they are repressed by the police who tear gas they throw stones somebody gets injured hundreds get in because somebody always ends up getting killed and i always figure that it's the poor people on the streets fighting the police who are also poor and i always wonder if there are a cigar smoking perched on the fiftieth floor boardrooms looking down of these horrific scenes and just laughing at it all. but later today we'll bring you a unique take on europe's debt crisis and the kaiser report coming up at fifteen thirty g.m.t. . here are some images from athens is that from two thousand and nine two thousand and ten two thousand and eleven or two thousand and twelve can you tell the target by any other year or still a sweep greeks approved tombstone austerity deal with troika so we see over and over there's a great deal there is not a great deal there's a great deal there's not a great deal you. forget there is a deal now there were german were cruising were trying to milk you dry and

still the elegant marvels but the u.k. already stalled. its international pressure on iran mounts russia's military has a sas the probability of a western strike against the islamic republic is being high but concerns of pending military action grew after israel blamed tehran for two bomb attacks on its diplomatic staff on monday actually peter oliver following developments around iran and now joins us live with the latest developments peter what exactly was said by the russian military with regard to this or rainy and standoff well this came from the chief of staff of the russian armed forces he said he couldn't rule out a plan being in place for the west to attack iran by well by the summer of this year now he was basing this statement on the fact that since the arab spring began

russia has been monitoring the the region of the wider middle east very closely and that is his findings from the monitoring that's being going on now this comes just a day after two israeli diplomats were targeted in the capitals of georgia and india now they were targeted with bombs being placed in cars the bomb in georgia was able to be found in diffused but the bomb in india exploded injuring several people now. what. the israelis were very very quick to point the finger of blame towards terror and something that experts of later said there's very really really no evidence to suggest that the iranians were behind this now this is all part of the blame game it's been going on between tell of the terror and terror and accuses the israelis have been behind a two year campaign to assassinate a rainy and nuclear scientists and well on tuesday in bangkok what we've seen is

a rainy unmanned taken into custody by type police. an explosion two explosions in bangkok injured several people there now it's really media very very quick to point the finger of terror towards that iranian man who's being detained there so this is all part of as i say a blame game that's ongoing between tel of eve and terror on. an artist peter oliver live with that ted thank you for that. well later this hour we hear about the pitfalls of the u.s. approach to dealing with iran from brian bakker a member of the answer antiwar coalition here's a taste of that interview coming up for you. the u.s. says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who is watching knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt operate covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even

a like the old saying is they are saying to the rest of the world if you dare do business with iran central bank if you buy iranian oil which constitutes half of iran's g.n.p. if you have any business with iran whatsoever you will not have access to american banks to american corporations to the american market this is in fact a blockade. but taking a look now at some other news from around the world this hour a radical muslim cleric with alleged links to al qaeda and said to be bin laden's right hand man has been released from prison on bail in the u.k. extremist preacher abu qatada has been locked up for six years but last week a tribunals ruled he should be freed when us officials say he poses a threat to the country's security but attempts to deport him back to jordan to face terrorism charges have been blocked by the european court of human rights.

ethnic serbs in northern coast of zero have voted on whether to recognize the government in pristina which they have ignored since two thousand and eight the result of the tour de referendum is expected on sunday which could further impact tensions with ethnic albanians officials in belgrade have warned kosovo serbs against holding the referendum saying it would harm to monks with pristina and its own bridge to join the e.u. . the body of late pop star whitney houston has arrived in her home state of new jersey ahead of the morial service scheduled for later this week dozens of her fans gathered outside the funeral home hoping to catch a glimpse of her casket it's still unclear what caused huge does that though some have speculated drowning or a drug overdose she was forty eight years old. next year an artsy is the latest business with kareen.

thank you nice hello and welcome to business here in our thanks for joining me we start with russian crops where mother nature is once again playing tricks just a year after a severe drought the country's plantings are facing a cold test r.t.s. business and hope bush will has more. but the home of crops may have been damaged by the extreme cold weather say worried farmers it's lead germany france and poland are also risk from sustained low temperatures which of thirty three in some polls that is expected to skyrocket prices for things like bread wheat futures have been through of the ukraine and russian government warned they may limit exports to guarantee the mystic supply both countries are usually big exporters of grain global we proceed eleven percent in the second half of general alone we will russia's top or no receipts because the suspended load at its grain terminal several times of the black sea froze over for the first time in thirty years

a drought from july to november last year has already weakened crops the head of russia's than one company says fifty percent of the country's great crop could be damaged by heavy winds and the worst weather in a quarter of a century first show one in three great points have already been lost. let's have a look at the markets now exchange rates first the euro is trading lower against the dollar and a row that's after being down an early asian trading due to the rating downgrade by britain's unmoved by the ratings agency also weighs on the ruble which is saying moderate losses against the u.s. . oil next prices are up however around a one month high that after the yesterday planning approval by the greek parliament and tighten sanctions on iran futures climbed over two percent after companies in control of more than one hundred anchors said they would stop loading cargo from iran here's europe where stocks are gaining this hour despite a fresh crop of downgrades and ratings cut by moody's rating agency now two notches

off spain's sovereign debt rating and current outlooks on the u.k. and france to next. year's russia markets they are trading in positive territory with a miser adding almost. one percent this hour let's check the index movers on the why sex look oil is one percent higher the company plans to invest twenty nine billion dollars in field development in the caspian sea by two thousand and twenty five. worst for early losses and is now adding around one percent and try to make a come out is among the main rumors it has made a deal with their till monday from a committee outlines which stocks investors will focus this week. investors will be most focused on stocks which are most leveraged on a successful outcome for greece and also relatively well supported modestly prices in tradition in russia those are what we call the heartbeat of stocks that still

names the financials as well so the market should be quite focused on names like you have arise and likes of a star with much zero. amongst the banks but i can read t v but a lot will depend on how the market interprets the events in greece. and in other news overall so the world's largest diamond mine i put myself forty percent and according to daily flotation worth over one billion dollars may take part in the second half of this year. japanese beer lovers will soon have the opportunity to enjoy a new brand of their favorite beverage russia six largest brewer has decided to set up production in the european country the company plans to increase its presence in the german market tenfold this year by brewing five million liters of beer. and a broader view to increasing regular pressure on russia. well

that's all we have for you this hour but don't forget i will back in about fifteen minutes with more here on this start. to.

resistance is not a politics but a culture. this could test. on its own. cultures of resistance on marching.

you're watching our t.v. live from moscow and the headlines the u.n. general assembly prepares to vote in an arab resolution putting blame for violence in syria solely on the government that's amid fears the country might soon plunge into sectarian chaos. a fresh wave of downgrade sweeps across the struggling euro zone a six nations get their debt rating scott all this while greece faces further ballot 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 crowds gather over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's attack on diplomatic personnel. well a circle of tension is contracting around iran as tel aviv accuses it of orchestrating attacks on israeli diplomats it comes amid strained relations in the region with the west deeply concerned over tehran's controversial nuclear program for more on that are to talk to brian bakker a member of the answer antiwar coalition. thank you for joining us on r.t. thank you but does the united states want from tightening the sanctions i mean. even beyond tightening the sanctions now indeed it is the united states government

has created an artificial crisis that's first and foremost it's a manufactured crisis iran is complying with the. iran does not have a nuclear weapon iran is now threatening its neighbors iran has not started a war with any of its neighbors israel on the other hand has hundreds of nuclear weapons and unlike iran refuses to sign a nuclear nonproliferation treaty does not allow. inspectors into its country so there's not really a nuclear menace or a nuclear danger from iran and so what is the cause what's the cause of the crisis of the artificial crisis the real goal is the united states government has embarked on a course of extreme economic aggression against iran with the hope that by creating economic suffering economic isolation economic misery that part of the population will rise up or become disenfranchised with the government so that the u.s. can do as it has in history carry out regime change they deny that the us denied

that it's trying to carry out there was a change in iran right i mean we have to take it with a very very big grain of salt because we know that since one nine hundred seventy nine the united states refuses to have relations with the islamic republic of iran why is it because iran is a dictatorship well it's actually a democratic government it has democratic features far beyond some of america's most foremost there lies in the middle east such as saudi arabia for instance since one thousand nine hundred nine iran became an independent government before that between one nine hundred fifty three and one thousand nine hundred seventy nine when the shah was there. the shah basically is a proxy or a puppet or a client of the american power and so the u.s. says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who's watching knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt operate covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even like the old

saying they are saying to the rest of the world if you dare do business with iran central bank if you buy iranian oil which constitutes half of iran's g.n.p. if you have any business with iran whatsoever you will not have access to american banks to american corporations to the american market this is in fact a blockade something like an economic blockade of iran and by international law in economic blockade is an act of war and so we should understand it just like that so what do you think iran's response is going to be well iran so far has been very prudent even though they said that they would consider closing the strait of hormuz that six mile stretch of the persian arabian gulf where twenty five percent of the world's oil supply goes through. and even though much was made of that in the western media in fact iran has not done anything to give the u.s.

. pretext an excuse a provocation so to speak that would allow the united states or israel to trigger a set of military actions iran i think is also telling its people that we are not panicked we the iranian government are not panicked that they're trying to show that they have a serenity and a calmness and a confidence and that they will weather the storm but in fact economic sanctions are taking a bite on the iranian economy right now there is a lot to see about this israeli possible attack specially israeli. possible attack wall street journal says that the u.s. is planning a plan b. should israel attack i think the israelis try to pretend that iran constitutes an excess stencil threat to israel i don't think that that in fact is the case even though iran's military has the capability to do great damage to israel in the event

of a war even though israel is a nuclear power i think that the israeli government has a pattern and a practice of invasion and bombing of its neighbors in the middle east it carried out the bombing of iraq's nuclear facility in one thousand nine hundred one even though that was permitted by international law and subject to a spec sions in other words a nuclear program for civilian energy purposes israel came in bombed it they did the same to syria in the last few years and they would like to carry out military strikes against the iranian government the americans don't want that right now even though they they're happy to be have iran in a state of tension they don't really want israel to become the main protagonist with the iranian government by carrying out an unprovoked military strike i mean i'm talking about the main sectors in the american establishment because that would

then present the crisis struggle between the islamic republic of iran on one side and the israelis regime on the other and in that case iran will be able to mobilize mass support throughout the middle east for it the united states has a different tact they want to keep israel sort of in the background lou mean danger in threatening iran in one way keeping iran in the state of tension perhaps militarily but have the economic sanctions do the bulk of the work by carrying out economic and financial isolation against the iranian government they think in the long term that's the easier way the better way or the more effective way to carry out regime. change the u.s. has puzzled over israel's intentions so what if israel does decide to strike iran and this is a u.s. official says it's hard to know what's a bluster and what's not with israelis well i think a lot of this is baloney and nonsense the israelis are the recipient the benefactor

of three billion dollars a year in u.s. military aid if they do something that's completely contrary to what washington wants they will be on the very short end of the stick the israelis are not dominating and dictating u.s. policy in this geo strategically say or not they have a big influence in washington they have a strong lobby but when it comes to iran or when it comes to iraq the israelis do not tell the united states what to do it's vice versa if israel strikes no if the conflict is presented that way between the islamic republic and israel the people of the middle east will really to the side of iran the assassination of the iranian scientist which rick santorum called half and that's where. john bolton of. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations the sanctions that tightening up the sanctions the . coalition that the u.s. is trying to building in iraq what is iran going to do with

a face all of this pressure well iran has certain allies to iran has russia and it has china increasingly it has venezuela and cuba another words those governments in the world in addition of course to syria which has its own problems right now but the countries in the world don't want the entire world to be dominated by one power the united states of america they recognize that the existence of iran as an independent government is something that is positive meaning that if the united states were were were to be successful in carrying out regime change in iran they would be emboldened to carry out further destabilizing efforts against other powers including russia and china by the way even though there are great powers. so i think that iran has allies and i think iran is trying to show that they can weather the storm and also that they can rally their population in spite of the

fact the divisions that were revealed in two thousand and nine after the elections the presidential elections the iranian people as a whole i don't believe they should be sanctioned the iranian people believe that they have as they do the right to develop nuclear power for peaceful civilian purposes and i think right now the iranian government is trying to weather the storm they're also making it clear that they don't options that they have they have limited options they have limited options and that's the big issue here i think is that. in america right now in the united states nobody feels this issue they don't feel there's a war looming they don't feel the problem of economic sanctions it's the iranians who are feeling it it's the tension the pressure of the economic problems are all one sided this is like a great power the seven hundred pound gorilla who decides to sit wherever it wants to sit and it can create immense tension and pressure and economic suffering

somewhere else without having to endure any political price so that it's the big problem and as a peace activist and as someone who believes in human rights in i think will do will see this more and more in the united states we are starting to concentrate our efforts to expose the fact that the united states government is carrying out through a different set of tactics the same thing that they did in iraq they carried out regime change in iraq not to make iraq more democratic more human rights oriented but to dominate a wreck and i think they they want to do that in iran and we need to have people outside of iran stand up and say iran should not be alone on this does that presidential elections have any say in what's going on in real and what's going to happen with iran and tens of washington. i think the presidential elections in the united states definitely play a role in u.s. policy towards iran that by the way has been the case ever since the iranian revolution iran has factored into american politics in this case the republican

candidates are sort of baiting obama and suggesting that if obama is reelected we will have a nuclear armed iran someday soon well i do something just to counter their statements because it's an election year i don't think so i think that it's not out of the question that obama could opportunistically up the ante or even escalate tensions or even allow some sort of limited military attack against iran in order to show how tough he is and how well. he's not a liberal or something like that but i don't think so this is a very big project for the pentagon for the cia for the us establishment i think it goes beyond electoral politics and i think the obama administration and the pentagon are having a carefully calibrated approach that won't again with regime change the republicans and democrats share the same objective one is more demagogic leigh militant against iran they both share the same objective which is to bring iran back into an

americans fear of influence and i think the republicans can't move obama that much because obama actually has the backing of the pentagon in terms of this particular approach the pentagon is bogged down in afghanistan they really were pushed out of iraq they have a lot of a lot of military problems a major full scale war right now which could happen even if they don't intend it by people climb the escalation ladder.

mine. too much brighter than. some from phones to pressure these. stunts on t.v. don't come. party's top stories the u.n. general assembly prepares to vote on an arab resolution putting the blame for violence in syria soley on the government amid fears the country might soon plunge into sectarian chaos. a fresh wave of downgrades sweeps across the struggling euro zone a six nations get their debt rating caught all this while greece faces further ballot hurdles from the e.u. despite its latest harsh austerity plan. and the russian military predicts the west might decide that a military strike against iran before summer as crowds gather over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's attacks on

diplomatic personnel. sports news is next here on r.t. with kate. hello welcome to the latest sports update as we kick off a week of european football action the headlines find the elements remains you're a pretty type of n.p.r. calls goes ahead in subzero temperatures in moscow in the final minutes of the new sneaky stadium. while coming back strong to call us down as he sets to return to manchester city after a three month exile you know if you tina. allen red stars russia's skaters shine or some of the best in the world take to the ice in the swiss city of davos. but first ravines you're right police match with olympiacos is going to head in moscow despite temperatures around minus twelve here in the russian capital well due to the hot weather conditions revealed already have to forfeit the home advantage and

played moscow and officials were happy to go ahead on the artificial take advantage make the stadium going to the last few minutes there the first leg of the last thirty two match and the score is one nil to the greek side they discussed putting them ahead up to seventy one minutes but then they had a man sent off and conceded a penalty which will save one male to the greek side in the final minutes there doesn't mean one plus one other you rightly gave this tuesday night and in a considerably warmer climate the sporting braga exhausted but i've portuguese side quarter of last year's final as they should start from turkey. well meanwhile the champions league also regimes this tuesday with defending champions barcelona in germany faced by a lay bikies and in the first leg of the last sixteen losses suffered a surprise three two defeat at officer you know on saturday to finish the weekend ten points adrift of legal leaders rael madrid manager pep guardiola admits that gap will be hard to call back but in the meantime his side are intent on reaching the quarter final.