one would understand that a block wide from the e.u. is a huge yes indeed roll the e.u. leaders twenty seven foreign ministers are meeting today here in brussels to finally formalize and finalize the tails of these sanctions on iran it is going to be unprecedented in terms of scale they would like to see a total oil embargo on iran and also possibly targeting the iranian central bank the aim of course here is to financially economically cripple the iranian economy over its controversial nuclear program which western leaders of long insisted and argued that is on a dangerous path towards acquiring nuclear weapons which terror ron has of course consistently denied now the e.u. embargo follows the stringent new u.s. sanctions on iran is signed into law by president barack obama in january and as far as the european union is concerned they're expected to formally implement these sanctions in about six months time and that is in july. you mentioned moments ago

that these sanctions are in one way or another intended to cripple the iranian economy any other sanctions deemed they might have an effect. yes of course i mean this is unprecedented not just in terms of its impact on iran or the suppose a desired results on iran but also on president it in terms of the potential economic impact on the itself especially since it is still trying to deal with the sovereign debt crisis and all in all totally the e.u. imports about twenty percent of iranian oil it is the second largest buyers and the biggest buyers within the e.u. are italy spain and greece which of course the three countries which are very much in debt and trying to get out of this debt crisis let's greece for instance is it's one third of its oil imports it makes one third of its total oil imports and it's also rely on terror watch for easier credit so definitely it will have to find alternatives and this is something they are going to be talking to they are already talking about because proviso is that they will have to find in order for these countries to deal with the potential economic impact also there are doubts on

whether these will actually have the desired effect because china is the biggest buyer of iranian oil and it so far it has not agreed to the e.u. or u.s. sanctions and if the e.u. and u.s. don't want to or china may well just step in and buy the oil of iran and so there's a question of whether this will actually be effective and also oil markets have already reacted that we're going to see if these sanctions are implemented will result in more than two million barrels of oil off of international markets it means oil prices will go up and it means prices of goods will go up and the straits of hormuz again there is a potential for conflict there iran has threatened to block that and that's where twenty percent of the world's oil tankers pass through and the u.s. already has aircraft carriers there monitoring the situation so it does increase the possibility of conflict all right answers a lot in brussels thank you. just a little bit later in the program here on our t.v. look at how many libyans are beginning to feel like they're of old was simply

a mere rush the country is seeing its most turbulent antigovernment protests since the fall of moammar gadhafi but the unrest beginning in benghazi just as it did last year. croatia is set to become the twenty eighth country to join the european union after the proposal was approved in a national referendum the country's accession now has to be ratified by all current member nations with almost all ballots counted two thirds of voters expressed a desire to join the bloc despite the e.u.'s ongoing debt crisis but turnout however just forty four percent pointed to apathy among many towards the issue the build up to their friend was marred by clashes as anti e.u. protesters staged staged demonstrations right up to the vote as artist humbucking reports opposition to joining the european union is not likely to end here.

violent scenes in the croatian. it's the country's referendum that's sitting. behind me the police going to the protest as a. protest his way the situation in. the creation capital and fighting has been going well now police are going to take people away in vans in protest is trying to stop. these protesters say the government is trying to suppress the dissenting voices they are joining with surrender croatia's independence to brussels. but in another street nearby the foreign. minister is trying to convince people that accession is vital to the craft economy that actually without the stability the

scale can wait it into the credit rating after a show. that is translated into membership of the european union gracious 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 should tell you as we come into or see and touch all our fish and that's our biggest threat you know if you go there after you told us we have to pay the e.u. has regulations those that don't want to they must stop trading political the first person who does small family business in the european union commissions everything toward big shopping centers and some in mali it is not enough for the sheer man fast enough going to have two sons hire an employee and maybe because of that i would be prior secret to most of the same was during the cold all of the worries about sovereignty local industry and economic well being

a former state and there are still some voices in parliament think the benefits of what joining it were the costs if we were 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 d p is very low so we don't really have anything to offer. even at the local theatre the subject is croatia's relationship all europe with those on the stage and to the future scottish or they'd rather poke fun at its irritating console for example on facebook it's just pro or go forward and it's getting a bit absurd because there's no real quality to bear. if you back out on the streets the arguments quality not continue with ferocity with such strong

emotions it seems unlikely this referendum resolves the nation's division over your . top box of art. is coming to you live from moscow and still to come your way in the program i thought of abandoning homebase. citizens of the harbor are living from one day to the next and there's been very little effort on the part of the world runs everything to try to. involve the community how john corporations thrive on government funds and outsourced labor as home communities fall apart around. russia's policy on migration has come under scrutiny from its prime minister and a presidential hopeful vladimir putin in a second major newspaper article as part of his election campaign put an aside how his position on

a range of key challenges as it is put all of our reports. on multiculturalism a migration vladimir putin praised what he sees as russia's long history as a multicultural nation a history he says goes back to the days of the russian empire 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 real life eight in moscow in two thousand and ten with ethnic clashes taking place i'm right next to the kremlin in the heart of the russian capital a hit. so to those that see nationalism right here how did those who have slogans 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 system was something that 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 that he hopes to be able to to make significant cuts to the amount of people that are arriving in russia illegally now he wants to do this by toughening the laws 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 he wants to see an exam put in place to good 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 exam on russian

culture russian history so those are the things that he wants to to put in place to tackle the issue of migration and multiculturalism in russia. reporting from central moscow the syrian leadership has rejected the arab league's transition plan aimed at curbing the violence in the country they saw according to syrian state t.v. say it doesn't reflect the will of the people and violates the country's sovereignty let's cross live now is what he said a further you standing by in the capital damascus sara so what is it exactly in this arab league plan that the regime object so strongly. well the arab league cooled president bashar al assad to step down and hand his powers over to a deputy and then for a national unity government to be formed that would be a pretext to early parliamentary and presidential elections now this is being vividly rejected by the syrian government so that they could it a flagrant insecure and in internal affairs now really the status his friends in

moscow says that the government here are working on their own reforms they want the arab league mission to focus on their job of course the problem is you've got countries in the arab league like saudi arabia like qatar now saying that the sense here that they are preaching democracy to syria when of course they themselves don't have to vote for see. that was always a problem with the arab league you know the regional body is not viewed as being particularly strong and of course what they've now called mark beyond their party trick now i've actually spoken to the national coordinator council which is the opposition within the country they welcomed me even again reiterated besh felt that as long as there is no move towards foreign military intervention that very pleased with the response from the arab league mission but what you need to be very careful of now is as the russian official statement said from an official but we could now see is a stalemate situation happening and that would be very very detrimental to the

situation in the country right now because of course you still got observers on the ground it's expected that observer mission is actually now going to continue possibly for another month and possibly with the extension of their powers and their numbers as well now what you don't want to see happen here at the moment is the only rigs that is open. for civilization explore it. gov. to homs the conflict has moved ever closer to the country's capital now many damascus suburbs rule so embroiled in the conflict 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 tingle article bullet holes lining the walls you've got close around the house

where people have left them behind fleeing very quickly you can really see the devastating consequences that this conflict has hurt picking up the pieces pretty easy amongst the opposition themselves they're a worrying division is the conflict becoming increasingly violent there are now areas of the country where it's unclear exactly he's in control what do the people here started on him and i think the syrian army having control. over this you are not have. a lot of numbers a number of secrecy is in charge in south. asia because the diversion of the stuff arab league observers except to remain in the country for another month trying to build the basis for multi-party elections even seen by the international community or the you are your stories to where you are into your position you have

to put in your point that you have to work with the other side working with the other side uses their look. starting with thousands killed bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for. damascus syria. time to head over to our web site r t dot com to find the latest developments on the political crisis all in the arab world including a look at how the israel palestine standoff impacts the lives of ordinary people risking death to provide a lifeline the story of a palestinian tunnel digger whose work help support his family and the flow of vital supplies into gaza of course all of this in defiance of the israeli blockade . the leader of the libya's national transitional council of mustafa abjured little says the country could be on the brink of civil war details to come about in just a few moments here in our city. and if i those pictures those pictures you're seeing

right there on our two you can find those on our website that says china celebrates the lunar new year and the year of the dragon excellent pictures there to be found on our web site r c dot com now we're turning our attention here to that of libya in just a moment you stay with us. it without you life in moscow in about eight minutes is the business but for now the leader of libya's national transitional council mustafa digital as i said a moment ago he says the country could be on the brink of civil war and follows a weekend of political turmoil with his deputy resigning over the suspension of six high ranking council delegates from benghazi it's the latest sign of discord in the country's interim leadership comes amid

a rising tide of discontent among libyans riots swept through benghazi at the weekend as thousands took to the streets of a city where the antique death the uprising began enraged protesters accuse the m.t.c. of corruption being slow want to bring in reform and favoring former government loyalists there's also criticism from analysts the 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've turned libya into a war and of the hunting of black skins they have they're selling off their oil and natural resources and sovereignty to nato and now the thieves that is the rebels they're 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 about what's happening in libya is coming to them if they're not able to defend themselves and stop this ruling western

aggression against other countries in the global south. this is r.t. one solution to joblessness in the united states is a scheme where giant corporations create workplaces for local communities there are even handed a government money to that end but somehow jobs still get outsourced to cheaper foreign workforces and as it has more important i reports this allows big businesses to prosper while small town sufferer. 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. factory 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 perceived 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. 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. more open to just close 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 behavior of home appliances hasn't paid us income tax since two thousand and eight by two thousand and ten nearly ninety nine percent of benton harbor residents were receiving food stamps while the 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 on us in that just doesn't sit we'll with my soul a soul living in one of america's poorest cities clothed in poverty and accessorize in corporate success arena porton thirty. all right as i promised our time now for the business news kareena joins us next. thank you rory hello and welcome to our business here in r.t. thanks for joining us this hour the european union has reportedly agreed to the details of a possible embargo on oil deliveries from iran sanctions are part of the plan to stop iran developing its alleged nuclear weapons program iran meanwhile has counterattacked threatening to block a major shipping corridor for oil the horrible strait now one wonders let's talk to

gals lewis davis energy strategist at a very bad hello gary thank you for joining the program so as i understand iranian oil embargo still needs to be formally approved by the e.u. foreign ministers do you think this is a way to. kind of a way to persuade iran to take part in the talks. yes it's definitely part of the process it's not just the e.u. sanctions which we think will be announced today but also the u.s. sanctions that will be and perhaps. will be affected in the market from july on words it's all part of a process of trying to get around to discuss the situation with the international authorities and where do you see the all prices going should these sanctions be implemented. with the e.u. sanctions on the oh no i don't think that significant around exports right about two point two million barrels

a day of oil. all of it goes to europe it's only represents run about one quarter of most goods too. so we expect the impact of the e.u. sanctions are quite limited but the u.s. sanctions that might take effect towards the end of this year. removing all of a sports two point two million barrels a day and of that i think will have greater or price impacts and they're also trying to persuade not. to import. this oil to asia as well and asia could study effect. yes the e.u. sanctions are you restricted but certainly what we're seeing at the same time is u.s. authorities. telling other governments other entities that if they were to buy oil via the grain authorities this would serve the relationships of these companies in their dealings with american organizations and as a consequence perhaps the u.s. sanctions which have yet to take effect we have greater impact as asian buyers of

oil seek to look for alternative supplies over the next six months or so well you just said you are doesn't export much from iran but still here is europe's economy is a very it's a very in a very fragile situation so if prices go up could this affect europe more. certainly the u.s. is a large importer of oil as well as europe so they're both will be affected by higher prices in the case of the european sanctions i think the european refineries can easily replace the iranian barrels by taking a given barrels from countries such as saudi arabia and that would displace or oil to asia but if all of the regular exports are affected it would require countries like saudi arabia to replace all of you bring in barrels that would lead to reduction in spare productive capacity around the world and that would lead to higher prices and a common is that our net importers of oil will be affected including europe and the

united states as what effect could all this have on russia and its all exports. russia is a net exporter of oil and the oil. is similar in some respects to the rain or that it's been embargoed and as such for fineries that are constructed to run on that type of medium heavy density oil will look for alternative supplies and i've said they would look in the first. so how do you source of all good russian urals also food will fulfill the role of a very me see their volumes increasing as a consequence so this situation could play in the hands of russia you think if the ban is opposed to some extent yes to some extent but i think most of the control. is able to adjust its production when the rain barrels come off the market i think saudi arabia is the key element. to any shortfall that explodes ok thank

you very much gary davis energy strategist had been people about thanks very much for for your view on the on the problem thank you. now anticipating that will ban on iranian oil crude prices are slowly heading higher light sweet is struggling for direction while brand blend is adding point three percent actually nearly half a percent this hour shares in europe are mixed investors are waiting for the e.u. finance ministers decision on the greek terms of a greek debt restructuring deal they are ready to accept that is adding a quarter of a percent while germany's dax is losing over half a percent and here is russia other markets are lower in afternoon trading after a positive start the r.t.s. is losing point two percent while the my xix is shedding over half a percent as well here are the top movers on the my success are russia's largest oil company rosneft has slipped into red despite strong or prices spare bank is

losing almost half a percent almost one and a half percent actually the lender has completed acquisition of torque a dollar a good investment back and mobile operator m.t.s. is losing point three percent also in the red. well that's it for now all of you back with more updates and more look at the how the markets are doing around the world in just under fifty minutes time.

if. it is easy. to. see.

well. science technology innovation all the rest i'm elements from around russia we've got this huge earth covered. if you're just joining us a very warm welcome to you this is r.t. live from moscow time for your headlines now the e.u. come to an agreement on a total the embargo of iranian oil it's a move that could ultimately backfire on the blocs own fragile economy. damascus rejects the arab league's transition plan which includes a demand for president assad's departure calling it a flagrant interference in its internal affairs the e.u. is reportedly also stepping up its pressure on the regime by imposing a new set of sanctions. croatia opposite to join the european union after

a national referendum marked by clashes polarized opinion and a disappointing turnout. in the u.s. so often calls for democratic change in the middle east but remains reluctant to admit the rights of palestinians for self-determination to get the latest on the palestine's bid for statehood first hand from the president of the palestinian national authority of course that of mahmoud abbas the exclusive interview is now. visit the final stop on european tour they list are in the still waiting for a resolution to the statehood issue what do you expect from russia's leadership at this stage when the issue of palestinians legal rights is being decided according to international law. there.