oh holds one permanent seat but when it comes to weapons the world's largest arms exporter is often seen as sitting on two chairs they say there isn't an international embargo on arms preventing them from doing that that is a fact but that doesn't change the immorality of supplying a dictatorial regime that is killing its people in massive numbers every day and we are are deeply concerned about that as u.s. officials continue publicly scolding countries over relations with syria critics say the accusations are being thrown from a tremendous glasshouse the us is a hugely difficult in this regard because they've long been the largest arms dealer and most of those weapons the us sold the store equally more than four hundred billion dollars worth of since the one nine hundred sixty s. have gone to the middle east and you can't argue. seriously that it's made the region any more stable in the past few years nearly fifty percent of u.s.

weapons exports have been flowing to the middle east many countries with the biggest appetite for american weapons have also made headlines for carrying out brutal crackdowns against dissidents and opposition groups if you are are you know ok they are thugs you're not i mean this is for all of us who have been overseas the duplicity and. of american foreign policy is painfully. evident according to congressional figures america has sold one point four billion dollars worth of weapons to bahrain since two thousand and america struck its single biggest arms deal when saudi arabia ordered sixty billion dollars worth of arms the us has long subsidize the israeli military and recently supplied them with bunker buster bombs experts say this strategic arming of middle eastern countries is aimed at iran and extending u.s. . dominance in the region. is going on boy. you know

it's not a rule of you know human rights. geopolitical f.b.i. whistle blower sibel edmonds has accused america of playing particularly dirty while leading a campaign for regime change in syria but it's not some kind of. simultaneously op risings situation where people are rebelling and then suddenly they are mysteriously arms and mysteriously arms are being smuggled into syria from cherokee who was providing this arms nobody's asking in the u.s. media well these are u.s. arms shipped to turkey this as the u.s. military complex flush with record revenue continues to lobby its interests on capitol hill arms manufacturers or some of the biggest companies in america they're some of the most powerful lockheed martin not only do they make it so for the

defense department around the world they're a federal contractor and many other levels are going to vote in elections this statue outside the u.n. headquarters is a symbol of global peace and nonviolence but critics say the idea has been twisted by the u.s. which goes around advocating peace arming countless conflicts all for the sake of profit arena what ny r.t. new york. russia has been trying to mediate a peaceful solution to the syrian conflict for months and wants to host talks between the warring sides but one middle east expert told r.t. that to negotiations will be hard to bring about as long as the syrian opposition is rallying for regime change. bashar assad after the meeting with the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov expressed his readiness however the other side is not expressing its readiness there are some members of the syrian opposition who are expressing readiness however there are other sides a lot including the muslim brotherhood who actually don't seem to want to

participate in the gauche ations and are setting preconditions or saying in order to enter negotiations assad must fall and i think that is part of a what are those on the the whole thing for the west is not about negotiations is about overthrowing a regime which is a part of the i broke block which washington or which some western states western powers want to get rid of including gives are also ones to get rid of them. greek politicians last minute agreement on fresh plans hasn't exactly been greeted with open arms a forty eight hour strike has been called by the country's two major labor unions and eurozone member states say they will put even war conditions on greece before handing over a second bailout now after a struggle athens did manage to broker a multi-party deal which has been dampened demand by creditors and it was in place just a matter of hours before you have ministers met in brussels but they are still unhappy and willing to hand over one hundred thirty billion euros the greek parliament now

has to pass a package of cuts and reforms by sunday the journalist. says to media says the situation in the country is deteriorating and the consequences could be dangerous. what we get from all these measures. if we have all the fault then we. shouldn't where we have to face death from starvation in which this situation in you six three not that moment we have children playing in their school because they don't have proper breakfast and because they don't they don't have enough food and you realize that the she tray should be getting washed and wash we have a lot of people as i told you that they are hungry at the moment first of all they demand the election which i have to tell you here and now they want elections they want to. check on they have been wondering who's recipe are we following at the moment to increase she's not i mean the greek government they're actually comes from the i.m.f.

and there should be she doesn't work. it's going to see each old view of the troika gives the main. orders and you know we get more and more she the last two years. are as they say and i agree with them easier to see this time to morrow rice from the west than to see all these orders and all these measures bring us back to growth and bring us back to normal life. robert oulds chair of the london based think tank group believes that it's the european currency itself pushing greece to the edge. greece is in severe economic difficulties and it's failed to meet many of the targets that the eurozone and the i.m.f. has set it for what it has to do in terms of to be able to reform its finances to be able to pay back some of the debts that it so that has been largely caused by issues to do with the euro itself and the problem that the euro creates and how it

makes the greek economy competitive so basically greece cannot survive while it is in the euro and the more austerity measures which are being forced upon it or just hurt the greek economy even further wages have been cut thirty percent on average in greece pensions are being caught people are finding it very hard to survive because of the result of the austerity measures in the problems caused by the euro what they're doing at the moment is just throwing more money at the problem really putting back the day when greece will have to deform will have to leave the euro. coming your way later in the program in a sense lost in afghanistan find out why the latest airstrike has left the galaxy s president can damage foreign troops. and separated spouses why israel is stopping sauza palestinians from permanently living here israeli families.

civil society in russia is moving to the forefront of politics with a mission to keep the upcoming presidential election fair and transparent a group of leading public and pro-active figures are joining forces and crucially they seem to have the support of the candidates and the voters are going up has more. it doesn't take long to find videos of the alleged well lesions during the recent parliamentary vote in russia just a couple of clicks is enough of these files have flooded the internet and even though most of the only issues or studio. turns of fear. thousands of people have been taking to the streets demanding fair elections with marches presidential votes just around the corner events are unfolding quickly when. people want to vote responsibly and to know where their votes go their own political competition independent courts and media forming the voters' league is not meant the idea was floating in the air the voters league was officially founded in january by

a group of journalists bloggers activists artists writers and other public figures states radius leg t.v. host and now activist but one of the ladies asked or the head of a charity fund and blogger liz idea that bianca also known as dr lisa. or other school martha of coordinating of the blue buckets movement fighting for equal rights on roads for everyone was just our league is an opportunity to gather people who are not indifferent to what's happening the more people with a civil position there are the better the league's main goal is to ensure fair elections is published a list of initiatives on the web divided into groups that everyone can be a part of public discussions and online votes are the key instruments and letters have been sent to all presidential candidates asking them to cooperate with the league and even though the project is less than

a month old everyone has so far agreed including prime minister and presidential candidate bloody middleton we fully share your view on the necessity to hold a fair election of the president of russia march fourth we are thankful for your offer we are sure by uniting our efforts will be able to ensure a fair vote we accept your proposal to interact another candidate businessman mikhail prokhorov has already struck a deal with the leak you have to go on willing to authorize one hundred fifty thousand league observers we've also. to put together a unified database to keep from the election principles according to its founders around ten thousand observers are needed to ensure a fair election in moscow alone. it's great that the civil society wants to be more active but it's critically important not to cross the line and observers not only are positioned it is serious so if limitations not to take sides in the political process. the league's founders say they'll shut the organisation down if it ever

starts turning into a political movement claiming they are keen to work with all candidates equally there's no doubt society has changed more people want to have more influence on russia's political life perhaps that's why it took less than one month for the vote was leaked to establish ties with both the authorities and the opposition and with the help promise from candidates the league just may secure enough access to effectively monitor the vote in march as long as it avoids taking sides and protects its neutrality is going off r t moscow now you can always get all the latest news and updates online by logging onto r.t. dot com here's what's waiting for you there today iran returns to argue one hundred seventy drone that was down last december to the united states but only now it's playing at ballads. its original size. also

online spoke too soon germany is forced to switch back to nuclear energy just one year after declaring it was getting you know by now live on our t.v. at home. just over a month before we're on of the presidential vote in south the city one of the candidates is in the hospital alan joyce collapsed when police arrived to dischord her to the prosecutor's office for questioning she's been cold as a witness to a raid on government offices last year joy to claim victory in the vampires disputed presidential election which was by the supreme court the contraries capital was gripped by a protest for weeks after the vote joya was planning to stage her own inauguration as president this friday which the acting head of the republic hold an attempted

coup artists on a boy who has the latest from south to city. in the last year of the city held its first post war presidential elections the results of which were later canceled by the central election commission of violations you know the new elections are now scheduled to take place on march twenty fifth and earlier on thirty's the police security services have raided sure was house in the capital of south sudan during that three drove herself fell unconscious and she's now in a holster till being treated for a minor stroke and she is now according to the. interim authority she is the main reason for these unexpected a raid of george's house was bring her in for questioning to the prosecutor's office. there are no aid to afghan children have been killed by nato airstrike according to the country's president in a statement how it karzai can damage the aerial bombing by foreign troops the

afghan leader has ordered an investigation into the bombing in the province of caprice on wednesday just a week ago the united states announced it could hold combat operations in afghanistan earlier than expected by the strike could worsen the already strained relationship between karzai and washington and made a mounting afghan civilian death toll documentary filmmaker quickly borne things that despite condemnation civilian casualties will continue to rise. have any by ability is legitimacy as an afghan when something like this happens but he is basically a tool of the american occupation there so we can expect any real demands to change from here this kind of thing obviously doesn't win hearts and minds this happens in the same area where afghan soldiers recently killed french troops on ports and i

think because the u.s. is planning a pullout even moving next day for him because the french are moving their troops out we can expect more airstrikes and more civilian casualties in afghanistan we already saw two thousand and eleven eight percent of two thousand and ten in terms of civilian casualties i'm afraid we're going to see that trend continue in two thousand and twelve precisely because they know if they have to pull out decisively because they noted again this. now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world germany's finance minister has gotten tape saying portugal's bailout plan may need to be revised once a second bailout for greece has been finalized the comments came at a meeting with other eurozone ministers and are the first acknowledgement from a high level your official that portugal may need more time and money to get its economy back on track the country received a seventy eight billion euro bailout last april and has since fallen into a deep recession. spanish human rights jobs baldassarre garson has been convicted

for ordering the illegal recording of corruption suspects talking to their lawyers garson has now been barred from practicing for eleven years with no chance of appeal against the decision the spaniard gained international fame for his attempts to extradite chile's former dictator goes to penetrate in ninety one ninety eight. stranded cruise on ships off the ukrainian coast have had to be airlifted to safety after their vessels became trapped in. ukraine's emergency services say one hundred twenty six ships on the sea. are currently stranded temperatures are fluctuating between minus eleven minus seventeen degrees celsius severe weather is part of a cold snap in europe that has caused dozens of deaths. and israeli citizenship law is denying thousands of palestinians the right to permanently settle down with their israeli spouses and children the government says the law was

designed for security reasons but as paul's leader now reports it seems the battle against terror could be damaging the country's democratic integrity. this is the document that's ruining lana's life it makes no mention of a university degree a husband or two children it simply states she's palestinian and therefore illegal and wanted in israel. just to breathe. and drink and form it's not allowed but lorna chooses the nonlife because it's where her husband and children live by law very israeli whereas the rest of her family live across the border in janine palestine. during. what. i have to walk. until now

known as move between the two worlds with temporary visas issued by television but she's afraid there could stop at the government tightens its grip on an eight year old law denying permanent citizenship to palestinians married to israelis it's trying to limit the graphic. growth of the arab citizens encourage. citizens who marry palestinians from the west bank in gaza or from jordan to actually immigrate to actually leave israel israel says the law is for security purposes and it's trying to prevent palestinians from taking advantage of being able to get an israeli id through marriage and then carry out attacks on israeli citizens but human rights groups don't buy that they petitioned the law arguing that in the last fourteen years more than one hundred fifty thousand palestinians entered israel because of family ties with israelis only fifty four of them were ever found to be a security risk. in upholding the so-called citizenship law the israeli supreme

court president said it was one of the most difficult questions in the state's history the battle against terror while at the same time maintaining the nation's democratic nature we are talking about thousands of family that as a result of the decision of the supreme court that validated upheld the law they are now living under the can shabelle threat of being forcibly separated from their spouses from their children from their parents so we are indeed talking about a huge issue with a huge effect of thousands of people this law is thinking about it. i mean one of the. last degrees before having your very pure jewish state but in the meantime it threatens to tear families apart as lawn intestate now face the very real danger that they might not be able to continue living together part of. israel. while winter comes to town

moscow can look like a fairy tale city albeit a cold one so our moscow team went to try some winter seemed activities on the outskirts of the russian capital for a magical forest and husky dogs to snowplows and tiny villages here's a preview. i .

was. right that is coming our way shortly before the ads we'll take a look at what's happening in business carrying us here. good morning and welcome to business here on r.t. some of russia's richest people they soon find themselves subject to a one off tax plan is a push and says a way must be found to close the subject of unfair privatization as in one thousand nine hundred he suggested tycoon took control of the country's resources to pay something back acknowledges that the process of privatization after the collapse of the soviet union was dishonest and there are one hundred fourteen billionaires in russia may have made their fortunes from commodities i say more of the softer steel magnates says pushes idea will be difficult to implement. but.

it's very important to understand how this idea can be implemented in reality who should pay the tax current all news all the ones who privatized the assets back in the ninety's plus many large enterprises approach it was millions of people this issue must be addressed the question is though how exactly this can be done. the russian finance ministry says the move to increase taxes last year turned out to be the wrong decision even though wages rose and economy grew income tax take drop point three percent and despite an increase in social security tax from eight percent to thirty four percent total tax revenues increased by just one percent of the suggest this was due to employers paying wages in undeclared catch. looking at the markets no first crude is falling for three weeks high as concerns about europe's debt crisis signs of an economic recovery the united states grand blend is trading at over one hundred eighteen dollars

a barrel. is that around ninety nine dollars of asian markets did blow after greece approved a long awaited all stereo greenman but international bankers called for ratification of the three forms before. you really. are broadly lower carmakers are also losing ground in tokyo weighs on the rise after the us approved construction of its first new nuclear three decades with the set to build. its two hours ahead of the opening bell here in moscow the russian markets sold some profit taking on thursday with both the indices ending in the red the odds he has lost a relative third of a percent while the my six was down almost a percent. slowing growth in asia and europe is threatening to weaken the core of the russian economy started back expects no recovery in demand for all materials until late two thousand and thirteen when the bulk of china's stimulus policy should be felt the chairman of the board of russia's biggest. is aware of

the problem but says his company is. precious but you know we expect no significant drop in the price of nickel the cost of nickel production is now at twenty thousand per tonne if the price is lower it will not be profitable to produce it so plans to develop output will definitely be frozen or somebody's auction lines may even become talk closed however inventories are not rising in london we've sold almost our entire outlook for this year the amount we're setting to china hasn't changed we also aren't seeing a decline in demand from europe and america. that's our self but join me in about fifteen minutes from this.

culture is that so much going to give each musician the power to find the mark when the fate of the battle for syria the international community is divided as the syrians themselves when it comes to resolving a situation. but

i define it as a struggle for australia and you know. there's still a no wait until you see the film on screen if you want to have sex go and have sex.

resistance is not of politics but our culture. is couldn't get. on its own. cultures of resistance on our team.

well back here with you here's a look at the top stories american gathers a coalition of nations to help bring down the syrian regime and directly as u.s. weapons reportedly find their way to antacid forces was no agreement reached on syria the u.n. and american and its allies are piling pressure on the massacres while supporting the opposition. great labor union stage a two day strike in response to the latest wave of a sturdy cuts which they say is pushing workers and the economy towards a financial abyss the measures were a crucial step towards desperately needed one hundred thirty billion euro bailout package. a group of public figures from russia's civil society gather widespread

support on thier quest to keep the presidential elections fair and transparent after succeeding in establishing ties with both use the word and the opposition they are planning to monitor the vote and mark. up next is the latest edition of moscow to with some tips on how to entertain yourself in winter stay with us. while some people embrace the winter and all the frost filled it's fifty's that come with it others like to hide and was staying in from the dark nights and zero temperatures. sleep and relaxation just like various animals some hibernate.