all of us here at r.t. wishing you a very happy new year i'm wrong research i live in moscow 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 tehran central bank will face punishment thanks to the new measures that directly targeting the financial sector the move comes at a time of heightened tensions iran's nuclear program the sanctions already seen tehran off a key oil export response to the situation is iran's plan to test fire a long range missiles during navy drills in the gulf that led to u.s. warships being swiftly dispatched to the area of research at the school of oriental and african studies in london. says that america is playing a dangerous game. iran said that if an oil embargo is imposed

against iran and rein in livelihood is economy is threatened then iran would take. considerable measures to respond to that so that is not a provocation but in terms of real provocation i think that what is provocative is the united states sending is warships thousands of miles away from his homeland into the persian gulf and also waging wars surrounding iran with wars in iraq and afghanistan military bases all around iran that is provocative and iran is trying to defend is national sovereignty and territorial integrity. all right now shifting our attention from iran to syria now where violence that began in march has spilled over into the new year arab league observers on a mission to the country have warned damascus against cracking down on protesters at least thirteen it will 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 but that figure can't be verified because damascus has restricted access to foreign. policy adviser focus hodgson expects the arab league mission to make some sense at some point what actually. it is that it don't have being vocal about it we can assume that they are closer to the action and more understanding of it so. they are situated to assess it in other international law is. not perfect but at least they're in a better position than most 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.

give you information that would go against intervention in syria because they don't want that sort of international not 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 when you have the short term and the idea that you can keep it contained. a large investigation and another country libya is still recovering from the brutal civil war that toppled colonel gadhafi last year while there are some signs of stability tensions are rising between the tribes and militias that fought together against the regime. now reports from tripoli. 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 adeline's of putting tripoli back on their flight schedules the tripoli airport is once again buzzing with visitors a feller's have already soon 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 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 a population of some fifty thousand rise to national prominence since then is in time militia has successfully styled itself as the save guards of libya's future

the sword for forty two years our country had nothing no state institutions just one insane person. now we have a historic mission to overcome the difficulties of the transitional period we can build a new country and that. is one of the top guns in tripoli these days primarily a colonel in the get off his army he still keeps the get off his army cap in his office his subordinates are now holding the deposed libyan leader's son safe will islam. we are against any dictator but if history repeats itself we will wage a war but we will let the rule of law decide his fate. didn't ghazi zintan misrata these libyan c.d.'s one after another rose against gadhafi is regime . the militias now represent and the real axis of power in the country as their very soon 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 always 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 bob dylan maker is now trying to transform rebels under his command into a political force a laptop has replaced their 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 who have to take up our weapons and defend our revolution. guns are still a common side on the streets of tripoli and their prevalence has visibly decreased the city's covered with posters calling on the rebels to turn them in 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 the nato alliance would like to build up. on any division within the groups or the parties that they have revolutionized 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 as in town rebels are screening passengers bags on to 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 if he's killing the former unity appears to have died as well as in the work of art tripoli. he is coming to you live from moscow as they have pointed this out the year in brief we take a look back with just a few of the stories that made made the headlines in two thousand and eleven from all around the world. in egypt pro-democracy protesters held a candlelight vigil in cairo's tahrir square on new year's eve and memory of those killed during the uprising that ousted former president mubarak meanwhile the u.s. says egypt's current rulers have agreed to stop raids on pro-democracy rights groups this week soldiers and police stormed offices of nongovernmental organizations including some funded by washington documents and computers were seized as part of investigations into the foreign funding of such organizations

other groups accuse the ruling military of using the same tactics of repression as the mubarak regime but author 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. you with r.t.

let's get to some other world news in brief for you this hour in the r.t. world update first to nigeria 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 claimed responsibility violence has continued since churches throughout the country were first attacked a week ago tens of thousands have fled their homes and fearing further conflict. in south sudan thousands of fighters from the new word tribe have laid siege to a town of one of their rival members of the tribe stormed a people they torched buildings stole livestock and forced schools to flee it comes that 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 dead in the region. a former member of the japanese cult behind an attack on the tokyo metro in one thousand nine hundred five has turned himself into police this happened 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. started as a spiritual movement mixing hindu and buddhist beliefs but then developed into a doomsday cult obsessed with armageddon. u.s. president barack obama signed into effect a law which means any person can be detained indefinitely 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 interrogate people denying them their basic constitutional right. to wish. but you are with alex he is going

to join us on the first day of two thousand and twelve still ahead of you in the program. with. the president of iran is. named. for the streets of new york to discuss. about their countries. across the globe. there's not much cheer from economists predicting a return to recession in europe for two thousand and twelve in fact leaders used new year messages to warn of hard times ahead for their countries german chancellor angela merkel said europe was facing its most severe decades french president nicolas sarkozy has warned that the debt crisis of the continent is far from over many governments have been forced to slash their spending to meet debt obligations economic growth in europe has been at a standstill for months investment advisor patrick young says he doubts the single

currency has a viable chance of survival over the next twelve months. unfortunately the prognosis for the new year must be one of a terrible hangover 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 alternately made no effort to resolve its problems we've had one sham after another sham after another sham and they've been spelt summit and 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 zero 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 around 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 and the euro will change chip enormously another day we may wake up and there will be no euro whatsoever right now that probability is fifty fifty at best that the euro survives the next twelve months. so i could have you with us you're watching r t live from moscow russia has welcomed two thousand and twelve with bearing being the world's biggest country it celebrated new year nine times of course that's thanks to his nine different time zones other countries far east kick starting the festivities and russia's western the most point the baltic city of kaliningrad ben finishing them off while hundreds also gathered in moscow's red square to toast the new year the world was treated to mass celebrations and walks all over the globe here in new york thousands packed

times square for the ceremonial ball dropping midnight then it was over to australia among the first countries to open its doors to the new year with glittering fireworks over sydney harbor and then it was asia picking up the baton with spectacular shows held all approached the region to dubai where hundreds gathered at the world's tallest building to watch an amazing imitation display and millions of a revelers also packed cities all over europe for the countdown to what would sort of racial sweeping the court artes and he said no way now 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 landen after a decade long manhunt libya's gadhafi after months of nato bombing and the death of north korea's kim jong il don't even begin to illustrate twenty eleven.

time joe's 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 maine. dritte 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 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 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 a direct clash between the u.s. and nato on one side and russia and china on the war you know on the other side much more david was in libya protests continue in egypt libya syria and many more arab countries as the year ends. the battle to save a drowning single currency left to board rooms in 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 vying 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 that allowed or bust was the beginning of the end for the single european currency there's every chance the euro is going to crash and burn. 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 of felt multicultural program and racism into the mix. up and so. on a sense of place certainly 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 but. 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 rates on campus 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 they the rich the one percent from oakland to boston the more people occupied the more brutality became more evident was.

what you're. right there are police forces have been militarized they're working more in cooperation with the pentagon they're buying and being given military surplus quitman that has been kind of designed for use in war and this is something that leads to treating the public as you would treat an enemy a public that has promised to come out in full force in twenty twelve. 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 and i think a lot of people wanted to punish. you know 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's now a party moscow. and that we have much more on the events that shaped two thousand and eleven know certainly waiting for you at how website are. also there for you right now see how the world celebrated there why one of two thousand and twelve you'll find some spectacular new year's celebrations from around the world. also

the end of the year saw u.s. troops wave a farewell to iraq. implications and consequences of nine years of calm. and a look at the uprisings demos and disasters of two thousand and eleven now seen through the eyes of our correspondents the testimonies that are to talk. witnesses. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . well the men and women hoping to become the next president of the united states appear to spend as much time demonstrating their ignorance of the world as they do their political credentials as r.t. is that nice to see a child going to 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 if he's looking to to actually fire tens of thousands of federal workers and eliminate an entire cabinet level position he can even remember its name 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 live you. know. 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. what spec is heard over borat 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. 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 what about new mexico is that a state or a country but is that. hard any time you think i don't know you know. it's the old me under bush. wow i actually. come on it was not that long ago you know you cheney was the vice president of the us. you know i have no idea i know it's. the right. cheney. so with the secretary of state that i'm really surprised 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. i was going to do the math it's her idea was the president. was it that you know 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 cares was the president. bush president he just died but the capital of around the capital yes i do what is it you're asking me i can't tell you that either top secret come on i don't want to support him and. now libya or pakistan anything he gets

a. little something if the president of iraq iran iraq ok 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 it is the situation at the party we are. back with a recap of our top stories in just a few moments hope to see.

wealthy british style sun. is not on the front. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with much stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines in two cars a report on our.

lead to be soo much brighter than if you knew about song from feinstein's pression in some. schools for instance on t v dot com. it is a good to have you with us you're watching on t.v. live from moscow on the first day of two thousand and twelve the headlines now president obama has signed a bill which imposes new tougher sanctions on iran over its disputed nuclear program but this is despite the iraq's threats to shut off a key oil supply route in the gulf as tension between the two countries continues to rise. the syrian regime's crackdown on demonstrators continues unabated.