i i. i. a very warm welcome to you on this the first day of two thousand and twelve i'm wrong research and you're watching on c.n.n. live from moscow the violence in syria continues unabated despite the arab league observers mission that it started this week by security forces have reportedly opened fire on thousands of protesters at the monitors giving conflicting accounts of government snipers are involved activists claim dozens were killed in recent clashes in flashpoint cities all of which are also being visited by the monitors the u.n. says more than five thousand people have died in the ten month long unrest what's damascus blaming gangs for the violence james corbet editor of an independent news website based in japan the balance if the observer mission will bring any plausible

results. the final report will be a pretty much preordained conclusion that there will be findings that the assad government is not doing enough to to listen to the concerns of its citizens but i personally i'm not sure what these more ridiculous about this story be the idea that the the autocratic focus of the arab league states are going to presume to pronounce on the democratic leanings of that the syrian government to work with the international community is supposed to take what they see 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 it concludes anything other than the fact that the assad government is to blame for what's going on in syria right now. and a former libyan rebels are now chanting for syrians to fall of every revolutionary path hundreds of mercenaries some of whom are former terrorists are ready to pick up arms against again to help overthrow president assad talks on

a boycott now reports from aaa. the butcher my dad me and the owner of this keep up shop in tripoli still undecided what's the most fitting term for syria's bashar al assad. tell us it is economics the biggest game in the end the one that syria. not the syria. you can't make it 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 subject. these are just. wrong if this soldier we have we 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 these young man who looked on adrenaline and willing to part with their rifles syria seems like the next logical destination. we're all ready to join the syrian revolution and with the help of all along we will make sure that what happened in libya will repeat itself in syria. over the portraits of shady bar i now ubiquitous on the streets of tripoli some rebels even styling themselves to resemble the famous revolutionary. with the help of we can all be like 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 marketplace for soldiers of fortune they moved from one revolution to another some motivated by personal gain some by conviction on others by the venture

if i put out on the vision of freedom and for now at least is the freedom to live by the gun. as a romantic 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 are involved on you tube while it's still unclear who is pulling the trigger there are terrorists my prayers 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 afghanistan or pakistan foreign fighters have been brought in here by the cia and the other western services. one man's terrorist could easily be anonymous freedom fighter but for the united states it's now one day hiking but hodge one of the leaders of tripoli militia was once on the cia most wanted list

today he's a face of the democratic leader who according to r.t. sources not a group of several hundred libyan rebels to syria just last month. we can't do any to support the syrian people because we they are facing the same situation as before and do but if she comes to lead and we would and if we could why the syrian people to get their freedom i think we should do it the use of soldiers of fortune is hardly new in this troubled region middle eastern rulers hired them 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 actually we are at sea tripoli art is coming to you live from moscow now u.s. president barack obama has signed a bill imposing new sanctions against iran the measures that target the country's

central bank and will particularly hit all revenues relations between washington and tehran reached a dangerous point this week there's lama country threatening to block off of vital oil supply route in the persian gulf where it's currently holding navy drills tehran promised not to let one drop of oil go through the strait of hormuz if the west goes on with signs the u.s. and the e.u. stepping up pressure over iran's nuclear program tehran has since said it's ready for fresh talks in time political analyst chris bambery believes the west is putting world peace at stake with its stubbornness over sanctions. americans could probably force use in a military way which in the gulf could probably force open the straits of hormuz but that would mean war with iran and that would be a huge huge escalation and would threaten world peace and therefore i think the iranians are really challenging the americans sensing the american weakness we know

that both from british sources that there are plans to attack iran and israel is egging on america to attack iran over the question of its nuclear program but i think again in a comparison with iraq in two thousand and three iran is in a much stronger position iranian nationalism should not be should not be underestimated even opponents ammunition about who rallied to support iran's given britain and america's history in iran there's a long history of unfortunate british and american intervention in iraq so i think we're witnessing quite a dangerous escalation and it's the sanctions which the west are talker in points around which is responsible for that situation developing and i think we should be clear about that is the west who've racked up this situation every step still to come for you here in the program on r.t. life after that look at the future of north korea after its longtime leader kim jong il was finally laid to rest also.

begin becky becky becky stansberry i'm going to say you know i don't know you know . we find out that it's a not only us presidential candidate struggling with their knowledge of the world. the u.s. says egypt has agreed to stop raids on pro-democracy rights groups this week soldiers and police stormed offices of nongovernmental organizations including some of those funded by washington the groups accused of the ruling military of using the same tactics of oppression as a previous mubarak regime documents and computers have been seized as part of an investigation into foreign funding of organizations the military took power in the country after an uprising in february which toppled president barack william engdahl believes washington's initial aim was to work for a while and send 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 on knees 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 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 pitting 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 that region although in a new year's message north koreans have been urged to make every effort to bring that country to prosperity and to defend its new leader kim jong un quote to the death that's going against hopes in the west that the death of kim jong il would

herald a more open country but asia specialist dr tom bill thinks foreign nations have an interest in keeping things as they are. as far as we know he was educated in switzerland not see that's going to have an effect but letting go it's grossly overestimating his freedom of action. part of the north korean system but also mainly in respect of the outside world only new respect to the americans so it's not north korea since don't want to see americans and want to. trade somewhat like they want to contain china and different differently but it's all part of the same same package so what one can do is in many respects fairly limited. and we will again will have soon i don't really

depend so much on the americans. watching r.t. it's good to have you with us on this first day of two thousand and twelve our prospects for the struggling european currency remain low in the new year as the euro fell sharply at the end of two thousand and eleven debt ridden countries are racing to implement more austerity measures with spain announcing almost nine billion euros in cuts professor of e.u. competition law dr marcus kerber says whether the single currency lives or dies will be determined this year two thousand and twelve is going to be the decisive year for the europe are there we have some to boot breaking decisions. which means that we could even take into consideration whether or not to split up the us or the euro will not survive anyway the rescue directors as we have see this form one of the harvey is by no will not be able to continue because it is only curing the

syndromes treating the symptoms without trail trying to put an end to the fundamental mismatch within the eurozone that there is a lack of competitiveness having tighter controls mean that the nation states give up a fundamental part of democratic policy that is to say fiscal policy taxes but they no longer decide about the major param it is of their national sovereignty i think that would be great for systems apart from that that will not solve the competitive lost the competitiveness problem of least. spaded perhaps italy the markets are expecting tough decisions for structural reform of the eurozone in order to melt this down to something which is homogeneous of to survive all of those things will not bring as a cure of the problems. well it's been an interesting past twelve to twenty four hours the world welcoming two thousand and twelve with mass celebrations and fireworks all over the globe why has just become the latest to ring in the new year

that was about a few minutes ago now in new york to the thousands packed times square for the ceremony. midnight sin city two thousand and twelve with a large scale extravaganza lighting up the las vegas skyline. was among the first countries to open its doors to the new year with glittering over sydney harbor and picked up the baton spectacular shows held across the region and in dubai hundreds gathered at the world's tallest building to watch an illuminating display of course russia also met two thousand and twelve with a big bang thousands gathering in moscow's red square to toast the new year millions of revenues are also packed cities all over europe for the count down to. some absolutely massive displays the sydney let off seventy tons of fireworks now

with celebrations sweeping the globe we do remember what made two thousand and eleven it was a year of revolt and rallies as millions around the world 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. two thousand and eleven could easily go down as the most eventful 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 auto from cairo to california moscow to madrid to where 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 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 that 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 that's twenty twelve neared syria found itself in a similar set up for intervention russia and china fearing a repeat of the situation in libya a civil war intensifies this is a direct effect that direct clash between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china on the war in on the other side much more did 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 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 fined for influence in the debt ridden zone i think we

will see an exit of greece given the situation in which the greek economy find itself has become really unavoidable draining the economy of big brother germany can't go on forever greece and italy are now led by on a lark to brussels back technocrat leaders who are trying to curb the crisis coming into a new year critics say twenty eleven or bust was the beginning of the end for the single european currency because 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 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 stop and so. on a sense of place a certain institutional. and appropriate 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 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. he said. they are disorganized they look on a one of

a protest and nobody seems to know but negative coverage didn't stop o. ws 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 greet 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 god. but you're. right our police forces have been militarized they're working more in cooperation with the pentagon they're buying and being given

military surplus to quit meant that has been kind of designed for use in war and this is something that. needs to treating the public as you would treat an enemy a public that has promised to come out in full force in twenty twelve. 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 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 want to punish. you know 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 you see now way r.t. moscow. more insight and analysis on the offensive may two thousand and eleven standing by for you on our website it's a calling card you can also watch our special new year coverage from the heart of the office i reports from various parts of the world expert analysis on some of the most significant events of the past. plus the major stories as seen through the eyes of our correspondent there were no help for the events of two thousand and eleven that testimony from dot com. witnesses.

to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and seven on our t.v. . or let's get some other headlines for you are from around the world this hour time for the world update and the u.s. president barack obama has signed the difference with a price tag of six hundred sixty two billion 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 and opponents also say the legislation gives more thorough he 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 violent attacks by islamist sect. in a state address on saturday he vowed to crush the terrorist group and condemned the christmas bomb blast that killed more than forty following the announcement racial

clashes erupted in the east leaving dozens dead tens of thousands of fled their homes across the country in the wake of recent violence. in the south sudanese state of jungle thousands of fighters from the new word tribe of laid siege to a town of one of their rivals and members of the tribe stormed at people torching buildings stealing livestock and forcing scores from the 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. a chinese a bus driver has died in the first case of bird flu in the country in over eighteen months the man who was hospitalized with pneumonia but later tested positive for the deadly virus according to health authorities he had had no contact with any 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 prevent an epidemic. in the new year americans will choose who leads the 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. and i see a truck and a husband finding out. it's three agencies of government when 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 ask me who is the president of you beki beki beki beki 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.

the basic knowledge of those attempting to spearhead a country can leave much to be desired where does this leave americans choosing their politicians and their country's potential future let's find out who's. heard of it or for some reason i don't know anything about libya do you know what is becky stan is no i do not know it because stan is back you. know do you know the us is an airbase there. oh yeah 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 them honestly about new mexico is that a state or a country what is that. don't you know it was my first or now.

it's the old me under bush. wow actually. come on it was not that long ago you vote cheney who is the vice president of the us. you know i have no idea i know it's. the most hunted. cheney so was secretary of state police arise stella now we would be fools and nice to ignore their purpose and their plan some countries are at the top of politicians list to attack verbal eat i am literally but how much do people really know about those faraway places. was governor it. was a president. you know the president of iran is now capital capital of iran 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. was the president.

the president you just look at the capital of the capital yes i do but if. you're asking me i can't tell you that either top secret. libya or. anything. is the president of iraq iran iraq all right you know his name. when it comes to picking a future for the you want choosing what comes next may be tough without the knowledge of what has gone on in the past and even the very present. party. anyhow past the hour here in moscow actually russia's ambassador to the u.n. . to his views on some of the most pivotal issues here and around the world but i'll be back with a recap about top stories and just

a matter. wealthy british style.

market. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser report. if you're just joining us a very warm welcome to you this is arts here live from moscow with today's top stories a. flare up again in syria with dozens reported killed despite the arab league mission while libya's victorious rebels are taking a very revolution to president assad's doorstep. president obama slaps new sanctions on iran over its atomic ambitions despite saying it's ready for fresh talks tehran to close off a key.