r.t.m. arena joshie welcome to the program iran is testing long range missiles as part of its stand a naval drills in the persian gulf the maneuvers come of it saber rattling with washington to iran's promise to block the vital oil supply route through the strait of hormuz if the west imposes sanctions over iran's alleged nuclear program to count has more. they have today we see the degree of tension rising iranian and american warships kind of brushed shoulders earlier as u.s. ships passed the area where terror on is holding a ten day military exercise the u.s. fifth fleet said they crossed the strait of hormuz unhindered and that he was a routine passage iran's right in to cut off the strait of hormuz which is the major golf oil artery forty percent of world's tanker shipped oil passes through that strait the u.s. said they would not tolerate any disruption of supplies which suggests that if you ran goes through with their threats we might see a military showdown there but now based on the statements that we hear washington seems to think that iran is bluffing but right now you find itsel

r.t.m. arena joshie now anything up to fifty thousand people are expected to gather in central moscow on saturday for another protest against the results of russia's parliamentary election earlier this month the mass rally is being organized by various opposition groups who claim the voting was rigged artistic work is going off joins us live now for more so you are tell us what we can expect from this gathering today. final preparations are underway here at. central moscow there was a sound check going out going on on the stage final instructions are being given out to the police very tight security here as well kind of at the moment it reminds from a gracious for a large music concert and a big crowd is expected today here this rally was authorized for fifty thousand people but a little bit over that confirmed they're planning to attend this event on a one of these social networks meanwhile to those points of view organizers have managed to gather over one hundred thirty thousand u.s. dollars to sponsor the summit. nations though do you see the baby boom peacefully just like you did on december

r.t.m. arena joshie welcome to the program now up to thirty thousand people are expected in central moscow later in protest at sunday's parliamentary vote other russian cities throughout the week have seen mass gatherings to the opposition demonstrations have claimed the results of the election were fraudulent or you know cross lives over responded jacob riis following the story for us here in moscow morning to jacob so what more can you tell us about this demonstration that's planned for the. both officially sanctioned for thirty thousand people may see more in attendance based most of the interest of steve on law and social networks at the moment though in terms of its makeup was going to be quite clear security involving a lot of people from the political spectrum left and right and now you stay over zisha and like to be in ten minutes but really this is about the general public having the voice and voicing discontent this is a protest illustration is going to be replicated around other cities in russia and . the how the demonstrations taking place earlier this week as well for what causes da

r.t.m. arena joshie some groups in syria's opposition say they want an arab military intervention to quote protect civilians from government security forces they spoke after damascus signed an arab league protocol allowing observers to monitor a regional peace initiative two and months of bloodshed part of the opposition dismissed the deal as a stalling tactic syria has been increasingly isolated under sanctions from arab states the u.s. and the e.u. over its crackdown on the. protesters the authorities say they are fighting stream is armed groups operating in the country r.t. sara for of has been to one of the flashpoints and the ongoing unrest. we're here in the city of homs and you can hear heavy gunfire in the background it's really hard to share insurance as the civilian population here live here as we're called to wait a month after month to ensure this conflicts with the on going violence is taking its toll. that there are neighborhoods that are being suffocated surrounded by armed groups there are many people who have been could not have had enough did we do to deserve this holmes is being

r.t.m. arena joshie well addressing changes in the country's major advantage is expected to announce a plan to reform russia's political system and his fourth and final state of the union address internal political issues are predictably anticipated to be the main focus of his speech following the post-election developments also cross live to respond to your piskun off has more on this so we go tell us more about this year's address and why. can we expect to hear. well this is going to be the meeting me this fourth and final state of the union address since we do know he's not planning to run for a second term in office and day he is expected to focus on a set of political reforms in the country following the recent parliamentary election and public discontent over its results and the way it was conducted to december solve various protest rallies held across russia with the biggest one happening on december tenth in moscow and according to the most modest estimates that gathered at least twenty thousand people now the president previously has ordered to investigate all of the accusations in