dozens of arrests rallies both in support of and against. russia after he's named president for a third term. war mongering rhetoric against the mascot's intensifies in the us as former presidential candidate senator john mccain calls for air strikes on the fully fledged military campaign against the syrian regime also. when it comes to preventing iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. i will take no options off the. presence of promises his support to a pro israeli lobby in washington refusing to read out the option of force against iran which israel has been threatening. and in the

business voice and ratings agency fitch threatens to cut russia's long term rating its e.u. government fails to tighten its monetary policy all the details in about twenty minutes. watching r.t. live from moscow welcome to the program. but the presidential victory has sent tens of thousands of russians on to the streets to celebrate and protest against the outcome of the vote thousands peacefully in the center of moscow for fair elections police said two hundred fifty were arrested when some refused orders to disperse demonstration is due to end let's now. see for more of this alexia to tell us more about what happened. started as

a very peaceful rally somewhere between fourteen and twenty thousand people gathered in central moscow a few kilometers from i'm standing right now pushed into his square with opposition leaders speaking from the stage demanding a revolt demanding the prime minister to step down and it all went rather peacefully with the lights off for the third place candidate in the presidential race also speaking to the crowd until one of the protesters said that he would not leave until putin steps down well people actually started dispersing around one hour since the rally kicked off and several hundred decided to stay there and stage as sitting protest the police the right police told them that they were doing something and sanctioned that the time for the rally has already gone and that they should leave the square the people refused enough an hour of these negotiations to get right police started forcefully removing them from the square we understand that two hundred and fifty people were arrested as

a result of this dispersal the same picture we saw in st peter's work with also several hundred several dozen men detained following an anti-government cell rally there but we understand that all of the detainees have been released without being charged with any misconduct but a lot of those happy that also went out onto the streets didn't say. it was certainly a very different picture here last night at the main national square where i'm standing right now in front of the kremlin with fifteen thousand people also here expressing their support to prime minister to president elect like even and this was not a rally this was more like a celebration party which starts performing from the stage and people challenge to get cheering for the prime minister in full and celebrating his victory just as it was twenty four hours before that on sunday when the polling stations closed across the country and the prime minister the president elect not even putin came here personally to thank the crowd and. it was very emotional grace pressing his

gratitude and delight over the victory in the first round of the election and that's what about the other candidates in the election they take the outcome of that. prime minister invited all of the other candidates for a dialogue after the election both of them turned up in fact three of the four other candidates did apart from a good idea you got of the communist party leader who refuted the result of the relection election who claims the vote was illegitimate and thusly did not want to attend this meeting and probably the most important thing said at this meeting was that what he meant which in acknowledged and approved of the initiative of. excuse me the russian tycoon that you come with a russian politics to launch his own political movement to launch a new political party and said that united russia party and the prime minister himself will cooperate closely with me proud of and his movement should he decide to eventually launch it. definitely events of monday night showed that the

opposition in russia has two faces on the one hand we certainly have because who wants to build a dialogue with the authorities with those of power and on the other hand we have radicals like excede ali like yashin and others who were trying to provoke some serious clashes in the central moscow michael if you continue to reach over to the story with any insight on how the russian opposition looks like at the moment. you might think there are two types of post-election rallies those by the wiener and less jubilant ones by the defeated opposition that if you look closely at russia's political scene these days you see how sharp the opposition itself is eat into two ranks with the vertical of power in our country develop slow than the civil society initiated from below concrete shells i'm told and there's no political competition which was here is the official office. defeated candidates need to with the winner

in his residence the morning up to the vote criticizing the kremlin's and here's what may seem similar but in fact a very different rattray from the unofficial street opposition yes. yes they are. growing there are screaming there. unlike the newly risen political star mihail strong growth rights activist and blogger alexander valley hasn't spans two and a hundred million dollars on his computer and he never ran for presidency but thanks to his active love and the massive coverage of he's called for a revolution by the western and russian media he rose to an unofficial opposition leader almost overnight. i think yeah for example. scott says activists from the street opposition condemned

sunday's ballot even before the first both was costs. these presidential elections are illegitimate and the person who comes to power wherever it is even if it's not booted will be illegitimate in any case. to rat just for a venue to rally the opposition ended up fighting it out between each other in city hall for the group of i exceed now by late one they might have had russia's most liberal square in the center of moscow to protest but the question still very much alive is does the new street opposition know how to who are the circles the more speak the rally for liberal values to the test to what extent will they be the law . police are saying when a school but i call in you to stay could tend so to sleep here within our city and we can do whatever we want we're not leaving we're not leaving and now we're up to dissension rally was supposed to. some leaders were calling on people to put up ten

cents to keep the square rechelle muscovites are already well familiar with all the police a scorching protest as to the much rope arresting the most resilient ones refused to leave among them not by. almost everyone these days wants changes no one wants a revolution but there is a minority who are making this a revolution however i don't think they'll manage to break open on the russian state. police report that monday's protest rally together to round fourteen thousand people on pushkin square that's less than in the rallies in december when up to seventy thousand took to the streets following the parliament to vote many explained the grinding numbers as a reflection all but the communist candidate acknowledged the results of the vote a clear sign that the changing political landscape in russia has little room for revolution which he did in the dutch over our t.v.

screens. political analyst for a future and ski explains how he views the split those opposed to putting his reelection as president. i think that the opposition in russia comes in many different flavors you have remember n r n opposition of a kind which is in fact more nationalist more conservative in some sense more. even than putin is i mean putin has talked about reform and he's talked about transparency in combating corruption and you have a democratic opposition i think by and large a lot of those folks are still seen as being somewhat out of touch and then i think you have an opposition which is much more amorphous in character it's what i would call a moral opposition this is perhaps more similar to the to the kitchen opposition of the soviet era these are people who in their hearts they know that they don't like the system but that they're not really prepared to take on

a political character right now they're not prepared to take political action against the regime because quite frankly they're living all right for the time being but a lot of those people those are the people who are out in the streets of course they tend to be concentrated in the big cities of the you find them all over russia and i think that those are the people that putin has got to appeal to during the next year and show them that he's heard their voices. that he was widely expected not only in russia but internationally to the american media was key to a portent educating for what even before the ballot itself of course one is in washington doesn't change you can tells us the reaction across the atlantic to the decision made by the russian people. even before the election the american already is were primed to believe that the presidential vote in russia had to be a fraud is this one going to be worth it when the us would call a free and fair election. it seems a highly unlikely there will be

a free and fair election in our sense of the term and that is russia has made their choice when you have the results of russia's presidential election therefore a single vote was cost the unequivocal view of these international observers is that this was not a genuinely fair democratic contest that meets international standards. why did we put victory was confirmed not just by the result but even before that i need your opinion polls like your story focus of some media on rampant fraud or stolen elections seems to leave out of the equation the vast majority of russian voters would be choose their next president if you look at how western let's look at russian opinion there's a tendency to ignore i don't know inconvenient opinion so support for putin is ignored which is genuine i don't know if it's quite as overwhelming as the election results when they put it's this large and sincere i think it's easy for westerners to ignore opinions like that because they don't really fit in the narrative very

easily and there was an unprecedented monitoring of the elections in russia with cameras in all polling stations and almost a million washes volunteers to observe the vote certain mile asians have been reported they are being investigated the question some ask is why would we didn't try to rig the vote when opinion polls before the elections clearly indicated that he had sixty plus percent support it's very possible to put himself in order any of this stuff but there are supporters or people is a long tradition in russian. culture and history of people underlings trying to please people further up the chain of command so it's perfectly plausible that people you know local you know magistrates are got. people in charge of sort of regions they want to impress people for the blind by demonstrating how strong support of boomers in their area so without the necessity of any input from the center people can take decisions on their own that they do in order to please their

bosses unlike the media and the reaction of the white house to the russian alike years was more reserved they congratulated the russian people with their elections and said washington looks forward to working with the president on the act and urged the russian government to look into the reports of violations when it comes to the media coverage here it's not about reporting on certain irregularities which absolutely should be covered but when perception is being created vote was a fraud no matter what the majority of russians say any caps the shadow on the future president but also on those who voted for him i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.p. . well there's a special section on the russian election on our website r.t. dot com where you can get more analysis and the latest on what's happening in politics it. has something to me your attention. it's a glimpse of some awkward moments at polling stations taken by web cameras intended

to more of the voting process seem to have captured a little more. senator john mccain has called for strikes on them but she campaign against syria and first u.s. lawmaker to do so the statement comes as international pressure on president assad increases more sanctions imposed on the regime in the red cross has reached two parts the city of homs where civilians are caught between government forces and the armed opposition season for national is following developments for us. former presidential candidate john mccain has become the first senator to publicly call for a u.s. led military strike on syria and eleven my. long conflict here in the country draft copies of mccain's speech had him telling the senators serious crisis has reached a decisive moment and the only realistic scenario to preserve innocent lives is with military air power we're also hearing from the free syrian army here on the

ground that it's waiting for foreign weapons to arrive earlier it confirmed it had received weapons and anti aircraft missiles from u.s. and french sources meanwhile the regional media reports that more french officers have been detained in the city of homs that's become a center of the conflict between the authorities and the opposition here in syria and they're now being held in every field hospital where we have been receiving information earlier that more than one hundred french paratroopers have been detained in the city of homs on the ground political efforts to find a way out of this conflict are in full swing. the need for democratic change pushed the syrian people to the streets last march a year on pro-democracy slogans and mostly forgotten and political reforms passed almost unnoticed wrongly. claims a member of the baath party who is almost fifty year rule was ended by the country's newly implemented constitution he believes that syria is going through

a historic transformation. the country's billion stagnation for a long time a multi-party system move finally paved the way to competition development and you do you see. opposition and those who are angry with the. course it's a fake. hundred percent fake talk we do not trust the regime our people good for us because we don't believe what ever he promises we've tried back too many years ago and too many times and he's never be honest but not all opposition members. ourselves skeptical some have decided to take a dare and run the parliamentary race ninety days before the elections at least six new parties appeared and their names reflect society's vital need and the thought is aspirations for have democratic entitle for either national or

solidarity the island's our party is just four weeks old its members say the hardest thing will be to the sweet people to actually vote but they believe the ice has broken. finally the dog was closed for so many years is open we should use it and activate the political will of. the skeptics main concern is that this noble impulse could not come at the worst time no one in syria will security with a regime why killing is still going in streets and bombing is still going on the city is at supper i could talk for all and sort of classic believes the reforms could be an important tool in finding a solution to the country's protracted crisis and. i can describe the situation is painful but we can resolve it together our party is preparing documents for the president and we call on all parties to start dialogue what

a military solution and foreign countries interference will only make things worse and we should not intervene and we should start deciding what. and you constitution is the latest in the package of reforms that also include the lifting of emergency laws and the release of political prisoners that has really says these changes could be a double edged sword making the country stronger but also both on the ripple to foreign influence will give people and their salaries are in dollars reels and. they want to destroy the country they don't want change you know the kind of large you just happen they have to spoil reformation bud we should stand still to resist it but maybe the fears of change at home i just as. powerful the syrian parliament has seen many changes in the psni a century old history of this building used to be home to many political parties but in the last fifty years the political life within these walls hasn't been all the colorful with a total dominance of devolve party the democratic changes the uprising brought iran

are expected to modify the political landscape here in syria but the same friends for masons are yet to come in people's minds and this is something which will take a lot longer. duration. damascus syria. well liberal campaigner jacob hornberger thinks that mccain is seeking regime change in syria to install a leadership loyal to the u.s. so the standard neo con conservative mindset of foreign intervention involving the us government in the affairs of other countries in this case it happens to be another regime change operation obviously with the intent to ousting this dictator from power in order to install a us approved dictator obviously the us government had no reservations at all and utilizing this theory and dictatorship for the precise reason of it. until all of us dead in the tie changes and in a sea of well now we've had

a chance to oust this guy let's start intervening people sympathize with the syrian people who by the likes people suffering under a dictatorship but the us government needs to butt out this is a this is a case it should be resolved only by the syrian people. but i web site r.t. dot com there's a part for news analysis night catching videos is a taste of what's online at the moment jailed to oil tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky might have his sentence for viewed as soon as april after the order by russian president medvedev for a report into the case. and who let the dogs vote your answer is the u.s. state of new mexico work is now registered voter the full story on t.v. dot com. barack obama has told a pro israeli conference in washington that america will not hesitate to use force to prevent iran from getting nuclear weapons israel has been pushing for military

action against the islamic republic and the u.s. president did stress the need for a diplomatic solution is why some issue might not be the most powerful one these were reports. it's an annual tradition of more than thirteen thousand people gathering in the nation's capital by the american israel public affairs committee annual conference because people from all over the country a few common revitalise their approach it is very important the united states will back up israel and indeed it is the united state is committed to israel well apac is considered to be one of the most powerful lobbying groups in america and they hope this conference each year showcasing american israeli unity how much power in this group has over u.s. foreign policy there is controversy speaking at the conference president obama reiterated america is dedicated to fostering strong ties with its closest ally the

want to comes to preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. i will take no options off the table and i want to say. that includes all elements of american power statements like that make the world wonder is war with iran just around the corner. are pushing us into a regional war that. does of cataclysmic potential apac support for jewish voice for peace and many jewish americans are in the side of peace we're not on the side of unnecessary wars protestors outside of the convention say israel and apac are dragging america into war with iran position held by many antiwar groups. but. they're also protesting the lobbying groups enormous impact on us politics politicians you know

but if they attempt to speak up on this issue they're going to be not just vilified they're going to be defeated apac affiliated groups exorbitant amounts of money and some political campaigns and a meeting in the white house israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu told obama that israel and america stance again we are you and you or us we're together and while netanyahu stress israel will always be a master of its own fate obama insists the united states will always have israel's back up to israel so this after israel has warned they will launch an attack against iran without giving us notice apac. has a lot of power and a lot of that is due to the fact that congress and the media. just eats it all up so the question remains with israel ramping up pro-war rhetoric and

america dedicated to supporting them as another war in the middle east all but inevitable. in washington bismarck r.t. . there is a way to make so i run doesn't get a nuclear weapon it's not a military one according to the fallout u.s. ambassador to israel thomas pickering. let's give iran what it says it wants which is a civil nuclear program but let's do our best to create the maximum amount of effective inspection so that's a firewall a road block a break between their civil program and a military nuclear program you ought to know that iran is also bound by the nonproliferation treaty and then i proliferation treaty says you have a civil program which meets civil needs only and doesn't do things that could be used only for military purposes.

well you can watch the full interview with thomas pickering in just over an hour's time here r.t. . well now that the russian a presidential election is over investors are waiting to see what economic policy is a good scene. for a business desk or what are the main expectations of pressure will carry ratings agencies as it may lower russia's long term rating if the new government fails to tighten its monetary policy the ratings agency essentially says that putin's election campaign promises will cost the country a whopping one hundred sixty billion dollars in additional spending and of course to sting public spending over the next six years will inevitably lead to a wider budget deficit also pledged to raise the pace of the country's economic growth to around seven percent a year he hopes russia will join the top five economies and will jump to the twentieth place of the global grading of investment attractiveness it's currently

in the one hundred twenty fifth place so there's a lot of that says we'll be watching to make sure the president meets expectations from morgan stanley russia explains. a lot so it's going to be called for in terms of setting up the new government so people getting their feet under the table so i think people would be looking for progress stock mutual entry in may june resumption of privatization by the middle of the year and a credible economic team in the new government and it's less than one hour ahead of the opening bell here in russia you're seeing monday's closing figures in there just about a second and essentially investors obviously interpreted as a sign of stability but we saw some street protests on monday evening so we'll see if traders interpret that as a sign of instability and obviously the crude prices usually offer some support to the russian actually markets and crude was higher on tuesday morning but it actually slipped into red over the past. our in sympathy with global equities that

are very concerned about the cross prospects of economic growth around the world especially after china cut its growth targets now speaking of china its equity markets are shedding values they had saying is there more than one a house percent this hour after china the world's second largest economy cut its growth rate target to an eight year a little seven and a half percent from its a longstanding goal of around eight percent and obviously in tokyo the nikkei is a bit higher mainly supported by tech expert workers and that's all the latest from the business desk this hour i'll be back in about fifteen minutes i'll see them.

as you know soon as you know and and i know. this is not cold those are not patriotic people like the american flag but this song tells it otherwise. words through song as it is we will stand forever as a nation under the flag. meaning the red white and blue stripes. thanks to today is a salute to the trying to be the clothes on the outside. but their heart is in school and i'm angry. they're hired to. have all kinds of struggles and they allow the choose. to allow these things to stay there they choose alcohol addictions dr. this is a people by and local story here and they. they open it and they fill it with water over there from that spigot and then and then i think

a drink it because it has to because it has alcohol in it and so that into the drink it is actually hairspray. i could leave you live there now you. know nobody could not. know my family. not. kobol assume try nobody could stay here. could happen to me i'll be warned.