world. technology innovation all the developments around russia we've got the future covered. the u.n. general assembly prepares to vote on an arab resolution putting blame for violence

in syria solely on the government image fears the country might soon plunge into sectarian chaos. a fresh wave of downgrades sweeps across the struggling euro zone that six nations get their debt rating scott all this while greece faces further ballad hurdles from the e.u. spine to its latest harsh austerity plan. and the russian military predicts the last my first side on a military strike against iran before summer has clouds gather over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's attacks on diplomatic personnel. and business although we're also the world's largest diamond mine to buy i'll put it may sell a forty percent stake in an i.p.o. join me for more on that story and the bullets.

it's seven pm here in moscow this is r.t. coming to you live from nice now with our top story the u.n. general assembly could soon vote on a new draft resolution on syria which is believed would put all the blame for the violence on the country's government saudi arabia and qatar drew up the attacks in a pressure bid to pressure the syrian president well the move follows the recent double veto of virtually the same document by russia and china at the u.n. security council or just an associate is following developments in new york. this meeting has definitely last of 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 we should be able because the effort to end violence should come with 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 to d.c. is 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 many experts are saying really that the fact that 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 well syria's opposition say the rebellious city of holmes has come under some of its heaviest shelling again from government forces rebels claim around four hundred people have been killed and several days of an intensified assault but the syrian authorities blame violence on armed terrorists

operating in the city now adding to the increased turmoil in the country there are fears syria could soon plunge into sectarian chaos as sara firth explains. the predominantly christian town of million 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 besides alloway sector a minority in the country that despite making up around just twelve percent of the taito population and always 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 could erupt the country that until this crisis breakout was religiously diverse as the tolerance now the calm increasingly polarized genuine fears that as well that those divisions my laid is a sectarian tensions being further exploited have been staked by the emergence of an al qaeda video link the holy war illustrate the assad regime the 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 carrion rests. because many of them are worrying about they survival anyone who. we are ready to hear to say yes to anyone over this awful decision yes i do you are in syria right now the split still largely remains along political lines there's concern that is this increasingly bloody conflict continue it could turn into a sectarian one as well. damascus syria. but we're closely watching tensions in the region and you can find more expert analysis on that on our web site r t v dot com. the debt ridden e.u. has suffered another blow from the ratings agencies moody's has downgraded the debt

ratings of six e.u. states including vulnerable portugal italy and spain it comes as the bloc struggles to prevent greece from to fall by offering ballots in return for more austerity but as our teams jacob graves reports more and more greeks feel the measures will only make things worse. system on the seach m.p.'s drowned out the pleas of tens of thousands of demonstrators masters in short passing another round of them popular cuts. the results proved incendiary. that uganda 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 being broken as governments past increasingly unpopular austerity cuts will be 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. today i think more measures will be taken and they're not going to work in the end they'll be another bill he. had bad 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 was 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 infrastructure of the whole country we know that it is. there that we have now

signs that these illegal or bad we cannot continue like that because the policy that the government is following actually increases the day instead of finding a solution at the heart of activists claims is there a solution that they've noticed there. the for the best part of five years now and the 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 governor wallace would follow what these are. is that make up the idea exactly even more. by this that. they are going to 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 for now relative calm has returned to the

streets of athens smashed buildings have been patched up the signs of damage swept away but the simmering discontent hasn't be forced medicine appears to bring nothing but pain many are continuing to call for turned to treatment greece athens. now despite greece passing its harshest austerity package yet there's no guarantee it will get more cash there are still conditions out those needs to fill including making written assurances that they agreed measures will be implemented but international consultant and author adrian says the country is locked in a vicious circle. are bankers that stupid that they always make the mistake of lending too much money and are governments that stupid that they take loans much more than they can pay back or insist is this part of a model where like shylock's pound of the pay you ability of least solver and there is literally used to control the entire country and it's so sad to see the same

sickening scene time and again since taking to the streets they are repressed by the police who tear gas they throw stones somebody gets injured hundreds get in 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 boardrooms looking down of these horrific scenes and just laughing at it all but later today will bring you a unique take on europe's debt crisis in the kaiser report the full program coming up in just over fifteen minutes. here images from athens is that from two thousand and nine two thousand and ten two thousand and eleven or two thousand and twelve can you tell the target by any other year or still a sweep 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 to go. on again off again there is a deal now there were german. we're crazy we're trying to milk you dry and still the elegant marvels but the u.k. already stalled. well china has promised to help resolve the eurozone debt crisis but it's made no specific promise to invest in a european bailout fund meanwhile chinese vice president xi jinping is in the u.s. to meet with top officials in an effort to smooth out differences but for more on this we're joined now live in the studio by david dodwell a trade policy consultant also i understand a former correspondent for the financial times thanks for being with us what do you see as the main reasons for the chinese vice president's visit now. well i

think there are countries that do need to maintain a fairly high level of diplomatic contact and. there are a lot of stress points of the moment linked with china's involvement in the rest of the global economy expectations about trying his role in helping to drive recovery and i think they're wanting for some dialogue on china and both sides really have said they want to clear up their differences and that's really what analysts and experts are focusing when they look at this visit what exactly are the differences at this point. the differences are simply. emerging power emerging economy that's emerging much quicker than people expected. frustrations that. among those that are much greater power and seeing that diminished through the recession. feeling stress to the right is the rapid rise of china those three main focus of the. stress points trade investment and job

creation very much at the heart of the american agenda they want to see china chinese people consume more they want to see the currency strengthened so they can buy more american exports and they're frustrated that that's not happening in the middle of election campaigns or preparation for election campaigns if you go back through two decades china has become a quite serious bogeyman in the election campaigns and. it might be that the visit from china is a sort of premium. and if we look at china's growth how soon would it and would its economy be able to surpass that of the u.s. and how would washington react to that do you think it's easy to overstate that china is still about one a of the size of the u.s. economy it's about a tenth the size of the european economy. so. while trade has become

significant and the sheer size of the country and the population is a factor to be reckoned with it's very easy to overstate how large an impact it can have in the next ten years or so after that it is to be a major for sure with that said about china being a major power and in terms of relations with the u.s. do you think it's looked at more as a partnership or a rivalry. the simple fact that china is emerging as quickly as it is but this rise comes in the middle of the severest recession that we've seen since seventy years. has has led to a real schizophrenia over whether china should be regarded as a rival to sort of being proud it used to be sitting elsewhere or whether it's an indispensable ally that can help bail lots of struggling companies out of countries out rank david dot of well trade policy consultant thank you very much for your

analysis this hour from. well the international pressure on iran mounts russia's military has assessed the probability of a western strike against the islamic republic as being high concerns of pending military action grew after israel blamed tehran for two bomb attacks on its diplomatic staff on monday and today's blast in bangkok peter oliver is following developments around to you ron. the chief of staff of the russian armed forces said on tuesday that he thinks a plan for a western attack on iran could be in place by the summer of this year and he's basing that statement on the fact that since the arab spring started a year ago russia has been monitoring the area of the wider middle east very closely enough to looking at the findings from that monitoring this is what he's come up with now and this comes just a day after two israeli diplomats were targeted with car bombs in the capitals of georgia and india now the bomb in georgia was able to be defused however in india

that car bomb exploded very very close to the residence of the prime minister of india and injured several people now israel was very very quick to point the finger of blame for those attacks at teheran despite terror experts looking at the findings and coming up with saying no there's pretty much no evidence that was behind those attacks this is all really part of the ongoing blame game between tell of the terror and the iranians claim that the israelis have been behind a two year campaign of assassinations on their nuclear scientists well on tuesday in bangkok what we've seen is a rainy unmanned taken into custody by police after an explosion two explosions in bangkok injured several people there now it's really media very very quick to point the finger of terror towards that iranian man who's being detained there so this is all part of as i say

a blame game that's ongoing between tell of the terror on. well look now at some other stories from around the world a radical muslim cleric with less links to al qaeda and said to be bin laden's right hand man has been released from prison on bail in the u.k. extremist preacher abu qatada has been locked up for six years but last week a tribunals world who should be freed but 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. serves the northern kosovo are holding a referendum on whether they accept the current will of the self-proclaimed republic they hope results of the two de veau will add the judum with each to their struggle to reunite with serbia belgrade though has condemned the referendum saying this will complicate dialogue with the breakaway state last summer serves in the north set up barricades to defy the kosovo government which has led to clashes with

nato peacekeepers. but russia's central t.v. channels have come under criticism for alleged bias ahead of next month's presidential election a group of activists standing for a fair election say reports about the current prime minister and presidential candidate. are too positive which undermines other contenders chances are she's there a person looks at how election hopefuls are making good use of their allotted airtime . right. here. the most eccentric video in russia's presidential campaign urging to vote for the country's top populist pledging that is no excuse for his showmanship and occasional fist fights with the little. this little mangy donkey has become a symbol of our country so the whole country has come 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. promos heated discussions have become part of everyday life. after. a dog course in the race the billionaire businessman mikhail prokhorov promises their arrival of a new russia with a new president known for his height riches and playboy past he is 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 we are vegetarian out here where the 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 some of the a crowd unite is a band 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 it by city middle of from with a russia polity is the notion b.g.

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 mad putin 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 part of st politics where he's a part of television coverage so he's job as prime minister he is there is the only one with the only kind 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 its 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 then to mobilize his core letter 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 got across russia is that we should keep. busy even a song and recent online sensation praising the prime minister's virtues sung by supposedly migrant worker it claims were put in all the v.p. by his initials was sent to russia by gawd. by the way.

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 push gave up party scam. well for the way it is now in the world of business with current. hello and welcome to business the south thanks for joining me also the world's largest diamond miner by alford's mysel a fourteen percent stake an i.p.o. the flotation of the state owned company may take place in the second half of this year demand for a diamond has been picking up in asia and the u.s. also is the main competitor to beers report a twenty seven percent increase in earnings for two thousand and eleven russian company itself is expect. to show an even stronger performance you evolved from

enormous bang says the stock of a unique opportunity to invest directly into the donatists. from the company is in no hurry to attract money from the market. probably the i.p.o. for old also is a question which is asian trading in russia a world the size is going to be a good. one. it will get a little surf float comparable to other russian metals and mining stocks usually after a public offering company instead of becoming more. more friendly to the public overall and to investors. well in terms of business and business development that. doesn't look at the markets now exchange rates for us the euro is trading lower against the dollar and the ruble that's after being down in early age and trading due to great grades by moody's the move by the rating agency also weighs on the

ruble which is saying moderate losses against the u.s. currency. oil's next crude prices a mix this hour that's after the austerity plan approved by the greek parliament tighten sanctions on iran futures climbed over two percent after companies in control of more than one hundred tankers said they would stop loading cargo from iran. not exactly a valentine's day investors were hoping for wall street opens lower weighed down by disappointing news about january retail sales in the united states and continuing economic struggles in europe. and stocks in europe are mostly high after german investor confidence unexpectedly posted its first positive reading since may but then stocks went down that spurred investors to take on more risk meanwhile rating agency moody's not two notches up spain's sovereign debt rating and warned that make up the triple a rating france britain. here and russia markets

closed with mild losses of again this is down around tenth of a percent as check on the index will result in my sex. around over one percent higher the company plans to invest twenty nine billion dollars in field development in the caspian sea by two thousand and twenty five leading the bank with worst early losses and point four percent and chuck make it come out with among the main game is on rumors it made a deal with. mother nature is once again playing tricks on russian crops just a year after a severe drought the country's plantings are facing a cold test. has one. up to home for some russian troops may have been damaged by the extreme cold weather say worried foremost it's only germany france and poland are also risk from sustained low temperatures which of thirty three in some polls was expected to skyrocket prices for things like bread wheat futures

have been of the ukraine russian 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 january alone we will russia's top port never receive 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 the head of russia's one company says fifty percent of the country's great crop could be damaged by heavy winds and the worst weather in a quarter of a century first. show one in three great points have already been lost well that's the business is for this hour stay with us for headline news coming up right after this.