syria says it tends to topple the assad regime have come to nothing as a u.s. led pro opposition group gathers in turkey to discuss ways of ending the conflict. china slams washington for moving ahead with sanctions that penalize companies that help iran to export oil export oil excuse me. and cities across the globe are plunging into darkness switching the lights off for earth hour moscow also joined in on the event.

and broadcasting live direct from our studios here in moscow this is r t glad to have with us. in syria claim that attempts to overthrow the assad government have failed damascus however valid to keep troops in major cities at least until security can be guaranteed this comes as the opposition looks to the friends of syria meeting in istanbul for support the u.s. led group consisting of seventy representatives from western and arab nations has been backing the rebels and pushing for regime change but the chances of finding a unified approach among the friends is reportedly low as this court outweighs agreements on the event and as sara first reports playing host could pose difficulties for the longtime ally turkey. turkey the hub of activity at the name and says it prepares to play haste to the friends the syrian eating countries once

again found itself at the center stage of the push to pressure the regime because of these three companies to get syria store certainly feels justified. here to a certain extent the serpent. as long as while school to school having formally built up place economic ties to syria and sharing more than nine hundred kilometers of border with its neighbor the distance between the two countries is now a gulf with turkey's stance seemingly closely aligned to that of arab countries such as guitar and saudi arabia and their strong calls for regime change. very early in the case of syria we might remember. your government. very quickly and very confrontational. and. begged him. to struggle against him and i went in one of. the syrian national

council themselves at battling their own face divides that they could lost a number of members recently as accusations mount that they're not representative of the interests of the syrian people but this is seen as here. also you know up inside here. someone. who was a peace calm honest guy muslim brotherhood. the not over former. member before was. also if the syrian opposition desperately trying to bridge their own divisions turkish government is now left in a difficult situation truth is more after these things that the orbs are the only thing the thirty can push is a regime change otherwise it's not his capacity to one or into the arab world to syria will be very very you know constrained and as take he gives that for the meeting when it comes to understanding the complex syrian crisis and take his role

in it based still left to guess what's really going on behind closed doors to turkey to once again emerge is a major regional power syria is certainly creating a tad being seen very much to lead the way in applying pressure. that an end to violence. they hade to take his government's way it will move now to heat a confrontation with the syrian army and the escalation of the lady incredibly volatile regional situation. i think it's that. professor steven. the university of san francisco believes that the worst possible outcome would be to have the international community back the extremists make up a large portion of the syrian rebels problem or amend. our course and the region of course with me i guess are. clearly talking in the box or syria or anywhere else some uribe is going strong other autocratic regime it is

almost across. your monthly. syrian regime and i agree. there were questions i think it's a little. bit missing the starts going to this point how can you call it a government like saudi arabia where isn't power simply because. you have to be. this is the sleeper century unfortunately as we saw in libya. there is a tendency to see. more. complex political problems on and so as someone who person supports me the pro-democracy struggle or worsening economic. really who are these outside countries together. especially going into war are. hard lines.

persons. not only. who are crack down hard. on our. not. so i think in theory. and coming up on our team accommodation prices go through the roof in ukraine. as the european football championship draws closer landlords are looking to cash in on visiting friends but it is feared moving the goal posts will send packing instead also. one by one cities around the world go dark for global earth hour this year we've got some surprising new comers including the international space station on the. china has lashed out at the u.s. over its decision to plow ahead with sanctions against companies that assist in the purchase of iranian oil beijing says washington has no right to punish financial

institutions in other nations the u.s. wants to strangle iranian oil trade in an attempt to make the country abandon its nuclear program under the new restrictions set to come into force in june any foreign banks doing well related deals with iran would be cut off from america's financial system the white house claims that there are enough oil sources in the world to keep the market from collapsing without iran's input but not mokhtari a political commentator in tehran says washington is being over optimistic. i believe. the u.s. not being. such as china russia we're not paid well for the united states we must take into account that the united states it's reeling under a over one hundred trillion dollar debt at the moment and this bravado of. resurgent economy every carvery is not going to last as

a matter of fact the provider would only last for as long as the energy stocks are doing well therefore the president obama has very little time this is surely. the greatest but it is very ill advised the us allies will have to bear the brunt of it not a hasty action from washington would be consequences and the ramifications of what president obama has done today lies squarely with him and his administration and he should know that there is no hope of pinning this and its ramifications on anyone else. with the u.s. soldier accused of killing seventeen afghan civilians under investigation washington is still trying to mend its relationship with kabul but after the massacre and the recent burning of the koran at a u.s. air base afghan leaders aren't accepting any apologies or he's a military contributor says washington needs to revise its strategy filet to strip of. afghanistan. knight probably be remembered as one of the

most unfortunate and the least successful three ever turn drafted by the pentagon chief to get to stand a major political blunder even before he boarded his spleen after the qur'an burning he authorized the u.s. commander in afghanistan to visit draw all american advisers from they have institutions both military and civilian so small wonder that he left kabul two lemons first from cars i alternated to corral all u.s. ground forces into their forward operating bases and effectively no in void amy nitrates a games he's taliban brothers and second from the taliban when they announced their most of the negotiations we had their american partners regarding their

reconciliation the next time financial real jump aboard the plane could lead to make sure that he's bound to islamabad and to kabul if he really means business. thousands of cities across the globe are doing a very bad for the environment from sydney to new york and lights have been dimmed for this year's earth hour and it's part of a world effort to raise awareness about climate change difference explains. the observance of global earth hour begins in sydney and winds its way time zone by time zone around the globe now here in russia it's estimated that fifteen million people are participating in this and the lights in certain major buildings here in moscow are shut off the university is dark as the academy of sciences and many other buildings people are gathered with lit candles and they are also lighting lanterns. into the sky so newcomers to this include the international space station

astronauts observing what is happening from space taking photos and even blogging about it on the european space agency's website many major landmarks around the world are going to include london's big ben and the golden gate bridge in the united states including even parts of the great wall of china this is about raising awareness for climate change. this is about alerting people to the necessity in the global community i've addressed addressing the consumption levels of energy whether they're fossil fuels or electricity so it's about global community together and curbing some of those bad habits we have that might contribute to global climate change now it's one hundred thirty five countries and more and more people every year are getting involved. for those who are looking for affordable accommodation in ukraine for the euro two thousand and twelve football championship are you disappointed with over

a million fans expected to travel their prices are skyrocketing. despite efforts to curb the costs it's feared some fans may stay at home instead. well the us with the euro trying to twelve football championship has not even begun in ukraine but this game of pensioner is already in high spirits here you. don't want to believe this this summer storm and it's her last real chance to earn some money since in the us is that our pensions are next to nothing our days are numbered and we want to see them off in style and earn a little money but that's why i will lead to ruin their flats of football 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 one be prepared to pay a fortune to put across a nukes this is an elite apartment in central kiev and it's christ in between five and ten thousand dollars a month but we will 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 offers 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 think we're doing anything different to what any of the house countries did in the past accommodation crawshay do roche trouble prizes do royce. it's just the lack of a viable accommodation very expensive most of them university dormitories sure you

can stock in a tent for a reasonable just a hotel but a brick for a start place i think we're going to get actually still skyrocketing prices urged we for to sound a stern warning to ukraine's government which promised to take action polow child have a risk of ending up half empty reward their owners to lower the prices with so many low cost airlines being able to bring fans for games in and out of ukraine they might as well decide again staying here just coming for one day when you're walking about 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 is a great risk private landlords could end up profitless ukraine has already spent fourteen billion euros until the euro twenty one project and is expected to earn only half a billion the private sector will of reiki and just as much that's unless the fans

would not be scared away by the high prices let's hear s.s.t. r.t. reporting from kiev in ukraine. and if you're hungry for more stories you can go to our website or to dot com here is just a glimpse of what's waiting for you there right now. putting that aside five technology to work the u.s. navy says it's almost ready to use lasers to shoot down from just moving targets like cruise missiles and drones. into tear gas and water cannons me palestinians in the west bank as a peaceful rally to remember lands today turned violent leaving one person who watched the video on how are you to travel and find out about what. hollywood is the world's capital of the rich and famous but there's a lot hidden behind about glamorous facade thousands of homeless people live on the streets of los angeles unable to cope with the country's latest economic hardships parties but you know coaching over comments. this is your pain pills and promise

land of this opportunities has become a living nightmare for south los angeles is a mirage. people believe that they're coming to see hollywood stars or hear. the beautiful. girls with and will come take a look at skid row and you can compare the third world countries this treat is an informal border between shiny downtown l.a. and. behind me in the shadow down down the skyline streets 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 and few main underbelly a false sense of that's. the financial crisis has hit hard here record amounts of

foreclosures have things turfing people out of their properties and on to the streets safer angeles is fast becoming a cecile. homeless joshua is a move to very sick al he lost his job and while his income came to an actor upholds the bill certainly didn't well i was working as a system manager auto parts store and. i just. left leg and i don't have anywhere else to go and recent reported by the national coalition for the homeless of rank los angeles as the meanest city in the country when it comes to dealing with the problem that we're all schall issue where the homeless are poor treated on it by law enforcement probably in this country has been criminal if you're poor your big. general dogon lives in the streets of skid row he says that police have worked out a solution for dealing with the homeless and arrest them for a minor infraction

a strategy that some winning the implausibly business community and real estate developers their job is to move all knowing common home as well out of the great super community what they want to do with his run on the poor so to. put money into the area but the sad reality is there is only enough shelters for a tiny fraction of las dramatic number of whom that's nice to hear says the government's looking the other way and leaving them to rot so the concept i think america has run around playing captain ferry boat would have been cleaned up their own backyard right here on skid row you've got the largest homeless population in america right now the largest. mental situation going on right here i mean it just is this is this area and how this is going to get a hell of a lot worse as predicted there will be a whopping one million foreclosures in california in the coming year so while joe

schmoe and so many others suffering the same plight might be praying that one day. they will have a roof over their hands it seems the others will be listening to us. in the bush now artsy reporting from los angeles california. now time to take a look at some other news making headlines at this hour. a cease fire has been struck between rival militias after a week of heavy clashes in southern libya the fighting has left almost one hundred fifty people dead and four hundred wounded the new government is faced with continued violence between former rebels and ethnic tribes still armed months after the revolution and the death of colonel gadhafi. egypt's largest political group the muslim brotherhood has officially fielded a presidential candidate breaking a previous project to stay out of the race the movement's deputy leader and its top strategist will run for the top job in may the group which again the majority in

the new parliament vowed not to take part in the vote for fear of provoking a military backlash against the possibility of an islamist takeover relations with the military rulers have become increasingly confrontational in recent weeks. the political crisis in mali is deepening as insurgents advanced towards new targets in the north the rebellion is being bolstered by arms coming from libya after last year's war they're happy with the way the president was handling the insurgency the military seized power last week but then called the situation critical in pleaded for outside help the coup has been there and internationally mali's neighbors have threatened severe economic sanctions. at least eleven people have been killed and more than one hundred wounded in southern thailand after a series of blasts in a commercial hub the first two bombs were hit in motorcycles while a third was in a car several shops caught fire and many parked vehicles were damaged bombings are

common in the insurgency far south where over five thousand people have been killed in the past eight years. in one of the darkest episodes in the history of the soviet union thousands of people were sent to the labor camps many found themselves in gulags for simply having views different from the communist system now one of the camps has been turned into a museum to serve as a reminder to future generations not to repeat the mistakes of the past. 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 call 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 propaganda now in his eighty's he still remembers life on the inside. the actual deprivation of freedom was very significant indeed but there are things that made up for it you had the freedom which didn't exist beyond that but it's the freedom to actually say anything you wanted without fear what else could they do so you you were imprisoned already today a surrogate 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 the punishment cell you had to stay without one underwear and bedding it was usually very cold which was serious we had to sleep on bare and planks with no pillock. and you see in mccomb thirty six allows visitors 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 extraordinarily important because it's a unique place. to look at a. horse i was excited. however turned thirty six is not the only place that the repressions of the soviet era i 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 see that by keeping the past in focus histories mistakes will be repeated. whenever we remember our past we keep bringing up the main theme of rights and freedom past can be described as one big violation of human rights it was a symbol of lawlessness and a lack of freedom if we forget our past we will be unable to build

a decent future. peter all of our r.t. . americans believe there is an alternative to the dollar and the ever feeling a resident in new york at the street fight. 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 the dollar's decline means the u.s. is losing its status as the world power yeah i think that it's reasonable to assume you know my husband doesn't go well why don't you pick that because it'll make you more competitive in export markets i think we're all going no we're all going to mean every country every country the end of the world time in rural you know the miners might be ropes or twenty first so what's going to be the currency it's money 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 are working when you get so would you be willing to pave money in chinese yuan if it keeps going the same way absolutely i think we're very depending on the dollar goes to the international trade depending on the dollar do you think it's 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 a. charm why do we all just take it for granted that the dollar is the the currency that we base the world economy a more stable economy there compared to europe or japan or any of the other countries where that tied up. it's not transparent enough for me do you think that it's time to start considering using or saving other currencies like the you are under the euro. personally you know. 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 it's too many people in the us are just too us centered focused in terms of their. on the world they were part of it is is a function of geography so america basically occupying the large portion of north america with canada and mexico being the only neighboring nations there were has been much need for us to be able to be fluent whether in languages or currencies for that matter you think that's stunted our growth as a people oh yeah i think it can lead to some cultural isolation but they're not you care the us dollar is on the decline the bottom line is you might want to start paying attention to what other currencies are failing. brazier today for the moment i'll be back with a recap of our top stories in just

a few minutes.

to. see. if. the it. exists except. if it was going to hurt. this is true studentships it seeks the balance time from the field agents of the soviet files and ati so cool. to. the limits.

to use. just so pissed super. lucky. wealthy british scientists. and the tightly. market finiteness soon. find out what's really happening to the global economy with much stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into.