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russia has accused forces outside syria of encouraging rebel groups to continue fighting and stay out of peace talks head of the un general assembly vote on a resolution regime. after the last of it. to be kept in limbo and presented with terms as a greek hospital struggling with the military unscathed. and iran's display of nuclear progress an offer of talks on dismissed by american israel as bluster to survey economic sanctions.

around the world and around the clock you're watching. activists in syria have accused regime forces of stepping up attacks on rebel held cities meanwhile the announcement of a referendum on a new constitution does not appear to help stem the violence the votes which will take place at the end of february significantly curbing the power of the ruling party. in damascus. the date for the people's referendum on the country's new constitution has been announced on wednesday it is expected to be held on the twenty sixth of february the syrian government has been working on a draft for this new constitution for quite a while now and it has sad that the most important thing about this new constitution the most important change is that it's implied is the end of monopoly of the ruling party in syria the vast party has been in power in the country for the last fifty years actually since the beginning of the uprising here in syria

last march protesters have been calling for democratic reforms and for amendments to the country's key law in the wake of violence that followed in the show demonstrations peaceful demonstrations many opposition leaders not been only demanding president bashar al assad to go and they will not be satisfied with these particular reform with this particular referendum this news it's how has come and it's numerous reports about violence all across syria we've been hearing reports from the city of hama north of the capital damascus from the opposition activists saying that the tanks all of assad's army have been deployed in the city and we've also been receiving reports from another troubled area from the city of the homes where reportedly there have been explosions at the oil pipeline since almost all these records have been coming from one source from the opposition there has been a feeling that another part another side of this conflict in syria has been kind of

ignored. where a new draft resolution on syria to pressure the ruling regime will be put to a vote at the u.n. general assembly that's what thursday moscow has warned back in the document that sit suggested amendments take into consideration or changes have already been dismissed by some arab delegates at the u.n. parties are an important reports now from new york. after the united nations security council could not agree on how to end the violence in syria the un general assembly will now be taking on the issue the one hundred ninety three member body will be voting on a draft text that was drafted by saudi arabia and circulated by egypt this draft essentially supports the arab league plan for syrian president bashar al assad to step aside and relinquish his powers now the assembly draft

essentially demands five things you from the syrian government including that the government stop all violence release all those detained during the past eleven months of violent unrest does the government withdraw all armed forces from cities and towns guarantees of peace peaceful demonstrations and the assad government allows unhindered access for all arab league monitors and international media this draft resolution being voted on in the general assembly thursday is very similar to the draft text that was proposed within the security council about him a week and a half ago now the resolution adopted by the general assembly essentially have no legal force but one cannot dismiss the fact that it does a symbolic message on the international stage when it comes to having the security council agree on how to approach the circumstance in syria they are still divided

with russia and china both wielding veto at the last vote that took place about a week and a half ago when russia maintains its position and that is that it's best to have both sides halt violence put their guns down and come to the table to engage in dialogue should you resolution you can always find a compromise but only. this is what's. i'm from the opposition refused to do dissuaded by some external flares to burn a huge responsibility for the ongoing violence for the deaths of peaceful civilians so we will see what happens with the general assembly day and how that action or subsequently a fact what will take place possibly again within the security council or the white house has criticised the syrian government's promise to hold a referendum describing it as laughable and accusing the regime of making a mockery of the unrest that's made a swelling chorus within the u.s.

calling on washington to supply anti assad fighters with weapons and as artie's gun it if you can reports many believe that would make peace impossible. hawks in washington calling for the arming of things surgeons in syria we should start thinking all options including arming the opposition i give them training i give them communications equipment and then ultimately i give them weapons. experts say arming the fighting groups among the opposition is a sure way to drag the country into a protracted civil war it will also further marginalize those in the opposition who have advocated nonviolence or who advance political strategies that the more. plied to the to the factions of the syrian opposition and the more that happens the less likely it is that they'll be a negotiated solution leading to a cease to be civil settlement there encouraged i think very much by the united

states the civil war in lebanon went on for fifteen years absolutely appalling bloodshed and you can easily see that that could happen in syria like the u.s. all qaida has indorse the rebels fighting in syria under president assad syria has been a secular state some analysts argue that one of the reasons why al qaeda supports the violent uprising in syria is that in a less secular be environment it's easier to recruit new terrorists if the government holds you'll be looking forward to just a very long period of complete disintegration and they will be able to attract more and more fanatical recruits look at the civil war in iraq in two thousand and six and seven it was absolutely appalling the calls to arm fighting groups in syria sound even more alarming given the u.s. history of arming radicals afghanistan one example that it was a placing itself in alliance with the mujahideen including osama bin laden and

these people who now of course it is lately been deploring as fanatical fanatical enemies that the united states said these these alliances. totally cynical and totally opportunistic there's not a shred of grounds. but despite the hawks outcry the obama administration is taking a more cautious stance with regards to syria we don't think more arms into syria is the right answer some analysts say arming the very much fractured syrian opposition would contribute to its further radicalization and would make a political solution virtually impossible number say washington might support arm supplies indirectly through its arab allies now the administration denies having such plans but will that position whole. reporting from washington r.t. . well let's turn to a country now which the arab spring has already passed through a missing to national has accused libya's ruling national transitional council of failing to stop human rights abuses it says thousands of gadhafi supporters are

being held without charge and tortured by former rebels since september reported at least twelve prisoners have died as a result of torture the report comes as. the first anniversary of the start of its nato. despite the celebrations t.c. is struggling to get the situation under control groups of former rebels and vying for power and threats to the sauna civilian population a failed on the country's economy is in ruins before for more on the situation in libya and its possible developments we're joined by dr mattson concisely he's a human rights activist and professor at bethlehem university thanks for joining us now the m.t.c. in libya has been praised by the countries that backed the revolution but on the ground we're seeing many libyans outraged about corruption and the well self-serving policies of the council do you think their criticism is fair.

yes indeed. correct in its criticism many people were tortured. and the situation in libya is proving and part of the main reason for this is the fact that no revolution can succeed if it comes on top of foreign tanks and basically the libyan revolution has come with violence to get it from outside unlike the egyptian and the tunisian revolution. now here in right situation in libya has been drawing attention hasn't it with reports of food detentions in the torture of gadhafi supporters can the m.t.c. ever hope to build a stable state against that kind of background well the problem with then to see is that it was a concocted group of people primarily western supported nato people who were put in power basically to topple moammar qaddafi because simply he was an

unreliable dictator for the west even though he had approached the west in two thousand and three and has repair his relationship with the west but they wanted to change because libya has all basically and this is why they have pushed for a change in government in libya. and they put this transitional council which is a council that supposed to serve western interests not serve libyan interests and i think that's why it will fail and has been failing. the mission well with libya's infrastructure including oil production by the war a foreign companies are rushing in to rebuild don't they i mean what's going to happen to the country's economy in your view. well i mean libya has huge reserves of enough wealth to feed its people and

actually make everyone in libya fairly wealthy and well to do but they're looking at these natural resources primarily gun support to fuel elite people mostly expatriate libyans and foreigners who came into libya as a result of this there is basically the power struggle in libya now is the struggle of good really the struggle of the more of libya's role in this is a struggle of dividing libya's resources among greedy people rather than taking libya's resources and giving it to the libyan people is why it seems to be failing and i think it will continue to fail and in the process this is the u.n. human rights commissioner has also said there are severe human rights violations in libya with those violations i mean do you think again t.c. will ultimately be able to keep libya's rival tribes together as good of it.

well the libyan government now of this transitional government that's supposed to prepare for elections is trying to to keep the internal peace by taking selected individuals from certain tribes and certain regions and putting them in positions of authority this is not going to work because yes you may satisfy one or two individuals from a particular region. claim that you have satisfied the region but there is not going to satisfy the aspirations of the libyan people the libyan people want freedom and democracy they don't want a transitional government that's made up by subdivisions of power structures basically and greed konami manipulation. of mass and comes from bethlehem

university thank you for joining us. well on our website r.t. dot com you can find out how the shock waves of the arab spring are still being felt a year now on this case of deja vu in bahrain where protesters who took to the streets calling for democracy reforms are confronted with a harsh police crackdown. and also online vandals with taste find out the security measures needed to protect us vending machines coffee are the touch of a button. greece has fulfilled the last few preconditions needed to secure a second one hundred thirty billion euro bailout but that cash injection may yet prove to be elusive i think through final cuts on wednesday committed to a written promise to stick by austerity after elections that's still not enough for the e.u. which now once financial monitors to ensure the terms of the bailout have been

followed greece has already struggled to meet the terms set the idea of financial surveillance has provoked an annual spawn's from some quarters issue and national ferrara says it's part of an effort to bring athens to heel what the e.u. is now doing it's trying to influence the outcome of the greek general election not satisfied with getting rid of the last democratically elected prime minister and putting in a puppet in the form of mr papademos it now says it's now saying to the greek people unless you vote for the right parties or less you vote for parties that are happy to be subjugated to a you control we will not give you the rest of the money and you will go bankrupt i suspect that despite the dissatisfaction that is felt by many german politicians the german parliament just as the greek parliament did last sunday will continue to toe the line and continue to say the buyout so the answer as far as i'm concerned it's rather like saving accounts or not saving the patients. well the human cost of

austerity in greece is being felt like never before cuts and spending slashes have left workers short of cash hospital short of medicine and many greeks out of luck but as artie's a joke aggrieved now reports not so the military with nato chief anders rasmussen visit to greece highlighting a sector seemingly immune to austerity. flamini athens has been a battleground in recent years fighting against unpopular stare to sunday's events are showing this little hope for a cease fire one shot being fired by those discontent is a discrepancy in spending when it comes to the military something serving m.p.'s from a defense of our relations with turkey remain for some as ever present a threat as a card debt crisis for our nato partners don't seem very keen to help us not to need to spend so much i mean think about it we have been through we are being threatened from a member of the alliance that we belong and the alliance doesn't do anything. so we

have to spend huge amounts of money but does the nato chief arise in athens the talks other things may be on the table among them weapons but you're meant believe i mean there is a kind of negotiation if i may say sure between the major partners which are germany or france. if we spend a little bit more on you procurement of course that major part of that we crunch in germany france she is the major creditors such potential buys include a contract for greece to purchase a number of french frigates still under review but was talks remain afloat another threat looms it been made nice but what we've been advised to do is to sell copies of medicine relations of patients are being forced to put their hand in their pockets for treatment this problem persists in other hospitals i want to dimitri's

account comes on the back of cuts slashed medical staff pay led to a desperate shortage of equipment including affordable prescription drugs is a problem only likely to worsen as the job loss increase a few people were able to afford private health care this is the very human face the term austerity measure i think. number of people call on the treatment need the current health care system and desperation to turn to aid agencies like this a regime known for caring to athens immigrant population the midday queue at this center shows just how sort after their treatment is first of all are seeing more and more people coming to us that are days that we might see up to three hundred people and the numbers of the greeks are also increasing in the past we have known many greeks but lately we see more than twenty percent greeks coming this cleaning though present many greeks remain too ashamed of the situation to be filmed those

wanting to be heard paint a grim picture of. greece cannot recover from what's going on right now if you ask me greece is finished. it's a situation that has a country verging on implosion all during a time of peace not war but was the nation remains sick cuts have a real damaging impact on the people's well being. it's an illness that has bred as fresh measures may reduce spending on outpatient drugs bogor billion euros putting greeks health at risk despite the sizeable midget defenses protecting them. greece athens. but it's been no secret that from the onset of the euro crisis germany has spearheaded the ease austerity drive the original argument was that cuts were necessary and pain a consequence of thirty g.m.t. max and stacey focus on that. well actually wolfgang schauble cording to this article he was actually quoted caught on tape anyway talking to

a portuguese finance minister in which he said to the portuguese minister don't worry we're not going to do this to you this our treatment of greece is in order to appease our population at home right exactly this is amazing it's coming through now that the policy makers in germany that are applying the scorched earth policy to greece are doing so to appease their local constituents who want blood for some reason they're just bloodthirsty which then brings up all kinds of other questions about who is the germany of all is this to germany we remember from world war i wanted to is this the imperial genie out of the bottle once again. simplified to transparent and more competitive elections the purpose behind a new parliamentary pool introduced by president dmitry medvedev the draft proposal envisages an election process with less bureaucracy more representation but also

take into account the country's vocal on line community let's get more on the proposed changes from our correspondent peter all of a piece to well what exactly is being put forward here. well this bill is being put forward by president proposes a major overhaul of the electoral process in russia know some of the key points that are. if it is put through the dinner and becomes. right. polling stations to video and photograph what is happening also allowing of course the the web cams that we will see across at polling stations across russia that will not just be the from the polling stations but also the count taking place. now the system of proportional representation in russia will remain. we will see changes to how the country is divided up now what is being put forward

has been put forward is two hundred and twenty five electoral districts what the country will be split up into all of them roughly equal import should know the reason that this is happened is that as it stands currently some regions don't have a single deputy in the state duma they're just not represented. the borders of those districts will be reviewed every ten years to make sure that they can be they can be reviewed and changed if necessary hopefully bring. in the states. make it easier for parties to campaign in areas now last time out to do more elections seven parties went for the four hundred and fifty seats now it's expected to. see a lot more parties from all over the country. in the duma many more

parties means much more competition means much more pressure on the politicians to do what the people want from the bill that's been put forward by president before. regarding electoral reform in the country some of those will start being debated in the duma on the twenty eighth of this month and all of this really comes after the elections in december of last year which resulted in many people being unhappy. what they saw was electoral irregularities we saw protests on the streets of russia president medvedev said he would address the issues that had been brought up over those elections and this is why you put these bills to put these bills to the state duma. chaotic correspondent these are all about thank you. now some other stories making headlines this out of egypt's ruling muslim brotherhood party could scrap a peace treaty with israel washington post to a threat to halt the natural made america could stop them out in response to recent

raids on n.g.o.s operating in egypt which nineteen u.s. citizens were arrested and put on trial accuses the nonprofit groups of contributing to the anti government and igniting fresh unrest. almost one hundred percent of serve voters in north in kosovo rejected a rule from the cost of chemical prishtina organized referendum in serbia were against the votes would complicate ongoing discussions with the breakaway state around forty thousand the secretary prosser which in that three broke from serbia almost four years ago. well business update now with katie that's next. thanks carrie hello to you welcome to the business program the u.s. is looking to cut iran's economic life the last by removing it from the walls financial clearing system and a swift it will rack up pressure on survival as the country's leadership reveals

new progress on its nuclear program but as artie's daniel bush era polls america's action could end up backfiring on his own people. this is a bid to kill economy washington's move to. the swift transaction system would choke its ability to trade internationally swift payments orders the worlds of business that all the world's business practically every state in the world to exchange financial in for the legality of america's question it's unprecedented political interference in. such issues should be handled on a national level what is clear is barack obama's frustration the sanctions work in iran hasn't backed down in the nuclear dispute in fact it's no one in. production new tensions mean more misery for u.s. consumers brant hit six months last night over one hundred nineteen dollars a barrel. of swift will again hit not just the energy price but the recovery of the

world's economy. we're going to have a look at the prices and now as you can see they are indeed mixed this off despite the reports around help shipments to europe. and later this year let's have a look at the current secy how that during the year is trading lower to the rest on thursday after the talks over second bailout for greece have been called off and the ruble is losing value against both the european and the u.s. currency. and you're up is now you can see how they're doing i can i got a sea of red the. both say session in the red we'll be monitoring those all throughout the day if you see how they perform on the russian markets they're not doing so well either they are in the red on the my sex it's also from the right and that's where they were men that had difficulty getting out of negative territory today

let's take a look at individual then on the my stocks may have come out is losing ground on profit taking off to adding over twenty percent at the beginning of the week and the g. majors are tracking down beat market sentiment and of posting moderate losses thank you stocks are also under pressure is losing a percent. russia's largest lender has finally found the key to excessive european market spare bank is closing the long awaited deal to purchase austria as vox bank international saying the deal back in september bank managed to drive down the final price by a sea million euros to five hundred five million banks' head sees no risk in entering the european market despite the current debt crisis the finance used to for fun in series the greek default has already happened the current restructuring of greek debt is a trial to find a way on this defeat we're no more interested in what's happening in.