the u.n. general assembly scrutinizes a syrian crisis is seen by some as an attempt to tighten the screws on russia and china. europe gets hit with yet another wave of downgrades as confidence collapses over the bloke's future this. crusade against greece. and the russian airwaves flooded with pre-election campaigning positive coverage of prime minister. is criticizing unfair advantage over the other presidential candidates. present time. warner. prices have more. news and much more twenty four hours a day this is out. the u.n.

general assembly is preparing its members for an upcoming vote over a new draft resolution on syria the document apparently echoes the one vetoed by. the security council in early february. human rights chief said the inability of the body to take action on the syrian crisis has handed president carte blanche to execute an all out assault all the decisions at the general assembly and not legally finding some believe the vote could be used in a tent to put pressure on both russia and china. expects. this meeting has definitely last in the entire day we've been hearing speeches. from dozens of countries that started early in the morning and of course this comes only a week after a double veto from russia and china blocked an arab and western backed resolution on syria at the security council so what we saw as an attempt from the saudi arabia and qatar to go to another body of the united nations an attempt to find some kind of decision there even though the general assembly does consist of over one hundred

ninety members we have to keep in mind that it's not nearly as powerful as the security council because whatever decision comes out of the general assembly is by no means binding it's only seen as a recommendation by the rest of the international community and what's key here is that the text of this suppose address aleutian that the general assembly will be voting on voted on has not even been circulated yet we're hearing about it's going to be pretty much the same document that russia and china vetoed and russia and china's problem with the text was that it seemed biased to the country is saying that it only named to the syrian government as the main cause of the conflicts going on on the ground in syria but not the armed groups and that's something that continues to be a major sticking point the recognition of two sides to this conflict by the international community. effort to end violence to come with a negotiation attempts involving all syrian forces including the government and the opposition in order to start the talks the countries that have an influence over

the opposition groups going to him now have been unwilling to meet should exert their power. we've been hearing all of these countries make speeches today see it saying that the syrian government is committing atrocities so really this is another opportunity for those who do support regime change on the ground to send out criticism towards the syrian government but to many experts are saying really that the fact that this symbolic diplomatic gesture is being attempted at the united nations doesn't really mean much because any sort of document is not going to help stop the crisis on the ground unless it pushes for a cease fire so many are saying that should be a priority prioritized at the general assembly these days and not just you know a lot of words of criticism. but new york based correspondent in williams says if the action on syria is pushed through the u.n. general assembly it could set a dangerous precedent. the arab countries in the western countries want to show that they're doing something. if they were serious then they would have pressed for

a special general assembly an emergency special general assembly meeting under the uniting for peace resolution and this you might remember a field rich with irony was the form that the u.s. and britain used to fight the korean war in the face of a soviet veto in the early fifty's since then it was resurrected by the palestinians to bypass the american veto in the security council and that's i presume is why it is not being invoked now because i use the phrase a non-binding resolution the resolution that established the state of israel partition this was a general assembly resolution that was not binding then where do we go from there. you know what we have is some powers say that resolutions they like a binding resolution they don't like a nonbinding. the president of the general assembly could have followed earlier the president said that there was sufficient support for especially. the special

session but he hasn't done so and i'm sure that's because a western pressure. they don't want to restart bush or president big usage of these resolution binding because that will be upsetting next time the u.s. veto in the probability resolution. for alarming reports continue to emanate from the protests because opposition activists suggest the city has suffered its heaviest shelling for days in the spiraling violence now being fanned by. the concerns the crisis could become increasingly sectarian. self-worth reports. the predominantly christian town of milly lies in the syrian mountains yet even here in this hauntingly beautiful place and the signs of the pale rising conflict is tearing apart much of the country right now creeping in and the sense of foreboding hangs heavy locals tell us they don't travel out of this area much longer feel it's safe he speaks of the nuns at the monastery here they tell us about the town's

preservation of the ancient aramaic language and like their cherished tongue they hate the fine balance of religious groups in the country can be kept even in these difficult times we have been living here with all people regardless of their religion ethnicity in peace for a long time. back in the center and damascus is known as a melting pot of religions alloa effect are a minority in the country but despite making up around just twelve percent of the taito population heloise have occupied elite positions in the government and the military for decades and now there are fears that resentment among the majority muslim sunni stack's key to run. the country but until this crisis breakout was religiously. tolerant of the car the increasingly polarized genuine fears that those divisions my laid his a sectarian tensions being further exploited have been staked by the emergence of

an al qaeda video link the holy war destroyed. that regime violence is just not going to and we see it happening and iraq neighboring iraq sectarian violence that is catastrophic and nobody is reporting on that the reporting on syria and they're not focusing on the potential problems that syria could lead into another iraq on the streets through an increasingly desperate population has called for help in whatever form it comes as long as it stops the violence this is a time for them to think about long hands that carry and risks as many of them worrying about daily survival anyone who. we are ready to hear out to see anyone over there. yes anyone in syria right now the split still largely remains along pillis a collines there's concern that as this increasingly bloody conflict continues it could turn into a sectarian one as well. damascus syria. what are still

to come on the program a super power games washington and beijing representatives meet to discuss cooperation the u.s. has its forces china's backyard. there could be an attack on iran by this summer that's the prediction of russia's general store. game between tehran. with allegations surrounding two bomb attacks on israeli embassies. yet another wave of credit rating downgrade has hit the e.u. with moody's one of the big three raters sashing the scores of italy spain and four other nations this is the book labors to erect a debt barrier around greece and its hopes that extreme austerity there will halt any possible contagion but as artie's jake agrees reports it's a plan that already seems to be unraveling. system under siege

m.p.'s drowned out the pleas of tens of thousands of demonstrators amassed within a short passing another round of unpopular cuts. the results proved incendiary. she got protests turned violent as protesters including fringe and a kiss clashed with police again leaving their mark on athens. the day all this is the remnants of public anger big losses and the only thing that's been broken as governments past increasingly unpopular austerity cuts left asking who can they trust their interest to the measures at the heart of the poor people especially and this is the reason that we feel. the today i think more measures have been taken and they're going to work and there will be another bill.

and. oh i hope for the best but i don't see it coming. under pressure from brussels and the international monetary fund the greek government has cut more jobs to slash funding for the nation's pensions a minimum wage but current policy appears to mainly expose those most vulnerable to crisis conditions is a mindset some feel is doomed to fail and they already have destroyed the whole generation of young people and their dreams destroyed. the sabian to infrastructure of the whole country we know that did this in a day that we have now signs that these illegal or old bad we cannot continue like that because the ball is too but the government is following actually increases the day instead of finding a solution at the heart of activists claims is their search and they've known us there. he for the best part of five years now and the time taxes have risen incomes

have fallen but the country's deficit only seems to grow. by an increasing number despite the governor will follow but what. exactly. is the default. for us but is going to be. for now relative calm has returned to the streets of athens smashed buildings have been patched up the signs of damage where the wait for the simmering discontent hasn't been forced medicine appears to bring nothing but pain many are continuing their. treatment of greece athens. well despite

a greece passing it's. yet there's no guarantee it will get more cash still has conditions to fulfilling further cuts to protect against a greek default but international consultant and author. says the country is knocked. are bankers that stupid that they always make the mistake of lending too much money and our government's very stupid loan is much more than they can pay back or insist is this part of our model we're like shylock's. you ability of the solver and this is literally used to control the entire country and it's so sad to see the same sickening scene time and again. taking to the streets they are repressed by the police who tear gas they throw stones somebody gets injured hundreds get into somebody always ends up getting killed and i always figure that it's the poor people on the streets fighting the police who are also poor and i always wonder if there are

a cigar smoking perched on the fifth floor boardroom looking down of these horrific scenes and just laughing at it all. well the troika of greek lenders are due to meet on wednesday to give the athens bailout their preliminary approval the final say however rests with the german parliament something that's not sitting well with max kaiser coming up at thirty g.m.t. your unique take on europe's debt crisis in the kaiser report. greece approved tombstone austerity deal with troika so we see over and over there's a great deal there is not a great deal there's a great deal there's not a great deal of. again off again there is a deal now there were german were crazy were trying to milk you dry all the elegant marbles but the u.k. already stalled.

the arrival of the chinese vice president xi jinping in the u.s. comes out testing point in relations between the two economic giants due to meet with his american counterpart joe biden the two are expected to work on time against the backdrop of a u.s. military buildup in the asia pacific michael or ask defense analyst at them school of international studies says the visit is a chance for china to share its world view. twenty twelve is also a very important year in chinese political system it's a year where you'll see a generational shift in chinese political system. paying basically represents a fifth generations of new chinese leaders which will take the helm after after this year he's basically posed to become mature general party secretary in october of this year and there are becoming china's future president and secondly he wants to give us a sneak preview of if he wants to basically show himself

a little introduce himself to the us now there's a very little information on what he's really worldview what he's views are so i believe there will be tensions covered by most of all it will be very important how do you need generations of leaders especially in the trying to be able to manage the on domestic problems and how they will be able to communicate with the americans and vice versa. or the chinese vice president's visit is being used by u.s. activists in washington to try and further the cause of sanctions on iran a group of former national security advisors to him to support the western embargo on iran's oil exports which china is now the biggest buyer for more on the prolonged standoff surrounding iran we're joined by our two peter all of them there peter where hearing some reaction to the situation from the russian military aren't we what's being said well we've heard from the general chief of the general staff of the russian military nicholai mccarthy said that he believes that they could be an attack on iran by the west by this summer now he's basing that claim on

intelligence that's being gathered by russian intelligence services since the start of the the arab spring last year so a year's worth of intelligence he's saying that he believes that they could be an attack on iran by the west by the west it doesn't name one nation particularly just the west in general now this comes a day after to iran was accused by israel of planting bombs in the boat. georgian and indian capitals targeting israeli diplomats now the bomb in the indian capital did explode injuring four people and was only. five hundred meters away from the the the headquarters of the residence a big part of the indian prime minister the bomb in was able to be found and disabled now denies any involvement in this but this is just a part of an ongoing blame game between tell of even terror and accuses israel of a two year plan to assassinate. a rainy and.

a scientist so this all continuing this i say a blame game between tel of eve down over who is doing what to whom. the hotties people all about thank you for that. well to get more on the western government's approach towards iran r.t. talked to brian becker a member of the answer antiwar coalition here's a taste of what's coming up next hour. the u.s. says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who's watching knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even a like the old saying they are same to the rest of the world if you dare do business with iran central bank if you buy iranian oil which constitutes half of iran's g.n.p.

if you have any business with iran whatsoever you will not have access to american banks to american corporations to the american market this is in fact a blockade. russia is a league of voters is demanding that the country's central channels drop their of the edge pro putin bias it as much as presidential election the standing for fair election doesn't like the positive tone of reports about the prime minister saying it undermines others' chances as artie's to push through reports every candidate makes good use of there are a lot of their time. oh i doubt he'll a few days he did so call the most eccentric video in russia's presidential campaign urging to vote for the country's top populist legit enough skin famous for his showmanship and occasional fist fights with fellow though make his. symbol of the scene see that this little mangy donkey has become a symbol of our country the whole country has gone to

a standstill like this animal if i become president i will get moving again. less than a month to go and five candidates have plastered the streets with election boost as desmond view is with t.v. premiers deal breaker discussions has become part of everyday life the study of dakar after that during your board i don't course in the race the billionaire businessman make a profit of promises their arrival of a new russia with a new president known for his quite riches and playboy past he is the only new face on russia's political scene formally and a tory as party animal his reputation was once dented by an international sex scandal which has come back to haunt him on the lead we are better to have long as we're our body and soul as for the elections will win them anyway you can buy anything so you can buy your victory to the remaining candidates are family a crowd united to ban of the oton communist party leader has always relied on the

mention of a form about one third of russia's population now his laurels all contest is once again middle of the drama for a russia polity is the no should be easy can't even afford to milk whether pensioners. the competition has made is he gonna reach out to younger generation and offer them a brand new slogan there's always a choice to bloody made putin running for his that time has refrained from getting involved in the campaign directly he has controversially refused to take part in any t.v. debates sending. representatives instead and he's promised to never show his face. when he doesn't go to television when he's a part of st paul it takes what he's a part of television coverage oh he's a job as prime minister he is there is the only one let's say the only can do that with so many resources so much media attention i think that he wants to

show that he's the only real candidate precisely by not going there as the campaign picks up steam it's expected so will the number of street protests both for and against putin and it's likely election two thousand and twelve will be remembered as one that got russians on their feet all of the latest opinion polls also show the level of support keeps rolling across the country despite the wave of opposition protests i think that brought us tend to mobilize his core electorate because when people like brought her up are saying that you know the social benefits would be caught that factories that are inefficient would because that stage would not interfere so much i think that the message that people gather cross russia is that like we should keep with him this is even a song and recent online solution praising the prime minister's virtues sung by supposedly. it claims to be by his initials was sent to russia

by god. by now let. go of the many say this song is clearly too much and is just a club the headaches in the meantime the electoral campaign will be sewn with more surprises likely along the way danny pushed over party all stem. now let's look at some other stories making headlines around the world the south around the whole muslim cleric within the. said to have been bin laden's right hand man has been released from prison on bail in the u.k. extremist preacher. in jail for six years but last week a tribunal ruled he should be freed british officials say he poses a threat to the country's security for attempts to deport him back to jordan to place terrorism charges have been blocked modern european court of human rights.

police have fired tear gas and stun grenades a protest against capital the first anniversary of the pro-democracy demonstrations the crowds were attending a legal anti government rally heading for pearl roundabout countries that america the sixty people have died since the protests began last spring i demanded a constitutional monarchy and barring. serbs in northern cossack are holding a referendum on whether they accept the current group of the self-proclaimed public results of the two day vote to see to the struggle to reunite with serbia belgrade there was condemned the referendum saying this will complicate dialogue with the breakaway state course of a declared independence between us than eight but its status is still not recognized by many countries. next arena brings this latest business news.

hello and welcome to business here on the russian crops where mother nature is once again playing tricks just a year after a severe drought the country's plants are facing a cold. business analyst bushell has more. up to home crops may have been extreme cold weather same form as germany from poland are also from sustained low temperatures which are thirty three in some polls that's expected to prices for things like bread wheat futures have been. the ukraine government warns they may limit exports to guarantee the mystic supply both countries are usually big exporters of grain global we proceed eleven percent in the second hole for january alone we will. suspended its grain terminal several times after the black sea froze over for the first time in thirty years

a drought from july to november last year had already weakened crops. one company says fifty percent of the country's great could be damaged by heavy winds and the worst weather in a cool to of a century first. show one in three great points have already been lost. let's take a look at the markets now with the exchange rates the euro is trading flat's against the dollar the shoes then after being down in early asian trading due to rating downgrades by moody's investor service we'll have more on that well a bit later but the move by the rating agency weighs on the ruble which is seen one hour of gains against the european currency. while crude prices are a mix this hour they're still hovering around a one month high though that's after the austerity plan approved by the greek parliament and tighten sanctions on iran teachers climbed over two percent after companies in control of more than one hundred tankers that would stop loading cargo from iran. over in europe stocks are mixed this hour with sentiment weighed by

a fresh crop of downgrades and. there is an agency not to know. that trading and cut its outlooks on the u.k. and france too negative. i was in the back slowly escaping negative territory. and here in russia trading is also makes the r.t.s. is losing a third of a percent more than my six is struggling to stay in positive territory let's take a look at the main movers there and there's the majors are driving the index lower but a little has managed to sustain the pressure traders say investors are moving their salt from last night the not so after the company increase plan capital expenditures for this year to be has managed to reverse earlier losses and is now adding over a few signs and looking ahead to the rest of the week so monday from the us is russian investors will be waiting for new economic data from europe and the us. us . as well as german augusta production coming. out some numbers on the market.

look at those numbers as a reflection of who economy is improving the implication of that is also to be in the in the euro zone if we can get a soft landing in china i'm not stephanie someone who drives russian markets or numbers you could expect he's still names in particular to run. the other you sell rosol the world's largest ahman miner by output may sell forty percent in an i.p.o. that's according to commerce on daily we're says the flotation worth over one billion dollars may take part in the second half of the year. in germany beer lovers will soon have the opportunity to enjoy a new brand of their favorite beverage and that's because russia's six largest brewer i chalk a lot has decided to set up production in the european country the company plans to increase its presence in the german market ten fold this year by brewing five million liters of beer and the talk of us says it's forced to expand abroad

increasing register of pressure on russia's beer market. and that's how business likes this hour i'll be back with more about fifty five minutes from now in the meantime satan for the headlines with carrie. any match one snitch gets bumped.