observers have yet to report any atrocity three days inside the country. and this is not to look at the rollercoaster ride on the russian markets in twenty eleven and what to expect in the year to come. a very warm welcome to you this is r t live from moscow with the rule received tension between the u.s. and iran is mounting with threatening to block a crucial oil supply route in the hormuz stright the us has positioned two warships in the area where iran is carrying out a naval war games demonstration many to ensure the passage remains free but as you can explain the situation could ultimately escalate into all out war. responding to iran's warning the u.s. said no such disruption 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 potential kind of might cause turmoil in the global oil market although a saudi official said 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 iran's 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 iranian economy around eighty percent of its revenues depend on crude 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 pensions 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 be into an all out war. he's got an education reporting right what i we are always

eager to know your take on our stories of today we're asking you what the deadlock in the strait of hormuz could actually be to hear your numbers offer marty dot com . we're just over a third if you think it will have no serious consequences being just another movement on long ongoing game while you believe america will take advantage of the situation to strike iran and the rest are rather split between whether iran could teach the west a lesson of what it's like to be deprived of vital supplies or america will back off with proposed sanctions cast your vote at r.t. dot com. well oil traders are closely watching the growing tension between iran and the u.s. so joining me now to discuss the possible implications of this r.t. business editor nick or thank you for coming on the program today so this time of the year people have done their holiday shopping more holiday shopping to come certainly the new year here in russia but then we have the possible fear here of a spike in oil prices and if indeed iran as it's threatening to could indeed close

down the whole move if indeed that happened how could we expect prices to what saw will certainly in the worst case scenario process would do it in leaps and bounds but at the moment the market is not really factoring that in you've seen so incremental royce's where the risk seems to be getting a bit higher but they really believe this is going to lead to an all out escalation potentially in the conflict i will you lead me to my next point as many people are thinking of the world that could actually be the ultimate game here. some are saying that iran is a saber rattling in the wake of certain countries supporting sanctions against iran for its lack of cooperation with its nuclear program here we have an ongoing ten day state of war games with iran what would the hormuz strait look like if indeed iran did block it off or will almost immediately you would think that the u.s. would use its military power to try and run the blockade. as would approach the

street. hormuz they would be joined by the aircraft carrier that is there and then they would go through together around them has a very important and serious question is it going to far report. the tank or the aircraft carrier and you can see that's going to be very challenging for around and it could if they did far apart it lead to very swift and bloody reprisals i think it might be fair to say as many are suggesting there is an escalation of tension happening here you've got it wrong in warships you've got u.s. warships far away from america but here in the whole new straits if the oil supply route was located would there be any other countries that could make up the shortfall while there is one silver lining in this for russia because russia. russia school splint is a heavy sour blend and it's very similar to an iranian blend so it has the benefit when they ring in supplies put in question so we've seen that actually a premium for russian oil at the moment right r.t. you have business editor nicole thank you very much. egyptian forces

have been raiding the offices of human rights groups throughout the country and reports say that soldiers stopped employees leaving and interrogated them while searching their computers. just across the sea in turkey has more. thursday gypped carried out unprecedented raids on the least seventeen high profile human rights and pro-democracy organizations and it's been done in a very brutal in a very unpleasant way policemen and soldiers swept into office into a gated people didn't let anybody know out didn't actually let the people make calls to their relatives and eventually seized computers and documents from the offices among those targeted organizations the u.s. government funded national democratic institute the international republican institute whose chairman is now republican senator john mccain and freedom house as you can see. sponsored from abroad especially for america has been targeted washington whose aid to egypt amounts at one point three billion dollars has been

very quick to react expressing its disappointment with what happened in egypt on the thursday call it highly provocative and calling on egypt to try to resolve it as soon as possible and to return the stuff that has been taken from the n.g.o.s employees the organizations themselves have also responded they've condemned the raids carried out in egypt. claiming it reminded them about tough times and egypt's former dictator hosni mubarak egypt is going through tough times of course these days clashes between demonstrators and police and soldiers still continue no of course the country is still continuing claim lives just last week it ended in the dust at least at least fifteen people and these days a supreme council of military forces. authorities often criticized for being too slow and too and determined in promised democratic reforms struggling to cling to

power very sensitive about any influence especially for women who are very sensitive about control and they're trying to keep power and to control everything and of course as part of this. as you wish paranoia might suspect these are going to zation especially n.g.o.s sponsored from abroad from america over support and maybe even sponsoring supporters all across egypt. that is mary from national reporting right there want egypt is a also on the table of the year ending cross-talk program where people live and his guests will be discussing the trendsetting moments of two thousand and eleven coming your way in about twenty minutes time but for now a preview. we are 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 them 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 the regenerating itself and the core issues in egypt which ultimately are not just about democracy it is about bread it is about economics. do stay with us for cross talk of coming your way shortly here on our team arab league monitors are heading to three more syrian cities to witness the government's peace plan implementation earlier they visited the city of homs saying the situation there is quote reassuring although clashes are said to be continuing with twenty five people reported killed on thursday across the country the information coming from the country is a hard to verify as it's mostly mobile footage and claims by activists clashes began in march with both government forces and protesters all being armed afshin

rattansi a journalist who used to work in the region says the difference between arab league reports and mainstream coverage shows that the opposition is winning the media battle. certainly the western media's viewpoint that we must believe the we must believe opposition groups it seems that any mobile footage is now excepted as a source certainly what the arab league said about holmes different very different great deal from the reports we've been getting on t.v. channels of massacres continually going on what is no doubt is that thousands of syrian soldiers are dying and they haven't died because of peaceful protests. 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 you're watching r.t. it's good to have you with us today still to come for you. when these lines of police started. shooting towards our direction started tear gassing my cameraman with tear gas i was injured that's when. we continue to count down the top stories the shape you. look back at the. top and look. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven. in our twelve minutes past the hour here in the russian capital the debt stricken eurozone is set to enter two thousand and twelve in a gloomy mood with italy's borrowing costs remaining to the seven percent danger

zone italian premiers pledged more efforts to revive the economy during his end of the year speech but as antes every nickel to score reports there are huge doubts the new man in charge of a number of the eurozone states will ever find a remedy for the struggling look. the autumn in europe so 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 at helm of europe's most troubled nations and will they 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 the 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 papen mentioned 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 for. the disastrous euro project in the first place so it really is pretty annoying that they're now now in charge of all of 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 doomed to failure and moreover i would have them arraigned 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 to this give us a game and the people who think that maria monti came to help italy out of the crisis or not going to help spain are totally mistaken those who are in key positions in seats of power represent the interests of goldman sachs and other major corporations by ease and there is always the chance the things could get even worse there is a real possibility. in the mediterranean countries that will see govern. well not evil and not even legitimate governments but we'll see governments overthrown i think there's also a big worry that we may well see the kind of nationalist political movements springing out of this that we thought we said goodbye to back in ninety forty five if the technocrats fail to raise the right 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 in

macos go r.t. . now a quarter past the hour here in moscow don't forget our website so it's got more news and analysis for you to cover a brief look now at what's in store at our three dot com a lot of deadly delicacy at least in some people's work seen as almost two hundred kilos of caviar. being stored inside a morgue. plus an unlikely source from russia's world a nurse who is a shining a light on the less fortunate to find out more. as two thousand and eleven draws to its and we have been looking back at the stories that shaped the year as witnessed by our correspondents the time we look at the

occupy movement in the united states the story covered extensively by our. 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 about money has in our financial system and i never thought that this kind of popular 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 security 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 a 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 back sort 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 with this line of

police officers several hundred of them armed to the teeth you know what happens out of sticks out of line of protesters behind me you know i thought i was there this protected almost impartial observer there to tell the story but when these lines of police started moving at me it started moving forward towards me starting shooting towards our direction started tear gassing my cameramen was tear gassed i was injured and 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 now one of the other interesting experiences 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 of this within 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 port shutdown on the member second you know there are thousands thousands and tens of thousands of people who were gathered who were marching around the tyranny is not a lot of police presence and it 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 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 these are marching up behind me as 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 our 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 you know 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. and i thought it was a special reports on the postal reflections from international correspondents. and i did two thousand and eleven but you did miss any of them both just to watch them

all right so you don't go. on a pretty difficult to join us for our special and your coverage will be bringing you our correspondents live from the locations where the pivotal events of two thousand and eleven took place all around the world.

without a live from moscow fire crews have managed to put out a blaze on a nuclear submarine at a shipyard in northwest russia the military says there is no nuclear threat as the reactor was shut down even before the fire started firefighters are continuing to pour water on the vessel to make sure it doesn't reignite some of the crew remain on board monitoring the system. nine people were injured in the fire after scaffolding surrounding the vessel went up in flames. back to our top stories in just a few minutes after the business with you. thanks very very well welcome to the business update while twenty eleven has been a testing year for investors as the world economy struggles for growth stock market has hit and also suffered yet some sec suspects technically bucked the trend to

digital bushell looks at the roller coaster 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 six hundred percent in a decade but since then the price has slid back and brokers no more going to fall further in twenty twelve fearing the bubble will burst. the dollar euro remaining risks switching your roubles into the greenback would have brought a small return but changing into the euro would have been hard to believe ploy meant both in the states and the european union those currencies continue to be unstable. become much more reliable the credit crunch riskier lenders while the brought in guarantees insuring all deposits up to seven hundred thousand roubles some banks now offer healthy return of over fourteen

percent a year. most weeks merger of russia's stock exchanges has kept the poor twenty eleven the more six slipped eighteen percent as political uncertainty worried investors but carefully expect a strong rebound in twenty twelve as the new government settles predicting a return to previous years when markets were the world's best performing. let's have a look at the markets now while it's pushing while after rising sharply recently falling iran's threat to disrupt shipments from the financial straits almost france is now trading at one hundred seven dollars a barrel while the w t i is that under one hundred dollars per pound. and european stocks have fluctuated as german finance minister all down to your area break up. on the day moving on to russia where the markets likely high are actually my six is gaining about point eight percent though traders are still unlike this make any big

moves ahead of the new year holidays as some have a look at some of the individual showmance mindsets and. measures are higher this sounds supported by stronger crude oil company a look or oil is up half a percent and financials are mixed burbank is losing of the hum percent while d.t.b. bank is just an all trial. but russia has enjoyed a persistently strong oil price this year has been good for the budget but has done little to propel domestic eco just so i am well this means there's some catching up to do to monday for much greater explains. the russian equities which are 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 our prices are relatively high russian sovereign risks are very low yields on russian government debt of contract actually in two thousand and 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 protests following parliamentary 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 that's all we have time for now my colleague for example we'll update you on the latest business stories in about fifteen minutes time.

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