iran's long range missiles are standing by for drills restaurant reds' to close off the while route if the west continues to tighten its sanctions. fresh rallies flare up in syria with opposition activists reporting dozens of deaths at the hands of police as arab league observers continue to assess the state of play plus. the single. a year off the protests there as twenty eleven draws to

a close look back at how the revolutions and rallies played awada was. ten am in the russian capital you're watching r t i'm marina joshie iran has to find a long range missiles as part of its stand a naval drills in the persian gulf the maneuver is common is saber rattling with washington tehran's promise to block the vital well supply route through the strait of hormuz if the west imposes sanctions over iran's alleged nuclear program. reports. 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 right to him to cut off the strait of hormuz which is the

major golf oil artery forty percent of 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 scale military showdown there but now based on the statements that we hear washington seems to think that iran is bluffing but right now you won't 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 with iran is flexing its muscle showing off its capabilities during their naval military exercises and as part of the exercise on saturday they'll fire long range missiles capable of reaching this world by the way the 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 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 that by sanctions creates a powder keg which could blow up at a slightest spark and the potential confrontation over the strait of hormuz can be that spark. that is she can afford that now the editor of consortium news robert perry says while neither ron nor the united states want the file route to be

blocked a war against iran could still be on the cards for washington. 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 will and impact negatively on both the u.s. and european economies however sometimes when rhetoric that 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 and 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 a 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 intentional or provocation could lead to catastrophe. violence has yet again erupted on the streets of syria stands of thousands have rallied against the regime security forces have reportedly opened fire to stop the protesters activists also claim doesn't work kill the recent clashes in flashpoints things of which are being visited by arab league observers the u.n. says more than five thousand people have died in the ten month long and rest mass was writing armed gangs for the violence journalist ransey baroud who used to work in the region says the conflict is being managed from the outside. this

is a real worry we do not know what the americans are cooking right now obviously they are of they are thinking of a much greater political context than syria they are thinking iran they are thinking the stability of iraq in the post american withdrawal and they are also and most importantly they are thinking israel so how will the political vacuum if such a vacuum is created in damascus affect israel israel's security and the northern border particularly the golan heights front israel cannot afford another security nightmare from their point of view of course 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 that it's a concern but democracy or human rights in syria or anywhere else in the middle east i think the americans are here to find

a formula that would assure them that in the absence of assad there will be a political rejean that they can trust and i think this is what the americans are trying to ensure right now. is gone there is going to be another alternative that america can work with and until the americans find that answer to this question we are going to have this this conflict raging on for a long time. and so i had for you here in our team you were just down. or still when you hear what you want to feel in two thousand and twelve. politics then twenty two ok made them do things to good for the world to not just get to get reelected i would probably say that after whole gambling. in the world be a better place without those things yeah i think it would probably be lots of benefits. plus a look back at the turbulent twelve months of two thousand and eleven from the arab

spring to worldwide protests r.t. wraps up the key events that marked the year and our correspondents were in the thick of the vans watched their first hand experience on our website our two dot com. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven. and now to some more headlines from around the world this hour more violence has erupted in nigeria following the church bombings on christmas day that killed more than forty people army officials say two civilians died in a shootout at a market in the northeastern city of my degree while witnesses reported a blast hitting the local mosque the recent wave of attacks in the country has been blamed on the premise for. tens of thousand people have fled their homes across the country fearing more attacks. demonstrators have clashed with police across

turkey in the second day of civil unrest following the botched government airstrike that killed thirty five kurds on wednesday in the city here thousands rallied after the funerals of the kurdish civilians killed in the attack police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse some turkish rives groups have appealed to the un to launch an investigation into the strikes the government has referred to as an operational mistake. kenyatta the son of the late northern korean leader kim jong il has been formally named supreme commander of the country's military forces senior government officials declared head of the communist party on thursday following his father's memorial the move is seen as the twenty seven year old consolidating is already over the nation. tens of thousands are. gathered in yemen demanding president saleh put on trial hundreds of armed activists protest layered up after

a solid sign of power transfer agreement last month granting him immunity from prosecution in the wake of violent protests he also announced he would leave yemen for the u.s. demonstrations have rocked the country for the past year calling for an end to salix thirty three year rule. now the u.s. says it has agreed to halt raids on pro. democracy rights groups earlier soldiers and police stormed offices of non-governmental organizations including some of those funded by washington the groups accuse the ruling military of using the same tactics of repression as a previous mubarak regime documents and computers happen sees as our investigations into foreign funding operate as a chanst military to power in the country after rising in february which toppled that president obama and to the east professor lawrence davidson says drama's groups which are expected to win parliamentary elections are turning

a blind eye to the military's continuing hold on power. 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 turning over complete control to civilian government and my guess is that the islamists groups. that somehow made in the coming days should with that reality that present reality foreign policy our us dr says he believes the military government is making sure it stays in power but the people are determined for a democratic change. this is part of the military discount the supreme council of

armed forces way of making sure. the it who you should basically is malted to the to the type of government they want because that's those are the same generals by the way who worked for mubarak. but really the military has to step aside they were not given the power that easily but i think the egyptian people and and the arabs in general have lost their fear from corrupt government and they have restored of their dignity and they will not tolerate another military dictatorship in their country i think all the evidence indicate that despite the sacrifices they have given. and don't forget our web site it's also got more news comment and analysis and here's a look at what's there. and iron lady finds herself behind bars after

being moved from a detention center to prison we are the details of yulia timoshenko and our situation. and kabul touching food itself twin polar bears playing in chinese do charm viewers around the world to get the full story as a video of the adorable bear at our team dot com plus you can watch all of our best videos on our you tube channel. he used to.

be official. from the. video. with the palm of your. well less than a year than a day left until the new year and with celebrations gearing up and all corners of the world we remember what may twenty eleven it was a year of rallies and uprising as people around the globe went out into the streets to demand justice freedom and economic equality large he's now we look back at the protests that shaped the past twelve months. two thousand and eleven could easily go down as the most eventful year in years the killing of bin laden after a decade long manhunt libya's gadhafi after months of nato bombing and the death of

north korea's kim jong il don't even begin to illustrate twenty eleven. times chose the protester as person of the year and although there were different slogan signs and demands of solutions twenty eleven will ultimately be remembered as the year people came out onto the streets the arab spring bloomed into a european summer which harvested an american autumn from cairo to california moscow to madrid to her ear to occupy global rallies shared common themes but if one thing stood out in the middle east and north africa alone it was protests that lead down one road regime change. tunisia and egypt got rid of their dictators without war but libya was not so lucky

nato allies began a humanitarian mission with a fierce bombing campaign the critics called it a mislabeled invasion to take down gadhafi for benefits the only reason they're interested in with libya is about the oil you hear anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week they were killed in the ivory coast or who sudan gadhafi was brutally killed in october as the world watched the graphic video go viral thousands of civilians were killed over months of bombing and twenty twelve neared syria found itself in a similar set up for intervention russia and china fearing a repeat of the situation in libya as civil war intensifies this is a wreck it's the fact that that wrecked. between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china on the war on the other side much more david was in libya protests continue in egypt libya syria and many more arab

countries as the year ends. the battle to save a drowning single currency left to board rooms and banks in twenty eleven and flooded the streets of europe most commonly and violently in athens greek debt became the centerpiece of the euro crisis protests raged against desperate austerity cuts to qualify for i.m.f. bailouts germany and france vie for influence in the debt ridden zone i think we will see an exit of greece given the situation in which the greek economy find itself has become really unavoidable draining the economy of big brother germany can't go on forever greece and italy are now led by on a lark to brussels back technocrat leaders who are trying to curb the crisis coming into a new year critics say twenty eleven bell outs or bust was the beginning of the end for the single european currency there's every chance the euro is going to crash.

london burned for days in the summer of twenty eleven what began as a peaceful protests demanding justice over the death of a twenty nine year old man who was shot by police turned into days of riots and left authorities helpless talks of possibly bringing out the military bars to shops were looted car set on fire and windows smashed across the u.k. the police the job center all the banks everything that's happening the recession you know there's a lot of anger about that social experts also through a felt multicultural programme and racism into the mix. and. the place institutional. racist as well the riots faded but the problems are still passing some say only

a spark is needed to set the public off again. occupy wall street became a household name in the u.s. and around the world but when the protests began in september if you were talking about it the mainstream media stayed silent until seven hundred people were arrested on the brooklyn bridge and then truly based in the end of his roots of american politics but. there are a disorganized a look but there's one of the protesting nobody seems to know but negative coverage didn't stop us from spreading from small towns to huge ports occupied was not going anywhere raids on camps heavy handed police and burning pepper spray only helped occupy grow and spread their message of the need for economic equality and an end to corporate greed their slogan became we are the ninety nine percent and then the

rich the one percent from oakland to boston the more people occupied the morgue. talent he became more evident by. what you're. right our police forces have been militarized they're working more in cooperation with the pentagon they're buying and being given military surplus the quitman that has been kind of designed for use in war and this is something that leads to treating the public as you would treat an enemy a public that has promised to come out in full force in twenty twelve. parliamentary elections were the push behind tens of thousands of people coming out onto the streets of moscow after allegations the december duma vote was raped.

the protest at least fifty thousand strong the largest in recent history call for free and fair elections and remained peaceful ruling party united russia lost popularity in the vote with official results putting their numbers at almost fifty percent but experts say a sixteen percent drop from two thousand and seven should be taken as a warning i think a lot of people wanted to punish. united russia for having power for so long and maybe not doing everything they could protest organized by vast groups of opposition members are set to continue in two thousand and twelve next year russia along with the u.s. and france holds presidential elections which makes it a safe bet people will be out on the streets in twenty twelve in europe america and around the world and he's now a party moscow. and watch our special new york coverage later on saturday as are

his correspondents will bring bringing you more on how they've seen two thousand and eleven. the obama administration is hoping to restore momentum this spring for peace talks with the taliban artie's military contributor says washington needs to work hard not to completely lose all possibility of trust in afghanistan as

a did in pakistan. really pull in and go will the u.s. military preponderance in afghanistan hasn't achieved any decisive victory nor it has managed to reverse the momentum to retake the initiative from taliban going to network their associates neither you know afghanistan nor across the border in pakistan their western alliance attempt to attain a breakthrough and to reconcile with the irreconcilables in afghanistan and pakistan hasn't achieved any tangible or long term results and just as was predicted the american replica of your i.q. surge in afghanistan hasn't impressed the military opposition to their going to government neither in pakistan nor in afghanistan in the minus another year and one hundred plus billion dollars the united states hasn't won afghanistan but it

definitely has lost pakistani cooperation. while the new year is out weighs a strong incentive for people to start something new and say goodbye to the oh today are to his very own new york resident laurie harkness asks people in the big apple what they will be happy to see the back come the stroke of midnight. two thousand and twelve is now a rival what would you rid the world of in the new year this week let's talk about that i think wall street protesting because it doesn't really help anything at all if you ask me i'm a business student it's my fifth year in college and i just i don't know what the point is i understand what they're fighting for and i agree for but for me i'm like you just taking up space i would probably say that after gambling the

world be a better place without those things yeah i think it would probably be lots of benefits. i agree i think a lot of people would protest about oh i have no doubt a lot of people would protest definitely including the government because they are acts of much money out of it would be occupy the liquor store tired of us or our noble borders and more borders let's just all be one country. because it's so difficult to travel around people trying to score points seem politics. make clean up politics in twenty two out make them taste things that are good for the world to not just get to get reelected oh poverty for sure yeah so how do you think the world leader should go about starting that. well distribute the wealth intolerance the you'd make everyone tolerate all different cultures yeah. that's a tall order i know well you asked if i could religion probably ban religion all of a spiritual but religion as

a religion we think the differences. own. control no matter what you'd like to abolish internationally let's just hope two thousand and twelve brings us a little closer to a better world. now the moscow team recalls the most exciting entertainment events over the past twelve months in the russian capital. as the main cultural symbol of russia twenty eleven saw the bolshoi theatre finally returned to its former glory. next up on one of our favorite moscow out shows of the year was filmed the star city the cosmonaut training facility originally a secret apple space ventured off to russia's only school for cosmonauts and then i was put through a whole range of training procedures underwater weightlessness zero gravity i'm

being spun around inside a centrifuge. to celebrities in twenty eleven hour many a list this time around the world have made their way to the russian capital film premieres concerts and private parties moscow sees many of the world's top actors sing is impossible these come here every week. rushing crowds love them and they in town seem to be impressed with the city. was. watched the best of must go out from twenty well and around the day here on our team and every camera main story is coming your way shortly stay.

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 only nice them a screen that's going to be heaven. in the flight see up close and below the ice on our team.