hello nine pm here in moscow my name is kevin are you watching r t live from the russian capital and the top story the e.u. says it's agreed in principle to ban imports of iranian crude the sanctions could come into effect by the end of january unless around backs down its alleged nuclear weapons program to round responded to the sanctions with threats to block oil trade through the crucial strait of hormuz leading to a continued deadlock in the persian gulf american warships are also present in the region with a mission to prevent any hindrances of passages toward the job political activist the national officer at the stop the war coalition who's in london to get his thoughts about what we're seeing unfolding in front of our eyes here i there and sanctions are often used by the west but how effective are they really are they're often criticized or no or what do you think the u.s. and the e.u. is really trying to achieve here. well i think we have to understand this is

a strategic foreign policy problem that the united states has had since the failure of the war in iraq the war in iraq was meant to give them a stable pro western pro-business base for operations in the middle east what they ended up doing is making iran a great a regional power than it was before and so they've got to deal with this problem and this is what the sanctions are about but the sanctions as we know in the past as we know over the case of iraq indeed were the precursor to war they were a way of preparing public opinion for military conflict and therefore they are doubly dangerous in this case they're economically dangerous in the short term but as your news report has pointed out we're looking at now a conflict in the gulf of hormuz which is one of the main arteries of the world economy it really couldn't get more serious than this and of course the other big outcry over this that's not the mistake that we've heard from experts say that china would be very glad to buy a round all shipments if the e.u.

refuses to so i guess by pushing for sanctions like this isn't the u.s. providing an extra energy source for the global power that say this washington's economic nemesis. well this is going to be the difficulty with any military conflicts in this region in years to come you see you can look on the iraq war you can look on the afghanistan war as wars conducted by a superpower against a very small countries but the growing differentiation in the world economy the growing military might of of china the recovery of russia itself is going to lead to a situation where his not simply a conflict involving smaller powers in which the big powers want to get their way but it's going to break up any kind of international community as it's sometimes called and in which the major powers will be dragged into the conflicts as well and that's a quality deeply more serious situation than the ones that we've had even in the past ten years on those was serious enough and of course the possible economic implications as well is it why i wonder to attempt to isolate such

a major role producer during these terrible economic times that the world saying right now. well you would think that some element of caution might might kick in here that just as we're on the brink of discovering that we haven't reached the pit of this recession but there's larval to be as i think nearly every konami commentator says at the beginning of the year a very profoundly difficult year for the euro zone in which we may see the breakup of the your own which we're certainly going to see further austerity measures pushed through by governments in europe and in other places you would think that this wasn't exactly the moment to risk further instability in the world economy so why no progress on restarting talks about iran's nuclear program this despite the fact that iran has made unprecedented concessions russia's been suggesting this comprehensive step by step resolution what is the stumbling block still at the heart of this stalemate do you think. well i think the stumbling block is the point i made at the beginning of this interview you see this isn't this isn't just about

nuclear weapons if it were about nuclear weapons in the middle east then the united states would have a bone to pick with israel which is the only power in the middle east would actually possesses nuclear weapons it's not about that that's the cause of spare life but the reason for this continued conflict is because the american administration simply can't live with an iran which has as much regional power as it has at the moment you see the americans when they look at the iranian regime they see its links with syria they see its links with hamas they see its links with hezbollah and this is a challenge to american power in an absolutely critical economically critical geopolitically critical area of the globe and it's that which is the sticking point for the american ministration in my view just briefly how bad could this get we have you know the u.k. supported washington's rhetoric saying its warships are at the ready to prevent an attempt any attempt by iran to hinder trade through that crucial strait of hormuz could this go further do you think develop into actual warfare. well i think this is certainly in the minds of some of the players in the international community we

know that israel for instance has test flights out into the mediterranean for exactly the same distance as there is between tel of the. a with a view to having a strike on the nuclear facilities and we know that even the bush administration in its last months had to restrain the state of israel from doing this so you know there are some people hawks in israel hawks in the united states who want to start all this militarily and it does seem to me that once we begin on the process of implementing sanctions of iran responding to the sanctions that there will be calls further down the road for direct military conflict and that in this case is even more dangerous than it was in the case of iraq john reese political activist national stop war coalition thanks for being on the line from london for us who touched on it just know talking about the diplomatic side of it iran's president reiterated his support for a step by step plan proposed by russia a didn't result in the nuclear stalemate the

comments by mahmoud ahmadinejad obeyed in a phone conversation with dmitri medvedev his russian counterpart under the plan no new unilateral sanctions would be applied to iran instead it would respond to questions on its nuclear program one by one the suggestion is then for each point clear that no other set of existing sanctions on to rand would be eased or lifted altogether this proposals not brand new it first made it in washington in july last year but so far it hasn't much support in the west we go to your opinions about it what do you think about it head to our forums of our web site r.t. dot com to get involved this is just some of what you've been telling us some of the viewpoints one viewer saying the west can do without iran's oil in the long run is just provoking to rand to give an excuse for a military strike another protest is hopeful that at least one of the sides will be sensible enough to back out of an all out. because it could mean nuclear war. and

other opinion that the us will attack iran as soon as possible to set the machine in motion before america's presidential election later this year another poster as well arguing that to run won't have the courage to carry out its threats and start a war saying the west should go ahead of imposed sanctions and other forms of r.t. dot com see more opinions and have your say as well. the prosecutors in the trial of ousted egyptian president hosni mubarak are called for death by hanging for him and his closest associates they justified their request by arguing that mubarak was personally responsible for every protesters death during the country's revolution the eighty three year old currently suffering severe health problems international relations expert professor mark allman told me he believes hanging about it would only bring harm to the region you use it for the. demonstrations we wash will turn to the prisons or the street.

and so. what about. remember the here. and why one who wants know. who we are and what we're barred instant so. recent. by ramsay there's no point in china. where harlan who are so in fact wind. by our music. just. speaking to a radio host and author stephen leatherman said he believes that the trials merely a diversion from the continuing unrest in the country. this is a distraction this is to divert. your believing. each in their own trying to absolve themselves

in the process taking things or worse no one of the military and no also the people running the country the same ones closely allied with mobarak were used to see people because all the grievances of the people are too but i think the protests will go on and people all the violence will continue to struggle there's a long way to go meanwhile in syria over five hundred fifty prisoners evolved in the anti regime uprising there have been released according to state t.v. it comes as arab league officials said the government has pulled out heavy weapons and tanks from similar civilian areas that so that the activists had previously said was untrue opposition groups also accused the mascot's of misleading the league's observers by taking into areas loyal to the government those pressure builds on syrian authorities the country's foreign ministry slammed the u.s.

for interfering as have to washington sent an envoy to the arab league for talks about the latest developments barrow based political analyst and journalist author of when the shop he says the other big observer's road remembers pressure from the west. the arab observers that have been. sent to syria from the arab league in cairo have been working for the past week and additional numbers of observers entering syria they are under a lot of pressure apparently the american pressure there are pressures by some arab countries that are pro-american on the observers to actually affect the way they will draft their reports these observers the syrian officials have been given the observers access to all locations in syria today the observations are visiting the prison in that. they have access to police stations they have access to different localities even in the different neighborhoods where there was a lot of tension now let's hope that they will let this commission do its job

independently and will make the truth come out and the truth i think is that there are. gun mannish looting at the army there are some groups of gunmen who are creating chaos in syria they are profiting from. the movement it's such a big shame that some western powers and some fallen intervention in syrian affairs is using these people and using the demands of these people to reach political objectives and that's a very destructive move on the part of the united states and its allies in the region. just letting you know a bit later this elder looking at postscript afy libya the leader of the empty sea there admitting the country could be on the brink of civil war and calling for immediate crackdown on militias but says thousands remain behind bars over their previous political allegiances. this region's forests are some of the world's

rarest big cats but they also host the blogger's timber mills and illegal hunters who stand to make a great profit here and you can see we're also reporting on how some of the world's most beautiful predators are being preyed upon themselves in russia's far east. marking one of the lowest moments since the onset of europe's debt crisis more than two years ago the greek government is now publicly threatened to abandon the euro the warnings came from the prime minister lucas papademos says negotiations over that one hundred thirty billion euro bailout package drag on the pm board that the greek economy could enter an uncontrolled collapse as early as march if more cash isn't secured creditors and greeks are at loggerheads with bankers refusing to write off any more debt while unions say they won't make any more stereotypic uts now is that a fiscal union will act as a last line of defense against the debt crisis but that's something that leading economist area clamors little faith in my system it is that this europe will not be able to form such

a political union there is too much hatred in eighty countries two different. countries are too attached to their own so often to 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. is forced if you walk around brussels you feel like european union is for real but as soon as you are away from brussels and walk around in the country the rest of europe you see the cross was far away from from them. and it's not reality the people we live with. that was a commentary a claim with his full interviews coming your way just over an hour's time on this channel so with the e.u. mired in its debt debacle you might think that germany which has been bankrolling the block's survival effort will be the most concerned but among many people there

are very different priorities are going off reports on an interesting phenomenon the rise of the country's 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 and 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 at. the park but 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 for me 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 vote along with another

four local votes across the country a mainstream politics is also losing attractiveness because. often too little distinction or distinctiveness between different parties from different fields or areas sometimes it's even difficult to tell the difference between conservative and social democrat experts see the port authorities key success to all use the internet and see it as the new driving force changing politics similar to the we it was influenced way t.v. over half a century ago so unless the mainstream tories change their tactics it mean no need to long before they could find themselves on the margins you go to school or germany. let's look at some other stories happening around the world barack obama's announced a new road map for the u.s. military with an emphasis on cutting spending the plan calls on the military to abandon its ability to fight two wars civil taney asli and the shifting focus instead on surrounding containing china and iran the announcements but expected for

some time as america's forced to contend with a smaller budget because of its huge debts. a wave of explosions in iraq has killed seventy two people and wounded more than one hundred the deadliest attack was in the country south claiming the lives of at least forty four she had killed meanwhile in baghdad a bomb attached to her about a bike went off near a bus station it was followed then by three other explosions afterwards the violence has raised fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after u.s. troops pulled out last month. former israeli prime minister ehud olmert spin indicted on corruption charges he's accused of taking bribes to promote the construction of housing projects it dates back to before your time in office it's already on trial for three and related to fraud and breach of trust but he denies all the charges. that of libya's transitional government's admitted that the country could be sliding into civil war he says it's a likely outcome unless the m.t.c. berges to take control of the militias and disarm them it follows

a recent skirmish between armed groups in tripoli streets that left four dead meantime the country's justice system remains a source of concern too with thousands still behind bars without ever having been charged but he's xander 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. you know we are releasing those who didn't commit serious crimes those with blood on their hands will be waiting for the prosecutor's decision but one thing you have to reach is we're eager to pain the release as a goodwill gesture both the detention and the parole seemed entirely arbitrary some of the dictators supporters as these people are let's to be just work for the government agencies and others happened to be domestic helpers or government

workers and now equal before the law rather before the absence of it they obviously in prison was triple his top detention facility under gadhafi now tori's for its mistreatment and arbitrary killings of inmates but while all of its prisoners rest sat free in late august as the rebels over in 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 are being held there is little chance for justice a fair trial. just a year ago this place used to be a school today demain lesson being taught 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 promptly legal review and rebuilding the justice system the treatment is even more brutal outside tripoli the tunnel to where a good the 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 the rule to be to you until you confess to things you haven't committed like entering homes or looting it's a gruelling 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 and 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 that we want to know where they are more than a month since his capture his most famous prisoners still doesn't have access to a lawyer and while many dialyse full islam's ability to have a fair trial he still appears to be better off than many of his countryman at least thanks to the limelight he's not running a risk of being executed like his father while many still are. artsy tripoli. that we continue to explore all corners of russia and a close up series today we're taking you to the bar of russia's far east it's a fight a thousand kilometers from here in moscow. and just to paint the picture the scale of that you can see it on the map there for a long time about how spain a safe haven for a huge range of rare and remarkable animals including siberian tigers but with

major industries advancing into this picture perfect coastal region much of the wildlife coming under threat. 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. load miller looks after the tigers there's deer in fact just about any injured forest animals that arrive at her center as well as poachers it's forestry the impact it has on local habitats 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 loggers licit 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. when we tell officials at the so little untouched forests remain vulnerable industrialists get very out of the way they say environmental organizations are

trying to shut down their industry if i 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. in an ordinary year we can replace looking losses but if there's a forest fire as well it could take us ten years to catch up with a losing battle. flutie is all right he has his meals brought to him but his cousins out in the wild could soon run out of places to go from boston. beautiful animal now just under five minutes from now and we invite you to meet the skiers in the snowboarders seeing the full force of an avalanche up close scary and managed to come out unscathed and action packed up power than here on this channel . from moscow coming up.

white stream cascading from mountain slopes the view is miss mirage. this beauty brings deaths and a speed of more than four hundred kilometers per hour all. stepping down along.

i had a family i lived in a fairly nice community wasn't which was an upscale it was just like you know archie bunker society ok then they started showing up here what happened was my company decided i could get cheap labor and they got rid of us factual truth is there. was a legally blind legally we have to get up every morning we have to go to work and you know we have to pay our bills and we have to kill him and that's just the american dream and if you want the american dream you have to go by the last i figure is here's one of the major trails in the united states. i watch and they run run down my property and about this noise. was a little chap mean the cockroaches from coming over the wire is protecting the country and the kind of guy who doesn't mindedness pay and sturdy so i come out

here you know we're all immigrants as well that we all here are some some are out. this is our time. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one that won't we breathe oh we hope. to me the american dream is to live in peace and prosperity and freedom and a government under socialism is not a government a free. man. you . have very motivated out cross the country who are activists who are willing to fight for what they think is right for themselves but the fact is forty four bridge.

we are counting. properly drowning and i think it's spread by it's cutting off our. it's making the marker see. all but impossible. michiru free cretaceous free. free. arrangement free. three stooges free. old free broadcast video. of free media. today. these are the images. from the

streets of canada. today. top stories the says it's a great in principle. of a spike in oil prices a troubled global economy. egyptian prosecutor death by hanging for eighty three year old former president. public protests. it's already been seen as. public attention from the country's interim of the.