if you are just joining us a very warm welcome to you this is our life from moscow. civil rights groups have slammed president obama over a controversial defense bill he's authorized the military to indefinitely detain terrorist suspects without charge or trial which is unprecedented in u.s. history obama so he had some serious concerns about parts of the law and it's pledged it won't be applied in full to americans but rights advocates are calling the bill a blight on obama's legacy they expect the white house to break its promises especially as the notorious guantanamo bay prison remains open despite obama's pre-election vow to shut it down by the beginning of two thousand and ten artie's marina portnoy reports. 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 administration has changed gears and

accelerated illegal practice into overdrive. between the bush's problems and obama's. push bush's policy was to kidnap people. whatever. the put them to guantanamo or some other person. struck him information the obama supporters just kill. killing them all over the world. another is the targeting drone killing of anwar joachim an american born cleric u.s. drone strikes during obama's first two years in office exceeded the total carried out during bush's tenure president obama described a walking 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 killing journalist jeremy scahill says

obama's policies have drifted far from his political roots a president mccain doing the exact same thing that a 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 and fought the rule of law and is now armed with a duty to carry it out but critics say as long as obama weighs by his own rules the

constitution and his promise of change both remain a compromise hurried up or not artsy new york. well george w. bush was criticized for america's onto you tara policies but president obama is now taking them one step further that's according to the former chief military prosecutor of guantanamo who you can watch us speaking to us and that was about twenty five thirty minutes. he took office in the first thing he did was sign an order. closing guantanamo within one year of 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 you know said all the right things about justice and american values and closing guantanamo and doing away with military commissions and upholding 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 his advanced them further than president bush ever did. this is not a 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 this comes amid mounting western pressure on the country over its nuclear ambitions toronto is ready to counter any attack by enemies like israel or the united states iran is also angrily reacted to new u.s. sanctions targeting its central bank and financial sector has been threatening to close to the world's most important oil export route linking the persian gulf to the indian ocean meanwhile the e.u. is mulling over and go on the purchase of iranian oil and the decision on that is expected by the end of the month the director of the beirut based center for middle

east studies talked to his sharma jobber believes the west's actions are only adding fuel to a highly flammable situation. united states is doing its best and every day. they are adding new sanctions against iran and i think iran is growing. nuclear program and it will not stop the. exportation of law it will be directed in my opinion even maybe iran will not close the three but it may disturb our navigation. in this case with the presence of. military but the ship from both sides we do have more conflict and this more gain increase to be bigger and bigger and made. it war. and as

a showdown in the gulf brews we are asking you what you think the united states wants to get from a conflict with iran if you log on to r.t. dot com you can let us know your opinion right now because we've got the vote going on here in the number of people leave america dominance in the middle east a quarter say that the u.s. is interested in a war to cripple china's material imports twenty three percent think washington wants to ensure israel's security and just a few if you believe a conflict with iran will be a boost for america and it's your opinion always counts have your say it on t.v. dot com. 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 put the 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 through two thousand and twelve with a currency that's failed to live up to expectations. prospects and. other

restaurants. of opportunity during the last days of the soviet union shares his secrets in our new series. ok let's get to some other world news for you this hour time for the first to syria it's where arab league the arab league chief says the regime has withdrawn heavy weapons including tanks from cities and freed about three thousand five hundred prisoners for the head of war and gunfire and snipers still pose a danger and called for an end to the shooting of protesters two civilians have reportedly been killed in the latest wave of shootings the violence continues despite the presence of arab monitors who are on a month long mission to end clashes between the military and anti-government protesters more than five thousand have died since march. the un has advised

villagers in south sudan to flee from advancing fighters of a rival tribe the town of people was the center of the ethnic clashes on saturday many were forced from their homes as a local hospital then other buildings were set on fire the government says it's deploying police officers un troops to the town in order to bring the conflict under control a thousand have died in clashes over the past few months sparked by. riot police in bahrain of clash with hundreds of demonstrators after the funeral of a fifteen year old protester killed a day earlier the opposition claims the teenager was hit by a tear gas canister at close range however later raised questions about the circumstances of the death and said it would be investigated at least thirty five were 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's new leader kim jong un. if he agrees to suspend nuclear activities the leader said in a new year's speech to the korean peninsula is at a turning point but warned against future 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 at the comments come just after kim jong un was named a ruling party leader following the death of his father in december. well new year's celebrations for many people in the eurozone were due to the tough current economic climate 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 at least millions of europeans are anything but optimistic. reports. the birth of an ambitious project a common currency celebrated with no less than

a big bang. theory is the beginning of a strong europe there you know. the barriers to the war back in the world. yet ten years down the road the euro is not in the best of shape. a spiraling sovereign debt crisis credit downgrades rising interest rates tens of millions unemployed budget cuts and violent protests. the euro is 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 a couple that with internal squabbles and deadlocks there has to be from somewhere that some economic entity that is credible is going to back every euro zone and the only two or three entities that can do that one is european central bank the other is based on the german government. and neither of them right now are willing to do it but this exhibit shows the journey of the european union and the creation of the single currency the 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 a huge huge recession in europe sitting 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. more news and analysis always available online at www dot com here's some of us like all for you right now on our website i have a load here of this potential of twin polar bear cub the sole being shown on chinese state television this morning looked to be in a playful mood during freedom time i was happy to know all the attention and. also find out more about the first newspaper ever printed in russia it was created on the order of peter the great on this day three centuries ago read all about it at aussie dot com don't forget you can watch all of our best videos on our you tube channel.

is the. mission. critical patients free in-store chargers free arrangement free. free. free. hold free book your wallet and video for your media project free media gone to r t v dot com.

is he. right to clean. squandered money. nor do sixty square kilometers or move on the list nations and those who are still surprisingly live i'm finding we're just there it's very 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 screen on our q. it's good to have you with us you're watching artsy the modern world of satellite imaging gives us a glimpse into most parts of the globe from our own computers now 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 as white about its security. points. 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 the. will. security through. to enable the enemy 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 u.s. companies from distributing the pictures the americans very sensitive because of 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 took it could be sold directly or indirectly some of these imagery to it in of his office right 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 where is turkey was once israel's a closest ally in the muslim world today it is ankara that is asserting itself without a television as a powerful player in the region turkey is trying to say that it isn't really not to be granted the special. services. that if used to have a saying of the north 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. and a veil on israel. i know turning our attention now to pakistan it's where america has suspended aid as the political route between the two countries deepens islamabad shut down as border to nato five weeks ago hampering the alliances war effort in afghanistan artie's military computer contributor says the u.s. and its allies should rethink their strategy if 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 in afghanistan 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 you 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 this is artsy so just what does it take to become a successful entrepreneur in russia in our new pathfinders 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 restauranteur 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 from across the country he reveals 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 in in the west but it is justified by the relatively high risk that one has to face in the market it was nine hundred ninety one when i 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 but what was interesting and challenging at the same time was that things were changing but really what was changing and how things were going change was 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 that we chose to open up a swiss restaurant. with fondue and steak tar and seasonal solvent and things like that it's funny the story about the season of the situation in russia is quite unique because the season salad is on literally every menu in the whole country why that is so in my opinion is when we shall lay 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 you thought 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 and 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 for the 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 really implementing. customer service and guest said this faction and that started with training

programs because the restaurant business has a relatively weak turnover of staff we would teaching bringing knowledge to a huge number of people all of the workforce for a while and many of them left all the restaurant and so forth so we were the professional kind of growth model for a professional knowledge in the restaurant business how do you pizza later to become ill patio was hugely successful likewise the planet sushi as general manager of ross center throughout these many years and four hundred restaurants three years ago i started opening all of my own restaurants 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 oh 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 been 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 our special pathfinder series now ongoing and it's showing over the next two weeks here and see now later this hour for you our sports team brings you the best of two thousand and eleven including some high speed diving into the deep end pretty scary footage or something inspiring go don't miss a chance to see these pictures from the gall to lego the cliff diving world championships i do take a plunge without sports but later today to find out. of it back to bring you more headlines and well about two minutes on ten seconds see

shortly. all. one stream cascading from mountain slopes to view is midsomer much. of this beauty brings death at a speed of more than two hundred kilometers per hour. step is not

a long one on. the close up team has been to die just on earth plays to the most ambitious football club in the world. now the party goes to. in the far east where the timber industry attracts the legendary siberian tigers where the ancient native community loses its way in the modern world and where the country's mineral wealth starts its way across the ocean . to the boss creature. wealthy british style.

market. has come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred the global financial headlines in two cars a report. with me. headlines now. in the u.s. the president authorizes the law to detain terrorist suspects without charge or trial all the right to a de facto. president of measures a blight on obama's legacy. iran testifies a long range missiles during naval drills in the persian gulf and says it's prepared to hit back if attacked. western nations plan to impose further sanctions targeting it's all done.