a day of silence campaigning and political ads are off the russian airwaves as voters shake off their political apathy and prepare for what's expected to be the highest presidential election turnout in decades. yes another suicide bombing strikes in syria the latest in a chain of attacks against government supporters of the syrian national council far from home in turkey to fuel the fighting. plus u.s. president barack obama is caught between those for and against a military strike on iran's nuclear sites just as he prepares to face the mighty israeli lobby.

it is good to have you with us today this is our. life in moscow all the political campaigning is off in russia so a day now before the presidential election deciding for themselves who they want to see as head of state for the next six years and it's the growing public involvement in the country's political life that has made this vote stand out from the ones before. this election is going to be quite different compared to all the other presidential polls russia's hand is being held in the wake of a series of mass rallies being held in the country and a spike in social and political activity among the public in general it started out city hall and she actually early in december scores of people have been digging into the streets amid accusations of ballot fraud russians seem to be taking

a far greater interest in politics than they used to and the degree of political life in the country looks to be the highest since probably the eighty's who also see various rallies in support any against the candidates there's also been a massive social campaign for a transparent presidential poll and indeed what a lot of effort has been need in order to make this ball transparent as possible over ninety thousand polling stations have been equipped with web cameras which will be feeding videos of how the vote is conducted these polling stations on to work portals for any internet user to be able to watch online and several hundred thousand observers have been invited due to the spike in social activity a high voter turnout is expected as well according to some polls it could be over seventy percent just to remind you five are taking part in this election the winner will need to secure fifty percent plus one vote if neither candidate manages to

achieve that a second round will be introduced in which two most popular candidates will compete for a simple majority vote. will be bringing you special live coverage of the election here on r.t. starting at one am g.m.t. on monday for the latest results the candidates reaction but now you can already find additional information on our website that's our top card but we've got a special section you can see right here devoted to the upcoming poll there you'll find content and profiles a retrospective of previous ballots and answers to questions such as what makes an ideal president and the opinion of russians all of this and much much more at r.t. talk. a suicide car bomber has struck in the southern syrian city of daraa it's killed at least two people and wounded several others it's the latest in a series of bombings targeting the pro-government neighborhoods but it comes amid

a report that over one hundred mercenaries many of them french have been caught as they fled the city of homs. has the latest from syria. two days after the rebel forces pulled out from above our neighborhood and homes faiza grow you know revenge attacks by the rebels the chief of the free syrian army has sad that thursday's withdrawal was a tactical one your position syrian national council who was recognized by the european union as legitimate representative of the syrian people has warned of massacre is claiming they would provide leadership that is a good sized apologist and give them weapons the opposition group already formed a military council to call tonight their weapons supplies these reports follow the free syrian army claims that it's already received weapons and anti aircraft missiles from u.s. and french sources arming the rebels has been considered as an excellent idea by courts and saudi arabia earlier with a twenty two nation arab league also view this as an option if the violence doesn't

stop here in syria humanitarian organizations have been accused to president bashar al assad to agree on a daily some of our ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to be brought to the areas with cries and so continues but the rock concerts that the opposition supporters abroad may use these to bring weapons to the rebels meanwhile it seems that the foreign nations involvement in this crisis in syria stretches far beyond weapon supplies local and regional media has been have been reporting about more than a hundred foreign offices detained in homs most of them reportedly french paratroopers meanwhile humanitarian situation in the city that suffered from an almost month long siege is the to rating the international red cross and syrian red crescent are both working on the ground they've brought seven trucks of food water medical supplies and all the emergency aid they're also expected to ever create injured people and to take away the bodies of those many who were killed during the

clashes in hopes. for national reporting well i mean time tariq ali filmmaker and middle east expert says that the only option for syria is the negotiation table as any alternative would ultimately be disastrous. the keys thing is where the intermediaries not aligned with either side are capable of pushing goat sides to a conference table to agree to a solution to this crisis it seems to me before i got very hard on both from. the assad regime carries on as if it doesn't realize how heated it is by some so comfortable to believe. the opposition which is armed now increasingly by the west are turning nasty and this does not help anyone in syria if it goes on like this it's becoming more and more security and if minorities christians who were else

being targeted by the so-called liberation from forces of the country so i think what it suggests is the negotiating settlement and for people to push both sides to sit around. with r.t. are still to come for you this hour when promises just don't cut it anymore markets ring the alarm bells with yet another downgrade for briefs it's going to be new out of its euphoria over the fiscal compact it says will ease its debt woes. plus in the u.k. users of a file sharing website are threatened with jail terms reserved from murderers just for downloading music as another portal falls victim of the internet crackdown. barack obama is leading the world guessing about whether the u.s. will launch an attack on iran's nuclear activities has in decisiveness on the matter has vexed those for and against a strike but he's a guy named you can report on the conflicting pressures on the president ahead of

some crucial meetings with israel's leader. 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. it's. going to iran and iran not only would be premature. 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. release. is a very very clear message within a week from. the war. and we say president obama's failure to

go along with this really plans on iran might hurt him in the elections the president carried you know the overwhelming majority of the jewish vote and flooding 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 adverse impact on the funding of votes. israeli prime minister netanyahu speech in the u.s. congress last year was greeted with a no way should many u.s. lawmakers slammed the rhetoric of the obama administration which suggested there is still room for diplomacy with iran and 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. seem to be tired of the administration's ambiguity and. it could very very badly we need to go to war and we have to make very clear friends we're not going to go to war they're not going to go to war by flying over our airspace over iraq. if they do it it will be on their own the consequences will be theirs because the price of pay if they start a massive war. interpret. the disastrous for. iraq in the terms of. this post that was paid for by merging secret media for israel you. see 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. but to many it would make a mockery of diplomacy and. then president obama's nobel peace prize as well for that matter. brought back from the coalition says it's israel not iran that's really threatening the middle east. i don't think israel's assertions are real at all i think it's part of the game plan it's 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 the 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 iran is being targeted and i think this is part of the israeli hype 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 the united states government is somewhat afraid that if israel carries out a unilateral straight within the middle east this will play out as a paradigm by the israelis ainus 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 be too promptly in terms of carrying out unilateral military aggression. we are coming to you live from the heart of moscow and still to come in the program i will be looking at the debate raging in the u.s. over whether government or media should support certain ideologies. people are taught well you to believe something very one else follows like sheep people start

their own personality and look at the own facts and the details make their own opinion that's what they should do our resident reporter has been on the streets of new york asking people what they think about the state or media taking a position on religion. and child a trade flourishes in the call those new adoption laws aimed at improving the situation open adult daughter organized crime. movies ratings agency has again spoiled the party for e.u. leaders by downgrading greece to the lowest rating on its own scale it's coming right after a recent summit in brussels almost all e.u. states there except britain and the czech republic have signed up to the so-called fiscal pact supposed to keep deficits within limits with tough new budget rules but a financial analyst culloden injured doesn't believe the agreement will ever be implemented. talk is cheap then we've seen who round after round of this purple

truth. you have nations over in europe in here in the united states for that matter but seem to think that they can spend more limitation in taxes and you can't do this people say that austerity is going to co-ops economic command well the truth is that governments have been borrowing money and spending what they don't have so they've been falsely representing economic to me and for three thank you so now it's time to pay the check so to speak if we have to eat 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 the same thing's 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 chant contract their government spending an economy you know be able to 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 effects again depending on what other nations decide to go down the same road could be extraordinarily severe. and you take on high unemployment and i website called we take a look at the methods the debt ridden european countries are using to stay afloat desperate times call for desperate measures in spain as a small town gives the green light to go on with a kind of it just to avoid total unemployment. iraq has bolshoi theatre a sense culture online with plans to broadcast its iconic island performances via you chief. now a quarter past the hour here in moscow fall sharing a website r.n.b.

exclusive port carmel has been shut down by britain's organized crime police for alleged copyright violations anyone who downloaded music from there has been threatened with jail equivalent to the punishment for all murderers. smith reports on what this could mean for the world wide web. if you downloaded this song through the website or and be exclusive it's not just the prisoner of love you got to be afraid of instead of finding the usual blog commentary and links to r. and b. and hip hop music recent users 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 to be handed to him for very serious offenses serious sexual assaults and rape manslaughter very violent

francis. you would normally expect it to be handed down and respective of downloading music illegally the u.k. government serious organized crime agency or thought confirmed it arrested this site but wouldn't talk to us about why it's threatening users with a decade behind bars instead they sent this statement. it's organized criminal enterprises profiting from the exploitation of the u.k. public and legitimate businesses much of the music offered for download by the r. and b. exclusive dot com web site was illegally obtained from artists leaving 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 standing gods to protect corporate profits and it's also given those concerned with internet freedoms and unpleasant glimpse into

a more regulated each of the treaty to protect against online copyright infringement and piracy goes ahead the claims that your ip address monitored so you could monitor them tracts 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 real scale if actor 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 the pair 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 the notice was meant to frighten and in reality severe penalties

couldn't be applied to casual downloaded they also say there's nothing to link be exclusive with criminal gangs so why is there even involved if this is what they're really being serious organized crime to traditional serious organised crime as people understand the more. drug dealing as far as i think the public are concerned that that crime still happening on our streets opposition to act out of course around europe this month centers on theories that cyberspace will fall under strict government control and while the serious organized crime agency focus is its efforts on r. and b. and hip hop many worry that serious organized criminals are getting away with it. or team. and there on our website that we're asking you what you think about activists fighting for internet freedom all members of groups like anonymous heroes or criminals as you have you say right now at our top can't see how the numbers are

going up on our website and here they are overwhelming majority believe anonymous are good as they have found another way to show governments people's displeasure around twenty percent doubt their ability to change much down to what eight percent think hackers are nothing but criminals and their place is in jail just log on to r.t. dot com get involved in our online poll right now cast your vote. now let's get to some other international headlines an hour for you we'll start with the b.p. says it has reached a seven billion dollars deal to settle claims from thousands of fishermen and businesses affected by the gulf of mexico oil spill comes ahead of a much anticipated trial in the u.s. in which the american government is expected to claim billions of dollars in fines for the b.p. oil rig deepwater horizon exploded in april two thousand and ten killing eleven workers and leaking four million barrels of oil. protesters have taken to the

streets in hong kong calling for the right to vote in the city's upcoming elections at the moment only an elected committee of around one thousand people will be given the chance to choose a new leader or demonstrate or so also criticized the city's current chief executive donald sign after allegations he accepted perks from local tycoons. a tornado has swept through parts of america's midwest killing around thirty people all across four states in indiana homes were destroyed cars overturned at least one school was ruined forecasters are predicting that ten million people are at risk from the extreme weather just a few days ago a dozen were killed in different storms all across the region. so do religion and politics mix that's a major part of the debate raging in america's ongoing presidential campaign so are to use a resident reporter streets of new york to ask people if the government or the

media should be behind certain ideologies. 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 there to serve the people of the media is there to report the do not make editorial direction of the report i don't think it's great. we use the part more the first way. that's probably what they do anyway right. probably you think people are choosy about who is supporting their cause. absolutely their. people are too easily swayed probably probably candor is the people that want you to believe something bad one else follows like sheep peels out their own personality and look at their own facts and details make their own

opinion that's what they should do and not just fall of everybody else there's a pretty great principle in psychology that 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 unusual it's a kind of a crazy idea 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 key do you think governments try to impose will through propaganda without a doubt yeah so why do some people when they hear their point of view being spouted think it's justice being time but then if they don't agree with it they call it propaganda. well. that's the nature of this is the nature of rhetoric in general your your opinion is always

right and everyone else's opinion is always propaganda circumstance 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 support of our own beliefs. in just a few minutes it's moscow out here on r t but often zz and paul are being sold at a huge profit by human traffickers and its alleged illegal and injures are saying are suppliers to people who want to make a fortune from often abused children i think appreciative reports. today fifteen year old chin mohun choudary is all smiles but it wasn't that long ago that a teenager with living in an illegal orphanage in a pulse capital katmandu you know was to. be given rations for the children but the caretakers would take half the food for themselves well giving those only

a small piece of it they would also get drunk and beaters. moment is now living in a home run by the umbrella foundation and irish angio working with nepal's government to keep track of katmandu to me to fifteen thousand children living in orphanages. investigations have uncovered that around eighty percent of these kids actually have parents opt in times living in rural parts of nepal will sell their children to traffickers who they believe will give them a better life if you have a traveller who goes to a village and says very poor people people of illiteracy no education they're told if you give us your children you will receive a small amount of money from an international family or an individual in return we will bring them to help with you we will get an excellent education. traffickers are known to buy in a poly child for 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 orpen ages many of the children are reportedly abused and forced to work some are even sexually assaulted and forced to work in the feels. every morning to clean the house and also to look after the city because infant child the nepali government admitted that almost half of the country's orphanages were involved in illegal international adoptions but since then things have changed. and paul has banned international adoption well 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 ride without money from abroad remains works for nepal children's organization which runs eleven legal orphanages across the country he says that before the ban on international adoption has orphanage in katmandu five thousand dollars for every child that got adopted by

a foreign family. it has been difficult for us to run the homes after the suspension of 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 to today many orphanages are trying to reunite trafficked children with their families but many lection mohanned barely remember their real siblings and parents anymore or preassure either archie kathmandu nepal. or the greek of the top stories in just a few minutes seems.

as russia votes for president r.t. list of the five running for the kremlin top job the candidates. flooded new jersey a two time president's outgoing prime minister and face of the united russia party . on the record khujand points to stability he secured after the chaotic e.l.c. years praised for overseeing a booming economy the free style machine russia's presence of the world stage play

for the presidency modernization fighting corruption maximizing russia's impacts of international affairs controversy criticized for centralizing power in russia and staying at the helm too long. the mold. for personifying the problems positions and aspirations of modern russia. presidential election two thousand and twelve r.t. .