protests year draws to a close and we take a look at the rallies and revolts that shaped twenty five and. forty nine to live from moscow with me read the joshie iran is testing long range missiles as part of its tandy naval drills in the persian gulf the menu first come amid saber rattling with washington to ron's promise to block the vile oil supply route through the strait of hormuz if the west imposes sanctions over iran's alleged nuclear program that she can 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 in to 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 military showdown there but 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 with iran is flexing its muscle showing off its capabilities during their naval military exercise but 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're not going to do it they're not doing anything wrong by pursuing a peaceful nuclear program for civilian purposes some experts believe cornering iran like that 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. iran stop nuclear negotiator has expressed iran's readiness for fresh talks with the west over its alleged atomic program the apparent olive branch comes just days after the state said any sanctions imposed against it what force it to block a key oil supply vote the editor of the source and the as robert perry says while

neither iran nor the united states want a vital route to be blocked a war 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 would impact negatively on both the u.s. and european economies however sometimes when rhetoric you know that reaches a certain level and tensions reach a certain level and people taken positions things can cascade out of control and that's the risk here and we could see 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 an audit of 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 intentional or provocation could lead to catastrophe. the violence has yet again erupted on the streets a serious chance of thousands have rallied against their regime security forces have reportedly opened fire to stop the protesters activists also claim dozens were killed in recent clashes in flashpoint cities all 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 with damascus blaming armed gangs for the violence journalist ramzy 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 they are thinking of a much greater political context than syria they are thinking iran they are thinking the stability of iraq in the most 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 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 with the americans are very worried about they are worried about. israel's security there and it's of concern about 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 an answer to this question we are going to have this this conflict raging on for a long time and so i had three of the sour was just hours to. will the new year what would you want to see in two thousand and twelve. clean up the politics in twenty two out make them do things that are good for the world to not just get to get reelected i would probably even after gambling given the world be a better place without those things yeah i think it would probably be lots of benefits . plus all of back to the turbulent twelve months of twenty eleven from the arab

spring to worldwide protests r t wraps up the key vans that marked the year and our correspondents were in the sake of the events watch the for first hand experience on our website r.t. dot com. this is. just history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . and it was equal to some of the stories from around the world 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 north eastern 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 extremist islamist sect. tens of thousands of 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 of thousands rally after the funerals of the kurdish civilians killed in the attack police fired tear gas used water cannon to disperse them turkish rights groups have appealed to the un to launch an investigation into the strikes the government has referred to as an operational mistake. came down to the son of the late north korean leader kim john l. has been formally named supreme commander of the country's military forces senior government officials declared hand of the communist party of thursday following his father's memorial the move is seen as a twenty seven year old consolidating its already over the nation. tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in the yemen demanding president to be put on

trial for the deaths of hundreds of unarmed activists the protests flared up after a solid sign of power transfer agreement last month granting him immunity from prosecution in the wake of violent protest he also announced he would leave for the us demonstrations have racked the country for the past year calling for an end to salix thirty three year rule. the u.s. says age it has agreed to hold raids on pro-democracy rise 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 the previous mubarak regime documents and computers have been seized as part of investigations into foreign funding. the military took power in the country after an uprising in fabby reap which toppled president our middle east professor lawrence states and says islam as 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 at least so far they're the most adamant and the egyptian army. does not want to do that it's a great prestige stake in this it has a great economic stake in the officer corps and i don't see. turning over complete control over their government and my guess is that the islamists groups. have somehow made in a combination with that reality that present reality. foreign policy analyst dr oziel shamu says he believes the egyptian military government is making sure it stays in power but the people are determined for democratic change. this is part of

the minute the supreme council on forces way making sure. the revenue basically is molded to the to the type of government they want because that's those sort of the same generals by the way who work for mubarak. so that's basically this part of the struggle is going to go to go forward or is that a good use i'm going to be him all the and some do and do some role to the military but really the military has to step aside and let this new video government come to power once the election are held and the election should be held as soon as possible they will not give up the ball or that easily but i think the egyptian people and the arabs in general have lost the fear from corrupt government and they have restored of the dignity and they will not tolerate another minute that he did

that there should be in the country i think all the evidence indicate that despite the sacrifices. don't forget our web site also got more news comment and analysis and here's a look at what's fair. as a ukrainian iron lady finds herself behind iron bars after being moved from a detention center to prison and we uncover the details of you its mission incarceration. and claw touching food itself between polar bears playing in chinese in which harm here is around the world and get a full story and video of the adorable pair at r.t. dot com plus can watch all of our vast views on our you tube channel.

the official allocation. called touch from the. video. an r.s.s. feed now with the palm of your. on the dot com. well of the hour is counting down to the new year and with celebrations gearing up in all corners of the world we remember what made twenty eleven it was a year of rallies and uprisings as people around the globe went out on to the charades to demand justice freedom and economic equality and he said now it looks

bad at a protest that shaped the past twelve months. two thousand and eleven could easily go down as the most vengeful year in years the killing of bin ladin after a decade long manhunt in 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 shows the protester as person of the year and although there were different slogans 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. the 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 that's 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 direct. effect that the rhetoric. a clash between the u.s. and nato on one side and russian shined on the war in 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 the 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 ranged against desperate austerity cuts to qualify for i.m.f. bailout for germany and france fined 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 threw a fountain multicultural program and racism into the mix you know stop and so.

on a sense of place a certain institution. but. probably institutionally 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 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 that was truly based in the end of his fruits of american politics that crowd is easy since. they are disorganized they look on any one of the protests that nobody seems to know but negative coverage didn't stop us from spreading from small towns to huge ports occupied was not going anywhere rates on

campus heavyhanded police and burning pepper spray only helped occupy grow and read their message of the need for economic equality and an end to corporate greed their slogan became we are the ninety nine percent and they the rich the one percent from oakland to boston the more people occupied the more brutality became more evident by was. what you're doing with your. right our police forces have been militarized they're working more in cooperation with the pentagon they're buying and being given military surplus to quit meant that has been kind of designed for use in war and this is something that. needs to treating the public as you would treat an enemy a public that has promised to come out in full force in twenty twelve.

elections were the push behind tens of thousands of people coming out onto the streets of moscow after allegations the december duma vote was raked. the protest at least fifty thousand strong the largest in recent history calls 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 want to punish. you know russia for having power for so long maybe not doing everything they could protest organized by vast groups of opposition members are set to continue in twenty 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. watch our special new york coverage later on saturday as our correspondents will be bringing you more on how they see in two thousand and eleven .

the obama administration is helping to restore a momentum this spring for peace talks with the taliban military contributor says washington needs to work hard not to completely lose all possibility of trust and afghanistan as it did in pakistan with political will the us military preponderance in afghanistan hasn't achieved any decisive victory nor it has managed to reverse the momentum to retake the initiative from going to work and their associates neither you know afghanistan nor across the border in pakistan their western alliance attempt to attain a breakthrough 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 going to

government neither in pakistan nor you know afghanistan in the minus another year one hundred plus billion dollars the united states hasn't won afghanistan but it definitely has lost pakistani cooperation in the new year is always a strong incentive for people to start something new and say goodbye to the old today or it's he's very all new york resident laurie harness asks people in the big apple what they'll be happy to see the back off the stroke of midnight. two thousand and twelve is now a riving 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 as i understand what they're fighting for and i grieve 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 yeah i agree i think a lot of people would protest though oh i have no doubt a lot of people would protest differently including the government because they are acts of much money out of it would be occupy the liquor store time yes or no will borders and more borders let's just all be one country. because it's so difficult to travel or are people trying to score points seem politics. you'd make clean up politics in twenty two out made them to things that are good for the world to not just get to get reelected opar pretty 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. now. 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. later the moscow team recalls the most exciting entertainment. and so were 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 it is. next up on one of our favorite moscow out shows of the year was filmed the star city the cosmonaut training facility originally asked secret apple space to

ventured off to russia's only school for cosmonauts 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. to celebrities in twenty eleven hour many a list this time around the world has made their way to the russian capital film premieres concerts and private parties moscow sees many of the world's top acts is seeing is impossible things come here every week. pushing crowds love them and they end and seem to be impressed with the city. conjoining moscow team in a few minutes here on r.t. before that there will be bad for my year of today's top stories.

thank.

oh.

welcome back you know with r t and these are the top stories iran readies long range missiles for use during a ten day naval drill in the persian gulf to iran as threaten to block a key oil supply route if the west continues to tighten its sanctions that says iran's top nuclear negotiator expresses his country's willingness for fresh talks. fresh rallies slayer up in syria with opposition activists reporting doesn't.