pickett's 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 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 and 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 accelerate it illegal practice into overdrive. between bush's policies and obama's. push bush's policy was to kidnap people. whatever

you thought about them. put them one time or some other two or three. for kim information obama supporters just kill. killing them all over the world. one another is the targeting drone killing of and were a lock ie 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 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 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 compromise up or not artsy new york. but iran has successfully test fired several long range missiles in the last day of major naval exercises in international waters of the persian gulf it comes

amid mounting western pressure on the country over its nuclear ambitions tehran says it's ready to counter any attack by countries like israel the united states and israel. it's a new u.s. sanctions tone of the central bank and financial sector iran has been threatening to close the strait of hormuz wounds most in oil exports linking the persian gulf indian ocean well the e.u. is mulling an embargo on the purchase of iranian oil decision on its expected before the end of the month with side mohammad marandi from the university of tehran says a war with iran would engulf the whole region. 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 of 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 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 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 that oil installations will be at risk war as hell and this instability will go beyond the persian gulf it

will i think of oil 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. well there's a showdown in the gulf brews we're asking what you think the united states wants to get from a conflict with iran is not going to r.t. dot com and let us know your opinion so far almost half of you believe america is off to dominance in the middle east in the quarter respondents say the u.s. is interested in a war to cripple china's raw materials and. ten percent say washington is only interested in ensuring israel's security and just a few if you think a conflict with iran would be a boost for american exports your opinion really doesn't matter so go to r.t. dot com and have your say. now the arab league says the syrian government has withdrawn its troops from cities across the country but the regional body stressed that security forces are still shooting at protesters and must stop immediately but

a team of the league's observers is overseeing the implementation of a new spends last month damascus to end its crackdown on anti-government forces and release political prisoners let's not discuss the latest developments with patrick henningsen associate editor for info wars dot com and thank you for joining us here on r.t. now there are currently only about seventy observer spread across the country so how they manage to cover such a large area and indeed confirm that the regime has pulled its forces back from residential areas. well i think the arab league has said a team of observers to syria. do you think it's logically impossible for them to like you said cover the whole country and also to verify these alleged civilian casualties of dissidents who were killed by the assad government a lot like we saw in libya a lot of these so-called human rights reports definitely skewed in favor of

whatever the current western policies coming out of the u.s. or london or paris or what they would like to see happen in syria which is rich in change now is much confusion as you say and the league says that government snipers are still shooting at protesters but how can they be sure the gunmen aren't provocateurs all mercenaries even in damascus does claim to be fighting an armed insurgency funded from abroad. well you know if i think if the arab league observers had bothered to look at the news coverage bridge over the last six months or so they would know that there were no mainstream networks in the city of homs up until probably. late october to early november the reason there were no mainstream networks covering any of that was because there wasn't. clear evidence of a real genuine. uprising there but there was evidence reported by russia

today from webster tarpley investigation when he was in syria that there were a lot of snipers who some of these were mercenaries snipers we don't know who's employing them and they were shooting civilians the people in homs one of the government to come and give them more protection than it was in a hotbed of anti. like we were led to believe by the b.b.c. and some of the other major networks now in protest is reporting the captured dozens of syrian soldiers this monday some would question how the regime can lay down arms when the opposition is using such tactics. exactly exactly the whole is it the people in the u.s. state department the u.k. foreign office and the u.n. want to frame this argument is that assad is having a crackdown on dissidents ok these are not dissidents like the sort of people who

see it occupy wall street these are in some cases armed insurgent these are armed people who are actively involved in the sheen change ok and they're being backed. in a material way by the u.s. and by some of these countries who actually are in the league could talk are also has an interest in regime change in this country libya has sent al-qaeda fighters this is on record this is reported in multiple newspapers one hundred al qaeda fighters ok under the command of their tripoli governor to go and fight in syria this contravenes all united name and laws ok and if the u.s. is actively involved in supporting this then they are culpable in international court now we have seen them to mask released some three and a half thousand prisoners as part of the piste and how significant a concession is that in your view. well that that is

a very significant concession if you look at let's take a serious israel for instance who have held tens of thousands of palestinians many of them without any trial for over years as in some cases over decades in palestine in israeli jails ok no prisoners released up until recently they it took them years to broker a prisoner release deal between the palestinians and the israelis but look the arab league the only thing that leagues are good for is football and basketball the arab league is not a genuine governing body all the members of the arab league and the observers coming from these countries come from monarchy dictatorships like. saudi arabia qatar and egypt has a military dictatorship as well and they're hosting the arab league summit in cairo so there's no democracy going on throughout the arab league at all the amount of

hypocrisy in this star getting syria campaign for regime change is unbelievable this is something we have we haven't seen it's almost going to eclipse the hypocrisy with the u.s. and nato involvement in libya let's hope that the bombs do not drop in syria like they did in libya. ok live from london that was having some thank you for joining us here not to say the info was dot com he's had today. now still to come this hour marking ten years of the year. 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 enter twenty twelve the currency has failed to live up to expectations and has the prospects ahead. and the restaurateur who spotted

a beast of opportunity during the last days of the soviet union shows the secrets in a new series part finds. new year celebrations for many people in the euro zone where reined in he's a tough current economic climate many predicting further financial misery twenty 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 artists are still reports. the birth of an ambitious project a common currency celebrated with no less than a big bang. do you agree the beginning of a strong europe here you're. better for the war the better the war.

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. or 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. he has been thrown out of the window in the

pursuit of this goal and we now are 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 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 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. for more news analysis always available online at r.t.

dot com for some of what's lined up view this discover more about the leading lights of the bolshoi theater as the father of the nutcracker who celebrated his eighty fifth birthday today. also find out more about the first newspaper ever printed in russia which was created on the order of peter the great this day three centuries ago we thought about it r.t. dot com and don't forget you can watch all of our best videos on our you tube channel. the modern world of satellite imaging gives us a glimpse into most parts of the play from our own computers until now israel has been protected from close up images but a new turkish satellite will soon put an end to the country's zooming back at the

turks prepare to launch their high tech satellite israel fair is being watched and is worried about its security nazis paula slim 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. to enable american troops 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 and scrutiny are crazy long with it which means even with google earth one can zoom into israel but only so far a look at specific parts of israel 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 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 invaded through some of these injury to him and his office road 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 two exterior and anchors 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 he isn't really not to be granted the special. server is the relation. to have a saying at least the military is not 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 friend is policy r t the veil on israel . or some other world news in brief for you now and first to south sudan where the un has advised villages to flee from advancing fighters of a rival tribes the town of people was the center into ethnic clashes on saturday many 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 or to bring the conflict

under control around the thousand people have died in clashes over the past few months sparked by cattle raids. 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 claims the teenager was hit by a tear gas canister once range over the authorities did later raise questions about the circumstances of the death and said it investigate at least thirty five people were left dead in the bahraini unrest during twenty eleven including police officers killed as protesters attacked security forces. south korea's president is offering the north's new leader kim jong un new talks if he agrees to suspend reactivity leader said in a new year's speech that the korean peninsula is at a turning point when the 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 the comments come just stuff that kim

jong un was named ruling party leader for the death of his father in december. we've been on the out just what does it take to become a successful entrepreneur in russia in a new pathfinder series we hear from the foreigners who explored the vast potential of the world's biggest country. and today we're here for an entrepreneur under restaurateur whose appetite for adventure helped him carve a new career in russia during the dying days of the soviet union henry when first 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 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 the country of three hundred eighty million people that we chose

to open up a swiss restaurant. with fondue one steak. season and things like that and it's funny the story about the sea the saddle and 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. the key dish it was a caesar salad it was prepared in front of the guests by the waitresses a lot of people have to learn how to make this you thought well 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 i said i would really to make a strategic shift away from just opening up restaurants to. implementing customer service and guest satisfaction and that started. training programs because the restaurant business has a relatively weak 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 drove the model for a professional knowledge in the restaurant business how do you 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.

and there will be meeting more business trailblazers in the russian capital in our special pathfinder series of the next two weeks here now take on the back of the headlines in a few moments statements. to

the of the movies. to see. if. wealthy british scientists say it's not time to inflict crisis on. the. markets why not.

find a. what's really happening to the global economy car is a report on our. time for a look at the headlines now here. in the u.s. says the president authorizes a goal to detain terror suspects without charge the right to defense rights advocates saw the scrubby on preston today as a blight on obama's legacy. iran test paused long range missiles during a naval drills in the persian gulf says it's prepared to hit back if it's attacked becomes as western nations plan to impose further sanctions targeting its all of the financial sector as well tehran threatens to shut off oil supply in return. until he sends up a new eye in the sky satellite which could give the closeup images

a security conscious israel first time country is being protected from close up pictures until. now 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 live and i want to talk to the senses a 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 or 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.