to unite in anger at education cuts in defiance of heavy handed police tactics in earlier rallies. and waging war on unseen enemy the u.s. declares its fight against cyber crime but experts say it's simply helping some to download big profits from fear. five pm in moscow i met très a good to have you with us here on r t our top story seventy countries led by the u.s. are united in their efforts against the syrian government by agreeing to step up sanctions the so-called friends of syria group also shown supporters of president assad who weren't invited to go to the meeting in tunisia it's one of the reasons russia refused to attend saying it can't support a one sided approach to the crisis moscow wants a peace deal that will involve damascus and the opposition with no foreign pressure applied fighting between rebel forces and government troops is apparently rising

ahead of sunday's breakthrough hole in the country artie's briffa notion has the latest. 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 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 due to propose that you should has been made public days before the referendum itself they have been many public debates on that open for everybody now 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 you document it includes the fourteen new and forty seven amended articles and one of the maintained in the article number eight. actually and at almost almost

fifty a long single party rule here in syria proclaiming that now political system here in the country is based on pluralism and multi-party system is the article number eighty eight is also very important that the president of the country should only be elected four to seven here turns that in another. emphasize that they will only come into force after the next elections for they had of the countries set schedule for two thousand and fourteen it's managed to meet the majority of democratic demands of the people of syria the opposition has already called to vote could they vote to go on strike violence has continued in the country in clashes between the opposition and the authorities still taking place in several parts across the country here in damascus where we've been hearing several warnings not to go to polling stations because they think 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 votes but it's very hard right now to predict how many will actually come we get reaction now from london with a story and political analyst peter rushton so mr rushton syria's president is now implementing some of his promised reforms with sunday's referendum poised to usher in a multi-party system for the first time in five decades so why is the opposition calling for a boycott is this among the changes they've been calling for it just doesn't go far enough. well i think what that signals is that the policy of the west now is not about a negotiated settlement it's not about reaching progress on the reforms that will be and talked about it's about regime change because what we've seen in the past twenty four to forty eight hours is western spokesman including the foreign

secretary here in london william hague speaking openly now about recognizing a government in exile and about the necessity for the outside government to goo regardless of any concessions regardless of any discussions it's no longer about peace it's no longer about reform it's about replacing assad because from the point of view of the west assad's major crime has been nothing to do with human rights and nothing to do with reforms it's been to do with his pursuing a line that is too independent of the line that is to be imposed on the entire middle east by washington by london in part tell of the violence nothing neoconservative was going on argue with his crop with his alleged crimes in the face of the u.n. report that says that the actions from the government in response to the protests are far out of proportion to the ones that are coming from the streets among the

gangs. indeed but the point is if it was about human rights and reforms then people would be interested in engagement because it's quite clear from everybody that there's been violence a violent situation indeed a potential civil war if you're sincere about wanting to avoid a potential civil war then you wouldn't go into all you do to stop one potential side in that civil war as an alternative government in exile and in effect incite a push towards for regime change even by violence you respond to the diplomatic signals that are coming out and you're trying to pursue a peaceful solution it's quite obvious that washington and london are at present not interested in that negotiated solution so what do you think we can expect from this referendum on sunday how do you think if the results of it might steer this ongoing crisis well the biggest problem at the moment will be will that referendum be allowed to go ahead without there being

a terrorist attacks and such things to disrupt it so the major problem for the government in damascus and for everybody on the ground in syria will be allowing that process to go ahead relatively uninterrupted the key thing will be not just the result of the referendum but the number of people who are allowed to take part in it being shown as a legitimate consultation of the people if there are bombs going off at polling stations then of course people here in london the foreign office here in london will turn around and so the result is illegitimate and that may well be the reason why the bombs are going off in the first class now we have seen tens of thousands of people demonstrating in support of president assad in damascus but their interests weren't represented at this friends of syria meeting in tunisia why do you think they're being sidelined by the international community when apparently fifty five percent of the syrian public still supports assad. well indeed whatever the precise percentages may be within syria one thing is very clear that there are

differences of opinion and there are different interest groups just as there are in any country so when those interest groups come into conflict on would have thought a responsible international community would seek some degree of reconciliation and discussion and debate of which way to go forward that's not been the policy of what he's termed the international community and of course the term itself is generally mean just a community governed by a neo conservative or a. conservative point of view discussed in washington london and tel aviv that then becomes imposed as the view of the international community and we see in the last forty eight hours saudi arabia now being brought in as though this was some great democracy to endorse and bankrupt the syrian opposition and to to to give their blessing to the push towards regime change that in itself is an indication the role

of the saudis is always an indication in these things of what's actually going on that the so-called international community wishes to advance a particular agenda regardless of the rhetoric about democracy they want a particular result they want to get articular i want i want not what i want to have democracy your question here before you wrap up the syrian economy has lost billions of dollars since these sanctions that have been imposed on it do you think that the sanctions will have a desired effect or what result will they have. well so for there has been the hope in economic losses in syria but the political effect of that seems if anything with many people in syria to have stiffened their resolve assad is a very independent minded person so it was his for the so many of his supporters they were not going to be willing to be bullied by the international community and by this sanctions approach so it would seem so far determined to continue their

independent line so it would seem as though the bullying approach the sanctions approach isn't so far resulting in a critical weakening of the assad government all right peter rushton historian political analyst thanks for your time. thank you more on solving the syrian crisis in a few moments as moscow stands firm over how to tackle the conflict as prime minister heads out america's opposition on america's position on the crisis and does the same over iran and missile defense the details coming up. but first thousands of spanish students are expected to turn out in valencia against planet occasion cuts earlier this week police were accused of being heavy handed when similar demonstrations ended in clashes or he's sorry for of has more from madrid. 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 hitting

some of the process 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 this is an area that's already 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 they 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 here 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 where 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 were both said 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 again the shoots and things are going to have to get worse before they get better but you've already got an incredibly tough situation for the people who. meanwhile across the mediterranean greece also racing against ruin later we ask how much people may be willing to help. you know that in my book. as long as that other european countries the ok with that. stadium i mean they will tell you it's not enough time in cities that are having to bail out another country say. parties resident new yorker gauges opinion on whether yet more bellow billions can ever

stop the rot. but first presidential front runner vladimir putin has reaffirmed russia's position on syria insisting insisting moscow won't bow to any western pressure the premier said the kremlin will plough on seeking a balanced solution involving all sides in the country and it's not the only issue over which russia is prepared to lock horns with the u.s. as artie's peter all over explains. he was really addressing his standpoint on key foreign policy issues of course that election 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 the ongoing crisis in syria but it wasn't the only issue out of me it 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 me a 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 will 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 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 those key foreign policy issues questions meanwhile remain over iran's nuclear program after u.n. atomic official said tehran failed to cooperate with the international community suspects tehran is building a nuclear bomb but iran insists it's only seeking peaceful atomic energy the u.s. and its allies have been imposing tough economic sanctions while israel's even

threatened military action against iranian nuclear sites but it's being reported that america's intelligence community has doubts about the nuclear allegations economics professor. has studied the effects of the sanctions and says it's not the first time washington's ignored reports to pursue its goals. for regime change. of everything to nationality to just assume a mini or so in its first thousand and seven. basically a savior that i'm actually reading from the. judge read high confidence that as a flaw in two thousand and three unfold at the it's nuclear weapons program nevertheless when it came out ministration the people on the. their own report and obviously the obama administration is not. the us usually goes along with these three i think did traits of war are used continuously in

order to bring more and more sanctions paralyzing sanctions splitting to make sure seems to be. on the way of making a fast buck by ramping up the fear factor on our i t ignorance. 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 create the problem to state the problem. more news on some more of the headlines from around the globe gunfire erupted inside the afghan interior ministry in kabul killing two american military advisors this is anti-u.s. protests continue into a fifth day over the burning of copies of the qur'an by u.s. soldiers more than twenty of died since tuesday after afghan workers at a u.s. military base discovered several muslim holy books in an incinerator. and attack on

a police headquarters in the nigerian town of goma has left twelve dead and five wounded at the prison was also targeted no one has admitted the attacks but they are thought to be the work of radical muslim group boko haram that's blamed for killing more than three hundred people this year alone as it fights to impose sharia law throughout the country. a car bomb attack on the presidential palace in southern yemen has killed at least twenty six the country's new leader president hadi was earlier sworn into office after being the only candidate in the running how do you was a vice president under alley a doula solly who stepped down after more than three decades in power and the months of violent protests sali is the fourth arab leader to be ousted from office during the arab spring. after a wave of hack attacks took out several u.s. federal websites officials were quick to point out there's a new terror battlefront the internet but worry from data experts those of the threats being blown out of proportion by those who stand to make money by playing

on people's digital distress. as more. it may seem like a quiet day in america but it's the scene of a raging battle invisible to the naked eye well 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 u.s. 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 the next pearl harbor that we confront could very well be a cyber attack that cripples our our power system certainly our grid cyberwar

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 because 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 gets 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 frightening 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 that 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 few strength 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 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 raids here invisible to the naked eye a war for money contracts and power. r t washington. we're already for you online and r t dot com there's plenty that's a click away this weekend. between a rock and

a holy place tear gas stun grenades used against stone hurling palestinians in jerusalem's flashpoint mosque as religious tension reaches a crescendo. and welcome to moscow's mack museum is a diehard apple addict opens up his twenty year old collection of computers gadgets and the rarity. of wrapping up the winter with a pancake russians welcoming the upcoming spring with the annual mosler meets a festival trust me spring in moscow can't come soon enough and it's all online for you at r t dot com. finally in this news block islam on the rise in many central asian republics but in kyrgyzstan the increasing number of mosques hasn't led to a growing tolerance of muslims some residents feel the region's changing religious climate may threaten their traditional values as artie's acts on a boy who reports. it's a mix of religious compliance and teenage defiance ever since fourteen year old

left the school half a year ago she never misses a chance to walk past it in full muslim dress. teachers wouldn't let me enter the school with my head covered or wear in a boy or so for the past three months that i was studying here i had to find a place to change before classes into secular clothes now i can be what i want to be but that came with a cost in order to have here today muslim dress code i have 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 rahat 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 for the exploit their ideology here we already have politicians calling for the creation of caliphate. is this rapid change of. cultural and religious norms that worries

many of the country's liberals were not a bribe it teaches social sciences of kyrgyzstan the most prestigious university. she says she was a strong supporter of religious freedom until she visited her home village last year. then they 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 i saw three young women all covered in black i wanted to come up to them and say look around you can do so much with your life but i held myself back because who might tell them anything a minute later they came up to me and started saying sister don't turn away from our 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 were 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 have to wear in her classroom than the risk students had been filled by the wrong lessons elsewhere it's not going to artsy kurdistan the world's biggest ever debt swap underway is greece scrambles to get its desperate finances back on track banks and bondholders will lose out to the tune of at least one hundred billion euros r t gets the view from the street we ask how deeply we should dig to save a nation in debt trouble. greece is getting another bailout one hundred and thirty billion euros is that a good idea this week let's talk about that do you know what's going on in greece are a no no i don't you know idea you got the wrong person giving a lot of people know what's going on in greece no grace you know iowa got more g.o.p. g.d.p.

than then greece they butts out so what's greece is going to do to us i mean whether they bail or they're save that money matter to foreign is the third largest . g.d.b. in the world you've got to worry about greece. they only got good greek all of i'm from germany. and the greens have a you and so we should help. you ok with that you don't feel like there should be responsible for themselves they should be let's. hope that if it was coming directly out of your pocket would you still be in support of the bailout no not out of my book. so as long as that other european countries they're ok with it but simply to stay out i mean they will tell you to have enough time as it is without having to bail out another country 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 for that means shouldering other people's responsibilities are you ok with that. yes or no

you know part of me says no 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 too so sometimes not to quote hillary clinton but i guess it does take a village the bailout with the u.s. car industry sort of had an ok ending and i was skeptical about that so i don't know i don't think i'm quick to really say actually that's a good example though because you hear bailout and it sounds like you're getting something for nothing but it's an example of one that worked so maybe this will work whether it's a stepping in a european union or whether it's going to be someplace in asia steps in public china china will invest in them so is that a good thing i mean now that we're all globally tied in and we see these kinds of situations arise as the global economy and good progression. it was a natural progression it's not as if they would stop it when you have free trade

the way it was i mean it's going to happen this way you have more interdependent countries at this point whether or not people even know what's going on with the greece bell out the bottom line is it's happening let's see if this one will make a difference. a reminder of our top stories coming your way shortly stay with us here on r.t. . thank.

you. five thirty pm in moscow these iraqi headlines syria readies a democrat.