramp up the scare stories telling scotland it'll have to pay the price such as the billions of pounds british taxpayers spent keeping scottish banks in life that it was have to find its own currency and lose thousands of jobs when the navy heads south not that it seems to pull the scots who see their country as having been strangled for long enough i don't think it's any of his business if we present a strong enough case to be independent then see that he can argue against. his shocked i think a shutter i don't think you should have any say in the fires of. scots have never taken kindly to hearing stern words from the mother of all parliaments down in

london but for the nationalists it's a boost to the lackluster thirty percent support for a split mr cameron feels he had to be in the sheets of but it's completely but viable he's actually been the best with the s. and p. i think is a. moderate but. in the last seven days without. saying up to now the u.k. and scotland's key players will continue to cross swords at stake that alex salmond is a reputation built on restoring a proud scotland the prime minister cameron is the potential to become the man who let the united kingdom come apart norris myth at ibrox. still to come here on our team russell's prime minister finds the pen is mightier than the sword by fear which are now on your tour of russia in a series of articles. encouraging the public to focus only on the message of

candidates running for president. the u.s. has strengthened its presence in the persian gulf with the aircraft carrier abraham lincoln sounding into waters off the run on thursday the move is seen as a test of tehran's resolve after it warned america not to send more warships through the strait of hormuz tensions between the us and iran intensified after the islamic republic threatened to block the strait of vital oil transit in response to further sanctions over its nuclear program washington valid to retaliate if you run did cut off the passage collab maltman from the antiwar group international action centers what the u.s. really wants to regain control over iranian oil decades ago. the motivation for the us to continue repressing the iranian people to assassinate nuclear scientists has nothing to do with any love of democracy it has everything to do with the fact that the iranian people rose up in one nine hundred seventy

nine and took control of the oil resources and they have never ever forgiven them for that and the us has never wanted to tolerate the fact of the iranian people and not shell oil and not texaco control of the oil resources in iran any threats of wars must be strongly opposed because these kind of wars serve the ruling elite they serve the wall street bankers and they don't serve working class people or millions and millions of unemployed people in this country if they cut the military budget they could put people to work there could be jobs but there's not jobs there's war there's continued threats of war and our enemies aren't iran they're here in the united states in the halls of power in congress and on wall street. we don't hesitate to log on to our website for the latest videos comments analysis and much more and are to dot com here's some of what's lined up for you there today here versus molotov cocktails romanians join the global wave of protests seeking the resignation of their leaders with the country facing its worst demos in decades . the brutal killing of the ousted libyan leader is still mopping investigated two

months on we give you one more years of pain and why i had to r.t. dot com for more than time. as russia's presidential candidates are busy ramping up their campaigns ahead of the march election from members of the public are increasing their efforts to ensure a transparent vote in light of massive rallies against the parliamentary election in russia last month both a far as and protestors had met they need to talk more parties are going to go again just the temperature of russia's political life was just under fifty days before the march presidential election and major campaign was still simmering in the candidate's headquarters mr putin decided to unleash his powers of persuasion on the electorate and nonpublic speaker for change he's decided to be more

scholarly picking up the pen for the first in a series of articles outlining his vision for the future of russia what he's calling for its new economy to built. the gravitation away from dependence on oil high standing welcoming political dialogue in the strengthening of civil society in russia putin however said people should concentrate on just what candidates are promising to do rather than the theater of personalities we need extended dialogue about priorities about long term choices national perspective and development this article is an invitation to such dialogue it's important to say that prime minister has never denied the possibility of establishing such a dialogue and they just become friends his readiness and this is what is making people take the initiative into going hands this week some of the most prominent.

participants of december's post-election protests pulled together to form to be with constituents so where should the new public has blossomed people are showing the desire to make an educated vote to know where their votes are going on the understanding that the country needs competitive politics those behind you are quick to point out they're not going to turn into a political party but do become a major support group for anyone wanting to make a difference with their vote i didn't have the political activists are nothing without this type of unity found public support there to help them are the key to public support is the media and that's recruiting found himself in the crowd criticizing one of russia's most popular radio stations and go from being too protester in its coverage the prime minister. chief to look if you could sense of those words since you don't demand you cover me with liquid crap from dawn till dusk the government the opposition and the electorate all seem to realize they have

to think fast and act quickly in order to get the ball rolling with the presidential elections just around the corner. which some say lasted for years the political life in russia and roaring in will go if you go r.t. . coming up twenty two minutes past the hour let's check on what other stories are making headlines around the world french president nicolas sarkozy says his nation is suspending military operations in afghanistan after four hundred soldiers were killed in a gunfight a rogue afghan soldier who has since been detained was behind the attack that also injured a dozen more soldiers attacked by afghan troops and police are on their foreign partners has become increasingly common something sarkozy calls unacceptable so far eighty two french soldiers have been killed in afghanistan since two thousand and one. rescue operations at the site of the costa concordia cruise liner disaster have been suspended after the ship shifted again. night twenty one people remain

missing alive and were killed when the cruise liner ran aground a week ago and the ship's captain is currently under house arrest a new audiotape appears to show the crew downplayed the extent of the catastrophe only reporting electrical problems for half an hour after the vessel hit but every . time now to get the latest in the world of business with kareena stay with us. i welcome to our business update the south thanks for joining me russia ended two thousand and eleven with a budget surplus of zero point eight percent of its cheapie however if excluding oil and gas revenues the country's expenditures still remain significantly higher and the amount of money it receives you are kohanim from the european department the i.m.f. says this means there's a major concern over russia's economic safety. there's a budget that should be formulated in a way that. insulates be economy from fluctuations you know prices

laws that are in the books are basically good but they are not being implemented. with russia do you budget your policy is to be more prudent to reduce the deficit measured in terms of more noise deficit maybe taking out revenues from oil and natural gas and the current budget or plants are not proven because they keep not all deficit very much levels which would be sustainable for russia in the medium term. in russia the central bank is trying to make it easier for foreign banks operating in the country to open new branches so it's part of an effort to set up equal conditions for domestic foreign lenders of russia prepares to join the world trade organization banks from broad will no longer have to make special requests to the central bank to simplify the registration across. let's look at the markets now

oil is a raising money again that is now trading in the red price is suffering because of negative news coming out of the eurozone with the euro weakening against the dollar while talks continue in greece and added to that fuel consumption in the u.s. dropped to its lowest level since september two thousand and one. markets in europe are lower as investors took an eye on the debt swap deal talks in greece to put c. is down point one percent point to nearly point two percent this hour up to e.u. governments set tougher rules on budget deficits and the latest draft of a plan this puts me to the tax is losing almost half a percent stuff. here in moscow the markets are mixed tenses up point two percent of my xix is losing around a quarter of a percent and i would see the biggest movers on m i six b. to b. is lower reflecting this sentiment in the eurozone coal miner response craze among the main losers the company is about to finish taking bids from minority

shareholders for a buyback of its shares and norilsk nickel is bucking the trend the company plans to cut production to adopt the slowing global demand and mine are also expected to report a fifty percent increase in net profits for the year two thousand and eleven. russia's passenger jets have roared through the skies of the middle east grain air show the one hundred seats or superjet has been the star of the exhibition and russia's top officials see the region as a priority market with airline traffic expected to quadrupole there over the next two decades crain air is already eyeing three to five super jets with a final decision likely within months r.t. satanically called up has been. there for the middle east very brutal for russia's new passenger and probably. its manufacturer the united agra corporations out there richard one of the priorities for market holding company they believe the.

political situation here will soon have a life and the region or i don't want it i am a long. and comfortable secure demobbed for the super or super john mccain obama great who by the way a professional pilot has profound facts of the plate and a matter of fact truth hope his interest will turn the real order of both robot great company already here. there's no plane similar to see it holds a unique nice between planes like. jets moving is more comfortable and it's up to fifteen percent more fish in. a. national allied topic of the gulf area expect the group over the next to their case their own war them to aircraft producers here compared to the secure order of most of the russian part of the group the russian knights closing the show today with a new third segment of the aerobatic program and their fellow countrymen here

believe that this is just the start of russia's current high ambitions middle east airspace that general are going to visit our theater probiotic rain air show. that's all the business is the now but don't forget you can always find a more story on a website called lasts. there

are those who just really needed to survive. the spoke on who's the to give money to one look i'll choose the one building the see show on the suppresses the prize the rights of the two the first new clothes of. those who don't get their share of the change. just by god's good ol forty called police and you'll don't last but look the one that does it people need to be out by you know about it i mean that look at it from the company from. those who suck it out to prosper. side the seeds and say. enough. some. nice stuff like this isn't. no one can live without it's in one of the largest blood banks in the world. blood of

niger. on r.t. . here they are to you live from moscow have binds hackers strike back anonymous crippled major us government and corporate websites in response to a crackdown on a file sharing service and handing andrew piracy off. the syrian opposition calls for more mass protests demanding prisoners released despite a general amnesty granted by president assad earlier this week the critics say no matter how many concessions the syrian government makes the opposition both subtle for nothing.