u.n. is set to one massive observer mission to syria it's ultimately a last ditch attempt to prevent an all out civil war. decision time in france after a final appeal to voters are made by presidential hopefuls all the top job in the country hit by social divisions and record unemployment. plus the chinese economic powerhouse sets its sights on the arctic as beijing weighs in for a slice of the untapped riches that.

it is a good to have you with us here today on r.t. i'm. welcome to the program the u.n. is expected to send hundreds of observers to syria after the security council votes on a resolution that will be later saturday russia wants the monitors to fly out at once as the violence in syria grinds on despite the u.n. brokered cease fire. hasn't this latest report from new york. there's been a combination of two resolutions to drop resolutions that were submitted to the u.n. security council one was submitted from russia the other submitted by the your european union now odd the accommodation of these resolutions calls for. you and observer mission in syria to expand. their ernie car observers to a total of three hundred unarmed observers to go to syria and continue monitoring the cease fire that was implemented on april twelfth which we can ask and the

opposition group this is of course one of the many proposals that were laid out by mr kofi annan on joint envoy for for the syria for the syria conflict so he laid out a six point peace plan cost and so this observer mission is one of many things he has cost a war to bring about peace in syria another element of this trial for a solution that we're told is that it's also kind of syria to commit to its responsibilities and its pledges meaning the syrian government's regarding all its obligations according to kofi annan on its six point peace plan so it seems as though we're going to see another consensus across the board in the security council concerning syria this will be the second saturday in a row where another resolution would be adopted the vote is expected to be held on

saturday and it is expected to be voted upon and adopted and this would clearly show something that we haven't seen for thirteen months the security council has been divided for so long on how to approach syria and clearly receive a consensus across the board among the international community. reporting right there one of more than a year of violence in syria it's said to have killed around ten thousand people all amid concern the country is currently on the brink of a civil war. on a boycott now reports from the city where the uprising began to ask people whether or not it's all been worth it. they call it the credo of the syrian revolution when a group of schoolkids was arrested in daraa last spring for painting and graffitti protesters took to the streets for days on and. the syrian military responded by rolling in its tanks even a year later the chief security officer in daraa is unapologetic about all those

demonstrators were big big gunmen who shooting at civilians and their me troops and of course their intention was to put the blame on the government and those kids the rebels give them fuel food and let them read those things. that even among assad supporters it's not a view shared by everyone the protest in daraa and being seen crackdown by the military to the turning point for syria and in hindsight some syrian officials now wish they handled it differently. we made a mistake when back in the days we didn't get a chance to syria based peaceful opposition to express itself more freely some of them truly care about the nation now we have to deal with the armed rebels the council in istanbul and then you have religious sects like the selfies or the muslim brothers. which rallies no longer bound and what is your emergency law lifted the syrian authorities are now trying to give the media on their side people

loads more foreign journalists into the country to collate it by the annan plan and eager to show the world what they call the real picture. but the goal of tell the realities on the ground put their own spin on any p.r. effort. then use of u.n. monitors and foreign journalists rather around. rebels intensified attacks on the army units forcing syrian officials to abandon this we talked and heard journalists back onto the bus is the government. the chair is groups using. any visit beach international monitors or borders to force the army to respond. while the subs government inability to find the right balance between freedom and security may have allowed this conflict to take off many analysts believe that learning how to do it is also crucial for its resolution president assad has has

long spoken about reforms he's been a popular president for most syrians for a long time because of his you know so-called reform i think this protest in syria actually. happens because you know there are people within the syrian regime who don't really want reform there the hardliners so so this actually helped sort of you know the reform minded members of the regime in government. you know their reformers and a lot more quickly if you're into the uprising is still one of the most charged really in cities in syria despite checkpoints all around the store is breached on an almost daily basis and here people are just as a great to talk as their fate. protest in daraa how being called the spark that ignited the syrian flame over the past year a scourge that a sizable part of this country and while some syrian officials may now have regrets

what their way of flash point for us handle that's not nearly enough to extinguish the fire that's what the arts. syria but also has come to life in the heart of moscow i do bear i'm going to get more news and analysis of the situation ongoing in syria just look on to our web site. well here's what i also find there right now for example of the american. before. the full details of what it is. also reportedly being put into place. for you a major highway in the way tens of thousands of protesters rallied to the consolation of this weekend's formula one grand prix you can watch the video on our website.

he goes to the polls on sunday to elect a new president of the first round of elections. and we'll see a runoff between the two contenders that will take place next month ten candidates are vying for the job and. promises to break it all down for. us. one day to go before the french polls but one in four voters still haven't made up their part of the french people. money in their pockets especially at a time when unemployment is around ten percent hitting an all time high that's about three million people unemployed so who can take. people's problems according to the latest poll socialist party candidate do you believe that about twenty nine percent all potential votes now on what it wants to target the top income earners of the country but he is criticised for this widely perceived lack of experience

how true it is incumbent nicolas sarkozy is a deeply unpopular president and one recent poll you would declare with him the most unpopular president in history of his presidency has been marred with what economic crisis after another the last weeks of campaigning he's turned to more radical rhetoric. just clamping down on immigration. or talking tough when it comes to security matters especially after the toulouse incident has also taken on a more confrontational tone towards the european union proposing that france freeze its budget contribution to the e.u. budget currently plays according to the polls is head of the national front party and she has been sticking to it i'm sorry immigration platform vowing to cut down the number of legal immigrants to ten thousand a year that's down from about one hundred eighty thousand at the moment and she has also said that she wants france the euro and go back to the french the french frank and what's being called the big surprise of this french presidential campaign is

going to the left right now his numbers have doubled since january from about six to seven percent to about fourteen percent now he is mincing no words he's talking about a civic insurrection a revolution he did now says the financial sector and he also was. a fiscal pact that had big side he wants to withdraw from aig so he's taking on a very strong hard line approach these are the top four contenders vying for the top job in france now based on the rhetoric they've been using in their campaign france's european neighbors as well as other partners understand that no matter who takes on the presidency there will be disruptions to what the former continue would be expected it's just a matter of to what extent these changes will impact the relationship and as far as french people are concerned they have a few more hours left to make that choice. on the presidential election it will be. a guest on historic economist nicolas above

joining us live from paris i thank you very much for coming on today but the financial crisis has claimed many political. silvio berlusconi in italy. greece the french for. you knew that as you insisted on their easy in fact kind of supplementary round in this election with the financial markets for the moment you know france has a very weak economy with a huge problems problems of production problems of public debt over ninety percent of the g.d.p. problems of the mass even employment problem to integrate the immigrants and sue because this campaign was unable in fact to to discuss how really to reform france it's sure that we have a very huge trees to have a new major attack to after speaking on the french state of course the risk

is higher even if the left was doing but there is a risk to you mr sarkozy. was too close to win so i believe this season the two way to reform france is this is the very important debate that was not unfortunately discussed during the company so you certainly raised some larger issues here that many of the candidates but not all of them have been discussing certainly that of immigration but more importantly that of idea quality and unemployment as well being a major problem for the fragile economy has been the focus of most of the candidates as i was saying but which candidates do you think stand a real chance of getting france back on the track to recovery. i mean fact for the moment that's the very worrying point of this campaign because it is a fundamental programs of friends of production competitiveness public debt and the way to public spending so if this wasn't discussed so there is no real basis to

modernize and to reform france after this election what you are trying to do to end what must be insisted on in the fact that we have these two rounds of the presidential election and then the two rounds of the general election for the member of parliament and so you will have a lot of opportunities for them or financial markets to test of the resistance of the of the french stance so it's a very dangerous. period for france and because we didn't really discuss the economy problems we are still on insisting on the war to finance mr sarkozy was very tough on. immigration the lefties and righties to candidates mrs le pen mr malone true but very tight to rural mrs le pen and all of their insisting

on. the way from euro which will be an economy suicide for what i mean certainly certainly i mean you do raise some with some absolutely valid points and i think apologize for interrupting you but i threw us a moment ago there are two more rounds of the presidential election two more rounds for the parliamentary elections are you bringing the important issues of the you know concerns of the immigration unemployment the eurozone or woes that are affecting many countries as you said moments ago spain and italy that you know when one considers such major aspects such major concerns going around this presidential election as far as i understand the turnout the voter turnout for tomorrow is supposed to be the lowest in years why would people decide to ignore such an important. i believe that the explanation needs to be seen in the fact that as. i said this is

a very important election for france with very high these three calls and the woman and on the other hand the campaign was in fact and the meet your problems is the major matters of concern for the french were not discussed that's why there is a very important risk with the french not too good too to boot and perhaps to our surprise is exactly as in two thousand and two when move mr pena was at the second round of the election so this is another way why we will not have the real political basis to modernize france because a lot of french will not tomorrow but you talk about the issues of all of modernizing france certainly we did mention a moment ago about the issue of immigration and certainly in the recent weeks and i would have to shooting some of the more hard liners to the right have been voicing a lot of aggression towards immigration a lot of frustration many people in france complain that the country has become more divided under psycho's e with

a growing so-called ghetto culture particularly imperative is that is that a fair criticism do you think. i believe that you know four or four years we have a major problem to integrate the the immigrants and people coming from the ema grecian but there is a major problem to integrate to the young people too in france so the problems of the are not willing to only to mr sarkozy this is a very structured programming france and this is linked to the fact that for three decades we have ten percent of been employed in this country and you know the first which we integrate immigrants and people of course it serves the labor market and for the moment it's blocked and that's why we have to reform it and more a general point of view i believe this was a campaign based on protection on a very nationalist mood on the fact to reveal to voters in france and.

as far you know at the economies concerned finance what the immigrants to it's impossible to have closed the country and we have a true image you know a way to manage the integration but we need integration as all the eighteen countries. certainly historian and economist nicholas about horace are talking to us live from paris thank you very much for coming in on r.t. for this program thank you for your invitation thank you very much. well you always want to live from moscow still to come your way this hour a harsh lesson for canadian students there rallying against the steep hike in to wish in fees but came in for some rough handling from riot police the full story that's just a few minutes away here on r.t. . well just weeks ahead of the post mubarak presidential vote in egypt tens of thousands once again filling cairo's central square and protest

demonstrators want an immediate end to military rule which they've lived under for more than one year now the military approved good disqualification of nearly half the presidential candidates this week sparking public fury of a leading political forces accuse the generals of trying to cling on to power despite their pledge to stand down by july protesters also want former mubarak officials out of politics and on trial u.s. most analysts. think that the egyptian revolution has ultimately been hijacked. obviously things are moving toward a collision here the military doesn't want to give up its privileged position in society the protesters want to genuine democratic system where this thing is headed to impossible to know you've got this complex force taking place you've got the military dictatorship funded by the us doesn't want to relinquish power you've got

a whole range of protesters out there with diverse centers that you know i mean say we won a genuine democracy in this country the question is who is ultimately going to control there the re there were a new power here and the military is making it very clear that this isn't just a temporary transition to civilian rule they've made it very clear we're here to stay we're the ultimate power we will permit elections to be to be had but under our ultimate control we maintain the ultimate power in this society how is that a genuine democracy the protesters are realizing it's not. just turning twenty minutes past the hour here in the russian capital china's geo political ambitions are seeing it and to fight for the energy resources of the arctic on a visit to europe the country's prime minister is expected to look for backing from nordic states for beijing's bid to gain a foothold in the region as a first step the world's biggest energy consumer is seeking permanent observer

status on the arctic council currently it consists of eight countries with stakes in it and the shrinking of the polar ice cap which makes the region's vost mineral resources more accessible stirred up some territorial disputes international relations and. says that beijing's cooperation with iceland will benefit both sides . i think many are trees are interested in for the developing ties with china and china is very interested and several are degrees or so including contentiously seafood in the case of iceland geothermal energy and various other goods and services in the region certainly what is happening over the past few days has been very significant for the trade in both countries not only is china very interested in developing its partnership with iceland as an energy partner but also a greater use of the arctic in order to transport fuels from various markets and using what is turning out to be a very promising new group in china and iceland have been negotiating age henschel

free trader in and since two thousand and six. thousand and eight then it became possible that iceland was she was interested in joining the european union which would of course negate any potential free trade agreement with china. the iceland e.u. negotiations are now in doubt and china is very interested in perhaps reviving free trade talks as one major. saying though is that china has really begun to identify iceland as a very important potential arctic partner iceland is not only a very. substantial important partner economically but it's also very geographically significant because of its location in the arctic. it's good to have you with us here on our to today and i thought i had for you this hour certainly a bit of a chilly treat we travel to one of russia's most remote parts. doesn't russia's far north provide two things that's a vital for the people that live here and come and see how life here revolves

around them in just a few minutes on r.t. . but in canada riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of students protesting outside a government building in central montreal at least two demonstrators and two officers were injured in the violence at least seventeen people were arrested students are angry at a planned seventy five percent rise in tuition fees demonstrating almost daily since declaring a boycott on classes over two months ago with the government still refusing to back down citizen journalist but not the sunny a it says that the situation is getting more violent and that the police reaction towards protesters is simply too little. what is going on is going to be students and not only to students but many citizens are mad here. the government doesn't want to discuss at all about the raise of

student fees we. actually were according to the prime minister here ago and they don't want to accept this because the feel that it will prevent a lot of deserving students to attend university and to eventually get a degree and find out who enjoy our. prime minister he said. with a laugh he scorned to students he said. he wants to give them a job as far north as possible so that to ensure you a lot of people there were violent clashes between police and protesters in the streets and also yesterday of the day before yesterday mass to paris the hundreds of people were asked to give in huge fines four hundred dollars fines for just walking in the street it's very very repressive the climate is very is the great in my view are right now. all right time to get beyond the world update on iraq

kicking it off for us now some international headlines in brief twin explosions rocked north and back down killing at least three injuring a dozen comes just two days after al qaeda linked militants carried out a series of assaults all across the capital but those attacks left at least thirteen dead and roughly one hundred wounded. five suspected militants found with ten tons of explosives have just been arrested in kabul security officials in afghanistan say that the men were plotting to assassinate the country's vice president the news comes less than a week after taliban gunman carried out an eighteen hour of salt on the capital's diplomatic district thirty six militants killed in that battle. i'm fighting continues in east africa where sudan's sudanese troops from the area of south sudan continue to occupy the sudanese oil town of hebron the conflict had been expected to end on friday when the government of south sudan did announce that its troops

would withdraw from the disputed territory though within three days south sudan are broke away from the north last year following a long and running civil war that claimed the lives of more than one and a half million people. ok i do stay with us here and see if you can it's time to get chilly our latest edition of our russia a close up series of coming your way next today we're heading off to the country's very remote north. northern russia is known for its vast tundra and certainly a harsh climate there a tiny population that lives in this area is completely cut off from the rest of the country now artie's timebomb explores of what this distant land has to offer its residents and it will turn out its rich in offices and culture. an

icon of the north and units and other native northern peoples follow grazing reindeer wherever they go their routines revolving around the animals the life of the reindeer herder is usually hard in isolated but occasionally they gather to share their world and compete in the skills they hone in on the tundra and i'm about to join the celebrations. last seen throwing. stick wrestling. and hurdle jumping all cause for competition but the main event is rapidly approaching. the reindeer races bring teams from far and wide and the competition is tough i feel a bit nervous but my rivals get better every year even though one last year this year the younger ones may compete on a par with me. and perhaps he's right to be a bit jittery it seems getting started is the trickiest moment.

sometimes for cameramen to. know what you're. going to see after the festivities to sit down to eat some reindeer of course but also that other russian arctic speciality fish in this nearby factory they're preparing thousands of them none of these a c three all having been caught quota from local rivers and i'm told demand is booming the fruits of the arctic. here isn't enough of our product even to cover the domestic market europeans find our products delicious and a collage of clip you were but so far with simply haven't enough of them. to see we're always comes from we caught up with andre he's been fishing since he was a child on the hope today the river shark pike like his catch and raise

a. true russian more than a year from war with a new nuclear can say for fishing in the south it may have as advantage as as for me i love to fish right here in the north when it's frosting on the through the air is fresh and the sun is bright what's great is several ten point later andres all to prepare his dinner and we have a small insight into the central and forth and some of these animals to the lines of northern boilers without the fish and without the deer. on the minds of those who live here would be very empty indeed tom watson. if you can either stay with us here on t.v. in just a moment i will be back with a recap of our top stories. something

. lies beneath. thousands of meters of ice. rock. the lava. that is a lure for many. but.