a year into the syrian conflict a british newspaper of prince e-mails apparently written by president assad and his wife which revealed scores of personal information. local forces will take charge of keeping the war torn afghanistan safe next year as britain and america's leaders give a timeline of their meeting in washington. and illegal immigrants in the u.k. of fine the grass is definitely not a greener as the hunt for work and a good life leaves them penniless and in the cold.

thanks for being with us today two o'clock here in moscow on charon taraji e-mails apparently sent by syria's president assad and his wife have been published in a british newspaper a year after the conflict escalated the guardian says they were intercepted by opposition members and seemingly shine a light into the embattled leaders and our circle let's get the details from artie's a london correspondent laura smith laura what exactly is are is in these e-mails. well this is an extraordinary cache of emails and of course as you've already mentioned we have to look at where they come from they were claimed intercepted by the opposition group the super supremes council of the revolution between june last year and early february now it can't be any coincidence that they've been really being released today which of course is the first anniversary of the revolt in syria and they reveal a whole range of of sort of. occupation all matters of the first syrian president

but also personal matters let's start with the more serious things that these e-mails really reveal they seem to suggest that assad has established through and communicated with through a private e-mail address a sort of network of powerful aides with whom he's communicated directly therefore bypassing his clan and also the vis syrian security operates that's one thing he also has we've seen promised a series of reforms in order to put down these rebellions to assuage the anger of the people but in this set of e-mails he makes light of those reforms he talks about the rubbish north of parties elections and media we do know obviously that assad has promised an election which essential to take place on the seventh of may so in the light of this new information how much notice is he going to take of any election that happens we've also seen extensive correspondence between his wife and

daughter one of the daughters of the cats are see it seems advised the afghans to step aside and to leave syria and hinted that there might be refuge boredom in cats or if they chose to accept it there is also it seems a dubai based company which has a registered office here in london which is sort of a sort of conduit for a large number of the transactions that the syrian government makes and also the private purchases of us from our assoc which will come on she later we've also seen evidence that. was receiving advice from directly from iran in some cases allegedly but also from iranian proxies the advice there was that he should use powerful and violent language when he's talking about what's going on in syria that he should show an enormous amounts of a strong appreciation for what he's calling for energy states and more information on syria's military strength show that the people think that experiences come up

against any kind of military challenge they going to be able to withstand now this point to the involvement in iran and by extension of hezbollah that we have seen hinted that a lot but that iran and hezbollah have always denied any direct involvement in what's going on in syria tell me what about the british people any sort of reaction or are they really interested in these supposedly e-mails as opposed to what's really happening in the conflict. i think the day is very significant the release you know it's bound to get a lot of publicity because it's been released under the anniversary the media loves anniversaries so we're always looking for ways to talk about it in a slightly different way but the thing is that also include in these e-mails are these kind of titillating details of the relationship between between president arafat and his wife and also what they were getting up to while this conflict was raging around there is essentially british public loves details like that i'll just give you

a few it seems from this e-mail exchange which the guardian says that it has been able to verify some of but it hasn't by anyone to be able to verify all of the e-mails it says that the family was basically entirely insulated from this crisis and carried on life with it as it had been before afghans wife asmer looks to spend thousands of dollars on designer goods which she's able to do off the internet and her husband's sports links and i pads with her and. download songs from i tunes he sent one of his aides a huge blink of reenactments the whole sieved which was based on you tube using toys and biscuits in this kind of flippancy and also of course you know in the in the ok this backdrop of violence in syria processed food shortages hardships of the people asmer. has reportedly spent fifteen thousand dollars on on home decor so table chandeliers candle sticks and she's ordered one of her aides to to get her a form do you say that to the british public details like this and i as i'm sure we

all do and it just points to a sort of detachment almost always to sort of a huge hierarchy in syria where the president and his wife carry on life as normal while their country is collapsing around there is laura smith reporting from london . plans to exit afghanistan are taking shape with the british and american leaders confirming that foreign forces will have over security next year there was no strategy shift announced at their meeting in washington but a gradual move towards an advisory role before combat troops leave and twenty four team investigation is also pending into a possible assassination attempt against the u.s. defense secretary during his visit to afghanistan here's our cheese chicken. president obama was talking about pulling out responsibly within the next two years so no change of plans there the british prime minister basically echoed what the u.s. president said the two main contributors to the war in afghanistan are coordinating

a timetable for withdrawal it becomes increasingly clear that this is turning into a face saving operation for the leaders especially in the wake of the tragedy that happened over the weekend when a u.s. soldier apparently murdered sixteen innocent afghans in cold blood including women and children nonetheless prime minister cameron and president obama were talking about real progress in afghanistan but it doesn't quite look like the right time for the leaders to pat each other on the back really and celebrate success when so much speaks to the contrary insurgency in afghanistan is rampant afghans clearly want the allied forces out incidents like the latest murder of innocent civilians are used by all kinds of extremists to recruit even more people to their ranks opium poppy and harry introduction of gadgets that has increased dramatically in the last ten years of the war as far as other crucial international issues the u.s. and the u.k. have been pretty much on the same page on everything on syria both want to see regime change as prime minister cameron put it not through revolution but through

transition both leaders deem military intervention. undesirable and both say they're looking to work with russia to bring about a peaceful outcome on the rent president obama said the window for a diplomatic solution is shrinking but most experts agree a war will not solve the problems but will create a million you want. dozens of police officers equipped to a child guns and assault rifles have stormed an apartment building in miami florida they used weapons against local occupy wall street protesters who were illegally residing inside activists moved into the building last month after their e.v.a.'s and outside the city government building was shut down as marina portnoy reports there is a failure among the u.s. and its allies to practice what they preach when it comes to freedom and human rights. the u.s. and its european allies have many things in common security politics and a familiar practice called an outsiders about the rulers of democracy iranian

people have a universal right to assembly and free speech this is the precinct suppression of human rights in the democracy and this is a big step backwards democracy rule of law human rights these are our values and we believe these must be respected by the egyptian authorities in russia we've seen crackdowns on civil society groups as western leaders bragged their finger around the world. why didn't the times include all force have been used to quell public protests at home. right police handcuffs and iron fists have repeatedly been used against unarmed demonstrators in greece spain and london where thousands flood the streets to protest against austerity measures and unemployment they should focus on getting their own house in order and practice what they preach rather than nosing about you

know countries and trying to you know grandstand on an international scale rather than deal with you know they are there are very serious democratic deficit as public anger continues to be inflamed u.k. officials me fight fire with a barrage of water cannons which senior scott. in yard officials are reportedly trying to get hold of along with taser stun guns in tear gas to break up on really or unwanted crowds on the other side of the atlantic uprisings against economic inequality and corporate greed have left countless occupy wall street activists in blood temporarily blind. and behind bars the movement is currently planning to draw tens of thousands of demonstrators to the upcoming g eight and nato summit in may. but this week the u.s. military is unveiling its latest non-lethal weapon to members of the press. it felt

like opening up an oven door almost. from about my sternum to. the new active denial system can repel crowds using an invisible electromagnetic beam that delivers a blast of intense heat up to one kilometers away without a sound a smell or even a warning the weapon promises to disperse crowds and reinforce security while the military weapon isn't currently intended to be used by police critics say ray guns like water cannons could eventually be rolled out in the land of the free we are seeing an intensification of repression because people are challenging the system and challenging it in europe the challenge in the united states and it's easy for our leaders the point the finger somewhere else rather than take responsibility here in america do anything differently lecturing others our democracy and human

rights has become a branch of western foreign policy i just forced that claims to be based on the highest of standards but as we sit here i show and it's a lot easier to scold others when everything is quite. nice protesters it. or injured students in europe might suggest that they. readers do a homework before attempting to be a teacher of democracy. artsy new york. and still to come in the program we've got some handcrafted hardware for you. this. it's so much more than just a simple tool but it's the thing you meet the man who marvel at metalwork travel to the russian region where minerals are hot stuff. the u.s. is reportedly a threatening india with penalties if it doesn't comply with washington sanctions

against iran and dia as one of the biggest consumers of iranian oil and american officials are quoted as saying they are worried that india may sidestep payment restrictions archies prius trader is in new delhi for us now priya tell me is are these threats of penalties by the u.s. something that india should be worried about. well it's something that's definitely on the minds of many people here in india this is making major headlines obviously this all has to do with president obama's december thirty first announcement that he wants to penalize iran over its nuclear program which the united states has continued to insist is a violent nuclear program but iran maintains that it's enriching uranium for peaceful purposes now the united states has said that it's not going to buy any more oil from iran and it's actually trying to pressure other countries to do that as well including india indian officials have continued to say that they will buy

oil from iran and this is actually a major deal because india is actually the third biggest customer of iranian oil obviously iran is the second biggest producer of oil in the world and many analysts here in asia are actually saying but if china and india both continue to buy oil from iran it's simply a won't work and today actually we're hearing reports from india's foreign minister that saying hey you know we do actually usually follow u.n. sanctions but that doesn't mean that we're bound to them we don't have to follow them another point that many indian officials are pointing out is that the u.s. law doesn't actually stop if i was pushed signage a nation must reduce. it must reduce buying oil from iran so actually there have been reports from the international energy association that are saying that india has actually bought more oil from iran in january so now president obama is

saying that there are reports they're saying that he could impose penalties on india as early as june twenty eighth india has actually looked into other methods of buying a ronnie an oil and going around using it. perhaps do you think gold as one of the options and so the united states is saying that it could stop india's access to the american banking system if they continue to try to buy oil or what about the u.s. do they have any alternatives for india. that's a great point the united states is actually trying to pressure india to start you thing a loyal. iraq which obviously our two major allies to washington has an interest in india buy oil from those countries instead washington has been extremely angry with india for continuing to gather loyal from iran because

obviously the united states and india are their key chicken allies in something your state department officials have that this is actually a slap in the face to washington i'm it's also important to note that there are fifteen or oil and natural gas licenses to western companies in a rock and ever since the u.s. led invasion in iraq in two thousand and three there have been more and more a western oil companies in that country so the united states is going to continue everyone expects to pressure india into using those countries as alternative energy suppliers but everyone's going to continue to watch and feel what happens in india has many maintain that it's going to continue using iranian oil artie's priya shrader talking to us from new delhi thank you priya. the search

for a better life is the draw for thousands of illegal immigrants who arrived in the u.k. but many are left subjected to more degrading poverty than they left behind and as i've heard bennett reports for some the promise land is now a point of no return. it looks like nothing more than a dumping ground a squalor plain to see harder to spot other signs of life this is what forty illegal immigrants call home under a motorway bridge in london's outskirts penniless and without sanitation the place is infested with drugs disease and destitution many risk their entire family's fortune to get here dreaming of the riches that await instead they found a nightmare they cover they are looking for a better life they've been told in fact they did so the fact that if you come to the u.k. . it's like the streets are going to be paved with gold this man paid traffickers

in india over fifteen thousand dollars to snuggle him to britain in the back of a lorry like most he destroyed his passport when he got here to make people taste and more difficult but it means he now can't escape even though he wants to he was promised he'd find plenty of work and money and accommodation but he's now trapped in poverty worse than he left behind oh i have no job and i think the law. and all it where do you sleep. i don't sleep or have a look at all it's been in the in. with no official identity men right lack finned a stuck in a bureaucratic no man's land britain won't deport them unless they can prove who they are and where they came from each case has to be dealt with individually and some can be complex with many not having travel documents or not wishing to comply

with the documentation process in the cases of indian nationals we continue to work with the high commission to speed up the time it takes to return them to their home country. nearly thirteen thousand illegal immigrants left the u.k. voluntarily last year a cold drew pulling in numbers over just six years such is the desperation to leave this car park used to be a busy pickup spot for manual labor but now there's nothing this is where the men waits looking for work they're here every morning hoping to be picked up and paid for a day's labor day though like most days they wait isn't this for the downturn was earning up to three hundred pounds a week now he's lucky to get fifteen pounds a day doing jobs you never thought he'd stoop to although go into all thinking about doing learned you know. running through much money but they don't

know what happened here it was the real life realities. as we didn't you know do we go. from a good family the men are expected to send money back to their families in india no wonder most were reluctant to appear on camera i've been it r t london you can find more stories and analysis on our website at r.t. dot com here's what's being covered for you on line. something to cheer the occupy wall street protesters tom goldman sachs executive quits and discuss calling the bank heartless toxic and destructive. and let the st patrick's day party begin moscow launches a week of irish entertainment and. then move on to some more world news for now. a fragile truce between israel and palestinian militants has been shaken by

more exchange of fire as really armed forces said a rocket was fired into southern israel and the responded with an airstrike on gaza now casualties are being reported by either side at least twenty six palestinians happened killed in the worst of violence in a year which was sparked by israel killing a palestinian militant. family and friends have paid tribute to the victims of a bus crash in switzerland that killed twenty eight people most of them children a coach was packed with students while returning from a belgium while returning rather to belgian belgium from a skiing trip when it crashed in the tunnel near the italian border police have ruled out speeding as the calls and are now looking into whether the driver suffered a heart attack. thousands of illegal gold miners have battled police for control of the regional capital and through at least three people were killed by gunfire and more than thirty others injured miners trying to seize public buildings including

the local airport these men are resisting government efforts to regulate small scale gold extraction which officials say is destroying the rainforest. some adventurous exploration next as we take you to another corner of the largest country in the world in russia close up. today we travel more than fifteen hundred kilometers east of moscow to the city of katherine work it's a quarter of the year also better vibes in europe and asia and it's those mineral rich mountains that make her region are both in that i wanted. for many wild horses and it's more than a profession it's a passion as town partner discovered. russia's ural mountains have a long history when it comes to nettles and mining for centuries they provided the rule materials but allowed russian industry to grow and now they're trying to adapt

and the steel mills in industries around the mining are trying to adapt to modern conditions and the modern steel industry is those things that i've examined in our courts. and metal and surroundings of blacksmiths for thousands of years and of alexander lucic cough and his fortune russia's mountainous euro region for the past thirty he's now as much a part of this world as the hummers and tongs fancy ironwork and fence posts but he still remembers the very first thing it made of this spoon. it's so much more than just a simple symbol of his the thing i hold dearest. and this. witness alexander is content hammering one piece at a time the urals also contained smoltz an operations on a truly industrial scale this plant turns thousands of tons of molten steel into

thousands of kilometers of oil and gas piping this isn't about craft and skill anymore say engineers here it's about science and needs detailed education. technical specialists here need computer and math skills to work these increasingly complex machines so we have to train them up here these past two years of a direct descendants the first four which is your rolls dating back to the eighteenth century of metal working in all. it's full of still widespread legion the fantasies here who are out three thousand tonnes of molten steel a day it's one of the around a dozen such fun scatter the frost the euros but the steel you have to get up to one thousand six hundred degrees to get to gloat like this not with old bottles gold the stuff that's made while it's fact of the ice cream since time immemorial these men smelt it into its iconic gold bullion form but they say to them it's just

another metal. here through the woods and you know if you think too much about the price you can put out a decent product we don't actually value would cost highly it's a huge responsibility because since. gold smoking is about the most carefully humble natural prey should raise. not to knock on xander of course and his enduring passion for his age old dogs a caution he ses is just present in all much work as to how nonchalant his cold strokes in contemporary history seem. he's lived through a slightly more of course they feel something working with all of the wonderful nettles there just not a video of himself it is we were in your whether in a small force or a vast complex metalworkers here are following in the footsteps of many pioneers in the trade and at least according to mother xander they all share the spirit of this

business. tomas and honestly. it's time now to get the latest business update from this hospital so russia may not be able to use the full capacity of the north strain that's latest routine europe. that's absolutely right the e.u. regulators essentially say that the pipelines that were linked north stream to the european a gas pipeline infrastructure have to reserve a piece of their capacity for independent suppliers now it's. still unclear who those suppliers might be but analysts we spoke to say they don't know of any potential interested parties the decision is likely a reaction to charging a high price cords of gas delivered to europe but russia says it's the moral price that serves as the basis for its gas price formula now speaking of the price of oil it's very choppy trade for crude today and it's higher this hour as you can see there are several factors driving the price higher first iran's oil production is

the lowest level in about ten years as sanctions against the country's nuclear program essentially punish the industry that's already been suffering from years and years of underinvestment that's according to the financial times now data released on wednesday shows that u.s. crude stockpiles actually rules last week and that's putting a lid on the price of oil we'll see how the situation develops throughout the day we'll keep you posted now moving on to european equities and they are in the black this hour and that's after a foot sea was losing value most of the morning trade the reason is fitch essentially is the u.k.'s outlook to negative saying that the country has a fifty percent chance of losing its top notch aaa rating now on to currencies. the euro is pretty much flat to the dollar wall the russian ruble is losing value

to the dollar and it's pretty much flogged to the european currency and now onto the russian equity markets and they are losing value but not by as much as earlier today they've balanced back somewhat their bank is losing ground though after it said it may sell up to eighty percent of its shares to the public starting in april and now off to vaas is extending its winning streak after its shareholder reno nissan said it will boost its share to controlling one and all major draws near after its also game and that's all we have time for in this edition of business i'll be back in fifteen minutes see them. cool. and.

cool. this respectable british gentleman's choice was. pleased jackets and old whiskey. a much younger wife. and more than twenty years of intelligence service in profits of the soviet union. killed his choice on far to. come. come. the limited. food supply.