effing day at the west stepped up sanctions james corbett editor of the colbert report website says tensions in the region well i mean rise if the u.s. and its allies continue to pressure iran. 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 iran to run 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 and i think of the escalation in recent weeks with the recent ten day military drill in in the straits of hormuz has to be weighing heavily on the minds of of the u.s. and others but but i think really 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 adding more sanctions to to the mix is is really just a recipe for military disaster i think. you always r t it's good to have your company today and coming up in the program here the righteous fight quiet in germantown becomes a battlefield between neo nazis and those prepared to stand up to the full story that's coming your way in a few. jordan is hosting the first a bilateral meeting between israeli and palestinian negotiators in more than a year is considered a last ditch attempt to revive direct peace talks aimed at reaching

a two state solution the palestinian president says his side will take quote tough new measures if the meeting fails to bring progress. as more from tel aviv. 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 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 the chief palestinian negotiator has called on israel to stop with the 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 just last week there were

several palestinians who were killed when this well 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 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 these talks the mood is really not that upbeat and most people don't really expect anything significant to come out of these talks. well we're always interested in your opinion today those jordanian mideast peace talks are the subject of our latest online poll if you head over to our website or if you dot com

you can take part right now let's see how the numbers are stacking up among all of us here right now over half of you say it will be a few. bring israel and palestine together the second highest number of voters think it will end up in a major diplomatic disaster and a minority claim it will actually become a first step towards new accords previous ones agreed upon at camp david to go online. check out some of the stories we are covering for you on our website for example touch he sends up i knew i in the sky find out about the satellite which could give the rest of the world close up images of israel for the very first time also online. of this fuzzy furry friend pundit monium check out this footage of a panda cub new home in a chinese zoo it's just one of the many videos we have. the you tube channel.

news today. in these are the images. from the streets of canada. a giant corporations are today. this is r.t. live from moscow egyptians are voting in the third round of the first post revolution parliamentary election the country's leading islamist party is expected to dominate with those results is due in about 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 popular uprisings 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 of also added to the bad feeling of results he's a rino politico reports from cairo discontent is running high. the revolution may have toppled hosni mubarak the manager accused of corruption getting freedom but now it's the ruling supreme council of armed forces which finds itself in hot water with the west calling raids on human rights organizations last week for this is a very dangerous situation because you have the elections on the one hand producing a majority but the people on the streets pushing for change and secularists who have links with these groups so it's a sign that this big tension really between washington and kyra. 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 questions are me what

prompted the raids and what could possibly be so suspicious about entry all of the races in post revolutionary egypt. the members of the arabic center for an independent judiciary never did get an official explanation for the confiscation of their documents or the victualling 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 everything and didn't give a simple answer. whether he wanted bank statements or anything else from him sitting on a sidewalk by their former office the vix it and geo workers point out a certain irony this never happened when mubarak was in charge of our surprise. the for. the concession i. can't take a position. against the human rights activist.

says. this is a new year for us human rights activists in egypt believe the razer 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. which authorities accuse of destabilizing egypt the seems to be a strand of opinion inside the military inside the state machine that. is very disillusioned with the friendship with the west and may be trying to find evidence to prove that some of the trouble on the street some of the troubling times 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 the light talk may hide a very different agenda washington doesn't want stabilization they want to be permanent 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 with pressure on egyptian authorities that's pressure has to come from the egyptians and we as a human rights organizations. provided of the mike and the mad money from us whatever the real reasons for the raids of n.-g. o. arthur 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 in a ghost co r.t. . meantime that middle east expert tariq ali says that in order to stabilize egypt the military has to give its people what they want and step the large majority of

egyptians want the military to be a defense outfit defending the country against. attack or intervention and not play a political role at all because for the last thirty to forty years egypt has essentially whether under mubarak or under so that's been a multi to indicate to ship run by the middle or crean people want an end to that so when the military. mobarak on trial again it's an attempt to divert attention from its own rule in the concrete that is what is really worrying people and that is all should be discussed and attacking the. jim carrey is is so i think to show that foreign bars are manipulating of concrete and so cruel which is again nonsense i think washington has a great deal of influence within the military after all big billions of dollars

i mean to get a billion dollars a year that's a huge amount of money. you with r t it's good to have your company today and i'm still coming up your way in the program 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 as much land is needed because it's not you we visit a dairy farmer run by sue came to russia for greener pastures and ended up milking the country's potential to the fullest. russia is speeding up the reforming and modernization of its forces the military hasn't been a top priority since soviet times but on the kremlin's set right and it's on his top bottom reports change is long overdue. the russian armed forces the pride of the nation or are they the russian forces are falling

behind now for a 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 he just army now is in need of contemporary modern equipment and if the russian defense industry can't yet provide us with what we need will buy into broad new purchases include this london ship the mistral bought 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 yet either but when 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 exactly 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 rearmament is going just fine and that buying foreign weapons undermines russia's military. independence commission. we are becoming dependent on foreign suppliers of spare parts for military equipment and foreign military personnel training on foreign supplies or specific fuels and lubricants

and other substances needed for the new equipment nonsense say other servers in two thousand and eight russian forces pushed the children army out of south setia in just five days but experts were dismayed at how outdated and clumsy the russian army looked when faced with real opposition it reinforced the need for serious change the money being thrown at the problem is vast but regiments of rubles on their own aren't enough most here at the defense ministry now know that before the armed forces are ready for modern conflict a very long and very demanding war for reform must be one here in the corridors of government and in factories around russia. r.t. moscow. or let's get to the world up here on our t.v. some other headlines from around the world for you in brief first our attention to libya it's where the fighting has broken out in the center of the capital between two armed militia groups leaving at least five people dead the clashes thought to have started after former rebels based in tripoli arrested fighters who belong to

a rival in the city of misrata on new year's eve witnesses say the tripoli militia arrested six men brought them inside a council building beat them up and detained them for the resulting in tension battle on tuesday involved machine guns rocket propelled grenades and anti-aircraft guns an eight month civil war in libya did end in october but there are concerns over growing hostility between rival tribal groups. the arab league has called an emergency meeting to discuss whether to withdraw its observers from syria france's voice so over the effectiveness of the league's monitors in the country amid concerns that forces are still killing anti-government protesters in the most recent wave of trouble a gas pipeline exploded in homs province which the government has blamed on terrorists five thousand people have been killed in syria since the uprising began last march. thirteen people have died in three separate bomb blasts in the afghan

city of kandahar in the first a motorbike bomber detonated explosives at a police checkpoint killing four including a police officer officials say the target may have been a nearby police vehicle the second attack of the day thought to be against a nato convoy killed a child who was nearby. the taliban says it has struck a deal with qatar to open up a political office the plan is being seen as a major step towards ending the ten year war in afghanistan germany and the u.s. have been urging the group to create a representative's able to start peace negotiations the u.s. and taliban have previously held talks over issues such as the release of afghan prisoners from guantanamo bay. well despite a dark past with fascism like many other european countries germany is seeing a surge in support for neo nazi groups it's a problem that sometimes divides whole towns between those in favor of extremism

and those trying to make a stand you got a person off investigates what's driving young people down such. a quiet down disturbed. a small community divided. it began with the appearance of nazi symbols then the local social center was burned to the ground your. office was also vandalized says for him the final straw was when your 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. minority 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 and we won't let me or nazis rule here yet not all locals agree the initiative is often criticised the neo nazi party even gained three percent of votes at the most recent local parliament election the third on the incident split our town some say were 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 streams while the population of just around six thousand people sausan 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 vantine and the other activists do say they are not going to back down until after it turns 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 november german authorities caught two suspects believed to be members of a neo nazi terror cell that it is keep them for years and were involved in killing at least ten foreigners but. it's money struggles which are igniting the trouble. it causes families conflict and families. solved we have a kind of rage but now. as you know escalated.

education germany's spending billions to call the eurozone crisis but ignoring economic trouble at home could be. if left unchecked it may be too long before disenfranchised youth drags the entire country toward some of the biggest mistakes of its past. germany. is coming to life in the heart of moscow now we continue with our new series of reports on foreigners who ventured here to russia and achieved huge success. under today we catch up with a 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 and his story is right. when we went on these lines people hadn't worked on the

between two years we had forest 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 are paying a ruble for milk and even at a ruble we started our project we thought we could make money out of that we talked to various parties they said it's a good idea the middle market will be there and we went ahead. the first problem we encountered i think the normal was that the workers expected that they'd lost by by mr started and now john had to write 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 a good it's

a nice calm nice color but. cows are the easiest thing to manage it's 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 either 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 a western 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 fast you need to do some treatment which.

typically here 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 here. it was much harder ten years ago we had to go running around. in these ten years the market has evolved we've got investments now we've got down on the god 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 and shit really efficiency of scale because lannes more efficiency that's the real 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 is needed because it's not used. their ears are cold and temperature was ok this morning there's always a challenge and america gets boring after a while everything's there everything is simple here. the same question everybody

wants of the 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 to became a farmer 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. and we will be meeting more business travelers in russia in our special pathfinder series over the next two weeks here on our do you stay with us though a rather intriguing addition of the cars reporters coming up here at aussie it's

there are eastern european with a russian version that will be off for a recap of our top stories in just a moment. all . wealthy british scientists are. sometimes the tightest.

markets why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with my next concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to cause a report on our. mood.

odd. the close up team has been to stop. plays to the most ambitious football club in the world. naldo r g goes to the far east where the timber industry affects 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. comes to the from mars creature russia blows up.

the hour here in moscow you want to see you on the headlines now ratcheting up the tension the pentagon says u.s. warships will continue to sail in the gulf despite an iranian warning to stay away from an area where tehran has recently testified. the first meeting between israeli and palestinian negotiators in over a year fails to bring a breakthrough but is held in what's being described as a positive atmosphere is the first step in an attempt to resume direct peace talks which broke down. the russian military is trying to restore

its former glory with the kremlin to reform the armed forces the military industrial complex house fallen behind technologically and become riddled with corruption. all right up next in the cause a report tries to speak russian such as a shortage of russian vodka a special new year version of the program is right now enjoy. kaiser welcome to the kaiser record one of the great things about doing a show on our say is that new year lasts oh seems like almost two weeks they see her mags is only eight days they're a light weight we're still partying here. fantastic well that's because i found what's considered to be a shot in russia a shot of vodka look at the.