iran of the us to edge closer to military conflict as a verbal spat over a vital oil maritime group to reach was boiling point. after the outgoing year to its still want to number of viewers own governments many doubt the so-called bureaucrats now in charge will bring relief that some of them were behind the euro space on. it seems that any mobile food reviews no except to the schools while the syrian opposition is bursting with amateur food is showing violence that claimed to be recent arab league observers have yet to report any atrocities after three days in the country.

ten am in the russian gavel you're watching r t with me rima joshie welcome to the program now tension between the u.s. and iran is mounting with to iran threatening to block a crucial oil supply route in the hormuz strait the u.s. has sent it in its own contingent in the region mainly to ensure passage remains free but as artie's gun it she explains the situation could escalate into an all out war. responding to iran's warning the u.s. said no such destruction would be tolerated and that the u.s. fifth fleet that's based in the gulf would ensure that doesn't happen the strait of hormuz links the golf and the oil producing states of bahrain kuwait qatar saudi arabia the united arab emirates to the indian ocean about forty percent of the world's tanker ship oil passes through that strait it's a major oil artery

a potential cutoff might cause turmoil in the global oil market although a saudi official says that gulf nations were ready to offset any loss of iranian crude from the statements here you get a sense that washington things iran is bluffing because there have been there had been such threats before but right now you are in finds itself in a situation where it's a livelihood its main source of livelihood is in danger the u.s. congress passed a bill that would dramatically complicate transactions through iran's central bank european and asian nations import iranian oil and use its central bank food for their transactions president obama has yet to sign that bill that's going to be a severe blow to the reigning economy around eighty percent of its revenues depend on sales e.u. ministers say they will make a decision on whether or not to boycott the iranian oil in coming weeks and those threats that are coming from iran indicate that it's ready to take action to

protect its interests tension's rice the west says all the rana has to do is to give up their nuclear program iran says they're not doing anything wrong by pursuing a peaceful nuclear program for civilian purposes the rhetoric here in washington against iran is getting very harsh the u.s. spy drone shot down by the uranium before that a washington accusing iran of plotting to kill the saudi ambassador to the u.s. and blow up the israeli and saudi embassy in washington those were just some of the most recent episodes it all adds up and creates a lot of tension now if something happens over the strait of hormuz this could erupt into an all out war. reporting there all for sound the iranians rads are warranted robert naiman from the just foreign policy think tank believes to iran is simply reading itself should the situation escalate. dinner's context for the iranian government statements namely first of all. it's understood in

international political discourse in international law that embargo is an act of war and if is really the policy pursued by the united states and western europe to try to cut off iran's oil exports then that is an act of war. since once you respond to that most of us be pointed out that every day you know i'm in washington every day u.s. government officials and people of influence are talking about u.s. and israeli military strikes on iran so this is happening in a context of constant threats against iran unilateral threats which of course miley the united united nations which for bids a neat u.n. members from attacking you know the member state without authorization of the u.n. security council and of course none of these voices are talking about getting u.n. security council approval for ducking iran because they know that they could never get it. well we're always here to know your take on our story so today we're asking

why the deadlock in the strait of hormuz will lead to and about forty four sands our viewers think it will have no serious consequences being just another in a long game while almost half believe america will take advantage of the situation to strike iran now the rest are split between two options whether iran will teach the west a lesson of what it's like to be deprived of vital supplies or america will back off with sanctions so you can let us know what these say by logging onto our web site r.t. dot com. the deaths. of two thousand and twelve in a gloomy mood with italy is borrowing costs remaining near the seven percent danger zone and premiers pledged more efforts to revive the ailing economy in the u.s. and of your speech but as are to go now reports there are huge doubts the new man

in charge of a number of the eurozone states will find it ramit easy for the struggling bloc the autumn in europe still the fall of several european leaders spain greece italy all of these countries so a change in leadership across a two week period but who are these new faces that help of europe's most troubled nations and will the really make things better for the people. probably not greeks pride themselves on essentially inventing democracy back in however long ago that was too bad the man who is now being touted as the man with the plan is an economist who was appointed to rule the greek people know gordon elections there well the greek prime minister was the greek finance minister at the time that greece joined the euro so he was responsible for cooking the books to get greece in for this ever expanding empire he was rewarded by going to work at the european central bank and as soon as i would mention the word referendum he was there and

even if we skirt the whole issue of current governments being appointed by someone else from another country another question pops up will they be capable of doing anything different than before well the irony is of course that many of these technocrats from. the disastrous europe project in the first place so it really is pretty annoying then out now in charge of all these countries and that doesn't go down well with the economists who saw the eurozone disaster develop from the beginning this project is doomed to failure it was always to them to fail and moreover i would have the rain and i would have a fiscal crimes tribunals i would like to see some of these people sent to prison so far cutting the public sector firing tens of thousands of people and telling everyone to brace themselves for tough times ahead in the midst of raging protests unruly unemployment and mind blowing debt numbers these have been the only steps so far undertaken by european governments both old and new. people who think that

maria monti came to help italy out of the crisis order to help spain the mistaken those who are in key positions in seats of power on represent the interests of goldman sachs and other major corporations by east and there is always the chance the things could get even worse there is a real possibility. in the mediterranean countries that will see governor. well but even legitimate governments but was the government's overthrow it was also a big worry that we might well see the kind of nationalist political movement springing out of this that we thought we said goodbye to back in ninety forty five if the technocrats filter is the wreck the economies in italy greece and spain the nations will end up not only with a bleak future between the very little reason to call themselves democratic it in the coast go r.t. . well stay with us here in our team and still to come for you this hour.

when these lines of police started moving me started moving forward towards me starting shooting towards our direction started tear gassing my cameramen with tear gassed i was injured and that's when it really changed for me we're going to need to count down the top ten stories that shape twenty one of them with a look back at the occupy movement across the u.s. plus. the taxi driver leaves the hollywood limelight and heads back to his russian as a prepares for the world of windbreak stage in two thousand and fourteen. arab league monitors are heading to three more syrian cities to witness the government's peace plan implementation earlier the visit of the city of homs saying the situation there is reassuring although clashes are said to be continuing with twenty five people reportedly killed on thursday across the country the information coming from the country is hard to verify as it's mostly food and claims by

activists clashes began a march with both government forces and protesters being armed actually in return see a journalist who used to work in the region says the difference between arab league warrants and name street in public shows the opposition is winning the media battle . it's certainly the western media. the point that we must believe the we must believe opposition groups it seems that any mobile footage is now except as a source certainly what they are being said about holmes different very different great deal from weather reports we've been getting on t.v. channels of massacres continually going on what is in no doubt is that thousands of syrian soldiers are dying and they did and they haven't died because of peaceful protests but this isn't a libya syria is a linchpin of the middle east and the united states and other countries some of the more intelligent people realize that there will be turmoil right across the middle

east if anything happens to destabilize the government from outside forces but certainly syria the syrian government itself has to step up the pace because it's certainly losing the propaganda battle. egyptian forces have been raiding the offices of human rights groups throughout the country reports say soldiers stopped employees leaving and interrogated them while searching their computers foreign policy analyst dr adil shenmue told us it's the military government making sure it stays in power. this is part of the military the supreme council on forces way of making sure. the you know who you should and basically is molded to the to the type of government they want because that's those are the same generals by the way who worked for mubarak. so that's really basically is part of that struggle is going to believe she's going to go forward or

is there who he's in going to be molded and some dude into some visible role to the minute but really the military has to step aside and lead this is really. government come to power once the election of the election should be held as soon as possible they will not give up the power of that easily but i think the egyptian . in general have lost the government they have restored of the dignity. of a another minute. all the evidence. despite their sacrifices. it is also on the table of the year ending shell where people about his gas discuss the tray and setting moments twenty eleven it's coming your way next hour on r t but here's a sneak peek. we're going to see the fulfillment of a lot of the hopes that you saw occur when mubarak actually fell because like i

said you can take the snakes head off but what about the rest of the body will just rot at the expense of everyone else so it's a lot easier to decapitate the snake then to actually kill it you know the system is in fact more entrenched and more dangerous and more vicious now than it was even under mubarak in during the time when the protests actually started the system is very good it generated itself regenerating itself and the core issues in egypt which ultimately are not just about democracy it is about bread it is about economics it is about a growing inequality in a country that already suffered from maybe thirty to forty percent of the people living on two dollars a day or less it's about how do you reallocate resources nationally and reorient an economy to provide wealth some level of wealth an opportunity for the mass of people in that sense what's happening needs of this just a more intense version of what's happened in the united states where you have the same question. as twenty

draws states and there are teams looking back at the stories that shaped the year witnessed by our correspondents at this time a look at the occupy movement in the u.s. a story covered by lucie county. i remember at the start of the so-called so-called arab spring we saw so many mass movements from europe to the middle east people rising up taking to the streets protesting and the question we kept asking ourselves over and over again is why not here why not in the united states i mean for years we've covered stories that touched upon social inequality economic inequality the overdue undue influence in fact that politics has been the money has in our financial system and i never

thought that this kind of opulent outrage would really come to the united states that it would really hit home. when the occupy wall street movement began my initial impression i have to admit it was utter skepticism you know it sounded like some american protesters saw what was going on in the middle east and thought it would be i meet sort of symbolic way to emulate what they've seen for example into where square. one of the biggest things that really sort of woke me up as an individual was that that night in times square in a towbar this was right after the supposed to be announced raid by the mayor where about three thousand if not more protesters had gathered around the park to to defend their space and they succeeded they weren't raided and we saw literally

thousands of people marching into times square which you know the physical contrast of the sort of temple of consumerism which is times square in manhattan these flashing lights these logos these expressions of corporate power and consumer culture in stark contrast to. literally thousands of people who have gotten together to speak to shouts to feel the physical presence of of other americans who are just no longer content to sit back and watch society unfold in the direction that it's taken me. i was just feet away from the area where several police officers mountain of course backs out of out into the crowd hurting some of the protesters seeing with my own eyes for the first time the excessive level of force. and the old gentleman who looked like he was probably in his sixty's slammed down to the ground his arms and back women of all ages men of all ages carried away for doing what for sitting down on the ground and not moving or

making a point quietly. standing there with my camera man with this line of police officers several hundred of them armed to the teeth. weapons out of sticks out a line of protesters behind me you know i thought i was there as this protected almost impartial observer there to tell the story but when these lines of police started moving at me started moving forward towards me starting shooting towards our direction started tear gassing my cameramen was tear gassed i was injured that's when it really changed for me there are at least a hundred in the not two hundred three hundred police officers in full riot gear as you can see advancing behind us right now on the occupy oakland movement one of the other interesting experiences a i think for me was sort of seeing the contrast between occupy wall street in new york and in oakland in oakland where there is

such a radical history of active as and where the people there the protesters there were so much more outraged so much more ready for a radical fundamental change with us in this country. but at the same time. one of the experiences that really stands out to be in my mind was the day of the ports shutdown on the member second you know there was how those of us thousands of tens of thousands of people who were gathered who were marching around all kinds of activities not a lot of police presence there really felt that perhaps we had turned a new chapter in this country perhaps this was going to be an opportunity for these kinds of expressions of political discontent with the sort of crackdown that we've that we've seen in the past and what happened that evening really really shook me to the core i have to say the contrast between these peaceful marches and. seeing firsthand the streets of oakland turned into something i might have seen on

the news and as you can see there are marching. sticks their hands baton thing and i don't know if you can get any closer on that shot i think that really galvanized this country and really woke us up to a reality. the reality is that there is a lot wrong and there's a lot that needs to be changed but instead of sitting here and inviting experts to go and talk about it we're seeing people physically participating in what democracy really should be all about. i'm an american citizen i feel that i am here to tell the stories and i have a right to tell the stories and that is part of what this country is fundamentally founded on and sort of experiencing firsthand the the loss of the the inability to do anything the feeling of powerlessness and smallness. that's something that i think i'm not going to forget for quite a long time. well that's the final of our

special reports on the personal reflections from our team of international correspondents on the events that dominated twenty seven and if you've missed any of them you can watch them anytime right now at our. and also don't forget our website i also got more news comment and analysis let's take a look at what. submarines think you were the fire on board a strategic nuclear vessel in northern russia has been brought under control by emergency workers. a. christmas miracle warmer than eighty passengers and crew through vive a gradual adding in bleak weather a former soviet republic.

a brief look now at some other world headlines and we start in north korea working yano has been declared the supreme leader for the first time at a massive public memorial for his father kim yong alle the move shows the government and military officials support of the air in the wake of kim yon ells death from a heart attack just under two weeks ago kim ja known is in his late twenty's and has little political experience raising concern from neighboring countries that the republic could plunge into political infighting. you know. clashes have erupted between hundreds of stone throwing protesters and police in the turkish city obvious stamboul and of countries mainly current or southeast follows a deadly airstrike launched by turkish warplanes against suspected kurdish militants on the border with iraq however a local official says tad killed thirty five smugglers who were mistaken for

insurgents itself marks one of the largest one day civilian shows during turkey's twenty seven year draw against the guerrillas. swapping tinsel town for a russian city with an olympic crown an american taxi driver has turned his back on the bright lights of hollywood to share in. the venue for the next winter olympics . caught a ride. you know this life. is very good one of them speaks russian english and there me me i'm a man of the world he came back to sochi after a decade in los angeles where he learned that his hometown was being propelled on to the world stage still. when the boys said voted no be a winter games in sochi i didn't believe them i said. it's in the very south on the black sea coast but then i found out that it's true and hopefully it's going to happen as planned. the massive olympic construction effort here track to pulte two

thousand skilled workers from all over the world poor times the construction staff of the two thousand and twelve london games as well as those there are also people like what i've done taking support jobs working restaurants taxi firm some stores he says being you cabdriver in sochi is nothing like his home improvement job back and will say injuries. the traffic here is too much for a city of this size too many cars there's traffic in downtown los angeles but it dissolves much quicker. even so what i've done hopes the new routes and bridges being built for the olympics will help solve the problem although much of his family are with him and so she would have done misses the relative celeb behind in a way as well as the tinseltown magic where he occasionally brushed shoulders with the stars. and i saw for the.

thank you. thank so much for your job. thank you so she may have no hollywood walk of fame but our guide says there are some movie related landmarks. that people call that building the titanic and officially of course it does look a lot like that big ship and since it's built on top of the hill it has to be. really tough and pretty to greasy views from them. bringing countries together is what the olympics are about and what a dance homecoming shows how thermally spread from the hollywood hills to the mountain slopes of the southern russia can be clues despite being a world apart. our team sochi. well it's now take a look at what's happening in the world of business is here.

come on very well welcome to the program good to have your company twenty eleven has been a testing here for investors as the world economy struggled for growth while stock markets here in russia also suffered yet some sets us back to bucked the trend dell bushell looks at the rollercoaster ride of the last twelve months and what to expect in the new year. gold has been an exceptional investment it reached all time highs of over nineteen hundred dollars per ounce in september of two months six hundred percent you know decade but since then the price has slid back and broke his normal thing to put to fall further in twenty twelve fearing the bubble will burst. the dollar and euro remain risks switching your roubles into the greenback would have brought a small return but changing into the euro would have meant loss is hard to ploy and closed in the state of the european union those currencies continued to be unstable . have become much more reliable the credit crunch wiped out riskier

lenders while the state's brought in guarantees insuring all deposits up to seven hundred thousand rubles some banks now offer healthy return of over fourteen percent a year. most weeks merger of russia's stock exchanges has cut paul twenty eleven the more six slipped eighteen percent as political uncertainty worried investors but i'm missin best cafe expect a strong rebound in twenty twelve as the new government settles predicting a return to previous years when russian markets were the world's best performing. let's have a look at the markets now oil is high on stronger jobs and housing data from these you ask how were the gains limited by reports showing an unexpected person who has inventories branch is trading at one hundred eight dollars a barrel while the w t i is that around one hundred dollars per barrel. now onto

equities asia shares on the rise following the gains in the street waiting on the sentiment in hong kong is the latest h.s.b.c. chinese manufacturing has cooled further still some property some banks are rising this hour in tokyo exporters are leading the game is a sony is up more than three percent. and in russia the markets a flight to positive in early trade traders are unlikely to make any big moves ahead of the longer your holiday break in russia and the markets going to be quote . where russia has enjoyed a persistently strong oil price that syria it's been good for the budget but it's done little to propel domestic. that's ms there's some catching up to do mass to monday for much creature explains the russian equities which of traded lower by twenty percent in two thousand and eleven from two thousand and ten they have a lot of way to go to catch up with where the oil price suggests they should be given the fact that because of prices a relatively high russian sovereign risks are very low yields on russian government

dash of contracts that actually and she throws with eleven so again there's more catch up to do the risk is that the government doesn't do anything and doesn't listen to the issues that have been raised because of these protest for in part of entry election if they don't do anything materially soon after the presidential election i think for investors are going to lose faith that there is actually a reform agenda they want to see very material changes being made. but trips up the business program are we back about fifty five minutes time with another business update here on r t.

whether you dive from high or to the depths. catch the power of the wind or drift in the beauty of the currents. being well prepared is a must and if you're lucky enough. you'll never forget your experience we only need some a screen that's going to be heaven. in the white see a full and below the ice on our t.v. . is he. feeling.