his intelligence community rules out allegations that iran is building nuclear weapons a conclusion of which sixteen separate agencies agree. also no war against iran and resisting foreign pressure over syria prime minister and presidential candidate right here putin whining policy issues ahead of next week's vote. three pm in moscow i might try as a good to have you with us here on r t our top story war torn syria gearing up for an unprecedented referendum on a new draft constitution that could put an end to five decades of single party rule the opposition is calling on the population to boycott the vote set for sunday meanwhile a group of countries led by the u.s. calling themselves the friends of syria have called for tougher sanctions on damascus artie's marie if an ocean or reports. preparations for

a national referendum are in full swing here in damascus on sunday people are expected to vote on the country's new constitution posters and banners calling on them to come and cast ballots out of every way haim the capital and as far as the international and the information minister has said for the first time it only invites people to come and vote without urging them to vote in a particular way the draft of the proposed constitution has been made public days before the referendum itself they have been many public debates on that open for everybody but they've been debates on t.v. and internet as well and hundreds of copies of the new constitution have been distributed among people to let them know what are the changes actually. do document it includes a fourteen forty seven amended and one of the main changes in the article number eight it actually ends at almost almost. alone single party rule here in

syria proclaiming that now political system here in the country is based on pluralism and multi-party system. the article number eighty eight is also very important is that the president of the country could only be elected four to seven here turns that in another emphasize that they will only come into force after the next elections for the had of the countries. two thousand and fourteen it's managed to meet the majority of democrats it demands of the people of syria this is actually how the uprising in the country started with people calling on democratic changes but there was even a good this is what of course some very skeptical about this document and this referendum may just come too late right now the violence has continued in the country in clashes between the opposition and the authorities are still taking

place in several parts across the country the opposition has already called to vote could they vote to go on strike here in damascus we've been hearing several warnings not to go to polling stations because they could be explosions and bombings and terror attacks there the interior minister has said that fourteen thousand polling stations have been set up for this referendum and about fifteen million people have the right to come and vote but it's very hard right now to predict how many will actually come. to talk more about this i'm joined by should be. activists joining us live from london so the syrian president now implementing reforms that he's promised sunday's referendum could bring about for the first time a multi-party system in syria why do you think the u.s. and allies are still calling for sanctions and condemning damascus.

mr as we do you hear me. apparently we don't have an audio connection with our guest there. apologize for that will bring you more with him as soon as we establish a link meanwhile the u.s. intelligence community has ruled out allegations that iran is building a nuclear bomb the l.a. times reports sixteen separate agencies have all reached that same conclusion iran is under heavy international pressure over its nuclear program which it insists is for peaceful energy uses only the u.s. and allies have been piling up sanctions on tehran as they suspect it's trying to make nuclear weapons while israel has repeatedly threatened to strike iran's nuclear sites so sohn fares manesh from cal state university fresno says similar intelligence reports a few years ago or ignored by washington because they didn't fit in with its ultimate goal for iraq. regime change. their children rethinking to nationally. is neither so its first two thousand and

seven. basically a savior that i'm actually reading from the dead judge we compete in it's dead as a closed two thousand and three ian huntley it's nuclear weapons program nevertheless. it's their skin mild using it which administration. the. only people obviously the obama the assertion is not legally he did actually to close up the research into the taking place one has to do with it eagle a little less than five percent of that one has to do with twenty percent you reach twenty percent each minute is intended to be used in the movie a reactor which makes eyes of the people of purpose for a long time need the so-called experience in us and he's right there clearly that you don't cannot actually need nuclear rods for that particular reactor he done has actually started to put. into the reactor

a rig so they are going to use those for the nuclear a few other reached. listen there's the number of centrifuges as they say. get this immediately to be closed it really doesn't mean much. going back to our top story now the situation in syria we speak with political activists should be arised be joining us live from london so syria's president is now implementing reforms that he's promised sunday's referendum could bring about a multi-party system with a new constitution in the country do you think that's enough to satisfy the western powers or do you think the u.s. and allies are still calling for sanctions and condemning damascus despite this. i think the western powers firstly thank you very much it's a pleasure to be here the western powers would i think never be satisfied with any kind of change occurring in syria or any of the other middle eastern countries

so long is that change is not in the interest or benefit of the western powers as we see the situation that in yemen for instance they've had the presidential election where the president has been elected who is supporting of the west therefore this friends or so-called friends of syria meeting in tunisia at this moment i think should be really the foes of syria because they are really not working for the interest of the syrian people and in fact you know the western governments are supplying armament to the insurgents operating on the ground in hama and other cities in syria so to sort of think about that the west can ever be interested in what for the people of a particular country i think is laughable because we can see what happened in libya if you like you know gadhafi was

a wretched person but at the end of the day fifty thousand people were killed by nato bombing so i can't really imagine that the west would be interested until there is a bit of what is called the regime change until. bashar al assad goes nothing will satisfy the western powers as far as i can see at this moment so what do you think the outcome of the sunday referendum will be. but i think you know one can see from the demonstrations that have been taking place in damascus and many other places that there is a groundswell of support for. assad and the rule that he's operating in that particular country i think what really the. them and the ruling elite in syria should also a value a is that they should have some kind of dialogue with the people who are creating

this situation in syria but we've got to also understand in the background that these elements no doubt being supported by saudi regime which is a you know a ruling one of the key which has never had any elections for the last hundred years it has been continuing as a family ruling in that in that particular country and they are supporting. all the elements who are crossing from iraq now into syria and at the same time the western countries are without any doubt i mean the recent reports showing that the insurgents are being supplied logistical support. night vision and protective armor so that the west is lucky actually in the syrian situation at this moment. to be a political activist thanks for your time. stay with us here on r t still ahead this hour lashing out at law enforcement students in spain set for more protest

against education cuts accusing police of brutality at previous rallies. hack attack or panic attack as policy makers in the u.s. raised the alarm after government websites are attacked by activists some believe the cyber scare is a phony threat on which billions of dollars could be wasted. but first russia won't bend to foreign pressure over its syrian stance according to vladimir putin defending moscow's recent mido of a un security council resolution there's another points made by the prime minister in the run up to next week's presidential vote which opinion polls tip into when peter all of her husband. well he was really addressing his standpoint on key foreign policy issues of course that election for the president is coming up in just over a week's time and he was saying basically where he stands now with regards to syria he said that russia would not play along with anybody that they wouldn't just

follow along with the herd when it came to opinion on the ongoing crisis in syria but it wasn't the only issue that vladimir putin was addressing for a little while now the major fly in the between relations between moscow and washington has been the united states proposed missile defense shield in eastern europe to be a puritan very strong words for him from the prime minister here saying that the united states needs to realize that russia had the strength that they had the united states should be looking for a more constructive approach to finding a solution to the current impasse iran was also on the lips of the prime minister vladimir putin saying this the allegations that iran was developing nuclear weapons was being used as an excuse to try and initiate regime change in the country and that's russia's relationship with iran was different from other countries and so this is really just over a week before the election is now going to be approved outlying his stance on

foreign policy issues. cash strapped students in spain angry at their government says occasion and alleged police violence set to return to the streets making its officers of using heavy handed tactics at previous rallies after protesters were charged with several injured. this a lot of what happened at the beginning of the week then we saw the students that were protesting against the spending cuts to education clashing with the riot police at the demonstrations and scenes of the riot police and hitting some of the protest the locals that the local government representative there in palencia to resign and a lot of anger as well now the protests today are expected to again happen may need in the city of violence here at this is an area that's really been mired in debt since the country's construction being bubble burst and they've really been the area that's faced some of the harshest spending cuts some of the students say that

the classrooms don't even have basic heating now that is a claim that some of the government officials have this night we're going to be heading to see later in the states and find out what's happened and bring you the latest from the new protests but of course these are just part of the wider demonstrations we seeing happening in recent days but once again hundreds of thousands of people have been marching on the streets of this is really the first wave of protests that the new conservative government has faced when the unions in the country i remember the government saying you've been in power a couple of months but the protests were mainly focused on the new labor reforms that will force it now in the short term is still that's going to push unemployment even higher but of course spain at the moment you've already got a forty nine percent unemployed twenty two percent unemployment amongst the whole population a really cripplingly high figure and the message from the government being that ok in the short term things are going to have to get worse before they get better but

you've already got an incredibly tough situation for the people here it's not that these are bad reforms but a lot of the economists a lot of the people we spoke to today say very key measures to what do you need to have some good reforms in place of the timing of course that such a tough economic time for the country this to very few measures. that thing see the ng to be thing play then i'll stand if you mentioned it a time when the population. is very very risky and we've seen. just what can happen when you put that increased pressure on an already struggling population. reporting from madrid which is seen huge protests against the government's economic policies another protest planned for today and a few minutes we asked people on the streets of new york with a ready to fork out to help sinking economies. if it was coming directly out of your pocket would you still be in support of the bailout known and much more opinions coming your way shortly as greece agrees to another rescue package to save

its economy from the meltdown. plus the new face of religion in a secular away and we'll look at how a new forms of islam sponsored from abroad could change the culture in traditional values of one central asian republic. but first the u.s. government is about to declare a new war this one on a virtual enemy a string of attacks on government websites by hackers has driven american policy makers into a state of high alert over a so-called terrorist threat some doubt though that the danger exists artie's lucy coffin of reports from washington. it may seem like a quiet day in america but it's the scene of a raging battle invisible to the naked eye while there is war underway right now on the internet this is cyber war is the u.s. ready for a full scale cyber war a question asked at the highest levels of the us government by fears of a new type of w m d a weapon of mass disruption in

a world where acts of terror could come not only from a few extremists in suicide vests but from a few keystrokes on the computer the f.b.i. warns that those keystrokes could soon be more dangerous to america than terrorism itself the cyber threat or equal or surpass the threat from counterterrorism in the forseeable future a future that's got the world's military superpower preparing for the fight ahead of the next pearl harbor that we confront could very well be a cyber attack that cripples our our power systems our grid cyber war cyber pearl harbor frightening language for a hypothetical scenario one that could happen but hasn't yet and some security experts like jim harper warned that it never will no chance whatsoever that nuclear power plants will be hacked that electric infrastructure will be hacked and taken down for any significant period of time so the worst we can expect is disruption that's not war it doesn't really terrorize so the threats are serious but they're

not to the level of war or terror yet some of the key leaders in the war on terror are now in the business of cyber war michael chaired off once ran the department of homeland security he now runs a cyber security consulting firm you could have a cyber attack that would be as consequential in terms of the economy maybe even in terms of loss of life as things were to prepare yourselves here with more friends once america's top spy chief mike mcconnell now oversees cyber operations for a defense contracting giant where the most vulnerable nation. on earth to a cyber attack and anti-terrorism czar richard clarke went from advising presidents on cyber security to publishing books about the coming cyber war for once it would be nice for the united states to be able to get out in front of a catastrophe to be able to prevent that catastrophe we know how to do it we just need to spend the money and the money is flowing the u.s.

government will spend more than ten billion a year on cyber security by two thousand and fifteen you know worldwide market that's estimated at eighty to one hundred forty billion dollars a year the budget there we're releasing today it's one of the few areas where the white house plans to increase spending despite other defense cuts and that some say is the problem it's going to be even more tempting for folks in the you know the defense contracting community for example to hype cyber threats because that's one of the used time that money you know sort of still exists forbes magazine contributor shawn lawson is an expert in cybersecurity it's a classic case of an attempt to sort of motivate a response by rally the troops by appealing to fear uncertainty and inside the beltway fear and uncertainty can lead to big business and big bucks most people don't understand the problems with computer and data security most people in

washington don't understand it specifically most people in congress don't understand therefore the quote unquote beltway bandits are in a position to to create the problem to state the problem and offer their own services as a solution. at battle does rage here invisible to the naked eye a war for money contracts and power. are washington. and you can find out more about who could be doing the cyber snooping on our website r t dot com find out how your personal files will soon be of google's disposal to use at the web john. discretion plus. more than a little turbulence this helicopter in brazil had a really shaky landing find out more of our t. dot com and watch the amazing video on our you tube channel. islam is on the rise in many central asian republics in kyrgyzstan which is always branded itself as a secular state religion is starting to play a greater role in everyday life politics even the economy but there are fears that

religious freedom and influences from abroad may in fact corrupt the country's traditional values are unavoidable has more from bishkek. it's a mix of religious compliance and teenage defiance ever since fourteen year old one had left the school half a year ago she never misses a chance to walk past it in full muslim dress who was first put on teachers who wouldn't let me enter the school with my head covered or wear in a boy so for the past three months that i was studying here i had to find a place to change before classes into a secular close now i can be what i want to be but that came at a cost in order to have here to the muslim dress code i had had to transfer to an adult learning center with follower educational standards she still wants to get a university degree but if she succeeds she'll be an exception. i personally know many girls who are muslims like myself and who faced with the ban on head cover

just had to quit schools altogether and now stay at home your former school doesn't require students to wear uniforms in fact her heart says none of your classmates was ever reprimanded for wearing short skirts or low cut tops the school officials are doing their best to draw a veil over this controversy they refused to comment saying only that they have to abide by the school dress code which bans students from covering their had so wearing any other religious symbols while in class this case is quite common for kyrgyzstan a former soviet republic in central asia that over the past decade has witnessed a dramatic rise of the more conservative islam the country of five and a half million people already has around two thousand mosques and the state has little control or even understanding of what is being preached in them. up to eighty percent of new mosques were built through some sort of partnership with arab countries mainly sell your arabia or qatar and they provide more than money through

the exploit their ideology here we already have politicians calling for the creation of caliphate. is this rapid changes. cultural and religious norms that worries many of the country's liberals were not a bribe it teaches social sciences a consistence most prestigious university. she says she was a strong supporter of religious freedom until she visited her home village last year. they put a hole at that then they say when i lived there we didn't have a mosque now there are three all built by foreign jonas as i was walking past one of the mosques and i saw three young women all covered in black and i wanted to come up to them and say look around you can t. so much with your life but i held myself back because who might tell the many think a minute later they came up to me and started saying see stirred don't turn away from allah and that moment i understood that my country has changed it's now a country where i can't tell anyone how to live their life but muslims feel they

can vigil of what we're not of fears that if muslims in kurdistan are given full really just freedom it would be just a matter of time before other basic rights are done away with still she says she would rather have all sorts of had to wear in her classroom than the risk students had being filled by the wrong lessons elsewhere it's not going to artsy kyrgyzstan . turned out as of other stories making headlines across the globe at least twelve people dead after attack on a police station and i jurors northern northeastern city of gone by multiple blasts and gunfire also heard in the city which had previously been targeted by islamic extremists the boko haram sect which wants to see sharia law and i hear has been blamed the groups carried out waves of bombings and assassinations across the country in recent months. violent anti-american protests continue into a fifth day in afghanistan in fury over the burning of the qur'an at

a nato air base protesters also said part of the u.n. office in the city of couldn't do is on fire at least twenty five people including two u.s. soldiers have died in the demonstrations with scores injured earlier this week afghan workers at a u.s. military base discovered several volumes of the muslim holy book in an incinerator president obama has since apologized for the incident. former south african president nelson mandela has been taken to a hospital with a stomach element doctors recommended specialist medical care for what's understood to be a longstanding complaint the ninety three year old statesman suffered declining health in recent years having spent twenty seven years in prison under the apartheid regime mandela won the people's love and fame the world over her his fight against racism and is a nobel peace prize recipient. former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi awaiting a verdict on corruption charges expected saturday prosecutors allege he paid a six hundred thousand dollars bribe to protect business interests if found guilty

he could get five years behind bars berlusconi is also on trial for sex with an underage prostitute abuse of power tax fraud and violating official secrets that greece has just agreed to another unpopular belo to avoid going broke but the deal is unpopular in the country because of the big cuts being demanded by the e.u. and i.m.f. in return our resident asked people in the streets of new york what they think about the latest rescue package for the economy in deep trouble. greece is getting another bailout one hundred thirty billion euros is that a good idea this week let's talk about that do you know what's going on in greece right now. you know idea you've got the wrong person greece. got more g.o.p. . greece their butts out so what's greece is going to do to us whether they bail or

are there save that money matter of foreign is the third largest. g.d.b. in the world i mean got to worry about greece they only got good greek all of i'm from germany and we have a strong. new rule and the greens have a we can do or and so we should help to give your ok with that you don't feel like there should be responsible for themselves they should be less potent but we should hope that if it was coming directly out of your pocket would you still be in support of the bailout no no doubt in my book. so as long as that other european countries are ok with that but simply stay out i think we have to start to think globally and we all have to believe other out and try to get the same back on track so that means shouldering other people's responsibilities are you ok with that. yes and no you know part of me says you know i work hard i do what i'm supposed to do i've done how my parents raised me and work hard pay my taxes and all those things

but if that goes then that affects me and affects my children to whether or not people even know what's going on with the greece bailout the bottom line is it's happening let's see if this one will make a difference. finally in this news block russian pilots have safely landed a passenger plane minus one set of wheels the aircraft was on route from berlin to st petersburg the damaged jet flew fifteen hundred. having lost part of its landing gear at the berlin airport the crew made a decision to make an emergency landing after circling the airport for more than an hour to burn off fuel emergency crews were at the scene despite the danger there was no panic aboard and all emerged unscathed from the incident. headlines coming up shortly stay with us here at r.t. .

it's. just. plain. old. science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered. three thirty pm in moscow news here are the headlines as washington allies.