days but also there are some unconfirmed reports saying that the army troops are moving towards the center but of course most of these reports are coming in from sources which are affiliated with the arm syrian opposition none of them can really be confirmed as there are really no reliable sources on the ground in syria syrian t.v. at the same time is reporting that armed rebels have taken and have attacks all the refineries just outside of homes and have said those on the fire of course of that all of this comes. right on the heels of the recent visit of the russian delegation to syria polling which president bashar last that has said that he is willing to go to great lengths in order to reinstall for peace in the country he has promised to go through with major reforms among them a referendum on constitution which should take place sometime in march he's also but he's also said that he is more than willing to sit down for talks with the with the syrian opposition on their part that the syrian national council which until

now has been refusing for a negotiations with the current syrian government saying that it is illegitimate now the syrian opposition has said that they are willing to sit down and and carry out a dialogue with the syrian government but they have said that russia must provide a road map for those negotiations in fact both sides in the syrian conflict both the government and the opposition are saying that russia must perform and mediating duty in order to resolve but this is a conflict all russia has stressed the importance of putting pressure not just on the current on the current government in syria but on the opposition as well russia's foreign minister has expressed that thought in damascus and he has reiterated that third earlier today that it was really if we have suggested that certain parties capable of influencing the opposition groups especially those based outside syria to try to convince those groups to begin negotiations parties with influence on damascus have been trying to convince the authorities to do. the same

as i have mentioned the syrian authorities confirm they are ready to begin negotiations without putting forward any conditions. but instead of putting pressure on the opposition most of the world community seems to be pulling out its envoys from syria france italy and spain are among the latest countries to help recalled their ambassadors to syria they're also the gulf nations which have not just recalled their own ways to the country but have sent out syrian ambassadors from their respective countries thereby effectively ending diplomatic relations with damascus and of course there is the the. unbending rhetoric from the from washington the white house it seems determined that the that separate us our last six days are numbered they're staying there and they're not they cannot imagine they cannot imagine any negotiations with the current syrian government and the message that said particularly the western countries seem to be sending to the armed rebels in the country is

a green light for them to intensify the fighting. he's a really good reporting right in the light of the recent security council fall out of moscow and beijing blocked a draft resolution on syria we spoke to russia's envoy to the u.n. and explained the one of the main reasons for not letting the tx pass through was that it put pressure only on the syrian government while russia believes the rebels must also be held accountable for the escalation of violence their latest round of military confrontation in syria started a couple of days before that resolution draft resolution was vote and the reason i'm here i'm not trying to justify anybody but simply trying to be analytical is that as the morning during mission of that i believe was the situation was evolving everybody saw that the government troops were pulling out of certain. quarters and it is that it was taken over by. armed rebel groups that would mean that the

the armed confrontation will continue and escalate and that was the reason for which were brought our amendments to the text of the draft resolution which would not only require the government to pull out its forces from from this it is what would also would also require the opposition forces to show restraint and not to exercise their military quote that was in fact the key issue or which our efforts to have a consensus in his aleutian of the security council failed we also have an entire section dedicated to syria on our website and on online we are also asking for your thoughts about the outcome of russia's struggle to untangle the situation in the country let's see how the numbers are picking up right here at r.t. dot com the numbers for this hour the vast majority of you believe that the west will find a way to remove assad regardless of peace talks about a fifth think that even if an agreement is reached the opposition will motor on or

it while the rest of us rather split here almost evenly between whether talks between us position will fail all the regime in opposition will reach a much needed compromise or do you let us know what you think look on to r.t. dot com right now and be a part of our global. let's get some more details on syria now and talk to a ya'll is a professor on middle eastern and african history tell of if university thank you for coming on r.t. today when the revolution began in syria israeli politicians and commentators made it clear that they preferred at the stability of assad's rule to a revolutionary transformation why's that. yes that's right i mean the perception here in israel was that israel prefer stability you could argue you can say that they've been you know but you know the assad regime was committed to maintain peaceful border always israel the israeli syrian front porch

very was very quiet i mean the behavior of this regime was quite rational and to some extent moderate a halt to its relations with israel i think also played to syrians to the deed that maybe even now with these two prefer the stability of jumping through there are known they look at what happened the need. they look toward these have been known then they say with all due respect you know. they prefer to do it with the stability they got to. you. professor professor i do apologize a professor at yale as you said it's our fault on this and we've got a bit of a bad connection here we're going to try to reestablish our connection and come back to you in just a few minutes here on r.t. professor i do i do ask for your patience and to our viewers as well will see you shortly just a moment please. thank you we got

a lot from moscow to apologize for that still to come for you this hour on the program questioning the legality of u.s. drone attacks on pakistani territory but they've been slammed for hitting civilian targets on violating pakistan's sovereignty we discussed the issue in light of a recent strike that killed ten. sweeps britain after the european court of human rights blocked the deportation of qatada dubbed osama bin laden's right hand man in europe is the latest in a string of questionable judgment sort of over ruled domestic decisions and as. smith explains patients with the e.u. is rapidly running thin. as still greenland with the queen its current see. all of it. was made by someone else this building houses what we in the u.k.

call list supremum courts but in practice it supremes in name only despite being the highest court in the land when it comes to human rights if you don't like the way your case is going to hell you can take your broad's to france and decisions made in strasburg could the rule any may taya the european court of human rights was set up after world war two to avoid the persecution of minorities by the state but now it's being the rails and it was never never anticipated off the second world war after the holocaust off the terrace perpetrated by certain tyrannical governments but the court now would be protecting the criminal and not the victim. delays didn't control the sea had the european courts in stride but there's a backlog of up to eight years and when cases are decided the judgement. in

two thousand and ten the court decided to give prisoners the rights to vote through petition by john hirst who spent much of his life behind bars after killing his landlady or whatever the u.k. is still refusing to implement the ruling it makes me physically ill it would probably mean again the vote to anyone who is in prison aside it could also cost. the last time that we looked at this the cost of complying with judgments under the european convention of human rights was about two point one billion pounds a year that's three point three billion dollars plus another two point eight billion in assume seated one off costs in other areas an immigration ruling means a convicted nigerian rapist gets to stay in the u.k. because of his right to a family life. and most recently the european court of human rights ruled hate preacher abu qatada dumped bin lardons right hand man in europe can't be deported

back to jordan where he's now g. to be released on to the streets of britain this is somebody who stands up and publicly. hatred about everything that our democracy is and stands for and yet we can't get rid of him because of the european convention on human rights sitting in strasburg forty seven judges one from each country so far so fast except none of them were elected by the people of the countries they're making law for we've got a system of law and order in this country it's worked for many many years for the seats or the mother why do we need brussels to tell us what we can and cannot do the answer is we don't so therefore british law for british people those who aren't calling for the u.k. to pull out of the european convention on human rights all together are demanding reforms to stop strides making decisions on what should be. the court process to

be more focused on fundamental civil and political rights not interfering in the daily lives. and in the ministration of the criminal justice system in the member states of the council of europe without reforms there's a risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater as nations pull out of the human rights court undermining it leaving those in countries with weak human rights protections entirely vulnerable. r.t. . the pakistani army has met with nato and afghan forces in an effort to improve coordination along the pakistan afghanistan border and the talks come just hours after a u.s. drone attack in northwest pakistan killed ten suspected militants i washington has been criticized for its cia led aerial strike with some allegedly targeting pakistani civilians and fetal services also wedding parties more on this one are joined live by chris woods senior reporter for the bureau of investigative

journalism good to see you thanks for coming on r.t. today president obama recently said that drones are used strictly to target terrorists also saying that drones have no cause any number or vast number of civilian casualties so how do you read into those statements by the american president were as you know rubio has been investigating. concern for many months now and the figure that we believe to credibly report to the camps with civilians killed somewhere in the region of room two hundred or four hundred civilians killed or well president obama's been in office and specifically your question of only targeting terrorists as our report just this week shows the cia has been targeting rescuers these are people coming forward who are injured from of the previous strikes a move also been attacking funerals but i must be said these are aerial drone

strikes are typically along a very rugged mountainous terrain of the afghan pakistan border where we have reports about targeting people who you know we've we've we've had another bad connection here at r t two interviews only lasting thirty five seconds we do apologize we'll have to work harder on getting better connections or a nazi i do apologize i will try and get mr woodstock here as soon as we can. all right as we carry on here at our let's move on now to egypt where an egyptian military delegation has a plea pulled out of a visit to washington in the latest sign of rising tensions between the two countries nineteen americans are among forty three n.g.o.s activists banned from leaving egypt and accused of illegally using foreign funds to fuel the other breast washington has already called the scandal quote a slap in the face and threatened to withdraw its military aid to egypt where if a national story egypt's new government crackdown on one thousand euros has raised

many questions and they may want to is right now the groups many which funded by washington have been on the ground here for a while they were at the vanguard of the uprising against mubarak that eventually ruled the supreme council of the young forces to power last february and no one has ever seems to care about their sources of income that is until they don't have to take criticism to the new military leadership remain ensconced for the slow pace of reform some of them are used by this out of the. they are quoting people of the world. and they are the ones that evolution we have. won the radicals who live there this is very much a dangerous world this is species led to the prosecutors really seventeen offices of advocacy groups forty three activists including americans germans and egyptians are now facing trial for illegally using foreign funds to promote and arrest in the

post mubarak country activists how would claim they are the victim of scarves reluctance to give up power with the people about with the brights with the scaf looking for enjoy. some agent against the regime and all the mind the round up of activists has also not a sign of you asked mr taishi secretary ray la hood for the fueling tension between cairo in washington. isn't simply because. of them in a sort of plans for. i don't think that. anything at all so this is it and there it was military aid to egypt reaches one point three billion dollars annually has been very serious there has been a week to condemn this car when in the days of blank checks are over or they condemned mubarak tons of times but at the end of the day the continued on flowing that the provide that support also continue. to washington's so-called support for

democracy getting the middle east washington wants to stabilize the situation as much as possible in order to get on to its interests they don't care about democracy meanwhile even those on the streets protesting against car share the council's concerns about the motives the usa has had a hand into its policy making for years but the whole n.t. and your campaign has become the first serious disagreement between america and the countries your story to cairo wanted to send washington and message that it's no longer the silent dog it was under mubarak but an independent state which will last so the rate any outside interference some doubts though they really minute the end to military movement growing have a bigger you can see it over there this is in council of the armed forces or scaf now running egypt is in a very vulnerable position and this nationalistic pronouncement may just be a nationalist show put on to calm the people down and to win back

a shred of credibility. cairo. but many believe that egypt's regime changes also damaged the previously well established ties between cairo and tell of eve later this hour a former top israeli diplomat shares his views on his country's policies that's in our special hour to interview somebody. but so get back to one of our top stories out of syria here on our t.v. . ongoing violence there russia trying to act as a mediator between the opposition and the government or to try and quell now months or months of damascus or particularly as well in the city of almost a sport speak to a professor. of middle eastern and african history. i do apologize or we spoke a few minutes ago we lost our connection thank you for having the patience of the come back also thanks to our viewers when it comes to israel's stance with syria what does israel have to gain or lose from the outcome of the ongoing conflict

there. well i think the. israelis prefer stability when you have lack of stability you know there is always the possibility of that to ration a still asian miscalculation i mean the. loss of control by the central regime in damascus means the. militants of the appearance of the presence of terrorist groups that may or parade the good steve israel i mean we know that the syrian army has advanced weapons and interests of arsenal of. other. weapons so it's always these really tendency to prefer stability a stable regime and the fear of the. situation is these now in syria the lack of stability the ongoing struggle may also effect the border between israel and syria or it hold out given given that israel is concerned about the consequences of

a potential collapse of assad's regime as you said earlier assad's regime did have elements of stability to it now we're seeing total lack of stability there how does israel help to stabilize the situation in a neighboring country is it is it working to improve the border relations their border security. well the border is quiet but clearly it's not in the hands of israel it's in the hands of the syrian people i also believe that you know with me for an interview intervention or interference will not need it's up to the syrian people the syrian society to decide. the fate of the country so there is very little israel can do of course the best sync is only to full close lead from the outside and not interfering in what is happening but i don't i think as you say you know as you say i do apologize for interrupting you but you're saying sir that with israel being serious neighbor the

best thing for israel to do is just sit back and watch just follow what's going on there but not actually get involved in some form or another there are many that might say that with the possible arms coming in over various other borders it might be best for israel to solidify to fortify its border there but you say no special televisa sit back and watch. yes because right now the border is very quiet the struggle is going on going inside syria didn't arrive to the border the syrian army is still there the syrian regime is steve there only those who follow some reports on some. t.v. station reach the conclusion that the days in power are numbered they don't think that this is the case it's going to be a very long but bloody struggle and for the time being the regime is still holding to its position and the border is quiet so simply we have to follow events and once

again not to take any position and not to interfere in the. you know as you say as you do forecast or you forecast a long and bloody struggle there also you're saying that the israel syrian border is quiet some members of the syrian opposition have asked arab countries for money to help boost their armed forces what's your take on that. well clearly this is regional struggle it's not on the is the struggle inside syria and there is the region the struggle between you can argue iran on the one hand the support of the regime and some arab countries mainly the gulf states and also the support of the rebels and there is the international they mentioned the tension between west and east between russia and china and western countries. so clearly this struggle that is going on in syria is they mentions but once again i think that eventually

this will be the syrian people that will dictate his fate because i don't see anyone that can interfere effectively in what is going on in syria like in egypt or libya other places once again the people. who say the people will decide it's very also as you as you do agree upon that this is not just a small area this is a regional conflict that is drawing in neighbors here to inadvertently to some degree getting involved with the conflict in syria a yell if i wish we had more time we don't thank you for coming on r.t. today i'll just tell of if university. back shortly here with more news for you for now let's get over to katie and the latest hourly business update. welcome to the business program of this hour welder down scientists futurists and

entrepreneur as are in moscow discussing the russian economy and its prospects of becoming a global financial hub most of them believe russia has a result this is succeed in a culture of over polls not without reform. the auditorium was jam packed with business owners and experts hungry to get an outside view on the russia's investment climate a walk can be done to improve it all the foreign specialists agreed on the one thing and that is that russia has a lot of potential but the problem is how to realize it more investors are online emerging economies like russia right now because they are seeing us the best place to support cash given the economic uncertainty in europe and the u.s. at the moment of russia locks the global competitive edge and many of the russian experts here today said that the country has many internal problems which need to be fixed and a symbol of the government should join forces with the business elite to make the

changes required that believe that it's important to convince local businessmen to invest in russia rather than the broad and keep specialists in the country as well as create an atmosphere where entrepreneurs' are if you she added another one of the main points tables innovation russian state companies have significantly increased investments in wards that's the foreign specialists here say that russia has all the potential to produce the next generation of bonds or for the worse and become the next silicon valley but it needs to act fast and start implementing the changes required now. russia's outstanding domestic debt grew in twenty eleven of the fastest rate in fifteen years the money the state of the population has tripled over the last three years and twenty eleven domestic debt rose forty two percent or one hundred forty billion dollars. that's on top of a forty percent of the year before despite the increases the government plans to continue raising the debt burden and it has plenty of room to do so russia's debt

to g.d.p. ratio is around ten percent one of the lowest among industrialized countries. see what's happening in the markets today will get started with exchange rates the euro is higher against both the dollar and the ruble is that is all keeping an eye on the greek debt talks they would enable the country to receive its next allotment of rescue funds on the ruble has advanced against the dollar to its highest level in five months on the back of strong oil prices let's get over to europe and see what's happening on the markets are high as greek officials prepared to finalize that deal i was talking about on a sturdy measures now it all goes to plan then of green men between the countries euro zone partners on the i.m.f. will mean an extra one hundred thirty putting your as an eight without the aid greece is expected to fault as you can see the footsie is up it's flat supposed to over half a percent for the dax here in moscow the markets are gaining with banking and

energy stocks lifting the indices high out on those oil prices is up the r.t.s. pardon me is up over one percent while the my sense is over half a percent higher both positive at this hour ok let's have a look at those individual moves on the my sex bank is gaining over one and a half percent russia's biggest and expects its cost corporate loans to expand twenty five percent this year is also high and supported by stronger crude buffing the trend is a food continent the company says it will buy about shares with a discount to market price. so for this hour i'll be updating those market figures and i'll be back in about fifty five minutes join me.

the close up team has been to the whole bar of screen. where the country's mineral wealth starts its way across the ocean. now our team goes to the area. was named after lenin looking to a different character to represent itself. for local businesses are striving to build the aviation capital of russia. that's where the four by fours are made mention be tested to the limit. welcome to the screech of. russia close up

on r t. four thirty pm here in moscow you're watching on t.v. it's time for your headlines now russia insists that only bio aging both the syrian government and opposition to lay down their arms can end to the bloody conflict be found us wild west and on gulf countries keep up the regime change rhetoric and recall their ambassadors from damascus. fury in the u.k. as a notorious terrorist suspect dubbed al qaida xp. spiritual leader in europe is bailed and allowed to roam the streets of london after his deportation to jordan where he's sentenced to life in prison has been forbidden by the european court of human rights. and the growing tensions between egypt and the u.s.

triggered by cairo's crackdown on western n.g.o.s lead to an egyptian military delegation cutting short a visit to washington nineteen americans are among the activists banned from leaving egypt and accused of illegally using foreign cash to fuel. or to stay with us if you can hear on our next. former senior israeli diplomat we're going to chat about the country's foreign policies that of israel and where he thinks it will lead locally and in the region as a whole you're watching. what happens radio. who recently resigned from the government on grounds of principle he said he could no longer in a government whose policies he did not agree with ambassador thank you very much for joining us here tonight to you resigned after more than fifty years of service .