it is to tighten sanctions. rash clashes in syria the opposition reports dozens killed by security forces as arab league observers continue monitoring the situation on the ground what's. still. out of the streets around the globe the protests year draws to a close and we take a look at the rallies and revolts that shape twenty eleven. it is through the am in the russian capital you're watching r t on marina joshie iran is to task long range missiles as part of its stand a naval drills in the persian gulf the maneuvers commented saber rattling with

washington tehran's promise to block the vital oil supply route through the strait of hormuz if the west imposes sanctions over iran's alleged nuclear program got next account 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 full 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 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 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 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 count reporting there iran's top nuclear negotiator has expressed iran's readiness for fresh talks with the west over its alleged atomic program be apparent all of branch comes just days after the states that any sanctions imposed against said what force it to block i can't well supply route the avatar of contortion news robert perry says while neither iran nor the united states want the file room to be blocked the 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 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 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 towards. 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 probably cation could lead to catastrophe. violence has yet again erupted on the streets of syria stans of thousands have rallied against the regime security forces happy portly opened fire to stop the protests or as activists also claim dozens were killed in recent clashes in flashpoint cities all of which are being visited by arab league observers anyone says more than five thousand people have died in the ten month long unrest with damascus blaming armed gangs for the violence careless when he were rude he used to work in the hills has a 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 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 that it's of concern about 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 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. so i had three this hour with just hours till 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 know just get to get reelected i would probably even after gambling even 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 our correspondents were in the sake of the bounds of what their first hand experience on our website r.t. dot com. with this is. two history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shaped two thousand and

eleven on our t.v. . now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world more violence has erupted here yet 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 report a blast hitting the local mosque the recent wave of attacks in the country has been blamed on the extremist islamic sect. tens of thousands of people have fled their homes across the country fearing more attacks. demonstrators have clashed with police across turkey the second day of civil unrest following the botched government airstrike that killed thirty kurds on wednesday in the city of the object here thousands rallied after the funerals of the kurdish civilians killed in the attempt police fire tear gas and used water cannons to disperse them turkish rise groups have appealed to you want to launch an investigation into the strikes

the government has referred to as an operational mistake. him john the son of the late north korean leader kim jong il has been formally named supreme commander of the country's military forces senior government officials declared kim jong il and head of the communist party on thursday following his father's memorial the move is seen as a twenty seven year old consolidating his authority over the nation. tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in yemen demanding president saleh be put on trial for the deaths of hundreds of activist of protests flared 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 gather for the u.s. demonstrations have racked the country for the past year calling for an a chance to sell its thirty three year rule. the u.s.

says egypt 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 a previous mubarak regime documents and computers have been seized as part of an investigation into foreign funding al forgiveness ations the military took power in the country after an uprising in february which toppled president mubarak middle east professor lawrence davidson says as long as roots 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 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 over 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 hours doctor ideal sas he believes that egyptian military government is making sure it stays in power but the people are determined for democratic change. this is part of the. supreme council on forces way of making sure. that who you should basically is molded to the to the type of government they want because that's the sort of the same generals by the way who work for mubarak.

so that's basically is part of the struggle is going to go to go forward or is that going to be him all the. role to the military but really the military has to step aside and lead this into the government come to power once the election. and the election she beheld as soon as possible they will not give up the fall of 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 they will not tolerate another minute that he that that should be in the country i think all the evidence indicate that despite the sacrifices that. will forget our website it's also got more news commentary and analysis and here's a look at what's fair as he's reigning in iran a lady finds herself behind are in barstow after being moved from there to send her to prison we uncover the details of the. and

at cobb club touching twin polar bears playing in chinese either charmed viewers around the world have the full story and video of the doorbell pare back to dot com plus and also watch all of our best videos on our you tube channel. the official publication. called talk from the.

video. feed. little. on dot com. where the new year are now beginning its way bob the go we're remembering what may twenty live and it was a year of rallies and uprisings as people around the globe went out onto the streets to demand justice freedom and economic equality and he said now it looks back at the protests that shaped the past twelve months. thousand and eleven could easily go down as the most vengeful 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 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 libya was not so lucky nato and 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 here anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week they were killed in the ivory coast or whose 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 i read clay. between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china 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 raged against desperate austerity cuts to qualify for i.m.f. bailouts 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 that 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. as. a 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 fruits of american politics but. there are a disorganized they look like 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 more. brutality became more evident by was.

what you do if you're. right there are police forces have been militarized they are working more in cooperation with the pentagon there. 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. mentary elections where the push behind tens of thousands of people coming out onto the streets of moscow after allegations the december duma vote was raked. up 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 i don't most fifty percent but experts say a sixteen percent drop from two thousand and seven should be taken as a warning that i think a lot of people want to punish. a 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 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. well what are special in your coverage later on saturday as artist correspondents will be bringing you more on how they see in two thousand and eleven .

the obama administration is hoping to restore a momentum this spring for peace talks with the taliban artie's military contributors as washington needs to work hard not to completely lose all possibility of trust in afghanistan as it did in pakistan. 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 had 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 really the irreconcilables in afghanistan and pakistan hasn't achieved any tangible or long term results and just as was predicted the american replica of iraq is surge in afghanistan hasn't impressed the military opposition to their ever going to government neither in pakistan nor in 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 that new year is always a strong incentive for people to start something new and say goodbye to the old

today are very new york resident laurie harvin is that asks people in the big apple what they'll be happy to see the back off come the stroke of midnight. two thousand and twelve is now a rising what would you rid the world of in the new year this week let's talk about that i think wall street protest 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 even ask gambling do you think 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 differently 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 or. people turn a school put seem politics. you'd make clean up politics than twenty two out made them to 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 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. while the moscow team recalls the most exciting entertainment events over the past twelve months and the russian capital. as the main cultural symbol of russia twenty eleven saw the bolshoi theatre finally returned to its former glory. next up one of my favorite moscow out shows of the year was film the star city because we're not 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 have made their way to the russian capital film premieres concerts and private parties moscow sees many of the world's top axes sing is impossible these

come here every week. rushing crowds love them and they enter and seem to be impressed with the city. about that mosque there are from twenty one i went throughout the day here on r.t. and other back shortly with their cap our top stories stay with us.

thank you.

more news today in violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world is seeing from the streets of canada. operations are.

what matthew was.