damascus slammed the plan as an interference in its internal affairs an attack on its sovereignty r.t. sara for of has more from the syrian capital. the arab league called president bashar al assad to step down and to hand power his deputy they also called for the formation of a national unity government and that would be if we leave early parliamentary and presidential elections now those calls have been virulently rejected by the syrian government and here they could as flagrant interference with the internal affairs really the sense here from damascus is that the government here are working on their own reforms they want the arab league.

authorities say it doesn't reflect the will of the people and violates the country's sovereignty r.t. sara for us reports of what exactly the regime objects to. it's not for civilization it's. going crazy says by the. end of the report by the arab league monitors arab league president bashar al assad delegate power to his vice president and form a national unity government.

decision is expected on sunday after the observers report comes under scrutiny at a gathering in cairo r.t. sarafirst has the details the arab league ministers are going to be meeting to present their findings on what's been happening in syria and to discuss what their next move will be now the arab league mission were here in the country to oversee the implementation of the arab peace but by syria's government that among other things that included the release of the school prisoners and the withdrawal of the government troops and tanks from some of the towns and cities how successful this arab league mission has been it's debatable.

the uprising this move complies with the arab league peace plan which syria accepted in november r.t. sara first reports from damascus. strings of people leave the syrian president. family and friends. these are the prisoners they've been selected for at least. you can see the signing on this is being overseen by the arab league. this is part of the. president of it of course for everyone who's not being released from detention questions that he why they were detained in the first place. i've been in prison for four months i was accused of weakening national security i didn't protest they brought me here by mistake. is a good step just hoping to do everyone. i had some weapons i had inherited from my grandfather and was accused of bearing illegal weapons i've been here three months when people heard about the amnesty they were ecstatic they never thought this could happen. here in the. military intervention in syria if the by the. president. in the arab world. some critics say this. situation. the amnesty shows that syria is trying to find a political solution rather than the security side

but western diplomats say to condemn president assad's crackdown on protestors strong enough as r.t. sara for three ports from syria those caught in the middle of the conflict there for knife fear. it's been less than a month since we were last in homs in that time the situation's become even more dangerous and the pressure on the people living here. i suspect were people numbers. having the tragic death of a foreign journalist killed here in homs recently served as yet another remind the harrowing the precarious situation that people in the city are in the odd way to get a good view. because you know what.

damascus has slammed the plan as interference in its internal affairs and an attack on its sovereignty r.t. saraor more from damascus. likud president bashar al assad to step down and to have. his deputy and they also called for the formation of a national unity government and that would be a pretty early parliamentary and presidential elections now those schools have been vehemently rejected by the syrian government can see.

the arab league mission itself has been heavily criticized for failing to stop the violence and us r.t. sara for three ports many in the country say they're paying too high a price for change. a new year but no resolution here despite the presence in the country of arab league observers and ten months of bloody clashes the violence in syria continues to escalate out of iraq and that's what's our phone and that's our people's fault it's a send that our children are dying it's a center here just ordinary people we simply want to have the man seen here his life doctor is a battling to save as a soldier. the he dies he's just twenty five years old. his family left to mourn him and this is just one man one family across syria at the moment there are many more people experiencing exactly the same thing as the country edges ever closer toward civil war hundreds of people from both sides losing their lives every month. on friday another suicide bombing in damascus is yet further evidence of the escalating conflicts and to this is continued to take place despite the presence of arab league observers

is expected on sunday after the observers report comes under scrutiny at the gathering in cairo r.t. sara first has the details. the arab league ministers are going to be meeting to present their findings on what's been happening in syria and to discuss what their next move will be now the arab league mission were here in the country to oversee the implementation of the arab peace but by the syrian government now among other things that included the releasing political prisoners and the withdrawal of the government troops and tanks from some of the towns and cities how successful the sired league mission has been to play simple we actually followed the arab league mission in the final few days here in the country now there are questions raised as to the neutrality and the credibility of the mission certainly seeing the way that they operated it couldn't the question really just how independent the they were able to operate in the country all of the sizes reported from people we were speaking to he said the arab league monitors didn't really seem to be taking in account of everything that

have been killed in the latest fighting just over a day after the arab league mission was frozen r.t. sara first reports from the syrian capital. well a sense really that this decision to hold the mission was going to inflame an already extremely volatile situation and unfortunately that's exactly what we've seen happen now minister lavrov was speaking on his tour of asia pacific countries and what he said about it was that he didn't really understand why such a useful tool was used in this way and now we've seen the observer mission start and eventually grounds to hold they never really recovered after that decision last week for the gulf states when they withdrew their monitors now their decision they said was because they felt the mission had failed to hold the syrian government to its pledge to end the violence and it was a surprising decision that's how the foreign minister described it because at exactly the same time that the gulf states made that decision the decision would also be made to extend the mission and now was interesting was when that decision was made for the gulf state

based talks between syria's authorities and the opposition has been accepted by the assad government r.t. sara first now has the latest from damascus. but we've seen the situation escalating dramatically over the past couple of days now over the weekend the suburbs were broiled in a heavy clashes between the two sides in fact in damascus people were waking up yesterday to the sounds of gunfire and shelling in those areas very very alarming indeed some of the reports that were coming from those areas and certainly the response from the government to the free syrian army taking control of some of those suburbs has been a strong well we've had reports of tanks going into those areas and the death toll on both sides extremely high as well and of course this comes on the back of the arab league monitoring mission saying that they had halted their mission and for the time being those of the remaining observers that are here in the country they hadn't really seems to recover from that decision last week of the gulf states to withdraw their monitors well it's hard to say really exactly what the future

diplomats say fails to condemn president assad's crackdown on protesters strongly enough meanwhile as r.t. sara firth reports from syria those caught in the middle of the conflict live a life of fear. it's been less than a month since we were last in homes in that time the situation's become even more dangerous and the pressure on the people living here show is either shut down were people numbers that hadn't been yet heavy the tragic death of a foreign journalist killed just here in homs recently served as yet another reminder of the harrowing the precarious situation the people in the city are and the other way to go but. that's you know what. they are going to do now i am waiting for that are you moved why do kids from this school in the hot area where i was living. area. of you well this is not your normal life it's our land it's our home syria ok we cannot we we don't want to leave our homes we don't want to leave a lot of schools we just want to leave peacefully people have been telling us that the sky is to leave their homes across the city water shortages food shortages power cuts are e

of the country because they think the presence of monitors has reduced the crisis in some areas r.t. sara firth is following the situation from damascus. the arab league ministers are going to be meeting to present their findings on what's been happening here in syria and to discuss what their next move will be now the arab league mission in the country to oversee the implementation of the arab peace plan by syrian government now among other things that included the release of political prisoners and the withdraw over government troops and tanks from some of the towns and cities how successful the sad league mission has been to place it will actually follow the arab league mission in the final few days here in the country now there are questions raised as to the child and the credibility of the mission certainly seeing the way that they operated it couldn't question really just how independently they were able to operate in the country all of the sites were possibly we're speaking to he said he didn't really seem to be taking in i can a very thing this being said obviously couldn't have h

diversity there it thank you a bit intensifying fighting between the syrian army and opposition groups r.t. sara firth is being to the area near the capital which was recently taken over by rebel fighters now she reports of the opposition as united against the regime they are poles apart on their methods. i can message from the protesters in a suburb of damascus as a funeral takes place. we don't want killing don't we don't want to. see children killing we don't read them we don't we we will do you have to live. here i mean this this is going to all come to us you know they fail safety is being provided by the free syrian army the corella party made up of many army defectors like to say its presence here has enabled protests like these to go ahead . the military cannot come in anymore because the free syrian army is protecting us we support the free syrian army and we support. the former army colonel heads the f.s.a. from the brute he's been steadfast from the start and his calls the foreign military intervention of his safe are void of partnerships with any other opposition elements he sees dif

syrian government and the opposition remain at loggerheads as time runs out for manny in the country r.t. sara for a three four pts. but how do you stop the fractured country from falling apart a country where some cities now resemble a was a where the economy's on its knees and where children are being shot dead on the streets. it's a question everybody's desperately trying to find an answer to you right now nobody knows what's going to happen some are calling for military intervention others calling for dialogue this sit in case is not isolated of turkey. and i mention that mention of the west and i mentioned the russian don't mention. anybody has own interests when russian foreign minister sergei lavrov reaffirmed that moscow would not authorize a un resolution involving military intervention it struck a resident chord with the main opposition in the country. who refuse on principle any type of military foreign intervention because it proves the freedom of our country a profit model was he was speaking to the head of the opposition here inside the country he told us that he had met russia's

is impose more sanctions to further squeeze the regime but as r.t. sara further for its ultimately the syrian people who end up there in the bronx. trying to shine a light on what's happening in the country the observer mission looks set to continue now for another month but every day here is proving more and more of a challenge for the people. due to the european sanctions in sweden against syria we don't have any tourist we don't have any foreigners the e.u. has known pays its eleventh consecutive round of sanctions this time putting a travel ban on people and businesses linked with the essential regime this we've been finding out the cascade of sanctions has swamp syria's struggling economy actually they're not going to see the syrian people in a way or another i mean if they have governmental sanctions to be imposed that they're business with the syrian government not with the people but the power is completely out of this door in the center of damascus at the moment and this is one of the main criticisms aimed at the economic sanctions this that this

implement a peace plan in the country despite saudi arabia withdrawing in its contingency and as r.t. sara first.

been killed in a roadside bomb attack on a van carrying prisoners in the northwest of the country r.t. sara first joined the observers as the visit a town near the syrian capital damascus now controlled by.

the uprising this move complies with the arab league peace plan which syria accepted in november r.t. sara first reports from damascus on. free at last strings of people leave the syrian prison into the arms of waiting family and friends. loved ones who haven't been seen for many months prisoners delighted i'm relieved to have been given back their freedom here this prison on the outskirts of damascus these are the prisoners being selected for release this evening you can see the signing on this is being seen by some of the arab league observers here. this is part of the amnesty announced by president assad of it of course for everyone he's now being released from detention questions being asked about actually why they were detained in the first place you know. i've been in prison for four months i was accused of weakening national security i didn't protest they brought me here by mistake the honesty is a good step i just hope it includes everyone. i had some weapons i had inherited from my grandfather and was accused of bearing illegal weapons i've been here three months when people heard

so what is behind the bloodshed in syria r.t. sara for it is on the ground there with the latest. with the sounds of gunfire and. oh yeah face first from the streets and the increasingly loud international opinions britain needs to lead the way in making sure we tighten the sanctions the travel bans the asset freezes on syria because. the syrian case has developed as every side wants to push away the responsibility to another tossing the ball back and forth. in the last few days the situation has become so unstable the finding people willing to talk quite know his present difficulties. we've had tanks entering in firing and just we've had six people who've died we travel to the suburbs where some of the clashes have breaking out to try to get a clearer picture of what had been happening here in the last few days in one of the damascus at the moment now we were travelling. we thought. that we just received a phone call telling us that it's not safe to travel at the moment the situation goes to show you really. don't know what's going on in these areas even the people who are living

battles between government forces and rebel fighters a raging on the outskirts of the capital and his r.t. sara firth in damascus reports the syrian conflict is beginning to resemble libya marketing. is seeing an increasingly civil conflict evidence treaty by the violence has broken out for the past couple of days between the seaside was not being housed by the statement by one of the members of the main opposition body the syrian national council. head said that aside and his family would be killed like gadhafi now certainly does going to feel the says on both sides really there's going to be retaliation and revenge attacks coming in the speech and certainly that is a genuine fear amongst the people here you're seeing a very polarized country right now and the dividing lines are really being true and you know here that made it as ready as. the full o. you are again and people are really that moderate middle ground now is being squeezed all the time and very concerning because the calls for dialogue just seem to have been completely ava's shattered by this very very strong aggressive rhetoric w

country despite the fact that so many like them and that fight could end up costing them their lives sara r.t. a tunisian woman has died after setting herself on fire in the country's port town as facts it's the fourth case of self-immolation there in eight days and comes on the eve of the first anniversary of the ousting of former president ben ali or for a middle east expert tariq ali thinks that the new moderate islamist leader is struggling to bring about any real change to the deep rooted problems tunisia faces . the way in which the young meads been operating the we in which this extremely unintelligent president mark was the king has been operating and the way in which the new justice minister than these minister going social and moral crozier to decide what can go on and what can even go on and what shouldn't go on television is awarding the real problems of photogrammetry which are social and economic problems and the planet needs to be implemented to help the boy of the people who outreach aapl addicted to the fact that the so-called moderate islamists are basically concentrating on

thousands killed bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for r.t. damascus syria the e.u. has imposed fresh travel bans and asset freezes on the syrian regime as a punishment for any ongoing violence sara mara circle political analysts from syracuse university says the opposition may also be partly to blame for the bloodshed and that pressure should be put on both sides to start talks. of course there are certain parts of the opposition that should share in the responsibility for the there are a good amount of syrians who are dedicated to peaceful demonstrations who have been showing up on the streets and have been you know resisting calls to violence but then there are also many dangerous segments of the opposition who have long used violence we see this as nation more and more especially over the last several months with a lot of weapons coming in through foreign borders to opposition that's becoming increasingly militarized and carrying out some very devastating attacks on syrian infrastructure syrian government institutions the police and also

thousands kills bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for r.t. damascus syria. time to head over to our web site r t dot com to find the latest developments on the political crisis all in the arab world including a look at how the israel palestine standoff impacts the lives of ordinary people risking death to provide a lifeline the story of a palestinian tunnel digger whose work help support his family and the flow of vital supplies into gaza of course all of this in defiance of the israeli blockade . the leader of the libya's national transitional council of mustafa little says the country could be on the brink of civil war details to come about in just a few moments here in our city. and if i had those pictures those pictures we're seeing right there on our to you can find those on our website that says china celebrates the lunar new year and the year of the dragon excellent pictures there to be found on our web site on c dot com now we're turning our attention here to that of libya in just a moment you stay with us. here with r.t. live from m

thousands killed bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for r.t. damascus syria. for more on the arab world coming up in the program with renewed violence breaking out in libya we report on the latest fighting between gadhafi loyalists and interim government forces as fears grow that the country is descending the civil war. the fear of lawsuits comes at the cost of human life rescue services and the u.s. are criticizing him for a number of cases i think looked the other way during emergencies. iran says an oil embargo imposed by the european union is due to fail on monday delivered on its threat of banned the import of crude from the islamic state in response to its nuclear program the latest round of sanctions prohibits any new oil contracts but allows for existing deals to run until july the e.u. buys around eighteen percent of all iranian crude iran's been told the plan may be lifted if it returns to talks. which the west suspects is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb russia has dismissed the new sanctions on iran that's counterproductive iran

thousands kills bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for r.t. damascus syria the new has imposed fresh travel bans and asset freezes on the syrian regime as punishment for the ongoing violence beirut based political analyst omar nash abbé says the responsibility for the bloodshed should be shared between the syrian opposition and it's time to engage in dialogue. the opposition or what this so-called city and free army or the desert there is from the syrian army have been also using heavy gunfire against civilians they have been using explosives apparently they have been using and the armored. rockets and you know some weapons that can also usually be used in civilian areas and against civilians there is president said also enjoys. popular support and said you know one cannot deny this not even the institute in qatar denied this when they did the research last month and they found that fifty five percent of the city and population opposed it down for one or didn't even know if president assad it's time for dialogue as i said has has tried some s

thousands kills bringing the different factions to the negotiating table is going to be a major task sara for r.t. damascus syria. the e.u. has reportedly imposed a new set of sanctions against syria targeting officials from the assad government but some critics say with abuses from both the syrian regime and the opposition now acknowledged to the arab league it's the best time to turn to dialogue rather than in bog. the opposition or what this so-called syrian free army or the desert there is from the syrian army have been also using heavy gunfire against civilians they have been using explosives apparently they have been using and the armored. rockets and you know some weapons that cannot usually be used in civilian areas and against civilians there is president said also enjoys . popular support. one cannot deny this not even the institute in qatar denied this when they did the research last month and they found that fifty five percent of the city and population oppose the downfall or didn't move president. it's time for dialogue as said as has tried some somebody form some democratic reforms

the opposition in the flashpoint city of homs is escalating and it's from there now that sara firth reports for r.t. .

following all the developments keeping you updated by her twitter feed you can check out sara first tweets at r.t. underscore current. multi-billion pound london court dual between russian tycoon and chelsea football club owner roman abramovich and fugitive russian billionaire boris berezovsky is close to its conclusion the judge is considering her verdict in the financial showdown after armies of expensive lawyers went to war for their clients exposing some juicy details on the way our correspondent in london i ever bet it has more it's been dubbed the trial of the century for two reasons really firstly because of the sheer money involved there's six and a half billion dollars at stake here making it the most expensive civil lawsuit in the u.k. legal history and more importantly perhaps is the subject matter really laid bare all those dodgy dealings of ninety's russia in the wild east reaffirming all those stereotypes there are that i don't think anyone actually thought because could possibly be true but it turns out they are and what makes it even more unbelievable is that they've come from two

the opposition in the flashpoint city of homs is escalating and it's from there now that sara firth reports for r.t. . it's been less than a month since we were last in homs in that time the situation's become even more dangerous and the pressure on the people living here shays i suspect were people numbers. having the tragic death of a foreign journalist killed just here in homs recently served as yet another remind the harrowing the precarious situation that people in the city are in the odd way to go but you know i think that you know if. they are going to get over that way before i move to my do kids from school in the heart area where i was living the law is what area because i would be going to you well this is not you know my life it's our land it's our home syria ok we cannot we will go. homes we don't want to leave a lot of schools just want to leave peacefully people have been telling us that they're scared to leave their homes across the city water shortages food shortages power cuts are extremely common winces here and it's hard for some people to even heat their homes survival here in

the divisions within the country have never been clear a battle that may i did well sara is keeping her blog updated at r.t. dot com where she's posting extensively on the support of syria there you will also find images from various parts of the country that haven't made it to where the latest pictures showing people. from the. video. and. polish protesters are refusing to give up the fight over the anti web piracy pact of their countries signed up to more demonstrations are planned against the multinational deal forged in secrecy that activists say allows the firms to censor the internet and you official resigned over the treaty which was signed by twenty two european countries earlier this week. the reports from warsaw. a passer by from england confused scenes on friday in central warsaw with the filming of a sequel for the hollywood movie. judging from the number of masked men and cameras such resemblance was tangible the film character forceful revolution these people are also standing for change to stop the anti counterfeit trade agreement act from becoming law in poland minus fifteen degrees centigr

syria we invite you to or visit the blog of artes international correspondent sara first you'll find that on our website r.t. dot com while you're there these stories getting clicks to a twenty first century titanic story this is in the we get the latest information about the ongoing rescue operation is taking place off the tallying posts where a cruise ship capsized with four thousand people on board with a big job to write about that ship and they also online as well lashing out over a thousand demonstrators caused mayhem in peru caressed last couple days angry at the government the latest wave of stare at the cuts we've got the video along with many others and i you choose channel two. as a rant of the west step up their war of words over the islamic states nuclear program the u.k. is refusing to rule out taking military action foreign secretary william hague also spoke of his confidence that even bugger want to rein in oil will be in place by the end of the month bennett reports now from london. iran's oil exports only make up one percent of britain's oil imports the most in europe is italy with seven p

for international correspondent sara furthur bringing you the latest that's online at r.t. dot com while you're there too these stories should be in full in this room to read the twenty first century titanic they're calling it look at those pictures of that ship the latest information on the rescue operation there were a cruise ship capsized with four thousand people on board so lucky that there weren't more casualties there but even so tragic for the people who did lose their lives got more in line and lashing out over a thousand demonstrators cause may have been bucharest have been reporting this to the last couple of days they're angry at the government and the latest wave of austerity cuts we've got video online on our you tube channel. as a round in the west step up their war of words over the islamic states nuclear program the u.k. to refuse him to rule out taking military action foreign secretary william hague also spoke of his confidence that anyone bargo iranian oil will be in place by the end of the month bennett reports from london. iran's oil exports only make u

where sara furthur is also posting updates online you can follow her blog at r.t. dot com for first hand accounts of the situation in syria. the arab league remains split over a recent proposal by qatar to send troops into syria the theory is the move could engulf the entire region asia times correspondent. says the arab league is not motivated by democracy in syria as a group itself mostly consists of oppressive one of. don't forget that all these regimes are all doctor sees that the local populations have no possibility at all for political expression some of them their own populations like in the keys of the rate seventy percent shiite population they're treated as second rate citizens and now we have the persian gulf monarchies trying to teach the world lessons on the mockers like the whole sink the whole scheme is sampson lukey upsurge to start with so can we imagine the if we had what we seen in syria inside easter saudi arabia for it's all busy no calls for democracy no calls for deposing the government like qatar is saying nowadays look at what happened sob

while our correspondent sara furthur she is in syria and she's posting updates on the situation in her blog on r.t. dot com a few to keep track of the latest right there well before we get to dmitri with the business news let's get to the r.t. world update now some other international news in brief and at least twenty three of being killed in a tribal region near the pakistani afghan border when soldiers clash with militants officials say six of the dead were pakistani troops who were attacked by taliban fighters during a search operation pakistan has been battling against groups linked either to the taliban or al qaeda in the area for several years. torrential rains have brought widespread chaos to southeastern australia several local reverse of burst their banks causing landslips flash floods over four thousand residents have been ordered to leave their homes in the state of new south wales alone and with more heavy downpours and strong winds forecast for the area australia was also hit by devastating floods last year which killed thirty five. chinese new year festivities in central thailand it

r.t. underscore com her most recent post from the town of zabadani in the southwest of the country the scene of heavy fighting sara says there's a right now when are you using cease fire they're out of the town under government control by the opposition she also says locals seem very worried that the violence could it erupt again. its. capital zagreb police have clashed with protesters trying to pull down the flag ahead of the country's membership referendum sunday recent surveys suggest forty percent of the population are against joining the patrick young from investment advisory firm devi advisors says it's easy to understand because currents can see their neighbors in the bloc facing hard times. the key consideration here is that when we look at the crew ition referendum there's been barely one and p. in the entire parliament who's actually been turning round of publicly saying anything against the e.u. itself so the fact that we have this amazing grind swell of support at something like forty percent easing credible it demonstrates the fact that the political classes are completely and utterly of touch with wh