it is right now it's running two thousand and twelve in tokyo and seoul but here in moscow the countdown continues with only five hours until the rings in the new year do stay with us for the red square coverage on rule research in the new year has already arrived in the pacific parts of asia and russia's far eastern is making its gradual sweep across the globe as we do prepare to ring in two thousand and twelve we are looking back at the key events that shaped two thousand and eleven it's already been dubbed the year of protests and all season he has been covering some of the. two 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 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

just sort of 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 i wrecked. where between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china on the war and on the other side much more david was in league 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 ranged against desperate austerity cuts to qualify for i.m.f. bailout germany and france fine 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 the 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 in the recession you know there's a lot of anger about that social experts also through a fountain multicultural program and racism into the mix. and a sense of place a certain institution. and. 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 that was truly based in the end of his roots of american politics but. they are disorganized they 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 heavyhanded 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 they are the rich the one percent from oakland to boston the more people occupied the more brutality became more evident.

what you do with your. right our police forces have been militarized they are working more in cooperation with the pentagon there. and being given military surplus 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. i the protest at least fifty thousand strong the largest in recent history called 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 i think a lot of people wanted to punish. 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 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 r.t. moscow. and in greece protests and strikes have become as common as tax hikes and job cuts much of the public feel that's the only way they can vent their anger at government imposed austerity measures to go to the streets and out loud i think has

been on the chutes pressure from the e.u. to make cuts in spending to qualify for a bailout money it needs to of financial collapse of course one of. the has been covering the protests in greece over the past year now live for us in athens the greek government has been forced into budget cuts to pay its debts but what about the impact on the lives of ordinary people. well it's just been such an exhausting year for the people here in greece as the country and indeed the usa face some of the biggest ever challenges and never really has a feature of the year is a place within it. seems safe. now this year it's been all about debt we've seen countless bailouts throughout the year insane and hearing police that's led to seville start being in place in the country nine real terms to people that's meant job loss on a huge scale it's meant tax hikes cuts to say she said this is and of course that

is led in turn to at this huge outpouring of public anger that we've seen time and again and certainly here this year on the streets of athens now i'm joined now by penny a to satiric professor from the university of asia and thank you so much for joining us again i remember speaking in the un syntagma square and you were talking about putting an end to this vicious cycle of bailouts and debts and austerity measures at the end of the year we enter any seeing an end in sight for the euro crisis no. we're in a very deep. debt and recession under snow just greece is the whole euro zone is just about to enter an official phase of recession so no there's no light at the end of the tunnel this is what we're experiencing out of old we're being told we're going to experience next year which means another year. is exactly the proof of the failure of this. this things cannot go on anymore in

this. it's a society in despair people are in despair. unemployment has roots and seen before live in public spending has been cut. salaries minus thirty thirty five percent we're being told we're going to endure maybe more ten more years. to reach that level when we have the first time we were told we have to take six zero during misery so there's no end in sight when we see the protests. session here increased become a real tries it's a political change starts the new year and was saying need prime minister think any real changes come about the missile will be going from no that's was exactly the objective of the. government which was dictated it was elected the natural

course of things would have been either a new election or around two in both case. we would have had a strong rejection of all this polish it so the government was in a way dictated by the european union and the i.m.f. who said no you're going to. have an election you're going to have the european central bank or us prime minister whether you like it or not you're going first to vote for this measure is not the people in the streets covered take that and then you can have an election but this is a mockery of democracy. thank you very much for joining us in the cool moving towards next year they selections of people here hope will happen at some point early on in the year but that's still very very uncertain what we've seen this year really was the country at the really made this up and take note it will the euro crisis much much closer to him and of course that contagion spreading not just in case but of course the u.a.e. saying as well here today on syntagma square such different scenes to some of the

ones that we seeing today of course is people get ready to celebrate new year's celebrations perhaps a temporary reprieve friend was being stastny an extremely hard hit for the people here and looks set to be another tough one in twenty twelve all right all life for us and so many things. i still have for you this hour here on our what changes would you like to see in two thousand and twelve. noble borders and more borders let's just all be one country. this is so difficult to travel. hours to go before the new here. just hits the streets of new york to get some two thousand and eleven and two thousand and twelve. plus you can also get a firsthand account of the year's major events from the r.t. correspondent. as they happen testimonies waiting for you on our web site www dot

com. this is. history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shape two thousand and eleven. a quarter past the hour in moscow let's turn our attention to syria now where the two largest opposition groups have agreed to unite against president bashar assad continues across the country tens of thousands of people have held rallies against the regime security forces are reportedly in reaction opened fire on the people government supporters have taken to the streets in several cities as well including the capital damascus arab league observers are currently monitoring the situation in five provinces gripped by rest they would be aware of reports that dozens have been killed since friday alone into the figure of. the u.n. says have lost their lives in total the government blames armed gangs for causing

the violence a journalist who used to work in the region says the conflict is being managed from outside. this is a real worry we do not know what 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 american withdrawal. and they are also and most importantly they are thinking. how well the political vacuum if such a vacuum is created in damascus israel israel security and the northern border particularly. the golan heights front for 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 the most that what the americans are very worried about they are worried about. israel's security and their units 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 with assure them there 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. you're watching r t in egypt faces the loss of over one and a half billion u.s. dollars an aid it's in response to thursday's crackdown on nongovernmental organizations in cairo egyptian soldiers raided the offices of ten n.g.o.s confiscating computers and documents cairo suspects that some of the groups received in legal funding from countries including the u.s. could be using the cash to start up and resting in egypt the country's military

rulers have promised to end the crackdown and return promised get into a real egypt is in the middle of a three stage parliamentary election which has been marred by violence problems the military has been in control since president hosni mubarak stepped down in february so the suspect the generals are reluctant to relinquish power. to a 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 agreed economic stake in this the officer corps and i don't see turning over complete control to this government and my guess is that the islamic groups. that somehow made an accommodation with that reality that present reality and foreign policy analyst dr

deal shamu thinks the egyptian people are determined to just see out the remnants of mubarak's regime. this is part of the minute the supreme council on forces way of making sure all of the. revenue should basically small to do that to the type of government they want because that's those are the same generals by the way who work for mubarak. so that's basically is part of that struggle is that a good using going to go forward or is that a good use in going to be molded and some dude into some visible role to the military but really the military has to step aside and lead this into the 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 bar 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 their dignity and there will not tolerate another military dictatorship in the country i think all the evidence indicate that despite the sacrifices. part is now a twenty minutes past the hour here in moscow this is our iran plans to test fire a long range missiles in the persian gulf over the next few days it's all part of navy drills which being an increasing tension in the region almost daily and lead to saber rattling from the u.s. which os deployed warships in the area correspondent guy nature kind of 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 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 with the rand is flexing its muscle showing off its capabilities doing 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 and 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. he's gone into kind of courting that now iran has actually signaled its readiness to resume nuclear talks with major powers progress has been at a standstill since early november that's when the un atomic watchdog reported that

iran appeared to be designing a nuclear bomb something which to iran vigorously denies the editor of consortium news robert perry says washington is using the allegations simply to demonize iran be we could see war we could see some some kind of conflict. there has 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 probably cation could lead to catastrophe. all right let's get to some other world news for you in brief this hour first to nigeria where violence is continuing after a series of christmas day attacks killed dozens the most recent blast occurred near a mosque in the northern city of made the good just as worshipers were leaving friday prayers officials say the attackers killed four and injured several others an army spokesman has blamed the blast on the islamist group boko haram tens of thousands of fled their homes since christmas day when the militant group launched a series of attacks on churches throughout the country. demonstrators in turkey have clashed with police during a second day of protests over a military strike that killed. thousands rallied in the city of the after the funerals of kurdish civilians took place at least thirty people were arrested as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them. now request a u.n.

investigation into the strike. the son of the late north korean leader kim jong il kim jong un has been formally named supreme commander of the country's armed forces senior government officials declared head of the communist party on thursday following his father's memorial move or see the twenty seven year old consolidating dorothy over the nation kim jong il who had ruled since nine hundred ninety four died of a heart attack two weeks ago. now a new york times square is one of the iconic spots to meet the new year so it seemed a good time to send our own big apple residents asked the people there what they'll be happy to see the back of in two thousand and twelve.

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 is 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 after gambling in the world be a better place without those things yeah i think you would probably be lots of benefits yeah 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 time yes or a noble borders and more borders let's just all be one country. because it's so difficult to travel or. people trying to score points seem politics. would make clean up politics and twenty two out made them to things to good for the world to

not just get to get reelected oh poverty for sure 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 yes all of a spiritual but religion as a religion we think the differences. around. 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. and that we are always interested in your point of view today we're asking what do you think two thousand and. we'll bring you can log on to our website. to take part in our latest web poll which could also be nominated two thousand and eleven is most

depressing so what do you expect for the new year here are the numbers sixty four percent of you say. half the world slightly less than a quarter a suspect the financial political. seven percent a pairing for more protests on fuel. but only a minority think the new year will bring solutions to existing problems as you go online. and here's what else we're prepared for you on our website dot com so they have this an army of snow men invades moscow school frosties major amusement park in the center of the russian capital just ahead of the new year celebrations that we are covering live in just a few hours. also in some other parts of the world for people already greeting two thousand and twelve you can watch our live footage on our web site throughout the evening and as i said they did today our special coverage from off to use correspondents are actually going to be throughout the evening here in moscow with

their personal reflections on the key events of two thousand and eleven by the way it's about half an hour's time will be new you know in china so we'll keep you posted throughout that you can hear or see just a few moments it's going to be. a recount of the headlines see you shortly.

witnesses. to history in the making of. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . it's. sick.

just the last few hours of. all the stories. the government. of the. people of.