the biggest stories of the week here on our t.v. lot to be uprooted emerges triumphant in the russian presidential election after turning overwhelming poll numbers into a convincing victory but the tough challenges are still ahead for the new leader. the russian opposition scrambles to recapture the public's passion dashed expectations and internal fractures leave the movement increasingly short of support. from the arab league are finally in the same boat over how to stop the syrian crisis but there are still those trying to put stakes in the scope of the player missing. three days of far more deaths are reported as the israeli

airstrikes on gaza after the assassination of a palestinian resistance leader sends rockets flying over the border. and also reporting this hour salvation to collapse the others greece from about the biggest debt reduction deal in history but it's praised to the hilt by brussels rating agencies slam it as default plan and top stories this hour. with a look back at the past seven days top stories and the latest developments this is the weekly on r.t. the long haul sion hard fought race for the kremlin is over with prime minister vladimir putin now set to make a return to the presidency after a landslide election victory but expectations are now greater than any other time

with serious national challenges still ahead compounded by a public more politically never before. it a shift in reports. it was one emotional night for him yeah i did i promised you we would win. i mean. we have won. but your prime minister may have justified his tears by the strong wind but no one would be surprised if it was caused by the joy of victory. it was hardly a shock as putin had been the elections clear front runner but eventually result of almost sixty four percent stunned even those at the helm who would never think about such a high result so it's even higher than they were predicting for ourselves and it shows once again actually proves that putin is a political figure number one of the biggest country and his potential is here is yet to be zero and told her that it's no time to party now many experts believe

putin's real challenge in fact starts now. this will be sort of a battle between the two out character of course of the state a relevant coherent development strategies for myself i've been to fry the first concept as putting the land they want russian political system to be transparent whereas russia's economy where they will get no nepotism and no corruption but on the other hand this other alternative group of precious elite as well as russian probably who i associated with the idea of putting they just need status quo they need just some ten dollars from the state they don't want any change which is their own nowhere to change manifested itself in the sudden rise of me how you pull it off in under four months the russian billionaire managed to persuade more than five million people to vote for him many say this new face in the country's politics has serious potential and rules that have already declared an intention to form an

opposition party with putin promising he would cooperate with it to symbolize the new the new russia in some dishes. other candidates. from all stylish song is clearly. they're not you know any more leaders of the younger generation and figures speak for themselves second place community leaders to gun of gauge seventeen percent in his fifth complained for presidency less than he supported had earned a parliamentary vote and experts say even this came mostly as a protest vote seen in the eyes of many this is a clear signal it's time for french politicians to make way in western countries if a party loses the election its leader is over and changed if it happens again than he's definitely changed these guys had lost three times prior to this moment a lot of those folks are still seen as being somewhat out of touch you and the russians traders in our work these guys had their chance in the one nine hundred

ninety s. to screw things up you know we still need stronger leadership and they're able to offer we need a more concrete program. putin will continue his work as prime minister for two more months the period which could become crucial and decisive for the country's long term future bloody middleton will officially return to the kremlin on may the seventh that is when his inauguration takes place until then the president elect will have to work out a strategy of holding a dialogue between those in power and those in the streets and given that some are still calling for him to step down even after such a convincing victory this may prove to be quite a task. alexi russia the r.t. reporting from moscow one of the issues this presidential campaign will be remembered for is the massive rallies that heralded a political awakening of russia's public and by all appearances they worked with transparency becoming a top government priority today however the protest movement is fizzling and

support quickly fading out easily nicholas carr looks at why. when the protestors unhappy with the results of the presidential elections took to the streets the day after the votes took place some kept the police busy. to give myself decided to outstay they wanted two hours yes no it. was ignored no i'm not going to leave the square i'm staying here until putin leaves where the tents and there were no tents but there was a fountain but you guys so chose as a makeshift stage to make his statements from and from which police removed him and several dozens of his supporters. the situation repeated itself on saturday when police pulled from an electricity transformer again after the opposition rally was officially over but the counts of the opposition leaders seem to do little to keep people coming to protest rallies they have to work out of roles of of of these if

that hysteria that irritation and aggression here continues it would have alienated the public no one here wants a revolution no one wants to fight with police the people who come to these protests really want change they don't want bloodshed or violence which is what can scare them away the results of the elections to the studio a hotly contested by many brought tens of thousands out in the streets of moscow for the day after presidential elections there are only half of that number showed up to pushkin square square and even fewer still to the demonstration on saturday they are not deliberate here three don't always hear a single protest out so it's the place of a lot of i'd rather see what i did a hundred and really goes that still don't have a vote as i recall your guidance you know here is already there some blame the lack of a coherent idea and absence of unity among the opposition leaders for the waning support that i had i think these people all have a different agenda some don't even know why the here if i was strong i want to see

different in japan. candidates that i could choose from but i don't think we can really reach any goals by protests like me even some of the most borders of the movement for parallel actions see solid foundations are necessary to carry on with the movement. from sort of regulation and structure is needed some sort of goals an understanding of what happens next which could be easily understood by people who are also necessary. to protest movement which began as a call for free and fair elections in russia following the vote for the state duma seems to have turned into a haphazard series of gatherings they have achieved success in that bringing people . to the streets. trying to attract more attention to their slogans. we are now witnessing that their slogans need to be changed there is a need for a new agents are in fact the rallies seem to have only one slogan out with putin

but what to do if he leaves no one seems to know in moscow in a girls' school art. the russian government rattled by public protests what a long way in making sure these elections were as transparent as possible but with transparency came unexpected insights from moonwalking to the ballot box to weddings and this goes a polling station all part of the electoral reality show captured by two hundred thousand webcams watched that next hour here on r.t. . debate on how to stop the syrian crisis is being tending towards diplomacy russia and the arab league of come up with a joint plan rooting out foreign meddling and calling on both the government and the opposition to lay down arms that's as the u.n. arab envoy is in syria promoting an all inclusive dialogue and as that is where if additional reports there are those still trying to hinder the efforts. after

several recent differences between western and arab views and those of russia and china on how the long running syrian conflict should be handled we're now seeing some consensus speaking after the meeting with his arab counterparts russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has said they haven't out a common plan but sends a clear message to all the sides being involved in this crisis. we've agreed a joint position of five main points first to stop violence wherever it comes from second to create an impartial and independent monitoring system third no external interference which forces the unrestricted deliberate humanitarian aid to the syrians and finally the firm support of clear mission to start political dialogue between the government and all of those issues that you've seen here because it's a new group the joint u. and arab league envoy is currently on a peace mission here in damascus both their sources and within the country opposition welcomed the initiative but the efforts were dismissed even before kofi annan is a rival to syria by another opposition group based outside the country the syrian

national council recognized by many countries by e.u. as the legitimate representative of the syrian people seeking for democratic change is firmly rejected talks to hold one more question on these you question these calls were followed by suggestions by qatar to deploy foreign troops to syria but there is a feeling here on the grounds of the growing international interference in the country's conflicts is paving the way for an even bigger crisis as the syrian conflict stretches down to time it has also spread geographically i case of the uprising belt half of the country's borders what's happening in syria is progress and rages and what you've seen is the international community mobilize against the assad regime strategic analyst dr somebody who says one thing is clear though that mobilization has many more than officially stated. during the operation in baba amr the syrian army. wrested fighters from gulf countries and afghanistan iraq

libya and some european states their work was coordinated by qatari and saudi intelligence officers as well as cia and mossad it's also seized israeli weapons especially in take missiles in israeli drones while the u.s. and many other countries have admitted al qaeda linked extremists groups fighting alongside beyond authorization in syria dr salim says some countries are using those groups to further their own interests. to get local players involved in order to hide their involvement this is why we hear mostly arabs like saudi arabia and qatar or iraq and these countries don't have democracy at home of course they cannot ask for establishing in syria they have another agenda. there are books and written sources where this plan is described in detail decades ago and had a coach never blogger and freelance journalist has been investigating foreign involvement in serious crisis since last year she says this is

a story with three main chapters often smuggled across the border overseas contractors and foreign cash. when you see a lot of money in syria then you will i believe that this is comparable to what happened in the civil war. there were plenty of money then you will find that they're going to talk about hundreds of dollars or something nobody would kill him so. now what you will see now this is a big. city with more and more reports on international involvement and calls to the opposition getting louder even for those at the grassroots for the uprising the initial euphoria is turning bitter. i can say we regret what we did but we don't want things to go back for a return so much militarized globalized and violent we never wanted and don't

want intervention now but fears are after as he says that it could be too late to stop this all too far into claims of conflict while the conflict between us and bashar al assad and his opponents here in syria about to enter its second year another conflict is also in full swing between those calling on tallow and political settlement as the way out and those who insist on military solution and the let's turn it into a fight almost as important as the one claiming blood on the streets written or shot see damascus syria. to talk more on the situation in syria i'm joined live now by u.s. and he war activists and journalists. well now the arab the it seems to be seeing eye to eye with russia on how to deal with the syrian crisis do you see that five point plan becoming a basis for peace in the country well it's a reasonable one if that's the question is basically will be armed insurgent group agree to lay down their arms which is

a key component you know the five point plan includes rationally and sanely demand that all sides lay down their arms and start talking they won't lay down their arms they want a sad is in power we have stalemate carol do you think kofi annan will be at a final solution well i mean the biggest problem is the fact that there's no perception or fact of any prevailing international law you have sitting in paris the head of these syrian national you know the s. and c. and you know he's the head of an orange terrorist group opening and operating openly in paris now if this were the head of al qaida after the attacks in new york for example there wouldn't be a place on the planet where the united states wouldn't have the entire united nations marching in and courting them off the court or killing him and dumping him at sea so there's no environment for normal legal and political machinery to work any way and obviously this group could not operate in syria with impunity without

the backing of the united states and the you know the arab league countries well qatar and saudi arabia they fell to criticize moscow's then saying that a cease fire is not enough and accusing it of giving us out a free rein to continue to kill civilians in syria is that a fair criticism well because you are in saudi arabia both know about killing innocent citizens they've been doing it for their entire existence and they're doing it in bahrain now i don't think they're in any position to discuss what you can basically a rational has dropped the ball that russia has a clue. in this culture stopping another would be a from coming into existence and leaving the basis for democratic change in syria and what about the role of them saying that it would be a good idea to supply weapons to the syrian rebels say and some would say of course that's privately happening already but if they did it officially not would worsen the situation well it's happening for in fact whether it's so official or unofficial but the idea that the army terrorist group is a construct that is

a perversion of logic and a perversion of law. and what if the mission is for regime change and that was to be achieved what would be the consequences of a sad fording a many would say far worse than if he should stay in power and is there a chance perhaps that he could stay on and. could stay on in power if the syrian people want that he could be removed from power if the syrian people want that if it's on their own terms and under their own structures and under their own law and the possibility of that exists the referendum allowed for a change including removing the leading role of the pa you know the boss party as you know the similar situation that was in iraq and even similar situation that was in the soviet union they they have already voted on a constitution that changes that condition which means that assad's party is not guaranteed dominance over the government and people turned out in the midst of a terrorist campaign to vote in numbers that rival the us presidential election in

two thousand and eight therms of a percentage of turnout and they overwhelmingly adopted the constitution so here at the will of the syrian people's clear and there's a way for regime change that's a new keyboard with their wishes let's quickly talk about media coverage finally major news channel's under fire for their way that covering the syrian war with al-jazeera seeing some of its employees resigning of its editorial policy i know that you have actually worked with al-jazeera i'd like to know from your experience why you think that is happening well first of all that's been ongoing since last april when you know of two thousand and eleven there senior people from the you know the head of the church of the bureau in beirut with many other people quit because of the biased coverage and and out right into the government and dictating editorial policy over libya and now syria so that's been going on there i work with a radio network here in the united states called pacifica radio which is wise repeatedly a progressive radio network and they had

a change of management two thousand and nine and at the time that this change took place in the world what it will change has taken place i covered it hasn't. journalist for the listeners as i felt i should and i was purged and shortly after that they replaced most of the war we produced news in the united states with al-jazeera and held it out to this audience of a progressive radio network as progressive news which is well. thanks very much and if your thoughts about joining me live that in the usa thank you to libya now who's in trim rule is a struggling to keep the country together after a group of tribal and militia leaders declared a partial ptolemy for an oil rich region in the east now the head of the national transitional council was quick to blame remnants of the gadhafi regime for the breakup stuff. also said that the country's integrity would be defended by any means including the u.s. if needed to treat you could use well the only as you keep it says the current

leadership is simply unable to really like all the various factions in. doesn't look like they're going to be able to form any type of provisional government inside of libya they have a luncheon scheduled to take place later on this year but when we have this type of regionalism that's going inside of the country it's going to be very difficult for them to do so these various rebel bands that are running the country have still not been brought under the control of the n t c in tripoli they've attempted to disarm the militia groups this has not been successful then of course we have the whole problem of the militias that are operating around benghazi of course the other militias that are operating in tripoli and of course in the south in the southwest there are other groups are they tend to be more allied with the former regime of moammar gadhafi so it really doesn't look like they're going to be able to form a government of national unity unless of course the only benefit of the western

powers because libya has the largest known or wizards only after the current now. still coming up for you. emotional japan one year on the country stands united in seoul and it's remembered the thousands of lives taken by the earthquake and tsunami last march. to start a coffee but first a u.s. soldier has been detained after going on a shooting rampage in southern afghanistan killing sixteen civilians including nine children it's thought he opened fire inside local homes in the middle of the night and nato is investigating the incident which comes after mass protests last month over the inadvertent burning of copies of the koran at a u.s. military base because the german from the stop the war coalition believes this is massively damaging for america's entire campaign in the country the americans will try to say this is just an isolated incident but we have to remember that there are a hundred thousand occupying troops there are many many demonstrations over the

pearly of the koran that isn't just about the offense to islam it's also about the occupation itself the airstrikes and particularly in this case we know that every night in afghanistan up to forty hours it's a raided looking for alleged terrorists in the country now if this soldier is one of the many who have been involved in these raids and it does raise many many questions as to exactly how the americans are treating the occupied population the afghan people. israel's carried out several airstrikes on gaza killing seventeen people over three days it's the worst violence the region seen in more than a year the first attack came despite an informal truce between the sides targeted a high ranking palestinian resistance leader and sparked a fierce exchange of fire. air is watching developments. the situation here on the ground continues to escalate as israeli forces and palestinian militants continue

in exchanges of fire for the third straight day today sunday now the latest figures we have put the palestinian death toll at seventeen most of them are members of islamic jihad overnight a twelve year old palestinian boy was killed in the jabalya refugee camp by any israeli airstrike cairo is reportedly mediating or at least trying to mediate there is a hamas indication in egypt and the interruption ambassador to the palestinian authority has put the blame firmly on the shoulders of the israelis saying that they are to blame for breaking this tacit ceasefire that has been in place between israel and gaza at the same time the arab league has been meeting in cairo and they've also called israeli airstrikes and message now tomorrow monday in the middle east quartet is meeting to look at these stored between israelis and palestinians that meeting comes ahead of a special session of the united nations security council that will be addressing

the arab spring uprisings. perms marking your years since a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated the country leaving more than twenty thousand dead or missing people go to large at the exact moment the quake struck last march to grieve in silence. a nine point zero magnitude quake which literally shifted the sexes the whole northeast of the country in ruins displacing hundreds of thousands of people the tsunami triggered also not cooling systems at the fukushima plant triggering the worst nuclear crisis in decades but old cumbersome energy advisor at fairwinds associates believes many details about the meltdown remain undisclosed t.v. contamination spreading well beyond them and. i think the government has been slow to disclose facts ever since the accident occurred there's clearly the

cleanup is going to cost around a half a trillion dollars u.s. and that's not just for the side but for the pretty picture of who she may as well but the contamination goes well beyond the prefecture to pick it up in tokyo and two hundred fifty kilometers away the entire north of the country as a public health hazard here because everyone is exposed to a radioactive cesium radioactive strides and other isotopes. this week saw a long awaited agreement between iran and several world powers to restart talks on the islamic states nuclear program to run one such negotiations would fail if the west keeps crippling its economy with sanctions during a meeting with the israeli prime minister barak obama called for any possible attack to be held back to give diplomacy more time anyway netanyahu indicated his country's patience with several was running out reports later emerged israel has

asked washington for high tech weapons could be used in a strike while the u.s. defense chief in turn said an american attack on iran would be far more effective these are malarkey from the national iranian american council says it's crucial for regional stability that israel's warlike cries are not. after three decades of war the no communication between iran and the united states there's no question that it's going to be a very challenging path that both 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 our 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 they have done a very good job of trying to take actions that would lessen the possibility of the promise of 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. it's been a week of sharp ups and downs for the greek economy athens managed to top private creditors and so accepting a crucial but swap deal that's considered the biggest debt write down in history the agreement seemed to loosen the noose around athens neck by reducing the debt burden by more than one hundred billion euros e.u. leaders praised the deal to the skies claiming a solution to the crisis. just hours later the euro crap suffered a major slap in the face by the credit rating agencies that moody's and fitch declared greece in different markets but the trend by showing no signs of optimism . associate professor from state university is resolute in his assessment which is different. this is it before i'm going whatever you settle with your creditor for less than what you. have agreed to do it and you do it i don't care how systematic it is or how complicated these debt swaps are we are dealing with

a real live before everybody knows that just because he claims that it isn't a deep fault means absolutely nothing beats a politician i don't believe the european leaders are trying to put a political spin on this but what you have been the end is in fact the taking of assets that are worthless and you have a suffered by ten of these assets mean something that these assets really are valuable when in fact they're not and then they try to monetize the whole thing and then pretend as though they solved the problem and solve nothing they've actually made it worse because they won't admit what is going on. twenty and a half minutes past the hour now in the russian capital stories for you just a few minutes from the fact i'm in a huff now stay with us.