presumed to pronounce on the democratic leaning over the syrian government to work with the international community is supposed to take what they say with any sort of moral authority but clearly these are not people in a position to be lecturing on this but i think as i say i think the the report has been pretty much preordained and i would be very surprised to see that that it concludes anything other than the fact that the assad government is to blame for what's going on in syria right now. formerly the unravels are now chanting for syrians to follow their revolutionary past hundreds of mercenaries some of whom are former terrorists are ready to pick up arms again to help overthrow president us at our desks on a boy who reports from tripoli. a butcher my dad made the owner of these keep up shop in tripoli still undecided what's the most fitting term for syria's bashar al assad. jealous of his economics if we give him enough in the law that syria. other syria. you can get

a lot of people in syria. out of solidarity with their arab brothers the owners of the shop have even put on display the syrian rebels tricolor but they're very firm on where the revolutionary support should be and we don't want syria and its soldiers we have. and our people such as syria these are just not only the subject we have to have enough but i think yeah we want to leave. in less than three months libyan rebels have gone from being celebrated as liberators to being called occupiers tripoli residents rally almost every week calling on the armed militia to leave and for some of the young man who looked on adrenaline and willing to part with their rifles syria seems like the next logical destination. your sort of we're all ready to join the syrian revolution and with the help of our lawyer we will make sure that what happened in libya repeat itself

in syria believe you mother over the portraits of shady bar i now ubiquitous on the streets of tripoli be some rebels even styling themselves to resemble the famous revolutionary. with the help of allah we can all belong to give aren't fighting for peace and freedom around the world. and it seems that che guevara's idea of exporting revolutions have gotten. a second birth in the middle east the arab spring has created a boy and market place for soldiers of fortune they move from one revolution to another motivated by personal being found by conviction on others by venture if i put out in the vision of freedom and for now at least in the freedom to leave by the gun. as your mantic and spontaneous as it may appear aiding the syrian uprising with mercenaries may not be such a genuine move video women and children in syria gunned down by snipers very bound

on you tube while it's still unclear who is pulling the trigger there are terrorists who are shooting at civilians men women and children blind terrorism random killing simply for the purpose of destabilizing the country or from libya or from. pakistan foreign fighters have been brought in here by the cia and the other western services. one man's terrorist could easily be another man's freedom fighter but with the united states it's now one day hiking but hodge one of the leaders of triple a militia was once on the cia most wanted list to date he's the face of the democratic leader the who according to artists or says that a group of several hundred believe in rebels to syria just last month. they are facing the same situation as before. comes to be would.

be to give them. the use of soldiers of fortune is hardly new in this troubled region middle eastern rulers hard then for centuries a save gars against their own populations and it now looks like the history of mercenaries in the middle east has got to it's new and no less bloody chapter. somebody artsy tripoli. u.s. president barack obama has signed a bill imposing new sanctions against iran the measure is targets of the country's central bank and will particularly hit oil revenues. relations between washington and tehran reached a dangerous point this week islamic countries threaten to block a vital oil supply route in the persian gulf where it's currently holding drills to iran promise to not let one drop of oil go through the strait of hormuz if the west goes on with sanctions u.s. and the e.u. are stepping up pressure over iran's nuclear program tehran to send said it's ready

for fresh talks. the independent lobby group the national iranian american council says the lack of diplomatic relations between iran and the united states increases the risk of a dangerous outcome. closing the strait of hormuz for the iranian government would be the equivalent of cutting off its nose to spite its face it's heavily heavily reliant on its on its income from oil exports the vast majority of which go through the strait that being said just because it's something that the iranian government doesn't want to do it doesn't necessarily mean that it's something that it's won't do if pressure increases to the point where iran is backed into a corner or two governments that have been communicating for over three decades and when you don't have direct channels of communication that increases the likelihood miscalculations and misperceptions and it reinforces a cycle of escalation in conflict and it increases the likelihood that you can you can take actions that might not be in accordance even with your own interests and rather than governments controlling the conflict the conflict begins to control the

governments and we end up with an outcome that i think both parties independently would seek to avoid still some of the program life after death we look out the future of north korea after its longtime leader kim jong il was finally laid to rest and. yes you can use the president of a big big you stand stand up and say you know. i don't know if you know. we find out that it's not only u.s. presidential candidates struggling with their knowledge of the world. the u.s. says it tipped has agreed to hold raids on pro-democracy rights groups earlier this week soldiers and police stormed offices of non-governmental organizations including some of those funded by washington groups accuse the ruling military of using same tactics of repression as the previous mubarak regime documents and computers have been seized as part of investigations into foreign funding organizations the military took power in the country after an uprising in february

which toppled president of bark author william and dol says washington's initial aim was to flare up violence in the region. i think the military has made a deal with the islamic brotherhood and washington doesn't want stabilization they want to be permanent enemies so that they can you know use that as a lever in the entire region there's anger because there's been little change but also because. it's it's quite the case that foreign n.g.o.s financed by the u.s. congress and others the national endowment for democracy various other so-called human rights politicized organizations are fanning the protests claiming they're putting the military against against these human rights n.g.o.s so. the idea is to create as much chaos through the region as possible in order to justify i believe a stronger nato role permanently in the region. in

a new year's message north koreans have been urged to make every effort to bring their country to perspire ready and to fan its new leader kim jong un known to the doubts that's going against hopes in the west that the death of kim jong il would herald a more open country but age especially as dr tim feel things foreign nations have an interest in keeping things as they are. as far as we know he was educated in switzerland dogs do that's going to have an effect don't you know but letting go it's grossly overestimating is freedom of action. part of the north korean system but also mainly in respect of the outside world immune respect to believe the americans so it is not north korea and since does not that soon merkel's and want to. constrain. somewhat like they want to contain china i would have sent you differently but it's all part of the same package so what one can do is in many respects

fairly limited. we will again will have soon but i don't really depend so much on the americans. prospects for the struggling european currency remain low energy here as the euro fell sharply at the end of two thousand and eleven devry the countries are racing to implement more staring measures with spain announcing almost nine billion euros in cuts investment advisor patrick says he doubts the single currency still has a viable chance of survival. unfortunately the prognosis for the new year must be one of a terrible high go for it is absolutely to my mind clear that we are going to have a crushing recession it's a tragedy but the european union has all time at least made no effort to resolve its problems we've had one child after another shot after another shot and they've been spoilt so much unfortunately there's just nothing at this juncture that gives us any reason to be remotely optimistic apart from the fact that we're going into

a new calendar year the year room is living on borrowed time it has been on life support for the last six months it could survive on life support for the next twelve months that is possible but realistically i cannot see how the euro can survive certainly not in its current shape or form i think you will find there will be defaults in other words countries are going to turn round and say you know what we can't afford to pay these debts we're walking away and i think that will happen it will happen in greece and it may happen in other countries in the euro zone as well one morning we're going to wake up the euro will have changed if enormously another day we may wake up and there will be no euro whatsoever right now i thought probability is fifty fifty our best that the euro survives the next twelve months the world is welcoming twenty twelve with mass celebrations and fireworks all over the globe north america has become the latest with huge festivities along the east coast any your thousands packed times square for the ceremonial ball dropping at

midnight. and this trail you know was among the first countries to open its doors to the new year with glittering fireworks i think the skies over sydney harbor asia take the baton with spectacular shows held across the region and divide by hundreds gathered to add the world's tallest building to watch a magnificent and eliminating display. and russia. some at two thousand and twelve where the bag thousands gathered in moscow's red square to toast the new year and millions of dollars also gathered in cities all over europe for the countdown to midnight. now with celebrations sweeping the globe we remember what may two thousand and eleven it was a year of revolts and rallies as millions around the world went out into the streets to demand justice freedom and economic equality argues that he's now he

looks bad 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 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 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 the 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 the rhetoric. clash 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. bailout germany and france are fine 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 euro 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 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 boston 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 fountain multicultural program and racism into the mix.

at the place institution. institutionally racist as well the riots faded but the problems are still passing some say only a spark is needed to set the public forget. 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 mainstream media stayed silent until seven hundred people were arrested on the brooklyn bridge and that 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 grates on campus heavy handed police and burning pepper spray only helped

occupy guo read their message of the need for economic equality and you know 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 occupying the. more brutality became more and that in the was. sure if you're right on the right you know our our police forces have been militarized they are working more in cooperation with the pentagon they're buying and being given military surplus the quick meant 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 wrote was raped. by. the protest at least fifty thousand strong the largest in recent history called for free and fair elections and remains 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 and i think a lot of people want 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. a more insight and analysis on the events that made twenty five an hour on our website r t dot com also watch our special new year of coverage from the heart of moscow reports from various parts of the world an expert analysis on some of the most significant events of the past year. plus the major stories as seen through the eyes of our correspondents who were in the hot spots of events their testimonies are at r.t. dot com. witnesses. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shaped two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . and now let's take a look at some other stories from around the world u.s. president barack obama has signed the fans fail with

a price tag of six hundred sixty two. in dollars despite serious reservations by critics over how terror suspects will be handled under its provisions the new law means any person can be detained without charge opponents also say the legislation gives more authority to the military to detain and interrogate people denying them constitutional rights. nigerian president goodluck jonathan has declared a state of emergency in response to the wave of violence had spies lama sex. in a state address on saturday he vowed to crush the terrorist group and condemn the christmas bomb blast that killed more than forty people following the announcement racial clashes erupted in the east leaving dozens dead tens of thousands have fled their homes across the country in the wake of recent violence. in the south sudanese state jungle a thousands of fighters from the loonier tribe have laid siege to a town of one of their rivals members of the tribe storm people or torching

buildings stealing livestock and forcing scores from their homes un troops deployed in the town were unable to prevent the attack this latest spate of violence comes as the governor of the state and the vice president attempt to mediate talks between the tribes. and chinese bus driver has died in the first reported case of bird flu in the country you know were eighteen months the man who was hospitalized with pneumonia but later tested positive for the deadly virus according to health authorities he had no contact with poultry a positive test on a dead chicken at a market just outside of hong kong last week prompted an immediate import ban on poultry to control the epidemic. in the new year americans will choose who leaves their country for the next four years but are the potential candidates as well versed in global politics as they are and what's going on at home. has been finding out. it's three agencies of government what i get there that are gone.

commerce education and the what's the third one there let's see he's looking to to actually fire tens of thousands of federal workers and eliminate an entire cabinet level position and he can even remember its name asked me who is the president of you becky becky becky becky stan stan i'm going to say you know i don't know do you know it's not the fact that he doesn't know it's the fact that he doesn't think he should look it up so you agree with president obama libya. the basic knowledge of those attempting to spearhead a country can leave much to be desired wouldn't this leave americans choosing their moment titian's and their countries potential future let's find out. for some reason i don't know anything about libya do you know what is the pakistanis know i do not know what the pakistan is pakistan. do you know the

u.s. is an airbase there. nor do we know about libya. you know dispel libya yes yes do you know the united states was involved in a war with libya. ok. you know why. i know absolutely nothing about but honestly what new mexico is that a state or a country what is that card any time you think that we don't like you know the first person. it's the old man under bush. while actually. come on it was not that long ago you know you cheney who is the vice president of the u.s. . you know i have no idea i know it's. my son. cheney so who is preparing to take kindly to rice stella now we would be. nice to

ignore their purpose and their plan some countries are at the top of politician's list to attack her belief am literally but how much do people really know about those faraway places. with her. it's her own here was the president but was it a woman was it the you know the president of iran is no capital the capital of iran and do you know the capital city of iran. negative do you guys know what iran is oh yes yes yes what's the capital of iraq cares was the president. bush president he just died look at the capitol grounds the capitol yes i do what is it you're asking me i can't tell you that either top secret come on a little boy is caught in the. snow will be a rich text in anything he guesses. a little something is the president of

iraq iran iraq may all right you know his name but a jet a giraffe or something when it comes to picking a future for the you was choosing what comes next may be tough without the knowledge of what has gone on in the past and even the very present is less intrusion on the parties to your bush shortly russia's ambassador to the un shares with r.t. his views on some of the most pivotal issues before that there are be back with our top stories.

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back here with our team let's take a look at today's news and the week's top stories fresh clashes flare up in syria with dozens reported killed despite the arab league observers mission there while levy is victorious rebels are taking their revolution to president assad's doorstep . president obama slaps new sanctions on iran over its atomic ambitions despite iran saying it's ready for fresh talks tehran threaten to close off a key world supply route in the persian gulf. and the world welcomes twenty twelve with fireworks celebrations and toast as the holiday sweeps the globe north america was the latest to greet the new year as hundreds of thousands packed new york's times square for the symbolic ball dropping at midnight. well twenty

eleven was a packed year for news earlier my colleague kevin no one spoke to russia's ambassador to the u.n. to tell you who shared his thoughts about tackling the world's divisive troubles. the u.n. security council rejected russia's proposal to investigate civilian deaths from nato strikes in libya what are members avoiding or it is simply a case that ongoing conflicts and i wore important. well you know first of all it was not rejected the fact of the matter is the number of security council delegations intuiting the russian delegation there is the need to have some clarity about civilian casualties as a result of maida warmings because for months we were heard from made from a told that they are adopting all those measures in order to make sure that there can not possibly be civilian casual.