obvious coming to you live from moscow on the first day of two thousand and twelve research show you it's good to have you with us u.s. president barack obama welcomed in the new year by signing into law a tough new set of sanctions for iran anyone doing business with central bank will face punishment thanks to the new measures directly targeting the financial sector the move comes at a time of heightened tension over iran's nuclear program and the threat of sanctions has already seen tehran threaten to block all he export routine response adding to the situation is iran's plan to test fire a long range missiles during naval drills ongoing in the gulf that led u.s. warships to be quickly dispatched to the area we're going to go to the independent group the national iranian american council says that a lack of diplomatic ties between the two countries is simply increasing the danger

of a hostile outcome closing the strait of hormuz for the iranian government would be the equivalent of cutting off its nose despite 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 of 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. and turning our attention to syria now where 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 hodgson expects the arab league mission to make some sense of what is actually happening. is that 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 is a better position than most many of the nations within the arab league they do not

want to be if the earth is intervened with and so. likely or could be more likely to put given information that would go against intervention in syria because they don't want that sort of intervention on themselves the arab league is bringing five hundred people they only get fifteen years 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 what do you have that could in the short term and 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 to the passenger traffic keeps increasing every month as more and more airlines a putting tripoli back on their flight schedules the tripoli airport is once again buzzing with visitors a feller's have already within service and more expected to follow in the coming months but while 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 brigades from the western city of the entire 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 sample fifty thousand rise to national prominence

since then does in time militia have 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 us now we have a historic mission to overcome the difficulties of the transitional period and build a new country and that animals will be upon us. is one of the top guns in tripoli these days primarily a colonel in the good after his army he still keeps the good office army cap in his office his subordinates are now holding the deposed libyan leader's son safe will islam. we are against i need to take her out 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

. then militias now represent the real axis of power in the country as their various and their legacy and agendas as the stripes on the only base new tricolor the prospect of civil war in libya is always there and it has been there but it has been effectively mastered by the very strong centralized rule of the gadhafi regime but of course now that that has been the stabilized 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 abdullah maker is 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 but. 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 we'll have to take up our weapons and defend our revolution. guns are still a common side on the streets of tripoli have their problems has visibly decreased the city's covered with posters calling on the rebels to turn them in if the design and 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 and the nato alliance would like to build upon any division within the groups or the parties that they have revolutionised against the qaddafi regime and according to my own understanding they would like to see certain provinces being divided inside the state of libya back in the arrival hall is in town rebels are

screening passengers bags under the posters laughed from the old regime to get out his golden framed portrait that maddest at the airport a year ago is gone hatred of him and have glued the libyan society for several months with his killing the former unity appears to have died as well as in a 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 the 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 and al 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 a 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 the pity in 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 a nigerian 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. 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 dollars price tag but critics say the

military will now have more authority to detain and interrogate people denying them of their basic constitutional rights. when you with r.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 happened of iran here's the president of iran is now. you know it name matter general gaffe or something 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 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 as we need a standstill for months some analysts believe that the e.u. leaders are keeping the eurozone together are only deepening the crisis. inning 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 bitit deficits but that really isn't the answer to the problems what's really needed as either a massive injection of cash into countries like greece and italy to shore up their economies course another option would of course to recognize that the single currency has hurt competitiveness in many 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 countries of far east to kick starting the festivities on russia's western most point the baltic city of kaliningrad finishing off one hundred four 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 why 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 so all 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 and millions of revelers all over europe there for the countdown to be with

celebrities and celebrations all around the world being viewed by millions now artes and he said no way looks back at what made 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 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 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 direct effect that direct clash between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china on the what 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 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 there's every chance the euro is going to crash. london burned for days in the summer of twenty eleven what began as a peaceful protests demanding justice over the death of a twenty nine year old man who was shot by police turned into days of riots and left authorities helpless talks of possibly bringing out the military bars the shops were looted car set on fire and windows smashed across the u.k. the police the job center all the banks everything that's happening in the

recession you know there's a lot of anger about that social experts also through of felt multicultural program and racism into the mix you know stop and so. on a sense of place a certain institution. and 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 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 funny when i

protest 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 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 was. what you're doing. right now 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 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 remains 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 and i think a lot of people want to punish. a united 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 two thousand and twelve next year russia along with the u.s. and france holds presidential elections which makes it a safe bet people will be out on the streets in twenty twelve in europe america and around the world and he's now a party moscow. and we have more on the events that shaped two thousand and eleven awaiting for you on our web site of course c dot com and also for you there right now see how the world celebrated the 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 u.s. troops wave a farewell to iraq to dot com explores the implications and consequences of nine years of conflict. than to look at the uprising demos and disasters of two thousand

and eleven as seen through the eyes of our correspondents and hear their testimonies at r.t. dot com. witnesses. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven. 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 and asked 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 did 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 the pakistan is backing for. do you know the us is an airbase there. or do we 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. what that new mexico is that a state or a country what is that. right. it's the old me under bush. while i 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 vice president. cheney so when secretary of state police arise now we would be fools and knees 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. like wisconsin or it. was.

a measure that 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 yes what's the capital of iraq. was the president. the 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 come. now libya or 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 want 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 be the tourists from all over the world who are heading to the white c. 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. shy seeing a. radically

a ghost town. squandered morning. about. what is now. more than sixty square kilometers of the one move in the midst nation and those who are still surprisingly live i'm finding we're just. it's getting bad out here. but not saying hardly any birds squirrels you know. ducks you know i don't know what's going on here. on crete monarchy. mission. couldn't take three days for chargers free arrangement free. three stooges free.

old free bone loading video for your media project free media. time. five thirty pm on the first two thousand and twelve here in moscow. 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 continued seville. the syrian regime's crackdown on demonstrators continues on forcing arab league observers to wall in damascus to rein in the violence.