out from the poor g.m. are the traditional election season fair but they're no longer considered politically. today's compelling has gone online in a hot new trend in russia. with programs and bloggers making fun of the opposition portraying them in prayer outside the u.s. embassy on sundays claiming they are connected to the us state department and the opposition filming funny cartoons about politicians made out of lego. getting information out there is becoming easier all the time but the internet is a very different medium to television while on t.v. it's enough to just look into the camera like the viewer's attention not so although that to me you are police video reach millions of lives it's not a lot it just. it also has to be brazen and sometimes project

a whole different image. it's no surprise then that putin as a character from harry puta became an overnight hit. doing the symbol. of i don't see what i see you stuck with something just the body but how could i. make . sure that the when you're in the would you. propose that what it was just be them . but i don't think it's. apart from catching images memorable catch phrases are used against those in the corridors of power opposition blogger alex in the valley was the first upload his sharp witted tongue online a year ago he labeled the ruling united russia party of the eaves and scoundrels the insulting phrase it first appeared on the net but quickly migrated to almost every magine of all media in russia and beyond

a year after the party won in the parliamentary elections and reworked the catchphrase philistinism vote for the party of fees and scoundrels for ten years of economic growth the party of these in scoundrels united russia. the mastermind behind that video and state duma deputy robert proved his party can also fight its wars online. the use of being in my name is to provoke to preen reality darker than that is often i don't agree with such statements in my videos but they do work but i see these putin and russia without putin would rise why not give away your country your beautiful girlfriend to some foreign guys what will happen to the caucasus nothing less just give it away to you responding your technical the videos made a very professional you can see that a highly paid specialist did it it appeals to primitive responses but works one

hundred percent your first thought is that there is indeed no future without put but videos from the opposition are just as blatant. and now the whole trend of this election season eavesdropping on politicians and posting recordings online or those taking part in a massive opposition rally in december were surprised to find out that one of their inspirations worrisome self described them in a phone as. hear from each other of from a reporter for your preferred comfort. it's naive to expect from any side when we are living in election year there are no holds barred in this war not even interfering in someone's private life but. a lack of privacy for today's politicians is already a modern day reality and with fifty million russians going online today about forty percent of the adult population in the future is predicted to be filled with online

political other tars pushing the boundaries of a virtual world without borders it's a democrat party. all of our stories latest videos and much more are available for you on our website r.t. dot com here's what's waiting few online right now from web whistleblower to t.v. talk show host wiki leaks founder julian the song just to get his own show right here on tape about what you can expect from the program and won't want reaction to the news but i want to. find a celebration of the year of the dragon in thailand went up in flames as far works exploded setting homes on fire see how it happened on t. dot com.

the u.n. security council is expected to vote over the next few days on a resolution aimed at stemming the escalating conflict in syria the draft calls on the regime there to comply with an arab league proposal which would see president our side cede power paving the way for a coalition government with the opposition becomes as the arab league's monitoring mission to syria suffered a setback after six countries pulled out or went back to russia has made it clear to veto any security council. on foreign military intervention and estimated seven and a half thousand people have been killed. downtown to. civilians rebels and government forces sarah ferguson international from damascus. saying they get by heading hey it's said it's from the gulf states leave the airport mission in complete leaving behind a country in a deepening crisis it's never going to be easy they were going to.

walk right from the word gay the missions prefer problematic the opposition accused them on it is of being too closely aligned with. government the government's now accused of being part of a foreign conspiracy and they will it just tickle complains to the observers seemed l. equipped on the ground and they were concerned that they were simply too few numbers to undertake such a major task but if things were bad at the beginning now they seem even worse following in saudi arabia's footsteps all the gulf states withdrew their observers after damascus rejected their recent proposal that included president assad cede power to a deputy and form a unity government was interesting that these countries is very interested in democracy and they have nothing this is the most interesting this is something pani will talk about. or will have

a new constitution we are going to more democratic country multi-party system but what about to do about the west talk about syria which would be changed. as it has damascus says rejection was no surprise both sides of the conflict of shame equal a willingness to soften their stance even when the daily death toll in the country continually rising the killing of the head of the syrian arab red crescent was on the road to damascus yet another remind of the spiraling situation toll of the observers at such a crucial mavin to the country's crisis is seen as controversial as the death toll rises the earlier proposal being floated to increase the number of observers on the ground and provide them with un training could be a life saving but for now those plans have been pressed on hold in fact much of the substance of the report graded pieces on both sides seems to have been lost in the

flurry of diplomatic activity now france and britain have joined forces at the united nations try to end president assad's rule waving good. like gulf state colleagues some observers remain but it's small consolation syria didn't close the doors in for the oblique i think. diplomacy would give anyone to help the syrian but they lost this issue in the hands of the syrian people not in the hands not arab league screwed council so a national dialogue through these reforms spike to mask the mission to be extended for another month and the observers officially saying that they can continue with the task behind the scenes and the sentiment is much less optimistic it's a gloomy outlook for the country with little regional or international agreement on what action should be taken to stop the violence and putting an end to the crisis seem to be slipping further and further as a very. artsy damascus syria. well coming your way this hour.

overall they're saying they're improving the state of the world and to me. fairly arrogant and hubris stick to take part of this are waiting to get their voices heard as global decision makers gather down horse and business baggage. and food versus fuel by america's corn production has become a hot topic over whether it ends up on people's plates at the pumps to help power the nation's cause. street demos and cyber attacks have been staged in poland against the government's decision to sign an international pact and forces internet to property rights as expected to join the us canada japan and others in agreement similar to america's stop online piracy act which led to wikipedia as temperate protests broke out last week lets you know she has more. the decision of the polish

government to join in with the internet anti-piracy treaty known as the a.c.t.a. has already caused some dissent in the central european state several thousand people have gathered here choose the evening in front of the presidential palace here in warsaw to protest against what they believe could lead to serious censorship on the internet now the protesters held banners saying down with the censorship and also had their mouths shut with sticking tape as of symbolizing their protest against what they believe could be in fact the biggest censorship polish websites in this country but this is not the only step which the protesters took against the signing of this treaty we understand that the hacker group anonymous also hacked several governmental websites including the prime minister website and digital and cultural ministries. along with a dozen other governmental websites which were also hacked by the group they also

published a very stern warning a message saying that they have some very sensitive information about the polish authorities and should they continue with the signing of this treaty the information would then may be published. under stand according to no turning back and the agreement will be signed the poland will join you understand that this will happen during thursday in japan and we understand that this is the indication coming from the country's prime minister who said that the country would be definitely joining this treaty however experts say that in order for this treaty to take in fact in poland it has to be ratified in the country's parliament and that's where this can still be averted even though we understand that the ruling party the prime minister is in fact having the majority in the parliament and hence there's practically no chance that this treaty would not be ratified and told him

that it would take effect. the world's business elite is searching for ways to reform the current state of capitalism as those most affected by the financial turmoil are shunted to the sidelines the world economic forum the swiss resort of davos is opening its doors for a second day of debates ati's learn this to has more. the there is an official agenda at davos and then there is an unofficial agenda at davos which is one that you also hear about and also that you see when you're on the sidelines and not in all of these sessions that are kind of the official program we heard on the stage some concerns about capitalism some criticism about capitalism also we heard some defenses because of course at davos there are plenty of people to defend the current system of capitalism which they have benefited from brian moynihan the c.e.o. of bank america of america is one who was saying you know the western capitalism is subject to boom and bust this is part of it but come on there are so many people that we talked to when interviewed on our show that talk about how long and how

painful the costs are of this bust that is it here by accident and has a lot to do with maybe some of the bailouts that his bank has benefited from and the boom years of easy money that they did as well so there obviously are plenty of defenders and we'll have to see if anything really comes out of that conversation i've seen some reports of billionaires defending are concerned about inequality and having concerns about capitalism in that regard we'll have to see if it just amounts to some talk because i'm seeing a lot a little business action go along on the sidelines with participants who are bringing up inequality in this issue of inequality so i did talk to them and their concerns were some of the concerns that have been concerns from outside of davos over the years that these are a bunch of elite getting together to talk about solving the world's problems in a way that's not democratic as if they have actual implications and they do turn into policy in some way shape or form there's a lot of people locked out of that conversation but there is an occupy tinge to it and definitely a world economic forum focus so let's just hear from from their words what one of

them had to say to me but overall they're saying they're improving the state of the world and to me that's truly going to you bruce stick to to tell you that their decisions when you're not working they're doing and what they're discussing is going to have global ramifications that are going to affect the entire seven billion people on this planet. there is a big line at star con a mess all those people still be speaking not on the record some of these are in closed door sessions that press aren't privy to at all but some are they're really about talking about the impact of democracy the in baghdad people that are upset over inequality or is this about figuring out where the best investment opportunities lie that's it will have to find out we'll keep you posted but for now i'm lauren lester here and. now a year after the ousting of egypt's hosni mubarak cairo's iconic central square has been occupied once again because of protesters have gathered to call for the interim military government to immediately relinquish power thousands have been

recent most troops clamp down on several demonstrations americans currently on trial to decide on some other guys are still strains a new parliament elected from the constitution while the military is to reign supreme mubarak era state emergency law has finally been lifted gyptian the author and to make up for the risk says that change is little. i don't see it as being that big of a shift i mean we lived under military rule for thirty years and that gave the government the authority to do just about what they wanted today we live under military rule so to me it's just a formal matter and that they they live to emergency law while we live under the rule of a military dreamt up since the military took over gender twenty eight's over fifteen thousand civilians that we know of have faced military courts and they have received trials of anywhere between six months to fifteen years and for a moment or like lifting emergency law means absolutely nothing when we have

a newly elected parliament that is still under the thumb of military they've tasted power they have massive economic interests in the country again everything that's happened in egypt really needs to be looked at from an economic perspective in that there's a group of cronies of one box and his government that were in power they've been moved out of power and there's a new group of cronies that are in place and central to that group of power hungry rulers today are the military generals and they will not just let go and hand over power like that without having guarantees that their interests will be secured. well some world news in brief for you now this out and eighteen story building has collapsed in the center of religion in europe this report says eleven people died dozens of firefighters and paramedics are working at sea in the can for survivors thick layers of dust and debris cover the surrounding area making the search difficult i would is saying it was a strong smell of gas an explosion before the building collapsed. libya's defense

minister has arrived in the town of bani walid up in the list of what you can what the delfi seize control of the area on monday the minister has begun negotiations with militia men who drove out pro-government forces three days ago four people were killed and twenty five others wounded in battle retaking of the town is a major challenge to the new government's authority. one of the owners of the cruise liner that capsized off the italian coast denies telling the ship's captain to change the vessels route comes after captain francesco schettino told a friend he was pressured by manages to steer the ship to the area where the tuition occurred the company says the captain was going far too fast to be so close to shore to tino is under house arrest they seemed charge of manslaughter and abandoning his ship before passengers were evacuated from the vessel. global oil prices are at risk of a thirty percent hike if iran is forced to halt its crude exports as

a result of u.s. and e.u. sanctions journalist and author john bradley has spent many years living and working in the middle east he says the sanctions are an ill conceived attempt to bring iran to its knees you can hear more of his bees in our interview next hour. what we're saying essentially is the first phase of economic warfare against iran and the problem is that the west has iran all wrong just as it has the middle east all wrong he believes the sanctions will increase the divide between the regime and the people. he also hopes that if there is serious instability as a result then because iran is very ethnically and geographically divided that certain groups will rise up against the regime or there will be a popular uprising but again it's wishful thinking it's not going to happen until the whole spring washington there are allies in saudi arabia and israel are

absolutely absolutely determined to bring iran to its knees and it seems like it's now or never and they're going for broke. but russian progress cargo spacecraft has launched from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan is now on its way to the international space station it's the first space flight of twenty twelve expected to reach their lives and still today journey because the ship is carrying more than two and a half tons of fuel food and equipment as well as personal packages for crew members from their families currently six people station that the isis want to bring in conducting scientific experiments now the farms over rule america produce around thirty nine percent of the world's corn every year but not all of it ends up on dinner tables instead of feeding the hungry almost half of the u.s. court supply goes to making ethanol in order to power american cars so it's easy

christine for the reports this sounds many are asking which is more important food or fuel. it is a process that comes. with the price. for the american way not just from farm to. but from farm to fuel and this is where it all starts where the thieves are planted and the corn rows it is the most simple part of a process that has become anything but simple a production and use of ethanol once largely considered an environmental one has become very political being blamed for everything from the power of the state of iowa to world hunger fifteen percent right now of the food increases in this country but you've seen in the last year or directly associated with this policy that policy a subsidy paid by the u.s. government to encourage the production and use of corn ethanol it lasted thirty

three years and cost more than twenty billion dollars oklahoma senator tom coburn led the charge to do away with the subsidy and won but the government mandate requiring oil companies to use ethanol is still in place so just about anywhere you go ten percent of what you put into your car is ethanol. even if your car is a race car. nascar's partnership with ethanol a sign that the pressure on the foreign supply will continue forty percent of last year's corn crop. went to ethanol that leaves the other sixty percent to go toward food for people and animals and with the price per bushel more than doubling in the last five years it's no wonder food prices are going up when demand goes up the corn. farmers plant more corn. then they can't buy other

research scholar tim searching or says that leads to the shortage and increased prices of other crops and it's not just this country in other countries where people rely on corn meal as one of the only meal for their family. price hike has been devastated. ethanol farmers and plant workers argue that the claims are exaggerated since leftovers are actually used to make high protein animal feed everything else from the fire or from the protein. and fat though the corn oil is left over that is what over and ready to put animal feed and still it doesn't change the fact that one sixth of the world's corn supply is burned in american cars that is enough corn to feed three hundred fifty million people for an entire year. raising the question of fairness in the increasing competition between fuel and food. in iowa christine freeze out our team. with us as hannah with

a business. almost twenty five minutes past nine am here in moscow watching business on r.t.e. russian export us will be able to get cheap loans thanks to a new agency created by a giant state bank. it will give out credits have just three percent annual interest rate that's compared to an average nine percent russian banks charge now in an interview at the world economic forum in davos the head of the new holding peter frog cove explained why now russian firms have a hard time competing with foreign rivals additional business is so simple it's clear for example in order to support it but you're right from brazil but different than the it's a developed the can of the brazilian a little to provide their exporters this thirty four percent. for the temperature

here that's the deal so the russian jets get a lot for wired let's say civil aircraft of the story for example there's such resources but more we are doing this because if you buy the shares or. we believe there are three years. if you keep the car lot i'll give you the right to fight. ongoing problems in the global economy and not stopping certain industries from returning to growth so gave it a call from their all cynical says demand is strengthening across a number of sectors. the demand for our markets is quite good so we care for our increased cost sales some production which translates into increased demand for our peachy arms. we see that there is some girl since family still production which is an additional source of demand for them look at. which is a proxy for the global economy good or simply still sick of some girls on the wall so some regions might be in trouble but the overall. global economy is growing.

and now a quick look at the markets a welfarist and it's heading higher the sour and i got a major boost on wednesday when the u.s. fed reserve kept interest rates at a record low the low cost of borrowing supports the u.s. economy boosting oil demand this hour that is topping one hundred dollars a barrel brant is that around one hundred dollars and now on to equities asian indices a mixed tokyo's nikkei has slipped into bread sliding down from wednesday's close near a three month high in hong kong the hang seng is gaining value more than one percent this hour strangers come back after the lunar new year holiday and it's less than one hour ahead of the opening bell here in the moscow russian markets finished wednesday's trading session with gains thanks to rising oil prices the r.t.s. added more than one percent had to thursday's trade in russia which moscow for alpha capital says the focus will be on external events. today we're going to sue

rule of ball call for u.s. microeconomic data which is to be. too so it will have an initial jobless claims will have home sales data will have your goods orders so all this should give us a bit clearer picture was going on in the us economy of course the market will be sensitive also think the solution of the grid problem is to come all shortly probably says the measure factor which hinders markets from rolling. russian banks increase their assets by a quarter last year and while the tb managed to grow almost sixty percent as a bank is still ahead of its rival its assets exceeded three hundred seventy billion dollars which is twenty percent more than the year before bank of moscow rounds out the top five it managed to increase its assets by forty percent after it went through a sanitation procedure and received a record state support. and that's at this hour i'll be back in fifteen minutes.

please please. i am the sea of nature and discover its beauty.

communicate with the wild and. test yourself and become free. to. see what nature can give you. for that take a look at the headlines now vying for votes online and you dynamic in russian politics as millions of people take to the internet at the presidential elections videos and creative campaigning holding more sway than ever. un is under pressure to act on syria following the departure of six gulf nations from the arab league observers mission to the country. the security council is expected to

vote in the coming days on a resolution that calls on a syrian president to step down. to enforce an. opponent thousands of people onto the streets the wave of cyber attacks and government websites. saying the agreement designed to protect intellectual property rights will lead to censorship. is next. and welcome to. the show on hard scene. there were a lot of lot of election manifesto. the current prime minister who runs for president in march has published a new article seen as part of this.