i. warm welcome to you from our headquarters here in central moscow this is r t with me and he said it's four pm here in the russian capital three thirty pm in tehran and global oil prices are spiking as the e.u. says it's agreed in principle to ban imports of raney and crude sanctions could come in if into a fact by the end of january unless iran backs down on its alleged nuclear weapons program well to iran has responded to the sanctions with threats to block oil trade through the crucial strait of hormuz leading to a key of deadlock in the persian gulf american warships are also present in the region with a mission to prevent any hindrances of passage let's discuss this further we're now joined live by political analyst christophe is on the line with us live from berlin thanks for being with us iran seems to be feeling the pain of the sanctions already

how serious an impact could they have if the oil embargo does in fact go through. well as far as the oil is concerned the impact is not very big germany is taking a one point five million barrels in a year that's next to nothing the european union has four percent of the. oil imports done by iran or from iran so that is not really a threat of course if they close the strait of hormuz that is. more dangerous not for germany though we just in the zero from the middle east except a little from iran as i said two point six million barrels a year or so very little from syria. but it's not affected by the strait of hormuz but for the rest yes it has fifteen point five million barrels per day going through the strait and that is of course

a very vital factor fourteen to fifteen percent of european overall of crude oil imports and that will hurt us define. what about the global economy as a whole. how much will the effects be felt if the embargo pushes the oil price higher we're already seeing a spike everybody knows with the ongoing currency crisis of the euro and the ongoing financial crisis there is a slump in the economy to be reckoned with going on in the u.s. already germany is not that much affected. and very clearly if that happens the ongoing multiple crisis is you know weighted would be double i think. through this single step britain is reportedly going to support washington and pledges military resources if necessary to the resolution of the current persian gulf are we actually seeing

a preparation for war here. well if you want it is a kind of preparation of war we're seeing saw what usually happens behind the scenes in these cases is that the ministry of defense in the u.k. is shaking it's red in the. status on paper so to say they're not moving the troops but this is going to happen and washington as we know is constantly every day war gaming the whole globe so for them that's no surprise at all loans or really nuclear talks between iran and the e.u. have been stalled for nearly a year now that's despite a step by step solution proposed by russia and the fact that iran agreed to allow inspectors near its enrichment centrifuges which is unprecedented really what is the stumbling block here. i will i will give you a very exact diplomatic answer first stumbling block is that iran wants to talk to

the western powers in the you presented by catherine ashton is not ready for talks but they want to have their agenda followed step by step and that means that a letter written by ashton to iran has to be answered first the iranians right now don't want to answer in the way the west wants to hear so this is a real stalemate but over all i can see the situation is pretty serious since the with trying to misuse the peaceful nuclear program by iran which was peaceful so far they're not building a bomb definitely they're using fraudulent reports by the i was there twice i spoke to the diplomats this is a big scandal and they're using this in fact to you know build a war case against iran with the western populations through our misguided media a very dangerous situation looks like that indeed christoph horsetail live with us on the line from berlin political analyst thank you very much for your input. well

you can always share your take on this developing story go to our website and tell us what you think of the new sanctions on iran right now the numbers are looking like this just so perhaps that you will be pushed into a corner and sanctions as an act of war nearly a fifth believe the u.s. measures simply won't work sixteen percent think the world economy will suffer as sanctions drive oil prices up and the rest fear they will only hurt ordinary iranians tell us what you think will happen vote today at r t v dot com. to libya now where the head of the transitional government has admitted the country could be sliding into civil war he says it's a likely outcome unless the m.t.c. manages to take control over militias and disarm them this follows a recent skirmish between armed groups in tripoli streets that left four dead meanwhile the country's justice system remains a source of concern with thousands remaining behind bars without ever having been

charged oksana boyko reports. it was one of the first amnesty of the new libya hundreds of men and women many of them sub-saharan immigrants released from a makeshift prison most of them spent several months in captivity for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. we are releasing those who didn't commit serious crimes those with blood on their hands will be waiting for the prosecutor's decision when you have the richest were eager to pain the release as a goodwill gesture the detention and the parole seemed entirely arbitrary some of the dictators supporters as these people to be just work for government agencies and others happen to be domestic helpers or government workers are now equal before the law or rather before the absence of it they are mostly in prison was triple is

top detention facility under gadhafi the tories for its mistreatment and arbitrary killings of inmates but while all of its prisoners rest south free in late august as the rebels are on the capital dozens possibly even hundreds of makeshift prisons sprang out around the country according to u.n. estimates up to seven thousand allowed to get out the loyalists that bill how they're a little chance for justice a fair trial just a year ago this place used to be a school today demain last i'm being told here is that during the transition to democracy quick reactions are a must while many in the new libyan government held positions of power under gadhafi those who failed to jump on the bandwagon early enough and now finding themselves tugged behind bars. now in libya there are about a thousand people in detention and the problem is they haven't had any legal review they haven't had access to a lawyer they haven't been brought before any independent judicial panel or judges

so that's what we're calling for now is a quick and. legal review and rebuilding the justice system the treatment is even more brutal outside tripoli the tunnel to where the good that gadhafi forces used to launch attacks against misrata is still a ghost town many of its former residents live in refugee camps and even their extraordinary renditions by militia are common this man says he was tortured for several days before finally being released. to you until you confess to things you haven't committed like entering homes or looting it's a grueling dilemma many of these mothers and wives have to confront to pray for their loved ones to be rotting in a prison with torture being officially acknowledged but you know for their death children need their fathers and women need their husbands the government isn't doing anything to find them if they're dead we want to know where they are more than a month since he's captured libya's most famous prisoner still doesn't have access

to a lawyer and while many dollars see full islams ability to have a fair trial he still appears to be better off than many of his countrymen at least thanks to the limelight he's not running a risk of being executed like his father while many still are. artsy tripoli. meanwhile in syria over five hundred prisoners involved in a nine month regime uprising have been released according to state t.v. it comes as arab league officials say the government has pulled out heavy weapons and tanks from civilian areas something activists had previously said was untrue opposition groups also accuse damascus of misleading the league observers by taking them to areas loyal to the government as pressure builds on syrian authorities the country's foreign ministry slamming you asked for interfering that's after washington sent an envoy to the arab league for top form of latest developments london based political analyst chris bambery believes america's actions indicate

it's gearing up for military intervention. at this meeting with the arab league there. and sanctions against syria and the key are in the sense of prize turkey has been involved in arming the free syrian free syrian army and training them and we nor there are also american advisors in those camps in turkey training it and i think when you combine that that together sanctions the deploy the diplomatic moves but also the involvement with the free syrian army it begins to create a dynamic where perhaps the americans don't want and woman to be involved in a larger operation in syria because pull in that direction that is a very dangerous dangerous road as we know from a previous history of a conflict going on in vietnam once you send advisors and trainers into a country is very often the case that the troops will follow so i think america is in danger of going on a slippery slope. still ahead for you here on our team building a business from the ashes of the soviet union we extract entrepreneur who filled in

the gaps in the market by setting up his own dentistry practice in the latest in our perhaps under series what's. this region story so for some of the world's rarest weekends but they also host the longest timber mills and illegal hunters who stand to make a great profit report on how some of the world's most beautiful predators are being preyed upon themselves in brussels far. marking one of the lowest moments is the onset of europe's debt crisis more than two years ago the greek government has now publicly threatened to abandon the euro the warnings came from the prime minister lucas papademos as negotiations over one hundred thirty billion euro belle out packets dragged on with no end in sight the pm warned that the greek economy could enter an uncontrolled collapse as early as march but more cash isn't secured the creditors and greeks are out longer has with bankers refusing to write off any more debt the unions say they won't make any more

austerity concessions bosun business journalist. relieves that at this point there's only one option left for athens. the greek government is realizing that there is actually no option left the greek economy is going down like a stone and i think we are now at the point where everybody in greece realizes that we cannot go on like this and that unrest and even under the in the country is becoming so much of a threat that some drastic things needs to be done and my reading of what the greek government is doing is that they are trying to say that they are looking for an alibi to offer to their public by which they can say well it's not our fault it's the international community that pushes us towards the exit of the euro zone and i think also here in europe at the brussels that quarters of the european commission people start to realize that there really is no other way to solve the greek

problem by than by an exit from the euro zone. well with the situation in the eurozone continuing to deteriorate both leaders and markets are placing their last hopes in a fiscal union to guide the e.u. out of the crisis but according to a leading economist. those hopes are misplaced. in my system it is does europe will not be able to form such a political union there is too much trojan eiji countries two different. countries are too attached to their own self and they have different styles they have a hard time working together on international issues think of iraq the union in europe is not all that strong and is forced if you walk around brussels you feel like european union is for real but as soon as you go away from brussels and walk around to the country and the rest of europe you see the brussel is far away from

from that. and it's not a real reality that people live. that is economists aereo climber and his full interview is coming your way in just about fifteen minutes. with a you mom are mired in a frantic search for a solution to with debt crisis you might think that germany which has been bankrolling the block survival effort would be the most concerned but among many people there a bigger cause of concern is the political system which many say has gone stale and no longer represents ordinary citizens as artie's reports it's led to an increasing phenomenon in the country's rise of the pirate party. it looks like an ordinary scene at one of the many bars in berlin except there is one thing which makes this party totally different from all the others the parties they must get out and. the

pirate part of germany that's right this is an annual meeting of a political party and all these people or i'm only it's eighteen thousand members across germany like me treat was tired of the mainstream and i was really disappointed in. all this the same way. the faces. and the firefight it was really different one of its key differences apart from the style in general is a software system called liquid feedback allowing ordinary germans the opportunity to propose policies online the pirate stand for more transparency and freedom on the internet but when it comes to core issues like the economy and we don't have currently a stand on this this crisis maybe we'll have after the next federal convention but this wasn't a problem of the previous election for the berlin state problem and when the port authority managed to win nearly nine percent of the vote securing fifteen seats

most people who i talked to they say are just something something fresh to me like because many germans believe that politics are cross to this time as the big players struggle with big economic and political issues but part party doesn't even have an official stance on the eurozone crisis or the arab spring nevertheless it continues gathering more supporters i mean a coincidence or an alarming signal stream politicians the free democrats party which is an go in merkel's federal coalition porter is the first to feel the change of heart from voters that actually lost that berlin along with another four local votes across the country mainstream politics is also losing attractiveness. because there's often too little distinction or distinctiveness between different parties from different fields or areas sometimes he too difficult to tell the difference between conservative and social democrat experts see the point at parties key

success to use the internet as the new driving force changing politics similar to the we it was influenced by t.v. over half a century ago so unless the mainstream damped and change their tactics mean a long before they could find themselves on the margins it's going to of. germany. for the fallout from europe's financial troubles has now created an unholy rao the british government and the archbishop of canterbury are engaged in a better spat over banking greed and that exchange was unmasked by artie's kaiser report coming your way at three thirty g.m.t. . the archbishop of canterbury blasted for comparing rioters and bankers as politicians urged him to focus on religion here is how david cameron's government chose to hit back who did they appoint to speak lord green a first pierpoint nor green he says oh poppycock this is not.

bishop i think a lot of tests changed since two thousand and they actually and i think there has been a lot of soul searching in the financial services industry. right the need to just . look down take the word of her silence out of a strange ring and face reality ok your entire study thing burnt down by terrorist bankers and out there in the club and with cameras rubbing uglies when you should be doing something productive. now it's time for our latest in the pathfinder series focusing on ex-pat entrepreneurs who made their move into the russian market in the wake of the u.s.s.r. collapse those were times when demand for good quality private dentistry soared in russia robert courtney who is was among those who manages not only to fill the gap

but also make a fortune. i'm not sure. there is anything that can quite prepare you for doing business in russia in the early ninety's which is when i first came it was a very very wild time in the business sense a wild time in the lifestyle sense and it required a great deal of energy and creativity to bring in create a western type of business here in russia the idea was actually a no brainer executing the idea was very very difficult there was a great deal of demand for dentistry i decided to stay and start the first american dental clinic in russia if we take us dental care and the dentistry business for example you're looking at one difference i'm not a doctor but the principal owner of the business this business has thirteen

practitioners all specialties from hygiene to the general dentistry to implants orthodontics that's very rare to find in a place in the us or london in the high street typically you have a smaller office that's owned and managed by the doctor one to five dentists boarding staff and specialist sort generally organized separately doctors refer patients to each other here are places not so unique for russia you tend to have specialists and generalists collected in one clinic under one roof starting a business here today is both easier and more difficult that what than it was in the past licensure in compliance with the rules was technically very difficult because things were less organized and enforcement was loose in those days it was possible to let's say not comply with everything and still get along today the rules or more modern more strict but at least if you follow the rules you know what to expect certainly there are

a lot of myths about the risks of doing business in russia the risks to the business itself let's say the survival of the business itself or no bigger here than there are elsewhere this is a cunt. economy and a market that's growing at a really really rapid pace. look i'm just addicted to starting new businesses that are interesting it was a radical change from being a lawyer to dentistry it's just the nature of my story what you see here tonight is the world of specialty retail these specialty retailers everything that goes on in the corridors of shopping malls not in the in line shops and it's all about creating impulse to purchase which means creating beautiful designs that make interesting and simple products something that people want to stop and buy and enjoy until retail profile brought this business to russia four years ago this type of retail didn't exist right there no shoppers here it's past midnight here in moscow and the reason we're here is that everything people see in the carters and

the shops of shopping malls the beautiful stuff takes place at night people restock remerging diets redesigns and that's what this team is doing now the most difficult thing about setting it up doesn't compare with the story i told you about dentistry because we did it four years ago life and business here was already mature and civilized so the difficult thing was having to grow the business as quickly as the demand for it is if you compared the business life of somebody like me in san francisco in atlanta or boston you'd find people say that tomorrow is going to be similar to today if you ask me are people like me doing business in russia you'd say you have a hope that tomorrow is going to be similar to today but down deep you know something's going to be new something's going to change on the one hand to drives you crazy because as humans we crave predictability but on the other hand we're all addicted to the fact that something new is happening all the time.

let's take a look now at what else is happening around the world today a wave of explosions have rocked she had neighborhoods in baghdad killing at least twenty seven people and wounding dozens the first bomb attached to a motorcycle went off near a bus station and this followed by a roadside explosion shortly afterwards a couple of hours later two other blasts hit a northern neighborhood the violence was raise fears insurgents are stepping up attacks after the u.s. troop pullout last month. former israeli prime minister ehud olmert has been indicted on corruption charges he's accused of taking bribes to promote the construction of housing projects that dates back to before his time in office omar is a ready on trial for three unrelated counts of fraud and breach of trust but deny all charges. now we continue to explore all corners of russia in our close up series today we're taking you to the bar of region in the far east eight

thousand kilometers from moscow. for a long time has been a safe haven for a huge range of rare and remarkable animals but with major industries advancing into this picture perfect coastal region much of the wildlife is coming under threat artie's tom barton takes up the story. the feeding time polluted the tiger he was found starving in the forest as a six month old cub he's now nineteen years old has a pair of platinum false teeth and as a siberian tiger he's one of an increasingly scarce breed this region's forests a home to some of the world's rarest big cats but they also host the loggers timber mills and illegal hunters who stand to make a great profit here and whose activities have pushed those same leopards and tigers

to the brink of extinction. loued miller looks after the tigers there's deer in fact just about any injured forest animals that arrive at her center as well as poach. types that concerns her to go. to tigers need a lot of territory to survive there can be a lot together when there's forestry the animals they prey on are scared off and so the tigers have to leave killing it off so what it really comes down to is russia's endless forests being assaulted by the power of industry this new timber factory in the far east eats eight hundred thousand cubic metres of wood a year and it's expanding but they're not concerned by forestry saying they're responsible obvious that there was another name that is trees are a new bill resource unlike coal oil we plant trees to replace the ones we cut down so they'll be plenty for the next generation environmentalists paint

a very different picture they say there aren't even reliable records of the rampant tree cutting and warn that russia's forests aren't as endless as the timber barons think. it is when we tell officials at the so little untouched forest remain available only industrialists get very out of the way they say environmental organizations are trying to shut down their industrial supply which will there are others trying to replace lost forest this local government project harvests and sorts pine seeds grows them into saplings and then plants them but they admit that the planting just isn't keeping pace with the felling growth aboard that in an ordinary year we can replace logging losses if there's a forest fire as well or it could take us ten years to catch up we're fighting a losing battle. flutie is all right he has his meals brought up to put his cousins out in the wild could soon run out of places to go from boston. the

latest sports news is heading our way here on our table before that a recap of our top stories after this short break. to. all. the close up team has been too darn good stuff birthplace to the most ambitious

football club in the world. now our 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 mental well starts its way across the ocean. well come to the front bars creature russia blows up on our t.v. .

of course we are to you live from moscow the headlines oil prices at record highs as the e.u. thousand and bargo on the rainy and crude may come by the end of the month might fears over its impact on the global economy. the syrian authorities announced they freed over five hundred fifty political prisoners and withdrawn purely forces from residential areas as part of the arab league peace plan but opposition activists continued to claim the regime concessions are south. korea's threatens to abandon your of this.