details in the business bulletin in twenty minutes time. it is eleven am in the russian capital you're watching r.t.m. marina joshie tension between the u.s. and iran is being ratcheted up on what seems like a daily basis u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton added fuel to the fire by calling to iran's threats to close the viol oil passage in the strait of hormuz provocative and that followed the iran blaming american israel for the assassination of a nuclear scientist into iran on wednesday or he's going to count looks at whether words could soon become action. the cold run of tension between iran and the west is simmering. seems the slightest increase of heat could make it boil over into an all out confrontation. where we'll be that boiling point the point of no

return we're getting closer and closer to war with iran the iranians are playing with fire problems in a crisis if you get where any small thing can really set it off and it doesn't question washington that the international nuclear watchdog these i'm sorry closely monitoring iran's nuclear activities are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon no but we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability and that's what concerns us and our red line to iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon iran's main source of livelihood is oil export is in danger the u.s. is imposing fresh sanctions that will dramatically complicate transactions the iran's central bank iran is also close to losing europe as a customer the reason that this is happening is that this is the logical conclusion of our current strategy against iran we have sanctions in place with no diplomacy the only way that that and is through confrontation cornered by crippling sanctions

iran's threatening to block the strait of hormuz a vital artery through which a sixth of the world's oil is should the u.s. replied by moving its fiercely to the region and saying if iran goes for it they will attack experts say the policy of isolating iran may lead to other threats from tehran moment and a possibility that one day they will go through with their threats but washington signals that it's ready or it wants everybody to believe that it's ready could weigh up we had to without using nuclear weapons ourselves take out their their nuclear capability well i certainly want them to believe that that's the case well is that i absolutely want them to believe that that secretary would you add anything to that some believe. it's just a war of words and neither side will go for an all out conflict considering what it is sastre it will be for the whole region frankly speaking this tension is

artificial it doesn't have to happen it doesn't need to exist the iranians would do themselves an enormous favor by saying less. and we would do ourselves a favor by ignoring most of it all of this so i sadly i think is connected to israel and israeli fear of iran for rhetorical reasons more than military was it may be a war of words but actions are already showing thousands of u.s. troops are being deployed to israel an american citizen has been sentenced to death in the rand convicted of espionage a look back in history. the assassination of the auster hung garion monarchy nineteen fourteen set in motion a series of events that led to world war one and then world war two with regards to iran today. a possible blocking of the strait of hormuz could become their trigger or the killing of the american citizen iran might feel cornered and therefore make

drastic moves right now it's in a war of words but one bullet shot and the powder keg can blow up the question is what's going to provide that deadly spark i'm going to check our reporting from washington our team. some experts fear the assassination of iranian scientists a fourth in two years could become the trigger for all out conflict columnist and veteran war correspondent eric margolis believes to rise willing to retaliate but is being cautious at the moment. it's either israel did the killing or murder and the united states certainly didn't condemn israel for doing it gave its assets through a major financial supporter of israel i'm surprised that in fact these attacks have not invited bringing in retaliation against these suspects it in certainly an international crime by launching an international law and this issue has not

been raised that the u.n. security council which should be retaliation could be directed against this really or american scientific personalities. in the region i think reigning in just a very anxious to get revenge but they're being cautious now because of a war or it seems not so far away in the gulf american forces massing and there are a growing threats war against. well still to come on our team the occupy wall street movement reclaims a prime piece of real estate two months of their occupiers were taken from new york state park it's now the police his hands are tied. plus criticism is growing over the human rights implications of israel's so-called boycott law and several other conversational bills in front of the government. a french t.v. camera bag and at least eight syrians have been killed by a mortar shell and the syrian city of homs state television blamed territory

without meeting with armed opposition groups which it blames for instigating the violence so this came just after president bashar asad told supporters and the mask is he's aiming to prevent a civil war he once again accused foreign powers of sponsoring the unrest and in the panel news editor james corbat says there is concrete proof of u.s. involvement in the syrian conflict. it's important to understand that when he speaks of this conspiracy that he's going to strike down and these foreign terrorists who are invading his country that this is in fact not something that's open to debate it was actually revealed in documents that were leaked from the u.s. state department last april that proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the u.s. state department has pumped in at least six million dollars secretly on covertly into syrian opposition groups since two thousand and six the arab league mission there is is pretty much pre-ordained no matter what the commission itself comes out with if there is even one dissenting voice the one dissenting voice will be given

all of the media attention so it's a question of which way the powers that be have decided this is going to go and unfortunately it looks like it's going to stack up in the in favor of military intervention once again professor of international relations mark almond says even those opposing us had still prefer him to the idea of a foreign intervention and the risk of more bloodshed. the problem for president assad is that the main centers of resistance to him are based around the borders and that also however is a sign of the limitations on the support for an armed insurrection against him that it really depends upon getting money weapons and even perhaps personnel across the border from lebanon turkey and to some extent from truth so we have a kind of standoff president assad has a lot of support the armed opposition has support we don't really know what ordinary people feel but i think one of the themes of president assad is trying to do is to say do you want to see debian style civil war chaos or would you or to see

this or that happened in iraq a few years ago and that's quite a powerful argument for people not necessary to be diehard supporters and certainly not to want to see themselves die in a brutal civil conflict that could spiral out of control party spoke extensively about syria with professor of middle east politics dr jeremy salt says the scale of the opposition movement may be seriously overblown the full version of the interview is coming your way next hour but here's a preview. and we have a very very dangerous situation in syria which could have exploded into a very very nasty. pota breakdown inside the country it could lead to regional war in this country let's see if this you give me a few months and see how the furthest works for bashar does have. a base of support . i don't think you can say that the party would be doomed the moment they call free elections that could well.

protest have marchand here since the first prisoners were sent to america most controversial prison in guantanamo bay cuba barack obama's promise on his first day in office to close it remains unfulfilled and never rang more hollow than last month when he signed a new law allowing the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects arches or smith reports. one zero zero one zero zero abdomen and we are now freely today is probably just another day for the inmates of guantanamo bay they may not even know that people around the world are campaigning for them but as far afield as london demonstrations are held to demand the release of the hundred seventy one men still held without trial in the cuban camp after ten years one of those men is shaka armor who's earned the dubious distinction of being the last british resident held in guantanamo he was in afghanistan or nine eleven he says doing charity work

digging wells and building a girls' school in kabul. when the u.s. invasion began almost went into hiding from an increasingly wary northern alliance but his freedom didn't last shuckers supporters maintain he was sold for a bounty went into the hands of the northern alliance warlords basically and he actually thought all the americans that my goodness it will save me from the torture that he's had lots of torture by them but no he was transported to and bare he has remains despite president obama's original election pledge to close guantanamo altogether despite being cleared for release and despite being a legal permanent resident in the u.k. with family here in london which includes one son he's never even seen and fall for moving closer to being freed shuckers supporters see worrying developments in the

us is attitude to extrajudicial detention obama recently signed the national defense authorization act which places domestic terror investigations into the hands of the military and extends a ban on transferring prisoners out of one tunnel that i'm very sorry indeed president obama for reasons. lack of political will or he would say complete inability to deliver us nor. lived up to that promise and indeed is now bracing to cook american citizens to try it in military commissions which are very far from being fair to process the british government has requested the release of but there's been no movement on the case since two thousand and seven meanwhile as his family grows up without him he lives out his life in a tiny window lists not knowing whether he can expect to be released.

so hundreds may have protested against guantanamo prison in the u.s. but investigative reporter jason lee paul told r.t. the majority of the public tends to ignore an issue that's james steyer a country's reputation. it's very sad that the public more or less this tune guantanamo out has tuned out. widespread human rights abuses that continue to take place in guantanamo it is an issue and abuse that we condemn other governments for however what's happening now is that we have come to accept indefinite detention i think that people are willing to accept it now it doesn't affect them let's face it they look at this as an issue that. they do not need to be concerned about because they still see the majority of people there as terrorists even though we have seen evidence surface over the years that the vast

majority were in fact innocent. and we're always eager to get your take on the story so today in our online poll at r.t. dot com we're asking when do you think one time of day will be closed. now sixty four sounds of the viewers don't believe the u.s. will ever close the facility a fifth think the prison will be shut down when america runs out of cash to splash on it seventeen percent say only and a new facility elsewhere will hold the activity of guantanamo bay hand as you can see less than five percent believe one town they will close its doors after us announces its victory over terrorism so log on to our website r.t. dot com let us know what you think. protesters are back in new york's zuccotti park the symbolic birthplace of the anti wall street movement where it all started almost four months ago there have been in place since mid november when the occupiers were evicted to night raid by police but now that the barriers are gone the protesters are determined to stay as art he's an associate in our reports. the

mood certainly is very very optimistic people seem very reenergized they're excited to have been able to get back into the park the birthplace of occupy wall street that's where everything began and it's really looks like a lot of the skeptics were hoping that after the occupiers were kicked out of the cotton park in mid november that would be the end of occupy wall street but certainly that has not been the case and the occupiers the protesters themselves believe this and they see this is a new chapter really for the food movement that has now become nationwide over the last several months you can't just barricade people out and you can't say that this park will either be used by no one or only by people that live in this area should be open to everyone and so i think that it's important in so far as you come here and gather as we move into this bring it gets warmer i think that this will return to being the movement even when the barricades are still there we were always here representing i mean sometimes you only see it up in the front but it's we've always

been here one of the main rules the new rules for the occupy wall street movement here in new york city is that they cannot have tents or sleeping bags back into the cottage park and that was of course a large part of them being able to stay out there for months and protest and demonstrate and essentially bring attention to their movement these days that's something that's not allowed they can technically sleep there but that's certainly something they can't really do and that really impacts a number of people there today and in the days to follow because not many people are you know able to sleep standing up you know it's very important that critics this entire time were saying no way will occupy wall street be able to last until the summer they were really hoping that after the eviction the protesters would not come back but people have been gathering not necessarily in this park but in other locations indoors and they continue certainly to do so with this place kind of returning as the main headquarters for the occupiers here in new york city don't forget we've got plenty more on our website r.t.

dot com let's check out what's lined up for you there now. their careers in a twist a brazilian counselor blasts bright for not wearing underwear on during their weddings discover why the newly wed girls are going to man down at our team. was six months in a labor camp for not crying enough north korean authorities are repeatedly reportedly punishing those who did not display sadness at the death of light meter came jarrell. the chorus of critics is growing in israel against the so-called boycott law it punishes anyone who speaks out against the country settlement construction and the west bank human rights activists have turned to the supreme court to overturn the legislation there are reports there is

a whole range of other controversial bills waiting for a cabinet approval to. gershon baskin is a wanted man in israel for his outspoken views against the government's policy of settlement expansion at someone ik because if it wasn't for this miffed when israeli activists it's don't feel israel would have secured a recent prisoner swap that's always way the soldier gilad shalit exchanged for palestinian prisoners after five years in captivity. and says it was his contacts within him us that allowed the two sides to reach an agreement but now a controversial so-called boycott threatens to find that. if he steps out of line the appeal to the public. arab appealed. and there is a competition of who is more strongly advocating a position which is a very herb what the most says is that any israeli could face legal action just for speaking out in favor of boycotting settlements the first steps to fascism are

quiet so. i. that the supreme court gives us a loud screen telling us that fascism shouldn't pass but for now the supreme court is keeping quiet the state attorney again this month asked for more time to consider the arguments angering gave in her teen who filed a petition to another law the morning after it was passed in parliament until the court rules otherwise israeli owners of companies based in the settlements can seek damages for boycotts hold against the goods i don't accept any boycott not by the. right not left boycott the boycott law is one of several controversial pieces of legislation being advanced by the netanyahu government a number of similarly criticized bills are currently under discussion in the israeli parliament another ball aims to dramatically limit foreign funding of nongovernmental groups critical of israel it's expected to receive cabinet approval soon this is a very conservative right wing coalition they have

a solid majority in parliament but still they sort of promote these bills which which all prissy ved not only by the left but by the previous by the courts. is not encouraging democracy ok or sort of limiting free speech in israel many here think it's a way for the rightwing coalition government of prime minister netanyahu to stay in power but for people like gershon baskin he says he'll continue to call for boycott of the settlements and far from censoring him the law has only strengthened his resolve to stop israel's growing onslaught on democracy policy r.t. tel aviv. now is taking over some other stories from around the world heavy rains and floods in brazil state of rio de janeiro have left at least twenty eight people dead at five members of one family died in a landslide and thousands of people evacuated from their homes or bear shelter in schools chance or by relatives

a year ago more than one thousand three hundred people died or went missing because of. floods and the sea mountainous region. a man being sentenced for investment fatally shot a state prosecutor three times in a german court as his sentence was being read out two witnesses in the courtroom managed to overpower the man who was then arrested and charged with murder the man have been accused of embezzling tans of thousands of dollars in national insurance contributions. parliament has approved a new conservative government's first hysteria measures aimed at tackling the country's swollen deficit the package calls for almost nine billion euros in spending cuts including income and property tax hikes spain is battling to avert being dragged further into a debt crisis that has already for squeeze island and portugal to seek financial bailouts. as even members move forward with a staring measures the kaiser report highlights the balance of the global economy and here's a preview of what max and stacey have coming up later in the program. these are

losses that are on the books all the balance sheets of the books that now after they got the government to impose the first round of bailouts and then impose austerity measures to pay for the bailouts they're now going to reveal the next trough of debt now and this is revealed then the release also more austerity measures and then the reveal more losses so it's a death by a thousand revelations. graham is less than ten minutes away and let's now take a look at what's happening in business with katie. i laid out welcome to the business program leading stock market players have stepped into the new year with the same sort of all problems financial uncertainty

and debt issues continue to weigh on a number of economies meanwhile nicolay pub goes all from three to be capitals as a russian economy is ready to stand up to the challenges of twenty two of. russia is. quite we'll positioned. in terms of sustainability to start all shops and this is mainly because a lot of the idea is significant achievement over the exchange rate for the city. center of india the region to sales into eleven i think they're even in kids so if . global market deterioration we want to be free since this should be simular to the cells and data so isn't one in the russian economy as the central bank pays more attention to interest rate would see the stamp or returns to keeper is within his interest rate corridor another big family for themselves and twelve is everything but the potential leader is issue no for the local market for foreign

investors and this is also one of the most interesting the way as soon as she could take place in their action for a national markets. let's see how all is before me at the moment oil is up from the lowest such demands in almost two weeks as a strike in nigeria combined with the threat of sanctions against iran's nuclear program raised concern about crude supplies on the asian markets i love off to china released new inflation start showing consumer prices is slightly in december in tokyo is near thin expose explore says that on the pressure because of the low yen ahead of the meeting of the european central bank also dragging on sentiment does a show that japan's current account surplus fell lower than expected and here in moscow the market is softer and the black yes is around point two percent while the my sex is just a notch level let's have

a look at some individual on the mises does monopoly gas problem is haul five percent up the company says it will spend five point seven billion dollars on such an index financials are also on the rise b.c.b. find his point seven percent in. the block. is among the many of the second thoughts and of course around all this on our lives cause increases in the russian camp. to fifty percent in the first quarter of this year a girl called saw from right facing capital expects is so to grow in the first half of this year. overall we are quite positive from the second on the first quarter and on the first half of the year at all i would say these goals if you to contribute to the overall consensus on the market which suggests that the first half will be it will be more or less difficult while the second one will be more positive we think first and we think that situation with the european debt would not affect that which is market is did last year so we see some improvements and we

think that we're close to the bottom of these it's a middle of the crises itself but the influence on the equities market because of european problems. and other news events is just. his plan to build a new and the public of trinidad and tobago in order to improve the efficiency of its american assets the project is worth six hundred million dollars. to local state and private companies as part of the plot will supply cheap of all materials to several stalls and rise in north america. finally the russian cinema industry has got a new year present locally produced movies outperformed form ones at the box office over the nationwide winter break the magazine book has bought us and says russian films generated forty seven million dollars or fifty four percent of the total box office was a surprise given that the total share of immokalee movies for the whole of two

thousand and eleven was around thirteen percent in the us market the top grossing film the sum of far more money that sherlock holmes again shot at us i haven't seen that one yet actually do join me back to fifty five minutes i'll have more business news. this is our talk. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth

that out of many we are one that won't we breathe 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 then. 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.

down the official ante up location on the phone i pod touch from the.

video on demand all keys minefield comes. just feeds now with the palm of your. machine on the dot com. welcome back here with our team here's a look at the top stories the crisis in relations between washington and tehran is a pervasive by the assassination of a fourth iranian scientist in two years iran blames israel and america for the plot but says it will not derail the country's nuclear program. the first foreign journalist is killed in syria's unrest a french cameraman was mortally wounded by a grenade along with at least eight locals the country's authorities blame terrorists for the attack meaning the armed opposition groups which the government says are instigating.