this is your chance to will never approve bombing syria i guarantee it rushes of foreign minister rules out the use of force against syria to settle the crisis but says it never insisted retaining the current assad regime was a condition for peace. and the syrian opposition has rejected a chance for talks with the country's president instead of threatening the assad family with a brutal and bloody end. to expand the u.s. military presence in asia pacific threaten to backfire on the philippines china. against the island nation for offering to station more american troops. this year is first the e.u.

summit exposes deepening divisions within the union despite most members agreeing to. that critics say is an affront to democracy. a very warm welcome from all of us here at r.t. moscow. syria's opposition has made a chilling pledge to the country's leader they have valid of president bashar al assad and his family will be killed like libyan leader colonel gadhafi saying that he's lost the chance for a peaceful exit fierce battles between government forces and rebel fighters continue to rage on the outskirts of the capital and further reports in damascus the syrian conflict is beginning to resemble libya mark two. is seeing

an increasingly civil conflict evidence treaty by the violence has broken out for the past couple of days. that's not being housed by the statement by one of the members of the main opposition body to syrian national council like the head said that aside and his family would be killed like gadhafi now certainly does against a few of the fears of a base so it's really. going to be rich and revenge attacks coming in this teacher and certainly that is a genuine fear amongst the people here you're seeing a very polarized country right now and the dividing lines are really being too and you know here in the night it has really exploded to the fore again and people believe that moderate middle ground now is being squeezed all the time and very concerning because the dialogue just seem to have been completely overshadowed by this very very strong aggressive rhetoric with the u.n.

a meeting members of the arab league to discuss a draft resolution on syria is thought that just going to call for president assad to hound his deputy the problem is that the measures that are described in the draft is to leave the door open for military intervention and that's something the russia's remain firmly against the continuing calls of a dialogue between both sides we can hear now from russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov responding to criticisms on russia's stance when you're going to do a good we never said returning bashar al assad in power is a condition for crisis something that we said something different it's not a part of russia's foreign policy to ask leaders to step down regime change is not our job to decision must be solely syrian only syrians all groups of syrians must gather at the negotiating table and hammer out a deal with the girl if the demand is for him to go and he doesn't know what's next we're calling the air force by. we've seen that already and the security council

will never approve this but i guarantee it. is going to be very interesting to see how this develops because what how the opposition have responded how they feel they have increasing backing from the west this conflict is just getting bloodier more and more violent. with the sounds of gunfire and hillary. oh yeah there's a phrase tests from the streets and the increasingly loud anaemia international opinions britain needs to lead the way in making sure we tighten the sanctions the travel bans the asset freezes on syria can be hard to hear the syrians. the syrian case has developed and every side wants to push away the responsibility to another tossing the ball back and forth. in the last few days the situation has become so unstable the finding people willing to talk right now has present

difficulties. we've had tanks entering in firing and just enjoy or we've had six people who've died we travel to the suburbs where some of the clashes have breaking out to try to get a clearer picture of what had been happening here in the last few days in one of the damascus at the moment now we were traveling. we thought it was a slightly safer area to visit but we just received a phone call telling us that it's not safe to travel there at the moment the situation is so volatile it goes to show you really that you simply don't know what's going on in these areas even the people who are living in these areas don't really have full grasp of the situation at the moment we make it into the suburbs job or using back the opposition that just last week had control of some of these areas have now gone underground. and there was a funeral for a resident of died in the file his funeral people and his relatives were voicing.

slogans and called for freedom someone was shot dead during the funeral and we had to go and hide from the security forces. after it had taken to meet some members of the f.s.a. before the n.t. begins and some other members join as well and this talk turns to people they know he has just been arrested in the changes and the atmosphere starts to feel hostile so. such uncertainty right now it seems mistrust is rife. it seems not have convinced the free syrian army that coming closer to the capital would be simpler now this is harmful to the cause of bringing peace to syria. everyone it seems is no waiting to see what if any outcome there will be at the un briefing by the arab league having to halt. the whole reconciliation talks it's not want to be simply dismissed as many have already done they have do political aims they have two political reasons for. for for feeding the complicated in syria i

think they don't want they're not interested in the form nor are they interested in democracy or freedom was the government accepted the invitation received mixed reactions from the opposition they size of being taken in the past in calling for a syrian solution to a syrian problem that it's repeatedly failed to communicate no opportunities to dialogue are running out fast. and with such desperate pleas from many people here the opposing sides continue to make it clear they don't want to listen the cools the international action it's just going to keep getting louder surface r.t. this. and a constant from the foreign affairs committee in russia's state duma says that the syrian opposition is being told by the west the regime is doomed and there's no need to negotiate. i believe that we all have had

a unique chance to get together by arranging political consultations and most schools this initiative was rejected yesterday by the opposition and the. reason the gear was look there are no prospects to speak to this regime because this regime is out of question they really why because messages coming to syria from growth through washington from brussels from elsewhere has had all this build this regime does not have a future you don't need to talk to them this is a wrong message and by that message they want to mine for political consultations and more school or elsewhere and this is how we continue to see clashes in syria we will see blood we will see casualties weak teams unfortunately will it will continue to happen not to due to the russian position but due to the position there you know that there are very very unfair position taken by the united states and their allies and here at r.t. we've been asking what you think about the situation in syria and whether peace is

at all possible and you can vote on the poll on our website right now cast your vote let's bring up the numbers and see how you doing so far almost a half of you believe a peaceful agreement is impossible because the west is determined to control syria a little over a third think such a possibility does exist thanks to russia's determination to avert a libyan style scenario fourteen percent agree outside support for the rebels makes war inevitable and the minority believe the syrian government will defend itself no matter what cast your vote at r.t. dot com. a u.s. plan to increase its military presence in the philippines is causing uproar china's state run daily said manila should be made to pay for creating tension and in danger in regional security america will also boost its presence in the asia pacific region by putting more of its forces in australia and singapore

a strategy seemingly aimed at constraining beijing's growing power at the international level the philippines know that the us is stepping missed the return to asia refocusing its military and security deployment in the middle east in asia pacific targeting china in iran as the primary security concerns now at the regional level the philippines also see that their recent changes in the regional politics particularly in taiwan where mr my young to you and to call ministration was successful we were elected their means. taipei would have more stable relationship with expression in terms of economic integration across the strait in the coming years and if it means that the us would need a more reliable ally in the asia pacific region so the philippines is reeling to lend its hands to it. for their kind of particular security concern the us is

having in the asia pacific region i have already not just there's tremendous pressure from the public opinion within china ask urging the chinese government to top up for a top position up towards the philippines however i think the chinese government should be a bit more co for these internal demands so i think the philippines is all doing that through trying to get the best interest from from this china and u.s. relations. you're watching r.t. still to come for you in the program here deadline in d c r us occupiers refused to move despite threats of a victual under arrest. the purpose of this was to unite us in this space so if they want to arrest one of us after arrest all of us a visible message of opposition and defiance from protesters camped out into national park. plus as london prepares to welcome the world it's

a limb pig efforts to ensure safety seem to be falling short of the gold standard. e.u. leaders at their first summit of two thousand and twelve were all smiles with the existing tensions were quite clear to see there was another war of words between the french president and u.k. prime minister whose industry is larger and poland set to join the eurozone demanded a greater say in decision making was at least one decision made however with twenty five of the twenty seven e.u. nations agreeing to a german fiscal rule that would limit the size of the nation's pending they also agreed to set up a permanent bailout fund for struggling members johan van overtveldt the author of the end of the euro so there's a lack of solidarity in the e.u. and some leaders are just pursuing their own political interests. it's of course

very big problem for the european union to keep up the unity it's always a question of national preferences. coming into kalash or at least into some kind of coalition with each other and for example france it's obvious that for president sarkozy the upcoming presidential elections are quite important and he uses the european platform to a certain extent to try to get some score back on these opponents in that french presidential election race but there certainly is at the moment a lack of unity at the european union level but also at the level of the eurozone countries where of course the dominance of germany is something that most of the other countries are looking upon in a very i should they say fearful way. you're watching the t.v. live from moscow in less than twenty minutes max keiser and stacy herbert take a swipe but those they say orchestrated the e.u.

financial mess. be debt or be deader is a noun and indebted consumer who is only able to pay the debt interest each month so here you have the two pillars of society zombie debtors who never escaped and clown bankers who never have to pay dead zombies and clones yet wherever there is a zombie debt or you can be sure there's a zombie creditor and there's zombie central banker feeding them all. you with ten minutes until the business but for now occupy protesters have stood up to the authorities in washington d.c. refusing to remove their camps from two parks despite threats of police action activists though are still preparing to resist with officers standing at the ready

nearby and as aussies lose while explains occupiers remain united in their own going beliefs. so we are here at macpherson square where protesters have been occupying the park since october throughout the demonstration about one hundred tents have been pitched here the national park service has repeatedly slapped these notices on tents here macpherson square informing protesters that they can no longer camp out here that means they have to get rid of sleeping bags and any other material which allows them to live here protesters are responding by painting that symbol on the notice which demonstrates the fact that they do not agree with this mandate there are tens can stay about their doors must remain open proving no one is living in it the notice warns protesters that violate the rule are subject to arrest and it's basically a symbol of opposition. to. you is what everything this moon is opposing

right now and so i think the tents are really important part of occupy but police presence was sparse with no reported arrests they stand mostly on the sidelines refusing to answer questions from the media or with what but occupiers made their message loud and clear they are not giving up the fight here as you can see protesters have erected a massive shadow over the statue here at macpherson park it's all a demonstration to the anticipated even action by park oh yes this is our tent of dreams we want to be able to sleep here so we can dream of a better world where everyone has access to health care education housing and where the recession corporations and banks no longer have control over political system the federal government and the political leaders in wall street were all tone deaf they could not hear this so the occupy movement has offered them a hearing aid and they're getting our message loud and clear now the purpose of

this was to unite us in this space so if they want to arrest one of us after arrest all of us are not us and washington. well the don't forget we've also got the world covered for you on our website dot com some of the items standing by few online right now for example no idea the pentagon confirms that all the money kept in saddam hussein's bank accounts and stored in his palace has vanished plus two billion in u.s. dollars just disappearing into thin air plus. a whistleblower in springfield julian makes it to the small screen in the five hundredth episode of the simpsons discover when you can catch it on all the information on our website.

we are coming to you live from the heart of moscow warships ground to air missiles and drones britain is not gearing up for war but london's summer olympics the preparations are calling on all corners of the nation's defenses. bennett reports many fear the measures will pose serious risks to ones privacy. spectators may know who they're watching at the olympics but they won't know who's watching them surveillance drones like this could be circling the skies of london this summer police may use the spy cameras in their lympics anti terror tactics it will leave no hiding place the drones can make out a car's number plate from heights of up to one kilometer privacy campaigners fear is the start of a slippery slope i think it be our salute tragedy for britain the largest part of

the olympic legacy was a surveillance legacy where we store all this equipment in the name of national security and then with it because we keep using it a spy in the skies been piloted before in britain by four police forces but never took off after one crashed into a river and the u.k. aviation authority failed to grant the necessary license that's the only legal requirement before this sort of surveillance becomes a reality at the olympics a minor hurdle for what's already britain's biggest peacetime security operation total cost over one point six billion dollars it is worrying that the security bill has increased so drastically from initial estimates one of the reasons being given for this is so heightened risk of terrorism which seems incredible as an excuse at a time when the original estimates were made around the time of the london bombings when london was considered to be a very high risk give you an idea of the numbers take the olympic stadium capacity

eighty thousand ground security at the games is enough to fill sixty percent of that inside the venue will be over twenty three thousand security guards along with seven and a half thousand military personnel and then outside a further six thousand troops along with twelve thousand police total just shy of fifty thousand but that still couldn't stop two fake bombs being sneaked in under the radar at the stadiums. army runs not exactly great value for money london organizers have tried to play down fees the olympic village will be a siege city but with such a massive security operation the plan the limb pick legacy of international friendship may not be the one that sank chile left. either bennett london. or right before we go to dmitri with the business for now is to a quicker world update for you here on arts he and i will start with. overnight air

raids by american drones in southern yemen have killed fifteen suspected al-qaeda militants the target was an insurgent base in an area taken from the government following the ousting of former president ali abdullah saleh the country has been locked in months of its little turmoil and violence which soars embattled leader stepped down last month and head to the u.s. for medical treatment. at the u.n. nuclear watchdog says three day visit to iran to monitor the country's nuclear facilities ends on tuesday despite an offer from tehran to prolong the mission u.s. lawmakers say they intend to impose more sanctions on iran even before the inspectors publish their findings tensions are running high between the islamic republic and the west amid accusations that iran's nuclear program is not. the search for the remaining fifteen passengers still missing from the stricken costa concordia cruise ship have now been called off italian officials say the

effort was just too dangerous for rescue workers the search had already been suspended several times due to poor weather and choppy water seventeen bodies have been recovered from the concordia since it run aground off the island of giglio you earlier this month. right now a time for your hourly business update here on r.t. dimitri is next. welcome to the program the chief said opec have knocked back warnings from iran the decision to impose an embargo will lead to skyrocketing oil prices the organisation's general secretary says a fair price of a barrel of bread should be about one hundred dollars instead of the current one hundred and twelve dollars that we're seeing right now he adds that the market is very well supplied and to discuss where crude prices are going now joined live by david the global director of oil and industry research as platts david good to see

you so opec says one hundred dollars iran says under fifty who is right. dimitri i think what that tells you is that the oil market as many of your viewers will know is is trapped in a little bit of a channel right now one hundred to one hundred fifty is kind of the conventional wisdom you know a couple of years ago when it was on his giant rally it touched one hundred fifty ever so briefly before the recession that followed and what's on people's minds including consumers in asia is that if it gets that hundred fifty mark again it could begin to spark the kind of financial recessions in the east to go along with some of the problems we're having here in the west so that's why one hundred fifty is being seen as a bit of a psychological barrier right now and also in some ways even a target if you're looking at it from the iranian point of view one hundred to one hundred fifty is quite a big margin i mean with opec now saying that they can cover up the for the shortfall if either your imposers the europe imposes an embargo or run off supply do you think that's actually possible to cover this supply hole. well it's an

interesting question that you ask there because most of the people we talked to in the market don't expect oil to get anywhere near hundred fifty anytime soon in fact the concern is really rather that oil will fall below that because to your question saudi arabia which of course has the greatest reserve of oil it can bring to market in the event of a disruption has made constant assurances that it's going to be able to fill any gap left by the iranians even if they attempt to close down the strait of hormuz which looks increasingly unlikely as the weeks go by right now there appears to be plenty of supply available in the event of a disruption and of course there's a lot of stock to hand as well a lot of countries have been busily stockpiling crude oil and they've been well aware of potential structure for the better part of a year now so the market is positioning itself so withstand the supply shock so much so it might be oversupply of the short term a lot of watchers are concerned that the price of all my fall rather than rise it may be a case of being a little bit overprepared here for what might come to pass. doesn't surprise you

a bit that opec does not really want to see oil prices even as high as they are right now wouldn't they be actually interested in having high oil prices therefore higher revenues. well you know dimitri you would have thought so but the concern of the the great wise men of opec in the last couple of years has been to try and shore up its reputation as a reliable supplier a reliable partner if you like if you look at it from opec's point of view their reputation has taken a hammering in asia pacific particularly with the japanese and the koreans who've just been distressed by by the economic impact of the arab spring and the disruption they felt coming their way through the shock the supplies leading from the libyan cuts last year talk constantly of other kinds of disruptions so what opec trying to do right now is talk for the long term five ten fifteen years down the road and they're trying to reassure consumers particularly asian consumers that they're there for the long haul and that they're not interested in seeing higher

prices and let's not kid ourselves one hundred dollars a barrel opec's making plenty of money right now how worried is the oil market right now by the possibility of a recession and the how much could that then demand. well opec is concerned about that like everybody else in the world you know europe accounts for approximately a third of the world's oil consumption and you've only got to look at some of the headlines out there in the industry right now we're going bankrupt and taking several fineries down with it the perilous state of a lot of the private industry supply you consume while in western europe to see how close to home the general fear of recession really is now as a consumer of a third of the world's oil if there is a major recession and we're not out of the woods yet on the financial negotiations for greek debt and there are still concerns about portuguese that you can see why opec and everybody else would be concerned about that front frankly a recession in europe would have the same kind of impact on the oil market that recession the u.s. did in two thousand and eight which is to say cataclysmic all right david ensor

thank you so much very interesting they have a global director of oil at platts talking to us life. all right let's quickly take a look at what's happening on the markets we start with currencies where the dollar is just a notch lower versus the european currency as some progress has been made in talks with greek born holders but strong oil is pushing the russian ruble higher versus both the u.s. dollar and the euro by twenty four and twelve respect of the. oil as we've mentioned before is gaining values traders get the message that greece is closer to the final stage of its talks with the board and the holders now that brings hope to the e.u. crisis might soon be resolved which in turns increases risk appetite lights we design for one hundred dollars and a half per barrel brant over one hundred twelve. stock markets now and in the us they are flat to negative will this moment with the bulls eye we've

got the sun on europe's debt crisis and on the bear side us consumer confidence retreating in january on worries about income prospects. and in the europe pretty much more of the footsie and the dax gaining point six point nine percent e.u. leaders agreeing on monday evening to boost fiscal integration and germany's unemployment data coming out which is pleasantly surprising investors and fell to the lowest level since the creation of the euro zone let's now move finally to russia the closing picture over here in moscow looks like this the r.t.s. up more than two percent in my six one point two percent of my sixes lower than the r.t.s. as the ruble is strengthened secular was moving the my six financial shares a strong is burbank one of the biggest gainers among blue chips it's up one point four percent roe snapped up just point four percent despite a high oil price and the largest drugstore chain in russia thirty six point six is among the top again it's up more than two percent on news of plans to open a drug discount chain to boost sales and that's all for now the headlines are next

on. wealthy british style but. that's not on the tires. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global.