from journalist lizzie feelin now joining joining us live from london i thanks for coming r.t. today the free syrian army now claiming responsibility for these enormous blasts in syria today do you think there's any chance that could change nato states attitude towards the armed opposition groups in the country. well i mean i would say that this attack was directed from. paris and new york it's quite clear that the explosions i mean the explosions themselves were huge i've spoken to people in aleppo today who are in fear for their lives and there were people up to twenty kilometers away who felt the explosions so let's look at the evidence for the fact that this attack was actually directed externally of course that was carried out by so-called free syrian army insurgents but first of all i'd just like to say that this is clearly a response to the russian and chinese veto is

a message from the west that if we don't get our way through the united nations security council we are going to go ahead with these stabilizing the country syria by any means possible so first of all we've had. in the first minutes after the explosion an hour and a half an hour ago we had the western. media meeting the claims that the syrian government was responsible for the attacks but of course it was from phone student twenty four who broke the news that the. claims of responsibility for the attack so of course we had william hague just a few days ago in the british media promising that britain would support the free syrian army by any means that they could and of course that means political support financial support and military support and is no coincidence i would say that it seems to be always the french media that breaks the announcements by free syrian

army officers claiming responsibility for four attacks of course it was the vicar of rome who broke the announcement by free syrian army offices that they were responsible for the killing of the list. and the syrian civilians so this indicates . a very close communication and frequent communication between the french media and the friends and the opposition and then of course just a few days ago as well a video emerged online of israeli official. and a free syrian army officer below where they were talking in much step about how they could cooperate more closely and then at the same time we are seeing in the media. an increase in fact is they sins of syrian government violence against civilians and fun but since the military operation to protect civilians in farms began the syrian military has found a number of caches of weapons of israeli weapons including these. weapons so

we cannot separate the attack in aleppo today that there are reports that more than one hundred fifty people have been killed but so far the ministry of health has only been able to identify twenty five bodies this is because there are explosions was so still so strong that there are literally pieces of people's bodies of children for these strewn across the street and then the other evidence that this was conducted by. facilitated by external intelligence is that as you mentioned in your report the attacks took place in very sensitive areas outside military buildings and law enforcement agencies well obviously there will be a very high level of security so let's you know i'm terribly sorry to interrupt you for me just jump in just for a moment here it's simply very very interesting how you discuss are there external players here that are creating a spinal column a backbone to help the opposition against the assad regime but as you talk about so

these two enormous bomb is going off and aleppo the u.s. and its allies all looking into supporting the syrian opposition including arming the rebels on creating a quote humanitarian corridor would you serve some might say this sounds suspiciously like the no fly zone over libya according to u.n. resolution one hundred seventy three. yes well absolutely i mean they can't they able to get your new united nations security council resolutions that have libya style. you and fig leaf for the in so for the intervention so as we know they are doing it through other means and they in israeli intelligence but by themselves of a poor third just a couple of days ago that there were a british and qatari special forces already the on the ground in syria so because of the russians determination thought hold international law and prevent a violation of a direct violation of syria's civil war and they see an interference in the affairs

which is already taking place because of the west's support for these insurgents on the ground then the west as i said is going to try any means possible to destabilize the country. by not going through the united nations and let's be clear that the russian stance of consistently and continuously reminding the world of its international obligations under international law is being continuously rubbish by the west as we've seen in these explosions today who at the time into violates all all of its responsibilities under international law in order to get its way in syria in order to destabilize the country so that it can get hold of the it can get hold of the cheers strategic area that is syria so so that it can have. a strategic advantage in its later confrontations that it is pushing for with

russia and iran all right her journalist to lizzie philip wish we had more time for this we're going to live from london thank you. meanwhile meanwhile in washington officials there are setting up an international coalition supporting rebels in their struggle but so-called group friends of democratic syria will involve countries willing to prop up the opposition and palm oil pressure on the regime with some calls from washington to the opposition parties are more important reports the regions are already flooded with weapons coming in from the u.s. . at the united nations security council america holds one permanent seat but when it comes to weapons the world's largest arms exporter is often seen as sitting on two chairs they say there isn't an international embargo on arms preventing them from doing that that is a fact but that doesn't change the immorality of supplying a dictatorial regime that is killing its people in massive numbers every day and we

are are deeply concerned about that as u.s. officials continue publicly scolding countries over relations with syria critics say the accusations are being thrown from a tremendous glasshouse the us is a hugely difficult in this regard because they've long been the largest arms dealer and most of those weapons the us sold the story clearly more than four hundred billion dollars worth of since the one nine hundred sixty s. have gone to the middle east and you can argue. seriously that it's made the region any more stable in the past few years nearly fifty percent of u.s. weapons exports have been flowing to the middle east many countries with the biggest appetite for american weapons have also made headlines for carrying out brutal crackdowns against dissidents and opposition groups if you are you know ok they are thugs you're not i mean this is for all of us who have been overseas the

duplicity in a park or city of american foreign policy is painfully evident. according to congressional figures america has sold one point four billion dollars worth of weapons to bahrain since two thousand and america struck its single biggest arms deal when saudi arabia ordered sixty billion dollars worth of arms the us has long subsidize the israeli military and recently supplied them with bunker buster bombs experts say this strategic arming of middle eastern countries is aimed at iran and extending u.s. dominance in the region. is going on. against your own it's not all about you know human rights. all about some geopolitical f.b.i. whistle blower sibel edmonds has accused america of playing particularly dirty while leading

a campaign for regime change in syria and it's not some kind of. simultaneously op rising situation where people are a ballet and then suddenly they are mysteriously armed and mysteriously arms are being smuggled into syria from turkey well who who is providing this arms nobody's asking in the us media well these are u.s. arms shipped to turkey this is the u.s. military complex flush with record revenue continues to lobby its interests on capitol hill arms manufacturers are some of the biggest companies in america they're some of the most powerful lockheed martin not only do they making so much for the defense department around the world their federal contractor and many other levels are going to vote in elections this statue outside the u.n. headquarters is a symbol of global peace and nonviolence but critics say the idea has been twisted by the u.s. which goes around advocating peace while arming countless conflicts all for the

sake of profit marina point ny r.t. new york. you're watching r t greece is at a standstill once again people venting their anger at more planned cuts which he is demanding in return for vital funds public transport and other services have been disrupted by the unions two day strike protesters in athens are clashing with police throwing stones and molotov cocktails crosses coalition government did manage to agree on a new austerity deal their creditors have been demanding but eurozone finance ministers remain skeptical saying they want to see concrete action before the second bailout worth one hundred thirty billion euros can be handed over without the cash athens will default on its massive debts in march the greek parliament now has to approve cuts and find over three hundred billion euros to trim off the year's budget by wednesday journalist still be on those a person with us says his government is dancing to the tune of foreign creditors.

but what we get from all these measures. if we have all the before then we are in this situation where we have to face slow death from starvation this situation in greece is extreme at the moment we have children fainting in their school because they don't have proper breakfast and because they don't they don't have enough food so you realize that the situation is getting worse and worse we have a lot of people as i told you that they are angry at the moment first of all they demand elections here and now they want elections they want the situation to be seen second they have been wondering who's recipe are we following at the moment increases i mean the greek government recipe comes from the i.m.f. and they're actually simply doesn't work. it's going to do three each of us the troika gives their main. orders and you know that we get more and more seen the last two years. as they say and i agree with them easier to see this time to morrow

or. from the west bank to see all of these orders and all these measures bring us to growth and bring us back to normal life. or let's go straight to live pictures here right from the center of athens this is a rather outside the usual place outside the parliament building as a big see the crowds are gathering there angry at more planned cuts certainly this has been a bad start of two thousand and twelve for many greeks two thousand and eleven was just a stream of ongoing protests so we can see the riot police are out the crowds are assembling outside the parliament building in athens again live pictures here and we're streaming these for you as long as it goes on for on our web site just head over to our dot com your source for the latest and breaking news. all right still to come for you this hour here on r.t. innocence lost in afghanistan find out why the latest airstrike has sparked the

afghan president's condemnation of foreign troops also separation anxiety. they are now living under the. threat of being forcibly separated from their spouses from their children from their parents palestinians married to israelis fear the citizenship law in the jewish state could tear their families apart. quite a past here in moscow people in russia are becoming more and more involved in the political structure of their country ahead of next month's presidential election a group of journalists bloggers and proactive figures have created legal voters in a bid to make the upcoming vote fair and transparent. reports. it doesn't equal need to find videos of the alleged way lesions during the recent parliamentary vote in russia just a couple of clicks is enough years of these files have flooded the internet and

even though most of the o.e. shoes are still to be. when in court tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets demanding fair elections with marches presidential votes just around the corner events are unfolding quickly with a meter but not sure if people want to vote responsibly and to know where their votes go what they want political competition independent courts and media forming voters league is not our achievement the idea was floating in the air the voters league was officially founded in january by a group of journalists and bloggers activists artists writers and other public figures and states wayne tedious leg t.v. host and now activists who want to get lady advocate for the head of a charity fund and blogger it is the idea of the bianca also known as dr lisa. or two other school martha ordinator of the blue buckets movement fighting for

equal rights on roads for everyone but is more than just our league is an opportunity to gather people who are not indifferent to what's happening to more people with a similar position there are better the leagues main goal is to ensure fair elections is published a list of initiatives on the web divided into groups that everyone can be a part of public discussions and online votes are the key instruments and letters have been sent to all presidential candidates asking them to cooperate with the league and even though the project is less than a month old everyone has so far agreed including pledging to appeal to another candidate businessman mikhail prokhorov has already struck a deal with the league you have to go i'm willing to authorize one hundred fifty thousand league observers we've also arranged to put together a unified day surveys to keep checking the election points because according to its founders around ten thousand observers are needed to ensure a fair election in moscow alone yeah it's great that the civil society wants to be

more active but it's critically important not. an observer is not only a position it is serious of the beauticians to teach science in the political process. the league's founders say those should the organisation down if it ever stores turning into google movement we need to work with all candidates equally there's no doubt society has changed more people want to have more influence on russia's political life perhaps that's why it took less than one month for the vote was leaked to establish ties with both the authorities and the opposition and with the help promise from candidates the league just me secure enough access to effectively monitor the vote in march as long as it avoids taking sides and protects its neutrality you go if it's going to or t. moscow it is a good to have you with us here on r t today plenty of news and eye catching videos twenty four seven at r.t. dot com here are some of the items waiting for you there online right now i'm going

to power the muslim brotherhood demand that egypt's military rulers sack the appointed prime minister and replace him with their own candidacy. and a push for politeness rushers a railway stations are installing the special buttons that ticket offices to improve cashiers abilities to deal with customers read those details that are to dog come. just one in twenty past the hour here in moscow afghan president hamid karzai has ordered an investigation into a nato air strike that killed eight children on wednesday and this comes a week after the united states announced it could hold combat operations in afghanistan earlier than expected but the strike could worsen already tense relations between karzai and washington amid a mounting civilian death toll journalist gareth porter things that foreign expansion is to blame for the growing number of casualties. this is the price that

afghanistan pays for having foreign troops on its soil troops which carry out operations that are based on at best imperfect intelligence and worse simply lack of fundamental knowledge of local situations and mistakes that are made which will result in innocent people being killed completely unnecessarily the numbers are growing clearly because the tele band has continued to expand its operations in response to the growth of u.s. nato troops and part of the taliban response and i would say the single biggest part of the response has been to lay more and more i e d's this is the primary way that the taliban has been able to find to kill u.s. nato troops and even more so to wound seriously u.s. and nato troops. merely time for katie in the business but for now the r.t. world updates some other global headlines in brief and let's start with pakistan

here eleven militants have been killed and over a dozen wounded there in pakistan after local security forces fired artillery shells at their suspected hideouts the crackdown took place in the tribal region where dozens have died in fighting between soldiers and insurgents over the last few weeks pakistan's military has been conducting anti terror operations including since the beginning of the year. a plan strike by police in rio de janeiro over low pay could jeopardize next week's notorious annual carnival despite an agreed pay rise of thirty nine percent over the next two years law enforcers are demanding double for similar industrial action in the city of salvador saw the murder rate double with one hundred twenty people killed during a nine day of police strike thousands of soldiers may be deployed in brazil's capital to provide security. hungary's a central bank is literally burning money to help keep people warm in europe's

deadly cold snap or the bike has been popping wads of disused notes into bundles that can be burned by those in need of heat by codes have been provided as a free source of fuel for the past four years the need is particularly great now with hundreds perishing in the conditions across europe over just the past few weeks. but marrying at the person you love and living freely with them may be a basic right in most democratic countries but apparently it's not always the case in the jewish state israeli palestinian families say they face daily just criminal action and risk being separated altogether and israel's insistence that it's only protecting national security has a few people convinced artie's paula slit reports this is the document that's ruining lana's life it makes no mention of a university degree one husband or two children it simply states she's palestinian and the four illegal and wanted in israel i have

a permission stay here now. i don't have any rights just agree. eat and drink and for me it's not the law of. but lorna chooses nonlife because it's where her husband and children live by law very israeli where is the rest of her family live across the border in janine palestine each time we travel during the week. goes through a path and i and the kids go through another. i have to walk. until now known as move between the two worlds with temporary visas issued by television but she's afraid they could stop as a government tightens its grip on a law denying permanent citizenship to palestinians married to israelis it's trying to limit the demographic. growth of the arab citizens and encourage.

citizens who marry palestinians from the west bank and gaza or from jordan to actually immigrate to actually leave israel israel says the law is for security purposes and it's trying to prevent palestinians from taking advantage of being able to get an israeli id through marriage and then carry out attacks on israeli citizens but human rights groups don't buy that they petitioned the law arguing that in the last fourteen years more than one hundred fifty thousand palestinians entered israel because of family ties with israelis only fifty four of them were ever found to be a security risk. in upholding the so-called citizenship law the israeli supreme court president said it was one of the most difficult questions in the state's history the battle against terror while at the same time maintaining the nation's democratic nature we are talking about thousands of family that as a result of the decision of the supreme court that validated upheld the law they are now living under the tangible threat of being forcibly separated from their

spouses from their children from their parents so we are indeed talking about a huge issue with a huge effect on thousands of people this law is thinking about it. i mean one of the. last degrees before having your very pure jewish state but in the meantime it threatens to tear families apart as lawn interest you now face the very real danger that they might not be able to continue living together policy r.t. israel. and so i could have you with us on our to today in our country is next with the business. welcome to the business program this hour gold is losing value on stronger dollar lifted by fresh water is about the european debt crisis however the sentiment has been generally but less for the blend with the price up around ten percent this

year edwards from unaids was capital sees no reason to think of bubble is developing and the prospects for the metal are still good. gold is twelve percent off its lows we should just record in december it's only ten percent off it's hard it's been very volatile but if you look at the long term chart for gold going over the past. fifty. two thousand dollars. that's been a very consistent. many periods over that period of time and it's been going up in the currency which is the true definition of a bull market was living in the age of gold is still going to be relevant we don't see it breaking below fifteen hundred dollars an ounce and the end of the day is still a commodity there's a cost of production there's a constant supply and it's still very very hard charging people think. have a look at the markets now exchange rates the euro is lower against the dollar. about the greek debt meanwhile we got all these weighing on the ruble which is

losing value against the european the u.s. current says. oil is down after the international energy agency is twenty twelve global all demand for six months as a darkening economic outlook as they say reduced prospects for growth amid supply concerns following the sanctions on iran and you can see light. moving on the european stock markets are indeed in the red after greece fell to come up with a debt deal the talks will continue throughout the weekend european finance ministers are now holding their rescue package demanding further commitments from. here in moscow the markets remain in negative territory as you can see the us is at one point eight percent and the mice segues is just. let's see how the individual getting on this. continues to slide. further down into the right there from the

previous fall in the buyback announcement gold of raising. the law says following reports that it's a tie up with a polymath all girls from that is also down the company has reported a seven percent increase in production for twenty. k. we're going to be marching in the so cold a few here on business all to join in about fifty five.

if you're just joining us a very warm welcome to you this is our live from moscow are your headlines now the syrian opposition fighters claim they are behind twin blasts in the country's largest city of aleppo which killed at least twenty five injured almost two hundred other massive explosions hit a military intelligence complex and a security force base. thousands of greeks a lash out against small planned cuts as the lawmakers race to secure more bailout cash. piling more tough conditions on athens while unions stage a forty eight hour strike. and russia's public figures come together to ensure

a fair and free presidential vote by forming the voters' leake to monitor elections but the challenge now is to stay impartial. see how to shake off the chills and enjoy the russian winter to stay with us for some silliness in the snow with moscow out. well some people embrace the winter and all the frost filled days for teas that come with it others like to hide and was staying in from the dark nights a low temperatures. sleep and relaxation just like various animals that hibernate is an escape.