u.s. teams up with arab allies to pressure the syrian government into submission despite ongoing u.s. efforts to mediate a diplomatic peace. washington puts the squeeze on syria's main ally iran pledging to sanction countries that don't reduce imports of oil from the islamic state. the living the past thirty business the only remaining soviet forced labor camp the gulag and here is the howard accountable for inmates.

eleven am in moscow i'm address i could have you with us here on r t our top story the syrian opposition is rallying in a bid to convince international allies that it is a unified force rebels expect more backing from a u.s. led group of nations on sunday when the so-called friends of syria convene for a second summit the group aims to put more pressure on damascus while lending a helping hand to president assad's opponents head of the conference u.s. secretary of state clinton is in saudi arabia meeting washington's key regional allies the saudis and qatar have been leading calls to start arming syria's rebels and even weigh in with military force political analyst chris bambery from the international socialist group thinks the u.s. is reluctant to get involved directly but will endorse action through proxies. the saudis of very keen to overthrew a regime as soon as possible and want to increase the arms which of. the syrian rebel. the free syrian army except the americans are slightly weary not

because the skins overthrew the assad regime was a from their only experience they know the providing weapons probably also means involve providing weapons instructors and so on to involvement in a conflict which we see easy solution to the west has almost over would the saudi humanitarian agenda the question of civil rights inside saudi arabia what it's doing to its own people and what is done for the people of yemen bahrain and other countries around it because business is good with saudi arabia they are two things in the way they use that when they don't like a regime they will use the human rights cards when you wake a regime because the silence over the question of human rights as they have done with the saudi arabian regime and indeed. we don't hear any condemnation from hillary clinton or david cameron or some saudis enjoy the trappings of wealth and privilege the majority of the people struggle with delia oppression while ignoring issues in their home when there are about oil magnates remain committed to

exporting regime change to me countries are these are sort of oracle has will. become an issue in the least painful it's a very fresh in greece and it's breezy. it's a place where heads currents in minutes currents don't come into conflict even when . the reputation is the most liberal arab society lebanon is only becoming a refuge for the citizens of the region small country thousands of saudis come to be rich every month and what some call if an implication i was born here say i suffered a lot there because it's it's too too too limited i have to cover my fees my eyes my whole body what i'm hearing being over here please look at me it is here where many saudi women get a chance to walk the streets all by themselves and saudi man can enjoy themselves in gambling in beirut's many casinos. something that would be absolutely off limits

at home saudi arabia is the most conservative country in the world where women are still banned from driving and need permission from them male guardian be it a father a husband or son to simply get a job the royal family that's been keeping these rules in place and says they're part of saudi heritage and therefore should be respected but while prescribing this restrictive lifestyle for its citizens some members of saudi elite don't seem to think these rules apply to themselves. when it comes to cutting lose or brought some of the saudi establishment don't exactly present a picture of really just quietly. princes have been seen reigning hundreds of thousands of dollars and women in nightclubs ready cash for their sides with. the excesses of this life few and restrictions for everybody else has not gone unnoticed feeling public is can turn that over the past year has been repeatedly

met with life around. who are protesters have been killed in riyadh base year alone up to fifty arrested. in march the country's religious council issued a fatwa that equated demonstrations to a scene punishable by death once you have a demonstration and so the plea that demonstration would be repressed harshly we have heard and seen many reports by independent reporters and human rights organizations verifying the. demonstrations and so they are simply illegal yet despite harsh treatment of its own protesters saudi arabia has been very supportive of people elsewhere. was among the first to push for international intervention in libya while in syria is believed to be the main financier of the rebels. not more. expects the main the because of

the russian russian and chinese vetoes of the un. i think they decided to be measured. by announcing you don't publicly. thank you arms that it was in syria. only it's russia tactics at home and abroad his fate is never scolded by the us see we had in washington that currently negotiating ethics three billion dollars deal up against american weapons brothers in arms conveniently we're still knocking each other let's keep terrorists. aren't see beirut lebanon so i had a sour tightening their belts spain this is the biggest austerity cuts in more than three decades after a nationwide strike against reforms. but first is the us seeks new ways to undermine syria's government is putting more and sanctions on damascus closest ally iran president obama has given the all clear to the toughest measures yet against

the islamic states or oil industry washington will take unity of steps against any country there refuses to reduce imports of fuel from iran restrictions coming to forcibly it's all designed to put pressure on terror on to give up its controversial nuclear program the white house claims there's enough oil sources in the world to keep the market from collapsing without iran share u.s. space researcher and writer soraya such a poor ole rick things america maybe shooting itself in the foot. i really don't think america has france its license think it has allies manages to intimidate and bully other countries into doing it's beginning and extraordinary thing is that america is imposing these sanctions is actually it is the national interest now not only are the american companies not allowed to trade with iran america's other well how is what i heard nations you can't get either so i don't know why any nation

like you can or turkey would think for a moment that they're sorry when america dictates the rules i honestly don't believe this iran would ever abandon its civilian nuclear program for one thing he does. all right this is not a fact that unites you mine is all social economics classes behind the government act so the government being a rational government will the some don't like to hear this would never give up something that you nice people or rallies the people behind. heroes and protests ministers have agreed to boost the e.u.'s rescue fund eight hundred billion euros to help countries like spain recover from their crippling debt worlds spain's financial crisis prompted the government to announce its biggest austerity measures in more than three decades become trees vowed to cut twenty seven billion euros from this year's budget is after tens of thousands of protesters it was transposed a to fight against labor reforms with trade turned violent though in barcelona where demonstrators smashed windows and set fire to trash bins the country

struggles to rise out of it's a get whole economic analyst make it right on ross so spain will never be able to implement in cuts. what i consider is the what has been one to make the spanish government is not only because it is pill it's also impossible when you look at the private sector private sector is totally over get more or less bankrupt when you. at the banks over the bank about central bank bank from a government also known as bankrupt how can you be implemented as to where to pick which in these circumstances so everybody will see this rule this won't work and what i what i see is that spain is the last nail in the euro zone coffin so i mean we have to cause abilities why the euro will be obviously not working well the first is that we will have kind of the mess to clean selection in spain itself so

they have to go through in order to come the people all the other one is the financial aspect that it is not possible to have spain with five hundred seven hundred eighty euros in order to refinance themselves so if this if you come to this point and then i think the germany will pull out of the euro. stay with us here on r.t. still ahead this hour homeless in hollywood. i think america's run around playing kathleen hall where they haven't cleaned up their own backyard right here on skid row you know if you've got the largest mall most popular in america right. you know where to go the city of angels homeless community is growing while the government may be turning a blind eye more on that in a few minutes. but first political prisoners a term associated with a dark chapter of soviet history when millions were locked up in forced labor camps known as gulags in a bid to make sure the horrors of the past are forgotten russia has converted one of the remaining gulags into

a museum or he peer over visited and spoke with one of the former inmates. hidden away in the ural mountains hundreds of kilometers from the nearest city is perm thirty six where the soviet government sent its dissidents now though it's a museum dedicated to making sure that part of twentieth century history is never forgotten. people wanted to understand the causes of those reprisals name all the victims and pass the knowledge of what happened here on to future generations. so you video of was an inmate at the perm camp in one thousand nine hundred eighty four he was sentenced to seven years for agitation and anti soviet propaganda now in his eighty's he still remembers life on the inside. the actual deprivation of freedom was very significant in doing but there are things that made up for it you had the freedom which didn't exist beyond that fence the freedom to actually say anything you wanted without fear what else could they do to you you were in prison

already today is a human rights activist occasionally he goes back to where he was imprisoned to talk to students and other groups about life behind bars in the soviet union. in a punishment cell you had to stay without warm underwear and bedding it was usually very cold which was serious we had to sleep on barren planks with no pillock. museum a current thirty six allows businesses to come face to face with the realities of repression with much of the original structures still intact it gives historians a glimpse into a harsh life not found anywhere else that's extraordinary because it's. now ever turned thirty six is not the only place that the repressions of the soviet era remembered today monuments like this one in moscow which contains a rock taken from one of the very first camps serve as

a reminder of all of those who were held as political prisoners in the u.s.s.r. those who campaigned for human rights in our world now will see that by keeping the past in focus history's mistakes will be repeated. whenever we remember our past we keep bringing up the main theme of rights and freedom our past can be described as one big violation of human rights it was a symbol of lawlessness and the lack of freedom if we forget our past we will be unable to build any decent future. peter. so dumb is our football fever heading east ukrainian landlords getting ready to score a big is years of wealth to millions of euro football plus. what's going to be the current be it money if there's no more dollars or euros or anything what are we going to be changing probably beans you take to the streets of new york to hear

opinions on how the euro crisis has hit the dollar. turning first to some other stories making headlines across the globe in mali touré gravels in the north of the country of tractor the strategic town of the dollar is so weak after the country's military coup to overturn the president and grab power the army says they took control so they could fight off the sahara based rebel threat leader captain amadou sanogo has asked for foreign help to tackle the insurgents the rebels in libya for the gadhafi regime before returning better armed to their homework. eleven have been killed and several others injured during four days of unrest in pakistan the violence was first triggered wednesday after a politician was killed in karate in the days that followed at least ten were shot dead prompting young people to take to the streets in protest police and military forces have been deployed to prevent further violence. chinese police have arrested six after online web postings ledger rumors that

a coup could be in the works is after several web post clean military vehicles were seen on the streets of the capital beijing the chinese government said rumors had a negative influence on the public and sixteen sites were shut down for carrying the reports of scandal comes at a critical time for the country's ruling elite after the removal of office of communist party chief oh she live. with the u.s. soldier accused of killing seventeen afghan civilians under investigation washington is still trying to mend its relationship with kabul the massacre along with the recent burning of the qur'an and a u.s. airbase means afghan leaders have a tough time buying the apologies are his military contributor says washington needs to revise its were approached monster outages fill a two story pull from going into afghanistan might probably be remembered as run of the no most unfortunate and least successful treat ever conducted by the pentagon chief to afghanistan a major political blunder even before he boarded he spleen after the koran burning

he also rises the u.s. commander in afghanistan to use a straw poll and american advisers from they have given institutions both military and civilian so why small wonder if you left kabul two lemons from cars we theists ultimatum to corral all u.s. ground forces into their forward operating bases and effectively and no invoice any nitrates a gains he's taliban brothers and second from the taliban when they announce they're postponing the negotiations with their american partners regarding their reconciliation the next time plan to deal jump aboard the plane you'd better make sure that he's boned to islamabad and not to kabul if he really means business. a little more than two months hero for around the

world will flood ukraine and poland for the euro two thousand and twelve championships with more than a million expected to descend on here along preparations for a comedy or near completion was artie's like sarah jessica reports those coming for the beautiful game could be and for an ugly surprise. well those that are the euro dreams you are full of bull championship has not even begun in ukraine but this ski of pensioner is already in high spirits. come out of the leaves this summer storm and it's her last real chance to earn some money. i bench and are next to nothing our days are numbered and we went to see them off in style and earn a little money that's why i will let a room or a flat for golf fans will start at fifty dollars a night depending on who stays here but the price could go higher. so if you design and lack of necessary amenities like air conditioning but the matter is being

fairly reasonable about the price she would charge for it but the greed of many other private landlords could prove costly for ukraine if you prefer to travel in comfort like renting this morally designed and fully equipped flat be prepared to pay a fortune because this is an elite apartment in central kiev and it's priced in between five and ten thousand dollars a month but who raise prices at least three fold for the euro two thousand and twelve period. which makes it at least four hundred euros a night and this is not a record breaker some hostels which had previously cost thirty euros are now available at fifteen times the price and what it all for is can hardly be described as five star this england fan has already bought plane and match tickets but now he's worried his trip may be jeopardized i don't see the doing anything different to what any real the host countries did in the past. accommodation proces do road

travel proces do. it's just the luck of a viable accommodation very expensive most of them university dormitories sure you can stop in a tent for a reasonable just a hotel but america's top places i think we're going to get up salute strong skyrocketing prices urged to eat food to sandor stern warning to ukraine's government which promised to take action. hotels have a risk of ending up half empty we'll have more of their owners to lower the prices with so many low cost airlines be able to bring fans for games in a day out of ukraine and might as well decide against paying here just coming for one day. accommodation prices usually hit the ceiling ahead of a big event and london will not be an exception during this summer's olympics but in the case of ukraine the gap between the price and the quality is vast and there's a great risk private landlords could and got profitless ukraine has already spent fourteen billion euros into the euro twenty twelve project and is expected to earn

only half a billion the private sector will rake in just as much that's unless the fans would not be scared away by the high prices let's hear assess the r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. it's been more than two years since the first cracks in the euro blocks started to appear with greece and bailing a series of austerity cuts a single currency has taken a hit from the euro crisis how that's having an effect on the dollar we take a look at the streets of the big apple the hear the views on the declining dollar. what it means for the rest of the world. the value of the u.s. dollar is on the decline what does that mean this week let's talk about that do you think a dollars decline means the u.s. is losing its status as the world power yeah i think that it's reasonable to assume my husband doesn't go. why don't you think that because it will make you more

competitive in. other we're all going no we're all going to i mean every country every country the end of the world time in a new world you know the mayans might be right december twenty first so what's going to be the currency it would mind if yeah if there's no more dollars or euros or anything what are we going to be trading probably beans we're losing jobs to china and. you know we're we're not people who are working for you so would you be willing to stave money in chinese yuan if it keeps going the same way absolutely i think we're very dependent on the dollar as the international trade depending on the dollar do you think of going to change to something like the chinese yuan or the euro any time soon a little bit out of the euro the euro is really showing off his weaknesses charm why do we all just take it for granted that the dollar is the. currency that we base the world economy a more stable economy. or japan or any of the other countries.

it's not transparent enough for me do you think that it's time to start consider using or saving other currencies like he was under the euro. personally no but why do you think americans only think in terms of dollars when the rest of the world thinks in terms of other currencies well i think the whole kind of not just currencies it's news it's everything everything is too many people in the us are just to us centered focus. in terms of their outlook on the world well part of it is is a function of geography so america basically are to get by in the large portion of north america with canada and mexico being the only neighboring nations there would has been much need for us to be able to be fluent whether in languages or currencies for that matter do you think that stunted our growth of people oh yeah i think it can lead to some cultural isolation whether or not you care the u.s.

dollar is on the decline the bottom line is you might want to start paying attention to what other currencies are failing. i mean however is it always available to the least fortunate national coalition for the homeless is ranked los angeles as the meanest city in the u.s. when it comes to dealing with its poverty stricken population while the government offers little help for the areas down and out many are left with little hope for a better future are things with you know. this city an angels and promise land of and this opportunities has become a living nightmare for some last angeles is a mirage. people believe that they're coming to see hollywood all the stars are here. the beautiful and. the girls with the well come take a look at skid row and you can compare the third world country this treat is an

informal border between shiny downtown l.a. and. behind me in the shadow down delhi skyline stray some fifty blocks with the largest concentration of homeless people in the entire country for many it's not just a place it's a way of flying and at last resorts in the often unseen main underbelly of los angeles. the financial crisis has hit hard here record amounts of four. areas have bangs turfing people out of their properties and into the streets the safety of angels is fast becoming as says he'll homeless joshua is among them to various ago he lost his job and while his income came after upholds the bill certainly didn't well i was working as an assistant manager auto parts store and. i just kind of left ledge and i don't have anywhere

else to go i recently reported by the national coalition for the homeless of range los angeles as the meanest city in the country when it comes to dealing with the problem we're all. homeless or poor treated on it by law enforcement property in this country has been criminal logs of your poor your being. general dogan lives in the streets of skid row he says the police have worked out a solution for dealing with the homeless and arrest them for any minor infraction a strategy that some winning the importance of the business community and real estate developers their job is to. coming home as quote out of the great super committee what they want to do which is what all the poor folks so to do belive will put money into the area but the sad reality is there is only enough shelters for the time a fraction of l a's dramatic number of whom this range here says the government's

looking the other way and leaving them to rot soon because i think america's run around playing captain fable hole would have been cleaned up their own backyard right here on skid row you did you got the largest most popular in america right you have the largest. situation going all right is just israel and how this is going to get a hell of a lot worse as predicted there will be a whopping one million foreclosures and. well for now in the coming year so while joshi and so many others suffering the same plight might be praying that one day they will have a roof over their hats it seems that many others will be losing theirs. in the bush no artsy reporting from los angeles california. where it actually with a recap of our top stories stay with us.

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it was hard up for. this history still keeps it seems. to me feel that the soviet files.