if they were serious then they were oppressed for a special general assembly an emergency special general assembly meeting under the uniting for peace resolution and this you may remember in a field rich with irony was the form that the us and britain used to fight the korean war in the face of a soviet veto in the early fifty's since then it was resurrected by the palestinians to bypass the american beat up in the security council and that's a resume is why it is not being invoked now because i use the phrase a non-binding resolution the resolution that established the state of israel and partitioned it was a general assembly resolution that was not binding then where do we go from there and you know what we have is some powers say that resolutions they like are binding and resolution they don't like a non-binding. the qatari president of the general assembly could have followed earlier precedent and said that there was sufficient support for a special that the special session but he hasn't done so and i'm sure that's because a western pressure that he don't want to establish a precedent

olivia's going to read from a section about the general assemble, the first general assembly in zucotti. [applause] >> as the time for the first general assembly approached, a group of 40 or 50 gathered to figure out how to run it. finally, marina, marisa and a few others who had been in the thompkins square general assemblies which were where they planned the occupy wall street action, agreed to facilitate it. marina recalls, it was beautiful and powerful. we started with megaphones, and it didn't work very well. we were standing in the center up on one of the benches, and everyone was standing around in a mass circle. so we had to speak in two directions. after 10 or 15 minute, we put the megaphones down, and i spoke to the people this front of me using the people's mic which is something that we had practiced in facile traitor training two nights previously. i had participated in it and seen it used in seattle in the 1999 w20 protests, but i had thought of it as useful for communication, i hadn't thought of it as a way of conducting an assembly. but we were standing in the center of

general assembly. when up and says continue then tomorrow the next day until something is decided on can something actually be decided and that's what we're expecting definitely some sort of documents will be passed around by the saudis and a car we are of course we know that this document is going to be pretty much the same thing that was vetoed at the security council but wasn't expecting yes in the days to come is this sort of vote to take place and whether or not it's going to have some sort of significance is really a big question mostly symbolic in this particular case because like we said the general assembly does not have any binding power when it comes to conflicts around the world and all right in our new york studios r.c. a correspondent on the star feature can. and today secretary of state hillary clinton met with the prime minister of turkey to discuss the problem in syria and made it very clear that they're looking for a political solution they say as of now they won't consider putting in

the general assembly decided that the group with occupied zucotti park overnight and hold a general assembly at 10:00 a.m. the next morning. printer people settle down and sleeping bags for the night while the police waited nearby. matt presto remembers he was presently surprised is still on edge about what would happen next in and thinking, how long do the police tolerate this? probably this evening or monday. [applause] so next up travis halloway is going to read from the chapter that we call the book on art in the square. >> so it begins with a quote, we believe we are at the brink of a new argument, a new school of thought. hopefully you will join us" that. he was a poet in late september. i will just read a couple of paragraphs of what we did as poets that occupy. another one of the early artist groups were the poetry guild which emerged in a similarly organic fashion. the first meeting of poets that occupy wall street happened in late september when over 50 poets gathered for a poetry reading in the square. there was no headliner, no unifying style no entrance fee and it's fair to say

olivia rosane is going to read from a section about the general assembly, the first general assembly in zuccotti. [applause] >> as the time for the first general assembly approached, a group of 40 or 50 gathered to figure out how to run it. finally, marina, marissa, and a few others had been in the general assemblies, which is where they plan the occupy wall street action, agreed to facilitate it. marina recalls, it was beautiful and powerful. we started with megaphones and they didn't work very well. we were standing in the center up on one of the benches, and everyone was standing around the mass circle. so we have to in two directions. after 10 or 15 minutes we put the megaphones down, and i spoke to the people in front of me using the people's mic, which is something we practiced in training tonight's previously. i have participated in it and see me use in seattle in 1999 wto protest. but i thought of it as something useful on the streets for communicate information. i hadn't thought of as a way of conducting an assembly. but we are standing in the center of a group of 2000 peopl

general assembly. when i happen to discontinue then tomorrow the next day until something is decided on can something actually be decided and that's what we're expecting definitely some sort of document will be passed around by the saudis and qataris we are of course we know that this document is going to be pretty much the same thing that was vetoed at the security council but we're going to expect yes in the days to come as this sort of vote to take place and whether or not it's going to have some sort of significance is really a big question mostly symbolic in this particular case because like we said the general assembly does not have any binding power when it comes to conflicts around the world and all right in our new york studios r.t. correspondent on stasia churkin. the u.s. of course though not giving up its quest for a regime change in syria saying it's only a matter of time before the assad government collapses and as history has shown washington may find a way around the barriers including

general assembly about to vote on a syrian resolution and backed by the arab states and the west this while violence in the country escalates as a high ranking religious leader is gunned down in damascus reportedly for his pro-government stance. fears a pending confrontation between tell of even take wrong bro following reports that iranians are arrested during recent thailand bombings were targeting israeli diplomats. after this fulfills the last to be used by a lot of demands but many greeks feel the nation won't work cover from austerity measures that harm their health care system but leave the military unscathed. midnight in moscow i matras are good to have you with us here on r t our top story a new showdown is expected at the u.n. general assembly later on thursday as the members are set to vote on a new resolution on syria the text sponsored by arab states and supported by a number of western nations could turn up the heat on the assad regime i'm joined now from new york by our teaser marine important with the latest so marina russia says it won't back this new document what ex

there's one hundred ninety three countries that make up the general assembly of the united nations if two thirds of of the general assembly is supporting a draft resolution that condemns this syrian authority and supports the arab league's plans for you know asking president assad to step down it does signal some type of international consensus not a complete consensus but it does symbolize what the majority of u.n. members are supporting marie and i thank you very much for keeping us updated over there and we will continue to check in with you for the vague very latest on the situation that is unfolding there right now that was an eye on our new york studio . well as you can see and the u.n. it's the west versus russia and china when it comes to how to handle syria but it seems to be the same story and the u.s. media today amid the name calling and the finger pointing are some of the facts being overlooked aren't these honest explains well it's getting serious in syria i mean very serious the syrian crisis at a peak diplomatic tensions flying high the united states is disgusted that

given that this is a general assembly where there is no veto power. this is non-binding. even in that framework, russia is opposed to it. is there any weight to it? >> there is not legal weight. there could be political and moral weight if you get a majority. this is really a plan b. what everyone would like to do is to try to get it to the security council because that is where you have the legal authority. given the russian opposition, and they repeated their opposition today, it seems less and less likely. the divide seems to be growing. on the one hand, you have the western nations -- arabs, the syrian opposition, turkey, joining together in a coalition of the willing. they will be talking about getting more support to the opposition. they will be talking about support for the arab league transition plan which calls for bashar al-assad to step down. on the other hand, you have the syrians calling for their own reform. the russians think this is a step in the right direction. it seems as though the divisions are growing rather than the reverse. >> thank you very much f

general assembly is also currently discussing a non-binding resolution on syria the draft document echoes one vetoed in the u.n. security council by russia and china a week ago or tease us an honest has more from new york. a week after a double veto came from russia and china on a syrian resolution at the security council we're seeing the saudi arabia and qatar attempting a symbolic push at another you one body the general assembly it consists of over one hundred nineteen members but it's important to keep in mind that it's not nearly as powerful as the security council where the resolution was blocked and whatever document the general assembly would cost would largely be symbolic now it's key to remember that russia and china blocked the resolution and that's pretty much the exact same text being put on the table of the general assembly because it said that the text was bias as it would not acknowledge the existence of armed group on the group the groups on the ground would only put the blame on the syrian government as well as called for the president of syria to step down and russia an

general assembly prepares to vote on an arab resolution putting blame for violence in syria solely on the government made fears the country might soon plunge into sectarian chaos. the first wave of downgrades sweeps across the struggling euro zone a six nations get their debt rating scott all this while greece faces further bellowing hurdles from the e.u. despite its latest harsh austerity plan. and russian military predicts the west might decide on a military strike against iran before summer as clouds gather over tehran following its crowds gather i should say over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's the times on diplomatic personnel. from our headquarters in central moscow you're watching archie with me and he said now a four pm here in the russian capital two pm in damascus and the u.n. general assembly could soon vote on a new draft resolution on syria which is believed would put all the blame for the violence on the country's government saudi arabia and qatar drew up the tax in a fresh bits of pressure at the syrian president the move

what's important here is the general assembly is not nearly as powerful even though it does consist of over one hundred ninety members not nearly as powerful as the security council so any decisions coming out of the general assembly would only be a recommendation. in no case binding so what's been going on today is hours and hours of speeches at the general assembly mostly criticisms and russia of course continue to slide of policy seeing talks are key and what's important is for a cease fire to take place on the ground and the key issue of course continues to be the fact that countries mainly go shaders such as russia continue saying that the text being still continued to push through is a biased law and that it could does not still acknowledge the presence of armed groups on the ground and from all the speeches we've been hearing out of the general assembly today it seems to be largely the case that the majority of the countries continue to put the blame on the syrian government and russia keeps insisting that it's key to remember that there are two sides to this conflict certain

general assembly prepares to vote on a new syrian resolution seen by some time to put the screws on russia and china and push to action the two nations consider one sided. gets hit with yet another wave of downgrades as confidence collapses of the blocks future this. crusade against greece. the russian anyway is flooded with pre-election campaigning positive coverage prime minister putin's actions is criticised as non third vantage with the other presidential candidates. this is our world news and comments are twenty four hours a day welcome to. the un general assembly is preparing its members for an upcoming vote for a new draft resolution on syria the document apparently echoes the one vetoed by moscow and beijing in the security council only february the un human rights chief said the inability of the body to take action on the syrian crisis and handed president carte blanche to execute an all out assault. decisions at the general assembly are not legally binding some believe the vote could be used in. russia and china. explains. this meeting has definitely last in the entire day we've

general assembly scrutinizes the syrian crisis group is seen by some as an attempt to put the screws on russia and china. and. europe gets hit with yet another wave of celebrates confidence collapses in the future this is the e.u. presses ahead of its will still see crusade against or let's increase. through the russian ways flooded with free election campaigning positive coverage of the fees in sections as precise as number of vantage of the other presidential candidates. plus a balance is becoming more practical. habits. and business incitement. focusing live from moscow this is all tweeting about the program the un general assembly is preparing its members for the upcoming visit to have a new draft resolution. on syria the committee to protect the kurds the long school in beijing in the security council every un human rights chief said over forty to take action on the syrian crisis precise knowledge to execute. the decisions of the joint force and the thing binding some believe the votes could be used in the attempt to put pressure on both russia and china which strains. this meet

general assembly puts the blame solely on the regime how damaging is this difference of opinion. right well we're seen yesterday in the in the security council is the general assembly taking basically one side hearing one side of the conflict for the both sides of obviously it wasn't balance had the general assembly been made aware of a little atrocities that were taking place against those people who support president assad including civilians by the way probably people who all of the states would have voted different this has to different basically two different objectives aid to send a message to people on the ground in syria to keep on fighting that the international community will come to their help basically and i believe falsely providing them with hope or false hope and second to squeeze the international powers that actually do not want or do not believe that for intervention in syria will end the problem but actually. inflame it more like russia and. china in order to squeeze them more into a sort of immoral position so that they would find it harder in the future to ta

of encouraging rebel groups to continue fighting and stay out of peace talks head of the un general assembly vote on a resolution regime. after the last of it. to be kept in limbo and presented with terms as a greek hospital struggling with the military unscathed. and iran's display of nuclear progress an offer of talks on dismissed by american israel as bluster to survey economic sanctions. around the world and around the clock you're watching. activists in syria have accused regime forces of stepping up attacks on rebel held cities meanwhile the announcement of a referendum on a new constitution does not appear to help stem the violence the votes which will take place at the end of february significantly curbing the power of the ruling party. in damascus. the date for the people's referendum on the country's new constitution has been announced on wednesday it is expected to be held on the twenty sixth of february the syrian government has been working on a draft for this new constitution for quite a while now and it has sad that the most important thing about this new constitution the most

." >> the win general assembly condemns government violence in syria and calls for president assaad to step down. when nigerian man gets a life sentence for trying to take down an airplane with a bomb in his underwear. when investigation in a honduran prison after more than 350 inmates died in a fire. the british prime minister says he will consider giving more power if people vote against independence. >> broadcasting to viewers around the world, this is newsday. >> hello, the united nations general assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favor for a resolution by the arab league which condemns government violence in syria and calls for president assad to step down. it is non-binding. ban ki moon warned it was almost certain crimes against humanity were taking place in syria. he called for an international agreement to stop the bloodshed. >> with a decisive margin, and 137 in favor, 12 against, the world sent a strong message to put an end to the violence in syria. the syrians repeated their claims>> no country can accept e presence of armed terrorist groups on its territory, and it cann

despite the majority vote in the general assembly, the major powers are as divided as ever. as long as that continues, diplomacy will look elsewhere for solutions. the violence in syria will probably get worse. >> we will stay with this story. as we heard, china and russia have also voted against an earlier security council resolution. >> china takes an objective, just, and responsible stance on the issue of syria. china is going to maintain communications with the government and various political factions of syria, as well as the arab countries and the league of arab states. china will work with the international community and play a positive and constructive role inappropriately resolving the issues of syria. >> earlier, our correspondent in beijing has why china is going against the majority opinion in the united nations. >> i think there are a couple of reasons. the first is that beijing remains weary about western intentions towards damascus. it will not support regime change and believes that america's aim is to topple assad to diminish the influence of iran in the reg

general assembly prepares to vote on an arab resolution putting blame for violence in syria solely on the government that's amid fears the country might soon plunged into sectarian chaos. a fresh wave of downgrade streets across the struggling euro zone and six nations get their debt rating all this while greece faces further valid hurdles from the e.u. despite its latest harsh austerity plan. and russia's military predicts the west might decide on a military strike against iran before summer as clowns gather over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's attacks on diplomatic personnel. it's five pm here in moscow this is r.t. coming to your life and he said now with our top story this hour the u.n. general assembly could soon vote on a new draft resolution on syria which is believed would put all the blame for violence on the country's government saudi arabia and qatar drew up the tax in a fresh bid to pressure the syrian president the move follows the recent double veto of virtually the same document by russia and china at the u.n. security co

the syrian crisis also being discussed at the un general assembly or he is out of stasi the church going to joins us live from new york now with the latest so what can we expect from the discussion today at the u.n. . well matt right now an hour a week rather after a double veto blocked a u.n. resolution at the security council the double veto that came from russia and china saudi arabia and qatar decided to give another push another attempt another step at pressuring the syrian government and has called for a session of the general assembly trying to pass a vote of a draft resolution the general assembly of course of body that we have to keep in mind its decisions are only recommendations so what is going on right now are countries are speaking at the general assembly they're making their addresses russia has made it quite clear at this point that it continues to push for talks rather than any sorts of documents that would put additional pressure just on the syrian government and not on the armed groups we are expecting that some kind of vote will take place at the general assembly in t

body the general assembly it consists of over one hundred ninety members but it's important to keep in mind that it's not nearly as powerful as the security council where the resolution was blocked and whatever document the general assembly would pass would largely be symbolic now it's key to remember that russia and china blocked the resolution and that's pretty much the exact same text being put on the table of the general assembly because it said that the text was biased as it would not acknowledge the existence of armed group on the group the groups on the ground would only put the blame on the syrian government as well as called for the president of syria to step down and russia and china said it's really not the business of the international community to call for regime change and what's key in terms of what we're expecting to come out of the united nations is if this vote does take place and if this vote which we are expecting will support the text of the document it will only be a recommendation it will not be by any means binding and it's important to note that some members of

general assembly prepares to vote on an arab resolution putting blame for violence in syria solely on the government image fears the country might soon plunge into sectarian chaos. a fresh wave of downgrades sweeps across the struggling euro zone the six nations get their debt rating caught all this while greece faces further ballad hurdles from the e.u. spined its latest harsh austerity plan. and the russian military projects the last my first side on a military strike against iran before summer as clouds gather over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's attacks on diplomatic personnel. and business the also the world's largest diamond mine to buy i'll put it may sell a forty percent stake in an i.p.o. join me for more on that story and. bullets. at seven pm here in moscow this is art to you coming to you live from nice now with our top story the u.n. general assembly could soon vote on a new draft resolution on syria which is believed would put all the blame for the violence on the country's government saudi arabia and qatar drew up the att

trying to pass a vote of a draft resolution the general assembly of course of body that we have to keepin mind its decisions are only recommendations so what is going on right now are countries are speaking at the general assembly they're making their addresses russia has made it quite clear at this point that it continues to push for talks rather than any sorts of documents that would put additional pressure just on the syrian government and not on the on the armed groups we are expecting that some kind of vote will take place at the general assembly in the time to come but again it's important even though it even if draft resolution of the general assembly is adopted later on today this would only be a recommendation and really just a little bit of pressure on the syrian government on the ground so we will be bringing you all the latest as that will takes place all right he's an associate you're going to live for us in new york thanks for that update. james corbet independent journalist and specialist on the middle east says the peacekeeping initiative for syria put forward by the ara

from moscow this is a welcome program the un general assembly is preparing its members for the upcoming vote draft resolution on syria the document apparently vetoed by moscow and beijing at the security council and the february the un human rights chief said. to take action on the syrian crisis the president launched to execute. those decisions at the general assembly not legally binding some believe the vote could be used to put pressure on both russia and china. this meeting has definitely last. the entire day we've been hearing speeches from dozens of countries that started early in the morning and of course this comes only a week after a double veto from russia and china blocked in the arab and western backed resolution on syria to the security council so what we saw as an attempt from the saudi arabia and qatar to go to another body of the united nations an attempt to find some kind of decision there even though the general assembly does consist of over one hundred ninety members we have to keep in mind that it's not nearly as powerful as the security council because whatever deci

general assembly later on thursday as members are set to vote on a new resolution on syria the attack sponsored by arab states and supported by a number of western countries could put more pressure on the syrian regime let's cross live to our. new york merida russia has already warned it might not back the document and what exactly is dividing opinions over this proposed resolution. well this proposed resolution is of course being voted on within the general assembly of the united nations after resolution can get through the security council it is essentially similar or very much the same to the draft resolution that was circulated within the security council that russia and china vetoed it basically endorses and backs the arab league plan that calls for syrian president bashar al assad to step aside relinquish his powers it also calls on the syrian government to stop all violence and release all those detained in the past eleven months since the uprising began in syria as i mentioned it's very similar to the draft resolution that circulated within the security council now the reason

and violations of the provisions of the general assembly resolutions.ld be presented regarding the situation in syria. we find ourselves today with this draft resolution. however, under another item of the jaepd, namely item 34 entitled "prevention of armed conflict," here we're talking about a completely different agenda item from that agenda item. 64 under the aegis of which the previous session was held. we'd like to remind you here that some western states -- on tear part confessed or rather they said that what was happening in syria, that that was -- should be brought under the agenda item situation in the middle east. mr. president, based on what i have just said, it had seem clear henceforth and here, this is a pathetic thing that the syrian question is tackled under three agenda items that are completely different from each other. this over a space of ten days and this shows, if it were necessary to do so, that syria is targeted in terms of principles. there is no other reason for this. as part of confusion in terms of procedural issues. and ver