intervention. the media war on iran is already in full swing in the us leaving a third of americans to label the islamic republic as the nation's biggest enemy and the early half of the support military action against iran. plus the face of putin in london we find out how the man to be russia's next president has been capturing the imagination of british authors and filmmakers less than a fortnight before russians head to the polls. it's been for russian kids but they may have to cancel that lavish party to see the plane as they grab join me in twenty minutes i'll have all the details. you're watching r.t. i'm carrie johnson let's go straight to our top story now the future of the syrian

crisis with a focus of a meeting between the u.s. european and arab nations opening in tunisia today the so-called friends of syria group is expected to discuss new measures to cripple that assad regime which they blame on the yearlong violence in the country russia and china have refused to attend the meeting says the group is biased in its attempts to settle serious internal conflict by ignoring the role of armed opposition groups in the bloodshed in which thousands of died well meanwhile washington is reportedly holding talks with the u.k. france italy and turkey over preparations for military intervention and israeli website for links to intelligence services claims a decision will also depend on the outcome of the meeting in tunisia and whether the u.s. gets the support of its arab allies well arty's takes a look now at the noose tightening around damascus. the mates you know the countries calling themselves friends of syria raised many questions before it even

started why would iran seventy arab and western nations gather in tunisia has been a mystery till the last moment. if they are real friends they should not think about economic sanctions that really affect syrian people and a negative way for minimal i hope the arabs will play a role in mediating dialogue between the opposition and the government but it's become clear that none of these issues will make it onto the meetings agenda our priority is to facilitate the humanitarian the delivery of the humanitarian assistance and we have some proposal on the table to prepare. the best way to deliver based assistance as quick as possible. the u.n. estimates about six thousand deaths in fierce clashes between the government forces and the armed opposition with the humanitarian situation described as a catastrophe allowing aid to get in and an immediate cease fire are key points of the friends of syria ultimatum tak age but some claim the friends have an ulterior

motive so this meeting serves as a media campaign to cover up the frequent set backs with western countries held by the us have suffered in the intervention in the syrian issue it is trying to find a new way of intervention from the outside. to force assad to go is on the agenda of the friends gathering they want a political price and they want to give fights to two different states for the next two years of being with country your political position because he is important then. to iran then to hizbollah this is a. plan against syria but all be have of democracy to have a. china and russia still among the few countries in dialogue with the assad regime have refused to attend the new spas well you don't. the opposition has been invited to participate in the tunisian salmon because none of the government representatives were invited that means the interests of

a large portion of the population will not be represented in this case i doubt that this conference will need a nationwide dialogue on ways to resolve the internal. reasons a regime making war on its own people families suffering in cities under see a nation brought to the brink of chaos we cannot allow the obstruction of a few countries to stop the world community from coming to the aid of the syrian people and as with all of them want to start a war against syria i want no one is yet ready the only sign of a good to us is a nato and we are not ready the syrian national council is not ready they gather to unify pressure and never to give justification for an operation in a mosque and we are going to news it isn't anything other than invasions of. surprisingly enough an internet search of the friends of syria reveals a totally different community this website claims to reveal the truth and to

collect evidence of and to government activity among syria's enemies are the countries name in themselves friends friends of syria get together across the sea to thrash out their solution to the conflict many here wonder if their own stories will really benefit the people on the ground or is it a case of with friends like these who needs enemies. national party the massacres syria. well for more on this story that's now talk to the doctor chandra was president of the international movement for a just world but you are joining us here on r.t. you know this conference center near zero has been heavily criticized by some syrian opposition figures how much is a gathering actually to do with the interests of the syrian people do you think. if we don't hear that there's. a and if. i didn't grades of things we need to be made of what happens is going to be soon.

to get this eighty's blooms into the into the western. states and for some of the proceeds of that is. creating locally we are trying to give it a black and as soon as knowledge of the meeting which can be described as the meeting of the brains of this movie. because of the reasons that the vast majority see if he moves to the polls but harrison. now the parish gathering in tunisia say they want a political solution to the crisis but one thing no invite to the syrian government even though it still has wide support among some of the population. because by schools it is the common use aid very clear it is to devise morals and i can give you that question at a time if you live in london. and i think that actually actually even if i came by

i don't want to give. you one of these. but planted his delusion to deceive the prices one would only sees why he'd be ready to move on these stupid one and the insurgency one guy who must abide by a cease fire and then you can have a dinner which he read about the second i said. after the talk of the president of international event protests well thanks for joining us. well that news here says it will also seek the deployment of a peacekeeping force in syria as part of the solution to the crisis karen kotowski of a ton of the u.s. air force lieutenant colonel says the idea is unlikely to make things any better. our experience with with peacekeeping forces is that they are never neutral they always take sides and this is the problem and you know we don't worry so much about

what goes on in central africa or even north africa in fact we have plenty of experience with the failures repeated in abject failures of peacekeeping forces so you know obviously i think it hides another agenda and when it comes to the middle east the united states is not is not unbiased we are extremely biased we have an agenda we've played out that agenda for the last i don't know twenty or thirty years certainly the very casual and cavalier discussion of sending in troops and arming the rebel groups that we don't even know the names of who reflect that lack of consideration for the actual people who live under these governments and who have a personal responsibility and a collective responsibility to change those governments. well yemen is one country in a chain of arab revolutions which will see a change of leadership it awaits you know gratian of a new president for an election earlier this week which voters had only one

candidate to choose from and while the polls have widely been seen as a sham the u.s. was among the countries which hailed it as a model for peaceful transition in the region with a debate show cross-talk focuses on what's behind american applause. one of the reasons why the u.s. state department congratulated the many people on the election is because the united states will continue to use drones and fighting the. elements of al qaeda in the country and states of course instability and instability and in a strong government. crush al qaeda the problem is is that yemenis don't like strong government by anybody in their independence and. taking advantage of this resentment to gain support among certain tribal leaders and the same time the popular pro-democracy movement. is you know sees all

this chaos is going to strengthen ironically weaken al-qaeda because many people who are prone to support that kind. are realizing hey there's more power in massive nonviolent action than there is in terrorism. but as russians gear up for the presidential election next month the image of one of the candidates prime minister that it putin has become a familiar sight on the streets but it's not only in russia but in britain as well with the posters are however for a new book about him as artie's or smith reports from london the publicist he underlines increased interest there in the politician with the latest poll suggesting he's likely to return to russia's top. russian say used to seeing putin in all my. of surroundings not only in top level meetings also out in the wilderness and even singing to a hollywood a list crowd. but

there are always new heights to scale and you currently find him looming large on a london icon the double decker bus. is coming it proclaims so may find the wording of the advert slightly sinister but it's all to do with a new book which analyzes putin the man not the politician the books the results of a six year collaboration between a british author and russian journalist alexander. put in there is probably the most interesting political in the world at the moment and yes the right people who feel and be violent towards the rebels who love him or those who do but the most important thing is that sort of more would you can see that they don't. although as it turned out that wasn't quite true you know it's about it might be desperate or

russia you know it's a. little posy probably a person who supposedly russia is i don't know. i mean it's a russian but you got it the authors say friday's book release isn't connected to next month's election in russia but it does come hot on the heels of two separate british documentaries involving putin one a look at the controversial political youth group nationally and the other a critically acclaimed full part counter through relations with the west during his twelve years at the top there will be the world's attention on him again and people want to know is this man we've seen before is he changing will he change can he face the new challenges and how does the recent poll. yes movement affected his politics and his outlook having his face still in double decker buses won't help you say there's russert is prepared to go to the polls but love him or lose him

person's reputation is russ's strong man has captured the imagination of documentary makers and also is here in the u.k. and elsewhere whether it's playing or infamy is an open question norris mentality. well still ahead for you this hour beating war drums and now to another. iran full attack the united states in a much more fearsome way we look at how the u.s. army here is one playing a major role in stirring up fears over iran despite officials in washington admitting there's no proof tehran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb. as a u.s. soldier accused of passing classified secrets to wiki leaks gets charged in court we see how some lawyers believe the wrong person is being prosecuted.

if he. believes. down the official ante up location your phone called talk from the. law is on the go. video on demand all keys my old car. and street now in the palm of your. on r.t. dot com. twenty

iranian rhetoric from israel and western powers seems to be having some impact on the us public according to opinion polls the latest survey shows that a third of americans now see the islamic republic as their country's worst enemy competitors twenty five percent a year ago artie's report ny reports now on the intensity of the anti iranian message flooding the us media and its impact. in the u.s. capital of media and message it one particular story a unilateral strike keeps spinning round and round iran could attack the united states in a much more fearsome way iran a hypothetical national security threat growing more dangerous by the day that new york could eventually be on iran's hit list we have to assume that hezbollah would be the proxy for iran and could well carry out the attack as assumptions about iran's potential plan of mass destruction floods us mainstream media more cops an automatic weapons are flooding specific areas of the big apple the new york city

police department increased security around israeli government facilities and synagogues last week amid growing tension over tehran's nuclear program however the n.y.p.d. says it has not received any specific threat related to iraq upping the ante a u.s. senator has called on federal agents to quote increased scrutiny and vigorously monitor the iranian mission to united nations but as politicians police officers and most mainstream journalists perpetuate a terrifying scenario for new york city officials in washington have thrown a wrench in this armageddon theme type news narrative by stating the facts about iran there are surrogates who are revelations of a much less threatening tehran was recently disclosed during intelligence briefings the agency assesses iran isn't likely to initiate or intentionally provoke

a conflict they continue to develop their enrichment capability but the intelligence does not show but they've made a decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon. many experts have labeled iran america's new iraq critics then and now say washington paves the path and corporate media plugs the message was iraq. you know. again it doesn't matter if it. is some of the bush administration it's the same strategy it's like all well there might be things but only or there are no no the intelligence so well no it's not really credible don't know if it's mccain a manager or jack up is worked only goes well when you combine thank yous together that you get as a meeting with them and want to impede the march to. critical scrutiny as a but instead a few of em jam by the bandwagon you see it time and time again and there are those according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be the us is top enemy and

nearly half of all citizens support a military strike against iraq. when factor in human beings it's necessary for hours of coverage we have these media reports and this constant drumbeat is designed to party and now we are to tell. you if you don't question really i mean sure marina porter r.t. new york. remember you can always log on to r.t. dot com for more new stories and commentary has some of what's in store for you right now the poet in exile or the great soul winston churchill. face a tough choice as a city selection committee stages around her soul for the presidential pup the scope of the other high flying candidates online. and pancake fever sweeps russia the country celebrates muslim it's a traditional festival farewell to winter.

a. u.s. soldier accused of passing classified secrets to wiki leaks has been officially charged at a military court bradley manning declined to enter a plea he's already been held for nineteen months and subject to treatment which a group of top u.s. lawyers says amounts to torture many of his supporters believe a fair trial is now impossible the president barack obama made remarks that were broken or well kevin zeese attorney and director of home america group believes the wrong person is standing trial. well this is a case of very low level classified documents in fact there's questions as to whether you should be in classified at all we have to also realize that when. we release the pentagon papers those are very high level secrets and even those we're

not releasing any national security information that should have been kept secret all we're finding out from even the highest level secret pentagon papers in the lowest level secrets that music used is. one of the behavioral misbehavior by the u.s. far by u.s. foreign policy we're showing our corporations and the government work closely together to support corporate profit rather than public interest we're showing all sorts of inappropriate behavior by people like surgery say clinton who ordered u.s. diplomats to spy on u.n. officials when it came to meetings in the united nations that's illegal yet she's not being prosecuted manning who is accused as actually telling the truth is being prosecuted facing life in prison while people who commit war crimes and other crimes are not being prosecuted. well now here's a look at what else is making news around the world this hour disabled protesters clashed with security forces in the libyan capital that has been that you thought

you start paying a subsidy just over four hundred dollars riot police detained at least four people demonstrators with crutches and wheelchairs attempted to break into the presidential palace the clashes one of the end of a one hundred day protest journey across the country. a suicide attack on a police headquarters in northwest pakistan has killed at least four officers seven other placement were injured it comes a day after thirteen people were killed by a car bomb a bus station the outskirts of the city is there a tribal region which has been up. and about militants. and the rescue helicopters have been shaky leg. literally falling apart after touching down in northern brazil injuring people on board this amount of footage shows the vehicle. breaking into pieces. into what course a violent vibration is currently underway. but kate is have the latest from the

business desk. hello there welcome to the business program this hour is bank boner season that annual rite of big money and even bigger egos but the party may be over in the russian banking sector the country's central bank is taking steps to avoid excessive payments it will make the fees depending on the lender's financial performance and that's just the beginning the board systems will also lead to rates in the future the regulator also wants to fix hole for the bankers salaries and the other half being performance based which is handsworth rating agency russ rating explains what's behind the move. trying to harmonize its regulations regulations in other parts of the

world harmonize ocean of all regulators. something beneficial it does create an environment in which was a parade. in a. fairly regular fashion and that may help. some of the smaller banks in the medium. to compete with the very large russian banks. and staying with the story angus campbell from london capital group explains how similar measures are already making european bankers more responsible. we're seeing a huge change in banking on the way it works the investment banking arms have had a huge overhaul they have not only been subject to huge job losses but increased regulations they have to build up their capital requirements the risks they are taking at the moment are much more considered much less the risks

are. certainly not as big as they used to be in the past and that is changing the way banks currently work potentially my in the long run make them less profitable but as long as there are so you for that khamenei be a good thing so we're already seeing changes to the way banks work we will continue to see that going forward. let's take a look at the markets now exchange rates the euro is slightly higher against the dollar despite concerns the rising oil prices could deal a further blow to the fragile euro zone economy and the ruthless mix against the main currents this is stronger versus the dollar and a bit lower to the right well up next and it's rising frest seven day the longest winning streak since january twenty ten us weekly government reports showed

a small going to expected rise in adventurous investors bet they feel demand may climb after u.s. jobless claims held a full year and added to that german business confidence the parked cars as you can see light sweet point now one hundred and eight point forty six you can pay for that and brant is nearly one hundred twenty four dollars a barrel. and the european markets are keeping hold of those gains shares in british bank lloyds rose in early trading despite the firm reporting a net loss of full point thirty seven billion dollars. g.g. you too a provision for compensating customers over payment protection insurance and more of a tumble due to the fact so you. want to pose a real in the docks just under seven in positive territory the russian market is there oh so impulsive territory as you can see the yes around one and a half percent out of my six point eight percent will take

a look at individual having most of the blue chips are trading in the black they found strong oil is supporting energy majors with gas pump up point four percent financials also on the rise bt in toronto a quarter percent are. seeing gains on high commodity says service all is up around half a percent on the poles it's time to expand in south east asia dmitri from verna investment research tells us to look out for in the day's training. i think we'll see. relatively illiquid trading we'll see. the investors looking for interesting ideas before we had a couple of headlines. by. couple of headlines on the advertising work i think people will be focusing on the interest or i look younger. interesting but overall i think we'll see a lot of preposition for the election i don't expect that position to be very

aggressive and people will be carrying a lot of page people we are looking for ways to trim exposure in the. names. of largest internet companies brewhouse reported a fifty three percent increase in earnings for the second time of twenty eleven is benefit if attracting new users and selling premium services however it expects a slowdown in growth this year following a similar full cost by russian rival. were a. puzzle for now i'll be back right here and about fifty five minutes to join me then the stations all take the headlines up next.

well into the. good piece of the looking glass at what will be the homes of the future where the walls might just be smarter than the residents every day trash protects you from the elements outside and the whole system works to save you money to shine the spotlight on the latest building projects all around russia technology i'm doing here on r.g.p. we've got the country.

in russia would be so much brighter if you knew about someone from france to pressure. his friends starts on t.v. don't come. back about the headlines now arundhati a meeting of the so-called friends.