season playing too much as week look i'm a team's biggest signing during this break roman pavlyuchenko will not be able to help his side as he has already played for tottenham in the europa league this season however locust top scorer dmitry situ of has already netted six goals in europe so far the second highest in the tournament yet the reading greens have a disaster his record against spanish clubs with just a solitary big three in twelve matches and that win was against real madrid educate ago they must be weighed side has not played in the spring face of a u.f.o. can petition since two thousand and six after being knocked out by another spanish c.v. but are confident they can succeed this time. our coaches have provided enough information about our opponents we have studied their strengths and weaknesses now we have to use that knowledge on the pitch which is much harder but we can do it well i thought it good morrow i have reached the round of thirty two for the third time

the basque side may only line ninth in spain's lie leader but remain a formidable prospect the lions have also reached the final of the comp of the rate where they will face holders barcelona their bilbao a team have scored in their last ten games and i eager to increase their tale in this their first ever meeting against law committee for the winners of the time i will take on or manchester united in the round of sixteen next month and athletics manager former agent tina defend them marcella bielsa ironically nicknamed the law says that neither snow nor plastic beach skiers his charges have both teams are in the same boat and any defeat can be excused by the weather conditions all the at official pitch there are no key factors it's a match just like any other will play the way we do in spain and use the same squad this by force that this takes against spanish size and match practice by committee

for making to take forward what they are familiar weather conditions and artificial . stereo ahead of next week's away leg concerned about out of. moscow. mean one another you rightfully is this thursday manchester city have travelled to portugal to take on defending champions porto but the build up hasn't been ideal for the english premier league leaders with manager about a month cheney hitting back at their rocketry claims by controversial striker call us to others well the twenty eight year old isn't with his teammates after a returning to the club this week following three months of self-imposed exile in argentina that followed a falling out with mancini last september when tempers allegedly refused to warm up in city's two nil champions league defeated by munich however ahead of his return the striker told argentinian television he'd been treated like a dog that night my man cheney that was something the italian has denied while adding thursday's match with porter is one of the biggest in the round. i'm not

that i disagree with god knows what you say because i have never treated him badly . maybe it's the opposite that he didn't do well for us i think that is the one of the big game in this stage because. we play a board on that thought they may use to play generally. or many times in your body go and jump your leg is very difficult to play because i don't want to be very is very strong and well like manchester city port i have also dropped down from the champions league and have a couple of selection problems brazil struck a club is a major down due to illness and left back immediate f.a.l. he's out for the long term injury but despite these absentees thought i believe they have the quality to progress. plus we're aware of how powerful they are but they have excellent players an excellent we want to contradict that because we also have our weapons and as our players as it's inside the pitch that we will have to

show which team is the best and we're going to work to be the best. well meanwhile manchester united are also preparing for life in europe's second tier club competition they go to dutch giants i x. off they also flopped in the champions league well this competition is the only one in which there are experienced and has never led united to a victory during four previous encounters the last play of scoring for united in what was the way for cup was goalkeeper peter schmeichel in one nine hundred ninety five zero however ferguson has embraced the upcoming challenge. we have an opportunity to do better than this second half this season and the europa league is you look at the teams that it is a challenge some very good teams and it. and hopefully we can do well for me while striker dimitri billiken is in the right form to help my x. overcome their stiff opposition and says he wants to put at least two past united the thirty two year old former russia star open for the amsterdam side in saturday's two know when a struggling but i had a go i x.

are currently just sixth in the actually but despite this coach frank de boer are you a fuck up when to himself in nine hundred ninety two believes his side can beat anyone and i play the i.x. way. hopefully we can play our. philosophy you know and to try to present a problem and john brown of and try to create chances of course. technically. capable to do that when we. think we can beat everybody almost. moving on to the champions league now and return from injury to back a bracing third in the last gasp when a sneak came from behind to be benfica three two on wednesday in the home leg of their round of sixteen time afterwards zinni will try to spell out he said his players had shown a lot of cost in a topsy turvy game in subzero temperatures in some petersburg twenty minutes in the deep but you really have not had a champions league debut to forget his family lying like super rarity but then feet go ahead and i think moments later shot up grabs an equaliser for segregates and

lacks back one of the goals of the home side to one up then three minutes one time it looked like the game would finish in a draw when another just not power and she would ask me to to. again save his people's blushes with seconds to go pouncing on the defensive erratically of his side and narrow victory however with their two away goal advantage and peek at those short says there's everything to play for next month return leg. it was a hard game and we were playing on a hard pitch the aerial game wasn't going well and we conceded three goals which means we played badly defense but we scored twice away from home that is an achievement for our midfield winter. i want to emphasize again that the conditions were hard but we were still playing well in the tank and in the midfield the final result will be set in the second leg game in lisbon at our home ground. so while benfica have a good chance of progressing arsenal was thrashed four nil as ac milan brazilian

strike out of rio scored either side of half time as the syria champions dominated the game having been spouting had opened with a stunning strike after fifteen minutes and even have edge added a late force after was asked the manager also vanga said the defeat was a disaster while his opposite number matthew me on my legs and we've learned the school will. maybe two percent of five percent stuck to strictly challenges but. we have. to show a completely different performance and you never know but that's a really sticky various. really really be out of this competition about what a lot of us are with i'm very sorry the school was greater because we had many chances to score and we did make it so when you can score you should score especially in a champions league two legged much we have a good lead but we have to be more clinical promt. staying with china has taken a tough stance on corruption in the sport as for referees have been given time in

prison for match fixing luzhin is arguably the biggest name to be convicted if she did in matches at the two thousand and two world cup in south korea and japan and the sydney olympic games two years before but her now so five and a half years behind bars after being found guilty of taking bribes to rig seven domestic league games while the longest sentence and it does was seven years. and finally prime minister vladimir putin has taken a ride in a bobsled during his visit to the paramount of a track just outside moscow as the venue prepares to host more international competitions next week well mr putin did not steer the ball but the training course but still said he liked the experience while on a more serious notes the prime minister also hailed the outdoor track farm on the verge is due to host the season's finale on the loose world cup circuit next weekend the competition will also decide the european champions in a high speed sport here at all but then janko are hoping to retain his title despite having had a mediocre season however the forty year old still prevailed at last year's world

cup stop at bottom of a. and that's all the sport the saving bison.

well from the fukushima it's technology innovation all the moves developments from around russia we've got the huge earth covered.

fears of pending confrontation between tel of even tehran grow following reports that iranians arrested over recent thailand bombings were targeting israeli diplomats. violence in syria escalates as a high ranking religious leader is assassinated in damascus allegedly for his pro-government stance our correspondent reports from the heart of events in syria. this fall the last of the belo demands but many greeks feel the nation won't work cover from austerity measures that harm their health care system but leave the military unscathed.

nine pm in moscow i met très a good to have you with us here on r t our top story thai police say israeli diplomats were the target of a group of iranians arrested after prematurely setting off explosives in bangkok claims are expected to further fuel and rhetoric that tell of eve has stepped up after bomb attacks targeted israelis in georgia and india are reports from tel aviv . like the battle drones are growing louder and louder with israel continuing to issue all this really harsh rhetoric towards iran accusing them essentially of terrorizing the entire world community just today there was a harsh statement from tel aviv which called to impose paralyzing sanctions on tehran all this while iran has just made it clear that they are indeed ready to sit

down for talks to continue talks on its nuclear program but the prime minister of israel has made a statement saying that iranian aggression should be stopped so there of course that brings forth many theories that the military confrontation with iran is imminent and nowhere are these fears more prominent than in israel according to the latest polls less than fifty percent of the israelis support the idea of going to war with iran most of them believe that israel has enough problems of its own already already exists saying that you don't really need another confrontation with iran there is of course the issue of palestine which never really completely goes off the table then there is the rather strained relations with lebanon which some fear may escalate into a renewed conflict and the latest of those concerns of course is the issue of egypt where the muslim brotherhood said that they are going to they might reconsider a peace accord which they do have with israel in response to u.s.

pressure in regards with the scandal so a lot of people in israel primarily are thinking that perhaps israel should stop the rhetoric it does carry on right now and focus on its internal problems and the problems on those borders rather than really push forth with aggressive rhetoric towards iran. for a different kind of pressure on iran later this hour. the u.s. wants to remove iran from the world's financial clearing system known as swift could this move back fire on americans themselves by not from a business bill it's likely that. the syrian opposition has accused the government of stepping up attacks on a rebel held areas with the city of daraa raw the latest target meanwhile a high ranking religious leader was assassinated in damascus reportedly for his political views this after the president's announcement of a referendum on a new constitution which could create a multi-party system in the country but the proposal doesn't seem to have helped

curb the violence was artie's worry if an ocean reports from damascus says a damascus has started within you so this is a nation the shake of one the most of may done one of the districts of the capital was killed as far as local media is reporting he was short a dad with five scholz this area may dawn is known to be very conservative people living here supporting a very much pro-government prose president but at the same time there's been many offices and people living in this neighborhood as well and tensions between these two sides have been very high specially in recent the just last month and this ever is so as to said boehner a type one twenty six people were killed and more than sixty all these speculations appeared as well that they say was killed because of his political views people we have been able to speak to here on the ground have been telling us that this man has been supporter of president bashar al assad's policies in the southern politics of the country we are hearing from the opposition activists that the army bashar al

assad has attacked a city of da targeting free syrian army soldiers altie has actually just traveled to the city of daraa on wednesday and we've been able to speak to the governor over these areas on the ground and with many ministry there and they've told us that there is no. free syrian army in this region right now and actually in generally they say that it doesn't exist such a thing as well call is an aid to the opposition ministry fulls they've confirmed that this fight scene almost every day the military operations but they're fighting against separate groups which. they can seize did they say hold on the defacto is and foreign soldiers a new showdown is expected at the u.n. general assembly later on thursday as members are set to vote on a new syria resolution the text sponsored by arab states and supported by a number of western nations could turn up the heat on the assad regime or he's

worried important i has the latest from new york. it is essentially similar or very much the same to the draft resolution that was circulated within the security council that russia and china vetoed it basically endorses and backs the arab league plan that calls for syrian president bashar al assad to step aside relinquish his powers it also calls on the syrian government to stop all violence and release all those detained in the past eleven months since the uprising began in syria the reason russia did not support it and will not support the draft in the general assembly is because the russian side of the federation feels that the draft is not balanced it all points all fault and responsibility on the syrian government and does not take into account that the opposition in syria has also been participating taking part in inflaming the violence which you wish. to vote on a resolution that only government forces to withdraw from cities and basically

armed groups but it's very unclear who these groups there are muslim brotherhood members. leader has called on everyone to unite unifying against syrian president assad's regime to whom we would hand syria over if such an approach one russia did propose some amendments similar amendments that were proposed to the security council draft reportedly those amendments have been rejected foreign minister lavrov has also said that the syrian opposition is refusing to participate in dialogue with the syrian government saying that they are being dissuaded by quote external players that do not want to see possibly some kind of a peaceful result in syria there and said inflaming this divide this draft resolution it's nonbinding it means it doesn't have a legal implication such as a draft for us or such as

a resolution adopted by the security council however. it will help put pressure on the assad government but it is nonbinding very much a symbolic move that will be taking place later today for more reaction on developments in and around syria i'm joined by middle east expert rhonda sleen from the new america foundation think tank so countries like the u.s. the u.k. france saudi arabia qatar are actively supporting the syrian opposition here but with the opposition being so fragmented as it currently is and even al-qaeda now among their supporters do you think these countries actually have a clear idea as to who exactly they're backing among the opposition think they know which groups they are backing i mean they are backing great now primarily the sit in national council that also in conversation with the node in the political opposition in syria the national. committee they look at exchange. that. i mean that is the room definitely for creating

a larger organization an umbrella for uniting the different factions in the opposition including this and see the seat in national council including the n.c.b. the national coordination body and including the free syrian army and other civil society activists you know one of syria's main opposition groups the syrian national council is based outside the country it's in istanbul how much control do they have over forces fighting the regime. they don't have much control there has been an attempt by the syrian national council to establish coordination mechanisms with the free syrian army and so far these mechanisms have been mostly have remained on paper they have not been activated evoluting the free syrian army itself it lacks command and control structure and we don't know very much

about how the units on the ground of the. codes need to with the with the command of the free syrian army which is headquartered in refugee camp inside turkey on the border with syria now with syria's opposition armed and fragmented how likely is that you think that the current regime falls if it falls the country could plunge into sectarian chaos and the possibility of even more violence. i think i mean let's let's not kid ourselves about how much the opposition is armed and there's definitely active militarization but it's nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of troops that are at the disposal of the regime and the military arsenal that is at the disposal of disposing of the this is not in equal fight if we can say so. but i mean we are definitely had a protracted bloody stalemate i cannot see the regime having the. the

capacities anymore or being ability anymore to really this uprising and and stop it and i don't see or so the opposition having the ability to oust. thanks to a military option so eventually we are heading now to a protracted bloody stalemate that will that would have to be you know and one way or another through a negotiated settlement there have been reports that british and qatari troops are advising the syrian rebels and the syrian authorities say armed groups are being supported from abroad how justified you think of these claims and to what extent could some foreign support develop here. i have not seen yet connected evidence of foreign trainers western trainers on the ground devising and helping fighters the syrian opposition that is. i mean the groups that are

on the ground inside syria either part of the free syrian army. and they are mostly military defectors who have decided to be ordered to kill their own citizens or they are basically groups of civilians who have taken up arms self-defense now with this going for the with a protracted stalemate i would not discount the end to the into syria and into the syrian conflict of. foreign groups that have their own agenda including she had to fight this bet we have not yet seen that evidence yet on the. right round asli middle east expert thanks very much for your insight. thank you very much. greece housefull for the last conditions demanded by the e.u. in exchange for the second bailout still there is no rush in brussels to further release aid as decision has been postponed until monday things pushed through final

cuts on wednesday in committed to a written promise to stick to the a sturdy plan after elections but first ration is growing among the greek and other european leaders to greet president lashed out at the u. you questioning what right countries like germany holland in finland had to criticize athens british m.e.p. nigel farage says brussels may be trying to bring athens to heel. what the e.u. is now doing it's trying to influence the outcome of the greek general election i'm not satisfied with getting rid of the last democratically elected prime minister and putting in a puppet in the fall that was to papademos it now says it's now saying to the greek people unless you vote for the right parties do not unless you vote for parties that 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 i think the german parliament just as the greek parliament did last sunday will

continue to toe the line and continue to say that buy it out so the answer as far as i'm concerned it's rather like saving the cancer and not saving the patients we saw one of the commissioners. commissioners many crews said the other day that if greece left it wouldn't be a man overboard situation so even at the top there is now a crack beginning to appear and very interesting really what i've seen in the european parliament is for the first time in years we're hearing real criticism and the socialist criticism is that these austerity cuts are damaging living standards to such an extent that they now want to acceptable so i'm beginning you know i'm not the lone voice anymore in this place but these policies are mad austerity measures accepted by that by greece in the face of public outrage have hit the health care system pensions and public sector workers while the human cost of the cards are rising nato secretary general anders rasmussen heads to athens to secure the country's military spending the nation as one of the largest military budgets

relative to its g.d.p. with only the u.k. spending more but as artie's jake agrees reports the nato chief visit to greece suggests the military may remain largely untouched. committee has been the battleground there recently is. popular stared sunday's events is showing there's little hope for a cease fire one shot being fired by those does. content is there's a discrepancy in spending when it comes to the military something serving m.p.'s from a defensive on relations or turkey remain for some as ever present a threat as a current debt crisis and 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 there is the nato chief arise in athens the talks other things may be on the table among them weapons for cure meant i believe

i mean there is a kind of negotiation if i may she saw between major partners which are german of course in france. if we should really be ignoring you procurement of course a major part probably to function german origin france since the major critical but was talks remain afloat another threat looms it be may 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've worked in dimitri's account comes on the back of cuts slashed medical staff pay led to a desperate shortage of equipment including affordable prescription drugs this is the very human face the term austerity measure and increasing number of people on the treatment need the current health care system and desperation to turn to aid

agencies like this regime nova care into 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 there is that we might see up to three hundred people and their numbers of the greeks are you. the 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 despite the sizeable military defenses protecting them to greece r.t. .