from the world wide web to a nationwide war extremist opposition groups in syria turn to the internet to encourage a bloody battle in the country while the u.n. arab envoy seeks a diplomatic solution we can live analysis on this shortly here on r.t. . americans call for an overhaul of vet electoral system ahead of this year's presidential poll following reports that millions of jupiter good to see stunned ineligible voters. and the rich credit rating agency telling grades greece to restrict to default shatteringly booming optimism of e.u. leaders following the swap deal pushed through by its work at live reaction on that

story for you shortly here on. international news and comment live from moscow this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day as syria's exiled opposition has once again rejected a call for dialogue with the assad regime saying the crisis requires a military solution the diplomatic appeal for talks this time came from the u.n. arab envoy kofi annan and he set to arrive in damascus this weekend and while the battle on the ground continues the war has moved on line as. reports. i think. one spirit. friday has become one of the pines cross the arab spring countries in syria this new tradition has gone even further with activists online giving every friday it's very special because they

reflect the opinion of the street or the syrian people and to also send a message to the external world of all of the syrian situation i mean yes i've seen people but the days of names like dignity and honor from last march have come to an end with calls to arm the rebels and kill the president becoming the main message from those protesting against the regime so a lot of torture people saw a lot of killing people who saw their families are being killed in front of their eyes so i mean this is just natural to ask. is accusing the president welcoming many however argue that these hostile messages are a tool to provoke more violence in the steering the country toward simple rule is a way of trying to. affect. people might. think. this is the way to syrians to go syrians who want to

connect to fear and violence in the mobile phones and ideas. or symbolically in the history of syria and of course some political purposes although anti-government protests in syria have a very. rough few things they usually know before the day friday the place cost the time also the prayers and even the cause they're gathering for and the slogans they're chanting i usually make public funds and this thing changes or deal with the basis. so exactly who is behind these messages. it is now a common subject among people in general not just on t.v. but i don't know specific source and they're heard from the people around me my friends but actually television. some yes on t.v. well anyway i don't know there are some people who are name every friday but it

doesn't interest me i think you should ask them you can watch i think i heard something on t.v. . the trail led us to a website called syrian revolution it is here that the name of the coming friday is usually published supposedly after people voted for it it said it's the presence all of the session groups strangely enough the syrian national cultivation committee the opposition within the country say they have nothing to do with this site oh another place where voting is carried out cannot be accessed from syria of course the water is electronic voting and you better be sure that it is real or not it's an astronaut while it's not clear who really stands behind the idea some names like china is killing us or no veto to just an agenda that's not looking to compromise and seek a peaceful solution to the conflict a little bruise once very called syrian national council represents me to try to

change people's mentality friday before prayers and guide on people feel with themselves has become a day for violence now and eventually reach their people and the weak and the why of it with the rhetoric growing stronger every friday many here are starting to question who is really pulling the strings trying to escalate the violence reflection r.t. damascus. for more on the syrian crisis let's cross live now to mark almond he's visiting professor of international relations from turkey raised in. kent university joins us now from oxford and you came while the paris based head of the syrian national council is once again refused to hold talks with the regime calling for military action instead how accurate do you think their assessment of the syrian crisis actually is they're not even there in the country. so that there was a problem and in a sense it indicates solution. or help to try. to

intervene topple assad and hope networking number things on you who. we believe that the calls you inside the government with completely opposed to some or other groups or sunni closer to syria or here to the insurgent. group that there was a. network empowered outside of syria of course we know that they're getting support from the u.k. and the u.s. but what about their influence within syria itself. well it's difficult to be certain princeton's a referendum her. vote in a sense. we saw. in opinion. rather conflicts. as a tiny minority. i think there is a social base there are a social base for a position the tragedy is. the discussion and those who heard.

in the spokesman who her access to groups in the west don't want to talk i suspect they fear that if i were talking we were. just briefly kofi annan will he have any success whatsoever he's due to arrive there in syria to try and push negotiations just briefly yes well he may have success in syria maybe. but the people outside including the back i don't want to go to war very. sad moment to see him. mark thanks so much your thoughts on a visiting professor of international relations from look at university there in the u.k. but they can tell. people who are. now let's turn our attention to libya and the country's interim prime minister is in washington appealing for u.s. help to drive out remnants of the old regime that's as the new libyan authorities

face challenges in holding the country together with powerful tribal leaders already declaring semi or tonally from the capital tripoli of this in their list pepe escobar however thinks that washington is no longer interested in the country's political future. we haven't a top up in tripoli. but you need to as we call it not the stuff that they will show you he say that he's going to intervene in so he's going to be what they were to look at that it took flight zero it's going to intervene against the people of syria back up all over because again. they are splintering the tribes in eastern libya have been antagonizing the central government tripoli for decades if not centuries and this is a second what's happening because of the sprinker nato doesn't care of course the u.s. the brits and the french don't care as long as they have contracts with tripoli alliance between especially against between washington. in paris and the g.c.c.

they want to take off work and then distribute the spoils and who cares about the future of libya as a democracy is going to be. warring shoots tribal fuel spit is going to go on for ever could not the program this are nowhere to hide he thinks citizens of iraq and broadens the government aims to snoop on the private lives of the british public like never before. the us is reportedly offered israel heavy weaponry in exchange for holding back from attacking iran television signals it's running out of patience with iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. a story still to come first with eight months to go the race for america's presidency is already in full swing with republican rivals locked in a bit of struggle for nomination alongside smear campaigns and dirty politics is not a problem some what are kinked voting system that disregards millions of votes and

as artie's report now reports as growing demand for a revamped election process. one of these men could be president just eleven months from now as president even if i'm president as president i'd say you got is somebody who can actually get it done in washington as americans head to the polls in two thousand and twelve determine to take part in democracy millions of votes may end up rejected or thrown away com election night that two point two million votes were lost in two thousand and eight due to voter registration problems david bakker is the director of elections initiatives at the pew center on the states he says america's nineteenth century paper based a voter registration system has left the nation's registration rolls plagued by a rooney is errors we found roughly twenty four million records that are no longer up to date mostly because people have moved in some cases because people have died and we found fifty one million eligible voters who are taught the rules but one in four of the old citizens united states

a new report on america's quote inaccurate costly and inefficient voting system also found nearly two million dead individuals listed as eligible u.s. voters and nearly three million citizens registered in more than one state we're seeing voting problems during the two thousand and mid-term elections resulted in the reported sixteen thousand votes being tossed out not counted i think she'll say the misuse of new electronic optical scan machines was to blame yet paying the biggest price would likely be the integrity of america's free and fair elections we should assume that every citizen that is eligible to vote can vote and if there's some problem on election day there should be some way that they can correct so if they're not told i don't see you in the book even though you are a citizen even though you are eighteen your vote isn't going to count russia back in december u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton said the same thing following russia's

parliament reelection the russian people like people and. everywhere deserve their right. to have their voices heard and their votes counted and come this november it all starts with you american citizens will be counting on us leaders to stand by their words. r.t. new york for us is reportedly proposed giving israel advanced weaponry in return for television delaying a potential strike on iran bunker buster bombs and long range refueling planes were allegedly on offer during anyone you know whose latest visit to washington israeli prime minister said his country hasn't decided to attack yet but signaled the patience with tehran was wearing thin record banner in turn stressed the need to let diplomacy and economic sanctions run their course this comes from an agreement between iran and several international powers to restart talks on iran's alleged nuclear weapons program there isn't what i see from the national iranian american council says it is crucial for regional stability that israel's war cries

a muzzled. after three decades of little or no communication between iran and the united states there's no question that it's going to be a very challenging path that we're all sides are facing and you know i think being on the precipice of war has really focused the attention of the various decision makers in various capitals and focus them specifically on the need for all parties to compromise and there's a difference between what the united states and the international community are asking for and what the israelis would prefer and these negotiations are going to be an opportunity to figure out how to try and square that circle i think it's safe to say that any on it's going to get that analyst would agree better online came up with new york program in its entirety but it will agree to limitations that are monitoring america and by the international atomic energy agency diplomacy isn't supposed to produce instant success you're supposed to invest in a process over a sustained period of time where confidence building measures that are reached in the interim can priscilla take trust building even when i was serving in the u.s. government the israelis were one of a handful of countries that were never really interested in giving diplomacy

a fair shake and that's one of the many reasons why is really ensures normal line with the obama administration they've done a very good job of trying to take actions that would lessen the possibility of diplomacy being successful but the obama administration understands better than anyone right now what's at stake he's taken multiple steps publicly and privately to push back and i'm hoping that we're going to see more of that continue because if it doesn't they're going to continue to try to bully you or feel like someone's watching you well if you're a citizen the government is attempting to step up its public surveillance policy even snooping on your personal e-mails despite c.c.t.v. cameras already a major factor of life in the u.k. the now plans to store personal data including information from social networking sites and as all of these are then it reports it's the taxpayer who could be footing the bill. soon you could be watched everywhere you go in the u.k. even where the cameras can't see you all your e-mails texts and phone calls will be

monitored under a new anti terrorist spy plan the government will know which websites you visit it'll even snoop on your private facebook messages no matter who you are all your personal data will be stored for a year in a massive surveillance operation privacy campaigners condemn this is the first step toward the government taking control of the incident the only place in the world has got that kind of regulation is china i'm sorry but britain is not china britain's already one of the most watched societies in the world the number of c.c.t.v. cameras is estimated at nearly two million now the government wants the monitor all electronic communication as well including social media taking surveillance to a level never seen before just what you say in calls and messages won't be kept but the government will know exactly who you speak to when you do it and where you are it will be stored by broadband and mobile companies but security services will have

real time access at the click of a button secretly living your life with the digital rights groups say it'll leave people living in fear of big brother the problem here is really that good is intrusive and the sort of places where you can see that might be useful could be you know it could be anything could be tax it could plea to force it could be copyright infringement. and terrorism and serious crime or a tiny subset of the possibilities that you could use this information for it's the ones being watched who are paying for it to cyber security experts predict it'll cost taxpayers over a billion dollars to be spied on even then there's no guarantee they'll be safe from other prying eyes any person who guarantees. you absolutely curity isn't it and if you're dealing with information which might be required at short notice by law enforcement then that means that quite

a lot of people need to be involved or i suspect most of the time it is going to be quote unquote secure. they're all thorough it's highly likely that there will be large scale failures as well if you're typing into eatings private for now the legislation still has to go through parliament the previous government's wish for a surveillance where it was fought off in two thousand and eight over fears of data safety the greater fear this time we're told is the threat to national security events like the olympics the government's justification so it may not be long before what you thought was personal reaches a much wider audience i bennett's r.t. london on our website at r.t. dot com you can find plenty more news from the u.k. why the country's politicians may need some looking after themselves so british m.p.'s seem to be drunk not only in power as alcohol related scandals in westminster become regular topics in the tabloid press. plus russia's president

elect and renowned sports lover but a bit putin joint meeting with silvio berlusconi to check out one of the most difficult bobsled tracks at the venue for the next winter olympics here in russia all that after trying his luck in the biathlon. ear leaders have been dealt a painful slap in the face after the credit rating agency fitch have just downgraded greece's rating to restrict to default the second worst level on the scale of the stars earlier french president nicolas sarkozy had claimed the greek debt crisis have been solved it followed athens critical bond swap deal with private creditors that allowed the country to narrowly escaped default well to

discuss today's developments we're joined live now from athens going economy economic analyst nick scrape as well here we go another delegate by fitch just after europe's finance chief said they had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel but the problem well well the rating agencies are always weak greece is misread but quite honestly this case bill it was completely foreseeable the fact that collect collective action closes will be triggered means that for rating agencies under their own defiant words it is a default this was expected after the swap finishes they will great greece it's not really a tragedy and it doesn't very much reflect on the reality of the deal when the transaction itself so the time great won't have any tangible impact a tall man. absolutely none it was fully expected absolutely priced in and they will be an upgrade very soon after the swap all right and now sarkozy he said that the issue during greece is settled indeed the greek finance minister says is an

exceptional success this agreement and this a future bailout program the only way to keep the country on its feet is that right is it the right policy. the the haircut certainly eased out of the right policy because it restructures greece's debt lowering it in a very orderly fashion it gives greece a breathing space it allows us to improve the situation it reduces the overall amount of debt by almost one hundred billion which is very helpful and every year will be paying forty five billion less has it completely solved the greek crisis. no but it is a step in the right direction it's also helped me to write concerns about the euro as a generally and it's also brought a little bit more commonplace to the banking sector and global financial markets but there is still a lot to be done when it sort of dropped there is this is the base of all this is based on greece accepting those sturdy measures and implementing those measures and

many analysts say austerity will not push the economy it will ruin the economy even more. bill i've been saying that myself for about two years but frankly the whole memorandum and the bailout package and more than just those theory there's a lot of moving parts here but the vehicle is the first then we have structural reforms which frankly i think need to forty years ahead of private size i should process which hasn't really begun with any great momentum and then the worst part of it as you mentioned is the tax hikes and of course the cuts in wages so how to greet people and sustain these harsh austerity measures clearly good news for the politicians but what about the greek people themselves we've got a report even today saying suicide rates out of the record level. below i mean climate is skyrocketing and a problem that we face in our economy and society here's the fact that there's been a lot of instability and a lack of visibility since about october when political implications of the public

administration kind of froze and started the private sector that's why we saved some really horrible numbers i think the great people have really reached the edge and it's the end of the envelope for more serious kalki more of that what we really need to see here is a crackdown on tax evasion we need a marshall plan to stabilize the economy and kick start it a little bit and we also need to attract foreign investment and start exporting our way out of this space i agree with you how do you any other evillest how do you attract that foreign investment when obviously confidence in the country is so low how do you. achieve all of that you'll saying. the first thing you made is a little bit of stability and visibility in the sense that people are afraid to invest in you because we may return to a drachma sometime soon and that could mean a devastating devaluation and a loss of money so we need some stability in the eurozone we need to listen these are ing from european union leaders and we ourselves here have to take some

responsibility and put together a medium term economic plan so we know how to climb out of this very still despite all of this one hundred thirty billion by a package coming and despite the heck out of close to one hundred billion still a shortfall of seven billion you don't want to make that up with taxes. just briefly do you think that athens successfully convinced those investors to take part in this is a sign of some sort of optimism for the future or they doing it on the pressure. this certainly doing it on the pressure there was a lot of arm twisting but at the end of the day would have been worse for them if he if they was a calamitous the fall when they got absolutely nothing there was a lot of pressure from governments central banks and it was in their own interest to keep some stability in the international financial system itself. i just briefly yesterday i noticed that market reaction hasn't been exactly enthusiastic i've been is i'm sure you read much into that. i read certain things it's worry if you look

at the periphery euro bond markets. are doing a lot better so that is positive a lot of the other markets today taking some sort of gains that we've seen across the week it's a bit of you know foreign rebuying now sell on the fact that there are still some question marks in greece we don't know whether we will be heading to shore now to talk alexion process which could be stabilized the economy we don't know whether all of the things that we've promised to we will implement like the structural reforms there are some questions still outstanding and there is no plan at the moment to grow the economy. out of this mess but it's a good start i said it better see there good stuff all right nick there you are in the heart of it all in athens really good to hear your thoughts on this next pregnancy economic analysts analyst joining us live in greece this is r.t. here in moscow and eurozone members were quick to rejoice the bond that's what deal calling a breakthrough in rescuing the debt ridden country but the parachute provides little up as an optimism for the greeks whose financial woes continue to freefall

something i just referred to in that interview with nick's crocus tom cotton has more in this. curriculum brucey threatens to throw herself from her office window in downtown athens she and her husband have had their salaries cut have debts and a mortgage they can't pay and now they've just learned their jobs are under threat she was eventually talked down after many hours on the ledge. this is where her ron barassi who worked for this organization tried to provide housing support for people on low incomes or they did until two weeks ago when the government announced this place was closing all over seven hundred staff here because their jobs. a frantic meetings in corridors and offices distressed workers try to find out what will happen to them based organisation has been going strong for sixty years and it's not fair to send their money to other departments they want to take our money

to cover all their holes they want to take money for other necessities put all our families will be unemployed if we could save greece ok but there's no way that money will fill the gap with the old so stacked against them some desperate greeks even contemplate ending it all. and this is the only phone line in the country that's dedicated to stopping them line ten eighteen is greece's single volunteer run charity suicide prevention line in two thousand and eleven calls here doubled calls like one that a learner picked up from another standing on the fifth floor of a building threatening to jump said a family member tad we said it was hand count and receive the benefit and this benefit benefit was about big cuts and she was about to lose her job and said there's nothing i can do what can i do to help me what can i do to help myself it's a lead that i don't know the suffering what the charity to is short of money in

store and tears unsure of their future although many greeks grudgingly accept the need for austerity they're adamant that m.p.'s should combine compassion with the cuts the main problem now is the funding is south of the business was the one thing it's like for people like this either for the economy or the market in the house for everyone agrees that greece's road to recovery will be long and painful but greater and greater numbers of greeks worry that the debt their country is in could cost their families much more than just money john barton party. and from one country in the grip of austerity measures to italy's capital where thousands gathered just against government cuts a general strike was proposed by metal workers union feel that it's plans to scale back rooms giving style job security becomes part of a raft of measures to locally turn an economy with changes to labor market conditions expected to be passed later this month. in south korea are conducting

security drills ahead of a two day summit on the use of nuclear power around the world leaders from fifty countries are expected to attend with last year's focus human disaster likely to dominate the talks discussions will focus on how to strengthen atomic safety and prevent acts of nuclear termers. brings up take a moment i'll be back shortly with a recap of our top stories for you stay with us now if you're moscow this is.

the be. just.