nine pm here in moscow this new year's day will welcome to you my name's kevin zero in with our top story tonight u.s. president barack obama welcomed in the new year by signing into law a tough new set of sanctions for iran and they were doing business with the round central bank will now 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 is already saying to run the block off that all export route in response adding to the situation is the rands plan to test long range missiles during naval drills in the gulf that led to u.s. warships being sent to the area let's get an update on this and talk now to the director of the beirut based center for middle east at the stuff you have a tough job thanks for being on the program nice to see you tonight relations between washington and saran have been heating up over the past few weeks as we've been reporting all this on a daily basis the u.s. has even sent warships on maneuvers now what are the chances do you think of

a full blown military conflict. first of all we have to say that that tension between iran and united states has been. you know happened for a long time for decades and spiritually and the last. two weeks of course when iran started them and over the biggest one in the gulf. what they call it will. consider this as a threat and that iran will close the threat of. iran denied this and and many of their respective who. home who came from the united states would then serve but that ship then u.s. for example has three u s s aircraft carriers in the area like u.s.s. abraham lincoln and u.s.s. stennis and u.s. as cattlemen so you are talking about hundreds hundreds of of fighters general and

aircraft but a ship and iran says that it's right to be in that water and iran did ok did the threaten that clause maybe. strait of hermes in my opinion iran will not close the strait of unless the if we're talking about sunk is iran is under sanctions every day and today we heard that mr obama made a new sanction on the. who are dealing with the central bank of iran ok everything is accepted in my opinion in iran but if america and its allies were for bed iran to export it's all in iran's opinion it's an enzyme and it's not a sanction on the against iran sanctions against the clients of the iranian. china or japan declare many countries in the water but don't ask me about the

possibility of conflict ok you could talk to this yes. new sanctions are going to make it very much more difficult for and for run to carry out these exports because it's because of the money trading involved via these banks that's what's been clamped down on so in effect i guess the u.s. has tightened the noose around iran's oil exports now the united states is trying and doing its best and every day. they are adding new sanctions against iran and i think iran is going. away a. nuclear program and it will not stop but as i said exploitation of the oil will be threatening in my opinion even though maybe iran will not close the strait of hormuz but it may disturb the navigation and in this case with the presence of

pensive military but a ship from both sides we leased to have more conflict and this more can increase and to be bigger and bigger and may lead to a war and the region but i would repeat no iraq iran or united states don't have an interest to a military conflict and the dog walks around not ready yet to do with ok what's around has recently said again signal the candidates ready to sit down and talk with major powers and talk about the nuclear program as we head into a new year is there any new impetus for that to happen on both sides. yes as you know the iranian you know are very smart and very very brave and very patient and for years they they want with their nuclear program and they go up one step and they go down half a step and always you know like like they did for seven years and i think the

iranian always claim that they are ready to sit down and to invite the. nuclear power agency to come to iran and to see they are not. their program is not a military program it's peaceful program and it will go and believe me no war will happen and the iranians will gain time and they will invite the agency to come and so on and so. but as i said if the sanction will touch. the situation will be then ok thanks for your thoughts. dr hisham jaber from the beirut based center for middle east studies much appreciated. thank you let's take a look at syria now the latest how the violence that began in march has spilled over into the new year arab league observers on a mission to the country of war damascus against cracking down on protesters at least thirteen reportedly killed in the last day despite the league's efforts to

oversee the implementation of that peace plan this comes as two of syria's leading opposition group signed a unification deal that also rules out any foreign intervention beyond our above when it's estimated that more than five thousand civilians were killed in syria this last year but that figure can't be verified because damascus has restricted access to foreign media. policy adviser focus hodgson believes the arab league mission to make some sense of what's really happening. but is that they're 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 they're in a position that most many of the nations within the arab league they do not want to be the earth is intervene with and so. likely or could be more likely to

put information that we're going 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 fifty there so far 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 that could quote in the short term and i doubt that you can keep it contained in such a large investigation. and speak to me in the week another arab country libya is still recovering from the brutal civil war that toppled colonel gadhafi last year now while there are signs of stability tensions are also rising between the tribes and militias that fought together against the regime of his exam centers this report from tripoli in the week. 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

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 cd 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 a population of some fifty thousand rise to national prominence since then does in time militia have 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 and same 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 gadhafi is army he still keeps the good offices 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 as regime . then militias now represented the real axis of power in the country as their various and their legacy and agendas as this tribes on the only base knew 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 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 will 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 if they design and of lewisham has so far failed to translate into national reconciliation the competition among various brigades may have become less visible but not less in towns but they need to 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 left from the old regime to get out his golden framed portrait that maddest at the airport the year a girl is gone he should have he may have glued the libyan society for several

months if he's killing the former units he appears to have died as well the work of art see tripoli. still ahead here this hour tonight the year in brief we take a look back at just a few of the momentous stories that made headlines in twenty eleven 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 meantime the u.s. says egypt's current rulers have agreed to hold raids on pro-democracy rights groups earlier this week soldiers and police stormed offices of non-governmental organizations including some funded by washington documents and computers were seized as part of investigations into foreign funding organizations groups accuse the ruling military of using the same tactics of repression as the mubarak regime. told us that he believes this interference coming from washington that. i think the

military has made a deal with the islamic brotherhood. and one. doesn't want state stabilization they want to be permanent ani's 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 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. around the world in brief now to nigeria first there the country's leaders declared a state of emergency in areas hit by a wave of islamist attacks president goodluck jonathan bashar borders with

neighboring countries after a string of christmas day blast which killed over forty he's vowed to crush book militants who claimed responsibility violence has continued since churches throughout the country were first attacked a week ago tens of thousands of fled their homes fearing further conflict. south sudan's government is sending army and police to an area at the center of a violent tribal conflict the town of people was attacked by thousands of fighters from a rival tribe who taught buildings stole livestock and for schools to flee un troops deployed in the region were unable to enforce security in recent months ethnic infighting caused by cattle rustling was left about a thousand people dead. a former member of the japanese coal behind an attack on the tokyo subway back in one thousand nine hundred five has turned himself into police just before midnight on new year's eve he'd been in hiding for seventeen years since the group released sarin gas on the underground system killing thirteen all machinery cure 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 stealing with terror suspects and it comes with a massive six hundred sixty two billion dollar price tag too but critics say the military will now have more authority to interrogate people denying them the basic constitutional rights. not much new year cheer from economists predicting a return to recession in europe twenty twelve in fact leaders use new year messages to warn of hard times ahead in their countries german chancellor angela merkel said europe was facing its 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 speak at a standstill for months now investment advisor patrick young says he doubts the

single currency is 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 charm after another shower 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 euro 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 share 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 have changed here for enormously another day we may wake up and there will be no euro whatsoever right now that probability is fifty fifty our best that the euro survives the next twelve months. russia's welcome twenty twelve they were buying being the world's biggest country of course there is a map celebrated nineteen times new year thanks to his nine time zones with the country's far east kicking off running through the. starving festivities in russia's western most point the baltic city because the ground finishing off the five hundred also gather to moscow's red square last night to toast the new year the world was treated to mass celebrations as usual fireworks the globe seen in new york thousands park in times square for the ceremonial ball dropping at midnight

strayer among the first countries to open its doors to the new year with glittering fireworks over sydney harbor iconic picture that one always has always seen from asia picking up the baton with spectacular shows held across that part of the world and dubai to great show hundreds gathered for the world's tallest building to light up to watch the amazing illumination there that's the london eye super display don't know if you saw it first has put a lot of money on that but really good last night from london well with celebrations sweeping the globe artie's nyssa now a look back at what made twenty 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.

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 autumn from cairo to california moscow to madrid to her ear to occupy global rallies shared common themes but if one thing stood out in the middle east and north africa alone it was protests that lead down one road regime change. tunisia and egypt got rid of their dictators without war but libya was not so lucky nato and 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 you hear anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week that were killed in the ivory coast or who 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 one 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 board rooms and banks in twenty eleven and flooded the streets of europe most commonly and violently in athens greek debt

became the centerpiece of the euro crisis protests raged against desperate austerity cuts to qualify for i.m.f. bailout germany and france are primed for influence in the debt ridden so i think we will see an exit of greece given and 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 cope 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 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 who of found multicultural programs 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 when the protests began in september if you were talking about

mainstream media stayed silent until seven hundred people were arrested on the brooklyn bridge and that was truly based in the end of his fruits of american politics the crowd is easy some. they are disorganized they look funny what are they protesting nobody seems to know but negative coverage didn't stop us from spreading from small towns to huge hordes occupied was not going anywhere great on campus heavy handed police and burning pepper spray only helped occupy grow read 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 by.

what you do with your own. right our police forces have been militarized they are 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 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 i think a lot of people wanted to punish. 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 twenty twelve next year russia along with the u.s. and france holds presidential elections which makes it a safe bet people will be out on the streets in twenty twelve in europe america and around the world and he said no way r.t. moscow. but we've got more on the events to check on our web site out there as well these stories also lined up to tell the world celebrated the arrival of twenty twelve we boy some pictures just now you'll find spectacular footage of the new year celebrations around the globe at the compound for. the year so u.s.

troops way farewell to a rock hell to call explores the implications and consequences of nine years of conflict. and a look at the uprising the demo's the disasters of twenty eleven a seen through the eyes of our correspondents very interesting series you didn't catch it last week so lined up again on our web site here their testimony said on t.v. dot com. witnesses. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . well for the troubles a bit later this hour we'll meet the adventure tourists from all over the world who had to russia's white sea for diving and kite surfing to come short of an afterlife a recap the headlines for you this sunday night in moscow.

whether you dive from high or to the depths. catch the power of the wind or drift in the beauty of the currents. the well prepared is a must and if you're lucky enough. you'll never forget your experience we only need

them a screen that's going to be having. in the white see up close and below the ice on our t.v. . world for the future of science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered.

but for moscow this is are safe thanks for being with us for a happy new year to you as well these are all top stories president obama signed a bill which imposes new tough sanctions on iran over its disputed nuclear program that's despite surrounds 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 carries on unabated forcing now arab league observers to want to massacres to rein in the violence the monitors are overseeing the implementation of a peace plan that president assad.