the. culture is the same us are going to go back to the other even more so because they all were tough to take your pick up by one of them i'll be in britain and argentina again sparring over the legal status and future of these islands is this disputed.

the. russian would be so much brighter if you knew about song from funds to crash and insult. me for instance on t.v. don't come.

me. there with our to you live from moscow our top stories syria announces a referendum on a new constitution to take place in under two weeks but as the fighting goes on not everyone engaged in the conflict seems willing to look for peace. sizing up rivals u.s. leaders slap on the smiles for china's visiting vice president and leader and waiting as two nations fine for the upper hand in the turbulent relationship. and rallies to mark the anniversary of approach to mocker sea on prising in bahrain are put down with tactics and weapons from the u.k. sparking claims of western democracy over different revolts in the region. and next

artie's laura smith talks to mideast expert tariq ali on the turbulent situation in syria and the implications of could house for the entire region. i'm talking to tara kelley who's a historian and author and writes mainly on subjects to do with the middle east of course we're talking about events in syria tariq ali thanks very much for talking to us now president assad seems to be clinging on to power in syria do you think there's any chance of him stepping down in the near future well it looks on likely as if he'll step. of his own accord i think he has to be pushed out the syrian people who are of course doing their best in the country. what is more dangerous is the pressure of being built outside especially in istanbul and by need to try and

organize an intervention that i think would be disastrous and enormous bloodshed much much worse than what's happened in libya. so i think there be a disaster i think the best way is for pressure to be put on him from without by a concrete who was not see this all start to syria which include russia china and others. and the pressure should be kept on at home and he should be told in blunt terms that he has to go where his father shed a lot of blood in syria he is now doing the same and that this family's on acceptable in syria needs a nonsectarian national government to prepare a new constitution the arab league's reportedly calling for a joint arab league u.n. so-called peacekeeping force to be sent into syria president assad has already rejected the idea do you think it's a good idea i don't think it's a good idea to send any so-called peacekeeping forces i mean first we have to say

what is the arab league the arab league has essentially amaury bombed organization which is brought to life when the west needs it to it is. no active role for the last twenty five years in any positive sense in the region it failed to stop the war in iraq back the war. libya and it's probably being used as a surrogate to try and push through foreign troops and intervention in syria which i'm totally opposed to i think that is the one thing syria does not need is foreign armies we've seen what's happened in iraq and we've seen what's happened in libya but surely the involvement of the arab league which is kind of a local regional group is better than the involvement of the un or nato as exterior organizations well it's fine having observers from them if they do their reporting

accurately but foreign troops i mean you know who will be the foreign troops there the arab league said saudis said cut through these sort of big vote crews of democracy in the region i mean that's utterly ridiculous it doesn't make sense at all i think the pressure has to be kept up externally nonviolent pressure that he has to go and i think the chinese and russians are now in a strong position to be saying we've effectively prevented any foreign intervention in syria but you have to go. and push through. a national government the other people of course who are people who can pressure on most of our be rainy and so on hezbollah in lebanon and i think all these forces should now see that it is impossible for syria to be governed by this family and this sectarian clique that has ruled it and the sooner they go the better for syria in terms of external forces well the our police decided to halt all economic and

diplomatic contact with the syrian government will that have any practical effect do you think probably not because the. other countries are not going to do that the reunions are not going to do that they are a strong creating partner and lebanon i don't think is going to get involved in that on that level so it's not going to have a huge impact i think the only language. the clan and the military around him will understand is very firm language from china and russia i think they are now in a strong position to push through change without violent action do you see syria as becoming increasingly isolated in the region and and what effect will that have on iran in turn do you think well i think they are becoming isolated i think the iranians are such an independent state to me one of the few sovereign states in the

region that they can look after themselves i don't think the fall of such will affect iran because it will be in the interests of the syrian government if it is a democratic representative government to maintain good relations with all these countries i mean you know i i have to say that when you look at what the west did in relation to the pride seeing some of the crisis in the yemen where killing still go on and what they're doing in syria it just sort of stand the former yemeni president is having medical. states. so this double standards that operate make one suspicious of west most. people pushing for the intervention in syria awful saudi arabia gotter essentially they would like a syrian version of the muslim brotherhood to to to run the country that is the new

plot for the arab region and then the united states will do deals with them as it was done in the past and you say china and russia are in a very strong negation ating position now however. foreign minister lavrov the visits to syria recently seems to have yielded no results whatsoever well i think that you know if it carries on like this. for. malee refused to budge and refused to relinquish their stranglehold on the country sooner or later something disastrous will happen possibly including some form of foreign intervention and then where will they or do they want to end up like do they want to end up like lynched by mobs backed by western troops that is the future that stares them in the face there is no other breach let's talk about the sheer complexity of the various forces that seem to be at large in syria at the moment we

heard reports that british and cattery forces are operating undercover in syria do you think that could be true it's perfectly possible british and cut three forces were operating under cover in libya long before it became public now we know this is what they were doing intervening in these conflicts to bend them in their own directions so i have no evidence for this but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were behaving like this and what about the iranians we've also heard reports although they've denied it of fifteen thousand iranian troops going into syria well that i don't know mean i would have thought that given the pressures on iran the moment from the west with the european union imposing sanctions the americans rocket playing the israelis threatening to bomb it it could be ordered to put it mildly if they started sending troops out of the country but we have no real

evidence of either the british and the countries or do you read me and i'm saying one is possible the other may be possible both are equally foolish we've now seen violence spread from homs to a second city aleppo and the us say that al-qaeda is involved in that if syria is substantially infiltrated by terrorists what do you think will happen will it give the west essentially an excuse to put up some sort of military operation in the country or on the other hand will they let the terrorists do the dirty work of overthrowing president has that themselves. theme i do that i mean the very weak force at the moment it's used to centrally to frighten the children that it has very little military strength its leader so i hear e has issued a statement saying that he is barton pasok of. crow.

is fighting alongside some group or the other but they have very little actual strength and i don't think one should take. all exaggerated ideas of the threat it poses to seriously i mean the fact is the overwhelming majority of people in syria of want to be outside the family and that is the key thing which we have to understand in which he should understand a lot of commentators have been saying about the arab spring in general that the violence and uncertainty in the aftermath will enable the muslim brotherhood as the only organization that is organized enough to take advantage of it to essentially step into the fray are you worried that that will happen in syria well i don't support them politically and i don't think it will be in the interests of syria to have an islamist government you know a moderate or extremist the baton seems to be at the moment of saying that the turkish model a moderate islamist government is the best model for the arab world i disagree very

strongly that i don't think it's a good model for turkey either by the way. but the fact is if it's the only power in the land it will and there are elections that will come to power like it has into its year like it has in egypt and then one has to deal with it i mean i regard these groups as the roots of christian democracy socially conservative organizations but perfectly happy to follow the latest economic trends. which dominate west. do deals with the united states they've done them before the turks are part and parcel of that the strong member of nato and these countries will probably follow suit whether this is what people really do is a different question altogether but you make the muslim brotherhood sound fairly benign really do you think that christian minorities and other minorities have something to fear from that well i mean there is always within moderate islamist

parties a current which feeling that they can't really offer people what they want which is a decent standard of living which is a social safety net to work then divert attention by targeting minorities the brotherhood has done it in relation to the copts in egypt and it's not impossible that they're sort of peers in syria will do the same so that is not a good thing at all but you know we have to wait and see if this is what the majority of the people want then unfortunately it will happen soon or late. thank you very much thank.

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to. see. if. he. party's top stories syria announces a referendum on a new constitution to take place in under two weeks but as the fighting goes on not everyone engaged in the conflict seems willing to look for problems. and sizing up a ripe old u.s. leader stomp on the smiles for china's president vice president and leader in waiting two nations five for the upper hand in a turbulent relationship. but rallies to mark the anniversary of a program are pretty outcries again by rain are poured down with heart attacks and weapons from the u.k. sparking claims of western policy over different revolts in egypt. and is here next with the sports news.

hello there welcome to the sport and this is what is coming up over the next few minutes it's not over yet rubin boss remains the fine despite his team's europa league loss to him p.r. cost in moscow. while barcelona put one foot in the quarter finals of the champions league with a three one win over by labor in germany. on the full mark thought she gets praise from impeaching and says test events of the twenty four team went against gathered pace. but first the football and ruby manager dave believes his side can still progress in the europa league despite their surprise one nil loss to n.p.r. cos the first leg of the last thirty two clash was held in moscow but the freezing weather didn't affect the greek champions they took the lead midway through the second half to david grubin had

a golden chance to go level shortly afterwards for n.p.r. coast people yet he was sent off for a foul but such that you go roy carroll save the resulting penalty from there but it's nacho afterwards rubin boss but they have promised to take the game to the greeks in the second leg next week in the other europa league tie last year's finalist sporting braga lost to turkish side as well in the champions league got a heart of four win over there and defending champions barcelona went a long way to reaching the courtis with a three one win over. in germany alexey sanchez with a brace his manager with the result. does not exist but i think by a live acoustic did not allow many chances for us in the first half but in the second half we continue pressing and we managed to create a lot of chances and to school two additional goals finally but i am aware of the skills we must use in this year's champions league season in particular against

german teams and speaking in. rule it does not matter how good or bad it looks like on the pitch when it comes to games against german teams one was simply try and find a way to beat them. well tonight it is the turn of russian champions any day who spend and urging fans to behave after trouble as a needs last champions league home game against well in november saw the club get a thirty thousand year a fine from us and the governing body has warned there will be a heavier penalty if there's a repeat temperatures are expected to drop to minus fifteen celsius for the game and there will be a late pitch inspection it wasn't much warmer when the need were training yesterday and a notable absence. dani has torn ligaments they would also be without defender domenico going to see all the top scorer alexander is raring to go and thinks home support will be a big advantage. we have played in such weather already probably more

often than our opponents i don't think that's a major advantage for us because we also like it when it's warm we like playing when it's football weather and the current weather isn't exactly that but i think our supporters will come they will fill the stadium and it will be something that will help us. think it will be looking to exploit their needs we can side and have plenty of quality they top their group to get this far and they covered the five points clear at the top of the poll. saying russia's winter. teams are progressing. without question both teams will be facing problems of course we have little experience of playing under such conditions but we're ready for this we perfectly realise what we are facing based on this where building our tactics and the system of play where ready for tomorrow and we'll do all we can so that the cold weather doesn't affect the quality of our teams play in our technique. in the other champions league game on wednesday i asked or travel to the san siro to face

city our leaders ac milan the going is be the italians on their home turf at the same stage of the tournament four years ago it was two nil then auntie erion ray will be doing his best to get more goals tonight it's his last game before arsenal before returning to the new york red bulls although coach aston vanga is slightly worried about the playing surface. try to play the old game and. we. will try. we really go to work like retort to new readers words which would be an exciting game i'm a bit worried about the quality of the pitch. doesn't look exceptional. hopefully onto two more through. what milan have struggled against english opposition apart from that they need to ask they also lost the spurs last season and are struggling with injuries defenders are sandro in their star and matter yet this are back in training after a long spells but are unlikely to feature that also applies to kevin prince but

tank and former arsenal man mathieu flamini. the market is back in england trying to resurrect his career with premier league side man just to city he returned to manchester after three months of only the rise to leave in his native argentina and hasn't played since september after refusing to hold up in the champions league game but city manager roberto mancini has welcomed him back and tells his is now undergoing fitness tests at the club says he currently top the table two points clear of munched united with thirteen games left. martin scotland glasgow rangers have gone into administration as a result they have been hit with a ten points deduction and that leaves them fourteen points adrift of league leaders celtic with twelve games to go fans were understandably angry at the decision but club owner craig whyte is adamant it's the right thing to do. why during the song what was the talk like with. the rangers.

to talk. about it's now russian pole vaulter yelena isinbayeva has had another confidence boosting when the double olympic champion set the third best jump of the season a four point eight one metres to clinch a third title of the year in levine in france that was ten centimeters ahead of cuba's yairi sleeze silver in second third place went to france's vanessa boss lack isn't by the missed out on the medals at last year's world championships but saying it's to be getting back to some sort of form ahead of this summer's olympics. meanwhile such as preparations for the winter games in twenty fourteen seem to be well on track the city hosted a couple of major test events over the weekend and olympic chief john called kingsley says there are no burning issues in the black sea resort. i do a design dishes and i peek with two years to go before the olympics we are confident the games will go smoothly but to make it happen we need to create all

the necessary conditions i'm not saying there are any burning issues but preparing for the olympics is always difficult no matter where they take place transports accommodation security and infrastructure need to be looked at and author of praise of the competitors by athletes got a taste of a limp it cost during the recent russia cap and we're pleased with what they found . with just two years to go before they start a little when a second winter olympics in sochi more and more when years of being put to the test no later is was they by athlon and ski complex called lower after local mythical hereon and which is one of the most ambitious projects of the games located on that see how to reach across nearby ama at a height of one thousand five hundred meters above sea level at these height the lack of oxygen makes the competitors breathe harder increasing their efficiency and boosting their results. slower is supposed to. become one of the best in the world

while the trek with a certain sense lobes is already considered to be one of the toughest in the sport for the most is the hardest track in the world with sixty meter ascents and slopes with temperatures varying by as much as four degrees it's absolutely unique this is our country and we have every opportunity to succeed the go on blix includes tuesday each with their own story and finish zones shooting area and warm up zones the designers of the venue try to make the competition interesting for athletes and spectators alike the track is very demanding with numerous turns which make it hard to pause and rest on the slopes and those by athletes taking part in the russian cup became the first competitors to appreciate our is facilities at the summit listen at the track is very challenging lots of turns lots of slopes if an athlete

has some alpine skiing skills to turn on the slopes they can win back some vital seconds just. an average time on the european tracks is around twenty five minutes here it's over thirty the nature of the course is very hard. the complex is still under construction and will be finished in june twenty third teen however the weather in the mountains is unpredictable and while wind is not a problem. for can also the game plan of any competition is that. we have a proverb when the weather is getting worse it's time for biafra and when it's foggy here it reminds us of the famous german venue in over half except for the wind the same situation could arise at the olympics but it's good that we've got different weather conditions here. russia is one of the leading nations and biathlon and the country skiers and biathletes will be days that lower to prepare for those olympics in sochi with the hope of increasing their medal chances at

their home winter games because named by the r t such here. and we've time to end with a bit of action from the n.b.a. where the miami heat have set a new record after beating the indiana pacers one hundred five points to nineteen the win means they hate have become the first n.b.a. team in thirty three years to win three away games in three days when armies playmaker lebron james netted twenty three points while norris cole scored twenty saying the pace is david west that his teams are sixteen points but it wasn't enough indiana something to their full strength to think. and that's all the sports . culture is that so much i can tell you the other. words to take your pick. of the melvin britain and argentina against sparring over the legal status and

future of these islands is this disputed. well. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the huge earth covered.