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 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 two governments that have been communicating for over three decades and when you don't have direct channels of communication that increases the likelihood of miscalculations and misperceptions and it reinforces a cycle of escalation and 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. and turning our attention to syria now where the violence that began in march has spilled over into the new year observers on a mission there in the country have warned damascus against cracking down on protesters at least thirteen reportedly killed in just the past day despite the

league's efforts to oversee the implementation of a peace plan this comes as two of syria's leading opposition groups signed a unification deal but also rules out any foreign intervention beyond arab involvement it's estimated that more than five thousand civilians were killed in syria last year the figure cannot be verified because damascus has restricted access to foreign media policy adviser focus on expects the arab league mission to make some sense of what is actually happening. bodies that are being vocal about it we can assume that they are closer to the action and more understanding of it so. they are better situated to assess it in other international law is. not perfect but that at least there have been a better position than most of the nations within the arab league they do not want to be have the earth is intervened with and so. lightly or could be more likely to

put information that would go against intervention in syria because they don't want that sort of intention on themselves the arab league is bringing five hundred people they only get fifty days or so i don't know how you can conceal anything from five hundred people over four months months period of time so it will provide a greater degree of transparency so even if they could quote in a short term manner i doubt that you can keep it contained in such a large investigation. another arab country that of libya is still recovering from the brutal civil war that toppled colonel gadhafi last year while there are signs of stability tensions are rising between the tribes and militias that fought together against the regime. reports from aaa. flying high but still running low almost two months after the lifting of a no fly zone over tripoli the city's airport operates far below its capacity of

the passenger traffic keeps increasing every month as more and more airlines of putting tripoli back on their flight schedules the tripoli airport is once again buzzing with visitors a fellow lives have already with them service and more are expected to follow in the coming months but while the flight controllers and customs officials are back of their desks it's still the militia who call the shots here and the rebels themselves admit that the situation is still way to trouble and to cede control to civilian authorities they're no longer flashing their guns to get make it very clear who is in control here the rebel brigade from the western city of the captured the airport in late august as the rebels over on the capital the control of this key facility how the town with the population of some thirty thousand rise to national prominence since then this entire militia has successfully styled itself as the save guards of libya's future. for forty two years our country had

nothing no state institutions just one insane person who ruled now we have a historic mission to overcome the difficulties of the transitional period and build a new country nationals will be upon us. is one of the top guns in tripoli these days primarily a colonel in the get out his army he still keeps the good offices army kept in his office his subordinates are now holding the deposed libyan leader's son safe will islam. we are against any dictator of history repeats itself we will wage a war but we will let the rule of law decide his fate. didn't gazi zintan misrata these libyan c.d.'s one after another rose against gadhafi is regime . their militias now represent the real axis of power in the country as their various and their legacy and agendas as this tribes on the only base new tricolor

the prospect of civil war in libya is always there and it has a hole which has been there but has been effectively mastered by the very strong centralized rule of the gadhafi regime but of course now that that has been destabilized we see this all of the tensions there in the fabric of libyan society coming to the fore another militia commander in charge of tripoli rebels is preparing for an interview it's been a month since he changed his military fatigues for a business suit of dylan makers now trying to transform rebels under his command into a political force a laptop has replaced every rifle as his main tool internet is his new front line of the armed assistant at his door is a sign that political process is still in its very early stages. we've seen many examples in the past when people's revolutions were stolen and we are very clear that our struggle is far from over gadhafi may still come back in some

other shape or form and in that case who have to take up our weapons and defend our revolution. guns are still a common side on the streets of tripoli of their prevalence has visibly decreased the city's covered with posters calling on the rebels to turn them in the design element of militia has so far failed to translate into national reconciliation the competition among various brigades may have become less visible but not less in towns the nato alliance would like to build upon any division within the groups or their part is that they have revolutionised against the qaddafi and according to my own understanding they would like to see certain. robin says being divided inside the state of libya back in the arrival hall isn't tongue rebels are screening passengers bags under the posters left from the old regime to get out his golden framed portrait that madness at the airport a year ago is gone hatred of him and have glued the libyan society for several

months with his killing the form a unity appears to have died as well as in the work of art see tripoli. but with. still ahead for you this hour the year in brief we take a look back at just a few of the momentous stories that made the headlines in two thousand and eleven and from around the world. in egypt pro-democracy protesters held a candlelight vigil in cairo's tahrir square on new year's eve in memory of those killed during the uprising that ousted hosni mubarak meanwhile the u.s. says egypt's current rulers have agreed to stop the raids on pro-democracy rights groups this week soldiers and police stormed offices of governmental organizations including some funded by washington documents and computers were seized as part of investigations into the foreign funding of organizations that the groups accuse the

ruling military of using the same tactics of oppression as the mubarak regime but author william angle believes there is interference coming in from washington. 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 the region. just

a quick moment here to check out at the world update for you here in our to some of the international headlines in brief first to nigeria it's where the country's leader has declared a state of emergency in areas hit by a wave of islamist attacks president goodluck jonathan has shut borders with neighboring countries following a string of christmas day blasts which killed over forty people the leader has vowed to crush boko haram militants who have claimed responsibility violence has continued since churches are throughout the country were first bombed a week ago tens of thousands of fled their homes fearing further conflict. in south sudan thousands of fighters from the tribe siege to a town of one of their rivals members of the tribe stormed people and they torched buildings they stole life stock and forced scores to flee it comes despite u.n. troops attempts to step up security in the town in recent months ethnic infighting

caused by cattle rustling has left about a thousand people in the region dead. a former member of the japanese cult behind an attack on the tokyo subway in one nine hundred ninety five turned himself into police just before midnight on new year's eve he had been in hiding for seventeen years since the group released sarin gas on the underground system killing thirteen people your motion a rick you started as a spiritual movement mixing a hindu and buddhist beliefs but developed into a doomsday cult obsessed with armageddon. u.s. president barack obama has signed a bill which means any person can be detained without charge a major defense bill is aimed at dealing with terror suspects and comes with a massive six hundred sixty two billion dollar price tag but critics say the military will now have more authority to detain and interrogate people denying them of their basic constitutional rights. well you with our t.

it's good of you to join us today on the first day of two thousand and twelve still ahead for you though do stay with us for this down with knowledge. of what the capital of iraq. the president of iran is now. named medicare jaffery thought we set out for the streets of new york to discover what americans know about their country's policy at home all around the world. there's not much new year cheer from economists predicting a return for recession in europe for two thousand and twelve in fact our leaders use their new year messages to warn of hard times ahead for their countries german chancellor angela merkel said europe was facing the most severe test in decades while french president sarkozy has warned that the debt crisis blanketing the continent was far from over many governments have been forced to slash their spending to meet debt obligations as economic growth in europe has been at

a standstill for months some analysts believe that the e.u. leaders are keeping the eurozone together are only deepening the crisis. in leaders are trying to shore up the eurozone by having greater degrees of centralization and more having countries like france and germany have the final say in a sense over the budgets of those e.u. member states that have excessive budget deficits but that really isn't the answer to the problems wilts really needs either a massive injection of cash into countries like greece and italy to shore up their economies cause another option would of course to recognize that the single currency has hurt competitiveness in many women nations of the eurozone so really there's a number of options either to transfer funds from the north to the struggling south or of course have an orderly break up of the eurozone. ok now a quarter past the hour here in moscow of course a russia welcome in two thousand and twelve with a bang being the world's biggest country it celebrated

a new year nine times at this thanks to his nine different time zones with the country is a far east kick starting the festivities on russia's western most point the baltic city of kaliningrad finishing off while hundreds or so gathered in moscow's red square to toast the new year the world was treated to mass celebrations and fireworks all over the globe but hawaii has just become the latest to ring in the new year while australia was among the first countries to open its doors to the new year with glittering fireworks sold over sydney harbor asia picked up the baton with spectacular shows held across the region. and in dubai hundreds gathered at the world's tallest building to watch an amazing illumination display by millions of revelers all over europe there for the count down to midnight with celebrities and celebrations all around the world being viewed by millions now to use and he

said no way looks back at what made it two thousand and eleven. 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 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. 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 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 as civil war intensifies this is a bad wreck it's the fact that that rhetoric 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 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 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 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 out 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 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 programme and racism into the mix.

so the. 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 off again. occupy wall street became a household name in the u.s. and around the world but when the protests began in september if you were talking about it the mainstream media stayed silent until seven hundred people were arrested on the brooklyn bridge and then truly based in the end of his fruits of american politics but. there are a disorganized they look 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 heavy handed police and burning pepper spray only helped occupy grow and spread their message of the need for economic equality and an end to corporate greed their slogan became we are the ninety nine percent and then the rich the one percent from oakland to boston the more people occupied the more. talent he became more and that in the in the in the in the i'm sure if you're on the right all right 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.

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 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. united russia for having power for so long maybe not doing everything they could protest organized by vast groups of opposition members are said 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 way r.t. moscow. and we have more on the events that shaped two thousand and eleven are waiting for you on our website of course dot com also for you there right now see how the world celebrated their arrival of two thousand and twelve you'll find some spectacular footage of new year's celebrations from all around the globe. the end of the year saw us troops away the farewell to iraq to dot com explores the implications and consequences of nine years of conflict. and a look at the uprising demo's disasters of two thousand and eleven have seen through the eyes of our correspondents and their testimonies at our two dog. witnesses. to history in the making. testimony.

ten stories that shaped two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . it is good of you to join us here on the first day of two thousand and twelve. other men and women hoping to become the next president of the us appear to spend as much time demonstrating their ignorance of the world as they do their political credentials but as aunties honest i found out that could just be a reflection of society. 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 you agree with president obama. the basic knowledge of those attempting to spearhead a country can leave much to be desired would be this leave americans choosing their politicians and their country's 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 stands back and. do you know the us is an airbase there. do you know about libya. you know dispel libya yes yes do you know the united states was involved in a war would be. ok. you know why.

i know absolutely nothing about. about new mexico is that a state or a country what is that. right. it's the old me under bush. 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. my president. cheney so when secretary of state police arise that we would be fools and nice to ignore their purpose and their plan some countries are at the top of politicians list to attack her belief am literally but how much do people really know about those faraway places. was the president. the president of iran is no capital capital of iran do you know the capital city of

iran. negative do you guys know what iran is oh yes yes what's the capital of iraq . was the president. president he just died what about the capital of the capital yes i do but if. you're asking me i can't tell you that either top secret comes i don't want to. know libya it's. anything. if the president of iraq iran iraq all right you know his name but a jet a giraffe or so 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.

well a bit later and you can read the tourists from all over the world who are heading to the white sea they're going to some diving and kite surfing to meet some rather curious friends as well that will be off of the headlines with me will receive. sure seeing a. ride

to clean a ghost town. squandered morning. about . what is now. more than sixty square kilometers or the most nations and those who are still surprising new lives i'm finding are just. it's getting bad out here. but not saying hardly any birds squirrels. you know i don't know what's going on here concrete on our chief. mission free accreditation free transport charges free. range month free. three stooges free. old free broadcast quality video for your media projects a free media dog to r.t.

dot com. five thirty pm on january the first two thousand and twelve here in moscow time for your r.t. headlines president obama has signed a bill which imposes new tougher sanctions on iran over its disputed nuclear program this is despite tehran's threats to shut off a key oil supply route in the gulf as tension between the two countries continues to build. the syrian regime's crackdown on demonstrators continues on a beta forcing arab league observers to warn damascus to rein in the violence the monitors are overseeing the implementation of a peace plan that president assad has agreed to. on the world rings in two thousand and twelve with a bang with fireworks and celebrations all across the globe in moscow and hundreds

of gathered on the red square to watch a larger scale extravaganza light up the city skyline. what a display it was now here on r.t. we travel to the northwest coast of russia it's time to make friends with sea canaries and explore their wild underwater world our special report coming your way in. the white sea its surface remains true to the recently seven months a year. the chilly breath of the arctic ocean peeps the water freezing cold. near the coast however the high winds and bitter cold recede. even in winter can be seen through holes in the nice.