eleven hours to come up with a decisive response to the situation in the country which has seen a lot of bloodshed over the past eleven months we started in march and of course the arab league has asked for tightening sanctions which have already been imposed on syria they have. basically hold to their. program which was they didn't hold they aborted the observers program which was halted in january of this year and so now they're again calling for the u.n. peacekeepers mission in order to try and reach peace in syria and the country has been escalating various you're coming very conflicting numbers as to how many people have been killed and then go on whom you ask really the opposition says hundreds of people are being killed on a weekly basis of the same time the authorities are saying that around two thousand syrian military officers have been killed since the unrest have begun also you have

the mounting pressure from washington from the white house who have put together a sort of a coalition of the so-called friends of syria who are going to meet in february twenty fourth to be precise in tunisia which is part of the arab league in order to figure out further details about what exactly they're going to do about the bloodshed that's going on in syria. the resolution from the arab league was postponed because reportedly two countries zero zero and. lebanon have actually not have actually waste their concerns as to whether it was a good idea to stand for an intervention into syria. as it were i would ever it looks like there probably will be more intervention from the u.n. . because. he's been calling for donald between the opposition and the government is that. may happen now as the. gap between the two sides widens.

yes that's right russia has been adamant about the fact that it's up to syrians in order to. put it all together in order to weaken sow their differences they were trying to do their best to get the opposition and the syrian authorities to. lay down their arms and come together and sit down for a peace talks but unfortunately even though the. syrian president bashar assad actually did say that he was ready for talks especially following his meeting on tuesday with russian delegation he did say that he was willing to sit down for talks with the opposition and to implement. reforms in the country unfortunately the opposition isn't so keen on those that negotiations also russia did support the arab league plan for reinstating peace in the country unfortunately they said that plan and the observers mission wasn't quite as successful let's have

a listen to the u.n. about the two russians in basad or to the united nations in saudi churkin on the matter as the mission of that i believe was there and that as the situation was appalling everybody saw that the government troops were pulling out of certain. quarters and it is that was taken over by armed rebel groups that would mean that the. armed confrontation will continue and escalate. so i have those armed rebel groups because as you can has just mentioned we're actually. a lot of have actually provided to be a lot of concern for the syrian authorities they claim that those groups are supportive by unknown until now and from abroad however there are concerns of those that the rebels are being supported by by al qaida and the statement from the al qaeda leader and somebody who did

a voice his support for the syrian opposition who did encourage all muslims the world over to come and join forces and that it reinforced by the information from the iraq intelligence was said that the fighters who are being transported from iraq into syria in order to decide on the rebel side all of those all of these facts put together really point to the fact that al qaeda right now is strongly supporting the syrian rebel fighters and when you put all of that together with the fact that washington d.c. is absolutely adamant about coming into talks with the syrian president they have essentially dismissed him as a leader and they encourage him to they don't just encourage him they insist that bashar lesson step down and when you put all of that together to end up with a very volatile situation which really is incredibly hard to solve so again right now all we can do is observe and you know thanks very much indeed for that he's only going to start reporting live there from colorado while the author and

journalist afshin returns he has told me a little earlier here in r.t. that the u.s. and fighting side by side in syria to protect common interests. the arab league is being used presumably as some kind of proxy because we know the united states and the european union have all but said the venture. could happen should have some sources even saying british press special forces already in the ground so maybe there is already foreign intervention we have heard about al-qaeda in syria now and they could police the guns and weapons going into syria now that would be a great thing the un could do although as you know designed to it's once again of united states and european leaning states as usual supporting al qaida as they did in afghanistan prior to nine eleven u.s. troops and al qaeda side by side fighting against the sunni this really shows what exactly americans are up to they are not protecting the interests of u.s.

citizens and nor european union leaders are weary statement to back any attacks we saw with lethal consequence in aleppo twenty eight dead in december forty four dead in damascus this is this is getting out of hand it's getting dangerous. returns he talking a little early here and still ahead this hour a year since the toppling of but instead of celebrations across egypt a general strike people feel betrayed by the military rulers change that still hasn't come. and a group of politically active russians take the matter of election transparency into their own hands by organizing a vote in the. story still to come first iran says it will soon reveal some major advances in its nuclear program speaking on the thirty third anniversary of the islamic revolution president ahmadinejad's said tehran would never stop enriching uranium iran insists its nuclear program is to serve its domestic energy

needs but united states and its allies the e.u. and israel suspect iran could be pursuing nuclear weapons they've been piling up sanctions against iran but. europe's planned all embargo will. political analyst says washington and brussels want to weaken the islamic republic but fail to see the danger their actions are creating. they've taken into consideration that iran is going through election parliamentary election probably the thing this is kind of backfire. of the population of iran against. america and the european very far because this is kind of an implication for the world economy especially this escalate to a military showdown and everything is going to be on the table all the inspection by the nuclear agency. found that iran is actually weaponized their system.

actually following the nuclear treaty agreement there is no violation. very clearly they're willing to cooperate with the international community but you have to wonder what really the international community at this point and what the american wanted that. boy and as i said there is a lot of politics in it no matter what they saying coming at you no matter what they are justifying or opening their facility there is some judgment already been rendered against you ran. on the first anniversary of the ousting of former president hosni mubarak egypt's activists have called for a general strike to ramp up the pressure against the ruling military council they want the council to step down immediately saying they're blocking reforms the military said it won't accept any ultimatum will transfer power in june when presidential elections as scheduled many people fear they will remain in power beyond this date card based journalist build true says egyptians have every right

not to trust the military. people are unsure about whether they'll actually transfer power in jean and so far the military the ruling military council has yet to fulfill any of its promises that said since they came into power also just generally on the streets we're seeing massive human rights violations towards protesters or people expressing their freedom of speech and we've seeing excessive use of tear gas and cartouche they call it here which is birdshot and maiming protesters there's been absolutely no reform of the police. fired by the football disaster a few weeks ago which saw over seventy four people die so essentially we've seen very little reform since the barak step down and people are a basically anxious that nothing will change and it will just slip into a new new dictatorship i think most people here would posit would say they do say that the revolution never ended but it's called the continuance of the ongoing revolution really since january even after mubarak stepped down this time last year

they've been continuous sit ins and protests and violent clashes with egypt's security forces pushing the protesters pushing for change that they haven't seen yet. in a meeting with america's top military officer egypt's senior general defended the clampdown on international governmental organizations incurring the country's armed forces want to restrict the work of n.g.o.s and have ordered an investigation into their conduct claiming some a working to destabilize the country if a motion of reports now from. egypt's new government crackdown on n.g.o.s has raised many questions and we may want is right now the groups many we wondered by washington have been on the ground here for a while we were at the vanguard of the uprising against the baraka that eventually brought the supreme council of the armed forces to power last february and no one has ever seems to care about their sources of income that is until they directed

their criticism to the new military leadership. for the slow pace of reform some of them are used by this of the. they are quoting people they are working. and they are the ones that evolution they have. won the radicals who live there this is very much a dangerous world the rhetoric this is fishy led to prosecutors raiding seventeen offices of advocacy groups forty three activists including americans germans and egyptians are now facing trial for illegally using foreign funds to promote unrest in the post mubarak country activists how would claim they are the victim of scarves reluctance to give up power with dreaming the people about with their brights but the scaf looking for enjoy. some against the regime and all the mind the round up of activists has also noted the son 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. i think. so this is america whose military aid to egypt reaches one point three billion dollars annually has been very serious there has been weeks to condemn this car when in the days of mind tanks are over or they condemned mubarak tons of times but at the end of the day be continued on flowing that the provide the support also continue flowing. or in washington's so-called support for democracy getting the middle east washington wants to step in always the situation as much as possible in order to guarantee its interests they don't care about democracy meanwhile even those on the streets protesting against car share the council's concerns about the engineers motives the usa has had a hand in tips 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 takes 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 law to liberate any outside interference some doubts though they really minute the end to military movement growing ever bigger you can see it over there is a vision 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. fair and transparent that's how people in russia want to see the upcoming presidential election in march and polling stations across the country are being equipped with webcams to avoid any wrongdoing but a group of proactive citizens has decided using technology alone is not enough you

know if this can all be explains how they're planning to secure honest fighting. it doesn't take long to find videos of alleged violations during the recent parliamentary vote in russia just a couple of clicks is enough years of these files have flooded the internet and even though most of the allegations are still to be proven in courts tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets demanding fair elections with marches presidential votes just around the corner events are unfolding quickly where. people want to vote responsibly and to know where their villages go they want political competition independent courts and media forming voters league is not our achievement 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 and statements way g.d.s. like t.v.

host and now activist but one of the ladies in africa or the head of a charity fund and blogger he does the idea that bianca also known as dr lisa. or people from school martha ordinator of the blue buckets movement fighting for equal rights on roads for everyone. 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 it's 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. operate with a week and even though the project is less than a month auld everyone has so far agreed including pledging little to another candidate businessman mikhail prokhorov has already struck

a deal with the leak you have to go and willing to authorize one hundred fifty thousand leagues of this was also arranged to put together a unified database to keep track of 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 really important not to cross the line and observers not only are positioned it is serious so flirtations not to teach 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 we mean there 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 league to establish ties with both the authorities and the opposition and with the help of 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. afghan president hamid karzai accused nato of killing eight children in an airstrike on wednesday officials launched an investigation later claiming foreign forces wrongly targeted civilians after receiving an incorrect report that armed men were preparing an attack in the area the bombing came just a week after the united states announced it might stop combat operations in afghanistan earlier than expected but this strike could stoke already strained relations between karzai and his western backers over a mounting death toll documentary filmmaker clay claiborne's thinks that despite the condemnation civilian casualties in the country will continue to rise. he had to put on certain pretenses to have any viability is a legitimate see as an afghan woman or something like this happens but he is

basically a tool of the american occupation there so we can expect any real demand to change from here this kind of thing obviously doesn't win hearts and. this happened in the same area were afghan soldiers killed french troops on ports and i think because the u.s. is planning to pull out of the movie next day for him because of pictures or movie or troops out we can expect more airstrikes and more civilian casualties in afghanistan we already saw two thousand and 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 that they have to pull out safely because they noted again. the u.s. army private bradley manning accused of passing secret documents and evidence of war crimes to wiki leaks has been nominated for the nobel peace prize he's been put forward by a peace research center in the u.s.

and an icelandic parliamentary group twenty four year old is awaiting a court martial in the u.s. and faces life in prison activists kluck stokely believes that manning would be a much worth it recipient of the prize and the current u.s. president. what he is accused of is leaking documents and video that has led to the end of the iraq war has led to pro-democracy rallies and uprisings all over the world and i think it's much deserved that he receives this nobel peace prize if obama gets a go i should hate obama has done very little for peace even though he promised it and obama has also taken credit for ending the iraq war when actually that's not the truth the truth is the iraqi government did not want to allow legal immunity for u.s. troops after january first and the reason that they didn't last immunity is because of what they saw in the cables and the videos showing civilian deaths that were

being covered up in the corruption by the u.s. government. time now for some other international news in brief this hour israeli air strikes in the gaza strip of left one civilian dead and four others injured the man killed was a guard of the farm israeli army confirmed the bombing saying they were aimed at sites belonging to terror groups and response to a short range rocket attack from gaza. also paid the rescuers have pulled a five year old girl alive from the rubble of a house flattened by a massive avalanche that killed at least nine people and. officials say she was found buried under ten meters of snow after officers heard her voice on a mobile phone ringing the avalanche hit the village of leicester leecher on saturday destroying several houses rescue efforts continue for one missing person.

popular children actress whitney houston has died at the age of forty eight the performer was found in the beverly hills hotel room on the eve of the grammy awards in los angeles a career was marred by turbulent marriage and drug abuse authorities have yet to determine the exact cause of. the greek parliament in athens is debating tougher sturdy measures ordered by the e.u. and i.m.f. in return for a one hundred thirty billion euro bailout to keep the country afloat thousands of angry demonstrators are gathered outside the parliament at the moment and they've been running clashes between police and rioters as well as buildings set on fire investment advisor patrick young says eurozone leaders could now be prepared to expel greece from the currency union. in every possible respect greek greece is not a tragedy and it is due and the reason for that is simply because the reason no way

that they are going to be able to implement whatever austerity they're talking about this weekend against such a backlash of public opinion whatever happens there the problem for the rest of the euro zone is that not only we have to basically be prepared to defend the whole integrity of the euro and actually if you read what's been said behind the behind closed doors this week of the euro zone and indeed from the summit you can see there's a spirit that you know what we may have to do three so we may even have to end up ditching portugal from the euro zone but we're we have to defend is italy and that's really going to fall on the shoulders of the technocrat mario monti government and this is going to be our cataclysmic event during the course of at the latest april does the euro survive at the moment i think probably a shrunken euro it sixty forty it can do but ultimately we're going to see swinge in recession even worse of the recession read out of we've already been receiving for the course of this week through why do european union and that's bad for

everybody in the world regardless of what happens today regardless of what the vote is ultimately within the next maybe eight weeks greece is going to be forced to default and that's going to be quite cataclysmic. we're going to be a little earlier let's now talk to a great journalist who is in athens any of the results of this is expected and list them all to well as from no tell us about what you're seeing at the moment there are enough ins and your understanding of what's happening at the moment. even though everything behind me in front of the greek parliament seem to be quite quite . on our air here everything was totally different athens it was in total chaos now we can see only a policeman lots of policemen in front of the greek parliament that are trying not to let people go in front of the greek parliament until. my curious we have the

debate of lawmakers inside the greek parliament. started. in the afternoon and it is going to the vote is going to take place i thought about two hours from now it is likely to vote to pass. with a simple math this simple majority is needed and according to this the missions despite the defections of some low make yourself enough lawmakers we could say this crucial vote is going to pass with almost two hundred thirty thirty votes votes and this is an estimation and now we expect the vote to start. to make errors of all the books barclays the junior party that participated in the call the sunni government decided to leave the parliament before the vote not to vote but to. make is this either to stay in the parliament so the

predictions of that this measure will be passed to mark in parliament we saw the anger on the streets what reaction could follow. if indeed when and it looks like when the palmer. proves these cards. it is likely then this crucial vote to pass then greece has to implement this stuff masers people are so desperate nobody wants to follow this this harsh measures because for example on one of this measure seen clue of the lowering the lowering of. wages by trying to present this meaning that. work here we're. here where we receive four hundred euros or four hundred euros net this means nothing a family for example cannot leave when one of them receives four hundred euros and

the other members even work so people are here and they say that they will return to seem that must where they will come back to react to express their anger and i guess this means or as you say largely reactionary me are you sure you are in for the greeks will be extremely tough if these austerity measures are pushed through but the other alternative is for greece to go bankrupt. talking to people many of them say that maybe it is better and no it's not to the politicians to vote in favor of these measures of this new reforms but it's. a problem ease that greek politicians didn't acted carrier they should have air here they should have implemented some of this measures much earlier now we have it's too late that's why. the votes of these measures of this new reforms

is the only solution i don't think getting out of the eurozone are all the full tingo on its debts it would be. the solution for greece we think that the other countries of the eurozone even though greece. eurozone will months to find a solution for their economies they will be affected the course but they will survive in that way for greece it will be much much more difficult but i insist on that our politicians should have reacted earlier ok thank you very much indeed for that live update. journalist there in the greek capital well that's all for me for though i'll be back with main headlines when just a few minutes. after all special report cowboys in paradise in fact that comes after the headlines very shortly so stay with us about.

if you just showed is a very warm welcome our top stories now the arab league is calling on the u.n. to create a joint peacekeeping force for syria as the group aims to meld pressure on president assad also reporting that these five buildings have been set on fire and mass protests in athens as lawmakers debate new austerity cuts in return for one hundred thirty billion euro bailout with a vote expected in just one hour these are live pictures from the parliament where demonstrators have been moved away from the building with police firing tear gas

and stun grenades in the crowd as we can see the parliament. live pictures of what's happening there at the moment also promises to reveal major advances in its nuclear program which even says. it is for peaceful energy purposes despite the long list of western sanctions imposed against it. as our main stories up next the first part of a special report about bali and why some women go there for more than just sun. probably slept with a lot of women from america. canada austria did not. respond you know. brazil. australia. new zealand.