gold on a knife edge to get in the wrong directions to catch hold of a vital root profile so the world's oil supplies up to two u.s. warships sailed close to an iranian naval at the site. also egypt's ruling generals are accused of using the press the tactics have the offices of for human rights groups are raided security forces stormed seventeen known governmental organizations including during one's proverbial accusation is that little has changed since the mubarak regime was ousted almost a year ago. and feels it's not just brush and seven months of violence and unrest continue with reports or acts of it is that a hundred or more people have been killed by state forces since tuesday critics

however say the report has come to come from. you so russia and around the world this is with me you national politics for joining us two u.s. warships have ended and they are a iran is using for launch scale naval gains further escalating tension between the nations the maneuvers that taking place in neutral routers close to the crucial strait of hormuz all supply route which ron had threatened to blow washington says the vessels are on a routine mission where she's going to check how it's fully developed and its worth . day after day we see the degree of tension rising iranian and american warships kind of brushed shoulders earlier as u.s. ships passed the area where terror on is holding a ten day military exercise the u.s. fifth fleet said they crossed the strait of hormuz unhindered and that he was

a routine passage iran's rights into cut off the strait of hormuz which is the major golf oil artery forty percent of the world's tanker shipped oil passes through that strait the u.s. said they would not tolerate any disruption of supplies which suggests that if you ran goes through with their threats we might see a full scale military showdown there and for now based on the statements that we hear washington seems to think that iran is bluffing but right now you can find itself in a situation where its main source of livelihood namely oil export is in danger because of the looming sanctions and the threats that are coming from iran indicate that it's ready to take action to protect its interests if attacked it's almost sure to retaliate right now were the red is flexing its muscle showing off its capabilities doing their naval military exercises and as part of the exercise on saturday they'll fire long range missiles capable of reaching israel by the way a touching upon some of the latest decisions 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 for their transactions president obama has yet to sign the bill and that's going to be a severe blow to the uranium economy around eighty percent of its revenues depend on crude sales e.u. ministers say. a decision on whether or not to boycott iranian oil will be made in coming weeks the west says all the rand has to do to avoid sanctions is to give up their nuclear program iran says they are not doing anything wrong by pursuing a peaceful nuclear program for civilian purposes some experts believe cornering iran like by sanctions creates powder keg which could blow up at a slightest spark and the potential confrontation over the strait of hormuz can be that spark. and as so cool so what's in these what the person says not afraid of was the fight over into the blogs but the u.s.

is pushing for a long as high level with balls to run i don't think any side here wants that to happen the iranians don't really want to see the kind of disruption to the oil industry that is their principal source of foreign capital the united states doesn't want to see that happen either because it would impact negatively on both the u.s. and european economies however sometimes when rhetoric reaches a certain level and tensions reach a certain level and people take in physicians' things can cascade out of control and that's the risk here we could see a war we could see some some kind of conflict. there's been a propaganda campaign in the united states very similar to what we saw before the invasion of iraq not the major news organizations have been hyping up threats about iran. we've seen questionable allegations be given a great deal of weight here in the united states people have

a tremendous animosity toward. the leader of iran so i think you have the kind of climate here that can then lead to something else and then of course you have israel which has been which has been making a point that it considers the iranian nuclear program an existential threat so you add those combustible elements together and one false move by any party a mistake or intention or provocation could lead to catastrophe. this is coming up late in the burger on the final countdown. 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 and that's when it really changed for me. she brings you the view from inside the ok by movement as we show it filming we are close and personal perspective. to the story. testability. ten

stories that shapes two thousand and eleven. there have been more protests in cairo over lack of democratic reforms with protesters accusing the ruling military of using the same tactics of repression of the previous mubarak regime soldiers and police stormed seventeen offices of non-governmental organizations including foreign ones on thursday. as long. egypt carried out unprecedented armed raids on at least seventeen high profile human rights and pro-democracy organizations all across the country and it's been done in a very brutal and very unpleasant way policemen and soldiers swept into offices and through a gated people didn't let anybody you 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 were the u.s. government funded national democratic institute the international republican institute whose chairman is now republican senator john mccain and freedom house so

as you can see. sponsored from abroad especially for america has been targeted washington whose military 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 only dip to try to resolve it as soon as possible and to return the stuff that has been taken from the ngos employees the organizations themselves have also responded they've condemned the raids carried out in egypt. claiming it reminded them about tough times under egypt's former dictator hosni mubarak and his true professor at west chester university lawrence davidson says it is groups which are coming into power in egypt turn a blind eye to the fact that the military council is not going to give control to

civilian government. the liberal element is the most adamant element when it comes to the egyptian army turning over power to a civilian government least so far they're the most adamant and the egyptian army. does not want to do that it has a great prestige stake in this it has a great economic stake in this the officer corps and i don't see them turning over complete control to a civilian government and my guess is that the islamicists groups have somehow made an accommodation with that reality that present reality. and to syria now where large demonstrations against the assad regime have been taking place with a reporter who want to quiet down again protest is local and. say over a hundred people have been killed by security forces so this cheese day what arab league that is again finding visits different points while it has continued since

march with take forces appeased by the united nations killing over five thousand civilians the government in damascus says opposition elements are also armed and have been responsible for killing two and cherished runs a very nice to work in the region says the conflict has been banished from the outside this is a real worry we do not know what the americans are cooking now obviously they are they are thinking of a much greater political context than syria they are thinking iran they are thinking the stability of iraq in the american withdrawal. and they are also and most importantly they are thinking how will the political vacuum if such a vacuum is created in damascus. israel's security and the northern border particularly the golan heights front israel cannot afford another security nightmare from their home to be forced to be added to that of south lebanon and

gaza and this is really mostly what the americans are very worried about they are worried about. israel's security and very little concern but democracy or human rights in syria or anywhere else in the middle east i think the americans are yet to find a formula that would assure them that in the absence of assad there will be a political team that they can trust and i think this is what the americans are trying to ensure right now. and some other international headlines in brief in southeast texas thousands of mourners attended the funeral ceremony to pay their last respects to the victims of an air strike on the bins were killed and wednesday after the tank. top of the world today a group of regulars based in rome and it's done among codes in the region on the number of protests held in turkish and iraqi cities and today clashes. in the gift he is not one to the white house wishful as the country's new conservative

government approves of it was started because of almost nine billion you were as much as a savings account from across the government of bad loans that were to freeze all civil servants pay continue the ritual a little time to talk to me was done with fears over economic future one hundred it's unemployment rate of twenty one percent in the highest in the. it's twenty twelve creeps close so we continue to move back of the stories that dominated past year and this time it's the occupy movement that expose social and financial interest in the most unexpected places. 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 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 protester 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 bar 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 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

backs out of the out into the crowd hurting some of the protesters seeing with my own eyes for the first time the excessive level of force. on 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 officer 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 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 and that's when it really changed for me there are at least hundred of 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 that where the people there the protesters there were so much more outraged so much more ready for a radical fundamental change of this 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 port shutdown on the member second you know there are thousands thousands or tens of thousands of people who were gathered who were marching around. it is 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 but talented and you 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. and that was the final report on the past in reflections from our team of international correspondents on the events that shaped twenty eleven and if you've missed any you can watch them again on home of course and right now the team recounts the most exciting events of the past year and especially for.

hello and welcome to the program on this weeks moscow out special will be looking over the highlights of the past year twenty eleven has been an exciting year for the world of russian culture and indeed for the most crowd saying so over the next twelve minutes we'll be really instancing you to some of the best bits from culture news and shows we've produced over the past twelve months and first up what had to

be the most exciting events of the whole year the reopening of the boss or theatre . as the main cultural symbol of russia twenty eleven saw the bolshoi states and finally returned to its former glory striking day or night illumination exterior now shines out after years of being covered by scaffolding canvas and building materials. the reconstruction took six years and cost billions of rubles but now the feel of space is open to the public it can continue to nurture and showcase the present and future a fresh and international talent. it's a once in a lifetime experience for me it's. going out on to the stage and seeing the real. that how big it is and how grand it is and how beautiful the restoration has been it's it's really once in a lifetime. next up and one of my favorite

shows of the year was filmed the stasi the cosmonaut training facility originally a secret apple space we ventured off to russia's only school. and then i was put through a whole range of training procedures under water weightlessness zero gravity i'm being spun around inside a centrifuge. and really pushed me to my limits. the program also highlighted how american astronauts from. now what you call missions so she's the international space station project. to celebrities in twenty eleven now and many a list just around the world have made their way to the russian capital to film premieres concerts in private policies many of the world's top activists saying it's impossible to come here every week.

pushing crowds love them and they in time seems to be impressed with the city honestly there's an energy in this city. even more than when i was here two and a half years ago a very vibrant kind of this is under the surface you feel. a really positive energy. and possibility is there we went to the museum that houses the faberge eggs in the coronation dresses and. and perhaps the most exciting part of yesterday in some ways was going instead it outside the bolshoi theater it's been a dream of mine it's been great the people have been. so far and i. hope i get to see some of the. figure by dates out here but it's you know it's very cold or leicester. so many tourists come here to get the christmas eve it's beautiful there's a beautiful city going you know seeing the christmas trees exclusive interviews

there are moving on and working capital is a totally different place during the summer months open a terraces dominate the restaurant scene and people can enjoy a whole range of sun filled activities including some bathing swimming and water sports temperatures are high and so is the entity of the capital's entertainment let's take a look at some of the shows we produce during the summer highlighting popular tourist destinations logs hot and happening activities and excursions. when the capital heats up tens of thousands of sun worshippers head to moscow's forests seventy board is an island surrounded by an artificial lake and waterways are some a show in the area i took to a jet ski to prove how much metropolis in the summer the. temperatures thirty's the trip to one of the beaches is the perfect way to cool down. next stop and ask the oxford street or fifth avenue of the

russian capital the street first sky has unquestionably been the city's most important parish for centuries if you see the street has fundamentally changed over the centuries from an era medieval wouldn't distro to today's slightly a lemming eight lane highway. or some show on the famous street highlighted up from various statues to modern day sushi cafes this diverse perry will impress the most diehard of tourists. are we clear statement showing our to explore every aspect of arts and culture we also explore cities outside of moscow in the summer so me in the team travel to st petersburg to discover the exciting attractions surrounding the white's nights also known as the venice of the north. the eighteenth century it was piece of the great stream to create a window to york and with a vast canal network breathtaking architecture and palaces that were built to rival their your ping counterparts his vision has been well achieved.

our series of some of programmes in twenty eleven looked at the city's schools restaurants waterways attractions and various some activities for visitors to enjoy . a city of palaces and museums brewed avenues and winding canals simply displays history has provided the city with a wealth find to make sure i'm to see the treasures. oh the best time to be here in the summer for sure i just definitely love it really and love all the beautiful buildings the architecture everything the people there are so happy in the current time this goes far beyond my expectations is incredible is something. you can only dream about. is about the hermitage museum and the spectacular fountains of peterhof rivaling such will be seems as the loser in paris and the metropolitan in new york damage truly is

a cultural blunder. and peterhof which is often referred to as the russian side is one of the most breathtaking sights and popular tourist destinations in russia. now one thing i love about my job here at r.t.s. the crazy adrenaline filled activities i'm constantly asked to try out speed boats planes jumping heights being set on fire the list goes on for many shows we produce and try to give you an insight into the real russia from the food they eat the music they enjoy developing pastimes to adrenaline filled sports so with that in mind here's a small selection of this from twenty eleven and me in action. program on the subject of flights was my experience i move never forget invited to take to the skies in a young airplane to experience aerobatics it was a stomach churning roller coaster at ten thousand feet as we banked to an

incredible sixty degrees and experienced great weightlessness. not the face hostage or any pain beset to experience what zero g. feels like to battle times under the loops to be used for all of our impressive but it felt different to a typical commercial flight. a program called moscow nine one one salute. explore the police fire and ambulance emergency services in the machine capital we saw how such facilities are constantly at the ready twenty four hours a day. and of course such a program involved not some action sequences and. finally the action sequences. action sequences represented by filmmaking and.

explores the most film studios and we're invited to the set of the new conventions on a drama called white tiger. the program finished off of the stunts most school while i was asked if i would like to participate. so cool shit and take shots i was given instructions away bandana was placed on my head and i was just on the cream was applied to my face with everything ready for school on my back and legs of my suit and the flame was. there a. little a little bit. but that last. to be tried. as an efficiently run program it's already prepares its students to safely undertake to define feats the world of russian cinema and t.v. but by now. i lived to

tell the tale i lied to them both in one take but it's long been known that london is a magnet for many russians today the said to be almost half a million russian speakers in britain many joe can call the capital london grad as the ever changing multicultural city becomes a melting pot for new russians so early in the year the must go out to the british and french capitals to explore russian influence and connections abroad. you'll find just how much russian culture is imbedded into many aspects of western society. for sure promoting football clubs to major newspapers russians are certainly making their mark on the british capital. moving south into a series of russians have also been fascinated with french culture for centuries shows showcase how much christians do the social scene in paris and as we proved

the modern day french capital with russian connections and cultural aspects. well we have a small selection from the dozens of shows we produce for you could buy twenty eleven how many people i meet in the u.k. for example i have no idea about the cultural diversity of this country. and from palm trees in the south in the east i think russia is one of the most misunderstood destinations. two of the most spectacular cultural scenes in the world but if you haven't explored them well you don't know what do you think moscow our team has a whole range of exciting programs planned for next year so stay tuned and watch out for more cultural excursions in twenty twelve. flies in the meantime best wishes from the moscow team a very.