a very warm welcome to you this is r.t. live from moscow where it's now is just after five pm. so all rights groups have slammed president obama over a controversial defense bill he's authorized the military to indefinitely detain terror suspects without charge or trial which is unprecedented in u.s. history obama said he did have some serious concerns about parts of the law and its pledge it won't be applied in full to americans but rights advocates are calling the bill a blight on obama's legacy thanks specked the white house to break its promises especially as the notorious guantanamo bay prison remains open despite obama's pre-election balata shut it down by the beginning of two thousand and ten ati's marina portnoy has more long before he became u.s. president or a nobel peace prize winner barack obama was a constitutional law professor we have never been more energized. thank you.

a civil liberties champion turned charismatic candidate who vowed to reverse the abuses and policies of his predecessor george w. bush four years later many civil rights advocates who once cheered yes we can are finding themselves saying no you can't not only has the obama administration blocked torture accountability and refused to investigate and prosecute. he's he's basically maintained indefinite detention he's revived military commissions. and as we've seen as well he has expanded targeted killings so they've increased under the obama administration many fold and he's even authorized the killing of a u.s. citizen so you know i think yeah we're in a you know there is a bad state of civil liberties under the obama administration world renowned author and scholar noam chomsky believes the obama admin. street has changed gears and

accelerate it illegal practice into overdrive there's a split between bush's policies and obama's and this push bush's policy was to kidnap people. whatever you thought about them. take them to one ton of bug or some other torture chamber. extract some information out of the obama supporters just kill. killing them all over the world. another is the targeting drone killing of and were a lock ie an american born cleric us drone strikes during obama's first two years in office exceeded the total carried out during bush's tenure president obama described a walky as the leader of external operations for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula human rights groups which voiced international opposition against bush counterterrorism policies quickly condemned the killing journalist jeremy scahill

says obama's policies have drifted far from his political roots a president mccain doing the exact same thing that president obama is doing would have been denounced by a lot of liberals and so we're at one of those dangerous moments in u.s. history and we saw it a bit with clinton in the ninety's where a democrat who campaigned on a pledge to change the you know the country in the world has actually pushed a right wing agenda further forward than a republican rip up republican could have if they remained in power or they took power or expanded power as obama gears up for his reelection campaign civil liberty groups that believed his words the first time around are now left to judge the commander in chief on his actions america's democracy is represented by a president who studied him on the rule of law and is now armed with a duty to carry it out but critics say as long as obama raised by his own rules the

constitution and his promise of change both remain compromise or not artsy new york . and i george w. bush was criticized for america's terror policies but president obama has now taken them one step further that's according to the former chief military prosecutor who you can watch speaking to us next hour here we're not seeing. the office the first thing he did was sign an order. closing guantanamo within one year but his order which was signed in january of two thousand and nine and we're sitting here today and want on a most still open the military commissions have resumed and in my view the president just didn't have the balls to follow through with the doing the right thing candidate obama has said all the right things about justice and american values and closing guantanamo and doing away with military commissions and help holding the rule of law and then once he gets in office you know he didn't just

embrace the bush policies he kissed him on the lips and ran with them and has advanced them further than president bush ever did. in watching our team iran has successfully test fired several long range missiles on the last day of major naval exercises in the international waters of the persian gulf it all comes amid mounting western pressure on the country over its nuclear ambitions to iran says it's ready to counter any attack by enemies like israel or the united states iran has also angrily reacted to new u.s. sanctions targeting its central banking and financial sector it has been threatening to close the strait of hormuz the world's most important oil export route linking the persian gulf to the indian ocean meanwhile the e.u. is mulling an embargo on the purchase of iranian oil and a decision on that is expected before the end of the month the director of the beirut based center for middle east studies talked to his sharma jobber believes

that the west's actions are already adding fuel to a highly flammable situation. united states is doing its best. and every day. new sanctions against iran and i think iran is going. on with its nuclear program and it will not stop the. exploitation of the oil will be directed in my opinion even maybe iran will not close the strait of but it may disturb our navigation and in this case with the presence of pensive military but the ship from both sides we do have more conflict and this more gain increase and to be bigger and bigger and made. it war and. as a showdown in the gulf bruce we are asking what you think the united states wants

to get from a conflict with iran if you log on to our to dot com you can let us know your opinion right now here on the global stuff that stocking up so far half believe america is afterwards. in the middle east almost a quarter say the u.s. wants to ensure israel's security twenty percent. water crippled china material imports just a few of you believe a conflict with iran would be a boost for american. your opinion always count our teeth dot com your site. still to come for you this hour marking ten years. they can't bring themselves to admit that it was a mistake and so i'm afraid we risk the very thing they purport to fear which is a disorderly breakup of the euro caused by having tried to keep it together for too long the mood is far from jubilant for millions of europeans who entered two thousand and twelve with the current see that fail to live up to expectations which

is also. the prospect. of the restaurant to. see of opportunity during the last days of the soviet union shares his secrets in our new series called. as it approaches or ten minutes past the hour here in moscow let's get to some other world news for you will turn our attention first to south sudan it's where the u.n. has advised villagers to flee from advancing fighters of a rival tribe the town of people towards the center of into ethnic clashes on saturday many were forced from their homes as a local hospital and several of the buildings were set on fire the government says it's deploying police officers and troops to the town in order to bring the conflict under control a thousand people have died in clashes over the past few months which were sparked by. riot police in bahrain have clashed with hundreds of

demonstrators after the funeral of a fifteen year old protester killed a day earlier the opposition claimed the teenager was hit by a tear gas canister at close range however raised questions about the circumstances of the. death and said it would be investigated at least thirty five dead in the bahraini on rest during two thousand and eleven including police officers killed as protesters attacked security forces. south korea's president is offering to north new leader kim jong un new talks if he agrees to suspend its nuclear activities the leader said in a new year's speech that the korean peninsula is a turning point but warned against further provocation by the north north korea walked out of nuclear talks in two thousand and eight after objecting to south korea's requests to inspect its atomic facilities the comments come just after kim jong un was named a ruling party leader following the death of his father december. the

new year celebrations for many people in the eurozone who were reined in due to the tough current economic climate and with many predicting further financial misery two thousand and twelve will see a severe test for the euro as it fights for survival the single currency has now been in circulation for a decade but it leaves millions of europeans anything but optimistic as ati's to syria reports. the birth of an ambitious project a common currency celebrated with no less than a big bang. i see you were. wrong your. parents did their war berry. ten years down the road the euro is not in the best of shape. the spiralling sovereign debt crisis credit downgrades rising interest rates tens

of millions unemployed budget cuts and violent protests. the euro's growing undergoing the worst crisis it has ever been. and obviously the founders of the of the euro did not hope that this would happen for what began as a step towards a united europe has become a race against time with leaders scrambling to keep it together. euro skeptics along argue that the euro was flawed from the start pursuing a political dream above all else well they say lumping together polar opposite economies like that of greece and germany into a monetary union could never work economic rationality has been thrown out of the window in the pursuit of this goal and we're now reaping the consequences of it couple that with internal squabbles and deadlocks there has to be a sign from somewhere that some economic entity that is credible is going to

back every euro zone and there are only two or three entities that can do that what is european central bank. the other is basically the german government and neither of them right now are willing to do it so this exhibit shows the journey of the european union and the creation of the single currency with documented events in history that explain why it would have been appealing to decision makers at the time so much so the crux of the fundamentals may have been overlooked or ignored which brings us to this point ten years after the creation of the euro its appeal has waned and despite last ditch efforts to save it its future is still uncertain in the spirit of the new year we asked for some predictions but one can be sure of is that this crisis is going to be a long and bumpy road however if you would ask me do you think that the euro would still exist in ten years time my answer would be yes they can't bring themselves to admit that it was a mistake and so i'm afraid we risk the very thing they purport to fear which is

a disorderly breakup of the euro caused by having tried to keep it together for too long downgrades almost certainly i think you'll see a french downgrade i still think this is solvable if the political will is shown in certain member states to allow for what is called solidarity in europe and if not if not we are in for a huge huge recession in europe in my prediction that at least greece will leave the euro in the next year and what happens beyond that is unpredictable euro watchers may have divergent views of the single currencies future but it seems whichever way the euro goes it won't be painless does or cilia r.t. brussels. of course on more news and analysis always available online at odds who are going to call his household what's lined up here that at this hour by the arab league here's an end to the monitors task in syria follows following up in the country again despite the presence of the approach. and i find out more about the

first newspaper ever printed in russia it was created on the border of peter the great on this day three centuries ago i read all about it at odds with dot com don't forget you can watch all the best videos on our you tube channel. is he it's. easy to. see. the mission free cretaceous free in-store charges free

arrangement three. three stooges free. download free broadcast morning video for your media projects a free media and on to our teeth on tom. white stream cascading from mountain slopes to view is mesmerizing. but this beauty brings death and a speed of more than four hundred kilometers per. step in the long. run to clean goes down. school. morning. what is the. new sixty square kilometer use the environmental devastation

and those who are still suprising living live and finding we're just. getting bad out here. hardly any birds squirrels you know. you know i don't know what's going on here. on screen monarchy. it is good to have you with us today this is. the modern world of satellite imaging gives us a glimpse into most parts of the globe from our own computers until now though israel has been protected from close up images but a new turkish satellite will soon put an end to the country's zoom in as the jewish state's former ally prepares to launch its high tech satellite israel fears being watched and is worried about its security policy reports. israel's leaders are worried and they've good reason to be in just

a matter of months still be nothing stopping satellite companies from getting up close and personal. with. thank you. both to enable me to very high resolution. until now only the americans had the technology capable of taking images greater than two meters per pixel resolution and american law stopped us companies from distribution the pictures the americans very sensitive security demands and scrutiny that plays along with it which means even with google earth one can zoom into israel but only so far to feature a look at specific parts of israel many of them will come out blurry than any other place in the world that i've checked but that's about to change turkey is putting the finishing touches to a military satellite it plans to launch within the next two years the gawked took satellite will be capable of taking the very pictures tel aviv doesn't want

distributed and there are no american star legal qualms in turkey about upsetting its photosensitive neighbor to people sold directly or indirectly some of these injury to him i was off israel and that's the fear here especially because tensions between tel aviv a day and co are at an all time low and aid for to the attempt on gaza two years ago that left nine to exterior and cause expulsion of the israeli ambassador has tel aviv nervously weighing its options the irony is that it was not so long ago that the gawked took satellite would have spelled good news for israel the two countries cooperated extensively often sharing military intelligence but whereas turkey was once israel's a closest ally in the muslim world today it is ankara that is asserting itself without a tell of if as a powerful player in the region turkey is trying to say that he isn't really not to be granted the special. services. that if used to have

a saying these are military and is not the playground of. the phone companies everyone should abide by the same laws and have the same standards one satellite is barely enough. to put israel's picture shy world in a spin but this is not a country that once its neighbors knowing its business especially with an arab world in flux and israel fast losing former friends policy r t the veil on israel and a turning our attention out of pakistan it's where america has suspended as the political between the two countries deepens islam about shutdown as border to nato five weeks ago hampering the alliances war effort in afghanistan artie's military computer contributor says that the u.s. and its allies should rethink their strategy if indeed they want to defeat the taliban now when the new year has just clicked in let's take a look at what to expect for the united states and there are nato allies

give gana stand and pakistan the white house has to realize that the only way to improve their relationship would be to minimize its political and military affairs pakistan and afghanistan and if there is any excuse for the u.s. military presence in afghanistan it has nothing to do with the terrorist threat it is the threat that is the only justifiable reason for the u.s. military forces to deal directly affected and efficiently. watching our team so just what does it take to become a successful entrepreneur in russia and now a new pathfinder series we hear from the foreigners who have explored the vast potential in the world's biggest country.

and today we hear from an entrepreneur and a restaurant to whose appetite for adventure helped him carve a new career in russia during the dying days of the soviet union heinrich winter sport an opportunity to build a restaurant empire across the country and i realize now his special recipe for success running a business in russia. is challenging for different reasons. in the west the risk in the reward. equation applies to russia. there's a great opportunity in the market your return on investment here is higher than you would expect it in the west but that is justified by the relatively high risk that one has to face in the market it was nine hundred ninety one came in september and the collapse of the soviet union was six months later i was new in

the country i didn't speak the language what was interesting and challenging of the same time was that things were changing really what's changing and how things were going change for is totally unpredictable so opening up a restaurant in russia. was something truly unique back then there were no restaurants. in russia there was a total of two restaurants and this was basically the third restaurant in the soviet union and a country of three hundred eighty million people who chose to open up a swiss restaurant. with a fondue steak and season and things like that it's funny the story about the season of the situation in russia is quite unique because the season is on the middle of the main you know in the whole country why is that is so in my opinion is that when we play the key dish it was a caesar salad it was prepared in front of the guests by the waitresses had

a lot of people have to learn how to make this is that well as the years went on and a new restaurant opened one of the things that everybody knew was to make a caesar salad so it was a recipe that was kind of passed out among the few professionals in the restaurant business in those days the influence of the pioneers yes you felt it but really it was later on. one realized the profound impact. that one had in those days at the time it wasn't that it was just surviving it was just trying to do things right and get the business going in the beginning in the first couple of years it was very much the pioneer work opening up a new concept by the late ninety's it was very much starting to become a more competitive market you had to be good you had to offer something special because in the beginning you opened up a restaurant it was full next day you didn't have to try very hard so i set out

really to make a strategic shift away from just opening up restaurants to. implementing customer service and guest satisfaction and that started with training programs because the restaurant business has a relative from the peak turnover of staff we would teaching bringing knowledge to a huge number of people. that worked for us for a while and many of them left all the restaurants and so forth so we were the professional kind of drove the model for a professional knowledge in the restaurant business how do you pizza later to be called still patio was hugely successful likewise the planet sushi as general manager of the same tour throughout these many years. in the breast three years ago i started opening up my own restaurant now the same restaurants but as

a franchisee have today twelve restaurants it's a business that requires a lot of perfection in every kind of execution that personal touch. it's the small things that count but that's not special for russia it's everywhere but surely it's a requirement for russia because here again the competitive environment has become so tight that you need to be really really good to be successful. and there we will be meeting more business trailblazers here in the russian capital in our special pathfinder series which is showing over the next two weeks here on c . sports team brings you the best of two thousand including diving in the deep you don't to miss a chance to see these pictures from the leg of the cliff diving world championships

i take the plunge. later today. and we have a special report on one of the worst environmental disasters in u.s. history i'll be back with today's headlines and just about two and a half that's. right

to clean a ghost town. squandered morning. abandoned . what is now. more than

sixty square kilometers an environmental devastation and those who are still surprisingly alive i'm fighting for just. it's very bad out here. hardly any birds squirrels you know. you know i don't know what's going on here.

with. moscow time for your headlines now roll in the u.s. the president authorizes a law to detain terrorist suspects without charge or trial all the right to a defense. calling the unprecedented measures a blight on obama's legacy. testify as long range missile during naval drills in the persian gulf and says it's prepared to hit back if it's attack this comes as western nations plan to impose further sanctions targeting its all oil and financial sector.