but it's the people who are feeling the squeeze sara first reports now from damascus. trying to shine a light on what's happening in the country the observer mission looks set to continue now for another month but every day here is proving more and more of a challenge for the people. due to the european sanctions conceded argued syria we don't have any tourists we don't have any for most of the e.u. has no one pays its eleventh consecutive round of sanctions this time putting a travel ban on people and businesses linked with the assad regime is we've been finding out the cascade of sanctions to swamp syria's struggling economy actually they are punishing the syrian people in a way or another i mean if they have governmental sanctions to be imposed that their business with the syrian government not with the people but the power is completely out of this door in the center of damascus at the moment and this is one of the main criticisms aimed at the economic sanctions is that this simply

affecting the way so every day syrian people if i may spin this is in this that we are now i depended upon these guides to these weird generated the media because our guys have become an almost daily blow at people's lives where the not everyone can afford to back up at home with his wife and children and then says when the power cuts out the family simply have to make the generator very expensive it costs like. sixty thousand three hundred pounds as i know it's not cheap and it's not just families and small businesses that are being affected oil production has fallen dramatically after an exports embark a and the cost of raw materials here has risen as one official from the chamber of commerce tells us a plummeting currency and rising prices have pushed many businesses to take their trade and money elsewhere in the business of money don't put all the money in the

business keep somebody maybe maybe. this is the. make in the market because normal cash money money for. and true to recent form halfway through our interview the lights go out. oh. yeah. i have. but your who. stops. are and one. of the spy cools the dialogue is being political and economic pressure on the country that's been favored in attempting to resolve the place. the arab league observers mission has also made little headway safe then they say they were there simply to investigate and to reports there have been numerous calls for even more

observers to be allowed into the country i think the real issue is that the syrians need to allow in a much much more neutral a much more wide ranging a much more forceful international observer mission if they've got nothing to hide if it's if they're genuinely not killing innocent people then one of the go to the the sanctions impact is heavily contested is this need doubt that they are putting pressure on an increasingly isolated government many people in the country will say made an already desperate situation even worse. damascus syria. well the u.s. and its allies accuse the syrian regime of cracking down on peaceful protesters but the massacres claims it's fighting a foreign funded insurgency political analyst. says the opposition is receiving weapons from abroad and becoming increasingly violent. of course there are certain parts of the opposition that should share the responsibility for the there are

a good amount of syrians who are dedicated to peaceful demonstrations who have been showing up on the streets and have been you know resisting calls to violence but then there are also many dangerous segments of the opposition who have used violence we see this as more and more especially over the last several months with a lot of weapons coming in through foreign borders to the opposition that's becoming increasingly militarized and carrying out some very devastating attacks on syrian infrastructure syrian government institutions the police and also innocent civilians are getting killed in syria and so really the violence now is a two way street. for more on the arab world coming up in the program with renewed violence breaking out in the you were in the latest find when gadhafi loyalists and forces and things grow the country's descending into civil war. and when

fear of lawsuits comes at the cost of human life rescue services in the u.s. some criticize after a number of cases looked the other way. iran says an oral embargo imposed by the european union is doomed to fail under the e.u. did it on its threat to ban the import of crude from the islamic state in response to its nuclear program with a test round of sanctions prohibits any new oil contracts but allows for existing deals to run into july the e.u. buys around eighteen percent of all iranian crude tehran has told me to lift it if it returns to talks in which nuclear agenda which the west suspects is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb russia has dismissed the new sanctions on iran as counterproductive valent threaten to block a vital well supply in the persian gulf and embargo comes into force the u.s. navy's poised to reopen the strait of hormuz by force if necessary columnist and

asia times correspondent asked about says iran is unlikely to back down. the p five plus one as it's called the five permanent members of the security council because germany does should sit down theoretically by the end of this month with iran is still the whole city was brokered by turkish to start talking again about the iranian nuclear program but i wonder if iran has any incentive at the moment any fact the hard line there is it there are say exactly that. after the sensors are fully implemented on july first we are going to close down this street of hormuz as a reaction this is something that they need to see themselves their internal problem. because they're being pressured all the time by the europeans the americans in the europeans any really really rangers are asking themselves what is our government doing to defend it in effect that we have the right to develop a peaceful nuclear program and there is no if it is eighteen you we're the idea of

by national intelligence estimates in the united states that they are developing a nuclear weapon. turkey has a valid to retaliate after the french senate approved the bill making it a crime to deny the massacre of millions by the ottoman empire nine hundred fifteen was genocide and has already suspended military political and economic times with parents were both houses of the french parliament passed the bill which still has to be signed off by. the proposed to make the denial of genocide and war crimes recognized by french nor punishable by up to a year in prison turkey denies the massacre that's considered by many to be the twentieth century's first genocide the executive director of the armenian national committee of america. says the nation will force angola to admit to the atrocities . so many countries around the world russia canada france of course it will be sweden switched on and others recognize this crime so we think it's

a step toward mounting pressure increasing pressure on turkey to finally come to terms with their many genocide both truthfully and justly i think of the support for the measure came from across the political spectrum in france as it has in so many countries everywhere around the world that there's been a vote the voters are almost universally going to see this crime recognize that the soul center of the aisle is opera i think there's. an inclination among turkish politicians to play to the lowest common denominator there is a very hardline element within turkey that abuse this is a matter of national pride there are others who see that turkey made may need to pay for its crime and they're fearful of that but it's certainly the lowest common denominator and it's taken turkish politics hostage and sadly taken american politics hostage is what president obama promised as a candidate as a senator to recognize you're going genocide he immediately after getting elected

brought up so we hope that this reminds the president was obligation to his own commitment and also reminds him of that he needs to do the right thing and the congress should do the same. british students fate hangs in the balance as he faces extradition to the u.s. it's to do the controversial agreement between them in washington that the house of america to demand anyone be handed over to its justice system on the grounds of reasonable suspicion and then in his own tease of events now reports a treaty which we designed to deal with terror suspects now appears to have gone far beyond its initial remit. from running a website in his bedroom with links to pirated movies to up to ten years in a u.s. federal prison richard o'dwyer is the latest victim of the u.k.'s controversial extradition treaty with america his actions aren't even a crime in britain but counters copyright infringement in the us for the judge that

was enough for richard's mother it was devastating. perry's going to impact the gulf states i don't think that you brigid site t.v. shack was seized by u.s. authorities last year this is what you see on the home page now he didn't host any illegal videos itself but posted links to where users could find them u.s. prosecutors claim richard banked two hundred thirty thousand dollars in advertising revenue from the site although he's never been to america they claim his actions had direct consequences there he even treated unfairly slightly. here because he was just pro extradition for well after it all about but i'm just going to go with the other side anyway so. all that work that we. i know all the he would there when he's i'm not sure if you were there last time time before when he said made a good strong argument but all went out the window completely. you know giving him

no no can't get well. into. the u.k. u.s. extradition treaty was signed in two thousand and three supposedly to bring international terrorists to justice but many feel it's unfair to british citizens it makes it far easier for america to extradite someone from the u.k. than the other way around so far extraditions of five to two in america's favor veteran british m.p. simming campbell's leading a review of the treaty by his party the smaller partner in the governing coalition . what i argue for is that the position of a british citizen should be no worse than not a real american to and at the moment you think it's flattering i'm in no doubt that it's out of bounds richer a draw innocently caught up in something which was never intended to deal with people like him gary mckinnon is case is another that's left british m.p.'s crying

out for change the asperger's sufferer has been fighting extradition to seven years he's wanted for hacking into pentagon files that he claims he was searching for evidence of u.f.o.'s a recent parliamentary debate on the treaty was so one sided in favor of changing it that a vote wasn't even needed but what's happening in there is still not enough to stop richard o'dwyer is pending extradition his case is certainly highlighted the need for something to be done but any changes could be too late for him his case is now in the hands of home secretary theresa may who has been accused of abandoning plans to change the treaty richard and his family will get the chance to appeal the decision at a higher court but their options are rapidly running out after bennett's artsy london. trial date has been set for an american woman who shipped her adopted russian son to moscow new more than a note saying she didn't want to many more torry hansen placed the seven year old

on a transatlantic flight to russia by himself he had psychological problems and some is being sued for child support of world association of children and parents with a trial set for the end of march the boy remains in russia where he's receiving professional care at a special children's village distance sparked outrage and new adoption rules between the u.s. and russia. well remember there's always more news on our website r.t. dot com here's a look at two more off beat stories getting attention this hour case of mistaken identity find out how a botched russian police operation so officers break up a fun run thinking it was done under authorized gay pride parade also online. and how some candidates in the south carolina primary have received the support of almost a thousand dead winters details and much more at our web site. in

libya least four people have been killed and twenty others wounded by supporters of former leader moammar gadhafi seize control of the town of bani walid after clashes with the group in the world to the new government earlier the national transitional council's leader warned that the country was on the verge of civil war here in d.c. has already been struggling with violent protests and stronghold of benghazi which forced its second most senior official to resign demonstrators many of whom held overthrow the previous regime and good by the slow pace of reform and the lack of transparency and the country's assets patrick a reporter for the online magazine spiked says the boring events are not surprising

. now i find that very interesting actually because well what i mean the national transitional council itself was very much something that was already chosen by the west not something that was chosen by the libyan people it was very much kind of put in place and then they were kind of helicopter did and when gaddafi was gotten rid of so the thing i find very striking here actually is that the n t c isn't doing itself any favors in terms of pro-democracy campaign it's all. so seeing off the. supports as well and warnings for a long time that this could happen in bani walid people were saying very least two moments we may get a pro get off the uprising here and the m.t.c. did nothing about it they were warned and now bani walid has been taken so it's not surprising and it does seem like the m.t.c. is impotence and isn't reflecting the needs and desires of anyone in libya at the moment there was a lot of you know excel congratulates free talk by cameron you see a bomber who kept a bit of

a distance but was still involved after the fall of gadhafi i think they're going to be very reluctant to admit that what they didn't do was bring about democracy in the country russia is a presidential envoy to africa has recently visited libya he says that all sides have to sit down for talks to bring order to the country and avoid civil war you can watch the full interview next hour but here's a preview. it has to take goodwill from all the sides which were involved in a very long lasting conflict which to my personal opinion was a real civil war and in some areas of libya this civil war is not over in the south there is the whole desert area as an area of to the certain extent no man's land it's out of control of new governmental forces it's zone of tribes it's a zone all of controlled trafficking so i think that the difficult time fully b.-a

will last for quite a significant period of time if libyan political elite is not ready to sit at the round table. today marks one year since the deadly bombing of moscow's dome of the airport thirty seven people were killed in the blast carried out by suicide bomber at the international arrivals hall there's a gate is later identified the suicide bomber as a twenty year old from russia's republic of into shetty it trained by is the mr terrorists this week seventeen militants linked to the attack were killed in special operations last year four have been detained but one of the world's most wanted terrorists moral who claimed responsibility for masterminding the bombing is still on the run the attack was followed by an increase in security levels at major transport across the country. farm and standing while

houses burn and police watching people drown a spate of real life incidents in the united states a spot concern of what kind of society is becoming is going to chicken reports sticking to the rules and fear of the to gauge p. to be trumping care and compassion. jeanne chronics house verne down to ashes as firefighters stood by and just watched they refused to save mr chronics home because he hadn't paid a seventy five dollars fire fee that the county requires i thought they'd come out and put it out maybe if you had by just saying the five dollars but thrown as the house went up in flames the cryonics were begging the firefighters to make an exception saying they were ready to pay whatever it took to put out the blaze but they were told it was too late thanks my mother and my mother's my grandmother's my great grandmother's well they're in the house same happened to be key bell from tennessee firefighters stood by and idly watched her trailer home burn because she too hadn't paid the seventy five dollars fee no one said they were in fact

dispatched that day so they were on the same. in the us fire policy varies from state to state from county to county in south fulton tennessee if you don't pay you're out of luck anybody that is not inside the city limits and fell into service that we offer read about except it or go down behind numerous similar incidents lies a problem rigid local rules versus the responsibility of the government to help its citizens when they're in trouble or rather versus basic human compassion we're really poor in terms of humanity i mean when it's seventy five dollars that is the more important thing and i get in a situation like this it just shows you that we've become far too concerned about about every single dollar you know and also that it just shows it's really kind of it's an all about me you know we just don't live in a community anymore this is like there's no sense of this like shared responsibility for the individuals in that community in california police and

firemen watch the man drown saying they didn't have proper certifications for water rescue which would leave them open to possible lawsuits if they attempted to save him city officials blamed the incident on budget cuts so as the more. other than an hour long tragedy unfolded authorities stood there and did nothing this is the part where rules and regulations defy logic that was the end result of body washing up to the shore. show you think about it it's horrible how can we allow that to happen in the us is a very litigious society we have more lawyers per capita per capita than any other country and i think the world and so you know when you have to worry when you're a rescuer and you have to worry about a lawsuit and you cannot rescue a person as a result i mean that's that's really a problem if the firefighters had rescued the man even saved his life but somehow maybe broke a rib or hurt him in some other way you know they stand to be sued in court and

that's just the way our system works even after the serve brought raymond zack's body closer to the shore firefighters refused to get in the water and retrieve the corpse so they waited until a passer by volunteered to do the job the logic you don't get anything unless you paid makes sense to a lot of americans but when you have money and rules on one side of the scale and humanity the human urge to help on the other and money wins this is when one gets the says that something is wrong with the way the system works i'm going to shut down reporting from washington our team. well some world news in brief for the south first to italy's west coast the bodies of two women are being recovered from a top sized costa concordia cruise ship in the death toll to the rescue teams a continuous search for seventeen people still missing experts are expected to begin pumping you'll see it in the next twenty four hours to avoid

a potential spill vessel is holding around point nine million liters of fuel it's thirty tanks. two kenyan presidential candidates will stand trial at the hague on charges of crimes against humanity are among four prominent tendons accused of orchestrating a deadly wave of violence during the country's two thousand is certainly the action of an twelve hundred people were killed in the country's post-election clashes. forced to flee their homes no date has been set trial. fifteen people have been killed and three others wounded of the gunman opened fire on several but soon the southern philippines military officials believe the men may have been attacked by rival fishermen after they strayed into the fishing grounds the region is a stronghold for is the most rebels although authorities have ruled out militant involvement. let's cross over to the business desk now enjoying kareen.

thank you carrie hello and welcome to our business update here on r.t. all continues monday's gains following decision to adopt an embargo against iran over its nuclear program all the imports from iran to europe should stop as a first of july as a response to the sanctions tehran is threatening to close the strait of hormuz through which twenty percent of the world's oil exports pass however jorge along the path from plants believes that warning out of the embargo a more of a negotiating point. the wording also says that they'll be a review in may so that almost means that i am ready to do something in july but i can change my mind in may i don't think anybody wants this thing so happen because europe right now is very weak. financially economically the last thing that europe

really wants is a confrontation because that would be even more disruptive for the economy here the oil that was supposed to come to europe from iran will go to a shell oil that was going to. start west africa or even russia will now go to europe so europe can always replace the oil that's not the issue the issue is the level of pain. let's look at the numbers now all of us fluctuating below one hundred dollars a barrel in new york and speculation that u.s. stockpiles gain last week counter concern that iran may respond to the world market . is close to one hundred eleven dollars for value. is trading at over one thousand nine and a half dollars about now into asia asian shares advance modestly with energy falling that the europeans are going to rein you know well to pound as it impacts corp up two point eight percent in the consumer electronics sector sony is losing almost two percent of reports about its tie up with the trouble that limbaugh's

home calling them several other asian stock markets are closed for the move on your holiday. that's less than one hour ahead of the opening bell here in moscow let's look at monday's trading session. and on a budget of note for the r.t.s. adding one to half the side here's michael stein from a quick says that the upcoming davos economic forum. and us corporate results will keep us to busy all week long. given the improved outlook for the oil price because of the iran news that we saw yesterday and given the very low valuations for russia generally and the fact that many of our clients continue to see fund flows into the russian dedicated funds we think that the market will gradually melt higher that's it investors will pay attention to our global events and this week there are a lot of them investors will look at the f one c. meeting coming up. president barack obama's speech in his state of the nation's

address in addition we've got the world economic forum and more than one hundred twenty companies and united states are releasing their fourth quarter financial results so we'll be quite a busy week on the external side and then here at home in russia investors and pick close attention from macro data most notably the unemployment report in russia for december in addition to industrial production figures on the corporate side will also see operating updates from metals and mining companies including natural and m.k. the father was of european banks are affecting their business abroad one of germany's biggest lenders commerzbank is leaving the russian market a forty percent stake in one of the top fifty local lenders that. hold it up aeration russia several months ago the sale as part of its efforts effort to increase capital by roughly five billion euros in order to comply with the legislation. that's all for now but stay with us for headline news with kerry coming up right after this.

oh time for a look at our main headlines now damascus rejects arab league calls for president assad to step down and form a new government with the opposition it has decided to extend its observer mission to the country as a ten month long unrest in syria ranges on. iran stands defiant as the e.u. imposes its toughest sanctions yet banning the import of crude oil from iran in response to its disputed nuclear program new oil contracts had been ruled out on

existing dealings are now to run to die but which time the e.u. is hoping to secure alternative sources of fuel supplies. last derided for being one sided traditional which when u.s. and u.k. designed to help bring terror suspects to justice faces fresh calls for it's been criticized as a one way street to american jails sometimes for offenses not even considered crimes in britain. well next our interview with one of europe's most prominent economists and a former advisor to the russian government stream the one nine hundred ninety s. on this us and talks about what we can expect from the upcoming world economic forum in davos spotlight next. live.