through also i think we could see the u.s. government designating of a science is science that he doesn't like and pursuing them internationally it could mean that they could effectively have jurisdiction to close down sites worldwide it is actually far more easier ways then they would make or uploads the web as we know it's web two point zero which is the fine by user generated content where people put up their own material could effectively disappear it could mean that what you have is a much more tightly regulated internet which could have massive implications for freedom of speech for file sharing for the sharing of information worldwide so i think it's really important that we don't take the internet as exists now for granted and we resist all of these attempts to regulate the web and to say hey a lot of these pirates a lot of people putting out web sites are actually doing something really quite innovative and dynamic that's why they are getting a real audience for its nice work with these people let's put this develop a more dynamic. in collaboration with people rather than just trying to shut it

down strangle it's and stifle what is one of the most democratic initiatives of the last decade or two the u.s. senate has postponed a test vote on one of the controversial web control bills in the wake of the online protest campaign barrett brown who's work with the hacker group anonymous on various operations told r.t. earlier that if the u.s. decides to push through the legislation a huge cyber war will begin. 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 for many other things so and the way that you know this that this raid on mega upload cards in this opens it shows that even without sopa already in place few they are already arresting and resting on the make up mode and shutting them down so imagine when still post. in the meantime my group project. initiated operation dark heart which is the latest effort.

to ensure sopa that and that those who support so are around and intimidated and otherwise to make sure that these things don't happen yeah and in a very very near future and still see there will be a number of other groups that will pop up using more more military not goods and situation gets worse and things will ask until such point as the notable civil war in the us the kurds coming up a little after seven thirty pm g.m.t. our change cross talk host parallel debates with his guest the reason behind the proposed us online 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 division of it isn't. so you're objecting to the fact that

people are trying to stop sites they're pirating american american intellectual property and it's not always just movies and music it's also physical goods that are carol you know these are counterfeit drugs yes there are also if you look at also written material including on i you know harmon for his harm children harm adults there's a serious there are serious consequences. turning now to syria where the opposition is holding rallies across the country in support of prisoners held since the start of anti-government an arrest this despite a general amnesty granted by president assad earlier this week that seen almost two hundred detainees released parties where you know she looks at who's calling the shots among the protest movement. people taking to the streets may look like a real force of power and indeed the one. trying to oust

has apparently failed to prove that months of luncheon with no sign is going to stop anytime soon. how he told jeff from the syrian national council the country's main official opposition party 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 present them and their international community in order to reach. for you today. although it's been run by paris based exult but hummock new in the asson sea has been recognized as the country's leader to make government by the new libyan authorities a king and supported me by some easy and nato countries which has made some down to the council's innocent intentions with regards to libya the promise that nato made

to the national transitional council prospective leaders was that they be given a major seat at the table in a new libya so there is power brokering 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 call was 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 writes opposition forces and their main to go is to overthrow the regime but there is a difference to the essences huts cortez are not in damascus but here in istanbul we are not talking about a democratic regime if i go to syria now we have. you know we have to be executed there hallett says he spent fifteen years in jail in the one nine hundred seventy s.

and ninety'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 dictatorial regime cannot be no of without any pressure claiming they're only going to rely on political and diplomatic pressure the asson see to is now copywrite in with the free syrian army find his who defected from assad's military in was a clear shift from the essences initial entirely known armed peaceful stance. the cowsills to seize cause humanitarian. and bathrooms and options to protect civilians in syria even though these foreign troops are i mean this is a great tool it's all areas. where to syria the actual can also speak to us face and i. need to watch it because they don't want they want to destabilize

syria because they want syria to be by. the opposition claims is just a matter of time before the joint after as soon as. president assad out on his attorneys. 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. turkey. stay with us here on r.t. still to come this hour scotland makes its push for independence but london vows to make any split from the u.k. a costly move for the modern day bravehearts looking to go it alone. and israel pushes you're afraid immediate embargo on iranian oil a decision that could leave other nations scrambling to find alternative energy sources. but first a multi-billion pound london court door between a russian tycoon and chelsea football club owner roman abramovich and fugitive russian billionaire boris berezovsky is close to conclusion the judge is

considering her verdict in the financial showdown after armies of expensive lawyers went to battle for their clients exposing some juicy details along the way our news correspondent a correspondent in the british capital ivor bennett has more. it's been dubbed the trial of the century for two reasons really firstly because of the sheer money involved a six and a half billion dollars at stake here making it the most expensive civil lawsuit in the u.k. legal history but more importantly perhaps is the subject matter really laid bare all those dealings of the ninety's russia in the wild east reaffirming all those stereotypes. there are that i don't think anyone actually thought because could possibly be true but it turns out they are and what makes it even more unbelievable is that they've come from two of the main players in those turbulent times remember him over. to former friends now arch enemies and juicy details will some of the really big believe the recent claims we've heard all of that he actually turned up

to meetings wearing nothing but a dressing gown that he frittered away millions in the flash of a private jets and then they even signed off threatening text messages to his rivals with the words i'm watching you i'm dr evil promote it well he's been accused of every dirty tax dodging trick there is in the book and we also know that he was involved in murderous alamy new wars in the ninety's where you now know for sure through his own admission that one person was killed every three days in that kind of grab for wealth but what is really boils down to is the relationship between the two there is also he claims that they were business partners and that he was blackmailed by a remote village forced to sell his stakes and shares in oil company sitting there for a fraction of the true word. he dismisses that payment as purely protection money paid to his political gold from of the banks for his mentor ship a severance package now it's up to the judge to decide whether if anything all of

this is true regardless of which man actually survives this battle i think it's safe to say the real winner here is the british court system that is believed to be raking in as a result of this trial eighteen dollars a second while it has another conflict to resolve with russia after a former senior official admitted britain was caught snooping find out how moscow uncovered the secret of the spying stolen on our website r.t. dot com complete with video and pictures. and a battle over scotland split from the union is splitting opinion in an increasingly disunited united kingdom scots have been told they can hold a referendum on independence but only if london grants it's a blessing party's laura smith has more. britain a three hundred year old union that once ruled the waves and tossed the no world but on whom soil 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 cool the shots and get it done and dusted . very serious 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 and i'm question that'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 and hope for 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 would have to find its own currency and lose thousands of jobs when the navy heads south not that it seems to both the scots who see their country as having been strangled for long enough i don't think it's any of his business present a strong enough case to be independent in that he can argue against. his shock i think a shutter. scot's of never taken kindly to hearings stay. from the mouth of paul of an down in london but for the nationalists it's a boost to the last thirty percent support for a split this to come with. the machine to but it's completely but. essentially

being the bits we. think is of at least as much. in the last seven days with little bit to. say no the now the u.k. and scotland's key players will continue to cross the woods at stake alex salmond is a reputation built on restoring a proud scotland the prime minister cameron is the potential to become the man who led the united kingdom come apart. and to. stay with us here on our team still to come with less than fifty days to go we take a look at the current political climate in a rush ahead of the march presidential race. but first the u.s. has strengthened its presence in the persian gulf with the aircraft carrier abraham lincoln sailing into waters off iran on thursday the move is seen as a test of terror on the result after it warned america not to send more warships through the strait of hormuz tension between the u.s. and iran intensified after the islamic republic threatened to walk the straight of

vital oil transit route in response to further sanctions over its nuclear program washington vowed to retaliate if iran cut off the passage he was also expected to empower to impose an oil embargo on terror on for more on this. jury independent energy consultant and former adviser to the director of the national iranian oil company international thanks for your time so the new oil embargo on iran could be in place by the end of the month with oil prices already high how might been embargo affect the already unstable global energy market. well in fact. the oil embargo against iran if it's partially or totally it's going to definitely impact on the crude oil prices increase in the prices simply because iran is the iran supplies ten percent of. crude oil if you look at simply european union which they are buying eighty percent of iranian crude oil they are tremaine

countries italy spain and greece that are importing major the major european importer of iranian crude oil and they're currently facing economy crisis. would to run be able to weather such an embargo and still keep its economy afloat do you think. part of me i'm not sure if i could hear you i did and that's ok i'll repeat the question do you think to iran would be able to weather such an embargo with they be able to keep their economy afloat if such an embargo was in place. well of course at the current situation in iran. my experience showed me that iranian are very good negotiators iran can always offer better premiums in compared to other same quality of crude oil to its customers and continue. to continue selling its crude oil

also in case of any sanction on the iranian. central bank iran can instill into the barter trade to its customers simply looking china buying twenty two percent of iranian crude oil which is which is than four eleven per cent of chinese oil only. china rate rose the crude oil purchase from iran to twenty nine percent last last year which was seen almost about twenty billion dollars also china is the main supplier of gasoline to you want and from july two thousand and ten to july two thousand and eleven chinese refinery general i'm sold to five hundred million barrels of gasoline two so these two concrete can easily enter into a barter trade looking at turkey just in the current visit of iranian foreign minister to torquey the two country and the us that they are going to boost their.

trade exchange to. thirty billion dollars which is almost double by two by two thousand two thousand and fifteen which makes it easier for the country to enter into a barter relation relationship in the face of any sanction against the central bank one more question here with western nations are heavily reliant on iranian oil how do you think the embargo might affect their economies. that's a really good question because iran is the fifth supplier of european union country after russia norway libya and saudi arabia and we know that during the arab spring last year libyan supply has dropped already and iranis supply iran could. not easy of course but could find a supplier for the almost five hundred six hundred thousand barrels of oil which goes to these regions but these regions are going to face

a huge problem and these countries are going to face a huge problems countries like france or u.k. are not substantial importer of iranian crude oil but as i mentioned earlier for example spain is. supplying twenty percent of its oil needs from iran italy's. thirteen percent and greece for two percent of their oil is coming from iran and currently the refined of main major refineries in these three countries are totally imports five hundred thousand barrels out of six hundred thousand barrels of iranian oil which goes to european union they're already extended their oil purchase contract by by the end of two thousand and twelve we've been an oil company all rights are of archery independent energy consultant thanks for. remember you can always log on to our website for the latest videos comments and analysis at our team dot com here's what's a click away right now tear gas versus molotov cocktails romanians join the global wave of protesters seeking the resignation of their leaders with

a country facing its worst in decades. and the brutal killing of the ousted libyan leader is still not being investigated and we give you one lawyers opinion why. russia's presidential candidates are busy ramping up their campaigns ahead of the march vote some of the members of the public are stepping up their efforts to ensure a transparent election in the light of massive rallies against the parliamentary ballot in russia last month both authorities and protesters admit they need to talk more. gauges the temperature of russia's political life. with just under fifty days before the march presidential election and major campaign is 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 its new economy to be built. the gravitation away from dependence well i standing welcoming political dialogue and 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 been a possibility of establishing such a dialogue and i just pray come from his rather than us and this is what is making

people take the initiative into their own hands this week some of the most prominent participants of december's post-election protests pulled together to form the league of constituents so they all know where children in the new public mood has blossomed people are showing a desire to make an educated vote to know where their votes are going to standing up the country needs competitive politics those behind in their group are quick to point out they're not going to turn into a political party but do call to become a major support group for anyone wanting to make a difference with their vote i didn't have the elliptical activists are nothing without this type of newly found public support there to help boost them are the key to public support is the media and that's recruiting found himself to record criticising one of russia's most popular radio stations and moscow for being too protester in its coverage. the prime minister's. chief. you don't get mad when you come to me with liquid crap from. the government and the

electorate all seem to realize they have to think about it and act quickly in order to get the ball rolling with the president elect just around the corner. it's something that for years the political life in russia and roaring in will go. turn now to some other stories making headlines across the globe french president nicolas sarkozy says his nation is suspending military training operations in afghanistan after four of its 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 attacks by afghan troops and police on their foreign partners have become increasingly common something sarkozy says is unacceptable so far eighty two french soldiers have been killed in afghanistan since two thousand and one. rescue operations at the site of a coast to come courtier cruise liner disaster have been suspended after the ship shifted again overnight twenty one people remain missing eleven were killed when

a cruise liner ran aground a week ago 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 struck during . greene is up next with a business update stay with us. thank you man hello and welcome to business here in r.t. another twist has emerged in the gas dispute between ukraine and russia over supply deliveries kiev has come with a blueprint of what it sees as a way out of the deadlock it wants to its gas transportation pipeline to be jointly operated by russia ukraine and the european authorities this will help keep a neutral position in talks and attract funds to overhaul the lines russia had earlier pushed kiev to sell the gas pipeline in exchange for cheaper prices ukraine

would be happy to keep it but claims high gas prices may do whale its economy. and russia is pushing to fast track construction of its southern energy link to europe this south stream pipeline the green light for the neutral gas link from the black sea to central europe will be given in december this year ahead of the gas export monopoly exene miller says that the company has all the sources to meet deadlines and to remind you that south pipeline is a project developed jointly by gazprom italy's any france's e.d.f. and germany's winters home. now europe is up and coming passenger jet the airbus three hundred twenty neo will soon boast a russian titanium the country's titanium monopoly b.s. and poor business sealed the deal with air bus to deliver a trial shipment of its production if the quality of the product meets the standard of the european plane maker a large order will be placed however there is no report on the value of the

contract. have a look at the markets now oil prices are falling as greece's debt negotiations new concerns about europe's financial problems and added to that fuel consumption in the u.s. dropped to its lowest level since september two thousand and one stocks in the u.s. are mixed stronger earnings from microsoft and i.b.m. helped drive the dow up while concerns about debt talks in greece to hang over the market and most european markets are lower as investors keep an eye on debt talks in greece chinese manufacturing activity that showed signs of contraction was also in and focus a the footsie has slipped into the red while the dax is fluctuating from positive to negative and even trading and here in moscow stocks closed in the red as well on friday the miser twelve point eight percent the r.t.s. nearly half a percent in the red and now let's see the biggest movers on the rise it's edged lower reflecting the sentiments in the eurozone coal miner response guy was among

the main losers the company is about to finish taking bids from minority shareholders for a buyback of its shares and north had slipped into the red in the end the company says it plans to cut production to adapt to a slowing global demand the mine also expected to report a fifty percent increase in net profit for the year two thousand and eleven. well that's the business news for now but i'll be back with more in about fifteen minutes. old.

the e. the limits to sue sleaziest scientists to pick six of them in. the x.

axis low sex in school technology innovation all the ways to melamine sperm from around russia we've dumped a few jerks. eight thirty pm in moscow the headlines hackers strike back anonymous cripples major u.s. government and corporate websites in response to a crackdown on a file sharing service and pending anti-piracy laws. the syrian opposition holds more mass protests demanding prisoners released despite a general amnesty granted by president assad earlier this week but critics say no matter how many concessions the syrian government makes the opposition will settle for nothing less than regime change. and a multi-billion pound battle between a russian tycoon. fugitive mobile boris berezovsky in

a london court finally approaches its conclusion. and up next the moscow team heads to florence italy looking for traces of russian culture in the heart of the country . hello and welcome to the program today that. as we continue our exploration of russian culture. music from. creativity has been studied and celebrated around the world. as we take a look at russian influence and connections one of the most peaceful.