then szell elections now those calls have been vehemently rejected by the syrian government and here they called a flagrant interference with the internal affairs certainly the sense that you're getting from damascus is really that the arab league should be inspiring here should be focusing on other areas now there's a press conference expected sometime this afternoon here when it's thought we'll get a further response from there the problem you have really with the arab league those of course you've got countries like saudi arabia you've got qatar. there's a sense really that these countries now preaching to what proceed to syria when of course they don't themselves have democracy at home and this is always a problem with the arab league is viewed as a regional body is not being particularly strong certainly the mission here in the country has run in some difficulties and been met with sun criticisms as well as a big focus right now there really is just how you make that arab league mission

now more effective and now russia's stance is once again that this should be seeking a resolution with alice for an intervention because what no one wants to see right now is a stalemate situation happening here in the country and certainly there's a lot of concerns because at the moment this arab league mission it really seems one of the any still open still available to pursuing dialogue here in the country is absolutely pivotal that that continues what you don't want to see happen is for that to run into difficulties and now the observers have remained here on the ground despite the delegation having had that meeting is thought that the mission is going to continue possibly for another month a lot of focus on what's actually going to change with that mission on the increase of powers and possibly the increase of manpower on the ground as well and again that's going to be very very important because from what we've seen of the observers certainly there seems more of the need for them to be able to.

communicate with all the different factions that you have here in the country now but certainly these divisions are concerning because of course this comes at a time when syria desperately desperately needs decisive action now and he's decisive there's not further division as we've been witnessing you know every day that this deliberation continues because he's simply being pushed further into crisis. for civilization it's more. of a friend. to holmes 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's broken glass you've got bullet holes lining the walls you've got clothes seen around the house where people have left them behind fleeing very quickly you can really see here the devastating consequences that this

conflict has heard the picking up the pieces pre easy amongst the opposition 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 the people here in the image i think the syrian army having control or. not have. a lot of number of jobs if you see the heart of who's in charge inside. the courtroom issue that could be an issue with 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 although you are sort of sick or you are into a position you have to put in your mind that you have to work with the other sides working with the other side uses their look instead of starting with thousands

killed bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for. damascus syria. beirut based political analyst dr omar says the syrian opposition itself should share responsibility for recent bloodshed in the country and that ultimately it's time to engage in dialogue. 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 a president said also enjoys. popular support in city 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 opposed to down for didn't move for the president. it's time for dialogue a pleasant side has 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 funds i think that the opposition should face because it is the interest of no one of 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. you with are to now turning our attention to other egypt where revolutionaries are feeling the consequences of the democracy they fought so hard to achieve as the newly elected parliament holds its first post revolution session many egyptians feel they've been betrayed by the muslim brotherhood in its march to

the majority. formally adopted an unprecedented set of sanctions against iran which include a block wide embargo on iranian oil the move targets iran's nuclear program which the islamic republic insists is for purely peaceful purposes let's get more details on the latest developments of course want to toss off syria live in brussels test of these fresh signs of exactly what measures they involve. oh yes they have formally and officially adopted these unprecedented sanctions on iran it's essential a total oil embargo it will have immediate effect on new contracts but that existing contracts will be will be allowed to run for another six months they've also agreed on a ban on a gold and gold trade and other precious metals with the iranian central bank all of these of course aiming to financially and economically cripple iran over its controversial nuclear program with western leaders still insisting iran is trying

to build nuclear weapons while terror run denies this now the e.u. embargo follow strict new way u.s. sanctions that were passed into law by president obama in january so as far as the e.u. is concerned by july it will be a full and total implementation of these new sanctions so when you talk about the implementation excuse me of these new sanctions the idea of crippling the iranian economy is surely blocking off iranian oil to the entire e.u. block it's not just going to hurt iran is it. well certainly this is unprecedented in terms of the scope and be desired of potential effects on iran but it is also one president in terms of its potential economic impact on the european union itself let's not forget the e.u. imports up to twenty percent of the ring in all its second biggest buyer and twenty seven the biggest buyers within that are elite spain and greece the very same countries that are now struggling to deal with that sovereign debt crisis greece in particular heavily dependent on the radio with up to one third of its total imports

from iran also it's relying on terror for easier credit terms so they will definitely have to find alternatives for these countries these are what the leaders will have to talk about how to cushion the potential economic impacts on the several member states and there's also the question on the effectiveness of these sanctions because there is still china which up to this point has not agreed to go on board with the u.s. and e.u. led sanctions on iran it is still the largest buyer of iranian oil and if the e.u. and the u.s. don't want it possibly trying to just step in and buy the oil that the others don't want so there's a question of whether these will actually work and of course because of all the uncertainty oil markets have already reacted pushing oil prices higher oil prices will just mean higher prices of goods and it's also of course that escalating tension at the strait of hormuz iran has said it has every right to block the strait of hormuz where twenty percent of the world's oil tankers pass through and it will definitely impact global trade on that iran said they will likely do it in retaliation for the sanctions there already u.s.

carriers monitoring the issue there definitely possibility of escalating conflict it seems almost every day we see escalation between the west and iran over its nuclear program. as well. as brussels thank you. what are to discuss the implications of a fresh sanctions against iran let's not talk to james corbett the editor of the independent news website the colbert report based in japan and i thanks for coming on our team today do you think this new out of sanctions one achieve anything when it comes to resolving the nuclear program crisis in iran. well let's assume that there is a crisis to be resolved it is interesting to see what will happen here because as has been noted this is likely to affect europe at least as much as it will affect iran if not more so and certainly in the current energy climate i think it will be easier for rand to replace its european exports with exports to other countries than it will be for europe to find imports from other sources but certainly we do see that this will have a crippling effect on some of the european economies themselves as has been noted

that roughly one third of europe's energy. sorry one third of the iran's exports of crude oil actually go to europe at this point and a full eighty percent of that export demand in europe is taken up by four countries turkey italy greece and spain three of which are part of the so-called pigs countries that are already teetering on the edge of economic collapse so it's very interesting to see this move that is likely to hurt you and as i say at least as much as it hurts and really now regarding a let's us to step aside from from the energy issues here let's talk about that have a saber rattling iranian media says the country's senior official has already said that tehran could definitely close the vital all transit route and the strait of hormuz because of the all embargo today we're seeing stories another american warship a french warship a british unable to enjoy all of that now heading into the strait of hormuz if iran

goes ahead with the threat to shut down the waterway what's next. if it were to go ahead with that threat i think the military some sort of military strike would have to be in order that would be too much of a provocation to go unnoticed but i for that very reason i find it extremely unlikely that iran is actually going to start the hostilities in that manner i think it's far more likely that they would use that if if military intervention had already started in iran or if the sanctions had become economically unsupportable but i find it very difficult to believe that iran will actually use that sort of nuclear option so to speak i do realize they have been certainly escalating things in terms of the saber rattling recently but i think that's really more of putting their their cards on the table to try to stave off any sort of military intervention of some of these sanctions now and in the past two years and has allowed the i.a.e.a. into its country for a number of different investigations into so-called nuclear plants it's also signed

three hundred nuclear agreements over the past twelve months where that with these international these ultimately western washington is going to the strait of hormuz always seeing just a basic game of political chess or if a provocation here. well i think there is no doubt there is some provocation and some testing of the waters quite literally and figuratively going on right now and certainly with iran's recent threats to to block the strait of hormuz now we see the american sending ships through there to sort of test the defenses so to speak so so i think there is definitely some cat and mouse going on right now and i think at this point it is saber rattling and testing both sides testing to see how far the other is going to go and as i say at this point i would be extremely shocked to see iran actually pulling out the the option of of mining or otherwise blockading the strait of hormuz because that seems to me that that's that's pretty much the last part of their sleeves so i don't think they want to put it on the you know on the table too early very briefly here we are running very low on time i apologize

for that finally if the if the new sanctions fail to work again. could be back to the old stalemate position of what what's then what's the way out of that well oddly enough i think the further that iran is pushed into a corner here the their position will strengthen over time as the as they develop alternative routes for their for their oil exports if they for example increase their trading partnership with china or russia and india as we've seen in recent days they've been scrambling to establish exchanges in other currencies including their local currencies including even asking india to trade in japanese yen and so we could see really a fundamental shift in the in the entire dynamic of this energy export economy that's taking place right now and it could actually serve to to benefit iran in the long run from getting them off of their dependence on the petro dollar. of the news website the colbert report live from thank you. it with r.t. still to come in the program here the twists and turns of russian politics i feel

like campaign intensifies presidential hopeful of lot of proposes getting tough on immigration. an e.u. entry ticket has been approved by the people of croatia the u.s. wasn't as solid as expected though with more than half of krauts simply ignoring the national referendum the country will become the union's twenty eight state by july next year but only after all other members ratify the move was split on the issue with those in opposition saying there's nothing to gain from a bloc currently experiencing its worst ever crisis as artie's tom bodett reports the divisions are here to stay even after the u.s. fight. with. violent scenes in the croatian capital it's the country's new referendum that said to. me. was to be made behind me to the store to the protesters away as they. take mc

protest is over a situation in many states instead of integration capital and fighting has been going on that it's well now. only here. these anti protesters say the government is trying to suppress the dissenting voices they are and joining would 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 without the stability that scale can lead it into the credit rating a ratio. 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 stands public views differ widely in the us italians will come into our see and touch all our fish and that's our biggest creditor you know if you go there after you though they told us we have to bathe the e.u. has regulations those that don't want to obey must stop trading here in memphis you know we have two sons turn employed and mainly because of that i would be prying a secret to most of the symbols were all 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 joining the calls. were not going with our heads high up we're going in 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 to back out on the streets

the i. arguments quality will not continue with ferocity with such strong emotions it seems unlikely this referendum dissolve the nation's division of the european union. part of our. party is coming your life from moscow now with russia's presidential elections just around the corner candidates are ramping up their campaigns prime minister and a presidential hopeful of lot of me putin is proposing stricter immigration rules in his second major newspaper articles in the run up to the vote he's put a lot of reports. but 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 and it's 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. 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 system was something. 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 now 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 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 exam on russian culture russian history so those are the things that he wants to put. do you tackle the issue of migration and multiculturalism in russia. peter all of our reporting right there with the march of zero to approaches so we are keeping a close eye on the campaign trail of course so you can find out more details on that on our web site twenty four seventh's at r.t. dot com pre-election scandal flares up around

a veteran liberal candidate he may be pushed out of the rain studio violations in the registration process all those details on our website c dot com. the newly elected parliament in egypt has started its first session most of the seats are occupied by the muslim brotherhood and other islamist parties who won an overwhelming majority in the first post poll but it's a financial reports many now feel the brotherhood lied its way as it marched into power. but there is a growing actually here in egypt told really that with these with this new poll and changes will actually not be as dramatic as people in the revolution demonstrators protesters have expected them to be the muslim brotherhood's freedom and justice party has indeed more on the first vote in post barak egypt mostly because it had voted had promised people all aid to help to the poor touching transitional transition from ministry to civil power is something people have been calling for

have been demonstrating for since the supreme council of the armed forces took power from mubarak last february because to them they say that the ruling generals have been actually representing the old regime something they've been fighting against and something actually their revolution has been designed to gets rid off but over in today we have many signs indicating that the islamists in this new poll and the muslim brotherhood as well as some of the business second party didn't warn a vote are actually going most likely to cooperate with cough and that's why many people have been able to speak to here in pa wrote say they feel a little bit strange. well he's more of a national reporting right what i turn our attention now to that of libya where the leader of the national transitional council says the country could be headed toward a civil war follows a weekend of protests in the city of benghazi that resulted in the resignation of its deputy this past weekend enraged libyans took to the streets of the city which

was the center of the opposition in the uprising against gadhafi demonstrators are now accusing the n t c of corruption a lack of reform favoring former government loyalists the latest discontent has sparked criticism from analysts who believe the council has fallen victim to western influence the gadhafi regime could control the whole of libya could find peace amongst 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 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 the chief of 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 let's turn

over to marina now with the latest business. hello and welcome to business here on our team well as we've been reporting they'd european union has formally adopted an oil embargo against iran over its nuclear program now this involves an immediate ban on only oil contracts with the country however all existing contracts will be honored until the first of july and there's a strategist gas low as davis from b.m.p. part believes any year led sanctions against a middle eastern country will only lead to minor fluctuations in the oil price. e.u. sanctions on the oh no i don't think that's significant to iran exports run about two point two million barrels a day of oil. the oil that goes to europe is only represents run about one quarter over most going to asia so we don't expect. the impact of the e.u.

sanctions. but the u.s. sanctions that might take effect in two or three end of this year. removing all of the really net sports two point two million barrels a day and of that i think we'll have greater price impacts. but let's take a look at what's happening with the oil prices of right now light sweet is trading at around ninety nine dollars per barrel while the prime blend is at around one hundred ten heading towards one hundred and eleven dollars a barrel crude prices are heading higher after they all. go against iran and let's look at what's happening in europe with the markets shares there are in the black this hour the u.k. is benchmark stock and that's higher boosted by gains for banks that oil stocks but investors are still awaiting news from that in the groom's. here in russia of the markets are next the r.t.s. is at an almost of one percent smaller than my stocks as dropping almost point

super sad this hour let's take a look at the top movers on the my sites russia is the largest oil company overall stuff has recovered from earlier losses and it's now adding point super science for a bank on the other hand has narrow the earlier advance and that's now a drop in point at three percent and the like there has just completed its acquisition of the troika dialog investment bank and mobile operator enthusiast as lads get a lesson from athens says investors should look at russia's gas giant gazprom as well as models and banking shares for potential upside. gasper for the first time in a long time is probably a name that i would probably. look at the other thing if you do believe in. a short term rally because we have to remember that things can turn around very quickly but in that turnaround if we look back at previous sort of rallies that we've heard every single time metals and banks have done extremely well and i would probably suggest you look at selective name in those sectors having said that with the banks

giving up all the singular you have to be very very quick to close the call make your whatever percent you said was the goal and they get out because it is a very risky play but if we do see a sustained rally for four of weeks or months or so then you need to be in those names because they always tend to perform. and that's how business looks the sour for more so as you can always had so websites are to dot com slash business buy for now.

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 that everything you thought you knew. i'm charged welcome to the big picture.

now half past the hour here in the russian capital this is our headlines now syria an arab league plan to solve the country's crisis that required president assad to step down damascus has said the initiative was interference in its internal affairs unquote an attack on syria's sovereignty. the e.u. adopts unprecedented sanctions against iran which include a complete go on its oil the measure is europe's latest response to terrans nuclear

program which the islamic republic insists is for purely peaceful purposes. and croatia votes in favor of joining the debt stricken easy you win a national referendum but a low turnout and violent protests preceding the vote show there are still deep divisions on the issue inside the country. the u.s. often calls for democratic change in the middle east but remains reluctant to recognize the right of palestinians to self-determination or to get the latest on palestine's bid for statehood first hand from the president of the palestinian national authority of course that of mahmoud abbas our exclusive r.t. interview is right now. on european tour. still waiting for a resolution to the statehood issue what do you expect from russia's leadership at this stage when the issue of palestine.