four years later many civil rights advocates who once cheered yes we can are finding themselves saying no you can't not only has their bomb administration blocked torture accountability and refused to investigate and prosecute. he's he's basically maintained indefinite detention has 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 authorize the killing of a u.s. citizen so you know i think yeah you are 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 over drive space between bush's policies and obama's. push bush's policy was to kidnap people. whatever

horrible them. put them one time or some other two or three. for some information obama supporters just kill. killing them all over the world. another is the targeting drone killing of anwar locky 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 the 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 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 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 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 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 . iran has successfully test fired several long range missiles on the last day of

major naval exercises in international waters off the persian gulf it comes amid mounting western pressure on the country of its nuclear ambitions but tehran says it's ready to counter any attack by countries like israel or the united. dates and it's reacted angrily to new u.s. sanctions targeting its central bank and financial sector. has been threatening to close the strait of hormuz the world's most important oil exporting nation gulf nation and meanwhile the e.u. is mulling a bargain purchase of a rainy and oil decision on that expected before the end of the month let's discuss this more with side mohammad marandi from the university of tehran here and he live but you are joining us iran has been holding these military exercises as we say the past ten days and threatening to close a key oil routes does it only have itself to blame though for they to centuries. not at all i mean even if you look at what the u.s.

presidential candidate ron paul has been saying he says that this sanctions on the iranian central bank by the american government has effectively an act of war so it is really the americans that are being provocative they are trying to make ordinary iranians suffer at the same time you see senior american officials and politicians constantly calling for the assassination of iranian scientists of iranian military commanders politicians and the constant threat of attacking and bombing the country so really the problem lies with the united states the maneuvers in the persian gulf are basically to show the united states that iran is strong and can protect themselves and it is basically the only way in which to force the united states to recognize that certain lines just simply shouldn't be crossed so ok we see these maneuvers but practically speaking does iran actually

have the ability to carry out any threat of closing the strait of hormuz. well remember a just like an ordinary human being if you try to make it a human being suffocate. that there will still be a severe response if the americans and its allies try to make the iranian economy suffocate the iranians will have no option but to respond in a sea of severe manner and the iranians are far stronger than the americans would like to admit just recently they've brought down and captured the most sophisticated drone in the us military the iranians have blinded. cia satellite and if you recall in the two thousand and six war the israelis made the very same miscalculation they attack lebanon thinking it's good that it would be a walkover but they were soundly defeated by hezbollah so the only difference though here is that this is a region where an extraordinarily large amount of oil and gas. goes through and if

there is insecurity in the region it's not just the strait of hormuz if there is a conflict in the persian gulf tankers who will be at risk while installations will be at risk war as hell so it's not at all just the strait of hormuz and this instability will go beyond the persian gulf it will i think all exports and gas exports will be at risk in central asia and throughout the middle east and there will be a lot of backlash from the public throughout the region so given what you say there is a real war in the region possible. i personally think that it is doubtful but the problem is is that the united states is pushing this conflict this confrontation in a direction which is becoming dangerous and if the united states bullies other countries into. blockading iranian oil exports or bullies in countries and into

and stopping to stop them from buying iranian oil then and if countries in the region like saudi arabia for any reason go along with such a project even though it's highly unlikely they'll be able to do so because the saudis really don't have that much excess capacity for producing oil but if they go down this road then as ron paul said this is this would be considered an act of war and they cannot simply expect the iranians to sit back and to be hurt and damaged and not do anything in response or the attention to set a ratcheting up on their western states already putting on the pressure just today the french foreign ministry said the missile tests by iran were a bad sign what's the next step off the sanctions that the west might take then. well it is extraordinary that the french would say this here they are completely silent when the americans constantly actually threaten iran with bombing the

country they are silent when western governments try to sanction the iranian central bank that means what the americans and the europeans are basically trying to do is to prevent ordinary iranians from living an ordinary life from living like ordinary human beings they want people in iran to suffer that's what they did in gaza and that's what they're doing in syria too that's what the sanctions in syria are all about it's interesting just recently just a few days a couple of days ago. they had funded polls in syria which just came out and they show that the majority of syrians actually support the current president and this is a biased terry funded poll yet this you do not see this in the western press so while the majority of syrians actually backed the president the americans are forcing the people of the country to suffer this is this is inhuman this is pretty barbaric and the europeans and americans they allow themselves to punish ordinary

people yet they when. they understand the point but sticking to a wrong these sanctions isolate iran have a negative effect on its economy and as you say maybe on its people as well but will iran get to a point where it thinks it has nothing to lose and become even more. well first of all despite american and european attempts to hurt the iranians the iranian economy is actually growing if you look at recent i.m.f. reports the iranian economy is growing faster than european economies and the american economy so far the sanctions have not that sort of have not had the effect that americans wanted it them to the iranians want stability and the iranians want a reason to prevail the problem is that the united states is behaving in an irrational manner by constantly threatening the country if the united states behaves in a more humane manner if it becomes if it becomes more reasonable and for example the russian proposal to step for step proposal to resolve the nuclear issue if the

americans actually. see that as a way out then i think there's a there is a solution but the problem is is that many in the eyes of many iran is the americans really do not want the nuclear issue to be resolved because they simply do not recognize iran as an independent state because iran opposes american hegemony ok we'll leave it there for now but that was side one hundred around the from the university of tehran joining us there thank you. still to come this hour marking ten years of the euro. 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 route is often jubilant for millions of europeans who enter twenty twelve of the currency that's failed to the up to expectations league prospects ahead.

and the restaurateur who spotted a opportunity during the last days of the. secrets in a new series find. some other world news in brief we know first to syria where the arab league chief says team has withdrawn heavy weapons including tanks from cities and freed about three thousand five hundred prisoners but the head of the on the ground and snipers still pose a danger and called for an end to the shooting of protesters. the un has advised villagers in south sudan to the from advancing fighters of a rival tribe the town of people was the center of into ethnic clashes on saturday they were forced from their homes as a local hospital and several other 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 thousand people have died in clashes over the past few

months which was sparked my cattle raids. riot police in bahrain of clashed with hundreds of demonstrators at the funeral of a fifteen year old protest or killed. korea where south korea's president is offering the north's new leader kim jong un new talks if you agreed to suspend nuclear activities but he said in a new year's speech that the korean peninsula is a turning point one against which a provocation by north korea out of nuclear talks in two thousand and eight after objecting to south korea's requests to inspect its atomic facilities because it's come just after kim jong un was named ruling party leader four in the death of his father. now a new year celebrations for many people in the euro zone where the tough current

economic climate in many predicting a further financial misery twenty twelve will see a severe test for the euro as it fights for survival the single currency is now in circulation for decades but it leaves millions of europeans anything but optimistic as artists also reports. the birth of an ambitious project a common currency celebrated with no less than a big bang. i read the beginning of a strong euro here you know. very. very. here 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'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. era skeptics have long argued 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 now reaping the consequences of that couple that with internal squabbles and deadlocks there has to be a song 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 but this exhibit shows the journey of the european union and the creation of the single currency the documented events of history that explain why it would have been appealing to decision makers at the time so much so that 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 lad so 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 city my prediction that at least greece will leave the euro in the next year and what happens beyond it is unpredictable euro watchers may have diverging 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 r.t. dot com some of what's lined up if you. discover more about the leading lights of the bolshoi theatre and so on is the father of the nutcracker he celebrating is eighty fifth birthday today. you. also find out more about the first newspaper ever printed in russia which was created on the order of peter the great on this

day three centuries ago read all about it at r.t. dot com don't forget you can watch all of our best videos on you tube. the modern world of satellite imaging gives us a glimpse into most parts of the globe from our computers until now israel has been protected from close up images but you will soon put an end to the country's zoom in back israel's former ally prepares to launch its high tech satellite the country fears being watched and is worried about its security reports. israel's leaders are worried and they've good reason to be in just a matter of months they'll be nothing stopping satellite companies from getting up

close and personal. security through. 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 distributing the pictures the americans very sensitive security bureau the scrutiny that plays along with it which means even with google earth one can zoom into israel but only so far to control look at specific parts of israel many that will come are blurrier 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 a soul directly or invaded through some of these injury to him is off israel and that's the fear here especially because tensions between tel of ever danko 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 television as a powerful player in the region or his trying to say that we're not to be granted the special. serve. to have a saying in. the playground of. different countries everyone should abide to the

same laws should 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 wants 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 not just what does it take to become a successful entrepreneur in russia in a new pathfinder series we hear from the foreigners have explored the vast potential in the world's biggest country. yesterday we hear from an entrepreneur and restaurateur whose appetite for adventure helped him carve a new career in russia during the dying days of the soviet union henrik spotted an opportunity to build a restaurant empire across the country and 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 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 but what was interesting and challenging at the same time was that things were changing really what was changing and how things were going to 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. a swiss restaurant. with fondue one steak. season and things like that it's funny the story about the caesar salad situation in russia is quite unique because it's season salad is on literally every menu in the whole country why that is so in my opinion is when we play the key dish it was a caesar salad it was prepared in front of the guests by the waitresses a lot of people had to learn how to make this as the years went on and new restaurants opened up 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 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 set out really to make a strategic shift away from just opening up restaurants to really implementing customer service and get satisfaction and that started with training programs because the restaurant business has a relatively big turnover of staff we would teaching bringing knowledge to

a huge number of people that work for us for a while and many of them left all the restaurant and so forth so we were the professional kind of growth model for professional knowledge in the restaurant business. later to become ill patio was hugely successful likewise the planet as general manager of. these many years four hundred restaurants three years ago i started opening my own restaurant now the same restaurants but as a franchisee today twelve restaurants it's a business that requires a lot of affection 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. yes and there will be meeting more business trailblazers in the russian capital in our special pathfinder series of the next two weeks here not. but next hour our sports team will bring you the best of twenty leavening clearing a diving at the deep red. paint missed the chance to see these pictures from a goal term leg of a cliff diving world championships this take the plunge with our sports bullets and to find out. racing our way back over the headlines in a few moments stay with us.

one stream cascading from mountain slopes the view is mesmerizing. but this beauty brings down the speed of more than two hundred kilometers per hour . to step bizarre the launch.

in motion would be so much brighter if you mean. more live. from the pressure the sun. starts on t.v. dot com. but. first. the sun.

if you look at the headlines now. there's uproar in the u.s. says the president authorizes a door to detain terrorist suspects without charge trial the right to defense by its advocates according to unprecedented measures a blight on his legacy. here on testify as long range missiles naval drills in the persian gulf and says he's prepared to hit back if it's attacked comes a western nations turn to impose further sanctions targeting it's on the financial sector its own threatens to shut. down in turkey sends up a new sky a satellite which could give the world something which is security conscious in

israel for the very first time a country has attempted to close up pictures until now. and one of the first promises made by president obama when he first came to power back in two thousand and eight was to close the controversial guantanamo bay detention center four years later it's still there now on talks to the center former chief military prosecutor who speaks of his huge disappointment. we're sitting down with morris davis a man of a very interesting career he was the chief prosecutor for the military tribunals a guantanamo bay in two thousand and seven he resigned over his objection to the use of evidence obtained by torture and to what he saw as growing political interference in those military tribunals now he says although president obama promised to shut down guantanamo he doesn't have the using kernel.