welcome to the. russia close of. russia and china blocked a western backed u.n. draft resolution on syria with moscow slamming the text for an unbalanced approach and denial of dialogue between the government and the opposition. other stories shaping the week's headlines riots returned to egypt as anger at authorities failure to prevent a deadly soccer brawl spills over into four days of violent clashes that have already seen a dozen dead. and in russia's bitter subzero cold hundreds of thousands drawing record breaking rallies both pro and anti-government ahead of next month's presidential vote.

eleven pm in moscow. bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's headlines moscow says it's determined to help bring an end to the syrian crisis by implementing democratic change it's sending its foreign minister to damascus for talks next week on saturday russia and china blocked the latest u.n. security council resolution on syria saying it could cause even more bloodshed because it took sides in the armed conflict or he's marine important as the latest . tempers are still flaring because as we've been reporting this should be surprised that the security council did not reach a consensus on the draft resolution on syria yet western countries still pushed for a vote and russia warned from the very beginning that if the draft was not a did not address some of russia's concerns it would veto and that's exactly what happened now let's talk about these concerns because moscow said it just requested

some simple amendments would be made to the draft text that would have made the resolution a little bit more balance for example the draft resolution different and the syrian government withdraw its all of its forces from the cities and towns and seize all violence but russian officials wanted the document the draft resolution to also demand that the armed opposition groups stop participating in violence and retreat back from any cities or towns where it may have occupied the crime call it has called a draft text that was presented saturday morning to one side with a list of demands being made on the assad government but no note of armed opposition groups operating in syria now while addressing the security council saturday a russian envoy to the u.n. fratelli churkin said the security council was not created just for the sake of taking sides or interfering in a civil war of sovereign countries he also accused some kind of some countries of

sponsoring a campaign of regime change in syria those who are pushing for this resolution to be adopted. some influential members of the international community including those sitting around this table have from the very beginning of the syrian crisis been undermining opportunities for political settlement by calling for regime change stirring up the opposition against the authorities and not hesitating to encourage and freedom of methods of struggle the draft resolution put to the vote does not adequately reflect the real situation in syria and since unbalanced signals to the syrian sides it doesn't take into account a. proposals that as well as withdrawing syrian armed forces from the cities this should be an end to a tunics by own groups and state institutions and neighborhoods so. now the u.s. delegation could not help but showing its frustration and anger when participating in the meeting saturday morning we heard ambassador rice use some language that's normally not heard in these diplomatic settings like disgusted in the united

states is discussed in a couple members of this council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose here addressing an ever deepening crisis in syria and a growing threat to regional peace and security in the meantime the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is heading to damascus on tuesday can meet with syrian president bashar al assad russia has been very vocal in trying to get home sides participating in the conflict in syria to calm. the table and start speaking to one another and. using some kind of dialogue instead of violence to come to a peaceful approach so of course we will stay on the story and see how it evolves and works out. as diplomats continue their showdown over syria thousands of demonstrators were gathered in the last case in support of president assad was also praised the decision by russia and china to block western call for regime change in

syria. opposition groups say between sixty and two hundred fifteen people were killed by security forces in the syrian city of homs just ahead of the un council vote but the government denied the assault dismissing the report as a quote hysterical campaign of incitement by armed groups editor of the syria tribune dr ali mohamed says the timing of the massacre claims a significant. but i mean they were not believing the syrian army waited ten months and then just the night before the u.n. security council meeting they decided to start bombarding homes this too which in homs had been difficult for the syrian. regime supporters for such a long time and i don't see why the army would choose such critical timing to just start its. vicious crackdown has described it to the out of only cleans and just two weeks ago we had the arab league observers who could have gone there and

investigated but unfortunately they were pulled down to total good reason and therefore there are only claims from this side and opposite claims from their side to sort of we cannot treat it didn't work what's going on but i don't think that the army was surely it's it's not like the syrian army this is number one and james like that happened before in. just a short war even then and the opposition was not able to prove any of these claims over the past and months and gyptian police have again fired rubber bullets and tear gas to drive out a crowd of rock throwing protesters away from the interior ministry building in cairo clashes between security forces and demonstrators in egypt have been arranging for four days now are worth a dozen dead and thousands injured activists have been venting their anger over the military rulers are led failure to prevent a deadly outbreak of violence at a football match wednesday or his worry if an ocean has more from cairo. things

have been extremely devastating and terribly kilty communities of the last two days and also very tragic the food sadomasochist on wednesday when seventy four people died in this time heat and one of the city's football stadiums has become like tells the deadliest incident since the bar accounts that last february but it's also true you get a new wave of clashes between the police the army and demonstrators that's actually become something. common scene here in the capital cairo and everywhere for all egypt the fact is people have been very quick to use following code saeed incident to use local sources especially the interior ministry of doing nothing of the allowing this to happen allowing these deaths over and efficiency and actually pulled over instigating these trials in order to preserve the situation of instability in the country in order to fit into existing following somehow they also tearing through all the generals from the supreme council of the armed forces

they took power from barak last february and since then demonstrations actually have never still shortly after this happened only one state public school football fans have come to the booths nothing to do in the city in the central valley road just blocks away from here seeking for justice and calling for the amy did transition of power from the ministry to civil to situations and for early presidential elections and since then twelve people have been killed in the last full day some twenty five hundred dollars to thing that it's a terrible dissolve so i have to say i hope you can see the pictures right now as you can imagine. while masood street is a narrow street is one of the streets leading towards the builtin ofo the interior ministry here in hollywood the queen many many people there chanting and to miter slogans from time to time police has been firing tear gas at the times dissent even

showed so we've been able to speak to several people there let's listen to what they have to say about what was going on when it's going to stop people not just protesting and then teaching the kids to the students don't believe in effect keep in mind that there is nothing each day to turn everything to their chinese that was . not to light the fire and then she for. that. the chinese the seventh the new china it's over here it's more than enough look what they're doing to the protesters in the doing to the interests of the country and it must be the most you can see situation it's very valid tile you can padrone actually can settle all the cities throughout egypt but you can also claim told you know about some group that cheered when the sun swelled to full we could see incident. people from the administration told this to do have been detained did they are in

custody right now is that while the investigation to go you know say. protesters did months just recently the supreme council of the armed forces advisory has also called for early presidential elections in the country. stay with us here on r.t. still ahead this hour the ever tightening knot of sanctions against iran as the u.s. considers more punitive measures we ask what response to expect from the defiant islamic republic. and as the nation's bailout hangs in the balance greece struggles to find it ally willing to accept its bailout terms. but first saturday was a day for demonstrations across russia more than two hundred thousand people gathered in the country to voice their political views ahead of next month's presidential vote two of the largest rallies happened in moscow with supporters and opponents of the current leadership were using a bitter cold to have their say it was the third and largest opposition gathering

after a parliamentary vote two months ago which protesters plain was rigged now their main demand is for a fair presidential vote in march author and researcher f. we end all things the west may be funding the russian opposition to minimize the country's influence on the world stage during a critical time. documentable from the records of the national endowment for democracy which is the washington government financed geo that's all over the place and. russia they're financing activists in. several different cities in russia i think really their expectation is to create as much internal unrest in russia as possible to distract the prospective new putin presidency at a time when russia is going to face challenges with the missile defense with the destabilization of the assad regime in syria the attempt to create a regime change in iran and throughout the middle east and to raise or to try to

divert any russian any incoming russian government from dealing with these crises they're trying to do the same template they used in ukraine with the orange revolution in georgia to bring saakashvili into power as a pro nato president in that country and i don't think it will work in russia i whatever mistakes putin. has brought with it whatever discontent is i think there are a lot of things that have significantly improved over the last two years since the time of the yeltsin era. but that that really isn't the point the point is u.s. interference in internal russian election affairs is something that ought not to be tolerated and it's quite right not to tolerate it. but all adults dmitri babich thinks there is no split in russian society but rallies will positively influence the political climate in the country. it's mostly just emotions fueled by the media some people were obviously irritated seen the same two faces on television maybe to

march in the last few months especially some people were terrified when they saw their position and it's more than seven when they failed to handle the west behind it so it's mostly media driven there is no real cost struggle behind it there are people and reach people in both ratings there are people of all kinds of ethnic groups in both race so right now i think it's mostly a positive effect because it sort of wakes up the government to the needs of the people so until now there are consequences more and more stability i hope it will continue in that wait if there is a real split in society of course it's not going to be good for the country. there's more about moscow's rival rallies online as thousands gather for the day of protests and. check out these pictures on our facebook profile and there's plenty

more analysis on this and our other top stories that's a click away. iran says it won't give in to international pressure and abandon its nuclear program even if it's banned from selling a single barrel of oil is a terrorist response to weeks of to this week's approval by u.s. senate committee of a package of new sweeping sanctions against the islamic state but the bill has us that yet to pass through the full congress america's initiative targeting to iran's nuclear program follows the adopting

a total embargo on iranian oil due to come into force in july public and has repeatedly said it will stop all supplies to some european countries before summer maintains its controversial atomic program is for peaceful purposes and seeking to prove that by cooperating more closely with the u.n. nuclear watchdog let's discuss more on these developments from iran with. a political analyst joining us live from beirut. so previous sets of sanctions against iran have failed so far to produce the desired result even with some of them threatening to back fire and you have the u.s. is considering more what do you think they hope to achieve. i think there is some measurement within the american election especially now we go into the election they want to put a lot of pressure on iran it might serve the obama administration. lobbyist a group inside the united states but i think they want to squeeze the pressure on

iran they want it to impose american law on the international community and i think what we have seen some european talk peanut of damage against your brand. i think american trying. to go to the extreme by trying to destroy the economy they've taken into consideration that iran is going through election parliamentary election probably the thing this is going to backfire in. population of iran again. but i think in iran there is. unity among their nuclear. program they think it's for peaceful means and they think they're going in things they that's right. development but america and the european thing could be a big one very far in this in this because this is kind of an implication for the

world economy especially this escalate to a military showdown between american and iranian and everything it's going to be on the table i think the israeli are looking very carefully and what we read is really the letter of. the past few months and the statement coming from an israeli they think that all they attack iran or they come out. so between the military escalation and the economic sanctions the region in very difficult turn. let's turn to iran's nuclear program this week's mission by u.n. inspectors fail to clarify the issue do you think their next visit in three weeks will produce any breakthroughs. i think all the inspection by the nuclear agency. found that iran is actually weaponize ing their system they they feel that they

have reined in to at this point they are actually following the nuclear treaty agreement there is no violation to that end but the american always and the israeli think that it's maybe some secret location were very me and are building their nuclear weapons and to this point there that inspection didn't find anything but i think a brand said very clearly they're willing to cooperate with the international community but you have to wonder what really the international community want at this point and what the american want to disappoint and as i said there's a lot of politics in that special election and probably the israeli coming desperate at this point because they think if you have one reach the level of capability of building the nuclear what then that would be devastating for them so . at this point and i think before six months we might we

might heading into a major confrontation in the persian gulf. why do you think western states rush in with punishing measures before hearing what the i or what the i.a.e.a. report has to say. i think it's these agency is seem to be irrelevant at this point because no matter what they saying the sanction are coming at iran because that's a suspicion are they are no no no matter what they are justifying or opening their facility there is some judgment already been rendered against iran and i think there that the sentiment in the united states they took very aggressive sanction and sanctioning this of the son thought of buying all financial transaction with a rainy and. government this is very painful for the iranian but

at this point i think the if you look at the international community you it's institution becoming out of relevant whether the u.n. whether the nuclear agency it's what we see now as we see munnabhai early. international law by the united states united states go and use these institutions to serve its interests without actually noticing the implication for the walled economy at the united states being a spoiler for the war or. somebody has to stop this madness and we saw yesterday we have to stop it there was any political analyst speaking with us from beirut thanks for your insight. later in the program we hear from iran's interior minister who's serving his country well whether of a storm of mounting sanctions interview with r.t. said it's those countries imposing them that will end up being hit the hardest

here's a sample of what he had to say in the next hour. i think. i believe they've made a big mistake as this action results in turbulence for the oil and energy markets this very fact it can result in oil price growth in these conditions the west's judy expect the drop in the euro rate and the euro market this new decision will result in further economic problems which as we can see have affected them already and so far they've been unable to find solutions the decisions taken today by the west unilaterally will result in the escalation of the economic problems. corporate protestors in washington d.c. were evicted this weekend occupied since early october people were arrested when police using riot gear and horses raided the encampment officer said they were just enforcing a no camping law and the activists are allowed back into the park demonstrators say

it was a whole scale of action the occupy movement has seen some heavy handed police tactics including the alleged recent tasering of a nonviolent decent protester but excessive force will provoke activists according to kevin zeese from the it's our economy think tank telling our t.v. occupiers are too smart to fall into that trap. who knows what's going through their head space on that you know when we i watch that video it's available online and it looks like there was no justification for it when i went to make fears on the day to ask about it people said the only thing he was doing was taking the signs around the tents and said no camping and so that was the rationale for tasering he was dropping values not being as threatening looks like a excessive use of force my sense is that it's not going to provoke the macpherson campers idea that there are more. discipline than that to fall for that kind of trap the occupy movement in a few months has shifted and shown the american people that if they get mobilized and organized that we have power we can change the direction this country so the

future's going to be an american spring that's going to split on the scene and become more important the presidential race in two thousand and twelve. where where you can fire the latest stories on our t.v. dot com twenty four hours a day here's what's a click away right now and the protesters across europe seem to influence the debate as polish authorities decided to suspend proposed anti-piracy legislation. and future of sex some think it could be just a matter of years before robots become man's object of desire as scientists develop the amorous android all that and more at our two dot com. is to consider vladimir putin and arch nemesis blaming him for the death of his son alexander litvinenko the former f.s.b. officer but this week saw the unexpected change of heart from a fierce kremlin critic who now admits he simply said what the western press wanted to hear walter lippmann nko spoke with r.t. as a catarina groucho. but you would. be limited edition of the. b.b.c.

is how we found mike that he and coo bring it he's tiny telling apartment no electricity no gas no water. what if it was if it wasn't for the help of various people i would have died from hunger or frozen to death the last time i took a bath was on christmas day we expected more because six years ago after his son former f.s.b. officer alexander litvinenko was poisoned in london he was taken care of by some very powerful patrons like self ixil tycoon boris berezovsky and ahmed zakayev and a tourist former chechen militant both hiding in the u.k. if you just smoke three of them we broke. yet you get extremist you know dorset there is just give me a yes but here doris you will be. one vicariously namco sent

a letter asking to be interviewed by russian television we expected more of the same but instead. we're going to. be made of each if you watching this program please forgive me for all the slander the thai said and wrote about you for the hatred i had for you if only i had known my son worked for british intelligence i would not talk about his death he could easily have been shot as a double agent betrayers should be short of story what else can i add to this. the u.-turn vaulters says came when his son's we doe marina bin and co revealed to the british media that her husband had worked for m i six alexander litvinenko was receiving a retainer of around two thousand pounds a month from the british security services at the time he was murdered at first by turnitin and cole like many others claimed his son had been poisoned with polonium two ten on putin's order the former f.s.b.

officer and fierce critic of the kremlin alexander litvinenko spent twenty three days in a london clinic slowly dying from a toxic substance possibly consumed through a cup of tea even before police in london started questioning suspects the victim's father was actively kissing the russian government today by their at me it's he was saying only what the west wanted to hear. of course i realize russia's f.s.b. and the indian off to take polonium to london sprinkle it over some heads and leave traces everywhere and their suspect and a little boy is not a fool either it was anger and blind hatred speaking inside of me viger now believes his son fell victim to his own game of double agents now he wants his words to be heard but the media outside russia which once beat down his door for interviews now won't even reply to his requests up which is why is that why because

they like it when i scold the regime i was a root treasure for them the whole there are very few people who would say as many horrible things about as i did. you know living in two thousand and eight but the only thing young call flat russia or sanctuary need to leave is settled in the sleeping quiet town of sinegal it offered to new anonymous life the man claimed putin was his number one enemy so hiding in europe he believed was the only safe solution today by the living young co is still afraid to open this door not because of putin though but because of his landlord to whom he owes a lot of money this miserable life has made him a slave of his century but surely the namco sold everything he had in russia to come to eataly he opened a small business several years ago but it went bankrupt things got worse after the seventy three year old had buried his wife but are now fears her casket could be removed because he hasn't paid the cost of

a burial plot and it's been months since the electricity was shut off to his flat he's lost forty euros went on a gas canister and that is gone to. this is how soon overtook it that even the door to let the southern wind inside. there was east only this russia your homeland where for sure if i want to go home to russia i do want to stay here he said in the church over our tea city ghalia eataly we're back with the headlines in a few moments stay with us here on r.t. . mean. the.

feeling. of the enemy you. feel.