well as in syria intensifies pressure for international involvement in the conflict inside the country many fear such calls are fueling the violence and this is the u.n. humanitarian chief will head to syria to negotiate the delivery of aid to the war torn country. election fever grips russia added the presidential vote with mass rallies engulfing the capital this thursday the largest demonstration to see the around one hundred thousand people gather at moscow's main stadium to support the current prime minister and presidential candidate by the mere putin. plus concern over the effectiveness of sanctions targeting iran's nuclear program grows as tehran's biggest partners in asia resist western pressure to join the economic warfare israel meanwhile repeatedly defies calls to wait for sanctions to work and refused to rule out the possibility of a military strike. next we hear from the head of the foreign affairs committee in the russian duma to discuss the ongoing conflict in syria stay with us .

mr bush could you tell us about the purpose of your visit just syrian you know sweetie. the main objective of my visit to syria is to see the situation firsthand he said as you know the russian state duma issued a statement on the situation in syria ten days ago speaking strongly against outside interference in syria's affairs and against the un and its security council siding with one of the parties in this civil conflict i do think that we also believe that the syrian government should not be the only side obliged to lay down their weapons and that we armed groups of opposing the government should do the same and my task here is to conduct negotiations with the representatives of the authorities and the opposition to get a clearer picture of the situation and to give a report to the chairmen and deputies of the state duma remembers as you know for

the russians closely follow the situation in syria despite all the heated arguments in view of the upcoming presidential election united russia for the ruling party and the opposition spoke in unison on this matter of those with us mother and you still i don't rule out the possibility that the state duma will revisit the issue perhaps more than once. during your meeting with president you pointed out that russia supports going to reform in syria and it was as a foreign intervention in syria's affairs will moscow a stance remain a scene how would you comment on the recent statements by the signature and general of the arab league below a moscow and be an actual science that their position might sound. you know the most. obviously we're going to get off the statement made by the arab league's representative expresses nothing but his own opinions so far i see nothing that

could make moscow beijing will change the firm stance on the issue expressed in the recent vote on the resolute. on syria in which they called for was urging both sides of the conflict to stop using force rather than only the pro regime forces because i think we currently have every reason to believe the russian delegation will continue its attempts to persuade the outside government to adjust their approach was there with respect to the use of military force when dispersing opposition groups on the other hand those with the ability to influence the armed groups should use it to ensure the violence is not regarded as the only way out of the conflict. scenario we have to avoid is this if driven by some factors the outside government decides to restrict the use of force and the other side should not be able to use it to their advantage actually this is happened

before when the government troops were ordered back to the barracks at the request of the arab league during the work of its mission from the ashes the rebel groups used the opportunity to mount an offensive i think it's impossible to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict to the school on that basis that it's and there was more. muscular issues general ford and i were friends of syria in tunisia. what do you expect from that it manually. yeah the. last of the show stewart of some i think moscow refused to take part in that meeting because judging by the statements we've heard in the format of the so-called friends of syria club it will soon be formed with the sole purpose of that conference is not to find a way out of the current situation but to promote the idea that the conflicts can

only be resolved if asked sadly it is i have met with mr assad himself the foreign minister of a parliamentary speaker and with representatives of two opposition organizations i have to say that i did not get the impression that it is the people versus i sat in this conflict the situation is different just a fraction of the people is indeed opposing the regime while the other support mr assad has some quite actively a lot of while yet another faction does not want syria to fall into chaos or to force a support the regime passively like you are clearly not on the side of armed insurgents or the fish like they do nor support the idea of outside interference you know the situation therefore is not simple it's not black and white nor scenario where a whole nation rises up to overthrow governments they don't like us and see that i can even quote one of the opposition representatives that i mentioned so they

believe that the situation cannot be resolved without the regime being involved and they believe there has to be part of the solution the arab league believes the current regime should be torn down because even at the same time they make no suggestions about how events she developed after that will replace the current regime believe me the armed insurgents who have been stepping up their efforts to topple the regime chester and he's efforts are supported by foreign states or both arms shipments and i believe financially. thank you so there will be a third party as we have learned from the example of egypt revolutions are not accomplished that are the same people that start the. peaceful protests in syria but then there was quite a large scale demonstration in damascus on saturday have big goals but it happens quite often that the people's protest is taken over by others who have very little interest in democracy or the protestors initial goals and it's just

a couple of funny very strange outside pressure on syria's ruling regime is spearheaded by countries that are in fact undemocratic at the moment when representatives of the gulf monarchies which as far as i know do not have a single democratic institution start complaining about our son's regime being undemocratic and if there is i believe that undermines the political and moral legitimacy and i would say of the friends of syria is it a club of syria's friends or a club of people who want bashar assad gone that is the question we have to ask if we should have gone for the answer which to me is quite obvious must have been the reason that moscow chose not to take part in the conference. but the what do you think military intervention realistic option and what countries that support the syrian opposition.

is so critical if they are pulling all the muscular from the meetings i attended into mask is that i got the impression that there is no such thing as a united syrian opposition there is the syrian national council with its seat in istanbul which opposes the very idea of negotiating with the regime a show in israel it seems this council was it created specifically to promote the idea of military intervention as its own. however according to other syrian opposition organizations it has very little influence in syria and is very weakly represented on syria's political scene as these it is only one of the opposition groups comprised of syrians now have no influence or presence in the country there are other groups each one viewing itself as the most significant but again according to

a representative of the opposition these organizations have no control over the whole insurgency going to the for instance syria has so-called protest committees and some of these aren't connected to any opposition groups with a have their own agenda so they demand that the regime change its policies they demand democracy and free elections are they do not necessarily identify themselves with specific opposition movements in other words the opposition is very fragmented and their goals are different some groups believe in talks with the regime others think it points less with a view that some believe the constitution would offer some grounds for political evolution and syria to dismiss others as i think the constitution will be worth less than the paper it's printed on some believe the elections go hard to organize could take place u.s. government others say lections without sat in power would be pointless and if it

has a would inevitably be rigged by the regime in conditions such as these when there is no single force that the regime could negotiate with it is quite hard to open a national dialogue when i have not met with members of the armed groups so i cannot convey their position to u.t.c. but as i see it the opposition groups active in syria those represented into mascot's are against the idea of military intervention of a. libyan scenario is not popular here even those groups that want to side do not support the idea of foreign military intervention and they believe the libyan scenario would result in chaos and loss of control. they insist that syria is different from libya in that the foundation for democracy has been late. thirty's have a concept of democratically c.j. i think that these groups want to deal with syria's internal affairs on their own

at the same time they are desperate to a point because the situation feels like a dead end i mean the authorities are pursuing their own goals the. position interests use its own goals and it's very hard to upset this negative stability as it is i would call it in order to begin a political process that would change the regime and at the same time reconcile the regime with syrian society. which was that it was. designed to keep in close. world as

a prison. you know you leave somebody in there for a couple hours like in a stress positions. you have this fear of the unknown and the stress sort of building and. i've seen interrogations go on ten twelve hours they chose songs i remember from marilyn manson. slayer to song to be age or death and raining blood. going to war coming up here into iraq coming into baghdad. charney pool of the bodies hit the floor with just the rock and roll bad it was fitting for the job we were doing.

such. me he. he.

science technology innovation all the rest of elements around russia we've got the future covered. the death of two foreign journalists and serious steps up pressure for international involvement in the conflict but inside the country some fear such calls are just fueling the violence this is the u.n. humanitarian chief will head to syria to negotiate the delivery of aid to the

conflict torn country. election fever grips russia ahead of the presidential vote with mass rallies in golf in the capital this thursday the largest demonstration sees around one hundred thousand people gather at moscow's main stadium to support the current prime minister and presidential candidate by the mere pool. plus concern over the effectiveness of sanctions targeting iran's nuclear program grows terrazas biggest partners in asia resist western pressure to join the economic warfare israel meanwhile repeatedly defies calls to wait for sanctions to work and refuses to rule out the possibility of a military strike. and your joins us now with all the latest from the world of sports and the football transfer window closes in russia tomorrow any frantic last minute moves to tell us about not frantic just yet mat but. be on his way back to any. more on that plus a reaction from last night's champions league he snowman. are

you watching the sport here or not see and these are the headlines into the course is just the moscow thrash olympiacos to reach the last state of basketball's year and. while bombings last gasp winner stuns german giants by munich in football champions league. rule is to give the man city boss mancini is ready to bring back ten days as his side cruise past to reach the last sixteen of the right position. let's start there with the basketball where to see moscow have become the first team to reach the euro league quarter finals they thrashed him p.r. cost ninety six points to sixty four to secure their berth in the next stage with a gang to spare to stun you a win would see them finish top of group a and they never looked like squandering their chance taking in nearly ten nothing made before finding themselves twenty eight points out by half time at n.p.r.

cost to respond a bit to produce an even period but to scar rounded off an easy win on the river on to victory leading the scores with fifteen points and he says his team just need to keep taking one game at a time. when called sides to look about the future or something you are only if you're in the game you can both use for over three years or so you just know for me luckily it's good practice makes you want to be scarce remission mr president. while gala taseer i also in tears scars group and moved a step closer to the quarter finals themselves with a sixty four fifty six win over and i do know that when effectively knocking at this from the competition while galut sasser i need to beat olympiacos next weekend to progress. and italian side want to pass through all but mathematically assured of a place in the last state that is despite their sixty to fifty nine defeat the spanish

side gets that one compassion is leading scorer course of it thought he had won the game when he scored with just seconds left in the pot but they'll have the last laugh there with the buzzer beating shot from raul lopez it's time for both champions league bars will have produced a major upset beating by munich by a goal to nil in switzerland substitute something stuck with the last four minutes from time giving this with side a slim advantage in the return leg of this last sixteen tie elsewhere marsay grabbed a win in injury time to beat into milan by the same scoreline but the headlines along the bars all their manager heaping praise on these players afterwards although by not confident they can turn things around. my team have the serenity miss focus concentration will and the group part of pure talent and due to this with the cricket make sure we are in the position to turn over teams of the quality of environment. one must say want to flex on the whole game over the ninety minutes

one could see it would have been just to get a draw that said we lost one mil i think i have a lot of experience in european twenty minutes and i have been often in such situations and i know of course there is a second game and we might see biannual and myself have the confidence enough to believe that we can turn it around in the original game when we were manchester city of the first team to reach the last sixteen of the europa league they'd been defending champions porto four nil yet he had stadium to go through six one on aggregate afterwards coach roberta man cine here said carlos tevez could be playing for the side again within three weeks after the striker apologised to his three month ex are from the club tommy push them from an cine who has got his eyes set on the europa league and english premier league double. your lawyer is not the we want to try i want to try to go in there finally is possible it will be difficult because you are a body. like your. shark. for

this reason would be difficult but we want to try and that's. because primarily on the top if in the next thirteen games. the remaining ties in your eye play take place tonight among them lokomotiv moscow go to the athletic bilbao with a two one advantage from their first leg at a russian side through they need to overturn a one they'll deficit away at olympiakos in the trade already have one foot in the last sixteen and take a three one advantage into their return like against last month's united must fancy their chances to against i.x. having one day last week although the reds will be without wayne rooney who is ill and ceramics ferguson is taking nothing for granted. obviously uses a go. we're going to try and avoid so we have to try. to make sure.

all motivated to win the game of football in the senate have made an offer to take russia striker. in on loan from arsenal the thirty year old has failed to secure a starting place at the gunners this season played in their reserves this week now hope to persuade our shopping to return to the club where he spent eleven years before his move to england this in petersburg side are still in the champions league and currently top the russian premier league or there were any deal would have to be settled by friday when the russian transfer window closes. well talking of stars russian football the country's beach football team won the european cup in moscow at the weekend and two and they continued to dominate the sport after being crowned world champions last year so it has been a rapid rise to the top for a nation hardly renowned for its beaches so what is the secret rich poor fleet has been finding. despite being under a blanket of snow for around six months of the year russia has

a beach soccer team which is the envy of the world where countries like brazil portugal and spain have all year round access to the beach it's the russians who are leading the world culminating in very world cup win in italy last year i mean brazil were an incredibly strong side five or so years ago but over the last couple of years in russia a lot of indoor beach soccer stadiums have been built and we have caught up with the rest of the world and surpass them before two thousand and seven russia had only qualified for beach soccer world cup in one occasion however since then the countries developed into the world's top sides and the owner of this also russia's captain says before the governing body should take a lot of credit for a rapid rise. beach soccer has developed in russia at a phenomenal speed the russian football union are right behind us and they've been absolutely fantastic in supporting us and all the support helped us to be crain world champions which is the highest honor we could have the russian team has also

been helped by having a very stable squad which is also incredibly talented but the last five years or so this so-called golden generation has grown in strength and confidence over the last few years and it's now one of the world's very best speech soccer teams the fact that russia had won the beach soccer world cup was hardly reported in russia however the goalkeeper i'm able to ski say is the team's not getting more coverage in the press. with every year every month and every turn around the passes more people are starting to write about us but if i'm going to be brutally honest beach soccer is a show. another reason for russia's rapid rise is a fact but the vast majority of the squad are now professional game of the days when players would have to work as taxi drivers and managers in order to supplement their income also russian clubs are able to compete with europe's very best bobbies teams are also importing top players from countries like brazil and portugal which

helps raise the level of sports in the country. i would see eighty percent of the russians quarter professionals the majority of the squad play for the locomotive side which is form two years ago and also a plea for the national side russian beach soccer side is going from strength to strength and is now by far the most successful teams in the country competing in any worldwide fee for small amounts may not be as famous as before counterparts of the likes of andrea shannon roman pavlyuchenko haven't won a world cup yet it's been russia's beach soccer players will be now aiming to retain their world crown jahi tee next year richard pombo tweet r.t. moscow. let's switch to ice hockey where all sixteen playoff spots and they have now been playing that after then our moscow beat this local rivals to scar one nil in the capital the game was largely largely a cagey affair with the first two periods the main goal is to get the number popped up with the winner halfway through the final period and because of course no one

has the part to simply side into the postseason despite the think this is the most beautiful mind to make the things that are going their way. and finally there has been an upset at golf's accenture match play championship world number one and defending champion luke donald fell at the first hurdle after being thrashed by any els while tiger woods had to come from behind to now really when his opening round donald struggled for most of the day this effort on the fourth was a rare moment of brilliance from him as he became only the third top seed to exit the first round in the event history soundly beaten by els five and for the south african working the greens beautifully all day long. well for a while it looked like three time former champion tiger woods would also crash out he trailed spain's consult as fernando kristan i was by four holes sorry with four

holes to play but still my back and took victory on the final hole and graeme mcdowell and open champion darren part of the big names to form of a fellow irishman are you and us open champion laurie mcelroy is brit. so that brings us up to date kate will be here for the rest of the day to keep you updated .

he is easy. to defeat. the death of two foreign journalists in syria intensifies pressure for international involvement in the conflict but inside the country many fear such calls are fueling the violence but. up.