and u.k. call for the exclusion of syria from us goes human rights committees they say the country's president damages the organizations reputation the move comes as tension runs high in syria following a suicide attack that killed twenty six people in central damascus. human rights groups condemned the visit of sudan's president omar al bashir to libya.

in the u.k. is now at one hundred sixty three thousand pounds eight hundred twenty two whereas the average income for a working age household is thirty three thousand pounds oh let's use the titanic analogy. the economy hit the iceberg in two thousand and seven there was a hole in the hall of the global economy to patch up the hole and to right the situation would require higher interest rates but what we've seen around the world mervyn king in the u.k. ben bernanke in the us is to lower interest rates which has the effect of why the hole goes speeding up the sinking of the ship while the elite who are in these homes in the london area see the prices of their. a little escape boat go up but the vast majority than i present still stuck in the titanic are sinking fast and sinking even faster because lower interest rates are making the whole bigger. i presume it's because the people in the boats that are escaping from the sinking economy don't want anyone to survive to live another day and to go hun

all paper books both die now let's turn to the first stories here coming out of the u.k. u.k. house prices stay resilient despite pressures that average u.k. property is that worth one percent more than that at the start of last year it is a remarkable performance considering the crisis in the eurozone the average price of a home max in the u.k. is now at one hundred sixty three thousand pounds eight hundred twenty two whereas the average income for a working age household is thirty three thousand pounds oh let's use the titanic analogy. the economy hit the iceberg in two thousand and seven there is a hole in the hall of the global economy that to patch up the hole and to write the situation would require higher interest rates but what we've seen around the world mervyn king in the u.k. ben bernanke in the us is to lower interest rates which has the effect of why the whole the us speeding up the sinking of the ship while the elite who are in these homes in the london area see the prices of their little skate boats go up but the vast majority the ninety nine percent still stuck

and the u.k.and the middle east do about twenty three billion dollars worth of trade every year so a very very big partnership on both sides strong relationships with the saudis very important to britain for advancing the ukase interests in the region saudi arabia has recently been hugely roiled and rattled by various developments in the region including the overthrow of longtime ally hosni mubarak and these recent tensions with iran and there is a certain amount of a lot of powerful opposition to this visit here in the u.k. a group of very powerful members of parliament the committee on export controls has questioned why licenses to saudi arabia for arms exports from the u.k. haven't been revoked in the wake of that trouble they have submitted questions and then publish those questions to the government on licensing of various equipment including bombs and components of vehicles and helicopters and also communications equipment and they're saying why given the unrest that we did see in saudi arab

the u.k. conservative party and he's also the new head of the european conservatives and a reformist group at the european parliament thanks very much obviously for joining us today for the first question is the e.u. now imposed a block wide oil embargo on iraq as part of the president and sanctions on the country over its controversial nuclear program statement british prime minister david cameron along with french president nicolas sarkozy. and merkel and said that quote our message is clear we have no quarrel with the iranian people but the iranian leadership has failed to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program now at what cost to the year. union is this message being delivered clearly there is going to be an economic cost because you have agreed that we are not going to buy any more oil from iran number of member states to have. reasonable reason be considerable purchases from them so they would have to stop by oil from iran but i think y

british prime minister david cameron arrives in saudi arabia the u.k.'s largest market in the middle east even as the gulf kingdom continues its ruthless crackdown on protests. syrian government forces supported by tanks have reportedly begun a military operation against the rebels close to the border with lebanon.

and the u.k.and the middle east do about twenty three billion dollars worth of trade every year so a very very big partnership on both sides strong relationships with the saudis is very important to britain for advancing the u.k. so interests in the region and of course as you mentioned saudi arabia has recently been hugely roiled and rattled by various developments in the region including the overthrow of longtime ally hosni mubarak and these recent tensions with iran and in fact iran has threatened to block the strait of hormuz which is the biggest. export through which most of the middle east oil go through so it's very important to saudi arabia and indeed to britain that those issues are resolved with iran. so laure you talk about these massive multi-billion dollar economic interests between saudi arabia and the united kingdom where you touched on it just moments ago about the issue of the arab spring for most of two thousand and eleven we heard about the arab spring in many various countries

thank you and the u.k. arms contracts with saudi arabia and the only thing piling pressure on iran as we find out in just a few minutes from now the u.s. warns that iran's supreme leader against attempts to block all trade in the gulf threatening to respond with force it further turns up the heat on tehran ahead of a show jewel visit by u.n. nuclear watchdog inspectors. and also a leaked report by the cia and other intelligence agencies has painted a gloomy picture of the situation in afghanistan the document says the country is in stalemate despite u.s. army generals optimistic outlook it warns that attempts to improve security been undermined by corruption local government and taliban attacks and some experts believe that the u.s. needed a scapegoat which they quickly found just across the afghan border. basically what the americans are now trying to do is they're part of the responsibility of their failures and of what i understand up on pakistan and this is also corroborated from the fact that the nato

the u.k. says it will continue to pursue a diplomatic attack i increasingly sanctions with the hope of bringing iran to the negotiating table after talks over its nuclear program stalled a year ago but that tactic has been tried for the last year hasn't seemed to work tactics have actually seemed to encourage this dangerous game of brinkmanship each side countering the other's threat with one of its own mistakes getting higher and escalating each time so this mention of military action still being on the table is really the latest play in this complex game of brinkmanship. well europe considers its next step in its standoff with iran the us media is already deep in a conflict it's. really two options bomb iran or let iran get the american journalists are accused once again of hyping up tension between washington and its next enemy to win public support. and why thousands of children across britain are finding themselves left in the cold this winter. those stories coming up for you but first ru

family debts up by almost fifty percent in a year the typical debt owed by u.k. family has soared by forty eight percent since january two thousand and eleven as rising inflation has taken its toll on household incomes according to the latest family finances report and max how is inflation caused. by printing money and buying your own debt mervyn king doing exactly what is doing. the only hope he gives to them with his glowing faces don't despair one day i'll stop printing money i can't tell you when there's like a sprinter economics basically because he's trying to hold in the inflation but he can't seem to do a good job it is leaking out and stinking up the joint but. that's just one step too far perhaps but it's a good analogy that most people can relate to so research by the insurance company found that the typical u.k. family is seven thousand nine hundred forty four pounds and unsecured borrowing on credit cards loans overdraft and other forms of credit compared with just five thousand three hundred sixty pounds in january two thousand and eleven the figure

for now the u.k. and scotland's key players will continue to cross swords at stake alex salmond is a reputation built on restoring a proud scotland for prime minister cameron is the potential to become the man who led the united kingdom come apart. at. some other stories making headlines across the globe french president nicolas sarkozy says his nation is suspending military training operations in afghanistan after four soldiers were killed. in a gun fight a rogue afghan soldier has since been detained he was behind the attack but also injured a dozen more soldiers attacks by afghan troops and police on their foreign partners have become increasingly common and some things are close he says is an acceptable so far eighty two french soldiers have been killed in afghanistan since two thousand and one. rescue operations of the site of the coast a cruise liner disaster have been suspended after the ship shifted again overnight twenty one people remain missing eleven were killed when the cruise liner ran a

u.k. figures are good. a contraction by 0.2% at its worst and people fear it was the case, however, when i talk to british and other business leaders they are not --[no audio] >> we have just lost his microphone. butbu aaron is here. i know there was a thought beforehand it may be up a little bit or may be down a little. the fact is it is little. >> it is. we have seen a contraction. this is backward-looking, as robert said. 2012, there are not many expecting large growth. many predict within the euro zone the international monetary fund and just recently changed its forecast on the u.k. economy. but the growth of about 1.6% initially and now they say the u.k. will only see growth of 0.6% this year. tough times. real look at the numbers that made a contraction. the services sector at did not grow at all in the fourth quarter of last year. i am looking at some of the numbers. factory output fell by about 1.2%. we have also very interconnected with what happens in the euro zone. that was one of the big worrie

in the bag have blitzed on gin luck which is not fooling anybody and of course the u.k. economy is contracting why because the debt in the banking sector continues to expand and nobody's doing anything about that mervyn king wake up. but iran is due to resume talks with un nuclear inspectors in tehran this week and in the first discussions of their kind in more than three years the country is also allowing the senior u.n. weapons expert to be part of the mission iran's nuclear program is the main reason behind rising tension with the west the most recent moves have seen the e.u. adopt a complete ban on the reigning oil imports from july by tehran's considering heading off the sanctions by cutting supplies to europe as early as next week policy consultant son gary mani told r.t. that by threatening to turn off the tap iran's hoping hoping to fall from the impact of the sanctions the calculus from iran's perspective is going to be if a preamp by cutting exports the forward to july first date the e.u. has set for cutting the exports and iraq preemptively cuts its three four

the u.k. cost desire to stay within the terms of the resolution. staye uk's desire to within the terms of the resolution. lawyers were very skeptical it could be done. eventually, it was done. finally, these troops that went in, the two dozen or so, where armed, i am so. the earlier missions, they were mentoring and they went in plain clothes. >> how significant a contribution was it? >> it is easy to argue it both ways. a lot of people would say after the fall of tripoli, those gangs of men in their pickup trucks and heavy machine guns were a pretty wild, uncoordinated and undisciplined lot. they had achieved their objectives and i think it was important that if you like, they wanted to bank from the political influence that came from helping them achieve their objectives. they claim that hundreds of qatari troops were involved. the french wanted to be known that they aren't the -- armed the ntc at some point. they hoped to get influence in the new libya. >> dto what extent do you think that

while the u.k. may be mired in domestic affairs later in the program we report on an international blow for the country as a former senior official admits to spying scandal. and the embarrassment of these revelations is not so much the spying itself but the fact they were caught doing. something stone for the modern day james bodies moscow's rock solid evidence forces a key figure to finally come clean. america's controversial use of its drones in asia may have caused overwhelming anger but now it's running to do the same at home washington's key spying weapon in overseas operations is becoming a common tool for us police stirring up privacy concerns among more and more americans are looking into the issue. they are the cornerstone of america's military arsenal dropping bombs on bosnia pakistan afghanistan libya and yemen a manned aerial vehicles known as drones have become the trademark of washington's war missions targeted assassinations and spying operations overseas but today the local police de

well amos mcrae a chief economic correspondent of the u.k.'s independent newspaper believes that greece is effectively already in default and that a cascade is imminent i don't think you have to be a whiz at math to figure out that it's not just the indebtedness of some countries but also the euro oh the common currency is a single currency for an area where some countries need a devaluation i don't know whether technically greece is going to be in default or not but if your repay the thirty or forty cents in the euro your debt and the write down is going to something like before to say forty if you're lucky thirty if you're unlucky reacted any rational six b. is a country defaulting on its debts and whether technically that is or whether it take it seems to me to be not back rower because once you deal with greece ok you try and have to put a far wall behind that but people may say look if i'm not going to get my money back on greece why should i learn to portugal why should i learn to spell why should i learn to italy. well still to come few

the u.k. secret service has been literally rocked by the admission of one of the country's former top officials who confirmed that britain had been spying on russia this comes six years after moscow first presented its elevations after catching agents red handed i desire bennett has more. the most glamorous of james bond gadgets but hidden in this fake stone was a high tech transmitted british spooks used to spy on russia the allegations from moscow have always been dismissed but six years on there is rock solid evidence the u.k. can no longer deny tony blair's former chief of staff come clean admitting british spies were caught red handed the spy rock was embarrassing they had us bang to rights clearly they had known about it for some time and had been saving it up for a political purpose. the embarrassing revelations confirmed the findings of a russian television report in two thousand and six it showed this video of a man slowing down and looking at the rock as he passed apparently an agent

the u.k. u.s. extradition treaty was signed in two thousand and three supposedly to bring international terrorists to justice but many feel it's unfair to british citizens it makes it far easier for america to extradite someone from the u.k. than the other way around so far extraditions of five to two in america's favor veteran british m.p. simming campbell's leading a review of the treaty by his party the smaller partner in the governing coalition what i argue for is that the position of a british citizen should be no worse than that of an american to and at the moment you think it's in bonds record i'm in no doubt that out of bounds richard was innocently caught up in something which was never intended to deal with people like gary mckinnon case is another that's left british m.p.'s crying out for change the asperger's sufferer has been fighting extradition for seven years he's wanted for hacking into pentagon files that he claims he was searching for evidence of u.f.o.'s a recent parliamentary d

now british officials made an extraordinary admission, that the u.k. planted equipment designed to look like a rock to spy on russians. this is the devie vice -- this is the device. this picture taken four years ago. the bbc documentary "the russian" caught them red-handed. >> they had us bang to rights. clearly they have known about it for some time and have been saving it up for a political purpose. >> we have gordon here in the studio with me. let's go first to steve rosenberg in moscow. a sweet smile of satisfaction emanating from moscow, steve. >> yes, definitely. there has been no official reaction from russia or no official reaction from the security officials here. although, interfax news agency said this is nothing new to us. we told the world about this back in 2006. i remember watching the russian documentary that broke the story back then. it was incredible. it was like watching a novel or a cold war drama. it was being used to hide high-tech transmitters to gather information from russian contacts. >> more incredible at the time because wh

off the air in the u.k. . well i don't think it's crucial i think it's been used by off and i think the theory. authorities have been unwilling to abide by what i asked them to do there is the leaders of the people who run press t.v. so you know look at the end of the day i think that most of the criticisms of press t.v. ad been due to its coverage because you know it sees the middle east very differently for example than the mainstream media in britain this repeatedly comes up pro israeli groups repeatedly complain about it so there's been you know they've been at loggerheads for so long that i think that we know by the way from wiki leaks we know very well that the british government at the very highest level was discussing with the american ambassador here how to limit press t.v.'s output in britain so we certainly know that press t.v.'s journalism is not viewed purely in terms of its journalism but it's viewed in terms of british arraigning relations and finally given the current significant plunge in poli

energy u.k. which represents gas and electricity companies in the media refused to give an interview but they did issue this statement following consultation with the government decided who will benefit from core funding under the new home discount scheme and those customers will get an automatic discount of their electricity bill without needing to apply for it save the children says that's not good enough currently only pensioners automatically benefit from the warm home discount scheme and others must deploy which charities say is very complicated the scheme is underfunded and every year energy bills take up and up additionally and crucially poor families often pays you go to system for their electricity and gas which works out more expensive than paying monthly a poverty premium in action. meanwhile julie sees first hand the all the price of being poor if she can only afford to heat her house for two hours a day her children's school. jumper to put on. plays it to call and then go to bed late