all.

too much brighter if you need some from funds to pressure these. stunts on t.v. don't come. close to the task that the u.n. general assembly scrutinizes the syrian crisis the movers leave by some as an attempt to tighten the screws on russia and china. europe gets hit with yet another wave of downgrades of confidence collapses over the blocks future this as the e.u. presses ahead with its austerity crusade against a reluctant greece. and with the russian airwaves flooded with pre-election campaigning positive coverage a prime minister of lead zero proved it criticised as an unfair advantage over other presidential candidates. plus reason temperatures that medrol some crops with exports warning of skyrockets and prices we'll have more on that and the substance

once the minutes. is three pm here in moscow the start coming to you live i'm just now with our top story this hour and the u.n. general assembly is preparing its members for an upcoming vote over a new draft resolution on syria the document apparently echoes one vetoed by moscow and beijing at the security council in early february at a general assembly meeting on monday the u.n. human rights chief said inability the. of the body to take action the syrian crisis have handed president cart blanche to execute an all out assault and all those decisions at the u.n. g.a. are not legally binding some believe the vote could be used in an attempt to put pressure on both russia and china is an associate turn in the fall of the latest gathering your. 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 in the 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 countries 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 should come with negotiation attempts involving all sharing 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 you see it saying that the syrian government is committing atrocities so. ali this is another opportunity for those who do support regime change on the ground to send out criticism towards the syrian government many experts are saying really that the fact that of this symbolic diplomatic gesture is being attempted at the united nations does not 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 priority prioritized at the general assembly these days and not just you know a lot of words of criticism. of the new york based correspondent for the nation magazine in william says if the action on syria is pushed through the u.n. general assembly it could have unwelcome consequences for some world powers. the arab countries in the western countries want to show that they're doing something. if they were serious then they were oppressed for a special general assembly an emergency special general assembly meeting under the uniting for peace resolution and this you might remember in 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 partitioned it 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 are binding a resolution they don't like a non-binding. the qatari president of the general assembly could have followed earlier the president said that there was sufficient support for a special it majesty special session but he hasn't done so and i'm sure that's because a western pressure. you don't want to establish a precedent they consider these resolutions binding because that would be accepting next time u.s.b. there was a palestinian resolution. alarming reports continue to emanate from the protest of homes as opposition activists suggest the city is suffering its heaviest shelling for days but the spiraling violence now being found by players such as al qaeda there are concerns that the crisis could become increasingly sectarian as artists

are firth now reports. the predominantly christian town of milly lies in the syrian mountains it's even here in this hauntingly beautiful place and the signs of the polarizing conflict that 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 we speak to 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 south alloway sector 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 resentments among the majority muslim sunni specs could or ups the country that until this crisis breakout was religiously diverse as the tolerance now the current increasingly polarized genuine fears about just where those divisions that might lead here's a sectarian tensions being further exploited have been staked by the emergence of an al qaeda video calling for holy war overthrow the assad regime violence is just not going to end 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 there's little time

for them to think about long term sick carrying risks. well as many of them are worrying about daily survival anyone over there we are with you to hear to see anyone over the cell phone this is. yes i do work in syria right now the split still largely remains a long political lines that is concerned that is this increasingly bloody conflict continues it could turn into a sectarian one as well. damascus syria. but still to come here on our super power games washington and beijing represent to meet to discuss cooperation while the u.s. moves its forces into china's backyard. and there could be an attack on iran by this summer that's the protection of russian generals as the blame game between tehran and teller be ethical life allegations surrounding two bomb attacks on

israeli embassies. but first yet another wave of credit rating downgrade has had the e.u. with moody's one of the big three waiters slashing the scores of entirely spain and four other nations this is the walk labors toorak the debt barrier around greece amidst hopes that extreme austerity there will halt any possible contagion there's artie's jacob greaves reports it's a plan that already seems to be unraveling. a system on the seach m.p.'s drowned out the pleas of tens of thousands of demonstrators masters in the short passing another round of them popular cuts. the results proved incendiary. at uganda protests turned violent as protesters including fridge and the kids clashed with police again leaving their mark on athens. today on this is the remnants of public anger the glass isn't the only thing that's being broken as

governments past increasingly unpopular austerity cuts. before we left asking who can they trust serve their interests the measures are very very tough part of the poor people especially and this is the reason that we feel. we today and i think more measures have been taken and there it's not going to work and there will be another bill lee bad and. our i hope for the best but i don't see it coming. under pressure from brussels berlin and the international monetary fund the greek government has cut more jobs 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 we already have destroyed the whole generation of young people and their dreams they will destroy the.

infrastructure of the whole country we know that it is. a piece there that we have now signs that the busy legal or old jewish we cannot continue like that because the policy that the government is following actually increases the day instead of finding a solution but the heart of activists claims is there a solution and they've known austerity for the best part of five years now and that time taxes have risen incomes have full but the country's deficit only seems to grow and in this austerity cycle is something sought by an increasing number despite the turmoil that governor wallace will follow but what is a bad about our political system is the break up that i exactly do to date even more. people. are going to come the only way out of this point is the default default is going to be very tough for us but there's

going to be a better solution than the slow death. now relative calm has returned to the streets of athens smashed buildings have been patched the signs of damage swept away but the simmering discontent hasn't been a mass force medicine appears to bring nothing but pain many are continuing their call for target of treatment groups r.t. athens. despite greece passing its harshest austerity package yet there's no guarantee it will get more about loud cash out and still has conditions to fail including further cuts to protect against a greek default but international consultant and author adrian says the country is locked in a vicious cycle our banker is that stupid that they always make the mistake of lending too much money and our governments are that stupid that they take loans much more than they can pay back or insist is this part of our model where like

shylock's pound of. pay you ability of the sovereign there is literally used to control the entire country and it's so sad to see the same sickening scene time and again protest since 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 fiftieth floor boardroom looking down of these horrific scenes and just laughing at it all. well the troika of greek lenders are due to meet out wednesday to give the athens bailout their preliminary approval the final say however rests with the german parliament something that's not something well with max kaiser coming up later this hour a unique take on europe's debt crisis in the kaiser report. greeks 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 you. on again off again there is a deal now there were german were crazy were trying to milk you draw and steal the elegant marbles but the u.k. already stole them. the arrival of chinese vice president xi jinping in the us comes out a testing point in relations between the two economic giants there to meet with his american counterpart joe biden the tour expected to work on ties against a backdrop of the u.s. military buildup in the asia pacific michael ross defense analyst at the rajaratnam school of international studies says the visit is a chance for china to share its world view. twenty twelve is also very important here and in chinese political system it's a you're worried you'll see

a generational shift in chinese political system you know she being basically represents a fifth generations of new chinese leaders which will take a how and after after this here he's basically posed to become a true general party secretary you know tolbert these here and there are becoming china's future president and secondly he wants to give us a sneak preview of what he wants to because he showed himself a little introduce himself to be us now there's a very little information on what he was what he's really worldview what he's world views are so i believe there will be tension problem but most of all it will be very important how do you generations of leaders especially to try and be able to manage the own domestic problems and how they will be able to communicate with the americans and vice versa. but 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 advisers have urged him to support the western

embargo on iran's oil exports of which china is now the biggest buyer meanwhile russia's military has made its own assessment of iran's near future artist peter oliver explains. the chief of the general staff of the russian military has said that he believes that there could be an attack on iran by the west by the summer of this year now he's basing that claim on intelligence since the start of the arab spring last year now he doesn't name one particular nation only saying that it could be from western powers this comes just after two israeli diplomats cars were targeted on monday in both the indian and georgian capitals no television has blamed iran for being involved one of the bombs the bomb in police in georgia was able to be disarmed but the bomb in india actually detonated injuring four people just five hundred meters away from the residence of the indian prime minister now

this is all part of the the ongoing blame game between tel of eve and terror on iran alleges that israel has been behind a two year operation to assassinate a rainy and nuclear physicists. peter all of our reporting there well to get more on western governments approach towards iran are to talk to brian bakker a member of the answer antiwar coalition here's a taste of his interview coming up next hour. the u.s. says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who is watching knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt operate covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even like the old saying they are saying 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. well russia's league of voters is demanding that the country's central t.v. channels drop their alleged pro putin bias at the head of marches presidential election well the leak standing for a fair election doesn't like the positive tone of reports about the prime minister saying it undermines others chances but authorities diapers cover reports every candidate makes their allotted time. right. here case so far the most eccentric video in russia's presidential campaign urging to vote for the country's top populist legend it is not ski famous for his showmanship and occasional fist fights with very little make is. so you will. see that this little mangy donkey has become a symbol of our country the whole country has come to

a standstill like this animal if i become president we'll get moving again. less than a month to go and five candidates have plastered the streets with the election boost is deafening view is. heated discussions have become part of everyday life. i don't because in the race the billionaire businessman mikhail prophet of promise is their arrival of a new russia with a new president known for his quite riches and playboy past he's the only new face on russia's political scene formally and a tourist party animal his reputation was once dented by an international sex scandal which has come back to haunt him on the web where vegeta held here with a lower body and soul as for the elections will win them any way you can buy anything so you can buy your victory to the remaining candidates are some of the a crowd unite is a gun of the old time communist party leader has always relied on the pension of

voters who form about one third of russia's population now his laurels all contest advice again middle of from if they are russia polity is in the know should be can't even afford to milk now 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 bloody mate put in the running for his that term has refrained from getting involved in the campaign directly he has controversially refused to take part in any t.v. debates sending his representatives instead and his promos 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 so he's 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 is 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 however the latest opinion polls also show the level of support keeps growing across the country despite the wave of opposition protests and i think that brought us tend to more voices corlett through because when people. are saying that you know that social benefits from because the factories that are inefficient because that stage would not interfere so much i think that the message that people gather cross russia is that we should keep putting there's even a song and recent online sensation praising the prime minister's virtues sung by supposedly migrant worker it claims to. be by his initials was sent to russia

by god. by. however 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 down party moscow. twenty three minutes past the hour the second some other stories making headlines around the globe a radical muslim cleric with alleged links to al qaida and said to have been of some of the models right hand man been released from prison on bail in the u.k. extremist teacher abu qatada has been in jail for six years but last week a tribe you know ruled he should be free british officials say he poses a threat to the country's security but attempts to deport him back to jordan to face terrorism charges have been blocked by the european court of human rights.

lawyers have fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters in bahrain capital ahead of the first anniversary of pro-democracy demonstrations the crowds were attending an anti-government rally heading for a program. about where the country's uprising began even though at least sixty people have died since the shia led protests began last february they're demanding a constitutional monarchy. and serves in northern kosovo are holding a referendum on whether the current rule of the self-proclaimed republic i hope result of the tour de veau will add to their struggle to reunite with serbia belgrade though has condemned the referendum saying this will complicate dialogue with the breakaway state kosovo declared independence in february two thousand and eight but it's still not recognized by many countries. let's get the latest from marina now at the business desk.

hello and welcome to business here and i see we start this hour with the russian crops where mother nature is once again playing tricks just a year after a severe drought the country's plans are facing a cold test once again sees business out of less than a bushel has more. up the home of some russian troops may have been damaged by the extreme cold weather say we're informers it's lead germany france and poland are also risk from sustained low temperatures which is thirty three in some polls that's expected to skyrocket prices for things like bread wheat futures have been of the ukraine government warned 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 general alone we will russia's top or never received suspended its grain terminal several times of the black sea froze over for the

first time in thirty years a drop from july to november last year had already weakened crops the head of russia's so than one company says fifty percent of the country's great crop 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. a second look at the markets now will start with exchange rates the euro is trading just the last lower against the dollar and that's after being down in early asian trading due to rating downgrade these which we'll tell you about a little bit later but the move five a rating agency what is on the scene moderate losses against the euro and the dollar. on that crude prices are going around one month high and 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 said they would stop loading cargo from iran. over in europe stocks

are gaining this hour as the spy it's a fresh crop of downgrades and ratings by moody's rating agency no two notches off spain sovereign that rating and cut its outlooks on the u.k. and france too negative. here in russia our markets are all. so in positive territory with m i six adding over a half a percent this hour let's take a look at the index movers on the my sax. one percent higher if we can see a right there that would go look over the plans to give us one thing on billion dollars in fuel development in the caspian sea by one hundred twenty five used to be bankrupt first earlier losses and is now adding around one and a half percent. loss is among the main gainers the sour on rumors has made a deal with dialer. lines which stocks investors will be focused on the street. investors will be most focused on stocks which almost leveraged on

a successful loan for greece and also relatively well supported modestly prices in tradition in russia. stocks that still means on the financials as well so the market should be quite focused on names like never as it was like sort of. amongst them are expected to be a lot will depend on how the market interprets the events in greece. and in other news all rosol the world's largest diamond mine may sell fourteen percent in the i.p.o. accordance of commerce on the flotation worth over one billion dollars may take part in the second half of this year. over in germany beer lovers will soon have the opportunity to enjoy a new brand of their favorite beverage and that's because russian six largest brewer has the site to set up production in the european country the company plans to increase its presence in the german markets handful of this year by brewing five

million liters of beer says it's for such a broad base of regulatory pressure on russia's few markets. that are small business looks the sour the headlines are next for the buy for now. wealthy british style. restaurant.