that media war on iran already in full swing in the u.s. leading a third of americans to label the islamic republic as their nation's biggest enemy and nearly half to support military action against iran. and the face of hootin in the 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. three pm in moscow climat très a good to have you with us here on r t our top story the future of the syrian crisis will be the focus of a meeting between u.s. european and arab nations opening in tunisia today the so-called friends of syria is expected to discuss measures to cripple the assad regime which they blame for a nearly year long violence in the country russia and china have refused to attend

the meeting moscow says the group is biased in its attempts to settle syria's internal conflict by ignoring the role of the armed opposition groups in the bloodshed in which thousands of die meanwhile washington is reportedly holding talks with the u.k. france italy and turkey over plans for military intervention and israeli web site known for links to intelligence sources 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 or he's worried if an ocean a takes a look at the noose tightening around damascus. the meeting of the countries calling themselves friends of syria raised many questions before it even started why would iran seventy arab and western nations get into nature has been a mystery till the last moment when this settlement 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 on to 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 this 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 immediate cease fire are key points of the friends of syria ultimatum package 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 fight to devote to it to make the country your political position because he is important. to his goal this is a. plan against syria but alby have a democracy we have a. china and russia still among the few countries in dialogue with the assad regime have refused to attend the news. position has been invited to participate in the tunisian summit 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 nationwide dialogue on the ways to resolve the internal crises . a regime making war on its own people families suffering in cities under siege

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 as with all of them want to start a war against syria known as yet ready the only side that could do that is nato and even they are not ready the syrian national council is not ready they gather to unify pressure and efforts to get justification for an operation in the last. meeting of any friends surprisingly enough an internet search of the friends of syria reveals a totally different community this website claims to reveal the truth and collects evidence of and to government activity among syria's enemies are the country's 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. refn ocean r.t. the moscow's syria. tunisia says it will also see the deployment of a peacekeeping force in syria as part of a solution to the crisis karen kotowski a retired u.s. air force lieutenant colonel says the idea is on the likely to make things better. our experience with with peacekeeping forces is that they are never neutral but they always take sides and this is the problem and you know we 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 an abject failures of peacekeeping forces and so you know obviously i think it hides another inch and and when it comes to the middle east the united states is not is not unbiased we are extremely biased we have an agenda and 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 that could 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. yemen is a country in a chain of arab revolutions that will see a change of leadership it awaits the inauguration of a new president following an election earlier this week in which the voters had only one candidate to choose from while the polls were widely seen as a share and the u.s. was among the countries that held the vote as a model for a peaceful transition in the region coming up later this hour a huge debate show cross talk focuses on what's behind the u.s. support. one of the reasons why the u.s. state department congratulated the yemeni people on the election because the united states will continue to use drones and fighting the. elements of al qaeda in the country there and states of course is interested in stability and instability and

in a strong government figure that they can crush al qaida the problem is is that yemenis don't like strong government by anybody like their independence and. has wanted you know. taken advantage of this resentment to gain support among certain tribal leaders and but at the same time the popular pro-democracy movement. the fuse united states all this in this chaos is going to strengthen ironically weakened al-qaeda because many people who might have been prone to support that kind of are realizing hey there's more power in massive nonviolent action than there is in terrorism. as russians gear up for the next presidential election next month the image of one of the candidates prime minister vladimir putin's become a familiar sight on the streets but not only in russia in britain to where the posters are promoting a new book about him laura smith reports from london the publicity underlines

increased interest interest there in the politician with latest poll suggesting he is likely to return to russia's top job. russians a used to seeing. all manner of surroundings no sanely in top level meetings out in the wilderness. and even singing to a hollywood a list crowds. 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 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 is probably the most interesting political from in the world at the moment and yes the right people who

feel them belong towards the rebels who love him or those who want but the most important thing is that sort of. 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. cozy probably appreciate the surprise of russia. i don't know but. i mean it's a russian. you look at 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 parts 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 a man we've seen before or is he changing will he change can he face the new challenges and how does the recent protest movement affect his politics and his outlook having his base. helping. patsy go to the polls but love him too since reputation is russ's strong man has captured the imagination of the make kids and in the u.k. and elsewhere whether it's infamy is an open question. stay with us here on r.t. still ahead beating the war drums louder. iran could attack the united states next year some way we look at how u.s. media is playing a major role in stirring up fears over iran despite officials in washington and getting there is no proof tehran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb. and is a u.s.

soldier accused of passing classified secrets to wiki leaks gets charged in court we see how some lawyers think they're wrong person is being prosecutor stay with us . wealthy british style. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger or a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report.

news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule the day. the official t. hopefully cation your pod touch from the dumpster. lights on the good. video on demand. an r.s.s. feeds now with the palm of your. on the dot com. thanks for staying with us here on our teeth thirteen minutes past the hour in moscow and hierarchy in rhetoric from israel and western powers seems to be having some impact

on the u.s. public according to the latest poll the latest survey shows that a third of americans now see the islamic republic as their country's worst enemy up from a quarter of americans are a year ago artie's worried a port i reports on the intensity of the anti-riot in message that's flooding some u.s. media and its impact. in the u.s. capital of media and messages 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 well carry out the attack as assumptions about iran's potential plan of mass destruction floods us mainstream media more cops in 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 iran upping the ante a u.s. senator has called on federal agents to quote increase scrutiny and vigorously monitor. the iranian mission 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 surrogates worldwide 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. doing it again it doesn't matter if. it's the same strategy it's all well there might be things but all new york no no. it's not really credible it's making. jack up his work so it goes well when you combine. together you get is a meeting with doesn't want. to be construed as a but instead feel. again. according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be the u.s. is top enemy and nearly half of all citizens support

a military strike against iran. when factoring human beings it's necessary for hours of coverage with these new reports and this constant drumbeat is i'm supposed to tell. you if you don't question the iranians then sure. r.t. new york. remember you can always log on to our t. dot com for the latest stories and comment here's what's a click away right now. napoleon alexander the great or winston churchill moscow vader's voters face a tough choices the city's election committee stages of the presidential poll discover who the other highflying candidates are a click away plus. pancake fever sweeps russia's the country celebrates muslim needs so the traditional festival bidding farewell to winter.

the 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 that a group of top u.s. lawyers says amounts to torture many of his supporters think a fair trial may be impossible after president obama made remarks that the whistleblower had broken the law kevin zeese attorney and director of the come home america group thinks the wrong person may be on trial. well this is a case of a very low level classified documents in fact there's questions as to whether they should be 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 little secret of the pentagon papers in the

lowest level secrets that meetings accused of is. unethical behavior misbehavior by the u.s. foreign by u.s. foreign policy we're showing our corporations and the government work closely together the support of corporate profit rather than public interest we're showing all sorts of inappropriate behavior by people like secretary say clinton who ordered us to matts to spy on u.n. officials when they came to meetings in the united nations that's the legal yet she's not being prosecuted manning who is accused of the century telling the truth is being prosecuted facing life in prison while people who commit war crimes and other crimes are not being prosecuted at all take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe disabled protesters have clashed with security forces in the bolivian capital of pause demanding authorities start paying them an annual subsidy of a little more than four hundred u.s. dollars riot police detained at least four people as demonstrators with clutches

and in wheelchairs attempt to break into the presidential palace clashes follow the end of 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 policemen were hurt this comes a day after thirteen people were killed by a car bomb at a bus station on the outskirts of the city is near a tribal region that's been a hub for al qaeda and taliban militants. and how's this for a shaky lending this rescue helicopter to literally fell to pieces after touching down in northern brazil injuring four people aboard amateur footage shows how the vehicle shuttered to a halt by breaking into pieces the investigation into what caused the violent but vibration currently underway. katie's up next with the latest business news stay with us here on r.t. . hello welcome to the business program this hour is bank bonus season that annual rite of

big money and even bigger 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 lenders financial performance and that's just the beginning award systems will also figure in lend ratings in the future out the regulator also wants to fix part of the bank is salaries the other half being posthuman spaced which is haynesworth from rating agency rating explains what's behind the move. russia is trying to harmonize its regulations regulations that are in other parts of the world so harmonize ocean of all regulators. something beneficial it does create an environment in which all bikers are prayed for 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 bank has more responsible. ready we're seeing a huge change in banking on the way it works. the investment banking arms have have 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 they say 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. made it known that we're going to have a look at the oil prices for this hour and that rising for the seventh day that's the longest winning streak this on a twenty ten when us weekly government reports out of smaller than expected rise in vents raise investors but it feels a man to make climb out of the u.s. jobless claims held at a four year life and added so that german business confidence the past forecasts of us all helping to boost the prices at the moment is a mix fear this hour like wages above one hundred eight dollars per hour brant is one hundred and twenty three dollars a barrel and we had a fifty year to see what's happening there and they are indeed keeping hold of their gains says in a british bank lloyds varies in early trading despite the firm reporting and that

north of four point thirty seven billion dollars loss is due to a provision for compensating customers over payment protection insurance. more than a year to come up as the main story going on in london today but as you can see the folks say it's still up point six percent thus is doing even better with point eight percent in positive territory and the russian markets they are doing rather well and devalued by spanish to gain around a percent. two point seven percent up to my sixty point four percent strong gains that i would take a look at the individual most of blue chips are trading in the blackstone almost appreciate supporting mother and she may just you can see from over ten percent our financials are doing well with. one point take the stand the metals sector is also doing well those higher commodity prices although every going service style is got

itself back in the black it was in the red in the boat now around half of the subprime dimitry call from investment research is going to expose it for the rest of the day. i think we'll see. relatively illiquid trading we'll see. the investors looking for interesting ideas before we had a couple of headlines. where a 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 will see a lot of preposition for the election as i don't expect their position to be very aggressive and people will be carrying a lot of page people we looking for ways to trim exposure in the. names. buses largest internet company a mile route has reported a fifty three percent increase in earnings for the second half of twenty eleven has

benefited from attracting new users on selling premium services however it does expect a slowdown in growth this year following a similar full cost by russian rival john. don't worry. we're going to see how the exchange rates a getting going you can see there just slightly higher against the dollar despite concerns that rising over prices could do a blow to the fragile economy although we will is mixed against the main current this is don't give us the dollar to the year xander freeman from u.b.s. says keeping money in cash is not without risk as currency is indulged in a race to the. mischief just to be very diversified because there is essentially a battle of which is the least ugly of the only major currencies and they're all pretty ugly so the euro has got a lot of structural problems we're all aware of until there's real fiscal integration and united states has a long term great structural challenges on its debts but i think the u.s.

dollar looks much more attractive than the euro over the next six months at least. ok about so for me today i always see a friday good weekend day dimitri medvedev why do you believe he's coming up next about fifty five minutes he'll have. issues the same us yard sale if i go down heard him or something. to some even new

boss same as the old boss this could very well describe what has happened in yemen uncontested presidential election what does the future. hold.

wealthy british style rolls sometimes guys.

and. markets find time to find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two kinds of reports. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. three thirty pm in moscow here r.t. headlines meeting of a soap.