the international support by preparing their case for the un security council and it's the extra push many people here in syria have been calling for we need to prepare to be friendly. to homs the conflict has moved ever closer to the country's capital now many damascus suburbs are also embroiled in the conflicts between government forces and the armed opposition well this is all that's left of many of the houses now inside just absolutely gutted it for a single article bullet holes lining the walls you've got close stain around the house where people have left them behind fleeing very quickly you can really see here the devastating consequences that this conflict has hurt the picking up the pieces where you prove easy among c.e.o. position themselves there are a worrying divisions and as the conflicts become increasingly violent there are now areas of the country where it's unclear exactly he's in control what do the people

here in the image i think the syrian army having control or. not have. a lot of numbers a number of secrecy is in charge and you know. the division the diversion of the stuff arab league observers look set to remain in the country for another month trying to build the basis for multi-party elections even seen by the international community or that you are you just sort of to or you are into your position you have to put in your mind that you have to work with the other sides working with the other side these is there a group. starting with thousands killed bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for our city damascus syria now that abuses from both the syrian regime and the opposition have been acknowledged at the arab league

it's the best time to turn to dialogue be rude based political analyst dr marna xabi. the opposition or what the so-called syrian free army or the desert there is from the syrian army have been also using heavy gunfire against civilians they have been using explosives apparently they have been using and armored. rockets and you know some weapons that cannot usually be used in civilian areas and against civilians there is president said also enjoys . popular support. one cannot deny this not even the institute in qatar denied this when they did the research last month and they found that fifty five percent of the city and population oppose the downfall of or didn't move for the president. it's time for the dialogue. has tried. somebody form some democratic reforms there is

a constitutional council now in syria trying to rewrite the constitution there will be elections in the coming months there are some of the forums i think that the opposition should face because it is of the interest of no one no one's interests that need to or steps in they would be destruction and they would be chaos as was the case in libya. and just a little later in the program we'll look at how many libyans are beginning to feel like their revolt was simply a mirage. the country seeing its most turbulent anti-government protests since the fall of moammar gadhafi with their own risk beginning in benghazi just as it did last year also what had. citizens of that harbor are living from one day to them that there's been very little effort on the part of the whirlpool that runs everything to try to. involve the community. how

giant corporations thrive on government funds and outsourced labor as home communities fall apart around our. creation is set to become the twenty eighth country to join the european union after the proposal was given the go ahead in a national referendum the country's accession now has to be approved by all current member nations with almost all ballots counted two thirds of voters expressed a desire to join the blog despite the e.u.'s ongoing debt crisis the turnout however at least just forty four percent pointed to apathy among many towards the issue the build up to the referendum was marred by clashes as anti e.u. protesters staged demonstrations right up to the vote and as our market reports opposition to joining the european union is unlikely to an here. seems in the croatian but it is the country's the referendum but certainly.

this is being made behind me the police trying to push the protesters in ways they take and seize protest his late sixty's limits the tends to the coalition capital and slowing things has been doing well you know it's really going to take people the way in advance of protest is trying to stop it with you know. oh. i don't. know. did you hear. these anti protesters say the government is trying to suppress the dissenting voices they are joining with surrender croatia's independence to brussels. yes i believe that in another street nearby the foreign minister is trying to convince people that accession is vital to the current economy actually with the stability that scale can lead it into the credit rating of gratian. that is translated into membership

of the european union critias budget would be in serious trouble everywhere you turn in croatia the e.u. is being discussed but whereas most of the political class no longer question the europhiles stance public views differ widely you should know that italians will come into our sea and catch all our fish and that's our biggest creditor you know if you go there after you though they told us we have to buy in the e.u. has regulations those they don't want they must stop trading really because if it does that it was small family business and the european union commissions everything toward big shopping center some in my late if i may or not for the fish here in memphis you know we have two sons turn employed and mainly because of that i would be prior to being married to most of the symbols were during the cold early worries about sovereignty local industry and economic well being a former state and there are still some voices in parliament that think the benefits of well joining. the coalition we're not going with our heads

high up we're going on our knees because our economy. non-existing our exporting is pretty bad our b.b.b. is very low so we don't really have anything to offer. even at the local theatre the subject is croatia's relationship all right with those on the stage and to the future scottish or they draw the poke fun at it's irritating console and we go for example on facebook it's just broke old for e.u. and it's getting. it's absurd. there's no real quotes to be struck. back out on the streets the arguments quality not continue with ferocity with such strong emotions it seems unlikely this referendum was sold the nation's division

over europe you know. talk about. a major argument for gratian joining the e.u. was a promise of a better economic future but that may be an elusive promise going up later this hour double edged sanctions repairs to unveil a strict set of measures to punish iran but it's feared they could backfire on the blocks fragile economy. russia's policy on migration has come under scrutiny from its prime minister and presidential hopeful vladimir putin in a second major newspaper article as part of his election campaign put and set out his position on a range of key challenges are to speed it all over in our reports. well talking on multiculturalism a migration vladimir putin praised what he sees is russia's long history as a multicultural nation a history he says goes back to the days of the russian empire it said that there have been some very serious problems though when it comes to migration and integration of migrants in russia that these problems over the last twenty years

since the collapse of the soviet union were very serious indeed in our problems that russia is still struggling to to deal with today speaking about what the results can be of migration going wrong he warned of the rise of nationalism the rise of xenophobia these type of issues that we saw acted out in reallife age in moscow in two thousand and ten with ethnic clashes taking place and where right next to the kremlin in the heart of the russian capital a hit so to. see nationalism right here how did those who have the slogan such as stop feeding and stop funding the caucuses saying well the caucuses are a part of russia talking of multiculturalism he said that russia had a very unique system of multiculturalism something very different to say what happens in europe where he said basically multiculturalism had failed and that russia's system was something this had to be a very different over to me and said that there's no way that you can completely get rid of all illegal immigration into russia but if he's elected president in the

elections in march city hopes to be able to make significant cuts to the amount of people that are arriving in russia illegally you know he wants to do this by toughening the malls to try and deter people from entering the country illegally he also wants to see a system put in place not just to monitor foreign immigrants coming into russia but also to monitor internal migrants also by twenty thirty and he wants to see an exam put in place to those wanting to come and settled and live and work in russia but they have to be able to pass the russian language exam also an example on russian culture russian history so those are the things that he wants to do. place to talk about the issue of migration and multiculturalism in russia. it all over reporting there meanwhile the presidential race in the u.s. is also picking up pace and is now at the primary stage enormous amounts of money have already been spent on backing the candidates coming up in our t's crossed off about twenty minutes ahead of debate on the so-called super pacs which allow for

unlimited campaign spending but are opposed by more and more americans. stupid laws is that they can't coordinate with the super pac and you're criticizing them for it here into this stupid law but you're insisting the party but they are coordinating that's our lawyers coordination rules coordinator already review was going to. say if you believe for one seconds are not coordinating former staffers from canada are not a problem with been coordinating with them if you post a problem with them coordinating i don't have a problem with them coordinating this is free speech. and. the sanctions keep piling up on iran that is expected to announce on monday and i'm president of block wide ban on the reigning oil europe says it will be for the

common good and will make tehran to rethink its nuclear program which israel and its allies see as the threat of corresponded to start of brings us more on the dangers the sanctions may bring. foreign ministers of the twenty seven member states of the european union are meeting today and one of the most important issues on the table out of the sanctions on iran it is expected that they will pass on presidents and. oil and financial sectors this will be the toughest to date and it's of course over the controversial nuclear program. long insisted that iran is on a path towards acquiring nuclear weapons has consistently denied this these talks on the back of twenty seven nations having to deal with the sovereign debt crisis for almost two years now there are countries like france for instance who really want to see. possible in a couple of months. twelve

months so today they're expected to give the detail on the timeline somewhere between three to eight months that will satisfy all of the member states now the embargo will follow. the law by president barack obama in january and collectively all these sanctions are fully implemented you will see about two point six million barrels of oil taken off of international markets which is of course putting markets into a very. up and on the other hand the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton says that she expects the e.u. to pressure iran to back to the negotiation table so again today we're expecting to see details on the timeline of the implementation of sanctions as. expected several more names of companies individuals. those a list of sanctions but any decision that they come to today has to be unanimous.

well there's plenty more. calm including the latest news and comment as well as any stories you've missed a take a look at what's there. and during the dragon extravagant parades and spectacular fireworks as a world joins china in celebrating the lunar new year. and risking death to provide a lifeline a story of a palestinian town digger whose work helps support his family and the flow of vital supplies into gaza in defiance of the israeli blockade. maybe it could be on the brink of civil war according to the had of the national transitional council most of. following a weekend of political turmoil and that's happier he's deputy stepped down one suspended six high ranking council delegates from benghazi it's the latest sign of

discord in the country's interim leadership and comes amid a rising tide of discontent among libyans riots swept through benghazi at the weekend as thousands took to the streets of the city where the on take it obvious rising began and range protesters accuse the anti c. of corruption being slow in bringing in of reform and favoring former government loyalists there's also current criticism from alice that the council's main goal is to secure western oil interests rather than to establish democracy. in libya for example who's not to be in the country maybe already had the highest standard of living in all of north africa where libya does have is the largest were global oil reserves and the oil reserve in africa and those with the national transitional council are being supported for in order that they should promote western oil companies western financial interests in libya and the people will just have to be rid of the people have already been killed a little veritable genocide has taken place as we've seen in iraq so in

a way the same pattern is repeated over and over again that we are there's a double standard they say that they are promoting democracy but what they are basically doing are you promoting the financial and you believe the interest of the global power elite embedded inside the united states the european union and these rules. spokesman for british civilians for peace in libya don says the national transitional council is failing to unite the country the gadhafi regime could control the whole of libya could find peace among all the tribes the new regime cannot even control something in one town or one area i mean they turn libya into a war and of the hunting of black skins they have this selling off the oil and natural resources and so over to nato and now the thieves that is the rebels they are all falling out with each other so really this is freedom and democracy by nato it's all become very clear people of syria and the people of lebanon and the people of the global south have to see what's happening in libya is coming to them if

they're not able to defend themselves and stop this ruling western aggression against of the countries of the global south now some other stories from around the world the islamic party which won the most seats in the egyptian parliament the muslim brotherhood has promised it will work with all political parties it also added it's going to cooperate with the country's ruling military council despite repeated calls from activists that power should be handed over to the civilian government on monday the new parliament is going to sit for the first time islamist parties have captured an overwhelming majority in egypt's first post mubarak parliamentary elections. yemen's president ali abdullah saleh has left the country after giving a farewell speech where he apologized for mistakes during his thirty three year long rule planning to have medical treatment in the u.s. has come today after the parliament approved unity from prosecution for a solid part of the deal under which he would relinquish power seller has become the latest leader to be toppled by the weight of arab spring uprisings. one

solution to joblessness in the us is a scheme where giant corporations create workplaces for a local communities there even had a government money to that end but somehow jobs still get outsourced to cheaper a foreign workforce that is very important in our reports this allows big business to prosper while small towns suffer. in one of america's most economically depressed cities resides the world's largest producer of home appliances whirlpool corp is headquartered in benton harbor michigan where sixty percent are unemployed ninety percent live in poverty and per capita income is roughly ten thousand dollars the citizens of benton harbor are living from one day to the night they're very poor and they're very disheartened i mean there's been very little effort on the part of whirlpool that runs everything to try to. involve the community in two thousand and nine whirlpool received a nineteen point three million dollars grant from the federal government in part to

create jobs and i think our u.s. workforce certainly. that three workforce if you will is that is the best among the world so we're very confident in the future of u.s. manufacturing for our kind of products one year later the corporation received nearly twenty million dollars from the state of michigan to expand its facility which now serves as a gateway into benton harbor it's good for the community good for the state and good for your business as well there's a real art to that but as the u.s. based corporation has grown globally you know your last three more jobs have been outsourced to countries demanding less wages today the former blue collar community of benton harbor remains a victim of america's deindustrialization and growing poor population pool has seventy one thousand employees around the globe but no longer manufactures home

products in its hometown it still remains a recipient of u.s. state and federal stimulus funding. whirlpool just closed the factory and that hurt my business my little bit. in this i lost a lot of clients this is their home base and it always has been and in the beginning of the large development they promised us that they would always be due to the recession the corporate but he meant of home appliances hasn't paid us income tax since two thousand and eight by two thousand time nearly ninety nine percent of benton harbor residents were receiving food stamps while the whole approximately eighteen billion dollars in annual sales. that think of purchased my last whirlpool appliance i don't even think i'll call for we care because too often in for too long those that have gotten rich has forgotten who's helped them

to get there and they're willing to step. in there just as the sit we'll with my soul a soul living in one of america's poorest cities clothed in poverty and accessorized in corporate success arena point nine thirty. am next corrina brings you the latest from the world of business. hello and welcome to business here in our european leaders are meeting on monday to discuss a long term plan to tackle the region's debt crisis some analysts say it's a massive debt for greece that could put the eurozone back on its feet peter weston from out on believes that the markets have already priced in the jitters and are likely to retire. well everybody's going to await a sort of decision or some some kind of agreement between greece and its creditors that's going to be the key event to some extent it was last week. again what was

the last week was that any delay good news didn't really impact the markets i think we are in a very positive backdrop for russia in general we do have low valuation we do have the under-performance of russia if people are adding to risk the emerging markets of the world and in the context russia should be having possibly more support than other markets and russia central bank injected around six hundred million dollars in early january into the market to support the ruble its head aleksei were kind of says that the bank keeps the ruble within the floating band and intervenes only to cut volatility you have a comment from the european department of i.m.f. believes that russia has achieved a fully flexible exchange rate. good thing. russia right now is that the treasury is flexible so it's determined by market forces and the central bank has been with this situation quite well but. with all of which we.

are very difficult and we are not in the forecasting game but we would like the ruble to continue to respond to market forces and intervention to be avoided. or is dropping for a fourth day new york investors speculate that e.u. sanctions against iranian oil may take effect only in six months time. now onto equities it's a flat trey's how the asian markets with some of the markets closed japanese stock slide into the red panasonic's had one point four percent after moody's investor service cut its debt rating of the for him as well as so many australian shares slipped as well as investors await outcomes in greece's ongoing negotiations with private sector creditors and hong kong is closed for a public holiday here in russia the markets are struggling for direction both the r.t.s. and my xix are pointing downwards this hour here are the top movers on them isaac's

washers largest oil company rosneft is gaining a quarter of a percent spread bank shot up one percent of the start of the session but then its gains the lender has completed acquisition of the troika dialog investment bank and mobile operator m.t.s. is almost eight percent in the red. gold is trading at one thousand six hundred sixty nine dollars per ounce that's up point fourteen percent on monday it has already gained more than six percent since the beginning of the year business then go looks at the prospects for this precious metal. is gold on track to become the investment choice of the year now with sovereign debt problems still looming in europe it could be just the right thing the precious metal has seen a remarkable. performance over the past decades take a look at the graphic since two thousand and one the trend has been perfectly positive the peak price was reached last year when gold hit nineteen hundred and twenty dollars an ounce but then we saw a nosedive of twenty percent and just

a few sessions as the u.s. credit rating was downgraded a lack of liquidity deflated the bubble somewhat since banks desperately required cash they sold whatever they could and it's at that point that the tables turned for the metal and from a safe haven asset gold shifted into risk appetite choices going in correlation not with t. bills but shares nevertheless gold still gained eleven percent last year take a look at that nosedive that we saw in september last year here it is but the trend is changing we are seeing gold already gaining more than six percent since the beginning of the year it's outstripping most assets and we did see a slight drop during the previous week when jobless claims in the us came in with a decline now why are we seeing gold on the up over here is it going to continue go i mean there's a number of factors to bear in mind which makes it quite likely we've got the debt crisis in the e.u. we've got instability in currencies we've got rising demand from china and the

upcoming wedding season in india when families offer gold as a traditional gift to the newlyweds if there's no quick resolution to the euro problems and it doesn't seem like there's one on the horizon yet we may just see new heights with a precious metal even maybe close to two thousand dollars an ounce some day. well that's it for this hour but don't forget you can always find more business stories on our website dot com slash business. culture is that so much a commercial comes on

a couple of years the biggest and most expensive elections money can buy this is how many americans see what it called political action committees or super pacs. to.

welcome back you're watching r t here's a look at the top stories and new to do list for this year in leadership the arab league demands the creation of a national unity government and steps up calls for president assad to step down something the regime has allegedly rejected. caray shop to join a european union after a national referendum marked by clashes polly rise opinion and a disappointing turnout. russia's policy on internal migration falls into the focus

of pm and presidential run or water report and as he presents another set of plans as part of he's election program. this will top stories here in r.t. up next peter lavelle and his guest discuss the campaigning in the us presidential race and the enormous amounts of money spent on it. and. we welcome the process on your logo the biggest and most expensive elections money can buy this is how many americans see what are called political action committees or super pacs are the super pacs good for democracy do they really.