hello and thank you for joining us four o'clock here in moscow i'm karen tara with a look at news around the world around the house war in the united states it will take action if an american warship returns to the persian gulf it left the area when iran started its ten day naval war games during which they successfully test fired a number of different missiles but russia's defense ministry says that despite the latest military exercise there are any and don't have the technology to make intercontinental ballistic missiles meanwhile france is pushing for stricter sanctions as it says it is developing nuclear weapons urged e.u. countries to follow the u.s. and freezing iranian central bank assets and imposing an embargo on oil exports to iran has been threatening to block the strait of hormuz one of the world's most important oil routes if the west stepped up its sanctions let's discuss this more with james corbett editor of the corbett report website james thank you for joining

us so france has been calling for tougher sanctions against iran and do you think military exercises were a major factor in all of this. i think that would have to be one of the factors but i think it's quite remarkable to think that france and the us and other countries would be willing to step up sanctions that have already had such a profound effect on the iranian people on the basis of their hunch that her own is developing nuclear weapons as as france has basically put it it's quite remarkable because that really does is tantamount to an act of war and and really the i think the only logical outcome for this is another increase in military tensions between the countries involved in that region that are already on the knife edge of military tension so it is quite an explosive thing to be talking about increased sanctions against a country that's already pretty much got its back to the to the wall when it comes to the the absolute embargo of the country in so many ways that sending its own currency into a spiral so i don't really see how this is meant to help the situation any in any

way but will only probably late likely increase the chance of some sort of military confrontation well western countries have always a voice especially as that iran's nuclear program isn't peaceful do you think that there's an underlying reason for the timing of the tensions rising now. there must be a number of things to this and i think the escalation in recent weeks with the recent ten day military drill in the in the straits of hormuz has to be weighing heavily on the minds of of the us and others but but i think really the the idea that iran would really close off the straits of hormuz or attempt to do so would only be an absolute last measure resort for a country that relies on the importation of refined gasoline and other things through the very straits that they would be a sensibly sabotaging and planting mines in so it's it's quite remarkable to think that that iran would do that in any other situation other than they felt that the entire existence of their country was under threat so so again i don't think it's

a really credible threat unless they believe that the military tensions are are going to boil over and in turn into some sort of confrontation and again that that's really due to these crippling sanctions that have been placed so adding more sanctions to to the mix is is really just a recipe for military disaster i think rather said today that it is ready to return to the negotiation table and discuss its nuclear program yet the e.u. is reluctant to do so are talks something that the west should be looking for here . i don't know what else the west should be looking for if they were truly concerned about nuclear weapons and somehow have the moral authority and international jurisdictions to tell tell other countries what what they can and can't do with nuclear technology but but even considering that the only possible outcome that they should be looking for in this situation would be further talks to do anything else would be to me to be backing iran again into that corner in order

to to increase military tensions and it has to be kept in mind here that when these military tensions are increased in a place like the straits of hormuz which is just such a small area that that not only can can mistakes happen and mistakes occur that will be mistaken for military hostile acts that could then be used to springboard into further confrontation but also it has to be remembered that in july of two thousand and eight it was revealed by seymour hersh that dick cheney had actually planned on dressing up four to five u.s. boats as a rainy and p.t. boats to in order to attack american vessels and blame it on the iranians in order for a pretext for war that was a real in july of two thousand and eight so we have to understand that when these military tensions are increased to this point where anything can send them over the edge then we could be seeing some sort of any sort of provocation being used as a justification for military confrontation in the region which i don't think any of the the citizenry of either ran or the u.s.

or france or any other country really wants at this point some might argue that iran's naval exercises were just an old fashioned display of military strength rather than one of nuclear russia's military has said iran is incapable of creating a strategic missile so it is around really the threat it's being portrayed as. i think iran would like to portray itself as strong on the international stage and i think other people in the region who who are interested in their security would also like to to other countries to understand that that iran will be the same type of military confrontation that the save the u.s. faced in iraq it's going to be quite a different type of confrontation but i think really when we talk about military confrontation in iran we have to start thinking about iran's strategic allies in the area and the possibility of a much larger war that would draw in all of its from from all over the region really and start something much much bigger than simply in iran a surgical strike or whatever might be hoped for in such

a situation by the people who are planning such military intervention so so i think it's important to understand that it's not just the iranian military that would likely be involved here and we'd be looking at a much wider regional war thank you very much james corbett editor of the corvette report website here with r.t. coming your way in the program all right just like. a quiet german town becomes a battlefield between neo nazis and those prepared to stand up to them the full story just ahead. jordan the set to host the first bilateral meeting between israeli and palestinian negotiators in more than a year it's considered a last ditch attempt to revive direct peace talks aimed at creating an independent palestinian state let's now get the latest details from our teams paula slayer in tel aviv what can we actually expect from this initial meeting. well both sides have played down any kind of expectation that there will be

a breakthrough in these talks saying that these will not lead to direct negotiations and should not be confused to be done in direct negotiations themselves jordanian diplomat said that these talks will not solve anything although they do bring a new energy to the table the israeli defense minister who put it this way he said that these are negotiations about negotiations now the last time that israelis and palestinians sat down around the negotiating table was more than a year ago this time around they will be representatives from both israelis and palestinians there will be representatives from the quartet as well as the jordanian foreign minister they will be discussing the stalled middle east peace process and they will be looking again at the positions of both sides and the major issues that they will be trying to address issues of border security now the chief palestinian negotiator has called on israel to stop with of settlement building to release all palestinian prisoners and to recommit itself to

a palestinian state within one hundred sixty seven borders he says that if israel does this it will show a commitment on the israeli side to restart peace talks but what are the main stumbling blocks in the way of resuming these direct peace talks. well one of the main stumbling blocks of these talks is the whole issue of reconciliation between rival palestinian faction groups hamas and fatah there have been ongoing talks between these groups for some time now to establish some kind of unity government the next round of talks will be on the second of february in cairo now hamas has heavily criticized for holding these talks with the israelis it has called on fattah to boycott them it has said that they are merely repeating a policy of failure these rays full bayside have said that they cannot be any real discussion of peace talks until the palestinian militants stop firing rockets into israel just last week there were several palestinians who were killed when israel

launched a series of strikes on gaza israeli said that those were in response to palestinian militants firing into southern israel these raids also concerned that any kind of negotiations that they reach with fatah will not be adhered to by him us until there is a reconciliation deal in place between these two palestinian groups the other stumbling block is of course the whole issue of settlements and he had the netanyahu government has shown that it is continuing to build settlements despite the international criticism these radius of say that they can be no preconditions for peace talks but most people are hoping for is that both sides will come to the party and will really just put forward where they stand and what that we paid to do but it is worth mentioning that the mood is really not that upbeat and most people don't really expect anything significant to come out of these talks parties paula slayer live from tel aviv thank you paul. we're always interested in your opinion and today those jordanian mideast peace talks are the subject of our latest online

poll head to our web site r.t. dot com to take part right now half of you say it will be a futile attempt to bring israel and palestine together the second highest number of voters think it will end up a major diplomatic disaster and a minority claim it will actually become a first step towards new reports like previous ones agreed at camp david go online to cast your vote and while you're there check out these stories we're covering for you on our web site. turkey sounds up a new eye in the sky find out about the satellite which could give the rest of the world closeup images of israel for the very first time also online. pandemonium check out this footage of a panda cub settling into its new home in the chinese zoo just one of the videos we have at our you tube channel. egyptians are voting in the third round of their first post revolution parliamentary election the country's leading

islamised party is expected to dominate in the polls system with results expected in ten days the vote will see a transition of power from the army which has been in charge since the toppling of president mubarak in february last year mubarak in the meantime is on trial charged with complicity in the killing of more than eight hundred protesters during february's properly or uprising last month the previous round of voting was overshadowed by violent clashes between protesters and the army and government raids on charitable organizations last week have also added to the bad feeling as you know go to school reports from cairo discontent is running high. the revolution may have toppled hosni mubarak the manager accused of corruption and suffocating freedom but now it's the ruling supreme council of armed forces which finds itself in hot water with the west following raids on human rights organizations last week i feel this is a very dangerous situation because you have. but the people

pushing for change secularists who have links with these groups so that the big tension really between washington and kyra. let's stop cell phones and more than twenty boxes of documents were reportedly seized during raids by the police authorities promised all will be returned yet several persons are mean what prompted the raids and what could possibly be so suspicious about enjoy all of the races in post-revolutionary egypt. and the members of the arabic center for an independent judiciary never did get an official explanation for the confiscation of their documents or the eviction from their office that followed. we don't know what they were searching for we told them we could give them anything they wanted but they came in search of everything and didn't give a simple answer whether they wanted bank statements or anything else other than macand sitting on a sidewalk by their former office the vix it angio workers point out

a certain irony this never happened when mubarak was in charge he says i would surprise. the police but the. ticket system just. can't take a position. against so he moderates the activity and the face she. says. is a. human rights activists in egypt believe the rays are attempts to punish them for accusing military rulers of failing to carry through democratic reforms but western observers. say the authorities are becoming increasingly wary of the ever watchful eye from washington and the true purpose of raids is to prove foreign funding over again is ations which authorities accuse of destabilizing egypt and seems to be a strand of opinion inside the military inside the state machine that. is

very disillusioned with the old friendship with the west and may be trying to find evidence to prove that some of the trouble on the streets some of the trouble in tahrir square has been in some way fostered by these n.g.o.s washington tirelessly repeats the old adagio of the importance of its relations with egypt as a key player in the middle east but polite talk may hide a very different agenda washington doesn't want stabilization they want to be a permanent arnie's so that they can you know use that as a lever in the entire region egyptian activists aren't too happy with western help which they say can do more harm than good. and i don't like the way foreign countries put pressure on egyptian authorities that the pressure has to come from the egyptians and we as a human rights organization should provide it. for must whatever the real reasons for the raids of n.g.o.s says the increasing internal strife in the country could

portend a shipwreck not just for egypt's relations with the west but for the country's revolution in cairo. r.t. . coming up ahead in the program of the secret of my success. in america we don't have that chance anymore because. it's very expensive to begin farming here we have a chance to do it as much land is needed because it's not use we visit a dairy farm run by ex parents who made the move to russia and milks of the country as potential to the fullest. russia is speeding up the reforming and modernization of its armed forces the military hasn't been a top priority since soviet times but the kremlin is now eager to set that right and as artie's tom barton reports change is long overdue. the russian armed forces the pride of the nation or are they the russian forces are

falling behind and have fallen behind some of the larger arrivals new equipment is a priority there's also a dire need for reforms in organization recruitment training pay and military doctrine the government has promised six hundred forty billion dollars over the next ten years to buy new weapons but russian arms manufacturers are no longer what they used to be me she just. me now is in need of contemporary modern equipment and if the russian defense industry can't yet provide us with what we need. broad new purchases include this land the sole ship the mistral got from france lorries from italy and flying drones from israel drones has proved a particular problem the defense ministry dismayed by the russian company tasked with designing and building them. i asked them what was their problem and what prevented them from producing good vehicles the enterprise's bosses found plenty of

excuses such as the absence of engines gliders except jet but i now know how much money they received and i saw the rubbish they produced not all new russian made weapons are falling below standard the su thirty four fighter bomber is widely considered an exceptional aircraft but so few have been delivered that the older models they were to replace are starting to fail although russian designers come up with some excellent hardware for instance in terms of fighter and combat aircraft some time the industry has trouble in maintaining these at a high level and producing about the kind of numbers of the armed forces needed and the reforms still have angry opponents to both in and outside the armed forces many of them argue that the we are mint is going just fine and that buying foreign weapons undermines russia's military. we are becoming dependent on foreign suppliers of spare parts for military equipment on foreign military personnel training on foreign supplies with specific fuels and lubricants and other

substances needed for the new equipment norms. in two thousand and eight russian forces pushed the georgian army out of some of the city in just five days but experts were dismayed at how outdated clumsy the russian army looked when faced with real position it reinforced the need for serious change the money being thrown at the problem is vast regiments of rubles on the road onto enough most to the defense ministry no no before the armed forces are ready for more than conflict a very long and very demanding war for reform must be won here in the corridors of government and in factories around russia tom watson r.t. moscow and news just into former libyan rebel groups have reportedly been involved in intense gun battles in the center of tripoli the fighting involved machine guns rocket propelled grenades and anti aircraft guns it was not immediately clear why the two groups clashed and there is no immediate word on casualties we'll bring you

more on this as we get it some other world news in brief for you this hour and first to afghanistan where a suicide blast has killed five and wounded more than a dozen alders the attack happened when a motorbike bomb bird then detonated his explosives at a police checkpoint in the city of. among those killed were four civilians and a police officer several others including many children were also heard officials say there was no clear target for the attack but it may have been aimed at a nearby police vehicle. the arab league has called an emergency meeting to discuss whether to withdraw its observers from syria there is concern over reports that security forces are still killing anti-government protesters despite the monitors presence and the most recent wave of trouble a gas pipeline exploded in homes province which the government has blamed on terrorists as is the fourth explosion to hit a gas pipeline since the syrian uprising began last march. despite

a dark past with fascism like many other european countries germany is seeing a surge in support for me or nazi groups that's a problem that sometimes divides whole towns between those in favor of extremism and those trying to make a stand you're going to school of investigates what's driving young people down a violent path. a quiet town disturbed. a small community divided. it began with the appearance of nazi symbols then the local social center was burned to the ground your own office was also vandalized says for him the final straw was when neo nazis marched through the town's main square. i used to be afraid but it helps not to act alone to have supporters i became a public person with our initiative and it sort of my protection the n.t.

nazi initiative is actively supported by around fifty locals many are retired and armed with posters they stand up to those who are often much younger and looking not too friendly like this young man who openly calls himself a neo nazi and admits encouraging a teenager to set the social center on fire he now faces up to two years behind bars in this new book within that we won't let me go now sees rule here yet to not all locals agree the initiative is often criticized the neo nazi party even blamed three percent of votes at the most recent local parliament election the third on ten thousand the beans that had split our town some say where exaggerating and are only making things worse by attracting too much attention but i think they're simply afraid. activists say it's easy for new nazis to recruit new members especially among disillusioned and dejected teenagers with poor infrastructure and

high unemployment and few social skills which the town can offer it's often simply boredom driving them to extremes with a population of just around six thousand people it's also in is a typical small german town far away from large industries and financial centers life here is called and peaceful or at least it used to be before two thousand and nine mr van. and the other activists do say they're not going to back down until life returns back to normal but unfortunately the problem with neo nazis in germany exists on a much wider scale thousands of new gather for a needle marches in dresden often clashing with police and fascist activists and in the german authorities caught two suspects believed to be members of a neo nazi terror cell that is keep them for years and were involved in killing at least ten foreigners but it was. its money struggles which are igniting the

trouble of course economic. causes families conflict and families. solved we have a kind of rage but now the rage was you know escalated racist education germany's spending billions to pull the eurozone crisis but ignoring economic trouble at home could be. if you have checked it may not be too long before disenfranchised youth ranks the entire country toward some of the biggest mistakes of this past. forty germany now we continue with our new series of reports on foreigners who have ventured to russia and achieved huge successes here. today we catch up with the british farmer who moved to russia fifteen years ago to

milk the country's potential john kaminski now owns one of the country's most profitable dairy farms. when we went on these lines people hadn't worked on the between the years we had photos growing today these lines are now working we have a whale of a four thousand take does this year ten twelve years ago the people applying approval for milk and even as a rule we started a project we thought we could make money out of that we talked to various parties a place it was a good idea the mill market would be there and we went ahead. the first problem we encountered i think with normal was that the work as expected that they'd lost by by mr starr didn't know john had arrived in the first year that we were here we were changing ninety percent of the start of the month we couldn't find anybody that we thought could manage such a modern farm so in the end we decided that to cover our risk we would look overseas and i interviewed many people and in the end we have a young american now running the farm he's been with us for six years with his

family we should look at the manure more what do you think it's good it's a nice calm nice color. the easiest thing to manage is people that cause the problem probably number one problem i saw with people was they never had to take on responsibility for themselves now we've kind of. made this a team effort here where people have personal responsibility and. we go as far as to tell them each day what they have to do and what has to be faced and certain forms to fill out so that we can see they did their job you love money or you love russia without that you can't work it because the frustrations of the bureaucracy is the main thing there are just too many laws every day you just finding new ones in a farm in the west or husband and wife and an accountant an external accountant could run the farm here i've got fourteen people in the office it really is the sense that in order for you to get a desired it's

a very long road in the west it's faster we need to do some treatment we. typically hear on a russian farm there's someone that's your boss. and someone's boss is someone else's boss here we don't have that it's me i'm the boss of the farm and then we have workers that's it there's no middle management where. it was much harder ten years ago we had to go running around asking do you want. in these ten years the market has evolved we've got investments now we've got done on the go we've got. money from germany we've got campaign and we've got pepsi if you work it properly you've got big plans you can do big farms i'm just really efficiency of scale because lannes more efficiency starts to be a big advantage in america we don't have that chance anymore because the land's all taken it's very expensive to begin farming here we have a chance to take as much land as needed because it's not used. and their ears are cold and temperature was ok this morning there's always

a challenge in america gets boring after a while everything's there everything is simple here. the same question everybody has a farmer all over the world that we radiate so we like it i do it because. when we started i didn't know anything about it but the more i worked on the line the became a farm on the more i mean he felt i was a real person i come here and i see that affected the lives of over one hundred people the local community now in the shops become better and we're producing something that really is worth something i spent all my life selling and buying millions of tonnes of coal i never sold a colored paper here i'm seeing the product i get a great sense of satisfaction by doing. in a few moments we ask former german chancellor how do you avoid economic crisis in europe but before that we'll take another look at today's top stories.

one stream cascading from my. view is mismanaged.

this beauty brings debt and a speed of more than two hundred kilometers. long. thank you for joining us for the already here in moscow and karen towns with a quick recap of your headlines turning up of attention france calls for tough new e.u. sanctions against iran targeting the country's financial and energy sectors it's accusing talk run of developing nuclear weapons even as of iran says it's ready to talk with the west about its atomic program. israel and the palestinians head back to the negotiating table for the first time since peace talks broke down more than a year ago but both sides have played down expectations.