plus a multi-billion pound battle between russian tycoon romana fugitive mobile boris berezovsky in a london court finally approaches its conclusion. i. midnight in moscow good to have you with us here on r t our top story the u.s. government and the country's entertainment industry have come under attack from a group of computer hackers known as anonymous they took down web sites belonging to the f.b.i. the department of justice and universal music the group says it's the largest ever attack in response to the shutdown of a major file sharing service mega upload that's affected around fifty million daily users the web site's bosses have been arrested and are now facing prison sentences for copyright infringement u.s. lawmakers are currently debating new bills to curb illegal downloading which have

been attacked by some as an attempt to censor the internet thousands of web sites including we keep pedia went dark in protest this week patrick hayes a reporter for online magazine spiked thinks the proposed u.s. legislation might make the web as we know it ceased to exist. we could see much more regular occurrence the. 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 to be far more easy way then they would make their uploads the web as we know it web two point zero which is defined by user generated content with people puts 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 file sharing for the sharing of information worldwide i think is really important. we don't take the internet i think this now for granted and we

were is this all of these attempts to regulate the web and just say hey a lot of these pirates allow you to people that are putting out websites they're actually doing something really quite innovative and dynamic that's why they are getting a real audience for its work with these people let's put develop a more dynamic web in collaboration with people rather than just try to shut it down strangle it in 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 the contre on one of the controversial web control bills in the wake of the online protest campaign but barrett brown and outspoken person who has worked with the hacker group anonymous on various operations and is widely seen as the group's face told r.t. earlier that if the u.s. decides to push through the legislation it could start a huge cyber war 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. things so and the way that. this raid on megaupload cards in this opens it shows that even without sopa already in place they are already arresting and resting your government and shutting it down so imagine when some post. in the meantime my group project you know. if you need an operation dark heart which is the latest effort. to ensure that the those who support so are around and intimidated and otherwise these things don't happen in the future very near future and you'll see there will be a number of other groups that will pop up using more more military not goods and situation it's worse in the grass and smells of war and the notable civil war in the us the kurds. u.s. isn't the only one facing accusations of censorship britain is under fire after the country's media regulator revoked the license of press t.v.

the iranian english language broadcaster the watchdog says the channels in breach of its violations because it doesn't control its content press t.v. thinks it's being silenced hilary's u.k. based media analyst and author thinks the station was taken off the air not because of its journalism. if this had been separated from geopolitics they know this would not have happened most of the criticisms of press t.v. ad been due to its coverage because you know it sees the middle east very differently for example than the mainstream media in britain these repeatedly comes up pro israeli groups repeatedly complain about it and we know by the way through wiki leaks we know very well that the british government at the very highest level was discussing with the american ambassador to get how to limit press t.v.'s output in britain throat we said no that press t.v.'s journalism is not viewed purely in terms of its journalism but its viewed in terms of british iranian relations.

watching r t live from moscow still to come this hour with less than days to go we take a look at the current political climate in a rush ahead of the march presidential vote. turning first though to syria where the opposition is holding rallies across the country in support of prisoners held since the start of the anti-government unrest this despite a general amnesty granted by president assad earlier this week that seen almost two hundred detainees released or he's very if in ocean a look at who's calling the shots in the protest movement. people taking to the streets may look like a real force of power and indeed the one. that in syria protest 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 in an end to the violence is what the s. and c.

was created for our main goal is to help the syrian people there present them and their two national committee in order to reach this syrian people's freedom and although it's been run by paris based exult about hamdani in the absence he has been recognized as the country's legitimate government by the new libyan authorities and supported by some easy and nato countries which has made some doubt 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 that's

a call was in there are clear is national transitional council and the syrian national council and it's not just their names they haven't come and supported and sponsored from abroad i think he likes opposition forces and their main to go 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 but how is another matter. is addicted terrorism they cannot be most of it without any pressure claiming they're only going to rely on political and diplomatic pressure the asson see to is

now copper rating with the free syrian army fighters who have defected from assad's military in was a clear shift from the essences initial entirely known armed peaceful stance. the cowsills to seize humanitarian corridors and buffer zones as options to protect civilians in syria even though these might mean foreign troops arriving this isn't a top is the all paris operation where the syrian national council is being used to activists and that jeddah they need to watch it because they don't want they want to destabilize syria because they want syria to be part of the day to at least lead to label the opposition claims is just a matter of time before the joint after is sooner or later it will force president assad out among 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 it or if an ocean r.t.

turkey. meanwhile the head of the syrian national council is arrived in cairo to join arab league officials ahead of the group's meeting sunday he wants the observer mission in syria head over to the u.n. security council urged by the opposition to establish a buffer and no fly zone in the country some experts believe there are a weak members pushing for military involvement also. are we expecting now that the arab league will request extend its stay here which the syrian government has already said it would well come from the point of view of countries like qatar and others who have really been pushing for regime change in syria that the arab league mission here hasn't been exactly as they would have liked it so we have seen in the last week that the prince of qatar open we called for our troops to occupy syria as a common invade and occupy syria so it really is the arab league that shows that the arab league has been seeing playing

a little bit more of an object to some arab countries aren't too happy with it so we can expect them to push for their objectives of regime change in other ways. our correspondent in syria is at the moment following all the developments keeping you updated by her twitter feed you can check out sara first tweets at r.t. underscore current. multi-billion pound london court dual between russian tycoon and chelsea football club owner roman abramovich and fugitive russian billionaire boris berezovsky is close to its conclusion the judge is considering her verdict in the financial showdown after armies of expensive lawyers went to war for their clients exposing some juicy details on the way our correspondent in london i ever bet it has more it's been dubbed the trial of the century for two reasons really firstly because of the sheer money involved there's six and a half billion dollars at stake here making it the most expensive civil lawsuit in the u.k. legal history and more importantly perhaps is the subject matter really laid bare

all those dodgy dealings of 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 remand every moment. to former friends now arch enemies as for juicy details will some of the really big believe the recent claims we've heard are 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 that even signed off threatening text messages to his rivals with the words i'm watching you i'm dr evil as for 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 allen manuals 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 what is really boils down to is the relationship between the two

main there is also he claims that they were business partners and that he was blackmailed by a remote village forced to sell. he's they say in the oil company significant fraction of the true would never move which though he dismisses that payment as purely takes in money paid to his political gold form of the thanks to his for his mental shape a severance package now it's up to the judge to decide whether if anything all of this is true regardless of which we survive this battle i think it's safe to say the real winner here is the british system that is believed to be raking in as a result of this trial eighty dollars a second. a lot and has another conflict to resolve with russia after a former senior official admitted britain was caught snooping find out how moscow and over the secret of the spotting stone on our website r.t. dot com complete with video and photos. so that it would be spy scandal sparks up

as russia has made it wager the battle of he said she said all that and more a click away at our t.v. dot com. turning now to some other stories making headlines across the globe france's 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 is said to be behind the attack that also injured a dozen more soldiers attacks by afghan troops and police on their foreign partners are becoming increasingly common something's arcos he says is unacceptable so far eighty two french soldiers have been killed in afghanistan since two thousand and one. search for twenty one people still missing after the kostitsyn courtier cruise liner disaster has resumed that halted after the ship began to move eleven were killed when the cruise liner ran aground a week ago when 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 three. and as russia's presidential candidates are busy gearing up. their campaigns ahead of the march vote some members of the public are stepping up their efforts to ensure a transparent vote in light of the massive rallies against the parliamentary ballot in russia last month both authorities and protesters had left the need for more discussions go has more. with 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 that built. the gravitation away from dependence on oil high spending 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 but it's important to say that prime minister has never denied the possibility of establishing such a dialogue and they just become friends his ravenous 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 protest pulled together to form the league of constituents so they all know where she's from 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 the new group are quick to point out they're not going to turn into a political party but do hope to 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 boost them are the key to public support is in media and that's because within found him down to a record low criticizing one of russia's most popular radio stations and called moscow for being too protester in its coverage. the prime minister here in chief if you could sense of these words since you don't get mad when you cover me with liquid crap from. 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 election just around the corner. down which something that for years the political life in russia and roaring in wealth in dollars go our t. . be back with the headlines in about ten minutes up next the moscow team heads to

florence italy looking for traces of russian culture in the country stay with us here on our.

hello and welcome to the program today the moscow team as we continue our exploration of russian culture abroad music from. russian creativity has been studied and celebrated for centuries around the world. as we take a look at russian influence and connections one of the most beautiful historic and romantic cities in the world florence. christians have been fascinated with italian culture for centuries florence is often compared to st petersburg. with its architecture and classical entertainment see consisting of art music and literature it's easy to draw comparisons to the cultural grand jury of russia's former capital . move around the major cities in italy today and you definitely hear the chit chat with excited recent tourists they devour the social scene here and they're exploring what it has to offer now more than ever before and i just tell you that i

feel him in florence and my children in russia was raised studying the culture of the renascence and the principles of humanism and this city is the essence of such cultures does this you have stated you were just before you just stuck with it it will feel comfortable here which is you know it doesn't even seem like a foreign country and italians are very frowned like probably in all my life was an interest it's how an art and russian art nothing else because it's the most maybe fancy is the most difficult difficult technique difficult colors. everything else they're all dozens of connections between italy and russia dissociation within the field of art goes back centuries. we arrived at the russian art academy located in a grand building in the center of the city it brings together all levels of all ages and nationalities you can almost feel the creativity as you walk in here.

many students have taken sabbaticals to come to florence and learn more about art the school is angled towards classical russian teaching methods and takes individuals back to basics studying the works of old masters. nice work but. classes are taken as part of the full time course we can't or evening classes and a whole range of subjects to study from canvas painting to much touring but why come to a russian off school in florence. because we're kind of training to see fair play when you can get did you ever see the like other. art schools around here it's just very focus of spirit affected it actually i never planned to come to parents to painting i can't do sculpture but i was convinced by the russian method and all the way that they they teach me my dream and improve the scene as i came here and

most of the buildings are still authentic show it does give the sort of prose the ideal background for all to make sure. many lines models are using the conses tools in english russian and italian shouldn't take visual photographs with the aim of recreating the image in sketch form. based on consequence additions and values in the modern art world because here is learning about site size technique. of the training here besides the basics of technique the use of color and the study of i'm not a made out of portraits most of the changes here offer russia and they bring with them a whole range of classical knowledge and experience having trained at various prestigious universities in moscow and st petersburg are being sent to and say help each

student find that in the expression whatever stand it about maybe the school in france is aware that many of our colleges around the world are opening up to contemporary styles and radical new training methods and on that note to discuss the. he's objective let's meet this week's guest. lovely to meet you so tell me about the academy here in florence of a here during two years which is years ago there were the first course. into a funeral of all the data during ten years doing different kind of walk shops and. want to bring a russian academic classic school. european stay with us and of course bring spiritual wildness and art which is very important for us immersion european students here you have russian or international italians or it's a little international of the students which is

a half from belgium from italy from you glance from america around the world can anybody come here or they have to be you know a decent artist are not about yeah i think it can be here which is normally students just sending their application form together with the board but after a while the year of professor choosing if that student will continue filthier or second which is a bit answer an exam but they would have exam after one year were serious and the tutors are mostly russian teachers that most are russian which is that it's teachers a who are already graduated in russia and who is a professional artist but himself the most time of. war in the russia or the russian government academy well many of the art schools around the world they focus now on contemporary arts maybe the training is more strict with this russian roots moby dick balance because our opinion of where giving plastic

foundations called base without foundation a classic school base you can develop your own style of the versus the nonprofessional way. which is it's me in our opinion that we're bringing school in the people. that this is cool will develop the. theater it was great to meet you and good luck with it thank you very much but. so what other cultural links does florence have with russia one of the most celebrated filmmakers of the twentieth century person director undertow kosky lived in france in the one nine hundred eighty s. in the capital of tuscany took on his two last films and sacrifice anything pronounced as an honest citizen of florence by its authorities took the left italy and nine hundred eighty six and moved to paris where he died the same year now a memorial plate to be seen on the house and via some nicolo but the filmmaker

lived and worked. in the beautiful surroundings of florence nestled in the tuscan countryside as a hotel bearing a russian name the damage of country result is a modern four star hotel then after the famous for some wealthy and influential demetre family from the eighteenth century the democrats had a villa in this part of italy and they definitely chose the location wisely as the views here a spectacular and relaxing. about twenty minutes drive from the center of florence the hotel offers a hundred rooms and suites with all modern comforts absolutely. how the hotel is up there for business and nature changes that then with our family used to enjoy the surroundings many centuries ago and now our guests can enjoy the same nature and the more festive it is to relax.

florence is a sensational city the center is an open i'm easy in itself every corner is a photo opportunity no wonder many famous russian figures came to live here. just the esky for example chose fly. and not only because it's inspiring the true so many other foreigners but many because of the library they contain russian periodicals he wrote the idiot here in january eighteenth sixty nine after seventeen months of work. another russian legend spent a considerable length of time in italy was the composer tchaikovsky he came to florence in the year eight hundred seventy eight to write quietly in a villa overlooking the city situated on the beautiful street via the sun leonardo twenty minutes outside the city it has a completely different feel to the center of florence it was stated that tchaikovsky called florence the city of dreams for him it was one of the best

locations in the world as he enjoyed the architecture landscapes and soul of the area he said it was one of the most inspirational places to live and to work he wrote the famous person opera the queen of spades here in italy in eighty ninety and back in russia to celebrate his beloved city he wrote the piece souvenir to florence. from the art world in florence or oligarchs and their glamour shots on the island of capri the prism of russian influence and connections in italy and vice versa isn't it too apparent and not just here but it is closer to many european cities than you think is the love affair with all things european shows no signs of slowing down. the punch of the here bridge is a beautiful mediæval landmark not to be missed as

a focal point of the city it represents medieval florence in all its glory and whether you are chinese english american russian the historic landmarks and fantastic cultural world of florence with a long standing russian italian connections. something everyone should watch what an amazing city well unfortunately that's the time we have left on this week's program i'll see you again the same time next week until then for me and the rest of the team find out. why. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something

else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. twelve thirty am in moscow the zero r.t. headlights are striking back anonymous cripples major u.s. government and corporate websites in response to a crackdown on a file sharing service and heading anti-piracy laws. in britain facing accusations of censorship of a different kind it's media regulator revokes the license of all wrongs the english language broadcaster press t.v. . syrian opposition holds more mass rallies demanding prisoners released despite a general amnesty.