a moratorium on town missing and debate in russia's presidential poll a day before voters decide on who's to lead the country after weeks of election campaign marked by vibrant rallies and protests to. the syrian army reportedly captures dozens of foreign mercenaries some of them from france during fighting in the rebellious city of homs r.t. gets a firsthand account from an eyewitness to the horrors of war. a very very clear message that we've seen a week since the missile toward store let me give them a partial israeli lobby six president obama's want answer on whether the u.s. would support

a military strike on iran. it is not in the russian capital you're watching r t i'm marina joshing now it's the so cold day of silence in russia had of sunday's presidential election all campaigning and political advertising is banned given voters breathing space to make their final decision on who to cast their ballot for the canal cross live joke responding corpus capas following this for us and more as you go once again now this upcoming election comes on the heels of protests and a rise in opposition activity in russia making this campaign and post stand out from previous ones doesn't it. well this presidential election is going to be quite different from all the others russia is headed in its history because it's taking place as you say. in light of this wave of opposition rallies which have been

taking place across the entire country since the parliamentary election in december hundreds and thousands of activists have been taking to the streets of their cities so quite a lot of attention is being be to making this election as transparent as possible over ninety thousand polling stations across russia have been equipped with web cameras which will be feeding videos of how the vote is conducting for all these polling stations to work cordle's for any internet user to be able to watch online see through ballot boxes have been introduced and several hundred thousand observers will be invited to florida and those are taking the boards and due to the general rides all social and political activity of all the public the journo is expected to be quite high it could be just so bold it could be over seventy percent and the biggest question is is there going to be a second round this is the final d.

before the voltage so a moratorium on all campaigning is now in force and we will we are expected to hear the first preliminary results of who is going to become worse as next leader as soon as by one am g.m.t. on monday. ok gore thanks very much indeed we're keeping our fingers on the pulse there and york this can offer poured in from central moscow. well for more on the upcoming votes the candidates and their promises log on to our website r.t. dot com we have a special section there devoted to the election will find the contenders profiles as well as answers to questions such as what russians would value themselves and their future leader all of this and much more is available on our website. over eight hundred foreign mercenaries have reportedly been captured by syrian government troops after regaining control of rebel held areas in the city of homs sources say the majority of them are french while the rest from several arab

countries syrian authorities claim that life in a city that's been under siege for almost a month is getting back to normal but. reports there are serious fears the fighting is far from over. two days after the rebel fighters pulled out from gargamel neighborhood in homes things remain chaotic on the ground fears are growing on revenge attacks by the rebels the chief of the free syrian army has claimed it withdrew tactically shortly after that the opposition syrian national council has warned on massacre claiming they would provide leadership to discipline ised fighters and give them friends arming the rebels has earlier been considered as a good idea by qatar and saudi arabia the twenty two nation arab league hasn't ruled out this option either humanitarian organizations have appealed to president bashar al assad to agree on a daily two hour ceasefire to allow emergency aid to be brought to the areas where fighting still continues the raw concern starts the foreign supporters of the

opposition to me use these to green weapons to the rebels we're hearing about killings in homes to happen in the conflicts in or who's behind it the residence we've managed to speak to by phone is a gunman a killing people in the area known as hell media many christian families leave opposition activists reports about exit style killings and burning homes by the army but these reports are very hard to be very far and the international red cross and the syrian red crescent have reached the city of homes badly damaged and almost months on siege in emergency aid food water and medical supplies but they couldn't and area the area that's been taken by the rebels for weeks and that scene is clashes between them and the authorities but they are staying in homes providing help to people in this is are the areas reports in this situation on the ground remains catastrophic. greville been reporting there now residents of homs an eyewitness a horrific scenes of carnage have become

a part of everyday life there are he spoke to a russian woman who spent over a week in the in battle city and says the picture painted by the media does not always match the reality. i spent nine days in homs with the syrian red crescent and saw with my own eyes the killing the bloodshed under bodies on the streets but the media often brings the numbers out of thin air the rush to good schools the victims while it's simply impossible to tell how many people were killed when the building collapses and it takes several days to retrieve the bodies of those most of the media also i said on blaming the army for all the violence that is not my exact opposition no less responsible for killing people and committing atrocities many rebels in homs used german made rockets a target are misguided and kill soldiers all in all the humanitarian situation in the city is dire with no water no power and little food and the most terrible thing is that people there are becoming used to these conditions of rationing burn has

a project coordinator for the beirut based conflicts forum says crimes committed by rebels in homs must not be underestimated. i think there's a growing recognition that some of the very fundamentalist islamist groups who probably make up about thirty percent of the armed insurgents that they've been killed for you as much sort of brutality horrible. some of the accusations against the syrian army these have been documented in various reports we need to be careful of some of the mainstream media coverage in fact the i.c.r.c. and its local the syrian red crescent have been distributing humanitarian aid medical supplies water for some days and how much in homes and for example they did get ambulances through to take the injured journalists out of homs there are lots of on the ground reports including from al jazeera who've confirmed that it was actually the free syrian army who stopped ambulances going into two evacuate both

injured syrian civilians and and surgeons but also the foreign journalists who were there. as i have for you on the program it are now down in the u.k. where the organized crime police targets are sharing websites was afraid of prison terms usually reserved for only the most violent of criminals. plots in nepal a crackdown widespread child trafficking results in a ban on international adoption despite the smiling faces the decision that's pretty costly. the world's largest pros really lobby aipac is gathering in washington this weekend to put more pressure on barack obama over attacking iran with a jewish state intensifying war rhetoric threatening military action against the islamic republic the u.s. has been accused of being ambiguous on the matter or she's going to take on reports on the conflict in pressures on

a battle from those for and against war. president obama's walking on a razor's edge on one hand members of his administration keep saying the war with iran would be a mistake u.s. military i think. the united states. and iran not only would be premature but crazy on the other hand president obama keeps saying a war with iran is still an option and he is not quote unquote blocking the powerful israeli lobby which president obama will be addressing shortly expects to hear a blunt answer to the question is the u.s. ready for war with iran and will washington back israel should it decide to attack first the only way to stop the. race. he's a very very clear message this week for. the war. and we say president obama's failure to go along with this really plans on iran

might hurt him in the a large should the president carried you know the overwhelming majority of the jewish vote and for going back in two thousand and if he is perceived as an enemy of. enemy of israel or. the issues. for community here in this country it could have a verse impact on the funding of votes. really prime minister netanyahu speech in the u.s. congress last year was greeted with innovation many u.s. lawmakers slammed the rhetoric of the obama administration which suggest there's still room for diplomacy with iran many in israel believe that if we wait too long we'll be at the point of no return it seems to me to be painfully obvious that this administration's policy is not only the same but that it's failed to achieve the core objective but both those who would back

a strike against iran and. those who would seem to be tired of the administration's ambiguity ambiguous it could very very badly we don't need to go to war and we have to make very clear to our israeli friends we're not going to go to war they're not going to go to war by flying over our airspace over iraq we're not going to support them if they do it bill be on their own the consequences will be theirs because the price will pay if they start a massive war which the iranians interpret as being done with our connivance would be disastrous for us in afghanistan in iraq in terms of. this post that was paid for by the merge you see committee for israel you come across many stops in washington the campaign very obviously pushes for a more affirmative response from president obama on his readiness to go to war with

iran in the run up to this year's elections he might want to. read the lobby and make those statements but to many it would make a mockery of diplomacy and efforts and president obama's nobel peace prize as well for that matter. that our. prime backer from the answer coalition sounds it's israel and not iran which should be considered a major threat in the middle east. i don't think israel's assertions are real at all i think it's part of the game plan as part of a coordinated assault iran does not have a nuclear weapon israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons iran subscribes to the i.a.e.a. the international atomic energy agency its nuclear program is monitored israel won't sign a nuclear nonproliferation treaty israel routinely invades its neighbors as it has over the past four decades iran has never started a war so when you look at all of these actual facts you would say the real menace to the peace in the middle east is israel iran is not

a menace is the iran is being targeted and i think this is part of the israeli high arrogating to itself the right to strike as it did in iraq in one nine hundred eighty one against nuclear facilities as it did in syria in two thousand and seven as it would like to do now in iran but united states government is somewhat afraid that if israel carries out a unilateral strike within the middle east this will play out as a paradigm by the israelis ion its government against the middle eastern country and those lines all of the middle east will unite against israel and so the united states as i was concerned that israel might go to promptly in terms of carrying out unilateral military aggression. and still ahead with some believing u.s. decision making is influenced by forces outside government our resident reporter on the streets of new york find out what people think about state or media bashing or promoting certain ideologies. probably propaganda or is the people who talk well used to believe something they want to expose like sheep. out their own personality

and look at the own facts and the details make their own opinion that's what they should do. it is ratings agency has again spoil the party for years as a downgrade agrees to the lowest rating on its right after a summit in brussels almost all you states except britain and the czech republic have signed up to the so-called fiscal pact supposed to keep the country's deficit within limits with tough new budget rules but financial analyst carl downing aired doesn't believe the agreement will be in front. talk is cheap and we've seen who round after round of this but the truth is you have nations over in europe in here in the united states for that matter that seem to think that they can spend more than a change in taxes and you can't do this people say that austerity is going to class economic demand well the truth is that governments have been pouring money and spending what they don't have so they've been falsely representing economic came in

perth three to kate's and now it's time to pay the check so to speak we have to get our broccoli or as obama says eat our peas. i don't believe that it's going to actually be implemented i believe that the greeks will continue to say they'll do it but when you really get down to it it's not going to happen in the same things likely to occur in places like spain where you have term want to point to problems i think it's inevitable that greece is going to default i don't see how they can get out of this mess other than by defaulting they spent the money they don't have it they can contract their government spending an economy you know they will pay it back and so the obvious thing to do is to walk away and say so sorry so sad we're not going to pay you the knock on effect again depending on what other nations decide to go down the same road could be extraordinarily severe. and some e.u. countries are forced to go over the top to cope with the economic crisis a small spanish town refuses to go to pot by granting land to association growing

cannabis and. discover how other states in crisis fight hardships online. and the bolshoi theater brings ballet to the latin launching a you tube channel which has already soared on to the top one hundred was when can log on to see the first live transmission problems. britain's organized crime police have shut down another file sharing website raising concerns over a complete government order crackdown of the internet for anyone who has downloaded content from our and b.'s close of dot com the crime unit is threatening prosecution with jail sentences reserved for violent offenses are just laurence smith has more from london. if you downloaded these

songs through the website or and be exclusive it's not just the prison there's no you got to be afraid of instead of finding the usual blog commentary and links to r. and b. and hip hop music recent uses of the site were shocked to find their online activity was under police scrutiny and they could be jailed for ten years more than the usual penalty for many violent crimes and a ten year prison sentence you would expect that to be handy to own for very serious offenses serious sexual assaults and rape manslaughter very violent offenses. and you would normally expect it to be handed to own respective downloading music illegally the u.k. government serious organized crime agency or soccer confirmed it arrested this but wouldn't talk to us about why it's threatening users with

a decade behind bars instead they sent this statement. targets organized criminal enterprises profiting from the exploitation of the u.k. public and legitimate businesses much of the music offered for download by the are in be exclusive dog korn website was illegally obtained from artists leading the industry to attribute losses of approximately fifteen million pounds per year to this of its activity that's raised questions about how the police became the personal enforcer of the recording industry standard gods to protect corporate profits and it's also given those concerned with internet freedoms and unpleasant glimpse into a mall regulated each is a treaty to protect against online copyright infringement and piracy goes ahead to claims that your ip address monitored so you could be monitored and tracked again this was. a move which seems quite unprecedented in the united kingdom i'm

afraid that we can see this kind of abuse on the scale if acta comes to pass after a shock response from internet campaigners the government agency has now taken down the harsh message and replaced it with this simpler one which just taken control of the domain but it's already caused much worry and distress on twitter many users appear not even to have known they were visiting a dodgy site and certainly didn't think they'd be liable to do time for it internet campaigners say that this was meant to frighten and in reality severe penalties couldn't be applied to casual download as they also say there's nothing to link be exclusive with criminal gangs so why is even important if this is what they're really being serious organized crime what do traditional serious organised crime was as people understand the morgue for drug dealing as far as i think the public

concerned that crime is still happening on our streets opposition to act out and full of the round europe this month centers on fears that cyberspace will fall under strict government control and while the serious organized crime agency focuses its efforts on r. and b. and hip hop fans many worry that serious organized criminals are getting away with it. or loved it. next to bring your other major news stories from across the globe and a un report says libyan rebels committed war crimes and crimes against humanity are fighting market obvious forces and are still targeting for loyalists of the dead leader the report published on the un human rights council website also points out that nato has insufficiently investigated air raids which killed civilians and three member commission which carried out these wiring blamed good office forces for abuses too but they said the new levy and authorities did not provide. from nation on how the former leader was killed shortly after capture and that further

investigation was needed and to his death. the rainy and government says there's been a high turnout in the elections for the country's two hundred nicely parliament results due later on saturday however a preliminary returns suggest that the conservative rivals of president that with any drugs resistance front party one in many electoral districts the current leadership's main competitor is the united front of friends of was backing ayatollah ali hominidae and it's the first nationwide vote since the presidential election of two thousand and nine which was followed by violence and a crackdown after allegations of vote rigging. a series of tornadoes have been tearing through the northeastern u.s. already leaving at least twenty four people dead officials warn the death toll could rise as rescue workers continue to search for victims states of emergency have been declared in five states twisters quaint almost six hundred lives in america last year alone. while debates rages in the u.s.

over religion and politics during the presidential campaigns there have been on the streets of new york asking people if they think it's proper for government or media to support particular ideologist residents report in the big apple to find out. when is it ok for a government or the media to support an ideology this week let's talk about that i don't think it ever should. i think that the government is that a serve the people of the media is there to report the news not make a tauriel directional on any of their reporting i don't think it's right that they come out and say they support it i think they can do it in different ways though if you support morris is the first way. that's probably what they do anyway right. probably do you think people are choosy about who is supporting their cause.

absolutely their yeah their people are too easily swayed from a propaganda is the people that's what used to believe something bad one else follows like sheep peels out their own personality and look at the own facts and the details make their own opinion that's what they should do not just fall of everybody else there's a pretty great principle in psychology that you you start and finish where you are so you like what you like and you don't like the other guy for liking something different but that's just human nature but i mean that the principle of democracy it's not unusual it's a kind of a crazy idea that you can get wacky people like your enter your crazy sister and you just line them up by the millions and you somehow assume that all these crazy people acting together will have a wisdom greater than the kid do you think the government's trying to impose will through propaganda without a doubt yes so why do some people when they hear their point of view being spout it think it's just this time but then if they don't agree with it they call it

propaganda. well. that's just the nature of that's is the nature of rhetoric in general your your opinion is always. right and everyone else's opinion is always propaganda and that's a. whether or not you believe it's ever ok for a government or the media to support an ideology the bottom line is we should all remember it's all too easy to become hypocritical when it comes to the support of our own believes. new laws to act on child trafficking and the paul have had a catastrophic effect on the country's orphanages many in the country are running out of cash after a ban on international adoption artistry shooter explores a controversy. today fifteen year old chen marvin childbearing years old but it wasn't that long ago that the teenager was living in an illegal orphanage in

a polish capital kathmandu was no ways to. be given a rations for the children but it can take as you take off the food for themselves well giving those only a small bit of drunk pizzas the moment is now living in a home run by the umbrella foundation and irish geo working with nepal's government to keep track of kathmandu to meet a fifteen thousand children living in orphanages. investigations have uncovered that around eighty percent of these kids actually have a pair in times living in rural parts and that will sell their children to traffickers who they believe will give them a better life if you have a trafficker who goes to a village and says very poor people who. receive no education they're told that if you give us your children we were receiving a small amount of money from an international family or in return we will bring them to help when do we were excellent education. traffickers are known to buy in

a poly child or around fifteen dollars and then sell them to orphanages that are not monitored by the government they are then sold on for up to twenty five thousand dollars to families from abroad while they're living in the orphanage is many of the children are reportedly abused and forced to work some are even sexually assaulted and who forced to work out of. me every morning i was cleaning the house after the tragedy because in from trials the nepali government admitted that almost half of the country's orphanages were involved in illegal international adoptions but since then things have changed. nepal has been an international adoption while child advocates believe that this will help prevent the trafficking of children organizers of orphanages are worried about how they're going to continue to run without money from abroad remains the only works for nepal children's organization which runs eleven legal or and inches across the country he

says that before the ban on international adoption is orphanage in katmandu made five thousand dollars for every child that got adopted by a foreign family. which has been difficult for us to run the homes after the suspension of the international adoption because we still have to provide for the daily necessities of every child in the home and to take care of the medical bills or to today many organizations are trying to reunite trafficked children with their family but many election mohandas barely remember their real siblings and parents anymore preassure either archie kathmandu nepal. and her daughter are headlines on the way so stay with us for that if you can.

consortia votes for president archie looks at the five running for the kremlin top job fiction to make up will go for the consular billionaire estimated fortune eight hundred billion dollars. the record keep those precious metals giants got its nickel but sold out before the crisis saving himself billions fun for the president's father ties ation jumping see you standards in production and releasing

because other postings come from the same. push of bells two thousand and seven arrested and charged with organizing prostitutes for a christmas party clears two years later no no parole. as owner of the n.b.a. new jersey nets basketball team and looking for a wife and forty six. presidential election two thousand and twelve on party. from. the man the move.