the syrians have their say people in the war torn country choosing their new constitution to potentially end five decades of single party rule. no bombing in iran sixteen u.s. intelligence agencies agree there is no evidence that iran is building nuclear weapons but israel steps up pressure with continued threats of a military strike. zone tightens its belt greece saved from the brink of collapse at the cost of massive new cuts while students in spain lash out against their own lack of funding.

two pm in moscow i met treasurer bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news here on r t beginning in syria where millions of people across the country are expected to have their say on a new draft constitution the referendum that promises a multi-party system comes amid ongoing violence with most opposition groups valuing to boycott the ballot but as an ocean reports from damascus some hope the vote could bring about the end of the conflict. ballots instead of bullets mess demonstrations and violent protests have been rolling across syria for almost a year. the syrian government is now calling for the people to shape their future together by taken part in a referendum on the country's and you cost to sion fulfill its pledge to reform. a boss who is very excited that he'll be able to decide his own tomorrow because it's a completely new era is good for everybody even opposition can take part it's for

all the amendments to the country's number one law have been the key demands of the opposition since the uprising began and the draft seems to cover the most pressing issues it starts with eliminating baath party supremacy which have ruled the country for the last fifty years introduces a multi-party system and sets a two term limit on any future president however even these reforms a cause in controversy. jihad that his friend odin flower shop in damascus he says this new document draws a line between him and his muslim business partner just to show there's a big contradiction article thirty three says while equilibrate number three says i can be a president so what about the other ten percent that were not here temporarily we've been living together for ages i want to be counted. now maybe ten percent of the people they speak about this ok but maybe if we was

removing this article from the new constitution the ninety percent would said well why you take this article out. public debates on the draft constitution have been organized to bring the people and the authors of the new documents together they don't trust me they don't se the settlers are sophisticated enough to work for hire if you make me tell you the city is going to see this becoming but some say there is still a long way to go to that new syria and they don't believe the government will follow through with the reforms i'm afraid if i were a goes the constitution somebody will in the world will shoot me clashes and protests almost every day but some hope that the referendum will not only breed a new constitution it might even be able to stop the bloodshed. there are people who want to improve and develop but also others who want to divide syria we

shouldn't help them who we should go and vote for a future in. the draft of syria's new constitution has been made public ten days before the national referendum fourteen new and forty seven amended articles a role here with comments and details the base are also on t.v. and the internet never in the country's modern history for its residents so close to policy making its many here on the ground fear that the ongoing violence could bury any hope of reform reform altie damascus syria. syrians vote on their future the so-called friends of syria have already made their position clear friday the group of states led by washington to recognize the credibility of the syrian opposition insisting that assad must go russia rebuffed the meeting saying it's biased in its efforts to solve the crisis. refused to take

any part in that meeting because judging by the statements we've been hearing and the format of the so-called friends of syria club the sole purpose of that conference is not to find a way out of the current situation but to promote the idea that the conflict can only be resolved if assad leaves i have met with mr assad and with the representatives of two opposition groups i did not get the impression that it is the people versus assad in this conflict the situation is different some people are opposing the regime while others support mr assad but some support the regime passively and they do not back the idea of outside interference it's not black and white it's not a scenario where the whole nation rises up to overthrow a government they don't like when representatives of the gulf monarchies which do not have a single democratic institution start complaining about assad's regime being undemocratic but i believe that undermines the political and moral legitimacy of the friends of syria club is a club of syria's friends or a club of people who want to measure i said gone that's the question we have to ask . political analyst ybor he says the friends of syria group by backing the rebels

is being used as a tour to stir up some conflict. you can call it the meeting for the friends of the united states or the enemies of syria but you cannot call it a meeting for the friends of syria this meeting is supposed to enhance the legitimacy of the syrian national council and that the same time legitimize our action from outside the bondy's of the un security council especially after the veto that was pressed by russia and china so i think this is a pretty poor intervention the question as is that sort of impact helping stabilize or these stabilize syria and i think the obvious answer is that they are these stabilizing syria and they are doing that not in the interest of peace in syria but in the interest of fomenting civil war that is unfolding right now before

our eyes. pleco allen abraham maloof speaking with us from jordan. u.s. intelligence community was dealt a for has dealt a fresh blow to washington suspicions that iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and assessed an assessment by america's sixteen spy agencies suggest there is no evidence to iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb meanwhile the u.n. nuclear agency says tehran has expanded its enrichment uranium or iranian enrichment work in recent months the i.a.e.a. also criticized iran for not allowing inspectors into a key military site the country is facing tough u.s. any new sanctions on threats of an attack from israel over its nuclear program that it insists it's peaceful conn hallinan a columnist of foreign policy in focus magazine says the west concern over iran's nuclear program may be a pretext to take control of its energy resources. i think a nuclear bomb is really in many ways a smokescreen this is not about nuclear weapons even if iran were to develop

nuclear weapons that would make little difference if iran were to use a nuclear weapon say for against israel it would be an act of national suicide israel has between two and three hundred nuclear weapons that could literally exterminate iran as a country we were on is not a nuclear threat i think this has a lot more to do with the politics of the middle east and the politics of the control of energy resources than one hundred seventy nine revolution in iran essentially remove the second largest oil resources and the third largest natural gas resources from direct control by western oil and gas companies and centrally made it independent now the west would love to get those resources back and they would love to also not have that kind of independent force in the middle east that's also in the israeli's interest as well. israel has repeatedly threatened to strike iran's nuclear sites coupled with accusations that the islamic republic is

behind attacks on its diplomats abroad israel could already be committed to military action as artie's arena delusional reports that israel's leaders are actively drumming up the military rhetoric. iran is the biggest terror exporter in the world the israeli government and its security forces will continue to act forcefully systematically and calmly against international terrorism dating from iran. a potential israeli rocket clash looks more likely than ever there is speculation a preemptive strike against iran's nuclear sites could happen as early as spring or summer although that's not causing undue concern in israel i think possibly people you know they make their plans for a vacation you know pass or a vacation summer vacation possibly people are beginning to have wondered well is there going to be a war is something going to mess it up or i think they're probably going ahead with it with sort of a thought we're back tomorrow it would be nice if we could get

a flight that we could cancel you know you know is that sort of thing israel has previous experience when it comes to putting an end to you karen bishan swish pose a potential threat in one thousand nine hundred one is jets wiped out reactors in iraq they struck again in two thousand and seven hitting sites in syria but with iran's nuclear program things may not be so simple if if israel attacks iran it will not stop iran forever from getting nuclear weapons the only postpone it for a relatively brief amount of time the. installations are too diverse and far flung to destroy affectively israel does not have us poor white house secretary adviser was in israel warning against a move on iran saying it was better to wait for tougher sanctions to take effect in the coming months but mines may already be made up i think one of the things the create this aura of inevitability is to shut them up to shut up opposition at home

and of course to convince the united states and europe that this is an inevitability it's going to happen don't oppose it in fact why don't you help us out there is a question mark however over whether israel has what it takes to carry out the mission i doubt with the we have the capability. of creating damage is to the extent of the mediating the program and even if israel's military prowess will allow it to carry out a strike on underground facilities in iran chances are it won't and if there are as you know saddam hussein and bashar assad by the time they knew what was happening was over and could just you know grumble without adding to fight back you imagine iran sitting still you know all day day after day day after day what israel was really trickle back i think any any sane person realizes that they're all almost guaranteed the missiles falling on israel and considering iran for one of the twentieth century's longest wars against iraq in the one nine hundred eighty s.

the consequences could be far reaching and destructive. israel has been suffering some bad weather as of late but it's likely that even the strongest winds will blow the country's foreign policy off its course and when it comes to israel's forecast for iran the storm clouds seem to be growing ever darker in tel aviv r.t. . well stay with us here on r t still ahead seeking justice an afghan policeman is hunted for killing u.s. officials during widescale violent protests after u.s. soldiers burn copies of the koran. and two weeks after being nominated for a nobel peace prize bradley manning appears at his first court hearing we'll look at the suspected whistleblowers case in a few minutes. but first thousands of people set to encircle moscow in a massive flash mob for farah lections holding hands people plan to complete the city's gardener artie's peter all over is in the midst of the action he joins us

live now hello peter so you're on the gardening just outside our building actually which is right on that road and tell us what's happening there. what we've seen really in the last half an hour a lot small people arrive and come and stand alongside this busy ring road that encircles the downtown area holding hands most of them wearing wearing white this is the color of the movements that. sprung up over the last couple of months campaigning full fair elections. but they suggested this they could need around thirty four thousand people to complete not ring all the way around the this road that it's around sixteen fifteen kilometers all the way around it what we had seen on social media sites that only on seven thousand five hundred said that they would turn up so the organizers of course hoping people will come out on the day but i need to say the last half an hour i've seen

a lot more people arrive here we're also seeing the the opposition party yabloko who failed to get any seats in the elections in december of last year they representatives have been driving around the road with flags and honking their horns you might be able to hear that right then every time they do that they've been getting a cheer in a way from the crowds that alongside that road. we've also seen the. it's not just dispersed in the last couple of minutes there was a group of true blood of me of putin's supporters here who had turned up wearing red hots around their necks that said we all love putin and now there was some small confrontations between members of the opposition opposite the opposition movement and the. supporters of law to me and putin a few raised woods a few heated words but that's all seems to end up with an old sea story about the us that all seems to have dispersed at the moment and it's just people lining up

alongside the government here to show support for what they want which is fair elections so we've certainly seen a spike in political activity in the last few months definitely we've seen these huge crowds come out in the various squares pro and anti anti establishment here tell us more about all this. but right since the parliamentary elections in december of last year we have seen this spike in political activism in russia following those elections that actual results there was demonstrations mass protests and in moscow as well as across other cities in russia and that's really continued for the last two months just in this past week. we've seen very large the largest to date dead rally that was held at the luzhniki stadium usually used for the top level football events there that was held in support of a lot of mia putin's candidacy there was also rallies for the. the leaders of the liberal democratic party and the communist party on the same day and just last week we saw rallies around this garden ring again one day for putin on the next day

against putin's candidacy and today has been the one week away from those those presidential elections so it's only going to it's only going to heat up from here on out so i wouldn't expect to see an end to these these rallies in favor of all the different candidates who are going for the top job on well they'll be voting for next sunday i think. going to keep on going for a while you're peter all over live for us from moscow thanks for that update. out of the presidential elections next sunday the media is abuzz with candidates promos but the front runner vladimir putin has kept a relatively low profile but it's another story outside of russia go on our to dot com to find out how prudent maybe taking over britain albeit in book form after interest in russia's top politician reaches a fever pitch abroad. and also online shocked villagers in brazil witness what they say is a u.f.o. was

a fifty kilogram metal ball falls from the sky in front of unsuspecting residents on earth we story at r.t. dot com and be sure to check out all the videos why are there or are you to check. the heat. the official. from the. video. feeds in the palm of your.

cash strapped spanish students and teachers have packed the streets of valencia angry at the government's education cuts they accused police of heavy handed tactics at previous rallies where protesters were charging down and beaten several were hurt more than forty arrested some of the miners are sara for reports. it's been dumped in the landfill in spring and you can see thousands upon thousands of people. in the freight. cars i think legislation i. see being telling us that. the problem in all. of this is the job of. the.

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to get. the population. of the one brave enough to live in the country of the. red cross a. massive budget cuts still dominating greece that ovoid a painful default this week leaders have. battens hanging on for months as they piled up new conditions before flight finally clearing one hundred thirty billion euro bailout but the cost of the rescue is weighing heavily on the greek people who paid the price with huge cuts and job losses financial journalist johan bent over a belt says more austerity may be disastrous for the country it will make things worse for the greek economy the greek economy is in a deep recession at the moment the austerity program that is imposed on the country will worsen the recession which in its turn. the budget outlook and so

the negative spiral in which to breed economy and greek society has been imprisoned for almost the last two years will only get worse so this is not really a solution to the problem what you need for greece is to have a growth perspective for the economy of greece and you don't have that at all at the moment and the longer we wait the more it becomes obvious that the only way we can get to do greek economy growing again is by indeed exiting the eurozone which will lead of course to a devaluation of the new direct me but that is exactly what is needed to get the economy through international growing again and afghan police officer is being sought over the killing of two u.s. military advisers at the interior ministry in kabul nato has withdrawn all its personnel from afghan ministries to avoid further attacks anti-american protests continued for almost

a week in afghanistan with the violence sparked by the burning of copies of the qur'an at a nato air base dozens of people have been killed and wounded in the clashes protesters also set fire to a u.n. office in the northwest city of can do as president obama and nato officials have apologized for the incident saying the discretion the desecration rather was unintentional but ahmed caray she director of a political think tank in neighboring pakistan says the alliance will be hard pressed to restore its reputation. in the decade that the u.s. military has been in the buttons done for the first time even if you do smaller places and provinces in towns wherever there is a u.s. presence ordinary afghans are laying siege to these places until now the americans were seeing the various insurgent resistance groups the of gun taliban but now after this incident here see the ordinary of the worst pitched against the u.s. will be presence but also u.s. trained police men and u.s. trained soldiers now an ordinary american working you know what it's done today

doesn't know whether he should expect a bullet from afghan taliban and al gun policeman or not gun soldier whom he might have trained earlier even after ten years it seems the americans don't know who they're dealing with they don't know the of get on very well the u.s. military are increasingly treated to what i would call anti islamists and they're constantly sort of indoctrinated into into into treating islam disrespectfully i fail to see how the u.s. military personnel and the of these and of gun army personnel would be able to restore the level of trust that existed listen five days or six days ago turned out as some other stories making headlines across the globe a suicide car bomber bomber has attacked a church in the city of jos and central area two were killed several injured in the bombing the church was packed with worshippers at the time hundreds have died in

the city as a result of ethnic and religious violence in the last few years jos has been a regular target of the extremist group boko haram which has been blamed for killing more than three hundred people nationwide this year alone. senegal's president is seeking reelection for a third term sunday after he defied opposition efforts to block him from taking part in the vote six people attending the anti presidential protests already died in clashes. ahead of the polls demonstrators say the candidacy is illegal due to term restrictions in the constitution the president argues the limits were brought in after he started his first period in power so they don't apply to him. pakistan has begun demolishing osama bin laden's hideout where he lived for years before his assassination the compound wasn't far from the country's elite military academy in the northwest town of a bought a bad the officials had warned there was a concern the house could become a shrine to supporters of the deceased al qaeda leader bin laden was shot dead in may by u.s.

special forces. the trial in egypt of forty three pro-democracy activists including sixteen from the us is due to start in cairo later today they're accused of illegally using foreign funds to incite anti regime demonstrations the case is badly damaged relations between egypt in the u.s. with threats from the u.s. that it could cut its annual aid package to the arab country bradley manning who's accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret military files to wake you leaks deferred his plea at his first court hearing on thursday he's already spent nineteen months in custody without formal charges manning is facing life in prison if found guilty of aiding the enemy many americans though consider him a hero when he's even been nominated by a group of icelanders for the nobel peace prize there are doubts that he got a fair trial after president obama said the whistleblower had broken the law joseph shore from the socialist equality party things manning is merely bait to get at wiki leaks founder julian assange who's a long been a forward in the us administration side. the treatment of manning as

a whole is. brutal inhumane according to amnesty international amounting to torture according to many top u.s. legal scholars and i mean there's many of the reasons behind this but i think the u.s. government certainly sees the treatment of manning from the beginning both as an example to anyone who would seek to expose the crimes of american militarism abroad as well as a fairly transparent attempt to get out of songs the founder of wiki leaks they are you know the u.s. government is seeking to eventually extradite a song and they're certainly trying to trying to go after wiki leaks for the release of the documents you know really must be stressed that this is really devastating explosion of the obama administration the treatment of this young man for all the talk of democratic rights and freedom abroad this is how the united states treats opposition here. here at home. and surely more insight into developments in syria in our interview but first

a review of the week's headlines stay with us.

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