stone totty dot com. polling stations have closed down vote counting has begun in syria's referendum on a new constitution which could put an end to fifty years of single policy will. also u.s. intelligence agencies agree there is no evidence to run its building nuclear weapons but ramps up the pressure with continue to threats of a military strike. thousands of people have joined hands in a train of pleasure is calling for fairly actions and russia acts of its own to sixteen kilometer ring around lost a city center a week before the country chooses its next president. and students of march again in protest against education cuts and spade of the euro crisis tightens its grip

around the med while greece and breathes a sigh of relief as a much needed bailout gets approved. this is a weekly review hello and welcome to the program in c. where the count has begun after the referendum on a new constitution it's the most significant pull in the country for decades but the opposition boycotted the vote and made a bunch of violence that's plagued the country since last march the results are expected on monday now she's more if you notion has been following the day in damascus polling stations here syria have closed their doors for voters the national referendum on the country's new constitution is now officially over the interior minister has said that it will take hours before the poor little early results come out with the latest results so far is the fact that right. device

actually happened to have been fears that those against the ballot could try to wreck the referendum they've been attempts to intimidate people reports have been circulated in local media about possible terror attacks at the polling stations clearly for that reason security has been tightened up here in the capital damascus as well as everywhere throughout syria in order to prevent any provocation which makes sense especially given the fact that the syrian opposition both the one base the bread and the heavy one has not only boycotted the vote in but also has been repeatedly calling all people to go on strike to take to the streets to protest against this referendum and against president bashar assad the message they've sent through their websites has been quite strong quite clear those who are fonteyn. on sunday are actually involved in the killing of people in syria this referendum in this constitution has been considered part of a package of democratic changes democratic reforms promised by assad's government

and this is why and directly function for this constitution in the referendum. would mean supporting president bashar assad that's why the day of the referendum has become has revealed tensions of days between those supporting president bashar assad and his government and those who are against him we've seen demonstrations both prayer and to government here in damascus criticism pressure from the international community has also been quite high the main concern was that the very chain comes amid valens to continue in in the country especially in the besieged city of homs north of the capital damascus indeed we are receiving reports about people being killed in the clashes between the opposition in the forty's literally every day but the fact is that it hasn't stopped people from casting their ballots or there is quite early it's too hard actually not to say hi. many out of fifteen

million of those who have the right to vote have actually done that we have been able to speak to a number of voters and at the polling stations. so damascus and the feeling we've gathered is that people are simply tired of instability and unrest in that country and they say that if the resist like chavez that this referendum and this constitution as well as other democratic reforms that they may help will follow. i was able to bring peace to the country it's worth to try these chants. ballots instead of bullets messed of a stray sions and violent protests have been rolling across syria for almost a year about by that by. the syrian government desire calling for the people to shape their future together but we want to it's a completely new era is good for everybody even opposition can take part it's for all that but the amendments to the country's number one law have been the key

demands of the opposition this is the uprising began it starts with eliminating both parties 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 and his friend odin flower shop in damascus he says this new document draws a line between him and his muslim business partner just a shout there's a big contradiction with the article thirty three says the lady who had a great number that he says. can be a president had so what about the other term percent or not here temporarily they have been living together for ages want to be counted. now maybe ten 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 who said well

why you take this article out clashes and protests almost every day but some hope that the referendum will not only breed and you constitution it might even be able to stop the bloodshed recent ocean r.t. damascus syria. and head of the word an international coalition led by the us teamed up against president assad this week calling themselves the friends of syria seventy countries agreed to slap new sanctions on damascus but buried base political analyst omar in a sharpie says that's counterproductive because it fails to address the syrian people's really. the direction is western politics and the western plan to remove a president from office and they don't care at what cost if one wants to be really caring two with the city and people really caring for basic human rights basic a human preserving human life one should call for dialogue one should call for.

between the different groups within the syrian cultural diversity to come together and bring in a new solution and i think this step that was done today with the vote of the referendum for the constitution the amendments is a step maybe a small step but it is a step forward in that direction towards the reconciliation and a true reform through democratic reform that can save syria the destruction that is being prepared for it apparently from some forces in the west. and to the head here this. is the british council for the u.k.'s famous double decker buses and as high as ever the biography of the top part of that for russia's presidency ahead of next week's crucial vote. the standoff over iran's nuclear program shows no signs of being a result of with the u.n. atomic monitoring official saying to iran has failed to cooperate they visited the

islamic state why is this here and say iran has stepped up its uranium enrichment many western allies suspected iran is building a nuclear bomb but iran says it has a right to civil nuclear program the country is currently struggling under harsh sanctions from the u.s. and the wiley's or other threatening military action however u.s. intelligence has reported it now said there's no evidence to support accuse ations that iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and can't hide in an economist at foreign policy in focus magazine says the west is going to send over iran's nuclear program is merely a pretext to take control of its vast and interest sources. i think a nuclear bomb is really in many ways a smokescreen this is not about nuclear weapons is a long word to use a nuclear weapon safe or against israel it would be an act of national suicide 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 of the nine hundred seventy nine revolution in iran

essentially removed the second largest oil resources in the third largest natural gas resources from direct control by western oil and gas companies and essentially made it independent now the west would love to get those resources barack and they would love to also not have that kind of independent force in the middle east. has been repeating its set of military action on iran's nuclear sites saying that slapping sanctions on the country is not working the u.s. and britain have warned against the move saying it would be disastrous for the region but as. reports an anti iran offensive as of ready and away. 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 terror are regional meeting 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 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 it's that sort of thing israel has previous experience when it comes to putting an end to you kim vicious which 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 heating 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 effectively israel does not have u.s. poured white house secretary advisor 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 be made up i think one of the things to 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 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 having to fight back you imagine iran sitting still you know all day day after day day after day what is this really true for going back i think any any sane person realizes that there will almost guarantee be 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. . and the next hour figure a former american presidential advisor how his country should give up trying to end

it well dictatorships and focus on its own interests rather than meddling in that is and has a preview. yeah idea that we're going to end tyranny in the world is utterly utopian we never are we've had tyrants from time immemorial and what the united states should do in my judgment in its foreign policies is build a defense establishment strong enough to protect our vital interests and our vital allies and when problems arise whether it's in zimbabwe or somewhere else the people there have got to deal with their own problems there no doubt about it that throughout history tyrants have arisen and seized power in one place or another and as long as they don't threaten our vital interests or threaten and kill our people the fact that they rule and or misrule certain countries is none of our business.

a ring of solidarity for tests is linked hands around the center of moscow calling for free and fair elections in russia thousands take part in sunday's action and anticipation of the upcoming presidential poll she's correspondent helen of our staff. the goal of sunday's demonstration was to form a human chain around the garden ring in moscow and i want bodies as a ring road that goes around the downtown area of the russian capital. now the activists who are organizing this event today had called on supporters to come out wear white in support of their cause which is to receive free and fair elections in russia though they were able to complete that journey around the garden ring that human chain around sixteen kilometers from one end to the other so clearly masses of people coming out and taking part there there were also some supporters of the to me of putin for president who turned out it is a week before that presidential vote and there were some heated exchanges at times

between supporters of the various political factions here in russia all of them peaceful but a few raised voices at times all of this coming either say a week before russians go to the polls to elect the next president and we've seen a a space of political rallies in the last week we've seen supporters of but a mere putin for president also still supporters of the the the leaders of the liberal democratic party and the communist as well as other groups coming out and showing their support for the particular candidates that they want to see take the top job. next sunday's presidential elections and has which has to have that next sunday russia's will pick their next president chasing from a number of candidates have been hitting the campaign trail but the contender is keeping a relatively low profile here in russia it's creating something about that abroad as if he's there are reports from and by russians a used to seeing bloody putin in all manner of surroundings not only in top level

meetings also out in the wilderness and even singing to a hollywood a list crowd. but there are always new heights just. 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 caught up put in is probably the most interesting political from in the world at the moment and yes the right people who feel him be violent towards the road those who love him or those who do but the most important thing is that sort of more would you can say that they don't.

although as it turned out that wasn't quite true. but it might be desperate or russia did a. little or so cozy probably a person who supposedly russia who is i don't know about you know the prime minister of russia but you've got a good deal to 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 to look at the controversial political used great but national and the other a critically acclaimed full part counter through relations with the west during his twelve years at the top there will be the world's attention on him again and people want to know is this a man we've seen before or is he changing will he change can he face new challenges and how does the recent protest movement affect his politics and his outlook having

his face on double decker buses were helping to set as russet was prepared to go to the polls but love him or lose him hussein his reputation as russ's strongman has captured the imagination of documentary make his and also. here in the u.k. and elsewhere whether it's pain or infamy it's an open question laura smith r.t. . and still ahead for you this hour seeking justice is going policeman was hunted for killing american officials during a widescale one in protest after u.s. soldiers burned copies of the koran. that's later but now spain's students are refusing to sit quietly with thousands marching again mainly over planned education cuts but also after police came down hard on their last rally officers were accused of brutality at a protest earlier this week which have several people injured and more than forty arrested so our first reports are from the costa blanca. we all know the problems

that face every day students lack of money a fierce competition for jobs adds to that spain has the highest unemployment in year two thirty million distance the sixteen to twenty four year olds unemployed in the country and factor in that they just had recent spending because it is affected education in fact they badly to some of these students who come to the streets say they haven't even got basic heating in the closings and well this is the result really thousands and thousands of people already out on the streets but to protest some of them that is right the way along the main high street in the city of villains here now some of the signs reading and now students are battered enough that's in reference to the protests we saw at the beginning of the week where the police were condemned to their actions which were seen as being excessively violent scenes of them chasing and hitting some of the protesters spoke very fierce reaction from a lot of the public and

a lot of anger his guilt about these actions huge number of people joining in this protest and a lot of anger and of course this part of the why did demonstrations we've seen happening in recent days as the all start images that have been voted by the new government have provoked this angry reaction. across the middle here raney and greece managed to snatch it from the jaws of defeat this week and it took months awaiting but e.u. leaders eventually agreed the latest one hundred says she'd been a hero but it's at the cost of imposing for the cause and as investment adviser patrick young told us the greeks are paying the ultimate price. the tragedy of greece is that two three years ago when it first came to light that their financial figures were a complete fiction and we finally knew the truth that we'd all suspected all along they really should have been out of the euro at that moment instead we've got this absolutely psychotic desire by a group of frankly well economically illiterate people in western europe

particularly within germany who are desperate to manage to hold this all together then we've got another group of people who are absolutely determined to try and keep greece in the euro zone which are the incredibly highly paid greek politicians and the poor greeks themselves are absolutely stranded why we're throwing good money after bad and why we're beggaring actually the good people of greece on the ground absolutely defines the larger the people are absolutely fed up they see no possibility no end to this. in afghanistan seven u.s. soldiers were wounded one group protesters threw a grenade into a military base it comes on the sixth day of anti-american riots across the country sparked by news that copies of the koran had been burned at a u.s. airbase washington has apologized for what it called a mistake and the outgoing president is urging calm that. the sentiment in his country was an achievement reaction and called for those who burned the koran to be

punished dozens of people have been killed in the address since tuesday pleading to senior u.s. offices and ahmed qurei think tank directly in neighboring pakistan says that america is neither understand nor respect and good culture. in the decade that the u.s. military has been in the but has done for the first time even to smaller places and provinces and towns wherever there is u.s. presence ordinary afghans are laying siege to these places even after two years it seems the americans don't know who they're dealing with they don't know ya get on very well the u.s. military are increasingly treated to what i would call anti islamists and they are constantly sort of indoctrinated into into into treating islam disrespectfully i fail to see how the u.s. military personnel and the of these of gun army personnel would be able to restore the level of trust that existed let's see if i do see six days ago the

american soldier accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of secret military files to weaken leaks chose not to enter a plea during his first court hearing on thursday bradley manning who faces twenty charges also passed on deciding whether he wanted to be tried by a military jury or single charge and if he is convicted of aiding the enemy he could be given a life sentence with no chance of parole was considered a hero by many americans and is being nominated for the nobel peace prize and there are doubts over whether the whistleblower can get a fair trial after president obama publicly stated that he broke the law so my iraq war veteran and my whole price says now the u.s. government is using manning's trial to send a clear message to military press now. the u.s. military before bradley manning was convicted of any crime he still hasn't they wanted to punish him they wanted to punish him very harshly for with the accused him of doing but not only that he wanted to send

a message to every other person in uniform every other service member that if the to decide to take that type of action that bradley manning is accused of taking that they will be well aware of very harsh torture is replications if they decide to do this and this is a real big concern for the u.s. military because all that bradley manning did what bradley manning experienced was he was a rank and file soldier who went to the war in iraq and was repulsed by what he saw he was repulsed by the war and he was repulsed by that the things that you saw going on day to day and so he felt that he had to take a stand and thought that other people deserve to see what was happening what all of their tax dollars were going to and what their families were dying for now this is a war this was a war that the vast majority of americans oppose in the majority of soldiers opposed in the war in afghanistan is no different the majority of those out where the majority of soldiers oppose that war as well so the u.s. military is really dealing with the threat of rank and file soldiers being the ones

who take a stand and say this is wrong and we no longer want to take part of it and the people need to know what the reality of what's happening because the government is just lying to us. and some of the top stories now and fast account at work least three people have been confirmed dead and dozens injured as a passenger train derailed near the city of burning to express it was on route to toronto from the ny area with about seventy five people aboard set to carriages came off the tracks close to railway station and not just the crews are now working to free those who remain trapped in the wreckage police have yet to release further details of the accident. called full of explosives has been a round into a chechen night chair and killing at least three people and wounding several other it's a chance for us. march with sunday morning worshippers one this is an attack it struck in the city of joss the radical islamist group boko haram is being blamed although no one has yet admitted carrying out that time the sects killed over three hundred

people this year in its quest to impose sharia law. the numbers left wing fark rebels have announced they'll free ten security officers held for fourteen years and he also promised to abandon kidnappings though it's believed ransoms and drug trafficking are their main source of income and three months ago four hostages were killed after being held for more than twelve years prompting massive protests against the rebels throughout. this town has completed the demolition of osama bin laden as a final haidar in abbottabad so no official reaction of reason is being given but it's thought the government didn't want to decide to become a shrine to al-qaeda leader were shot dead by u.s. forces last may after being in hiding there for several years. and hollywood is preparing for the movie world's most anticipated event of the year with the annual oscar ceremony less than an hour away the french asylum drama film the art is

directed by michelle has an obvious she appears to be the hot favorite for most of the twenty for the prize golden statues and if it wins it will be the first black and white silent picture to receive an oscar since the first academy awards of her than eighty years ago. if. you and others are going to recover our top stories in just a few moments. syrian

state agency.