as for you let's cross live now to officer studio overlooking red square where kevin oh and nice an hour you are now standing by. rory thank you everyone the world twenty twelve has already arrived of course for billions of people across the pacific region a.j. asia and in most of russia we wish them all the very best for a twenty twelve i hope you can say with r t for the whole evening as we bring you the celebrations from russia's capital ton chile even up to but is it as we wait for world to twenty eleven we're also looking back at the key events around the world that shaped the year and of course we're looking to try to gauge what's going to lie ahead in this as well there's been a lot of turmoil this past year especially in the arab world with tunisia egypt and libya seeing revolutions sweeping leaders from power the european union's been struggling to keep it single currency afloat bellowing out several of its members and even contemplating kicking out some altogether and then there's been spilling

out onto the streets and mass in america and across europe russia was no exception here's a detailed look at just a few things that shaped a truly momentous past twelve months. 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. time chose the protester as person of the year and although there were different slogan signs and demanded 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 but critics called it a mislabeled invasion to take down gadhafi for benefits the only reason they're interested in with libya is bout the oil you hear anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week that 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 as 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. act that direct clash between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china on the war you know 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 ranged against desperate austerity cuts to qualify for i.m.f. bailout germany and france vying for influence in the debt ridden so 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 an elective brussels backed 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 in the

recession you know there's a lot of anger about that social experts also through a felt multicultural program and racism into the mix you know. so the police certainly institutional. pool 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 roots of american politics the crowd is easy somebody they are disorganized they look funny what are

they 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 rates on campus 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 the rich the one percent from oakland to boston the more people occupied the more brutality became more evident by. what you do with your own. right our police forces have been militarized they're working more in cooperation with the pentagon they're buying 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. mentary 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. by. 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. 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 said no way r.t. moscow. still ahead for you this hour here on arts here what changes would you like to see in two thousand and twelve. noble borders and more borders let's just all be one country. because it's so difficult to travel around with just hours to go now before the new year i think it's just hits the streets of new york to see what people want to see them back. but you can also get first hand accounts of the u.s. major events of course from the art scene correspondents who covered them as they happen to those types that are standing by for you right now but our web site to go

. with this is. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . argue with r.t. live from moscow to stand by for more live coverage from rhode square for the new year to syria now where the two largest opposition groups have agreed to unite against president bashar al assad violence continues for the meantime across the country and tens of thousands of people have staged rallies against the regime security forces have reportedly opened fire in response 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 an rest they would be aware of reports that dozens have been killed since friday alone adding to the figure of five thousand the u.n.

says have lost their lives in total the government blames armed gangs for causing the violence meantime journalist ramsey borrowed who used to work in the region so as the conflict is actually being managed from 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 i thinking iran they are thinking the stability of iraq in the most american withdrawal and they are also and most importantly they are thinking israel how will the political vacuum if such a vacuum is created in damascus 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 what's that with the americans are very worried about they are worried about. israel's security. it's of concern about democracy or human

rights in syria or anywhere else in the middle east i think that americans are yet to find a formula that will 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 the america can work with and until the americans find an answer to this question we are going to have this this. time. from syria to cairo where egypt faces the loss of over one and a half billion u.s. dollars in aid it's in response to thursday's crackdown on non governmental organizations in cairo egyptian soldiers aerated the officers raided the fact ten offices of belonging to n.g.o.s confiscating of pewters and documents cairo suspects some of the groups receive illegal funding from countries including the

u.s. and could be using the cash to store up on rest in egypt the country's military rulers have promised to end the crackdown and return congress created material egypt is currently in the middle of a three stage parliamentary election which has been marred by violent protests the military's been in control since president hosni mubarak stepped down in february and some observers suspect the generals for now a reluctant to relinquish 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 agreed economic stake in this the officer corps and i don't see turning over complete control to government and my guess is that the islamists groups have somehow made an

accommodation with that reality that present reality. it's good to be with us you are watching on c.n.n. our let's cross live to the u.s. where the outgoing year witnessed the biggest wave of protests since the vietnam war americans turned out in droves in hundreds of cities all across the united states they will be united by what's become known as the occupy movement which sprang up in new york three and a half months ago let's catch up with artie's marina porter who's been covering the protests for us. good to see you do you think the occupy protesters have managed to focus their message and if indeed they have how in any way shape or form are they expecting to have their demands met we're talking a few months now in the making. that's right well there's no denying that the occupy wall street movement has been the defining event of two thousand and eleven here in the united states it will forever be known as america's autumn and i think

to the credit of this movement that exploded in a matter of four to eight weeks they did get their message out they have caused me mentioned tens of thousands of people across the united states coming out camping out in parks camping out in public spaces talking about their their grievances with the u.s. system the political system the most of all i think the common frustration that aligned all of them is the fact that they believe there's too much corporate influence on u.s. politics i was actually surprised as a journalist speaking to so many of those people seeing how much they knew and read about the amount of money financial institutions and corporations are donating to presidential candidates to lawmakers and they want a system to be changed that is what they are fighting for of course there's

differences when it comes down to other issues but overall they are fighting for a system change in the united states similar to the arab spring countries fighting for regime change. if i may just jump in for a moment three months into the protests that we. have actually achieved for two thousand and eleven we've seen all the footage of all the woman who called police have you had to miss but it seems to some of the major news networks in the big wigs in washington have basically turned a blind eye. well they were marginalized the occupy activists were marginalized in the very beginning but there was a moment that mainstream media could not ignore them and could not ignore this movie because it became the biggest story in the united states a story that has not been seen in many decades what they have achieved is that they've come together i think this movement has actually in lightened those americans that have been wanting to go out and start participating in grassroots

movements and felt that there's no way possible social media no denying it. was good to give you that gave momentum to this movement and at the end of the day they did get coverage they mange through channels in the united states that began covering them ignoring them or criticizing them or manipulating their message of how to begin covering them there were clearly biases and different points of view given from mainstream media outlets here in the united states because they are owned by corporations and these americans are talking about corporate influence on u.s. politics but i think now we've seen the movement died down a bit because. headquarters of occupy wall street here in new york they were removed from zuccotti park as our viewers remember there was. that the n.y.p.d. . shortly before their two month anniversary and removed them from zuccotti park and the fact that camps were. moved throughout the country has slowed the

momentum down of this movement but i do anticipate. a lot of momentum come spring time as the twenty twelve presidential election gets more and more underway. in the big thank you. you're watching live from moscow. to test fire a long range missiles in the gulf over the next few years so part of naval. drills which would be an increasing tension in the region almost daily also lots of saber rattling from the u.s. which to deploy you warships to the area our correspondent guy in a chicken house more 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 for 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 were 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 a powder keg which could blow up at the slightest spark and the potential confrontation over the strait of hormuz can be that spark. he's gone h can reporting right there let's get to the r.t. world update here for you some other brief world news headlines first are turning our attention to that in ny jury here where the country's leader has declared a state of emergency this in areas hit by a wave of islamist militant attacks president goodluck jonathan says he'll shut

borders to affected areas and vowed to crush militants responsible for christmas day attack which killed dozens of violence has continued throughout the country since the violence began six days ago the most recent personalities were four people killed in an explosion near a mosque in the northern city of made a goody and army spokesman has blamed the blast on the islamist group which has also claimed responsibility for attacks targeting churches across the country. demonstrators in turkey have clashed with police during a second day of protests over a military airstrike that killed thirty five kurds on wednesday thousands rallied in the city of the upper tier after the funerals of the kurdish civilians took place at least thirty people were arrested as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them pro kurdish parties have now requested 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 supremum commander of the country's armed forces senior government officials declared kim jong un head of the communist party on thursday following his father's memorial the move is seen as the twenty seven year old consolidating his authority over the nation kim jong il who had ruled since one thousand nine hundred four died of a heart attack two weeks ago. but we are continuing to analyze are the top stories of two thousand and eleven here on r.t. and of course new york's times square is one of the iconic spots to meet the new year so it seems a good time and place to send our big apple resident to ask people there what they'll be happy to see the back of in two thousand and twelve. 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 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 been an eva 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 yeah that's right noble borders and more borders let's just all be one country. because it's so difficult to travel or are people trying to scope put seem politics. you'd make clean up politics and twenty two out made them to things they could for the world to not just get to get relate to 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 all of a spiritual but religion as a religion we think the difference that. 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. and of course usual we're always interested in your point of view today we are asking. what do you think two thousand and twelve will bring if you log on to our website on dot com you can right now take part in our global poll the my mind you there the stats don't look overwhelmingly positive so what do you expect for the new year here come your numbers so far sixty five percent of you say it will bring

a blockbuster half the world slightly less than a quarter expect the financial and political hangover currently there's a tie between those who are preparing for more protesters and fewer dictators in the upcoming year and then finally there are those some actually positive thinkers out there who think two thousand and twelve will possibly bring solutions to existing problems to go online to cast your vote at all to dot com. well though we are down to the last two hours and thirty five minutes here in moscow to bring in the new year for two thousand and twelve now with russia being such a big country the biggest in the world new year comes nine separate times across all of us time zones and those in the countries far east though with the first pop the champagne corks below freezing temperatures and icy winds did nothing to prevent thousands gathering here on the central square in blood of all stalls they were there for concerts and shows put on to help the celebrations. an hour or so

later homes in subtly no doubt raise the glass so they were sharing a time zone with sydney and melbourne in australia and new little a total of seven tons of fireworks a few dozen as well right now being greeted in the expanse of siberia of the russian capital where we are this moment standing by our. art and we've got live coverage of red square and of course the kremlin with art he's kept an eye on that and he said now we're coming your way shortly for now though a brief break into the headlines we're talking with me. witnesses

. to history in the making of. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . sets. the close up teams has been to stop. plays to the most ambitious football club in

the world. now on r.g.p. goes to the far east where the timber industry affects the legendary siberian tigers where the ancient native community loses its way in the modern world. and where the country's mineral wealth starts its way across the ocean. comes to the bars creature russia blows up. among the least exposed areas. and touched by. surrounded by steep rock. kase paintings on display for thousands of years. east and sun. the tiger. on.

whether you dive from high or to the depths. catch the power of the wind or drift in the beauty of the currents. the well prepared is a must and if you're lucky. you'll never forget your experience we only need a screen that's going to be heavy. into flight see. below the ice on our t.v. . this

is live from moscow as we are taking down the final hours of two thousand and eleven we look back at the year that ushered in protests civil war and regime change uprisings in the arab world as well as public fury in america and across europe all of these are dominating the headlines for two thousand and eleven. syria's opposition unites against the government and a new wave of violence which has reportedly left dozens of dead since friday directly under the noses of the arab league observers the u.n. says more than five thousand people have died in ten months of protests with damascus a blow. gangs with the. iran is planning to carry out long range missile tests during naval drills over the next few days so setting gauges and military posturing with washington the move comes as the west threatens to toughen sanctions

against iran over its nuclear program.